Walk-A-Mile-For-Kyle

Open Meadow Alternative Schools alumni and supporters will walk in the Portland Marathon on Sunday, October 5 to honor the memory of a former Open Meadow student.

Join the 6.2 mile memory walk, Walk A Mile For Kyle, to honor the life of Kyle Robert Kepic, a former Open Meadow student who got caught up in using heroin as a young adult and tragically lost his life at the age of 24. The walk will also help to raise awareness of at risk youth and drug addiction, and benefit Open Meadow.

How to Get Involved

• Register for the walk at www.portlandmarathon.org. Click on “Register Online,” click on “Register Now,” select 10K Mayor’s Walk, select Walk A Mile For Kyle Team and enter team password “openmeadow.”

• Entry Fee - $20 Adults

• Start time: 9:30 on Sunday, October 5

• Walk begins at N. Harvard & Willamette Blvd near the University of Portland and ends at SW 3rd & Salmon – Join us for all or part of the walk.

Donate to Open Meadow in Kyle’s memory

• Donate online when you register at www.portlandmarathon.org.
• Donate online at www.openmeadow.org and receive a receipt.
• Donate by writing a check to Open Meadow Alternative Schools and remitting it to Open Meadow, Dept. W, 7621 North Wabash Ave., Portland, OR 97217

Open Meadow is a nonprofit educational organization that last year served more than 700 youth at risk of disconnecting from school and those who had already dropped out. Open Meadow’s mission is to educate youth in small, relationship based programs that emphasize personal responsibility, academics and service to the community.

For more information about Walk A Mile For Kyle, please contact Josh Monda, Team Captain, at jmonda@richardjamesinc.com or 503-810-4596.

Mid-Summer Olympic Tri (Blue Lake)

Raced at Blue Lake sunday. Although the field only contained about 200 people the top 10 or so was pretty competitive. This was my first time racing the Olympic distance on the course and I was eager to see how my swim and bike fitness were coming along. I was given the instructions to "time trial" the swim and bike and then just let my running legs do what they do.
Swim- 24:04- New PR for me. I started in the "elite" wave for the first time. I figured it would pobably force me to push the swim more than i am comfortable. Felt pretty good on the swim. Avg hr was 177 though. 16th place out of the water
T1- 1:47- decent time. HR avg'd 192 though. my heart rate was really running high all day
Bike- 1:00:45- this was not supposed to happen. with the effort I put out (181 avg hr) and the conditions and flatness of the course, i should have been somewhere between 58 and 59 minutes. It didnt help that 3miles in I turned the wrong way at one turn and lost about 15seconds. Once Trevor Davies and Bill Thompson passed me (they started the race in the wave after mine, 1min back) I knew i was having an off day, even though these guys are strong strong riders, i should have held them off for more than 7 or 8 miles.
T2- 1:18-
Run- 38:25- 4th fastest....not feeling well on the run. HR was at 180-185 the whole time and i was running 6:11's. I was not exhausted but could not get my legs turning over any faster and ended up running well off my 35:00 10k time i ran at world in June. Chris Bell started out the run with me and pulled away after 1.5miles to finish 3rd overall.
Grant Folske won the race with some fantastic splits and was the only guy to go under 2hrs in the race. He is looking really strong.
i finshed in 6th place overall in 2:06:19
Oh well we all have our off days. Back to training now and getting ready to Defend my Hulaman title on Aug 17th!!

Excuses

Pacific CRUST 2008!!

I'm calling it "Pacific Crust" because that's what I felt like after the race.....a hot freshly baked piece of crust!...... Salty crust!

The day started off well with a swim in the Wickiup resevoire, which they announced was 64 degrees. When we found that out at the race meeting everyone cheered. It ended up feeling more like 66 or 67 degrees....so just nice and refreshing. Swim went well, started off fast for a few minutes and then settled into pace. Came out at 32:09 (65th place) which is a good position for me in a race of 600 people. The Zoot Ultra Zenith wetsuit feels really really comfortable. My arms/shoulders dont get nearly as tired as they used to.

Quick 1:27 transition, could have been faster but took the time to stick a tube of SCaps and my trusty Gu-filled Gu Gel Flask in my side pockets. We also had to stuff our wetsuit and towel into a T1 bag so they could transport to the finish since its a point to point course.

Bike was tough but not as tough as I anticipated. The first 27 miles are a gently rolling slight incline. ...but I was flying out there with a tempo effort at 24-25 mph up and over those hills. Miles 27-38 are were the race is won. You pretty much have three challenging climbs with little break in between each one. I think I took it too easy on this as I let people pass me (thinking I would see them later on the run course) and didnt really let my HR rise like i normally do huffing it up those hills. I held back. Was hoping that would make me fresh for the run. After mile 38 its all down hill 14 miles then flat for 6 miles (58mile bike course). The only thing that sucked about the downhill was there was a headwind and I did not make up as much time as I thought. 2:35:53 (about 22mph) and 24th fastest bike and now in 24th place. I also raced today on the bike and run with my new TN Sunglasses I found these listed on Ben Greenfield's blog and boy are they awesome. There was no fogging when putting them on after the swim, they were light as a feather and I could actually see through them while in the aero position (my old shades hung down on my nose so i was looking over the top edge of them when in the aero bars).

T2 was great....57 seconds...fastest over everyone including the pro's!!

Run- went out at my goal pace 6:10, huffed it for another mile at 6:42, after that I would not see the six's again. Every mile was well over 7 minutes. There was just no snap in my legs that day. On top of that It was sooooooo freaken hot. After about mile 5 i lost my competitive spirit and it was just survival. there was no shade on the run course, no wind, just hot dry still air. Everyone was in survival mode. I thought I was running terribly. I had to stop at every aid station and take in water and pour water over my shoes to cool my burning feet. But everyone else was baking out there as well. I ended up running a 1:34:03, but passed 10 people and finished in 4:44:30 (14th place overall). I really really would have liked to go sub 4:30 on this course and I know I can.
I was a little disapointed that my running didnt show up for the half marathon. Even with the heat I should have run a 1:25 or 1:26 half....that would have put me in around 6th or 7th place overall. I have been training to, and know I can, run a 1:20 half marathon off the bike.....but I still need to prove that in a race!
I am happy that I gutted it out with all the other troopers that day. My hats off to everyone who competed, spectated or volunteered in that heat. And it was great having Pops and Coach out to support (once again)! One of my best friends ADM even watched me race for the first time.
Oh yeah, Matt Lieto defended his title this year fending off 70.3 specialist Kirk Nelson by 3minutes. Kirk was within 40 seconds of Matt at one point during the run. But the heat was taking it out of everybody and Matt ran hard to keep the title.
Now I get to take this whole month of July off from racing and just recover and train. Second half of the season starts in August (Midsummer Tri @ Blue Lake & Hulaman)

Pics from Napa

Macca Attacka the Man from Espana

I wish we had more self-narrated videos like this in our sport

Talkin' to the Pros!

One of the things that Age groupers always boast about this sport is how approachable the Professional triathletes are. You can easily find yourself chillin in the lake cooling your legs off after a hard race, only to be joined by one of the most recognizable faces in the sport...Katya Meyers (2nd place overall). That's what happened to me......although I regretfully didn't even put two and two together and realize it was her until after I already talked to her. She was decked out in K-Swiss gear which looks really good! I asked her about their new line of racing shoes since I have been interested in trying them out and used to be a casual wearer of the brand in my teen years. She did a great job of breaking the mechanics and make-up of the shoe down for me. I will be sure to try those out once I get some more mileage out of my Aasics.
I also was walking through the parking lot post race when one of my Transition neighbors(she even calls me a superstar on her race report ;-) ) asked how my race went. I told her I had won the race....she congradulated me and then asked if I could tell her coach (who she was talking to on the cel) how hard the bike and run was on that course. I told her no problem and as she handed me the phone she says "oh, my coach is Heather Gollnick". WOW!! I got to talk to one of Triathlon's top Iron distance athletes ever for over 5 minutes on the phone! I explained the course to her and then she went on to ask me about what races I had coming up (she was actually interested in hearing)! I then went on to ask her about what races she had in the future (Florida 70.3 in Orlando possibly)...so I will be sure to cheer her on! I love this sport!
Oh and I got to stand next to another Pro, B.C. Star Christine Fletcher (who was 1st place overall female) as my coach talked to her post race. Christine and I both congradulated eachother on our victories!

Napa Valley Half Iron VICTORY!

Well, I got my first half-Iron of the season under my belt and came home Napa Valley Vintage Half Iron Champ! The website was right when they said "the course would be as challenging as it was beautiful".

Race temps started out in the upper 50's and would work their way to the mid-70's as the race progressed. That is hot for us Pacific Northwest folk this time of year.

Swim- 25:32 (about 5 minutes fast for everyone, so I equate this to about a true 30:30 minute 1.2mi swim) Still a PR and I did not feel nearly as tired getting out of the water (so increased swim volume is paying off). But I was in 38th place coming out so I had a lot of ground to make up. First place finished 6 minutes ahead of me.....

t1- 2:03 (5th fastest)- had to run up boat ramp then about two hundred meters to our transition area which was on gravel! Grabbed one of my GU flasks and stuffed in my nifty little side pocket.

Bike- 2:34:37 (1st!)- Course difficulty: DIFFICULT. Up and down, up and down the whole time on curvy and roughly paved roads. Pre-race Coach and I game planned that I would push hard on the bike and not worry about saving anything for the run. Well being in 38th place to start all I had to do was make a point to pass up every rider in sight. By mile 14 I was told I was in 10th place. By mile 40 I had passed my second "Powerbar- Team Elite" rider (both who would finish 2nd & 3rd overall), and had moved into 3rd place. The last 16 miles I must have made up a lot of time on 1st and 2nd place because they were just starting the run when I made the last turn into the transition area.

t2- :45 (1st!)- In and out, very smooth. Grabbed my other GU flask and was off

Run- 1:24:45 (1st)- I could see first and second place about a minute ahead. I knew I could catch them but by mile 1 they still seemed to be just as far away. And after mile 2 I had some bad cramps in both quads. I had to stop completely and stretch them out (lost about a minute there). I actually thought for a second my body would not allow me to finish this race. I took a shot of GU and jogged gingerly to mile marker 3 and that is when I got my legs back. I moved into second place surging up a hill around mile 4. And at mile 6 I snuck up on 1st place. He did not look back but knew I was there and stuck his hand out for me to slap. He told me the "race was mine" and he would be a few minutes behind me. I was a little suprised by his gesture. But accepted the invitation to first and took it home the last 7 miles. Even though I had a good lead the last miles were still painful as I wanted a solid run split and did not want anybody sneaking up on me. I could see the Powerbar athletes running strong on the out-and-backs. I got cheers and cheered on in return all three of my fellow Team Zoot GU teammates (Susan Moote, John Felts and Ben Lazzereth). All three of them had very solid races as well.

Final Time- 4:27:45 with a short swim but very tough bike and run course.

I have to give a huge thanks to my Coach, Mark Kendall. He was racing but it was an IM simulator for him, and when he found out I was going to win the race, he pulled himself from the run course after the first lap just to see me bring home the victory. The Zoot apparel treated me very well, I really really love those side pockets on the top and the shorts (beats the heck out of trying to reach all the way behind my back)! And the GU fueled me all day. I used the Gel flask mount on the bike which was very convenient. All in all I took in 12 packets of GU (8 on bike, 4 on run) to help get me through the race.

Also thanks to all my Speedshot Racing teammates who I made the trip down to Napa with. Thanks for feeding me Karen and Bob. Thanks for letting me use your cell phone minutes, Julie. And thanks for making me laugh at you the whole time, Jeff!

Last Week

Got a nice week of training in. My legs were pretty dead from the 10k on 4/20 and racing the previous two weekends. So I started the week out pretty easy and picked it up Thurs, Sat & Sunday with Friday completely off from training.
Key workouts over the weekend were:
Sat- 12mi run on Leif Errickson Trail (1mi easy, 1mi @ 6:00 pace, repeat repeat repeat etc), then 2000meters ez in the pool working on drills
Sun- Quick 2400 yards with Sue 1:25 pace ladder (4x100, 2x200,1x400, 2x200, 4x100). Was suprised I could swim that fast the whole time. But it definitely helped having Sue in front the whole time. The workout was optional for me, so I made her stay in front the whole time :-) then I was a gentleman on the last 100 and let her draft off me.
Capped off sunday with a 73mi ride with the team. I was tired and complaining after 60miles!

Totals for week: (17 hours)
Swim- 13,992 yards
Bike- 155.5 miles
Run- 31.7 miles

Also, happy year anniversary to one of my favorite blogs. You can learn a lot from this blog, so be sure to check it out weekly http://scienceofsport.blogspot.com/

This week will be an unloading week as I drive down to Napa with the team on Thursday. The half-Iron race is on Saturday. Cant wait!!

Bridge2Bridge 10k

Ran a 10k on Sunday. It was my secret race! I didnt tell anyone about it and had a free entry to the race since I paid for my entry last year but could not compete due to IT Band injury. It was the Bridge2Bride....to Brews 10k. We had about 800 total in our race and another 800 I believe signed up for the 8k. This race is one of my favorites because you get to run over the Freemont Bridge. It is the only race in portland where you get to do that. I always feel bad for first timers because everyone anticipates running over the upper deck (but that is too windy) so we have to stick with the lower deck which is still really cool. The thing is when you are running at a sub 6minute pace, you dont really have time to appreciate the view.
I had 15miles scheduled to run on my training schedule. Sooooo......when I met up with my rival Eric, we went for a 4mile ez warm up and ran over the bridge a half hour before the race. That was my chance to enjoy the scenery.
At shortly after 9am we took off. I was right up front from the start, as usual. The first 1.5miles is all uphill as we climb from the Widemere brewery up to the Fremont bridge onramp and then up to the crest of the bridge. Mile 1 was at 5:43...a little slow as expected...but that is a fast uphill mile. Eric broke away off my shoulder after Mile 1 and I knew I didnt have it in my legs to try and go with him (actually I tried and that is how I knew). i just focused on keeping him in sight as he was in second place and my buddy Jay Cech (lightning fast) was in first. At mile 3 I saw fourth place creeping up on me. he was really what kept me going fast and hard. Since Saturday I had rode 2.5hrs and ran 3 off the bike (plus this being my 3rd weekend in a row I was in a race) I found myself tempted multiple times to just ease up and run in easy. But I wanted my podium spot and I was almost there! Fourth place would get right up on my heels anytime there was a downhill or we were on a flat straight. Anytime there was uphill I would gap him by 15 yards. Luckily there was a hill right before the finish and I gapped him again......then there was another downhill and he finished right behind me after I kicked hard to the finish line.
Finished in 34:42, a new 10k pr by almost a minute! And 3rd place......or so I thought.......
Turns out that Darren started 1 second behind me. And his chip time ended up reading .25 seconds faster than mine (even though i out-kicked him to the finish). Oh well, I'll just make sure I beat anyone in future Chip timed events by more than 3 seconds just to give me a cushion.
i'll take my 4th place and new PR and be happy with it since I was running on tired, worn out legs.
i'm actually happy that he was right there because if not for him I would not have been motivated to race that hard. Congrats to Jay Cech for first place in 33:57, and Eric Dolezal for 2nd place in 34:19!!

PS: Got 5 mile cool down in after race with Eric....so even though I didnt completely stick to my training plan, I still got the planned Mileage in on Sunday!

SPRING CLASSIC DUATHLON Race Report

Race #2 of the season! I originally signed up for this race because I was told that the Beaver Freezer was filled and I could not get in. I was so excited about starting the season off in April (vs. May or June in the last two years), that I signed up for this race right away. I then found out I could race in the Beaver Freezer, so much to my excitement I would start the race season off with back-to-back race weekends.

The Spring Classic Duathlon is a 5krun-15mile bike-5k run event. About 300 athletes showed up to compete on a beautiful day (not a cloud in the sky, 60-70degree weather, perfect!)! I knew there would be some fast guys out here (especially on the bike), so my goal was to go out pretty fast on the first run and try to start the bike off with a lead.... ialso had my Dad, Mom, uncle Scott, aunt Jeannette, cousin April and teammate Andy taking pics on the course, so I wanted to impress impress impress!

Run#1- 16:54 (5:26 pace, fastest of the field) - As planned I took the lead from the get-go. One guy from Eugene (jeremy tolman) came with me and we ran side by side introducing ourselves as we set the pace. A guy on a bike rolled by and told us that we were stretching out our lead......good! After the turnaround I picked up the pace a little and ran the third mile in 5:17. That gave me about a 10 second lead over Jeremy and 40+ seconds on the rest of the field. (i dont run a lot of open 5k races anymore, incidently this first 5k was a new PR for me at the distance, by about 35 seconds)

t1- :52 (fastest of the field)- I was excited to enter the transition area with the lead and hear my family cheering me on. Everything went smoothly except for mounting my bike. Leaving transition was a little bit of a hill so I was a little wobbly jumping on the bike with my shoes clipped in, but made it on and took off

bike- 37:24 (24mph, 5th fastest)- This was the fun part. I knew i had anywhere from a 30 seconds to 1minute on 2nd and 3rd place. But I also knew there were some strong riders (especially the Ironheads) that could lay down the hammer on the bike. I was out on my Fuji CF1 time trial bike, tucked into the aero position, cranking away as hard as I could. It was fun having the lead motorcycle in front of me (sometimes she would drop back and ride behind me). I really felt like an "elite" for the first time. There were two turnarounds on the Course which all took place along marine drive. Oddly there were sections of headwinds and then tailwinds in both directions (oddly to most people, but not to anyone used to racing or biking on that road along the Columbia river). Since I was by myself I was setting my own pace hoping i was riding fast enough. I looked back probably 10 times on the 15mile bike and each time was suprised to see nobody back there.

t2- :56 (2nd fastes)- I was so stoked to come into the second transition with everyone cheering me on and knowing that I held everyone off the entire ride. I could hear the announcer on the speaker telling the spectators that I was the first rider coming in....(2nd time I really felt like an "elite") The dismount was coming down a hill, so I was extra careful but smooth. Racked my bike, got the helmet off (no frozen hands this time!) and threw on my shoes and was off!

run#2- 18:07 (5:50 pace, fastest of the field)- Took off running pretty sure that I had this one in the bag. About 200meters into the run both calves wanted to cramp up on me. I pleaded with them to be good and just took it kind of easy that first mile. Right when my calves were not complaining anymore a stiff headwind hit me. It was a little tough to keep my pace and the second mile was 6:05. After the turnaround I saw my buddy Matt Wolpert was a minute or so behind me. Slapped some skin with him as we ran by eachother. I knew I had the race won now and the final mile was just all the adrenaline and telling other racers "good job" as they headed the other way. A lot of athletes gave me props and commented that nobody was in sight. I saw a few of my teammates Tobin, Rob, bob & Karen. And as I came to the final turn before the finish line I high fived my family members.

First win of the season and just one of hopefully a few others to come! I won by 1:41 to second place. Also, my Pops pointed out, my race # was 14 and my finish time was 1:14:14...LOL. AA Sports put on a great event as they always do. I saw my coach midway into the bike course. He had rode out there with Jerry and I think he was releiving himself when I saw him by the way he was hiding from me in the bushes (thanks for the chuckle and for showing up Coach!). I want to thank all my family for coming out to support me, you guys definitely give me that extra little bit to push myself to the limits when you show up to my races!

Next race- Napa Valley 1/2 Iron.................

Beaver FREEZER Race Report!

Well tri season is officially underway for me. I am excited and pretty pleased with my performance yesterday. I also made two costly mistakes, but I have walked away from this "training" race having learned something, so not too upset about the mistakes. I also read on Tribabe.blogspot.com that the bike and run course were slightly longer than years prior that led to slightly slower times but a more accurate course. It was actually pretty cold (as the name of the race would indicate). Temp would be 43 degrees by the time I started on the bike with a wind chill factor of 39(but that is just standing in place). I'm sure it was 32degrees while going 20-29mph on the bike!
Pre-Race: woke up at 5:15am and the alarm had been going off for an hour straight without myself or kelsey or the dogs waking up! Oh well, I had plenty of time still, i just wanted to be up a little earlier to take my time and hopefully get a couple opportunities to sit on the can (race day ritual!).
I left the house at 6am, after eating a huge bowl of oatmeal and went to pick up Pops from his house. Picked up Pops and we made the 1hr 40min trip down to Corvallis talking about the race, work and about the ancient Poop that was found in an Oregon cave recently. The talk about poop had us both having to go so we stopped in Albany at a gas station to handle our business.
Got to the race site about 8:30am. My wave was heat # 1 (which is the last heat to go) and did not start until 10:15am so I had plenty of time to set up transition, warm up, chat, and cheer on some of the heats that were already underway.
Swim- The swim portion of this race is a 500yard pool swim. With 350 competitors, they seed you by your predicted 500yard swim time and assign you a lane (w/3 other athletes) and heat. I was in the fastest heat which would likely contain the guys going for the win so I wouldn't have to worry about waiting around to find out what place i was in at the end of the race. I was in lane #7 and given position #1 in the lane. This is where my swim plan kind of backfired on me. When I sent the race director my swim time I purposefully predicted a slightly faster time than what I thought i could swim because I figured I would be able to draft off of one or two of the faster swimmers in my lane. My predicted time was 6:55. Well I so happened to have the 25th fastest predicted swim time, which meant I was going to be the first in my lane to take off. I had figured I could probably really swim the 500yards in 7minutes flat so i wasn't too concerned. The race started and I went out flying! Sal who made the trip down to watch me (along with his wife, and Matt and Julie) said I went out at 1:10 for the first 100yards. I never knew i could swim that fast but i paid for it the next 200yards as I could feel serious fatigue setting in. at the end of 350 yards i felt what i thought was a tap on my foot. Well that means that i am going to slow and i need to wait at the wall so the guy behind me could pass me. when i stopped at the wall i realized that he had just been drafting me and the gal behind me was drafting him, so i lost about 15 seconds waiting for them (mistake #1) to flip turn off of the wall and i cruised the last 150 yards drafting them but lost time there. end swim time was 7:22 (including getting out of the pool and running to the exit door outside.)

T1- pretty fast 1:02 i think and the fastest of the field. Had shoes clipped into the pedals already and was able to hop on my bike while running pretty smoothly.

Bike- 31minutes i think. 23mph avg. I was about 15th place coming out of transition, passed up 12 of them in the first mile. Got into my aero bars and started hammering. It was Freezing cold as expected. I didnt put on any gloves, was just out there racing in my one-piece tri suit. The 12mile course has some slight grades, headwinds, two 180degree turnarounds and 10 90degree turns in total. I slowed a lot during the 90 degree turns as i didnt trust the roads (slightly wet and not completely free of gravel). There were 3 guys that I had picked out as favorites to win....#5, #7 and #11 (Nate Smith who races this year every year and either wins or takes second). I passed #7 about 4 miles into the ride. I saw #5 leading and Nate closely behind after the first turn-around. After the second turn around I could tell I was gaining on them and the last mile of the bike I had Nate in my sight about 40 seconds ahead. I really pushed it on the bike and felt really comfortable on the new ISM Adamo saddle and my new Fuji cf-1 TT bike. Coming off he bike and doing the flying dismount, #5 and Nate Smith were still in t2 putting on their shoes.

t2- the dismount off the bike was perfect. i racked my bike and then couldnt see my shoes and realized i had racked my bike in the wrong spot. No worries it was just about five feet down, re-racked my bike put on my racing flats and that is where mistake #2 came into play. I could not feel my hands, they were sooooooo numb! Since they were so numb i couldnt feel the release on my bike helmet. i struggled with it for a few seconds while i watched Nate smith take off. Pops was standing right there asking what was wrong, and i told him. I then tried to just slide the helmet strap up over my face thinking i could just take off the helmet without undoing it. That did not work, strap was too tight. I kept trying to get it off as the clock was just ticking and ticking. Finally I slid the strap up to my mouth where i could see the release on the helmet and was able to undo it, but by that time Nate was a minute down the road. T2 time 2:00.......

run- i was pissed but i took off determined to see what i could do. I knew Nate was about as fast if not faster than me on the run. About a quarter mile into the run I saw Sal and he yelled out that I was 1:20 down to the leader (Nate). Damn! This is only a 5k run! Shortly after I passed up #5, so I knew I was in second place. After the first lap Sal yelled out the split to Nate......still 1:20.....damn......I kept pushing. After the second lap Sal just yelled out "right on pace, good job buddy"....I knew then that Nate was still 1:20 or more ahead of me, so I just maintained my 5:45 pace and took it home.

Final time was 59:41(2nd place) i think (official results not posted online yet). I finished about 1:30 down to first place Nate Smith. I am really happy about my bike split which was the second fastest of the day. One other guy who was in swim heat #2 finished with the fastest bike split (about 20seconds faster than mine) and in third place overall 59:59. My run was fast, 2nd fastest to Nate Smith. But I am sure that if I did not have the helmet problem in t2, I would have had Nate in my sight and would have pushed a lot harder on the run. Next race I will be sure to loosen up my helmet strap before the race so it is not on so tight. I think its easier to undo a helmet when it is not putting an indent into your neck. I will also practice taking it off just to be sure i know where the release is in case i have the numb finger problem again!
I feel this is a good start to the season. I swam just fast enough (even with the mistake) to keep myself in contention. I have not had a lot of high quality work on the bike and my bike times tend to get better and better as the season progresses. So having a bike split like yesterday's, given the weather conditions and course difficulty (i suck at cornering!), I am looking forward to a big year!
Another surprise at the finish line was seeing my wife, kelsey, there. She surprised me by making the trip down on her own (she hates waking up early and waiting around before the races)! It was great having her there and my buddies Matt, Sal (their wives) and Pops there to cheer me on. The volunteers at OSU and the OSU tri club put on a great race and do a very efficient job at the timing given the fact that it is all manual timing with no chips.
Next race: Spring Classic Duathlon (5k run, 15mi bike, 5k run) this Saturday!

Big week, Hurting now!

Well I had a great week of training, that ended with a Bang! Last week was my biggest volume swim week to date. Logged in 14,570 yards total (swam Mon-Fri everyday).

I had a broken 1650 TimeTrial in the pool, and the net time came out to 23:19. In theory on a good day, accurate course and swimming in a straight line 23;19 is what I should be able to swim now in a 1500meter swim (compared to 26-27 minutes last year)! factor in drafting and maybe I can go even faster....we'll see. The good news is I am actually enjoying swimming now. It is no longer something that I am doing just because I have to. I look forward to it every day!

Bike- I logged in about 150miles total. Had 4 hour ride on the trainer Saturday morning which was a pain in the ass (literally)!

I logged 38miles on the run, which included a 21-mile z2 long run yesterday (I was supposed to stop short at 18miles but felt really good). I ran with my buddy Matt, we completed it in 2:24:20 (so about a 6:52 pace), on the Sellwood-Steel bridge loop. I was in z2 the whole time and felt great. problem is i decided to run up to a water fountain at the end of the 21 miles and come to an abrubt stop. i thought it would be really cool to finish off the long run stopping right in front of the water fountain and raising my hands to the sky in Joy! Well it wasnt so cool...... since the concrete is very slippery, coming to a complete stop off of a sub 7minute pace....my legs flew out from underneath me and i slammed hard onto the ground. I bruised up my greater trochanter bone pretty bad, skinned up my left hand, bruised my left ankle and I just noticeda nice sized lump on my right elbow. What a way to end a 21-mile run! I hope I can recover in time for Saturday's race.......we'll see/

In total I put in 17hours and 54 minutes training......my biggest week ever.

i'm also really excited for my two training partners: Sal who is blowing me out of the water on the swim, he has IM Arizona in less than two weeks. And Matt who beats me up on the run 9and watches me beat myself up) who is running the Boston Marathon on april 21st.

yo

Been getting back into the training schedule w/ good volume, high quality workouts and swimming with the high school cats and my buddy Sal, who is training for IM Arizona. Since returning from the wedding & honeymoon my weekly hours logged have been 12:32, 15:30, 12:09 & 16:01......I wanted to get 2more hours in on the bike this last sunday but it was just too damn cold!This is high volume for me however. Last year I think I got in one 14:45 week. So we are slowly getting my body used to handling just a little more volume at a time so I dont have to worry about getting injured in the process

I'm looking forward to kicking off the race season big time- looks like I may have 3 short races back to back to get my body used to racing again. Beaver Freezer Triathlon (500yd pool swim, 12mi bike, 3.1mi run) in Corvallis on april 5th, Spring Classic Duathlon (5km run, 15mi bike, 5k run) out on Marine Drive on april 12th, and (if I can sneak into this race without my coach knowing) the Bridge-2-bridge 10k run down town portland, april 20th.
then i'll have two weeks until Napa Half Iron, then it will just be 5 weeks until World Championships in June!

I miss my best friend Kyle (walk-a-mile Kyle (with a smile)), and I'm thinking of him always. when i was struggling with my last 4minute hill repeat today (there were 6 of them), I thought of him and how fortunate I am to still be able to feel pain. I said "this ones for you walk' and i dug deep and ran 100yards further up that hill than I had in the previous 5 repeats. I'll be thinking about you during those last miles of my races this year bro! there are a lot of things i deeply regret about not being there for him enough the last year of his life. I know the best way I can make it up to him is to look out for his family and his girl. They really are a great family! i love looking at those miniature donkeys at his dad's house!

This video just makes me wanna get out on the treadmill and go hard!
(gotta love these canadian pros)

Couple more pics at the Race

Me in second place around mile 10.
























Pops and I, pre-race.

Vancouver Lake Half Marathon

What a great race today! I ran a 1:16:22 half marathon, which is a new PR (1:17:06 previous, and 1:18:48 last year on this course). And I finished 3rd overall in a deep field, packed with guys that I have been chasing and idolizing since I ran my first road race back in March of 2005. It was also great to beat my buddy-rival Eric Dolezal (finally) who usually pushes me to better times than I expected.

Big thanks to my Coach, Mark Kendall for making it down to the race to cheer me on and take nice sexy pics like the one to the left!! (that was me leading the field of 350 runners at around mile 6) Also, thanks to Don and Karen (my Speedshot Teammates) for making the trip down there to support me. And of course Pops, one of my biggest fans that is at almost all of my races! (yes Sharon, you have some competition!)! Also thanks to Clark County Running for putting on another great event.

The race: The weather cooperated with us today in the sense that it did not rain or snow as expected. However it was freeeezing and foggy, which I think slowed down everybodys times a little. 45-50 degree weather is ideal for a long distance runner, but too much below or above will start to take away from your performance a little.
I wanted to make sure I did not start out waaaay to fast as I usually do. So I made sure to run the first two miles 5-10 seconds slower than my goal race pace of 5:45/mile. I felt nice and comoftable running in the lead pack of 10 strong runners the first two miles. After mile 2 I knew it was time to pick up the pace so I took off, running 5:38 for mile 3. Only one guy wanted to come with me and that was Daniel Bartosz. I never met him but I knew he ran a fast 1:17:30 half marathon a few weeks ago. He ran on my shoulder up until around mile 5 where he started to drop back. I did not want to look back to see what kind of lead i had on everyone but I would try to quiet my breathing every so often to try and listen for footsteps behind me....I heard none. I could not believe that I was in the lead in THIS RACE at THIS POINT. I hit the turn around at mile 8 and saw that I had a comfortable 20-30 second lead on 2nd and 3rd place. I was still hitting my mile splits right on at between 5:40 and 5:47, but at mile 10 the 25 year old Canadian, Derek Vinge, moved passed me. I hung with him for a few minutes and he said a couple funny things (about his hands and private parts freezing) which really made me laugh, before he took off on me. I knew this guy had a PR time that was easily 6 minutes faster than mine, so I decided to continue to run my race instead of chase him down.
At mile 11 (only 2miles to go!), it seemed I would finish in 2nd place. I tried to pick up the pace a little bit just to secure my spot, but my legs would not respond. They were stuck on a 5:49 pace. With a mile to go I could hear Jared Wilson chasing me down, I tried to pick up the pace a little and I did but not enough to fend him off. He came flying by me at a near 5:00 pace and there was no way my legs were going to catch him.
I still finished strong and took 3rd place out of 350 runners. Official time was 1:16:22, however many people who were running with Garmins (gps watches) on, had the distance showing at 13.2miles vs. 13.1miles. So my time could have been a 1:15:45 on this day.
The best part about today, besides all the support from Pops, Coach, Don, Karen, and all my fellow running buddies that were running the course today, was being able to lead such a competitive field all by myself for 5-7miles. And not only lead, but lead out all alone, running in silence, knowing there was a field of over 350 runners somewhere behind me pounding pavement, panting the the icy cold air, trying to catch ME!!! I was kind of annoyed that I got passed like that in the last mile to finish 3rd, but I'll get Jared Wilson back one of these days :-)

My weakness....will be my strength

This is the team that I am swimming with on Mon, Wed, and Fri (530am-630am). These guys are fast, and is a very humbling experience for me. Getting lapped by someone doing backstroke while you are doing race pace efforts can really put things into perspective. I have no doubt that the coaches and swimmers will help make me faster for the upcoming season. Never felt so sore after a swim session!!

Feel free to check out their website http://eteamz.active.com/crstwaveriders/

Training- New partner, new move...

Today I got to run with a guy that I met on the track by my house last week. This track is always empty. Always! Except for an occasional pair of walkers who just love to use the inside lane when I am in the middle of 1200m repeats at 5:40/mi pace.....Anyways we both thought it was cool to run into someone on that track that is running sub 6min miles. We met up today for the first time, and while I ran 5x 1000m (decending pace from 5:40/mi to 5:20/mi), he ran 5x1mi @ 5:40 pace with 200 recovery between. This guy is lighting fast and makes running 5:40miles looking like a walk in the park. Matt is training for the Boston Marathon, shooting for a 2:32:00....smokin! I'm totally stoked to have a new running buddy from the neighborhood (my first and only running buddy from the neighborhood)!! I look forward to both of us pushing each other in the upcoming season.

In the pool I started attempting "flip turns". After my first swim session with the High Schoolers last friday, I have been focused on learning. Still struggling though. I either do a really good flip turn and get chlorine water seeping up my nose and into my brain or I do some weird sideways, half-ass sommersault twist looking thing and get No water up my nose! Right now I'm favoring the weird sommersault twist.....I value my breathing!!

On another note, this week will be a lite taper week as I prepare for my half marathon on Sunday. This taper will start driving me crazy, not just because I will have all this extra energy but also because I will really miss training for the next 3 weeks after, since I will be heading out to New Orleans and then Mexico for two weeks for my wedding and honeymoon.

2008 Schedule

1/27/08- Vancouver Lake Half Marathon- 500 participants, PR'd with a 1:18:40 last year and took 10th place. Looking for a 1:15:00 and a top 5 finish........

4/5/08- Beaver Freezer Triathlon (Corvallis, OR)- last time I was on the OSU campus I was 18yrs old and 50 lbs heavier. Should be a fun Sprint Triathlon

4/20/08- Bridge to Bridge 10k (Portland, OR)- A classic 10k favorite of mine!

5/3/08- Napa Valley Half Iron- This is a training race. Half Iron is my distance but will be focusing on the Olympic speed for my next race

6/8/08- Age Group World Championships (Vancouver, BC)- Title says it all.

6/28/08- Pacific Crest Half Iron (Bend, OR)- Always wanted to do this race. Pretty competitive and in a gorgeous setting.

July 2008- Either just training or a low key race

8/17/08- Hulaman Half Iron (Hillsboro, OR)- Came from 6minutes behind on the run to win overall in the inaugural event last year. Time to defend my title!

8/31/08- Portland Triathlon- Took 6th place last year

9/20/08- USAT Age Group Nationals (Hagg Lake, OR)- Redemption time. DNF'd on the start of the run last year.....

10/18/08- USAT Halfmax Nationals (Las Vegas, NV)- What a great way to end the racing season. Cant wait!

Now we are talkin!

I'm officially a Triathlete now! I have a blog! More to come, need to figure out how to work this stupid thing now!