Day Thirty-four - Laps the Queen's Square

Today I left work at noon and drove to the Queen's Square Pool. This is mine and Cassie's favorite pool in the world. I started taking her and my son there over ten years ago. I've been swimming there for over 20 years. It's over 50 years old and it draws you back to a world where summer was sun and water and fun.

More on this later.

One thing I didn't know about the pool is that it's longer than the indoor pool. After about 50 laps, I was wondering why each lap was taking so long and why the whole swim seemed to be going slower of longer or something than normal.

I asked the lifeguards about this during a quick break to break water and they told me about the extra 15 feet.

But don't get me wrong...the water was great. The sun was intense. The swim was great. Got in 70 laps and had time to do some stretching on the deck and talk to Judith - one of the lifeguards, who was also swimming laps - and found out that she's in the triathlon as well. She's on a team and she'll be doing the swimming part in the Sprint event.

Watch out other swimmers...she's awesome!

Day Thirty-three - A Mix of Everything

Cass was up all night long chatting online with her friends. She hit the sack about the same time I was getting up to get ready to go to the lake ... 6PM. So I did the right thing. On the way out the door, I woke her up and asked her a bunch of senseless question. After all, what are parents for but to torment their children?

I had the lake all to myself for the first few minutes. It was overcast and the clouds reflected sharply in the still water. It was like wading into the sky and then diving into the clouds.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth Malcolm waded into the water. Elizabeth is an elderly woman who swims for hours at a time a Killarney Lake just as soon as the ice melts and she swims right up till the lake freezes over in early winter. A couple of years ago, a friend of hers swam with her until she ended up in the hospital with hypothermia. For some reason, Elizabeth seems to be immune to the condition.

After the swim (2K), I downed my first gel pack, the chocolate one. It was like chocolate pudding. I waited a moment to see what effect it might have and, after not puking or gagging or dying on the spot, I biked 10K in a very fine misty drizzle that was refreshing.

Then I ran around the lake three times (5K). There were two other runners. One just ignored me when we met - going in opposite directions - even though I waved and said hi. He was almost sprinting. The bearded one was more friendly.

By now, there were other swimmers in the lake. I expect the activities will increase right up till July 10, and then everybody will spend the rest of the summer in outdoor patios drinking cold frothy beers - the way summer should be spent.

After work, Cass and I went out to the lake for some air mattresess floating. Small mouth bass were jumping all around us. Dragon flies landed on us and mated, ignoring our advice to get a room. The biggest horsefly in the world landed on my arm, but Cass swatched the bugger before he could bite my arm off. We floated sideways on the mattresses for a while and let some kind of non-catfish fish with moustaches nibble at our feet and legs for a while. Another perfect evening at Killarney Lake.

Day Thirty-two - The Pools Are Open! The Pools Are Open!

Got up early and went for a fast 10K bike ride. Lived through it.

Today is Tuesday, the most special day of the week. Besides every second weekend, I have my daughter, Cassie, with me every Tuesday. It's our favorite day of the week because I get off work early and we get to do things together, like rent movies, eat something like wings or Chinese food or Subway if we don't feel like cooking, do a mall crawl, go to the Green and toss the frisbee, go biking...you get the picture.

Today's Tuesday was especially special though. Today the outdoor pools opened. I left work at noon, picked Cassie up at her mother's (lots of luggage today because - double bonus - she's with me till the middle of July!), went to Savage's Bike Center to get some pics of the bike I'll be using in the triathlon (a Felt F90). I'll be posting the pics on my web site tomorrow. Then rushed to Tim Horton's to get a box of Tim Bits for the lifeguards and headed for the pool.

It was like paradise. It usually rains the day the pools open. The water is freezing cold. Lightning closes the pool for 20 minute intervals for hours. But today there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was hot. The water was perfect - not too cold, not to warm - refreshing. Perfect. We swam. We frolicked. We soaked rays. We renewed old pool friendships. We jumped off the boards. (I did two back tucks without banging my head on the board. I've done that before. It hurts.)

It was the perfect start to summer.

And it didn't end there. After wings and Rice-a-Roni for supper, we went to the lake and floated around on the air mattresses for a couple of hours. Then we ate chocolate.

Tomorrow morning, I work off the chocolate. Plus, I'll try out my first gel packs (a chocolate and a tropical fruit) to see if they have any adverse effects on me, like uncontrollable puking or whatever. These little packs have already gotten my mind working on an idea for the novel. What would the gel pack of 2305 be like? What would the virtual one be like?

Day Thirty-one - Restin' the Legs

I think I pushed a little too hard over the weekend. My legs said: "We're leaving you, Biff. We're going where the tough get beer and watch TV."

Damn legs.

I have a feeling they didn't quite recover after the canoe mishap.

They just don't make legs like they used to.

They get today off. Tomorrow - pain.

Day Thirty - All Three In One Day

Beat the thermometer to the lake this morning for a 2K swim. The lake was beautiful, quiet, still, waveless ... and still no lines painted on the bottom with the triathlon only a couple of weeks away!

After the swim, I biked 20K. A light breeze followed me through most of the trip and I didn't even break a sweat until the end of the first lap: that nasty Brookside Drive section. In a car, it looks like the easiest leg of the bike run, but it's not. It's a bitch. All uphill. The road almost levels at times, but it's still up up up and then that last upward spike as if the road's saying: "Adding a new event. It's called mountain climbing. On a bike."

Then I ran around the lake three times (5K). By the time I finished, the lifeguards were opening up the swimming area and people were starting to arrive with blankets and coolers and kids.

It felt good to stretch in the sun and then lay in the sun and work on my tan. Two days of sun in a row. There is a God.

Days Twenty-seven to Twenty-nine - Still Alive

Didn't make it to the pool Thursday morning. Figured I go at night, but I guess swimming in a pool wasn't in the cards for that day. Instead, I went right after work with John Heinstein (auhor of The Cheap Red Wine Manifesto) to the Eel River to see if we could find his canoe. Never found it, but the trip down the river was like something out of Classical painter depicting paradise - and getting it right.

It was a narrow, rocky river (what river rats call "technical"). The banks were lined with a mixture of hard and softwood trees. I've never seen such a wide, closely packed mix of trees before, and with the all rain we've been getting, they were deep green. The banks were lined with huge purple flowers. The water was just high enough that we didn't have to walk. The early evening light gave everything an unearthly glow.

Unfortunately, we broached on a tooth-shaped rock toward the end of the trip and I finally got my swim. First though, I had to disloged myself from between the canoe and the white water before one crushed me and the other drowned me. I lost my spare digital camera and John lost his only digital camera.

Small price to pay for a beautiful canoeing experince like the Eel River.

The next day I had to drive all over the place getting my brother to his son's high school graduation. Hey world! Dylan Mitchell just graduated from Leo Hayes High School and he's comin' to getcha!

Today I did the bike route with my friend Duane Dunfield. I was on my mountain bike. Duane was on his Norco racing bike. We didn't stay together long. I did just one lap before my left quad started acting funny (it was banged pretty hard when the canoe broached). I ran the lake three times. I my timing wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but you'd be amazed how fast you can run when you have a swarm of hungry horse flies on your tail.

Duane and I went to an patio bar for steak and eggs for breakfast (at 12:30). Later, I returned to the lake and swam about 2 K. It was 36 degrees (not sure what that is in real temperature). Hot. The first really hot day we're had this year. The beach was packed. I had to stick my head up straight every few minutes to avoid swimming into air mattresses and other floating objects.

Now it's time to drink a few beers and replenish those precious bodily fluids.

Day Twenty-six - Busy Busy

Busy busy at work and at home. I managed to get in a 10 K run at the lake and some stretching afterwards, but time was scarce today.

I've been getting a marketing book for writers ready for publication at Fictionwise.com. The free version has had over 10,000 downloads from my web site. I firgured that was a good enough test to see if it might be in demand and now I'm putting together an enhanced version for sale. I thought it would be easy, but now that I'm going to be charging for it, I want it to be perfect and complete.

Perfect and complete = no sleep. Not a chance.

But it's almost finished. I'll still get in my hundred laps at the pool tomorrow, but after work I'll be in a canoe on the Eel River with John Heinstein, author of The Cheap Red Wine Manifesto looking for the kayak he lost a few weeks ago. John will be in the diathlon the same day I'm in the triathlon. He's not a swimmer.

Just got an email from Susan DiPlacido, author of 24/7 and Trattoria. I did a review of 24/7 and submitted it to Bookslut. If you like gambling, sex, and a great story, you'll love 24/7. It's one of those books that carries you from one perfected crafted sentence to the next. And it's got lots of really cool sex with a few twists that I never thought of before. Even if you don't like sex, it's a great story and well worth reading.

Gotta go now and hydrate on some Gatorbud.

:)

Days Twenty-four and Twenty-five - First Day of Summer!

Went for a 10 K bike ride yesterday and then for a 64 lap swim in the evening. The bike ride was windy, but it was hot so the wind was welcome for a change.

Today was the first day of summer! And it was hot and sunny and there were virtually no clouds in the sky. I started the day off with 104 laps at the early bird swim.

I got off work early and took my daughter to the lake. It was great! We floated around on air mattresses for an hour and then I went for a fast swim for the width of the lake and then just floated in the water for about five minutes staring into the deep blue sky.

There was a guy swimming around the lake in a wet suit, stopping every few minutes to look at this watch. He seemed to be swimming first this way, and then that way, and he didn't stay in the water long. I saw a woman a couple of weeks ago in a wet suit doing the same thing. I have a feeling that both are getting ready for the triathon, but I don't have a clue what the particular methodology was. Personally, I just get in the water and swim like hell non-stop for an hour.

After the lake, we got Hostage and watched it while we ate supper. And then I went for a quick 10 K bike ride. I cut another minute off my time. Again, the wind was a welcome friend, just enough of it to keep me cool but not make going downhill a struggle.

I noticed that my stretching is getting deeper. Starting to loosen up. Each day that passes now, I become increasingly convinced that I'm going to live through this.

And bonus...the chapter in my novel featuring the virtual triathlon is almost writing itself as I train. I take along a small digital recorder and make notes as I train (with the exception of swimming). I have a feeling the triathlon chapter in the sequel to The War Bug is going to be one of the best things I've ever written.

And I think this is one chapter I'm earning.

Day Twenty-three - Father's Day Workout

There is a God. And he finally smiled down on us by filling the sky with sun. At least I think that's what that big round yellow thing in the sky was. And we had blue skies. I got up early and drove out to the lake.

As I was leaving the parking lot at the lake on my bike, I saw a woman puttering about in the side doors of her van. She had a racing bike on a rack on the back of the van. She was wearing triathlon shorts. She was lean and athletic looking. I said hello and she returned the hello along with a big smile.

I biked up to the road and started the timer on my watch. I expected to be passed by the woman from the van at any time. The wind was bihind me and it didn't seem very strong. I did the St Mary's Street segment quickly. Didn't even have to change gears until I was well over half way up the biggest hill.

The climb up the Ring Road hill was another matter. The wind was fierce and unforgiving. I was crawling by the time I reached the crest. Even the trip down as a struggle because of the wind.

When I got to Brookside Drive, the wind seemed to change direction so that I was biking straight into it still. Even with trees lining both sides of the road, the wind was merciless, but I finished the first 10 K lap just two minutes under my previous time.

I stopped a short way into the second lap for some water. Just as I was about to get on my bike, I saw the woman from the van biking toward me. I got on my bike and started biking, expecting her to pass me at any moment, but it wasn't until we were well into the first stretch that I sensed something to my left and looked just in time to see her glide by me with a big smile on her face.

I should have yelled: "Hey! You just beat a 58-year old fart on a mountain bike! Ya proud!" But I'm not sure if it was that kind of smile on her fact, so I kept my mouth shut and just admired the way she biked so quickly, gracefully, and seemingly effortlessly.

She stayed a few hundred feet ahead of me for most of the second lap, which was my last lap, having decided to do just 20 K of biking and 5 K of running.

As I biked into the parking lot at the lake, I saw her walking toward the beach and and then she broke into a slow, graceful run, unlike the awkward, gangly style I display while my brain tries to convince my legs that the biking is over and the running has started.

I expected her to lap me sometime into the third lap, but it looks like she was out for just one bike lap and one running lap. A quick Sunday morning workout.

Later in the day, I saw a group of people in triathlon shorts and on racing bikes going up the Ring Road. Looks like the heat's on. Glad I'm in this just to finish and get my research done.

Gotta stop blogging now and go watch Grease with my daughter.

Days Tweny-one and Twenty-two - Running In the Rain

Yesterday was Friday. I ate pizza and drank beer. My body thanked me.

This morning I was up early and running around the lake in the rain. It wasn't a heavy rain, more like a drizzle. The woods around the lake seemed to almost shimmer with deep green. Even the bark on the trees seemed more real, amplified.

There were a few people walking around the lake. They all seemed quiet, reflective. The woods around the lake have that effect on people. I've been running for most of my life. I've run in cities, in the country, in foreign countries, in small towns, on groomed high school and univerity tracks, and even on a running machine.

My favorite of all is Killarney Lake. I can't think of any place to run that is so intensely beautiful. The woods aren't groomed. They're just about as much in their natural state as they can be. The ridge that rises above the far end of the lake presents a breathtaking view. The lake is small, but the view from the ridge makes it larger. Sometimes I get into races with chipmonks. They always win. Sometimes I hear woodpeckers in the trees above me. Sometimes fog floats over the lake water and makes the whole place seem like it's floating in the sky.

When it's not raining, I do my stretching on the beach along with a little Tai Chi. Perfect way to end a run.

Day Twenty - OUCH!

Got to the indoor pool at 7:15 this morning for 84 laps. That works out to just over 2.5 kilometers. Gail, the early bird swim lifeguard, said that the pool will be closed from June 26 to July 11 (the days *after* the triathlon), but that we could use our memberships at the UNB pool.

She said things were a little different at the campus pool. That's where they have the FAST (whatever that means) program for competitive swimmers, the folks who go into national and international events. Apparently, if you're going too slow, they just swim right over top of you.

I think I'll just wander down to the outdoor pool below where I work and do the afternoon lap swim. If the sun ever shines here again, I just might get a chance to work on my tan after swimming laps.

After work, my daughter and I chomped down a Mexican pizza and she took off to study for her final exams while I went out for a fast 10 K bike ride under the sulking gray skies of New Brunswick.

It was a good ride. My legs are starting to build up for biking again, and I didn't die once. On the last stretch, though, a nasty thing happened.

It was a long level stretch and I was flying (or flying as much as possible on a mountain bike) when I heard buzzing behind me followed by a sharp pain in my back. I'd sucked a wasp into the arm of my training top and it was trapped and really pissed off. I started swatting at my back and almost lost control of the bike, which would have been a lot worse than bee stings at the speed I was going. A wave of cool sanity washed over my brain and I let the damn bug sting away while I brought the bike to skidding stop.

I tried to tear my top off but it would go over the helmet. The whole time, I could hear the wasp buzzing loudly somewhere in the folds of the top. I tore my helmet off along with the top and somewhere in there the wasp got away.

When I got home, I got Cass to put some bug bite soother on the stings and my back is starting to cool down. I know there's some high lesson in all this, but I think I'll focus for the lower lesson unti the pain in my back stops completely: I hate wasps. OK, maybe not so much a lesson as a realization. The next time I see one, I'm going to bite the damned thing.

Day Nineteen - Run, Run, Run

Today was one of those days that makes life seem worthwhile. I received good news in on the writing career front and good news on the pay-the-bills-job front. I'm going to have one of my self-published books distributed through Fictionwise.com and I made some potentially profitable connections for the company that pays my bills, Engage Interactive.

To top it off, I went for a 10 K run after work and breezed through it. I could have run a few more laps, but now's not the time to overdo it. Right after the run, I went home and did an upper body workout.

My old friend Nanook of the Nashwaak dropped by and mentioned that I look like I'm getting in shape. I looked in the mirror after he left. Maybe there's a defect in my eyes that adds volume to my stomach. My own opinion is that I have much work to do.

But it's getting easier every day now.

I also got a belated birthday greeting from my old friend Beth Ashton. She's one of the lead character's in the novel for which I'm researching triathons. She was in the first book, The War Bug, but she was one of the characters who was dropped after I worked on the novel for a year and a half and decided to drop the whole thing and start all over again. The fortunate part of that painful experience was that I could salvage much of the deleted material for use in the sequel. Including Beth.

BTW, the research on the novel is coming along great. The training seems to be spurring my creativity to the extent that I may have a big part of the novel plotted and some of the key chapters written before I even do the initial outlining.

Which re-affirms for me that using a triathon with it's severe testing of mind, body and spirit is the perfect platform for exploring what makes humans human in the sequel to The War Bug.

Or something like that.

Day Eighteen - Swim, Swim, Swim Just One More Time

Up early and into the pool for 104 laps. That works out to just over 2.5 kilometers, but who's counting? Once I get past 50, I could swim forever, but the pool hours don't take forever into consideration.

When I asked about this, they said, "Look at your pool membership card."

I looked at the card and said, "So?"

They said, "Is there an expiry date?"

I said, "Yes, there is."

They said,"Then, there is no forever for you."

They rested their case.

Day Seventeen - Swim, Swim, Swim Again

Busy busy day at work today. Then busy busy at home working on my web site and doing some marketing for The War Bug. It felt good to get to the pool in the evening and do 72 laps. They went easily, like so many ant farts.

I can feel myself getting into shape more and more each day.

I was talking to a woman at the pool who said that she's been in the triathlon for the last five or six years. She said to hold back a little when the swimming starts because it's a big confusing mess and that the strong swimmers usually start a little after everyone else and then just swim right over the raging mass.

Sounds like a blast.

Now for some stretching and a beer and then bed and up at 6:30 to head back to the pool. I'll try for a 100 laps in the morning.

Day Sixteen - Recorded the Run

Slept in till 8 today because I knew I was just going for a run and there's no traffic at the lake. And wasn't.

I took along my digital recorder and recorded the third lap, talking about the trail, the scenery and anything else that came into my mind. I did this with the intention of cutting up the file and posting it on the triathlon page on my web site. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to use my audio program to cut the file up into smaller files. It's 22 megs. A bit much for quick downloading.

I'll figure it out somehow.

I only did five laps today. Pain began shooting through my left shin about halfway into my fifth lap and it didn't go away. I was tempted to say to hell with it and go the whole six laps, but commonsense prevailed. I don't want to injure myself before July 10. I had visions of my days in Karate training and going gung ho before the gradings. We all did. And that was when we had the most number of injuries, some bad enough that we missed the gradings.

One of the things I've learned over the years is to listen to my body. It knows when it's had enough and it knows when it feels like being pushed further. On the day of the triathlon, I might just push it even further than that...but not during training.

So I went home and worked out on my Gym 1000 and did about a million different stretches from my Bob Anderson book on stretching.

Just as I was about to leave for a bike ride an hour ago, my daughter called and told me the weather channel was calling for some hurricane weather. I figured a bike wasn't a good place to be in a hurricane so I made plans for indoor activities. A million more stretches. There's a lot of thunder and lightning ripping across the sky outside at the moment, but I wouldn't call the winds anything near to a hurricane. Maybe it's one of those slow starters.

Days Fourteen and Fifteen - Easy Day, Hard Day

Yesterday was Friday and my body was still crisply burned from too much sun on Thursday, so I limited the body work to stretching only. My body seemed happy with this. "All the parts of me - my arms, my legs, and all the stuff in between are happy with this," said my body.

Today was different. I biked the road course twice for 20 K and then ran around the lake six times for just over 10 K.

I started a little later than last Saturday. There was a lot more traffic. Going up the hill on the Ring Road was hell. Everytime the lights changed at the intersection below, a horde of cars and trucks screamed by and I felt like I was breathing pure carbon monoxide. The short stretch of road fronting the Brookside Mall was congested and the road work they're doing added dust and dirt to the air, but once I passed the mall the road cleared up with just moderate traffic all the way to the lake.

I'm starting to make friends with the hills on St. Mary's and the Ring Road, but the hills on Brookside Drive are still murder. Places where I thought the road leveled or maybe even slanted down a little looked more like they were actually sloping upwards today.

I think I may have to look around for an old racing bike to train on for the next few days. Much as I love my mountain bike, it just doesn't cut it for going fast down a steep hill.

The weather was perfect: cloudy, with a refreshing breeze.

The run around the lake is getting easier. I'm starting to get my running legs back after a winter of just swimming and working out on my Gym 1000.

Yep, I think I might just life through this after all.

Day Thirteen - Birthday Hangover and a Long Swim

I survived my birthday. But it was low key. My old friend Nanook of the Nashwaak dropped by and we went through pictures of our canoe trip down the Miramichi. But I drank many beers and a bottle of red wine in the process. This morning was painful, less so from yesterday's workout and moreso from the million little people in my head trying to break through my cranium with large hammers.

But that didn't stop me from going to the lake and swimming 3 kilometers. It was a great swim, but it was a lot different than swimming at the Nashwaak Pool. No lines on the bottom for orientation. At one point, I nearly swam into the shore.

But it was great to be swimming outdoors again.

Unfortunately, I laid in the sun for a while and now I'm pretty much the same color as a boiled lobster. And it hurts. I put Solarcaine on it, but it still hurts. On the other hand, it was a great swim.

After the swim and the sunning, I walked around the lake and took pictures. I also took some pics of the biking route for the triathlon and posted them at my web site at www.biffmitchell.com.

And now I can go to bed.

Day Twelve - Birthday Workout

Almost two full weeks of training and I'm still alive, able to walk, talk and respond intelligently to questions like, "What's your name?" and "Do you have a shoe size?"

Today is my 58th birthday and I celebrated by taking the afternoon off from work and going for a 40 K bike ride and a 10 K run. It was warm, but overcast with a moderate breeze...perfect for pissing off your body by making unruly demands on it.

I had an original thought while I was biking, but I forgot it. Oh well.

While I was running, I had my digital recorder with me wrapped up in a face cloth so that I could make notes and wipe away the sweat at the same time. Got some great ideas for the sequel to The War Bug.

Once I get this training-for-the-triathlon thing down, I'm going visualize myself as the character in the novel who's running the virtual triathlon and see if I can imagine the competitors and maybe come up with some stuff that I can transfer right into the writing.

I want to use the triathlon scene as one of the keys points where I comment on the issue of human sentience and artificial sentience (as in the virtual personalities created out of programming that creates sentient personalities).

More and more I'm realizing that entering a triathlon to research this scene was the right thing to do. I can't think of another event that tests mind, body and spirit as much as the training has.

I can only imagine the intensity that will be reached when I'm in the actual event.

All I have to do is survive the training.

And now, it's back to my birthday and some much deserved beer.

Day Eleven - Swim, Swim, Swim

One thing about working out in the morning is that it seems to leave the rest of the day untouched by the workout. Suddenly you have time to do things. For instance, I did my 100 laps at the indoor pool before going to work.

Now, the best thing about this is that the pool tends to be less busy at 7:15 AM. A big plus when you're swimming non-stop for an hour and 15 minutes and you want to maintain a steady pace.

But almost as good is that it leaves the rest of day open to just relax or do whatever you want without having the burden of a workout-yet-to-come. Not that I don't like the workouts, but I just don't like to have anything hanging over my head in my evenings, especially on Tuesdays. I have my daughter on Tuesdays, and we like to do things together...other than swimming a hundred laps. (Though, she's only one course away from being a lifeguard and she's a strong competitive swimmer.) I guess I just like to get the "scheduled" stuff out of the way fast.

Tomorrow I turn 58. I find this hard to believe. It seems like I'm still waiting to become an adult. Dreams of someday being a rock star or a cowboy still seem reasonable...well...after a few beers.

After half a century dreaming of becoming a writer, I've finally started to get books and stories and poems published. All this started around the time I turned 50. Five years ago, I stopped smoking after 39 years of that filthy addiction. Now, at the age of 58, I'm going into a triathlon.

And I always thought I would die before my 50th birthday because there would be nothing to live for after it. Peter Pan was my idol.

I have to drive my daughter about 15 miles to her school, so I won't be able to work out in the morning, but to celebrate my birthday, I'll leave work early and do the 40 k bike ride and 5 k swim.

And live through it.

Day Ten - Upper Body and the Mind

Easy day today. I worked out on my Gym 1000 and did a lot of stretching. The pain in my legs has mostly passed. I don't feel like I'm going to fall down when I walk up stairs. This is a good feeling. Tomorrow I swim and work on the Gym 1000 again. The next day is my 58th birthday. I'm going to bike and run like hell to celebrate.

The the rest of today, I wrote a media release and posted it at all the online sites. Here it is (Oh, BTW, my alter ego, Thom Glen, is my agent. He interviews me and does the actual writing.):

Author Biff Mitchell Enters Olympic Level Triathlon to Research Novel

Summary: Biff Mitchell swims, bikes and runs to research the sequel to his novel “The War Bug”.

“If I survive the training, then I just might finish the triathlon,” said author Biff Mitchell, who hopes to complete an Olympic level triathlon to research a chapter in the sequel to his best selling ebook “The War Bug”, which is hitting bookstores in paperback this October.

The event Mitchell entered is the Duncan Hadley Triathlon to be held at Killarney Lake in New Brunswick, Canada, on July 10, one month after his fifty-eighth birthday. “It’s a 1500 meter swim,” said Mitchell. “Followed by a 40 kilometer bike ride and a 10 kilometer run. I don’t plan to break any records. I’ll be happy to finish, alive.”

Mitchell has been training daily for the event. “I usually swim 2 to 3 kilometers a couple times a week,” he said. “But I only started running and biking again a few weeks ago. My legs are just beginning to get used to the training, so I suppose my chances of living through this are improving every day.”

Mitchell’s novel “The War Bug”, originally scheduled for release in June, has been postponed at the author’s request till October 2005 after research revealed that the summer months are the worst of the year for book sales. “I had visions of sitting in an empty bookstore ready to sign books while everyone was at the beach,” said Mitchell.

Set 200 years in the future, the “The War Bug” revolves around Abner Hayes, who has just hours to save his virtual family from death at the hands of a ruthless kidnapper. His only ally is a deadly computer virus responsible for a virtual war that's killed millions and threatens to destroy the Internet from Earth to Jupiter.

“The sequel takes place 100 years after the first novel,” said Mitchell. “And it’s a reversal of the original plot. Hayes daughter, Cassie, has to save her father with help from the same computer virus that aided her father.”

One of the key scenes in the novel is an online triathlon that pits humans against virtual athletes. “I plan to develop the themes of humanness and intelligent programs that I touched on in ‘The War Bug’,” said Mitchell. “And what better way to do it than with an event that tests your mind, body and spirit.”

“I want this scene to be as realistic as possible,” said Mitchell. “And the best way to do that is experience an actual triathlon, training and all.”

Mitchell’s training regimen begins at 7:00 AM each morning with various combinations of running, swimming, biking, stretching and strength-building exercises. “Last Saturday, I biked 40 kilometers and ran five,” said Mitchell. “The next day, I was going to run 10 kilometers, but my legs had other ideas. I ran five.”

Deron Douglas from Double Dragon Publishing – Mitchell’s publisher – said, “We don’t normally ask our writers to risk their lives selling their books, but after looking at Biff’s sales figures for this month, we’ve given him the green light.”

“I love publishers with a sense of humor,” said Mitchell. “I think that’s why I prefer the independents.”

Mitchell is guarded about the name of his sequel. “It’s the perfect name for this particular novel and I’m afraid that if I even say it out loud, some other writer will pick up on it and use it.”

This October, the trade paperback version of "The War Bug" will premiere throughout North America. In the United States, bookstores and libraries can order the title from Ingram or Baker & Taylor, or in Canada from Double Dragon Publishing. Mitchell plans to finish the sequel sometime in 2006.

Details on the triathlon, along with pictures of the route, will be posted at www.biffmitchell.com over the next few weeks. He’s also begun posting daily training entries on his blog at http://biffmitchelldotblog.blogspot.com.

About Biff Mitchell Biff Mitchell is the author of the world’s first laundromance, "Heavy Load" (biffmitchell.com). His second novel, "Team Player" (coming from Double Dragon Publishing in 2006), is a spoof on the IT industry, based largely on his own work experience. He has two novellas, "The Baton" and "Smoke Break," published as Dollar Downloads by Echelon Press.

Days Eight and Nine - My Legs Are On Strike

I had my duaghter Cassie with me this weekend. Being a teenager, she sleeps in. Late. So I was up at 6:30 yesterday (Saturday) and did the triathlon bike route the full four times (40 K).

I think the greatest motivation to keep going was the threat of being eaten alive by mostiquitoes if I stopped too long. I've known people who won't attract a single bug while I'm swatting at a thick cloud of the little bastards just a few feet away. I hate those people.

The first road on the bike route is St. Mary's Street. It starts off level and then goes down. Then it goes up, but it's not a drastic up. It's more of a "this-is-a-taste-of-what-you're-gonna-get" up. This stretch is good because there's nothing drastic, so it makes for a good warm up for the biking. At the end, a short stretch of road swings to the right. A few hundred feet later, the route swings right onto the Ring Road.

And the work starts.

The Ring Road circles around a bunch of subdivisions, providing a fast lane to the northwest end of the north side of the city. It's a highway. It's wide and it starts with one of those gawdawful long long long hills, the ones that go on forever and, just when you reach the crest, you realize that it really hasn't crested, it's just not as steep but it's still going uphill. The reward is an equally long downhill coast the brings the route to Brookside Drive.

A right hand turn takes the route by the Brookside Mall and a road surface that's so far removed from perfect that it could be defined at the exact opposite of perfect. TThe biking is level for about half a K, before the up hill part begins. And it just keeps going up hill. In fact, to me, this is the hardest part of the route. There's three hills but they're not high, just long, and they're joined together by stretches that level a bit, but are still mostly up slopes.

It doesn't take long to do this stretch, but it's murder on the bod, and it ends with a sharp up hill climb that seems downright cruel.

After the biking, I ran around the like for half the triathlon course (3 times). The first time around was murder. Slow murder. Have to work on those transitions.

But the lake was beautiful. It was just before nine and the place was nearly deserted...just a few people out walking their dogs.

trail around the lake starts at the beach and disappears into the woods. It goes up hill gradually and then sharply as it veers to the right and along the crest of a hill that overlooks the lake through the trees. It turns right again and goes downhill. This segment of the hill is like a gentle roller coaster. At the end, it turns right and goes by a frog pond and back to the beach.

With the exception of the sharp hill at the end of the first leg, it's not a difficult run and it has enough natural beauty to soak up all the pain if you think about the trees and not about your legs.

Got up early again this morning and ran around the lake three times. Tonight I'll work out on my Gym 1000 and call it a day.

It's looking more and more like I might actually live through this...if I can just get my legs to speak to me again. Legs? Legs? I know you're there...

Day Seven - Day of Rest

It's Friday and it's hot. About the hottest day this Spring. Got up early and did some Qi Gong. Left work early and took Cass to Killarney Lake. We sunned on the beach and floated around on air mattresses. The water was still cold but I went for a swim across the lake and back. Nothing serious. Just an easy pace. Floated around in the middle of the lake on the way over.

Then home to pig out on barbeque chicken and potato wedges.

My body is beginning to forgive me.

Tomorrow I'll be up at 6 AM and off for a 40 K bike ride and a 5 K run.

My body will be bitching at me again.

Day Six - My Body Hates Me

No biking or running today. Thank God. My inside thighs, right up to the crotch, feel like somebody was using the muscles as an entry ramp for large vehicles with tracks and heavy loads. I think this may have something to do with my bicycle seat being too wide. I'll chech this out at Savages Bikes. They're the ones lending me a new bike for the triathlon. But more on that later.

Up at 6:30 this morning and into the water at 7:15 for 90 laps. That's 30 more than the swim on July 10, but I've been doing 100 to 120 all winter and I don't see any reason to cut back too much now, except of course, the fact that my body is beginning to hate me. It says things like, "Biff, we're your legs. We hate you. Feel the pain, Biff? Take the pain. Here's a little more. Now, wouldn't you rather spend your evenings drinking beer and working on your web site, or doing some marketing for The War Bug, or working on your next novel? Maybe even just watching a good movie? We'll get you if you keep this up, Biff. We'll get you good."

So, at the end of the swim, I did six really really fast laps. Just to piss my legs off.

But I went easy on them this evening. I did an upper body workout on my Gym 1000 and a lot of stretching. And I didn't die once.

Now, I have to see what I can do about that bicycle seat. I'll do that tomorrow. That's my rest day. No workouts. No swimming, biking or running. Maybe some stretching, but mostly just relaxing.

Hear that legs? Mostly just relaxing.

"Thanks, Biff. Feel this?

Ouch!

Day Six - My Body Is Rejecting Me

Six days into the training and I'm still alive! Sort of. There seems to be some kind of mind/body disfunction growing around me, like, my mind says, "Time to train for the nice little triathlon so that we don't fall on our collective mind/body/spirit face in front of a zillion spectators and make little asses of our collective selves."

And my body says, "Biff, think about it. Cold beer and a movie. A big cold bottle of Picaroons Irish Red and the zillionth viewing of Fight Club or The Breakfast Club or Blade Runner or Apocalypse Now or Clueless. Our collective selves could just veg and sip and view."

But I went out anyway. Twenty kilometers of biking and a little over 5 kilometers of running. And the whole time my mind was saying, "We coulda been drinking beer. We coulda been ..."

"No, you frickin' freak," yelled my mind. "Just one more..."

And so it went. The bike ride sucked. Too much traffic on all three roads. I felt like I was gulping carbon monoxide. But the run around the lake was great. I was sunny and warm and the light was early evening magic on the still surface of the lake water.

I finished my run and started to do some stretching in the grass above the beach but the bugs found me within seconds. Big bugs. Black flies so big you could put saddles on them and buzz down Main Street yahooing and spitting on everything that burns diesel fuel.

That big.

So I cut out early, drove directly to the beer store for a cold bottle of Picaroons (on the advisement of my spirit, of course...the old peacemaker between mind and body), and then drove home to watch a movie.

But which one? Time for decisions...