Cleveland has been very good to me. It’s an amazing town, great cycling, wonderful people, yummy restaurants, and a spectacular park system. But for crying out loud, people, no one should be expected to live through a Cleveland winter. This is number 8 for me and I’m about to pull out my nose hairs one by one to distract from the pain of the endless cloudy days. However, it was SUNNY yesterday. Of course, it couldn’t come out until after my gloomy run, but I did get to feel that hint of maybe, just maybe some warmth yesterday evening. In celebration of the event I took out my bike and gave it a full spring cleaning (with new bar tape and everything!). Granted it was so cold that I was wearing my winter coat and knee-high Sorel boots. A clean and freshly lubed bike is really something to be admired. It pedaled so smoothly and shifted like butta…. when I did my trainer ride later that day. Grrrrrr…. Thankfully, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be headed somewhere significantly sunnier and with a much longer outdoor training season for the coming years. Not that I’ll have time for that…

Just a couple days into my self-made training camp and I’m already sore. I’m currently trying to arrange my day so as to avoid the water aerobics ladies at the gym. My gym’s pool, for my non-masters days, is just 3 lanes so a carefully planned workout is key. I had to share an end lane with Mr. can’t backstroke in a straight line one day and ended up with a very bruised right hand from hitting the wall and ladder over and over trying to avoid a concussion. On the topic of swimming, it’s remarkable how much easier it is to get the yardage in with the team compared to by myself. I get to about 3000 yards on my own and am completely and utterly bored out of my skull. I can swim with the team for 5000+ and it’s still bearable.

With cycling every day indoors I’m starting to run out of ideas for trainer workouts. I suppose I should put in a couple of steady zone 2 rides, but with no TV for entertainment that’s kind of like asking me to rearrange my closet alphabetically by color and store of origin. Sure it may seem like a good idea when you start, but by the time you get to the B’s you’re looking for a less painful thing to do… like maybe a self lobotomy.

OK, enough complaining for one day. I’ll be doing all my workouts outside under the hot sun in just over a week. Ahhhhhh….

This is my first post on the Timex blog, as I’m one of the many newbies on the team in 2009. Being chosen to be part of the team is truly an honor and I can’t wait to meet the team in April! I thought it would be good to put up a quick intro so the blog regulars can know who I am before I start spamming the site with my mindless chatter.

Triathlon bits- This is my fourth season racing and first in the 29 + 1 age group. My favorite distance is the Half Ironman (did 4 last year), but I’d like to have another go at racing a full this year. So far in 2009 I have some old favorites on the schedule and will be racing Oceanside 70.3, Triple T Ohio, and the Kinetic Half, all for the second time. If my luck holds out and they offer 140.6 slots at Oceanside I may also take a second stab at CdA. I have been keeping a blog since my first season racing at http://joditris.blogspot.com

Finishing the hardest Oly EVER at Triple T Ohio

Non-triathlon bits- Away from training and racing I am just finishing up my medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. I’ve been here since 2001 as part of a dual MD / PhD program. This summer I’m off to start a residency in Emergency Medicine and hope to follow that up with a fellowship in Sports Medicine. I’m also a big fan of cooking, hiking and anything involving wine…

It's not often you get attacked by a Chef Alligator!

I want to thank the managers for giving me the opportunity to be on the team, and all the athletes for being so welcoming in the first couple months. Should be a very fun year!