What I am thankful for...

For the last two and a half weeks I am sure many of you, just like myself has gotten the privilege to be inundated with everyone on Facebook broadcasting to the world what they are thankful for. Some people think we may all sleep better at night knowing they are thankful for mac and cheese, or they truly do believe their life would be that much more terrible if chocolate ice cream wasn't part of their weekly routine. But to each his own I guess...

With this week being Thanksgiving I figured I would do my part at making an attempt of getting into the holiday spirit, so I have come up with my own list of things I am thankful for...

1) Body Glide - anyone who has ever had chaffed nipples will know what I am talking about

2) Padded cycling shorts- try riding more than 20 miles without them and your ass will hurt more than the last time you showered with Jerry Sandusky (too soon?)

3) Texas weather- I love being able to train year round

4) The Tri-sition area- I bought my bike there and they have taken care of me since day 1. Best shop in Texas!

5) Hot chicks in spandex shorts- how else do you think I have learned to run faster? 

6) Advil

7) Vodka- for when the Advil doesn't work

8) Whiskey- for when the Vodka doesn't work

9) Did I say hot chicks in spandex shorts? 

10) Finally, I am thankful for all my friends and family who have supported me this whole time. I would have never made it this far without them!

With that being said I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. 

Hopefully you enjoy it as much and he did....

Oilman Half Ironman

There is nothing better than going out with a bang, and that is what I felt like I accomplished this last weekend. Finishing the season strong with a new personal best.

This last Sunday was the Oilman Half Ironman triathlon in Conroe, TX. It was my second half ironman of the year, and my last triathlon of the season. I was excited for this race for many reason. I love racing, I was anxious to see how much I have improved since April when I did my first Half Ironman, and finally one of my great friends Jarod was coming down and doing the race as well.

Race morning went pretty much the same as usual. Up at 4:30, showered, got some breakfast in me, and grabbed my gear and headed towards transition to get all set up. The weather was shaping up for a gorgeous race day with forecasted high right around 80 and mostly cloudy all day.

Jarod and I got everything all set up in transition, and before we knew it the announcer made it known it was time to head down to the swim start. So we pulled on our wetsuits and made our way down to listen to the final pre-race instructions and get ready to start our 70.3 mile day.

The swim start was typical with  arms and elbows flying everywhere. At one point in the early stages of the swim I took a hard kick to the face. It was hard enough that I actually thought they broke my goggles as my right eye was completely flooded with water. Luckily enough it wasnt and even though it took me a few seconds to drain the water and get re situated, I was able to stay in a pretty good rhythm.

1.2 mile swim time- 43:53      Half Ironman Galveston- 48:45     Improvement- 3 minutes 52 seconds

After getting out of the water I felt really good getting on the bike. It wasn't too warm or sunny and it was perfect conditions for riding. This course was actually one of the most awesome rides I have ever done as well. Not only from a pace aspect, but the scenery involved. The first 20 miles of the course was through the forest and so there were lots of curves and great scenery to check out. It definitely helped take your mind off the fact you were in the middle of a 56 mile ride. Other than the scenery there was nothing too exciting that happened. This was definitely a tougher course than Galveston in the fact there were rolling hills the entire time, and you had some wind to fight at different parts of the course.

56 mile bike time- 3:06:54   pace 18.6 mph       Half Ironman Galveston- 3:15:40  pace 17.17 mph

Improvement- 8 minutes 46 seconds   1.43mph faster


Now it was time for the moment of truth. I had spent most of the summer concentrating on my run. I would still put ample time into swimming and biking, but my run is what I thought had come along the most. I was anxious to see how my body would handle it this time around and what kind of improvement I had. Coming into the race I tried not to put too much into a specific finishing time goal. All I said is I wanted to finish faster than I did the first one considering this was a harder course. Coming off the bike and looking at my watch I knew if I pushed myself on the run I could finish in under 6 hours and 30 minutes, which before the race I would have never thought possible. So as I grabbed my hat and pulled on my shoes all I could think about was finishing strong.

I ran non stop for the first 5 miles holding down a sub 10 minute pace. I still felt good, but knew that even though I was almost halfway done with the run I still had quite a ways to go and didn't want to blow myself up. I decided at that point I would run until the water stations, and then use that opportunity to walk a little to let myself rehydrate a little better. That system worked really well for me going through the second half of the race.

With about 3 miles my body started giving me hints that maybe I should lay off the gatorade for a while. I don't take in a ton of gatorade even when I am training so on race day by taking it way more than I usually do it started have a adverse reaction with my body. At that point I decided only water from then on, which definitely helped my system settle down. However at about mile 12 I could feel my energy crashing hard. I hadn't taken in any calories in the last 30 minutes and I could tell. Luckily there was one last water station about 1/2 mile from the finish. I downed a cup of water and a cup of gatorade and kept pushing through all the way to the finish.

13.1 mile run- 2:28:42   pace 11:21 minute/mile    Half Ironman Galveston- 2:53:17  pace- 13:13 minute/mile

Improvement 24 minutes 35 seconds  1:52 minute/mile faster


Overall time including transition- 6:26:22     Half Ironman Galveston- 7:07:20 

Improvement- 40 minutes 58 seconds

So I finished the season strong with a new personal best. I feel like I have come a long way in the last 6 months and finally have some numbers to show for it. Don't get me wrong I still have lots of room for improvement, but this is definitely a start to help keep me motivated.

I need to give a big shout out to a few people. First off my buddy Jarod. He is the one that got me started in the whole triathlon scene, and I have loved every minute of it. He has been my defacto coach and it was an awesome time being able to race with him!

I also need to give a shout out to Kerr and DJ! They were our support crew cheering us on the whole day. I know I have said it before but I can't put into words how much it helps having someone there cheering you on. It definitely helps you find another gear when you think you are about out of gas. So thank you again guys!

Well this ends the triathlon season until 2012. This month I do get to take the next step towards Ironman Texas though as volunteer registration opens up. By volunteering for the 2012 race I will get first dibs to sign up for my spot in Ironman Texas 2013. I can't wait!

Now for the next few months I will continue to swim, but put more focus into my running as I have just over two months till the Houston Marathon!!

Feel like a kid waiting for X-mas

Race week always feels weird to me....

This Saturday I am doing my second Half Ironman of the year. 70.3 miles- 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run....and a partridge in a pear tree.

The last few months my race schedule was put together with the sole purpose of building me into this race. A slow build through the summer months, transitioning me into a pretty busy September and October slate of races, and now here we are. Race week.

Which brings me back to my first point....race week always feels weird to me...

First off you have the anticipation that builds, almost like a kid in the week leading up to X-mas. You know what is coming, and as each day passes you get more and more excited, and the week just seems like it takes forever. Most people will say just go about your normal routine and it will be here before you know it, BUT that brings me to point #2....

During race week you don't get to go through your normal routine. Its all about tapering and making sure you are fully rested for race day. Up to this point you have you have been pushing your body through intense workouts to make sure you are ready for race day. You have been doing swim sprints till you can barely move your arms. Riding hills until your legs feel like they are on fire. And of course running farther than some people drive in a day. And then all of a sudden you aren't...

You are supposed to go from pushing yourself through workouts to just going through the motions anywhere from 25%-50% of the intensity or distance that you normally would. It feels weird, it feels like you are slacking, it actually is harder to do the lower intensity workouts than it is to let you body go with what it has been getting used to. No matter how many races I have done, it still always feels wrong to me.

So just like a kid on Xmas I try not to look at the calendar. I will try not to think about the race. I try not to count the days, or even the hours until I know I will be jumping into the water. I will just go about my normal routine, and try to make myself sleep the night before. Because to me waking up on race day feels the same as a kid waking up on Xmas morning.