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...