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After a year of on and off triathlon training I've decided to make some major changes. 1. I'm going to add some meat back into my diet. Farm raised, organic. Only animals that were killed humanely. And only animals that come from a specific place I trust in Iowa. Going to be hard and I'm honestly nervous about it. I hate the thought of eating meat for multiple reasons. 2. Back to the weights. Despite all of the swimming I have lost a lot of upper body strength. And my arms. Well... Yeah. I want my biceps back! 3. I'm going to cut back on the cardio and focus on my core. Ironman injuries threw my hips off by a couple inches. That in turn threw my biking off. Biking was my strongest discipline now I have a lot of work to do to regain that. Those are my current goals. Written down so I can keep focused. And yes, I got a full sleeve tattoo. :) Love it. Nvrstoptriing N

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Night running over the bridge at grays lake. My training grounds never get old.

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#tbt 2013 triathlon season.

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Sometimes that 3 mile run turns into a 5 mile. Then when you realize your mind is a scrambled mess the 5 turns into 7 and then you look at your watch and you're at 9 miles.

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Came back from a run today and found my invitation to New York Comic Con! My publisher was able to place me on a panel to discuss world building in science fiction. The convo will likely be about aliens, zombies and the typical post apocalyptic banter. The host is from NPR books. More to come on this later. So if you look close enough at the pic on the left you might see a familiar name on this list. And I don't mean Gillian Anderson (Scully). And if you look close enough at the pic on the right you will see my beard survived triathlon season. Who would have thought it... Four years ago I could hardly write, complete a triathlon or grow a beard. I'm like Pinocchio! Finally a real boy. Er, man. Going to be 31 soon! Hope everyone is well and good luck to those still racing!

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Finally get to hold my little nephew, Noah James Angaran Smith. He's 8.2 lbs of Italian and Korean love.

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Thinking about finally pulling the trigger on adopting a second dog to run with and raise money for my NFP 2rracing.org. The idea is to do longer runs with the pup. I would match donations and then give the $ to the animal rescue league of Iowa and other local animal welfare groups. This is bridge and hide (black). Which do you vote for?

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Sometimes I like to throw in some breakdancing and pull ups into long runs. Change things up a bit.

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Tomorrow I'm sending the manuscript of my newest novel to my agent. So naturally, I'm smoking a cigar and drinking Puerto Rican rum to celebrate. Might even make this a tradition.

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A few pics from my Vegas trip... What a blast! Had the best run of the summer today. Not sure how, but I'll take it.

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Why the smile? Because I'm headin' to Vegas later this week and have an advanced review copy of my good friend David Denham's debut novel, Reho. He's asked me to provide a quote for marketing the book. Mmmmm... A little reading... Some pool time... Maybe some high stakes poker and of course I'm hittin' up the Pawn Stars store and visiting my pal Chumlee! Can't. Freaking. Wait!

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Was at the end of a very hot brick. The air is sultry here, the humidity lingering in the breeze. I was running on fumes when I noticed a guy trailing me. He was gaining. Fast. And I really hate being passed at the lake where I train. So naturally I kicked it into gear. My calf muscles immediately started burning and pain emerged in my gut. Shit, I thought, I don't think I have anything left. Then all of a sudden that voice boomed inside my head, you know the one--Will Smith from Independence day, when the aliens show up. He's yellin' "Got to go! Got to go!" And I am. I'm moving now, man. I risk a few glances over my shoulder, the pain my in my stomach growing as I twist. Next thing I know I'm at the end of the trail. The finish line. Dude trailin' me is no where in sight. Thank you Will Smith... What's the voice that keeps you going when you're running on fumes?

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How I feel today after finishing the first draft of a new book and completing a decent brick. The Arnold is representin'!

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How I look when I'm trying to finish up a book... And then how I feel...

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Ride was going great until mile 15 when my aero bar popped out of position. Triathlon tip of the day: don't use duct tape as a bandaid. It doesn't work so well on carbon.

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#Triathlon tip of the day: The song "Push It To The Limits" from the movie Scarface explains everything you need to know about triathlon.

Hard run, now off to do some editing and maybe even some writing. For all of you out there racing tomorrow, good luck!

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What's better than the rap of your footfalls on a warm summer day? The rap of your footfalls with new shoes on. Just traded in my thick, padded Brooks' for a pair of thin New Balance Minimus cross trainers. I can smell a pr.