MRI....

Finally had my shoulder MRI yesterday.  Time to get this thing figured out so it can either get rehabbed correctly or repaired so it doesn't interfere anymore with my training.  Consult with the doctor is in a couple weeks.  Keeping fingers crossed he knows what to do with me!
 

Triathlon Season coming to an end.....

Well, the weather has changed and it's getting cold.  Events are pretty much done for the year and all that's left is hoping for a few nice days to get outside and train before the snow flies.  It's been an "interesting" year for us.  Ann came on like gang busters and after doing a duathlon and a couple running events she finished the season doing 2 triathlons within one week of each other!  I have been nagged by injuries all year starting with a weightlifting injury back in February that hampered my lifting all year then a hip flexor issue that prevented me from doing any half or full marathons and then an accident that messed up my shoulder.  I ended up completing a duathlon, 3 triathlons, 2 running events and a swim event.  My times were very good, completing races faster than I anticipated.  Were I fell short was moving up in the ranks to longer triathlons.  I'm hoping to get my shoulder issue resolved one way or another so I can begin a strict and intense off season routine that will get me to the next level.    

Second Triathlon in 1 week!

Well, I loved doing my first one and Chris found this one relatively close to home so I thought I'd give it a "tri".  LOL!  This was a sprint Triathlon down in the Shawano area.  It consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, a 16.6 mile bike and a 3.5 mile run.  The event was fun, laid back and well organized.  The bike route was redone due to some road construction and had a number of hills and was more challenging than the old course from what we were told.  I felt great on the swim my timing was pretty good!  The bike was was challenging as I said before, with numerous hills.  I averaged just under 15 MPH.  I got off the bike and felt pretty good going into the run.  It was supposed to be a 3.5 mile run but I think it was closer to 4 miles.  The last mile got me.....I started fading and having a hard time with my breathing.  All in all I had fun, and it was a nice addition to my first tri I did the Sunday prior! 

My First Triathlon!

Last Sunday (Aug 26th) I did my first triathlon!  I did the Danskin Super Sprint in Pleasant Prairie, WI.  It consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, a 6.6 mile bike and a 2 mile run. I had a good time except on the swim I got stuck behind a wall of people that were using noodles as flotation devices to help them and I couldn't get around them!  This added anywhere from 5 to almost 10 minutes onto my time which was frustrating to say the least.   I was a fun ace overall and look forward to many more!  Here's the video and some photos.....

Sidelined with injuries.....

Couple weeks ago I got into an accident and got banged up pretty bad.  Scrapes, bruises, strains, etc but thankfully no broken bones.  There's nothing worse than missing events and not being able to workout, it's driving me crazy!  I wasn't able to do the Minocqua Triathlon which I was shooting for the Olympic distance course but Ann and I did volunteer and helped out during the swim and bike portions of the race.  Felt good to contribute!  So I'm slowly getting back to normal and hope to start back slowly in a couple weeks doing a simply 5K run followed by a sprint triathlon on Sept 1st.  Time will tell......

Tri-ing for Children's Triathlon

Well, finally got my second tri of the season in this past weekend.  I had two others on my list to do but scheduling kept me from doing them.  Anyway, I was excited to do this race because I heard the bike and run course was pretty flat and fast.  I signed up for the sprint race for two reasons.  First off, it's been about 5 to 6 weeks since I did a triathlon ( I have done a 1 mile swim race and 2 running races over this time) and secondly, the this long course (Oly) simply did a second loop of the same for the bike and run which I don't care for.  Anyway, this race was one of the earliest starts I've done with the Oly swimmers sarting at 7AM.  The transition was closed by 6:45.  Ann had meetings in Madison which was a little over an hour away so I had to get up at 4AM to make it on time with the drive.  Left the hotel a little late and had to speed to get there.  The parking lot was a ways away and I debated on taking the wetsuit due to water temps.  I hurried and got checked in, marked and got my timing chip.  I only had about 15 min to get my transition area ready and felt rushed.  I saw a fair number of people with wetsuits so I debated on wearing mine.  One problem....I forgot it in the car a mile away in the parking lot!  I told myself this will be a good challenge for me since I've never done a race without one and my swimming needs some work.  My wave started and I stayed towards the back knowing I would be slow.  Felt ok at first then my form started getting poor.  I struggled and it felt like it was taking forever.  About 2/3rds through, the wave that started after mine caught up to me and over took me.  I wasn't happy with my performance at all.  Saw bottom and stood up looking at my watch.  It read 11:30ish which was about 3 min slower than my usual time.  I felt much more tired also.  Ran to T1, grabbed sunglasses, race belt and helmet and took off.  After catching my breath on the bike I was able to get a good average speed going.  My goal....pass and don't get passed.  I knew I had to make up a lot of time on the bike for my poor swim performance.  In total, I was passed 3 times by guys on super bikes that looked like they did this for a living (LOL) and I passed what seemed like 50 people or more so I felt good about this.  Average MPH was 20.5.  Had a decent T2 and started off.  This was my second race on the tri bike and for only the second time I had no leg cramps at all.  maintained a good run pace and finished pretty strong.  Overall, I was happy with the race performance overall but need substantially more swim work.

 

Hodag Run For Your Life 10K!

Saturday June 30th, I had a chance to run a 10K down in Rhinelander that was put on by the YMCA.  I was concerned about the heat and humidity since the whole week it was warm and I was having a difficult time training.  Got up Saturday morning, had a couple cups of coffee, some oatmeal and got ready to go.  Got down to the race about an hour before start.  Did some warm up exercises, stretched, had a protein shake and banana and waited for the start.  My hip has been bugging me over the last few weeks so I was concerned about it holding up for the duration but knew I would push myself regardless.  The gun went off and I was able to maintain a nice pace for the first couple miles.  I felt the heat starting to get to me about mile 3 but kept telling myself  "I'm a machine and I must simply push through the heat and hip".  Was happy to see water stations about every mile or so and took advantage of it but had to remind myself not to drink too much or I would get stomach cramps.  About 3 miles in I found someone that was about my age and thought I would pace myself about 3 steps behind him and it worked well.  As I passed the 5 mile mark I started to game plan.  I didn't know if this person was in my age group but he could have been so I wanted to wait and push it the last couple blocks before the finish.  As I got about 4 blocks from the finish line the person I was pacing with seemed to slow down and I passed him quite easily.  I looked at my watch and had a chance to PR so I pushed it HARD.  As I crossed the finish line I saw I was about 38 seconds slower than my best 10K time and I was out of gas.  I searched out the shade and someone handed me a cold water and said "You look like you need this more than I do..."  At that point she was my savior!  LOL!  As the results came in I was disappointed to see that I didn't place either so I had a quick massage and headed home.  Good race overall considering my hip was bugging me and I almost PR'd.  Halfway through the race the heat was getting bad and despite my week of so-so training it wasn't as big of a factor as I thought it might be.