The Lanterne Rouge

The morning started very slow today. It was much the way I think a Saturday or Sunday morning post-Ironman will feel. Today was a rest day, so we didn't have to get up to rush and work out. And... we weren't glued to the tv desperately hoping the Tour de France riders would pedal even faster so we could see who won the stage without making ourselves late for all of our other commitments for the day.

The 2007 Tour de France is over. (Which usually signals an end to my summer break, also... Ugh.) It was an exciting tour even without the cycling god, Lance Armstrong. Sure, it was really sad to see all the doping scandals. Mid-day our friend Kirk would call, "Have you been on Velonews.com? OMG! You're not going to believe what happened today!!!" But watching Contador and Rasmussen battle and then battle again, and then pull out one last effort up the mountains was exciting. Rasmussen was eventually thrown out of the tour in a potential scandal, and Alberto Contador, a young rider from Spain, went on to win. We sat glued during the final time trial in which Contador ultimately beat 2nd place finisher Cadel Evans by a mere 23 seconds!!!! Contador beat the third place finisher, American Levi Leipheimer, by only only 31 seconds!!!!

Let's put that in perspective--After 2206 miles and just over 91 hours of cycling, the winner only won by 23 seconds!!!! I went for a 75 mile bike ride yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I could have been dropped by 23 seconds in the first 23 seconds!!!!

And then there were the fantastic crashes!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3p0dmeecwE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxYKWkq-GX4

I don't know where Big Tom Boonen came in the overall standings, but he had the most sprinting points in the end, and earned the honor of best sprinter. He won the award of dreamiest rider in my book long before the race ever started.

And a new personal favorite: "The Lanterne Rouge."

The "Lanterne Rouge" is the rider that finishes in last place, while still managing to stay in the race without getting booted for missing the time cut-offs. This person receives no prize money, only loud cheers by many passionate local fans. The Lanterne Rouge is named for the red tail lights on a caboose that indicate that no cars have been lost.

This years Lantern Rouge was Wim Vansevenant, a rider from Belgium on the Predictor-Lotto team. (If Cadel Evans had taken 1st instead of 2nd, it would have been a Predictor-Lotto sandwich!) And while we can hardly say that Wim did a pitiful job--after 2206 miles, he was just shy of four hours behind the leader. I know that I'm going to have people beat me by 2-3 hours in my 70.3 mile half iron-man in two weeks! And I'll probably have people beat me by 10 hours in my 140.6 Ironman!!!! Wow! 2206 miles!

Nonetheless, while riders like Michael Boogerd claim they have no time for such trivial matters as the Lanterne Rouge I say we should all unite and support those of us out there that can proclaim that WE ENDURED, WE PERSEVERED, WE TRAINED, AND WE FINISHED THE RACE!!!!!!

Here's to the potential "Lanterne Rouge" of the 5430 Long Course (me!) I might come in last place, but I haven't been sitting on my butt eating bon-bons to get there.

This week's workout totals:

Swim: 4.43 miles

Bike: 123.35 miles
Run: 15 miles