Parting Ways

So it wasn't too long ago that I moved to Texas. I moved here on a sultry summer day in August of 2007. I had a whole two weeks off of work before I began the rest of my adult life. These two weeks were very interesting. Moving to a new city is always a challenge, especially when you don't know anyone. I mean anyone. The only person I knew was my ex-girlfriend, who was part of the reason why I moved here. Needless to say we were exactly dating when I moved here, but that is besides the point. I made a decision as an adult and decided to stick with it and see where it took me. Making this decision was easy at first. However after I broke up with my girlfriend, I can't say that I didn't question the decision I had made.

Overwhelming, small, unknown, and intense are the words that come to mind when I think about the first few weeks here in Dallas. I was a 23 year kid/man living for the first time in a city where I knew no one. I went to college in a different city, but prior to moving I knew a few people. When I moved to Dallas, I knew no one. I moved to this city with nothing more than the clothes in my closet, my bike, my running shoes, and my goggles. I had no furniture, bed, or anything what so ever. I was busy the first few weeks, fitting out my bedroom, living room, and kitchen with all the appropriate accouterments that a 23 year should have living in a big city. I for once was able to make things the way I wanted them.

Every day I rose and had tons of stuff to do. I always managed to squeeze in a run, swim, or a bike ride at some point. Despite the many tasks I even had time to sit by the pool every day too, have a beer or 2 or 10. This is where I first met some great people. One hot Saturday afternoon, after running in the morning obviously, I was sitting poolside with a beer and a book. Oh just saying that makes me want to be on vacation. Poolside with a beer and a book, say it with me: "Beer and a Book". Back to the story. I am very skeptical person and can sometimes judge too quickly. As I am reading, I hear the all too familiar gate crashing and latch catching. This noise was synonymous with a new guest in the pool area. My eyes peak up from my Jimmy Buffett novel and I peer through my dark sunglasses at 3 lovely young ladies with a cooler and a Jam Box. They looked ready to party. I thought to myself, what do we have here.

When you move to a big a city where you don't know anyone, you can't be shy or reclusive. You just have to throw it all out there and see what happens. These 3 girls obviously saw me as well. They promptly asked me if I wanted to play drinking games with them. I am sure I responded with something along the lines "Does the Pope wear a white hat?" 

The lab relay race / chugging contest drinking games gave way to the beginning of a wonderful friendship with Audrey, Yvette, and Andrea They would soon become my closest friends in Dallas. Audrey and Yvette lived together and Andrea lived with her fiance Mike. Whenever I didn't have anything to do I would call those girls and see what they were up too. I viewed them as such good friends I even flew to California for Andrea and Mike's wedding. I soon met all of their friends from college and everyone was always so welcoming and friendly. So many times when you meet new people they can be arrogant and not friendly. These folks weren't like that at all. Audrey and all of her friends soon made Dallas feel like a small place.

I soon grew a real close relationship with Audrey and Yvette. They were almost always together. We all shared stories about our past and were around for each other through some important points in each others lives. I won't share some of the things that happened in these girls lives but I will share some of my stories. For me one of the most meaningful things that Audrey and Yvette did for me was to come with me to Austin, Texas when I ran my first marathon. For anyone who reads this blog, you know I run a bunch and do triathlons. Anyways, I told these girls about it and they organized and group and next thing you know we were leaving town on Friday afternoon.

The entire trip was a blast. I achieved that day something I used to think was never possible. I ran 26.2 miles. It was the biggest accomplishment of my life at that point. I was ecstatic to have some close friends cheering me on at mile 20 of the race and then waiting for me at the finish line. It is really something special when you know people are waiting for you at the finish line of a long race. Its motivation to finish. It was really special for me to have someone else to share this moment with. I have done so many races where I am alone in a different city and I feel great for finishing and all the hard work pays off, but its different when you can share it with close friends who have seen the effort you put forth. 

No matter how long I continue to run, or do triathlons, I will always remember finishing my first marathon. I will never forget the weekend that surrounded that race and the long car ride home, in which Audrey drove my car because I couldn't move my legs. 

I write this post with great despondency, for as of last weekend Audrey has moved back to her home to go back to school. Its great for her to be going back to school to pursue a passion of hers, but its sad to see one of my closest friends leave. I will never forget Audrey. We shared many great times together. She will always have a special place in my life and I hope that I get to see her again soon. 

Cheers Audrey, I'll miss seeing you!

A smoking gun

Cigarettes

cigarette (French "small cigar", from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives,[1] then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter). The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder for the purpose of inhalation of its smoke from the other (usually filtered) end, which is inserted in the mouth.

That description, as taken from Wikipedia, is what I used to smoke. I smoked cigarettes. It may seem hard to imagine, but I did. I think I smoked a cigarette for the first time when I was in the 6th grade. I was busted smoking cigarettes with some folks at my Junior High when I was in the 7th grade. I smoked all thru high school and for 4 years in College. When I began to run to loose weight this running slowly turned into a hobby. The summer of 2006, I ran my first 5k race. It was a time of 24:24. I was very pleased. This race helped to spur me to all of the things I have done today and will do in the future.  It was that summer that I really began to get serious with my running. I was to the point where I would run between 15 - 20 miles per week. I talked with a few people about running a half marathon and they encouraged me to do it. The individuals name Fernando Rodriguez a co-worker of mine at Turner Universal in Nashville, encouraged me to do so. He indicated that I was already running enough each week to be ready for one. 

That summer I lived in an apartment with two of my Fraternity Brothers in Nashville. Every weekend we would go out party and drink at the bars. Every weekend I would end up buying a pack of cigarettes at the bar smoking them while I was drunk and waking up in the morning and feeling absolutely horrible. I couldn't breathe, smelled like smoke, and had horrible taste in my mouth. The thing was I wouldn't smoke at all during the week ever. It disgusted me to smell it, or touch them, but yet my drunkenness would take over at a bar and I would end up buying a pack smoking some and having the rest left over.

I was sick and tired of it. I decided one night sight on seen while in Chicago, visiting my friends from high school to quit smoking forever and dedicate myself to my running. This is when it happened. No more cigarettes for me from that point on.

When I look at major things that I have done that have impacted my life, quitting smoking was and is possibly the best thing I have ever done. Cigarettes are a horrible thing and do nothing for you but slowly kill you. I don't like to preach to others about not smoking, because it's their decision to smoke. I quit when I was ready and when I felt the need to quit. Ever since then my life has been better. It was easy to do, every time for like the next year I would be in a bar drinking, because that's the only time I ever wanted a cigarette was when I was drunk, I would simply remind myself that I was a runner (not yet a triathlete). How many people in the running community smoke cigarettes? ZERO, hopefully. If were to cave and smoke a cigarette, I would be a hypocrite, because of all the benefits that I got from running and preached about, would be washed away by the cigarette. So its been over 2 years since a cigarette has touched my lips, and not a day goes by where I don't think about how I am so happy that I quit smoking. Like I said before it was one of the best things I have ever done in my entire life. 

The reason for this post was something recently happened here in Dallas that I am very ecstatic about. They Dallas City Council banned smoking in all bars and establishments. This is great, because it will not only help the health of all people, but many people won't be lured into smoking. I am so happy about the smoking ban and can't wait to go out to a bar and not smell like smoke when I come home.

Looking Back

So today I was reviewing my splits from my PR half marathon race last year at the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. I ran a personal best of 1:33:33. That equates to an average pace of 7:08 per mile. I however didn't run 7:08 per mile. I did what is called negative splitting. The first 5 miles were in 7:36 pace, after 8 mile marker my pace was at 7:19. Then for the next 5.1 miles I ran at a pace to get me to 7:08 per mile. This morning I had a tempo run on my schedule. I ran 5.5 miles at a 7:19 average pace. I again ran negative splits on this run. I had an average HR of 163 and a peak of 188. It is amazing what the body can do. Every race I have ever done and set a PR I have had negative splits. It can be hard to control yourself and not tear out of the starting blocks but once you have mastered this you can begin to set PR's. I still think my time for that half marathon is outstanding, and I probably won't be breaking it any time soon. Unless that is my goal for the season.

On another note, I attended my first Hot Yoga class on Tuesday evening and plan to attend another one tonight. It was invigorating. The classroom temperature is set to 98.6 degrees with 60% humidity. The class is 90 minutes long. I was drenched in sweat after the class. I like the class format a lot better than my Yoga DVD's too. Its not cheap but I think after the introductory period is up I will be a regular and sign up for the unlimited classes per month. It costs $109.00, but will be worth its weight in gold in terms of increasing my flexibility and heat acclimatization. One of my beliefs about flexibility is that it is AS important as the actual training. For example, you could have the strongest heart, legs, arms, but what good are they if you can move them through a full range of motion. If you are trying to race in endurance sports and can't touch your feet without bending your legs..... you should skip a workout and do some Yoga. In my honest opinion, running one less day and doing yoga will make you a better runner hands down. Have a good day everyone.

Post the results

Okay so I tested last night and as I said I would post the results. My coach pushed me pretty hard. He said he was very impressed with my VO2 max on the bike because it was very high, however a high VO2 max does not necessarily mean that you an excellent athlete. Its all about becoming more efficient on how you burn fat and prolonging the time before you stop burning fat and start burning carbs. I pleased with the results and feel they will aid in my training greatly. Here is a great example why. This past Saturday I had a 15 mile run schedule. My goal was to go out and run the 15 miles and keep my heart rate in the steady state zone. If you look at the first picture you can see the interpretation of the data and my corresponding heart rate zones. The steady state is 151 - 159. My goal was to keep the HR between this zone. At one point in the run about 11 miles in I felt really strong and wanted to pick up the pace. I began to do so and my HR jumped. I had to slow down significantly to keep it below 159. What this is saying is that my Rate of Perceived Exertion doesn't correspond to what my actual fat usage is doing. I felt like I had plenty of gas in the tank, when in reality I really don't. This is what the scientific testing told my coaches and why they established my zones. The reason for keeping the HR below 159 is that past this point I begin to burn carbs and not fat. So on all of my long runs, I will now keep my HR below 159. Only on my tempo runs will I let it rise above that rate. Cool stuff.





The results are as shown in the pictures below:

Testing the limits

Today is going to be a big day. This evening I will be meeting with my coach for my first Ironman race. His name is Todd Codish. He is a great guy to work with and an indispensable asset. I will be completing metabolic testing with him tonight. Metabolic testing is a testing procedure that will gauge how my body uses fat as a fuel for exercise. Even in elite and extremely lean athletes, fat is an almost unlimited supply of fuel. Not the case with carbohydrates, your body can only hold so much carbs. The goal of the testing is to find the rate and heart rate zones at which you are currently burning fat while cycling and running, in an effort to increase that rate of fat burn. If you can push the level and burn fat better, it will take you longer to BONK or run out of fuel. In an Ironman distance race you need to be able to last close to 12 hours of continuous vigorous exercise. This takes some science and practice. I am excited to see how the results turn out because I had this testing completed last February of 2008. So almost a year later, during that year I have accomplished many new PR's and pushed myself further than I ever had in the past. I suspect that once complete all of my data will exceed that of last year. If it doesn't, then that means my training methods of the past year were ineffective. Its important to establish this baseline as it will guide my coach Todd in creating an effective program that will prepare me for the Ironman Wisconsin.  So here are some links to visit about metabolic testing. I will post the results from this year and last year for comparison when I get them. Wish me luck.

Metabolic Testing Site #1

Really good Site that describes the process

A time to be thankful

Recently my Sundays have been filled with food, friends, women, and fun. In my opinion there are not many better ways to spend a Sunday. Sitting around having some cocktails, cooking an elaborate dinner and relishing in the moments of an all too fast weekend. The weekends come and they go. Before you realize it the summer is gone and the holiday season is here. Friends and family, the sometimes overwhelming but fun holiday season is upon us.

Regardless of whether you celebrate the holiday, its is always a good time to stop and think what we you have in life to be thankful for. I myself am thankful for the following things:

My family

My friends

My job

My ability to exercise

My health

My positive and optimistic outlook on life

My hobbies

So if you've read this far stop for a second and write down the things in your life that you are thankful to have been given, blessed with, worked for, or that have simply fallen into your lap by chance. To forget the things that you are thankful for is when you begin to overlook the people and things that are crucial to maintaining a healthy life balance.

So everyone never forget, someone out there is compiling a list of they are thankful for this holiday season, and one of the things on that list just might be your name. Be thankful for that, but never forget it either. We all rely on others for something in some form or fashion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Short sweet and to the point

Last night I just finished reading a book by Dean Karnazes entitled 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance! Towards the end of the book a quote jumped out at me and it really hit home. At times in life things can get busy. These days people more than ever are trying to fit 30 hours worth of stuff into a 24 hour day. It goes without saying that you will have to sacrifice something. Lets just hope that you choose the right thing to sacrifice. 

For me, I woke up today at 5 and am about to head out for a 7 mile run. I am back training for my second marathon and it has gone great so far. Needless to say, I am really busy right now with work but no matter what I am still going to get my training and running in. Now at times that may be why I have no clean clothes, a sink full of dishes, a dirty toilet, and dust on every surface. It all comes down to priorities, and where things like exercise rank your life. For me its right at the top.  So here is the quote:

"The past is the past, the future's uncertain, and today is a gift. That's why they call it the present."

--Dean Karnazes

So its all about priorities and deciding the important things in your life, don't get wrapped up in work, or school so much that you forget what is important to you. 

You can't always get what you want.... But if you try sometimes.... You get what you need!

As the classic Rolling Stones song so aptly describes, things do not always go your way, but if you try, you'll get it. As we move through our lives, many things are given and taken away from us. We all experience losses and gains, weather they be material, spiritual, or mental. As we grow old friends and family move away, money may come into our pockets in greater or lesser amounts. The bottom line is that life is full of ups and downs, gains and losses, and most of all learning and accepting new ideas that come with those gains and losses.

There has been a point in all of our lives in which we have been either forced by a peer, teacher, coach, or most of all a parent, to do something that we didn't want to do. The motive behind someone forcing you do something is not always clear. As said by a wise man, you can't always see a tree through  the forest. When presented with new and foreign things its always easier to reject and not accept. The most difficult thing is to accept, learn, and become better. No one, no matter how motivating or encouraging, can make you get better at anything in life. It is evident through history that no one is more of a motivator for you than yourself. It's the minute that you decide to do something out of your own free will, for the betterment of yourself or others, that you become your biggest motivator.

A Pastor can preach all day from his pulpit, to an eager crowd of parishioners, but it isn't until those parishioners decided for themselves to follow the gospel of God, that they can begin to walk in the light of Christ. A coach can encourage you to lift weights and grow strong in the off-season to be better next year, but it isn't until YOU make the personal commitment to better yourself. A teacher can help your mind grow, but until YOU make the decision to grow your knowledge that you can truly succeed. The examples are endless.

Life is full of learning new things everyday. As a co-worker once said, if your not making mistakes your not learning. I want everyone to stop and think of a stressful time, whether it is at work, school, or in the sports arena--ask yourself why is this difficult?

The most obvious answers are:

1. Whatever you are doing is a new task or activity and it seems strange and foreign.
2. You don't feel ethically, legally, or morally comfortable with what your doing.
3. You don't understand why you are doing it.
4. You are unprepared, or unequipped to do the task completely.

All of those points are not only the reasons why a particular task is difficult, but your answers as well. Answer those questions and you undoubtedly will begin to see the light. The purpose of this post is to not let difficult times bog you down. Take on a hard challenge, by first accepting it. Once you can it accept it you can begin to solve. If you can never accept that you must face the challenge, you will never be able to overcome the difficult times. 

I wrote this because today I had a new challenge. I played racquetball for the first time in maybe 2 years. It is technical sport, but challenging. As I reflected back on the past hour of playing, I didn't get frustrated because I lost, or couldn't preform well, I get excited about practicing and becoming better. This was me accepting the challenge that is racquetball. So go into school or work tomorrow or today (depends on when you read this) and take on a new challenge. If one isn't already in your lap go out and find one. I guarantee that after accepting, solving, and mastering, you will feel a full sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Free, Free, thank God Almighty, I am free at last !

Resting and solitude--two words that are intertwined yet powerful. Resting is a simple act. It can come in the form of sleep, taking a walk, chatting with friends or reading a book in the sun. Solitude in my opinion is a necessary part of life. But too much of a good thing is always bad. I would venture to think that many triathletes also feel this way. It is an indescribable feeling to be set out for a 15 mile run at sunrise on a crisp fall morning, or gear up for a 60 mile solo bike ride. There is a certain sense of freedom that one has while pedaling or running into a sunrise, that feels empowering. This freedom is not something that should be taken for granted, because it can be taken away.

For most of us, it can be hard to think of when or why this freedom could be taken away. We are all law abiding citizens, with jobs, families, and hobbies. Yesterday, it became all too real that there are people in this world where that is not the case. My company is building an addition to a county jail in Houston. I was at this jobsite and part of a required meeting was to enter the jail where there are current inmates and criminals. Walking around the halls with the security guards and other co-workers was an eerie feeling. Convicts were in striped uniforms working about the halls. I for an instant felt trapped and nervous. There are no windows, so the light is only that from a fluorescent bulb.

Upon leaving, I was reminded of this freedom that we all have. Lets not take it for granted, because not everyone has it. Although all of the people in that jail deserve to be there for committing, what I am sure are heinous acts, it still is a depressing thought to be couped up in that building for the rest of your life. I know this is the case because of jail yard cemetery right next to the prison.

Stew on these thoughts for a minute. I guarantee that you can not begin to understand the feeling until you step foot in a prison like that. I never want to go back. So back to the two words, rest and solitude. I think every prisoner in that jail is all too familiar with both of them and that is why I chose to start the post with those comments, to get you to think what they mean to you and how to a prisioner they mean something entirely different.

Everyone reading this, do me a favor and don't go to jail !

The season Finale

The following is my race report from my third Ironman 70.3 race of the year. I will attempt to recount the experiences both emotionally and physically throughout the race.

I had decided for a couple reasons to really relax the week before my race. The first reason was I had been fighting some pain in the middle of gluteus the past 2 weeks. So I decided I wouldn’t run on it all the week before the race. After all I had put 30 miles of running the week before. So all I did was a swim on Tuesday of 2300m, a 2.5 mile walk on Wednesday with stretching, and a continuous swim of 35 min on Thursday. I rested on Friday and went for a 10 minute swim in the lake on Saturday.

Saturday was spent lounging and relaxing. I ate brunch at about 11am which was a hearty eggs, potatoes, toast and vegetables. This was followed by a snack at about 3pm and dinner at around 7pm. I ate pasta with chicken, bread, and a salad. I had also eaten pasta the night before as well. Not to mention I had eaten Pizza on Thursday night and pasta and vegetables on Wednesday night. I think I did my fare share of carbo loading the week prior. I was feeling really relaxed and loose all day Saturday. I went to packet pickup and got my packet and some gels at the expo. I was excited to see that we got a free Headsweats hat with our race packet. After that I went to the hotel to check in. I did this then went to the mandatory bike check in at transition. Upon arrival to the race site, I noticed the first thing I didn’t like about the race. The transition area was in a field, and there was absolutely no grass in the field. It was dirt. This poses a problem for running into transition barefoot, because you will get a bunch of stuff all over your feet before you put them in your cycling shoes and running shoes. Anyways I will start my official race report.

I got a wake up call for 3:30 am on Sunday morning. I woke up ate my usual breakfast of a banana, cliff bar, ¾ of a cup of plain instant oatmeal with a teaspoon of honey on top. I had a liter of water, and 20 oz of Gatorade. I also took 2 endurolytes and my vitamins. I was out the door by 4:15. I had met a fellow racer through a local Texas Triathlon online forum and he needed a ride to the race so I offered. I picked him up at 4:30am and we began our drive to the race site. We got to the race site at 5am and loading the shuttle buses to get to transition. We got to transition waited around for body marking. After that I went in to begin my setup for race day. This took me a while. I was in transition by 5:30am and was finally done setting up by 6:30. I had to mix all my Gatorade, lay out my gear, pack up my nutrition, get changed into my tri clothes, divvy out my endurolytes for the run and bike. I decided a while back during a training ride to use a new nutrition plan. My plan was to eat 3 times per hour, and take 2 endurolytes for each hour I was on the bike. I will get to that later. Anyways, they ended up pushing the race start back 15 minutes because of compilations with busing to the transition area. So I had some time to just sit around and relax. There were quite a few top PRO athletes racing in the race. Including, Tim DeBoom and Simon Lessing. I was set up in transition less than 100 ft from there transition racks. I snapped a few pictures of Tim DeBoom’s bike see below. Tim DeBoom has won the Hawaii Ironman before. Tremendous athlete.
So on to the race, as all the competitors gathered around the swim start the sun was just beginning to rise over the dam wall. It was a nice scene with relatively calm waters. There was still a current, but would be in our favor on all legs except the first. See the route below.

There was a wave start for everyone under 29 and some older age groups 50+. I like going first, I hate having to wait around for the start while watching everyone go. The swim started as usual, and I needed about 5 min to get into my rhythm and let the crowds thin out. I drafted off some folks for the first leg of the triangle but after that it was spread out. I like to keep my line and since there was probably less than 100 people in my wave drafting didn't work, unless I went out of my way to do so. I stuck as tight as possible to the buoy line. I didn't waste any strength going to follow someone else on a different line just to draft.

The swim moves on, I get to the last turn and look at my watch, I notice my Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) is working in the water. It indicates my HR to be around 155 bpm. What I also noticed was that my total swim time was about 18 minutes. I found this hard to believe that I was so close to being complete with only 1 short leg left. At this point I began to increase my swim speed. My HR jumped to 160's and I ended up climibing out of the water in 25 minutes and crossing the chip mat in around 27 minutes. I will do a full re-cap of times at the end.

I hustled to transition and rinsed my feet off, put on sunglasses, race belt, helmet, and bike shoes. I decided to try something new for this race that I saw an individual do at Buffalo Springs. I used Ear Plugs on the bike. When you ride at 20+ mph for 3 hours it can be quite loud with the wind and all. So I stuffed some ear plugs in and set off.

On to the bike leg. I had previously ridden the bike leg back on Labor day weekend. I am now a firm believer that if you can ride a bike leg of any triathlon prior to race day do it. It made the bike course go by twice as fast and I felt really comfortable because I knew what to expect the entire time. Its a feeling that you can't get just driving the course. I will say that if all you can do is drive the course than that is better than nothing. Take a look at the bike course elevation profile.

To start the bike off I didn't want to hammer as hard as I did in Lubbock, because I had no legs left for the run. I knew the hills on the bike course wouldn't kill me either. So I tried to keep a pace of about 20mph and a HR around 150 - 160. This was easy for me to do and at times I felt like I could have gone faster. I held myself back some. Note that I say some, I did after the half way point allow myself a little more speed.

My nutrition on the bike I knew was key for this race.In past races I knew I had not been eating enough while I was on the bike. I learned this on one of my long brick days in training. I did a 41 mile ride followed by a 7 mile run and ate a bunch more on the bike and felt twice as good on the run. I averaged sub 8 min miles It was as follows. A gel right as I got on the bike. I drank my gatorade and water as I wanted to as well. No rhyme or rhythm to my drinking fluids. I would then eat a second gel no less than every 30 minutes. After the first aid station on the bike I grabbed another gel and figured to myself, I was hungry so I began to eat them every 20 min. I consumed around 8 or 9 gels, 2 salt pills on each hour, and around 75 oz of gatorade, and another 36 oz of water during my ride. I ended up with a time of 2:42:41.

Whenever I do a triathlon, no matter what distance, I am always excited to get off the bike and run. The longer the races, ie Half Ironman distance, I am always ready to just go run. I can't imagine what it will be like when the Ironman distance comes around. The bike overall went great and couldn't have asked for more. The entire time I was on the bike I was thinking that I might be able to break 5 hours in this race. I remembered my swim time was around 25 minutes and I knew I would be off the bike in almost under 3 hours. The thing is my HRM doesn't show total time elapsed view when its also shows my splits. I would rather see my splits to ensure pace is correct than total time. My transistion times didn't help my under 5 hour goal either.

On to the run, I hoped off the bike and felt fresh and ready to run. The first thing I did was put on my socks, shoes, and hat. I also wore my sunglasses. I ran out of transition and popped 2 salt pills. I planed to take 3 gels every 3o minutes. I ended up only eating 2 but ate about 6 more salt pills over the next hour. The run was hilly. I set out to run the first 6.5 at even pace and then hammer the second 6.5 My splits and heartrates are as follows:

Mile Time AVG HR

1 8:30 155

2 7:25 157

3 9:25 155 (bathroom break)

4 8:13 158

5 8:34 158

6 8:37 160

7 8:51 159 (cramping occured in left quad stopped for a second and massaged out and took more salt pills)

8 9:26 157 (the effects of the hills were beginning to wear on me)

9 9:19 154

10 9:27 152

11 9:12 153

12 9:59 155

13 7:16 157 (this was all psychological. I was able to strum up the strength to finish fast

Overall the run was okay. A few lessons learned. Since almost 3 miles of each 6.5 loop were on trails don't wear racing flats. The support of a racing flat is not kind to running over dirt and rocks. Second, since its a hilly run as shown below, do some specific hill work before racing it again. If this run was flat, I could have probably broken 5 hours. I know for a fact if I went back to Galveston where I did my first Half Ironman, I would break 5 hours easily. Much learned through these races. I feel, this season of racing I have shown the most growth on the bike. I can now easily average 20mph at a Half Ironman Distance race without wrecking my legs for the run. Now goal for next season do that at the full Ironman distance... :) Check out the elevation profile.

To sum it all here are my times and splits

Total time -- 5:10:30

Swim split -- 27:07 averaged 1:24 / 100M (course was about 200 - 400M short)

Swim AVG HR -- 156

T1 -- 3:22 (rinse off feet and put in ear plugs)

T1 AVG HR -- 160

Bike Split 56 miles -- 2:42:41 averaged 20.7mph

Bike AVG HR -- 150

T2 -- 2:09

T2 AVG HR -- 148
Run 13.1 miles-- 1:55:08 averaged 8:47 / mile
Run AVG HR -- 156

I am very pleased with this race and think it was a great race and way to end the triathlon season. Now on to strength training and marathon running. See some pictures below.

Hard Work Pays Off when you least suspect it

So a week ago I decided to participate in the Tour Des Fleurs on Saturday 9/20/08. My only intention was to use this run as a training run on saturday morning. Many times running by yourself for 20K or 12.4 miles can be boring, so I figured why not do it with some 2000 others. So I signed up for the race on Friday 9/19/08. I went to the race and my only goal was to go even pace for the entire way or around 8min/mile. I went out and felt good from the start. The morning was cool and the air fresh. My splits are as follows:

1 -- 8:05

2 -- 7:56

3 -- 7:38

4 -- 7:45

5 -- 7:47

6 -- 7:45

7 -- 8:15 (I walked thru the aid station and took my Gel)

8 -- 7:53

9 -- 7:47

10 -- 7:38

11 -- 7:19

12 --7:38

.41 -- 2:58

So nothing too fancy or fast. I averaged 7:46/mile. So I get home and look at the results and low and behold I placed 3rd in my Age group. I was happy with that and I didn't even try. Apparently no one my age came to race that day, because 7:46/mile is not fast.

I now have to see if I got an award somehow.

On Saturday after the 20K I signed up for a sprint triathlon on saturday at 3pm the race was on sunday at 7:30am. I was only doing it for fun and a interval training day. The race was a 500m, 18mi, 5k. I was out of the in about 7:39. I knew there were 2 people in front of me because one was leaving transition and one was slightly ahead of him is what the volunteers said. So I said to myself, "F*%K it, lets hammer and see if you can win this race the entire thing!!

SO I hammered on the bike. I quickly passed the first guy ahead of me within the first mile and the other guy within the 3rd mile. I was riding my bike like I stole it. It was actually really cool to have a motorcycle escort and a lead car the entire race. I got off the bike with over a minute lead on the entire pack, or so I thought. I got passed on the run after mile 2, by a 35 yr old. Needless to say he is fast because his swim wave started 5min after me!!! I was still pleased with my run splits of 7:38, 7:08, 6:40. I thought since I finished 2nd across the line, but no. I go to look at the results and come to find out the 35 yr old, a 40yr old, and a 50 yr old all beat me by less than 3 min. O-well.. I still won my age group by over a minute.

It's interesting to think what I could have done if I hadn't spent the entire afternoon tailgating and drinking beers. My pre-race dinner consisted of beer, chips and dip, and hot wings. So fun days for me.

My total race time splits are as follows:

500m Swim: 7:39

T1 -- 1:42

18mi Bike -- 48:06 --averaged 22.0mph

T2 -- :35

5k Run -- 21:55 -- averaged 7:04/mile

So all in all a very productive weekend. I never thought I would have been able to achieve these things ever. Great Confidence Booster.

Its Official !!!!

A beautiful sun filled day was what Ironman Wisconsin competitors was blessed with. This day was followed only by a gloomy and rainy day. For me this rainy day was more important to me than the sun filled race day. As I began standing in line at 6:30 AM to register for the 2009 Ironman Wisconsin race, I thought to myself, this is where it all starts. All of the running, swimming, weights, yoga, and cycling has gotten me to this point. Standing in the rain, at the crack of dawn waiting to spend $525.00 dollars to just to race in an Ironman. Some would call it lunacy to have to pay that kind of money to put yourself through the tortuous day of racing that is an Ironman, but I call it beauty.

The purpose of this blog was to have an outlet for my training and life while I pursue a dream of racing in an Ironman. After having witnessed one of these events first hand, I can see myself being closely tied to these events for a very long time to come. So it begins, the story of the next year.

I recently just registered for my second FULL marathon. It is in Austin, TX on February 15th. It will be nice to shift the emphasis from Triathlon training to running. I will also start to work on some weight training excersices after the triathlon season is over and through the winter. So with a positive outlook and a fresh body the training will commence.

So to everyone who reads this mark your calendar for September 13th and plan on being in Madison, Wisconsin. I need all the support I can get. To anyone who has ever done an endurance event, it is a great psychological boost to see a friendly face in the crowd at mile 20 of the marathon or mile 90 on 112 mile ride. Not to mention having someone there for you at the finish line of a race. I have raced in so many races where I had no support after finishing and its far better to see family and friends after racing for some 12 hours. 

So to Grandma, Mom, Dad, Lauren, Donnie, Brooke, Jeff, Devon, Andrew, and William, I expect you to be there. And as Jeff said in his blog post, I would welcome and love anyone who would run along the sidewalks while I run the 2 - 13.1 mile loops in Madison.

Matt B -- I expect you to be there since it's only 2hrs from where you live.

Laura W-- You now have another reason to come up to Madison, other than just wanting to get a fish bowl and Wando's...

Another day -- Another year in passing

365, thats how many days are in a year, 8760, that’s how many hours are in a year and 525600, thats how many minutes are in one year. A great deal can happen in one year. One can age and grow weak physically but, yet grow stronger and richer in wisdom. New friends are made and old friends grow more distant. New passions discovered and old passions re-discovered. How many of those 365 days, 8760 hours, and 525600 minutes are spent happy, sad, or just simply letting the clock tick. For me many of those hours and minutes are spent being happy. No matter how hard one tries it is impossible for all of those 525600 minutes to be spent in a joyous state of mind.

However for me the past year has been good for me but most of all it has been a year I will never forget for numerous reasons. Many significant things have occurred in the past year that have had large impacts on my life, not only for the current time being but also long lasting effects.

In the past year I moved to Dallas, Texas. I started working full time after graduating from college. It was truly the beginning of my adult life. Upon arriving in Dallas I continued to pursue a passion for running and triathlons that had began, unfortunately, too late in my college career. Much lay ahead of me as began living in Dallas. At various times shortly after moving I questioned the move to Dallas and my motives behind it. Now that one year is past, questions of motives are no where to be found.

As the days of orchestrated routine past, I began to notice how I would look forward to the smaller things in life as opposed to the large events like summer vacations or spring breaks. In my eyes this is all very necessary since when working full time your life is dominated by others and doing what you want any time is simply not an option. For me this was time spent with friends, cooking, running, swimming, and riding my bicycle. Many of the 8760 hours of the past year were spent in the pool, on the saddle, and on the pavement. Many goals were sought after and eventually achieved. The initial 2 goals of the last year were to complete my second Olympic Distance Triathlon and run my 3rd half marathon. In my last Olympic Distance Triathlon I finished with a time of 2:55:52. My previous best time in the half marathon was ahcieved in Nashville, TN at the Country Music Half Marathon. I posted a time of 1:48:15, if my memory serves me correctly. Initial expectations for both races were to simply finish and feel stronger than previous and post a time that was still respectable. I set a goal to spend time in the pool and increase and grow my ability as a swimmer. I truly put dedication to this and even though 5am came early I would show up 2 or 3 times a week at the YMCA and swim before work. The time spent was not wasted. As the days past my running ability strengthed. My stride became more efficient, my lungs capacity grew, and my body lost weight. All of this would eventually contribute to a stellar preformance in my 2nd olympic distance triathlon. I finished with a time of 2:37:13. It would take realizing victory over the triathlon before setting my 3rd goal for the year. A television show would be inspiriational in helping me to set my 4th goal for the year. The 3rd and 4th goals of the past year respectively would be to complete a Half Ironman distance triathlon and running a Marathon. They day came and past of running my 3rd half marathon. I finished with time of 1:33:34. Right at the outset of moving to Dallas I had achieved so much and was not ready to stop any time soon. Within the first 4 months of moving I was able to shave 18 minutes off of my Olympic Distance triathlon time and 15 minutes off of my Half Marathon time. At that point in my life, late December, I thought that I could achieve anything if I truly wanted to. Little did I realize that the rest of the year I would have many more exicitng times both with my racing and my life as a whole.

And so the training would begin for my first Marathon and Half Ironman concurrently. Soon after the training began I chose goals 5 and 6. I would register for 2 more HIM races in 2008. I knew at the outset it would be difficult and it would take time before it would feel comfortable. As Lance Armstrong says, you can’t fake a marathon. Anyone who has ever completed a marathon or Half Ironman (HIM) knows that you can’t fake them. No matter who you are or where you are at physically, you have to be prepared to both mentally and physically to race these distances. The biggest change from racing in Olympic distance triathlons and Half Marathons to longer distances is the actual time that the individual spends training each week. The hours increase and can some weeks approach 12 hours of training. This a great deal of time spent each week training. Long runs and rides tax the body and mind. For me I have learned so much about the minds ability to overcome the body’s weakness. The mind harnessed correctly will always win out over the body. I will get to that a little later. For me I felt it a good exercise to take my log book after writing in it for one year and tally the miles.

I swam 97 miles in pools, lakes and oceans

I rode 1,998 miles on bike trainers, roads, and spin bikes

I ran 890 miles on sidewalks, trails, and streets

When put end to end, I covered 2,984 miles.

I did all of this because I can.

To put this in perspective time wise I used some simple average paces as follows:

1:45 / 100m swimming pace
16 mph riding pace
8:30/mi running pace

This works out to the following numbers

45 hours swimming
125 hours biking
130 hours running

For a total of 300 hours of training

or on average 6 hours per week

or an average of 49 minutes of training per day for 365 days.

To me this is amazing and is a testament to the fact that through discipline, desire, and devotion anything is possible. I am Looking forward to tackling my last goal of the year before the big one in 2009, Ironman Wisconsin and looking back on that year after the race is complete and reading this post along with many others and seeing how things have really changed.

So keep swim strokes long and smooth, your pedal cadence high and run stride efficient and you too can achieve anything.

Brett

A Positive Way to Start the Weekend

Here are a few quotes to start the weekend. I read these this morning and it just put me in a better mood and made me feel more greatful for what I have in life.


"The awareness to appreciate and keep perspective of what you DO HAVE each morning helps set a positive tone for rest of each day."
-JT


"Children are more influenced by the sermons you act than by sermons you preach."
-David McKay


"Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them."
-Andrew V. Mason


And...


"I'm growing older but not up, my metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. Let those winds of change blow over my head...I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."
-Jimmy Buffett

Why Do You TRI ????

So I was reading in the Tri Forum while I ate my tuna fish at lunch and came across this thread... Check it out:

Why Do You Tri??

So I thought I would do my own but also on my blog, since this is can be a very introspective exercise.

Why do I Tri???

1. Because I Can, otherwise why did you have legs and arms, what else are gonna do with them, we don't have to hunt for our food like our ancestors did ! And the second you can't swim, bike, or run you are gonna be wishing you had.
2. I used to be FAT
3. It gives me something other to do than work
4. I like to compete
5. I like to compete and never loose, this is why I love the individual aspect, the only person you have to loose to is yourself. The only way you loose is by quitting.
6. It keeps me healthy
7. It can hopefully inspire others to get into shape and become healthy.
8. If I didn't I would have to fill my spare time with something else and I don't know what that would be but it couldn't be more healthy than what I am doing now.
9. Because when I see a really FAT overweight un-healthy person, I think I never want to be like that and I am sure they don't either. If only they would have TRI'd"
10. I like the freedom, its something that only God can take away from me. I will always be able to swim, bike, and run. Unless someone steals my bike.
11. I like to eat.
12. I think it's cool how the human body can be trained to do anything
13. I like to push my mind to control my body, and what better way to do so then endure pain during a hard workout.
14. I love the feeling of butterflies before a race.
15. I love the feeling of accomplishment after a race.
16. Its better than just running.
17. Its cool
18. It makes people wonder how you do the workouts you do, but little do they realize that they could too if they only would TRI !
19. When I do an Ironman, I will have bragging rights for the rest of my life !
20. It's such a bad-ass sport.
21. It is possibly one of the only sports that requires you to be a very balanced athlete and rely only on your abilities.
22. Because, its not always your arms or legs that get you a 1st place, it's the stuff between your ears and in your chest. Its about having a strong heart and mind.
23. The bikes are really cool.
24. The girls can be really hot
25. Where else is pissing yourself acceptable
26. You have to have goals in life
27. The sport is as old as I am, it's so young that some of the best moments are still to come.
28. Because I get this excited, happy, and emotional feeling when I think about winning my age group at a race and qualifying to go to KONA
29. I love the people who do it with me, the friends I have met training, the enjoyment had with complete strangers at races. There is a connection that you have that can't be compared to anything less than a family.
30. Without Tri, I wouldn't be me, no matter what happens I will always want to be a part of it some way or another.

I could go on for forever about that. I welcome any comments to this, just reply back if you want.

Back to work..

Ironman Wisconsin

So this evening I looked into flights to fly to Chicago and then bus myself to Wisconsin to volunteer for the Ironman Wisconsin 2009 race. It looks as if I can get there pretty cheap and possibly use my airline miles that I have accumulated from traveling. I figure this is probably a great idea for 2 reasons. First I will get exposed to the excitement and hoop la that surrounds an Ironman event and get a chance to ride the entire about 60 miles of the bike course and run  good portion of the run course. This is a huge advantage for me to get mentally prepared for the race. The second reason this is a good idea is that there is almost a 100% chance I will reserve my spot for the race in 2009. 

Other than those thoughts, I am moving right now and have been doing a little too much during the evenings and haven't been able to get my workouts in. However carrying heavy stuff for 2 hours on monday and tuesday night is not that easy either. So it's not like I have been sitting around on the couch. Tomorrow, I am going to try out the run again in the morning. I had some pains from after the Half Ironman and it really was just sore and strained. It felt really good for a while, but I have not really ran since my last olympic distance tri on 7/13/08. I also PR that race by about 4 minutes even though I rode an extra 1.8 miles on the bike because I got somewhat lost. I finished in 2:18 and change. The ankle hurt bad in that race. I ran an easy 2 miles after my 45 mile bike ride last saturday and it felt good. So I will try it back out tomorrow for a super easy 5 miles. So all those days off, I just Iced and rested it and took some NSAIDS.  So we shall see how it feels. I can't stand not being able to run, but I know I need to just rest it. So if tomorrow goes good, I know I can get back to running, but if its sore, I will rest it some more and stick to swimming and cycling. 

I will update later on how everything goes.

Check your attitude at the Door and have some RESPECT !!!!

This is going to be a long post but it will accurately and descriptively tell my tale of what its like to race in a Ironman 70.3 race at Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock, Texas. Here are the results

As I rustled around in the sheets I peer over at the alarm clock. It read in bright red lights 6:13 am. It dawned on me then that hotel sheets at a Holiday Inn are not that nice, and it reminded me why I spent $80 dollars on my sheets I have at home. Anyways, it was Saturday morning and after falling asleep to a TBS movie at 9pm I arose quite early. After all I woke up at 4am on Friday morning. The room was still dark and cool so I decided to sleep some more. As the day moved forward I lay asleep and still in my hotel room. I ended up sleeping until 8:30 am. This was a nice change of pace for me a long nights sleep.

After I awoke, I headed to the EXPO one more time and ended up buying a crazy wild speedo, that I am planning on wearing in the upcoming DISCO Triathlon. Check out the link.



My first impressions of Lubbock reminded me a great deal of the city or lack there of that I once lived in called Lavonia. The city of Lubbock to me just seems like a place that many people never leave, and if they do leave they don't come back. I find it hard to understand why anyone would ever want to go to school there but they do. Some 30,000 people go to school there. If the information some co-workers provided me with is correct, Texas Tech, including graduate students has about 50,000 people. This accounts for nearly a 1/4 of the population in the city. Crazy huh?

So I headed to eat Brunch at an IHOP, not exactly the best dining, but you take what you get in Lubbock. There were numerous other Triathlete’s eating there as well. I sat alone and they seated another fellow triathlete next to me. We carried small talk about racing and the course in general. After this I packed up my car with my wetsuit, bike, and other supplies and set my compass for Ransom Canyon and Buffalo Springs Lake. See one may think that oh well your racing in Texas, it must be a flat and fast race. Oh the contrary, the race begins and ends in a canyon. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. All that I had seen was the elevation profile seen in my previous post.

Approaching the lake, the land was flat and barren. Much of the fields were plowed and desolate. Black and white images from an 8th grade history book suddenly came to life in vibrant colors. I thought of one thing the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression. It occurred to me that had all of the pictures I had previously seen that were tied in context to the subject of the dust bowl been in color, it would not have been so depressing. The color of the dirt is a bright and rich copper brown. It’s a bold color to say the least. Once past the gates of the park I scan the horizon and all I could see is a vast canyon off into the distance with a sliver of blue-green lake penetrating the middle depths. I snake my car around the perimeter of the canyon catching glimpses of the spring fed lake below, wondering when will I get to the bottom, how far do you have to go to get to the start. At that moment it felt like time stood still and I would never get to the transition area. Needless to say this would not be the last time I felt like this.

I finally arrived at the bottom and saw the transition area and beach. I parked my car and got out and got my wetsuit on and went for a practice swim. I swam about 7 or 8 minutes just to get a feel for what the temperature of the water was and if it’s really dirty or what, mainly so there are no surprises on race morning. The swim was relaxing and refreshing in the hot semi arid climate of Lubbock. As I made my way back to my car another person had just parked and was getting his bike ready for a ride. We began casual small talk about the water. Then as we both readied our bikes to ride he realized he left his helmet at the hotel. He was quite upset about this and was worried about being disqualified for riding without a helmet. Another and myself assured him this was only on race day that they would DQ for riding without a helmet.

This is also when I met Rich from Minnesota. He indicated as we mounted our bikes that he was going to ride the run course. This was precisely what I had intended to do. So we both set off for a casual easy ride to survey the run course that we both would eventually be taking on the next day. We set out and talked about various triathlon related things, bikes, training, swimming, etc. etc. As the time passed we completed our ride and Rich suggested we both drive the 56 mile bike route. I had considered this earlier in the day and wasn’t planning on doing it until his recommendation. See it was earlier in our short ride that learned that Rich had raced in some 12 Ironman distance races. He had been racing triathlons for some 20 years. I knew that Rich had a wealth of knowledge to share and if someone who has raced has much as him suggest to drive the bike course, I am going to listen. Not to mention I enjoyed the company. It can be weird going to races in different cities where you know no one, mostly boring until race morning. A friendly face is always welcome in my book.

So Rich parked his car outside the gates of the park. This was some 4 miles from the transition area. See the bike leg of this course goes like this: Hill, Flat, Hill, Flat, Flat, Flat, Flat, Hill, etc. etc. However those hills are challenging. We will get to that later. So we drove the course and parted ways. We agreed to meet a little before the pre-race meeting then go to grab some dinner later. It was at the pre-race meeting that we were treated to a traditional Indian song and dance ritual. I found this to be very interesting and have video taped a little bit of it an posted it for you to view on my blog site or embedded depending on the where you read this.

Indian Dance at the Pre Race Meeting


So Rich and I spent the next hour or two hanging out talking and eating dinner. We shared a bit about our backgrounds and families at home and so on. As it turns out we both like to eat pizza before a race. This was nice, because this has sort of become a ritual of mine before all my races and big training days. Before I knew it I was back at the hotel and climbing into bed.

Before I turned off all the lights I called to front desk to ask for a wake-up call. I requested a wake up call for 3:15 am. You might think this is early, but the race started at 6:40 am and it takes about 15 minutes to drive to the park plus time to eat breakfast, shower, and pack the car. The guy on the other end of the phone simply laughed and said "Wow your the second earliest wake up call." I asked what was the first and he indicated it was 3am.

Well as anticipated I woke up to phone ringing precisely at 3:15 am. I was thinking to myself the entire time that some of my friends were still probably awake at this time drinking or doing something crazy. I on the other hand was calm and excited to start my race. I showered and started my normal routine as always. I had my oatmeal, banana, Gatorade, water, and cliff bar for breakfast. Once I was done with that I was ready to pack my car.

Careful to not leave anything behind at the hotel I prepared everything that I would need for the race day on the extra bed I wasn’t using and laid it out very organized. I checked my list and crossed everything off. As I slowly packed my car with all of my race day essentials, I noticed in the distance lightening. I was worried of this and hoped that I would not cancel the race. I recently read of some others whose 70.3 race was cancelled due to lightening. I would have been furious just as they were if the race was cancelled. It was then that I reminded myself that I can’t control the weather and that I need not to worry of the weather but instead focus on what I can control, and that was mentally preparing for the upcoming race.

I arrived at the lake with plenty of time to spare. In fact I sat in my car for almost 30 minutes just sitting there listening to music and hoping for the rain to go away. I had a certain calm about my mind that morning. I don’t know if it was from confidence that I knew I could do the race but also uncertainty in the sense that I didn’t know how I would take on the hills before me. I guess you could say that I was confident but cautious. I knew that one way or another this race would be a challenge.

As the time passed I set up my transition area, covered my skin with sun screen, and pulled on the wetsuit. I made my way to the beach and hopped in the water, surprisingly the water was actually warmer than the air temperature. See it had rained the night before and the outside air temperature had cooled significantly. The water felt good, and warmed the body from the outside in. I swam a short distance to where to the starting line was and climbed back out of the water.

At this point an Indian prayer was chanted and the race was ready to begin. The race directors lined all of the triathlete’s up and readied them for the race to begin. I was set to go in the second wave of swimmers, so I was curious to see the pro’s then Age Groupers in front of me start. I was uncertain how the actual start of the race would be whether it was a mass running start or what. As it turns out it was a beach start and the water is so shallow that most of the Pros actually ran along the banks of the lake as long as they could for almost 30 or so yards then jumped in and began to swim. This was a little unorthodox but I figured what the hell when in Rome right?

So The gun went off and before I knew it I was in my rhythm running along a jagged rocky shore and then finally taking the plunge face first into the water to begin a 1.2 mile swim. I just started swimming like I do in the pool. Stroke after stroke, breath after breath, I found my groove quickly. I should have sighted a bit more right out of the gate but there were 2 buoys that were close together and I started swimming for the wrong one, and then quickly corrected my mistake. As with every triathlon I do looking back on it the swim always goes by in the blink of an eye. I finished my swim with a time of 30:19. This time puts me at a 1:34 per 100M pace. I am very pleased with this time. I was able to shave over 6 minutes off of my previous time of 36:45 in my last half Ironman.

On to the bike leg, the hills were tough. I knew what to expect, and got what I expected. There were numerous climbs as you can see from my previously posted elevation profile (see last post link). I took each hill one at a time, and just repeated the words I say to myself when ever I ride a hill, “JUST KEEP SPINNING” All that I try to concentrate on is keeping a high smooth cadence and minimizing all other energy expenditures, all the while getting my breath into a rhythm. This has never failed me before, and I don’t think it will anytime soon. My bike split ended up being 2:52:57. This averages out to a 19.4 mph for the entire 56 mile ride. I feel that this is a significant improvement over my last race because the last race had nearly ZERO elevation change and I finished with a 2:45:18. So while I went up by nearly 8 minutes I feel if right now I went back and did the same course from my last race I would easily better my time by almost 10 plus minutes. I look forward to doing this next year. What I wasn’t prepared for was how my body was going to react after riding all of those hills. I felt I had trained well and did plenty of Brick workouts, but I had never been able to ride hills then do a run.

On to the run, needless to say, my legs were toast. Right from the get go, I usually find a rhythm after about 2 miles and it just never clicked for me. I am ashamed to say I ran a 2:02:09 half marathon. This is the worst half marathon I have ever ran. I averaged 9:19 per mile. This was were I really lost the race in my opinion.

It’s always good to be humbled by a race, and this course truly did just that. I have a great deal of respect for the course hence the title of this posting. As it turns out I am not the only one who thinks this course is really challenging. A PRO athlete named Mirinda Carfrae mentioned in her wining acceptance speech how challenging she also thought the course was. Check out this link about Mirinda. http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Get_to_know_Mirinda_Carfrae_208.html

To me hearing a PRO athlete say that about a course I just raced, really puts things into perspective. There are not many people who can relate to a PRO athlete the way an Age Grouper triathlete like myself can. That is what makes this sport beautiful. After the rest of awards were presented Rich, whom I previously mentioned hung out for a while talked about triathlons, and drank a few beers and listened to the live band they had for us. It was a nice way to end the day. The next morning we agreed to meet for breakfast. We met the next day for breakfast and went to IHOP. It was a great way to end the weekend. One of the many things I took away from this weekend is that this sport is not just about personal records and performances, but a lifestyle. Its about travel, and friends. Rich was a great person to meet, who helped to inspire me to become a better triathlete. I went to a city all alone didn't know anyone, but yet I walked away feeling accomplished and having got to meet someone who is very accomplished in this sport. Rich has been blessed with opportunity of completing I believe 12 Ironman races, including 8 at KONA !!! I think that is correct. If you reading this Rich feel free to correct me. Not to mention he is still faster than I am and quite a few years older than I am. I think its amazing what this sport will give back to you, when your willing to give up yourself to it. I have made friends, traveled new places, and experienced great things all through TRIATHLONS.

I also have some new goals for the time being, I really want to break 5 hours in my next Half Ironman Distance race. This way I can begin to get closer to being able to qualify for KONA or CLEARWATER. Baby steps though baby steps. Don't want to get ahead of myself seeing as I have yet to even race a full Ironman. The way I see it though is why not, as much ground that I have progressed in a year, anything is possible.

I see two things that I need to do in order to break 5 hours in the 70.3 race. These are ride about 100+ miles per week, with one long ride of 50 – 70 miles each week. Along with run about 25+ miles per week, with at least 3 miles being a brick workout and around a 10 mile LSD run (long slow distance). I will take this week off and start back with un-structured workouts and begin my formal training the following week. I will put my workout plan together with the goal of racing a sub 5 hour 70.3 in Austin. I know my swims will continue to improve and I can expect a few more minutes to be shaved off my total time along with my bike. I really just have to combine my running speed, that I know I have, and use it in the race. I will close with pictures from the race.











This is a picture of Rich and I on Monday Morning.



Crazy Hills in the Canyon

Lubbock Day 1

So I left Dallas this morning at 5:30am headed west for Lubbock, TX. For those of you who don't know where Lubbock, Texas is in relation to Dallas, its 350 miles North West of Dallas. I arrived in Lubbock around 11am. We have a jobsite here in lubbock and I planned on working from there till now. I met with project team and took them to lunch and reviewed my role on this job with the engineer and electrical subcontractor foreman. It was good and everything has been going well with regards to my role. This is a positive thing.

I am now checked into my hotel. What is really neat about this race is that it is in the middle of nowhere and everyone racing is not from here. So, the expo and a bunch of events are that are at the hotel that I am staying in. They are also giving all of the triathletes a discounted rate. And the icing on the cake is that they are allowing late checkout till 2pm on sunday and then till 6pm for only a half day rate. This is great and I will take advantage of this most likely so I can spend my monday vacation day in Dallas as opposed to on the road. There is also a free awards ceremony dinner on sunday night. I might stay and go to this so I can see some of the elite athletes who win these races get their awards. Should be pretty neat.

Right now I am feeling very confident about the race. I think much of this stems from the fact that I have completed a Half Ironman already. So I believe, if you've done it once you can do it again. The hills should prove really interesting on the bike. I am curious to see what they look like in person. Check out the elevation profile for the bike at this link Hills So the hills might be hard and may affect the bike or they may be easy. We shall see. 

Well I am just gonna take it easy for the rest of the evening