Following in family footsteps?

"World Champion Cadel Evans has been named the 2009 Australian Cyclist of the Year and received his third Sir Hubert Opperman 'Oppy' medal." The award goes to the most outstanding rider from all disciplines each season who is considered to be The Australian Cyclist of the Year.

No, the award isn't named after me. It's named after Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, an Australian who held more than 100 distance cycling records. Oppy rode a bicycle from the age of eight until his wife Mavys, fearing for his health and safety, finally forced him off the road in 1994 on his 90th birthday. When he died of a heart attack, at the age of 91, he was on his exercise bike.

One of the greatest cyclists the world has ever seen, Oppy's lifetime achievements spanned horizons far wider than his sporting fame. He became a Menzies and Holt government minister, and was also Australia's first high Commissioner to Malta. Add to that his role as a long serving councillor for the Association of the Blind, patron of the Sportsmen's Association of Australia, and a Victorian president of the Prior of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. A letter writer extraordinaire, Oppy was the sender of serious and humorous Oppygrams.

I'm guessing he's not a relative, at least not close. But hopefully some of his cycling genese run with mine.

My training schedule

My first race will be a sprint at the end of April in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is a long time from now, but I have a lot of work to do. Here's how I plan to get ready.

From now through the end of the year:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Wednesdays - Run or Swim
     Fridays - Bike
To get my stamina and endurance up, I'll work to extend my workouts each time, instead of trying to get faster in a set amount of time.

January - February:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Tuesdays - Run or Swim
     Wednesdays - Swim or Run
     Thursdays - Bike or Swim
     Fridays - Swim or Bike
During these two months I will complete the distances that I'll have to cover in the race.

March - April:
     TBD. I'll need to start bricking workouts so I can get the transitions down. Closer to the race I'll work on doing all three components at least once each week.

I put this together based on the article I read on one of my newest favorite tri sites.

Five things you need to know about training

This is a great article for beginners to learn about the important aspects of triathlon training. Hardest for me is the consistency - my schedule doesn't normally allow for me to get a workout in on a consistent basis.

Also, I'm going to try going to the breaststroke when I swim - couldn't hurt based on where I'm at now!

Improving shoulder strength

This is a great video about improving an important body part - shoulders. I'm going to try this to see if it helps with swimming. Let me know if it works for you.

An American Runner

I thought this might happen when Meb Keflezighi won the New York City marathon last weekend. With a name like that, I knew that some would question his nationality. He's been in the U.S. since he was 12. Doesn't that make him an American?

After all, don't we have a President that has had considerable international addresses in his past? I think he's considered an American, isn't he?