Augusta 70.3

Finisher @ 5:10:54
Here I go off to Augusta with a goal of finishing in my mind. I will tell you, it is a lot less stressful when you under train and head to a race without any expectations. I stayed outside of downtown, if I were to do it again, I would stay at the Marriott downtown.


Once there is scouted out the swim start and transition area. This is a point to point swim so logistics were a challenge. I spotted a couple of dilly bars going to jump in. They must be from East KY, water temp was 74ish
I proceeded to head to check-in and the line was small. This made me very happy, but gave me more time to check out downtown. I started to drive the run course and realized it was perfectly flat. I then spotted the Mellow Mushroom, had to atop and have some dinner. Good eats!


The next day, I slept in until 8:30 wow. I had planned on something like 10a but I just couldn't make it that long. I went for a short 2 mile run and felt strong. Then it was off to bike check-in. Here is where my biggest race mistake was made. As you can see the bike is racked and covered for rain. That was not the mistake, the fact i didn't make my transition spot with some kind of colorful ribbon was. In both T1 and T2 I couldn't find my spot. As you can see from the pic below lots of bikes. I was in the right area both times, just couldn't spot my bike.



Ok now for the race report
I started in the 21st wave pros went off at 7:30 I went off at 8:30ish
I played it cool and let the group swim off for about 10 seconds. I started to swim and for the first 100m or so, it was crowded. I took to the outside on the left and found some open water. Amazing, I swim pretty straight compared to some of these fools. About every 50 m or so some goober would come across my face going at a 45 degree angle??? I just stayed calm and swam to finish. The current didn't feel strong, but it must have been I came out in 30:45 1:28 / 100
For some reason the last 500m I went for the most direct line to the finish and this cost me some time. It took me out of the strong current and near the shore.
As I stood up to exit the water I vomited, and thought to myself oh shit that was not good. Then I realized the swim was over and I was happy as shit. I ran to transition and yes looked for my bike what seemed to be 2 mins but probably 60 secs. Jumped into my shoes grabbed my bike an d off I went. Upon getting on my bike, I passed what seemed to be 60 people in the first 400m.
Keep in mind my ag was one of the last 5 to start. I had 2,000 people to pass on the bike. I swear it was a crazy ride. It rained the entire ride, sometimes very hard. I can not explain how flat and fast this ride was. Well yes I can, I rode easy many a mile trying to save my legs and rode 22.2 mph for a 2:31:40 80k. That was good enough for the 275 best bike time. What a fun ride, I was smiles the whole way, my heart rate was way low and I was having a ball. I love those Zipp wheel rentals.
I finished up the bike ran into transition and yes, again I couldn't find my spot. This time it was longer my T1 time was 4:51 and T2 was 4:55. I gave up 4-5 mins in the transition.
Once I had my running shoes on I realized I had to pee. I stood in line for about 10 secs and then realized I was about 8th in line. I was not waiting, so I took off. I was soaking wet from all the rain and I just let it out. My first pee on the run experience. I hit the road and the legs felt great. They started turning out 7:30 pace. I was worried, about going to hard so I pulled it back to 8:00 pace. My plan now was to run 8min miles for as long as possible. I am a garmin nerd but I didn't set up my 310 for multi sport before the race. So it ran the whole time in running mode. When I started to run I didn't mark the mileage and was a little unclear where I was on the course. Looks like I ran 5 at 8:00 then 4 at 8:42, 8:42, 8:50, 9:05 this is where the legs went tight. They looked up to me and said, "No more papa" the next miles were a miserable 10:23, 10:12, 10:48 and 10:05 for a 1:58:46 half.
I was very happy with this result, It is a very easy course and I would recommend it to anyone.
Noe time to recover for a day at least. NYC is only 41 days away. Sphere: Related Content

Rev3 Tri

2010 REV3 Knoxville - First Olympic Distance Triathlon 15 in AG 99th overall Top 15%


It was a cold morning in Tn. As you can see from my picture, I looked calmer than I was on the inside. The last time I lined up for a mass swim start, resulted in a bad experience and a DNF

Here is the swim exit, that is Phelps in the grey cap. He blistered the course in 20 mins. I swam a 24. Good for me, but put me behind from the start.

I couldn't help but have some bike envy checking out the pros rides. More over the wheels than the frames.

Here is a picture of Phelps bringing it home on the bike. I don't have a pic of me to post sorry. The bike portion was great. I started off going down Neyland just telling myself to get into a nice rhythm. As I got to south Knoxville, I began passing people and it was awesome. This is the bonus for being the 158th best swimmer. The way the results are sorted and the swim start we had, it is impossible to figure out how many I passed. Every hill we came to I was blowing by people. The front part of the course also had 70.3 participants. They started in a wave 10 mins ahead. I caught a bunch of them as well. I realized I was going to post a solid bike time when I began to pass riders who looked sponsored. Now I don't mean pros just some local type sponsors. I even passed some Trakkers sponsored athletes. I came to the last 3 mi with two men who were hammering. Both were in the age group above me. I ended up dropping one coming onto the Gay st. bridge and the other heading up to UT campus. Bike split was 1:17:26 Hilly course 19.22 mph

I felt real good coming off the bike and as I was coming in, I saw Phelps and another even better swimmer Greg Simpson headed out on the run. Greg swam a 15:30 - 1:04 / 100 ave SICK!!!

I jumped into my shoes and told myself my toe would be alright. I ran the first 3 with a conservative approach 7:40 ave and I think it was smart because my quads were not happy nor was my toe at mile 4. I was able to maintain the pace over the 6.2 mi and finish in 47:29 or 7:40 pace. It was a flat course and with a perfect body I feel I could have ran 44 flat.

Here I am Phelps once again beat me. That's ok, it was the closest race we have had yet. I had a blast and the event was first class.

Sphere: Related Content

My Birthday

Today is my 40th birthday! I am ok with that number, I have never felt better. 40 is the new 30 these days. I weighed in at my 11th grade wrestling weight this morning of 155#. I can't believe how hard it was to maintain back then. Poor Poor Diet! Now, I make much better choices of what goes into my body. Last week Lenny, our Corp. Trn Mgr put on a demo with his Vita Mix 5200 - Green smoothies and healthy soup. I can't wait till the office kitchen has it's own Vita Mixer.





Lately I have been attempting to get my bike legs under me for the upcoming Rev3

Below, Phelps AKA @DavidADawson shows off his new STEED! Its fast, he's fast and I will not see him during the race.

Here he is again sucking my wheel like a pro!

Last Sunday, I raced a 10mi running event in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. The first race in 30 years and touted as the last race ever. The only reason they are having the race is Cades Cove Loop was resurfaced and has been closed for the last couple months. The race was great, I spotted 28 deer and 2 Black Bear. Results were ok, only thing consistent about this race was you were either going up steep hills or down one. Tore my legs apart by mile 10.

This is Brandon Bruce, I have rode with him in a couple of events last year. He is about 6'7 and he is a stud. Listen to this he completed a 508 mile solo Time trial in 35 hours and 7 mins.

Check it out HERE By the way, he also beat me in this running race. Oh, by the way, he finished 6th overall! Yes that is sick! check out the results HERE

As we parked for the race, some friends appeared

My Olivia, showing off an Easter Egg

Last victory as a 35-39 ag. Today I join the ranks of the Masters!

Sphere: Related Content

Open Letter To Heather Gollnick

I had an exciting day this past Sat. I hit a 4mi pace run @7:35 ave and then headed to the Knoxville convention center for the Healthy Living Expo. I had two specific goals to accomplish while there.



First was to get my daughter to the stage to see her friend's dance recital and second, was to meet Heather Gollnick. For those who do not know Heather, she is a 5 time Full Iron Distance Champion and 2 time Half Iron Champion.



If you have no idea what that means, it means she is a bad ass momma. That is the special thing about her, read about her life challenges and what drives her by clicking on her name above. Here I am trying to remain calm while posing for a pic.





OK so for the open letter part of this post:

I would like to extend an open invitation to come to Knoxville and ride the course for the Rev3 and in addition, I will take you and heather on a ride of your life in the GSMNP. I will provide a SAG in case one of us wants to take a break. The riding here is outstanding and I am betting we could get in a great 3 day smashfest.
I have a entire floor of my house you may use to stay on if you choose. It has a bedroom w /king bed, full bath, mini kitchen, 52" TV and computer. We also have 3 double air matresses for family if needed.
This would be a great time for Tara to ride, swim and run the course.



The last highlight of the day, was hearing Tara Costa took back her life. Her message was simple, in order to be healthy you have to want to be healthy. You are in control of your choices, eating, exercising and relationships. When you are finally ready to choose the healthy and positive ones, you will change your lifestyle forever. Make yourself happy before trying to please others! Sphere: Related Content

English Mountain Challange

Today was the first day I rode just to ride. Until now my year has been all about training for triathlons. Today I rode in the English mountain Challenge. Most of you have no idea this ride exists but for us in Knoxville, the past 4 yrs this ride is viewed as the hardest around.

Before I get started describing my day, I must tell you I chose to complete the metric century rather than the 109mi century. The entire group of guys I ride with were only doing the metric. I was glad, because while I have been putting in miles, I have no long rides over 60 miles on my legs this year.

At the beginning of the ride, it was a who's who among Knoxville cyclists. Many cat 1 riders and also two world class riders for their age group. Kent Bostick and Dirk Pohlman. Click on their name and read about their respective accomplishments.

Now to the ride, it started like any other ride, on big bunch. Our group just kept moving up until we were in the 3rd group. Dumb me looked down at my cassette during a section and there was a slowdown. I ran into the rider in front of me and almost went down. I must say, it was a great save. I teamed up with a local rider who knew the route and we moved up to the 2nd group. Very soon, we found ourselves in the gap between the 2nd and 1st group. We took turns pulling and after about 6miles we joined the first group. I sucked wheel until the rest stop before the mountain at mile 38. I knew i did not want to race up the hill. The next 4 miles were all over 10%grade with many sections topping 20%. I left the rest stop after a couple of other riders. They had a nice gap and I was not about to close. I rode the hill at 6mph at 10 degree and 4mph at anything over. The last section is a 1/4 mi at 22%. I had passed one rider and caught another by the top. He and I descended a very sketchy downhill. About half way down, I came across a section that had many tree limbs laying on the rode. He blew by them, I could not. It just wasn't safe for others. I stopped and cleared the rode and finished going down. At the bottom there were 3 more riders stopped. I didn't know why, I had plenty of water and was fully recovered from the climb. I decided to push on and go the distance. So I was alone from mile 38 to 63. I felt good but expected to be swallowed up by the pack.
Not to be this day, I pulled in third to finish and felt so good not to have to run afterwards. the whole experience made me feel great about cycling. It is so enjoyable when it is your only event.

5,000 ft of climbing in 63miles in 3:30

just an FYI the entire 38 miles leading up to the climb were uphill. 3,800 ft in 38miles. Kent and Dirk continued on for the century as I am sure there were other studs who followed. On this day, I am glad to have chose the metric. Sphere: Related Content

St. Croix Flop

My experience at the St. Croix 70.3 was real short. I did learn a valuable lesson in this race. Remember this was only my second ever tri. After 6 months of solid training, I really felt prepared to finish in the 5:30-5:40 range.

Now with the story, only I think I will tell it through pictures in reverse order.
Our last night we watch the sunset at the"Hole off the Wall" local bar and grill just to the right of the world famous 13,200 ft dive destination "The Wall." I did some snorkeling here and it was amazing for 100yds off shore.


Before we went to dinner we spent one last night at the beach.

On Friday, we hiked about 4miles to some amazing tide pools. Hit them at low tide, which for this island is tough to find.

View from the tide pools

At the end of the hike, we came to a bald that gave us some of the most amazing views.

can you say peaceful retreat, without children. Jenn and I did some serious self medicating

We took a snorkel trip to an amazing Buck Island. We had a cook out with the crew on a small deserted beach. This grandpa came for a snack.

It was hard staying here "The Carambola"

My only glimpse of my favorite blogger

the first one to tell me her name and her bikes nickname you win a $20 Pilot Gift card.

I found myself too embarrassed at my result to attend the post party to meet the pros.

Sorry Vinnie, I let the valley down with that performance.

Big Beard snorkel trip

Botanical gardens, furnace built 1830

Whim plantation tour

Breakfast at the Carambola, Amazing view

Now for the fun story, this is the start of the fun. To begin the race you jump in and swim to the island. Everyone gets over there by 6:15 for a 6:30 pro men's start.

Swim felt great and I was ready to hit the waters. I felt relaxed and very confident in my ability to have a good day.

I had spent the previous six days preparing on the island for every aspect of this race. I was ready to slay this course. Slay as much as a second time triathlete could.

My age group has 65 swimmers, without thinking I line up right in the middle of the pack, the gun goes off and I am sprinting into the water. I dive in and land all over the swimmer in front of me. I begin to take strokes. Well, I attempt to start swimming. You see, I am on top of a guy and there is a guy on top of me. I try to move right to the outside of the course and no luck/no way.

I tell myself, just calm down it will all settle in a little bit. at the second I get kicked or hit in the head. I am not sure, went by too fast. My right eye was half full of salt water. I am a little shook up at this point. I continue to swim. Finally it begins to loosen up and I flip over and fix my goggle. I turn back over and am very anaerobic. I get kicked this time for sure and am now in complete panic. Why am I here, this is not like practice, fuck,fuck,fuck are all this I remember going through my mind. I sight and i am just passing the second set of entry gates to the course. My mind your ok, my mind says turn left and swim to the island and compose yourself. The dip shit i am, I listen. As I stand up and watch the 65 guys I am competing against swim away, my mind really shut down. I was there to compete not just to finish with some lame ass time. This is what I am now telling myself. This might have been the root cause, too much pressure put on myself. Either way one thing is for sure, I am not an Half Ironman.

Set up and ready to go

Special thanks go out to both sets of Grandparents for taking care of the children.

Jennifer, Happy 15th Anniversary

Married 15 together 24

I love you

Sphere: Related Content

Online Again

5k race tonight, should be a hilly coarse around a golf resort. I want to run it, I am sure it will preview part of the run in the 70.3

Now if I can just remember to get a picture when standing next to some of these pros and celebs.

Did I mention I swam with Sister Maddonna!

My birthday present, my very own hammock. I am so glad I brought this along. This is how most of my afternoons are spent. I have to remember to reapply that sunscreen stuff. Notice the fine Ohio State colors. How did I manage to find such an object in all the Orange of Knoxville?

Buckeye Nation Baby!

Today, I woke up again around 5am thinking about this swim. Can't seem to get it out of my head. Oh well, maybe I will try some Cruzan rum tonight.

Here are some pictures from the first couple of days.

Flying in, we both felt like little kids seeing Christmas gifts for the first time.

Here is the view from our first room. Yes, that is where I have been swimming. I see lots of fish, conch and even a ray or two.

Looking left off our balcony

The first sight out our door! can you believe my luck!

Bad shot, but on top of that hill with a 360 degree view is a mamoth castle.

Up for a sunrise ride one morning


I promised some video of the bike route. Here are two of the first 1/4 of the ride. This will be the easiest part of the ride, all down wind and only a little climbing.

Sphere: Related Content

First Five In St. croix

No pictures today, I am blogging from the resort computer. I have taken many great pics for you to dream over.
We have been here for five days and I am officially lite red.
Sun is hot and the wind, well lets just say it doesn't ever stop. I have managed to ride most of the course, the first day I set up the bike and headed out for a loop around the east end of the island. It is mile 37 - 50 of the race. 1,000 ft of climbing at 19 mph ave. I felt good, but hot. Water will be a key in this race. I must force myself to stay hydrated.
The next day I braved the waters of the Divi. The winds blow in from this side and the water is way rough. I jumped in and like a fool began to swim straight out into the blue waters headed for the reef. It looked to be about 300m-400m out. About half way, the little devil popped up on my shoulder and told me I would not make it. He was right, I turned around and headed back toward shore. I kept looking for the pool side to grab. NO LUCK
When I got back in Jennifer said that I looked like I knew what I was doing. Ha ha ha
The next day, the wind was blowing hard, so i set out with the wind and the thoughts I would ride west along the course until the main hwy and then turn around and get in about 1.5 hr ride.
The time was the only thing that turned out the way i planned. I turned left out of the resort and headed up to Grassy Point Hill. Unbelievable views, I have pics and video just wait. The the fun began, I rode with the wind at about 27-28 mph for the next 12 miles. Loads of fun! I turned around and headed back, directly into a 30mph steady head wind. This is the way the race take you, and I was only going 17-18 mph. I got back at the resort in 1:20 and 19mph ave.
Today was the practice swim day. Surprise, i was the only one in a wet suit. I am so glad I have it, I would never have made it with out it. A 1.25 mi course laid out in the ocean is huge. Now I know why they usually make you swim a course twice. I could barley see the end buoys. I had Phil's butterfly's, my butterfly's and someone else's running around in my gut.
Jennifer came with me to be the official race Sherpa and she zipped me up. I was worried about this because Dawson seems to have such troubles with this at swim practice. Without much prep, it was time to start jumping in. I started my watch and jumped. I told myself just swim buoy to buoy. I had no idea how hard it was to go straight when there are no lane lines. I am sure if you had me on gps, I swam 1.5 mi. When we reached the turn around point, I was really relieved to be wearing the suit. I took many rests along the way, I even flipped to my back a couple of times and did the Clothier. I kept telling myself, You will finish! I had to, there was only a couple of small boats watching all of the swimmers. One seemed to hand around me, not sure why. On the return back, I found my stride. I had a woman to my right and I decided to just follow close to her and I would follow her lead. bad mistake. After about 100m I stopped to spot and we were way off course. We looked at each other and I shouted out GOD DAMN IT!
We were swimming against the current now and it seemed like I was standing still. I just kept taking about 15 strokes and then spot. it seemed like I repeated this 20 times. Finally, I reached the shore.
I did do one thing right during this swim, I managed to keep my cardio in the aerobic state the entire time. Never once did I push my self to the danger zone of the bonk in the middle of the ocean. Smart don't you think?
Oh, I did learn one other thing, don't drink so much salt water, it doesn't agree with my stomach. Would be real embarrassing to brown out at this race.

One really cool thing happened, I swam with Sister Madonna!

How many of you can say that! No shit, I didn't take a picture and I could kick myself.
I hooked up with Vinnie Monseau after the swim and met his wife. They were nice and offered some more advice. He went down on the bike at St. Anthony's last Sunday and got to the run and did a 32min 10k. 5:18 / mi pace. He lost by 11 seconds! Bummer

Tomorrow, I am doing a 5k that I should get smoked in, and have a blast doing it because it doesn't take place in the water.
As I sit here, my body still feels like it is rocking with the current. No shit, I am serious!
Oh well, no problem mon, as they say on the island. Sphere: Related Content

March Training Recap

March's Training Reward

Training in March was a little more balanced than February.
Swim - 18,000 m
Bike - 441mi
Run - 51.5mi

YTD
Swim - 58,250yds and meters (not perfect)
Bike - 1066mi
Run - 169mi

With only 2 1/2 weeks of hard training until the St. Croix 70.3

Hard to believe it is coming so fast. I am starting to finalize all the little things. You know, how will I get my bike there, clip on areo bars installed and now I am training in my wet suit. Yes, I am wearing a wet suit for this swim. I have never swam in open water let alone the ocean. The only thing I give up is my spot in Kona. Of course I would have to post a time around 4:45

I notice as the event gets closer, I am beginning to worry about injury and over training. I also, because of being a rookie, sometimes doubt my preparation. In two weeks I am planning on a sprint tri. here in Knoxville. Phelps, is looking strong for this event. I have also caught word that Davis Tarwater and Eric Bell are putting together a dream team. I guess they will finish in close to 37min. The event is 400m swim , 6mi bike and 5k run. I hope to finish under 50 mins.

Off to run 10k

Sphere: Related Content

St. Coix Half Iron

Here it is, a couple of miles short. How fast can I finish this ride? last year a record was set around 2:16

I think that is the mark. I will not be close. I hope to punch it out in 2:45

I have to play it by ear and judge how I am feeling. Small 13.1 mile run after will be new for me. This will be my second ever triathlon. My first will be a couple of weeks earlier and only a 400m swim, 6mi bike and 5k run. A beginners race for sure
Oh well, good thing my wife will be there cheering and by the way it is also on my birthday!

Sphere: Related Content

Added feature

Today will be a short one, I added a new feature to the bottom of each post. You now can share the post with 8 different applications. Cool, I can now forward my posts to all of my Twitter followers. Sphere: Related Content