2010 Race Schedule and Season Goals

Yesterday, I briefly recapped the 2009 racing season, which seems long past since I haven’t raced in over 2 months and have only ridden a bike outside a handful of times since then. Today, my attention turns to 2010 as I publish my first cut at a race schedule as well as my goals…

2010 Racing Schedule:
• 4/24 – KY Derby Festival MiniMarathon (Louisville, KY 1/2 Mary), B race
• 6/6 – Deer Creek Olympic Triathlon (Mt Sterling, OH), C race
• 6/20 – St Peters RecPlex Sprint Tri (St Peters, MO), C race
• 7/10 – Muncie Endurathon (Muncie, IN ½ Iron), B race
• 8/29 – Ironman Louisville (Louisville, KY), A race

Additional 2010 Possibilities:
• May/June – Cycling Road Races and local TT series
• 7/18 – Ride Across Indiana (160 mile west to east cross state ride)
• 10/9-10 – KY Bourbon Chase (200 mile, 6 or 12 person team relay running race)
• Oct/Nov – Fall Marathon in OH/IN (possibly BQ attempt)

Obviously, there is a lot on the plate. My structured racing schedule (top list) is a straightforward build to the IM in late August. Most of the races I’m familiar with and are easy to travel to. With the high cost of IM entry, the goal was to get enough races in earlier in the season to keep motivation high, while minimizing entry fees and travel expenses (see: non-IM branded half).

The additional races focus on giving bike racing a go early on, something I wanted to do after racing a crit last June. Preparing for these bike races should also help develop a solid cycling base for the IM. Post-IM, the training will shift back to a run focus and if I’m recovering well, I am going to attempt to BQ in the fall, probably either in Columbus, OH or Indianapolis, IN. The Bourbon Chase is a nearby event that sounds like a blast, so would be more of a just for the experience activity.

Once the race schedule started coming together, goals inherently followed. With my successes in accomplishing my goals the past 2 years, I decided to be aggressive this year with my goal-setting. I figure if I don’t make it, I’ll still be faster than I am now as long as I get close. Also, by breaking some of the goals down, they seem achievable, albeit a stretch.

So, without further ado, the 2010 season goals:
• Complete the KY Derby MiniMarathon in sub 1:27 (~6:38/mile pace)
• Complete the Muncie Endurathon in 4:40
• Complete Ironman Louisville in 10:30
• Get weight below 180 lbs (currently 191) and keep it under 180 for entire racing season (April 1 – November 1)

A little about each goal:
• MiniMarathon: I am currently working on improving my 5k speed to faster than my high school PR (18:48), this should give me an edge over last year going into mini training. Also, the weight I’m hoping to lose starting January 1 should help get/keep the speed up with the 2sec/lb/mile convention that’s usually thrown around. If things don’t go well, I’d still be pleased to break 1:30.
• Sub 4:40 at Muncie is a stretch goal, my current HIM PR is 4:48:xx, but that was with a current aided swim…I’ll really have to improve my swimming to get here, since I estimate my actual HIM speed from last year is closer to 4:55 on a still course. Biking and running will have to improve some as well, but are close to where they need to be
• Sub 10:30 at Louisville is a big stretch, but stems from achieving the previous goal at the HIM ~8 weeks earlier. I’ve heard that you shouldn’t have time goals for your first IM, but I need somewhere to focus. If I don’t achieve this goal, I’ll have a variety of sub-goals for IM, mostly centered on the experience and learning lessons along the way. So as long as I don’t DNF, I’m sure I’ll be satisfied, but for now I’m going to train to attempt a 10:30.
• The weight loss goal stems from the speed gains losing weight last year, and my disappointment with adding pounds back on late in the season. Achieving this goal will be a key to gaining the speed needed to hit the time goals, so the first focus of the season (starting 1/05/10) will be nutrition. I have made it a long way in the past couple years, but there is still plenty of excess weight to shed.

There they are, the schedule and goals are out there…now all that’s left to do is get to work…after enjoying the rest of the holidays of course!

2009 Season Goals revisited

Before looking forward to next season, I’d like to recap the 2009 season and see how I did compared to my goals. This past season was focused on the half-iron distance, and was step 2 (of 3) for my three year plan to get to my first Ironman.

First, the goals for 2009 (as set in November, 2008):
Complete KY Derby Mini-Marathon in sub 1:35
Complete IM 70.3 Steelhead in sub 5:30
Complete IM 70.3 Augusta in sub 5:15
Race 2009 season at sub 190lbs (from 207 at that time)…reach goal weight by April 1, 2009

How I fared…
KY Derby Mini-Marathon complete in 1:32:11 (goal: Achieved)
IM 70.3 Steelhead complete in 5:05:23 (goal: Achieved)
IM 70.3 Augusta complete in 4:48:23 (goal: Achieved)
Season weight average: ~190 lbs…was below from April-July, then 190-195 most of the remainder of the year (goal: tentatively achieved)

Overall, the year was a definite success. I comfortably beat my time goals with performances I hadn’t even thought were imaginable. I still have more weight to lose, so that goal will be carried forward, but during the holidays it is not my number one concern.

What was most exciting to me, though, was seeing room for further improvement at every race despite the significant PRs. This means I’ll just have to be more aggressive with my goals for next year, which I’m finalizing now…hopefully I will get them posted in the next few days along with my 2010 racing schedule.

Still here

My recent lack of posting means it must be the off-season. I have been lacking the motivation to write much of anything, but the training and preparation for next season continue. A quick update…

I’ve been trying to work on my top end run speed. Although there’s plenty of room for improvement here, it’s certainly not my limiter (see: swim slowness). However, I wanted to try a running streak, so started running at least 20 minutes every day. Some days I’m running with my wife, so it’s basically a short recovery jog, but it all counts. My streak is currently at 73 days (attempting to make 100). At the same time, I’m building to try and PR on my open 5k sometime in the next few weeks. While the workouts themselves are going well and I have missed very few key workouts, my speed isn’t increasing noticeably at this point. One reason for this is I’ve put on a couple winter pounds while executing this plan and extra weight + running = less speed (usually). I’ll be interested to see what I hit when I find a 5k that fits my schedule. Either way, I feel like I’m building a great running base for when I start officially hitting the IM training after the first of the year, and I feel like the extra weight will go away, so speed should follow.

I have had a pretty erratic work schedule with the holidays, so my swimming hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like. I am still hoping to emphasize swim training for at least a month or 2 after the first of the year. I am planning on attending my first master’s swim practices then as well. Hopefully I can gain some valuable form tips, I certainly need them.

As far as biking goes…it’s been whatever I can squeeze in, which isn’t much at this point, basically an hour on the trainer here or there. But hey, it’s the off-season and I’m forcing myself to be less structured (other than the run training).

Winter also means the reintroduction of lifting, just 2x per week this year with 30 minute circuits, so I’m not likely to get “chiseled” before next season.

In other related news, I retooled my road bike for a project I’m working on. I’ll try and have a separate post for it with some pictures. It’s ready to rock for next season though, and I can’t wait to take it out at the first sign of warmth. Also, I’ve been putting together my 2010 race schedule and setting my goals and objectives. Like last year, I’ll try and do some end of year summarizing and future planning. I liked it last year, and it keeps me accountable.

Anyways, just wanted to toss up a quick update and say that more posts are in the works, soon…hopefully.

Univ. of Dayton Sprint Tri, Bonus Race Report

So I had signed up for this race a couple weeks ago, just a short sprint the Sunday following my last A race of the season.  I mostly signed up to donate money to the tri club, and was thinking it was about 50/50 odds that I’d actually be up for racing.  I have taken this entire week off of workouts, but still decided it might be fun, and I wanted to get back up to UD to see what’s new on campus.  Anyways, the race had two separate races, the MCWTC (or something similar) which is basically the college tri teams division, and the open division.  This being the inaugural year, there were only about 40-50 participants per race.

The swim was a 500yd pool swim done on rolling starts.  This means I got to do the whole swim in one lane shared with only one other swimmer.  It was nice to be able to just swim freely.  After the HIM’s 500yd came quickly, and transition was just out the door so I was off on the bike before too long.

The bike was a 12.4 mile route, mostly along the Great Miami river.  I thought my legs just weren’t going to show up to play at first, but once I turned realized it was just a headwind.  I didn’t feel great on the bike, probably the lack of workouts this week and no real warmup pre-race.  Either way, I got back into T2 in about 33.5 minutes (haven’t seen official) and was quickly out on the run.

The run was a winding 5k all through campus including climbing the one substantial hill to the freshman Stuart dorm in the first half-mile and again in the last half mile.  I was hurting at the tops of the hill climbs, but was able to recover on the downhills.  I felt like I was moving pretty quick, but have no idea of the time. 

Overall, my finish was 1:03 and some change, which was good enough for 1st place in the open division, 5th fastest OA time of the day if you include the college race.  So, technically I got my first OA race win, which is pretty cool even if it' wasn’t loaded with competition…either way, a fun bonus race.

Augusta 70.3 Race Report

The official 2009 racing season came to a close for me this past weekend at my final A race, Augusta 70.3. I’m not sure the race itself could have gone much better, which is nice because I feel like I’ve earned some unstructured time off. This will probably get old in a week or so, but comes at a good time since work and school are busy at the moment. Anyways, to the race report.

The wife and I left for Georgia Friday afternoon hoping to get most of the way from Cincinnati before 10pm so we could get a good nights’ sleep. We made really good time and ended up stopping in Newbury, SC Friday night for a late dinner and sleep. I would not have stopped here on my own, but my parents and sister who were ahead of us were there already, so we just met them. Saturday AM, we continued down to Augusta and headed straight to packet pickup/check in/mandatory meeting, etc… I was a little concerned about 1) How well they, in their first year, would handle the 3000+ entrants, and 2) Having to attend the pre-race meeting to be able to check in.

As a whole, things went smoothly considering. We were able to attend a meeting around 11 and check in went quickly after that, including bike drop off even though it was about a mile and a half away down the river. After doing all the required activities, we headed for lunch and to the hotel to relax. A few hours of college football later and it was dinner time then bed.

Race Day

My dad, sister and I were all up and out the door by 5:30AM. We had to head to park near the swim start (race finish was nearby), then take a shuttle to transition to setup our areas, then shuttle back to swim start to pick up timing chips and start the race. We all had later starting times (~1hr after the pros), so never felt rushed with having to change locations and catch multiple shuttles. We hung out and watched the pros and early AG waves while letting the nerves build, but before long the M18-24 AG was on deck, so off I went.

Swim

The swim was a straight shot downriver swim with a strong current. The water was seemingly clean of pollution, but did have some plant life near the surface or floating in areas. The water was perfect, right around 70 degrees. However, you would have thought we were taking the polar bear plunge by the reaction of all the Georgia, Florida, Alabama, etc competitors from the deeper south in my AG. I had to laugh a little at the wimpyness, but I guess it’s all relative to what you’re used to. Anyways, the horn sounded and off we went. I managed to find open space early, even though I was near the middle of the pack. I was able to sight well to both sides and had a great start. I could already tell this was going to be a fast swim. We passed under 2 bridges I used as checkpoints, but then I started to lose my ability to swim straight as my goggles started fogging up. After not too long, I knew I had to be close to the finish, but couldn’t tell where I was. I noticed a large restaurant on the Augusta side shore I had seen yesterday at bike check in and used it to guide me home. Up the ramp and into T1…

Swim Time: 28:21

T1

It was a longer run since we had to wrap around the transition area, but I felt pretty efficient here. Time: 3:39

Bike

Heading out on the bike

I really enjoyed the bike course here. We took off with a tailwind and I settled into my comfort zone pretty quickly. The course crosses into South Carolina almost immediately and stays there until the last mile. It was pretty flat for the first 15 miles or so, and then was a series of rollers, mostly at shallow grade for the next 15-20. The last 15-20 miles was mostly flat to downhill, but into a headwind for the majority. The first section I went pretty quickly with it being flatter with a tailwind, so set a good pace out of the gate. In the middle, I just tried to not burn too many matches on the uphill rollers and really focused on nailing my nutrition plan. The last leg, my back was getting a little sore, but I tried to stay tucked as much as possible to minimize the effects of the wind. As I made it back to transition, my legs felt worn, but definitely not worse than they had at Steelhead, so I felt like a strong run was a good possibility.

Time: 2:36:02 (21.53mph avg)

T2

I came to the bike dismount a little fast and nearly took a tumble when I dismounted, but otherwise very smooth. Grabbed my hat, fuel belt, and # belt and off I went. Time: 1:48

Run

Heading up Broad St on the Run

The run course takes you from transition into downtown, and then basically runs up and down parallel streets in 2 loops. It’s not the most creative course in the world, but it’s flat, spectator friendly, and easy to support from an aid station perspective. My legs settled into a decent pace almost immediately. It was a little slower than my goal pace, but I like to ease into the run so I was pleased with it. 2 or 3 guys from my AG passed me in the first 2 miles. I wasn’t racing for a Clearwater spot by any means, but I do like to compete, so I sized them up and decided I’d let them go while keeping an eye on them. I got into a groove and knocked out the first 6 miles without too much difficulty. During this first loop, I was able to see my mom and wife twice, which was also nice. As I hit the split for loop 2, I caught a glimpse of the finish line clock. I started to do some calculating since I really wasn’t sure what I was on pace for to that point. It seemed like I was on pace for my goal time with a pretty solid cushion. That gave me a mental boost that lasted a mile or so, but then I started to wear out. I kept telling myself to be humble, I could hit my goal with 9minute miles the rest of the way in. This was not to convince me to slow down, but basically to not try and speed up and risk blowing up. I met a young lady on her first loop doing a similar pace to me, so we talked for a couple miles to pass the time…a good distraction and my pace did actually come up a bit here. She was too fresh for me to stay with her much longer, so I let her go at about mile 9 and got back into a comfortable pace for the final push. My right quad wanted to twitch a bit toward the end, but I knew I had a big PR, so didn’t let it bother me. As I turned into the finish chute, I didn’t throw in any kick…I just basically smiled at took in the finish. When I stopped I finally realized how tired I really was…and that it was hot, but I was done so all was good

Time: 1:38:33 (7:31/mile pace)

Overall Time: 4:48:23 (12/115 in AG, 199 OA)

I obviously wouldn’t have been sub 4:50 w/o the big current on the swim, but am confident I would have broken 5hrs, which was my goal. My dad came in under 6 hours, a 20 minute PR for him, and my sister finished with not her best time, but it was a gutsy performance considering she had a chest cold going in and had some trouble breathing on the swim. It was a fun race and the locals seemed to take to it well. There were plenty of people out in lawn chairs cheering the bikers on and the run course was loaded with spectators. For a first year event, they did a great job. Now it’s onto the off-season and planning next season’s race schedule.

A successful day completed

Tri for Sight 2009 Race Report

This past Sunday AM, I raced a last minute sprint tri, as did my wife. We were actually planning on her racing and me supporting, but she decided she’d rather me race as well and I’m not one to argue with that. Although it was a sprint tri while I’m focusing on 70.3’s this season, it fell at a perfect time to be able to fit into the schedule. This race, the Tri-for-Sight, in Lexington, KY is 2 weeks prior to Augusta 70.3 (my next A race). I am doing a 1.5 week taper, so some threshold work (the race itself) along with a long bike the day before this weekend’s race provided a solid last build weekend pre-taper. Oh yeah, and racing is fun.

A little background on the event...The Tri-for-Sight is a sprint tri with an 800m pool swim in Univ. of Kentucky’s natatorium, an 18.6 mile rolling hill bike ride through city and horse farms, and a 4 mile run near the football stadium (including 2 miles in the arboretum). This is probably my favorite sprint tri I’ve done for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s nearby to Louisville and Cincinnati so has always been easy to get to. Second, it’s the first tri I ever did 6 years ago (and this year was the 5th time I’ve been back). Third, other than the swim…the course is top notch as far as scenery and providing some challenging terrain, but well kept roads. Finally, the post race food selection and door prizes are usually awesome and this year was no exception.

With the races continued success, they have grown increasing the field size to near 400 tri competitors (including relay teams) and adding a duathlon. Unfortunately, the logistics of increasing the field in a pool swim race led to some serious congestion this year, but we’ll get to that.

Race Morning: Up at 5, at the course by 6, ready to go by 6:45…all pretty smooth. My wife and I set up our areas, then inspected each others to provide some piece of mind, then went out to talk with my parents before heading to the pool. I also downed my espresso GU about 30 minutes before starting.

Swim: I lined up to swim based on my number (numbers were given based on projected swim time, fastest to slowest)…I was 173, so stepped in line between 172 and…473? Obviously, this 473 fellow was in the wrong place, right…wrong. Apparently 473 was actually supposed to be 173, but since we had similar names I received his registration info. I was actually supposed to be in the 220s, which makes more sense with my lack of swimming skills. Luckily the RD had fixed the mistake already and I just waited and started in the place where I was seeded to. The pool was a war zone! They started swimmers every 10 seconds, instead of 15 as in years past. By the end of the first lane I was stuck in a pack of 4 swimmers and basically was in a similar situation the rest of the swim. In some of the fray of attempted passing, I had my watch ripped off my wrist, but didn’t find out until I exited the pool…I wouldn’t have wanted to see the swim time anyways. 800m in 16:36 (23/30 in AG)…ouch, but 20s faster than last year.

T1: There is a long run from pool to transition…then I stumbled a bit in transition, so not my best…3:47

Bike: I’ve gotten so much stronger on the bike this year and I know this course pretty well…so felt pretty good going into this leg. I just ticked off the miles, pushing pretty hard especially on the hills, and watched the time on my PC. I alternated water and my custom Infinit blend every 7.5-8minutes as was convenient. Only one racer passed me, on a roadie with clip-ons. He was a machine, so I just let him go. Before I knew it, I was in sight of the football stadium and transition, so started spinning and preparing for the run. 18.6miles in 49:44 (22.3mph avg, 5/30 in AG)

T2: Quick and gone…1:19…need to get quicker though

Run: Within the first quarter mile, I was surprised how strong I felt…let’s call it cautious optimism. I pushed the pace harder than I have in years passed, and my legs felt a little heavy, but cardio-wise I wasn’t hurting at all. I carried my nutrition with me (1 amphipod bottle each of Infinit and water) and alternated every few minutes. Without a watch, I really couldn’t tell how fast I was going, but it felt quick. In the last mile, I was pretty certain I had put a good race together. I approached the line, but didn’t feel the need to kick it in, so just coasted across with energy to spare…probably should have pushed it harder earlier. 4miles in 25:55 (6:29/mile, 6/30 in AG)

Total time: 1:37:22 (22/305 OA, 12/30 in AG, 4+min PR)

Can’t do anything about being in a stacked AG for this one, but was very pleased with the performance. More importantly, I was pleased I was able to push hard and still have plenty of energy at the end…good sign for the 70.3.

As for my wife’s race, this was her 2nd year consecutive in this event, so she had a time to race against. She’s been working hard this season on properly biking hills and her running speed…it paid off. Even with less swim training than normal, she managed to drop her times in every leg and PR by nearly 10 minutes. A very solid time and great motivation to see the gains she’s made this year. I was very proud of her.

My taper starts officially mid-week this week…the money is in the bank at this point, so now I’m just anxious to get to Augusta and see what I can do.

Where have I been

Wow! I kind of fell off the face of the earth in regard to my blog, and for no great reason, either. I had topics I wanted to devote posts to, but was either too busy or just lost the motivation to write temporarily. So, instead of full posts of some of what I’ve been up to, I’ll just do a quick recap and maybe (hopefully) post some pictures tonight or tomorrow to further bring this up to speed.

As of my last post, I was getting ready for some R&R post Steelhead…it was wonderful. The wife and I spent our first anniversary at the Garden Grove Bed and Breakfast in Union Pier, MI (part of Harbor Country). We were just a couple miles from beach access, near New Buffalo for restaurants and some shopping, but otherwise away from it all. Highlights included an all afternoon (12-5) winery touring trip on Sunday where we hit 5 local wineries and a specialty chocolate shop, seeing the movie Away We Go and a fun little renovated old dinner theatre, climbing a huge sand dune (and then sprinting down it to run from the rain), and in room massages at the B&B. We came home refreshed and 14 bottles of Michigan wine richer…not bad.

In mid-August, we celebrated the wife’s birthday with a trip to the lake (in NE Indiana) for the weekend, where we had invited some friends we hadn’t seen in a while. The weather was mild and cloudy, but that didn’t hold us back from plenty of skiing, boating, and the like. It was great to see everyone.

The last weekend of August was Ironman Louisville. The family and I all volunteered (3 finish line catchers, 2 finish line t-shirt booth workers) and had a blast. We spent almost 11 hours at the finish line, working the first 5 or so, and then enjoying a dinner before cheering on the late finishers until midnight. It was my first time experiencing an IM finish line atmosphere and it was electric. The next day, my dad, sister and I all took the plunge and registered for IMLou 2010. I finalized my registration a couple days ago, although I don’t think reality has set in that I’m officially doing this yet.

Last weekend was, of course, Labor Day weekend and marked the beginning of college football season. Seeing as how I live in Cincy and am a huge UK fan (Kentucky), I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see the Wildcats play their season opener in the Bengals stadium. After a solid opening victory, it was off to say farewell to the lake for 2009 for the rest of the weekend. It involved lots of reading and catching up on sleep.

So now, here I am, getting ready to start my taper for my 2nd A race of the season (Augusta 70.3) come mid next week. Training has been going well, this week especially, and I have a “for fun” sprint this upcoming weekend with the wife. I’m hoping to see how my swim is coming along as I feel like I’ve made great strides in a short time, but we’ll find out Sunday. I don’t have strict goals for this C race, just have fun and not get injured mostly. I’ll try and follow up the weekend with a race report.

All caught up, the challenge from here will be to not fall behind again…and to post a picture recap to supplement this update.

Steelhead 70.3 Race Report

This past Saturday, August 1, was the 2009 Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI.  It was my first HIM in 2 years and my first attempt at actually racing the distance instead of merely surviving. 

Before the report, a little about the race/venue itself.  Transition is at Jean Klock Park, along the coast of Lake Michigan at the north section of Benton Harbor (BH).  It’s a pretty nice, small beach focused park that is currently expanding to add a golf course.  Hopefully development of the beach front will spur BH to improve itself because currently it could use some work.  The town itself looks pretty run-down and impoverished.  I’d assume most athletes coming in for the race stayed at nearby St. Joseph’s to the south, which seemed to be a vast improvement. 

The course, however, was pretty nice overall.  The swim is a point to point along the coast of the lake, pretty much a straight shot and the water is clear enough to not scare more timid swimmers...unless the wind kicks up, then you’ll have big waves.  The bike is a short out and back leading to a large loop in the countryside north of the city.  Some of the roads could be in better condition, but it’s a nice enough course to not bore you, and can be a bit of a challenge depending on the wind.  The run is a double loop with a couple short, but steep hills.  It offered enough variety, that having to loop the same section 2x didn’t seem to bother me.  It gives you a good idea what to expect on the 2nd loop in terms of terrain and aid station locations, of which there are plenty.  Also, the run offers a pretty good amount of shade. 

Such a long intro, now to the race report…

Swim:  My weakest leg, by far.  I felt as I could hope to be at the start, and had a pretty good position in my wave…not quite in the front row and to the outside of the pack.  However, within 50m I had fallen way back as I had to stop and drain my leaking right goggle three times already.  Finally, after the first couple minutes, which seemed like an eternity, I got them to not leak and away I went.  The rest of the swim was pretty straightforward and I had plenty of space to work with, other than catching back up to the occaisional swimmer in my wave to be welcomed with a kick or two.  Needless to say, I was frustrated with my start, but relieved to see the beach and move on.  Time: 39:22 (Goal: 40:00, –:38 total)

Me (on right) exiting the swim…I sure am angry or concentrated

T1: The transition area was long and narrow, so a pretty long run to the gear, but not too much to report here.  Time: 3:39 (Goal 4:00, –:59 total)

Bike:  This is where I really just wanted to focus on holding back.  I felt if I just settled into a comfortable “feeling” pace then I’d still hold a respectable average AND have legs for the run.  Other than my bike PC, I kept no track of time, so didn’t have an idea of how I was doing overall.  For the bike, though, I tried to pay attention to the timer only to time nutrition (alternating 2x concentrated Infinit and water, 1 large drink every 10 minutes…as well as a nutri-grain bar at the 1hr and 2hr marks).  My legs felt great and I was moving faster than I had expected.  I hit the halfway point with an avg speed of 22.6mph.  Something had to give, right?  It certainly did.  At around mile 35, after you’ve been gradually winding your way north and east, you turn onto the highway which is essentially a big straightaway back to transition.  Unfortunately, it seemed to be aligned almost directly with the wind, so the majority of the 20 miles home were rolling hills into a unrelenting headwind.  I wasn’t so worried about my speed dropping since I was well ahead of my planned speed, but it’s hard to not get frustrated and fight the wind when you’re in it that long.  As I approached T2, I was sure I used too much on the bike and figured I had trashed the run.  But either way, the bike leg still kept me ahead of my goal pace.  Time: 2:38:20 (Goal: 2:40:00, –2:39 total)

Bringing the bike back to T2 and stretching for the upcoming run.  DeSoto Coolwings (kinda the Torbjorn Sindballe strategy), are the sleeves if you’re wondering

T2:  Grabbed my fuel belt with more Infinit and a couple gels, put on my Trifuel hat, and was on my way.  Time: 2:53 (Goal: 2:00, –1:46 total)

Run:  I left T2 at little more than a shuffle, knowing I had to start slow to keep from blowing up, especially after the exertion on the bike.  Even at my shuffle, I was still moving through people on the course, which had me guessing if I was going too hard.  However, soon I get pretty settled and my pace came up a little.  I started looking for my dad, who had almost an hours head start on me.  I finally caught him at just past mile 5…he looked especially strong for his first HIM attempt.  That was motivating since with my dad and sister both racing, it’s hard not to worry a little about how there doing as your out there.  I grabbed water at every aid station, drank maybe a gulp and poured the rest onto my arm coolers or in my hat.  I was staying pretty cool.  By the time I hit the second loop, I had only walked once, at a hill just outside Whirlpool’s campus that I wanted no part of and would walk again on loop 2.  For the second loop, I added sponges to the aid station passes, wearing them sort of like shoulder pads under my sleeves.  My pace also seemed to come up a bit more.  By mile 10, I was pretty sure I had a good time going, but the fatigue was starting to set in.  I didn’t really have any kick for the finish, but I did get a little charge of energy when I rounded the corner for the home stretch and Andy Potts was there cheering us on (he said I was looking strong…it was awesome) and again a few hundred meters ahead when I saw the clock and knew I blew away my goal.  I crossed the line, and I was drained but very pleased.  Time: 1:41:09 (Goal: 1:48:30, –9:07 total)

Finish line within sight.

Total Time: 5:05:23…about a 1 hour 10 minute PR 2 years in the making.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better race.  Everything seemed to come together, and yet I was so close to 5hours and see room to improve, so have another goal ahead.  I hung out at the finish with my wife and mom and waited for my dad and sister to arrive.  My dad came in sub 6:20 for his first half, almost beating my previous PR on his first attempt, and my sister came in in the 6:20’s for a nearly 25 minute improvement from her last half.  It was a great showing by all. 

Oh yeah, and Andy Potts won the race, and my wife got to congratulate him and take close-up post finish pictures…

Andy, just minutes after victory

Right now, I’m relaxing and celebrating the other event of this weekend for one more day before returning to the real world…my wife and my first anniversary.  We are relaxing in Harbor Country and it’s about the best way to spend post-race time I can think of. 

Next race, Augusta 70.3 at the end of September.

Steelhead Fast Approaching--Race Plan

Color me excited! This week has been so busy with my trying to get ahead at work in preparation for the long weekend ahead that I have hardly had time to think about being only a couple days from my first A race of 2009…until now. This afternoon, I’ll be leaving Cincinnati and making my way to Benton Harbor for Steelhead 70.3 on Saturday. Then it’s a mini-vacation with the wife to celebrate a successful first year of marriage (our anniversary is August 2nd).

With working extra hours, as well as packing, getting the new race wheel ready, gear checkout, etc…my taper has been less than ideal. It looks more like a drop off a cliff in activity then a gradual reduction. However, my workouts have been high energy and I don’t feel like my poor taper execution will mean much in the course of the race. I planned to get in a day early so I can do one last short ride Friday morning and hopefully a little swim on the course. Then, it’ll be packet pickup, bike drop off, dinner with the family (arriving Friday afternoon) and getting ready for the race, along with whatever sleep I’m capable of the night prior. For most of Friday, I’ll try and wear my Trifuel hat around so I’m noticeable to any other TFers. If you see the hat, come say hello as I’m still yet to meet another TFer face to face.

As for the race, I created a race plan before even starting my winter training to start the 2009 season when I was heavy in my season planning phase. As I saw more vast improvements that I expected, I adjusted the plan, even tweaking it as recently as Monday. I feel pretty solid with it at this point.

Here’s how things will hopefully go down:
Swim (1.2 mi)— 0:40
Bike (56 mi)— 2:40 (~21mph avg)
Run (13.1 mi)— 1:48:30 (~8:15/mi pace)
Transitions—0:06
TOTAL: 5:14:30

So, basically my overall goal is to break 5:15. Based on my training, this should be doable. However, since I haven’t done a HIM in 2 years and have never successfully completed one w/o blowing up the run, I’ll be happy with anything under 5:30.

My rationale for the 5:15 goal is as follows…
The swim should be about 40 minutes, simple as that. My training and previous race data say so…other than being more crowded in the water, I tend to swim the same pace pretty much all the time.
The bike could be faster, I’m guessing…although the real goal will be to hold back. I’ve completed some 60-70mile rides in training at around 20.5mph with traffic and no race adrenaline…so I think I’ll put a good time in here. I also have the benefit of my new Hed 90 rear to give me a mental edge. My main focus is to sit in a nice aerobically comfortable pace. Unless there’s a short, steep hill (which I’m not aware of) then I should never feel like I’m pushing it.
The run will really depend on the bike and the first 3 miles. My open ½ marathon time from April is ~1:32, so I’m expecting a drop off. However, as long as I don’t push too hard on the bike and don’t blow out of T2 like a maniac (somewhat of an issue in my transition runs) then I should be alright. I’m going to go out at 8:00/mile pace and at around mile 6-7 see how I feel to determine where to go from there.
My nutrition is planned, I have a spreadsheet detailing it in my training plan…it involves banana and gel just pre-race, 2 nutri-grain bars and 2 servings infinit nutrition (280cals/serving) on the bike, and 2 gels + 1 serving infinit on the run...pretty evenly distributed throughout the race.

My wife and mom will hopefully capture some awesome shots of my dad, sister, and myself. I’ll write up a RR as soon as I get around to it. GL to everyone else racing this weekend.

Vacation Recap and some fun facts

Well, unfortunately vacation had to come to an end.  We’re now back in Cincinnati and back into the routine.  The only nice things about returning was seeing our dog and being able to bike again.  I know I gave a basically day to day report of our vacation activities, so this post will focus on some quick thoughts about our destinations and some interesting things we saw or did along the way.

Southern Montana: Big Sky and the surrounding ranches on the highways are definitely the place to go to really get away to the backcountry.  We had no cell reception for most of our time up here, and the general pace of life seemed slow and relaxing.  I’m sure Big Sky buzzes in the winter with activity, though.

Yellowstone: I had heard going in that this would be a disappointment.  However, the only disappointment I had was with Old Faithful, which I kind of expected.  The terrain changes constantly as you travel the roads in the park…mountains, canyons, rivers, forests, lakes…it’s all there, along with the geothermal features.  Don’t go see Old Faithful to base your judgment of Yellowstone on.  Yes, the traffic is slow…but you’re there to sightsee for God’s sake…relax.

Grand Tetons:  Although much smaller than Yellowstone, the Tetons offer more hiking (at least publicized) and is more “user friendly” with better information at the ranger stations and less traffic.  Also, the mountains themselves are spectacular.  Also, the ski resorts on the south end are well developed and give ample opportunity to take it to the mountains (w/o having to hike the whole way).  There are also bike trails throughout much of the park…very nice.

Traffic:  Since the roads get torn up in the winter, they seem to do a good deal of road construction in the summer throughout the region.  This does get old when many highways are cut down to 1 lane (total).  If I lived in NW Wyoming…I’d have to bike commute, everywhere.

Behind the numbers:

Total miles hiked—36.3 miles

Total elevation covered in hikes—10,000+ ft (8,000 on long hike, seen below)

Our day hike summary

Total distinctive wild animal species identified (by us amateurs): 12, bald eagle, osprey, large crow (scientific name), moose, grizzly bear, pica, snake, pronghorn, mule deer, beaver, coyote, and elk.

Distinctive state license plates spotted: 47 + 3 canadian provinces (Alberta, BC, and Ontario)…we only missed West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Delaware

 

That’s about all I got…on more triathlon related subjects (it’s been rare of late, I know), I am just under 2 weeks out from Steelhead 70.3, my first A race of the season.  I start the official taper after tomorrow evening’s med-long run.  I’m sure in my taper boredom I’ll write up my race plan.  Also, I got a used Hed Jet 90 that should arrive tomorrow…my first race wheel.  Now I just need a Jet 60 or a trispoke for up front and a wheelcover…at some point.

Vacation Report, Day 7…Last full day

Per usual, we started our morning with runs, my legs felt better than I expected once I got them going…they certainly were stiff getting out of bed. Then, it was a relaxing breakfast while we worked out the details of renting bikes for the day. We decided to give mountain biking a go since it’s different from what we normally do, and there are plenty of trails available in riding distance from town. So, off to Hoback Sports we went to get our mountain bikes, then away we pedaled to the trails. We were decked out on some full suspension rides, which were so much heavier and more reactive to the roads than what I’m used to riding…it was slow going, particularly up hills.

Leaving the paved surface for the trails

The extra weight combined with the built up fatigue from the week kind of sapped our enthusiasm as we approached some technical single track runs. Before we even really got going, we had already decided it would be a short go of things just to get the experience in. After a little ways up the road, we split off on the Cache Creek Sidewalk path for the return trip.

Me heading onto the single-track trail

The drop off to the left sure looked a lot steeper when on the bike

After returning to the lot, we decided to use our bikes more for exploring than for trail-riding, so we went a little ways into the national elk refuge (but saw no elk) before turning back and heading into town for ice cream.

The ice cream stop at Moo’s Ice Cream in the Jackson town square (located in the rear of a cowboy store, but worth finding) made up for not getting our reward yesterday. The flavors we tried were: Oreo (tasted exactly like the cookies), Espresso bomb, chocolate cabernet, and chocolate almond. All were amazing and some flavors I’ve never seen before.

If you see this sign, follow it to deliciousness

To get our money’s worth, we explored the rest of the unseen areas of Jackson via 2 wheels before turning our rides in and heading to the condo for rest. Yes, you heard that right…we rested for almost 2 whole hours before returning to town to do some shopping and go to dinner.

Dinner was at the Snake River Brewing Company, an award winning micro-brewery. Between the 4 of us that drink beer, we sampled all they had to offer except the malt liquor offering. This included the English ale, German lager, organic ale, American pale ale, stout, hefeweisen, and American lager. All were delicious, my favorite was the English Ale.

Hefeweisen…Hurray, beer!

Now, we’re packing and preparing for an early flight to Denver. The good news is, we’ll be back in Cincy (fingers crossed) by early afternoon, so have time to settle in and see our dog again, but I think I’d still rather be on vacation, especially out here. The scenery is just overwhelming, and seeing it every morning hasn’t taken anything away from the wonder…amazing. Oh well, back to reality.

Vacation, Day 6…The day hike

The morning started off with a quick morning run.  It was chilly per usual, but the makings of a another beautiful day with clear skies.  Then, it was back to the condo to shower and have breakfast before preparing to leave for our most ambitious hike.  The goal was to take the ferry across Jenny Lake (in Teton National Park), then climb 1 mile to Inspiration Point.  From there we would head another 3.5 miles into Cascade Canyon to the fork in the river.  Finally, we’d travel another 5.1 miles to Hurricane Pass before turning around and coming back the same route.  All told, it would be a little over 20 miles hiking.  There were good descriptions of what to expect until we reached the fork, but from there we had no idea what terrain we’d be tackling…

Pronghorn Antelope… Another new animal to add to our collection on the drive to Jenny Lake

Hidden Falls, the first landmark on the hike

A Pica… These little guys have been everywhere.  We finally got a picture of one.

Our view from Inspiration Point… after a mile of climbing

A Beaver crossing our path on our way into the Cascade Canyon

The Cascade Canyon

Getting up close and personal with a (male) moose

Arriving at the Fork… 4.5 miles down

As we left from the fork, chances of covering the full 20 miles was looking slimmer since we were already nearly 2.5 hours in and the path leading out of the fork was pretty much all climbing again for the next mile or so, but on we pushed…

Over a precarious looking bridge, but it’s better than having to ford the river

The family dominating all obstacles in our path

Susan and I from a ledge overlooking the three paths between the mountains

We made it to the snow line!

Giving up on the dream of Hurricane Pass, but a beautiful turn-around point nonetheless… 7.1 miles

On the return trip, no pictures were taken…we were focused on getting back, it was mid afternoon and the animals were not out anymore, and it was an out and back hike, so we’d see most of the scenery already.  By the time we reached the Jenny Lake ferry to return to the car, we were out of water and worn out.  We planned to reward ourselves with ice cream, but the strange Wyoming traffic had other plans, and after sitting in the car for an hour, our ice cream motivation was gone.  All told, we covered ~14.25 miles on the hike in just about 7 hours (including breaks).  I’ll post the elevation profiles once my dad has a chance to upload his Forerunner data when we get home. 

The rest of the evening was dinner, then watching some TV at the condo, then early to bed.  Our last full day of vacation (*sniff) is tomorrow, where we are going to give cycling a go (not sure if mountain or road biking yet), then maybe checkout the town of Jackson an bit closer…it will be a pretty tame day for us.  I’m still holding out hope of catching a glimpse of a bighorn sheep or an elk, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

A closer look at Mr. Moose.  So impressive.

Vacation Report, Day 5…rafting and walking down a mountain

Like most days on this trip so far, we started the day early…even earlier than usual in this case since we had somewhere we needed to be.  Our rafting excursion, the only planned activity of the vacation, required us to meet in town at 6:40 to check in.  Considering this would be the day we would be closely interacting with water, it was a little disappointing to see the morning temperature drop below 40 to a chilly 37.  Due to the cold, the excursion check-in desk recommended we rent wetsuits (sleeveless) for the rapids portion of the ride, which seemed like a good decision. 

The raft trip itself was a 2 part ride.  The first 8 miles being a calm float trip to take in scenery, grab some pictures, etc.  Then, there was a stop for breakfast at a campsite before embarking on the additional 8 mile rapids section of the river.  Even though we rented wetsuits and booties, we decided not to use them for the float trip section.  This was a mistake since the water in the bottom of the boat froze our feet, and they didn’t thaw until toward the end of breakfast.  The scenery on the float section was beautiful, as we travelled through what was basically a wide canyon.  Unfortunately there was a road to our right most of the trip, which kept away a lot of the 4 legged creatures we had a chance to encounter.  We did however, get plenty of great bald eagle and osprey sightings since they were out peering into the river from the treetops looking for breakfast. 

Leaving for the float section of the raft trip

The pictures through the morning activities were limited for a couple reasons.  We had our first camera casualty when Susan (my wife) had her camera slip into the bottom of the raft and take on water.  This was a big loss since she’s undoubtedly the best photographer of the bunch.  Then, my camera’s batteries went dead.  Of course, for the rapids section of the trip all we had was a waterproof film camera, so there won’t be any pictures from that yet, either. 

Breakfast was a welcome break to warm up our feet…and the food was delicious as an added bonus.  Pancakes (made from a rice-based batter), eggs, sausage, coffee, melted butter and syrup made up the menu.  Post breakfast, we crossed the river to our bus and donned the wetsuits to prepare for getting wet. 

The rapids leg was all category 2 and 3 rapids, enough to toss us around, but not too much for beginners.  There was one rapid in particular, the lunch-counter, that really hit us hard.  It was basically 3 giant waves hitting the boat head on in quick succession.  No one went into the river, but the river pretty much went into us.  Afterward, Susan decided she might as well jump in the river for fun (it was 56 degrees water temp).  On the bus ride back from the rafting trip, we did see a moose just like I hoped, but it was a female (no impressive antlers) and had its head half buried in the river drinking, so we didn’t get a very good shot of it.

Post rafting was lunch and some errands in Jackson, then heading up to Teton Village to check out the tram to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain (~10,750 feet just south of the Tetons).  We walked to the “true” peak, which was extra windy, then decided to attempt an “easy” stroll 3 miles down the mountain to the Lookout bar for happy hour.  Turns out, walking down a mountain is more difficult than it seems.  We completed the 3.25 mile hike down the steep access road covered with loose gravel, and definitely earned our beers before riding the gondola back to the mountain base. 

A view from the top of Rendezvous Mountain

The tram we rode to the top…holds 100 people + gear

Myself and my sister making our way down the mountain

The goal, the Lookout Bar and gondola the rest of the way to the bottom

The rest of the night was cleanup, dinner, and bed…we were worn out from the day and also have our most ambitious hike planned for tomorrow.  Where I’ll hopefully see a bighorn sheep, but will settle for a moose with antlers.

Vacation Report, Day 4…Moving day

This morning, we were able to redeem ourselves for the failed run from the day before.  We drove into Big Sky early and each got 40-45 minutes of work in.  The weather was only slightly better than the previous morning, but the lack of hail and lightning made a significant difference…and made 45 degrees with a drizzle seem like nice running weather.  I had a 5.5 mile run, which was plenty.  Afterward, we zoomed back to the ranch, ate breakfast, packed, checked out, and took off for Yellowstone.  Today’s plan was the southern portions of Yellowstone and then previewing the Tetons as we made our way south to Jackson, WY…our base camp for the remainder of the vacation.

The trip started with a bang…before we even reached the gate of Yellowstone, I got my wish from yesterday…

A Grizzly Bear…hanging out a couple hundred yards off the road.  A nice distance for viewing safely.

Then we arrived at the park and got caught up in the traffic viewing the same bird we saw yesterday.  Once we passed this obstacle, there was another slowdown for more mule deer…the generic creatures of the park.  Further along, we encountered a coyote…this was something new.  However, with his wily nature, he managed to avoid the camera by ducking behind a bush. 

After these exciting “close encounters”, it was off to view the natural attractions, which I’ll cover in pictures below…

A mud pot at the Fountain Paint Pots… boiling mud, just like the spa, right?

Old Faithful… yep, that’s it.  Would have been prettier on a sunny day, I’m sure.

To be honest, the southern portion of the park did not match the views from yesterday.  Also, Old Faithful, being something I felt I should definitely see once, is something I feel I only need to see once.

We moved through Yellowstone more quickly than yesterday, since we had ground to cover.  Everyone waved goodbye as we passed through the southern gate and into Grand Teton National Park.  For the most part, we skipped through here as well, taking some pictures along the way (seen below), at least until we made through a large chunk of the park.  At this point, our party was antsy from all the car time, so we stopped at Calder Bay Village to have a look around and ended up taking a short and easy 3 mile hike looping Swan Lake and Herron Pond, with Jackson Lake and the Tetons themselves as the backdrop….

Welcome to the Grand Tetons

Swan Lake covered with some sort of greenery

Herron Pond with an impressive backdrop

By this point, it was getting late, so we left the park and checked into our condo.  Everyone seemed to be feeling Mexican food (particularly margaritas), so we hunted out a family Mexican restaurant and had very well made margaritas, not what I was expecting in Wyoming.  Now, it’s time to settle in to the new digs and read a bit before bed.  Tomorrow holds a 1/2 day 16 mile raft trip (1/2 float trip, 1/2 rapids) on the Snake River along with some short hikes in the Tetons…and hopefully a moose this time!

Vacation Report, Day 3

The morning of day 3 started bright and early with a 6AM wake-up and group trip up to Big Sky for the family and I to get a run in.  We arrived, and split into 3 groups heading separate ways, all hoping to get in runs between 30-50 minutes.  The weather had other plans, however, and within 15 minutes, a menacing storm had rolled in from the mountains.  My wife and I, who were together, were near enough to a shopping center to be able to get some cover for the bulk of the downpour.  Once the rain backed off a bit, we picked up where we left off, but within a couple minutes, saw my parents in the rental car pull up along side us.  The run was over after only 19 minutes.  A good attempt nonetheless. 

After tracking my sister down, we returned to the ranch for breakfast and prepared for the day.  We took off for our main activities…exploring the central and north sections of Yellowstone.  Our planned route was a loop from West Yellowstone to Madison, then Norris, then Canyon Village, then Tower Junction/Roosevelt, then Mammoth Hot Springs, and finally back to Madison and out of the park for dinner and the trip back to the ranch.  Obviously, there was a lot to be seen, so I’ll just let the pictures do the talking for the most part. 

Our first animal sighting…a nest of Osprey

A wide view of Norris Geyser Basin

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

From the canyon lodge area, we enjoyed a nice 3.5 mile hike to the canyon, then down to the falls.  My dad brought his Forerunner for measuring distance, but we haven’t checked the elevation.  I’m guessing it consisted of about 1000ft of climbing all told (including 600 feet of swtichbacks to get down to the brink of the lower falls…seen below.

Lower falls front facing viewpoint

Looking down on the Lower falls from the brink…rainbow bonus

Down the canyon from the falls

From here, we moved north to Tower falls, which although impressive, did not match the canyon.  The north section of the park was less crowded, so we were able to move through quickly on the road.  We also stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, which didn’t have a lot of activity, but allowed us to hike a bit more.

A hungry buffalo encountered on the way out of the park

We stopped at West Yellowstone, MT for dinner before heading back to the ranch.  Overall a productive day for vacation.  We covered about 140 miles in the park by car and hiked about 5.5 miles with 1500 feet of elevation gain all told.  Needless to say, I’m pretty worn down upon writing this.  Tomorrow looks to be much of the same, except with the southern portion of Yellowstone (including Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake).  This is our last night in Montana, though, so by tomorrow night we’ll be at our new digs in Jackson, WY preparing to take on the Tetons.  Hopefully tomorrow we’ll see a grizzly.

Vacation Report, Days 1 and 2

Well, the family trip to Montana and Wyoming got off to a slow start with us missing our connecting flight to Jackson Hole.  Cincinnati once again proved itself to be a subpar airport, delaying our initial flight and stranding us in Chicago an extra 6 hours.  This led to us adjusting our first day plans.  We were originally planning on meandering our way through Yellowstone and up to Montana, stopping along the way as we wanted.  This plan was contingent on us arriving in Jackson Hole at around 2:30PM.  Instead, we landed around 8:00PM, so the first day was all but lost.  Our focus turned to finding dinner and making our way to our ranch in Montana the quickest way possible, which was through Idaho.  We were still able to get a preview of the scenery on the landing in Jackson Hole, which is a spectacular approach to watch from the window.  The runway sits in a valley with a mountain range on either side. 

A view of the approach out my airplane window

And the airport isn’t much more than a small lodge, so you walk out of the plane straight into the beautiful surroundings.

Departing the plane

After crossing through the Tetons and into Idaho, we stopped for some pizza and once we were got going again it was dark…very dark.  You could vaguely make out shadows of the mountains as we made our way north, but not too much to take in.  After almost 20 hours of travelling, we didn’t mind and just wanted to get to a bed.  Needless to say, sleep was welcome when we arrived at the ranch in Montana.

Day 2 – the first REAL day of vacation

Restaurant of the 320 ranch at breakfast

Morning arrived in Montana, and it was time to eat.  After a solid complimentary hot breakfast, we surveyed the ranch offerings and then headed back to our cabin to prepare for a nice morning hike.  Conveniently, the 320 Ranch has a trail head leaving from the rear of the property that connects into an intricate series of backcountry horse and hiking trails that stretch from Bozeman, MT to Yellowstone Park (hundreds of miles).  My dad stopped at the lodge and asked about a good easier route to get us started and picked up the bear repellant…which seems to be high powered pepper spray to (hopefully) ward off a grizzly that’s too close for comfort.  With our grizzly repellant on hand, we were off on our hike…

Embarking on the hike

Impressive rock formations as seen from the valley floor and me feeling very small

Some riders moving ahead of us on the trail

Our turnaround point, “the cow flats” with a great view of Ram’s Horn Peak (to the right)…that’s my dad off to the left, contemplating

The winding creek we followed for most of the hike as seen on the return

As we neared the end of the trail, I was hoping to see a little more animal life than we had.  I got my wish, sort of, when my dad stepped on a snake in the trail…no one was bit, and he wasn’t a dangerous snake, but the stepping on him did prompt the snake to pose for the photo below.

By the end of the hike, we were a hungry crowd.  About 8 miles of hiking will do that to you.  So, after a quick pit stop at the cabin, we made our way 10 miles north to Big Sky, a nice (apparently developing) ski town where we had lunch and picked up some snacks and supplies.  At lunch, we got to see a strange hippie looking man attempt to flirt with our waitress by starting a water fight with her.  Some free entertainment.

We got back to the ranch at around 3:30 and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon heading down to get our national parks pass to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, as well as to grab some trail maps and do a little reconnaissance.  The only animals we saw out this evening were plenty of Mule deer.  I’ll get some pictures of them tomorrow since we’ll be heading back to the north and central sections of Yellowstone for the bulk of the day.

Now, we’re cleaning up and relaxing a bit.  The rest of the night will most likely consist of dinner on the ranch, some delicious local beer, and some bonfire action.  More to come tomorrow.