Wow, what a crazy 24 hours. So basically, at the last minute, I decided to run in a collegiate track meet this past Saturday. I found out, from Tom Clifford, that you could enter and race even if your not a college student. I saw this as an opportunity to PR in the 5k, since I have never ran one on a track.
Leading up to the race, I was not really nervous, but was definitely a bit tired from a tough week of training following Azalea. The race started at 6:30pm, which also made things a little awkward. But once I got racing I felt great. I took the first mile out in 5:03 just cruising along. My 2 mile split was 10:10. At this point I thought, "holy crap, I'm gonna break 16:00!". As the coaches kept on reading off splits, it became clear that I was going to crush my best time. I ended up finishing 7th with a time of 15:51. Unbelievable. This just gives me so much confidence going into this season. I have not even been able to get in any speed work lately, so to run this fast this early in the season is further affirmation that I am going to dominate this year.
Oh yeah, the next morning me and a group of tri geeks woke up and biked down to Carolina Beach at 8am. We then ran in the St. Patrick's Day Lo Tide Run (10K). I ended up finishing second with a personal best time of 34:23. We then hung around for a beer or two and crushed the 20 mile bike ride home.
All in all, a great weekend of racing and training.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Azalea Triathlon
The first tri of the season is in the books and I am very satisfied with the results. I finished first overall, though only by six seconds. However, with Azalea being a pool swim with a staggered start, there was no exciting neck in neck battle for the line. In fact, we finished about 3 hours apart due to a flat tire that caused Paul to have to start over at a later time. I would have liked to win by a little more, but its hard to be dissatisfied with a win.
Leading up to the race, I was getting flash backs from three years ago when the event was a total washout. Fortunately, the rains that had soaked the roads all day Friday and Saturday morning held off for the entire race. The sun even came out later in the day which made breaking down a little more tolerable. However, the weather still played a major role, as racers had to battle sustained 20-25 mph winds with gusts of 30-40 mph all the way up Wrightsville Ave.
Breaking down the race, I accomplished exactly what I set out to do. I had a strong swim to lead things out, fading a bit towards the end, but still my fastest split in this race to date. Being out of competitive swimming for more than a year now, I was very pleased with this result. I have been working hard to get back into swim shape for the ITU races I will do this season, and it has clearly payed off. T1 went very well, as I was using my new Lake tri shoes. This was the first time I had ever left my shoes clipped in for T1, so I was a bit nervous. However, I had practiced this many times in the weeks leading up to the race and had no trouble at all. Even though I was a bit slower getting in then I had practiced, I had one of the fastest T1 splits. It is amazing to think that if I had used my old shoes, and put them on in transition, I may very well have gotten second. On the bike, I felt very strong even when we hit the vicious headwind on Wrightsville. I was pushing it pretty hard on the bike, so I think that may have cost me a little bit of speed on the run. I really wanted to split under 17 minutes, but was 4 seconds shy. I have not done much speed work at all lately due to some nagging pains, so once I get back on the track, I should be in good shape.
So, in all a very successful day, and a great way to kick off the season. My confidence is high, and I'm ready rip it up this year.
Leading up to the race, I was getting flash backs from three years ago when the event was a total washout. Fortunately, the rains that had soaked the roads all day Friday and Saturday morning held off for the entire race. The sun even came out later in the day which made breaking down a little more tolerable. However, the weather still played a major role, as racers had to battle sustained 20-25 mph winds with gusts of 30-40 mph all the way up Wrightsville Ave.
Breaking down the race, I accomplished exactly what I set out to do. I had a strong swim to lead things out, fading a bit towards the end, but still my fastest split in this race to date. Being out of competitive swimming for more than a year now, I was very pleased with this result. I have been working hard to get back into swim shape for the ITU races I will do this season, and it has clearly payed off. T1 went very well, as I was using my new Lake tri shoes. This was the first time I had ever left my shoes clipped in for T1, so I was a bit nervous. However, I had practiced this many times in the weeks leading up to the race and had no trouble at all. Even though I was a bit slower getting in then I had practiced, I had one of the fastest T1 splits. It is amazing to think that if I had used my old shoes, and put them on in transition, I may very well have gotten second. On the bike, I felt very strong even when we hit the vicious headwind on Wrightsville. I was pushing it pretty hard on the bike, so I think that may have cost me a little bit of speed on the run. I really wanted to split under 17 minutes, but was 4 seconds shy. I have not done much speed work at all lately due to some nagging pains, so once I get back on the track, I should be in good shape.
So, in all a very successful day, and a great way to kick off the season. My confidence is high, and I'm ready rip it up this year.
Friday, March 7, 2008
And they're off...
Welcome to my personal triathlon blog. I never thought I would see the day that I made one of these silly things. I always thought they were a waste of space, and wondered who would bother reading some of the crap people come up with. But here I am, doing the same thing.
However, this is a bit different. My main goal with this blog is to further enhance my triathlon career by creating a place for sponsors, potential sponsors, friends, family etc... to track my training and racing schedules. Throughout the season, I will post pre and post race reports, training logs, goals, schedules, and any other information that will help you follow my progression. In addition, I will probably add some posts from Set Up Events and Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue (my current employers) to keep you up-to-date on that side of my life.
I should be posting my first race report some time this weekend following the Azalea Festival Triathlon. This will be my first tri of the season, and hopefully my first win as well.
That's it for now. Thanks for coming by and keep checking back as the site builds.
However, this is a bit different. My main goal with this blog is to further enhance my triathlon career by creating a place for sponsors, potential sponsors, friends, family etc... to track my training and racing schedules. Throughout the season, I will post pre and post race reports, training logs, goals, schedules, and any other information that will help you follow my progression. In addition, I will probably add some posts from Set Up Events and Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue (my current employers) to keep you up-to-date on that side of my life.
I should be posting my first race report some time this weekend following the Azalea Festival Triathlon. This will be my first tri of the season, and hopefully my first win as well.
That's it for now. Thanks for coming by and keep checking back as the site builds.
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