- Ran a 13.1 mile race at this year's Duke City Marathon on Sunday, 21-Oct-2012 here in Albuquerque.
- Participated in the Super Slam at the Slam the Dam swim event in Boulder City, NV on Saturday, 6-Oct-2012.
- Had my last triathlon of the season at the Elephant Man Triathlon in Truth or Consequences, NM on Sunday, 30-Sept-2012.
- Did my first Half Ironman (70.3) in Gilford, NH at the Ironman 70.3 Timberman on Sunday, 19-Aug-2012.
Duke City Marathon
After the Ironman 70.3 Timberman in August I realized how poorly prepared I was for that race. The more I thought about it, the more surprised I was that I even finished! I needed to log more miles, more miles, and more miles, and even though I didn't have a DeLorean and a flux capacitor to go back to earlier this year and stick to a thorough training plan for the race, I am able to improve for future races. One way to make that improvement is to gain experience in races of Half Ironman (HIM) lengths, for instance, a Half Marathon. So I signed up for the 13.1 mile race at the Duke City Marathon. Had about 7 weeks to train (from the time I decided to do it) and I took a standard 10-week training program and compressed a few of the weeks. Really enjoyed spending quality time in my running shoes and putting in miles each week. As a result, I felt pretty good on race morning and was looking forward to the run.
My final time was 1:42:02 which was about 3-minutes faster than I was planning! Didn't log a single mile at 8:00/mi or slower, which is pretty good for me. Not a bad line in the sand for me to train for (and beat) next year. The Half Marathon is a fun distance and I'm already planning to throw a few of these into my schedule for next year.
Slam the Dam
After my friend Keith and I did some swims in the San Francisco Bay this summer, we thought it would be fun to do a swimming event. Somehow we attached on to this even they hold in Lake Mead outside Las Vegas called Slam the Dam. Like we need a good excuse to go to Vegas!
The event had a variety of race options: 1.2 mi, 2.4 mi, 8K, Super Slam (2.4 mi + 1.2 mi) and Grand Slam (8K + 1.2 mi). We threw around the idea of doing the 8K but decided against it. I signed up for the Super Slam. Sounded like fun.
Was a great weekend for the event. The water in Lake Mead was a little warm, but the ambient weather was fairly comfortable and we had some great weather. I did the 2.4 mi in 1:28:28 and the 1.2 mi in 44:10. Nothing to write home about, but it wasn't about the time. It was a fun event and good to log in some longer open water swims. Relaxing and people-watching on the Strip afterwards sure is a good gig, too.
Elephant Man Triathlon
My last shot at swimming, biking and running for the season was back at the Elephant Butte in Truth or Consequences, NM. I did the Dam It Man triathlon in a similar location earlier this summer. That was a sprint (pretty intense sprint) distance race and this one was a full Olympic distance triathlon.
For the first time I tried aero wheels on my bike. Rented a pair of Zipp 303's from the bike shop to see how they were. Was pretty excited about them. Probably going to rent a couple more times next year to see what style/brand/depth I like, but they are definitely a future purchase.
The swim was a standard mile-ish swim in the Butte. Nothing fancy at all with my swim. Slow as usual, but effortless. Got out of the water in about 36 minutes. One of the slower swims in my age group. Definitely my number one priority for the off season. More on that at another time.
The bike course was pretty challenging. After some nice rolling hills there was a decent climb to the half-way mark before we started making our way back to the transition area. The second half of the race had more flat sections and was able to get into a good pace. My final bike time was about 1:25:00. Had a blast on the bike.
Running out of T2 we headed towards the dam, which was pretty cool to run over. Coming out of T2 I had some horrible, horrible cramps/bloating/something in my stomach which was not cool. A bit of a reoccurring issue this season (something to look into) and it was ultra bad for this race. The first half of the run was uncomfortable and, consequently, pretty slow. After the turn around I started to feel a bit better and was able to pick up the pace. Miles 4, 5 and 6 my splits were in the 7:45 range. My run time was 53:44 for the 10K for a total time of just a touch over 3-hours (3:01:04).
Ironman 70.3 Timberman
Sean and I met up in New England for our first race at the HIM distance. Hard to believe I was trying this distance so soon. I'm a triathlon noobie. This year, 2012, was my first real season of racing. But, hey, you only live once, and there's no reason why you can't push the body to see how it does. Although a little nervous leading up to race day, I was excited.
The swim was a 1.2 mile swim and I logged a slow 44:03 swim. Water was comfortable and I was one of the few participants who decided to go sans wetsuit. Regardless, I'm not going to beat a dead horse on this, but my weakness at the swims is definitely something I will be working this off season. But, hey, I'm a noob!
Jumped on the bike for a 56 mile ride through gorgeous New Hampshire. The start of the bike had some good meaty hills before it leveled off. Was on the saddle for 3:04:29.
The run portion of a HIM is a 13.1 half marathon. This was my first time tackling this distance. Was pretty uncomfortable coming off the bike out of T2 and got into a pretty poor run-walk rotation. The course had a lot of aid stations with all kinds of stuff. In addition to the standard water, sports drink, soft drink that was at ever station, some stations had cookies, some had pancakes and bacon, some had chips, etc. A little bit of everything. I finally knocked out the 13.1 miles in 2:20:48. My final time for the HIM was 6:27:58. Success was finishing, so I felt good. I left New England on a plane back to the desert hungry for more. You'll see a couple 70.3-distance races pop up into my schedule for 2013.
So, you guys are semi-caught up to the crazy world of yours truly. I know I missed a lot of cool, exciting details and I still owe you guys an update from earlier events. My bad. Stay tuned....
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