“What It Takes” Triathlon Movie Offers Sneak Preview
GymSkinZ will be seeking ways to distribute this DVD
SEATTLE, June 1, 2006 – Triathlon fans’ wait is almost over. “What It Takes”, the documentary profiling four Ironman triathletes, will debut in the coming months through film festivals and selected distribution partners. Until those arrangements are finalized, the triathlon community can get an early peek at the movie’s first few minutes at http://www.witmovie.com/video.php?clip=teaser and a newly updated trailer at http://www.witmovie.com/video.php?clip=trailer. More clips will be released in coming weeks.
The feature-length documentary stars four elite Ironman triathletes – Peter Reid, Heather Fuhr, Lori Bowden, and Luke Bell – who together have won 6 world championships and dozens of major races. Viewers go behind the scenes in the quest for the 2005 world championship in Kona, Hawaii. Running just over 98 minutes, the movie includes footage of the athletes training, racing, and resting, and also opening up in extensive interviews to share their thoughts and feelings. The audience learns much about the sport of triathlon and the duel for athletic supremacy, but also about the very human issues which confront four athletes in an up-and-down, unpredictable year. “What It Takes” was shot at 24 frames per second on a Panasonic SDX-900, and is presented in 16:9 widescreen format. Its rich cinematic feel and sweeping visual imagery from places around the globe – including Australia, Canada, Dubai, and numerous locations in the United States, including Hawaii – combine with compelling storylines to produce a fascinating narrative about four athletes, four human beings, and one dream, the Ironman world championship.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
GymSkinZ supports Project Play 2006
GymSkinZ is proud to support Paige Dunn and her involvement with Project Play 2006.
Here's an excerpt from Paige's website: http://www.paigedunn.com
"Project Play an incredible adventure that I will be part of this November. I will be traveling with four others to Niger to help develop soccer programs throughout this African Nation. Enabling and encouraging participation in sports is something that I am very passionate about and very excited to share with you.
Project Play is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults in African nations through participation in the world's most popular sport - soccer. This collaborative effort will provide educational incentives, promote self-esteem and foster community pride while generating confidence and hope to those in impoverished African nations.
I have wonderful memories of growing up playing soccer and being excited and motivated every season to play and travel with my friends. Soccer provided the opportunity for me to learn the value of teamwork, to bolster my confidence and self-esteem as well as teaching me the value of creating a healthy active lifestyle – clearly something that has stuck with me all of my life. Youth soccer is such an integral part of our lives in the Bay Area that we don’t realize that playing soccer is a privilege that not every child shares.
This privilege is not available to the youth of Niger but “Project Play” can help make a difference. Niger currently has three million people on the verge of starvation. Our group’s purpose is to utilize a soccer project for constructive social purposes and help draw more attention to the needs of the Republic of Niger by working along side the government and in coordination with the nation’s Peace Corps Volunteers.
Along with the Niger Football Association (FENIFOOT) and the Niger Peace Corps, Project Play staff will travel to Niger's seven provincial capitals to implement the program and coordinate with the distribution of soccer balls and manuals to the Peace Corps volunteers. I am proud to be part of this team effort to make a difference.
The cost to deliver our goal of 5,000 soccer balls is $50,000 which includes transportation and administration costs. I am hoping that you will help support this worthwhile endeavor. For only $5 you can pay for the cost of one soccer ball which truly can change an entire village in Niger.
I know there are many many worthwhile groups and causes to support so if Project Play does not resonate with you perhaps you might consider forwarding my letter to someone you know. Any help or support is deeply appreciated.
However, if you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation to Project Play, please email me and I will send you more information.
If you would like additional information about “Project Play”, please visit our Web site at www.projectplay.net. Or feel free to email me, paige@xcelsportsgroup.com, and I can tell you more about this exciting adventure . Thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Paige
www.paigedunn.com"
Here's an excerpt from Paige's website: http://www.paigedunn.com
"Project Play an incredible adventure that I will be part of this November. I will be traveling with four others to Niger to help develop soccer programs throughout this African Nation. Enabling and encouraging participation in sports is something that I am very passionate about and very excited to share with you.
Project Play is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults in African nations through participation in the world's most popular sport - soccer. This collaborative effort will provide educational incentives, promote self-esteem and foster community pride while generating confidence and hope to those in impoverished African nations.
I have wonderful memories of growing up playing soccer and being excited and motivated every season to play and travel with my friends. Soccer provided the opportunity for me to learn the value of teamwork, to bolster my confidence and self-esteem as well as teaching me the value of creating a healthy active lifestyle – clearly something that has stuck with me all of my life. Youth soccer is such an integral part of our lives in the Bay Area that we don’t realize that playing soccer is a privilege that not every child shares.
This privilege is not available to the youth of Niger but “Project Play” can help make a difference. Niger currently has three million people on the verge of starvation. Our group’s purpose is to utilize a soccer project for constructive social purposes and help draw more attention to the needs of the Republic of Niger by working along side the government and in coordination with the nation’s Peace Corps Volunteers.
Along with the Niger Football Association (FENIFOOT) and the Niger Peace Corps, Project Play staff will travel to Niger's seven provincial capitals to implement the program and coordinate with the distribution of soccer balls and manuals to the Peace Corps volunteers. I am proud to be part of this team effort to make a difference.
The cost to deliver our goal of 5,000 soccer balls is $50,000 which includes transportation and administration costs. I am hoping that you will help support this worthwhile endeavor. For only $5 you can pay for the cost of one soccer ball which truly can change an entire village in Niger.
I know there are many many worthwhile groups and causes to support so if Project Play does not resonate with you perhaps you might consider forwarding my letter to someone you know. Any help or support is deeply appreciated.
However, if you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation to Project Play, please email me and I will send you more information.
If you would like additional information about “Project Play”, please visit our Web site at www.projectplay.net. Or feel free to email me, paige@xcelsportsgroup.com, and I can tell you more about this exciting adventure . Thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Paige
www.paigedunn.com"
Thursday, June 15, 2006
New Film about Le Tour
"Tour de France Confidential," a new film that features U.S. cycling's top riders and promises to provide an insider perspective on what really happens at the world's most famous bike race.
According to the film promo, riders, coaches and commentators tell stories of the Tour's intense rivalries, feuds and alliances. Revealed are "hidden tricks" from inside the peloton and the event's circus of off-bike diversions -- behind-the-scenes access typically reserved for racers and their closest confidants.
Now who could pass up a chance to see all that?
According to the film promo, riders, coaches and commentators tell stories of the Tour's intense rivalries, feuds and alliances. Revealed are "hidden tricks" from inside the peloton and the event's circus of off-bike diversions -- behind-the-scenes access typically reserved for racers and their closest confidants.
Now who could pass up a chance to see all that?
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Oliver Half Iron Triathlon Race Report!
Oliver Half-Iron Triathlon
...well that was fun... kinda sorta!
I am pleased to report I survived my first attempt at the half-iron triathlon distance.... suffice to say it was a *little* different than the sprints / olympic distance stuff that I've done in the past - and when I say *little* different, I mean in the "what? I can't go anaerobic / balls to the wall the ENTIRE time and still finish?". In any case, here's my "so-called race" report from this past weekend.
I can say without hesitation that I still absolutely suck donkey-ass in swimming (who takes 62 minutes to swim 2km? Oh wait, that would be ME!) It was my first open water swim of the year and thankfully shoe-horning myself into my wetsuit wasn't actually part of the race or I would have been dead last from the sound of the gun! Couldn't get into any sort of rhythm at all during the swim and was zig-zagging like some sort of Grand Slalom downhill skiier.... Must have been absolutely PAINFUL for spectators to witness from the beach - "Hey, who's the idiot swimming perpendicular to the swim-course?!" I'm sure the other swimmers were saying the exact same thing as I found myself bouncing off of others left and right like a pinball the whole way, and of course being slower than EVERYONE, people had to swim around me, over me, under me, etc etc. No matter how hard I tried to stay wide of the main traffic, I kept veering right back into it... Note to self, learn how to sight before Ironman... Regardless, I was simply happy to *complete* my first attempt at swimming 2km in open water considering I could barely swim 100m around this time last year without getting my heart-rate up to about 220..... for crying out loud.... Anyway, lot of work to do in the lake over the next 12 weeks cuz if I have this kind of swim up at Ironman, it's going to be a RRRREEEEEAAALLLLY loooooong day.
So next was the bike... I was "instructed" to just treat it as a training day so as I was doing cart-wheels through the transition area since I simply made it out of the water alive, I had to keep reminding myself not to hammer like a mad-man during the ride. Of course that's easier said than done since I was so jacked on the fact I was still upright and breathing, and not lying in the back of the EMS ambulance with a couple paramedics yelling "CLEAAAAR!!" as they attempted to revive my lifeless carcass. Anyway, jumped on my bike and started BLOWING by people which felt fantastic, but not really part of the race plan. Once I settled down and got my heart rate to something respectable, it all worked out to a comfortable 2hr 47minutes on the 92km bike course (was 96th overall for the bike). I think that averaged to around 20 or 20.5 mp/h which was great for the rolling course. Was REALLY nice to get off my bike and actually be able to jog back through transition but I did hang out there for a little longer than I should of - mental note - put my speedlaces back on! In my previous sprint races, my legs were rather twitchy and it took me a while to stop cursing at the thought of still having to run but at least this time, sitting down on the concrete to put my shoes on wasn't an exercise in futility...
So after I jammed my feet into my runners, I started haulin ass to the run course when one of the marshalls near the END of transition was nice enough to point out I forgot my race-belt / number.... After hauling ass BACK to my bike (about 100 meters the opposite direction) to find my number, I was finally out on the run course after a rather long transition, but oh well, what's a minute here or there WASTED from stupidity? So anyway, I don't think I've spent more than 1.5 hours on my feet since the California marathon last December, so I was a little worried what was going to happen. It was nice being able to actually RUN coming off the bike as opposed to shuffle/limp/cramp/stretch/curse/jog/repeat. Still, I literally didn't know if I was going to implode 5km into the run or 15km into the run so I figured I better run purely on heart rate as opposed to trying to keep my normal half-marathon pace (which is normally around 1:30 to 1:35 - but a little easier when you haven't rode for almost 3 hours!). Anyway, first aid station, it felt like I was grocery shopping since I gunned down a bunch of gatorade, a gel shot, a couple slices of oranges and I think a chocolate chip cookie that was crushed in the process of trying to grab everything. Basically just ran until my watch started beeping at me letting me know I was out of my zone1 heart rate which I wanted to stick to for at least the first couple miles. At this point, I noticed my watch wasn't showing any pace - *sigh*.... wasn't going to stop and figure it out so I just kept truckin along and relied on heart-rate. Was a nice and slooooooow pace in order to keep my heart from exploding (around 9:00min/miles), but legs felt great the whole time and as much as I wanted to drop the hammer and push, I stuck to the race plan and literally treated it like a Sunday long training run. No idea what was going to happen so I figure I'd just go at this pace until I knew the end was near and pick it up LATER rather than sooner. For once I actually stuck to the plan! Saw my buddies at various points of the run with signs and doing the wave and cowbells and all sorts of other fun stuff so that was fantastic. The people lining the course were great and everyone at each aid-station was awesome! I remember at one of them I asked for a pillow and a comforter instead of the regular "water/gatorade/gel/or fruit and the gal *almost* took me seriously! Always gotta keep a sense of humour I tell ya....
So all in, finished right at 6hrs feeling fantastic - albeit a little disappointed I panicked like a little baby during the swim and probably could have went a LOT quicker during the run - but I really just wanted to finish strong and boost my confidence for Ironman Canada.
Anyway, thanx to the tremendous support of my buddies who came up to support myself and a bunch of others in our "pre-ironman" warm-up race. If any of you want to send me some "long-course open water anti-panic tips" - that would be greatly appreciated ;)
I'll post some pics as soon as the gang sends them over!
Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and look forward to catching up with ya'all soon!!!
Tav!
...well that was fun... kinda sorta!
I am pleased to report I survived my first attempt at the half-iron triathlon distance.... suffice to say it was a *little* different than the sprints / olympic distance stuff that I've done in the past - and when I say *little* different, I mean in the "what? I can't go anaerobic / balls to the wall the ENTIRE time and still finish?". In any case, here's my "so-called race" report from this past weekend.
I can say without hesitation that I still absolutely suck donkey-ass in swimming (who takes 62 minutes to swim 2km? Oh wait, that would be ME!) It was my first open water swim of the year and thankfully shoe-horning myself into my wetsuit wasn't actually part of the race or I would have been dead last from the sound of the gun! Couldn't get into any sort of rhythm at all during the swim and was zig-zagging like some sort of Grand Slalom downhill skiier.... Must have been absolutely PAINFUL for spectators to witness from the beach - "Hey, who's the idiot swimming perpendicular to the swim-course?!" I'm sure the other swimmers were saying the exact same thing as I found myself bouncing off of others left and right like a pinball the whole way, and of course being slower than EVERYONE, people had to swim around me, over me, under me, etc etc. No matter how hard I tried to stay wide of the main traffic, I kept veering right back into it... Note to self, learn how to sight before Ironman... Regardless, I was simply happy to *complete* my first attempt at swimming 2km in open water considering I could barely swim 100m around this time last year without getting my heart-rate up to about 220..... for crying out loud.... Anyway, lot of work to do in the lake over the next 12 weeks cuz if I have this kind of swim up at Ironman, it's going to be a RRRREEEEEAAALLLLY loooooong day.
So next was the bike... I was "instructed" to just treat it as a training day so as I was doing cart-wheels through the transition area since I simply made it out of the water alive, I had to keep reminding myself not to hammer like a mad-man during the ride. Of course that's easier said than done since I was so jacked on the fact I was still upright and breathing, and not lying in the back of the EMS ambulance with a couple paramedics yelling "CLEAAAAR!!" as they attempted to revive my lifeless carcass. Anyway, jumped on my bike and started BLOWING by people which felt fantastic, but not really part of the race plan. Once I settled down and got my heart rate to something respectable, it all worked out to a comfortable 2hr 47minutes on the 92km bike course (was 96th overall for the bike). I think that averaged to around 20 or 20.5 mp/h which was great for the rolling course. Was REALLY nice to get off my bike and actually be able to jog back through transition but I did hang out there for a little longer than I should of - mental note - put my speedlaces back on! In my previous sprint races, my legs were rather twitchy and it took me a while to stop cursing at the thought of still having to run but at least this time, sitting down on the concrete to put my shoes on wasn't an exercise in futility...
So after I jammed my feet into my runners, I started haulin ass to the run course when one of the marshalls near the END of transition was nice enough to point out I forgot my race-belt / number.... After hauling ass BACK to my bike (about 100 meters the opposite direction) to find my number, I was finally out on the run course after a rather long transition, but oh well, what's a minute here or there WASTED from stupidity? So anyway, I don't think I've spent more than 1.5 hours on my feet since the California marathon last December, so I was a little worried what was going to happen. It was nice being able to actually RUN coming off the bike as opposed to shuffle/limp/cramp/stretch/curse/jog/repeat. Still, I literally didn't know if I was going to implode 5km into the run or 15km into the run so I figured I better run purely on heart rate as opposed to trying to keep my normal half-marathon pace (which is normally around 1:30 to 1:35 - but a little easier when you haven't rode for almost 3 hours!). Anyway, first aid station, it felt like I was grocery shopping since I gunned down a bunch of gatorade, a gel shot, a couple slices of oranges and I think a chocolate chip cookie that was crushed in the process of trying to grab everything. Basically just ran until my watch started beeping at me letting me know I was out of my zone1 heart rate which I wanted to stick to for at least the first couple miles. At this point, I noticed my watch wasn't showing any pace - *sigh*.... wasn't going to stop and figure it out so I just kept truckin along and relied on heart-rate. Was a nice and slooooooow pace in order to keep my heart from exploding (around 9:00min/miles), but legs felt great the whole time and as much as I wanted to drop the hammer and push, I stuck to the race plan and literally treated it like a Sunday long training run. No idea what was going to happen so I figure I'd just go at this pace until I knew the end was near and pick it up LATER rather than sooner. For once I actually stuck to the plan! Saw my buddies at various points of the run with signs and doing the wave and cowbells and all sorts of other fun stuff so that was fantastic. The people lining the course were great and everyone at each aid-station was awesome! I remember at one of them I asked for a pillow and a comforter instead of the regular "water/gatorade/gel/or fruit and the gal *almost* took me seriously! Always gotta keep a sense of humour I tell ya....
So all in, finished right at 6hrs feeling fantastic - albeit a little disappointed I panicked like a little baby during the swim and probably could have went a LOT quicker during the run - but I really just wanted to finish strong and boost my confidence for Ironman Canada.
Anyway, thanx to the tremendous support of my buddies who came up to support myself and a bunch of others in our "pre-ironman" warm-up race. If any of you want to send me some "long-course open water anti-panic tips" - that would be greatly appreciated ;)
I'll post some pics as soon as the gang sends them over!
Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and look forward to catching up with ya'all soon!!!
Tav!
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