Clear Lake International Triathlon and Johnny Romano

I have been very concerned about my training over the past few months and for good reason. It seems that work, family, injuries and personal problems seem to get in the way of my training. My training is very important to me. I am always to trying to improve myself physically, mentally, spiritually and professionally. I want to be good at everything I do. As Saturday approached I must say that I was very nervous about my race.

For the race itself I have to say I was very surprised at my performance. The race was a 1000 meter swim, 30K bike and a 10K run. I finished with a time of 2:07. I had planned on finishing somewhere around the 2:30 mark. Imagine my surprise when I came in at 2:07. This was a good race and I think with a few adjustments the race director could make it great. There were two challenging parts of the race. First, the swim course was not marked very well. The course needed a few more buoys. I had a decent swim working but at one point I started sighting off the wrong buoy and I swam an extra 150 meters. If I had been breathing out of my left side I might have seen the the correct buoy to sight off of. There is something to be said for breathing on both sides. Apparently several athletes had a similar issue with the swim course. Second, the bike and run courses were very narrow. At one point of the race there were runners in both directions and cyclists in one lane. It was manageable but you definitely had to pay attention. All in all I will say it was a good race and I was happy and encouraged by my performance. I'm looking forward to my remaining 2008 races.

On Sunday instead of taking the day off I decided to do a run in the Clear Lake area in support of Johnny Romano. Johnny is the Honored Teammate for the Lonestar Half-Ironman Team that I am coaching starting in September. I was a little tired from Saturday but I put in another 6 mile run and must say it was one of the nicest runs I have done in a long time. The park we ran at was quiet and peaceful, unlike Memorial Park. While I was running there was beware sign for the Alligator and Snake Habitat that you were running through but that didn't bother me. I ran all the way to the bay. The view was beautiful. When I finished my run and I met back with the runners and we took a photo for Johnny's family. As I conclude this entry in my Blog it makes me think of a few things. First, I am very blessed to have two very healthy very special kids. I don't know what I would do without them. Second, there are a lot of people who are not so fortunate. Johnny is a real sick boy and he and his family need help. I hope anyone who reads this Blog will go to Johnny's Blog to check on how he is doing and to see how you can help. To view Johnny's Blog go to http://j-grom.blogspot.com/.