Getting to know....... Kurt Godel

Trig1

Really like this thread...trying to think of a few questions?

Money no object...what runners would you buy?
what tt bike for racing?
what road bike?
what wet suit?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years...training wise?
in 10 years...training wise?
Would you like to see your Kids compete in triathlon??
If they did! what would you say to them if you saw one of your kids drafting in a race??:)

tunney

One bird. Any bird. No wife related consequences. Which woman?

griffin100

tunney wrote: »

One bird. Any bird. No wife related consequences. Which woman?

If we're going down that road.........favourite position????



























I'd say you're a reverse cowgirl type of fella.

Oryx

^how to kill a thread in two easy lessons.

peter kern

one last question , it has beem touched on but what are the transferale skills from triathlon that you implemented for your live and work?
And vica versa what do you feel are transferable skills from your private live and work live into triathlon?

Kurt Godel

tunney wrote: »

One bird. Any bird. No wife related consequences. Which woman?

Victorine Meurent.

Kurt Godel

peter kern wrote: »

one last question , it has beem touched on but what are the transferale skills from triathlon that you implemented for your live and work?
And vica versa what do you feel are transferable skills from your private live and work live into triathlon?

I'm quite logical and disciplined (although anyone unfortunate enough to witness me yesterday in McGrattans might disagree), and planning, organising, scheduling for training/races etc has creeped into my work ethic. Like anything in life, you get back what you put in, and hard work has its rewards. I don't know if training for tri has directly increased my work ethic, but I'd sort of think it has.

career_move

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Victorine Meurent.

Bit old for you, isn't she

Kurt Godel

Sorry lads, I just noticed your posts now, answers below:

trainerman wrote: »

favourite swim course, bike course and run course?
toughest swim course, bike course and run course?

I actually find this broken-down option easier to answer than just "favourite race". Best swim course was EiremanX last year. It was pretty choppy, but the organizer had allowed for this, and offered a duathlon option for anyone scared of the waves. This meant that anyone getting in the water was a strong swimmer, and we had a great race. You would swim "out" of a wave, and fall downwards, it was that choppy! A real test, sighting was difficult too, and I had a real ding dong with one lad. We passed a lot from the halfway mark, and I pushed on from there, to exit third out (with a determined, cranky, face on me judging by the scary photo someone took!). Really enjoyed that swim.

I really liked the Pikeman bike course, great flat smooth roads, a couple of laps so you can see who to chase/who is chasing, marshalls at every junction, and a lot of cheering support at the finish. The climb out of Rosslare is harder, longer, steeper, second time around!

I used to run on some truely amazing routes when doing hill running, and to be honest nothing I've done in Tri so far even comes close. But I kind of like the route of the Bray Aquathlon series, its fun running along the Boardwalk and trying not to think of the looming hill. With the couple of laps, you get to see all aspects of the race. Last time I ran it I had a relatively good day, pushed it to the red line right the way around, and passed a good few on the second lap. Because I exit the water relatively high, my Tri races are usually a battle of attrition as I'm passed right until the end, but this time I worked harder. It still amazes me just how fast some people can run- Abhainn goes up the hills at a sprint. Kevin Keane flew past in a green blur, and had cut a huge distance by the time the second lap came about, still going like a freight train. Great to be part of the race and to see the different aspects of it unfold too.

Toughest swim, as above. Best=toughest:)
Toughest bike, Beast of the East. Very hilly, the surface is terrible in places, being passed by a constant stream of people, and as for that final climb out of Laragh... never again. But I think everyone says that every year:) Very well organized race.
Toughest run, BOTE again. A man of my girth has no place lugging lard up hills. Died a death!

Kurt Godel

Trig1 wrote: »

Really like this thread...trying to think of a few questions?

Money no object...what runners would you buy?
what tt bike for racing?
what road bike?
what wet suit?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years...training wise?
in 10 years...training wise?
Would you like to see your Kids compete in triathlon??
If they did! what would you say to them if you saw one of your kids drafting in a race??:)

Money no object...
Runners: I've never scrimped on footwear. I've got racers, trainers, various hill shoes to suit different terrain, spikes, barefoot runners... Just your normal shoe-fetish-obsessed triathlete. I'm nowhere near the worst around these parts though in that regard:)
TT bike: I'd swipe pgibbo's bike. Electronic shifters, mmmmmm.
Road bike: Very happy with my BeOne Mistral, got it end-of-year sale, ultegra parts, carbon fork, around a grand, it does me just fine. Triple ring too, a bonus for those hilly Wicklow hills.
Wet suit: I'm very happy with my new ZeroD Neptune, got a great fitting in Base2Race, tried it in their pool, was shown how to put it on correctly... previous times I'd looked for a "bargain" online: never again, getting a one-to-one fitting from someone who knows what he is talking about is the way to go.

5 & 10 years time- I'm all too aware of Father Time marching on, these next few years will the last that I can squeeze out whatever athletic ability this body has. I don't see myself doing tri just to take part, so when the returns diminish rapidly, I'll quit. Maybe move to distance OW swimming. So realistically I've only a year or two left in Tri to "achieve" anything I want to.
But who knows whats around the corner.

My kids: I'd love to see them get into Tri. The intention next year is to take them to some kiddie Tri's (Lanesborough has one). They love to swim, bike, run.
If they drafted? Good question!:) I don't know, I can't see them ever doing it, but who knows. Rules are rules but its pretty obvious that competitive people like to push the rules if they can. I've got more respect for people who don't draft but I'm not at the level where others drafting affects my position in any meaningful way. If they were happy with the choices they make, thats what its all about. They're brought up to play by the rules, but having kids is funny for showing you just how often you break the rules yourself (kids always point out if you are speeding on the motorway, or stay up later then some predetermined bedtime, or have a pack of crisps before dinner;))

pgibbo

I wish my bike did have electronic shifters....it is a great bike though IMO

In relation to your swimming. You saw huge gains last year when working with the maestro. I know you were unhappy with your times for the latter part of the season. Was that down to the coached sessions stopping or lack of swimming on your behalf?
How do you plan to stop that happening this year?

Favourite movie?

Kurt Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

I wish my bike did have electronic shifters....it is a great bike though IMO

In relation to your swimming. You saw huge gains last year when working with the maestro. I know you were unhappy with your times for the latter part of the season. Was that down to the coached sessions stopping or lack of swimming on your behalf?
How do you plan to stop that happening this year?

Favourite movie?

Oops, thought you had electronic shifters... you're selling yourself short pgibbo. Something for your Xmas list;)

For the swimming last year we had weekly sessions with interested for 20 weeks from January. They were a massive benefit- I don't want to embarrass him him by being too much of a gushing fanboy, but I really really admire his expertise and his attitude. We just had to turn up, follow his program, listen to his suggestions on stroke improvements. I had my swimming down where 1:40 was cruising pace, so was strong in the water, and looking forward to the season. I had a big target on the swim in Valentia, was really hyped up for it, and when it was cancelled... well, I just figured whats the point of doing all this swim training when the swim section of races are going to be dropped (as I see it) at the first sign of wind or a slight chill.

That's not a great attitude to have (and its something I very much want to improve on this year, to go with the flow and be more positive), and so I started to skip the pool, and do a bit more on the bike or running. I did some OW swimming (mainly in Wicklow Harbour, great place), but ditched the pool (the lessons had finished) and just ticked over. The result was that I had a very mixed swim fortunes in races. Look, you need to get a good start in Tri's, otherwise you're boxed behind slow swimmers, and everyone wants to go out hard, even if its not the most efficient use of energy. You need to be able to sprint out, and not be too wrecked after 200m or so, by which time you should be cruising strongly. Unfortunately you're up against guys sprinting out who then die after 200m, but thats part and parcel of the race. So for next year I want to get strong again in the pool, and to work on fast starts and holding pace better after the start. And to have a more positive attitude about swim training versus risk of cancellations. The hope is we start up training again in January and take it from there again. I want to be in decent shape starting off, so the next 8 weeks will be about losing weight and getting a bit pool sharper, ready to start in Jan.

The coached sessions are worth their weight in gold, if we didn't have them we won't be as fast, end of. Some of the lads couldn't swim before them, and now have completed Tris (and were organizing group swims in OW during the summer). The ideal situation is you have at least one weekly coached session, throughout the year, but that's not often possible, and to be fair to interested he travels a good distance to accommodate us in Arklow, and I'm hugely appreciative of that. There are two lanes ability wise, I'd be the faster in our group. It would be nice to have a few faster than me, but Abhainn is starting to tip my toes so thats good. My 11-year-old son has outgrown his current swim group, and has been promised he might get into the slower lane if there is space next January, if he continues to improve. He has got his 25m time down to 26 seconds on the back of this promise;)

Film: take your pick from many Coen bros. movies, maybe "A Serious Man" or "No Country for Old Men".

Krusty_Clown

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Ok, on the sub3 marathon attempts... its crap to put in a huge amount of effort (I was doing up to 70+ mile weeks) and get no reward.

You have to work very hard for your maths and statistics. You've had to work hard to get where you are in triathlon. Why was running so different, that the investment to get what you wanted wasn't worth it?

Kit brewing, or extract?

Espresso/french press/filter/instant?

Kurt Godel

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You have to work very hard for your maths and statistics. You've had to work hard to get where you are in triathlon. Why was running so different, that the investment to get what you wanted wasn't worth it?

Ha, VERY good question! I never considered this before, and I'll have to be as honest as I can and say that I can be lazy, and certainly have been lazy when it came to running. You and I both sort of took up running around the same time, similar ages and backgrounds, and indeed there was a time back in the dark ages when I could beat you in races. But then you applied yourself, and started to work harder, and harder, and harder... and you started to get rewards. I was just lazy when it came to running- no stretching, no warm-ups, the bare minimum of LSR's or weekly milage. The very few times I did apply myself (trained hard for a couple of marathons), I started to see the results in terms of doing better in hill races etc. But the marathons f***ed up, and so the reward and gratification wasn't there, and so I got lazy again, and ultimately injured. (BTW, that's kind of why I get annoyed when I see lazy joggers applauding themselves, there's a bitter and twisted mirror there somewhere).

I've determined not to let that happen again in Triathlon, so I'm putting in a lot more work. There's also the bonus that its novel and exciting at the moment, so I enjoy seeing where it can take me over the next year or two. Ditto with the career, I was lazy as an artist and never lived up to my initial potential (although its an old mans game so I live in hope), and I don't want that to happen for my "second" career of Maths, so I work very hard mentally at it, and won't be happy unless I have a First this time next year.

Great question, cheers!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Kit brewing, or extract?

Espresso/french press/filter/instant?

Right at the moment I have a kit brew going. Its my second attempt at brewing- I used up our bumper apple crop to make some scrumpy that is sitting in bottles right now. I'll have a go at extract at some stage, if I don't poison myself first:)

Three large cups of good filtered coffee every morning, to soften the perma-scowl;)

Kurt Godel

Part two in this ongoing series starts over here with the vastly more talented littlemsfickle!

Peterx

great read, well done on the questions to everybody and you on the answers Kurt.

menoscemo

Hey Kurt; can I get my medal back now please?

Ososlo

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Favourite colour is Schmenike Ruby Red (oil paint). The reason being, when I worked in NY, for a time I was employed in the studio of an artist called Jeff Koons, and after a brief apprentiship mixing colours (and working with the finest materials money could buy), he asked me to paint this huge 1.5meter wide set of lips using that colour, superimposed over a highly detailed foliage background (image is here). It took quite a while, on this huge canvas, and when it was done he had a look, and said the lips were too wide, could I trim an eighth of an inch from their border? So I spent ages overpainting the foliage by a tiny amount. When that was done, he wondered if maybe we had taken too much off: could I add back a sixthteenth of an inch on the lips? Madman! Interesting times though:D

You worked in Jeff Koons studio??? LEGEND!!! You a practicing artist in Ireland? Who are you? Jeez I really must visit this forum more. how interesting!