Comic Relief...

When I started this blog I said it was going to be a compilation of many things including humor. As I look back at my past posts I see it has carried a fairly serious theme up to this point. So for your weekend enjoyment I am adding in some comic relief. Hopefully some of these will give you a chuckle or two. Enjoy and have a great weekend!!

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I was running a marathon real slowly. In fact I started out in last place. The guy just in front of me was taunting me “how does it feel to be in last place?” I said “you tell me”, and I dropped out.

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Some sports take a ball….Triathlon takes two

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You know you’re a cyclist when your legs are only tan to mid thigh

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You know you’re a runner when you know how many miles are on your shoes and not on your car

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“Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning.” – George Carlin

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You know you’re a triathlete/runner when 6:30 am is sleeping in.

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You know you’re a triathlete when you have a $4000 bike strapped on top of your $2000 car.

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A man was out jogging in the forest one day when a frog called out to him and said, “IF you kiss me I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.”

He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful pricess, I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and how you are my hero.”

The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I’ll stay with you for a year and do ANYTHING you want.”

Again the man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and put it back in his pocket.

Finally the frog asked, “What’s the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess, that I’ll stay with you for a year and do anything you want. Why wont you kiss me?”

The man replied, “Look, I’m a triathlete, I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool!”

Texan Triathlon

I was hoping for a better race recap of today's race, but alas that wasn't in the cards. Still wanted to give everyone an update though. I am not sure if its possible for a person to have their best and worst race all in the same day but I think I might have accomplished that...

This morning I had the Tiny Texan Triathlon. It was just a simple sprint distance race. 1/2 mile swim 15 mile bike 3.1 mile run. I was very excited for this race for two reasons. 1) Its been over 2 months since I did my last triathlon, and I was definitely ready to get back at it. 2) I was looking at the results for my age group from last year, and I figured with a good showing from me and if things went right I might actually be able to finish in the top 3.

Race morning started out as any other. I got my gear loaded up and headed out to the race site. I was feeling pretty good and pretty anxious and I was definitely ready to try and put in a top 3 performance. I got my transition area set up and jammed out to my ipod. Finally it was time to make our way down to the water and get this party started.

The swim for the most part was uneventful. Just a regular open water swim. I felt like I swam decent, although was a little disappointed in my time once I hit shore. I did the 800m swim right at about 20 minutes. I was hoping to be able to do it in about 18, but I figured I could still make time up on the bike course. I made my way up to transition and grabbed my bike. It was definitely the fastest transition I had ever had, and things were setting up good.

The bike started off awesome. I got into my groove I worked the gears well on the hills and I had a great cadence going. I started picking people off one by one moving my way up through the pack. Some of these people had all the expensive gear, aero helmets, even Ironman tattoos, and I was passing them. I was on pace for my goal to place in my age group and I was feeling awesome. Then it happened....

There are two things every triathlete deals with at one point or another. Flat tires, and crashing on the bike. I have dealt with my share of flat tires before, but today was the day for me to experience my first crash. I came up to a corner towards the end of the bike, and I must have been pushing the pace a little too fast cause as soon as I started turning my bike came out from under me and down I went.

I landed on my elbow and my hip, and I landed hard. I collected myself and thought I might be able to salvage my race. I hadnt been passed by a single person the entire time so if I could get rolling on the bike again I still had a shot. I threw the chain back on my bike and jumped on, but from the first pedal I knew it wasnt going to happen. With every pedal pain shot from my hip down to my ankle. My whole left side was on fire. I couldn't get down into aero position because of the pain in my elbow and arm. I knew at the point my race was over.

I pulled off to side and sat down just to collect my breath and let some of the pain subside. I eventually got back on my bike and slowly rode the rest of the way back to the transition area. I took my timing chip off and handed it to a marshal telling them my race was over.

It was frustrating on many levels. For the first time I was seriously in a position to place in a race and I let it slip from me....literally. It is definitely nice knowing to even be in that position is an accomplishment, however it would have been nicer to actually cash in on it.

As far as my injuries they aren't bad at all. My elbow is scraped up some and my hip is still pretty swollen, but they are nothing that is going to shelf me for too long. In fact I am still planning on being in the pool in the morning. If anything my ego is hurt more than my body. Maybe hurt is the wrong word, but definitely deflated.  Of course that is probably still because it just happened a few hours ago.

I am sure tomorrow I will wake up and still be sore, but at least look back and use it as motivation to keep pushing. I have several races over the next few months building into my half Ironman in November. I am not sure I will be in any position to place in any of the next few, but in the grand scheme of things placing isnt the goal, Ironman Texas is. Like my buddy Jarod told me, better the crash happened today then during a major race I had spent months training for.

Recovery Day

Recovery days. They are probably the most important day in your weekly training schedule. Most people think that they become faster or stronger during there workouts. However that is not the case. You get faster and stronger when your body is repairing itself and recovering from the workouts your put it through. That is why the recovery day is just as important, if not more important, than that 50 mile bike ride you think you need to do today. 

Its easy to sit here and write that but I must admit it is still something I struggle with. I still have a burning desire to get faster, and stronger, and lighter. So even I fall into that same trap of a mindset where I feel like I need to be doing something....anything...all the time to see constant improvement. Even though I know in my head that is not the case, I find it a constant struggle sometime to actually follow through and do NOTHING for a day and let my body recuperate. 

But that is what I did today. Oh believe me, I set the alarm for 7 am this morning with the idea of getting up for a run. But when I got up this morning I had to convince myself it was OK to take the day off and rest. I have a race coming up next weekend and I want to make sure I am not too worn down to put forth my best effort. 

So no matter how hard it was, this is where I spent a lot of time today....

Group Training = AWESOME

Up until this point almost all the training I have done has been on my own, except for a few runs every now and then with my running buddy Chris. Now while there are definitely some advantages to training on your own it also comes with its own disadvantages.

It is definitely nice to be on your own schedule and go whenever it works for you without having to schedule around others.You also don't have to worry about being held back by people that aren't to your talent level, and you also don't have to worry about holding people back that are way past your talent level. But when you are by yourself it is a lot tougher mentally to keep pushing through the lows you go through on days you just aren't feeling it. Its a lot easier to talk yourself into cutting your training short if things are feeling too hard that day. It is definitely a bigger mental challenge on your own.

The triathlon shop I go to here in San Antonio is in one word AWESOME! The Tri-Sition Area has taken care of me from day one. They aren't just looking at trying to get you to spend money with them, but are looking to help you become a better triathlete. I have seen for a while now they offer FREE training groups several times a week. They do runs on Wed nights, and bike rides on Thurs nights. And then on Saturday morning they do Triathlon training groups out at Boerne lake which includes an open water swim, bike ride and run.

Now I have always wanted to try and make it out to join them on Saturday mornings but conflicting schedules have prevented me from being able to. Finally last week it worked out that I would be able to make it out. I had a pretty big training week last week so come Saturday I just wanted to get in a open water swim but not do any biking or running. Needless to say after I was done with the swim I was regretting not bringing my bike with me. It was AWESOME training with people with the same lifestyle. They have been through the same highs and lows you have been through. Been through the plateaus, and reached new personal records. There was definitely an instant feeling of camaraderie among everyone.

Needless to say this morning I didn't make the same mistake as I did last week. I loaded up my bike at 6am along with my swim and run gear and headed out to the lake raring to go. Once again the workout was awesome! Nothing crazy as far as distances. 1 mile open water swim 17 mile hill country bike ride and a short 1.5 mile run to shake out the legs, but it was FUN. Yes I said FUN!. I have always had fun with most of my training, but group training definitely takes it to a whole other level.

Now most people probably won't and even can't understand what I am talking about, and that is understandable. I never understood it either until I was on the inside instead of looking in from the outside. But after being on the inside, I don't ever want to leave. In fact all I keep asking myself right now, is it next Saturday morning yet.....

Freedom Day 4 Miler

I normally don't get excited for 4 mile runs. At this point those runs have become pretty standard to me. In fact most of my runs are no less than 4 miles. But today was different. I was signed up for the Freedom Day 4 miler and I was excited to run this race.

I ran this race last year. It was the second race I had ever run. At this point last year I had only been running for about a month, so running a hilly 4 mile course was a little intimidating. After being at it for a year I had been anxiously awaiting a good measuring stick for my progress. This race was going to be it. It was the exact same course, on the exact same day, and when we started this morning the conditions were pretty much identical to what they were last year. This was going to be a true barometer of my progress and I was anxious to see how far I have come.

Last year I ran the course in 50 minutes and 34 seconds. That is averaging over a 12.5 minute mile. It was hilly, challenging, and I even had to walk at one point last year. But this year was different. This year my goal was to run it in 35 minutes. I have been trying to work on my speed lately, so to be able to shave 15 minutes off my total time from last year was a huge goal of mine and one I was gunning for.

I gotta say it was a great race, and I felt great the whole time. There was one point around mile 3 where I didn't know if I was going to be able to hold the pace and make it under 35 minutes but I powered through and crossed the finish line at an official time of 33 minutes 25 seconds. That is an 8 minute 21 second/mile pace and over 4 minutes a mile faster than what I ran it last year.

I know I am never going to be about to hold that pace when I run the Houston Marathon, but being able to run the shorter distances that fast should give me a good base to be able to hold a sub 10 minute mile pace. I am not sure if I will be able to, but I still have 6 months to try and get my body worked up to that point.

Even though I know I have a lot of work to do in the next six months, its definitely been fun to be able to take a minute and look back and see exactly how far I have come in the last year!

Happy Independence Day everyone!!