CapTex Update

The whole family went to Austin this weekend for the CapTexTri. Last year it was rained out, so we were hoping for better weather in 2008. Sure enough, we were not disappointed. I did the Olympic distance race while Krisha and my dad did the sprint.

I was a little disappointed in my results. I got way off course on the swim and ended up taking 29 minutes to get to T1. That's about the slowest I have ever done an Olympic distance swim. Not the start I was looking for! My wave started about an hour after the first one went off. And since the bike course was four 10k loops, the theme for the bike was "ON YOUR LEFT!" I think I shouted that about once every minute for the entire ride. Still, I averaged 23.7mph, so I wasn't too disappointed with the result considering how crowded it was.

The sun came out for the run. I got passed by someone in my age group early on the run. I decided to go with him, but he slowly pulled away after about a half mile or so. No worries, you never know what's going to happen. I ended up catching him on the second loop of the run, and after having learned my lesson at the PlayTri Half in April, I went by him hard and never looked back. As expected, he didn't challenge me. I was feeling pretty strong at that point so I think I could have held him off anyway. Regardless, because of my ridiculously slow swim, I finished in 2:20:35, which put me in a distant 10th in my age group. Not my best day, but that wasn't the A race of the season, so I'm just moving on. Not dwelling on my miserable swim. Or my lackluster effort on the run. Really, I'm not . . . .

Krisha and Dad had good days. Krisha had a breakthrough in the swim. And my dad finished another race, which with his limited training, is quite remarkable for a 62 year old stud! Way to go Dad! Mom had the most difficult job of all -- keeping my son, John, entertained while mommy and daddy raced.

Team Tri-ProSoap made a good showing as well. Mark Saroni finished 2nd overall in the sprint race as he prepares for the 2008 Sprint World Championships in Vancouver next week. Chase Ingraham was 20th overall in the Olympic with a time of 2:18:07, and Travis Wolther was the first big man to cross the finish of the Olympic, with a time of 2:27:28.

Overall, I like this race. It's pretty crowded, but it's a fun, fast course, in a great city.

These are the days I live for!

Wow, it was hot this weekend! My good friends at Rockwall Cycling fixed my wheel enough for me to ride on it until a new one came in. Then Joey (GREAT mechanic!) built me up a new rim around my Powertap hub so that I could ride on it this weekend. What a difference a trued wheel can make! That wheel hasn't run right since I did a header over a dog last year. It finally gave out in Colorado last weekend. Thanks to Rockwall Cycling for hooking me up!!!

So this weekend was my last long ride before Coeur d'Alene. My usual training partner, Brian, was out of town so I went solo for 112 miles and a short, 3 mile transition run. I went with the group ride that leaves from Rockwall Cycling every Saturday at 7:00 for the first couple of hours. Then I did my intervals. That took me to about 4 hours in, which is where I really started feeling the heat. It was pretty miserable for a while. I ran out of water about 40 minutes from home. I was really confused at that point because I always plan my routes so that I don't run out. Anyway, after a quick phone call, my lovely wife was more than willing to bring me some bottles of cold water. That seriously saved my day! However, when I started refilling my bottles, I realized that I had been riding along with a full bottle of water the whole time! Like I said, it was hot, and I was delirious!

After Krisha left me again, I started feeling much better. I hammered away for the last hour of the ride. I can honestly say that was the strongest sixth hour of a ride that I have ever had! It was also one of the most encouraging training rides I have ever done. Perfect timing since it was my last long ride before this year's big event!

Lindsay had me do a short, 20 minute run after the ride. I felt exceptionally good considering the heat (not to mention the fact that I had just ridden 112 miles!), and averaged right at 7:00 pace. I finished feeling strong and could have gone a lot longer at that pace. That was very encouraging going into an Ironman. What an awesome day of training!

I want to end this post by saying how AWESOME my wife, Krisha, is. I would hope that most spouses would have brought their significant other some cold water if they were in need. But I doubt very many of them would do it with the same loving attitude that Krisha does day in and day out. She is the most supportive spouse anyone could have! I mean, think about it . . . . I'm off riding my bike for 6+ hours while she's taking care of our 10-month old. She's at a soccer game with one of her best friends, Dee, when I call asking her to drop everything because I didn't plan properly. Less than 30 minutes later, and without as much as a sigh, she shows up smiling, with lots of cold bottles of water. We could all learn a lot from Krisha. There is NO WAY I could do what I do without her support. Thanks, Baby!! I did sign her up recently for a coach at CTS (since they are the best coaches on the planet!), so I'm sure that I'll be able to pay her back before long! I just hope I can be as selflessly supportive when I get that call from her!

HOLY CRAP! A BEAR!!!!

Just got back from beautiful Colorado. What an AWESOME weekend of training! Without a doubt, the highlight of the trip was about 10 minutes up Left Hand Canyon when I heard Ryan yell "HOLY CRAP! A BEAR!!!" It was without a doubt the coolest thing I have ever seen on a ride. We were just climbing along and all of sudden he (or she, I didn't stop to check!) went running across the road about 20 yards in front of us. We both slammed on our brakes and watched as an American Black Bear walked along the river to our right, pausing to check us out about every 5 steps. What an awesome creature! It really is a shame that we as a human race don't care more about preserving this wonderful planet that God has provided for us . . . .

Anyway, I went to Colorado this weekend for a camp with CTS and to do some training with my very good friend Ryan. After a day with my coach, Lindsay, at CTS doing Lactate Threshold, VO2 Max, a bike fit, swim analysis, and a running analysis, I was pretty worn out. By the way, getting your finger pricked every three minutes, working as hard as you can, on a bike that goes nowhere, with a tube in your mouth, a clamp on your nose, and people yelling at you is not most fun workout I've ever done! Regardless, the camp was great. They really know how to do it right at CTS! Thanks, Lindsay!

Ryan is doing his first half-ironman (actually, it's his first triathlon -- that's how he rolls -- Go big or go home!) this August at the 5430 Long Course in Boulder (you could have picked an easier race, Ryno!). We ran on Saturday in Boulder and found an awesome route that we will definitely be running again as soon as I can get back up there! We were only running for an hour and twenty minutes, so we actually had to turn around long before we were ready. We were just gradually climbing on a nice trail with a mountain to our right and a river to our left. It was beautiful, and honestly one of the most fun runs I have ever done.

Sunday, we rode the 5430 bike course just to check it out. It seemed like it could be fast, but the first several miles were gradually uphill, almost a false flat, which could make you feel slow coming out of T1. We'll have to be patient on race day. After that, we climbed up Left Hand Canyon to Ward, had a delicious cookie, rode back down the mountain, and then up Stage Hill. Stage Hill was much shorter and felt like a small rolling hill after having climbed the hour twenty minutes that it took us to get up Left Hand Canyon. I was having some mechanical trouble so we headed back to the Res and called it a day. It was a great day, and I was not happy to be heading back to the airport to return to Dallas! Thanks for the EPIC weekend, Ryno!!

Note to self, next time you're doing that much climbing, bring something besides a P3C with an 11-23 cassette!