Daybreak Race Report!

The first-ever Daybreak Tri was held on September 19th in Herriman, Utah. OK so this race report comes about a month late! Truth be told I was waiting for the race pictures to be up on the site, and yes, for whatever reason they felt like waiting a month to get them published, so here it is. How can you tell a story without pictures? Even if they're watermarked and logo'd all to hell....

The race format was modified the week of the race because of some silly roundworm outbreak caused by Oquirrh lake. Whateva - I would've preferred to swim. Swimming is the only way I stand a chance at podium, albeit slim chance but a chance nonetheless! So they changed the race format to a 75 yard swim, 1.25 mile run, 12.25 mile bike, and 5k run. Heavy sigh, ahwell. I digress...

So race morning comes - setting up transition at 6:30 AM in the dark sucked. Had my usual bagel and schmear with a bannanna and propel before setting up. The sun came up after a 20-30 minutes but lights would've been nice. Transition was strewn out across the long-ass awkward boat ramp, and I scoped a spot out near the end of the ramp closest the lake so I wouldn't get lost. Little did I know this left me with a nice jog UP and DOWN the ramp in my bike cleats, slipping and sliding around like an idiot on iceskates. But hey - look on the bright side - at least I didn't get lost trying to find my gear. After some hectic disorganization and a less-than-informative speech by the RD, we were shuttled from transition to the 75 yard pool a mile and change away.


Swim + 1.25 Mile Run: What can you say about 75 yards in a pool and another mile and a quarter? A lot, I suppose, but I'll just say it was kinda meh. (Meh is that word you use when you're not really impressed with something, but not really put out by it either. Kinda like "I don't give a crap", but you do just a little.) Sucked down a raspberry hammer gel just prior to hitting the water. My 75 yards + 1.25 run to T1 took me about 10:00 even. Weeee, we're off!!


T1: Remember the boat ramp and bike cleat detail I mentioned earlier? Yea. Running in bike cleats sucks almost as much as having no light to set up transition in. I should've gone for a spot up the ramp, seriously. All complaints aside, the only trouble in T1 was trying to mount the bike out of transition. At Jordanelle I literally slid about 10 feet trying to pull my superman-run-fling-leg-over-top-bar mount and nearly embarrassed the hell outta myself. Not this time! 0:58



Bike: Once my ass was planted firmly on the seat, I was off! Long climb up the false flat along 114th to Baccus. The road was crap - it needed repair. The good news is that I didn't get run over. The bad news was that the 1.25 mile run left my legs a little tight, so I couldn't get in a rhythm for a few miles. My speedometer was also missing, and I had no way to gauge my effort other than gut feeling. Another long climb up 111 to the entrance of Kennecott, and an appropriate turnaround spot at the top of the climb. Zooooooooooom back down the hill to 114th, and zoooooooom down 114th back to transition. I love negative splits! 36:41 (20.something mph).

T2: Tippie-toe on my cleats down the boat ramp 100 yards. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Who said T2 is shorter than T1? 1:11

Run: Finally, something to cheer about! Took off with that usual sluggishness out of transition in the legs. For anyone who hasn't experienced this, it feels like running in sand. At any rate, once I found my rhythm in the run, I was cruising. This run felt stronger than any previous race run and it showed. I also wonder how much that initial 1.25 mile run played a factor, but nonetheless I had a great feeling at the finish line. 23:09


Overall: Minus the little roundworm incident, the course was fun. The ride was moderately tough with the climbs, but I trained for em. Support was OK - I rarely use aid stations on races, but there was only 1; some peeps were agitated by this and rightfully so. The whole pictures-took-a-month issue really pisses me off, too. How hard is it to upload pictures and even do some minor editing if necessary? Not that hard. Next time, don't hire an amatuer part-time photographer - let someone else do it. I doubt people are gonna whine about paying an extra few bucks for a decent picture. Sure, it's exploitation, but we pay taxes, so we're accustomed to this sorta thing right?


1:11:57 - 6th of 36 AG, 26th of 174 Men, 28th of 327 Overall.

Jordanelle Race Report

The Jordanelle Triathlon - August 22nd - turned out to be great race, and absolutely loved the course (sans the first mile of the run, more on that later); it was pretty well organized (sans some pain points - more on those later).

I camped out at the Hailstone site on the opposite side of the lake the previous night - this was a little frustrating to have to shack up so far away from the venue, but apparently the Rock Cliff sites were washed out and there was some confusion - more like complete and total lack of communication from the race director until the week of the race, at which point we were told via email that there was no camping reserved whatsoever. Lucky for me I booked the Hailstone site 2 weeks in advance. $25 for the reservation sucks, but it beats getting up at 5 AM to drive, and I absolutely hate being rushed on race mornings. I was camped close enough to the lake that I snuck over and got a few hundred meters of swimming early in the evening to keep things loose. Slept good minus the air matress going completely flat again, but it was nice to have a hot shower and facilities close by.

Nutrition / Setup: Morning of I had half a bagel, a breakfast bar, and a bannanna. Took in 2 Propel for liquid prior to the race. No nutrition problems during the race or hunger whatsoever. Arrived at the parking in Francis (4 miles East of transition), found a spot, threw my gear back on my back and biked down to transition. I had plenty of time to setup early, and chat with a few friends doing the race. Like I said, I hate being rushed. Always feel like I'm forgetting something.

Swim: Hopped in the water about 15 minutes early and warmed up. Race started on time - Olympic wave left at 9:00 and Sprint 9:30. Chatted with a few of the other athletes, found my position near the front and left, by the buoy. My open-water swimming strength and confidence have increased greatly over the summer. Horn sounded - we were off. The pace was pretty furious at first - LOTS of chop and thrashing. I wonder if this had more to do with where I positioned myself, but it didn't bother me - I was probably dishing out my fair share of chop and kicking. I settled in to my own lane and cruised to the first buoy. Tempted to take a peek at my watch but I knew it wouldn't benefit me any, so I didn't. The first leg was longer than the 2nd and 3rd, and there was some hesitation by the pack going around the first buoy, but the pace picked back up. I was still in the first half a dozen swimmers in my wave in the lead, but we were now overtaking the Oly racers on their 2nd lap one by one. I had a very strong swim - very controlled and great tempo. If there was any negatives to point out, it would be that I could've pushed a little harder and possibly sighted better - I veered off twice but it didn't cost me much time. Swim time was 13:55 for a 1:51 100/M pace. By comparison - Echo was 14:19 for a 1:54 100/M pace.

T1: Was worried wearing my new Look shoes and pedals would cost me time, but it was smooth sailing. I did slip a tad coming out of transition trying to do the running style mount on my bike, but I gathered myself and took off. Next race I'm going sockless to shave some time. 2:00 even.

Bike: I told myself before the race I was gonna slaughter the bike course. I wouldn't say I did that, but I did pick up the pace. The interval training has been paying off - I was 8 tenths faster than Echo (19.1 MPH -vs- 19.9 MPH), but I wonder if Jordanelle wasn't a faster course with less hills. It was mostly false flat heading out toward Francis, and as it has been with all races, I seem to get passed and dropped by my AG'ers. Total bike time was 43:20 @ 19.9 MPH.

T2: Pretty uneventful. Shoes came off quick, run shoes went on quick, and after a major swig of some H20, I was out. 1:23. Could've been faster but meh.

Run: Talk about annhialating your legs. I came out wanting to push, but after hammering on the bike for 14 miles, I was spent. My hammies were on fire, and my calves didn't wanna toe off a single bit. I'm incredibly surprised that I didn't spend any time walking, because the first mile and a quarter were probably akin to that power-walk shuffle you see people do. After turning back up on HWY 32 and down into the nature reserve, things finally started to loosen up and I pounded the last 2 miles to the finish. I took in a cup of HEED at mile 2 and more of it ended up on my shirt than in my belly. So much for drinking and running. ;) Run time was 24:17 @ 7:50 Min/Mi pace - surprising considering the amount of pain I fought through for that first mile of the run.

Overall: I feel great about this race! My total time 1:24:58 was good enough for 5th of 30 AG, 2 minutes back of podium. Race day also happened to be the same day as Melinda's birthday and her 5k run at Sugarhouse, so we were both out doing things we enjoy. We celebrated with a nice dinner and a movie later that night. :)

Millcreek - Conquered!

This summer I set a goal to climb all the canyons adjacent to Salt Lake City - City Creek, Emigration, Milcreek, Big and Little Cottonwood, Corner Canyon, and Butterfield. I've tackled the first two on several occasions, and Milcreek was the beast that tempted me on.

From the base of the canyon to the top took 1:05 - 3000 feet of climbing in roughly 9 miles.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/10308602

VERY tough climb - fairly relentless during certain sections. The first half of the climb is manageable and moderate, but once you pass the White Creek bridge (I think that's what it was), the hills really pour on one after another. I distinctly remember 4 sections that had me in granny numero-uno (lowest gear on both rings), pounding away trying not to stop. There were also a few "flat" sections where you can recover slightly. I hit the top of the climb with a great adrenaline rush and chatted with the other cyclist who was just slightly behind me for most of the climb.

Now that Milcreek is out of the way, the rest should be easy, yea? ;)

Echo Race Report

My Echo race report comes 3 weeks late - better than never, yea?

July 11th was the Echo Reservoir Tri in Coalville - a race I was really looking forward to after my floppingly-bad swim a month earlier at the BAM race and the cold waters of Deer Creek. Echo reservoir was running in the high-60's water temps and the bike course (previewed the week prior) was nice and fast. I stayed in my tidy new tent a few miles south of the lake and rode up early morning of race to prep transition. The Sprint wave fired off at 7:30, and I wanted to be in the water by 7 to give me time to warm up, etc.

Pre-race nutrition: 1 banana, 1 cereal bar, 2 advil, and 22oz of water.

Swim: With the warm inviting water, I knew this would be a strong swim for me. I had a great pre-race swim of maybe 100 meters - enough to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose. We were stuck between two yellow buoys for the start wave, and I lined up on the far left so I could dart to the inside track toward the first race buoy. Gun fired - and I made a hard fast push to get ahead of the main pack and veered left slightly to avoid the washing machine. For a guy who can't swim a straight line to save his life, I did fantastic - my sighting was frequent and I wasn't doing much zig-zag. Start to first buoy felt great, second buoy slowing a little, finding my tempo, less and less bi-lateral but I was keeping a great pace and breathing 2 on each side before switching, then sighting. Rounded the third buoy and I realized there were only 2 or 3 people ahead of me in my wave - this energized me and I made a hard push the last 200 meters to shore. Time to T1: 14:19. This definitely felt like more than 750 - but the run up the carpet and into T1 probably took over a minute.

T1: 2:39 - Not bad considering that awful run from the shore. My rack was located on the far end of transition so I should make up time at the run exit. In retrospect, having to fight with sandles is a bad idea!

Bike: I've always considered myself a strong biker. Maybe not fast, but consistent and moderately good at climbing hills. The Echo course spits you out onto a hill the first quarter-mile, and it rolls along-side the reservoir until the East turn up the canyon. I was off to a strong start, but just like BAM I was passed by AG riders (not too many). This was my first race with my aero bars, and they made a difference but more on downhills and extended flats. Getting in aero is slightly uncomfortable with my road geometry, so it's not an ideal position. I climbed strong up the 4-mile false flat up the canyon, and hit the turnaround point feeling good. Tried to swig down as much propel + water as I could reasonably take after turnaround, maybe 12oz. Jammed half a raspberry hammer gel in before coming in on the bike finish. Total bike time was 38:59 (19.1 MPH), but after looking at my AG leaders, a 34-35 minute time would've probably kept me on the podium.

T2: I lost time here. The RD's ran the transition point to the same entrance as the swim-in, which means I had to run ALL the way around again (everyone else had to, so I digress). 1:37 and I'll call it slightly above average - the AG leaders were around 1:20-ish.

Run: Started off about how I figured - legs slightly tight and sluggish that first half a mile. The run course felt slightly downhill - which wasn't true - but it helped me get over the mental block that seems to hit you as you take off. That's why they call em "bricks". I wasn't exactly blazing a trail, but I felt strong and pushed a little on the second half of the run. Run time was 24:28 - not bad, but again just slightly above average. AG leaders were around 22:00.

Total time was 1:22:04 - good enough for 7th of 39 AG - 9 minutes of the AG winner Eric May and 7 minutes out of podium. I was ecstatic about how I felt - I know there were moments when I could've cranked up just a little more, but if I do that I run the risk of exploding on the course later. In retrospect, my swim is definitely my strength in these events - not my biking (which I always assumed). My bike time was only good enough for 15th AG and nearly a full MPH slower than the leaders. Gotta find a way to make up that gap!

Next race up is Jordanelle on August 22nd!

"Feeling the Water"

When I first began swimming last fall, and in my quest to improve swim times and fitness levels for this season's Triathlon(s), I often heard the term "Feeling the Water". At first this phrase perplexed me; of course everyone can "feel" the water, so to speak, every time they dive in. Certainly cooler water can be felt easier, and any old lake will leave you "feeling" pretty damn cold - however - that's not the point. What was the point?

Months and months of swimming passed, and even after marked and continual improvement, I reflected back on this quote often. I wondered if I had experienced it, and the answer always seemed to be no.

About a month ago, shortly after the BAM triathlon in June, something remarkable happened. I was swimming at my normal 6 AM masters group, lamenting to our coach about how my disastrous swim unfolded the prior weekend out on Deer Creek. She didn't look surprised, but rather told me to get my ass out of the pool and demonstrate to her my stroke on dry land. I scoffed, but complied begrudgingly, because after all - I'm a world class swimmer! What could I possibly learn after nearly a year of swimming 2 and 3 days a week?! I was in for a great shock.

As I hunched over with my head facing downward, I began paddling as if I were moving through the chlorine-induced pool water, hastily tossing one arm forward, down, then back toward my thigh. After two quick "air strokes", she stopped me. What I saw next was nearly as scary as the horror movies that haunt our dreams from childhood - DROPPED ELBOW. I couldn't believe it. Not me!

No wonder I had become so comfortable with lap swimming and mediocre splits - my upper body muscle memory had imprinted itself with a terrible dropped elbow stroke. BAD, bad habit. Swim coaches everywhere are tearing up their workouts and manuals and crying uncontrollably for me, whether they realize it or not. For those who don't know, dropped elbow is one of "the" cardinal sins of swimming 101. Dropped elbow causes inefficient pulling. Inefficient pulling causes bad form. Bad form causes slower workouts, and more difficult workouts. Difficult workouts lead to slower times and less distance - and the bottom line is that it can be hard to correct. Here is a great link if you wanna read more about it.

So back to poolside with my cynical-sorry-ass standing there, freezing, wondering what my elbow was doing. Coach Becky quickly adjusted my elbow to square, had me practice a few on dry land, and motioned for me to get back in the pool. What ensued was a real miracle, as I started up the next set. My pulls seemed more fluid, my follow-through was more deliberate, and my arm was square. No more dropped shoulder! As I continued swimming that morning, I made a focused conscious effort to keep the arms square, and catch as much water from the tip of my fingers up through my forearms, and finally my shoulders.

One week later, continuing workouts and focusing on avoiding this dropped elbow, I FELT THE WATER. I was streamlined - I was rolling, and I was PULLING like you wouldn't believe! More importantly, I was faster! What a relief. To this day, I still think about squaring that arm and "reaching over the barrel" as it were, and catching as much water as I can. I feel the water all the time now and it has literally changed the way I swim.

Echo Pre-Race

Today was the Echo pre-race swim clinic & course preview.

Out of bed at 5:30 and in Coalville by 7 AM - I was greeted by another workout club friend Kris, donning his suit and ready to swim. Sans some campers, we were the only two at the lake and it was an awesome chance to get a pre-swim in. I threw my suit on (remember the body glide next weekend, please) and we wandered down lakeside and found a safe spot to start. Echo is really full, so the whole "sandy beach" thing didn't exactly materialize.

In the water - slight chill at first, but acclimatized very fast in the suit and it felt absolutely perfect. Even a tad on the warm side after the first swim. We scoped out some bouys lining 100 meters or so from the shore, about 500 meters south and headed out, pausing at each bouy to chill. I wish I could express how much more relaxed and unhypoxic I was during this swim compared to BAM. Deer Creek was an absolute freezefest in retrospect. I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

Back to shore at 7:45, and the core group / Sharks club group showed up and we decided we would forego the "instructional" open-water preview, and took off again on our own. Same deal, rounded bouys - felt great, sighted great, pulled great, still swam crooked. Ahwell. I didn't wanna get out!

We undressed, dried off, threw on the bike garb and headed North. The first thing I noticed was we had the wind at our back going East up the canyon out of Coalville. The course was pretty uneventful - very roller-coaster and a false flat that gives roughly 600 feet of climbing over the 14 miles we rode out. The wind on the way back slowed us down some, but for the most part it was a pretty straight shot. This is gonna be a fast course - plenty of time in aero. My patellar tendon was giving me a little twinge during the last 10 miles so I opted out of previewing the run course to be safe. I'll try a long tempo run tomorrow - 8 miles, then taper the run next week.

Overall it was a great morning and effective swim-ride brick training session. Can't wait for next weekend!

A few takeaways for next weekend: RELAX! Get a pre-race warmup in so the shoulders don't tighten up at 200. REACH and glide! Don't drop the elbow. Hook and pull square, and pull through the thighs. ROLL! Adjust the seat slightly forward for a more comfortable aero. Wear some support under the jammers. Push it on the climbs. Small stride, lean forward, shoulders square, strong toes. I can see the podium already! Is that all too much to ask? ;)

3:33! (BAM Race Report)

Three minutes and thirty three seconds! More on that later.

So this past weekend was my 3rd triathlon - the Battle at Midway, in Midway and Soldier Hollow. I entered the lite course distance - 750M swim, 21.5m bike, and 3.6m trail run. I went in to this race feeling great and confident - despite the nagging tendinitis in my knee. I had an extra rest day on Wednesday and a questionable trail run on Thursday that left me a little sore (and beat up from falling down at one point on the trail.. gah!), but I don't feel unprepared at all.

Swim: All the athletes were instructed to enter the water in waves for the in-water start - basically we all cross a chip mat, everyone lumps together near the start buoys, and they fire off this loud-ass cannon. Now I've done open-water swimming before, and cold open-water swimming, and hundreds of thousands of meters in the pool, but this was a little shock to the system. I started off head-up freestyle to try to get acclimated quicker and warm up some, and within a minute or two I felt better. There's one thing I've learned about myself, and that is I can't swim a straight line to save my soul. I was pulling right, breathing right, and veering - yup - right. A few quick course adjustments, and I was back on line. I wasn't shattering any speed records, but I was doing OK. At around the first buoy, I was feeling a bit hypoxic (couldn't get enough oxygen to match my exertion level), so I flipped over and did some backstroke to catch my breath. Total - I think I ended up doing a few hundred yards backstroke and maybe 50 breast + head-up free. Looking back, the swim was a near-disaster compared to how well I can do in training and pool racing. The cold water really affected my ability to breath comfortably more than I wanted to admit, so I have that to take away. Total swim time was 13:58 - which was a shocker considering how much time I spent backstroking and veering off-course.

T1: Pretty uneventful - the suit came off easy like I was an old pro - goggles and cap tucked into the sleeves like I was supposed to, and slid off quick and stuffed in the bag. I was pretty warm at this point, but I opted to throw on my wick long-sleeve top for the bike - I'm glad I did even tho it cost me a few seconds. Total T1 time was 2:05 - which I think I could've shaved a few seconds off, but I digress..

Bike: This I felt was the strongest leg of my race. I was out fast, had a very strong push up to Midway the first 6 or 7 miles, and moderate climbs. I cornered like a mad-man, and rode pretty straight lines where I could. The frustrating part (if there was any) was constantly getting passed by TT bikes rode by Oly athletes. They better watch out - I'll be a TT bike owner at some point and I'll be the one doing the passing! The course pushed us back toward Heber and looped back around into Midway again - this 2nd trip up the long straight north was a little tougher - I could feel my legs tightening up and knew I needed to spin down before the run. I took that opportunity on the fast downhill from Midway to Soldier Hollow sans the last small climb. Total time on the bike was 1:08:16 even tho I felt like I had gone faster (avg 18.96 MPH).

T2: Minus the water bottle rolling down the hill, and strapping on my chopat knee rubber support, T2 was really uneventful. Dismounted well, left the warm top on, and away I went in about 1:12.

Run: If this run course was only 2.5 miles, I would've rocked. Came out of transition feeling so-so - legs were still a tad tight and cold, but I knew a few long strides and some downhill would stretch me out and warm up. It took maybe 200M before I was really feeling good, and I took off. In retrospect, I could've saved some here - I pushed hard those first couple miles and felt great. My run split for the 2 miles was near 16:00, which would've been a stellar time given the course. The last mile turned out to be absolutely brutal - my legs gave out, and my energy faded fast. I knew I had bonked, but I had to push! Total run time was 32:20 (just under 9-minute miles), which left me a tad frustrated. I warm up 9 minute miles! This was a pretty tough run - and looking at the rest of the field finishing run times makes me feel better, but still.

The Good: Great bike, above-average transitions, strong start to the run. Pre-race training and taper were good, and confidence was high. Knee didn't bother me at all the entire race.

The Bad: Disastrous swim - could've made up several minutes here easily, disastrous final mile to the run - lost a ton of time.

I'm extremely happy with my race and full of confidence going in to future races. Some takeaways - GET in the water and get a pre-race warmup to acclimatize and avoid the system shock. Longer training durations - I really need to push the 2-3 hour barrier if I expect to perform all the way to the end of an Oly-distance race. The 90-minute sessions I've been doing were fine for short sprints, but BAM really exposed my training gaps. Trail running - after talking with a few friends post-race, I see the importance now. I was clearly focused too much on flat perfect track running instead of technically difficult and strength-building running. I'll try to incorporate all these into my training schedule from here on out!

The 3:33 thing - yea, so that's what I missed the podium by. 7/11 age-group finish, and the 3rd place AG finisher was just out of reach. How frustrating - but what does that tell me about how well I'm doing, all things considered? I think the 35-39 age group occupied 10 of the top 20 spots in the race, which makes it stupidly competetive. I'll stop now - the goal was to just *finish* the triathlon, and here I am!

BAM Pre-Race Report

Thought I'd get a little BAM pre-race report written up. The next tri I'm doing is the Battle at Midway tri this coming Saturday June 13th - at Deer Creek / Midway Utah. A few weekends ago we went with a group and did a pre-race clinic that involved swim instruction, about 1000M of light swimming in the reservoir, followed by the 21-mile bike course and 3.6-mile trail run. I'm really stoked to race this course altho I do have reservations about the trail run and my nagging patellar tendonitis. I've been wearing a knee brace that helps immensely, and I'm planning on wearing it during the race.

Here are a few of my unofficial distance times: 800M swim @ 16:00, 5k run @ ~23:00, and 23-mile bike course @ 1:15:00 (avg ~18.4 MPH, with 1500 feet of total ascend/descend). Quite the difference compared to where I was 9 months ago.

Also looking to do the Scofield Sprint event in late July, and then finishing off the season with an Oly-distance Tri down in Daybreak.

What's a Patellar Tendon, anyway?

It was a blustery May morning in Hurricane, Utah (anyone else see the irony here? OK, yes, enough...), with several hundred athletes anxiously awaiting an announcement concerning the start of the St. George Triathlon. Would we be swimming, or would we be suffering a duathlon? The second question was still a bit dicey because all athletes suffer if they're performing as hard as they can. The race director officially cancelled the swim because the "kayakers couldn't hold a line". What he failed to tell us was that these kayakers hadn't even stepped in the water, but they felt it was too dangerous anyway. Good call, I suppose - there's probably beginner swimmers who are at greater risk than we realize if they get in trouble in rough, cold water.

So all the hype and anticipation leading up to the St. George triathlon on May 9th turned out to be hype for a revamped Duathlon - a 5k run, 12.25 bike, and 2nd 5k run. The athletes were promptly herded to the boat ramp for the start of each run wave. Note to self: Don't EVER try to run competetively, on sand, ever again. Did I say ever? Yes, OK good! About a mile into my first 5k, I had what felt like a cutting pain start on my left kneecap. The pain wasn't so bad that I couldn't run, but it was obnoxious. I ran with a friend of mine, and we kept an 8:45-ish pace, which for running on sand was probably a safe bet.

Heading out of transition quickly (and I did have fast transitions this time around) on the bike - little did I know that there would be more suffering. About mile 4, my front tire goes flat 90%. DAMNIT. Ok, no problem, I'll climb to the top of this big hill here and swap it out as fast as humanly possible. 6 minutes later, I had a replacement tube in and inflated and I was off. Ok, I'm thinking I can get some time back if I push a little - cruise past the turnaround at mile 6, and back toward the downhill section. Road, meet flat tire #2. DAMNIT again. Except this time, I think the words that came out of my mouth were enough to make a sailor blush. "Should I quit?", I thought to myself. "Hell no, why is that even an option. I'm going to run with this damn bike if I have to. There's no quitting". Swapped out that flat for the original flat tube, inflate it as much as possible, 6 or so minutes later I was off again. Luckily this time the pressure held enough for me to finish the 12.25 miles in a scorching 53 minutes and change. Ahwell, at least I didn't have to carry the bike back!

Run #2 was, to be completely honest, easier than I thought. That also probably contributed to it taking over 29 minutes, but with the amount of emotional energy I had spent inflating 2 tubes in the middle of a race, I didn't care. And more importantly - most 34 year-olds can't run a sub-30 minute 5k anyway, so there. The knee flared up again (had forgotten entirely about it while riding the bike), but the pain wasn't enough to stop running.

This time the fam was near the finish line to cheer me on to the end. Hooray for pictures! Overall I had a good time - a few things out of my control, and a few things in my control, things that I can learn from for next time. Total time was recorded at ~1:53, but I figure the bike stops cost me at least 12-13 minutes. Oh and as it turns out - my knee pain is caused most likely by my patellar tendon - the group of tendons in the front of the knee and under the kneecap. It's not something requiring surgery, but I'll definately need to keep an eye on it.

Couple pics on Zazoosh, I have more that I'll load later.

http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/193031483
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/193101565

The Prodigal Triathlete

It's been far too long since I had an update. Last update was around the first of the year, setting new training goals, etc, so I have much to report!

--------------- Race Report ----------------

April 25th I completed the Kearns Sprint Tri - this was a course I had my eye on around the beginning of the year but I wasn't sure I'd be ready by then. 400M Swim / 12.2 Miles of hilly riding / 5k - 1:21:54 - HELL YEA! It was absolutely freaking awesome crossing that finish line. And colder than a damn freezer, but I was so amp'd up to be a part of it, taking it all in made me forget the cold. It had rained the night previous, but it was very calm day.

Without a warmup and some stretching, the athletes were lined up poolside and ordered according to our swim abilities and let in the pool on 5-second intervals. I was a middle-of-the-pack swimmer, but ended up passing half a dozen swimmers and completing the 400M in under 7:00. The run from the pool to transition was COLD (OK, so I did notice the cold), and I fumbled around between drying off and throwing on a few layers before heading out on the bike. T1: 2:00 and change.

After registering for the Kearns Tri, I scouted the bike course and rode it at least a dozen times - I knew it well. I knew where the climbs were, where I could make up time in descents, where bumpy roads were, and so on. I had a strong ride, and passed another half a dozen riders - but ended up being passed by an older gentleman on the last climb up 6400 West. This ignited a little fire in me, and by the time I was up the hill he was already turned and descending down 54th West and back to transition. Bike: 43:00 and more change.

I figured getting back to transition on the bike to run would be fast - as it turned out, I wasted a TON of time fumbling with laces and gloves and everything else before exiting the chute for a T2 time of almost 2:30. Damnit. OK, jogging slowly, why are my muscles not responding? Oh that's right, they're frozen. I literally shuffled like a senior citizen (no disrespect!) for the first several hundred yards, and the race directors didn't do the runners any favors by herding us around a grassy baseball field and up another hill before we hit the streets. Once on the streets, the legs thawed slowly, and I was gaining speed and confidence. 3 miles to go! Passed a few runners, doing good, breathing is good, temp is good, pace is good, time to push. I really pushed the last mile, which was pretty much a downhill sprint. Run time: 24:40 - which for me is very good considering the start.

I finished 5th age group (35-39 - they slotted me in the 30-34 age group), and 26th overall in 140 athletes. I'd call it a smashing success.


So here I am in May, eagerly anticipating the St. George Triathlon this weekend. This event should be an absolute blast - I'm really looking forward to it. My training has definately increased since the first of the year - most weeks I do 7 to 9 good training sessions, with improved times and distances in each. I've been careful not to push too hard but I think my diet is holding me back. In fact, I know it is. I'm down to 190-191, and the weight loss is very noticeable on improved times, but I could be at my ideal weight if I watched what I ate closer.

I'm also registered for the BAM Lite Triathlon in June up in Heber. I'm really hoping to build on St. George and some very good training sessions / intervals / distance rides and improve my run time to sub-24 minutes and push 18+ MPH avg ride for this event.


Until next time...

New Year, New Training, New Goals

New year, new training, new goals.

I need to get serious about improving my time in the water and running. I've put together a new running training schedule thanks to runnersworld.com - it lets you enter in a previous timed event (5k, 10k, etc), a training duration, and it "automagically" creates a running schedule that (if followed) should improve speed. My schedule is 3 days a week: 1 easy day (2 miles @ 10m/mile), 1 training day (speed training or tempo), and a day with a long tempo run (~10m/mile or so), increasing mileage weekly. I'm hoping it will shave a few minutes from my 5k time; I did 5 miles tempo tonight in about 47:30 (@ 9:30m/miles) which wasn't too bad.

In the water I've improved steadily. Our Masters group has finished all of the checkoff challenges through the breast stroke (which I'm pretty much horrible at), with only the freestyle swims left. I put in an awesome time (for me) in the 100 Fly @ 1:33, and a pretty decent 100 IM @ 1:34. I wanna re-time my 200 IM - last time I swam it I was well over the 4-minute mark. I'm consistently hitting the 1:45 to 1:50 mark on my workout 100y lengths, and I can easily do 400y now in under 7 minutes. Would love to get that down under 6, but considering it took me almost 12 minutes less than 5 months ago, I'm doing OK.