End of the season

I raced my last triathlon of the summer yesterday. Since the last entry I raced in the Tiger-Tri in Republic, and the Mountain Man in Branson. That's a total of five sprints and one Duathlon for the summer. I have enjoyed almost every grueling minute.

Republic Tiger Tri- This was a very well organized race that fielded nearly four hundred athletes. Chris my neighbor Dennis and I rode over together. I had a good race. I knocked off about 45 seconds off of my time from Willard. I was a bit faster on the swim, but T1 and T2 were not as fast as they could have been. The ride course was advertised as "Flatter and Safer than last year". I would hate to have seen last years course. This course was not flat at all. But, what do you expect for this area. I had ridden part of the course on a training ride the previous week, so I was prepared. The run was pretty uneventful, and I did okay with an 8:24 pace. At the end they had Popsicles, my favorite post race treat, and pizza. Dennis managed to win third in his age group.

Mountain Man- This was a tough race and the longest of my season. Many of the participants of this race are prepping for the 70.3 in September. I wish them all luck. I did about as expected in the swim and my transitions went fairly well. The bike was the hardest ride I've ever done. One huge hill right right at the beginning, a long slow climb, followed by a short steep climb. The downhills were thrilling with speeds approaching 45mph. Everyone I saw was slowed to a walking pace several times by the challenging hills this course provided. The run was equally hilly and difficult. I had the worst 5k of my life I think. Pace was over 10 min. I don't know if it was the hilly course, or following a difficult bike, but I started cramping about halfway on the run. This was something new for me. I probably needed to hydrate better than I did for such a long race. One thing that was a little distressing and cost me some time was getting to the second aid station and finding they were out of cups. By this time I really needed water. I wound up grabbing a discarded cup to get a good drink. This alleviated the cramping for a while, but I still had to walk portions of the last half mile. This was along fairly steep up hill. By the time I got to the finish, I was about locked up. More water and some massage and I was okay. It was a fun race even with the difficulties. My friends Chad and Zach, and Dennis each won prizes for placing in their age groups. Congrats fellas.

It's been a terrific season. I want to do all of the same races again next year. I think I can improve on all aspects of my game. I'm done swimming for a while, but I'll stay on the bike to cross-train and switch to running farther to begin training for the half marathon in November. We'll see how training goes. My goal next year is to do the Concrete-Man long course. With that goal in mind, I'll have to train harder, but I should have a better base from which to start.

What's in a name?

When do you become a Tri-Athlete? Is it when you begin to train like one? After you complete your first swim/bike/run event? How big does that event have to be, sprint distance, Olympic, Iron man? I would like to consider myself a tri-athlete. But I think I have to say I'm more of an aspiring tri-athlete. I've been training seriously all year for sprint distance races. I've completed three and I'm on track to complete four for sure and perhaps five. I think I can call it a success when I've completed an Olympic distance, open water swim race. But will that even be enough?

Looking to the future; I know I want to keep on doing this. I've never felt better in my life. And it's not about the health. It's about the race. Without the races, I would not train with the same intensity that I do now. I wouldn't challenge myself in the pool, on the bike or on foot. As I said before, I want to do some bigger events. I also want to get faster in the shorter events. I'm not sure I have the inclination to do a full IM race. I may, someday, attempt a half IM. With my first season coming to a close, I'm finding it a little sad. I'll shift gears soon to begin training for a half marathon. If the training goes well, I'll do one in early November. In the near future, I expect to do a 10k or two, and a 5k or two before the end of the year. Shifting gears to a running only workout will be a little odd. I've gone back through this blog since I started writing it, and I'm pretty amazed at how far I've come. I have more to build upon for next year. I also have a lot to learn.

Concrete Man thoughts

I finished this race yesterday. It was my first open water swim triathlon. There was a simultaneous Olympic distance race going as well. The swim portion was a triangle and began in heats. I went in the last heat. I had a terrible time initially getting any rhythm going. I was even dog-paddling for a few seconds because the shear number of people in the vicinity made free-style swimming too difficult. My time was poor, but I met my goal of doing free-style for the entirety. I didn't have to resort to resting backstroke or side-stroke after I got away from the crowd. My plan was to swim outside the crowd, but I found that moving inside was better. I did get bumped and crowded a few times. I even had to hip-check one swimmer. I finished feeling good. The bike was uneventful as these things go. Me and a couple of other riders kept trading positions for the first half of the course. I finally left one of these guys behind and thought I had left the other one behind as well. He showed back up within the last three miles or so and stayed ahead of me slightly into the transition area. I passed him during the run and didn't have to worry with him the rest of the way. The run could have been slightly better, but with the heat and the general uphill of the first mile, I'm okay with my time. I finished 53 out of 117. I'm considering the Olympic distance for next year, although the thought of doing that swim loop three times sounds a little intimidating right now. I have to remind myself of something that my friend Mike tells me when the subject of swimming comes up; this time last year I was struggling to finish 100 yards. One more race for sure this year, with perhaps another if I feel especially good about it. Back to training tomorrow.

One word about some of the better athletes that participate in these events. Some of these people are animals. I can't believe how fast they are able to swim bike and run. Getting lapped by the first wave wasn't really demoralizing as they started ten minutes before, but some of them moved past so fast I felt like I was treading water. Then on the bike, I was moving along at a decent 20-21 mph and I heard this WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH. Then I get passed by someone on a high tech time trial bike with aerodynamic wheels. The next thing I know, he's at the top of the next hill and gone. I find it all pretty amazing. I wish I had started this sport much earlier in my life.

Concrete Man Results

ConcreteMan and beyond

I registered for the ConcreteMan Triathlon which is this Saturday. I'll be doing the short distance; 500y swim, 12.5 mile bike, and 2 mile run. I've been reluctant to register for this race because the open water swim was a little intimidating. I started training at Table Rock Lake every week to see if I can get my head wrapped around it. I finally got in a practice swim of some substance last Monday, so I pulled the trigger and decided to do it. I gathered some confidence in the pool a few days earlier when I did a mile total. I two small breaks. One at 1000, the next at 1500. Both were just long enough to set the stopwatch, and rinse the goggles. Look for results when I get done.

I still plan to do the Tiger Tri in Republic. I think Chris will be doing that one with me and perhaps another old Friend. My sister in law is planning to do it as well. I found out that there will be one in Branson the following week. I may do it as well. I find that I'm a little sad to see the season come to a close. my efforts will then turn to training for a half marathon in November. We'll see how the training goes before I commit. I'll miss my swim training, but I'll cut that off until next February.

Open water swimming

I've been practicing open water swimming as a test and preparation for the Concreteman triathlon in July. I'm still a little intimidated by an open water swim. Not having that breathing break and push-off every 25 yards will be a bit of a head game for me. Swimming the other night, I had to remind myself that I was still breathing and breathing just fine. I've been swimming across the swim beach near our boat slip in Table Rock Lake. It's about eighty yards if I swim next to the rope. I need to work on my sighting, because I've been using the rope as a crutch to guide me. The Concreteman has two levels; the long-1k yard swim, 25 mile bike, 5 mile run, and the short-500 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 2 mile run. I'll be doing the short this year and hopefully the long next year. I need a lot of pool time and open swim time before I'll have the confidence to to 1k yards in the lake. I am enjoying the journey as much as anything though. I'm trying very hard to remain injury free, and so far so good. One thing I've discovered; success in racing seems to breed success in training and vice-versa.

Willard Triathlon & DuSeries

I did the DuSeries duathlon as planned with my good friend Don. It was a 2 mile run 11 mile bike 2 mile run event. I had a great time and with Don pushing and coaching me, I did fairly well. With an average speed of 18.5 for the eleven mile bike, it was faster than I usually do. We were really cranking on the downhill curves before we reach the crushing stairstep hills up the dam on the west side of the lake. My legs were shaking when I got into the transition area. The 2nd 2 mile run was a booger. Much slower than the first but we finished strong. They had popsicles at ther end and I believe they were the best I've ever had. There are usually four races in the series, I think I'll try to do them all next year.



Well, I got another race under my belt. The Frisco Runaway Triathlon was yesterday. My wife's stepbrother, my sister in law and myself participated. It was my sister in law's first tri. I had a terrific race. The swim was a snake swim without ropes which caused me no less than two head on collisions. My time suffered as a result, but better training could have helped even more. The bike course was challenging to say the least. The first 5 miles were okay and it would have made for a very nice ride if the rest of the course was flat. The middle four were a terror, lots of curving uphills that chewed up the legs. The run was fairly flat being on reclaimed railroad bed. I can't really say I had a PR, because my last race had different distances, but I was thrilled to see that my average speeds were significantly better for the bike and run portions. Some improvement is exactly what motivates me to do more and do it better. I'm considering The Concreteman in July which is an open water swim, and I'll definitely do the TigerTri in Republic in August. This race was a great little event that will make my schedule next year as well.

The Results

Duathlon Tuesday

Tomorrow I'll run a 10k training run and then rest on Monday. Tuesday, I'm running 2 mile run 11 mile bike, 2 mile run duathlon. I think my friend Don is going to do it with me. He's a much better runner and cyclist than I am, so I expect to be pretty far behind him. I'm hoping the heat isn't unbearable. The event is at 6pm on a Tuesday, so at least the sun will be low in the sky.

I'm not really ready to run in the heat. Biking isn't so bad, you get a little breeze. I am going to have to do something about all the sweat. It stings my eyes when I wear sunglasses.

Got my swim back pretty quickly. I think I'm on schedule to do about a 7 minute swim for the Willard triathlon. That event is coming up quickly. I'm ready to get another event behind me.

I'm already thinking about some longer events for next summer. I'm thinking the long version of the Concrete-man triathlon may be a goal to attain for next summer. A half Iron Man...I think that's a little further down the road.