I'm excited to announce my first corporate sponsorship to run through the end of September 2012 with Trigger Point Performance Therapy based out of Austin, Tx. After a random encounter with one of their employees, Colleen, at the yearly DallasMania fitness convention I went about applying for a sponsorship with their company. As most of us athletes know, recovery is a must and big part of being an athlete. Without proper recovery we set ourselves up for injury as well as hamper our potential training and racing results. Tigger Point was created by Owner/CEO Cassidy Phillips in order to self-treat his fibromyalgia pain. Not everyone is able to get massage therapist or chiropractic help on a regular basis and TP allows us, for the most part, to do the necessary work of these professionals at home with a few pieces of seemingly simple tools. As some of you may know the last couple of years I was annoyed with some slight elbow and knee pains due to lack of recovering, stretching, and overuse. With the tools and knowledge that I receive from Trigger Point I hope to overcome these issues and maximize my workouts by properly recovering for the 2012 race season. After the Half-Ironman World Championship this year I'm super stoked to get the off-season training that I have lacked up to this point and have plans for a very successful season next year. As I use the products mentioned above I will do some product reviews posted on here for others to see. Please check out their website, facebook page, and let me know if you have any questions.
http://www.tptherapy.com/
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Half-Ironman World Championship & Rose City Triathlon
September was a busy and exciting month for me. After having picked up a spot in the Buffalo Springs Lake Half-Ironman in Lubbock to the Marines Half-Ironman World Championship lots of preparation went into planning the trip out there with my father and good friend, William Ritter. For financial purposes we drove alllll the way from Longview, Tx through Dallas to get Will and then headed to Las Vegas, NV. At nearly every pit stop along the way we'd have to stop for Ritter with his small bladder, but it gave us the opportunity to stretch the legs and get some pictures along the way. When I say take pictures, I don't mean just a couple. I think from start to end of that trip we both snapped about 500+ photos, a majority of which came during our 30 minute turned 1.5 hour run at the Grand Canyon the second nights stay. I was very thankful that we were able to take William both due to his keeping my father from talking my ears off the whole way as well as getting to catch up with him and talk racing. For those of you that may not know William, I've known of him since his high school cross-country days in Carthage, Tx and later got to know him closer when he was running CC for East Texas Baptist University. We've kept in touch every since and moreso once I entered into the triathlon world a little over a year after he did. On the trip out there I think we ate the September Special at a Subway every day or two. It'll be a while before I eat at Subway again needless to say. Cutting to the main event, I had heard other athletes such as Seth Ozasa and Travis Thomason stating how hilly the course was, but nothing prepared me for what was to come.
Being in the last wave to start the race gave me the opportunity to watch the pro men and women finish the swim and run past before jumping on the bikes. My swim was a bit slower than I had hoped for and I was hoping to make up ground from there. The total climbing for the day on the bike and run was 5200 feet worth with many a long, gradual hill on the bike and run course. In retrospect I would have changed out the gearing on the bike from an 11-23 cassette to 11-28 since I would bomb the downhills passing people just to have them repass me at the top of the long hills when I was bogged down. I was pushing a pretty hard pace around 21 mph for the first 35 miles and then had a younger kid passed me and then we worked together to legally draft for about 10 minutes. This pace was staying between 22-24 mph without having any major uphills right then, but my legs just couldn't sustain that pace and I let him go. After that is when I bonked. After pushing hard the first part of the race I was only able to muster enough energy to get to the run transition with an average 18.7 mph for the 56 mile leg. The long gradual downhill entering the town of Henderson, just 30 minutes from Vegas, had a headwind and that was messing with my head a bit with me starting to worry if I had energy enough to get a decent run in. One of the cool parts of the race that made me feel kind of like a pro was that after doing my flying dismount at the line one of the volunteers was there to grab my bike and put it away on the racks so I could head straight to the changing tent with them handing me the bag with my number on it and my running gear inside. I took a little longer than I should have trying to collect myself and get prepared for the half marathon to end the race. I told myself that I wasn't here to quit and would at least walk if need be. I started off jogging right after a volunteer slathered sunscreen on my shoulders and the legs didn't feel so bad at this pace. After leaving the tent I had maybe a quarter of a mile on what was surely the only flat spot on the bike/run course. I immediately went down a long, easy downhill which aided me in opening my stride up a bit quicker than normal off the bike and then started focusing on trying to catch as many people as I could. I walked soley at each aid station I drank at and sometimes just grabbed a sponge or water to pour over my head or stuff under my straps to keep cool and block the sun on my shoulders/neck. I was fairly happy with how I was running considering a slight lack of training going in to ensure that my knee and elbow did not hinder me or take me out of the race. Similar to the Galveston course earlier in the year that had 4 loops to run this Vegas course had 3. I was not going to go into the finish early this time. The last 1.5 miles was a tad steep and I welcome it. That last part of the run I went from a 6:30/mile pace down to sprinting in the last 1/8th mile at roughly 4:20 pace to finish my first 70.3 World Championship. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to compete in this event and was so inspired and motivated after this race to pursue my professional 70.3 athlete status. I've never really trained hard in the off-season, but look forward to working with my friend Eric Deller from the local bike shop and swim coach to push each other to become super fast for next season. On the return trip we took some time to walk around and snap pictures at a couple of other National Parks to break up the long trip back. I learned a lot of invaluable lessons about training for this race next year and knowing what to expect on raceday to ensure a better performance next year. It will happen! On a side note relating to the race I recently received a K-Swiss/Trek team jersey signed by 6 of the pros! I never win anything, but it looks like my luck is changing. ;)
6 days later I competed in the Rose City Triathlon in Tyler that held the distinction as being the South Midwest Region Sprint Championship. This meant that there were quite a few more people than normal and that the race would be worth more points. Knowing that I was still fatigued from the Vegas 70.3 WC I just wanted to push hard and minimize the time between myself and the overall winner, even if I didn't place in my age group. I felt surprisingly good on the swim and bike, but on the bike I looked down thinking I was pushing in the 24 mph neighborhood and only seeing 21.5 on the computer. I hoped to have one of my usual good runs at the sprint tris and coming into the last turn on the bike I turned it slightly too sharp on the smooth road with thin tires and the bike slid out from under me. I was sliding on the ground telling myself not to cuss because of the people around and that this better not slow my run down. I got up and made sure no bones were sticking out then, grabbed the shoe that came off the bike, and then slowly pedaled the 50 meters to the transition. My little toe, ankle, knee, and shoulder on my right side were cut up and bleeding a little, but I was not quitting. I counted to 3, shoved my right foot into the tight-fitting Adidas, and then took off as fast as I could at a limping pace. The limp nearly went away after about half a mile and then I started trying to push hard, especially seeing that my friend Seth Ozasa was behind me and started in the swim wave a few minutes back. I couldn't let him pass and he didn't. I managed to pull off the 13th fastest run out of the 400ish competitors for the day somehow which put me 8 minutes behind the leader in 30th place overall. Other than laying the bike over I can't say I'm very disappointed with the results considering the brutal half-Ironman 6 days before. I always like this race due to the fact that I get to see a lot of friends and had more show up from the Louisiana and Dallas area because of the Championship status. Now we're into October and I'm doing a lot of run races (15K and 3 5K's) leading up to the super sprint Monster Tri in Dallas the last weekend.
I would like to say a huge thanks to all of my supporters, sponsors and fans out there!!! Partically I want to thank my parents Richard and Mary, my Grandma, Paul Reynolds of ETSC, J.L. Byassee of State Farm Insurance out of Marshall, Dr. Sabrina Benefield, Joe Nobles, Eric Deller and Carl Owens, owner, of Woolley G's Bike & Fitness for their helping make this year and the World Championship possible. I want to throw a shout-out to my first corporate sponsor Trigger Point Performance Therapy residing out of Austin, TX that I recently signed a one year contract with. I'll have another Note with more about them soon. Thanks for reading!!!
Being in the last wave to start the race gave me the opportunity to watch the pro men and women finish the swim and run past before jumping on the bikes. My swim was a bit slower than I had hoped for and I was hoping to make up ground from there. The total climbing for the day on the bike and run was 5200 feet worth with many a long, gradual hill on the bike and run course. In retrospect I would have changed out the gearing on the bike from an 11-23 cassette to 11-28 since I would bomb the downhills passing people just to have them repass me at the top of the long hills when I was bogged down. I was pushing a pretty hard pace around 21 mph for the first 35 miles and then had a younger kid passed me and then we worked together to legally draft for about 10 minutes. This pace was staying between 22-24 mph without having any major uphills right then, but my legs just couldn't sustain that pace and I let him go. After that is when I bonked. After pushing hard the first part of the race I was only able to muster enough energy to get to the run transition with an average 18.7 mph for the 56 mile leg. The long gradual downhill entering the town of Henderson, just 30 minutes from Vegas, had a headwind and that was messing with my head a bit with me starting to worry if I had energy enough to get a decent run in. One of the cool parts of the race that made me feel kind of like a pro was that after doing my flying dismount at the line one of the volunteers was there to grab my bike and put it away on the racks so I could head straight to the changing tent with them handing me the bag with my number on it and my running gear inside. I took a little longer than I should have trying to collect myself and get prepared for the half marathon to end the race. I told myself that I wasn't here to quit and would at least walk if need be. I started off jogging right after a volunteer slathered sunscreen on my shoulders and the legs didn't feel so bad at this pace. After leaving the tent I had maybe a quarter of a mile on what was surely the only flat spot on the bike/run course. I immediately went down a long, easy downhill which aided me in opening my stride up a bit quicker than normal off the bike and then started focusing on trying to catch as many people as I could. I walked soley at each aid station I drank at and sometimes just grabbed a sponge or water to pour over my head or stuff under my straps to keep cool and block the sun on my shoulders/neck. I was fairly happy with how I was running considering a slight lack of training going in to ensure that my knee and elbow did not hinder me or take me out of the race. Similar to the Galveston course earlier in the year that had 4 loops to run this Vegas course had 3. I was not going to go into the finish early this time. The last 1.5 miles was a tad steep and I welcome it. That last part of the run I went from a 6:30/mile pace down to sprinting in the last 1/8th mile at roughly 4:20 pace to finish my first 70.3 World Championship. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to compete in this event and was so inspired and motivated after this race to pursue my professional 70.3 athlete status. I've never really trained hard in the off-season, but look forward to working with my friend Eric Deller from the local bike shop and swim coach to push each other to become super fast for next season. On the return trip we took some time to walk around and snap pictures at a couple of other National Parks to break up the long trip back. I learned a lot of invaluable lessons about training for this race next year and knowing what to expect on raceday to ensure a better performance next year. It will happen! On a side note relating to the race I recently received a K-Swiss/Trek team jersey signed by 6 of the pros! I never win anything, but it looks like my luck is changing. ;)
6 days later I competed in the Rose City Triathlon in Tyler that held the distinction as being the South Midwest Region Sprint Championship. This meant that there were quite a few more people than normal and that the race would be worth more points. Knowing that I was still fatigued from the Vegas 70.3 WC I just wanted to push hard and minimize the time between myself and the overall winner, even if I didn't place in my age group. I felt surprisingly good on the swim and bike, but on the bike I looked down thinking I was pushing in the 24 mph neighborhood and only seeing 21.5 on the computer. I hoped to have one of my usual good runs at the sprint tris and coming into the last turn on the bike I turned it slightly too sharp on the smooth road with thin tires and the bike slid out from under me. I was sliding on the ground telling myself not to cuss because of the people around and that this better not slow my run down. I got up and made sure no bones were sticking out then, grabbed the shoe that came off the bike, and then slowly pedaled the 50 meters to the transition. My little toe, ankle, knee, and shoulder on my right side were cut up and bleeding a little, but I was not quitting. I counted to 3, shoved my right foot into the tight-fitting Adidas, and then took off as fast as I could at a limping pace. The limp nearly went away after about half a mile and then I started trying to push hard, especially seeing that my friend Seth Ozasa was behind me and started in the swim wave a few minutes back. I couldn't let him pass and he didn't. I managed to pull off the 13th fastest run out of the 400ish competitors for the day somehow which put me 8 minutes behind the leader in 30th place overall. Other than laying the bike over I can't say I'm very disappointed with the results considering the brutal half-Ironman 6 days before. I always like this race due to the fact that I get to see a lot of friends and had more show up from the Louisiana and Dallas area because of the Championship status. Now we're into October and I'm doing a lot of run races (15K and 3 5K's) leading up to the super sprint Monster Tri in Dallas the last weekend.
I would like to say a huge thanks to all of my supporters, sponsors and fans out there!!! Partically I want to thank my parents Richard and Mary, my Grandma, Paul Reynolds of ETSC, J.L. Byassee of State Farm Insurance out of Marshall, Dr. Sabrina Benefield, Joe Nobles, Eric Deller and Carl Owens, owner, of Woolley G's Bike & Fitness for their helping make this year and the World Championship possible. I want to throw a shout-out to my first corporate sponsor Trigger Point Performance Therapy residing out of Austin, TX that I recently signed a one year contract with. I'll have another Note with more about them soon. Thanks for reading!!!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
FireAnt 5K run & 45 mile bike race 10/9/10
Last Saturday in Marshall I competed in the FireAnt Festival's 5K and 45 mile bike race.
The run was at 8 AM and I made the decision to do it that morning after having an upset stomach the evening before and even slightly that morning. I did a real easy warmup of about 8 minutes thinking I'd just take the race easy and probably not have much competition. This year one of the ETBU cross-country runners definately gave me a run for the money. I had had about 2 off weeks mentally and slacked on my swim and bike training because of it. I knew I'd regret not doing it if I saw some super slow time won it, which was the same reason I decided the monring of to go out and do the AlleyFest 5K ultimately setting the current course record, and drove over from Longview. Anyhow, the ETBU runner and I changed leads about every half mile and I was starting to feel even worse the last mile and a half. There was one long, gradual uphill before the last turn and straightaway to the finish. He was attacking all of the hills and did the same on this one. I let him trail off, but knew I would need to pick it up to catch him before the finish if I even had it in my legs at that point. I almost mentally started to settle for a second, flipped a little internal switch, and then flew past him. I was worried he might kick it in and pass me right at the finish since I started a little earlier than I should have, but he didn't give much of a fight and I beat him by 4 seconds. I ran a 17:25.
I went out with the 100K group because last year everyone started together and I wore myself out catching up to the lead group after starting slowly. I had never done this, or any bike race/tour, before so I took it easy and then once out on the highway saw the lead group and wasted a lot of energy to catch up and get in with them. Today I went out still a little more reserved than I should have. I made it up to the second bigger group, but their pace was pretty slow and then I moved up to 3 guys behind the fast group (excluding the guy on a front and rear disc who apparently won the Hotter than Hell 100 this year by 2 minutes averaging 27+). These guys were still just a hair slow, but I didn’t have the legs after the run to catch the lead group over half a mile ahead. One of the middle-aged guys in our group of four I know from Longview and the two other guys just dropped back after a little while. Mike and I stuck with our pace and planned to work towards the lead group. We turned off and headed north on a super rough, asphalt road and about 1 mile into it my water bottle vibrated up and out of the cage (not the aero bottle from Take on the Heat either). Mike reiterated what I was thinking and I would definitely need that bottle for later (it had my Cytomax/Gatorade in it and just water in the AeroDrink between the handlebars). By that time the second big group was gaining ground on us and by the time I grabbed it up off the ground they passed me and I quickly caught up to them. We rode about 3 miles together and I was in the front pulling when we made a turn onto the next highway. I waited for people to catch up, got aero/comfortable, and got into my rhythm. I didn’t think I was pushing hard, but looked back to see I had dropped nearly the whole group except for 2 guys, who I let catch up. I figured we’d just pull away and I looked back again seeing they weren’t staying on my wheel. At that point I just figured I’d go solo, got down aero, and took off easily averaging about 23.3 at this point. I felt great and at this point is where the hills started to gradually get bigger and bigger. I pulled away from the group about 11 miles into the race. At one point there was a rest stop with 2 teenage girls there and I couldn’t remember from last year the turnoff. I asked them and they just shrugged so I took it anyways since I had been looking down slightly and didn’t notice any signs. This road was super rough and I slowed down as I thought it was the wrong road, looked back and saw the group pass, and then turned around. I nearly caught up to them by the real turnoff and just one guy from their group went my way for the 45 route instead of 100K. This side road had lots of potholes and was super rough so I again put my bottle into my back pocket of my tri suit until the next main road west that was much smoother. I didn’t try to catch up to him on the rough road so I didn’t risk hitting any of the many potholes and such. Once I did catch him on the smoother road I could tell he was a bit gassed and slowed slightly to pull for him, but once I started to let him lead for just a bit he said he didn’t have anything left, I bid him farewell, and went ahead on my way. This stretch of road to the loop had 4 or 5 big hills on it, of which two I used my small chain ring for and was in the lowest gearing possible. I stayed down in the aero position except for the hills when I dipped below 18 mph other than a couple of instances on flat ground when the seat was starting to be uncomfortable, but even then it was only for a few seconds upright. Once on the loop it had a few very long, gradual hills on it, but I knew how much distance was left and tried picking the pace up a bit. With 5 miles left to go my legs were burning and I downed the last of my water with the one Gu I had brought. There were 2 aid stations on the loop, but I didn’t need anything other than the finish. Taking the last turn off of the loop left me with about 1.5 miles to go and I tried to get down and hammer it, but this road had a lot of rough spots/potholes/bumps/manholes and a couple of train track intersections which limited my speed and even getting down aero in case I had to bunny hop up over a bad area. I crossed the finish right at 2:15 averaging just a tick over 21 mph for the 48 miles on my computer. Then I waited around for the awards ceremony, talked with my sister and some other Longview cyclists I know, had tons of Gatorade, water, and some pizza.
I'd like to thank my parents for their continued support and encouragement of my triathlon endeavors as well as putting on the 5K, my sister who was in from Memphis to do the half marathon in Tyler the next day, all the great friends I have met through these sports and races, Paul Reynolds of East Texas Sports Center (go to him for your team sporting needs) in Marshall, and Brent Poulsen.
8AM 5K run - 1st overall (17:25, avg. HR 182, max HR 195)
9AM 45 mile bike race - 1st overall (2:15, avg. HR 161, max HR 181)
The run was at 8 AM and I made the decision to do it that morning after having an upset stomach the evening before and even slightly that morning. I did a real easy warmup of about 8 minutes thinking I'd just take the race easy and probably not have much competition. This year one of the ETBU cross-country runners definately gave me a run for the money. I had had about 2 off weeks mentally and slacked on my swim and bike training because of it. I knew I'd regret not doing it if I saw some super slow time won it, which was the same reason I decided the monring of to go out and do the AlleyFest 5K ultimately setting the current course record, and drove over from Longview. Anyhow, the ETBU runner and I changed leads about every half mile and I was starting to feel even worse the last mile and a half. There was one long, gradual uphill before the last turn and straightaway to the finish. He was attacking all of the hills and did the same on this one. I let him trail off, but knew I would need to pick it up to catch him before the finish if I even had it in my legs at that point. I almost mentally started to settle for a second, flipped a little internal switch, and then flew past him. I was worried he might kick it in and pass me right at the finish since I started a little earlier than I should have, but he didn't give much of a fight and I beat him by 4 seconds. I ran a 17:25.
I went out with the 100K group because last year everyone started together and I wore myself out catching up to the lead group after starting slowly. I had never done this, or any bike race/tour, before so I took it easy and then once out on the highway saw the lead group and wasted a lot of energy to catch up and get in with them. Today I went out still a little more reserved than I should have. I made it up to the second bigger group, but their pace was pretty slow and then I moved up to 3 guys behind the fast group (excluding the guy on a front and rear disc who apparently won the Hotter than Hell 100 this year by 2 minutes averaging 27+). These guys were still just a hair slow, but I didn’t have the legs after the run to catch the lead group over half a mile ahead. One of the middle-aged guys in our group of four I know from Longview and the two other guys just dropped back after a little while. Mike and I stuck with our pace and planned to work towards the lead group. We turned off and headed north on a super rough, asphalt road and about 1 mile into it my water bottle vibrated up and out of the cage (not the aero bottle from Take on the Heat either). Mike reiterated what I was thinking and I would definitely need that bottle for later (it had my Cytomax/Gatorade in it and just water in the AeroDrink between the handlebars). By that time the second big group was gaining ground on us and by the time I grabbed it up off the ground they passed me and I quickly caught up to them. We rode about 3 miles together and I was in the front pulling when we made a turn onto the next highway. I waited for people to catch up, got aero/comfortable, and got into my rhythm. I didn’t think I was pushing hard, but looked back to see I had dropped nearly the whole group except for 2 guys, who I let catch up. I figured we’d just pull away and I looked back again seeing they weren’t staying on my wheel. At that point I just figured I’d go solo, got down aero, and took off easily averaging about 23.3 at this point. I felt great and at this point is where the hills started to gradually get bigger and bigger. I pulled away from the group about 11 miles into the race. At one point there was a rest stop with 2 teenage girls there and I couldn’t remember from last year the turnoff. I asked them and they just shrugged so I took it anyways since I had been looking down slightly and didn’t notice any signs. This road was super rough and I slowed down as I thought it was the wrong road, looked back and saw the group pass, and then turned around. I nearly caught up to them by the real turnoff and just one guy from their group went my way for the 45 route instead of 100K. This side road had lots of potholes and was super rough so I again put my bottle into my back pocket of my tri suit until the next main road west that was much smoother. I didn’t try to catch up to him on the rough road so I didn’t risk hitting any of the many potholes and such. Once I did catch him on the smoother road I could tell he was a bit gassed and slowed slightly to pull for him, but once I started to let him lead for just a bit he said he didn’t have anything left, I bid him farewell, and went ahead on my way. This stretch of road to the loop had 4 or 5 big hills on it, of which two I used my small chain ring for and was in the lowest gearing possible. I stayed down in the aero position except for the hills when I dipped below 18 mph other than a couple of instances on flat ground when the seat was starting to be uncomfortable, but even then it was only for a few seconds upright. Once on the loop it had a few very long, gradual hills on it, but I knew how much distance was left and tried picking the pace up a bit. With 5 miles left to go my legs were burning and I downed the last of my water with the one Gu I had brought. There were 2 aid stations on the loop, but I didn’t need anything other than the finish. Taking the last turn off of the loop left me with about 1.5 miles to go and I tried to get down and hammer it, but this road had a lot of rough spots/potholes/bumps/manholes and a couple of train track intersections which limited my speed and even getting down aero in case I had to bunny hop up over a bad area. I crossed the finish right at 2:15 averaging just a tick over 21 mph for the 48 miles on my computer. Then I waited around for the awards ceremony, talked with my sister and some other Longview cyclists I know, had tons of Gatorade, water, and some pizza.
I'd like to thank my parents for their continued support and encouragement of my triathlon endeavors as well as putting on the 5K, my sister who was in from Memphis to do the half marathon in Tyler the next day, all the great friends I have met through these sports and races, Paul Reynolds of East Texas Sports Center (go to him for your team sporting needs) in Marshall, and Brent Poulsen.
8AM 5K run - 1st overall (17:25, avg. HR 182, max HR 195)
9AM 45 mile bike race - 1st overall (2:15, avg. HR 161, max HR 181)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Red River Revel 15K Run 10/2/10
Last Saturday I ran the Red River Revel 15K (9.3 miles) in Shreveport. The weather was pretty nice by the start of the race, but half an hour before it was a bit nippy out during my short warmup. When the gun when off I jumped out in the lead expecting some of the 15K guys to pass me at least. If only I had done that instead I'd be one pair of New Balance shoes richer! Anyhow, my first mile came in 5:38 and based on last year's 6:04/mile pace I figured I'd shoot for about a 6 flat. I told myself I should probably ease up a bit and the second mile came in 11:26 followed up by the third in 17:23. The knee was acting up almost right away but wasn't getting any worse so I just pushed on at my pace and the legs felt great. I was looking forward to the halfway point to see where the competition was and with the route being straight out and back you get to see everyone in the race. Right before the turnaround I had already squeezed the GU out into my mouth ready to grab some water and wash it down. I guess the girl working the station didn't see me or just expected me to grab it myself so I eyed the last cup so as not to knock the whole row over and missed. I had to stop, take a few steps back, grabbed the water, and turned the corner as I downed it. The second and third guys were roughly 20"-30" behind me and I was feeling pretty confident. Mile five was 29:12. Little did I know until after the race that the second place guy at the time was negative splitting the whole race. About 1.5 miles left in the race I saw a shadow to my side and was wondering if someone out for a morning jog was running up behind me or what. Then he passed me and I tried to match his pace, but my legs by that point were getting really tight especially my calves. I guess that's what happens from not running except 2-3.1 miles on the weekends a week for six months. I did speed up slightly and then tried kicking it in at the finish, but didn't have enough to make up the 9 seconds the winner put on me. Overall though I can't complain at all. My legs felt strong and I beat my time from last year by 2 minutes. At this time I'm debating not doing the next couple of races due to this knee not getting any better and I want to get well soon so as to get my off-season started and some quality base training in. I'll keep you posted.
2009 - 56:23 (6:04/mile) and 3rd overall
2010 - 54:20 (5:50/mile) and 2nd overall
2009 - 56:23 (6:04/mile) and 3rd overall
2010 - 54:20 (5:50/mile) and 2nd overall
Meat Pie Tri Regional Ch'ship 9/26/10
Meat Pie Tri
Pre-Race
The Meat Pie Tri was the regional sprint championship for the four state region hosted in Nacitoches, LA. I wish I had had time to get around town some to take pictures and check out the local shops. Neat little town with a lot of history to it. Anyhow, we arrived the night before the race and got to hear 3-time Olympian Sheila Taormina tell of her experiences in both swimming, triathlon, and the modern day pentathalon as we ate dinner. I decided afterwards not to get a ride in with it being really dark and my knee bothering me a bit. That night I didn’t get a sound nights rest, but was ready to go once that alarm went off. This was a 7AM start and I arrived in transition to choose my spot at 5:30. As usual, I chose the spot on the very end by the aisle and laid out my gear. The numbering system started with the oldest males with #1 and on from there. I was #172. Starting this early posed a problem of not having any light before the race so I only ventured out for a couple of miles “warmup” on the bike and we weren’t allowed in the water until the sun was visible. I think I put in about 200 meters worth before being ushered out to start the race.
Swim
We started in the water every 3 seconds so it didn’t take too awfully long to get going. Once in I took off on a pretty fast pace and then settled in. I did much better sighting at this race, but after the halfway point I just slowed too much. I think it’s because I train in a pool where I’m turning and constantly reminding myself to speed up. The half mile swim took me a long 15:23, which put me at 79th place for that event.
T1
I slowly exited behind an older gentleman and then shot around him to my spot. I threw on the helmet, grabbed the bike, and then bolted to the mount line. T1 came and went in 0:31.8 giving me the fastest one of the day.
Bike
The first and last couple of miles (out and back course) had several really rough areas so I was very cautious at these sitting upright in case I had to bunny-hop over some potholes. The rest of the course was super smooth with several gradual hills. Luckily at this hour of the morning there aren’t many cars out although I did get stuck behind 2 vehicles briefly at two different times. At around mile 4 I thought I had gotten in with another guy to “legally draft” as I have just recently learned about from my friend William Ritter. After about 1.5 miles he said something about getting in trouble when I was passing him again and never saw him from then on. I slowed just a couple of minutes until rudely awakened by an LSU triathlete who blew past me. I got back after it from then and he didn’t put any distance on me. The 20 mile bike segment took me 52:48.3 averaging 22.7 mph (16th fastest).
T2
Upon hitting the dismount line I was off running quickly, but it didn’t feel so great on that asphalt having still soft/wet feet from the swim in my shoes. Once to my spot I tossed the tire in the slot (wooden bike boxes instead of poles) and monkeyed with my shoes a little longer than I should have. 0:43.5 seconds later I was out and headed up the flight of stairs that started the run course.
Run
Sheila was at the top of the small, long flight of steps warning of loose bricks, but I had already sighted those the day before when scouting out the course and turned the corner to cross over the bridge. I quickly caught the LSU guy before the first mile and blasted past a lot of other people. I felt really strong even though I could feel a tinge of pain in the knee. I kept pushing. The run was similar to the bike with it being out and back, although I thought that turnaround cone would never come. There was nobody around it and I almost kept running until I saw the little white arrow around the orange marker. Knowing exactly how far I had to go and seeing several people ahead of me kept me going at a fast pace. I was a little surprised at how good my legs felt considering I haven’t done any quality run training in 6 months. As we neared the bridge I saw one more guy ahead of me whom looked kind of younger and I just told myself he was in my age group so I’d have to run him down. After turning off of the bridge and seeing the finish in sight I switched modes to the old 110M hurdling days and took off at an all-out sprint shooting past the guy and finishing strong with an 18:18 5K run (5:54/mile and 7th fastest), including the stairs.
After
My finishing time of 1:27:47.5 put me in the 14th position out of 313 overall and 1st in my age group of 18. I was pretty happy with the bike and run, but not satisfied with the swim. In the off-season I need to head out to the lakes decked out with my wetsuit on to solve a few issues. My dad and I waited around as I received my trophy and then left town. Next up is the Red River Revel 15K run in Shreveport this coming Saturday morning.
Race Summary:
(Rankings include relays)
800M Swim - 15:25.3 (79th)
T1 - 0:31.8 (1st)
20 mile Bike - 52:48.3 (16th) 22.7 mph
T2 - 0:43.5 (19th)
5K Run - 18:18.3, 5:54/mile (7th)
Overall - 1:27:47.5 (14th/313 and 1st/18 AG)
Pre-Race
The Meat Pie Tri was the regional sprint championship for the four state region hosted in Nacitoches, LA. I wish I had had time to get around town some to take pictures and check out the local shops. Neat little town with a lot of history to it. Anyhow, we arrived the night before the race and got to hear 3-time Olympian Sheila Taormina tell of her experiences in both swimming, triathlon, and the modern day pentathalon as we ate dinner. I decided afterwards not to get a ride in with it being really dark and my knee bothering me a bit. That night I didn’t get a sound nights rest, but was ready to go once that alarm went off. This was a 7AM start and I arrived in transition to choose my spot at 5:30. As usual, I chose the spot on the very end by the aisle and laid out my gear. The numbering system started with the oldest males with #1 and on from there. I was #172. Starting this early posed a problem of not having any light before the race so I only ventured out for a couple of miles “warmup” on the bike and we weren’t allowed in the water until the sun was visible. I think I put in about 200 meters worth before being ushered out to start the race.
Swim
We started in the water every 3 seconds so it didn’t take too awfully long to get going. Once in I took off on a pretty fast pace and then settled in. I did much better sighting at this race, but after the halfway point I just slowed too much. I think it’s because I train in a pool where I’m turning and constantly reminding myself to speed up. The half mile swim took me a long 15:23, which put me at 79th place for that event.
T1
I slowly exited behind an older gentleman and then shot around him to my spot. I threw on the helmet, grabbed the bike, and then bolted to the mount line. T1 came and went in 0:31.8 giving me the fastest one of the day.
Bike
The first and last couple of miles (out and back course) had several really rough areas so I was very cautious at these sitting upright in case I had to bunny-hop over some potholes. The rest of the course was super smooth with several gradual hills. Luckily at this hour of the morning there aren’t many cars out although I did get stuck behind 2 vehicles briefly at two different times. At around mile 4 I thought I had gotten in with another guy to “legally draft” as I have just recently learned about from my friend William Ritter. After about 1.5 miles he said something about getting in trouble when I was passing him again and never saw him from then on. I slowed just a couple of minutes until rudely awakened by an LSU triathlete who blew past me. I got back after it from then and he didn’t put any distance on me. The 20 mile bike segment took me 52:48.3 averaging 22.7 mph (16th fastest).
T2
Upon hitting the dismount line I was off running quickly, but it didn’t feel so great on that asphalt having still soft/wet feet from the swim in my shoes. Once to my spot I tossed the tire in the slot (wooden bike boxes instead of poles) and monkeyed with my shoes a little longer than I should have. 0:43.5 seconds later I was out and headed up the flight of stairs that started the run course.
Run
Sheila was at the top of the small, long flight of steps warning of loose bricks, but I had already sighted those the day before when scouting out the course and turned the corner to cross over the bridge. I quickly caught the LSU guy before the first mile and blasted past a lot of other people. I felt really strong even though I could feel a tinge of pain in the knee. I kept pushing. The run was similar to the bike with it being out and back, although I thought that turnaround cone would never come. There was nobody around it and I almost kept running until I saw the little white arrow around the orange marker. Knowing exactly how far I had to go and seeing several people ahead of me kept me going at a fast pace. I was a little surprised at how good my legs felt considering I haven’t done any quality run training in 6 months. As we neared the bridge I saw one more guy ahead of me whom looked kind of younger and I just told myself he was in my age group so I’d have to run him down. After turning off of the bridge and seeing the finish in sight I switched modes to the old 110M hurdling days and took off at an all-out sprint shooting past the guy and finishing strong with an 18:18 5K run (5:54/mile and 7th fastest), including the stairs.
After
My finishing time of 1:27:47.5 put me in the 14th position out of 313 overall and 1st in my age group of 18. I was pretty happy with the bike and run, but not satisfied with the swim. In the off-season I need to head out to the lakes decked out with my wetsuit on to solve a few issues. My dad and I waited around as I received my trophy and then left town. Next up is the Red River Revel 15K run in Shreveport this coming Saturday morning.
Race Summary:
(Rankings include relays)
800M Swim - 15:25.3 (79th)
T1 - 0:31.8 (1st)
20 mile Bike - 52:48.3 (16th) 22.7 mph
T2 - 0:43.5 (19th)
5K Run - 18:18.3, 5:54/mile (7th)
Overall - 1:27:47.5 (14th/313 and 1st/18 AG)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Rose City Triathlon 9/18/10
Rose City sprint Triathlon 9/18/10 in Tyler, TX
So this was probably my first race where I was looking forward to the swim portion. I’ve been doing my swim workouts very religiously and with my full effort so I was hoping to reap the rewards in Tyler. I had a good night’s sleep, got to the site, set up my spot, and started out on my warmup. My Louis G windscreen was fogging up pretty badly due to the humidity that morning, but I figured by the time the race started and I was on the bike it would clear up a bit. Nope. The first ¾ of the bike I had to occasionally reach up under my helmet and wipe both sides to see. Anyways, back to the swim. Once I finished my warmup I headed to the water to be told I had about 5’ until the mandatory pre-race meeting. Those things are so pointless to experienced racers. No drafting, pass on the left, must have your chip and race number, blah, blah, blah. I decided at packet pickup the night before not to go into the “elite” wave that they created thinking it would keep me from being age group eligible and that if I didn’t get an overall win I wouldn’t get anything. I was thinking about trying it out solely to try drafting on the swim though. Anyhow, I did shoulder rolls and arm swings as we stood there and during the Star Spangled Banner. Then the elites went and as soon as we were allowed down the ramp to the water I got in and swam a pretty quick out and back. 5’ later we took off. I started off like I had been working on with an allout effort for the first 100M and after turning the first buoy slowed down to race pace. I was feeling really strong and was able to get on my friend Elliot’s feet. He was right behind Marc Noble, whom I know to be a good swimmer, and they both usually beat me out by a minute to 1.5 minutes. I was able to stay on course pretty well for the long straight and then rounding the last buoy to head to the exit I felt super strong so I put my head down and was determined to pass Elliot and shoot for Marc. I went fast, but the wrong way somehow. Up until that point I had been sighting often to stay on track and didn’t think I could get off that much putting my head down and hammering to the end. I had gone about 30 degrees off the line I should have taken and then kicked it in to the exit once back on track. Marc did a 12:00 and Elliot a 12:04 to my 12:52. I knew I’d have to make very few mistakes if I wanted to place and I started off from there with the fastest T1 of the day. I felt pretty good overall on the bike other than fatiguing earlier than I thought I should in my glutes. I passed Marc about 5.5 miles into the bike and Elliot just after the halfway point. On two of the hills after that I didn’t want to downshift into my small ring and chance the chain coming off and on the second one Elliot passed me back. I dropped out of the draft zone and, immediately repassed him, and then put more than two minutes on him after that. I had the 3rd fastest T2 excluding relays (Marc had the fastest). I could tell I haven’t done any run training in 6 months b/c it took a while to get my leg turnover to my race pace and even then it just wasn’t quite what I was wanting. Last year was a high 17 in rain and this year was 18:23, but muggy so it’s hard to compare there even. I caught 7 people on the run and a few were in the elite wave. One relay beat me so I was 5th overall out of the individuals and 1st out of 19 in my age group. Overall I’m pretty happy with this race but know I need to figure something out about open water swimming, or actually get out and practice in the lakes, and also get in some short, intense rides. Two triathlons to go, 4 road runs, a bike race, and a duathlon to finish the season.
Swim - 12:52 (42nd)
T1 - 0:57.0 (1st)
Bike - 39:09.4 (11th) 22.2 mph
T2 - 0:27.9 (3rd)
Run - 18:23.1 (7th) 6:08 min/mile
Overall - 1:11:49.8 (5th/288 overall and 1st/19 age group)
So this was probably my first race where I was looking forward to the swim portion. I’ve been doing my swim workouts very religiously and with my full effort so I was hoping to reap the rewards in Tyler. I had a good night’s sleep, got to the site, set up my spot, and started out on my warmup. My Louis G windscreen was fogging up pretty badly due to the humidity that morning, but I figured by the time the race started and I was on the bike it would clear up a bit. Nope. The first ¾ of the bike I had to occasionally reach up under my helmet and wipe both sides to see. Anyways, back to the swim. Once I finished my warmup I headed to the water to be told I had about 5’ until the mandatory pre-race meeting. Those things are so pointless to experienced racers. No drafting, pass on the left, must have your chip and race number, blah, blah, blah. I decided at packet pickup the night before not to go into the “elite” wave that they created thinking it would keep me from being age group eligible and that if I didn’t get an overall win I wouldn’t get anything. I was thinking about trying it out solely to try drafting on the swim though. Anyhow, I did shoulder rolls and arm swings as we stood there and during the Star Spangled Banner. Then the elites went and as soon as we were allowed down the ramp to the water I got in and swam a pretty quick out and back. 5’ later we took off. I started off like I had been working on with an allout effort for the first 100M and after turning the first buoy slowed down to race pace. I was feeling really strong and was able to get on my friend Elliot’s feet. He was right behind Marc Noble, whom I know to be a good swimmer, and they both usually beat me out by a minute to 1.5 minutes. I was able to stay on course pretty well for the long straight and then rounding the last buoy to head to the exit I felt super strong so I put my head down and was determined to pass Elliot and shoot for Marc. I went fast, but the wrong way somehow. Up until that point I had been sighting often to stay on track and didn’t think I could get off that much putting my head down and hammering to the end. I had gone about 30 degrees off the line I should have taken and then kicked it in to the exit once back on track. Marc did a 12:00 and Elliot a 12:04 to my 12:52. I knew I’d have to make very few mistakes if I wanted to place and I started off from there with the fastest T1 of the day. I felt pretty good overall on the bike other than fatiguing earlier than I thought I should in my glutes. I passed Marc about 5.5 miles into the bike and Elliot just after the halfway point. On two of the hills after that I didn’t want to downshift into my small ring and chance the chain coming off and on the second one Elliot passed me back. I dropped out of the draft zone and, immediately repassed him, and then put more than two minutes on him after that. I had the 3rd fastest T2 excluding relays (Marc had the fastest). I could tell I haven’t done any run training in 6 months b/c it took a while to get my leg turnover to my race pace and even then it just wasn’t quite what I was wanting. Last year was a high 17 in rain and this year was 18:23, but muggy so it’s hard to compare there even. I caught 7 people on the run and a few were in the elite wave. One relay beat me so I was 5th overall out of the individuals and 1st out of 19 in my age group. Overall I’m pretty happy with this race but know I need to figure something out about open water swimming, or actually get out and practice in the lakes, and also get in some short, intense rides. Two triathlons to go, 4 road runs, a bike race, and a duathlon to finish the season.
Swim - 12:52 (42nd)
T1 - 0:57.0 (1st)
Bike - 39:09.4 (11th) 22.2 mph
T2 - 0:27.9 (3rd)
Run - 18:23.1 (7th) 6:08 min/mile
Overall - 1:11:49.8 (5th/288 overall and 1st/19 age group)
Monday, March 8, 2010
Athens Tri 2010
Another race has come and gone this season. The Athens Triathlon in Athens, Texas was my first tri of the year. Looking back I can't really be too disappointed in my results, but I definately wasn't happy with my performance. Overall I took 14th out of 300+ competitors and was 4th out of 24 in the 25-29 age group. The week had been pretty stressful already after some stuff going down at work with some repeat idiot basketball players as well as my bike deciding to not want to work on me on Wednesday. Anyhow, on Friday I ended up getting off of work late, having to throw my gear into the car, and then fly to Athens before 9:00 PM to pick up my race packet or else get disqualified. Stupid rule for a Saturday race, but what could I do. Later that night it took me over an hour and a half to get to sleep after trying to get something resembling a late dinner in and then I woke up several times during the night. After waking I had my usual oatmeal for breakfast and headed to the Cain Center for the race. After getting a light jog in with a friend from work, Marc Noble, I headed to get a warm-up swim in to be rudely told by the USAT Official to head upstairs and not get in the water. Then I listened to a long spiel about the rules and such by the race director as everyone wasted any time they may have spent in getting a warm-up. Once we lined up numerically for the start we had to wait another 10 or 15 minutes for the pool level to be lowered. Fiiinally I had my chance to enter the water and quickly realized how ill-prepared I was for this swim. I didn't do flip-turns for the first few laps nor did I take long and powerful strokes as I had planned. I finished up the 300 Meter swim in 5:07 (ranked 58th overall) and headed to T1 and was out in 0:52. I then had a pretty good flying mount onto my bike already in my tri shoes and took off around the corner onto the chip-sealed S. Palestine Street. The road was still like this for the first mile or so of the loop as well and then we had a very nice, smooth shoulder to ride on until the same point on the way back. For the 13.8 miles I averaged 21.0 MPH on the bike (25th ranked) and reached 38.7 MPH at one point down a long hill just before the turn-around point. Noble and I had our turns playing tag before the turn-around after the point at about the first mile of the bike leg. I even yelled out at him once "Tag, you're it!" and another time "I want your wheels back!" He was gracious enough to let me borrow his Zipp 1080 race wheels for the duathlon two weeks earlier and was using them during the Athens tri. My legs never did feel all that great during the race, but I didn't fuel myself adequately the night before and think that was a result of not doing so. Then I had a good flying dismount and tried to run on the painful parking lot surface and finished up T2 in 0:45. My first mile went by in 6:11, the second was at 12:52, and then I finished up the 5K with a disappointing 19:20 (13th ranked), but did have a pretty good kick on the last stretch in the somewhat muddy grass. I then ate some food my father had brought and went up to the gymnasium to get an Active Release Techniques session to work on my right arch and left IT Band/Glute with chiropractor Lezlie Maloy. Then I went back outside to enjoy the uncommonly beautiful day for this event and great overall atmosphere of the athletes as the others finished up their runs. Considering where I was at this point last year I can't be too disappointed and look forward to resting up my slight injuries and racing the rest of the 2010 season!
I'd like to thank my parents for their everlasting love and support of me in this great sport, my friend William Ritter (Nice 7th place finish!) for hooking me up with a place to stay down there, and for the awesome friends I have met through the sport.
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