In the matter of Steve Tomac v. Jonalee McLaughlin, I am victorious!
Even though the Judge didn't give me the entire amount I was asking for (either I didn't do a good enough job explaining it all to him, or he had his own thoughts), he agreed that I was NOT at fault.
I wonder if this means that SHE was at fault, she is subject to tickets/police action, etc. since she caused an accident, which is an infraction of Missouri law.
It probably didn't help her either when she AND her husband/partner-in-a-big-law-firm-lawyer both admitted to not providing insurance information when requested as a result of an accident (which it is a crime not to do so in Missouri) and THEN she testifies to the judge as part of her case that she "refuses to break the law." Ummmm, perjury, anyone?
Anyway, Jonalee can now pay for the damage she caused to her front bumper, too.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
na, na, na-na-na!
So is it wrong to have the song Ironman stuck in my head? I submit that it is not.
Here's a quick and dirty recap - a full one is coming very very soon, I promise! I've just had to deal with a ton of other stuff - my court date, my yearly performance review, and a mishap at the bank that resulted in about $200 of fees that required some immediate attention.
OK - so the swim was good, despite the CRUSH of humanity - 2100 people all at once. Imagine the thrashing and kicking! Anyway, I got a charlie horse in my left calf about 1/2 mile in - so it hurt like hell to try to swim it off when I couldn't really stop to do anything about it. And when I got out of the water, both calves charlie-horsed up. I think the cold water was the main culprit - I hadn't done any cold-water open swimming, and my wetsuit had no sleeves - it was just a bib.
So I could barley walk through the first transition, let alone try to move quickly. I did manage the swim in 76 minutes - about 4 minutes below my goal time, so I was very surprised (OH, and I also overswam the turn, so to come out when I did was AWESOME!)
T1 took me about 12 minutes to get ready for the bike - I was trying to get my calves to cooperate with me the whole time. I headed out on the bike, and I just have to say, the throngs of people cheering us on was nothing short of inspiring!
I spent a lot of my time on the bike trying to get my calves to stop screaming, so when I finished the first lap with an average speed of about 19.5 mph, I was pretty happy. But part of that was the wind blowing us back into town on the way back from the out-and-back loop - I averaged close to 30 mph on the way back. But then A) it got warm, B) the wind started shifting, and C) I started hurting. I stopped at one of the aid stations on the second lap to slather on vaseline on my neck from the chafing the collar of the wetsuit gave me, despite putting on bodyglide. I stoppped at the half-way point to eat - I had to stand upright as I could not get the food to settle in very well. The HammerFuel I had with me started tasting like crap, too. I shouldn't have tried to flavor it myself.
On the third lap, the wind had completely changed, so the way back was fully into the wind. That slowed me down. I also had to stop a few times on the lap to stretch out my back - it had been hurting the whole week leading up to the race, and it was screaming at me to get off the bike and get upright.
I got in for T2, took my time changing because my back, legs, and shoulders were killing me. I knew with the blown calves I wouldn't be running much, so the question became how far off from my goal time of 13:30 would I be? I knew that I could still make it if I walked the whole run course, but that wouldn't be very sporting, would it?
I walked to the first aid station, where they had a cramp/massage station. I knew I needed them to work on my calves. Luckily, the day before, I bought a pair of compression running socks and it was the best purchase I made in preparation for this event. After the rub down, I tried to run a few times, but my calves still would have none of it. I ended up walking the whole first lap.
On the second lap, I stopped again at the massage station, this time having them stretch out my entire legs. That seemed to help, along with the walking and the compression socks. A fter walking uphill for the next 1/2 mile, I tried a jogging for a few minutes. My heart rate shot up, but my legs didn't hurt so bad. I knew that once the sun went down, I would be able to push a little harder. I started running for a couple minutes, walking several more, and picked up the pace. The third lap, I was able to run from aid station to aid station, walking through them to give the water and gatorade a chance to get digested.
At the start of the third lap, I started calculating if I could break 15 hours. I thought it would be close. That gave me the motivation to speed up. With about 3 miles to go, I thought I could break 14:45. I still had to stop and walk on the inclines - my calves wouldn't let me run up them - but by the last mile, I was running. The last 300 yards, it seemed as if all the pain was starting to melt away. The last 100 was a sprint for me - I wanted to catch up with a guy in front of me, and once I did, my legs forgot how to slow down - I couldn't stop myself.
I crossed the line at 14:41:44...which was fitting for my number, #411.
As for court - the judge heard our case yesterday, but didn't make a decision - he's mailing it out in the next few days.
More to come very soon!
Here's a quick and dirty recap - a full one is coming very very soon, I promise! I've just had to deal with a ton of other stuff - my court date, my yearly performance review, and a mishap at the bank that resulted in about $200 of fees that required some immediate attention.
OK - so the swim was good, despite the CRUSH of humanity - 2100 people all at once. Imagine the thrashing and kicking! Anyway, I got a charlie horse in my left calf about 1/2 mile in - so it hurt like hell to try to swim it off when I couldn't really stop to do anything about it. And when I got out of the water, both calves charlie-horsed up. I think the cold water was the main culprit - I hadn't done any cold-water open swimming, and my wetsuit had no sleeves - it was just a bib.
So I could barley walk through the first transition, let alone try to move quickly. I did manage the swim in 76 minutes - about 4 minutes below my goal time, so I was very surprised (OH, and I also overswam the turn, so to come out when I did was AWESOME!)
T1 took me about 12 minutes to get ready for the bike - I was trying to get my calves to cooperate with me the whole time. I headed out on the bike, and I just have to say, the throngs of people cheering us on was nothing short of inspiring!
I spent a lot of my time on the bike trying to get my calves to stop screaming, so when I finished the first lap with an average speed of about 19.5 mph, I was pretty happy. But part of that was the wind blowing us back into town on the way back from the out-and-back loop - I averaged close to 30 mph on the way back. But then A) it got warm, B) the wind started shifting, and C) I started hurting. I stopped at one of the aid stations on the second lap to slather on vaseline on my neck from the chafing the collar of the wetsuit gave me, despite putting on bodyglide. I stoppped at the half-way point to eat - I had to stand upright as I could not get the food to settle in very well. The HammerFuel I had with me started tasting like crap, too. I shouldn't have tried to flavor it myself.
On the third lap, the wind had completely changed, so the way back was fully into the wind. That slowed me down. I also had to stop a few times on the lap to stretch out my back - it had been hurting the whole week leading up to the race, and it was screaming at me to get off the bike and get upright.
I got in for T2, took my time changing because my back, legs, and shoulders were killing me. I knew with the blown calves I wouldn't be running much, so the question became how far off from my goal time of 13:30 would I be? I knew that I could still make it if I walked the whole run course, but that wouldn't be very sporting, would it?
I walked to the first aid station, where they had a cramp/massage station. I knew I needed them to work on my calves. Luckily, the day before, I bought a pair of compression running socks and it was the best purchase I made in preparation for this event. After the rub down, I tried to run a few times, but my calves still would have none of it. I ended up walking the whole first lap.
On the second lap, I stopped again at the massage station, this time having them stretch out my entire legs. That seemed to help, along with the walking and the compression socks. A fter walking uphill for the next 1/2 mile, I tried a jogging for a few minutes. My heart rate shot up, but my legs didn't hurt so bad. I knew that once the sun went down, I would be able to push a little harder. I started running for a couple minutes, walking several more, and picked up the pace. The third lap, I was able to run from aid station to aid station, walking through them to give the water and gatorade a chance to get digested.
At the start of the third lap, I started calculating if I could break 15 hours. I thought it would be close. That gave me the motivation to speed up. With about 3 miles to go, I thought I could break 14:45. I still had to stop and walk on the inclines - my calves wouldn't let me run up them - but by the last mile, I was running. The last 300 yards, it seemed as if all the pain was starting to melt away. The last 100 was a sprint for me - I wanted to catch up with a guy in front of me, and once I did, my legs forgot how to slow down - I couldn't stop myself.
I crossed the line at 14:41:44...which was fitting for my number, #411.
As for court - the judge heard our case yesterday, but didn't make a decision - he's mailing it out in the next few days.
More to come very soon!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
in roughly 24 hours...
...I *WILL* be Ironman!
2.4 miles swimming. 112 miles biking. 26.2 miles running. The toughest one-day endurance event....and a lifetime of memories made in one day.
Here's the music that has kept me motivated, got my adrenaline pumping, and hopefully I can sing over and over in my head to keep me going tomorrow:
1. Born Too Slow - The Crystal Method
2. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid - The Offspring
3. Troublemaker - Weezer
4. Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)- The Prodigy
5. Bleed It Out (Steve's Ironman Edit) - Linkin Park
6. Take It Off - The Donnas
7. Why Do You Love Me - Garbage
8. Stronger - Kanye West
9. 'Til I Collapse - Eminem
10. Move Along - The All-American Rejects
11. Devour - Shinedown
There you have it - Steve's Ironman Run List, 2008
T-minus 18 hours...
Almost time. Got a short run in today, and went I got back to log it, here's where I stand in terms of prep work. Not nearly enough compared to others, and certainly not enough to qulify for a Kona spot, but hey, like that was going to happen anyway.
Anyway, since the beginning of my training, I have run over 400 miles, biked nearly 1300 miles, and swam about 21 miles. I've put most of my training time into running, since that is where I am the weakest. Which makes me a little nervous for the swim and the bike. I think if I had to do it all over again, which I DON'T, I'd aim for 500 miles running, at least 2000 miles biking, and 30-plus miles of swimming.
The course looks great. I am ready.
Anyway, since the beginning of my training, I have run over 400 miles, biked nearly 1300 miles, and swam about 21 miles. I've put most of my training time into running, since that is where I am the weakest. Which makes me a little nervous for the swim and the bike. I think if I had to do it all over again, which I DON'T, I'd aim for 500 miles running, at least 2000 miles biking, and 30-plus miles of swimming.
The course looks great. I am ready.
Friday, November 21, 2008
"It's Shrinkage!"
-George Costanza
The river was open for swiming this morning, and when I jumped in, I immediately regretted it. 64 degrees (17.5 C)!!! I immediately thought, 'what did I get myself into?'
It's cold. Very, very cold. And my wetsuit has no sleeves.
On the flipside, on Sunday, that hour-plus of swimming won't be so bad... the water temperature might feel kind of nice once I'm warmed up.
The river was open for swiming this morning, and when I jumped in, I immediately regretted it. 64 degrees (17.5 C)!!! I immediately thought, 'what did I get myself into?'
It's cold. Very, very cold. And my wetsuit has no sleeves.
On the flipside, on Sunday, that hour-plus of swimming won't be so bad... the water temperature might feel kind of nice once I'm warmed up.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Inspiration
From this year's Ironman World Championship in Hawaii:
Here's the link, If I can figure out how to insert a video, I will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFvoGRPiCU
Here's the link, If I can figure out how to insert a video, I will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFvoGRPiCU
Judge Judy...and Judge Joe Brown
Well, my court case is getting crazier - I got contacted by both these daytime TV shows about bringing my case to them instead of the Platte County court. Calling this an odd case is an understatement.
I'm not planning on going on TV, so don't look for me on daytime TV anytime soon.
Court date is set for the 25th, and I'm sticking with it. The only problem is that the court hearing is the day after I get back from Tempe, and 2 days after the Ironman. So I think I'll be going slow around the courtroom.
I'm not planning on going on TV, so don't look for me on daytime TV anytime soon.
Court date is set for the 25th, and I'm sticking with it. The only problem is that the court hearing is the day after I get back from Tempe, and 2 days after the Ironman. So I think I'll be going slow around the courtroom.
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