Show Me State Games Tri

"Not too shabby..." would be my summary for today's race. There were definitely more participants than last year which is pretty nice to see. I won last year and I wanted to win again this year.

The swim started out pretty messy. I got battered and beaten by men twice my size which wasn't very fun. I know that my time was slow although I didn't even look at my watch to see. I would later learn that I had beaten the important people out of the water (Kim M. and Jen R.).

But the reason that I know I beat them out of the water is because they proceeded to pass me on the bike. Jen Reisdorf caught me just before the flat corn fields and I should have repassed her as I'm very strong on the flats and that's about all that I can use to my advantage these days. I tucked (legally of course) in behind Jen and pretty much just figured that I could follow her in on the bike and then take her on the run. Wrong. Kim Mouser decided that she would pass us both on the hills (I have got to work on those big time...). Right before the rolling hills on U, Mouser dropped her chain for about 5 seconds and I yelled at Jen "Let's go get her!" With my breaking issues (I don't want to talk about it), the Gillespie Bridge turn was killer and I got repassed by Kim. Jen, however, stayed behind me for the rest of the race. I battled to catch up to Kim the rest of the way thinking that I could real her in on the run.

Well I was right. I probably had a quicker transition than Kim and I was running faster. I could see the gap closing between us on the out and back 5K course. And then we hit the turn around where I lost my advantage. Kim saw me coming and saw how much ground I had made up. Needless to say, she poured it on over the next 2.5K and she won. I came in 2nd probably between 30-40 seconds back.

See you out on Sapp and Easley and running hills...... grrr

USAT Age Group Nationals

Oh boy...

Race Calendar

MaxTrax Duathlon- 2nd OA, 1st AG
Race for Sight- 14th OA, 1st AG
QuarterMax- 26th OA, 2nd AG
Rec Plex Triathlon- 4th OA, 1st AG
Kirkwood/Webster Connection Run 5k- 17th OA, 6th AG (20-29)
USAT Age Group Nationals- 11th AG
Show-Me State Games Triathlon- 2nd OA, 1st AG
Alligator Creek Triathlon- 4th OA, 1st AG
Lake Saint Louis Triathlon- 2nd OA, 1st AG
JCC Labor Day 5k - 3rd OA, 1st AG
NEMO Triathlon- 5th OA, 1st AG
Rec Plex Fall Triathlon- 3rd OA, 2nd AG
Pumpkinman: Club National Championship- 14th OA, 1st AG
Rockbridge Revenge 10K- 1st OA, 1st AG

Kirkwood/Webster Connection Run - June 25, 2006

Ran 7:15 per mile for a 22:18. Sucked. Ran faster than that at Race for Sight after the swim and bike. Plus the course was completely flat. I'll be back next year for redemption.

Rec Plex Triathlon - June 18, 2006

Lost 3rd place overall by 4 seconds. Lost 2nd place by 8 seconds. Lost 1st by only 1:30 or so. Had I run the same pace as I did last fall, I would have won the whole thing by about a minute. Damn. Only won my age group as a result.

All I have to say about this race is the following....

1.) I need to start running.
2.) My biking ability is the least affected with a lack of training.

QuarterMax - June 10, 2006

Hills... 'nuf said.

Okay, I'll give it some thought. I spent most of Friday helping setting up at Quartmax which was held at Innsbrook Resort. I hadn't been there in years but it looked exactly as I remembered it.

Race morning rolled around and the last thing I wanted to do was race.... or even participate for that matter. My "racing my way into shape" philosophy of the summer definitely wasn't cutting it especially with the horrible hills at Innsbrook.

The swim was nice (no wetsuits thank god). I felt okay but I know with my background I should be going faster in the water. I just need to put in the time and hit the pool for some training. Made my way up to transition and off on the bike I go.

The first five miles were pretty bad but I was expecting that since the park is hilly and once you get out of the resort its flat. Chrissy and Jen passed me in those 5 miles. At some point I pulled Chrissy back in on the flats but Jen was preparing for Ironman CDA and had much more in her than I did. I averaged a little under 20 which is slightly disheartening given how I did last summer but I know that I've neglected training.

Once out on the run, I was really questioning my reasons for doing this crazy race. The hills were so horrible that I walked up each and every one. Chrissy repassed me at about mile 2. Oh well. All I wanted to do was finish. I didn't care how many people passed me. I think I averaged about 10 minutes per mile but I finished the longest race that I've ever done so that counted for something.

And I somehow managed to get 2nd in my age group too.

Race for Sight - May 7,2006

I woke up early and got to the race site around 6 or so I think. I put my bike and bag in the transition area and then just kind of shuffled around talking to people.

Finally, I made my way into the pool wearing a fastskin with legs since I had a feeling that it was going to be cold like every other year. The swim went pretty poorly. I lost my goggles almost immediately and couldn't see the walls which kinda sucked but oh well, so my time wasn't the fastest... but then again, its not like I was putting in time in the pool training either so what could I expect. Jessica beat me out of the water but I was expecting that too.

Transition was quicker than I thought since I didn't end up putting any extra clothes on. The sun was shining and I really wasn't cold, so I grabbed my bike and ran with it... plus I still had "pants" on to keep me warm.

Once out on the bike, I realized that I hadn't been on it for over 2 weeks and I could definitely tell. The hills took everything out of me but I managed to keep it above 18mph regardless... I was focusing on catching Jessica for part of the time but never found her so I figured she was beating me on the bike too... (I later found out that I actually beat her out of T1).

Onto the run, which hurt like hell but I managed a 7:15 pace which made me happy.

I won my age group... I don't know how... I hadn't done one single bit of training in over a week... but I'll take it anyways.