Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Cross Train

I've heard its important to cross train, which seems inherent in triathlon training. Still, I think its important to break out of swimming, biking, and running. That's why I play ping pong. But as you can see from the video, not very well.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNSmmdtsZdg


Maybe in my next graduate career, I'll win the pong tourney.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Fixed and Farmington

I'm not exactly sure when I suddenly wanted a fixed gear commuter. I found myself looking through singlespeed How-To's and pictures of fixed gears during class. So, I decided to "build" a fixed gear for commuting. First, I should make my intentions clear. I'm not looking to wear girl jeans and put crap in my spokes. I put a front break on and I wear my helmet. The bike is meant to help me with my pedal stroke and climbing ability.

So, I asked my buddy at the law school to help me out. A friend had an old Peugeot frame, and my buddy had some other parts. We also used some of my old Trek bike parts, and this is what we came up with:






So, I've been riding this to and fro. Its a bunch of fun. And hard. Its a 52 (or 53) to 20 or so ratio. I can feel myself getting stronger already.


I think I've figured out my next big race. It'll be the Farmington July 4 Olympic distance triathlon.

So, that gives me about 10 weeks to train. I'll have a workout plan in place in the next day or so.

Until then.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

New Direction


This blog, as it has fallen into disuse, will be taken in a new direction. I'm going to post my triathlon goals, training, and progress. I don't expect anyone to care about this sort of thing, but I need to get better at keeping track of my progress.



So, before I start, I'll recap my recent triathlon adventures. I began this season with the St. Patrick's Day Triathlon in Keller, TX (near Dallas). I didn't feel fully trained and posted a decent result of around 1:10:30. I can't find the exact results.

I raced the Spring Fling in Rio Rancho, and had another decent result:
 Total: 1:21:44.75   5K run: 22:21   T1:1:06   
15ish bike:49:12 T2:1:14 400m swim: 7:54

I just got back from nationals, held at Buffalo Srpings Lake in Lubbock, TX. I was pretty intimated. It was the most competitive triathlon I've done, and my first olympic. I ended up with a solid time of 2:42. The swim was very cold, and I think I went off course a few times. The bike felt fine (avg'ed 19.9) but the run wasn't good at all. My back hurt and I couldn't get myself to move faster. I was in damage control. I ended up with 8m miles for a 49m 10k, including a potty break. I need to focus on the run more.

I also hurt my knee the night before the race. I went to take a shortcut to the bathroom and attempted to clear a guard rail. I didn't, and gashed my knee up pretty good. It needed stiches, but I decided against it, in order to race the next day. No worries though, I had it looked at today, and it should be fine.

So, I need to plan out some goals. I'm racing the Jay Benson, and Elephant Man. I was thinking about Farmington, Santa Fe, Gallup, Soccoro, and Santa Fe. However, I'll be studying for the bar, and won't have disposable income for the race fees. We shall see. I know now, that I want to complete an olympic with a sub 30m swim, 20mph bike, and sub 40 10k. Yes, lofty goals, but here we go.