The KodaFit Blog

I just realized earlier today, that I have raced for the past 3 weekends, and not only that, but I either equalled or best previous times on each of those occasions.

June 13th, BAM Triathlon - Olympic Distance
Took over 20 minutes of my previous Olympic Best!

June 20th, Shark Attack Triathlon - Sprint Distance
I need to do some equivalency calculations, but if this wasn’t my best sprint tri to date, it’s likely equal to my best.

June 27th, Stepping out for Scelroderma - 5k
PR’d with a time of 24:19 - 1:07 better than my previous best 5k time.

The 5k was interesting. The day before I did a big brick workout - swam 1mile plus in Open Water, bike 40 miles with an average speed a little over 19mph, and then ran a very fast 2.5 miles.

Saturday morning I woke up with my legs feeling good. The first quarter mile, I pushed waaay to hard - speeds down in the 6 min/mile range. I suspect my Garmin may actually be a disadvantage at times - Seeing my speed made me realize I needed to slow down, which was good, because otherwise I may have burned up everything in the first mile, but at the same time, I think it helps my brain defeat itself.

1st mile went great - average pace 7:22/mile
2nd mile was OK - average pace 7:49/mile. Legs were burning, but there was a slight downhill, so I tried to stride it out. Mentally it was tough, but I was able to hang in.
3rd mile - Average pace - 8:13/mile. Uphill to the finish, legs were burning, lungs were burning and wheezing with each breath. Mentally it was a struggle - “Just keep going, relax, just keep going, relax…”
Final 0.11 - average pace 7:41/mile - Kicked it up a bit with the finish line in site. You can do almost anything for just 1/10 of a mile more.

Overall a good race, although I’m realizing this body was built for distance, not speed! That’s an 8 minute improvement (7:51 - if you want to be technical), over my first 5k, almost 2 years ago. I’ve come a long way, but still got a ways to go!

read comments (2)

Saturday June 20th, was the Shark Attack Triathlon - a sprint tri, put on by the Desert Sharks Triathlon Club.  It’s my first year as a Shark, so I figured I should probably do it.

I wasn’t really considering this an “A” race for me, but went into it looking to have some fun.

I probably should have posted my goals before hand, so I was accountable to my readership, but I should have done a lot of things before this race!!

Should have driven the course, should have shaved my legs, shaved my head and practiced more speed on each discipline, rather than just endurance.  But no point crying over that now!

Anyway, so the goals were:

300m swim - 5 minutes

T1 - 1 minute

Bike - 30 minutes (Average of about 23 mph, which was waay ambitious)

T2 - 1 minute

Run - 25 minutes

Total Time 1:02 - Fastest Sprint Tri to date!

Day before I loaded up with Crown Burger, and Lucky Charms cereal (I used to try the healthy thing the day before, but this particular approach seems to be yielding better results!)

Night before went to bed about 11 - not good, but on the plus side, my car was packed and ready to go, and I was able to fall asleep quickly, secure in the knowledge that I was good to go.

3:10am - Alarm went off.  Hopped in the shower, dressed in my race kit, drank my Instant Breakfast and was out the door by 4am

5am - Arrived at the venue, amid some hefty winds and ominous looking clouds.

By 5:30, my transition area was setup, I was checked in and marked up, and had met a couple new sharks as well

Over the next hour or so, I helped get stuff ready for the aid stations, carried a bunch of stuff around and blew up a couple of inflatable sharks to help decorate the pool area.

7am - Start time.  I seeded myself right near the front.  I think I was 5th or 6th in the water.  I felt good about my swim, although I did get held up a little on the last lap of the pool.  Felt like a solid swim, exited cleanly and ran up to transition.

As I entered, I was told that only 2 bikes had left already.

Helmet, glasses, shoes, grabbed the bike and sprinted for the exit behind another shark.  That young shark was a young 13 year old girl.  If I may take a wee side trip here…  Her 18 year old brother ultimately won the race.  She came in 4th out of the woman - out of all the woman!!!  They have a younger brother who did well in the kids race as well.  These kids are talented, but perhaps more importantly, they have incredibly supportive parents.  Not the kind who push their kids into everything, but the kind who are involved, help their kids as best they can, and make sure they’re not being overwhelmed.  I hope I can be a parent like that as my kids get older.

Anyway, got out of transition in 5th position (Bear in mind this race had a time trial start, so it’s kind of hard to judge positioning relative to the other athletes.  Almost immediately I passed the person in 4th - the afforementioned 13 year old girl - and I only mention this, because I suspect in a year or 2, she’ll be cleaning the floor with me as well as all the other competitors.

The first part of the course was mostly downhill and into a headwind.  I was having a hard time holding 18mph, and was struggling for breath.  It wasn’t a bad course, but there were spots where the road was in need of repair.

The final mile towards the turn around was pretty rough.  With a half mile to go, the first 2 bikes came back, pushing hard, followed closely by #3, wearing a Shark jersey.  The turn around was dicey, due to some wet roads - It had started raining, and then it was back to the pool…  A couple of dicey places on the way back.  First an intersection where I wasn’t sure if the officer had seen me coming - he had, just waited till the last second to stop traffic.  Then a one way bridge which had been open when I first went under it, but was now on a downhill and had traffic backed up on both sides, as well as oncoming cyclists.

Exiting the bridge I had a downhill and a tail wind.  I topped out around 38mph, while flirting with the bumper of a Mazda 6.   Not sure if I got much of a draft from him, but it was fun to be racing a car!!  Back towards the start, and I managed to catch #3.  I passed quickly and then began a short nasty uphill.  Unfortunately I also caught a Sherrif’s deputy who was patrolling the course, causing me to brake as I hit the hill and cautiously pass.  Right at that point #3 caught me and passed me solidly.  The hill was really slick, and as I crested, I felt my back wheel spin out a little - Uh Oh!!  Kept it in control, and then started to sprint for the finish.

I caught #3 about a mile from the finish - said hi as I passed - Not in a condescending way, but he was a fellow shark - exactly who, I’m not sure, but he had the jersey on!  At this point I was on a small uphill, but with the tail wind was holding 28mph - Nice!!

Hit transition and hopped off the bike, albeit a little awkwardly - Need to learn how to exit my shoes while on the bike I think!!  T2 went well, until I slipped on my left shoe and felt something in the end - Did I forget to remove a Gu?  Pulled it off, and out fell my Garmin Strap…  Doh!!  Shoes on, grabbed the hat, the garmin and sprinted for the run exit.

Within the first half mile I got the Garmin strapped on, and then realized I’d forgotten my number (Shh!  I think it’s against the rules to do so - DOH!!!).  The first half mile was down hill as well, and was the perfect way to start the run, other than the knowledge that I would have to climb back up the hill to finish.  First mile got done in 7:57!!!  I don’t run under 8’s ever!!  Just gotta keep the momentum going and keep my brain from quitting.  The next half mile was rough.  My legs felt great, but I got passed by the fellow Shark again, who was flying on the run, and then came the bugs…  I caught a few in my face, and then got a few in my mouth.  Most I spat out, but one got into my throat, and made it his dying wish to move around as much as possible.

Hit the turn around and grabbed a cup - Dang it!! It was water, and I could really have used some HEED…  Oh well.  I walked a little to drink it down, along with my buggy friend and then started running again.  My time was now around 9 minute miles.  More normal for me, but I was bummed I could hold to the 8 minute pace.  My legs were still feeling good at this point, but my side was aching, and then I ran through another swarm of bugs and got another couple of the buggers in my throat.

Got passed by two more runners as I neared the finish, and walked about 50 ft going up the hill.  Managed to kick my butt though, and got running again for the last half of the hill.  Crossed the finish line feeling strong, and got my foam shark key ring!!

At this point, it was also pointed out to me that my face was covered in bugs.  I wiped ‘em off and headed for the massage tent - one of the bonuses of finishing up front.  Waited a few minutes, and then got a massage.  It wasn’t bad, but I can see the benefit of have a man massage you rather than a woman.  Men (and I’m generalizing here) just have more strength and can dig deeper.

There were a bunch of timing snafu’s after the race, and I felt really bad for a couple of the officials who were trying to straighten it out.  I helped out with the raffles and handing out prizes, which was fun, although with the wind and the rain, few people stayed.

Due to the timing problems, I’m not sure of my exact times.  I’ve been able to make some good guesses, which are below, but it’s hard to say how acurate they are.  I suspect the swim, T1 and the bike may be close, but my bike may have been linked with T2?!?

Anyway without further ado…  My final results:

Swim: 5:45 - good for fastest in my age group.

T1: 1:08 - 3rd fastest in my age group

Bike: 35:52 - 3rd fasted in my age group with an average of 19.1 - Not bad, the weightlifting session 2 nights before factored into it, as well as the wind, the rain and some slick roads, but still not too bad.

T2: 0:54 - Could have been quicker had I cleard out my shoes before the race.

Run: 25:50 - My second fastest 5k to date and fasted 5k after a tri

Final time: 1:09:29

Good enough for 5th in my age group, 12th Overall out of the men and 13th overall for the race!!

Overall, not a bad race, and I left knowing that my run definitely needs some work, but other that, I think the training is going well.

read comments (1)

This post is more for me than anyone else.  I usually track my workouts on BuckEye’s Training, but this may give me more accountability.

1 thing I realized from the race Saturday, is that my running needs work.  I can run if I have to, but mentally I’m lacking, and physically I could use more strength as well.  So with that in mind, as I headed to the track tonight, my goal was speed!!

And the results are:

1 mile warm up at an easy pace (9:12)

Did the following ladder set with 100m rest in between:

1 x 400m (6:39/mile)

1 x 300m (6:11/mile)

1 x 200m (6:15/mile)

1 x 100m (5:45/mile)

400m recovey 1/2 run 1/2 walk

1 x 100m (6:20/mile)

1 x 200m (6:06/mile)

1 x 300m (6:17/mile)

1 x 400m (6:30/mile)

At this point I pretty much wanted to puke, but I’d gotten ‘er done!!!

read comments (0)

OK Readers, if there was any doubt in your minds how much I appreciate you reading and following this blog, then please allow me to remove that doubt…

Steve of Steve in a Speedo. Gross?! blogging fame is hosting a competition on his website.  I’m posting this here, so I can get an additional entry into the drawing.  The thing is though, that by promoting it here, he will likely get more entries, and thus decrease my odds of winning.

So…  Yes, I’m increasing my odds of winning by posting this, but at the same time, I’m decreasing those odd by telling you about it.

However you want to look at it though, I think the key thing here is… Get to his blog before next Saturday, read the details on how to get into the drawing and get yourself entered.

You can ready his blog here, or click here to link directly to the post about the Free Shoes.

Oh - and if you want to tell him that you linked over there through The Kodafit Blog, I would be most appreciative as well!!

read comments (0)

I’ve had a few people ask me about some of the terms I use…  So

Triathlon - it’s a multisport race, as swim, a bike and a run, usually in that order, but it can be reversed on occasion.

OWS - Open Water Swim.  Shorter triathlons are some times  done in pools, but the longer ones take place in a lake or the ocean (or even rivers at times!).

T1 - Transition 1.  This is the switch from swimming to biking.  You have to exit the water, pull off your wetsuit (if you wear one), goggles, swim cap and all of that.  Put your bike helmet and shoes on, and anything else you wear, and then run out of the transition are before jumping on your bike.

T2 - Transition 2.   This is the switch from biking to running.  You have to get off your bike, push it into the transition area, remove helmet (Important to do, coz you look like an idiot running in a bike helmet, and I would know!!), remove bike shoes and then get ready to run - running shoes, running hat etc.  And then run out of the area and do the run.

PR - Personal Record.  Most runners and triathletes track their best times in a particular event - especially those of us that don’t place normally.  Triathlon is about beating yourself and self improvement.  For me it’s all about chasing a new PR!

Placing - Finishing in the top 3 in a race, or even in your division.  I race as an Age-grouper in the 30-34 division - which is why I don’t place, since guys in that age group are really good.  I’m looking forward to my 70th birthday, perhaps then I’ll not only place, but I can qualify for the big one in Kona!

Kona - The first IronMan triathlon was done in Kona, a swimmer, cyclist and a runner were arguing about who was fittest, so they did a long swim, a long bike run and a long run (I think it may have included the marathon held in Kona, Hawaii every year.  Now Kona hosts the World Championship IronMan every year in October.  To race you have to qualify at another Full or Half IronMan event.  It takes serious talent and dedication to do this.

Super Sprint, or beginner triathlon - These vary, but usually 200m swim, 4-10 mile bike ride and 1 - 2 mile run.

Sprint Triathlon - Usually a 300m to 750m swim.  Typically in a pool, but it case be in a lake.  10-15 mile bike ride, and a 5k run.

Olympic Triathlon - 1500m swim, 26 mile bike and 10k (6.2 mile) run

Half-Ironman Triathlon - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run (half marathon)

IronMan Triathlon - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run (full marathon).  This has to be done in 17 hours too, just to make it interesting.

There is also an Ultraman in Hawaii everyyear - a double ironman distance race over 3 days.  And triple Ironman somewhere on the east coast of the US, which usually takes a week, and then I believe some nut-jobs in Mexico, do a deca-ironman (10x iron distance race) over a two week period.

I’ve never claimed to be sane, and some have suggested I seek professional help (But that’s a whole other story - and yes they were serious, but no it wasn’t about triathlon!). But I think I’ll top out with the IronMan, and then perhaps try out XTerra or something

XTerra - and off-road triathlon serious, usually consisting of a swim - in 2 parts with a short beach run in between, a mountain bike course and a trail run.

read comments (1)

BAM is an Olympic Distance Triathlon, hosted by WARP - Wasatch Area Race Production - at Soldier Hollow, in Midway, UT.  It was the venue for many of the cross country type events at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and is an incredible venue for both winter and summer events.

The week before had some pretty crappy weather in Northern Utah, and weather predictions for Race Weekend were not looking good at all.

My personal race predictions were looking good though…  Here they are:

Swim: 32:00

T1: 5:00

Bike: 1:05

T2: 2:00

Run: 50:00

We decided to camp out at the venue, which was going to make logistics a lot easier, and  the kids have all be begging to go camping for a while now.

Lesson #1:  Camping out at the venue absolutely rocks, even when it rains, which it did, and hard too.

Lesson #2:  Camping out with 5 kids, aged 10 months to 9 years, not such a hot idea.

When all was said and done, it wasn’t too bad. At about 10pm however, a certain kid, who shall remain nameless, chucked my big, solid MagLight at another kids leg, which kid then proceeded to scream bloody murder, to the point that he then threw up all over himself, a couple of sleeping bags and a pillow or two.

But when you factor out little incidents like that, it wasn’t a bad weekend.  We arrived about 4:20 on Friday afternoon, and by 4:45, had the tent up, most of out stuff unloaded, and I was sprinting like a mad fool, to grab the race packets for 3 of the kids.  5:00 we had the kids race (See previous posting), and following that we dropped my bike off at Deer Creek, and headed into town for dinner.

The night was actually fairly warm.  A couple of big thunderstorms rolled through, but they stopped around midnight, and it was quite peaceful after that.  I heard from one of the race directors that they had done “The Dance”, naked, at midnight in T2.  I can’t say for sure if they did, but whatever it was, it worked.

Just a heads up… This race report, as with all of my reports is waaaaaay looooong. I get kind of wordy, and I like to include details, so I can go through what worked and what didn’t. There are photo’s however, so if you want to see those, and my final results, just scroll down to the end.

I woke up at about 3:30 and kind of lay around until 4:30.  I hit the restrooms, got my race kit on and then walked my run stuff up to T2.

BAM is a point to point race, so you drop your bike off at the swim venue the day before, setup your run equipment at the 2nd transition area on race morning, and then catch a bus to T1 to check your bike and setup your bike equipment.

I was the one of the first people set up my run stuff, meaning I got the pick of positions, and then headed down for a quick shot of carnation instant breakfast, grabbed my bags, and got on the bus.

While I enjoy meeting new people, I was grateful to find some fellow sharks to sit with. Sandi, Sue and Steve were all at the back of the bus, and I got to meet Polly as well!

Got to my bike at around 6, set up my aero bottle, checked the tired, set up the Garmin and then wondered around nervously. Got to meet a couple of other sharks, and then tried to focus on getting ready for the race.

7am I grabbed Gu #1 - vanilla (mmmmm!!), and then noticed that Stef had arrived as well. Stef is a blogging buddy from Las Vegas. I got to meet her in person at Rage earlier this year, and it was really great to see her again. They say that Facebook and other social networking type things (like blogging) can limit your social interactions, but I think they can really enhance them as well. I’ve met a couple of new people in those endeavors, who’ve turned out to be great friends, and it’s always good to be able to share a race with people you know.

7:30 grabbed the second Gu, and wondered off to get the wetsuit on.

7:40 Wondered over to the water with Stef and hopped in to warm up - which is interesting, because I’m sure my core temperature dropped significantly as the barely liguid water slipped through my zipper and through my neck. Brrrrr! It wasn’t as cold as it had been a couple of weeks before, but it was still chilly!!

7:50 Staggered out of the water - Does anyone else have trouble walking normally when they exit a lake?

National Anthem, suck down Gu #3 (Mint Chocolate - best flavor ever!!), luck wishing to Stef, Steve and Josh and then into the water for the start. I positioned myself towards the back, but on the inside path of the course. Glad I warmed up too, because the water felt much better the second time around. There was a count down, and then the ROTC from BYU (I think) shot off the canon. I expected it to be louder, but I also had ear plugs in! First time plugging the ears in a race, and I think I shall be doing it from now on - definitely helped me stay focused.

Collided with a couple of bodies en route to turn one, but I kept going - Score that a win!! First turn wasn’t too bad. I got grabbed on the butt a couple of times, but it’s a sporting event, so that’s OK - right?!? I may have done some inadvertent groping as well.

The course was a triangular shape, and doing the full distance meant two laps. 2nd turn went very well, as did number 3. Back to the start for round 2. I was starting to get a stomach cramp at this point - don’t think it was the Gu’s since it’s happened the last couple of times I swam open water as well. I think it has to do with continuous swimming, which can only be practiced in open water, so I’m hoping to do more of that this year.

I started chanting to myself “There is no spoon, it’s all in my head, there is not spoon” This in reference to a part of The Matrix, referenced by blogger buddy xt4 here and which words he’d wished me well just prior to signing off for the weekend. Thanks xt4! It really helped!!

By the middle of lap 2, I was feeling really good again, and I was only just starting to be passed by athletes from the second wave which started 5 minutes later. Things were looking good for a PR swim!!

Final stretch felt really good, although my shoulder were feeling tired, but you don’t need shoulders on the bike now - do you!!

Exited well, unzipped the suit (QR Breakaway zipper - you ROCK!!), grabbed the caps, goggles in one swipe, pulled out the plugs, into the cap and then I pulled them through my sleeve, dropped them halfway - Excellent race tactic - thanks to the person who recommended that!!

Exited right behind another Shark - turned out to be Club President Di, who had beaten me in the swim at Rage by almost a minute, despite starting 7 minutes later - doing some quick math… That means I could be 3 minutes faster than Rage, and I suspect she has improved as well.

Wetsuit came off well, transition felt quick and it was off on the bike. I was able to check the time about a minute into the ride and it said 8:40. Wave was supposed to start at 8:00, which means with the minute or so on the bike, Swim and T1 were about 37:00 minutes. Perfectly in line with goals!! Nice

The first section of the bike is along a highway. There was not supposed to be any passing, but with some short course athletes already on the course, that was tricky. I tried to be safe and picked my passing spots carefully, but I did blow by a couple of mountain bikes, and the odd tri bike as well.

3 miles into it, I passed Di back again, and was holding an average speed just above 20mph - so far so good.

The BAM course is really fast, but there are some hills, and they hit after the first 5 or 6 miles. Nothing too steep though, and I stayed in my big ring for all of it. I had a shot of gu as well, as drank a fair amount of HEED too. My nutrition seemed to be going well, although my stomach was feeling a little full. The 3 before trick I tried at my first marathon and it worked well, but I realized that I didn’t take on anything else for the first half of that race, so I opted not to take any more Gu on.

After the climbing came the downhill. LOVED IT!! Nothing too steep, but I got some good speed! Topped out at a little over 33mph at one point, but generally tried to keep it between 22 and 26mph for the second half. At one point I was down in the aero position, cranking away, and holding a 28mph average for a couple of miles - it felt really really good!!

A little climbing in the last couple of miles, before a few miles a perfect downhill, and then one final big hill up to T2.

It looked like I was heading for about a 1:05 time on the bike, and I’d forgotten what my goal was 1:03, 1:05?!? Either way, I was close. Hopped off the bike without incident, just to see to other sharks come flying in right behind me. SHARK ATTACK IN TRANSITION!!!

Opted to skip the 5 hour energy, grabbed the hat instead of the bandanna, and I was off!

T2 time - 1:30 or so. Nice job Mike, just keep it together. There is no spoon!! There is no spoon!!

The first 2 miles of the run were rough. I started well, but my toes were all numb. I think I need to invest in some bigger bike shoes. Kind of held it together until the first big hill into Soldier Hollow itself. I think it was all mental, and I was trying to get back control. Sweat was also starting to run down my neck, and it turns out, I had some wicked chaffing from my wetsuit. Owwwwww!!!

Hit the top of the hollow, and decided I need to run down - averaged around 7:30/mile coming down - BACK IN THE GAME BABY!!

There’s a nasty short hill at the bottom, and I put my head down and went for it. Doing well, grabbed some Heed at the aid station, and threw water on the neck. Doing well. The next two mile went OK. Walked one or two steep hills, but generally kept running and was feeling strong.

At mile 4 I bumped into my friend Mike from work. He was doing the Lite course and was about a mile into his run. He was looking good, and it was nice to chat for a while. Another downhill came, and I used gravity to my advantage again, taking off for lower elevations. The final two miles went pretty well. Passed Di at one of the switch backs and exchanged 5’s and then headed up for the finish. Walked one last beastly hill with a half mile to go, and then picked a couple of guys to chase into the finish. I caught them both just prior to the final turn and heard my name announced. “Mike Mackrory, looking for a strong finish”

Yes I will! Thank you very much.

The kids were waiting in the finish shoot, I yelled “High Fives Guys!” and got all but 2, even the wife I think! That is the reason my daughters photo looks like this….

Got to break the tape - first time ever, and then staggered into the finishers tent for some water and a rest.

Rested for a while. Got to see Mike and Di finish right behind me, and then figured it best to go and rescue my wife from the kids.

That about sums it up for the race. Official finish times haven’t been posted online yet, but from what I saw on the final list outside the timing trailer…

My swim time was 32:09 (9 seconds shy of my goal, but my previous PR was 34:23. That’s HUGE. Beat myself 2:12 - WOOHOO!!)

T1 was something crazy like 2:17 or something ridiculous. Goal was 5, although I really wanted to hit 3. Hell yeah! I’ll take that!!

Bike Time according to Garmin - 1:04:29 with avg of 20.2. Goal was 1:05, so I beat that, and PR’d something fierce! This wasn’t a full Olympic distance race, so it’s hard to compare, but I have never gotten an average over 20 in a race before, and my previous Olympic PR avg was 19.5 in Provo last year - and that course could not have been flatter - we’re talking 40 ft difference between the highest and lowest points!!

T2 - Garmin again - 1:31 - well under my 2 minute goal. Way to skip the dilly dallying!!

Run - 1:00:36 - That’s off my goal by over 10 minutes and without a doubt my slowest Olympic distance run of all time (This was my third race though!). I don’t feel too bad about it, because I did well on the swim, and I pushed really hard on the bike. My run training, has been slack of late too, and this course is BRUTAL. But all that aside I still have much to improve on - A little too much spoon on this section if you ask me.

Final time was 2:41 and some change. 6 minutes off my goal, but I’m still stoked about it. Even if you factor in the additional 4 miles on the bike for a full Olympic event, that’s still a PR against my best ever Oly Tri by over 10 minutes!!

Nice job to Stef who I believed PR’d by 29 minutes over last year or something close (Her coach says 29, she says 28… I think Stef may be playing it down, so let’s go with the Coach’s numbers!!)

I believe my friend Mike won his division - I was breaking down a tent at the time, surrounded by kids, but I think that’s what I heard, and I thought he did really well!!

And the father of the family that camped next to us won his division as well - on his first triathlon as well!!

I think the family on the other side of us cleaned up as well - but I expect that from them Their two kids are extremely talented and my goal is to be a parent as supportive as theirs. So while I don’t have the official results… Ian and Mia - well done too!

I thought the event was really well run, although there were some weather issues, and I believe the off-road duathlon got canceled on Saturday night due to thunderstorms, which sucks for those who planned on doing it. But overall, it was a great weekend.

Where to from here:

Short term - Shark Attack Sprint Triathlon is next week. Need to do some speed training on my run and my swim early this week to be ready. The plan is to push the swim, really push the bike, and hopefully have enough in the tank to go sub 25 minutes on the 5k. I can do it!!

Middle term - My run needs work, and I could do with some longer distance swim training. I feel capable though, just need to the time.

Long term - I’m definitely coming back to BAM next year. It’ll be weeks after IronMan, so assuming I’m prepared for that, I should be back in shape again. I going to attempt the BadAss next year though. 9k trail run on Friday night, full BAM triathlon on Saturday morning and off road Duathlon on Saturday night. Should be a blast!!

read comments (6)

This one is a little different from my usual reports…  I didn’t register, opting to do the ‘Bandit’ thing, and then I used it solely to loosen up before the next day, so it wasn’t even really a training run!

Actually, 3 of my kids did this race, and I thought it best if I ran with the youngest.

Here are the 3 competitors…

#60 - Ella - 7 years old
#62 - Lily - 4 years old
#61 - Kynan - 2 years old

The race itself was held at the BAM Race Expo, and pretty much went around the Expo area. From the start we went over a bridge, alongside the Biathlon range, up around the top of the lodge, and then down the east side and into the finishes shoot, where all the races were schedule to finish.

The plan was for Ella to run out by herself, and then I was going to run with Lily and Ky, and stick with whichever of those two ended up lagging behind. Rob, race director extraordinaire, started the race off with some fun comments, getting the kids excited, and then with the shot of his starters pistol, it was go time.

Ella took off right away, and after a couple of steps, we broke out into a run at the back of the back. Lily stayed with us for about 50 feet, and then started chasing after Ella, meanwhile Ky stayed steady and strong at the back.

I was really impressed with all of them. Unfortunately I couldn’t run alongside each, but I could see them over most of the course. Ky really impressed me with his determination, as did Lily in the way she went off by herself.

By half way, Lily had caught up to Ella, and they were doing the run/walk thing, with Ella playing big sister and encouraging Lily. Ky mean while was chugging away at the back, telling me between huffs and puffs, how well he was doing!

Of all this pictures from the entire weekend, I think this is my favorite…

Here’s comes Lily, followed by Ella, with the most excited look of all time smeared across her face. Click on the photo to see it a little closer - it’s priceless (Of course I am the Dad, and hence incredibly biased!!)

And here’s Ky, cruising along, determined as ever.

Ella had been struggling with some side-aches during the race, but she sucked it up and finished strong.

Lily came in close behind, still pleased as can be!

And finally Ky came in, not last, but the only only kid in the last bunch, which wasn’t crying for part and it, and ran the whole way under his own steam - Way to go, little dude!!

As we crossed the line, Ky got accosted by an older girl, and dragged off to the finishers tent for a Laffy Taffy and a drink, while I gathered up finishers medals and visors.

It wasn’t a timed race - at least it wasn’t supposed to be, but they did seem to be tracking who finished were. I’d be interested to see what the times were for my kids, since they all ran well.

And finally, here they are with the ‘Spoils of War’.

read comments (2)

So this weekend heralds the arrival of my first “A” race for the season.  The Ogden Marathon was supposed to be, but I didn’t train so well for that, and kinda blew the second half - so how about we just don’t bring that up again

Anyway, so first “A” Race, and I’m feeling ready.  With each approaching day I’m getting more and more excited.  Done a couple of really good open water swims over the past few weeks, and my confidence in the water is as high as it has ever been.  My last couple of bike rides have been far speedier than I would have expected, and my legs are feeling like they’ve got a good solid run in them.

So first…  Predictions for the Race.

Swim - 1500m.  Sub 32 minutes.

My PR for this distance is 34:23, but I’m swimming straighter, stopping less, and not afraid to bump into other swimmers as much as I was at that race, so 32 is entirely within my reach!

T1 - Sub 5 minutes

This race is a point to point, rather than being based in one spot.  So I’m going to have to stick my wetsuit and everything in a bag, and that’s once I’ve got out of it.  5 minutes is actual rather long.  If I could do it in 3, I think I’ll be extra happy.

Bike - 1:05

I’m not sure what speed that requires me to average, but I think it’s between 20 and 21 mph.  It’s a fast course and perhaps I can even beat that.  I’ve got the legs, just need to push myself mentally.

T2 - Sub 2 minutes

I’m become a slacker in T-2.  Can’t afford to do that on this race. Get in, rack the bike and get the hell out of there…

Run - 50 minutes

This would be a PR for me, although the course is more a 9k than a 10k.  It has some nasty uphill to begin with, but if I can keep under 10 minutes for mile for the first mile or so, I think I can push it for the rest of the course.  Power up the hills and let gravity help me back down.  The course sucked when I ran it 3 weeks ago, but that was a week after running Ogden, and my legs are feeling SOOOOO much better now.

Putting that all together, my goal time is….  <drumroll>

2:35:00

Wow!!  That seems a little ambitious since I’ve never gone sub-3 in an Olympic before, but I’m feeling good about it.

Now the plan…

The race starts at 8 (or there abouts)

I want to get there early so I can swim a little.  The water will likely be freakin’ COLD, and I’m not the type to pee in my wetsuit to warm up - EWWWW!

So planning to get at least 15 minutes in, paddling around and getting used to it.  If I can time this, so I get out around 7:50, I think I’ll score that a win.

Nutrition:

Breakfast - Carnation Instant Breakfast, and perhaps a donut - non-traditional, but I like donuts and they seem to like me.

Pre-race - 12oz of Gatorade.

45 minutes before - 1 Gu

15 minutes before - 1 Gu

3 minutes before - 1 Gu

24oz of Hammer HEED in my aero-bottle for the bike leg, and 3 packets of Gu in my flask.

I’ll try and grab a swig of Gu within the first 2 miles, at around 12 miles, and then right before I finish the bike.

My hydration goal is to sip when I get the chance and aim to finish the bottle at around mile 20.

On the run, I’ll probably just take HEED and  water.  They may have HammerGel as well, which I like, but it will depend on how I’m feeling.  If I can pull my nutition plan off on the bike, I think that will power me through the end of the run.

OK - I was thinking that getting this down would ease some of the excitement, but it’s just made it worse!!

This will be a good weekend.  Great race, great support from the fam.  Hoping to hang out with the Sharks, Blogger buddy Stef from Vegas and her entourage, and hopefully meet some new tri-buddies as well!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend at BAM and elsewhere.

Special shout outs to:

Stef - also doing BAM

Steve A. - Doing the BAM BadAss - Because he is!

Craig - doing the Motor City Triathlon

Steve in a Speedo - Doing the Liberty Olympic Tri

Aaron - Doing the Wendy’s Sprint (Sounds like my kinda Race!!)

Tri-James - Doing the Dragonfly Triathlon

and last but by no means least… three of my kids - Ella, Lily and Ky, who are doing the kids 3/4 mile kids run at BAM!

read comments (6)

I guess this is actually more of a service review, and to make the deal even sweeter…  IT’S FREE!!!

Now in an effort for full disclosure.  I did get a free tech shirt for writing some reviews, but that was after I had already written a couple, and even without the shirt, I would have added more and make use of the site in the months and years to come.

I wrote a race report after I ran the St. George Marathon last year.  The St. George Marathon has been running for about 30 years and had over 7,000 runners last year.   If you google “st george marathon race report”  My report comes up as number 5 on the list.  That’s kind of sad, because it really wasn’t that great of a report.

It does however show the need for a place where you can find decent race reports on marathons, triathlons and the like.  If you’ve ever tried to find out information on a race prior to doing it, you know what I’m talking about.

Enter…

Racevine.com is a repository of race reports, written by real people who been there and done it.  The reports are short, and I really like the little section afterward with information on key aspects of the race.  Transportation, availability of restrooms, what the aid stations stock, etc.

Here’s the official word on the site -

Our website is called www.racevine.com.  It’s a place to easily find a race to do, write a review, read reviews of others, keep a profile of your races, and much more.  Our goal is to support the endurance race community and promote the sport by helping people find, review and share their race experiences, and also provide a great resource of feedback and to help raise awareness for race organizers.  Think of it as a “Yelp or Zagat guide for races” with our users saying “I heard it through the Racevine”.

I personally found the site very easy to use, well laid out and very informative.

It’s a site where you can both contribute to and extract excellent information.

I mentioned the Free Tech Shirt I got as well.  And if you’re a triathlete, marathoner or duathlete and would like to contribute 10 “quality” reviews to the site, you may be able to qualify for a free shirt as well.   Just shoot me an email at racevine_review@kodafit.com and I’ll send you more information.

Check out some of the races I’ve reviewed…

Rage Triathlon

St George Marathon

read comments (2)

This post is being written concurrently with a review I did of RaceVine.com As part of that process I got a free RaceVine.com Tech Shirt - See that post for more details on this (Maybe even you could get a free shirt too!).

Anyway, so the guys over at RaceVine, asked if I could send in a picture of me, in the shirt, in front of a Utah landmark. Not being a fan of being in pictures - you can’t tell that from the last couple of posts however - I was a little hesitant, but it is a really nice shirt!!!

So, the quest began to determine what landmark to take said picture in front of. First thing that came to mind was the Rock Arch down in Moab, but that is a long drive to make just for a photo, and the area (which I have yet to visit) probably deserves more that just a drive by - perhaps later in the year!

Next I thought about the State Capitol Building where I work, but that’s just a building, and it looks like a couple of other Capitol buildings (So much so it often get’s cast as the nation’s Capitol building in movies - See Legally Blonde). But that didn’t see right either.

But then the wife suggested the Olympic Cauldron for the 2002 Winter Games, which were held right here in Salt Lake. So yesterday, while heading out for a date away from the kids, we stopped by the Olympic Park and took some pictures. I know which one I like, but I was wondering which picture you thought was best. If you have an opinion, either for or against any of these pictures, please leave a comment, or shoot an email to me at racevinepicture@kodafit.

Picture 1 - Me in front of the Cauldron and the Main Stadium

Picture 2 - Me in front of one of the Olympic Murals which surround the park.

Picture 3 - Me under the sign for the park.

Picture 4 - Me holding up the sign for the park - Ha ha, very funny Mike!!

So… Let me know what you think, and don’t forget to check out RaceVine.com

read comments (3)