My First Ironman – Part 6: The Finish

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in The Fit Life

There’s not a lot to say about the second bike loop. More hills – more painful hills. But it wasn’t until mile 91 that I allowed myself to walk up the hills again. But at 91 I had no choice and unfortunately my getting off the bike to walk was a turning point.

Up until now I was pretty sure that I could make up a lot of time on the marathon and still have a respectable time. But at mile 91 I gave up inside. I decided I just wanted to finish. I was beaten in terms of racing.

Having walked up the hills to save my knee, the clips on my bike shoes got gnarled and no longer fit into the clips on my pedals. For the remaining 31 miles I got to peddle without locking my shoes in and so I had to press with my midfoot, not my toe. The midfoot of my shoe was slippery so many times it slipped off.

But somehow I finished the last 31 miles to my family and friends waiting. Now, a long time beyond my goal finish – I was to start the marathon. But now without a trip to the medical tent to get my knee iced and bandaged. That took 23 minutes – but I left being able to run.

At mile 7 I caught up with Paul, who was on his second loop. I really wish I could have been there to see him finish his first Ironman, but my knees were holding him back and I had to tell him to move on. Then at mile 9 I discovered that my running had transitioned to run/walking and then finally to walk/jogging.

Fortunately, there were aid stations every .9 miles or so. Water, gatorade, oranges, potatoes, coke, chicken soup, vaseline for blisters – very nice indeed.

I made it to the turn around at mile 13 when my brother and his wife decided to head out on the course with me for support. It was 8 pm – or something like that. I was tired, achy and actually getting sleepy. My legs ached – but they kept me going. (My brother will tell you a different story that includes loopiness, hallucinations, and crazy thoughts.)

At 11:00 pm with only an hour left to finish the race we started looking at the clock and pick up the pace. Then with .6 miles to go I see my dad in the distance in the dark. I can sense his nervousness and know that time is looming.

Can I make it the remaining distance in 12 minutes? We pick up the pace a bit before we see the Marines that march in at midnight. They’re already in formation, doing their cadence and heading for the finish line.

I’m urged to run, by everyone and so I do (if you can call that running). With about 400 yards to go, I pass the Marines and head to the finish line. It’s 11:53 when I hit the stretch. The bandstands are filled with people just yelling and cheering for every competitor. IT was quite dramatic.

At 11:53:56, I cross the finish line, accomplish my goal and complete my first Ironman. It wasn’t the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen, but I finished.

At 11:00 a.m. I was pretty much done. At 1:30 PM finishing wasn’t going to be a problem, but it was going to be slow. At 8: PM, I was tired but heading to the finish line. Finally, at 11:50 PM, I was rushing to make it in time for the t-shirt. If it wasn’t for my brother and sister-in-law, my friends Clint, Paul and Paul’s family, my parents and Marcia, I’m not sure Saturday would have ended up so triumphantly. Thanks guys.

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Transition From Crib To Bed in 1 or 2 Days – A Twitter Clinic

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Raising 5 Kids (if you count me, too)

Transition From Crib to Bed – This Clinic was posted on Twitter May 26th, at 9:00 pm.  Please Follow me on Twitter so we can chat live during these clinics – and learn from each other.

Tonite’s Twitter Clinic is called “Transition Your Baby From Crib To Bed, Successfully in 1 or 2 Days.”

I’m on my third child with one more to go. I must have read something about the transition because this method worked in one night.

The first two boys we moved into toddler beds at 15 months, both in one night. About 1 month ago we moved our 18 month old. It took 2 nights

I’d suggest you move your baby into a toddler bed when they are standing in their crib waiting for you in the morning. That worked for us.

The technique works best if you start by removing the crib from the room without them there. Replace it with the toddler bed. Some might

just be a matter of folding the crib or rearranging the crib pieces to make a toddler bed, or a twin bed. In either case make sure there’s a short railing

near the pillow and chest area of the child. They might not be ready for a straight mattress yet, but they are ready for the responsibility

of staying in bed on their own. So here’s the technique: Take time to make sure to introduce your child to the new “big kid” bed early in

the day. Celebrate, and praise them for moving into the new bed. Let them climb on it, but no laying down unless they do it on their own.

Then leave the room and wait until bed to go back. Now go through your nightly ritual just as you normally would. After all only the bed

changed. Put them in the toddler bed just as you would have put them in the crib. Music, juice. . . Whatever you normally use. The only

difference is when you leave the room and close the door you stay there and listen. Listen for the first pitter patter of feet hitting the

ground, then go back in immediately. Make no noise, no chat, no eye contact, no talking. Pick up the child put them back in bed and leave

and then listen again. Continue doing that forever. This one sacrifice will pay off for the rest of your life. Just make sure that you dont

stop until the child just stays in bed. Ignore pleas, crying, and everything else for one night. You’re training the child to stay in bed,

so stay focused on that goal. Once the child realizes you’re not giving up, the rule will be permanent. For or 18 month old, we had to put

him back in a few times on the second night as well. That’s it. It’s been one month now for him and all we have to do is lay him down – even at naps

Just Do it. Transition From Crib To Bed. Make the switch. It will pay you back in many dividends.

This has been tonite’s Twitter Clinic. I’ll post the entire thing at my blog ( http://lettersfromdan.com ) later tonite.

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How To Rogaine – A Twitter Clinic About An Orienteering Sport

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in The Fit Life

This Twitter Clinic was posted on Twitter May 24, 2007. lease follow me on Twitter so we can chat live during the clinics.

How To Rogaine – A Twitter Clinic. -it’s been a few days since my last Twitter clinic, and this one is quite different than my norm.

1st- A rogaine is an orienteering event where you use a map, compass and field clues to find “hidden” controls in the forest.

Unlike orienteering, there’s no course just a map with “controls” marked, you decide which ones you’ll try to get and in what order.

Each “control” or checkpoint has a point value associated with it, so you decide which to get based on that and seeming difficulty.

A Rogaine must be completed in a certain time frame; whereas, orienteering is more of a race akin marathons. So your course must involve the time it takes to get back.

Failure to return by the deadline results in lost points. Some include loss of your highest point value control for each minute you’re late

_____________________________________________________

Check Out Our Rogaine Video
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Finding a control is a matter of map reading, compass skills, and the ability to read the topography and compare it to features on a map.

There are 6 hour, 12 hour and 24 hour Rogaine events. Us.orienteering.org is one of the best places to find Rogaine events listed near you.

Plan to bring a Camelback type water backpack, long pants, long sleeve shirt, shin guards for thorny bush areas, some food and a compass.

Normally you have to use the map they issue at the start, no other ones are allowed, so read the rules of your event. Also altimeters, GPS and electronics are forbidden

That’s the basics of Rogaining. Learn how to use the compass and read a map. Dress to prevent ticks and scratches.Get out there and have fun.

Rogaine events aren’t always easy to find so if you know about one, leave me a comment. I’m always looking for a new event.

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Travel Is Fun When Things Look Different

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ever Been There Before?

I just don’t like driving in the U.S. much. Maybe I’ve just done too much of it, but seldom do things look different.

Sure going from Kansas to Vail, there’s a topography change – and it’s dramatic, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Once you get into the mountains, very few places look different from other Colorado mountain places. Pretty – but standard.

Driving from Nashville to Orlando, when you’re very close to the Georgia/Florida line the trees, the feel, the topography are quite different. It’s swampy and the trees are all short and odd looking. I really enjoyed the 30 or so miles of that drive where everything just looked different.

The Chiricaua Mountains in Arizona, close to the Arizona/New Mexico/Mexico are very different. I don’t remember seeing that anywhere else. The rock formations are so interesting, they certainly rival Garden of the Gods.

There’s a spot between Tucson and Rocky Point in Mexico that is crazy, weird. It’s the result of an asteroid field impact and really feels like you’re on a different planet. That and Rocky Point are great places to “be transported”.

Finally, what inspired this post, was my drive today from Nashville to the hotel here in Wytheville, VA. Just before you leave Tennessee there appears to have been a state effort to plant evergreens next to the highway. Well, for 15 miles or so, there are thousands of evergreens next to the highway – thousands. And all of them are 5 feet tall or shorter. It’s different – almost cute.

Been anyplace that just feels different? Leave me a note – I’d love to hear about it – then go there.

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My Tweets on 2009-05-21

Posted By: dan | Tags: , ,
Posted in The Social Media Phenomenon
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Getting to the Top of Google – A Twitter Clinic

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in the technical internet stuff

This Twitter Clinic was posted May 18th at 1:00 pm. Please follow me on Twitter so we can chat live during the clinics.

Today’s Twitter Clinic is about Getting to the top of Google’s search results – for common words – not your company name. To start, if

you tell people that you’re #1 on Google but are only #1 for your company name – that’s just rude and misleading. If you Google your company

name and are not number 1 – then you know you have a problem. Unless your name is something common like Vacations Tours, it should be a

no brainer. I guess the other exception is something like Smith Consultants where there are 90 nationwide. If that’s the case, pay attn.

A name like CrayMason Industries should be at the top within a week. I mean – who else is trying to be at the top for that keyword?

So, let’s start with your industry. Let’s go with lawnmowers, again. Your name is JackGrass Lawnmowers, but you know no one is searching for

JackGrass – so you want to be on the top for Lawnmowers. The first thing you need to do is figure out which keywords – exactly- that you

want to be on the top for. Lawnmowers might have too much competition to make it worth it. Keyword research will help narrow that by analyzing

what people search for exactly, how many people search for it per month and how many sites out there are optimized for that keyword.

A word like lawnmowers that has 16,000 searches/month and 300,000 sites already dedicated to it is not realistic – but maybe “lawn mower”

does. It doesn’t matter how to spell it correctly. What matters is what people are searching for. You need to optimize for the words people

actually search. Maybe yard mowers is a good term, maybe side-bagger lawn mowers is a better term – this is where keyword research comes in.

Let’s say that yard mowers has 3,000 searches/month but only 50 sites dedicated to that term – those are odds that we like a lot. What are

chances any of those sites are fully optimized for yard mowers. Some might be blogs, some might be actual product descriptions. To get to

the top and stay there – you need content. You need a page about yard mowers – specifically. Don’t ever use the word lawn mower, use yard

mower. Put it in the page title, the title tag, the meta description, the page Headline and in the first paragraph – early and often.

It doesn’t matter if you over-use it at this point. It doesn’t matter at all. You won’t know that till later, and that will actually be good

What you need to do is just write a whole 500 word page about yard mowers. And then one about yard mower accessories, and another about

yard mower cutting widths, and another about yard mower price reviews. Write good content using your keyword and link them to your home page

which is hopefully yardmower.com (not JackGrass). Put a link on your simple JackGrass.com page to yardmower.com and vice versa.

Now publish it and see where it lands in the search results. Wait a couple weeks (submitting to Google is a different twitter clinic)

Where ever it shows up, start analyzing the pages that come before you in the results. How dense is their keywords, how many incoming links

how many pages of quality content. (And keep adding content by the way. Honest, useful content). Now start tweaking everything little by

little. Go back and do more keyword research and see what other pages you can add to the site, what other good keywords. Find what people are

looking for and build quality pages of content to meet that search question. There aren’t tricks to this. Content is king. Keywords are 2nd

So the question is how do you get all this keyword research and analysis done by yourself? What tools exist to help make that happen. Well

Well, the best company out there with all these tools is SiteBuildIt They’ve got keyword research tools, keyword vertical

and horizontal search capabilities, they help narrow the keywords to help pick out the perfect domain name. They have linking tools,

they have tools to create webpages as easy as writing Word documents, tracking software, monetization tutorials, navigation forums

They’ve got photo uploaders, form builders, autoresponders, e-mail capture, hosting, ezine creators and much more (Go To SiteBuildit)

To get to the top of the search results for your niche, you really need ALL of SiteBuildit’s tools all in one place.

So the key to high results is picking the right keywords, tweaking the density, and providing great content – not just a sales page.

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My First Ironman – Part 5 The 1st Bike Loop

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in The Fit Life

It started immediately. The bad luck that is. Once I got on my bike I took my first chug of Gatorade and it burnt my throat. I must have scratched it when I choked up that water on the swim. I won’t be needing that water bottle.

Things were going just fine after that and then at mile 33 we hit The Hill. We climbed the hill at 4 – 9 mph. I say we because I passed maybe one person and only two or three passed me. For 1.2 miles we climbed and then upon reaching the top had an equally impressive descent. (35 mph was where I topped out. I kept the brakes on to maintain that speed).

We passed aid stations offering oranges, water, Gatorade, bananas,, powerbars and sponges about ever y 10 miles or so. I’m a little winded, but otherwise good. Then we hit the second hill.

Now, my knees have been OK so far. Remember, I didn’t do run training for the last few weeks because my knees had been hurting but then half way up the second hill a muscle in the back of my left knee started to burn life fire. I ended up walking up the rest of that hill thinking about the marathon.

The part that really sucked about walking was the cleats. It’s quite odd to walk in cleats for your calves and for your cleats. I ended up having to walk up most of the hills. I’d go as fast as I could go and then would get off once that muscle started burning. I’d get off and walk then hop back on at the top.

There was no good way for my family and friends to see me on the bike, so they waited at the turn around at mile 58. I was drained at the turn around. The walk/bike combination was not fun and I stopped to tell my wife I didn’t think I was going to make it.

I left a bit misty-eyed. 1 hour behind my goal time. With 58 miles to go on the bike. 58 miles of biking and walking. 58. Then a marathon.

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How To Use Google AdWords – A Twitter Clinic

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in the technical internet stuff

This clinic was posted on Twitter April 30th at 4:00 pm. Please follow me on Twitter; to see more clinics and converse live.

My Twitter Topic today is how to use Google AdWords – that’s the ads you see on the side of the SERP (Search results page). To start,

It’s not easy to use AdWords successfully, lots of people lose money doing it. That’s because they don’t understand specificity.

When you create the ad, make it specific. EXTREMELY specific. You don’t want traffic that’s curious. You want traffic looking for you.

You pay each time someone clicks on your ad, so you really don’t want people who think it looks interesting, here’s an example:

If you’re selling a lawnmower that cuts your grass exactly 2″ high everytime – like a golf course you don’t want and ad that says:

Get golf course like grass in your front yard” Is that a new grass seed, fertilizer, watering schedule, sod? I’m curious = you’re broke.

You really want one that says “$399 lawnmower that cuts your grass 2″ tall. You must pay shipping”. Now you won’t get as many clicks, but

The clicks you do get will be people who’ve already overcome the price, know you’re selling a lawnmower and are interested in that.

That’s probably not the best ad copy, but you do tests. Test 2 different ads at all times, after 100 clicks – delete the loser and try a new

The second part of the Ad is the landing page. You don’t want to send those people to your home page. Send them to that lawnmower page

If the customers has to figure out where the lawnmower is on your site, he’ll abandon and you lost money on that click again.

Even if it’s not the best landing page, make sure it reflects your ad as much as possible or vice versa. The third part about the ad is.

The keyword you’re bidding on. Don’t bid on landscaping if you’re selling a lawnmower – bid on lawnmower. The people searching for landscape

landscaping would have put in ‘lawnmower’ if they were searching for a lawnmower. When you start YOU DON”T WANT THE CURIOUS, you want sales.

Here’s a great google video about how the ads work. This explains how to bid on your keywords http://tinyurl.com/c7p4oa

The ad must be specific. The landing page must reflect the ad. The keywords must reflect the product. That concludes the AdWords clinic.

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Making Your Facebook (or MySpace) Group Go Viral – A Twitter Clinic

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in The Social Media Phenomenon

This clinic was posted on May 4th at 8:00 p.m.  Follow me on Twitter; to see these clinics and converse live.

So today’s twitter clinic is on “making your Facebook group” go viral. The first step is the name. It’s got to be exciting. A name like.

People who like cheese” is not going to make it. “Cheese-heads Unite! and Take up Arms” might – the idea is exciting.

The second step is to pick a picture/graphic/avatar that exudes your group. A picture of cheese isn’t like going to do it. But a mouse. .

dressed like Rambo with two swiss cheese guns just might. The goal here is thousands, not 125 members. The third part to make your FB group

is taking advantage of your friends. You really need 500 people minimum to get it going. That might mean you have to partner up with your

friends who have different friends than you. The launch has got to be massive and quick so it shows up in a lot of feeds at once.

The fourth part is a bit like the third. Target high profile Facebook folks to join. Bribe them with Officer status – whatever you can do to

enlist their help. The key is big friends with big influence. You might even let them name the group.

The fifth part is to pre-sell the group. Talk about it in blogs, mention to friends in their feed. Get the buzz going before you decide to

launch it. An undercurrent of fervor will really help. This is an art, folks, not just something you can slap together and hope.

The next part is to make the launch an event. Use a teleseminar or Facebook Event, use Twitter to talk about. Do a live video feed as you

start. Give away a flip phone or two – but do enough that people tweet about whether her or on Facebook.

The 7th part of making your Facebook Group go viral is to have an irresistble offer. Maybe a free e-book about the topic, another flip video

or .mp3 player. Maybe everyone gets a free .mp3 copy of the launch or free tweets about them. Come up with a reason to join.

The final part is advertising – whether that be on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon, YouTube – get the buzz going. That first 500 are

really going to stir the pot, but the pot in social media is QUICKLY forgotten. You’ve got to follow that up until you have atleast 500

solid members. After 500, well after 750, the momentum will likely keep itself going – but you have to work on it. The work shouldn’t stop

until you get to that 750 number and then focus the rest of the time on providing value so people don’t quit. So that’s a good 8 or 9 steps

to making your Facebook group go viral. Any questions? Bueller. . . Bueller?

I’m thinking that tomorrow’s Twitter Clinic will be about using Twitter. You should really have a grasp on the settings inTwollo, . .

Twitter, Tweetlater, Postlater.net, and a couple others. If you create custom backgrounds let me know and I’ll plug you in tomorrow’s clinic

At no point will we do a 16,000 followers in 90 days clinic.I think it’s dumb, and feels like your breaking the spirit of the Twitter rules.

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