Chattahoochee Sprint Triathlon

Saturday, July 30, 2011

I dedicated today’s race for 16 loved ones that have battled cancer; one for each mile of the race.  Today’s race was in honor of Bobby and Verlin Beavers, Shirley Jenkins, Bill Thorn, Tomi Rempel, Sean Smith, Woody Boyer and in memory of Kay Tolsma, Bonnie Woodman, Gloria Fillingim, Helen Small, Gladys Jones, John Riley, Laura MacLean, Dorothy Mae Long and Fred Basco who lost his battle on July 21, 2011.

I had a perfect day of racing.  I could not have asked for anything more than what I did.  God is awesome.  Just prior to the start of the race I had a local pastor come and pray over me; I think because I was wearing my MultiSport Ministries uniform provoked him to ask if it was ok.  I believe that this set the stage for the remainder of the morning.

The race started in a Time Trial fashion with 2 people starting every 3 seconds.  I started about 16 back and all I wanted to do was have a strong swim but not push too hard.  I came out of the water in 8 minutes and I was initially stunned that it took that long; I was hoping to be in the low 7s.  I shook that off and quickly transitioned to the bike and I was off. 

My goal was to ride somewhere in the 22 mph range since it was a flat and fast course.  I felt great on the bike and got passed by two folks about 4 miles into the bike and that was the last of anyone to pass me.  Since I started toward the front there were not too many people in front of me.  I would pass a guy and he would pass me back and that kept happening throughout the course.  About 10 miles into it I passed a runner that told me I was in 10th place so that gave me a little encouragement for the final 2+ miles.  I came into the transition and my Garmin Split showed 12.5 miles with an average speed of 22.5, another confidence booster.  I quickly racked the bike, running shoes and out I went in 30 seconds.  Passing 3 athletes that entered transition right in front of me.  So that put me in 6 starting the run.

My goal on the run was to run strong but not go all out.  I wanted to run 7:30s.  I felt great reached the first mile in 7:13 and I just tried to keep a steady pace and keep my stride on point without overdoing it.  I was catching the runner in front of me and I notice he was in my age group so I waited until we came to a slight up hill and I picked up the pace slightly to get around him just prior to the turn around.  Once I hit the turn I knew he didn’t have it in him to keep the pace.  I hit mile 2 in 7:15, slightly slower but I was happy with it.  A little over a mile to go and I picked up the pace finishing mile 3 in 7:04 and finishing the race with a total time of 22:05 crossing the finish line 5^th.  Then it was a waiting game to see where the remainder of the field finished.  Because of it being a time trial start, there was no telling where I actually finished until all the times were posted.

Once the official times were posted I finished in 1:05:40 in 6^th place overall and 1^st in age group.  What a great start to the weekend.

Happy Training Everyone.

Thursday and Friday's Workouts

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Today’s training is dedicated In memory of Eugene Meade.

I went out for an easy 20 mile bike ride over lunch.  I just needed to get out there and get the legs going.  Nothing significant to write about on today’s bike ride.

Happy Training Everyone.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Today’s training is dedicated in memory of Jewel Norris; ovarian cancer.

I went to the pool this morning for a 1200 meter swim.  I went for a 500 meter warm-up and then did 2 x 400 meter intervals.  My arms were not working well for me swimming this morning so I decided to cut the workout short.  I am doing a sprint triathlon tomorrow morning so I didn’t want to kill the arms swimming.

Happy Training Everyone!

Tuesday and Wednesday Workouts

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

In memory of Mary Lou Mitten and Bernadette Hale, breast cancer.

Today I did a bike / run brick workout.  I got stuck in the rain and sleet on the bike at about mile 20 and took the short route home in the rain.  Once I got back to the office I change and headed out for a run.  I had a great run and averaged a 7:30 pace with each mile being faster than the previous.  It was a great workout.

Happy Training Everyone.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

In honor of Jason Thomas; currently fighting sarcoma cancer and in memory of Herman Head.

I started the day off with a 5 mile recovery run at a 9 minute mile.  It made for a good run.  It always hurts for some reason when I run at a 9 minute pace.

At lunch I went to the pool for a 2000 meter swim with the main set being 16 x 50 meter repeats starting every 65 seconds which gave me about a 15 second rest between sets.

Happy Training Everyone!

4000 Meter Swim

Monday, July 25, 2011

Today’s swim was dedicated in memory of Loretto Ziegler, bladder cancer.

Today I was scheduled for a 4000 meter endurance swim.  My longest swim during my training.  It was a distance I wasn’t sure how well I would do on it and today was my second time swimming this distance.  Since my legs were still in recovery mode I thought I would do part of the swim with the pool buoy.  I started out with 1000 meters with pool buoy and then 1000 freestyle and repeat.  I took splits every 500 meters and my times just kept getting slower and slower.  I was happy with the overall times as it was a few seconds faster than my previous 4000 meters.  I hope I can be more consistent in the pool over the last few weeks of training.

Happy Training everyone!

20 Mile Long Run

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Today’s Run was dedicated in memory of Mary Anne Lombardo, lymphoma.

I headed out this morning for a 20 mile run.  I started with the Big Dog Running Company 6 am crew.  It was good actually running with someone for once versus running by myself.  I had a great run through about mile 15 or so and then I started to struggle.  The heat and humidity was getting to me and I came to a walk almost every mile.  I started the first 10 mile running mid 8s and then my pace begin to slip to low 9s and I had a few mile in the 10s toward the end of the run as I was struggling to keep going.  I went through a lot of water, approximately 60 ounces. 

Weather Report:  Min./Max.: 73.2 °F/80.8 °F; Humidity: 87.5%; Dew point: 72.2 °F; Wind Speed: 1.3 mph

Happy training everyone!

Bike / Run Brick workout

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Today’s workout was dedicated in memory of my Grandmother, Marie Boyer, who lost her battle with cancer yesterday, July 18^th.  We will all miss you!

This morning I did a bike/run brick workout of 30 miles on the bike followed by a 2.5 mile run.  The bike portion was brutal as I rode with a group of cyclist that can ride.  I was able to hang with them through mile 11.  Once we hit the hills I was unable to stay with them on my tri bike and I would begin to lose ground on the uphill but I would gain coming back down.  However, eventually the up hills got the better of me and I lost them and reach the turn around about 30 seconds back.  On the return trip the same thing except there was more downhill and I was able to stay with them and then toward the end we did a 500 meter sprint where I was able to catch the lead man topping of 30 mph on the flats.  Once I returned to the office I quickly changed shoes and out for a 2.5 mile run averaging 7:20s as I gradually got faster with each mile

A great workout to honor my grandmother.

Happy Training Everyone!

3200 Meter Swim and 7 Mile Run

Monday, July 18, 2011

Today’s workouts were dedicated in honor of Mary Anne King, breast cancer survivor and Thomas King, prostate cancer survivor.

This morning I dedicated my swim workout to Mary Anne King with a 3200 meter endurance swim.  I had a great swim and was able to keep a pretty steady pace keeping every 500 meters at 9:20s. 

At lunch I went for a 7 mile run dedicated to Thomas King.  I turned it into a progressive run making each mile faster than the previous.  I started at a 8 minute mile and finishing off with a 7:23 mile. 

Happy Training Everyone!

18 Mile Long Run

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Today’s run was dedicated in memory of Thomas Ziegler, lung cancer.

18 mile long run scheduled for today and of course they were calling for 60% chance of rain and looking at the radar I was going to get every bit of the 60% which is exactly what I got; 60% rain from mile 8 on.  My run started out great and I was feeling pretty good running, although I really didn’t want to be out there today.  I think I was still feeling yesterday’s ride.  I tried to maintain a steady pace of 8:20 including a few scheduled walk breaks and trying to drink as much as I could stopping at the water fountains to refill my water bottle to keep it topped off.  After I hit the turn around I began drinking every mile and toward the end I was drinking almost every half mile.  I knew once again I was getting dehydrated and feeling the effects of it.  I really started to fall apart at mile 13 and it went all downhill from there.  I was struggling.  I kept my heart rate in check; keeping it below 70% but I just had no get up and go in my legs.  I am really kind of frustrated.

Weather Report:  Min./Max.: 72.5 °F/72.9 °F; Humidity: 94.0%; Dew point: 70.4 °F; Wind Speed: 2.6 mph; Precipitation: 0.7mm/h

Happy Running Everyone!

Century Ride - Friday, July 15, 2011

Today’s training is dedicated in memory of Penny Zaballa; Pancreatic Cancer.

A century ride scheduled for today; my first 100 miler.  The weather forecast was for 60% chance of rain and when I looked at the radar I didn’t see any in sight.  I headed out at about 7:30 a.m. and by the time I hit mile 18 it was raining and it didn’t stop raining until mile 90.  At mile 22 I had to stop because it was raining so hard I couldn’t see more than 100 yards.  About 15 minutes later I was on the road again trying to stay as close to 20 mph for an average as I could.  Once I hit the hills around mile 55 the pace began to slow a bit.  By mile 70 I was really beginning to slow but maintaining in the mid 18’s.  I stopped at mile 78 to get a refill in the water bottles and then headed out again for the last leg of the ride.  I knew the last 10 miles were going to be brutal as it had the most climb throughout the entire ride and my legs would be dead.  I only averaged 16.1 for the last 10 miles.  I finished the day out at 18.9 for an average and a total of 8,400 feet of elevation gain.

I think I have figured out why I am slowing so much during the later miles.  It has to be dehydration.  I took in 350 calories an hour and was drinking roughly 16-20 oz of electrolytes and amino acids an hour and 4 salt tabs every 16 miles.  After I got home I weighed 5 pounds less than I started.  On my next long ride I will try and take in a bottle every 40 – 45 minutes.

Happy Training Everyone.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Today’s training is dedicated in honor of Michele Halvorsen; breast cancer survivor.

I headed out for a 6 mile run virtually repeating Mondays run with the last mile at a 6:30 pace.  Once I returned to the campground.  I packed up the camper and we headed home.

Happy Training Everyone!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Today’s training is dedicated in In honor of Phyllis Tuleya; currently battling breast cancer, surgery scheduled for this month.

I headed out for a 6 mile run this morning with my brother alongside me on his bike.  I ran from our campground to a “beach” here on the lake which was about 3.25 miles.  It was a little hilly terrain than I am used to but it made for a great run.  On the return trip I picked up the pace for the last mile running a 6:30 mile.

Happy Training Everyone!

First Post

I am currently training for Ironman Louisville; my first Ironman.  I am on Week 14 of a 20 week training program.  I have had to adjust my training drastically over the past few weeks due to vacation, work, and other unforeseen circumstances.

I am doing this for the American Cancer Society.  I am collecting 141 names to carry with me during the Ironman.  One for each mile of the Ironman.

Happy Training!