RR: NJ State Triathlon - Sprint

I did my second race of the year this past weekend....the NJ State Triathlon - Sprint.  This race is special in that it was the first triathlon I ever did back in 2006.  That first year I had no idea what the heck I was doing, I walked into Transition without a clue as to what I should be doing.  I was on a newly acquired Cannondale road bike that was a size too small for me and had the shifters on the frame.  The swim was a nightmare, I thought I was going to drown.  I swore I would never do another triathlon.

My oldest daughter crossing the finish line...the day before the race.

So, here I was back from my seventh year at the NJ State Triathlon (six at the Sprint Distance, one at the Olympic Distance), I guess I ended up liking this triathlon thing.  As always it was an early morning, up and out of the house by 5:00AM.  The weather was predicted to be absolutely perfect, cool and sunny.  I arrived at the race site just after transitioned opened and of course there were already six guys on my rack....ugh, what time did they get there?  Any how, got everything set up and putzed around until the swim.

Swim (500m) - 11:04 (253/1136)
The gun sounded for my age group (fourth heat to go off) and I felt great.  I got myself into a good spot, very little contact, and swam a straight line.  I was psyched to see some of the swim caps from the group ahead of me, I was actually swimming well.  Not much to really say other than I was very consistent and steady for the entire swim.  I emerged from the water feeling good, ran the 100yds or so to the timing mat and entered T1

T1 - 1:08 (52/1136)I didn't dally here too long, glasses and helmet on and out I went.

Bike (11.5 miles) - 30:52 - 22.4 MPH (77/1136)
I felt very solid on the bike for the most part.  I am still a bit away from good cycling fitness, but overall my legs felt pretty good and I think I was only passed by two people the entire ride and I was able to pass a ton of folks.  My legs tired a little bit around the final mile or so, but nothing to worry about.  The one thing that I forgot to do was drop to an easy gear and spin my legs out prior to dismount line.  This definitely would have helped my run I think.  Once dismounted, I had a good 200yd run to T2.

T2 - 1:16 (92/1136)
Good transition, hesitated for a minute as to how I should rack my bike (idiot!!!).  Regardless, there was only one other bike on the rack which was a good sign.

Run (3.1 miles) - 24:38 - 7:57 (290/1136)
Ugh, at what point in time did running become my weakness?  This is embarrassing!!!  I can't believe that I couldn't get my legs going any faster than they were.  I tried to run fast but it just wasn't happening.  It didn't help that my Garmin lost its signal 1.5 miles in so I had no clue as to the pace I was running.  I trudged along, trying to run hard and smooth, just to finish it up.  Around 1/2 mile from the finish a pack of four guys from my age group passed me and I had no answer for them (pathetic).  I managed to keep my head up and finish with a smile on my face and my head held high.

Final - 1:08:58 (112/1136)
All in all I was happy with the result and my time.  I did the best I could and I really know what I have to work on now (at least it was proven).  I haven't been running a lot and when I have it was been pretty slowly.  I have to start doing some speed work and get faster.  My bike was significantly improved from my last race which made me happy and my swim was solid.  In fact, all of my time were faster (sans run) than when I last did it in 2010 when I placed 3rd in my age group.  Granted the weather was horrible, temps in the upper 90s at 8:00AM, but still I was in the midst of Ironman training back then. 

Not a lot of time until my next race....this Saturday, Born to Tri in Asbury Park, NJ.

The New Wheels

Here is a picture of my bike with the new wheels....I love them!!!

RR: LavaLove Triathlon

Saturday morning was my first triathlon of the year, the newly renamed LavaLove Triathlon; actually it was my first race of any kind since August 7, 2011.  I really like this race for multiple reasons, first it is in the town where I spent every summer as a kid (and my 'rents live there now), it has only about 300 participants,  and it is flat as a pancake.  I made the trek down on Friday night and managed to fall asleep around 9:30PM which was awesome!

Excuses:  My training over the past year and a half has been less than stellar and it is especially true for the past two months.  Family, work and miscellaneous things have made free time scarce, thus my running/biking has taken a major hit.  Those will be the last excuses I will throw out there. 

Swim - .4 miles - 11:11 (Overall 80/284, AG 5/22)
It was  a beautiful day, air temp was around 65F, blue skies, and a great atmosphere in transition.  The water was pretty warm for early June, around 71F, but still meant I was wearing a wetsuit.  After treading water for about five minutes or so the gun sounded and we were off.  For some stupid reason I positioned my self right in the gnarliest place you can be for the start of a swim, inside front row.  Ugh, I didn't mean to be there, but that is where I ended up.  Regardless, I got the crap kicked out of me for the first 200m.  After the typical mid-swim thoughts of just quitting, I decided to just finish the swim and get on the bike.  So I tried to streamline a bit and made my way for shore.  All in all, not a bad swim for me, I finished in the top 30% of all finishers which is great for me.

T1 - 1:29
My transition could have been faster, but then again I had to strip off my wetsuit.

Bike - 13 miles - 37:42 (19.9 MPH) (Overall  48/284,  AG 6/22)
Oh boy, I did not have a very good ride, and this despite my brand new wheels!!!  With that said, I could have been riding the most aerodynamic bike, with the lightest components, with an aero helmet and a rear disc wheel and it wouldn't have helped all that much.  When you don't ride a bike more than once every ten days, you just aren't going to be fast.  I did my best with the fitness that I had, I passed a bunch of people, was passed by a couple and managed to not exhaust myself in the process.

T2 - :46
A very good transition for me, could have shaved off maybe 10 seconds if I really had to....I will next time.

Run - 3.8 miles - 30:45 (8:06/mile) (Overall 85/284, AG 4/22)
This is the one time that absolutely killed me....over 8 minute miles on the run portion for a sprint triathon is horrible.  It didn't help that my Garmin died about 100 yards in to the run, thus I was running blind.  I managed to hook up with a guy around mile two who helped pace me for a little bit, but he pulled away from me and I couldn't catch him.  I did the best I could and realized that I need to get out running at least four days a week from now on.  With regard to the race, with about 200 yards to the finish I was about to be passed and I decided that I wasn't going to do down like that, so I picked up the pace and beat the guy by about three seconds, preserving my 58th place finish.

Post-Race - 1:21:56 (Overall 58/284, AG 5/22)

I finished right around where I expected to; my run and bike need vast improvements.  Provided I can make the time to run four days a week and bike three/four days a week, I should see improvements pretty quickly.  Next race is the NJ State Triathlon on July 22nd and then after that I may be doing the Born to Tri on July 29th.

Catching Up

The past three weeks have been going pretty well from a training stand point.  I have managed to up my running mileage up every week, I have been in the pool at least three days a week for 1,500 - 2,000m a session and I have gotten on the bike a few times as well (not nearly enough though).  I was able to put in my best run of the year in when I was on a business trip in Erie, PA...6.6 miles at 8:03/mile pace.  Actually, I was able to get in a lot of training (running) on that trip which was nice.

** Lake Erie behind me **

** Looking at the Pittsburgh skyline **

What else is going on....hmmmm, oh yeah, I finally purchased a new set of race wheels!!!!  Profile Design Altair Full Carbon Clinchers 80 - ....and as a part of a promotion received a Profile Design Altair Full Carbon Clincher 52 Front Wheel as well.  I couldn't pass them up, the deal was too good, in fact if anyone out there is looking for a good deal on wheels or other bike "stuff", go to Bicycle Doctor USA, very reliable and trustworthy guys!

 I am still waiting on my tires to arrive from France (Continental Grand Prix 4000s), the cheapest place I could find them.  As soon as I have the tires I will taking them out for a spin....I am very excited.

Oh, I haven't heard anything on the London job yet.  I have been told to sit tight and not dwell on it too much.  I have a feeling that it just isn't going to happen, but I am still holding out hope that I will get another interview and hopefully a job offer.

Lastly, I have my first race of the season on Saturday, June 9th and I am not in any shape to do especially well.  I am going to use that as motivation to get my sorry ass in shape for the rest of the summer.  I am hoping to drop about 5 - 10 pounds before race day in hopes of making me slightly faster....we'll see.

That's it for now.  Cheers!

Broad Street & Soccer

It was Friday night when my wife and I realized that Sunday was going to be very chaotic.  Why it took us until Friday is beyond me.  I spend about two hours picking up my race BIB for the Broad Street Run (along with a friend of ours), and was eager at the chance to finally take part in a race, my first one since last July. 

When I got home that evening it finally sunk in, there was no way that I was going to be able to do it, the race that is.  There was not way I could expect my wife to run my two oldest daughters all over the place with an infant in tow.  Frankly, I was being uber-selfish to expect her to do so.  here is what our Sunday looked like:

• 5:00AM - Leave for Broad Street Run
• 8:30AM - Broad Street Run
• 9:30AM - DD1 - Church Play
• 9:40AM - DD2 - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 1:00PM - DD1 - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 2:10PM - Me - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 3:00PM - DD2 - Soccer Game
• 5:00PM - Me - Soccer Game

 It was pretty evident that something had to give and it was me that had to not be selfish (with some rationalization from my wife).  I decided to give my BIB to our friends husband so that it wouldn't go unused.  All in all I was bummed, nothing more.

So, without the Broad Street Run to do, I was given permission to play soccer, filling in for some missing guys on a friends team.  Wow, they were bad (not that I played especially well).  It was a an Over-40 League game and our guys played like a bunch of 50/60 year olds.  I think the final score was 7 - 2 or thereabouts.   I managed to play a part in both goals, assisting on the first and scoring the second.  I should have had two more, but hit them over the bar by about a foot or two, power over placement rarely wins.  Regardless of the unfavorable outcome, it was great fun getting to kick the ball around.

Big week this week, hopefully I will hear some news on the interview I had last week (fingers crossed), I plan on purchasing my wheelset (got a great deal), and kicking up training a bit as well.

Cheers!

Tricky Thursday

Whew, what a topsy-turvy week I have had.  Between family, work, training and miscellaneous, I am emotionally spent.  I probably shouldn't be writing in my blog today because I am so busy, but I have to rid myself of some of my thoughts to simply clear my head.  So here's what's going on:

U10 Girls Travel Soccer Try-Outs - My oldest daughter had travel soccer try-outs last week and we found out just two days ago that she was going to be moved from the "A" team down to the "B" team starting in the Fall season.  Initially I was really angry that someone thought my daughter wasn't good enough for that team, then I thought about it and it made sense.  Without going into all of the drama that surrounded our past year of soccer, this is a good thing and I think my daughter will be better for the move.

Training - I have had a good week thus far, I am seeing a bit of a return to my old form.  Tuesday I got up early to go for a swim only to be stopped about 150m into it with an order to evacuate the pool b/c of lightning.  DAMN!  That ended my early morning work out.  My afternoon was pretty clear so after my meeings I went for an afternoon run in the warm/humid weather and absolute sucked ass.  I think I ran 5 miles in 45 minutes, I was miserable, hot, thirsty and depressed.  Wednesday was another story; I opted to skip the swimming and get a good nights sleep and fit in an evening run.  While waiting for my girls to finish up dance class I went for a pretty hill 4.75 mile run and low and behold managed to maintain a 8:15/mile average pace.  I couldn't have been happier.  Today I was up early and hit the pool for what ended up being a 1,900m swim (300m w/u; 4x100m drills; 5x200m @20sec; 200m c/d).  I wasn't fast or feel especially good, but I did feel like I accomplished something.  I am planning on running again tonight before going to dance rehearsal (Daddy Dance for my girls dance school recital).

Work - Hmmm, work has been challenging lately to say the least .  Frustration has definitely become a word I have become more and more familiar with over the past couple of weeks.  So, as I mentioned in a post back on April 23rd, I applied for a couple internal jobs in hopes that I might get an interview for the local one and dreamed about the possibility of getting a call back on the London one.  Well, about a week ago I received an email from our United Kingdom office requesting an interview and yesterday I had that interview (by phone).  I think it went well and hope to move on to the next round.  This has led to more than a few talks with my wife about living the ex-pat life and the positives and negatives, and ultimately deciding that if I am offered the position, I will take it and the family will be moving to England.

Miscellaneous - Everything else is going well.  My 6 years old is playing soccer and I think likes it (I coach her team).  We are not a strong team, but the girls all seem to really enjoy it which is key.  My six month old daughter is awesome, eats well, sleeps great and smiles all the time.  We are so lucky!  I think she is going to be the biggest of my girls; she is topping out in the 75th - 90th percentile for height and weight.  I love it!

I think that is it for now.  Broad Street is Sunday, I think I am ready; I have to sign up for some races soon; I am on the verge of getting a new pair of race wheels; and my Garmin should be order soon.  Whew....now back to work.

Monday, the Wrap Up

I am going to work on posting once a week at a minimum in hopes that drives me to be accountable to train more frequently (all three disciplines).  So, how did this past week go?  Not bad, not great, but not bad.  I managed to get out and run three days and swim three days.  Also, I did a tremendous amount of yard work which counts for something.

• Monday - Nothing, rested
• Tuesday - Swimming - 1,500m
• Wednesday - Running - 4 miles....very slowly, except for the 3/4 mile on the track, sub 8 min/miles
• Thursday - Swimming - 1,800m
• Friday - Running - 4.5 miles - a bit faster, 1/2 mile on track at 7:50/mile pace
• Saturday - Visit to my 'rents, they hadn't seen the girls in two months (soccer in the AM, no time to run/bike)
• Sunday - Running 7 miles - I felt really good and am ready (or at least as ready as I will ever be) for the Broad Street Run (10 miles).  After my run, I had to spread 5 cubic yards of mulch, cut the lawn, and then it was out the door to coach my 6 year old daughters soccer game (and watch my 9 year olds game as well).

It was a long week and I'm still trying to get back into the training groove.  I really need to put my bike back on my trainer and just get on it a few days a week.  I haven't had time to get outside and ride the past few weeks, so that means I better get on the trainer and pound out some minutes in my basement.

I am going to sign up for a few triathlons in the next week or so (LavaLove in early June and NJ State Triathlon in late July....both Sprint Distance) and then have to find a few more races for August and September.  I am thinking half-iron distance in September with the possibility of  doing Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains.  It is important that I sign up (AND pay) soon so that I will have to get a training plan in place that I will have to follow.  I miss being 190 lbs and fast, it is no fun being 200lbs and blah.

Have a great week everyone!