: Johnson’s Beach – Full Vineman Special Needs, Run

: Windsor High School Gym – Race Registration

: Working the Special Needs Bags table with Steve Behler.

: Ironman logistics – Try to keep things simple!

: Jeff Mitchell coming up for air.

: Scott Wing & Dave Latourette outside registration on Friday.

: Echelon Cycle & Multi-Sport Owner, Kevin Buchholz at Johnson’s Beach

: New arrival to the Wing family. “Swim Daddy, Bike Daddy…” (Dad rocked the Full Vineman Aqua-Bike).

: Back at the Bike to Run transition…

: We did our best. Hope this worked out well for athletes. This was the first time that the Full Vineman has Run Special Needs bags.

Some interesting things people put in their transparent Special Needs Bags for this Ironman-Distance Triathlon:

→ Cans of Pringles potato chips (stashed in multiple bags!)

→ A tiara

→ Individually sandwiched bagged slices of cheese pizza

→ Fritos (loose, i.e., not in their original packaging)

→ Red Bull

→ a bottle of Ibuproven (that’s it)

→ a liter bottle of iskiate (water, chia seeds, with lemon juice)

→ candy bars! (you name it, we saw it)

→ a card from a loved one (to be discovered in a time of special need)

→ coolers (cold beverages within)

→ Vibrams (must have been for the bare-footer I later saw; maybe packed those for the third loop!)

: My South African pal, Andrew Brodziak, running to a Top-10 finish. Great race Andy! Nice run form too.

: Kevin and Layne hanging out on the marathon course.

: Fresh Fish Fajitas. Triathletes everywhere…

: It might be easier just to race than to volunteer. Either way, triathlon involves a lot of work!

A quick follow-up on Vineman 70.3… As I was occupied on the Tahoe Rim Trail the weekend of Vineman 70.3, I wasn’t available to be on the Vineman course cheering on three Point Positive athletes: Jeff Ottoboni, Eric Gardner, and Nick Sandahl. All three guys established personal bests for the 70.3 distance on 7/18. These fellas are making terrific progress as endurance athletes. They will next hit the Big Kahuna Triathlon in September, which I plan to attend. At Vineman 70.3, Eric validated his lottery slot to the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon this October. Excellent! After Kahuna, Jeff will use the Healdsburg Half-Marathon as a stepping-stone to the Californian International Marathon (CIM) in December. Nick Sandahl will be running the marathon in Healdsburg on 10/10/10, or is he running CIM too? Or both???

Furthermore, congrats to Greg Goebel on his solid performance at Vineman 70.3, which came just 3 weeks after his sub-11 performance at Ironman Coeur d’Alene. And a final congrats to David Tett, a new Point Positive athlete who, under the tutelage of Jennifer Hampson at Parkpoint Health Club, also established a personal best for the 70.3 distance. David has come on-board Point Positive as an aspiring Ironman triathlete. With his insatiable curiosity and impeccable attention to detail, I’m excited to be working with David.

I’d also like to welcome Carlo Piscitello to the Point Positive roster. Carlo and I established a great working relationship as Parent/Teacher. I had the great privilege of working with his daughter, Sterling, in my Math class at Windsor Middle School last year. Carlo has embarked on the inspired quest to complete his first marathon. Training has begun in earnest. Carlo will also run the Healdsburg Half-Marathon on October 10th. Welcome again to Carlo and David!

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Another Point Positive athlete, Chuck Potter, recently went to France to shift his triathlon training into high gear. Chuck and his wife, Michele, have just returned from their epic adventures with Pyrenees Multisport, where they not only got in some awesome training but also took in a few stages of Le Tour de France. Tres bon, magnifique! Next up for Chuck, the Timberman 70.3 Triathlon in New Hampshire on August 22nd! He’ll be packing some French fitness! Bon chance Monsieur Potter!