Hats off to first timers! Mark "Crash" Sutherland and Neal Kiser. A huge accomplishment and learning experience for both, I'm sure. But I have great respect for anybody that sets a goal and then sees it through. Great job, fellas.
My swim sucked, but the highlight of it was staying paced with one of my favorite people, Mike Jones. He will quickly tell you that he is not happy about the way this worked out, and also blame me for "buoygate".....
I respect the Wooley G's for their hard work and how well they travel and perform, but I HATE seeing 30 people from another club come here and take the hardware home when we have some great Jackasses that could have kept more of it here! I hope next year that WE are the best represented club out there. It's our home race, and I think that's how it should be!
Note to self, next time don't load up on Gu chomps and put my wetsuit on and feel overheated with a racing heart. Learning experience...
Monty Murry is a force to be reckoned with. I love that guy.
Mark Sutherland will be a force to be reckoned with in these events VERY soon.
Tri people are great people. I love the support, encouragement, stories, and attitudes that come with events like these. I always meet great new people and see familiar faces that I enjoy!
I hope everyone else thanks volunteers along the way. These things don't happen without them. It's the little things....
And finally, Mike Riley puts a lot of hard work and effort into putting on a GREAT race, year after year, and I sure do appreciate and respect that man. Thanks Cap'n!!!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Hard to feel good about improvement...
Well, my second Four States Tri came and went on Sunday, and needless to say, I was not very excited with how I did overall.
Backing up to the days leading up to it, I didn't run Thursday due to weather. Then I did a good weights workout on Friday. Saturday, I had an easy ride and run with Neal Kiser, my kids' stepdad. We rode just over 12 miles at just under 16.5mph pace, then I ran a mile at 8:11. My only goal was to not be sore Sunday morning. (A big congrats to Neal for completing his first triathlon! What a great accomplishment!)
Ever since finishing Galveston, I have had a very tough time firing my competitive engine! Everything was so endurance-focused, that my speed hasn't been a priority. That has become more evident to me, and definitely showed itself to be true on Sunday.
That morning, I took some Gu chomps after putting my wetsuit on, and from then on, I felt uncomfortable and warm, and had a tough time controlling my heart rate, although I wasn't nervous in the least. I think the combination on being warm and the caffeine loading into my system proved to be a problem! So I could never get into my rhythm with my swim stroke, and ultimately slowly side stroked and back stroked my way through the swim. Crappy and slow, yet faster than my swim last year! The bike was better than last year, and my run slower than the first one. I didn't feel like I was trying very much, and could never get a fire lit under me. I also started feeling a cramp coming on in my left hammy at mile one of the run, leading to 3 or 4 45-50 second walks over the last two miles.
Funny though...as crappy as I felt and as unmotivated as I was, I still beat last year's time (where I was racing hard) by 5 seconds...and beating that time was my ONLY goal!
The bright spot for me in this tri was that it was my first that I had Kelly, my 3 kids, and my parents all there in attendance watching. I often think about the fact that I can do NONE of this without the love, support, and encouragement of my family. Having them there made what would have been an otherwise ho-hum kind of a day into a very special one for me!!!
Backing up to the days leading up to it, I didn't run Thursday due to weather. Then I did a good weights workout on Friday. Saturday, I had an easy ride and run with Neal Kiser, my kids' stepdad. We rode just over 12 miles at just under 16.5mph pace, then I ran a mile at 8:11. My only goal was to not be sore Sunday morning. (A big congrats to Neal for completing his first triathlon! What a great accomplishment!)
Ever since finishing Galveston, I have had a very tough time firing my competitive engine! Everything was so endurance-focused, that my speed hasn't been a priority. That has become more evident to me, and definitely showed itself to be true on Sunday.
That morning, I took some Gu chomps after putting my wetsuit on, and from then on, I felt uncomfortable and warm, and had a tough time controlling my heart rate, although I wasn't nervous in the least. I think the combination on being warm and the caffeine loading into my system proved to be a problem! So I could never get into my rhythm with my swim stroke, and ultimately slowly side stroked and back stroked my way through the swim. Crappy and slow, yet faster than my swim last year! The bike was better than last year, and my run slower than the first one. I didn't feel like I was trying very much, and could never get a fire lit under me. I also started feeling a cramp coming on in my left hammy at mile one of the run, leading to 3 or 4 45-50 second walks over the last two miles.
Funny though...as crappy as I felt and as unmotivated as I was, I still beat last year's time (where I was racing hard) by 5 seconds...and beating that time was my ONLY goal!
The bright spot for me in this tri was that it was my first that I had Kelly, my 3 kids, and my parents all there in attendance watching. I often think about the fact that I can do NONE of this without the love, support, and encouragement of my family. Having them there made what would have been an otherwise ho-hum kind of a day into a very special one for me!!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Ready for round 2
The Four States Triathlon is this upcoming Sunday, and my goal is to beat my time from last year.
I got up Monday to ride for 45-50 minutes at 6:30am, but it was sprinkling, so my plans changed! I waited until after work and got me a good weights workout in, followed by a crappy swim workout. I felt out of rhythm, and only ended up doing 500 yards overall, in increments of 50 and 100 yards.
Today, I got another good weights workout in, but then followed it with a much better swim. Looking back, my pace for the swim in the Four States was 2:33/100 yards. So today, I just wanted to time myself, but do 2x200 yards warmup, 5x100 yard sprints with 30 seconds between each, then a very easy 200 cool down. The first 200 warmup I did nice and slow, and was just under a 2:00/100 pace. The second warmup 200 had the same result. I then did my 100's at 1:39, 1:40, 1:40, 1:41, 1:41. That's great improvement for me. I tried to go REALLY slow for my cool down, but still did the 200 in 3:53, again, under the 2:00/100 pace.
Overall, it was a good workout day for me, and definitely a confidence builder for my swim Sunday.
I got up Monday to ride for 45-50 minutes at 6:30am, but it was sprinkling, so my plans changed! I waited until after work and got me a good weights workout in, followed by a crappy swim workout. I felt out of rhythm, and only ended up doing 500 yards overall, in increments of 50 and 100 yards.
Today, I got another good weights workout in, but then followed it with a much better swim. Looking back, my pace for the swim in the Four States was 2:33/100 yards. So today, I just wanted to time myself, but do 2x200 yards warmup, 5x100 yard sprints with 30 seconds between each, then a very easy 200 cool down. The first 200 warmup I did nice and slow, and was just under a 2:00/100 pace. The second warmup 200 had the same result. I then did my 100's at 1:39, 1:40, 1:40, 1:41, 1:41. That's great improvement for me. I tried to go REALLY slow for my cool down, but still did the 200 in 3:53, again, under the 2:00/100 pace.
Overall, it was a good workout day for me, and definitely a confidence builder for my swim Sunday.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Been too long
The past two weeks have been highly unproductive from a training standpoint. That first week since I last posted, I got into the gym twice, the second time with a 20-minute spin before and a short 1.5 mile jog right after. It felt good to get some strength work in, and I know I will be better for it in the long term.
Last weekend I was fishing with my dad and some family/friends. I did manage a 4 mile jog while I was there!
This whole week I have been battling a cold and sinus issues. My energy levels have been terrible, and it wasn't until Thursday that I was finally able to go get a workout in, hitting the gym for my best strength workout to date. I debated about whether I should ride with the guys Saturday, but ended up going. I rode 40.5 miles at a 16.75 pace. I skipped the jog, as I felt COMPLETELY wiped out after. Probably not the best move to ride, but with Four States Tri coming next weekend, I HAD to get out on the bike. I will get me a jog in today after church, and then this week will be full of hard, quick workouts in preparation for next Sunday!
Last weekend I was fishing with my dad and some family/friends. I did manage a 4 mile jog while I was there!
This whole week I have been battling a cold and sinus issues. My energy levels have been terrible, and it wasn't until Thursday that I was finally able to go get a workout in, hitting the gym for my best strength workout to date. I debated about whether I should ride with the guys Saturday, but ended up going. I rode 40.5 miles at a 16.75 pace. I skipped the jog, as I felt COMPLETELY wiped out after. Probably not the best move to ride, but with Four States Tri coming next weekend, I HAD to get out on the bike. I will get me a jog in today after church, and then this week will be full of hard, quick workouts in preparation for next Sunday!
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