102... This past Saturday, went on a long bike ride with a friend of mine; and when we got back we had covered 102 miles. Got pretty hot for the last couple hours, as has been the case all summer here in TX. We started/ended at a lake, so jumped in the lake for a few after the ride. Then I got dried off and got in the car, which showed the outside temp to be 102 degrees! 102 miles and 102 degrees, not quite the synergy I really wanted that day :)
After a slow start to recover from last week's triathlon, got back into normal training mode last week, ending with the aforementioned 102 mile bike ride, a little time on the elliptical; and then an 18 mile run on Sunday morning.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
3rd place - I'll take it! :)
Before I dive into the triathlon stuff, a quick note related to why this blog started in the first place, which is the Hope for Kids program. I get the privelege of being able to actually go to Haiti and see the kids that we sponsor in person, which obviously helps to make it very real and personal for me and my family. I was reminded of that recently when my wife framed and mounted a couple of embroidered linens that one of our sponsored kids made for us. The child (Valodia) gave it to me on my last trip to Haiti, and seeing the look on her face when I opened it was one of those highlight moments in life. These are very real children with very real needs, so take a look at the HFK link below, as well as the first post in this blog; and see if there is something you can do to help and/or pass the information on to others. Thank you!
OK, back to triathlons... Did my second triathlon of the season, and had a pretty good day. The race (Marble Falls Triathlon) is basically somewhere between the normal sprint and olympic distances: 1000 meter swim, 23 mile bike, and 4.4 mile run. Fun race, with pretty good hills on the bike. My swim time was almost exactly what it was last year, which was slightly disappointing with all the swimming I've been doing; although in retrospect it seems like it took less out of me to get that swim time. My bike time was faster, though, and I was able to take 30 seconds/mile out of my run time! So all in all, a good day and a fun time.
I ended up getting third place in my age group, which is the same place I got at the half ironman earlier this year. Given the two big ironman distance races coming up, and the Longhorn Half IM, I'd be perfectly happy if that trend continued! :)
I'll get back on the training horse tomorrow, and have a 100+ mile bike ride planned again for this Saturday, and an 18 mile run on Sunday morning. Have I mentioned that I'll be really happy when this is all done and I can try to have a semi-normal life again?
*****************************************************************************
Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link
*****************************************************************************
Race Schedule:
January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED
January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED
April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run) -> COMPLETED
July 19: Marble Falls Triathlon (28 miles s/b/r) -> COMPLETED
September 19: Redman ironman distance Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)
November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
OK, back to triathlons... Did my second triathlon of the season, and had a pretty good day. The race (Marble Falls Triathlon) is basically somewhere between the normal sprint and olympic distances: 1000 meter swim, 23 mile bike, and 4.4 mile run. Fun race, with pretty good hills on the bike. My swim time was almost exactly what it was last year, which was slightly disappointing with all the swimming I've been doing; although in retrospect it seems like it took less out of me to get that swim time. My bike time was faster, though, and I was able to take 30 seconds/mile out of my run time! So all in all, a good day and a fun time.
I ended up getting third place in my age group, which is the same place I got at the half ironman earlier this year. Given the two big ironman distance races coming up, and the Longhorn Half IM, I'd be perfectly happy if that trend continued! :)
I'll get back on the training horse tomorrow, and have a 100+ mile bike ride planned again for this Saturday, and an 18 mile run on Sunday morning. Have I mentioned that I'll be really happy when this is all done and I can try to have a semi-normal life again?
*****************************************************************************
Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link
*****************************************************************************
Race Schedule:
January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED
January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED
April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run) -> COMPLETED
July 19: Marble Falls Triathlon (28 miles s/b/r) -> COMPLETED
September 19: Redman ironman distance Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)
November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
Monday, July 13, 2009
A different perspective on time
The other day I was questioned on the amount of time per week that the training involves, and how does it affect the rest of my life, my family, etc. This year in particular it really is a large amount of time, and not something I intend to sustain in the future. I mean, consider the number of extra training hours it takes to shave off a half an hour from an Ironman triathlon. You are basically sacrificing many hours per week for *months* in order to get that time savings... not exactly a great cost/benefit ration; unless you're really gunning for a slot to the Hawaii IM World Championship or something similar.
However, I started thinking about some of the things that I used to do, which nobody ever questioned. How about watching college football games on Saturday for a good portion of the day, and sometimes into the evening; or going fishing all day. How many people do that, and nobody gives it a second thought? Yet if I spend my Saturday morning and early afternoon doing a long bike ride, people often act like I'm practically sacrificing my life. Similarly, if I told people that I spent my lunch break sitting in front of the tv (I work from home...), it would barely blip on the radar. But tell them you spent an hour running 7 or 8 miles, and all of a sudden you are a crazy person. I know it's not a perfect analogy, but like the title of the post says; perhaps a little different perspective on the time commitments that go along with triathlon training.
Quick update on training, since I haven't posted in a bit... this past week was the last of a three week heavy block of training. Finished up the week with a 95 mile bike ride and a 12 mile run, now I'll be tapering and recovering, getting ready for the triathlon that I'm doing on Sunday. Still way too hot down here, right around 100 or slightly above nearly every day, with rain a very very rare commodity.
However, I started thinking about some of the things that I used to do, which nobody ever questioned. How about watching college football games on Saturday for a good portion of the day, and sometimes into the evening; or going fishing all day. How many people do that, and nobody gives it a second thought? Yet if I spend my Saturday morning and early afternoon doing a long bike ride, people often act like I'm practically sacrificing my life. Similarly, if I told people that I spent my lunch break sitting in front of the tv (I work from home...), it would barely blip on the radar. But tell them you spent an hour running 7 or 8 miles, and all of a sudden you are a crazy person. I know it's not a perfect analogy, but like the title of the post says; perhaps a little different perspective on the time commitments that go along with triathlon training.
Quick update on training, since I haven't posted in a bit... this past week was the last of a three week heavy block of training. Finished up the week with a 95 mile bike ride and a 12 mile run, now I'll be tapering and recovering, getting ready for the triathlon that I'm doing on Sunday. Still way too hot down here, right around 100 or slightly above nearly every day, with rain a very very rare commodity.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
New bike is here! and another tri coming up...
Been busy the last week plus with the new bike and lots of training. I need to do the training so my results will justify the bike :) I still have plenty of tweaking and adjusting to do, but at least everything's put together and working!I signed up for a triathlon in Marble Falls in a couple weeks, so that will be the first test of the new bike. I don't anticipate any huge differences, especially on a 23 mile hilly bike course. But I am excited to get out there and try out not only the new bike, but also all the training. I haven't raced a triathlon since April, so it's time to find out if all the training is paying off...
Speaking of the training, since my last post; I've done quite a bit, including a 100 mile bike ride, 88 mile bike ride, and two 15+ mile runs. And still working out hard on the shorter stuff, trying to increase speed and strength. The heat is making things more difficult, as these 100+ degree scorching temps can really drain you in a hurry.
*****************************************************************************
Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link
*****************************************************************************
Race Schedule:
January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED
January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED
April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run) -> COMPLETED
April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run) -> COMPLETED
September 19: Redman ironman distance Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)
November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)
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