Welcome to Gout, population Chad

Gouty Chad
Recently my foot swelled up, and I couldn't walk for a week, bike for a month, or run for 6 weeks. After almost two months of head scratching (and 2 bad gout attacks) the doctor testing my uric acid levels and determined I've got gout.

"Gout, a painful form of arthritis, has long been associated with diet, particularly overindulgence in meat, seafood and alcohol."
Yep, that's me.

Instagram photos are so pretentious

There are drugs to lower uric acid levels and eliminate the risk of a gout flare, but I'm having a go at controlling it with diet. This means I eat less meat, red meat especially, and seafood. I'm cutting out all alcohol until Ironman, but I'll probably return to light drinking after. I bought a home blood tester so I can check my progress between doctor visits.

Testing
On 19-Jan my UA level was 8.9 mg/dL, as measured in a lab.
Today, I did my first home test and it was 8.2 mg/dL. 
My next lab test will be in late march, but I'll keep home testing every couple of weeks.

I just started taking vitamin C supplements as I hear they can reduce UA levels and help mitigate risk of gout attacks. Wish me luck.

Grand Canyon in 3 acts

Last weekend I camped in the Grand Canyon with some work folks. There were 5 of us packing all of our gear down for 2 nights below the rim.

Day 1
Here's a picture of us just before setting off, early Friday morning:

We had no ideas the dangers that wait in the canyon, also in my tent

That first day was 7 miles, all downhill, down 5000 feet to Phantom Ranch. Five days later, and my calves are still sore.

Is "bing" still a thing?

Once at our campsite (Bright Angel Campground, near Phantom Ranch) we set up tents and put our feet in the creek.

We found a leprechaun! Pot of gold, still unaccounted for.

Then we hiked over to Phantom Ranch where there is the best bar in the whole world, "The Canteen." This place sells box wine and $5 cans of Tecate. Tecate is the best post-hiking drink ever invented. It will make you forget about your sore calves and bruised hips. We immediately began work on our pyramid of beer cans (beeramid?) It was 5-cans high when they closed the canteen at 4pm to prep for dinner.

There are 3 Tulane alumni in this photo, and one more out of frame. Seriously!

As the ranger put it, we "ping-ponged back to camp" and eventually made our way to the Colorado River to splash around. It was a warm day at The Bottom, but the water was freezing cold. Of course I slipped and fell in up to my stomach. Refreshing!

I have no memory of this.

I don't remember anything else from day 1... shocking, I know.

Day 2
We broke camp and hiked up to Indian Gardens, roughly halfway between the South Rim and Phantom Ranch along the Bright Angel Campground. At our campsite we found a damn Mexican Spotted Owl which promptly perched in a place where I couldn't get to my pack.

So majestic and terrifying.

I couldn't get to my tent, water, jacket, and the ranger (same guy) told me, "sleeping in a tent isn't required, and harassing owls is illegal." Stupid endangered owls, always ruining my fun.

My heart was pounding and my colon was puckered.

Eventually the owl took off and I was able to get some sleep. No beers at this campsite, so I drafted a letter to the National Park Service to complain.  Where are my tax dollars going, anyway??

Day 3 
We hiked from Indian Gardens to the South Rim, our cars, and Wendy's for Frosties.
No one got heat exhaustion, but we practiced the pose just in case.

This pose is called the "Heat Exhaustion Heisman"

One last joke
At the end of the day all 5 of us made it back to civilization, and I have a SWEET stuffed owl to mount in my cubical.
Just kidding, I have a real office... with a door and window. Jealous?

Cave Buttes Dam

Where am I running?

This week officially kicks off the 2012 training season. Goals include Ironman California Oceanside 70.3 and Ironman Coure d'Alene. This is the first season I'm using a coach, Cheryl Miller from Get Fit Sports Training. She sends me a training plan every 2 weeks, and I execute it begrudgingly con gusto.

She seems to prefer I run hilly trails. That's new for me, but I'm excited to try it. Training for Ironman Arizona 2010, I stuck to my neighborhood streets on my runs, so the variety to trails (and hills!) is very exciting to this poor black child from Mississippi.
I hope to show off some of the trails I find as the season goes on. This is my first run:

Cave Buttes Dam

That's totally not me, I swear.

This entire run was illegal. I drove past 4 No Trespassing signs, ran past 3 more. Then I ran by a few yellow signs that said "No Entry, Falling Rocks" and had a picture of rocks hitting some dude. I suspect there was blasting here, maybe to build the earthen dams. I also jumped a couple of gates with vague warnings from Homeland Security. I'm sure those were meant to keep out terrorists, not me.

I spent the whole of 4 miles exploring, kind of getting lost, but mainly trying to get on top of a dam.  I finally found a mountain bike trail and followed it up the embankment to enjoy a view of the valley, and the strip-mined hills to the south. Awesome sauce (do people still say that?)

Here is the elevation graph:

I pushed the button and made it bigger for fun (twss)

Here is the entire route and my activity details below:

It looks easier from 40,000 feet.

 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112077819

Coeur d'Alene

I'm just home from a 3-day trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Let's agree to call it "CdA", because I'm not typing that mess anymore.

There are spaces available for your org, as long as your logo is round.

This was the site of Ironman CdA 2011, which took place on Sunday. I shared a house with 9 other people, five of them were racers. The first thing we did was drive the bike course, which was hilly and scenic and hilly as hell.

That's a house under the road, for some reason.

Of course, you can't visit CdA without riding the brass moose. They had a bunch of these.

Now me and the moose BOTH have the herps.

On race day I peeled wetsuits and generally sherpa-ed the racers to the finish. I don't have any photos of that, because I'm lazy, y'all.

The day AFTER the race, I walked to the host hotel to see how much rooms are.  They cost a lot of bucks, FYI. I saw this one really smart individual (pretending to be) reading the paper in the lake, which is 56°F. REALLY smart.

No lifeguard, so read the paper at your own risk.

Then I did the unthinkable. Actually, it was my plan all along, but I prefer the dramatic.  I signed up to race Ironman CdA 2012.  Good news for you! IronChad.com will continue with actual training posts. No more posts where I'm slowly getting fatter and less interesting. Soon I'll be thinner, faster, more sexually agressive and acne-covered. Hooray for testosterone!!

That Asian girl was laughing at me. Story of my life.

Then I flew home just in time to make faces with my kid(s).

Anyone have some cash I can borrow for braces?

See you there.

IronChad returns, but for how long?

Since I last wrote a lot has happened in the Iron household. Here's the quick and dirty (which was my nickname in high school.)
Baby Kelly
My second daughter was born about a month ago. She's perfect, but she keeps us busy.

New house
When Kelly was 2 weeks old, we moved to a new house. It's in a better school district, and I no longer have a pool to maintain. Instead there's a community pool just three blocks away. I've been unpacking and dealing with boxes night and day for more than a week now.

Half Ironman
Last week I got inspired and signed up for a Half Ironman in California. March 31, 2012, Oceanside, California. I've got lots of time, but I'm excited.

Full Ironman
Next week I'm flying to Idaho to volunteer at and Ironman event and register for the 2012 race. Watch this space for training updates on this race.

Warrior Dash

Three of us from my office signed up to race the Warrior Dash down in Florence, AZ.
How to get to Florence:
1. Leave Phoenix.
2. Drive until the radio stations are ALL in Spanish.
3. When you see a prison, you've arrived!
This report was going to rock because of the pictures. I messed that up. I put my camera in a ziploc back to keep out mud. The pictures look like they were taken from within a plastic bag. Go figure!
Here's a shot of me with my grey, yet glorious, beard. Can you believe I'm only 24 years old!

That's my 1000-yard stare

Under the direction of Rose (bloger)  (nudist)  (baby eater)  I put my camera in a baggie and ran with it. To my surprise, the pictures came out looking like I put my camera in a baggie and ran with it.  Damn you, Universe; you win again.

This is how John Travolta sees the Warrior Dash

Here is the Start. There was fire.

Seriously, click to embiggen this photo. It will blow you damn mind:

In France they call this photo"Le Money Shot"

Don't get distracted by mud honeys!!

Check out the prison shower. Actually, I'll bet this is a lot like Burning Man. Are there any big homos reading that can comment on the similarity?

Celebratory beer and (unpictured) turkey leg and (unpictured) other beers:

Warriors need to rehydrate!

 Just like any American holiday, it was just an excuse to dress slutty and show off my tattoos:

In some (2) ways it was a great day.

 This is me after I got home and shaved the beard. My marriage can continue uninterrupted now.

Newest member of the Royal Order of Buffaloes

Cute kid overload!

Not everyone knows, but I have the cutest kid ever born.

Also, there's a new Beastie Boys album. I'm listening to it right now, and so can you!