Monday, March 29, 2010

She will be mine, oh yes, she will be mine

I decided to head to Sportz Systems and check out their bike fest on Saturday after my long run. I intended just to pick up body glide. I ended up drooling over this:




Its not that the 2008 Quintana Roo Seduza was the slickest or most tech savvy bike there. Rather, the Seduza was within my price range. After a quick call to Paula (who gave me her support) and Mr. T (who was 40 miles into a 100 mile mountain bike ride when he fielded my call), I pulled the trigger. I put that sexy machine on layaway. Time to start making payments. Soon, she will be mine. Oh yes, she will be mine.

It'll be nice to have a proper TT bike.

Monday, March 15, 2010

St. Patrick's Day Triathlon


This past Sunday was the St. Patrick’s Day Triathlon in Keller, TX. Keller is very close to my wife’s family, so we made the trip to Dallas for a quick visit. This was our second year running the race. Here’s my brief report from last year.

I had a few hiccups before actually racing. First, I suffered (another) soccer injury last Sunday. This is particularly ironic when you consider that I stopped playing soccer because I didn’t want to get hurt. Since then, I watched a little too much FNC and Champions league and was insprired to return. I did, and last Sunday I knocked shins with another dude. It bruised up nicely and it hasn’t really healed.

Second, I broke my chain the day before the race. I threw the race wheels on and took it for a spin to make sure it was ready to fly. The rear derailler was poorly calibrated and the chain got caught in it. Its a little hard to explain, but it split a link. No worries, though, I got it taken care of at Mad Duck Cycling.

As for the race itself, Paula and I headed down to Keller around 5:45. We arrived a little past 6AM and set up transition. Thankfully, it was warmer than last year. My Master’s swim coach advised me to warm up with at least 500m, which I did about 20 minutes before start.

Swim


My plan was to start steady, breath every other stroke, and focus on form. I was going to build the pace each lap. Largely, I followed that plan. I felt strong(ish) in the pool, and probably could have gone harder. I finished feeling good. However, my swim time was a bit slower than last year. That might be due to having to run into the pool at start. I doubt it. I was more efficient and wasn’t as tired.

T1
Went to wrong rack. Not having glasses will do that.

Bike
My plan was to go pretty hard on the first lap and drop the hammer on the second. I felt strong and was able to stay aero most of the time. I don’t really know how much harder I could have gone, but perhaps some.

T2
Fingers cold. Tough time putting shoes on.

Run
This is where my training paid off. I remember last year waiting for the run to end. When you’re heading back on the course, you can hear the Irish band playing at the finish line. Unfortunately, you have to snake back to the finish and the music is a tease.
This year, I felt good. I had my hR monitor on and stayed around 180bpm for the first half. I was flying by people. On the way back, my HR drifted up to 185. I kept my turnover quick and breathing steady. Honestly the course seemed shorter this year.

I finished with my fasted 5K time ever. That includes the 2 stand alone 5Ks I’ve run.

300m swim: 5:28; T1: 1:30; 12 mi bike: 34:46; T2: 1:21; 5K: 20:01
Total: 1:03:07

Overall: 26/600
Age group: 7/52

Sum.
Paula did great and finished strong and in good spirits. We had family there to support us and it was a good time. The race is a whole lot of fun and I think we’ll do it again next year.
Now I’m going to the doctor to check on my ankle.


Before I forget, here's my tentative race schedule:
Jay Benson
XTerra Farmington
Prarieman
La Luz hopefully
Run for the Zoo / Shiprock Marathon