A whole bunch of something

Apologies for the post overload; we have some catching up to do.

Where to begin. I have been quite busy lately and haven't really found the time to address my five loyal followers (they may be spam bots, but like true friends, they will never leave me). So, here's a quick rundown of my latest competitive exercising exploits.

As you may or may not know, I often compete with the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue squad at lifeguard competitions. Being a former full time guard and current sub (though I'm so far down on the list I'm not on the list proper), I still enjoy going to these competitions for fun. Our regional competition was held down in North Myrtle Beach this year, so the decision to attend was easy. Due to the outstanding from performances of everyone on the squad, we were able to defend our overall title from last year. We compete in the small beach division (beaches with less than 100 guards), but managed to score more points than all of the large beach squads as well.

The 2k Beach Run is a painful event, in case you couldn't tell from my facial expressions

Even better, the squad just got back from the national championships, where they placed third amongst small beaches, and 10th overall in the country. So, as is the custom, the beer flowed like wine at the awards ceremony, and shenanigans ensued (did you know that with enough people, you can make a lazy river flow in reverse? neither did I).

A few weeks later when I came too, I found myself in Asheville for the Lake Logan Triathlon. This race is held in one of the most picturesque venues of any race I've done. Definitely one to do if you haven't already.

Purty, ain't it?
(Photo courtesy of the person I took it from)

As an added perk, the international distance race (there's also a half, new this year, and a sprint) has a some money up for grabs for top 3 overall and fastest swim, bike, and run splits. I had an awesome race, and managed to walk away with first place, plus the fastest swim and bike splits. Everything came together, and I felt really solid the whole way through.

So thats it as far as racing related activities. In other news, I have recently taken the position as primary class-setter-upper-guy at the Without Limits Computrainer Studio, aka the CPWWTGDOTGT. If your'e unfamiliar with what the computrainer studio is, read the following post I did a while back outlining, in detail, the features and benefits of the system. In short, it is the most effective and efficient way to gain fitness on the bike. Even just one ride a week on the computrainer can have dramatic impacts come race day. Most folks just get out on the road and just go through the motions, without focus or purpose. The computrainer forces you to take control of your workouts so that you receive maximum benefit. You can click the link here to see the schedule of classes and sign up.

Looking forward, I've got the Chicago Triathlon coming up on August 24th. This race is apart of the highly competitive, olympic distance focused, Life Time Series. Now, I know what your'e thinking. Why is the network famous for movies and shows about dead-beat ex-husbands, and strong, independent women running a nation wide triathlon series? Will they add in a forth leg where you have to fight off a drunk divorcee, or evade a purse snatcher? Sadly though, it is a different Life Time that sponsors this series, not the one that has provided such a plethora cinematic gold. For example, we need not look any further than the 2007 blockbuster, I Me Wed. 

Woman marries herself, sheer brilliance. Watch out M. Night Shyamalan

If you want to borrow the DVD, let me know (killer deleted scenes and interviews).

Swim, Crap, Run

Swim, Crap, Run

So, as you may have inferred from the title, things didn’t go quite as planned this weekend. This past weekend, I traveled to Philadelphia for the TriRock Philadelphia Triathlon (formerly the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon). Due to my injuries over the winter, this was my first major race of the year. I know I’m not in peak shape right now, but I figured the race would be a good indicator of where I’m at. 

Ok, the race wasn’t total crap, more like it was sprinkled with crap, primarily focused on the bike leg. The swim was fairly average. I let the lead pack get away from me, but led the chase group into T1. For how I’ve felt in the water lately, I was ok with this. 

Here’s where it starts to get stinky. On the bike, you hit the first of 4 climbs (per lap) a couple miles into the course. Primarily due to the bad winter Philly had, the roads were in bad shape. On the descent of the first climb (a relatively technical stretch of road), I managed to nail some rough patches, which in turn broke some of the zip ties that were holding my bottle cage in between my aerobars (I’ve been racing this setup for years, never once had a problem). It was so loose, that I nearly lost the bottle (which, at this point in the race was completely full) on the next few corners. I decided then that the only solution was to shove the bottle down the front of my trisuit. So, approaching full on Fred status at this point. The only time I could drink was on the climbs, because I had to get out of my aerobars to remove the bottle. Not ideal, but not devastating either. I just figured I would get it down fast, and toss it at the aid station. However, it wasn’t long before I got dealt another steaming pile of misfortune. On another particularly fast and pothole filled descent, I drilled another chunk of pavement, which caused my seatpost to slip down quite a bit. Sounds like I need to fire my mechanic, don’t ya think? And we haven’t even hit the second lap yet; it gets better.

Under USAT pro rules, you are required to follow the stagger rule. The stagger rule states that no matter how far behind you are, you always have to be staggered off the person in front of you. As we started the second lap, we were joined by some age group athletes starting their first lap. On the approach to an uphill, right hand turn, I was passed by an age grouper. I continued to ride the ideal line leading up to and through this uphill corner, which just so happened to be behind the rider in front of me. I’m usually very sensitive to my position to avoid receiving a penalty, and thought nothing of the line I was taking. Apparently, the official didn’t approve, and I was handed a 1 minute stand-down penalty (i.e. you have to come to a complete stop, unclip both shoes, and wait 1 minute) for stagger rule violation. I’ve been racing under these rules for 6 years now, and I’ve never received a penalty until now. However, I think the official had me confused with someone else, because he remarked that he has had problems with me in the past. Regardless, it was a quite the kick to the gut, while I was already in the fetal position. 

At this point, I was well out of touch with the race up the road. I decided I would get through the rest of the bike as best I could, and try to salvage a decent run. I figured I was going to see someone finish while exiting T2, but I was pleased to see that there were still some guys around that I could race, and my deficit to the front hadn’t reached “pity clap” levels. I managed to stick with one fellow through about 2.5 miles, until he slowly pulled away from me. Much like the swim, my run split was satisfactory. I could feel some tightness in my hip flexors, most likely from having to slide back on my saddle after it slipped, pinching off my hip angles. 

Boy-o-boy, what fun. As bad as it was, I can still say I’ve had worse. While in Germany 2 years ago, I combined much of the misfortune above with a flat tire, which I rode for the last 7 miles to get to T2. To make matters worse, my chocolate flavored gel exploded all over me, make it look like I had quite literally “s#!% the bed.”