Triathlon: Miles & Miscues

Well I did it and felt pretty good at the end of it.

I finished better than I thought. I thought I would be at the 7 hr mark but I was able to finish at 6h22m12s.

The swim was fine and straight forward but I had some trouble with sighting, at least thats where I think I went wrong. I kept turning towards the inside making it a longer swim than I needed. The first 2K down.

T1 was fine and I was nice and calm, I even chatted with my wife and kids for a few moments before heading out.

The bike was awsome. It was awsome because I got to race alongside the pros for the first time. Pros have been races I was at but were always seeded much later. I got to see the male pros (most at least twice) on the bike. Lori Bowden passed me on the bike shortly after I started it and I had 10 min on her. I guess thats why they're the pros and I just Tri. I stopped at the aid station for a portapotty visit twice. The volunteers remarked how calm I was and were asking how I could be so calm, to which I replied "I'm just not a competitive guy."

Volunteers rock.

Triathlon is the only sport where even those there to make some money encourage you as they pass. Cheering you on. Genuinely happy that you are doing their sport.

T2 was another calm time. Everything bike off (or so I thought) socks and shoes on. I don't normally wear socks on the run but I didn't want to take the chance of a DNF because of blisters. As I started out of T2 my wife yelled to take my helmet off. With a giggle and a shuffle back it went and off I went.

The run was good until the 4k mark where cramped so bad in both legs I couldn't even walk. I tried to stretch and walk but nothing was going. After about 10 min or so I was able to begin skipping, yes skippping. This took the cramps away quite nicely and I continued where I came across a nice woman named Natalie. We struck up a winded conversation and paced one another until the end. It was easier to run with someone.

We walked the aid stations and I believe this also helped. The tiny bit of rest seemed to invigorate at every station.

Rounding the last bend for the finish everyone is shouting your name (its on the race number) and cheering you on. It's an awsome feeling. Coming over the line I spotted my wife and smiled and pressed through.

Even though I was in serious pain afterwards all I want to do now is another and then an even longer, full Ironman race next.

One last thought. Triathlon is a better builder of sportsmanship, perseverence and humility than any team sport I have ever been a part of. Thanks.

I got my new race wheels and they helped a bit either mentally or physically....who knows.

Only 3 days to go. My knee is having some pain but I shall persevere.

Gotta stop eating chips the last couple of days.

SO here we are 6 short days away from my first 1/2 iron attempt with a goal of only finishing within the alotted time. Ideally I want to finish in the 6-61/2 hour area.

I haven't been training a lot in the last 3 weeks or so, so I should be well rested and ready to go.....slowly.

This week I will do an easy 5k twice and a 1.5k open water swim and a 30k ride to try out my wheels....(hed 3's)

Well my next report should be after I finish....hopefully.

I have to add this one my wife, Dawn, just completed her first running race and she did just fine.

She was afraid but held her own against a superb field. The time shown on the clock was not correct she was actual at 31 minutes.

Although today she is bitchin and moanin about being sore.

Thats just Cadence being Cadence.

Well the weekend race has come and gone and once again I showed huge improvements over last year's event.

This time at the Panorama Classic Triathlon. The event was held on the same course but this time an added element was....the elements. It was raining and cool the entire time. On the first leg of the bike it was hitting like little spears into the face. I was lucky to have amber lenses in my Rudy's so at least no 'spears' hit the balls. Eyeballs that is.

There were several wipeouts on the bike mostly roadrash albeit some of it quite deep.

I once again entered as a clydesdale (an over 200 lb triathlete - me being 204 or so at the moment). It's a lot more fair for a guy my size going against these guys that are 5'7" and 140 lbs.

Well once again for the second race in a row I posted dramatic improvements.

2005 - 8:09 / 1:16:15/ 46:35 / 2:10:59
2006 - 8:23 / 1:07:35/ 37:48/ 1:53:46

Thats a big bump of 17'13"

I am ok with the swim going down since I have been concentrating on the other 2 disciplines.

Anyhow in short I'm happy. My bike is happy. My feet aren't pissed but they're not talking to me either.

Until next time......1/2 Ironman 2 weeks(I may post between)

I am still finding it pretty tough to get out there and do what I need to.

Tired a lot. I am thinking the shift work is pretty bad for my morale. It's almost as if I am go go go all of the time.

Oh well such is life.

This week I have exercised regualry with a 30km TT, a super fast lake swim (1500m in under 20 min) and a bunch of shorter, fast runs.

I have the panorama classic triathlon this weekend and I am hoping that my time will be about 10 min less than last years terrble 2:10:59 for the .5/30/8 course. It is a hilly bike and a challenging run but I should get there, at least thats my hope.

I was hoping to get up some pics of last weeks finish but my wife wasn't expecting me so soon and the camera was but she got a couple of action shots.

Until Monday....oh yeah and my loving wife is doing a gutbuster series trail run up mt doug on saturday so wish her luck.