Craig Tri's

I can run, I can ruuuunnnnnnn!!!!

2009-08-31T20:09:00.002-04:00

Ok, I know it was a few days early but I had to know. So I ran. I went out Saturday to run a couple of miles and ended up running 4. Sunday I got up and had no pain in my calf but man my legs were telling me it had been a month since I last ran. I did a lot of stretching and decided an easy 2.5 miles would knock the rust off from my Saturday run.

I know I have a little extra bounce in my step today. Best of all that nagging voice in the back of my head has gone quiet. You know the one telling me my season would be over because my calf wouldn't be right again this year.

I'M BACK!!! Not as fast as I was but none the less I'm back!

Steelhead 70.3 DNF? oh NO!!!!

2009-08-28T16:02:00.003-04:00

First, let me begin with an explanation as to why this took so long to post. This post has been the most difficult for me to write not because I'm ashamed to DNF and not because I feel like I didn't try hard enough but only because I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me. Emotionally, I am over it. Yes, it was a mental hurdle to get over my first EVER DNF. But, I am now both physically and mentally in a better place. On to my report and then a bit more follow up.

Race morning broke to clear skies and sunshine. The air was cool and the water in lake Michigan was even warm. The butterflies in my stomach weren't too bad and I was excited to do this race. Physically, I was feeling like I was bursting with energy after my 2 week taper. I had no nagging injuries and everything was perfect! (that should have been a sign that this day would go horribly wrong at some point)

I arrived at the race site right on schedule at 6am and got my transition area settled. This was the longest, narrowest, most crowded transition area I had ever seen. The buzz in transition before the race was awesome. I chatted with a few other competitors and everyone was excited to be doing this race. At 6:45 my wife and I started walking down to the swim start (1.2 miles up the beach to the south) This is when I decided to put my wetsuit on up to my waist and suddenly realized my timing chip and strap were still in my transition bag! A quick 100m sprint back to transition and some begging and pleading later I was in the now CLOSED transition area with the gruff instructions of "you better hurry your A$$ up!" whew, race was almost over before it even started. Back to my wife and walking up the beach we stopped about half way and watched the pro men swim by then continued on down to the start. I had about 30 minutes to kill at this point as I was going off in wave 12 at 8:07am. I found a quiet place on a dune and chilled to some tunes on my iPhone while I went one last time through my race plan in my head. At 7:50 I began my final prep with a quick warm up swim, told my wife my stroke felt strong today got my pre-race kiss and I love you and headed over to the testosterone festival called a starting line. After wave 11 went off, we were allowed to head down to the waters edge for a beach start. I think that felt like the longest 7 minutes of my life waiting for that start. At 30 seconds till start I put on my goggles, at 10 seconds I got ready to hit the start on my watch. GO!

I took 1, yes exactly ONE step and felt an excruciating POP in my left calf. Did someone kick me? what the heck? Maybe it's just a cramp. Keep moving forward and just get swimming. We can work a cramp out while we swim. I've done it a thousand times before, this isn't over yet! I finally get to water deep enough to swim in and with in 100 meters I'm feeling better already. I'm not kicking but I feel like I'm able to flex my foot back and fort a bit and stretch out the calf. Ok, now focus on just swimming. Sighting for the bouy's was interesting. You had to time it so that you sighted at the top of a swell not at the bottom. If you sighted at the wrong time all you saw was water and swimmers. As a side note, it was amazing to look around at the top of a swell and you could see swimmers stretching as far in front and behind as you could see. About half way into the swim I start passing some people with white swim caps, they were in the wave ahead of me. Then some pink swim caps, 2 waves ahead of me. The last half of the swim was pretty stretched out people wise. I was feeling good and constantly reminding myself to keep it an easy stroke. I knew an easy stroke would be enough to keep me on plan. My goal was around 35 minutes. As I made the turn for shore I really concentrated on trying to stretch my calf. It was still pretty sore and I had no clue what was going to happen when I tried to stand up. I decided to swim as far into shore as I possibly could to minimize how much running in water I had to do. I swam almost until my chest was scraping the bottom and then attempted to stand. I could put almost no pressure on my left foot and my calf would shoot pain. Damn, not a good place to be. I hobbled up the beach and saw my wife about half way up to transition. I gave her a quick run down and hobbled off. I figured ok, if I can just make it to my bike then maybe, well who knows.

In transition I almost quit right then. I was in pain and couldn't put my left heal on the ground to save my life. I almost fell over twice while trying to maneuver my bike to the bike exit. It took me a half mile to just get my feet into my shoes. (I have my shoes pre-clipped in and don't actually put my feet into them usually until I am up to speed) I almost causes a few wrecks in that first half mile but I managed. I decided right then and there that I would give it a couple of miles and if I couldn't find a comfortable or somewhat pain free pedal stroke that my day would have to be done. Not a decision I wanted to make but something I had to consider. By mile five I was actually averaging over 20 miles and hour and as long as I pedaled with a high left heel I was pretty much pain free. Standing and pedaling was interesting but if I played it smart I figured I'd make it ok. At mile 25 I kind of knew in my heart that this day was not going to end like I intended. But, I now had a plan. Keep the nutrition going, keep the fluids coming. I was cruising on the bike we gotta hope and pray that this stupid calf would work itself out. At mile 38 we made the turn for home, only 18 to go and now it was head wind city the rest of the way in. Like 17 - 25 mph head winds and I was still keeping my average speed higher than I anticipated. 1 mile to go, time to prepare to get off the bike. It was at this point that I had to make the toughest decision of my racing life. I felt great physically. I was as fresh as I have ever felt coming off the bike in any distance race. I was ahead of my goal time by almost 10 minutes already. But, could my calf stand the pounding of the run? I got my feet out of the shoes early. I didn't want to cause a wreck and ruin someone's day as well as mine with my calf in a questionable state. The dismount line was coming and I was about to find out if my race would continue or end. I wouldn't know until my second step because I always plant off the bike with my right foot but I was prepared for pain. As I came off the bike, my left foot finally hit the ground and I almost kept right on going down to my knees. I still couldn't get my heel to the ground. I was devastated. I hobbled my bike back to it's spot on the rack on took a few moments to ponder my next move. I tried to stretch my calf, no good. If I forced my heel to the ground searing pain radiated from my calf and almost brought tears to my eyes. For a few moments I considered trying to run. I thought if I just get started maybe it would get better. Then I would try and put my heel down again and I knew I couldn't go on.

I walked/hobbled to the nearest official and asked for the medical tent. They asked me three times if I was sure I wanted to end my race. The price for entry to the medical tent is a high one you see, you have to give up your race chip and your day is over. I admitted I couldn't go on any further and they showed me yet another reason why a true, sanctioned, Ironman branded race is the elite, quality event that it is. I was ushered quietly and quickly to the medical tent where immediately a doc, a nurse, a physical therapist and a couple others started checking my calf out. They brought me fluids, they got my wife in there with me. They were AWESOME in their professionalism and their understanding of my sadness of not finishing my race. They also gently reminded me that I couldn't continue when I asked for my chip back because I thought maybe I'd just try. The doc and physical therapist both agreed that there was no Achilles damage. They concluded that I may have partially torn or severely strained one of the muscles in my calf.

My times for what I completed were as follows.
1.2 mile swim 36:52
T1: 4:50
56 mile bike 3:10:55 (17.6mph avg)

On a good note, I did get to talk with Andy Potts who won the overall race, while waiting to get my bike back out of transition. He is the nicest down to earth person and seemed more concerned about my leg with the compression wrap on it than his win. Nice guy!

So what happened next? For the first 72 hours or so I followed the (R.I.C.E. method) rest, elevate, compression and ice method as instructed. Pain was so so for the most part. Each day I noticed a little more range of motion coming back and some cool bruising and swelling moving about my calf and ankle. I wore a compression/recovery sock by Skins for the week following the injury. 1 week after the race I was able to get into the Michigan State University Sports Injury clinic. Those doc's are awesome. They did my shoulder almost 2 years ago and from a sports perspective they never disappoint. Everything is always, "ok, we got this injury so what are your goals and how can we get you there?" I was confirmed to have a slight tear/strain of the gastrocnemius muscle (inner calf muscle) common to those in the 35 - 45 age range. It is a breakdown of the muscle fibers (the pop I felt) that finally gives way. There was no avoiding it. The doc said if it was going to happen it was going to happen. The stretching and warm up helped to lessen it but would not have encouraged or discouraged it from happening. No surgery is needed as I/everyone else suspected. I was right where he would expect my healing to be 1 week out from the injury. I was prescribed physical therapy with my favourite mistress of pain a couple of weeks later to speed up the recovery process.

I was cleared to swim and bike (no hill restrictions but only a pain restriction) and no running for a few more weeks. I was advised to increase my bike and swim to compensate for the no running.

Port Huron Blue Water Tri was out as I kind of suspected it would be but I am cleared to race again September 12th just not to expect a PR at that time.

PT has been going good this week. I do love the place I go to. Much like MSU Sports Injury clinic, they are awesome people there. Stacy kicks my butt and takes no excuses. Right now I am in no pain and have full range of motion back with some "pulling" feeling in the calf at certain times. I am just now feeling like I am able to walk "normal" again. I am planning on trying a short/easy run this weekend to see where we are.

I'll keep everyone posted more often now that the cat is out of the proverbial bag.

Inter ROCKIN Triathlon race report...

2009-07-14T21:05:00.005-04:00

How not to succeed..... or should it be How to successfully set yourself up for pain! or maybe...
How many ways to push your body....

I think I'll go with the last one. In short I left for the race 2 days early and checked into the state park for a solitary couple of days of training. I kicked it off with an easy 8 mile run on Friday night after setting up camp. Yes you heard that right, CAMP, in the old school terms. Tent, car, me, bike and workout clothes. I got up on Saturday watched a little TDF on the laptop. Well ok, I wasn't totally roughing it, haha. I did have my laptop and broadband internet. Had cooked up some eggs and bacon for breakfast and started giving the bike a once over to make sure it survived the trip ok and prep for a long ride. Crap!!! the back brake is not releasing. 3 hours later, I have completely torn the back brake out. I have cleaned it thoroughly, trouble shot the binding problem and finally found it further up the cable. Problem fixed well enough to ride and race. I just blew half my training day! Maybe a blessing in disguise. I changed and managed roughly a 19 mile ride before race packet pick up and catching up with my wife's cousin who was there to do her first ever triathlon. I wanted to make sure I was there to answer any last minute questions she might have. After she left I went back to camp and changed for an easy 5k run.

After dinner my brother in-law arrived to stay the night in my camp and race the sprint distance race the next morning. I can honestly say it's been cool having him interested in doing some these races together. We did the Port Huron Blue Water tri last summer together and now Interlochen. He's a bit younger than me and just about as competitive and pushes me to work harder. I love it!!

Race morning came way to early on Sunday. I was anything but fresh for this race but I wanted it that way. I wanted to train through this race because I have my "A" race for the year in 3 weeks, Steelhead Half Ironman, and I wanted a little extra stress on my body to adapt to before I start my taper in a week or so. The weather was great, nice and cool in the 50's. We walked up to transition from our camp site at about 7am and got things set up. I caught up with my wife's cousin and one of my team mates who was doing the race as well. Gave my bro in law some last minute ribbing and soon enough it was game on.

Swim - 27:05 (once again placed high in my age group - 4th and 36th/134 overall)
The theme this year for the swim has been relaxed and feeling like I'm not even pushing it. Yet I'm getting faster? Other than swimming an extra 50 yards out wide (is it a good thing when they send a life guard to check on you because you're so far away from everyone else?) the swim went to plan. I, as usual, started in the front row and smacked the first 100 or so meters hard, then I settled into an easy, steady stroke for the rest. Other than going to wide, which in case anyone cares does keep you out of the fray, I swam it to plan. Sighted well and had energy to burn as I headed back to shore. Once again I passed a few souls who stood too soon and started walking while I swam by them until my hands were digging into the bottom. I stood up and that is when it hit me as I almost fell back to my knees. My right hamstring cramped solid and my left felt like it was going to go at any second! I fought the cramps in my hammy's all the way up to transition, walking, running , hobbling along. I tried to figure out how I was going to finish and if I did how LONG was that going to take. This race was taking a quick turn in the wrong direction and I wasn't liking it much.

T1: 3:53
Yup, you read that right. Almost 4 minutes. I hobbled through this transition at lightning speed fo sho. But a plan was forming. Just get my cramping rear end on the bike and we'll see if it works.

Bike: 1:21:02
Ever try and swing your leg over your bike when it's cramping? Not an easy task. I'm sure it was good for some humor to some of the spectators but it was far from funny for me. I made it on the bike and set out on my plan for "active recovery". Here is what I came up with during my hours in transition. A) I need lots of fluids B) I need to keep the workload low until my cramps can subside and C) I need lots of fluids!

I was in luck, I had loaded 2 water bottles with my secret Gatorade, Hornet Juice and water mixture. 48 ounces of blessed amino acid and electrolyte filled liquid. I hoped it would be enough! As I got going in a low gear spinning easily, I started pounding the first bottle down. I set out to finish a bottle and a half before the half way point. Goal 2 was to keep the speed reasonable (around 17ish mph) until that time. By the time I hit the turn around at the half way point my legs were feeling better but vulnerable. I decided to push it a little harder on the way in but not get crazy. I kicked it up to around 20mph avg on the way back. I raced smart hanging just out of the draft zone (3 bike lengths) on a few riders to get a little break here and there and actually started making up some ground by the end of the ride. Maybe just maybe I had persevered through the worst of it. Average speed ended up being 18.4mph. Not bad on gimpy legs, haha

T2: 55 seconds
This has been my greatest improvement this year. I hit it exactly like I wanted.

Run: 1:03:49
This was a tale of 2 distinct halves. The first half of the run I felt pretty alright. I skipped the first aid station and had a water at the second. (yes I walked the aid station for water, I still can't run and drink yet, ugh!) then at the 2.1 mile point I turned the corner and in front of me was the HILL! A .8 mile 12% climb to the turn around. My legs that had finally felt ok now started to complain about this climb. I made a deal with them, run me to the top of that hill and I'd let them coast back down. They weren't buying it. By the time I reached the turn around, my calves were cramping. A short walk at the aid station at the turn around to drink some more fluid and I started running back down the hill. By the time I reached the bottom my hamstrings were cramping once again. The last 2 miles of the race were not a lot of fun but I was shocked to find a 10:17 avg for the run. Even with the issues and a couple of extended walks in that final 2 miles I still managed a decent, for me, pace.

Overall time: 2:56:43
I'm happy with that time. Not quite as fast as I had hoped but close. Given my early on issues, I was ecstatic with that time. I have a suspicion that I was not quite hydrated enough through the weekend. I also know I was not rested at all for this race. Now for the great news. I dropped 2 full minutes from my time last year on this course and I tapered for that race! I will miss this venue if I don't do it again but I think the draw of it has worn off for me. As of right now, I'm not planning on doing this race again next year. Time to try some new races. I have decided to find another Olympic distance race to run in Sept. This time with a taper. I want to find out just how fast I really can go now if I give my body a chance to rest before the race.

Up next Steelhead Half Ironman in 3 weeks.

Until my next post... Keep tri-ing

Shhh, it's a secret

2009-07-06T10:15:00.008-04:00

Ok, first, I've been a bit lacking the past couple of weeks on posting. I apoligize. My counterpart at work has been gone on vacation so my workload has increased. So between work being nuts, being in a fairly critical time in my HIM training and seemingly travelling with the family every weekend on short trips something had to give. And, unfortunately my friends, the blog lost that battle.

So not only have I been teasing you with a secret but I have also been ignoring you all. How rude am I? lol Let's see if I can make it up to you.

Here are the quick workout facts to date. I have continued my build phase towards Steelhead. I am currently 4 weeks away and feeling pretty ok with my fitness. This coming weekend is Interlochen. This was the first tri I ever attempted and this may be the last year I race it. I think next year I am going to be trying some different venues and race management companies. This is another 3 Disciplines race and I have just grown tired of the constant issues and excuses. I felt like they were better at Motor City and I have hope for Interlochen but it's just time to try some new events next year. My race expectation for Interlochen is another PR. I really feel ready to break the 2:55 mark. This is a fast fairly flat (1 small hill on the outbound leg of the bike and one HUGE hill at the half way point of the run) fast (the bike is typically into the wind on the way out and with the wind on the way in) race. My ultimate goal would be 2:45 but that will require some serious buckling down on my part. I fully expect a sub 2:55 effort on this one. Anything less will be a definite disappointment.

Ok enough of that drudgery. I have been holding out on you all for the past few months and especially the past 3 weeks. This past spring I came across an oppourtunity to participate in a research study through Michigan State University. What prompted my desire to participate was the chance to have a real VO2max test! I initially thought it was at no cost to me. Boy was I wrong! it may have been no monetary cost but the physical effort to participate in the study cost a ton, haha. I used to think lab rats had a pretty good life. 3 square meals a day, lodging, a little exercise..... how bad could it be? Let me tell you, I have grown mentally and physically participating in this study. I found out about 3 weeks ago that I had been accepted into the study. The study is being conducted by Clemens Drenowatz, a Ph.D. candidate in their kinesiology dept. This is a pre-study for his doctoral dissertation. He is studying the validity of the Sensewear Armband® at high intensity exercise. (I should have paid more attention that statement when I signed up, haha, high intensity should have set off some alarms somewhere) For the study I will be doing 3 separate test procedures. I have completed the first two as now. I am scheduled to complete the 3rd and final test procedure Wednesday evening, this week.

So, on to my Craig the lab rat report. For my first visit I met Clemens at the IM Circle facility (my second test was there as well). We chatted a bit and I got to listen to all the disclaimers and legal crud. Then I got to sign all their waivers saying I wouldn't sue if I died, etc... Hey I'm a triathlete afterall, I'm used to signing my life away so what the heck, lol... Then the fun began.

Body composition testing and VO2Max test. The results here would establish a baseline for the next 2 visits and establish effort level percentages for future use. The first picture is the "bod pod" used for determining body composition (read that as how much fat does Craig have) What an eye opener that was. The device uses air pressure to determine exactly how much bone, muscle, fat, etc.. you have in your body.
I found out I'm a nice healthy 24% body fat, not a surprise but now I also was shown that number translated to 40 pounds of fat!! That number was an eye opener. Wow! It sounds really bad when you put it that way, lol. Anyways that was only the begining of the fun. We got to get standing heart rate, height, weight and blood pressue as well. The second picture is of Clemens, standing next to the open bod pod. You really feel a bit odd sitting in there while they run the test.

Enough of the easy stuff, lets go torture Craig now. The next picture shows me all suited up in a portable VO2max mask. It communicates wirelessly with a laptop to give them all my data realtime. The last visit of the study is a 30 minute outdoor run wearing this sexy Fighter Pilot getup, so to keep the study consistent I get to wear the portable unit for all 3 phases. Yippeeeee! In the week before the VO2max test I read somewhere that it takes a motivated individual to do the test. I would like to add slightly demented, masochistic individual to that statement.

The test went like this. Gear Craig up, put him on treadmill walking at 3.5 mph for 3 minutes lulling him into a false sense of comfort and ease. Increase speed to 6mph for 1 minute, then 7mph for 1 minute then when he's just about comfy, start torturing him by setting the incline at 1% and increase that incline .1% every 10 seconds until Craig falls off the treadmill, jumps off the treadmill or dies, which ever comes first lol. I managed to hang on (figuratively, because as soon as you grab the hand rails the test is over) until 10.5% incline for a total test time of around 10 minutes. The last picture is of my relieved face once the test was over.

I managed a VO2max of 52 and a max heart rate of 194 (holy cow! really 194) So much for the 220 minus your age rule, haha

Now that I have written a book for today's post, I think I'll wait to tell about my second visit until later. This has been a very cool experience and I have gotten to meet some very cool people at Michigan State. I must have something wrong with me though because I have volunteered to be tortured again in the future for other studies if they want me. I am now officially a college lab rat. But, I get so much cool data to help me tailor my training by out of it.

Well, I hope everyone in the U.S.A. had a great 4th of July weekend and thanked a serviceman or woman somewhere for their sacrifices for our country.

Keep on tri-ing....

Motor City Tri, Race report

2009-06-17T10:59:00.002-04:00

Ok, no suspense here. I PR'ed this race! 2:55:08, that's 2 hours 55 minutes and 8 seconds, almost 3 minutes faster than my best previous Olympic distance race. More importantly, I'm starting to manage the race distance better. I honestly felt like I was in control of my race from start to finish. I still know I can go faster but that is a fitness/training issue not capability issue.

The race was held on Belle Isle in Detroit Michigan and it is a flat, fast course with over 750 athletes registered for all the races. I went down to the race the afternoon before and met up with one of my team-mates and his wife at packet pickup. We pre-rode the bike and run course together, talked about strategy and the course. This was very cool. After that we went back to their house where I would be staying with them for the night and relaxed a bit before dinner. Jon, you and your wife were awesome hosts, thanks again for putting me up for the night. For dinner we met up with a couple more teammates at a local Italian restaurant called Sila's. Great pasta! Being on a team is very cool this year. I really feel part of something bigger than myself and feed off the excitement of my team-mates.

Race morning was perfect weather wise. We were up and out the door by about 6am and at the race site around 6:30am. I got T2 set up (this was a 2 transition race, the swim was about a mile from T2) and went back to the car to gather my T1 stuff. I made it down to set up T1 by about 7am and had lots of time to organize and go through my pre-race routine. I saw a few more of my GREYHOUND support crew and team-mates then it was time to start. I was calm and felt ready.

Swim: Goal time: 30 minutes Actual: 29:47
place 9/31 age group 77/214 overall
This is a course with a current. The firs 500 meters and the last 250 meters are into or across the current with the back 750 meters or so with the current. The river current isn't fast but you feel it. I lined up in the front row so I could go out hard and get out of the fray as always. About 100 meters in I settled into a nice groove and found sighting good. At about 500 meters I was coming to the first turn and had already caught the tail end of the wave of swimmers before me. It was at this point I came to the realization that I was feeling really strong in the water! I was actually making an effort to hold back on my pace to conserve some energy. I had some minor issues with the slower swimmers and I cut the turn around the buoy a little close and had some issues with it's tether rope but all in all the turn didn't have too much drama. On the back stretch with the current I felt like I was flying and hardly working at all. I picked a solo line and passed a lot of stragglers along the way. I made the turn back upstream with little issue other than I suddenly was trying to sight into the rising sun! That was quite interesting picking my line to the last turn for home. I generally tried to just use the other swimmers and shore for my bearings. Suddenly there was the last buoy and it was time to turn for home. I can't stress enough how little energy I felt like I had used on this swim. I was feeling much fresher than normal coming out of the water. It may be time to re-adjust my time goals for future races as my swim strength continues to improve again.

T1 - 3:35
This is long for 2 reasons. You had to pack all your stuff in a bag for the race staff to collect and bring to the end of the race. And, my wetsuit wanted no part of being shoved into the bag! what the heck? It was like it had a mind of it's own, lol. No worries though, I knew going in this would be a longer transition and accounted for it in my goal time.

Bike Goal: 1:15:00 Actual: 1:13:13 (hours:minutes:seconds)
The bike went just as I planned. Except for one thing..... I had no speed readout on my computer! I had cadence but no speed. Luckily I train to cadence a lot and had a general idea of speed based on cadence and gearing so I just went with it. I eased into the bike for the first half lap (it was 4 laps around the island) I hammered the next 2 1/2 laps and backed off slightly on the last lap to save on the legs a little. This was also my first race attempt at removing my shoes while still on the bike and leaving them attached to the bike in T2. This went off without a hitch and I felt like a pro hopping off the bike, not stopping or loosing momentum, running the bike into transition holding it by the saddle. haha, I'm sure I didn't look like a pro but man I now know what they feel like.

T2: 1:02!!! (minutes:seconds)
WHAT?? I never go that fast! I think this will get about 15 to 30 seconds faster at my next race as I practice a little more. I screwed up the order of getting putting things on and getting going, so practice is in order. This definitely made up for the slower T1.

Run Goal: 1 hour Actual: 1:07:33
Let give a quick public service announcement. Do NOT, EVER play one on one basket ball with your 12 year old 2 days before an important race. No matter how easy you think you'll go, YOU WON'T! I learned this lesson the hard way this weekend. My legs felt good off the bike. As good as I can ever remember them feeling coming off the bike. There was only one problem. It felt like someone was jamming a knife in my lower back and I was very stiff around the waist. I could run no problem, not fast and not comfortable but I could run. Any incline or downhill momentarily compounded the issue. I had felt the twinges the day before but figured it would go away by race day. No such luck! Fortunately for me this was a fairly flat course. The only hills were in the form of 3 small bridges I had to cross 2 times each. It took about 2 miles into the run to find a stride that was about as pain free as it was going to get and with about 3 miles to go I finally was able to start speeding up to my normal pace. I was averaging around 9 minute miles the last 3 miles. I walked the water stations as I still haven't mastered the art of drinking while running but other than that I was running. I finished strong to hear my name and RACING GREYHOUNDS announced and the announcer commenting on how well represented the GREYHOUNDS were in this race.

Total time 2 hours 55 minutes 8 seconds!! My new personal record for this course and an Olympic distance race. (1500 meter swim, 23 mile bike, 6.6 mile run in this race)

It was awesome to see so many GREYHOUNDS at this race. Between competitors and support crew we had around 20 people out there! It is such a lift to see your team-mates out there on the course.

Next week I'll let everyone in on a little secret that is happening Saturday. It is so cool what I am getting to do but I can't tell you about it quite yet.

So until next time... keep training and don't ever stop tri-ing!

Curwood 10k race report

2009-06-08T19:54:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning was a great day for a race. It was bright, sunny and only about 60 degrees Fahrenheit at race start. This small town race is flat, fast and brings in about 700 attendees. My son Ryan, ran the 5k and I lined up for the 10k. I wanted to use this as pacing practice for my upcoming race at Motor City. I always go out too hard at these things and pay for it in the last half. Saturday, I was determined to change that. As the race was about to start I told Ryan good luck and sent him off to the front row. I on the other hand headed to the back third of the pack. I soon learned a couple of new lessons.

1) this far back in the pack, if you aren't paying attention, the race start might just be a total surprise when you don't hear the starting beep.
2) more people need to learn how to start in the right pace location.

I was looking around soaking in the atmosphere when all of a sudden people were running all around me. I never heard the race start. Whoa, hey Craig, you're slow enough without letting everyone have a head start! I quickly regrouped and took off. It was hard not to sprint off like everyone else. I felt like I was running half as fast I could. Life was good and soon to get even better. I spent the first mile weaving through the crowd. For the first time that I can remember, I was the passer not the passee.... is that really a word? I hit the 1 mile mark at 9:30 and was shocked to only be 30 seconds off my goal pace for the first mile. Over the next mile I slowly caught up with a neighbor and friend going about the pace I was planning for the first half of the race. I then had the pleasure of a nice conversation up to the turn around. We both were running well and slowly catching and passing people as we went. I sensed she was pushing maybe a little harder than she wanted and I felt like I was still holding back. Staying to my plan of negative splitting the race. After mile 1 I was hitting the mile markers pretty darn close to 9 minutes or just a little under. So far so good.

At the turn around I passed 2 people as they stopped to take water and decided to let the horses have their heads a little and see how the next mile felt. My neighbor sensed this wasn't a short term change in pace and wished me well as I slowly worked away from her. I settled in to a good pace and started picking people to pass. (again, not normal for me but what a great feeling, haha) At about the 4.5 mile mark I caught up to a group of three guys and spent the next half mile working my way past them as they were pushing my pace a little more than I really wanted at that point. But, my legs felt good, I wasn't overly winded and the gas tank was feeling pretty full still. Next, it was time to test the mind a bit. I wanted to get a little out of the comfort zone for the last mile. I wanted to turn up the speed a bit and battle my mental demons. Those little buggers always seem to creep into my head at some point and for once, I wanted them on my terms. I wanted to embrace the pain and force the issue at a point where I knew it was almost over and beyond a time when walking would be an option. I got what I wanted and then some. I crossed the 6 mile point with the demons screaming their pain filled song through my body. This time, however, I could see the finish and hear the crowd. Like a horse headed for the barn, nothing was stopping me at this point. I felt a growing urge to purge my pre-race bagel and peanut butter from my stomach and fought that nauseated feeling the rest of the way in, still picking up speed and ignoring the pain.

I did it. I battled the demons on my terms and won! Kind of, lol. I was pretty miserable for the first few minutes after the race, not knowing if I was going to hurl or pass out, but I did it MY way this time. No walking, no going out too fast, continually speeding up as the race unfolded. I passed a lot of people who know me as a triathlete and gave me well wishes on my way by. I PASSED people. That in it self does not usually happen when I run. That felt good, no it felt GREAT!

I set a goal of 54 minutes. I ran a 54:31 and am not in the least disappointed. I know I lost time on the first mile. I, for once, ran a smart race though and that is way better than woulda, shoulda, coulda.

My awesome son Ryan, who I hope some day finds his true potential, ran a PR 21:23 5k. I fully anticipate he'll break 20 minutes by the end of the year at the rate he's going. I actually got to see him mid race after his turn around point and he looked so strong. How cool is it to cheer your son on mid race in the middle of the course? It was mind blowing for me, I even slowed down just a little so I could wish him well at the exact point our courses turned opposite directions.

This weekend brings my next triathlon. The Motor City Triathlon on Belle Isle in Detroit. I'll try and get a quick post up before the race with some goal times.

As always, if you do nothing else in your life. Just keep Tri-ing....

The past... the present... and the future!

2009-06-01T11:20:00.006-04:00

Hey all, about time I get out another update. I have fully healed from my physical wounds, aches and pains from my Xterra adventure. I still haven't wiped the smile off my face from the experience. In this post are a few of the pictures of me rocking my GREYHOUND team kit. I got to say that wearing that kit during a race sure makes you feel like you belong with the big boys, even if your speed says otherwise, haha

The picture on the bike I chose only because it shows the deepest point of the two stream crossings. (and yes I think that is a smile on my face, I felt like such a kid on that trail ride!)

The running picture is from the finish chute. I felt so strong finishing that run! My fitness is definitely coming along well this year.

Xterra Midwest Cup/Sport, aka Custers Last Stand Xterra, was an awesome experience. I am already planning on going back next year. I'd like to get a few of my fellow GREYHOUNDS to join me for the fun.

The present.....

Okay, the training took a bit of a week off last week as it was a recovery week and life got a bit in the way. I still managed some decent mileage on the bike and my body felt fresh by this weekend. Just as a recovery week should be!

This weekend was a weekend of being a supportive dad and team member. On Saturday I cheered my son on at a local 5k. It was a cross country style, tough!, course that I ran with him last year and swore I'd never do that one again, lol. Ryan went out and did me proud. His running is getting so strong now. There were over 400 runners in this race and he defined "tough day at the office". Ryan placed 8th overall but 7th in his agegroup. He was excited though because he finally beat one of his classmates who had his number all season long in track, and almost beat another. He ran a 22:27. Way to go Ryan! Next up on Sunday was a GREYHOUND team event at the Hawk Island Triathlon in Lansing MI. I was only a team sherpa for this event. I got to help man the team tent and cheer them on. I think, as a competitor, it is harder to be a spectator than it is to race. The GREYHOUNDS represented well with 11 team members racing and 3, womens agegroup 3rd place podium winners and 2 young male studs just outside the podium. An awesome morning with the team, getting to know more of my teammates better. I can't wait for Motor City when we have the team compound set up and I get to race.

Sunday night brought a ride I had been looking forward to with both excitement and fear. I have been trying to work out a time to ride with this guy (Greg) for almost a year. He is a very fast roadie who rides more than anyone I know. He is a great person on top of everything else. I finally was able to work out a time when both our schedules would work out for a ride. I told him I felt I had a decent 2 hour effort in me last night and just hoped I could hang. First let me just say he was a great riding partner. If he dropped me (and in the hills he did easily), he would wait for me to catch up. I felt good that I wasn't just a wheel sucker all night because our route allowed us to ride 2 abreast most of the time. On the flats and downhills, I felt like I did a decent job of hanging with him. I'm pretty sure that ride qualified as a recovery ride for Greg, but for me it was exactly what I needed. We rode 33 miles in just under 2 hours. I can't tell you how many times I looked down at my computer and we were over 20 miles an hour. Afterwards I was absolutely crushed physically! But, I know I had the biggest smile on my face and Greg seemed willing to take me along again. I now know the route and I plan on working on those darn hills so I can hang with him better the next time. Today I am sore from head to toe! I can't believe how many muscles are sore from that bike ride! IT'S AWESOME!! I know riding with him will only make me better.

Now for the future.

This week, it's back to full training. This weekend, Ryan and I are running in the Curwood 5k/10k races. This is a flat, fast course and I can't wait to see Ryan PR this one. I am running the 10k as a training run. I am setting a modest 54 minute goal for this race. Just working on pacing and consistency. My next triathlon is a week from Sunday at the Motor City Triathlon. My first ever Olympic distance race a year ago and a race I'm looking to for some redemption after all my cramping issues last year.

Everyone have a great week, keep training and never stop TRIing....

I feel you wind....

2009-05-21T13:51:00.003-04:00

Thank you, for making me not take todays ride for granted.

Thank you, for only blowing the sweat into one eye at a time when you were crossing me.

Thank you, for not letting me rest even on the down hills on the way out.

Thank you, for blowing harder just as I got to the top of that really long hill so I couldn't rest and recover.

Thank you, for making it hurt just a little extra so I can better learn how to embrace that pain during a race.

Thank you, for challenging me to put the effort in even when I wanted to take it easy.

Thank you, for shifting as I turned for home so I couldn't enjoy your push quite as much.

Thank you, for helping with the 35mph thrill ride on that big down hill.

But most of all...........

Thank you, for making me appreciate those days when you aren't there.

Custers last stand and Craigs repeated fall...

2009-05-17T20:48:00.004-04:00

First off I just want to say that I have a new found respect for the mountain bikers. My hat is off to anyone who chooses to put themselves into tight, twisting, log in the way peril and chooses to do it as fast as possible. Wow!

Now on to my race report from my weekend Xterra triathlon.

I got to watch the pro's start up close and personal but once they hit the bike it was my turn to gather my wits and prep for my race. Here is my observation about the pro's. They are AWESOME to watch up close and personal. They are just like age groupers only faster and their confidence and command on the bike and run is astounding. Jamie Whitmore , a former women's world champion Xterra pro, did the announcing for the race and did a great job at that. She is an amazing person who has battled cancer and is unable to race now because of it. What an Insperation to the rest of us. Also thanks to Doug V. who looked me up and said hi while we were setting up transition. That was cool. Great job out there as well Doug. You passed me on the bike and even though you looked like you were struggling a bit on the run when I passed you back, you stuck with it and finished. From the smile I saw on your face afterwards you might just be hooked like the rest of us now. Welcome to ranks of being a triathlete!

I hit the water about 15 minutes before my race start to try and get as acclimated as possible. It was a chilly 33 F on my way to race this morning. The only good thing was that I was sure the water had to be warmer than the air. It was, but not by much. It was a mass beach start of all of the sport distance athletes, male and female. (read sprint distance for all us roadies) I had a great line to the first buoy and was almost gassed by the time I hit it. I made that turn and managed to find a pair of feet to draft most of the way to the next bouy until their driver decided to take the scenic route off course. Thank God I was still sighting for myself. I made the turn for home and dug down deep for the final push. I came out of the water hardly able to get my feet under me and moving and I figured out why after the race. The timing mats by transition were about 100 yards up hill from the water and I still turned in a 10:02 swim time for 500 meters. That was smacking it a little too much and I paid the price in T1 and for the first few minutes on the bike trying to get my breathing back under control.

T1, I took my time on purpose this race. I knew I was out of my league on the bike so I dogged it in transition just to give some of the faster riders a head start. I don't remember my split time for T1 but I am sure it was 3+ minutes.

The first couple of miles on the bike were fun. Twisting and turning through the woods and I was flying pretty good. Then some joker decided to try the same twisting and turning while throwing logs in the way and adding a bunch of elevation changes both up and down (read straight down and straight up) That is when I got my first biff of the day. I learned the hard way to watch for lesser riders having issues on the uphills. When clipped in and suddenly coming up on a traffic jam right at the top of a climb, no momentum spells Craig on the ground, the hard way! 3 of my 4 biffs were the result of that exact scenario. Then I learned a cool way to dismount when going down a steep rut filled section. After that I latched onto another rider of similar skills to mine and just followed her at an easy pace until about the last mile when I found I could carry more speed than she was willing to in some of the twisty sections. (Thanks Monica for the assist and laughs about us roadies having no business on bikes in the woods, lol) I was never so happy to get off my bike in my life. Muddy, bruised and scraped up pretty good but happy none the less. (as a side note, Pusher I know we've had a lot of problems getting the kits right but I gotta say, the tri shorts are awesome. I was sure they'd be torn to shreds given the cuts and bruises I got on the inside of them, but the shorts don't have a scratch on them.) One last note from the bike. There were not 1 but 2 creek/river crossings on this trail and I am proud to report that I managed to at least keep it upright through both of those. (water depth was up to the axels on them both)

T2 was uneventful, I striped one layer of shirts off, changed my shoes, grabbed a quick sip of sports drink and I was off. Still not as fast as I am capable of but ok none the less.

The real test of my early season fitness came on the run. I am proud to report that I am ahead of schedule. I ran the entire 3 mile trail run with about the freshest legs I can remember having off the bike. The trail wasn't too hilly or technical and I was able to finish strong, right around 30minutes.

I don't have all my splits yet but I do know I had a 10:02 on the swim and was a 1hour 59 minute something total. I can't wait to get back on the road now but the experience was awesome!

This weekend was a good test for me on my current training plan. Friday I rode my first solo 50 mile training ride, raced Sunday morning and came home Sunday evening and ran a mile and a half easy run with my wife. I feel pretty good and the increased work this winter is already showing some results.

It was awesome wearing my new RACING GREYHOUND kit and hearing go GREYHOUNDS while out on the course. I'm bruised and battered and grinning from ear to ear. I can't wait for Motor City and road redemption. I'll put some pics up shortly. They had photographers at the finish and on the course in a couple of places so I should even get to show off my awesome GREYHOUND bad self, haha, just for you Mike.

And so it begins.....

2009-05-12T21:26:00.005-04:00

Somehow my triathlon season has suddenly snuck up on me. Now don't get me wrong, I feel plenty ready for this weeks race. (more on that in a minute) This off season has just flown by. I feel like I have maintained my aerobic fitness this off season. That was my primary goal. I also committed to riding my mountain bike outdoors on a regular basis this winter. Again, mission accomplished. I forced myself to put in over 300 miles on the indoor trainer in February with the hope of jump starting my fitness for this season. Why did I do these things instead of taking an extended break this winter? Every race last year left a bitter taste in my mouth from a fitness standpoint. I had the heart but I felt like my body let me down more often than not. I have committed to not having that be the case this year. I want to finish strong and have legs left for the run this year. I may never run fast but.... I can be fresh enough to run strong off the bike. With that in mind I have focused on bike fitness more than anything this winter. I stayed out of the pool, my first love, until April and hoped I would not lose the main edge I have at these races. After last week, I don't think that will be a problem. Bottom line, I feel GREAT about where I am right now at this point in my training.

Last week I turned 42. It didn't even faze me this year. I feel better than I have in many years physically and I think that helps. Once again I celebrated by completing the bfit birthday challenge. You celebrate your health by swimming the first number of your age in either yards or miles depending on your ambition, you run the second number of your age (and if its a zero you get to do 10 miles) then you ride your entire age in miles. This was a challenge started by Roman Mica over at http://www.bfitbday.com/ . I completed it last year and decided to continue the trend this year. I set the goal of doing everything in miles (yes the swim too) and to complete it within a 24 hour period. I can report, after the fact, that I was successful. I began Thursday evening after work with a little 4 mile swim (2 hours 12 minutes, 26 minutes faster than last year, so much for lack of swim fitness haha). The next morning I ran 2.5 miles (sorry, I'm an over achiever) in 21:43 and that afternoon I hoped on the bike and cranked out a 42 mile ride in 2 hours 43 minutes. All in all it took me 5 hours 16 minutes 43 seconds. I cut 15 minutes off my time from last year and ran and rode one more mile each! Who says you can't get better as you get older, lol. After all that effort in a 24 hour period, the fact that I was not sore and could have trained this weekend (I took it off to celebrate my birthday and have one last hurrah before I get serious with my training) I feel like I am more than ready for this weekends race, fitness wise. One interesting note from my swim. I found it quite interesting that the longer I swam, the stronger I felt (until about the 3.5 mile point, then it was a suffer fest for the last 800 meters). I never once felt that last year. I hadn't felt that since the days when I swam competitively in high school. I'll be interested to see if that carries over into my season as my races get longer.

This coming weekend is my first ever Xterra event. I'm dong what they call a Sport race (pretty much a sprint distance for us roadies) It's a 500 meter swim, 10 mile mountain bike ride, 3 mile trail run. Just a fun little race to kick my season off right. Also, I recently found out it's one of 2 stops for the Xterra pros in Michigan this summer and both Melanie McQuaid and Conrad Stoltz are scheduled to race. (for those who don't know they are the Female and Male reigning Xterra World Champions and both won their last race a couple of weeks ago) I can't wait to observe them and see how they do things for race prep, etc that an average age grouper like me can learn to from. I have no expectations for this race other than to finish strong. I also get to race for the first time as a RACING GREYHOUND in my awesome team kit. I'll see if I can't manage a pic or two for the race report. I'm going unsupported (read solo, alone, sans family) to this race so pictures might be hard to come by but we'll see. I'm training right through this race as I am into my build period in my Half Ironman training, 12 weeks out and officialy trying to follow a plan this year where every workout is mapped out from now through Aug 1. We'll see how that works, haha.

Ok kiddies, that's all for this week unless I get the urge to write more before Sunday. So until my first race report of the year, next week. Train smart and work hard!

ugh!! so not as ready as I thought today :)

2009-04-25T12:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, first off lets make this sound really, really good. My wife, oldest son and I ran a local 5k race this morning. My son (who's 14 and doesn't seem to understand pain) ran a 22:14 5k, placed 2nd in his age group (by less than 2 seconds) and was 18th overall. My wife placed 2nd in her age group and once again kicked my butt (more on that later). I had a respectable 3rd in my age group but not that respectable of a time. (by the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I was 3rd out of 4 in my age group with a pathetic 28 minute 5k, I gotta find more small races to do, lol I did walk the last .1 or so with my brother in-law and I got to finish with him and his wife all at the same time. That was a high point.) It was a family affair with my wife's parents there doing the walk as well.

All week I had trash talked my wife about how this was finally going to be the week I beat her in a 5k. Up until the one mile mark I was shoulder to shoulder with her. At the half way point I was just behind her and watching her slowly pull away. Darn it!! No excuses though. She is my running idol. She loves it so much and I.... well lets just say I do it because you can't finish a triathlon without it. haha In a few weeks I have my first race of the season and I'd bet anyone I'm within 2 minutes of my time for todays 5k for the 5k run at the tri. Oh well, at least us turtles can swim fast...

Now that the race season is upon us here in the northern hemisphere. I'd like to wish everyone starting their season the best of luck and health. I'm excited to get this year going. I get to kick it off with my first ever Xterra event and then it's game on!

Confirmation!!

2009-03-05T14:59:00.005-05:00

Just a quick update. I just got confirmation that my entry to the Iceman Cometh Challenge mountain bike race is valid! The registration process was totally screwed up by some malicious activity bringing down the online registration site during the registration times. It made it almost impossible to register. That being said. I am in and from the list they published today about 1300 other people managed to get in as well.

Another potential minor change to my published race calendar. I may be dropping the Sept Michigan Triathlon championships race to instead team up with my fellow GREYHOUNDS the following weekend to do a half ironman relay.

09 Race Schedule and thoughts

2009-02-19T21:05:00.003-05:00

Ok for those of you who care. Here is my tentative race schedule for 2009. I am upping the ante this year and racing more than ever. The new additions are primarily earlier and later than I raced last year. This schedule should provide a nice build to the Half Ironman in August and a sweet wind up to the year doing something new to me.

So without further adieu, drum roll please.........

May 17 - Fort Custer Xterra tri - sprint distance
June 14 - Motorcity Tri Olympic distance
July 12 - Interlochen Tri - Olympic distance
Aug 1 - Steelhead 70.3
Aug 23 - Bluewater Tri - Port Huron (undecided dist)
Sep 6 - Michigan Tri Championship (this one is a maybe)
Nov Iceman Mountain bike race- HOPEFULLY I can get registered.

Here is the quick why and wherefore breakdown on each race.

Fort Custer, May is an iffy time of the year in Michigan but I say what the heck, let's give it a go. I've been wanting to try an Xterra and this might be a fun kick off to the season.

Motorcity, Belle Isle Detroit - It's that big triathlon feel on a closed, screaming fast course. It was my first ever Olympic distance last year and I intend to blow away last years 3+ hour time on this one.

Interlochen, An annual trek to beautiful northern Michigan. It was my first ever tri and continues to be my favorite venue. A full weekend of friends, family and racing. It is also the perfect race just before Steelhead to really hammer it before the half IM taper begins.

Steelhead 70.3, Last year I was a bit overwhelmed with this race. I also didn't feel like it really counted because it turned into a 70.3 duathlon after the swim was canceled. Let's hope this year we get to do the swim. This is my A+++ race for the year.

Bluewater, This originally was the fun year end race for me... somehow what used to be my end of season has turned into mid season! Isn't fitness AWESOME? I traditionally run the sprint distance on this one just to have some fun and go fast. It's only a few weeks after Steelhead so depending on how I feel, I could go either distance.

Michigan Triathlon Championship, This race is a team race and I am leaning towards doing it just to have one more chance to hang with the tri-mates this year. We'll see how I feel by then, I might just turn this one into hanging with the tri-mates and not racing.

Iceman, This is a 27 mile mountain bike race from Kalkaska to Traverse City Michigan through National Forest and 2 track roads. It has a capped registration and it sells out every year. I tried to register last Friday night but the registration site crashed and no-one was able to register. Monday night is the next registration attempt. If all goes well this will be a wild weekend with the GREYHOUNDS.

So, in a nutshell that's my current crazy schedule. I'll get a side bar with the schedule up shortly so everyone can track my progress.

Until next time, keep training and ask yourself this question every day. "What am I doing today to prepare for my races this summer?" That is my latest mantra to keep motivated.

Craig

2009, the times they are a changin...

2009-02-19T20:24:00.004-05:00

It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating New Years. I was looking forward to my first season competing with a bit more purpose and being a part of a team. I am all ready blown away by the awesome people I have gotten to know on the RACING GREYHOUNDS. (and yes, the teams official spelling is all capitals). I am looking forward to some group training when the weather breaks. We have our team kits ordered, they're expected to arrive sometime in March. I already have my team helmet, socks and podium t-shirt. I've been told to swing by the bike shop and pick up my 2 team issue water bottles. I have approval from the team for my tentative racing schedule, and let me tell you we are having some fuuuuun this year. If you want to see what the team kits look like just click on the RACING GREYHOUNDS logo over on the left.

You might notice the new look to the site. I thought a freshening up was in order and I have a few more things I want to add in the future. Keep on coming by, you never know what new things I might be adding. I have also decided on no more logos unless I am either a) being paid for advertisement or b) sponsored in some way, shape or form by the company whose logo is there. I love the Evo Tri team and will continue to support them but I always felt guilty with all their sponsors links and I don't use or am not provided the oppourtunity to use any of them. From now on if you see it on my site, I either use it, endorse it or am paid to place it. If you have a product you'd like me to review or endorse drop me an email I'm sure we can work something out. If you want to sponsor me in some way PLEASE drop me an email, I would love to chat with you about my goals and aspirations.

As far as my off season training goes, I just started back into it in January. I just finished a 30 day 300+ mile bike focus. (mostly trainer workouts, but some mountain bike trail riding as well) I finishing up an easier/transition week getting ready to start a run focus month next. It's killing me, but so far I've avoided the pool since the first of the year. I'm trying to work on my weakness first this year.

Ok... Next week I'll announce my 2009 race calendar as it stands right now. Until later, keep training, it's the fitness gained in the off season that carries you in the heat of the race.

Good news indeed!!

2008-12-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sitting through a car wreck of a children's skit at church yesterday afternoon and my phone buzzes in my pocket that I have new voice mail, email or whatever. I ignore it hoping the play will be over soon. (Our 3 boys all had minor roles in the play) Afterward, I finally sneak a peak at the phone and find I have a voice mail from a number I don't recognize but is in an area code near my work. (for those who don't know, I am a Systems Admin - read that as computer geek and as a consequence I am on call pretty much at all times) So my first reaction is the tightening feeling in the pit of my stomach that this could be a long night. I live the farthest away and if they're calling me then it can't be good. I step outside to quickly listen to the voicemail and that is when I get the surprise of my fall!

A couple of months ago I applied to get onto a triathlon team based in Livonia Michigan called the Racing Greyhounds. I did it on a whim and felt then as I do now that I could at the very least commit to the minimum race requirements to be a part of the team. They seemed to be a group who were fun and semi-serious which I thought really suited my personality. I thought it would be cool to roll into races and have a support crew there. (no really any of the official team races they bring the bike techs and service/tune up your equipment for you pre-race) I also thought it would be cool to have teammates to Cheer on and be cheered on by at races. Let's face it, it can get pretty lonely out there at some of the bigger races. I also thought any other perks or discounts for being on the team would be nothing but a bonus. So, I applied for the team.

Until Last night I had almost forgotten that I had applied. That changed quickly when I listened to the voicemail. I am now a Racing Greyhound!!

I am initially very excited and a bit apprehensive about what the heck did I get myself into, haha. I will find out more at the end of this week when I go to the 2009 team orientation meeting.

I was planning on posting my 2009 goals this week. I now think I better hold off until I see what happens at the team orientation and how I can mesh my personal goals with those of my new team obligations.

That's all for now, more to come as soon as I have it.

Body Glide, Triathletes best friend

2008-12-15T11:55:00.005-05:00

Shortly after I started training for my first triathlon a couple years ago, a good friend told me about Body Glide. I was complaining about some minor chafing issues and I was told this was the product I needed to try. Fast forward a couple of years and I have now done/competed in over 6 triathlons ranging from sprint distance all the way up to a Half Ironman. I won't ever race or train without it. I believe in it so much that when I went to my season ending Blue Water sprint triathlon and realized the evening before that I had forgotten my stick of Body Glide, I drove all over Port Huron Michigan looking for a sporting goods store that carried it. I ended up buying the last stick of it they had at a Dunham's store. It would have been ugly if they had been out.

The reason Body Glide works so well for me is it's wide variety of uses and ease of application. The product comes in "deodorant" like stick which makes application and storage a breeze. It is not messy to put on like Vaseline or many of the "whatever butter" products can be. Body Glide has never stained or ruined any of my expensive tech clothing. It retains its lubricating effect even through long hours in the saddle on training rides. During my Half Ironman race, I applied it generously in the normal "chafe sensitive" area (read that as inner thigh, saddle contact location, rear end, crotch or what ever your preferred term is haha). Then I applied it just as generously around where my shirt would rub on my shoulders, my nipples, and in my shoes where I know I have a tendency for blisters. 6 hours and a ton of sweat later, I was chafe free. I only had a couple of blisters on my feet from my cycling shoes, not my running shoes where I had used the product. In fact, had I not used it in my running shoes the blisters from my cycling shoes might have caused me to quit had they gotten worse on the run. I had been sweating profusely and dumping water over my head all day and Body Glide just kept on doing it's job. I can honestly say the when I am wearing Body Glide, I don't even think about rubbing or chafing issues. I have enough to think about while training or racing and I am thankful worrying about rubbing or chafing is not one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent a couple of samples of Body Glide prior to this review. However, I was a committed customer well before I received the samples and I will continue to use it to literally save my rear end at every race.

Hey did anyone miss me???

2008-12-03T20:54:00.002-05:00

Ok all, if anyone is left that is, rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. Well, ok, maybe there have been no rumors and maybe not many really care where I've been or missed my posting but hey, just a quick note to say.

I'M still ALIVE.

Stay tuned. I promise, this time there is more to come. All I'll say for now is this, once my Half Ironman was done my family and job both needed more attention than they had gotten for a while. Nothing serious but with out all of their support for my endless training this summer I needed to give some back.

Now it's time to get back to work and begin planning the 2009 season. In the short term you can expect a long over due review of Body Glide, a product I won't race without, and a look back at the highs, many lows and lessons learned from Steelhead.

So for now, enjoy the season;

Craig

Steelhead update

2008-08-03T13:20:00.005-04:00

Hey all. Just a quick update on my race yesterday. I finished in roughly 6 hours. The water was so rough they canceled the swim and made it a duathlon (2 mile run instead of swim). Not good for me as I'd rather swim than run anyday of the week but hey that's triathlon, you adapt and move on. The weather was great, not to hot and not to humid. I was pretty wiped out after the race for the rest of the day and I don't think I slept a whole lot last night from the muscle soarness in my legs. I'm doing better today. Still walking like an old man and tired but I wouldn't change it for anything. The race was very well organized and even with the change from swim to run at the beginning the organizers handled it with a great deal of class. What an awesome venue.

Ok, off for a nap. I'll write more later and get some pictures up my wife took. Thanks again for all the well wishs and support.

Craig

The Day before THE Day

2008-08-01T08:42:00.004-04:00

If I said I wasn't a bit freaked out at the moment, I'd be lying. Now, I am not a nervous individual by nature but this week I have had a growing pit in my stomach and I can feel the anxiety washing over me with each passing day. So here I am getting the last few things packed and ready to go. Yesterday was a clean and lube the bike day. I hope giving the ol girl a little extra attention makes her want to make my ride a little easier tomorrow, haha.

Today is the shave down and go soak up the expo day. Tomorrow, barring an unforeseen circumstance, I will become a half Ironman. Or would it be half an Ironman? Maybe it's a 70.3man, I actually think I like that one the best, haha. I've decided to only give a short set of goal times as thinking about it too much drives me crazy right now. So, here it is short and sweet.

Swim: 35 minutes
T1: <3 minutes
Bike: 3 hours 15 minutes
T2: <2 minutes
Run: 2 hours 5 minutes

for a total time of 6 hours even.

I've prepared and done everything I could at to be ready at this point. I have to trust in my fitness, not make stupid decisions or mistakes during the race and just keep moving forward. That's all I need to do to break 6 hours tomorrow. Holy cow! that's asking an awful lot, haha

Ok, that's all I have for now. I'm going with my wife to a secret recovery place after the race for a few days. When I get back I'll give a full race report. Until then, I have my laptop and if I get inspired I'll try and leave a quick post.

Have a great weekend and good luck to anyone racing this weekend.

The week before the week....

2008-07-22T10:23:00.004-04:00

And now the anxiety has started to settle in a bit. I have started to work on my Steelhead 70.3 race plan, pacing strategy and equipment prep list. Now, I am not a nervous person by nature but the closer this race gets I suddenly find myself getting nerved up a bit. Yesterday I found out my bib number and starting wave (bib 1754, wave 11). Suddenly it is not about talking, it is real and it is about doing! I know my fitness is there to complete this race, that is not the issue here. I think what it all boils down to is this. Last December after going through my shoulder surgery, I signed up for this event even before I could lift my arm above my head. I wanted a goal in front of me that scared the crap out of me so I would not just go through my physical therapy but I would push my physical therapy and come back stronger than ever. Call me crazy but that is how this guys works, haha. Well, now that big scary goal is almost over and yes my shoulder is fine, yes I am physically fit enough to do it, but I haven't made any major goals beyond this one. It is like this is the end of a great big long journey and I have no idea what lies beyond it. Well all that stuff and this is the biggest freaking race I have ever been in, in my life!!

Once Steelhead is over I have a couple of product reviews I plan to do. One I plan on doing will be about my experiences with a can't live without product called Body Glide. In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent a couple of sticks of it last week to write a review. On a personal note, I already love the product so it won't be hard to write about. If anyone out there has any other products they would like me to try just let me know. I also have another fun project involving work that I will be announcing shortly that everyone here can follow along with. So, I guess I have some things to look forward to after Steelhead after all.

As for my review of the Interlochen race. I have gone back and forth on what to actually say about that event. I love the race venue. I love camping in the State Park which hosts the event. I think the course is a good one and very challenging. Unfortunately I have a lot of negative feelings about the race organizers. I don't want to use this forum to air a bunch of negativeness and I surely want to encourage anyone who has thought about doing this race to go do it. Believe me the positives far outweigh the negatives in this case, for me. I have heard many things I did not witness from this race. The only thing I will say is this. 3 Disciplines as a race company works their rear ends off to put on a quality race. I am, however, tired of excuses and disappointment at everyone of their events. They have been in business long enough to get it right EVERY time they put a race on. Enough excuses. In this case they advertised "tech T's" for anyone registered by a certain date. There were no "tech T's" they had "moisture wicking" tshirt's and not a consistent message from the volunteers. Some people were told there weren't any "tech T's" and some were given the moisture wicking line. Either way most people know the difference who run these races. They ran out of finishers medals long before I even crossed the finish line, we'll see if it show in the mail like they said it would. Lots and lots of other little stuff at every one of their races. If your budget is that tight Kenny, then you need to raise your prices, plan better, cut costs or stop letting so many people sign up the day before or day of a race! You could even put a cap on the day of day before registrations so you don't go over your available capabilities. I could go on and on about the petty things that annoyed me at this and every 3 Disciplines race but I will stop for now. I will continue to do their events but I am thinking that next year I will try a couple of other ones for a better comparison. I have been told there is a huge difference in quality of race organization so we will see. In the mean time, I am already planning my return to Interlochen for next years race.

Until later, happy training and everyone needs to go on over to the Kodafit blog and tell him congrats on his new addition in his family that should be arriving today.

Interlochen Race Report

2008-07-15T09:59:00.004-04:00

Where to begin? I guess I'd like to start by saying I have a great wife and friends. We all arrived on Friday to the race site. Last year we had 4 of our core group racing. This year I thought we would have at least 2 or 3 of us. I knew a couple of our group hadn't really been training but I was sure they would give it a go. As of Saturday afternoon it was decided that I was the only one and my support crew would be awesome! We had about 10 other people from our hometown coming in to race their first ever triathlons and they would need all the support we could give them. Ok, on with the race report.

This was to be my second Olympic distance event of the summer. After my Motor City race, I was anxious to redeem myself and do well in front of my friends and family. Friday evening, after we had camp setup, I took a shakedown ride to preview the Olympic bike course. It was enjoyable to return to the bike course from my first ever triathlon a year ago. The first 10k seemed to fly by, this was my turn around point from last year and all I could think of was "is that it?". Life is good with a heightened fitness level. I enjoyed the rest of the ride and made a lot of mental notes for race day. On Saturday I rode the run course and found out what they were talking about with "the hill". This hill starts when you make a left hand turn from a tree lined, greatly shaded dirt road at about the 2.1 mile marker. Suddenly there it is rising up for the next mile right in front of you. I was instantly dreading the run. I made the climb on the bike and enjoyed the quick decent back. I also threw on the wetsuit Saturday and did a little swim warm up of about 700m. Just enough to get the blood flowing and see how the stroke felt. Mission accomplished on the course preview and race prep it was time to just rest and prep the transition bag/bike. It was also time to lay out my race goals and plans to friends and family. I have to say it's one thing to put my goals here on the blog where it all feels like I'm just writing for myself, it's quite another to make my goals public to my close friends and family where I will be held accountable. Time for the race.

Sunday Morning we wake to blue skies and warm weather. Unfortunately we hear the wind whipping in the trees. It is announced at the pre-race meeting that the wind is expected to be 20mph steady gusting to 30mph. UGH!! on a positive at least it would be a headwind on the way out on the bike and pushing on the way in.

Swim: goal time: <30 minutes Actual: 29:22

PERFECT!! The swim course was a clock-wise triangle. My favorite kind. I am a right side breather and this is the easiest way for me to keep the buoy's sighted without lifting my head much. The only problems I had were that I got stuck in no man's land for most of the swim without a person to draft off and when we made the last turn for home I could have sworn I was feeling like I was swimming into a headwind. The water got pretty choppy for the last 300 or so meters. All in all I felt like I had a good strong stroke the entire way with no real problems. This is my best event and once again I proved it with a 4th in my age group and a 29th out of 200 overall.

T1: goal time: <3 minutes Actual: 3:01

Not bad given the distance from the beach to transition and the fact that I put socks on this time. I'm right on my goal pace at this point.

Bike: goal time: 1hour 20 minutes Actual: 1:23:11

The out on this out and back route was BRUTAL. I don't know how the riders I saw with rear disc wheels stayed up on their bikes. I was almost blown over more than once on the way out. I worked hard to hammer when I could and just hang on when I had to. I knew the course and I knew I'd make up some really good time on the way back in. The ride back was, dare I say it, FUN! The wind made holding 20+ mph feel like I was coasting. I hammered it until I was into the last few kilometers when I finally backed off and let my legs rest a bit before the run. My nutrition and fitness were both finally just right on a hard ride. My legs still felt great as I dismounted for T2.

T2: goal time: <1:30 Actual: 1:40

No issues, just had to get some crap out of my sock. Threw on the number and took off.

Run: goal time: <1hour Actual: 1:01:35

I set a goal of running the entire way, having fresh legs and not pushing the pace too early. I'll take this time. I had NO issues with cramping like Motor City. I even held back a little early on knowing I had "the HILL" to deal with. I went past the first 2 miles thinking I felt really good. Then I turned the corner and could see the trail of ants ahead me climbing that blessed hill. I stuck with my goal of running the entire way, I wasn't fast but I managed to keep running. This was my last real challenge of the day. It would have been so easy to just walk as I watched person after person do on that climb. In case you're wondering it was about a 9% grade and coming back down hurt almost as much as going up. Every step was putting on the brakes coming back down. By the time I got to the bottom I was starting to feel twinges of cramping in my hamstrings. Fortunately, this evened back out again once I was on the flat again. I hit the 4 mile mark seeing my pace was holding steady to break my overall goal of a sub 3 hour race. I felt pretty strong all the way in and with a half mile to go I saw that I could shatter my 3 hour goal with a hard effort. A couple of roller hills with a little bit of cramping starting to set in but at this point nothing was stopping me. I sprinted hard the final 50m down the finish chute.

Overall goal time: 3 hours
Actual: 2:58:47

Overall I was excited to not only run a good race by my standards. I also hit almost every goal time I set and most importantly I beat my overall goal time by over a minute en route to setting a new personal best by over 12 minutes.

Look for my race evaluation and review in the coming days.

Interlochen, pre-race expectations

2008-07-08T21:48:00.008-04:00

This week I would like to take a minute to discuss my pre-race expectations for the Interlochen Music Festival Triathlon. I will be competing in the Olympic distance event. This is my second Oly and I'm excited to see my progress from a month ago. As some of you might recall, I had a less than ideal race in Detroit. I personally felt that my bike fitness and nutritional plans were both inadequate. I have spent the past few weeks working on both. On the nutrition plan side I have adjusted my strategy to include both Infinit and Hornet Juice. In my testing with both of these products on my long rides (30+ miles) I have come off the bike still feeling like I have some legs left. Last weekend I went for a hard 46 mile ride with extreme hills including about a 2 mile climb to finish (the last half of which was out of the saddle barely able to hold 7mph). I used Infinit, Hornet Juice and water only on the entire ride and felt good afterwards. I'm not sure I had enough in the tank for much of a run but I certainly had more than when I came off the bike in Detroit. On the bike fitness side, what can I say? I have been riding my tail off. In blowing wind and hard hills I've pushed and right now I feel pretty comfortable in that area again.

Pre-race, my goals for this weekend will be pretty conservative. This is a B race for me and only 3 weeks before my main A race for the season. I want to rev up the motor a bit and see what I've got but I don't want to blow it up either. Here are my goal times for this weekend.

Swim: goal <30 minutes
I really laid back at Detroit in the swim. I want to push this one a bit more. I really think a sub-30 swim is must. I also want to practice drafting off the fast guys in this one. This is my strongest discipline and it's hard to hold back but I still need to go easy on the shoulder a bit.

T1: goal <3 minutes
I know, very conservative. The transition area is quite a ways from the timing mat on the beach and I am going back to socks for the bike, I'm still healing from the blisters I got in Detroit.

Bike: goal 1hr 20 minutes
This course is pretty flat, a couple of rollers and if I average 18mph I'll nail this goal and should still have enough left for the run. The plan will be to ride conservative the first 1/3 of the race, check the overall feeling and if it feels right hammer it right up until the last 1/2 mile. I want to spin easy the last half mile and should be able to maintain my speed coming in because its flat and downhill. (side note, the dismount here gets interesting because you are flying in on a down slope to the transition area) If it all comes together I really think a sub 1:15 is possible without ruining my run. Nutrition wise I plan on using my Profile Design Aerodrink bottle loaded with Infinit and my second water bottle a mix of Hornet Juice and water. The goal is to finish BOTH of these on the bike and start taking in Clif Shot Bloks as I come into transition.

T2:goal <1 minute 30 seconds
It better be fast, the timing mats are at the bike entrance and run exit and it's a small transition area. Nothing special here, drop the bike, slip on the shoes and hat and off we go. Nutrition plan here? Have a pre-made bottle of Hornet Juice and water to take a swig of just before I go along with more Clif Shot Bloks.

Run: goal <1hour
Not too hard for me to hold a 9:40 pace if I have some legs off the bike. This is a conservative goal but hey after Detroit, where I walked more than I ran, this goal has to be conservative. I want to run this time only walking aid stations if needed. I want to start slow and build my intensity throughout on this one. Nutrition, just water or Gatorade if they have it.

overall goal: sub 3 hours.
If I accomplish this I'll have made significant improvement from Detroit. If things go well and I feel good through out, my ultimate goal for this race would be a sub 2:50.

Were making this a family camping weekend. Staying at the State park where the race is held with a bunch of friends who are racing and their families. On Saturday morning I'm thinking of taking my son into Traverse City (about 20 miles away) where they are having their Cherry Festival 5k and 15k races. This is a big race and if he is up for it I think I'll let him run the 5k. So, we might have a couple of race reports next week. I won't be back until at least Monday so the race reports won't be up until Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.

As a side note, we had a wonderful time in Frankfort last weekend with family and friends. I didn't train as much as I planned but sometimes we need to remember to enjoy life a little with those we care about. They put up with our training and non-stop talking about our sport so we do need to just let it go every once in a while. I got in one great ride, a monster sand dune climb, a round of golf with some pals and a ton of walking on the beach. Does life get any better than that?

So, unless I come up with something genius to say again this week, good luck to everyone racing this coming weekend and check back next week for my race report.

2008-06-30T09:20:00.005-04:00

Ok, where to start this week. This post will cover last week and this week due to the short holiday week. I am off Work for the July 4th holiday starting on Thursday (July 3rd) through Sunday (July 6th). This is the last big week for me before my next race. The Interlochen Triathlon in beautiful northern Michigan. This was my first ever triathlon a year ago and I have a LOT of friends doing this triathlon this year. Last year we had 10 of us who did this tri, this year we have around 20 of us that I can think of. We are planning a long weekend of camping and friendship. I will again be doing the Olympic distance in prep for my half Ironman a few weeks later. More on all of that next week.

Training, When we last left our super hero he was ruminating on his humiliating lack of fitness on the bike and vowing to make a come back to defeat the evil forces of wind and gravity. haha well maybe not quite that dramatic but hey, it is my blog and if I want to embellish I have the artistic license to do so. But I digress. I have made the bike a major focus in the past 2 weeks and I am starting to see the fruits of my labor. Saturday I took a couple hour trip west to the Grand Rapids training camp, also known as my wife's friend Tammy's house, and got to ride in 15-30mph winds over some of the hilliest terrain I've ridden in a long time. I am yet again reminded why it seems that the winners of every triathlon, I have raced, always come from the Grand Rapids area. They have the biggest hills to train on!! If I had that for my daily riding enjoyment and torture I would be so much better. I managed a 2 hour ride and only made it 34 gut wrenching, smile plastered on my face miles. I am not kidding people passing my must have thought I was on something, I could feel myself smiling constantly. It was a great test and my legs felt great afterward. A week ago I ran my 11 mile trail run around the state park. This is my litmus test of sorts. I feel like if I can run that trail run solid, then flat pavement should be a cake walk. I ran it my fastest time yet in 1 hour 48 minutes and I wasn't wiped out for the rest of the day. I know my fitness is getting up where it needs to be now.

On the nutrition front, my plans for Steelhead are starting to take shape. I'll be using Interlochen as the final test for my Steelhead nutritional strategy. So far, I've been testing Hornet Juice and Cliff Shot Blok's. Last week my Infinit order arrived and after a couple of longish rides with it I am definitely adding it to the race day strategy. It has the right mix of carbohydrates, protein and electrolytes. The flavor is tolerable and growing on me. But, most of all I am having no cramping issues during the tail end of long bike rides and I feel physically good even after harder efforts. I've had no GI issues from it as well, which is a major bonus. Next week I'll layout my Interlochen "real life" test for nutrition.

Ok, this coming holiday weekend I will be off to either a northern Michigan training camp location or back to the Grand Rapids training camp. Either way I plan on getting lots of riding and running in with some open water swimming along the way. Look for a big jump in mileage this week as it is lots of time off coupled with my last big build week before Interlochen. I'm hoping to build this week, mini taper/recovery next week before the race then train hard right off Interlochen into another week and half build with a week and a half taper for Steelhead. The next month will be tough but the week before Steelhead will make it all worth while.

So, for all you U.S. folks out there have a great 4th of July, take a moment to thank someone in our armed forces for making the sacrifices they do for our freedoms we enjoy. For everyone regardless of nationality let's all try to perform at least one random act of kindness in the true communal spirit of triathlon over the next week.

Motor City Race Report

2008-06-16T20:35:00.004-04:00

Sunday was my first attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon. The triathlon was on the once very beautiful Belle Isle, right near downtown Detroit. I picked this one specifically because it was a bigger event, I need big event experience this year to prepare me for Steelhead. Besides, nothing and I mean nothing scares me about swim starts so why not go big or go home. One last item of note about this race, I had soft goals and no idea what to expect going in. I didn't taper and if anything upped my training intensity in the past week. Not a great recipe but this was a C- minus race just for the practice.

I made the 2 hour drive down to the race site on Saturday afternoon to preview the course get signed in. Not off to a good start though, I left town an hour later than I planned and had to drive the 5.8 miles around the perimeter of the island twice to find the entrance to the area T2 and race registration were. I arrived with 20 minutes to spare before packet pickup/sign in closed. whew, ok, I hoped we were back on track. After getting signed in and picking up my race packet I took some time to look around and get acquainted with the layout. This was to be a 2 transition location event. T1 was about a mile up the island by the swim location, T2 and the finish line were at the main sign in location. I would need to remember not only to bring everything for the race but also a second transition bag to put my wetsuit and T1 stuff into before taking off on the bike. Once I felt comfortable with the way transitions were laid out and the swim location it was off for a drive around the island. Drive, why drive you say? Well, two reasons mainly, first it was getting later in the day and the island was PACKED with people. Apparently half the population of Detroit was attempting a picnic with loud boom boxes, barbecue and adult beverages. There was no room on the island to ride my bike safely with all the people and traffic. So I drove the bike course and made my mental notes as I went. I was glad I did, there was a section of the road on the back side of the island that had a ton of bike eating pot holes. The race director had obviously been working hard though as almost all of the pot holes in the bike course had bright green paint circling them. I firmly believe that you should ride or drive every course, both bike and run, sometime in the day or two before a race to get your final strategy and mental notes in order so there are no course related surprises come race day. With that done it was time to head in to town and get checked into my Hotel, lay out and pack the transition bags, eat my customary pasta dinner and turn in early. Back on schedule, let hope it stays that way.

Race morning. I wake up in a panic! why is it so light? I look at the clock, it's 5:30am. CRAP!!!! Where was my wake up call!! I need to be at the island in 30 minutes when bike check in an T2 opens for setup. Crap!!! Crap, crap crap!!! Ok, deep breath. this is no time to truly panic. What is triathlon after all, deal with adversity and move on. Luckily I packed everything up the night before. I also shaved and showered the night before I was completely ready. All I had to do was get dressed, down some coffee and check out. Ok, deep breath. We planned for lots of extra time at the race for mental prep, now it would have to be on the fly. I arrive at the island at 6:15am, find a parking spot and start getting my gear around. Everything is moving like clock work now. I finally get to T2 for setup 15 minutes before it closes, I set it up and hop on my bike to ride it over to T1, chip pickup and body marking. I am there at 7:05 am along with 700 of my closest friends who are all trying to get their chips and body markings at the same time. I drop the bike and swim gear in T1 and decide I better get in line before it gets any longer. After waiting and begging my way to the front of the chip pickup line, I move over to body marking and decide it is getting close to race start so I better just jump right up front. I explained my situation to a few wide eyed, obviously first time, sprint people and they let me in. Body marking complete, 10 minutes left to race start. Now I'm not one to panic. This time however, I was beginning to panic, I still had to get my wetsuit and setup T1 AND get mentally right before this race starts. How was that ever going to happen? I head over to T1 set up my spot and get my wetsuit on up to my waist. What's that I hear over the loud speaker? Crap!!! 3 minutes to race start and some instructions I can't understand. I grab my goggles and swim cap and run.
Get to the waters edge, get some assistance getting zipped into the wetsuit, dive into the water just enough to get wet so I can settle the wetsuit a little and run over to the starting chute. "1 minute, until race start." comes over the loudspeaker. Ok, mental prep time now officially cut out, haha. I push my way to the front of the pack. Have I mentioned that swim starts don't scare me any? Now, finally now I am comfortable and relaxed again. The world comes to a screeching halt and time slows to a crawl. This is a beach start, I seem to have forever to jostle for position and pick my line I want to the first buoy. THIS IS COOL!!! Man I love competing in triathlons. Then, time comes back up to full speed. 10, every muscle tenses, 9, 8, I ready my watch to time myself, 7, 6, 5, I dig in my toes, 4,3,2, the horn goes off!

Swim: goal time: 30ish minutes actual time: 30:20
Distance: 1500 meters

The swim felt pretty good. The first 500m were against the current, at times it felt like I was swimming in place but every time I sighted on the buoy's I was getting closer to the turn. The middle 500m were with the current and I felt like I had a jet pack on. Only problem to this point was couple minor elbows and kicks to the body during the first turn, all in all not too bad. I hit the turn back for home and it was like hitting a brick wall. Man am I glad I do a LOT of pull sets during my swim workouts. I dug in, hoped onto the hip of some younger kid that tried to pass me and drafted off him the rest of the way in. I felt pretty good at this point. As I stood up I decided I was walking rather than running out of the water. The extra 10 seconds wouldn't kill me and I'd get my legs back under me quicker. By the time I hit the beach I had my wetsuit down to my waist, cap and goggles off and my legs felt pretty good. Time to jog to T1.

T1: goaltime: none actual time: 2:46

Note, I WALKED through all transitions. I had read somewhere that taking that extra few seconds helped you stay better focused and conserved a small amount of energy for the next stage of the race. This was a new thing I tried at this race and I can say, it sure didn't hurt me any. T1, I had to not only ditch the wetsuit, but I also had to pack it and everything else not going with me on the bike into a bag that the race volunteers would bring to the finish for later pickup. With all that in mind, I'm not too disappointed in this transition time. A little slow but I wasn't putting ANY importance on the transitions here.

Bike: goaltime: 1 hour 15 min give or take actual time: 1:19:23
Distance: 23 miles

The bike was sweet!! pretty much flat, a couple of small rollers and 1 tight corner right at the top of the biggest hill and, of course, in to the teeth of the headwind. I held back big time on the first lap. This was a 4 lap ride and I felt I would be wise to conserve and learn on the first lap then I'd know where and when I could hammer on the last 3. This turned out to be a pretty good strategy. I would fly around 20-22 mph on the flat downwind side and maintain with a high cadence around 16-17 on the headwind, rolling hill side. I knew my bike fitness was lacking coming in and I was surprised I was able to maintain this pace as easily as I was. It kinda bit getting passed by all the $10,000 bikes and people looking like they were working half as hard as I was but I was trying to stay within myself. And I felt like I did a pretty good job of it until I got to the run.

T2: goal time: none Actual time: 1:51

Ok, so maybe I took a little too much time on this one. But, in my defense, uh no. I actually have no excuse for this one. I have new Zoot racing flats so the shoe change is quick. I only had to throw on a hat and my number belt so I have no clue why I seemingly took a nap in this transition. Again though, I'm not too worried here. I really wasn't putting any emphasis on my transitions at this race.

Run: goal time: sub 1 hour Actual time: 1:17:10
Distance 6.6 miles

Ok, I new I was in trouble coming out of T2 and running over a small humped up bridge and both thighs locked almost solid! Not a problem I've had before. Usually I get calve cramps, bricks and nutrition changes have helped this immensly. This hurt!! I figured it was better to be safe than sorry and maybe if I just walked for a minute I re-adjust from coming off the bike. For about 2 seconds I considered calling it a day and quiting. Then I remembered what I always tell my son. At some point during every race it is going to hurt and it is going to hurt bad. But if you just focus on the moment, start micro managing the race so your goals become very small, sooner or later it will start feeling better and if that doesn't work then just remember pain is temporary, finishing is forever. With those thoughts in mind I started running again and with in a few minutes, this time, I was cramping again and when I wasn't cramping I just felt like I had no legs under me at all to run with. I was rapidly learning what blowing up in a race felt like and it sucked! Ok, I have to adapt and figure a way to get through this. I settle on a plan, run 10 minutes, walk 2 minutes. I use this method when I do my trail runs and even when it hurts the most I can usually keep that up for hours. 2 miles down and it's starting to feel a little better. at the turn around, 3.3 miles, I am feeling like ok, this is do-able. I know I'm not setting any speed records but I am at least maintaining a pace and mentally I'm feeling better. Next I start looking for people who look like they are struggling as bad or worse than I am. I start cheering them on and telling them hey, lets just jog to the next sign post. Somehow between my internal struggle and cheering on others in my condition I manage to hobble through the second 3.3 mile lap. As I came to the finish chute both my legs were cramped so bad it felt like I was running stiff legged. But I finished!!! I had pushed myself farther than I have ever gone before in a race and survived. I learned a few things along the way but I finished.

Final time 3 hours 11 minutes 29 seconds

Out of this I take a few things.

1) my fitness on the bike is not where it needs to be. I spent to much of the energy bank on the bike and had nothing left for the run. This will be a focus over the next few weeks before my next race.

2) My nutrition plan was pretty good. I maybe could have used more sodium to help with the cramping but I already have a plan to address this. I just wasn't going to trying it in a race first. More on that later.

3) My over all fitness level is leaps and bounds ahead of last year. After a race last year, all sprint distance, I was toast for the rest of the day. I was so sore I could hardly move for 2 days afterward. Yesterday, not only did I drive home after the race, my wife and kids and I went to my in-laws for a cookout. I even stayed up and watched the US Open and NBA finals game last night. Today? My thighs are a bit sore from all the cramping. I am a little tight all around but nothing slowed me down at all today. I pushed myself for over 3 hours yesterday and today I am fine! I know my fitness is way up there.

Later on I'll lay out my game plan for Interlochen. For now, I'm disappointed with the overall time but hey on a positive note, this was my first Olympic distance so I at least set a PR, lol.

Thats it for now, time to rest and recover.

Friday mish mash....

2008-06-13T09:50:00.004-04:00

Anybody been wondering why no race report from last weekend? Well, the answer is simple. I didn't run. My allergies kicked into overdrive about Wednesday and I barely had the sinuses and itchy eyes back under control by Saturday morning. That coupled with a desire to really focus on my son's potential for this race caused me to skip it. Well, ok all that and I hadn't registered in advance so I wouldn't be out any money either. Besides, I thought it would be fun to actually be there at the finish line to see Ryan cross it. But not to disappoint, I'll give you a race report for his race.

The morning started hot! It was in the high 70's by 8am when we got to the race. It was humid and had a slight breeze blowing. I challenged Ryan to run faster than he had in any of his previous 3 races this year. This was a fast, flat course and I knew from experience That the fastest runners from all over showed up to set PB's here. (The overall winner of the 5k ran a 16:03 and 10k ran a 31:57 if that gives you any idea how fast this course is) I worked him through his stretching and warm ups like a coach, got him to talk a little smack with some of my friends knowing they'd give it right back to him and hoped it would fire him up a little bit. I helped him stay loose and got him positioned in the front row with the fastest of the fast. I challenged him to run 7 minute miles the entire way. I told him he was capable and that when he really needed me for encouragement I'd be there to help him kick it home. Right from the start I was proud of his effort. he jostled and hung with those bigger faster runners at the horn like he'd been doing it for years. He appeared to set off at a good pace and looked relaxed. The next 18 minutes were about the longest 18 minutes of my life I think. Especially the last couple because I knew he had to be coming soon to make his goal. During this time I walked up the course and positioned myself right about the 3 mile mark. That point right where you are rounding the last curve and finally get a good look at the finish. I cheered on the first few runners as they came by. Then I could see him off in the distance. His gate was strong but looking a little haggard. He seemed to be in pretty rough shape mentally and was beginning to fade. I knew he was pretty close to the pace I had wanted him to attempt and I knew it was hurting. That's when I yelled to him, "HEY WEAVER, IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE IN THE TANK TODAY?" immediately I saw him perk up. It was like I woke him from a deep sleep. I yelled again "Come on Weaver, I know you got a little left let's show em how we finish at our house". Almost immediately he smiled and started picking up the pace. I jogged along the side talking him up through the next 50 yards, he kept going faster. In the end he passed 3 people in the last .1 miles. He finished in 21:57 with a 7:05 pace. He dropped almost 2 minutes off his personal best to date. He was the fastest 13 year old there, he was 3 in his 11-14 age group and 25th overall out of 298 total runners. I couldn't have been prouder of his effort. Once he got his final results he was ecstatic. In our post race evaluation the first thing he said was I know I can drop 15 more seconds... I asked why 15 more seconds? He says, "It's only 15 more seconds to get that 7 min average"... Now I know he's a runner, when its only 15 seconds over 3.1 miles. Another cool thing at the race, he's started getting noticed and talked to by some of the local school coaches and better runners both before and after the race. I can't wait to see what comes in the future. I'm not sure I want to run many more of the same races he does after watching this last one. I think its time to just support him at most of those and be there when he needs that pick me up most.

Next up for me? Motor City Triathlon. Not an A race, not a B race, more like a C- race for me. I'm using it as a training test, pacing and strategy test and nutrition test. It's my first time at the Olympic distance so, no matter what it will be PB, lol. I just want to race strong the entire race. If I can swim a sub 30 minute 1500m, ride a 19mph avg and run a 9 min avg I'll be ecstatic. If I go sub 2:30 for an overall time, I'll be whooping it up for sure. But not matter what I'm making a deposit in the mental accomplishment bank. One I'll save to draw off at a later time when I need it. Proving to myself that I can not just do the distance but race it!

Lastly I have a bit of a rant today. In the past week I have heard sprint triathlons referred to as "mini" triathlons by more than a couple of people. This drives me nuts!!! There is nothing "mini" about any triathlon. I read once that the effort level to accomplish a sprint triathlon is somewhere on the level of running a half marathon. Yet you never hear people refer to a half marathon as a "mini" marathon. I politely try and correct people when they call it a "mini" triathlon, I even challenge them to do one with me then if it is "just a mini" triathlon. I have yet to get any takers on that offer.

So, until next week when I finally have a real TRIATHLON race report. Keep training and take a moment to enjoy life.

Craig

CAC 5k Race Report

2008-06-04T08:55:00.003-04:00

Ok, I know this is a little late. I was waiting for the official results to get posted online before I wrote this but I see that's not happening so here we go. Firstly, my motivation for this race was two-fold.

My son wanted to run it, he seems to want to be a runner this year and who am I to stop that desire, lol. I can think of a lot worse hobbies for him to have and hey it's nice having some company once in a while on my runs.
This event was to raise money for a very worthy cause in my community, the Child Advocacy Council, they are a great bunch of people who really get out there and support children from abusive homes.

The course was completely off road in fields, on trails and gravel drive. There was not a flat footing to be had not to mention the hills. All in all a very brutal course. I spent the first half of the race socializing with friends and neighbors (which was kind of fun for a change) and the second half just surviving. I'm not sure what exactly happened to me this race but you'd have thought it was the first race I'd ever run. Maybe I didn't take it serious. I know my training in the past week or two had slacked off a bit but come on it was only a darn 5k. Needless to say my time was horrific even by my standards. I self clocked in at about 29 min 30 sec but never saw an official time. (thus the reason I was waiting for the online posting) I will say this, I had fun and saw a lot of local people I don't get to see too often so that was good. It is also good for a turtles soul to run in small races. This was a race with only 50 or 60 people and somehow even at my turtle pace I got 3rd in my age group. My 13 year old son managed a 24 minute 5k on this brutal course. That impressed the heck out of dad. His continued growth in running is great for a dad to witness. It's fun to take him to these races and have him woop my butt. It was even more fun in this race because I could watch him run quite a bit of it due to the layout. He looked so cool, composed and like he was having the time of his life. What more could a proud parent ask for.

Ok, now for the self reflection. Drinking beer with my bother in law the night before a race is NOT the right way to carb load! Not a mistake I will be making anymore. Too much cotton mouth the first couple of miles. I am not a runner, I run best when I run consistantly. I have always had my best races when I come in with my regular 3-4 days a week of running. Not high volume but I have to have some volume. I know this impacted me as I hardly ran last week before the race. My third reflection was I need to focus, focus, focus. Socializing and watching others is fun but it is no way to "run" a race. I need to either be there to race or be there to watch. This includes pre-race mental prep. My best races have always started with the proper internal mental prep and focus.

Goals for this weeks 5k/10k
a) decide 5k or 10k, I am leaning toward the 10k only to get the longer run in. If I do the 5k I will be trying for a PB because this is a fast fast course.
b) run at least 2 more times between now Saturday
c) once the registration process is done and my son is set, get my head in order and mentally go through my race plan one last time.
d) get rest and proper nutrition the night before the race, such an easily overlooked piece of the puzzle.

and last but not least, I can have all the fun and socialization I want AFTER the race but treat this for what it is, a RACE!

Here we go....

2008-05-30T09:19:00.003-04:00

As I sit here I have just realized that the season kicks into high gear now. I have officially registered now for the Motor City Triathlon, Olympic Distance, in Detroit on June 15th. (Happy Fathers day to me). In the next 2 weeks I am running a cross country 5k this weekend and a flat, fast 5k next weekend. Then, the week after that is my first triathlon of the year. Holy cow!! Time to kick the training up a notch I guess. I am planning on doing the Interlochen Triathlon again this year although I'm bumping up to the Olympic distance there as well and 3 weeks after that is the Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Half Ironman in Benton Harbor. I am planning on training through Motor City and Interlochen with no taper. I am just using those events as race practice for Steelhead. I am a firm believer that you truly learn to race by racing. You can practice transitions, you can practice nutritional strategy, you can practice pacing but until your adrenaline is pumping and your competitive instincts are boiling you just don't know how you'll react, adapt or overcome. You learn those traits toeing the line, looking fellow competitors in the eye and finding out just what you are made of.

As the season gets going now, I'll try and be a bit more diligent again about keeping this blog up. I'll try and talk more about my training and goals. I'll make sure I post my race reports as well as an internal evaluation of each races effort. I go through this race evaluation after each race to realign future race goals and strategy or even change my training focus if needed. I feel it is important to do this while the race is fresh in your mind. I have been teaching my son to do this after each of his 5k's and I can already see him starting to race smarter as well. I'll also try and post some more equipment reviews shortly. I have a new swim suit on order from TYR, I've never tried their brand of suit so this will be interesting.

So, I guess that is all for the moment. Check back soon for this weekends 5k race report.

Happy Birthday part 2

2008-05-13T10:21:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update on my B-Fit birthday challenge. I wrote last Friday that I was getting ready to finish my challenge. The challenge as a whole was harder than I anticipated in some ways and in others, I felt like, I exceeded my own expectations. I don't for one second regret doing the challenge or attempting to go for the virtual gold in this case.

I would not recommend a 4 mile swim all in one session to just anyone but for me it was very much a personal challenge and needed breakthrough. I had not really "tested" my shoulder since my surgery. Oh I've worked out and I given myself pain and I've worked out through pain but I had not just sucked it up and pushed through the pain, around the pain and with the pain the way I did Thursday during the 4 mile swim. And you know what? I am ok! I survived and my shoulder is still intact with no lasting effects. I am sure my doc or physical therapist would have not really liked the level of pain I pushed through and dealt with but I'm bull headed that way. I needed to feel and experience it so I know when it happens during a race, and it will, that if I block it out I won't be causing further harm. When I wrote my blog entry on Friday morning all was well again. I had some very minor muscle pain in my legs, back and arms. I had no real deep "bad juju" pain in my shoulders and that was a relief. Time to keep pushing.

After my blog update and a few errands I headed out for the grueling 1 mile run. So ok, it wasn't grueling or painful and it hardly felt like even a warm up but hey it was running and it was my required distance for my challenge. Then came the real mental test of the entire challenge. The 41 mile bike ride. 2 hours 45 minutes later I had not just proven to myself I was fit enough to do it, I had proven I still had the mental fortitude for the ride. Long rides on the bike, to me, are more about keeping my mind in the right place than physical effort. I would have quit out of boredom more than physcial pain or fatigue. I didn't set any speed records on this ride but I did it.

The sense of accomplishment when I finished the challenge in less than a 24 hour period was huge. The feeling of fitness when I woke up Saturday morning and was a little tight muscle wise, but not in any major pain anywhere was awesome. The feeling that I have now done some distances and put myself out there far enough in all three disciplines this spring already to KNOW that I can complete my scheduled Half Ironman 70.3 in August is huge. Now that I know the distances aren't an issue I can redouble my training efforts to start working on some semblence of speed at that distance.

My times for the B-Fit Birthday Challenge were;

4 mile swim: 2 hours 38 minutes
1 mile run : 8 minutes 20 seconds
41 mile bike: 2 hours 45 minutes
total : 5 hours 31 minutes 20 seconds

Happy Birthday!!!

2008-05-09T08:17:00.006-04:00

Yeah its my birthday!!! I made it another year. I feel alive today. Well, I really mean I KNOW I am alive today from the pain, haha. Last night I started my B-Fit Birthday Challenge. I am swimming the first number in my age in miles, running the second number of my age in miles and biking my entire age. This year, unfortunately for me, I turn 41. Last night I swam 4 miles, 6,450 meters. It took me 2 hours and 38 minutes. I had to really gut out the final 500 meters but by that point it was easy not to quit that close to the end. Now today I get to run an easy mile and ride a lazy 41 miles on my bike. (who'd a thought a 41 mile bike ride would feel easy?)

I am taking the pain in my muscles as a great sign that I am alive and living! If you want see more about this challenge and see how you can do you own B-Fit Birthday challenge just click on the graphic below or visit http://www.bfitbday.com

Everyone should do something to make them KNOW they are alive on their next birthday.

Visit raceAthlete B-FitB-Day.com

And so the season starts.....

2008-04-23T09:04:00.007-04:00

Ok, first, I have not fallen of the planet in the past few weeks. I took a much needed break to take my wife to Cancun Mexico and relax. One last week of relaxation before the serious training gets under way. It was beautiful. We got to run in a country we had never been to and we had a great time. Now the real fun begins.

Last Saturday my wife, oldest son and I ran in the inaugural Memorial Healthcare Auxiliary 5k run/walk. I had mixed emotions for this event. Proud parent, proud husband and do I really want to run??? Any of my family and friends who know me can attest to the fact that I just really do not like to run. I know it seems like a dumb way to feel given how much I have to do in triathlon but, for me, it is not as bad when I'm numb from the swim and bike. To give an example I ran a 26:14 5k last Saturday and I will run a 5k at the end of a sprint tri within a minute and a half or so that time. All I will say on the subject is this. Running for me is getting better, not great, but better. It is my weakest link and next winter during my off season I plan on addressing this issue a bit more as I see it as my most limiting factor in racing. Ok, now on to much happier subjects from last Saturday. My wife, the runner in the family, once again took first in her age group. I was about 35 yards behind her for most of the race and as we passed people it was pretty humorous how many gave me grief for being behind. If only they all knew that I am not sure I'll ever beat her. I finally got within touching distance of her with about a half mile to go and, she denies it but, she just turned around smiled at me and promptly left me in the dust. haha, makes a guy feel good!

And now for the best news of the day. My wife may finally have to give up the title of best runner in the family. Our oldest, Ryan, ran his first ever 5k race. He's been running on his own and with me a few times, this spring. I came into the race with him just hoping he'd be able to finish strong. He came into the race hoping for a sub 28 minute run. We both were hugely wrong. I made him run with me at the start just so he wouldn't go out to hard and burn out early. (And I was so proud to be standing on the starting line with him I was almost bursting.) I gave him a few pointers as we started the race. I showed him how to pick his spots to pass and in general passed on my "lame dad" running knowledge on to him as we went. At the half way point I was trying to decide when I would cut him loose to see what he would do. I took one look at his, barely breaking a sweat - not even breathing heavy, face and realized I was seriously holding him back. I told him to go ahead and go and he promptly left me in the dust. I mean he took off like I was standing still. I spent the next mile and a half watching him up ahead extending his lead on me until he finally was out of site. This kid beat me by almost 2 minutes in a mile and a half! He had the biggest smile on his face when I saw him at the finish line. He was the fastest Weaver that day and I am sure for the foreseeable future. On Monday we discussed another 5k coming this weekend and I told him I'd take him. The plan this week is to put him up front with the faster kids and see what he can do. I might have to move to the back with the other proud parents running. We'll be easy to spot, we're the ones floating just off the ground with the huge smiles on our faces finally not really caring how slow we are.

Check back soon. I'll try and get my race schedule a little more finalized this weekend and post on it and my feelings about this season next week.

Team Evotri update

2008-03-31T14:25:00.004-04:00

First of all a great big THANK YOU, to all of you who voted for me. It was so cool to see that many people supporting me through their voting. Now for the bad news. I didn't make the top 3. So all the cool gear and world wide fame will have to wait. haha

Now for the good news. This blog isn't going anywhere. Well, I guess that's more good news for me than any of you who read it, lol. You're all stuck with my ramblings about my training, equipment and anything else that pops into my head to write about. Please stay with me as I continue to build this site. Also, please email me with any questions or topics you'd like me to put up here. It's my blog but hopefully someone out there is reading it and if you have a question or topic maybe someone else had the same question or topic they were curious about but didn't let me know.

Saturday Challenge

2008-03-30T10:09:00.001-04:00

Have you ever gone to do a workout not really sure you were up to the task? Maybe had a plan which would push you well past your comfort zone or any limits you had passed previously? I did on Saturday.

One of my favorite places to run is a state park about 20 miles from my house called Sleepy Hollow state park. They have this trail that weaves and winds all around the outer edges of the park and is approximately 12 miles long if you go all the way around. I have always enjoyed running different parts of this trail but had never even comprehended the thought of doing the entire loop, until Saturday. Once I set out to train for Steelhead one idea I liked the thought of was building up to run the entire trail at Sleepy Hollow as part of a regular long training run. Saturday I had a free day, the weather was great and I thought why not see how far I can go.

The plan was simple. Set the countdown time on my watch at 10 minutes and run until it goes off. Then walk anywhere from 2-10 minutes (reset the timer if needed) and repeat. Go until I feel like I've gone far enough then turn around and head back or do the whole thing which ever comes first. 30 minutes into the run I was really questioning my sanity. It was a gorgeous spring day here in mid Michigan, mid 40's and sunny as can be. I never thought about the inch of snow we had 2 days earlier and that maybe just possibly the trail would be a slippery, muddy, water filled mess. 30 minutes of slipping and sliding and trying to avoid the large puddles that more closely resembled small ponds and I was tired, sore and my feet were soaked to the bone. I tried to decide whether to turn back or press on. I decided it had to get better at some point or I might at least go numb, so I pressed on. At the 1 hour mark I hit a major stretch of trail that was on the high ground and was awesome to run on. I continued on forgetting how awful the trail had been just yards back. At the 1 hour and 20 minute mark I was back in the slop again and started to seriously question my sanity. At this point I realized I was over half way around and there was pretty much no turning back now. I could, but then I would have to re-traverse all the crappy trail I had been down to this point so I might as well at least finish on, as of yet, unseen crappy trail. Besides it was now closer to continue than turn around.

It was at this point that I began playing the "just make it to some unknown point in the distance" game and I'll reward myself with some walking, or if the trail comes close to the road I'll just hop on there and run that back to the car. I learned, yet again, that I lie to myself just to keep going. Every time I'd get to that point or close to the road, I come up with some even better reason why I should keep going. My walk to run ratio started changing as well. I found I only needed to a couple of minutes of walking to consistently recharge for the next 10 minute run. I kind of got into a rhythm and the great outdoors was flying by. Until about the last mile. That's where I started to notice chafing in places I had never wanted to imagine and the bottoms of my feet were cramping. Not up under the arch but under my HEEL! What the heck, I've never felt THAT before. My legs began to feel like lead weights with every step and I am quite positive my walking was faster than my running at this point. But, like the determined zombie I was, I kept pushing on.

Seeing that end point right where I started was a pretty happy moment for me. I had completed nearly a half marathon of epic proportions, at least in my mind it was anyways. I had run, slid, slogged, walked, fallen, skated, hopped, tight-roped, jumped, slipped and barreled up and down hills, across ridge-lines, through valleys, in fields and through forests all for the fun of it. I challenged myself and found I grew. 2 hours 21 minutes, that is what it took. I had often thought it would be fun to pack a lunch and do the entire trail in a day. I never thought I'd do it in 2 hours and 21 minutes.

Now I can't wait for the next opportunity I get to go try it again. I hope it dries up a bit before then but now I have a personal best time to beat. Oh, and as a side note. Sunday I was a little sore, as I expected, and today I feel much better. Life is good when you can push yourself beyond your limits and don't have to pay with too much pain.

It's all about the goggles.

2008-03-27T08:26:00.004-04:00

Let me just start by saying that I am an "old school" swimmer. I grew up in the pool and have been a Speedo goggle wearer as long as I can remember. That has changed this winter. It was time to replace my current goggles about a month ago. So off to the store I go to take a look at the latest and greatest Speedo, TYR and Nike had to offer. I haven't been exactly pleased with my most recent Speedo goggles. They seemed like the most uncomfortable pair of goggles I had worn in a long time. The problem I have is that I miss the old days with the soft neoprene foam gasket around the lenses. It's hard to find a pair with that anymore that fit right or the neoprene doesn't obstruct the view. This time I decided maybe I'd go a new direction. I checked out all the Nike goggles, they looked cool and seemed ok but nothing really caught my attention. I looked at TYR and that's when I found what had to be one of the coolest looking pair of goggles I had seen in quite some time. The rubber they were made from seemed soft enough so I had to give them a try.

What I bought was the Nest Pro, Blue made by TYR. Here is TYR's description from their website.

A performance goggle that transcends traditional design. Inspired by the unique bird nest architectural design of Beijing's main stadium for 2008. The structural elements of the Nest Pro's frame creates a unique grid-like effect, similar to the way a bird's nest is intertwined for support. TPR frame/gasket features dual-injected system with over-molded nosebridge. Patent Pending Nest Frame Technology.

Polypropylene over-mold nest frame provides unique high-tech structure design.
Headstrap features patented Glide Clip system which allows easy on-head adjustment.
Double VTS (Varied Tensile Strength) silicone headstrap conforms to side of head while flat back straps allow for secure fit.
Wide peripheral Cellulose Propionate (CP) lenses feature imbedded anti-fog properties and are UV protected.
Soft TPR gaskets for comfortable, water-tight fit.

Now enough of the "company line" propaganda. What's the real story with these goggles?
Plain and simple. I LOVE THEM!!! The fit reminds me of the old school goggles of my youth. They look awesome and the comfort is out of this world. I am not sure what the heck "Soft TPR gaskets" are but where the rubber meets the face is the softest most comfortable fit I have found in a long time. The strap is easily adjustable. They are extremely fog resistant with incredibly clear and wide area of vision. I have had no issues with water leakage to date. The only con I have is the strap. I really, really like the old single, fat rubber strap. All the new goggles have a double strap of some kind and to me it is a pain in the rear end to deal with. Yeah, once they're on and set they, for the most part, are good but I would prefer the old single strap. I mean the double strap always ends up twisted around it's self and like a single strap by the end of the workout anyways so why bother. I have noticed the strap has a tendancy to slip up my head during flip turns occasionaly when wearing a swim cap. But if the strap is the biggest complaint I can find with these goggles then we've made huge strides.

This old Speedo goggle guy has officially become a TYR goggle guy. I can't wait to try them in a race or open water swim to see if they still hold up but as of now they have my vote.

Case of the Mondays...

2008-03-24T10:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, not really. I'm actually feeling pretty darn upbeat today. I started my morning with an early morning swim, 2800 meters, and that always wakes me up!

On the sad news front, they have extended the voting period for the Team Evotri making the team contest. I have already hit up everyone I know, and lots I don't, to vote and feel like this extra week of voting will only hurt my chances not help them. Such a bummer but it's out of my hands so I'm not going to sweat it.

On the great news front. I am finally feeling much better after dealing with that nasty cold and sinus crap for the past week. Last weeks training turned into a maintenance week just to keep some cardio up while my body kicked this illness. This mornings workout felt great and I have high hopes for the rest of the week. I need to get 2 good weeks in before my wife and I take a much needed vacation to Cancun Mexico for a week. Our last big break before serious training and the racing season starts.

Ok, anyone who hasn't voted for me just send and email to vote@evotri.com with craigtris.blogspot.com as the subject. EVERY vote helps.

Watch the blog this week. I am planning on starting to pick out some of my equipment I like to use and review it as well as update a list of upcoming events.

Here's to a great week for all.

Making the Team: 2008

2008-03-17T10:43:00.001-04:00

Making the team? Am I still young enough to make a team? Do I still have what it takes to be on a team? 20 years ago, all yes, in a heart beat! I would have not taken no for an answer. I swam competitively at fairly high levels through most of my youth and childhood. What strikes me as so similar about swimming on a team to what I envision being part of a triathlon team is the competition and camaraderie of your teammates but ultimately it comes down to you and your internal drive. There are so many long, lonely miles during training. But they are like coming back home to me. It’s so good to be home!

What happened in between then and a year ago, when I really found a sport I always felt I’d love? Life, plain and simple, the paths chosen in ones life can lead you down such strange and often incomprehensible paths. What started this new obsession a year ago? It was initially a desire to get into a little bit of shape and lose some weight so I could be around for my wife and kids as long as possible. A friend of my wife wanted us to join her in this crazy race she found called a sprint triathlon. All of a sudden my training had a goal. I found I enjoyed working out again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working out! That first triathlon was an amazing experience for me. I was back!! I felt alive. I tasted the sweet taste of competitive adrenaline and oh how I LIKED it again! That was July of last year. I swam for an olympic triathlon relay a month later then raced another sprint tri in September. I placed 3rd in my age group in that last tri of the season and began making plans for 2008.

Through most of the season I had known something in my shoulder wasn’t quite right. Something was downright painful but I sucked it up figuring it was just age and 20 years not working out catching up with me. In October I went to see a sports doc, just to make sure. I found out I needed surgery to repair a torn labrum. Long story short, I had my shoulder scoped on November 27th 2007. Before I could even raise my arm above my head again I registered for the 2008 Steelhead 70.3 triathlon. I know this sounds a little nuts, but I wanted a hard goal in front of me as I went through physical therapy. I wanted something to not only motivate me but scare me away from failure. I have since finished PT and resumed base training. My shoulder feels stronger than it has in years. I am confident I am on track to attain my goal of a sub 5 hour Steelhead.

I want to be on the 2008 and beyond Team Evotri. Please vote for me.

Thanks for reading! If you think I should be the next fully-sponsored member of Team Evotri, please write down the URL of this web site and have it ready for voting when you click the EVOTE button below. Thank you!

Monday 03-17-08

2008-03-17T09:19:00.000-04:00

OK a quick recap, have I mentioned I came down with something at the end of last week? Yup, it's still hanging on but once my fever broke, Friday, life got a boat load better. So, needless to say Friday was a wash for working out. Priorities, priorities. Right now the priority is get healthy for a trip my wife and I are taking in a few weeks. This means rest and recuperate. Saturday comes and I felt worlds better. This cold I have been fighting has now moved into my sinuses. This I can live with! I am continuing my Zicam treatments, I firmly believe this has really shortened the duration and intesity of this cold so far. Saturday I decided it was time to start my weekly long run ritual. 6 miles. Not a bad start. I was pretty wiped out afterward but I felt fine on Sunday. Sunday was my last week of basketball leagues. Only 6 guys on the team again so lots of running yet again! Is there something wrong with me when I love that?

Today? stuffed up and tired but not sore. Loving my current fitness level. I think my base is way up already this year. This week will be a maintenance week while I try and kick this cold once and for all then a couple of harder build weeks in prep for a recovery week while gone on vacation.

I'll talk with you all in a couple of days..

A day in the life of an average age grouper

2008-03-13T08:17:00.003-04:00

Ok all you age group triathletes out there, here is my recount of what many of us go through on a daily basis just to be able to train. What I am about to talk about is how as age group triathletes our daily lives seemingly work against us getting that all important training in. Today was a prime example of the worst possible obstacles trying to keep me from my training. I truly think how we deal with these obstacles and adapt our training around them is what makes us who we are.

Tuesday nights sleep was spotty at best. We had a sick child come in and wake us up at 3am, which seemed like 2 minutes after I fell asleep. The alarm goes off at 4:45am and there is no way I'm going in early to work out before work this morning. I reset my alarm and get another half hour of sleep before the day begins in earnest. I'm thinking at this point hey a good lunch swim and post work run and I'm back on track. Oh crap!! I forgot I have a lunch meeting at work today. Ok, maybe I can sneak off for a little bit this afternoon after the meeting to swim. No go, it was a busy afternoon in the office. And to top it all off I can feel a cold coming on now. As the day progresses I physically feel worse. I am achy and starting to have chills, although it's hard to tell if the achy is from working out too hard this week. You see I showed up for my basketball league early last Sunday in hopes I could get a little extra running in subbing on another team before my normal game. Oh I got a little extra running alright. Not only did the team I subbed on have only 7 guys, my team for the game right after only had 5 of us show up until we recruited 1 extra player so we could at least get a little break every now and then. Monday morning I felt like someone had used me for a punching bag. And 3 days later I am still sore but it is getting better.

So back to Wednesday. I forced myself to go to the gym after work. Ran a reasonable 3 miles on the dreadmill and swam 1500m. It felt good to get the workout in but by the time I was done, I was feeling physically finished. On my way home from work I forced myself to down a protein shake and an apple. I have officially lost my appetite another bad sign for the cold, but hey this could help with that extra weight I've been trying to drop. : ) Chills, sweating, back and forth all the way home. I stop and pick up some Zicam to try and get this cold under control quickly before it gets worse. Get home, talk with my wife for a few minutes and its off to bed. What a day!

In retrospect I can take the following out of the day. I still made it a priority to get in a workout. I didn't put in quite the distance I wanted in the swim but something was better than nothing. I have learned to adapt my anticipated schedule as the day progresses. Zicam is king!! I went to bed feeling awful. I got up this morning feeling awful, but already I am feeling better. I didn't bring my workout clothes to work today so I wouldn't feel obligated to workout. If I feel up to it tonight I'll hit the trainer for a bit otherwise rest and Zicam will get me through the cold the fastest.

Now this is not an average day in my life but it is a good example of what an age group triathlete can have to deal with. Sound familiar to anyone???

Monday 3-10-08

2008-03-10T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ugh!!! I realized this morning I should have listened to my wife to change my alarm clock time. But no, I was being a dork about it over the weekend knowing I was having her wake me up so I could go work out this morning before work. Now, let me prefice this by saying that getting up at 4:45am is bad enough. But to roll over and see 3:45am on the clock this morning that was awful!! It was so hard to crawl my butt out of bed and hit the road to the gym. I have to say, nothing like jumping into a cold pool to wake you up in a hurry, lol. And to think I used to hate those 5:30am swim practices in high school. Now I do it by choice.

It was a good 2400m in the pool this morning followed by an easy 2.5 miles at lunch on the treadmill. Not a bad day all in all. The shoulder was a little sore after the swim this morning but feels fine now. It sure feels good to be able start building the swim intensity and distance back up.