I have not felt much like writing lately. I have been very busy at work and of course with the training. I will be brief with this posting as well.
As I write this IM Cozumel is 34 days away and I do feel ready for the most part. My last triathlon was 2 weeks ago in Dallas and it was a very tough event. I won't go through all my normal race reporting but I will say it was very rainy and cold and I did not have my best day. The one neat thing about the even t was the fact that it was part of the Toyota Cup series and there were a lot of pros there.
This weekend was very productive from the training perspective. Saturday I put down an 86 mile ride on my bike followed by an 1800 meter open water swim at Twin Lakes. It was not my fastest ride but it was great to get out on a beautiful day. The swim was good as well. I have not put much open water time lately and so it was a much needed training. Earlier today I did the Houston Half Marathon and I set a PR with a time of 1:46:00. I felt good despite a little pain in my left Achilles tendon. This is the same injury I have been dealing with most of the year. The pain comes and goes but I seem to able to deal with it. After the race I was able to get back on the course and run 4 more miles with Norma as she finished her race.
The one disappointing thing about today was the fact that I did not do Longhorn. It is a race I love and one I have done the last two years. It was my first Half-Ironman and it is very special to me. I felt that I needed a longer training than Longhorn could give me and I wanted to save my money with IM Cozumel coming up. I do plan on racing Ironstar in a few weeks for my last tune-up.
I'll be providing more updates with the big race coming soon.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Prairieman Triathlon
Last Sunday was supposed to be my 2 Half-Iron of 2009. Due to the rain in Dallas that I decided to drop out of the race. I didn't feel it would be safe and I just felt it would be too much to risk with IM Cozumel coming up and with my other races this year. I was surprised that Jack Weiss kept the race going. He had to shorten the bike course because of the conditions and there was a lot of road construction to deal with. I hated to miss out on the race but I think it was the right thing to do. I did however get a 13 mile run in after we got back home.
The rest of the week sucked for training. I had a long week at work that included a day trip to Madisonville and a trip San Antonio for 2 days. This really didn't help. To make matters worse I have been fighting some stomach bug for the last few days. I did get a short swim in on Friday and a 10 mile run on Saturday but I seem to be paying for that now. If I feel up to it I am going to ride the spinning bike later today. I don't want to be too far away from the bathroom.
The rest of the week sucked for training. I had a long week at work that included a day trip to Madisonville and a trip San Antonio for 2 days. This really didn't help. To make matters worse I have been fighting some stomach bug for the last few days. I did get a short swim in on Friday and a 10 mile run on Saturday but I seem to be paying for that now. If I feel up to it I am going to ride the spinning bike later today. I don't want to be too far away from the bathroom.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Yes, I am Crazy
This past week has been pretty light with the exception of swimming. I have been careful not to over do it. My training plan has spots where I pull back the mileage to allow my body to heal. With that said I have slow ride of 30 -40 miles followed by a short run and swim on Monday. I want to make sure I'm feeling good for Prairieman on the September 13th.
On the injury front my back is feeling much better but I still have a sore left calf. It only seems to affect me on my runs and its really more of an annoyance than anything else.
Lastly, As far the race schedule goes I am adding one more race to the schedule. I have decided to do the Las Vegas Triathlon September 27th. There are 3 distances at this event but I will be doing the Half-Iron. This will be cutting it close on recovery but I feel I need this for my IM Cozumel training. When I saw Ryan Taylor today I told him that I was going all in on the events and I want to see how far I can push my body. This may not be the most sane thinking but its what I want. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I live through this.
On the injury front my back is feeling much better but I still have a sore left calf. It only seems to affect me on my runs and its really more of an annoyance than anything else.
Lastly, As far the race schedule goes I am adding one more race to the schedule. I have decided to do the Las Vegas Triathlon September 27th. There are 3 distances at this event but I will be doing the Half-Iron. This will be cutting it close on recovery but I feel I need this for my IM Cozumel training. When I saw Ryan Taylor today I told him that I was going all in on the events and I want to see how far I can push my body. This may not be the most sane thinking but its what I want. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I live through this.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Clear Lake International Triathlon and Other Training Notes
Saturday August 22nd I did my 2nd Olympic Triathlon of 2009. This was a pretty flat and fast race and I had a good day.
Norms and I just got to the race site right before transition closed. It was tough to get parked and we had to rush to get set up. As I made my way to the swim start I was still nervous but I knew I would be OK. When I was entering the water I kicked a rock with my left foot which put a small cut on my big toe but it didn't hurt too bad. A few minutes later I hit my left elbow on a rock which did hurt. As the swim started another racer grabbed my left leg and pulled my timing chip off. I put it back on but it fell off again which pissed me off. It was not the start that I was looking for. I ultimately swam with chip in my left hand which didn't help my already slow swimming. Despite swimming with the chip in my hand I had an OK swim time of 34:43. I'm sure I would have done much better if I had not had the chip in my hand.
As I got on my bike I felt pretty good. I got on the bike course only to find my computer not working. I didn't let it bother me but I would like to have had it. There was one big hill at the beginning of the ride but it was primarily flat. The ride was good until the Olympic riders merged with the Sprint group and then it got a little crowded. All in all it was a good bike course and I had great time of1:07:28 which was 22.1 mph average.
As I left transition on the run I was feeling good but I didn't know how I would finish. The temperature was starting to rise and as I reached mile 2 I was fading. I kept pressing and as I made the turnaround at mile 3 I saw Audree and I thought it was just a matter of time until she caught me. I kept going and and as I hit mile 4 I realized I was going to have a decent time. I knew that if I could pick up the pace I might actually set a PR. I was running the last 2 miles as fast as I could. I had nothing left but I pressed on. As I came down the home stretch I knew it was going to be close. My run time was 52:40 and I left it all on the course.
The final tally was 2:38:57 which was 43 seconds slower than my PR. That was tough to swallow but I'm still very happy with my time. I was looking to PR so it all worked out well.
Overall, my training is going well. I had a long run on Saturday and long ride on Sunday. I do have a couple of nagging injuries. I have a very sore calf and I have sore back but it has not stopped me from training. I feel like I'm on track for Cozumel.
My next race is the Prairieman Half Ironman in Dallas on September 13th. I may have an announcement on another race I might do in September. I will let you all know soon.
Sorry for the brief update but I have been super busy at work and I have not had much time to update this Blog. As a matter of fact I have to hurry because I have to go back to work. Later!
Norms and I just got to the race site right before transition closed. It was tough to get parked and we had to rush to get set up. As I made my way to the swim start I was still nervous but I knew I would be OK. When I was entering the water I kicked a rock with my left foot which put a small cut on my big toe but it didn't hurt too bad. A few minutes later I hit my left elbow on a rock which did hurt. As the swim started another racer grabbed my left leg and pulled my timing chip off. I put it back on but it fell off again which pissed me off. It was not the start that I was looking for. I ultimately swam with chip in my left hand which didn't help my already slow swimming. Despite swimming with the chip in my hand I had an OK swim time of 34:43. I'm sure I would have done much better if I had not had the chip in my hand.
As I got on my bike I felt pretty good. I got on the bike course only to find my computer not working. I didn't let it bother me but I would like to have had it. There was one big hill at the beginning of the ride but it was primarily flat. The ride was good until the Olympic riders merged with the Sprint group and then it got a little crowded. All in all it was a good bike course and I had great time of1:07:28 which was 22.1 mph average.
As I left transition on the run I was feeling good but I didn't know how I would finish. The temperature was starting to rise and as I reached mile 2 I was fading. I kept pressing and as I made the turnaround at mile 3 I saw Audree and I thought it was just a matter of time until she caught me. I kept going and and as I hit mile 4 I realized I was going to have a decent time. I knew that if I could pick up the pace I might actually set a PR. I was running the last 2 miles as fast as I could. I had nothing left but I pressed on. As I came down the home stretch I knew it was going to be close. My run time was 52:40 and I left it all on the course.
The final tally was 2:38:57 which was 43 seconds slower than my PR. That was tough to swallow but I'm still very happy with my time. I was looking to PR so it all worked out well.
Overall, my training is going well. I had a long run on Saturday and long ride on Sunday. I do have a couple of nagging injuries. I have a very sore calf and I have sore back but it has not stopped me from training. I feel like I'm on track for Cozumel.
My next race is the Prairieman Half Ironman in Dallas on September 13th. I may have an announcement on another race I might do in September. I will let you all know soon.
Sorry for the brief update but I have been super busy at work and I have not had much time to update this Blog. As a matter of fact I have to hurry because I have to go back to work. Later!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Training is still going well. I had a good weekend of training last weekend and I plan on getting in a long brick in this weekend. I am a little concerned about the next couple of weeks. I have a very tough work schedule that starts with a trip to Austin on Sunday and 2 weeks of meetings. In addition I have an Olympic Triathlon on the 22nd in Houston and a Half-Marathon in Dallas on the 23rd. I know it will be tough but I think I should be able to make it. Unfortunately this is real life when training for an Ironman.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
TriWaco
On July 26th I participated in the 1st annual TriWaco. This was my 20th triathlon and my 5th of 2009. This is a race that featured both an Olympic and a Sprint distance. I signed up for the Olympic as I was needing the longer distance work. As I traveled to Waco on Saturday the 25th I was still feeling a little tired from my century ride from the weekend before but I felt like I was going to have a good race. The event location and hotel were great. We stayed at the host hotel which was the Waco Hilton. This worked out great as the transition area was right outside the hotel lobby doors. After packet pick-up which was also at the hotel I got a look at the swim course along with locating my spot in transition. Later in the evening we ate Deep Dish Pizza at a local Italian restaurant. It was really good although I wouldn't say it was good as that place in Chicago that I have eaten at a few times.
Race day was a little different than usual. I didn't need to wake up quite as early as I normally do for a race due to the fact that the race was so close. This was good because I had a difficult time falling asleep. The air conditioner in the room was noisy and it kept the room very cold. I couldn't seem to get the temperature right. When I woke up I had an upset stomach. I think it was the nerves and the food from the night before causing it. After changing and gathering my things I headed down to the transition area to get set up. As I walking through transition I located Geoff and Sarah who were also doing the race. (Geoff the Olympic and Sarah the Sprint) After chatting for a minute I went to set up my area. As I arrived to my rack I noticed that the one spot left was next to a guy who looked like he was moving in. He had so much stuff. I can not believe an Official didn't make him fix it. As I getting my bike into place he asked me if I needed him to move his stuff over. I said YES!!! Unfortunately, he didn't move anything. I think this might have been his first race. After I set up my transition area I try to eat a little and then I headed down to the swim start for the longest pre-race meeting ever.
After the meeting the race director shuffled the first wave (my wave) into the water for the start. I was still a little nervous but it goes away as soon as we get started. After the gun went off I started swimming and I felt good. As I went through the water I knew I wasn't going fast but I felt good. As I finishing up my swim I merged with a group of the Sprinters. It wasn't too bad but it did get crowded. As exited the water I was very disappointed to see my swim time was 43 minutes. This was my slowest Olympic swim yet. I have documented my swim troubles this year on every race update I have done but this very disappointing. I have spent so much time working on my swimming and I felt so good during this swim so I'm not sure what I did wrong. I really need to make time for Emmitt's class.
Once I got into transition I knew I had a lot of time to make up. As I got the bike course I still felt good. The first part of the bike I was averaging 22 or 23 mph. After a few miles however, the wind shifted and the hills kicked in. There was a point on the bike that I was probably averaging 17 mph and I was getting frustrated. As we made the turnaround I got a little tailwind and the hills were behind us and I was moving well again. I started averaging 24 to 25 mph and I was making up time. As I headed back into transition I still felt good but I knew I had a tough run ahead. My bike time was pretty good at 1:11:28 for an average of 21.2 mph. I think this might be my best bike time for an Olympic.
Now for the run. It started off pretty flat and fast and I still felt good. Early in the run I saw a 59 year old man pass me like I was standing still but I didn't care. The first couple miles of the run was relatively flat but the worst still to come. The hills at the middle of the run reminded me of the Longhorn Triathlon. I tried to run the hills fast but I couldn't. As I rounded mile 5 of the run I could hear Alex, Jessica and Norma yelling go LUKE! I think they could be heard back in Houston. As headed up the path that lead to finish line I tired but I knew I had decent race. My run time was OK with a time of 54:02.
My overall time was 2:53:59. It wasn't my fastest time but I think it is my second fastest for this distance. Geoff and Sarah both did great. They each placed second in their age group. Congrats to each of them. Overall it was a good race. Jack Weiss always puts on a good event. I would recommend this race to anyone.
The day after the race I got a head cold. I think the air conditioner in the hotel room might have caused this. I took Monday and Tuesday off as I recovered and as we traveled to Dallas and I got a short run in on Wednesday. I plan to get a long run and short ride in this weekend. Things are coming together.
Next up is the Clearlake International Triathlon in August. I'm looking forward to this event. It will be Tri #6 for the season.
Later Dudes!
Race day was a little different than usual. I didn't need to wake up quite as early as I normally do for a race due to the fact that the race was so close. This was good because I had a difficult time falling asleep. The air conditioner in the room was noisy and it kept the room very cold. I couldn't seem to get the temperature right. When I woke up I had an upset stomach. I think it was the nerves and the food from the night before causing it. After changing and gathering my things I headed down to the transition area to get set up. As I walking through transition I located Geoff and Sarah who were also doing the race. (Geoff the Olympic and Sarah the Sprint) After chatting for a minute I went to set up my area. As I arrived to my rack I noticed that the one spot left was next to a guy who looked like he was moving in. He had so much stuff. I can not believe an Official didn't make him fix it. As I getting my bike into place he asked me if I needed him to move his stuff over. I said YES!!! Unfortunately, he didn't move anything. I think this might have been his first race. After I set up my transition area I try to eat a little and then I headed down to the swim start for the longest pre-race meeting ever.
After the meeting the race director shuffled the first wave (my wave) into the water for the start. I was still a little nervous but it goes away as soon as we get started. After the gun went off I started swimming and I felt good. As I went through the water I knew I wasn't going fast but I felt good. As I finishing up my swim I merged with a group of the Sprinters. It wasn't too bad but it did get crowded. As exited the water I was very disappointed to see my swim time was 43 minutes. This was my slowest Olympic swim yet. I have documented my swim troubles this year on every race update I have done but this very disappointing. I have spent so much time working on my swimming and I felt so good during this swim so I'm not sure what I did wrong. I really need to make time for Emmitt's class.
Once I got into transition I knew I had a lot of time to make up. As I got the bike course I still felt good. The first part of the bike I was averaging 22 or 23 mph. After a few miles however, the wind shifted and the hills kicked in. There was a point on the bike that I was probably averaging 17 mph and I was getting frustrated. As we made the turnaround I got a little tailwind and the hills were behind us and I was moving well again. I started averaging 24 to 25 mph and I was making up time. As I headed back into transition I still felt good but I knew I had a tough run ahead. My bike time was pretty good at 1:11:28 for an average of 21.2 mph. I think this might be my best bike time for an Olympic.
Now for the run. It started off pretty flat and fast and I still felt good. Early in the run I saw a 59 year old man pass me like I was standing still but I didn't care. The first couple miles of the run was relatively flat but the worst still to come. The hills at the middle of the run reminded me of the Longhorn Triathlon. I tried to run the hills fast but I couldn't. As I rounded mile 5 of the run I could hear Alex, Jessica and Norma yelling go LUKE! I think they could be heard back in Houston. As headed up the path that lead to finish line I tired but I knew I had decent race. My run time was OK with a time of 54:02.
My overall time was 2:53:59. It wasn't my fastest time but I think it is my second fastest for this distance. Geoff and Sarah both did great. They each placed second in their age group. Congrats to each of them. Overall it was a good race. Jack Weiss always puts on a good event. I would recommend this race to anyone.
The day after the race I got a head cold. I think the air conditioner in the hotel room might have caused this. I took Monday and Tuesday off as I recovered and as we traveled to Dallas and I got a short run in on Wednesday. I plan to get a long run and short ride in this weekend. Things are coming together.
Next up is the Clearlake International Triathlon in August. I'm looking forward to this event. It will be Tri #6 for the season.
Later Dudes!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Katy Flatlands
Last Sunday I did another first. I completed my first Century Ride during the Katy Flatlands. I have done a bunch of rides between 50 and 75 miles and my furthest ride last year of 83 miles but I have never made it over the 100 mile mark.
Sunday was supposed to be a little cooler and there was a 60% chance of rain. I was looking forward to a cooler ride but I had a feeling it was not going to happen. I left for the ride around 6am and it seems that was a little too late. Because of the amount of riders I didn't get on my bike until 7:30 because we couldn't get parked.
At the beginning of the ride I got into it with a volunteer and a Ride Marshall. Because it was hard to get parked I and a number of other riders were not able to get started with the riders going 100 miles. The Marshall and the volunteer said we would have to wait until all of the 40 mile riders left before they would let us go. I made a stink about it and they eventually let us go before the 40 mile group.
As for the ride itself it wasn't too bad. There were only a few idiots on the ride and I didn't have any trouble with traffic.
I had a decent ride time of 5:07 for 101.1 miles. The first 60 miles were much better for me. It was much cooler and I was averaging a little over 20 mph. The last 40 was tough. 
It was hot and the wind was picking up. Not to mention I was getting tired. 
The best part of the ride was having my personal S.A.G. for the ride. 
It was nice having Norma help me through the ride. It made doing the 100 miles much easier. I'm not sure if I will do this ride next year but I do recommend it.
Next up is the Waco Tri on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it but I am still a little tired from the ride. It will be my first Olympic of 2009.
Later
Sunday was supposed to be a little cooler and there was a 60% chance of rain. I was looking forward to a cooler ride but I had a feeling it was not going to happen. I left for the ride around 6am and it seems that was a little too late. Because of the amount of riders I didn't get on my bike until 7:30 because we couldn't get parked.
At the beginning of the ride I got into it with a volunteer and a Ride Marshall. Because it was hard to get parked I and a number of other riders were not able to get started with the riders going 100 miles. The Marshall and the volunteer said we would have to wait until all of the 40 mile riders left before they would let us go. I made a stink about it and they eventually let us go before the 40 mile group.As for the ride itself it wasn't too bad. There were only a few idiots on the ride and I didn't have any trouble with traffic.
I had a decent ride time of 5:07 for 101.1 miles. The first 60 miles were much better for me. It was much cooler and I was averaging a little over 20 mph. The last 40 was tough. 
It was hot and the wind was picking up. Not to mention I was getting tired. 
The best part of the ride was having my personal S.A.G. for the ride. 
It was nice having Norma help me through the ride. It made doing the 100 miles much easier. I'm not sure if I will do this ride next year but I do recommend it.
Next up is the Waco Tri on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it but I am still a little tired from the ride. It will be my first Olympic of 2009.
Later
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