1st Tri of the year.
445 am - Wake up 15 minutes before the alarm clock
450 am get up and start the process. I pretty much prepped everything last night, so it was pretty quick.
500 am try and eat the bagel with peanut butter, but my gag reflex is outta control. Takes me 30 minutes to eat. Also drink some bad coffee.
545 am Get to the race. No where to park, but these really nice people move there car around a little and we slide in.
600 am Set up the bike and my transition area. I am smiling and feeling good.
630 start to see some freinds and my nerves are running high.
645 Go for a quick run with Kate to start the process. I am still a little tired from the Duathlon the week before.
7:00 Throw on the wetsuit and head to the water. Holy Sh-t the water is cold! I put my face in and my breath is taken a way. I am talking so friggin cold it hurts. Keep going under to try acclimate.
7:15 Take a look around and I cannot see the second buoy. Water stil cold, but getting better.
7:30 Race is postponed for 1 hour. This stinks.
8:30 It is announced that the swim is shortend by a third due to visibility.
8:35 - Race starts! Immediatly I start way to hard, again. I am breathing really hard and cannot see a friggin thing. People every where and I cannot see the buoys. Anxiety is completey out of control. Make it to the first buoy but cannot see the second. I continue to swim and follow the pack and finally make it to the second. I have to take off my goggles to get my sense of direction. This suck! I cannot see the the third buoy at all. After 10 minutes I finally get to it. Now I am swimming to the shore and I am in the home stretch. I am very comfortable and in the rythm.
8:55 Out of the water and in transition. I use the wetsuit strippers but they cannot get it off my ankles. I rip it off and head to the bike.
8:56 I am running with my bike and blasting out of transition. I have really improved on my transitions.
8:57 - Have a hard time clipping into my pedals at first, but I am now gone. Roughly 2 or 3 miles in I lose my water bottle, tubes and pump. Perfect. No hydration for the ride and I better not get a flat.
9:20 In an alright rythym, but tired. I should feel better then I do, but push forward. I am passing people but getting passed as well.
9:40 Damn Hamstring. Definetly barking at me.
10:00 Only 7 miles left on the bike and I feel pretty good. I want to get to the run and start passing people. I know the run is my strength and I am excited to get to it.
10:15 Heading out on the run and feel ok. I am running at an alright speed but feel like I should be running faster. I need to due more brick workouts. My legs feel heavier then they should.
10:35 Halfway point on the run and I feel good. I am heading back and start to see a lot of people I know. So motivating.
10:55 Finish the race and hear my name being called. Goosebumps instantly.
10:56 Mom, Dad and Shan are there! Feels so great to see them. I am a little sore, but the excitement of them numbs the pain. Some of my old co-workers are there and it is great to introduce them to my family.
11:00 Kate crosses the line and she looks like she is going to be sick. She pushed it so hard at the end, she almost lost her stomache. Complete nut job, but that is why I love her!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
First race of 2008
I decided to sign up for the duathlon in Rye. With Mooseman a week a way, probably not the best idea, but why not. The race was a 3.2 run, 17 mile bike and another 3.2
On Friday night, I had a beer and a glass of wine with my dinner. Not the best prerace meal. I started to watch the Celtics and ended up watching the whole game. Take a look at the clock, midnight. Perfect, race in 6 hours!
I woke up at 5am and took care of Wonder Dog. He was a good boy, so that made it easy.
I threw on the back pack and rode to the course. I grabbed a good spot in the transition area and then went for a run to wake up the legs. On the warm up, I was a little sluggish and my stomach was noisey.
Race start - I do not want to sound like a jerk, but people need to be more considerate to those who are faster then them. I am roughly 50 people from the front and there is no way some of these people should be even close to the front. It is a narrow start shoot, without a lot of room to go around people. The gun goes off and people who run 9 minute miles are saying to each other, this is way to fast of a start. My point exactly! Move back to where the people who run 9 minute miles are. I know this sounds cocky, but I would never go to the front of a open water swim race and slow others down.
So, I go way to the outside and pass around 30 people in the first minute. My heart is jacked and I am running hard. Five more people drop behind me and I am now in the lead pack. We quickly break a way from the herd and fly down the road. This is the first time I have ever taken off in the lead pack. I usually stay in the front of the large group, but this is an awsome experience! It was so cool to be running behind the lead police car. I couldn't help thinking one of these guys is going to win and I am running with him!
We rip through the first 3.2 and I have my sights on the 14 people in front of me. Of those 14, 4 people are only running the 5K road race. So I am actually in 11th.
I fly through the transition and do a quick head count. Damn it! No one is in before me and out after me. In the first mile of the bike I pass one. I start to flirt with the idea that I might have a chance for a top ten finish. Mile 5, just passed an Ironman racer. I immediatly start to think, am I going to hard? Either way, I am now in the 9th place!
Mile 6 - Hit route 1-a (coastal road) and a wall of a head wind. It felt like there was an elastic band tied to my bike. The harder I pushed the more I stretched. Same conditions for everyone, so gotta go hard. I know my strength right now is on the bike, so I have to pour it out. I clench my teeth and push harder.
At mile 13 I see two more riders, they continue to get closer and closer. My hamstrings are screaming. My left butt cheek feels like I have a knife in it. I pass the first guy and use the emotional boost to catch the other guy. I am now in the seventh place and I see another rider.
All of a sudden I get passed by two guys!! Where the hell did they come from?? A little fustrating, but I am now in 9th place. I take a quick look behind and I don't see anyone. The rider in front of me that I have been watching, also gets taken out. Only two miles left and I can't catch him.
I cruise into the transition area and I already have my feet out of the shoes. I fly in, drop the bike off and start running. My legs feel like concrete.
Out of now where I get passed by two more guys. My friggin hamstring is screaming and I am fustrated. So I push harder and end up catching one of the two guys who got me on the bike. In my head I think I am in 10th place, when in actuality I am in 9th.
I want to be in the top ten, not tenth so I push harder and start to close on another racer. It is the other guy who passed me on the bike!
I get about 10 feet from him and pace off him for a mile or so. I think I wore him down mentally. He looked backed several times, slowed slightly and then I knew I had him. I wasn't doing it completely on purpose, but I didn't want to push to hard and pass early, just to have him return the favor at the finish line. As I passed him, we had a friendly chat and we wished each other a good run. What an amazing sport!
The last mile was a steady pace in. I knew I couldn't catch the guy in front of me and I had built a cushion for myself from any attackers.
Kind of funny side story - There were some people heading in from the bike as I was finishing. I was asked by a gentleman with a look of astonishment, "are you actually finishing this thing?" I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He returned the smile and just shook his head.
I finished in 8th place and really proud. The training is definetly paying off.
On Friday night, I had a beer and a glass of wine with my dinner. Not the best prerace meal. I started to watch the Celtics and ended up watching the whole game. Take a look at the clock, midnight. Perfect, race in 6 hours!
I woke up at 5am and took care of Wonder Dog. He was a good boy, so that made it easy.
I threw on the back pack and rode to the course. I grabbed a good spot in the transition area and then went for a run to wake up the legs. On the warm up, I was a little sluggish and my stomach was noisey.
Race start - I do not want to sound like a jerk, but people need to be more considerate to those who are faster then them. I am roughly 50 people from the front and there is no way some of these people should be even close to the front. It is a narrow start shoot, without a lot of room to go around people. The gun goes off and people who run 9 minute miles are saying to each other, this is way to fast of a start. My point exactly! Move back to where the people who run 9 minute miles are. I know this sounds cocky, but I would never go to the front of a open water swim race and slow others down.
So, I go way to the outside and pass around 30 people in the first minute. My heart is jacked and I am running hard. Five more people drop behind me and I am now in the lead pack. We quickly break a way from the herd and fly down the road. This is the first time I have ever taken off in the lead pack. I usually stay in the front of the large group, but this is an awsome experience! It was so cool to be running behind the lead police car. I couldn't help thinking one of these guys is going to win and I am running with him!
We rip through the first 3.2 and I have my sights on the 14 people in front of me. Of those 14, 4 people are only running the 5K road race. So I am actually in 11th.
I fly through the transition and do a quick head count. Damn it! No one is in before me and out after me. In the first mile of the bike I pass one. I start to flirt with the idea that I might have a chance for a top ten finish. Mile 5, just passed an Ironman racer. I immediatly start to think, am I going to hard? Either way, I am now in the 9th place!
Mile 6 - Hit route 1-a (coastal road) and a wall of a head wind. It felt like there was an elastic band tied to my bike. The harder I pushed the more I stretched. Same conditions for everyone, so gotta go hard. I know my strength right now is on the bike, so I have to pour it out. I clench my teeth and push harder.
At mile 13 I see two more riders, they continue to get closer and closer. My hamstrings are screaming. My left butt cheek feels like I have a knife in it. I pass the first guy and use the emotional boost to catch the other guy. I am now in the seventh place and I see another rider.
All of a sudden I get passed by two guys!! Where the hell did they come from?? A little fustrating, but I am now in 9th place. I take a quick look behind and I don't see anyone. The rider in front of me that I have been watching, also gets taken out. Only two miles left and I can't catch him.
I cruise into the transition area and I already have my feet out of the shoes. I fly in, drop the bike off and start running. My legs feel like concrete.
Out of now where I get passed by two more guys. My friggin hamstring is screaming and I am fustrated. So I push harder and end up catching one of the two guys who got me on the bike. In my head I think I am in 10th place, when in actuality I am in 9th.
I want to be in the top ten, not tenth so I push harder and start to close on another racer. It is the other guy who passed me on the bike!
I get about 10 feet from him and pace off him for a mile or so. I think I wore him down mentally. He looked backed several times, slowed slightly and then I knew I had him. I wasn't doing it completely on purpose, but I didn't want to push to hard and pass early, just to have him return the favor at the finish line. As I passed him, we had a friendly chat and we wished each other a good run. What an amazing sport!
The last mile was a steady pace in. I knew I couldn't catch the guy in front of me and I had built a cushion for myself from any attackers.
Kind of funny side story - There were some people heading in from the bike as I was finishing. I was asked by a gentleman with a look of astonishment, "are you actually finishing this thing?" I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He returned the smile and just shook his head.
I finished in 8th place and really proud. The training is definetly paying off.
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