Official Tri Photos!

In seeing that Brandon's been the good one in updating (and i've been totally bad about it), I realized I forgot to do a post with our official race photos! So, without further ado, here they are.

Thanks in advance to FotoJack, whom I ... um ... jacked these from.


Brandon on the bike. Look! He's happy!

Brandon on the run, looking like he's in some pain but still pushing. I'm not entirely sure where on the run this was taken, actually ...

He picked it up again it seems, just looking determined.

Me, on my way to the water.

Booking it around the corner to the finish line. As I believe I mentioned in my recap post, I started my kick a smidge too early and therefore apparently had to defy gravity going around the corner, praying I didn't fall over.

This picture could also be proof of a hockey background coming useful in a triathlon/road race, as I look marginally like I could be skating. Or did the first time I saw this picture. Either way.

Right before I crossed the finish line. This picture is almost comical. It shows my kick, but it also looks like I'm posed, ready to run as my back foot is still on the ground. Eh, I'm amused.

This last picture is courtesy Brandon/our friend Mark, as boyfriend didn't see fit to post the pic of me actually crossing the finish line. Meaniebutt.

This is me doing my best Steve in a Speedo one-legged pirate impression while crossing the finish line. Too bad I didn't have a watch to check.

If you HAVE Facebook and are friends with either myself and/or Brandon, I believe you should be able to click through and see the picture there. If not, come stalk us (or, at least me)! I like new friends. :)

Why do we do it?

It finally came up. Someone finally asked me why. Why I do what I do? Workout. Push myself. Run. Why do I force my body to do things it doesn't want to do?

I'm flying with a captain this month who I am not exactly having fun with, for a variety of reasons (ask T, she's met him) and the other day, out of the blue, asked me why I did the triathlon. I explained to him that I wanted to see if I could do it. He asked me why did it matter? I told him that I like pushing my body to find out what its limits are. He said he's tired of people all bragging about they do this, they do that and wonders why anyone would push themselves that much. I said because obviously we're very different people.

I'm sure some of you know why I wanted to do the tri, but some probably don't. There's actually a variety of reasons. The main one is that I had a lot of demons to push away. I had the "fat" demons that were following me for so many years and when I crossed the finish line, they vanished. I'm not kidding. The weight lifted off my shoulders was unreal (girlfriend even said so). But also, I found out that I can push my body to a new height. I have discovered something that I want to pursue!

So, my question to all of you out there is, why? Why do you push yourselves? Why are you slaves to your gyms? Or the road? Or your bikes? Why?

Is pushing your body the new way to be cool?

What, I can't come up with a pondering post once in awhile that isn't about me?

7-8 years ago, when I was morphing myself from a muscular football and hockey player into a beer drinking and cake eating tub, running/triathlons/any hard form of exercise seemed so far off the map. I would scoff at the idea of ever running a marathon. A triathlon? You gotta be crazy. And 7-8 years ago, I knew maybe one guy that was into marathons. Sure, every now and then we all might go out and run two miles or something in college, but that's about it.

Fast forward to today. I am now a triathlete and consistent runner. My girlfriend is also a triathlete (thrice) and into running and cycling. And it seems every time I'm on Facebook, someone's status update involves them going for a 20 mile run. Or they are doing a triathlon today. Or they have pictures from the latest race they did. My question to everyone is this: is pushing yourself and testing the limits of your body the new cool thing to do?

Take my 3 best friends in college. We all had our own abilities and athletic prowess. Me for example, I was the strongest and best at football and hockey. My buddy Tim was a baseball player. Great at it. My buddy Eric, for how bony he was/is, was a tennis player, skier, and hockey player. Steve was a skier and distance runner/triathlete. Today, Eric is now a marathon runner, my buddy Tim completed a half-marathon yesterday and is slated to do Twin Cities in October, and I have my first triathlon under my belt, plus many 5K's and a 10K.

Here is what I have observed: marathon runners, triathletes, and the like are still held in high and crazy regard by the public. The majority of people out there have not done any sort of race. We as athletes probably notice more because that's who we associate with. Now, I have observed some people (especially females) who train for 3 weeks in a year, do a triathlon once, and call themselves triathletes. I personally don't like that or care for it. You shouldn't do these events because they are cool and hip and allow you to hold yourself in high regard. No, you should do these events for a reason. Whether that reason be for charity, helping others reach their fitness goals (Steve in a Speedo) or because you are passionate and like pushing the limits of your body.

Running and triathlons may be hip, but make sure you're doing them for the right reasons.

Race #4 of the Season: My Way or the Tri Way

So. I posted my times in my preview post and I'll put them in again here in the sections.

Anyway, here is my post for my third triathlon - My Way or the Tri Way. If you recall from last year, I was so despondent after my tri that I didn't even want to post. Well, this year's post is a lot more upbeat than last year. So that's good.

Pre-Race

We woke up early Saturday morning, only needing to get dressed and eat breakfast ... as we were smart and packed up the Rav the night before. So, we got dressed and made some scrambled eggs and ham with toast. We left a few minutes later than we wanted, but we still made it to transition just after it opened - right after 6am.

We got there and unloaded the bikes.



We put the front tires back on and made sure we were all full of air and ready to go. Once we had tires all full of air, we grabbed spots in transition.



After making sure we had spots next to each other, it was time to get body marked. In honor of fellow blogger Steve in a Speedo, I got a smiley face on my calf (which, weirdly enough, is the last part of my body marking to fade).



Once marked, it was time to get transition officially officially set up.


My spot all set up ... except for my run shorts which I was still wearing.


Our buddy Mark who came along to take pictures.

After we made sure our transition area was all set up, we went to test out the water as our open-water at Aurora Reservoir the week prior was COLD. 7.18.2009 - water temp about 68 degrees. 7.25.2009 - water temp in the mid-70s. So glad for that.


Brandon happy the water is warm. Photo is backlit, but I actually like it that way.


The soon to be triathlete couple!

Satisfied that the water would be a lot warmer than it was, we headed back up to transition. We both had sand on our feet and we couldn't find showers ... and I didn't want to use our water bucket just quite yet ... so I went for the unconventional (but fun!) method - the sprinklers.



From then, it was time to start prepping and stretching.


Brandon stretching me out.

Soon enough, though, it was time to start.

The Swim

At 8:07, seven minutes after Brandon started his first-ever triathlon, and after talking with some other women in the group, the women started their first leg of the race. I ran down the 150 yards or so down to the water ... which was a bad idea as it hurt me for the first part of the swim. Due to that small sprint, my breathing got elevated to the point where it was extremely difficult to get into a good rhythm. So difficult, in fact, that I swam most of the way to the first buoy with my head above water. Yeah. I also had to stop at one of the kayaks to clear out my goggles ... as my first attempt to do so while bobbing in the water trying to keep myself afloat didn't work out so well.

After I got my goggles cleaned out (well, mostly), my breathing got back into normal enough to get into a good groove in the water. By the time I hit the turn around, I felt great and was swimming well. I kept swimming even as I saw other people getting out of the water (and pretty sure i peed with about 100m to go) but waited until I got fairly close to the shore.

I mostly ran up the hill back to transition - total leg time (sprints and 750m swim): 24:07.

T1

This race was awesome in that there was only 550 participants so the transition area was pretty small. When we set up, we decided we'd rather be closer to the bike in/out. So, I rinsed off my feet (someone loved my water bucket), put on my cycling stuff, fished a glove out of said water bucket and trotted back out to the bike course. Total time in transition: 3:10.

The Bike

I'm glad Brandon and I rode at least part of this course a week ago as we knew what the first two miles and the last two miles of the 14 mile course would be.

The powers that be described the course as "rolling" ... which I'm convinced would be "hilly" most anywhere else in the country. I didn't get passed too often on the course and in fact, passed quite a few people - mostly on the uphills (which i'm so proud of). I didn't have too many issues on the first half of the ride ... except with the stupid cardboard race number I attached to the frame that kept trying to fly off and annoy me. I finally got that figured out, though.

My cyclometer was spazzing on the ride (although, in hind sight, i probably should have just cleared it out again and it would have worked), so I couldn't notice anything but cadence. My mph for the entire ride? 0.0.

Okay, not really, but it was nice to just have to pay attention to cadence and not be dispirited with my slow-ass speeds on the uphills.

I kept waiting to see Brandon on the bike and just as the turnaround was coming into view, I saw him. I yelled "SUSHI POWER!" at him in reference to the delicious dinner we had the night before and what our sushi chef jokingly said. He yelled something back and I kept on going.

Only about three people passed me on the second half of the bike course - one I don't remember, one was someone I had already passed and the other was when I was fiddling with my damn race number again and took a swallow of diluted Gatorade. My calves were starting to ache a little and I started going a tad numb, but I pushed it through, thanking course volunteers as I could.

I eventually rolled back into the transition area. Total leg time: 54:57.

T2

As I trotted my bike back into transition, I saw Brandon heading out for the run, so I naturally yelled at him. He waved and ran out while I got ready for my run. I changed shoes, tossed on my BU shorts, changed shirts, took the 30 seconds to put my hair clips in and I was off. Total time: 2:20.

The Run

I jogged out of transition and started the run ... though I had to stop very soon after to stretch out my calves which were cramping ridiculously. After getting them to the point where they weren't ouchy, I started running again. The run course, much like the bike course, was Colorado "rolling." I walked quite a bit within the first mile as well as saw a snake (probably a rattlesnake) and passed one or two people.

Soon after starting the second mile and right before I hit the water station, I saw Brandon not too far in front of me. However, I was still running/walking. I walked three total times in mile two - once was at the water station to get some water (damn sun finally came out) and the other times were on some killer uphills.

Fairly soon after I passed the second mile marker and started on the last 1.5 miles of the race, I started seeing Brandon in front of me. And he stayed in his sights in front of me until probably the last half mile of the race when I finally caught up to him. We stayed together for most of the end of the run until I finally took off (a stark contrast to our other races this season when he's left ME in the dust). Total leg time: 37:41.

T3

Yes, because this race was "My Way or the Tri Way" with people doing the disciplines in whatever order they so desired, we had a T3 which took us back into transition and down another 200 yards or so to the finish. I ran through transition, confused on why this one guy right near Brandon and I just walked and continued on down toward the actual finish line.

I waited to kick due to a few curves and pedestrians crossing the course, but I finally did ... with one killer curve left where I almost biffed it. Still, I blew through the finish line for a total leg time of 1:26 and a tri time of 2:03:38.

Our buddy Mark got a picture of me crossing that is similar to Steve in a Speedo's "one-legged pirate" shots, but only Brandon has a copy of that one. Boo. FotoJack got some good shots of my kick, but those are for tomorrow.

When I finished, I grabbed my shirt and immediately started looking for Brandon because I knew he'd be finishing right behind me. He crossed the finish line, dove into my arms and almost collapsed from the joy, exhaustion and exhiliration. I know that training for, doing and completing this race meant so much to him and I was so ridiculously proud of him when he crossed that finish line. Honey, I love you and I am SO PROUD OF YOU. Even now, three days later. SO PROUD.

Et Cetera

I'm glad this tri went well especially considering my training this year has been a struggle. Cycling has been crappy. My running has been downright awful. Swimming had been the only good thing for me. Somehow, though, everything came together. This was my fastest ride I've done all year which was AMAZING. The run was about average and the swim was slower (open water, goggle issues, etc.), but I don't care. I'm just happy I was happy after this race.

I think the key is for me to not care and just go into the race with an "eh, whatever, this is going to be fun!" attitude ... which is weird for me to have as an athlete and as a competitor. I am a competitive person ... who performs best when she's chilled out. Finally figured it out for hockey and I guess triathlon's going to be the same way. That's probably the reason why last year's race went so poorly - I had so many goals and aspirations and expectations that I set myself up to fail.

This year, I say "screw it" to all of that and I bust out a time that's sure, a few minutes slower than last year, but on an overall longer course. Mentally, I go to another place during competition and I think it helps.

Next year? Hopefully an Olympic. I know I'm mentally ready, but physically will still be the question. And for sure ... Ironman by 40. I've got 14 years - I'll do it.

Here it is...Brandon's triathlon recap!

Indicated in the teaser post yesterday, I have completed a triathlon! I am as shocked as anyone, but yes, it is done. I have a couple different options of filling you all in on how it went. I was thinking of starting at the end and working my way backwards, but instead, I'll start at the very beginning and post my final times at the end. The only thing I'll tell you is my girlfriend is still superior to me in the athletic department. :-)

The Pre-Race

Woke up and got ready to head out to the res. We were slightly held up by breakfast as it took longer to cook than I would have liked, but regardless, we got there just after 6 and were there in plenty of time. We took our bikes out of the car and got them put together.

After we got the bikes assembled, we grabbed all our race gear and headed to transition. We found a great spot in transition. Closer to the bike entrance and exit in the middle row. We racked our bikes up (these were standard bike racks, FYI) and laid out our transition area.


We had a surprising amount of room in the transition area. I guess that is what happens when you have a race of only 550 athletes. Believe me, I'm not complaining though. :-) After that, we got body marked and loosened up. Theresa dedicated one of her calves to Mr. Steve in a Speedo, so I hope he's happy. :-p By this time, transition was getting busier so we decided to go test the lake temperature. Keep in mind, this was the same lake we swam in last week and it was a balmy 68 degrees! This week, we walked in and the lake was surprisingly warm. Thank you Jesus for 90 degree days last week! We posed for a picture or two then headed back up to transition.

Naturally, our feet were nasty from the sand walking back up. Me, I just went to the public bathroom and rinsed them off in the sink. Girlfriend, however, took the less conventional (and let's face it, more fun way) to rinse off her feet...in the sprinkler!


Then came time to stretch. I had this vision of me doing a ton of crazy-ass stretches for like an hour, but I really didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Just got a good warm-up in and stretched the muscles out.

After the stretching, we heard the pre-race briefing. Then came time to line up for the start. I started the race promptly at 8:00 am, and girlfriend started the race at 8:07 am. She and I discussed how I would be waiting for her at the end of the race, and also did a tiny bit of goading each other. She reminded me that if she came in 7 minutes behind me, she would beat my time. I tried to use this as a tiny bit of motivation, but whatever.

The Race

The Swim

Then came the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown and we were off! I was doing it! First, had to run 150 meters down to the water. The reason they did this is because the My Way or the Tri Way allows competitors to do the race in any order they want. To make things fair, they had a mass start. I jogged down to the water but as I got closer to it, I just walked. I figured I was really in no hurry to get the swim done. Cause really, let's face it. I'm not winning the triathlon on the swim leg. I walked into the water and walked until it was about chest deep, then dove on in and started swimming. I reminded myself over and over that I was doing a triathlon and was just so proud. I got into a nice groove and was swimming wonderfully until about 250 meters in. Then I hit a wall. My left calf cramped up badly. My breathing suddenly struggled. I needed to switch to sidestroke, which I was really bummed out about, but at the very least, it kept me relatively calm and my head above water. When I hit the turn-around, there was something very uplifting about it. Maybe it's the fact I could see the shore, or maybe it was that I knew the swim was 1/2 over. Regardless, I put my head back in the water and kept moving. Unfortunately, that didn't last too long. I had to keep my head above water for nearly the entire 2nd half of the swim. I knew I was losing time, but at that point, my only concern was getting back to the beach. Finally, I was able to stand and walk out of the water. I saw our friend taking pictures and that motivated me to start jogging. I walked/jogged up to transition and got into my cycling gear. I was really glad I practiced transition, as my first transition went very very smooth. Then I was off on the next leg.

The Bike

Ok, so by now, as you're probably guessing, my spirits were pretty low after the swim. You would be somewhat right. I was kind of sad that what I thought would be my strongest leg was definitely weak, but I was also upspirited in that I knew I had two legs to go and had plenty of opportunity to play catch up. Literally, within .25 miles of the bike, I was already in a great mood. And my legs, although a little sore, were feeling fine otherwise. And here's something that not only surprised me, but felt amazingly motivating: I was passing people! Here I was, getting my ass kicked in the water, and yet I was rising up on the bike, passing these same people that blew by me in the water.

When I made the turn out onto Quincy Avenue, I knew I was going to have a good ride. I had an attitude that was going to allow me to have a good ride. I was looking at the hills instead of daunting as opportunities to catch people. Now for those of you that have read our blog, you know that I am not that strong on the uphills, but on the downhills, I can power by people. This is what happened. On the way to the turn around point, I would estimate there were 6 uphills and 2 downhills. As you can guess, I did get passed on some uphills, but I was also passing people. You know how good that feels? The sport you feel is the weakest of the three and you are kicking ass at it?

At the turnaround point, I popped a Clif Shot Block and pedaled hard. At this point, I had kept my cadence the whole way and was quite frankly damn proud of myself. I kicked it hard and off I was going. I saw girlfriend on the ride for the first time. I believe she yelled Team Baby Dinosaur and Sushi Power as I was going by. I yelled Sushi Power and pedaled hard. During the ride, I also made a friend. A dude on a mountain bike was trading places with me quite a bit. We chatted for a bit, and I told him I hoped to see him on the run. As I turned into the entrance for the reservoir, I blew by him and said I'll see him at the finish line. To be honest, I never saw him again. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure he finished.

Came into transition and realized there was only 3.5 miles to me becoming a triathlete.

The Run

I was smiling at this point. I probably had been for the majority of the ride, but this was the first time I noticed. I knew I was going to finish. I knew I had made up time. And I was so happy. I put on my running shoes and was off. As I was running out of transition, I heard someone yell BRANDON and looked behind me. There was girlfriend coming into transition. She had nearly caught me. I knew at this point that she was going to beat me. Did I care? Not 1%. I kid you not. Not 1%. I was only racing myself.

I ran out of transition. I thought this was very important, cause I figured if I walked, I would have a hard time getting started. My legs felt weird, but I knew what to expect thanks to practice and whatnot.

When you run during a triathlon, it's surprising how little you think. You just basically keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep plodding along. The only thing I was thinking was how much I hated that course. It was hilly, and the turns and twists basically made it so you could see your competition well ahead of you as well as what was behind you. Not a fan of that. It did let me see that girlfriend was catching up to me. Around 1 mile left to go in the run, I knew she was going to pass me. I was happy this was going to occur, because I wanted her to succeed in the tri so bad.

She caught me with about .3 miles left and after a brief exchange, I told her to run ahead of me. She did, and I was so proud. And at that time, I was proud of myself too. I knew I was going to finish. I knew I was about to become Brandon Geist the triathlete.

So, this T3 explanation. As I said, the mass start had to ensure that everyone had it fair, so to get to the finish line, you had to cut through T3 to get to the finish line. I ran through T3 with people cheering for me. I was so close! I turned down the ramp to the finish line and a guy that had already finished gave me a high-five. I had this vision of me rolling across the finish line or kissing the ground, but I just wanted to cross. I stepped on the mat and instantly the demons that had followed me my whole life disappeared. The former 208 pound kid, with 22% body fat had become a triathlete. The kid that at one point couldn't run 1/4 miles without getting tired had conquered the triathlon. I had crossed the finish line!

I saw girlfriend wating for me and collapsed in her arms. And a prediction came true. I started crying. I sobbed in her arms and just took in what I had finished. It was an amazing feeling. I was so proud of her and myself for what we had accomplished. We had done it!

More reflection will come in a couple days, on what I could have improved on and what I did right. But for now, I don't care. I just did it. I am now a triathlete.

Overall, my times were as follows:

Swim - 27:04
T1 - 2:29
Bike - 58:19
T2 - 1:39
Run - 39:49
T3 - 1:38

Total time of 2:10:56

And now, I leave you some song lyrics. This is called Infinity by Guru Josh Project. This song has become my unofficial "triathlon song".

Relax
Take your time

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

The time goes by
So naturally
While you'll receive
Infinity

Here's my key
Philosophy
A freak like me
Just needs infinity

Brandon has done a triathlon!

That's right. Read it. Take it in. The former fat kid actually is now a triathlete. I'm as shocked as you are right now, and it's going to take some time to soak in, but it will, and once it does, you will get a great race recap. Right now, I'll give you a quick summary of how it went...then you have something to look even more forward to next time I blog! Oh, pictures will follow too. Steve in a speedo will be happy.

- getting there early is good
- clouds are a blessing
- swim didn't go so well
- glad I practiced transitions
- best ride of the season
- didn't struggle on run, just slow
- what the hell is T3?
- demons got chased away at the finish

That's a quick quick recap. Be prepared for more...probably tomorrow. Thanks to all of you who read our blog and support us. Your support did not go unnoticed today.

My Way or the Tri Way - Teaser!

Quick blog here ... I know I've been Slacker McSlackerpants lately regarding blogging, but Brandon and I finally had our triathlon this morning and I wanted to write up a quick teaser post.

- Went well; better than I had hoped
- Friend who came down to take pictures didn't use my camera much (boo) so depend on Brandon for photos
- Honored a fellow blogger
- Decided to not retire from racing
- First and probably only tri I will do with a T3

I will, however, give you the stats:

750m swim - 24:07 (51:44.96/mi)
Leg 1 rank - 214 (out of 550ish)
T1 - 3:10
14mi bike - 54:57 (15.29mph avg)
Leg 2 rank - 201
T2 - 2:20
3.5mi run - 37:41 (10:46/mi)
Leg 3 rank - 217
T3 - 1:26

OVERALL: 2:03:38

More tomorrow! ... or whenever I upload photos.

Tri is in one week!

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't blogged for so long. Today is kind of the first day I get to reflect on everything that has been training for this tri. I have less than one week until the big day, and I figured today would be a great time to look back on eveything.

First off, I'm realizing right now that this is not a sport for everyone. It sure seems like everyone is doing triathlons nowadays, but I can tell you this isn't the case. I do agree that it's becoming a popular sport, but I have numerous people tell me that they would never attempt this feat. So it's pretty clear what I am undertaking is pretty special.

Second off...the training was not easy. It took a ton of willpower. Very rarely did I wake up and was I excited to tri train. It became a grind. It was tough. And I would say half my workouts weren't very fun. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I was working out and striving for perfection. And I am glad I feel better than I ever have in my life. But anyone who thinks a training for a triathlon will be fun is kidding themselves.

Third, there's been a lot of emotion with this. I'm not going to lie and say I've done great in my training. I haven't. I'm not going to lie and say I've been perfect. I haven't. There's been numerous slip-ups, numerous times I thought about giving up, and numerous times I cut a workout short for a variety of reasons.

Today, reflecting on the training I have done, I actually did a lot of things right. I learned a lot of things about myself and a lot of things about my body. I promised myself I would look back and determine 3 things I did right and 3 things I did wrong. Here they are. First the right things...

1. Run for time instead of distance
Why was this good? It forced me to get out there and not worry about tackling specific distances. I got to run slower, which didn't force me to run faster than I should and worry about getting injured. It also allowed me to run farther than I ever had before consistently.

2. Cycle up to Maroon Bells
Why was this good? Up until this point, I knew my cycling was weak. I knew I wasn't going to do well on the bike. And I was frustrated by it. Very very frustrated. Riding up to the Bells was incredibly difficult. Probably one of the hardest things I have done in my life. And I did it. I struggled, but I did it. After this, I knew I could do anything on the bike. New motivation, let me tell ya.

3. Mixed in non tri workouts
Why was this good? It allowed me to relax. Took some of the stress of training for the tri out of it. Hiking or rafting was almost not only enjoyable, but I was pretty good at doing both of those things since I was in such good shape from the swimming, cycling, and running.

Now, the three things I wish I would have done differently/better.

1. Manned up a little more
What do I mean? There were too many times that I just said "oh, I'm too tired". Can't be doing that. Not during tri training. I wussed out a lot due to me just beling lazy.

2. Read too much literature on triathlons
What do I mean? Every time I saw a book on triathlons at the library, I wanted it. And read it. And eventually, the info all blended together. I was getting the same information from so many sources I eventually stopped absorbing anything. I should have stuck with Triathlons for Dummies.

3. Didn't really focus on my diet
What do I mean? I basically ate how I usually eat. I should have focused so much more on diet.

Regardless, I have 1 week left. Time to do the final few days and give er hell on Saturday

Tri Training...I'm enjoying myself now

Let's face it. This has been an up and down road (sometimes literally!) and there's been a lot of hard work. Sometimes I've really pushed myself, and sometimes I haven't. Most of the time I've been pushing through pain; other times I've made excuses. And let's face it, sometimes life gets in the way of things.

But anyway, I figure I'll update everyone on my last week of training. It was truly an up-and-down week where life kind of got in the way. I took a couple days off due to work being a bitch and also had to take some time off of running due to my foot hurting from hiking last week in Aspen. However, over the past two days, there has been much happiness in training. Girlfriend and I went cycling along the E-470 trail for 12.37 miles, and I felt it was my 2nd best ride of the season. Then yesterday, I went for a 3.35 mile run in Aspen followed by a hike to the top of Buttermilk Mountain.

Yeah, my quads are sore today, but you know what? There's less than a month left til the tri. It ain't gonna wait for sore quads!

Tri Training...humbling

As everyone knows by now, cycling is the weakest sport of mine in the triathlon sports. For whatever reason, I'm just not strong on the bike. I don't know what is the cause of it (I have pretty strong quads) or why I struggle with it, but regardless, it's where I need to improve the most.

In any event, I'm overnighting in Aspen this month and the next. Since the girl loves Aspen like I do, she has agreed to come up on some of my overnights and bring our bikes so we can cycle. That's what we did yesterday. We cycled.

The Maroon Bells are a series of mountains near Aspen. They are pretty spectacular. It's almost inspiring. We've driven up there a couple times, but never cycled. So yesterday, we parked on the road and unpacked the bikes and began our ride.

The first mile took us to the rangers station. It really wasn't that bad thus far, and we saw a few other cyclists going both up and down the road. At the rangers station, we were told it's about 5 miles to the Bells from the station. Ok, not too bad. But as the ride went on, it got harder and harder. And my speed/cadence/morale suffered ridiculously. At a few points, we both stopped and kept pondering turning around. But we both knew that wasn't an option. At exactly 5 miles, we thought about it, but we were so close and wanted to succeed. So we kept plugging away. And sure enough, we made it!
This is the site we were greeted with. We spent a couple minutes walking around, taking some pictures, and me, I was doing some reflecting. I was pretty proud of myself. Sure, the ride had taken nearly an hour. Sure, I had only covered 5.8 miles. Sure, I still have a loooooong way to go before I will call myself a good cyclist. But I had done it. I pushed, reached inside myself, dug deep to find something I wasn't sure was even there. I just stood there, looking at the Bells, and realized I was really proud of myself.

The ride down was a blast and took maybe 10 minutes. I got to a top speed of 44.5 mph while riding down and it was oh so much fun. That ride, looking at it now, may be the turning point of my tri training, for the positive. A short, 11.7 mile ride.

Tri traning...the epic story

On June 1st, I started keeping a log of my triathlon training. In this log is the date, the type of workout, and details. Nothing spectacular, but something to keep me honest. I use voomaxer on facebook to keep track of a lot of it, but this is something that will help me record my thoughts and whatnot.

So, you're all probably wondering how things are progressing. I'll fill you in on the big details...

- I've discovered anything chewy or gooey in orange flavor is yucky
- Brick training is going to be a high priority
- I'm more honest about keeping a workout schedule if I write it down
- Cycling is still clearly the weakest of my 3 sports
- I am giving myself a big boost of confidence in swimming by figuring I will be more comfortable than 75% of the people in the water
- My calf muscles are getting very defined
- I am already figuring I will cry when I cross the finish line. Not out of pain, but the demons will be chased away

The workouts have been good. Some of my runs, especially. I did brick training for the first time today...lots to improve on, but no complaints thus far.

46 days until...

Continuing Tri Training

Hello everyone. Yes, the tri training is continuing.

Due to both my ankles hurting, I have shelved running for 1 week. I am trying again in 2 days up in Fargo. Prior to my ankle injuries, I was able to put in 5+ miles at a decent pace. Girlfriend and I were also sprinting at a track. However, we were both being really hard on ourselves and I'm not sure we were getting everything out of it that we could have. I'm going to try to figure out some other sprint workouts to do that will help us both. Suggestions are good people!

As for cycling, it's something I am really really enjoying. However, it's clearly my weakest of the 3 sports. On our last ride, I was struggling to keep a cadence of 80, which is what I am shooting for. Why was I struggling? Because I still am getting the mechanics of spinning consistently at a consistent pace. This means more riding. And more consistent riding.

And swimming? I'm working on tucking the chin and pushing the hips up. I think I'll have a slight advantage over some of my competitors in that I am NOT afraid of the swim leg. No, it's the leg I'm probably most looking forward to, in fact. I'm a decent swimmer and my swimming endurance is there. It's obviously not going to be neglected though.

Motivation though is definitely at an all time high for the tri. I want to do so well in this it's not even funny. I'm basically thinking about it multiple times a day. I'm definitely talking the talk, and I'd like to think I'm walking the walk. We'll see what happens in June and July, when we start stepping it up to 2 a days, doing brick training, and basically killing ourselves.

Tri Training has begun officially

A few important things have happened over the past few weeks.

Important thing #1. I got my bike! Yes, I did. A Trek 1.2. It's a good starter road bike that will basically allow me to do what I need to do. Which is complete my tri and add some variety cardio to my workout routine.

We went for a 14.5 mile ride the day after I got the bike. Aside from a crappy cyclometer that didn't tell me my cadence, no problems. This is going to be my weakest point in the triathlon, I believe, so I am going to be really focusing on cycling in the next couple months.

Important thing #2. I've re-evaluated my running. Armed with a new running playlist and a new mindset, my running has gotten better. I'm overnighting in Fargo a lot this month and every time I'm in town, I go for a run. The first two times this month were 45 minute runs, and today I upped it to 50 minutes. This has allowed me to run 5 miles for the first time since I ran the 10K nearly a year ago. I'm not concerning myself with distance, I'm not conerning myself with time, all I'm doing right now is running. And really really enjoying it.

Important thing #3. My mindset is the best its been in a long time. It's funny, but I guess when you have something you are trying to achieve, you can really want to do what it takes to get it. I'm shooting to complete a thiathlon, but I want to do more than just finish it. I want to do good. I want to finish it with a respectable time. And I want something to build off of.

Anyway, that's an update on my tri training for now. More to follow soon. :-)

Official-like Tri Photos

Haven't worked out yet today (i will!), but last night I promised you official race photos today and so here they are. With commentary.
Here's me getting out of the swim. It's definitely a much more attractive photo than last year (trust me on this people), but I still think the swim cap makes me look like an old, old woman. Eh.

Here's the first bike picture. I look marginally happy here ... but I tried to when I was passing the camera people on the course. Although, now that I think about it, I think this one was early enough on the route that the quads of MISERY may not have kicked in yet. Hm.

The other bike picture. I'm smiling here ... oh wait, it's because I'm going DOWNHILL. And I knew the camera people were around. Yes, I'm "posing" here. But really, it's okay, because prepare yourself for the next two photos ...
Just hitting the mat. If you read my recap, you'll recall that I sprinted the finish, pulling out all I had to do it. You can see it on the face here, all twisted in agony. And that girl just behind me? She was ahead of me going into the final turn. But in my mad dash toward the finish (and tendency to try and finish every race in a sprint), I passed her. HA.
Yes, the top of my head got chopped off here. This photo really shows my final mad dash at the end, given that my limbs are flailing everywhere and my boobs are somewhere over my right foot unlike normal. And yes, that's once again also my face twisted in pure agony and DOOM (and exposition and all that fun stuff). And I'm pudgy. But, on the bright side, look at that leg muscle. Go me.

Non crazy post later ... unless I don't work out. Which I might not. My back still hurts from hockey ... or at least I hope that's the reason why.

Tri Training has begun

I said awhile back, either in blog form or in verbal form to some audience that my triathlon training for next year would begin when T finished her tri this year. I am very proud she accomplished a triathlon; now it's my turn to bust my ass and get it done.

My extremely basic plan right now is strength training and basic running, swimming, and cycling form throughout the rest of the year. January, February and March will see more focus on specific goals. April and May will be brick training and more goal achieving, and June = tri. So yes, crude, but nonetheless, it's a starting point.

On the flight up to Seattle, I had quite a bit of time to ponder why I actually want to do a tri. I've been reading that you should have a reason for doing it. I don't want to be like Theresa's friends who just do it for the sake of doing it, or 90% of the DH's out at the Tri for the Cure. I want to have purpose.

Some of my "reasons" are childish and stupid, like saying fuck you to all the bastards that said I would never achieve something like this or who called me fat back in the day. Part of me wants to really rub it in to my fat ex-girlfriend, who continues to go the wrong way in terms of weight. And then there's the mental part of it, the challenge, that appeals to me.

I think that's what my reason is. It's a form of discipline. It's not something that someone is just going to hand to me. To achieve a good time in this race, I'm going to have work hard. I'm going to have to overcome mental obstacles, and that stupid bastard of a critic that will always be at my side telling me I can't do it.

Anyway, now that I have a purpose for beating myself to utter hell, I went to the gym today with Theresa and got in some good upper body work before I left for Seattle. I clipped out a workout from Mens Health and followed it. Simple, but painful. Dumbbell quats with a jump, seated rows, dumbbell burpees, and this things where you laid down on your back and did a situp. 3 sets of each, then repeat, with minimal rest in between. I finished it off with a couple minutes of recumbent bike.

My arms felt tired, but good. I left for Seattle with a little pain which is what I was looking for.

After all, there's a large mental obstacle to climb here.

Tri Post

Okay. I really don't want to write this, but write this I must.

Going into this year's Tri for the Cure, I had goals. I wanted to chop 17:22 off last year's time to finish in an even 1:30. Needless to say, that didn't happen. We'll start at the beginning though ...

That Morning
Alarm went off bright and early for Brandon and I. I think I hit the snooze button once, but don't entirely remember. Washed my face, brushed my teeth, got into my tri suit, Body Glided a bit, grabbed my crap and went downstairs. Made a good breakfast of cantaloupe, coffee milk, orange juice, turkey sausage and a mini whole wheat tortilla with scrambled Egg Beaters and low-fat cheese. While Brandon loaded the Rav (well, unloaded hockey bags and loaded in the bike), I got my water/Gatorade bottles set and made some oatmeal to eat on the road.

At the Race Site

We ended up leaving the house a little after 6am, a little later than I wanted, but we still got to the parking site fairly quickly ... with Brandon eating most of the oatmeal. We unloaded the Rav, pumped my bike tires full of air and joined several of the other competitors in winding our way into Cherry Creek State Park and toward the transition area. I got the urge to poop on the walk down which was good ... but more on that in a second. I left Brandon just outside of transition, found a spot on the rack and hopped over to the port-o-potties. While I pooped (yay), it was not a good poop (boo) and my stomach and insides felt ... well ... not good.

I set up my transition area and then wandered back over to Brandon who found a good spot on the fence. I found my friend Amber at this point so obviously it was picture time.


Amber and her boy wearing a very cute "Team Amber" shirt

Ready and raring to go ... Or so I thought.

Brandon the cheerleader!

After the photos, I went back to my spot to warm up, stretch, pee again and all that. I was getting ready to take my sandals back off when I realized I forgot to put sunscreen on. By this point, the elite wave had already started so I had to wait for breaks between competitors to dash across the race path to Brandon to have him help slather my back up. Sunscreen applied, I went back to my crap and waited for a bit until I heard it was time for my wave to head down to the swim.

Swim



I headed down to the swim, joined up with the rest of my wave and waited until it was my turn to trod across the chip mat and hop in the water. The wave's official start time was 8:20am, but I'm pretty sure we started a few minutes later than that. I dunked my ass in the water several times, squatting down in the water covering as much of myself as I could to try and get acclimated. I had a nice spot near the outside in the back. I knew I wasn't going to be one of the quickest swimmers so I wanted to be out near the back.

That philosophy actually worked out pretty well as I didn't get kicked/swum over a lot. Sadly, about a 100 or so meters in, I somehow swallowed a crapload of nasty, brackish reservoir water and started hacking ... getting to the hacking point where you just feel the raw back of your throat.

Greeeeat.

I kept going though, needing to stop again soon after to defog the goggles. After that, I was good to go and breaststroked my little butt out, not getting passed by the following wave until the first buoy (waves are every 4 minutes). I stayed on the "inside" of the course away from most of the other people. Besides the water hacking incident, I actually felt pretty good on the swim. I couldn't run once I got out and walked most of the way back to transition, but eh.

Disappointing, however, was my time - two minutes slower than last year at 22:38.

T1



I eventually was able to get to a minor trot (okay, more of a canter past the smelly-ass port-o-potties) to make it back to my spot. I stuck my feet in my water bucket, getting most of the gunk off with that and a towel, used Body Glide for the foot blisters, got into my cycling socks and shoes, grabbed the rest of my crap and was off to the bike.

The one time highlight, I was able to cut about two minutes off my first transition time for 5:08.

Bike



I was a bit concerned about the cycling portion given that most of my training rides had been total crap. Still, I knew I had to do it so I was off. My cyclometer is still a bit messed up thanks to transport, but I got it so at least the cadence worked so I could measure that. I felt okay until about the three mile mark when the quads of MISERY started acting up. Still, I was managing to keep my cadence around the 80 mark ... until the big-ass hill around mile six or seven.

I almost got off the bike and walked. I had a giant asthma attack (used inhaler in transition but didn't bring it with me) and my cadence went down to 50something. In a word, I was miserable. I was able to regain control once I got to the top of the hill and started pedaling down it (i made sure to keep pedaling), but it was still a miserable ride.

Despite the road bike, my time on the bike actually went up (mph down) to 44:48 and 15.2mph.

T2



I was so miserable at this point. I put my bike back, drank some water and Gatorade, changed shoes and put on my race belt/number. I slooooowly made my way to the run, stopping at the water table to drink some more water and dump it on my head.


See how miserable I look? *sigh*

Time out of transition was worse than last year - 4:49.

Run

Brandon was my saving grace at the beginning of the run. After he saw how miserable and defeated I looked coming out of the bike, he somehow fought his way through the crowds, across the run course and down the gates on the other side of transition to see me walking toward the run start. He walked with me along the course for the first part of the run, talking with me and calming me down. I was very upset at this point, crying and hyperventilating a bit. He had another one of my old inhalers in the bag he had and gave it to me. It didn't help me much, but mentally I think it did. I knew my time goals were screwed, but I knew I was going to finish - that was all I cared about at that point.

Brandon was going to try and walk and/or run with me through most of the course, but I told him to go toward the finish line - I'd meet him there. I tried running a bit, but couldn't do it - it was just way too hot and I was way too miserable and my feet were overheating like mad. I eventually ended up doing a very modified walk/run ... walking most and running just little spurts. I did a race first for me by stopping at every single water station, getting water to drink a little and dump over my head. Of course, it was over 90 degrees at that point (and i think ended up getting over 100) and I was melting.

I knew this race was going to be awful. I did the run/walk thing last year, but it wasn't nearly as much walking. Although, I'm pretty sure I saw more people walking on the course this year than last year.

With about 500 meters to go, I saw Brandon on the side of the course again.


See miserable T. See miserable T run. Run, miserable T, Run.

Brandon trotted with me for as long as he could ... which meant he couldn't get back to the finish in time for me to cross. I ended up dragging out the last of what I had in me (which wasn't much) to sprint the last little bit across the finish line ... in 42:56 for my slowest 5k time/pace EVAR with a 13:50 mile.

Finis

Add all those numbers up and you get me finishing in 2:00:20, about a full 12 minutes slower (or 13 ... we journalism peoples don't do math) than last year's 1:47:22.

Needless to say, I didn't meet my time goal. I take small (but marginal) consolation in that I still did beat Amber and Gen's times from last year (and beat amber by about 5 min this year).

Still ... last year I had the biggest adrenaline rush after I finished. I could barely walk and was miserable as all hell this year.

I finished, though, and I still want to keep doing triathlons. It's relatively difficult to say that, but I've only done two - one was good, one was bad. I figure I should get a larger percentage of bad ones before I give up on them. I'm not one for excuses, but I put a decent amount of blame on the damn reservoir water. Swallowing that and getting that raw feeling in my throat I think made me more susceptible to having an asthma attack (which is made so much worse with a crappy throat). The heat was also a factor, but I don't figure that as an excuse since I really could have just trained in the heat more than I did. I shouldn't have always waited for the day to get cooler to go on a run or on a ride.

Once the official race photos finally get up on FotoJack, I'll post those as well.

Mrrf.

Not having a lot of contemplation going on here.

It was ass hot.

At one point during the bike, I almost got off and walked.

I walked most of the run.

At one point, I told myself, "It'll be an achievement just if you finish."

Longer post when I know my time and pictures get uploaded.

I do love my baby dinosaur for his support throughout the race. I don't know if I would have gotten through it without him - especially at the start at the run.