Sunday, August 17, 2008

MAYBE YOU THOUGHT

I had stopped blogging. I know I had. But really, I was just being lazy. It used to be not a day went by without me saying to myself "I should blog about that." Now, when I get that thought in my head, it is followed by "why bother?"

But enough has gone on, and a few of you still hang around, so I might as well dive in.

TRIATHLON:

The season is almost over, and I have spent the last couple days reflecting on that. I have managed to pick up some medals in my age category (something I failed to do last year) and have improved in all areas of competition.

THE GOOD:

I recently re-ran the Paul Bunyan Triathlon. This was my first race, ever, last year. So this year I wanted to use it as a litmus for how much I have improved. Last years time was (this is from memory and might be a bit off) 1:28:53.

This year, with the same race conditions, I pulled off a 1:17:13. To shave eleven and a half minutes off in one year is amazing. I felt really good about that. I took more than half that time off my swim alone, which is a testament both to my dedication to swimming, and Wade constantly pushing me to be better. Having a training partner is invaluable in that I feel like I am letting him down not to train (which is much harder than letting myself down, a daily occurrence at times).

With that victory, I took on the first ever Olympic Distance race. That's more than double the distance of the sprints I had been doing, and the first step towards Ironman, which continues to be a goal.

THE BAD:

Overall, I am glad I went through it. The race conditions were great (though everyone, in typical Minnesotan fashion complained it was too humid) My nerves were in control, mostly. Still, I need some work.

My 800m swim time was 17:11, so I figured, with attrition, I would be somewhere around 36 minutes for the 1500m. I came in at 44:45. That hurt. A lot. I recovered some on the bike, averaging just shy of 19mph, which though slow for me was was I was targeting for my first 25 mile bike race. In the run I targeted am 8:50 mile, again slow for me, but a good starting point to build on for later 6.2 runs. I came in at 8:45 on the run, and 3:03 overall. Well off my projected time of 2:55, and a bit disappointed.

The disappointment hasn't lasted, though. I know I can do better on the run, as my legs felt more fresh than I would like at the end. I can probably get the bike back up to the 20mph range I am used to, with a little off season hill work (the course really was challenging with all the hills it presented), and I feel like I did the best I could on the swim, and I KNOW it will be better with an offseason of training. The idea that I swam a mile in competition, when last year I struggled to complete even a few hundred meters without the doggie paddle, helps to soothe the mental wound of such a slow time. The idea that just two years in to triathlon I am up to the second of my four goal distances is great. I have a base to build on for next year, when I plan on doing a schedule at least 50% Olympic distance.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am impressed with USA basketball up to this point. We just routed Spain by 37 points, and looked very good and aggressive doing it. If I choose to update my blog in the next few days (maybe I will start blogging from work) I will give a full work up of these guys...My life is just about perfect right now, and it feels just about great...Gwen, At Average Joe, I was wondering how I knew YOU, too. The best I could come up with was last year after Young Life we had the same conversation. When you came up to me I was about to apologize for staring and explain the whole thing, imagine my surprise when you said it first!...Vikings are 1-1 in preseason, which means very little. Except Tavarius Jackson is throwing the ball well, which means everything for our season. I still have my doubts, but so far so good...Chad's cabin has lost a step (because I refuse to admit WE all have) but was a great weekend anyway.

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