The week before the week....

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.

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Friday mish mash....

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

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