"Whooaah Dude! How'd you do that?"

...that's what he said. 

That and, "In 15 years I've NEVER seen that!"

He was referring to my bike - the cranks to be precise.  

Today, as Justin and I started our N.S. Tri course preview ride, I headed up a small hill...  nothing too crazy.  CRUNCH!  I looked down, something was definitely wrong but I couldn't tell what it was.  Two minutes later, CRUNCH!  This time when I looked down I saw the problem.

My left crank was WAY out of whack...  it had come around trying to level itself with my right crank and now I was bobbing and lunging in a strange way trying to maintain forward momentum.

As it turns out I had crushed the grooves on the inside of the Dura-Ace crank to the point where it rotated around.  And that was on my left side!

Later, at the bike shop, I felt quite enormous pride once the guys began to call me "an animal". So much so that I decided to memorialize the moment with a photo or two (see below).  My elation subsided when I learnt that a DA left crank arm lists for $225...  I am hoping for a deal ;)

Anyway, Jay and Stephen have hooked me up with a sweet FSA Crankset for the race and to tide me over until the DA crank comes in...  thanks guys!

Check out the photo - note the wonky crank alignment:

Anyway, Justin and I drove the course instead and then went for a swim.  My second of the day...

After some work, 3 o'clock rolled around and I was at I.F. for my Friday afternoon training session with Rob.  We had concocted an epic workout...

- 32 x 1 minute treadmill intervals (level 9, incline 1)

- 30 seconds of exercises between each interval

- See the board for the exercises (also note the credit to Brent McMahon as this was modified from a workout he shared with Insidetriathlon.com).

The workout is obviously designed to push you to a faster run time (or get to the battlefield faster, as mentioned above.)  You are supposed to pick a speed that would result in a 10k PB.  It was tough but fair - I was never nervous about making it but it was mentally and physically quite draining - and very rewarding.  So draining that Rob and I couldn't figure out how far we ran...  (32 minutes at 9 miles/hour) seems easy now, I know, I know...  I think we killed a few million brain cells...

Have a great long weekend!  I'll leave you with a picture of how a fun vehicle looks...  make yours look like this this weekend!

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