Trilogue

It's a shame - the Spanish tradition of siesta, rather than taking over the world as it should, is on the way out according to several recent articles . How great would it be for the typical morning-training, hard working age grouper if it were the other way around and afternoon naps (without having to work late to make up for it) were de rigueur? Get up, go to masters swimming, then hit Starbucks for a nonfat latte and a scone, go to work, crank out the goods for 5 hours or so, eat your lunch , then go lie down for 2 hours and recover like a pro before returning to work for a final check of your email, maybe a little net surfing, then it's on your bike for the commute home and more sleep!

New Lance interview on NPR which you can download here, including some commentary on the team presentation. The Discovery Team web site is up.

Well what do you know - the mythical Garmin Forerunner 301 with heart rate monitor exists and will be available shortly. I freaked when I saw that a replacement HR transmitter strap from Garmin is over $100, worried that it would be like all my various Polar units which don't have field replaceable batteries, but the 301 battery is in fact a replaceable CR2032 3 volt with a lifetime of about 500 hours. The only other transmitter I've owned with a replaceable batter was a Timex that didn't actually work very well, but it wasn't the battery's fault. I do have to wonder if since the Timex Speed & Distance system uses Garmin GPS internals, that means the 301 uses Timex HRM internals...but regardless, this is such a cool gizmo I'll be unable to resist.

I still have my Forerunner 201, and it works great both as a bike computer and a running watch. I think it's down to about $115 at Amazon:

Do you travel? Do you work out? Paul Huddle & Jim Kaese wrote a guide called the Athletic Minded Traveler which will undoubtedly help you out. Many favorable reviews and it's dirt cheap - I'm going to buy a few tonight at their first signing at Borders and send them to my traveling tri geek friends. Click the cover image to check it out at Amazon.

Interesting article in the SF Gate today about Dean Karnazes, an amazing and unstoppable ultra freak of the finest kind. I'll pass on the Hydro Bronc stunt, I think I'd prefer to swim or kayak. Not sure how long that link will last before it rots, but of course Dean's also got a web site. The (non ghost written) book referenced in the article isn't out yet but it sounds worth a read. Click the cover image to have a look at Amazon: