Monday, August 27, 2007

Missed weekend trip

Bec and I were planning to go to Huntsville to see B and J and little John Henry. However John began puking his guts up Friday and continued all night, hence we bailed as everyone at their house was exhausted, Betsy had no clean clothes since she got thrown up on at least 7 times, and we didn't want to get that stomach virus.

I ended up doing the usual training for the half Ironman on Sept 23 (riding and running a lot), while Bec got motivated and cleaned closets out. I've managed to sacrifice some old favorite T-shirts and several pairs of jeans that are way to big for me (I wore bigger jeans back when I needed a waistband that was a few sizes larger then I am now). Things are organized, but of course my organized piles are gone and I have no clue where anything is. House does look good.
Major props to Bec!!!

I mowed the lawn this weekend, which consisted of me using the weedwacker for 5 minutes to hack back a couple spots where grass has grown this month, i.e. around the mailbox and the end of the driveway. We haven't actually mowed the yard since July sometime, however the crab grass is growing strong onto the driveway. It grew probably 18 inches onto the driveway, but I hacked it back.

Two of my buddies finished Ironman Louisville (KY) yesterday (yes that is a 2.4 mi swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mi run)!!! Watched online updates on where they were and saw Scott Bourne finish live online. Pretty cool.

I'll post picts of the new washer and dryer eventually.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Olympic Distance Tri Sunday Aug 19th

Olympic distance triathlon at Fall Creek Falls State Park (0.9mi swim, 24.5 mi bike, 6.2 mi run)
All done!!
Major props to Bec for the fantastic photos!!


Lake was pretty clear and clean. I could see 10 ft or more. Some algae, but otherwise good. Crazy mass start, but I settled into a rhythm quick after fighting for position. I ended up just getting to the outside and I thought there were 40 folks ahead of me. I swam very well and was out of the water in 23:50 (no way it was a full 1500m). We had a "shoe area" as once you get out of the water, you can put on shoes and you have to run all uphill 400m to the transition area. Took me 4:36 once out of the water to run uphill and get on bike.

"Shoe area". Looks like I'm just catching my breath, but alas I have no clue what I was doing.

24.3mi bike, avg 21.0 (1:10:13). Rolling hills, nothing too bad, but a couple "slow" hills.

6.2 mile run. Felt good and had extra motivation as Bec said I was second in my age group after T2!!! So I worked it hard. There were only 16 people ahead of me after the ride (I counted riders after the turnaround). Ran first 2 miles in 15:36, much of it was downhill or flat. One guy in age group caught me and we ran side by side for a mile. He was ripped and I was afraid he'd drop me on the hills. At mile 2 he stopped at the water station (while I kept moving and grabbed the tiny cups they had) and I gained 20m, then up hill and I gained 10 more meters. I kept checking and he was gone. Ultimately I beat him by probably 3-4 min. Will have to check results online. One guy in my age group blew by me and he was gone. My left ankle was killing me at mile 3.5 or so all the way to the end. I stopped for a second to rub it it hurt so bad (left hammy cramped a little). Hurts right where it was sprained almost 3 years ago. Never healed properly. Anyway, last few miles were rolling and last 0.7 miles were basically uphill. Not steep, but hard. I held off this guy in a yellow shirt for like 4 miles (no clue what age group he was in), but only one guy passed me on the run!!! Last 4.2 miles in 34:30. Not speedy, but it was tough. Fortunately the run was almost all in the shade.
Final stretch!!

Just about there.
Final time: 2:28:47. Far exceeded goal from looking at previous times on this course!!!! Possibly a PR (personal record) in an Olympic distance race.

http://www.racedayevents.net/2007Results/FCF_07_Splits.doc
Ended up 18th out of 148 overall!! Two women beat me. Not cool.

http://www.racedayevents.net/2007Results/FCF_07%20Age%20Groups.txt
See age group 30-34 male.

I ended up 3rd in age group out of a modest 12 guys in my age group. I won a long towel that has a hole for the headrest in your car. The towel is long enough for the whole seat so after a ride, etc. you don't scum up your seat.First placement in age group (top 3 that is) in an OLY race ever!!! Sweet!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

We're lame

Not much going on lately. Hit a wedding in Memphis over the weekend, but otherwise we're boring. We did have to get a new washer and dryer, so not completely blah on the home front.