give it all you've got

Yesterday, I got to watch as some friends put their training to the test and hit the water and pavement in a grueling triathlon in Wright City, Mo. In many ways, it was your ordinary intermediate triathlon: 1000 yard swim – 28 mile bike – 6 mile run. About 330 finishers. But out of the ordinary were yesterday's temps... Average June day high: about 85 degrees. Yesterday's high: 96 degrees with 85% humidity. Not exactly ideal race weather. Especially for your first-ever triathlon.

We, the spectators, sought shelter from the sun wherever we could: from the shade of a delivery truck to the shade of a portable outhouse. Nice, right? But yesterday wasn't about us. It was about them. The swimmers. The bikers. The runners. Giving it all they had without an ounce of shade. All in the name of overcoming one's self. Of desiring to achieve what seems, at times, impossible. Of health, of fitness, of accomplishment. More about yesterday's race: here. And results: here.

What difficult things are you working toward accomplishing?

tour of missouri III

Some of you will remember the photos I posted a year ago of the Tour of Missouri bike race as it cruised past our subdivision on Hwy. DD in O'Fallon, Mo... (Who am I kidding? I remember the photos, but I don't think that even Becca remembers them, so why would anyone else??!!!) I specifically remember them because at that time, I was having trouble getting the color of our photos to look vibrant and accurate on the Web. (Thank goodness we got that all taken care of... [Whew.])

Anyway, it rolled through today -- this time in Downtown STL -- and my dad and I and, according to KSDK and KSDK.com, 74998 other people, took advantage of the holiday and hit the streets of St. Louie on the 7.5 mile Tour of Missouri stage 1 circuit. And, like last year, it was well worth the outing!

What I learned: 1. Watch out for riders. They will come as close to the curb as humanly possible, so be familiar with the length of your lens! 2. Be ready with a wide selection of lenses. 50mm f/1.8 is good, but 100mm f/1.8 or 85mm f/1.8 would be better. Better yet? 300mm or 400mm fixed focals. 3. Carry water, and lots of it, if you plan to shoot from different points on the course. 4. People like to grill, drink, and do all sorts of other weird stuff on the side of the road. (Yup... I saw some guy loading up his charcoal grill into the 1990s white Dodge Caravan after the race was over. Strange.)

Update: the STL Post-Dispatch is considering publishing the first in the series (top left). See it online at their reader-submitted section HERE.

Le Tour de Missourah

Today was fun. After running around town on SCC hockey business and what not, I made it to my pre-determined shooting spot for the Tour of Missouri (pronounced 'Missourah' of course). I have been waiting a year for the return of the race (http:www.tourofmissouri.com), which I sadly missed last year. Fingers crossed that it comes back again soon... UPDATE: You can also see the the group of cars photo at STLToday (As of 9:45 a.m. Sunday, it's the 'Featured Reader Photo' on the home page).