Race report: Viersel

My season finale took place in off-the-beaten-track Viersel, the scene for a classic non-drafting race north of Antwerp. Strange 2-wave race format: ladies, U23 and masters in wave 1 at 11:30am, seniors (U35) in wave 2 at 3:30pm. The sun was out, the crowd was not. I showed up in okay shape, sleep deprived as usual but at 83.6kg, lighter than normal, despite an irregular 34hour training month.

My race did not go well. Having forgotten my race gels in the car, I made it to the swim start just in time. So much for warming up. My previous race swims were subpar, so I upped my pooltime this past week to work on technique and speed. Despite a so-so feel in the water and a couple of irritating leg grabbers, I managed a 23:40 swim. A quick T1 later and I was on the bike course, spot on the 25′ mark.

That’s when the misery started. I never got a rhythm going, nor was I able to hang on. The second of two laps brought more wind, so I ducked down on my handlebars and gave it my irregular all. 1:08:27 later, I ran out of T2, my heart rate racing. Too bad I wasn’t. Comatose 5 minute kilometers was all I could manage as I was overtaken by one nimble runner after the other. I could taste the frustration as I crossed the finish line in 2:21:30, placing 85th out of a 158 finishers. Race results here.

Conclusion: I competed in two out of three disciplines. This is getting old. Maybe I should take up a more explosive sport. Ladder racing, anyone?

Anyway, tri season nr. 3 is in the books, on to season nr. 4. Here’s to competing in all three disciplines.

A soulful community service announcement

Hearty soulfunk from Australia. That’s what new kid on the block Kylie Auldist serves up on her debut album Just say. Off the hook soulful sounds by the Bamboos, think Nicole Willis. Single available at Soulkombinat, Album at Tru Thoughts. Money well spent.

Kylie Auldist – Community Service Announcement (Tru Thoughts, 2008)

To read is to write

In the latest issue of Tekstblad:

• The ins and outs of linguistic vs visual metaphors
• Tips on writing multimodal instructions
• Bricks vs clicks: taking e-commerce to the next level
• A how-to guide to content management
• Reading = writing in media life says Mark Deuze

A word about academic service

In academia, research publications and ‘grantsmanship’ matter. Teaching and service to the university, research community and general public are, ehm, nice. With this knowledge in mind, I volunteered to write a couple of book notices for the journal Pragmatics. FYI, book notices are short, non-evaluative briefs about a book and as far as I know, they are unique to Pragmatics. I ‘noticed’ John Richardson’s Analysing Newspapers and also Paterson & Domingo’s Making Online News and whaddayaknow, I actually enjoyed doing so. Keeps the mind sharp. Here‘s what I wrote.

This is not news

As found on Indexed. Jessica Hagy has succeeded in finding an actual use for mathematical objects like Venn diagrams. Somebody give that woman a Nobel prize.

Futurevintage.net

One of my favorite radio shows is Future Vintage. Future Vintage used to air on Lijn5, the Dutch version of BBC’s Radio 1, but as of Monday, 25 August, Future Vintage is going solo. To celebrate the occassion, hosts Tom Trago, Radna and Melodee are paying hommage to their favorite tracks from past shows. Nothing but flavor. Check the podcast and playlist:

Carlos Nino & Lil Sci – Freedom feat. Tifanny Paige
James Pants – She’s Out Of My Life
Yaw – Where Will You Be
Cody ChessnuTT – Magic In A Mortal Minute
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – War
Time and Space Machine – Amorous Ways
Shuggie Otis – XL-30
James Pants – We’re Trough
Hercules And The Love Affair – Athene
Rick James – Big Time
Howard Kennedy – Can’t Wait To Make You Mine
Rahaan – edit
Jamie Lidell – A Little Bit Of Feel Good (Dorian Concept remix)
Portishead – White Horses
Alela Diane – Pirate Gospel
Clark – Dew On The Mouth
Trus’ Me – Good God
Red Dragon Band – Let Me Be Your Radio
ESG – Party Music
Steel An Skin – Afro Punk Reggae Dub
Annie Whitehead – Rainy Daze
Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place
Milosh – You Fill Me
Larry Heard – Never No More Lonely
Linkwood Family – Piece Of Mind
Sun Ra – Nuclear War
Soil & Pimp Sessions – A Wheel Within A Wheel
Joy Division – Transmission

Ne kilo rauw gekapt. Make that two.

Lessons in hip hop breakbeats by DJ Mauz. Nutricious grooves in two parts: easy listening on Part 1 and head nodding funkiness on Part II. Courtesy of the always fresh LaidBack Radio blog. Big up.

A short history of Ironman triathlon

1974 – first recorded use of the word “triathlon” in the multisport sense
1978 – 15 men start and 12 finish the first Ironman race in Hawaii
1982 – Julie Moss crawls to the finish line
1984 – Dave Scott breaks the 9 hour mark
1989 – Mark Allen sets the IM run record – a 2:40:04 marathon
1992 – Paula Newby-Fraser becomes the first woman to break 9 hours (8:55:28)
1996 – Luc Van Lierde sets the Hawaii course record at 8:04:08
1997 – Luc Van Lierde breaks the 8 hour mark (7:50:27) at IM Germany
2004 – Paula Newby-Fraser caps a record-setting 24th IM race victory
2006 – Normann Stadler sets the Hawaii bike record: 4:18:23
2008 – Stefaan Engels breaks the record for most IM races in a year: 15, and counting!

Sources: 220triathlon.com, Wikipedia, USA triathlon

Calling all cars, calling all cars

Be on the lookout for a dangerous man/
This man is wanted by the FBI/
10-4/

Ladies and gents, it’s time to spread a ‘lil soul train love. Give it up for Philly soul trio First Choice. Rochelle, Ursula and Annette, show ’em how you get down.

First choice – Armed and extremely dangerous (Philly Groove Records, 1973)

Hoogstraten time trial

Participated in a team time trial today: a two-lap, 22k race against the clock, with Bobby Hutcherson’s Hello to the wind on my mind. We placed 22nd overall in a time of 32’02”. Average speed: 39.889 km/h. Average heart rate 181 bpm. That means pain. That bacon&egg sandwich never tasted better afterwards. So did the beers. Next year we’ll hit the 40km/h mark. But first, we’ve got a wedding party to attend.