Cincy One World Triathlon...scratch that, Duathlon

Me with my medal (35th overall)

Brian receiving his M30-34 medal (4th overall)

Two AG victors after the race

Intense triathlon discussion

Me on run leg 1

Brian just looks fast on his bike...and he is

Me heading out on the bike

Brian on Run leg 2

Susan catches my attention on Run leg 2

Well, this is my last one of these for a little while since I don’t race again until late August (Chicago Accenture Oly). Now I just have to focus on the rest of my build phase and more importantly, my wedding in just over a month. Onto the race report:

The event was the Cincinnati One World Triathlon in its inaugural year. It had the option of either a sprint or an Olympic distance, and I opted for the Oly. I hadn’t heard anything about the race until about a month ago, but wanted to use it to see where I was with my swimming, clearly my limiter thus far. I figured, what better way to see how I am training in regards to swimming a 1.5k than swimming a 1.5k. Unfortunately, there was one small snag in my plan…there was no swim.
Storms moved through Friday evening and all throughout the night into Saturday morning. The race was scheduled for Sunday morning and the Ohio River, being the glorious body of water it is, gathered too much runoff bacteria raising it beyond swimmable levels. There was already a good deal of apprehension to swimming in the Ohio from other competitors, so I’m sure this didn’t raise their confidence for future events. I have swum in the Ohio in Louisville 2x in Oly tris (before IMLou shut them down), so I was fully prepared to make the plunge, but oh well. As disappointing as that was, my money was still sunk in the event, so I decided to show up and compete in the duathlon that was made at the last minute to substitute. A 2 mile run replaced the swim leg (not exactly comparable obviously). Here’s how it went down:

Well, first…I accidentally set my 3 alarms for 5:15, 5:25, and 5:35pm instead of AM, so 6:25AM rolls around and I happen to notice in my sleepy stupor that it’s way too light out to be pre-5:15. I panic, but luckily had prepped most of my stuff the night before and was out the door with the fiancé in less than 10 minutes. Got to the race site at 6:45, still plenty of time since transition closed at 7:15…whew!

Run 1—2 miles
With running being my strength, I had to remind myself that there were 2 legs to go and not to go out like I’m doing a 2 mile time trial. Being in the Clydesdale division and starting in a separate wave along with the 50+ males, I assumed I’d be near the front of my wave, though…so I thought pacing might be tough. Ended up since the first leg was actually a mile loop repeated 2x, so it didn’t matter b/c we got swallowed up by the earlier waves on their 2nd lap. I ran a pace that felt comfortable and definitely held back. My main concern was not injuring myself since the course had been thrown together on a semi trail/slanted cobblestone path that could have been dangerous if you weren’t being careful. Anyways, a couple 50somethings were ahead of me at the end of the run, but I was fairly certain I was the first Clydesdale to hit T1. Time: 15:12.8

T1—Nothing exciting to report, except that it’s much faster of a transition from run to bike than swim to bike. Time: 1:34.9

Bike—40k (24.8miles)
Based off of no actual experience or evidence, I assumed the bike would be flat despite the fact that Cincinnati is a hilly city (as far as the region goes). I guess it was the fact that the majority of the ride was on a 4 lane highway that follows along the river. Either way, I was wrong. The Parkway we were on was basically extended rolling hills the entire time and the on ramp we used to access it was like hitting a wall. The course was a double looped course for the Oly, so we had to do it all twice. The second time I hit the on ramp, I went from 22.5mph to 7.5mph in about 25m or so…however, I passed plenty of people who were struggling worse than me to get up (Yay for road bike geometry I guess). All in all, I was glad the bike was tough since it should make Chicago feel very flat come August. I was passed by one Clydesdale from what I could tell in the last 5 miles. I didn’t try and chase him down, just kept him in eyeshot until the last mile. I figure if it took him that long to pass me I must have had a substantial lead on just a 2 mile run, so catching him on a 10k wouldn’t be an issue as long as I didn’t blow up. So I spun it in and prepped for the run. Time: 1:11:54.1

T2—Nothing exciting again. Time: 1:30.0

Run 2—10k (6.2 miles)
I took off with baby steps to keep the cadence high, and was actually moving pretty well. Soon enough I found my stride and was cruising along. I passed the clyde before the first mile, so was pretty certain I had AG in the bag…now to focus on my time and being consistent. I was moving along pretty good until I rounded a corner under a bridge and realized that a staircase was part of the run course…a steep staircase that climbed up to a bridge to KY. I hit it hard trying to keep going at my pace, then almost tripped, caught myself and realized how badly my legs burned. I walked the rest of the steps. That took a lot out of me and my pace slowed for the entire 2nd loop until I hit the stairs again. I didn’t attempt to be aggressive this time and just walked them. After that it was about .5 miles to the finish so I pushed since I could see the light. I met up with 4 other guys about 200m to go and we all looked pretty beat. I swung around from the back like I was pulling off a slingshot maneuver and took off to start up a dash to the finish. Everyone started coming with me, but 2 backed off pretty quick. I then dueled with the other guy who had longer legs than me and a larger cheering section since he’s part of the local tri club. Needless to say, he won the duel, but it was fun anyways. All done. Time: 47:47.5

Official stats:
Run 1: 15:12.8 (7:36/mile)
T1: 1:34.9
Bike: 1:11:54.1 (20.7mph)
T2: 1:30.0
Run 2: 47:47.5 (7:32.5/mile)

Total: 2:17:59.4 (1 of 9 in AG, 35 of 213 overall)

A friend of mine also competed and took the M30-34 AG victory (and 4th OA, he’s fast), so it was a good day all around.

Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon Race Report...Susan's 2nd tri

This past weekend my fiancé competed in her second tri ever. My sister and I also participated as did one of her (my sister) friends, completing her first ever. The race was a super-sprint distance in Indianapolis (500m swim, 10mile bike, 3 mile run). Here’s my RR plus as detailed a summary of everyone else’s performances as I can give.

The race is part of the Indianapolis Sprint Series…3 identical races held at Eagle Creek Park and Reservoir in June-August. 2 years ago, Susan (fiancé) and I did this same race and it was her first ever triathlon. This year, she decided she would make her triumphant return to the sport after missing last year with a recurring foot injury from an improperly healed broken toe (still an issue, but pain is now controlled through orthotics and more supportive shoes). Either way, we also were able to get my sister to travel from St. Louis over to participate and she convinced her friend to borrow a bike and give it a shot for her first. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect at 65-75 degrees and sunny throughout the entire event. That mixed with heavy shade on much of the course made for an enjoyable racing experience…

My race report:

Swim: Decided to go with the wetsuit even though the swim was short to practice transitioning with it and since I figured most people wouldn’t wear them so I might be able to be further up heading into T1 than usual. Completed the swim of 500m in 10:54. Not bad even though it felt longer and harder than it actually was. I have an Olympic distance this upcoming week and am feeling nervous about the swim after these past 2 race performances. Nothing too out of the ordinary for an OW swim, I did get punched in the face for the first time ever…been kicked plenty of times, but never punched. It spun my goggles all the way around, so there was a stop to adjust worked in too.

T1: 2:20 or so…pretty quick considering I was wetsuited when compared to rest of field

Bike: Course was more difficult than I remembered. With this race being shorter than my training focus, I was hoping to go all out on the bike and see what I had left for the run. Even with aggressive riding my avg was only 21.4mph for the course. After seeing the technical difficulty of the course again I was pretty pleased with it. The course winds and is up and down hills the first 2 miles through the park…then is straight on a bumpy road up and down hills for the next 3 to the turnaround…then repeat backwards.

T2: In and out in a relative hurry…they have a weird system with the way the transition areas are setup so I had to basically wind through the entire area with my bike instead of being able to go directly to my rack…time was 1:40 or so

Run: Just out of the transition area you start up a slight hill to get out to the course, I did not feel well at this point as I expected. I was pleasantly surprised to see I was able to maintain a decent pace, though and felt pretty good again about .5 mile into it. It was an out and back, so I could see the runners ahead of me who were past the turnaround. I counted 4 clydesdales ahead of me, so figured I was in 5th place…a little worse than I was hoping at the time. Luckily, especially for a Clydesdale, I have a strong run leg and was able to pass 2 in the last mile to take 3rd in the AG.

I grabbed water and talked to my parents as we waited for Susan and Liz (sister’s friend) to come in on the bike. Luckily my wave took off 10 min before Susan’s so that mixed with my faster speed led to me being able to be done before she took off on the run. She was hoping I’d be able to do the run (or run/walk) leg with her and this setup allowed me to be able to.

She came in ahead of when I expected her to. She definitely was going to improve her time from 2 yrs ago, awesome. I walked ahead and waited for her on the hill at the beginning of the run course and off we went. We walked sections in the sun and the few up hills we came across. Plus here run pace has improved so even with more walking her run time was about equivalent to her previous race. She was in good spirits the entire time, telling me about different people she had seen on the course and what not. She was also excited her parents were able to come…they’ve never seen a tri before and were a little overwhelmed by all the activity, but seemed to find it interesting and fun. We crossed the finish line and only had 1 more person to wait for on the course (my sister was already in…we passed her on our way out on the run). Liz was about 10 minutes behind Susan to cross the line and had a smile on her face which was good since she had made a comment about dying when we passed her on the run course.

Here are the stats:

Jeff (me):
Swim-10:54
T1-2:20ish
Bike- 28:04 (21.4 mph avg)
T2- 1:40ish
Run- 20:01 (6:40/mile pace)
Total-1:02:56 (3rd of 41 in AG, 71st of 575 overall)--~6min improvement from 2 yrs ago

Susan-1:36:?? (7min better than 2 yrs agos time not counting the penalty she received last time for kick-standing her bike next to her full rack)
Kelley(sister)-1:15:??
Liz-~1:40

I will update the more exact times when I can access the results again as well as post any pics if they turn out well.

I race the Cincy One World Tri Sunday the 29th (this coming weekend) as my last training race for my A race in August…RR to follow.

St. Peter's RecPlex Triathlon Race Report

Finally I got to do another race. I know it’s only been a month, but my excitement after the success of my first race had me making more aggressive goals and raised the anticipation level for the upcoming races. However, now I get 3 races in 3 weeks…which should tide me over for a while since I have almost a two month layoff after the third before my first A race in late August. Enough setup…onto the RR.

The St. Peter’s RecPlex Triathlon is a kind of strangely proportioned sprint race just outside St. Louis. It is a non-USAT event that has some weird quirks to it, but is a generally fun event that I have been doing the past 4 years now. It usually consists of a 500m pool swim, 21 mile mostly flat bike, and 4.8 mile park path run. It’s a non-swimmers dream tri. As I mentioned earlier, it is the 4th year I’ve done it as well as the 4th year my dad and sister have participated as well…which has made it a solid father’s day tradition.

Race Morning: We arrive to see the transition area has been moved from previous years to behind the RecPlex…it’s a smaller area which leads to more congestion in a growing event. Due to the move, the pool swim will start on the opposite end and snake the other way leading to a shorter T1 run…not too bad. The bike course has also been changed last minute due to flooding, but the updated map is confusing, so we just decide to go with the flow once we’re out there. The run course was back to the way it was 2 years ago since the construction is complete in the area.

Swim: One of the quirks of this race is that the swim is started on a first come first serve basis from a registration stand-point (the earlier you register the earlier you start). This makes some weird congestion problems at times since there is no speed arrangement. We finally registered properly this year getting an early start time (7:00 AM) and in the correct order based on our relative speeds (my sister first, then me, then my dad). Everything is running smoothly so we start on time. My swim feels awful and I post my worst time here in 3 yrs at 10:44, I was hoping to be 9:30 so obviously I need some work on my swimming. Either way it’s over quickly and I’m into and out of T1 in about a minute.

They don’t do chip timing here so transitions are both added to bike time, I estimated 1 minute for each to get a better idea of my bike time, which would be about correct based on my CPU avg speed.

Bike: In my initial race plan I was hoping to break an hour on the bike (~21.5mph avg), but with the course change wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I figured it was still a reasonable goal. I felt strong once I got over the interstate overpass and used an early downhill to cruise along at 27mph for about 1.5 miles which felt great. I was passing people like crazy which is also fun…especially on my roadie with clip-ons and stock wheels. I got to the farmland area, the bulk of the ride, and was easily pushing 24.5 mph on the flats on the way out…there must be a tailwind. Hit the turn around and it turned against me. I was still able to hold close to 20mph on the way back in (and pass a high end tri-bike with a zipp disk and aero helmet…awesome), got to the next turnaround (since the course was shortened to avoid flooding there was a loop section) and had to come to a complete stop around the cone because it was basically people on their first loop coming thru and people turning for loop 2 merging in…kind of annoying. Second loop same story with the tail/headwind. Came back in noticing my time was already over 1hr so switch to check distance…pulled into T2 at 23.5 miles. They forgot to tell us they added 2.5 miles to the bike course, oops. Average was slower than I wanted but the addition of 3 180 degree turnaround points, one with oncoming traffic was a large contributing factor.

Got into T2 to find that a bike was in my spot on the rack and there was not space for mine to fit in…very annoying. Another quirk of the race is that with a staggered start in the pool they only tell you to get to the course 1hr before your start time to setup and get marked. So a guy who was starting 2hr+ after me saw my spot as open while my bike was gone and took it. I slid bikes along the rack with the help of someone nearby and crammed mine in. Quick shoe change and off on the run

Run: Wanted to make sure to not go out too fast as it was getting hotter and I knew I’d regret it later. Had to hold myself back since I felt very strong. Kept pushing along and before I knew it I was at the turnaround heading for home. I picked up the pace a bit and pushed on. Since it was out and back, I got to see my dad and sister both on there way out on the run as I was coming in, which I always like to do to keep tabs and make passing comments. I think I just yelled “Bike was long” between breaths at my dad as I passed. I had a little pain in the last mile from side stitches but was too close to slow down at that point. Crossed the finish line, found my mom and waited for the rest of the family.

Dad passed my sister on the run and came in about 3mins before her…both were pretty close. We didn’t hang around to see final results since we were pretty sure no AG placings among us and there were people still just getting on the bike course.

The breakdown:
Swim: 500m in 10:44 (bad)
T1: ~1 minute
Bike: 23.5miles @ 1:07:04 (21.0mph avg)
T2: ~1 minute
Run: 4.4 miles at 30:54 (7:01/mile)
Total: 1:50:43 (5th of 17 in M20-24 AG, 30th of 473 overall)

The official results had adjusted to the correct distances. Dad finished in ~2:14 and sister finished in ~2:17. Well done by all. The highlight of my day which I had been looking forward to all year was the Sonic breakfast burritos at the finish. Since I improved, I upped the ante and ate 2 of them this year (and now you know why I’m a Clydesdale).

Next race is a super sprint with the fiancée, my sister and her friend in Indy on Saturday. Race report to follow

Tri-For-Joe...first of season

Heading for T1 after the swim
Putting on the Wetsuit Pre-race
Such an intense look as I leave for the run
Me and my little plaque...big smiles
Walking the bike back to the car with dad

After weeks of anticipation, I finally opened the 2008 triathlon season officially Sunday with my first sprint tri of the summer. It felt like it took forever for the first one to come along, probably since this is the first season I’ve been 100% focused on tri training and not some other athletic endeavor. Also, since my training has been more focused and organized, I was eagerly waiting for a tri to really get a chance to see the progress of my efforts. The race was Tri-for-Joe at the Coney Island fun park in Cincinnati, OH and it basically went as follows…

I woke up at 5:15 AM after only about 5hrs of sleep. To preface, I was attending a wedding my fiancée was in on Saturday afternoon in Northwest Ohio about 2.5 hrs from Cincy…I didn’t get back from that until almost 11 and still had to get my stuff together so I wouldn’t be a wreck in the AM. I had a breakfast of Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal + Cinnamon Cheks cereal (not the best I know, but in desperate need of a grocery run so I improvised). Yes, I like to mix my cereals. Then I packed up and headed out the door. Had to make a stop at Walgreens on the way to the course to pick up Vaseline and got a Clif bar while I was there. I realized the night before I was out of body glide, so I’m sure I looked odd buying those two items at 5:45 AM.
I arrived at the course at 6:15 and picked up my race bag. Then I headed straight back to my car for cover since I thought hell was about to break loose. There was a dark cloud overhead and the winds were wreaking havoc at the course, and I was not dressed for those conditions. Luckily by 7, the clouds were clearing, there was little to no wind, and very little rain had fallen…very lucky. I setup my transition area, getting a prime spot since I arrived early and then waited for my fans (parents) to arrive. I knew I was ready, but still had to convince myself that everything was setup properly in transition and I wasn’t forgetting anything about 5 times as nerves were setting in.
When my parents arrived I joked around with them while hanging out at the pre-race meeting. They initially announced the pool temperature at 54 degrees (brrr!). Apparently that was a premature measurement and the pool was actually a very warm 61 by race start, haha. Even though it was a (open water style) pool-swim, I was glad to have my wetsuit as most participants did. My heat was the last to go, so I got to size up the field and watch the other waves taking off as I hung out in the warm-up area trying to adjust to the water. Finally, the Clydesdales were up to take our turn on the 700m course. We took off into the water and ran in the shallows until I saw the guy in front of me begin dolphin jumping, so I decided to do the same, only to realize I was still in 2-3 ft water. I tried swimming (and pushing off the bottom on my down stroke) until I realized people were walking past me in the water, so I got up and joined them. Soon, the water deepened to a swimmable level. As ridiculous as the course looked, it wasn’t as cluttered as I expected and I was able to move pretty freely. I also got a lot of work in on open water turning. After my second lap, I couldn’t tell where I was compared to my division, but felt I had posted a pretty good time…it ended up being 11:16, 1st one out of the water. I’m not that fast in reality, so the course must have been a little short, but I was moving pretty quick (YAY for wetsuits).
Off to T1 where I was worried having never removed a wetsuit before in race situation. I had the top half off during the run to T1, then I had to sit down to pull the legs off, but had no major issue…1:40 later (also fastest in div), I was off on the bike.
I hadn’t scouted the bike course specifically, but new it was flat and fast from knowing the general area. My real focus was spinning a high cadence and keeping my legs feeling fresh. I also planned to alternate Infinit and water every 3-4 miles throughout the bike. The course was flat and the winds were low and I felt like I was flying…it helped that we were the last heat to take off so I had plenty of people to pass. Unfortunately some were not versed in how to ride in a tri and were socializing with one another blocking the already narrow route, so I had to do some navigating. I finished the ride passing the entire time, having never been passed, so I knew any Clydesdale ahead of me was ahead of me after the swim. My CPU said I averaged just over 22mph on a 17.6 or so mile course. The course was supposed to be 18.6 miles, so my official results have me at 23.1 mph (they flatter me), once again 1st in my division.
T2 was pretty straightforward, rack the bike…switch shoes…grab water…put on race belt as I headed out to the run. In and out in 0:45 (2nd in div).
The run was a 5k through the park and parking lots, not a lot of great scenery, but it was flat and open. Since it wasn’t too hot it was pretty comfortable. I felt a little uneasy the first mile since I drank too much liquid in T2 and it was sitting heavily on me. I took it easy until the discomfort was manageable and then pushed the pace, knowing there wasn’t much left. I had noticed when I racked in T2 there was only 1 bike on the Clydesdale/Athena racks, so I had to be near the front of my division and knowing that running is my strong leg, I wanted to catch that other bike (who apparently I was already ahead of). I continued slightly increasing the pace until the finish…I didn’t have much of a kick left in me so I must have pushed pretty well throughout the race. Finished the 5k in 20:18, which I suspect was also slightly a short course. I felt like I was pacing like 6:50s, not the 6:33 they had me at.
Either way, I finished and got some delicious chocolate milk at the line and waited for results with the family. I knew I had placed, so was already happy. It was only later I found out I won the Clydesdale division…by almost 6 minutes! I assumed there were errors, so waited for the official results to be posted today to write the RR. I took home my plaque very satisfied with the day’s accomplishment.

Final stats:
Swim: 11:16 (1st in AG)
T1: 1:40 (1st in AG)
Bike: 0:48:21—“23.1 mph avg” (1st in AG)
T2: 0:45 (2nd in AG)
Run: 20:18—“6:33/mile” (1st in AG)

Total: 1:22:20 (1st of 21 in AG, 40 of 437 males, 839 total)…only 11min out of 1st place overall, haha.

Sorry for the long RR, I’ve just never won anything athletic individually like this, so I’m ecstatic. Pretty excited to push on in my training. Next tri in 4 weeks, RR to follow. Here are some pics, my mom was on top of things and got the pictures to me right away...

Bike TT and Upcoming First Tri of Season

Well it's been a while since I updated, was supposed to after last weeks testing week, but ended up not doing my tests. It was a bad week for training last week, but I've picked it up again this week and don't feel like I've missed a beat. I got a 31 minute run in monday on a hilly course with a 7:22 mile avg and felt strong (a little sore the next morning from the running layoff). Then yesterday, I competed in a local cycling clubs weekly summer TT. I've never done just a ITT on the bike (although every bike leg of a tri is just a lower intensity version of one I suppose), so thought it would be fun. It would also be good to give me an idea of where I'm at heading into my first sprint tri this weekend.

The race was held by one of the Cincinnati area cycling clubs and is a summer series held every tuesday starting last tuesday (the 6th) until september or so. It's a 10.2 mile course in a small city southwest of Cincy. The aerial view of the course resembles a horseshoe, so it was basically one gradual turn throughout, not too technical which is good for me since I don't have much experience being technical in an aero ride. The basic layout of the course is long, but gradual rollers for the first 7.5 miles, followed by a flat a little less than 2.5 miles and a deceptive and painful uphill .3 mile finish.

I arrived early to meet a friend who told me about the TT. He was running late, so I took off on my own for a warmup. I rode the course backwards, registered when I got to the start, and cruised around a bit as people started showing up. I wasn't sure what to expect from myself so I predicted I'd finish right around 30 minutes, putting me as one of the slower riders. I started 11th out of 37 competitors.

As I started, I slipped a little clipping in (probably should have been held, like was offered), so got away slowly. I wanted to push my pace on the first couple rollers to get my legs burning a little and to get my initial avg up. Plus I figure it's easier to maintain speed than it is to accelerate. After about 2.5 miles, I felt pretty good and was moving on the people in front of me. My goal was to pass more than I was going to be passed. I held off the first person to pass me until about the 6 mile mark where I had already passed 4 or 5 people. I got to the flat and had a pretty significant burn in my legs, but was suprised how easily I was able to convince myself to up the intensity at that point. As I saw the finish hill, I upped my cadence to prepare to downshift without hopefully losing much momentum. Putting an uphill at the finish like that is just mean, the burn was incredible, but you can see the finish so you have to keep pushing to the max. I grunted and groaned as I cranked my way across the finish line. Ends up I passed 8 riders and was passed by 2, I was already very pleased.

I rode it out then waited to see my friend finish (he was seeded third fastest in the race). He finished strong, so it looked like he had a good race as well. I could feel my legs tightening again, so I jogged about 1/2 mile while waiting for the times to be announced. Ends up, I underestimated myself...finished in 27:43 (22.1mph avg) and beat a good deal of people starting after me. Not sure of my actual place since I'm waiting for results to be posted. It was a lot of fun and I'm hoping to do a couple more before the end of the season, maybe monthly or so. If I break 27min I'd be pretty excited. My friend, of course made me look slow with his 25mph+ avg, but that's ok. I'll just say it was the equipment (he rides a P2C w/aero wheels compared to my LeMond roadie with clip-ons), haha.

So anyways, my first tri is this weekend...it's a sprint and I'll get to see what kind of speed I've gained from last year. My focus is going to be on transition times mostly since I have a tri-suit for the first time and a wetsuit too. Race report to come

First race, 1/2 Marathon, a family affair

The victorious (from left: Brenda (mom), Steve (dad), Jeff (me), Susan (fiancee), Kelley (sister), and Sarah (fiancees friend)...Tina and Byron absent)

Saturday was my first race of the season. It wasn't my first tri, only about 4 weeks until that comes along, but it was my first race none the less. The event was the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon/Mini-marathon. I competed in the mini (which is half distance) along with a number of family and friends. This event holds a special place for me since it was the event that spurred me to get in shape in high school. It's also the first time I've done it since graduating high school, so I was excited going in. To add to that, my entire immediate family (mom, dad, and sister) along with my fiancee, her friend, my aunt, and my cousin were all participating. It was the first half-marathon for my mom, fiancee, her friend, and my cousin, so definately a big day.

We arrived at the start line probably 15 minutes early. We parked a ways away, so I warmed up along the walk to the start. My fiancee and her friend had to use the restroom (along with about 1/3 of the participants), so they got in one of the many porto-potty lines. Unfortunately the lines weren't moving very quickly, so the race actually started before they were able to use the restroom. Some of our group took off at the actual start, but it was chip-timed, so no big deal for being late as far as that goes. I waited around to make sure my fiancee met up with my mom since they were planning on run/walking together, and the rest of us still at the start began our individual journies.

I crossed the start line about 11.5 minutes after the gun and began making my way through the crowds to try and find some space to run my own pace since I obviously was not going to be running with people of my speed after letting them all get a substantial head start. After making a variety of football maneuvers, off road cuts, and short speed bursts I passed the 1st mile marker. The clock read 20:00. Since I had no idea how late I was to the start line I estimated I ran about an 8.5-9 min first mile...slow for where I wanted to be and I was still in a crowd. This was a little frustrating, but my energy was high and I kept on bobbing and weaving for the next mile and worked my pace down to about 8:15. At mile 2, we enter Iroquois Park, where the hills portion of the run takes place. People were beginning to string out, so it looked like a good time to get back some of my lost time before hitting the hills and settling into my goal pace.

I pushed the next 1/2 mile before getting comfortable and tackling the hills. I felt very strong through the entire park, but was still happy to be exitting them just before mile 6. From my previous experiences with the course, I knew the rest of the course was wide open and flat, so I pushed the pace a little more. At the next water stop, I grabbed some water and carried it with me to just past the mile 7 marker where I took the PowerGel I brought along in my pocket. I didn't feel like I would need it at the time, but since this was a C race in my triathlon training schedule, I figured I'd practice taking in nutrition at a regular interval whether I felt like I needed a boost or not. I was also hitting every water stop (6 total) and grabbing a bottle every opportunity. I kept cruising along taking in the sights of the spectators and the city, took a little cut through Churchill Downs (a new addition to the course since the last time I'd run it) and before I knew it I was at mile 10, still feeling great.

Somewhere in the 10th mile, where I usually start to feel the fatigue a strange thing happened. I don't know if it was the gel and consistent nutrition, the fact that triathlon training has me in better shape than I ever was in high school, or some combination of other factors...but all of a sudden I caught my second wind. I felt great, so great in fact that I headed over the the side of the course and gave a couple high-fives to spectators and picked up the pace again. At this point I knew I was ahead of my original goal pace, so hitting it wouldn't be a problem. I continued to cruise and said good-bye to the marathoners wishing them luck as their route split off just after mile 12. I then kicked it up 1 final notch and started my finishing kick. I probably ran about a 6:30 last mile.

I crossed the line and didn't feel totally drained, everything had gone as I had hoped...it was a great day for me, so now I could prepare to receive all my other family members and friends still working their way to the finish. I wasn't sure of my time, but knew I reached my goal, so wasn't worried. I headed around to watch others finish. Not too long after me, my dad crossed. He broke 2hrs, so was much faster than he hinted that he would be. My cousin Byron, who had just gotten into running over the winter came next, much faster than we expected. He had done a 10 miler about a month earlier in about 11 min per mile pace, and managed to cut out over a minute each mile for the mini...an impressive perrformance. After him came my Aunt Tina and my sister. They both have done it before, so are basically old pros here (my sister has done it 11 times in fact, almost half as long as she's been alive). Then Susan's friend, Sarah, followed. In the confusion of bodies around the finish line, we were having some difficulty reuniting but were slowly coming together. I went back around to see more finishers and look for my aunt and sister, when I saw my mom and fiancee heading to the finish line, about 10 minutes faster than I expected them. It was a successful morning for all of us. Very exciting start to the season.

So, now for some numbers:

My goal: 1:45:00
Actual: 1:42:42 (7:50 pace), 670/9700+ overall, not too bad

Family and friends:
Steve (my dad): 1:58:45
Byron (cousin): 2:08:45
Kelley (sister): 2:09:25
Tina (aunt): 2:08:56
Sarah (fiancee's friend): 2:37:52
Susan (fiancee): 2:47:27
Brenda (my mom): 2:47:27

Pretty sweet...and we all celebrated with victory beers that evening (or wine for my mom).

I've got a testing week in 2 weeks to look forward to and May 18 is my first tri...feeling strong, antsy to race. More to come later

Run test, holy humidity batman

Well my run test was today, and heavy thunderstorms had been moving through the area for the past 18 hours so I assumed as I went into work that I'd be doing my run in wet conditions. However, as I monitored the weather throughout the day, I was happy to find that the last storms passed through around 3:30, and it would be partly sunny the rest of the evening. Not too bad, or so I thought.

I did a quick warmup and didn't really take into account the environment too much. I was just too excited about getting a run test in as well as being done with work for the week. I put on some angry music on my Ipod, and off I went. The first quarter mile of the route I do (2.6 miles total) is the flattest stretch and I was floating along. Unfortunately, it wasn't too long after that, probably around the 1/2 mile mark I realized I hadn't taken the humidity into account and had gone out too fast. I was going to be suffering for the next 2.1 miles. Needless to say, it was a very depressing thought.

I labored through the next 1.1 miles sweating profusely and feeling extremely overheated and only looking for the next .25 mile mark on the ground thinking about when it would all be over. By the time I saw I had 1 mile left, my stomach was hurting and I couldn't figure out if I wanted to get sick or pass out. But seeing I was on the last mile, I just slowed my pace a little and used it to remotivate myself to push a little further. As I hit the next .25 mile mark, I had all but convinced myself I was going to stop at the .5 mile to go mark and forefeit the test. However, when I got there I just passed on by, thinking that even though it hurt, it wasn't forcing me to stop. I came over the top of the last hill sure I was getting ready to pull up and quit, and I could see the overpass I pass under just before the finish and all of a sudden I felt like I could breathe a little easier. The next thing I knew I was increasing the pace and had less than a .25 mile to go. As I passed under the overpass, the pain made one final massive attack to take me down, but I was too close and was able to fight through it and get to the finish.

After walking it out and catching my breath I checked out my time. Just as I suspected, slower than last time, but not by much...or was it. After a slow mile cooldown, I drove home convinced I hadn't seen improvement, and began logging my workout...

Here's the numbers:
Distance: 2.6 miles
Time: 17:28
Pace: 6:43/mile

Turns out, I dropped basically just over 1 minute from my overall time on the first test. I was shocked. All the pain was definately worth it. And what's more important, I did it in the humidity, which in Ohio is something I am going to have to deal with as the weather warms up. Obviously I was more than pleased. I improved on all my legs in the past 4 weeks and still have plenty of speed work coming. Now on to Base 2.

Finally, in other exciting news, I got home today to find out my new Xterra wetsuit has arrived. It's my first one, ever. Awesome...more updates soon