It was Cherry Chapstick ... she was making out with Julie Miller

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Based on.....

Well, you've been dinged twice and now I'm piling on. In this case we can say you shouldn't judge a book by the cover; or a thread by the title. You have some catch-up reading to do.

I hate when you guys make me actually do work/read....damn you.

Oh I see said the blind man.......

carry on.

I grabbed my wife's chapstick coming out of T2 at my last race. The cold water on the swim and the dry air on the descents during the bike had left them cracked. I also stole a kiss from her. Would the chapstick be strike one and the kiss strike two?

That depends, did you end up getting on base?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

This brings to mind a little bit of character I showed last year at IM Boulder resisting outside aid. Off topic, but I've always thought it worth telling.

After completing the two 42 mile loops, I was heading west on the Diagonal. I was not having a great ride, some stomach troubles and the heat combined to have me in the pain cave as I pedaled along the busy highway. At that moment, my neighbor pulled alongside and asked if I wanted to "sit in for a bit". Now this guy is not just any old rider - he has won multiple national titles as a junior for TT and road racing and would have happily towed me to a PR. While I knew it was impossible for any number of reasons - waving him off was as hard as a reformed alcoholic turning down a cold beer on a hot day.

Racing around friends and family is tough for that reason -on the run later I passed a dozen friends mostly camped out with coolers who would have happily (and innocently) offered cold drinks, sunscreen, or a snack if I had wavered just a bit. I did manage to game the system just a bit however... my wife was working one of the aid stations so I pull over for a minute to get a proper, loving sunscreen refresh and a kiss.

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

with all this kissing going on at races, It's amazing anybody has time to race.

The story actually goes a lot deeper. I left out a few details. For one, the guy who, was in a yellow vest, was not actually part of the race. He was I heard the director of the Atlantic City Marathon or something like that, but he wasn't actually part of the race. With that being said, the police were supposed to be stopping any bikers who were not part of the race on the boardwalk. So if he wasn't part of the race he was supposed to be removed by the police.

That guy had been with me before earlier in the run from the very start of the run, I was second off the bike, but when Freddie, the eventually winner passed me, the guy went with Freddie. Typical lead person behavior. I was in 3rd then. Freddie then passed the original first place guy and took over the lead vehicles on the run, like a cop on motorcycle. Then Chris had the guy, then when I passed Chris, I picked him back up. This was a first year race so first year understandings was lacking as usual.

It was a dark day for me. I ended up talking to the head USAT official for about 2 hours. During that time she told me how she was about to sell her IT company for 7+ figures that upcoming week. It was great to hear that from an official when I just lost out on my biggest payday ever. I had to bite my tongue, and in the end, I had/choose to apologize to the official who gave me the penalty and swallow my pride.

I called Jordan on the way home and explained the situation. He encouraged me to file an official complaint with USAT and see it thru. But frankly, that was when many pros were not getting paid for races, and I didn't want to rock the boat as I was still get like $3-$4 if I recall.

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Susie Chapstick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev7DHWG7wsY

Can someone explain to me why pacing someone is illegal when everyone has a gps watch to see their pace?

Can you imagine an Ironman race with 2500 EXTRA people on the run/bike course pacing people?

Besides the crowd issue, a GPS watch is about as motivational as a cup of sand in the hot desert. Unless you have a meaningful relationship with your watch, it is neither motivational, nor the same form of accountability as you have with a real person pacing you.

Haha great metaphor and I agree completely. People who see watches as being analogous to pacers must be crushing 100% of their workouts done with said devices. Never a lack of motivation eh!

I run into that problem when my parents show up to races, too. They really don't get the idea that outside help is not allowed. On the run at Savageman 70 last year, I faded hard. My dad met me about a mile from the end and said he wanted to pace me in. I was nowhere near the front, but I still told him no. I had a similar situation at a trail race this year. It was over 90F with high winds and no shade, and there was a steep hike up to the one aid station where we were allowed to take outside help. I had been out of water for a couple miles and was starting to stumble from dehydration, and my mom tried to hand me a water bottle at the bottom of the hill. I have never had such a hard time saying no to anything in my life, but I made it to the top of the hill before accepting any water.

I see. Thanks