Alcon Tri For Sight

So it had been raining really hard the past couple days, and part of the bike course was flooded the day before the race. I was expecting it to be shortened to a 14-mile bike course, but the water receded, and we did the whole thing. Here's the Race Report (800-m swim, 18-mile bike, 4-mile run)

Swim: This was a pool swim set up in 8 50-m lanes. The swim snaked, and so we changed to the next lane every 100 m. This was fun, but everybody started in 10 second gaps, so there was a whole line of people right next to you on the pool deck watching your first 100. This resulted in me swimming a record 100 m and then slowly fading into a not so great swim. The sliding to the next lane thing slowed me down a good bit because I was right behind people coming to wall multiple times, but mainly just went out too fast and wore myself down. Swim Time: 14:44 ( I know, it sucks)

T1: This was about a quarter mile run from the pool to the transition area. I was wet, and still have to improve here. Time: 4:41

Bike: Due to the weather/schedule lately I haven't been getting much biking in, so I was slightly apprehensive about the bike, but it was a decent course compared to some of the roads one could ride on around here. I stopped about 5 miles in to help a girl who (pretty sure it was her first tri) was riding a cruiser and threw her chain going up a steep hill. This cost me about two minutes, but I thought she was going to cry on the side of the road, and we just can't have that :D. The rest of the bike was really good, but wet. I almost tanked it twice at the turnaround in a slick driveway. Thankfully I didn't. I passed about 15-20 people on the bike, and only got passed once by somebody doing the bike leg of the relay. Bike Time: 54:48, 19.7 mph (If I didn't take the two minutes helping with the chain, my bike was 21.15 mph). This would have only changed me one spot in my AG and two/three spots overall, but no worries. I'm glad she had a good race.

T2: Not bad, but I changed into a dry pair of socks as mine were soaked from the bike. Time: 1:19
Run: I'd only done one brick in the last couple months because of marathon training, so I was a little toasted from pushing harder on the bike than I'd been training for. I know the guy who set up the run, and he's a great runner/triathlete. I'm gonna kill him. :p We ran at the UK arboretum, which has no huge hills, but it's tons of quick ups and downs, so really difficult to get into a rhythm. I still had a decent run, but I'm looking forward to more speedwork once I run this marathon. Time: 26:44 (6:41/mile)

Summary: Fun race, and for only my second tri I feel pretty good about where I'm at. With a good offseason in the pool and on the trainer, I think I can improve quite a bit. Hope springs eternal. Overall time: 1:42:14

Side Note: the guy who won overall and my AG swam the 800m in 9:38, biked the course at an avg. of 24.0 mph and ran 5:30/ mile. Smoking!

Ready.

21 miles today. And it felt good. Strangely good. And fast too. Last night, there was no desire to run. Only to sleep. The alarm clock rang at 4:50 and the trip began.

Transformation is a long journey. The last 6 months have been a journey of many miles. There are difficult days, there are amazing days when one feels like Icarus. There are days when you feel like you're running blind and just grinding. Marathon training has been an education in endurance (something I previously thought I fully understood). There is no longer the self-imposed deceit of self regarding the current situation. 21 miles? It is what it is; many steps.

I've also come to realize that all the bad days are preparation for the good ones. And just as important, if not more so. In life, like in physical training, it is the difficult days which shape the people we are and are becoming. In order to overcome, we must take what Churchill said at the greatest graduation speech ever: "Never, never, never give up."

Marathon Shoes

Well the Saucony shoes served me well. I've put around 250 miles on them and they're starting to go. So I had to get a new pair for the marathon to get them broken in. Man I freakin' love running shoes! Check 'em out. Asics Gel Kayano

Keep it Simple?

The trials of a triathlete are manifold: (Don't get me wrong, there's no complaining here. The simple ability to do what we do is enough to be extremely thankful for. But there are some struggles.
Namely, the temptation to gear up like a gun fanatic at a bunker. There's just so much stuff out there I want to have. Auuggh!

So you have to break it down to the things you need and be realistic about it. 1) You're not a pro; 2) Triathlon is a hobby, not the most important thing; 3) It's easier to enjoy it when you don't take yourself too seriously. So to break it down, I'm slapping some aero-bars on my road-bike, trying to find a cheap used trainer, stick with a simple stopwatch, and fight the need to get my lightweight carbon on. Keeping it simple should keep it fun and keep triathlon in its proper perspective.

Fiscal responsibility might have something to do with it as well.