Checking out the camera and the new house
The flash is pretty bright
Making himself comfortable already
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Dog Pictures
So, I'm a little behind since I said I'd post dog pictures almost a week ago...so here's our newest addition. His name is Derby (after the KY Derby) and he's a 1 yr old boxer mix...enjoy:
Checking out the camera and the new house
The flash is pretty bright
Making himself comfortable already
Checking out the camera and the new house
The flash is pretty bright
Making himself comfortable already
Monday, October 13, 2008
Weekend Recap
Well, this past weekend was a pretty solid one by all accounts. My only complaint is that I lost a few hours of my life to the Kentucky-South Carolina football game which only caused me frustration at UK’s terrible play all around. But bitterness over the loss aside, things were pretty enjoyable, and of course there is the new family member (more on that later).
It’s interesting how different my life (and state of mind) is from just a year ago. Obviously, getting married and buying a house as well as having a full-time career will do that to you. Last year, I was still in the college mindset, always wanting to party on the weekends, even though I didn’t live near a college campus. Now the idea of a weekend in Cincinnati with only a few planned activities seems like a nice break from the normal hectic weekends and travelling we do.
Enough deep thoughts though, back to this past weekend. Friday wasn’t much to shout about. The wife and I went out to dinner, using a gift card we had gotten as a wedding present (thanks JD) and then relaxed a bit around the house while getting ready for the busy Saturday.
Saturday morning was my last long training run before my marathon in 2 weeks. It was a 20.66 miler (according to mapmyride), the longest solo run I’d ever done by almost 2 miles. Before my first marathon in January, I never completed a 20 miler, so getting this one done is good for the confidence going into the Marine Corps Marathon. As with my 18 miler, I walked portions of the steeper uphill sections in middle of the run to save the legs for a strong finish. Overall, it was a great run. I completed the 20.66 miles at almost exactly my goal marathon pace. Of course, I was rewarded with plenty of stiffness throughout the rest of the day and most of Sunday, but I like that kind of pain since it reminds me of hard work done.
Then, after some rest and refueling, I watched the UK football game. As mentioned before, this was disappointing and the low point of the weekend, but ultimately just a game, so oh well. To ease the pain, I was able to distract myself by watching the IM World Championships on my laptop. Even though my legs were sore, watching the amazing athletes accomplishing so much made me want to grab the bike and go for a ride. I did not, especially since we were trying to get the house ready for company.
Saturday night, we had our first house party, which was really more of a cookout than a party, but it still went well. I was disappointed we didn’t get more out of town guests to make it in, but Susan’s classmates made a decent showing and other people we know from Cincinnati also stopped by. Since we were uncertain of the numbers, we ended up with about 20 too many burgers and 2 cases too much beer, but no worries we will use the remainder eventually.
Sunday, we (Susan, me, and my two friends from Louisville who were my best men) went to a shelter and got a dog. This is our wedding gift from the best men, so they paid for the dog. We got a 1 year old boxer mix who is still yet to be named. Pictures will be posted soon. We now need to get a fence so we have better ways to contain him outside and to give him a little more freedom. He behaved well his first 24 hours with us and has only peed inside once. Luckily almost the entire house is hard surfaces so it’s not a huge deal to clean up after.
Anyways, that was the weekend, nothing too crazy, but a lot going on. Now it’s taper time (and time to dog-proof the house) for MCM is only 2 weeks away.
It’s interesting how different my life (and state of mind) is from just a year ago. Obviously, getting married and buying a house as well as having a full-time career will do that to you. Last year, I was still in the college mindset, always wanting to party on the weekends, even though I didn’t live near a college campus. Now the idea of a weekend in Cincinnati with only a few planned activities seems like a nice break from the normal hectic weekends and travelling we do.
Enough deep thoughts though, back to this past weekend. Friday wasn’t much to shout about. The wife and I went out to dinner, using a gift card we had gotten as a wedding present (thanks JD) and then relaxed a bit around the house while getting ready for the busy Saturday.
Saturday morning was my last long training run before my marathon in 2 weeks. It was a 20.66 miler (according to mapmyride), the longest solo run I’d ever done by almost 2 miles. Before my first marathon in January, I never completed a 20 miler, so getting this one done is good for the confidence going into the Marine Corps Marathon. As with my 18 miler, I walked portions of the steeper uphill sections in middle of the run to save the legs for a strong finish. Overall, it was a great run. I completed the 20.66 miles at almost exactly my goal marathon pace. Of course, I was rewarded with plenty of stiffness throughout the rest of the day and most of Sunday, but I like that kind of pain since it reminds me of hard work done.
Then, after some rest and refueling, I watched the UK football game. As mentioned before, this was disappointing and the low point of the weekend, but ultimately just a game, so oh well. To ease the pain, I was able to distract myself by watching the IM World Championships on my laptop. Even though my legs were sore, watching the amazing athletes accomplishing so much made me want to grab the bike and go for a ride. I did not, especially since we were trying to get the house ready for company.
Saturday night, we had our first house party, which was really more of a cookout than a party, but it still went well. I was disappointed we didn’t get more out of town guests to make it in, but Susan’s classmates made a decent showing and other people we know from Cincinnati also stopped by. Since we were uncertain of the numbers, we ended up with about 20 too many burgers and 2 cases too much beer, but no worries we will use the remainder eventually.
Sunday, we (Susan, me, and my two friends from Louisville who were my best men) went to a shelter and got a dog. This is our wedding gift from the best men, so they paid for the dog. We got a 1 year old boxer mix who is still yet to be named. Pictures will be posted soon. We now need to get a fence so we have better ways to contain him outside and to give him a little more freedom. He behaved well his first 24 hours with us and has only peed inside once. Luckily almost the entire house is hard surfaces so it’s not a huge deal to clean up after.
Anyways, that was the weekend, nothing too crazy, but a lot going on. Now it’s taper time (and time to dog-proof the house) for MCM is only 2 weeks away.
Monday, October 6, 2008
2008 Triathlon Season Finale
My 2008 tri season is now over. This past weekend’s Tri for Sight in Lexington, KY was the 6th and final race of the season. It went alright for me all things considered, but was a great day overall for my family. We had 5 competitors in the race, as I mentioned before…and everyone did well. But first, my race report.
Pre-race: I’ve had some congestion for the past week and a slightly sore throat so had not had as good a week of training as I’d hoped. Since this was a C race, there was no taper. Instead, I ran 8 miles with hills at sub-marathon pace on Saturday morning to get a decent workout in for my A marathon in 3 weeks. I completed the run faster than I’d hoped, but it just didn’t feel good. I was hoping it wasn’t the cold, but was ready to back off the race intensity if I felt similar during the tri.
Anyways, not terribly exciting race morning…had a banana before leaving the hotel and a bottle of water while setting up transition, helped the wife with some last minute fixes for the bike and setting up her transition, and huddled with the family as we all got nervous before the race start. At about 6:40, my wife, dad, sister and I headed to the pool for the pre-race meeting and start. My mom stayed back with the other duathletes for their upcoming run start. Downed a gel about 25 minutes before takeoff.
Swim: It was a snake style 800m pool swim with competitors starting every 10 seconds. This was the shortest time between starters I had experienced in a pool swim, and the congestion in the pool was noticeable. I stayed relatively clear of most people, passed about 4 people and was passed by about the same number. This is definitely where I need the most work to improve, but I said that last year as well and actually got slower. Funny how it’s easier to work on the stuff we’re better at. Anyways, I finished the swim w/o too much exertion and headed out to T1.
Time: 16:56 (7/20 in age group…Goal 16:30, +0:26 overall)
T1: This T1 was long, it included a quarter mile run from the pool to the actual transition area (barefoot) along with everything else. Still went pretty smoothly, but should have run a little faster I guess.
Time: 3:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 3:30, +0:40 overall)
Bike: I have done this race 3 times before (’04-’06), but I guess the year away made me underestimate the bike course difficulty. I was hoping to really push it and go for 22.5mph avg for 18 miles. Well, first the course is actually 18.4 miles, and second the easy rollers were more substantial than I recalled. It was nothing I couldn’t deal with, but it slowed the average. Also, what I felt worst about was that I had misrepresented it to my mom and wife who hadn’t done the course before. Either way, I used perceived effort to guide me and stuck to my usual bike nutrition plan. Pretty smooth overall, and a very nice course BTW. I saw my wife just getting ready to start the rollers my way back and waved, but I wanted to apologize. She ended up not being angry with me though.
Time: 54:08 (3/20 in AG…Goal 50:00, +4:48 overall, 20.4mph avg)
T2: Uneventful, but lost a little time
Time: 1:32 (8/20 in AG…Goal 1:30, +4:50 overall)
Run: At this point I was obviously certain I wouldn’t hit my goal, but still wanted to get a good run in. My legs transitioned pretty quickly and I had a solid first quarter mile (of the 4 mile run). Then, my legs all of a sudden felt like lead, I struggled with the majority of the rest of the 1st mile. Once I got into the arboretum at mile 2 things opened up a bit and I was able to hit my stride. I never felt great on the run, but felt I was moving pretty good, so I was happy with it. I passed my sister in the last ½ mile, she thought she would hold me off with her head start. It was almost at the same time that we passed our mom heading out on mile 1. It was neat with 3 of us being that close (in proximity) at one point in the race.
Time: 27:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 28:00, +4:34 overall, 6:56/mile pace)
Anyways, I was happy to be done, and it is a PR by about 4 minutes, but I was hoping for a little more. Either way, I can’t be too upset since it was a C race and I was more focused on my mom and wife’s performances since they are the beginners of the bunch.
Post race I talked to my sister for a bit since she came in about a minute behind me, then headed to the bike return to look for Susan (wife) to get back. I was hoping everything went well since she sometimes gets overwhelmed by too many hills. She actually came in a few minutes before I thought she would on the easier course I had imagined. She killed the bike, and seemed to be in pretty good spirits too. I then headed around to see her off on the run. I moved from point to point on the run course to cheer her on and find my parents coming in. Caught both of them looking strong in the last mile. Susan came back in about a ½ hour later…well faster than her projected time. My disappointing race was erased immediately by her and my mom’s successes. I do love this sport.
The breakdown (for everyone) in order of crossing the finish line:
Me: 1:44:03 (42/323 overall, 3/20 in Clydesdale AG)
Sister: 2:02:13 (7/23 in AG)
Mom: 2:20:08 in Du (1/1 in AG…a dominating victory)
Dad: 2:00:30 (5/15 in AG)
Wife: 2:36:51 (12/14 in AG)
Without family photographers, we have no personal pics, but I’m hoping the race pictures will have some good ones. They had plenty of opportunities to catch at least one of us. I’ll post good ones if I can find them. My next event is the Marine Corps Marathon, so focusing on running for the next few weeks…then the winter off-season build.
Pre-race: I’ve had some congestion for the past week and a slightly sore throat so had not had as good a week of training as I’d hoped. Since this was a C race, there was no taper. Instead, I ran 8 miles with hills at sub-marathon pace on Saturday morning to get a decent workout in for my A marathon in 3 weeks. I completed the run faster than I’d hoped, but it just didn’t feel good. I was hoping it wasn’t the cold, but was ready to back off the race intensity if I felt similar during the tri.
Anyways, not terribly exciting race morning…had a banana before leaving the hotel and a bottle of water while setting up transition, helped the wife with some last minute fixes for the bike and setting up her transition, and huddled with the family as we all got nervous before the race start. At about 6:40, my wife, dad, sister and I headed to the pool for the pre-race meeting and start. My mom stayed back with the other duathletes for their upcoming run start. Downed a gel about 25 minutes before takeoff.
Swim: It was a snake style 800m pool swim with competitors starting every 10 seconds. This was the shortest time between starters I had experienced in a pool swim, and the congestion in the pool was noticeable. I stayed relatively clear of most people, passed about 4 people and was passed by about the same number. This is definitely where I need the most work to improve, but I said that last year as well and actually got slower. Funny how it’s easier to work on the stuff we’re better at. Anyways, I finished the swim w/o too much exertion and headed out to T1.
Time: 16:56 (7/20 in age group…Goal 16:30, +0:26 overall)
T1: This T1 was long, it included a quarter mile run from the pool to the actual transition area (barefoot) along with everything else. Still went pretty smoothly, but should have run a little faster I guess.
Time: 3:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 3:30, +0:40 overall)
Bike: I have done this race 3 times before (’04-’06), but I guess the year away made me underestimate the bike course difficulty. I was hoping to really push it and go for 22.5mph avg for 18 miles. Well, first the course is actually 18.4 miles, and second the easy rollers were more substantial than I recalled. It was nothing I couldn’t deal with, but it slowed the average. Also, what I felt worst about was that I had misrepresented it to my mom and wife who hadn’t done the course before. Either way, I used perceived effort to guide me and stuck to my usual bike nutrition plan. Pretty smooth overall, and a very nice course BTW. I saw my wife just getting ready to start the rollers my way back and waved, but I wanted to apologize. She ended up not being angry with me though.
Time: 54:08 (3/20 in AG…Goal 50:00, +4:48 overall, 20.4mph avg)
T2: Uneventful, but lost a little time
Time: 1:32 (8/20 in AG…Goal 1:30, +4:50 overall)
Run: At this point I was obviously certain I wouldn’t hit my goal, but still wanted to get a good run in. My legs transitioned pretty quickly and I had a solid first quarter mile (of the 4 mile run). Then, my legs all of a sudden felt like lead, I struggled with the majority of the rest of the 1st mile. Once I got into the arboretum at mile 2 things opened up a bit and I was able to hit my stride. I never felt great on the run, but felt I was moving pretty good, so I was happy with it. I passed my sister in the last ½ mile, she thought she would hold me off with her head start. It was almost at the same time that we passed our mom heading out on mile 1. It was neat with 3 of us being that close (in proximity) at one point in the race.
Time: 27:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 28:00, +4:34 overall, 6:56/mile pace)
Anyways, I was happy to be done, and it is a PR by about 4 minutes, but I was hoping for a little more. Either way, I can’t be too upset since it was a C race and I was more focused on my mom and wife’s performances since they are the beginners of the bunch.
Post race I talked to my sister for a bit since she came in about a minute behind me, then headed to the bike return to look for Susan (wife) to get back. I was hoping everything went well since she sometimes gets overwhelmed by too many hills. She actually came in a few minutes before I thought she would on the easier course I had imagined. She killed the bike, and seemed to be in pretty good spirits too. I then headed around to see her off on the run. I moved from point to point on the run course to cheer her on and find my parents coming in. Caught both of them looking strong in the last mile. Susan came back in about a ½ hour later…well faster than her projected time. My disappointing race was erased immediately by her and my mom’s successes. I do love this sport.
The breakdown (for everyone) in order of crossing the finish line:
Me: 1:44:03 (42/323 overall, 3/20 in Clydesdale AG)
Sister: 2:02:13 (7/23 in AG)
Mom: 2:20:08 in Du (1/1 in AG…a dominating victory)
Dad: 2:00:30 (5/15 in AG)
Wife: 2:36:51 (12/14 in AG)
Without family photographers, we have no personal pics, but I’m hoping the race pictures will have some good ones. They had plenty of opportunities to catch at least one of us. I’ll post good ones if I can find them. My next event is the Marine Corps Marathon, so focusing on running for the next few weeks…then the winter off-season build.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Pre-weekend Race Notes
Here I am, a few days from the last tri of the season. I am just going to train through this one though, so it’s kind of anti-climatic for me since my A tri was over a month ago now. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be an exciting weekend. I mean, it’s the wife’s 2nd tri of the year (3rd ever) and almost twice as long as her previous ones. She’s pretty nervous, and although grad school kept her from getting a full training schedule completed, she’s covered the distances in each individual sport so she’ll be fine. Also, my mom is doing the Du at the same time. This will be her second du ever and first in over 2 years. Combine that with my dad, sister, and myself racing, and needless to say there will be a lot going on Sunday morning.
The race is the Tri for Sight in Lexington, KY. It raises money for eye research at the University of Kentucky. It also happens to be the same event where my dad, sister, and I got our start in triathlon…so that makes it a little more meaningful. The race is an 800m pool swim (2 mile run for the du), an 18 mile light rolling hill bike, and a 4 mile run. It’s a very well run event, so I highly recommend it to people in the area. Plus, it has the best door prize raffle I’ve ever seen at a tri after the race. They raffle off stuff like $50 gift cards and Oakley sunglasses and the like…very exciting.
I will write a race report as usual, but can pretty much guarantee no pictures since the photographers are both racing…but oh well.
Anyways, I’m also about 3.5 weeks out from my other A race of the season, the Marine Corps Marathon. I think I’m ready for this too and am starting to get excited about it, although I have one more long training run to go (~21mi). My training for this one has been much more consistent than for Arizona in January, maybe because now that I’ve done a marathon, I have a greater understanding of the importance of the long run days, or maybe it’s just easier to train for a marathon through the late summer/early fall than it is through the winter. Either way, hopefully it will pay off and I can break 3:30…we shall see.
Alright, just for goals sake…I’m going to post my Tri for Sight race plan…then we can see how well I execute on Sunday:
Swim (800m pool)—16:30, my swim training has been pretty poor and there’s no wetsuit to help me here
T1—3:30, there is a .25 mile run from the pool to transition, thus the longer time
Bike (18.4 miles)—50:00, that’s around 22.5mph avg…we shall see
T2—1:30, some built in cushion there…hopefully will be less than a minute
Run (4 miles)—28:00, we’ll see how much my legs have left
Total—1:39:30, I’ll be very happy with a sub 1:40 performance
Previous course best (2006): 1:48:22
Results to come after the weekend
The race is the Tri for Sight in Lexington, KY. It raises money for eye research at the University of Kentucky. It also happens to be the same event where my dad, sister, and I got our start in triathlon…so that makes it a little more meaningful. The race is an 800m pool swim (2 mile run for the du), an 18 mile light rolling hill bike, and a 4 mile run. It’s a very well run event, so I highly recommend it to people in the area. Plus, it has the best door prize raffle I’ve ever seen at a tri after the race. They raffle off stuff like $50 gift cards and Oakley sunglasses and the like…very exciting.
I will write a race report as usual, but can pretty much guarantee no pictures since the photographers are both racing…but oh well.
Anyways, I’m also about 3.5 weeks out from my other A race of the season, the Marine Corps Marathon. I think I’m ready for this too and am starting to get excited about it, although I have one more long training run to go (~21mi). My training for this one has been much more consistent than for Arizona in January, maybe because now that I’ve done a marathon, I have a greater understanding of the importance of the long run days, or maybe it’s just easier to train for a marathon through the late summer/early fall than it is through the winter. Either way, hopefully it will pay off and I can break 3:30…we shall see.
Alright, just for goals sake…I’m going to post my Tri for Sight race plan…then we can see how well I execute on Sunday:
Swim (800m pool)—16:30, my swim training has been pretty poor and there’s no wetsuit to help me here
T1—3:30, there is a .25 mile run from the pool to transition, thus the longer time
Bike (18.4 miles)—50:00, that’s around 22.5mph avg…we shall see
T2—1:30, some built in cushion there…hopefully will be less than a minute
Run (4 miles)—28:00, we’ll see how much my legs have left
Total—1:39:30, I’ll be very happy with a sub 1:40 performance
Previous course best (2006): 1:48:22
Results to come after the weekend
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Just an update
I said I’d try and update before my next race and would really like to get in the habit of posting on a more regular basis, so here’s a little progress report. We’ll see how long I keep these up.
The weeks since Accenture Chicago have been packed. I know it was only just over a month ago, but the race feels like a distant memory now. In the middle of my recovery week from Chicago, we finally made the move into our first house. The wife and I had been anxiously awaiting this. Her parents came down with a large service truck to help with the move early on a Wednesday morning. I was at work when they arrived, but luckily my job allows me to flex my schedule when I need to, so I took off at noon and headed to join the moving party. We also had a small but effective support group consisting of Susan’s cousin, and my two best men from the wedding. All three are rather strong guys, so they were able to move a lot of heavy furniture before I even got there (and then gave me hell about it). We worked all day until about 6:00 making trips b/w the apartment and the house and finally got the apartment cleaned out (mostly). It was exhausting, and the house now looked like a mess with boxes and bags everywhere.
We picked at the boxes, unpacking a little at a time throughout the rest of the week until my parents and sister came in to see the place on Saturday. Needless to say, we put them to work. They had been warned, so were good sports about it. We worked all day and basically got everything unpacked with the exception of one room. To reward ourselves in the evening, we cooked out (on my new grill) and relaxed outside with the fire pit. Hurray for wedding gifts.
Since then, we’ve been working through the early joys of homeownership. It certainly keeps you busy, especially at the outset. In less than a month, and with the help of some hired college students (for a fundraiser) and family…we have successfully unpacked 99% of the house, removed wallpaper and mold from bathroom, redid entire bathroom (light fixtures, faucet, and paint) with the exception of décor, removed wallpaper from the kitchen, cleaned the garage, and bought/assembled our new dining room set. Not too bad, eh.
In the more active side of life, I had my parents bring my old hybrid bike up from Louisville. I retooled it some by replacing old rusted parts and adding a rear rack and lights to turn it into my commuter dream. I have only ridden to work twice unfortunately so far since my work schedule has been somewhat erratic of late, but I’m still glad to have it. It’s also my little project, since I’m no bike expert. I feel like I can work on this bike to teach myself how to be a good enough bike mechanic to do most of my own maintenance.
Also, I’ve been riding more hills and think I’m addicted. I never knew bike riding could be so painful, it’s awesome. Hopefully my future bike splits will pay me back for the hard work. And the payoff of long descents is pretty sweet.
Most importantly, though, I’ve been running getting ready for DC in just over a month. I’m up to 16 miles for my long run and feel pretty good about where I am. I could/should probably be getting shorter runs in during the week, but overall I’m pretty confident. I did, however, skip my most recent 18 mile scheduled run to do a 45 mile bike ride instead. It was about the same amount of time to complete, but obviously easier on the legs. So, I will do 18 this weekend instead of the 20 I hoped to be at by this point. I’d still like to get 2 20 milers under my belt before this race, but it’s more important to have a good taper, so I may drop one. We’ll see.
Anyways, that pretty much catches things up. So, until next time…
The weeks since Accenture Chicago have been packed. I know it was only just over a month ago, but the race feels like a distant memory now. In the middle of my recovery week from Chicago, we finally made the move into our first house. The wife and I had been anxiously awaiting this. Her parents came down with a large service truck to help with the move early on a Wednesday morning. I was at work when they arrived, but luckily my job allows me to flex my schedule when I need to, so I took off at noon and headed to join the moving party. We also had a small but effective support group consisting of Susan’s cousin, and my two best men from the wedding. All three are rather strong guys, so they were able to move a lot of heavy furniture before I even got there (and then gave me hell about it). We worked all day until about 6:00 making trips b/w the apartment and the house and finally got the apartment cleaned out (mostly). It was exhausting, and the house now looked like a mess with boxes and bags everywhere.
We picked at the boxes, unpacking a little at a time throughout the rest of the week until my parents and sister came in to see the place on Saturday. Needless to say, we put them to work. They had been warned, so were good sports about it. We worked all day and basically got everything unpacked with the exception of one room. To reward ourselves in the evening, we cooked out (on my new grill) and relaxed outside with the fire pit. Hurray for wedding gifts.
Since then, we’ve been working through the early joys of homeownership. It certainly keeps you busy, especially at the outset. In less than a month, and with the help of some hired college students (for a fundraiser) and family…we have successfully unpacked 99% of the house, removed wallpaper and mold from bathroom, redid entire bathroom (light fixtures, faucet, and paint) with the exception of décor, removed wallpaper from the kitchen, cleaned the garage, and bought/assembled our new dining room set. Not too bad, eh.
In the more active side of life, I had my parents bring my old hybrid bike up from Louisville. I retooled it some by replacing old rusted parts and adding a rear rack and lights to turn it into my commuter dream. I have only ridden to work twice unfortunately so far since my work schedule has been somewhat erratic of late, but I’m still glad to have it. It’s also my little project, since I’m no bike expert. I feel like I can work on this bike to teach myself how to be a good enough bike mechanic to do most of my own maintenance.
Also, I’ve been riding more hills and think I’m addicted. I never knew bike riding could be so painful, it’s awesome. Hopefully my future bike splits will pay me back for the hard work. And the payoff of long descents is pretty sweet.
Most importantly, though, I’ve been running getting ready for DC in just over a month. I’m up to 16 miles for my long run and feel pretty good about where I am. I could/should probably be getting shorter runs in during the week, but overall I’m pretty confident. I did, however, skip my most recent 18 mile scheduled run to do a 45 mile bike ride instead. It was about the same amount of time to complete, but obviously easier on the legs. So, I will do 18 this weekend instead of the 20 I hoped to be at by this point. I’d still like to get 2 20 milers under my belt before this race, but it’s more important to have a good taper, so I may drop one. We’ll see.
Anyways, that pretty much catches things up. So, until next time…
Monday, August 25, 2008
Chicago Accenture Triathlon Race Report
I finally made it to my A race. My wife and I had gone to Hamilton, IN on Friday night to stay at her parents’ lake house since it was her dad’s birthday along with cutting our Saturday driving time down a couple hours. Saturday morning, I woke up and got a short ~2 mile run in at an easy pace to stretch my legs out. I was at my desk all day Friday, then in the car for 3+ hrs, so I wanted to do something active before getting into the car again Saturday to drive the rest of the way. The run was easy, but I could tell my energy levels were high, a good sign.
My family had planned to meet at the Hilton (host hotel) at around 2-3 to check in and go to packet pick-up. Amazingly, with 3 cars coming from different places, (us from Northeast Indiana, parents from Louisville, and sister from St. Louis) we all managed to arrive within 15 minutes at the hotel lobby. The place was a zoo, with hundreds of bikes littering the lobby and people with body markings coming and going. We managed to get checked in and into 1 (of our 2) rooms within an hour. Packet pickup, body marking, expo were all pretty straightforward. We then walked down to the swim start, which was about .5 mile from the hotel, and along the route to the exit, and then to find transition. Transition was much farther from the hotel than the race site had made it sound. After recon we all had dinner and prepared our gear for the next morning. I was ready for bed by 9:30, but wasn’t tired, so watched the Olympics until 11:00.
Sunday morning, woke up at 4:10, got my water/Infinit bottles ready. Dad, sister, and sister’s friend (participants) all met at my room (aka the bike storage room) to pick up the bikes and head down to setup transition. We had found our wave numbers and start times the day before and knew we’d have time to return to the hotel before race, so we weren’t dressed yet, and left our swim gear along with our support crew (my wife and mom) so they could get a little extra sleep. The transition area was super-busy, and we all split up to setup our areas. It only took me 10 minutes or so to set up, but then I ran through my transitions in my head to make sure I had everything about 5 times. I’m real paranoid about that.
Got back to the room about 6AM, my sister’s friend was the first to start at 7:53, so we had some time. I had breakfast consisting of a banana, a protein bar, and lots of water (I usually can’t eat much prior to start). By 7, we were heading out of the hotel to the swim start. I had never been to a race of nearly this size, so it was pretty impressive seeing all the triathletes as well as spectators lined along the harbor. I had a gel at around 7:40ish. My sister’s friend got in the start corral for her wave at around 7:40, she started at 7:53. My sister went off at 8:01, and I was 1 wave behind at 8:05. Unfortunately, my dad didn’t take off for another hour, so he had time to wait for it to get warmer and windier.
The swim: I am not the most confident OW swimmer in the world, but this swim didn’t bother me. You swim parallel to the shore of the harbor only about 20 feet from the wall at the farthest and you can see the bottom for most of the swim. The start was kind of a train-wreck as we were in a pretty narrow “lane” with people everywhere. I did my best to get in a groove, but could only go a few strokes at a time for the first 150m or so without running into multiple people. At 300m or so you hit the turnaround and head back. We had spread some by then, so I got moving better. Then after you pass the start area again, the lane is opened up (not divided) so there is all of a sudden twice as much space to work with. This was easily the best OWS I’ve ever completed. Since I breathe to both sides, I was able to keep an eye on the wall where the spectators were. This allowed me to: 1)Distract myself by watching them and looking for family, and 2) Spot off the wall to stay in a straight line so I didn’t have to pull up so often to see where I was. I got out of the swim and didn’t see the clock, but could tell that since I was with the back of the wave in front of me it must have been pretty good for a not very strong swimmer like myself.
Time: 30:53…Raceplan (from early June) goal time: 32minutes (-1:07)
The run to T1 didn’t seem as long as it looked Saturday when we walked it. Considering how big the transition area was and the fact that my setup was right next to the swim in corner (I had to run my bike all the way across the area), I had a pretty solid T1.
Time: 2:53…Raceplan goal time: 3minutes (-:07, -1:14 total)
The bike: I took off northbound on Lake Shore Drive for the bike leg. I assumed it was going to be in terrible shape considering the talk overheard at the expo and warnings the morning of. It was actually worse than what I was expecting, potholes everywhere and random patches and bumps all over the place. This didn’t bother me as much as the fact that very few of these hazards were marked with spray-paint, and the ones that were probably didn’t need to be. I wanted to try and average around 22mph for the ride, and was spinning along with a slight burn in my legs trying to get my fluids and was only about 15 minutes into the ride, but had only been riding around 19mph. I could tell I was going into the wind, but couldn’t tell how strong it was or how much effect it was having. I just decided to race it by feel instead of speed and hope for the best. Every 5 minutes I would drink, alternating b/w water and Infinit (custom 255 calorie mix). I was consistently passing people, so assumed it wasn’t just me struggling to hold speed. At the turnaround, I got the wind at my back and realized the difference. I cruised back to the 2nd loop turnaround averaging around 24.5-25mph for that leg. On the 2nd loop, the headwind seemed worse, so I just kept my thoughts positive and focused on how nice it would be after the turn. I pushed pretty hard northbound to try and keep my avg speed in the 21s (where it was when I turned). Finally on the home stretch, I geared down and spun, knowing the wind would give me the speed I needed. I focused on getting fluids and staying relaxed for the run as the wind pushed me steadily along at around 24mph.
Time: 1:07:41 (21.9mph counting mounting/dismounting etc…my CPU had me at 22.6mph)…Raceplan goal: 1:08:00 (-:19, -1:33 total)
The run to T2 was awkward as I was trying to adjust my legs to being on the ground again while running downhill across the transition in my bike shoes. I made it w/o mishap, but took longer here than I’d hoped. I switched shoes, got my # belt and hat, and was off.
Time: 2:37…Raceplan goal: 2minutes (+:37, -:56 total)
Run: The run was flat and I took off feeling pretty good, but I was wary since I knew we’d be heading south for the first half or so of the run. This meant the final 2+ miles would be into the headwind once the pain had really start to set in. I went along, carrying my 2 fuel belt bottles in my hand (1 water, 1 Infinit) so I was able to gain time by not having to stop at the aid stations, at least for the first 4 miles. I got some light spasms in my quads early in the run, but just drank more fluids tried to increase my leg motion to work them out a little. I moved steadily along until the turnaround, where the headwind hit me like a punch to the face. From there I just ducked my head and shortened my stride to keep progressing along steadily. My pace slowed noticeably around the 5 mile mark and I was just trying to think “Just 10 more minutes.” I hit the 6 mile mark and was still running, so knew I’d make it. I picked up the pace a little, but didn’t have anything left for a finishing kick. Two guys sprinted past me in the final straight, but I could see the big clock and knew I’d reached my goal so I just coasted in smiling and weakly raised my arms as they announced my name at the finish.
Time: 45:43 (7:22/mile)…Raceplan goal: 45minutes (+:43, -:13 total)
Overall time: 2:29:47 (4 of 49 clydesdale 200-224, 284 of 4089 overall)
I got water and went around to the sidelines to do some spectating. My sister’s friend was already finished (in around 2:23) and was there as well. My sister came across about 25 minutes later in 2:59:04, breaking through the 3 hour wall in her 5th international distance race. Her previous 2 attempts, both this year were completed in 3:00:xx, so that made breaking the mark even more rewarding. My dad came across nearly an hour later at 3:06:00. He wasn’t sure at the time, but later we found out it was a 6+ minute PR for him as well. So, overall it was a great racing weekend for all of us.
In general, I was glad to have participated in this event, since it is the largest triathlon in the world (as far as I know). That being said, I would not want to do this race again. It’s just too large scale and somewhat chaotic. Along with that, it isn’t good for family and friends that came to watch as they really only have a good view on the run course, but with everything being so spread out have a hard time getting to good viewpoints. My wife and mom didn’t see any of us getting out of the water, and so weren’t sure where we were until they caught a glimpse of us passing on the run course. Needless to say, there aren’t any good action shots to post. If I locate some decent pics otherwise, I’ll post them up later.
I don’t race again until the first weekend of October, which is fine since I need time to prepare for my next A race, the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October as well as time to work on this new house we are officially moving into this week. Hopefully I’ll remember to update this between now and then.
My family had planned to meet at the Hilton (host hotel) at around 2-3 to check in and go to packet pick-up. Amazingly, with 3 cars coming from different places, (us from Northeast Indiana, parents from Louisville, and sister from St. Louis) we all managed to arrive within 15 minutes at the hotel lobby. The place was a zoo, with hundreds of bikes littering the lobby and people with body markings coming and going. We managed to get checked in and into 1 (of our 2) rooms within an hour. Packet pickup, body marking, expo were all pretty straightforward. We then walked down to the swim start, which was about .5 mile from the hotel, and along the route to the exit, and then to find transition. Transition was much farther from the hotel than the race site had made it sound. After recon we all had dinner and prepared our gear for the next morning. I was ready for bed by 9:30, but wasn’t tired, so watched the Olympics until 11:00.
Sunday morning, woke up at 4:10, got my water/Infinit bottles ready. Dad, sister, and sister’s friend (participants) all met at my room (aka the bike storage room) to pick up the bikes and head down to setup transition. We had found our wave numbers and start times the day before and knew we’d have time to return to the hotel before race, so we weren’t dressed yet, and left our swim gear along with our support crew (my wife and mom) so they could get a little extra sleep. The transition area was super-busy, and we all split up to setup our areas. It only took me 10 minutes or so to set up, but then I ran through my transitions in my head to make sure I had everything about 5 times. I’m real paranoid about that.
Got back to the room about 6AM, my sister’s friend was the first to start at 7:53, so we had some time. I had breakfast consisting of a banana, a protein bar, and lots of water (I usually can’t eat much prior to start). By 7, we were heading out of the hotel to the swim start. I had never been to a race of nearly this size, so it was pretty impressive seeing all the triathletes as well as spectators lined along the harbor. I had a gel at around 7:40ish. My sister’s friend got in the start corral for her wave at around 7:40, she started at 7:53. My sister went off at 8:01, and I was 1 wave behind at 8:05. Unfortunately, my dad didn’t take off for another hour, so he had time to wait for it to get warmer and windier.
The swim: I am not the most confident OW swimmer in the world, but this swim didn’t bother me. You swim parallel to the shore of the harbor only about 20 feet from the wall at the farthest and you can see the bottom for most of the swim. The start was kind of a train-wreck as we were in a pretty narrow “lane” with people everywhere. I did my best to get in a groove, but could only go a few strokes at a time for the first 150m or so without running into multiple people. At 300m or so you hit the turnaround and head back. We had spread some by then, so I got moving better. Then after you pass the start area again, the lane is opened up (not divided) so there is all of a sudden twice as much space to work with. This was easily the best OWS I’ve ever completed. Since I breathe to both sides, I was able to keep an eye on the wall where the spectators were. This allowed me to: 1)Distract myself by watching them and looking for family, and 2) Spot off the wall to stay in a straight line so I didn’t have to pull up so often to see where I was. I got out of the swim and didn’t see the clock, but could tell that since I was with the back of the wave in front of me it must have been pretty good for a not very strong swimmer like myself.
Time: 30:53…Raceplan (from early June) goal time: 32minutes (-1:07)
The run to T1 didn’t seem as long as it looked Saturday when we walked it. Considering how big the transition area was and the fact that my setup was right next to the swim in corner (I had to run my bike all the way across the area), I had a pretty solid T1.
Time: 2:53…Raceplan goal time: 3minutes (-:07, -1:14 total)
The bike: I took off northbound on Lake Shore Drive for the bike leg. I assumed it was going to be in terrible shape considering the talk overheard at the expo and warnings the morning of. It was actually worse than what I was expecting, potholes everywhere and random patches and bumps all over the place. This didn’t bother me as much as the fact that very few of these hazards were marked with spray-paint, and the ones that were probably didn’t need to be. I wanted to try and average around 22mph for the ride, and was spinning along with a slight burn in my legs trying to get my fluids and was only about 15 minutes into the ride, but had only been riding around 19mph. I could tell I was going into the wind, but couldn’t tell how strong it was or how much effect it was having. I just decided to race it by feel instead of speed and hope for the best. Every 5 minutes I would drink, alternating b/w water and Infinit (custom 255 calorie mix). I was consistently passing people, so assumed it wasn’t just me struggling to hold speed. At the turnaround, I got the wind at my back and realized the difference. I cruised back to the 2nd loop turnaround averaging around 24.5-25mph for that leg. On the 2nd loop, the headwind seemed worse, so I just kept my thoughts positive and focused on how nice it would be after the turn. I pushed pretty hard northbound to try and keep my avg speed in the 21s (where it was when I turned). Finally on the home stretch, I geared down and spun, knowing the wind would give me the speed I needed. I focused on getting fluids and staying relaxed for the run as the wind pushed me steadily along at around 24mph.
Time: 1:07:41 (21.9mph counting mounting/dismounting etc…my CPU had me at 22.6mph)…Raceplan goal: 1:08:00 (-:19, -1:33 total)
The run to T2 was awkward as I was trying to adjust my legs to being on the ground again while running downhill across the transition in my bike shoes. I made it w/o mishap, but took longer here than I’d hoped. I switched shoes, got my # belt and hat, and was off.
Time: 2:37…Raceplan goal: 2minutes (+:37, -:56 total)
Run: The run was flat and I took off feeling pretty good, but I was wary since I knew we’d be heading south for the first half or so of the run. This meant the final 2+ miles would be into the headwind once the pain had really start to set in. I went along, carrying my 2 fuel belt bottles in my hand (1 water, 1 Infinit) so I was able to gain time by not having to stop at the aid stations, at least for the first 4 miles. I got some light spasms in my quads early in the run, but just drank more fluids tried to increase my leg motion to work them out a little. I moved steadily along until the turnaround, where the headwind hit me like a punch to the face. From there I just ducked my head and shortened my stride to keep progressing along steadily. My pace slowed noticeably around the 5 mile mark and I was just trying to think “Just 10 more minutes.” I hit the 6 mile mark and was still running, so knew I’d make it. I picked up the pace a little, but didn’t have anything left for a finishing kick. Two guys sprinted past me in the final straight, but I could see the big clock and knew I’d reached my goal so I just coasted in smiling and weakly raised my arms as they announced my name at the finish.
Time: 45:43 (7:22/mile)…Raceplan goal: 45minutes (+:43, -:13 total)
Overall time: 2:29:47 (4 of 49 clydesdale 200-224, 284 of 4089 overall)
I got water and went around to the sidelines to do some spectating. My sister’s friend was already finished (in around 2:23) and was there as well. My sister came across about 25 minutes later in 2:59:04, breaking through the 3 hour wall in her 5th international distance race. Her previous 2 attempts, both this year were completed in 3:00:xx, so that made breaking the mark even more rewarding. My dad came across nearly an hour later at 3:06:00. He wasn’t sure at the time, but later we found out it was a 6+ minute PR for him as well. So, overall it was a great racing weekend for all of us.
In general, I was glad to have participated in this event, since it is the largest triathlon in the world (as far as I know). That being said, I would not want to do this race again. It’s just too large scale and somewhat chaotic. Along with that, it isn’t good for family and friends that came to watch as they really only have a good view on the run course, but with everything being so spread out have a hard time getting to good viewpoints. My wife and mom didn’t see any of us getting out of the water, and so weren’t sure where we were until they caught a glimpse of us passing on the run course. Needless to say, there aren’t any good action shots to post. If I locate some decent pics otherwise, I’ll post them up later.
I don’t race again until the first weekend of October, which is fine since I need time to prepare for my next A race, the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October as well as time to work on this new house we are officially moving into this week. Hopefully I’ll remember to update this between now and then.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I haven't forgotten about this place
Well, it’s certainly been a while. I have been busy at the training. Haven’t raced since late June, but I certainly haven’t been wasting my time. July was easily my biggest training month ever and I was surprisingly consistent. To help things, a friend and cyclist just recently moved to the area and got me out on the hills of Cincy along with another UD alum. It opened my eyes to untapped bike potential. Now I can’t wait to get into the fall when I can really start hitting the hills. Also, I’ve been able to push up my run endurance in preparation for October’s marathon without dropping off on the speed as of yet. I’m still pushing sub 8 minute miles for up to 10 miles with hills. Not too shabby. I will finally have another race report coming early next week, and hopefully it’s a positive one considering this is my A triathlon of the season. I’ve never had an A race before, so let’s see how well I tailored my training plan in my first year of periodized self-coaching.
I race Chicago Accenture International Distance triathlon this Sunday. I don’t know my start time as of yet and guess I won’t find out until packet pick-up Saturday afternoon, no big deal though. For those non-triathletes out there (assuming anyone reads this other than myself), the international distance is in km so I will translate (1.5K (a little less than a mile) swim, 40K (24.8mile) bike, and 10K (6.2 mile) run). It’s my first race of this distance in 2 years, but it’s really not a huge leap from sprints so the distance doesn’t bother me. I’m just hoping I’ve gotten as much faster at this triathlon thing as I think I have.
If anyone does read this and is bored Sunday around mid-day…you can track me (or other members of my family) at www.chicagotriathlon.com by going to the race tracker link. From there, if you know me personally you can search by name. Otherwise, my race number is 4760, my sister is number 4468 and my dad is number 7339.
My goal for this race is to finish under or as close to 2:30:00 as possible and to be top 5 in my age group (clyde 200-224). I’m guessing there will be about 70 in my AG, and 2h30min will be a 20+ min drop from my PR at this distance.
That’s what’s up in the world of triathlon…now on to the more exciting stuff.
Obviously training and racing is an important part of my life, but I’ve been busy elsewhere as well. First and foremost, on August 2, 2008, my beautiful and always understanding fiancé, Susan, became my beautiful and understanding wife. The week of the wedding was pretty rough since I had to work long hours while she was in her hometown stressing about all the unfinished odds and ends of wedding planning. However, as things often do, everything worked out great. From the rehearsal on…it was basically smooth sailing. It was great to see so many people come out to celebrate with us, a lot of family and friends I hadn’t seen in a while and it seemed like everyone had a great time. The reception dance floor was very active all night and we haven’t heard a negative review of the weekend as of yet. The Delphos Microtel, which opened just in time to house our college friends, is probably regretting not waiting until after our wedding to open. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to post at this point, so maybe I’ll add them later.
I learned throughout the wedding weekend why people take honeymoons…weddings are exhausting. The honeymoon went amazingly as well as we ventured to St. Lucia (one of the Windward Islands in the west indies of the Caribbean if you don’t know). The only drawback was getting stuck a day in Atlanta on the way down. However, Sandals was great in their customer service and bumped our reservations back a day, so we still got a full week in all-inclusive paradise. There are a million pictures of the honeymoon, but I don’t have them with me, so sorry again. Highlights included: zip-lining through the rain-forest, snorkeling, learning to captain a catamaran (not difficult), candlelight dinner on the beach, tropical golf, being witnesses in the wedding of a couple we met in the airport on the way down (they were stranded with us), and pina coladas among so much more.
In other exciting news, the new wife and I close on our first home this afternoon, so needless to say my life is not lacking in excitement. We will need to bring the home into the modern age, but working on it will be a lot of fun. I’m already trying to figure out how I’m going to make my half of the garage into a heavenly bike garage/indoor training center (sorry car, you’re parking outside).
I guess that’s it for now. Race Report will be coming sometime next week. Until then…
I race Chicago Accenture International Distance triathlon this Sunday. I don’t know my start time as of yet and guess I won’t find out until packet pick-up Saturday afternoon, no big deal though. For those non-triathletes out there (assuming anyone reads this other than myself), the international distance is in km so I will translate (1.5K (a little less than a mile) swim, 40K (24.8mile) bike, and 10K (6.2 mile) run). It’s my first race of this distance in 2 years, but it’s really not a huge leap from sprints so the distance doesn’t bother me. I’m just hoping I’ve gotten as much faster at this triathlon thing as I think I have.
If anyone does read this and is bored Sunday around mid-day…you can track me (or other members of my family) at www.chicagotriathlon.com by going to the race tracker link. From there, if you know me personally you can search by name. Otherwise, my race number is 4760, my sister is number 4468 and my dad is number 7339.
My goal for this race is to finish under or as close to 2:30:00 as possible and to be top 5 in my age group (clyde 200-224). I’m guessing there will be about 70 in my AG, and 2h30min will be a 20+ min drop from my PR at this distance.
That’s what’s up in the world of triathlon…now on to the more exciting stuff.
Obviously training and racing is an important part of my life, but I’ve been busy elsewhere as well. First and foremost, on August 2, 2008, my beautiful and always understanding fiancé, Susan, became my beautiful and understanding wife. The week of the wedding was pretty rough since I had to work long hours while she was in her hometown stressing about all the unfinished odds and ends of wedding planning. However, as things often do, everything worked out great. From the rehearsal on…it was basically smooth sailing. It was great to see so many people come out to celebrate with us, a lot of family and friends I hadn’t seen in a while and it seemed like everyone had a great time. The reception dance floor was very active all night and we haven’t heard a negative review of the weekend as of yet. The Delphos Microtel, which opened just in time to house our college friends, is probably regretting not waiting until after our wedding to open. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to post at this point, so maybe I’ll add them later.
I learned throughout the wedding weekend why people take honeymoons…weddings are exhausting. The honeymoon went amazingly as well as we ventured to St. Lucia (one of the Windward Islands in the west indies of the Caribbean if you don’t know). The only drawback was getting stuck a day in Atlanta on the way down. However, Sandals was great in their customer service and bumped our reservations back a day, so we still got a full week in all-inclusive paradise. There are a million pictures of the honeymoon, but I don’t have them with me, so sorry again. Highlights included: zip-lining through the rain-forest, snorkeling, learning to captain a catamaran (not difficult), candlelight dinner on the beach, tropical golf, being witnesses in the wedding of a couple we met in the airport on the way down (they were stranded with us), and pina coladas among so much more.
In other exciting news, the new wife and I close on our first home this afternoon, so needless to say my life is not lacking in excitement. We will need to bring the home into the modern age, but working on it will be a lot of fun. I’m already trying to figure out how I’m going to make my half of the garage into a heavenly bike garage/indoor training center (sorry car, you’re parking outside).
I guess that’s it for now. Race Report will be coming sometime next week. Until then…
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