Trying to maintain

Took a fantastic ride on Sunday. I found the plaques in downtown Springfield that mark the spots where Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt stood for their infamous gunfight in which Hickok gunned down Tutt over a gambling dispute. In total I rode 22 miles on a crisp spring afternoon. Today I took a tough hilly ride that was not so glorious, but it has given me some confidence in hill climbing. My legs are burning tonight. I emptied out my hot tub while I was out riding, and now I wish I could get in it.

I'm somewhat back on a training schedule I'm already having difficulty getting a balance with real life. I got back to interval training. I did a workout with the fellas the other day that included sections of the SORT obstacle course as well as some other challenging tests of strength. Hopefully I won't injure myself in the process. I plan to run an 8k race on Saturday. I'll register tomorrow. I'm pretty sure Don and his girl Ronna are doing it as well. We'll see who else shows up. I would kind of like to see if my 5k time has improved, but I think I'd rather challenge myself a bit on the 8k. I should get back to swimming in May. Hopefully I won't lose much over the month's break.

Back in training

I started right back where I left off. My next race is in about two months. I think I'm looking to compete in this one. If I can get my average speed on the bike up to 16-17, and get my 5k time a few seconds better I can improve on my outing in Claremore. I have to admit that I wasn't even thinking about longer distance races, but now I am.

My other hobby has definitely taken a back seat though. This is what I feared. I'm hopeful that when the new wears off of Triathlons I'll find the drive again. I find lately that my time in the studio is not as enjoyable as it once was. I think that will end when I get a few projects off my backlog. After I get a couple of dioramas finished, I'll start some new work and see of lightning strikes. Till then, it's run/bike/swim!

Claremore OK Sprint Tri done

I'm happy to say I did respectably well in my first triathlon. I was thrilled with the swim result and moderately happy with the bike, and slightly disappointed with the run. All in all it was a terrific experience. I plan to do at least two more this summer. After that I'm considering a half marathon in October. That ought to fill my year. There will probably be a 5k or two in the mix as well. The event Chris and I ran last Sunday was full with four hundred participants. Three-hundred-forty-one finished. I can't thank my friends the Lamphears enough for helping us out by picking up our packets and taking some extra pictures of us. Mike was especially helpful with advice and encouragement along the way. I feel like I have a base to work from now. I want to shave four minutes off my time when I do this event next year. The miraculous thing is, I feel great, no significant joint pain, no real muscle soreness. I am ready to train again. My next Tri will be June 19 in Willard MO. I'll be back in the pool early in May, if not sooner.

One week to race day

This time next week, hopefully I will be chilling after a good supper waiting for my first race. When I first decided to do this I was looking only to complete a race. Now I'm looking to finish with a respectable time for my age group. Barring injury or damage to my bicycle, I think I'll do okay. I've been timing my swim and get about 2:10/100y. My ride is pretty good with average speed around 18mph, and my run is decent at about 7-7.5 mph. After this race, I think I'm going to take a week off and reassess for my next race in June. I have never enjoyed training more than I have these last three months. I look forward to each element every day and I've even managed to build on the foundation I started with in January.

Next week, I have to be out of town for a training session. There will be a certain amount of PT I'm sure. Outside of that, I'll take it a little bit easy before race-day.

Stay tuned for results a week from tomorrow.