Sponsor Announcement

Hey All,

As I posted yesterday, a whole bunch of things happened over the off-season. However, I purposefully left one item out which I wanted to announce separately.

So as you know, I applied to Team Betty and unfortunately didn't make the cut, which I wrote about here: http://www.javert.com/2013/09/bettybettybetty.html . I was devastated, but shortly after they released their final list for Team 2014, another favorite company of mine, Skratch Labs, announced that they were looking for "Taste Agents." I was SO excited, I actually used the TEAM form to apply before they even started looking for INDIVIDUALS. LOL. Can you say PYSCHED?

So after months of waiting and figuring that like Betty Designs, they weren't looking for a back-of-the-packer like me, I received an e-mail in my inbox. Subject line: "Skratch Labs Taste Agent Invitation." I may or may not have jumped up and down and ran around the house like a rabid squirrel on meth.

Now, I've written about Skratch before: http://www.javert.com/2013/02/the-feed-zone-aka-allen-and-biju-need.html. (For the record, they STILL haven't responded to my marriage proposal.) And although the blog is from last year, I actually started eating from the Feed Zone for Ironman training in 2012. (In fact, my copy is so old it mentions "Secret Drink Mix" instead of Skratch. Yes, I've been a fan of the company BEFORE THEY EVEN EXISTED.)

So why am I big fan of their food? Not only does it make me go zoom, it TASTES GREAT. I mean, LOOK AT THIS:

And this:

And this:

Literally couldn't stop to take a picture before I finished most of it.

Since then, I've also started using their drink mixes with much success. And by success, I mean yumminess without the rotgut I get from other sports drinks:

So with that, I'm proud to display this SkratchLabs Taste Agent badge:

So get out there, go to http://www.skratchlabs.com and order yourself up some Skratch love. Tell 'em I sent you.

What I Did During My Off-Season

Wow...umm...yeah. So, it's, APRIL. Four months, no blogging. No big, right? Y'all still love me, I'm sure.

Anyway, I had a wonderful off-season. Went to Florida for a week just as winter arrived:

Ordered a bunch of Smash (and Betty) to get psyched for 2014:

And...BOUGHT A NEW BIKE! Yes went down to see Ian at Fitwerx in Vermont, and it turns out that good ol' Roo was the completely wrong geometry. In order to get her in a frame size small enough that I could stand over her with my stumpy, Hobbit-y legs, I was all cramped up in the cockpit. What I needed was basically a low-rider and the only way I could get it was a custom. 

Meet the new ride, no name yet but she's a custom Seven Axiom. Why no deep aero tubes? I'm so slow and lightweight it was more important to get rid of wind shear from the side. Why titanium instead of carbon? Mainly because they couldn't make carbon in the crazy measurements I needed.

Isn't she a beaut? And yes, Smashfest Queen's Carbon Flyer just happens to match the silver and pink tones perfectly. Not that I brought that particular kit to pick her up for that very reason or anything. Ahem.

ALSO ALSO, I FINALLY got my Ironman tattoo. Check it out. Longest I've ever sat for ink - 3.5 hours. The first two were okay, but the last hour and a half was ROUGH. First time I ever cried during a body mod. It took forever to heal because of the size, but I LOVE it.

(It's only on one leg, just two views so you can see the entire thing.)

So yeah, really busy here and now I'm getting into the thick of Ironman training. Hopefully I can get into a cadence (as they say in the business world...*shudder*) with regular blogging. In the meantime, hopefully all my pictures at least somewhat made up for it.