Du-Series Xterra and beyond

It's been a while since my last entry and a lot has happened since then. I did the middle two of the four part Du-Series. The 1-11-1, and the 1/2-11-2. I did markedly better than in previous years. I'm sure in part to the Cervelo. It IS faster than my Trek. I also did my first Xterra off-road triathlon. This was an excellent event. More on that later. I did a couple of organized group rides; the Red Ribbon Ride, and the Queen City Ride (75 mi.). These organized rides are a great way to get in a long ride. They're well supported and there are always plenty of folks to ride with. I've been lucky enough to have enough friends involved both times. This is great because they are better cyclists than I am and it pushes me to work harder. Xterra Eureka Springs; This was an A-race for me. It was a long term goal anyway and it seemed like why not go ahead and do it this year. Lots of Springfield folks were doing it, so I decided to give it a go. The swim is open water in Lake Leatherwood. This is a very nice dammed up river that I'm told used to generate power. Now it's a smallish campground fishing and swimming lake. The swim was uneventful if a bit slow for me (I'm slower in open water). I was a little freaked out by the weeds, even though I didn't think I would be. The run to T-1 is not insignificant. It was about 200 yards. One plus side to this is that you can collect your thoughts a bit. The transition area is nicely layed out with sturdy racks. The event is limited to 200 athletes, and everyone is assigned their slot by bib number. I took my time at transition but was ready to go quickly enough. I had more gear than I usually deal with; gloves, Camelback, socks, and glasses. This ride is a b i t c h. The first climb is rideable and I had intended to ride it. When I hit the trail though, it was clogged with racers hiking their bikes, so I did the same as getting around them would have spent too much energy. I wish I had tried to ride it looking back. I got passed by my Cynthia Bradley who has become one of my main (friendly) competitors. I tried to keep her in sight after we got back on and started riding again, but after I wiped out on a switch back she jumped ahead three riders and with her experience showing, jumped past three more. It took me much longer to pass the same riders. I did stop to help some poor athlete who had flatted for a second time and was hiking his flat bike. I gave him a tube and my multi-tool. I considered this paying it forward, as I had been helped at the Branson Sprint last September. After this first main climb, the downhills are really fun if technical. After you pass through transition for the second part of the bike, you hit the real challenges. There is not much choice for the second main climb except to hike the bike up it. It's a very aggressive climb, and rideable if that's all you were planning to do that day. After you get to the top you get the payoff; downhill, switchbacks and ledgerocks, all the MTB fun stuff. Then you cross the dam and hit more fun stuff until the third main climb, and it is a doozy. Aggressive slope and really long. The last .25-.5 miles is very aggressive and I hiked it up. After that, you can haul ass, if you have the courage. I had a great time on the bike, but it took the starch out of me. I rolled into T-2 with pretty tired legs and probably low on electrolytes. The run portion is over much of the same terrain including the second main bike climb. I walked some of the run, but this isn't unusual on a trail run. I started to cramp in my quads and calves, but a little massage helped and curiously enough running did too. I passed Cynthia on the second major climb on the run. I reminded her that she was still at least five minutes ahead of me because the women start after the men. I tried my best to put some more time between us, but she held on to beat me by thirty seconds or so. I had a great time and these folks put on a great event. A special shout out to my good friend Don Buttram who made the trip down by himself to watch, cheer and take pictures. He's a rare breed. This race is on my A-list for next year. I'll have some experience next time and will try to go under three hours. One more thing; we pre-rode this course a couple of weeks before the race, and that was so very helpful. I'll be doing that again as well. Proper 70.3 training will begin soon. Till then, I've been making it up as I go and laying down a base. These long organized rides are very helpful. Getting the run volume up will be the hard work. The Willard Sprint, Concreteman, and Tiger-Tri are up next. I intend to use these as brick workouts in my training schedule.

Race report; The photo is from Tri-Zou. I'm told it's the largest pool swim triathlon in the country. There were around 550 finishers this year. Some years there are near one thousand. This is a very nicely done event. Awards went four deep and I was hopeful of getting one, but when I saw I was 11th in my AG, all hope was gone. I had a good race with good paces in everything but the swim leg, which was a little disappointing. The 50m pool gave me a little trouble, but not like you might think. There was something about the construction of the walls that made it difficult to get an efficient push. I had an especially difficult time making turns to the left. Weird. Transitions are really long on this course and my T1 and T2 were not like I would have liked. I tried a flying start and totally butchered it. More practice on this element of my game. It seems like the whole town was there. Many folks from Springfield have made this race a perennial event. I'll probably do the same and drop Claremore in the future. Zach and I stayed at HoJo and had a big supper at Chili's. I think I was asleep by 8:30. I had a great time, and I'm looking forward to it again. Training Log; Time is a premium. I wish I could be more scientific with my efforts, but trying to fit training around life can be a pain. I usually make out a schedule for the next week or two sitting in church on Sunday. If I'm going to do a 70.3, I'm going to have to get on the stick. I can slowly ramp up to 70.3 training until July, then it'll be time to get to work. I'll have to make myself do more bricks to hit my goals. I'd really like to go <6.5 hours for my first one, and try to pare that back for subsequent races. I'm not ready for the hot days to come. I know it will make training harder, but I'll adjust. The extra long spring we've had this year has been great for outdoor training. Next Up; Xterra Eureka Springs. This is an off-road tri, and I'm looking forward to the challenge. That means adding another element to my busy schedule- mountain biking. I intend to get my bike fitness on the road bike and my handling skills in abbreviated trips to the trails. Building my skills in 7-8 mile increments isn't ideal, but I think it'll work.

Holy Smokes!

It's been a long time since I made an entry here. I've done quite a bit since I took my hiatus from running. First of all, it didn't last long. I got back at it pretty quickly. I determined that most of my trouble was caused by running on the indoor track. I used my three sessions with Olympic miler and athletic trainer Jason Pyrah to help me figure out how to work through this injury. Doing fine right now. Events; Zach and I did AdventureMax in early March, and had a great time. It's a very fun race if a little cold. I did a 15k a little later in the month and did well, better than expected at 8:05 pace. In April, Chris made a jaunt down to Claremore OK, to revisit my first tri-course. I had a good race and improved my time by 18'. I was even in 2nd place in my AG for a while. That is until the 2nd wave of swimmers crossed the line. Then I dropped to fifth. I was pretty happy with the end result as it was two minutes faster than my goal time. A little short of a podium finish should motivate me a bit. Next up is Tri-Zou. I've never done this race, but it seems like the whole town is doing it. Just got to stay trained up for it. No big surprise that I bought another bike. I got a 29er MTB. I want to do the Xterra off-road tri in Eureka Springs this June and wanted 29er to do it with. I've been practicing with it a little, but plan to do more after Tri-Zou.

Running hiatus

I've been dealing with a little tendonitis in my left ankle lately, so I put myself on a two week hiatus from running. That means more trainer, more cross training and more swimming. I plan to start up running again next Tuesday or Wednesday. Last week we had an unseasonably warm Friday and I was off work. I managed to get in a group ride east of Springfield. I figured it would be about 20-25 miles. We rode 38. It was a great ride and followed a route I never would have figured out on my own. I realize now that I've been missing out on a group dynamic. I really enjoy getting out with others that enjoy the same activity. Over the last year I've met enough people to get me in the loop on some good group activities. This weekend I'm planning on a Gravel Grinder ride. I've never done one of these, but I'm told they're a good time and it seems to me that they would be. Riders use MTB or cross bikes and ride the gravel roads just like a road ride. A mix of MTB and road riding I suppose. A new swim class for triathletes started last Sunday, and I'm going to do it again. I really want to bi-lateral breathe. I think it'll help me swim straighter in the open water.

Keep movin'

A year on and I think I've mostly put my neck injury behind me. I exceeded all the goals I set for this year. I did four triathlons, two duathlons, a ten mile race, several 5ks, and 10ks. I set PRs in all events. Faster, faster, faster, that's the goal each race. Finishing an Olympic distance tri was my main goal for the year and my secondary goal was to finish a 1/2 marathon especially since I didn't get to do the one I had trained for last year when I was injured. My Olympic was about as close to a shambles as a person can imagine. Trashed from a mis-marked double distance swim course, I was terribly slow on the bike and barely held on to the run. I was happy to cross the finish line, legs cramping on the verge of shutdown. The 1/2 marathons were less dramatic, but no less satisfying. I came in way under my 9'/mile pace goal for both and the second one was faster than the first. I want to marathon at some point, but next year's main goal will be a 70.3 race.

Yesterday, Don and I had a great time on a 5 mile trail run followed by 12 miles of MTB at Honey Run near Lake of the Ozarks. I made it through two runs without a crash. A milestone for me. Mountain biking requires balance, discipline and some calculated wrecklessness that seems counter-intuitive at times. I seem to spend half of any MTB ride just figuring what the hell I'm doing. I rode Don's 26" instead of my Trek 4300. It has some finer things that my Trek doesn't have. I enjoyed the disc brakes, air-shock and dual action shifters quite a bit. He rode his new 29er. I'm gonna start shopping for one myself. The trail run was interesting. I'd never done one and I enjoyed it. It certainly works different groups of muscles. This I can attest because of what's sore the next day.

1/2 Marathon...check

So a couple of weeks ago I completed my first half marathon. What an experience. I got thwarted on this race last year after lots of hard work when I herniated a disc in my neck. I came back this year even more determined to complete the race. I think this helped me to train because I took it pretty seriously. So, about the race; again, I ran in a huge group of people. 1210 finishers. I finished 166 right behind/beside my good friend Don. He paced me and kept me in the zone with his coaching. I ran a good race I think, and exceeded my goal of 1:57. I laid out a strategy to try to average 8:30/mile, and would up with 8:25/mile with a total time of 1:50:08. Very happy with the final result. Negative split from front to back half and almost every mile. A lot of thoughts run through your mind when you run for a couple of hours, and this was no different, but toward the end all you think of is getting to the finish. Next up is the Turkey Trot 5k. I was thwarted on this raceI'm thinking I'll do another in December and I'm contemplating a full in April. I can't believe I'm actually thinking about it...

Bike Slut/ 1/2 Marathon training

Last month I found a Cervelo P2 on Craigslist. I decided that if it was still available after I got back from Chicago with my money from the USS Constitution I built that I would buy it. I know I just bought the Felt S32 and I haven't even ridden it. The Cervelo is much better equipped though. I got a few extras on the Cervelo too. I'm going to take the computer off of the Felt and maybe the aero-bars. I'll hold onto the Felt until next spring and I think I can get my money back out of it. I love bikes.

Cynthia Bradley, Don, and I had a great 12 miler today in preparation for the Bass Pro half marathon. We ran the course as marked, with a few errors in navigation. It's the furthest I've ever gone. I felt good and turned an average of 8:48 with negative splits, and an 8:12 last mile. Afterward, we had a huge breakfast, my favorite part of the run. I felt good and running in a group is something I don't get to do often. The camaraderie, and conversation is a great way to pass the time. The topics were training, bikes, racing, and life in general. Cynthia dropped off about mile nine and Don and I went on with our 12 mile plan. The weather was gorgeous, you couldn't have ordered up better weather. I am ready for it. If the weather is even close to what it was today, it will be epic. Maybe another in December, if I can keep up my training appetite.