2010 year in review

My first year of doing triathlons was amazing.  I logged 76,377 (34 hours) yards swimming, 1733 miles biking (111 hours) and 773 miles running (128 hours).  I'm pretty happy with that.

Here is a recap of my races in 2010.  This is for me, so it may be long.  If you don't want to see pics of a pasty white, middle aged guy, run away.....

Race #1:  St. Louis 1/2 Mary 4/11 - 1:58:21

I talked my friend Craig in to running his first half.  I think he had fun.  It was my second half and I beat my last time by 10 minutes!

Overall rank - 2344/6830

Male rank - 1514/3894
Age group rank - 197/490




Race #2: Effingham IL Sprint 5/16 - 1:21:54 (first tri ever!).

low 50's and raining but I couldn't stop smiling

swim - 10:53 for 1/4 mile (2:29 pace).  I freaked out a little, hyper ventilated then stopped, looked around, reminded myself I was actually doing my first tri, smiled then kept going.




T1 chatting with Cheryl

 














T1 - 2:00

Coming in to T2

bike - 41:10 for 13 miles (18.95 mph) - not bad for my first bike race ever plus my fingers and toes were numb.


T2 - 1:00

My feet were frozen and they hurt!

 run - 26:53 - 3.1 miles (8:38 pace) - I'm pretty happy with that.










I wasn't last, but it sure looks like it!



Overall rank 46/78 - Missed my goal of top half

Age group rank 7/10 - ditto

What a rush!

Race #3: Carlyle IL Sprint 5/23 - 1:24:25

I was sick from my last race.  I often get colds the week after a race but this was worse.  I had cold sweats the night before.  I figured if I was achy in the morning I would DNS, but I felt ok, just a little worn out.  This race weather was the opposite of last week.  The temp was upper 80's and high humidity.  After the race last week I was thinking of doing an Oly soon.  Not during/after this race.  The run was across a dam was like a sauna.

Ryan and I getting ready to race.  Yep, he is that much taller than me.  I'm 5' 7"  and he is 6" 8" and I was standing on the uphill side :-).   Ryan and I met through a beginner triathlete mentor group.  Cheryl calls him "the guy I met on the Internet" :-).  We did two races together in 2010 and are both signed up for New Orleans 70.3 in April

swim starts can be chaotic

 swim - 12:35 for 547 yards (2:18 pace)

T1 - 2:26

bike - 29:26 for 12.4 miles (18.87 mph)

T2 - 0:56

run - 29:05 for 3.1 miles (9:23 min/mile pace)

Nice big hill to run up after the swim.  I put my goggles and cap in my wet suit sleeve and they fell out as I was running up the hill (I lost them) 
 The run was brutal with the heat. It was out and back across a dam and the rocks on both sides radiated heat on you. The run was flat except for a big hill at the turn around that you could see until you got there. It was a big demotivator!

Overall rank: 21/72 - not bad
Age group rank: 5/12 - met my goal





Race #4: Innsbrooke MO Octomax 6/26 - 1:44:24

I get in to a pre-race funk before just about every race.  I love training but I think the stress of remembering everything, full contact swimming, riding fast in traffic on the road, knowing the run will hurt, etc. all add up to stress for me.  This race was probably the worst for that.   I didn't know one person at this race and had to get up at 4 am or so to drive there.  It was also very hot and humid.  I was dripping sweat just setting up my transition area and I seriously questioned why I race.  I know the answer.  If I didn't sign up to race, I wouldn't train regularly.

This was my first lake swim without a wet suit.  It was a little intimidating and the water was uncomfortably warm.  I did a pre-race swim to help ease my mind.  Overall the swim was fine.  I did get elbowed and took in some water, which was scary.  I stopped and treaded water for a bit to collect myself.

swim - 12:17 for 500 yards (2:28/100 pace)
T1 - 3:20 (we had to run up a long hill)

This bike course had lots of short steep hills.  I hit 41 mph on one of them!  It was really fun.

bike - 58:38 for 18 miles (18.42 mph)
T2 - 1:17

The run was brutally hot.  I remember questioning why anyone would do this as I ran. The woman behind me was working hard to chick me right at the finish.  When I was approaching the finish line all I heard was someone breathing real hard trying to pass me.

run - 28:52 for 3 miles (9:37 pace)

Overall rank - 72/224
Age group rank - 13/25

The sense of accomplishment and feeling alive are incredible after racing.  While racing, I think this is stupid and why would anyone pay money to hurt themselves like this.  A couple days after the race, I signed up for two more......



Race # 5 - New Town tri, St. Charles MO 7/11 - 2:00:30

 I got a really nice surprise for this race. I joked with my teenage daughter the night before the race that she should come watch.  She said yes!  She normally sleeps until noon (or later) and she got up at 5 to go to the race.  We bought coffee and she got a doughnut before the race.  When we got there, she was walking around with the doughnut looking at all the skinny people and she said "I can't eat a doughnut here.  Look at all the fit people!".  She is very thin and could have easily gotten away with it but she threw the doughnut away :-).

She was chatting away and kept asking me what was wrong.  I was too quiet.  I had to explain I was nervous with pre-race jitters. 

It was another hot day.  Such is life in the St. Louis area.

 This was my first time trial start and longest OWS to date.  I did a terrible, absolutely terrible job sighting.

Check out the guy with messed up legs waiting to swim.  I have no idea how he did, but it is very inspirational seeing athletes that don't let disabilities stop them from doing things they love.

swim 22:13  for 1093 yards (2:02/100 pace).  I think there was a current helping us on the long stretch.  I didn't swim 2:02 worthy.

 T1 - 2:00

I was glad to be out of the water and a little disoriented.

 bike 59:28 for 20 miles (20.18 mph)

That is hammering it for me!  I'm happy with 20 mph for my first season.

T2 - 0:59
I seem to have my transitions down, about 2 minutes for T1 and 1 minute for T2.  I'm happy with those times.

This run was brutally hot.  I fought the urge to walk many times.

35:50 for 4 miles (8:58 pace) - not bad considering the heat and I'm just not a fast runner.

I always have the urge to raise my arms when I cross the finish line.  What's up with that?

Overall rank - 252/547
Age group rank - 26/48




Race # 6 - Evergreen Lake Sprint (40k bike leg) Bloomington, IL 7/17 - 2:02:54

 It looks like I never uploaded the pics my friend Annie took and I lost the disc.

<-- arms up again :-)




swim - 13:49 for 550 yards (2:32/100)
T1 - 1:38
bike - 1:19:07 for 26.1 miles (19.78 mph)
T2 - 1:24
run - 26:55 for 3.1 miles (8:39 pace)

Overall - 52/176
Age group - 4/10

I qualified for Age Group Nationals with a top five age group finish!  Truth be told, the faster athletes in my age group raced the Olympic :-).


Race # 7 - St. Charles MO 1/2 Mary 10/3 - 1:55:11 (8:38 pace)

This was my best 1/2 marathon time yet.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the time.  It seems like I should be able to run faster given the effort I put out.  Maybe if I didn't have so much stuff in my pockets I could have run faster :-).

 

<-- Yes I was hurting!

 

 

<--  Hands in the air :-)










Overall rank - 797/5983
Age group rank - 141/352





I also volunteered at Ironman 70.3 - Branson in Septemeber.  It was a really cool experience.  I planned to do one Olympic distance race in 2010, but a shoulder overuse injury due to swimming sidelined me from swimming for a while.  Overall I consider 2010 a very solid year and I'm in the best shape of my life.  Hopefully I can keep it up  in 2011.