The Friday Review!!! March 4th, 2011

Good Morning Everyone!  Happy Friday!

I hope everyone had a good week this week!  I think the weather was nice for most of us, and with spring rearing its two heads (lovely weather and allergy season for all of you that suffer), I think the 2011 triathlon season is in order :)  I was up late last night on the phone, so I skipped my swim workout this morning (again), but never fear!  I put everything in the car so when I head home, I can stop by LA Fitness and get some laps in before the weekend.  Now onto some good (and unfortunately bad) stuff that has/is going on this week.

Brazil Critical Mass Incident  (news from Everyman Triathlon)

We will start with the bad news first.  Last weekend, there was a critical mass ride going on in Brazil this past weekend.  Apparently there was a motorist in a WV that had been following the group for a number of minutes and wanted to pass through the cycling group that was going in the same direction as him.  The driver got more and more irate as he could not pass the hundreds of riders filling up the street.  Finally he decided to run a red light and DRIVE THROUGH THE ENTIRE CRITICAL MASS GROUP!

25 people were injured, 30 bikes were totalled.  More than 11 of those people went to the hospital, and two were seriously injured.  The driver of the car sped off and fled the scene.  He did not return home, and furthermore abandoned his car.  I don't know if he turned himself in, or if someone found him, but the police apprehended him the middle of the week.  Here are the links of what transpired via video.

Brazil Critical Mass Incident
(you will have to sign in as a user for this video it has been flagged with footage that may be considered inappropriate for some viewers)


Ironman New Zealand/Earthquake/Scammers/!

Kind of like Jimmy Buffett's famous line, "It's five o'clock somewhere," It is always summer somewhere in the world.  And it seems to be coming towards the end of the tri season in the southern hemisphere (kind of our September in the Northern Hemisphere).  Ironman New Zealand is race number 2 of 4  down under (not counting Brazil because it is much closer to the Equator) and there are some big names showing up for the event.  Cameron Brown will be attempting to WIN THIS EVENT FOR THE 10th TIME.  I mean, he has already won the damn thing 9 times, I don't know if I would show up if I was trying to compete ;) "What Cameron is competing again this year, well damn it, I guess I am not winning..." Under the new points system that the WTC instituted for 2011 and going forward, some pros are lined up at the event trying to get a head start on the 2011 season.  While Macca and Rinny need to just show up and participate in an Iron-distance event this year, the rest of the pro field has their work cut our for them.  I attempted to get a pro-athlete list before the race (which begins at 12:00pm EST TODAY!!!)  I will have some sort of results posted for you guys over the weekend.

Most of you by now have heard about the horrific earthquake that occurred on February 22nd in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Some of these survivors of the event are participating in this weekend's Ironman in about an hour and a half.  After going through months of training and prepping for this race, their lives have been upturned with something that is beyond their control to handle.  However, they are coping, picking up the pieces, moving forward, and finding a way to compete in the event this weekend.  The WTC will be issuing special race numbers to them for the event, and hopefully there will be some extra cheering from the crowds when they complete the race this year.

GO KEEGAN!!!
Race Coverage for Ironman New Zealand

Where to donate to assist the people of Christchurch

Tri Season Beginning in GA!  (news via Georgia Triathlete)

SEE ME 2011 has come and gone and now our first triathlon in GA of the season (outdoors) in Savannah.  I am so happy about this.  For those of you who read and don't compete, you can maybe liken this to college football fans.  They pretty much mourn not being able to do anything from mid January through August, and then are so excited when fall comes.  Same goes here.    I think the race is kinda pricey myself, but I am sure there will be a field there nonetheless. 

New Bike!

So I have kinda been holding out on you guys and gals. Well, Wes knew, but I was trying to keep it quiet till the first race of the season.  Then my training buddy had to go out and get a Trek 7.0 Speed Concept.  So I could not keep it quiet any longer.  Yes I did honestly get my parts for my bike (pictures are in my older posts) and those are going on the Roadie on Sunday.  However, this year will be my 7th season in the sport, so I decided to treat myself.  Here she is!

Ain't she a beaut?

I still need to name her... any ideas???

Training and Misc (e.g. What in the heck I have been up to!) 

I am about 25% of the way done with my static pages for my blog.  I just read the fine print on how I am gonna get this Charity fundraiser thing to work.  I think it will be a bit tricky, however I think I can pull it off.  I am proud of myself, I have worked out every day this week without fail, and when I hit up my swim this afternoon, 5 days in a row!  Plus I have riding plans with some of my friends over the weekend, including during the rain.  Gotta do it!  Only other thing that is planned is the Sham Rock Fest in Atlanta for St. Patrick's Day on Saturday.  Oh and Studying.  Advanced accounting is such a bear right now.

Bib # 8668



Probably butchering this phrase, but it looks like a numerical palindrome :)  15 days and change.  I am ready.  To finish that is.  I just want to be able to cover the distance running.  I don't care what my time is, although I would love to finish sub two hours.  We shall see.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

What's your Opinion? The meaning of Ironman vs. the Ironman brand

Good Morning!

So I have missed some workouts this week, and I am sure I will miss a few more between now and next Thursday.  Reason?  I have two finals next week, Tuesday and Thursday, and I had some quizzes and a paper due last night as well.  Starting next Friday (for me) is winter break, and that lasts until January 4th.  I should be able to really ramp it up during those three and a half weeks.  Always trying to be the glass is half full type of guy :)  Not much else to talk about in my life (tri life as well), so let's move onto the topic I really wanted to talk about!

On Wednesday this week, Bloomberg's "Taking Stock" show hosted the CEO of the World Triathlon Corporation, Ben Fertic.  Ben was on to not only talk about the sport of triathlon and its strong long term growth, but the World Triathlon Corporation's brands.  These include Ironman, Ironman 70.3, and the 5150 triathlon series.  In short summary, this interview was really great and informative, and Ben was also to give us a backdrop about how triathlon formed (for those of us who don't know) and also how the Ironman really got ramped up from 15 crazy guys racing to the hallowed world championship event that it is today.

The part of the interview that really hit me was the branding of these events.  We all talk about Ironman, whether you have done one, you are going to do one, or just throw it around in casual conversation with your tri (or non tri) buddies.  I guess what is really obvious, Ironman as a brand, is also really elusive.  Although Ironman is not technically a monopoly in the Ironman market (Beach 2 Battleship, Rev3 Long Course, Silverman, etc), the long (or ultra long) triathlon distance is akin to monopolistic competition.  I guess the best analogy is Microsoft.  Sure there are other OS software systems (Apple's Mac OS, Unix, Linux, etc), but Microsoft dominates the market by a very large margin, hence monopolistic competition. 

Another way to look at this issue.  What do you call a short sleeved 2 or 3 button cotton shirt with a collar? (No I am not gonna hit enter 500 times and make you forward this to 10 friends to find out the answer).  Polo shirt.  While everyone makes this type of shirt, the phrase "Polo Shirt" has successfully been in our vernacular for years.  Another one.... Tissue that you blow your nose with?  Kleenex!  You don't ask for a tissue, OK I guess a few people do, but most people I know ask for a Kleenex.

So bringing this back to triathlon.  I have been thinking of getting a new tattoo.  My first tattoo is my fraternity letters and my badge number from the chapter I was initiated at.    This is located on my right shoulder blade, and was crudely done on purpose because I wanted to make it look natural and like it was hand done, not with some fancy font template.  My fraternity is really important to me, and I am still really involved over ten and a half years after I was initiated. 

On a side note, for those of you who say you "were" in a Greek organization, you signed up and took an oath to be a member for like, so quit saying when you "were" in a fraternity/sorority.  And go back and say hey to the new guys/girls that are there now, or whichever university is closest to you, they will appreciate it.

Back on Track.... Triathlon has been really important in my life as well.  I have finished my 6th full season (since 2005) and I don't plan on stopping.  I also completed my first Ironman in 2009.  At that point I felt that was important point in my life (re: triathlon) and wanted to mark it with something memorable.  I thought I would get a "m-dot" tattoo on my left shoulder blade to mark the completion with my Ironman.  Just like my first tattoo, I have sat on the issue for a really long time to make sure it was I really wanted.  Yes I know there is technology to remove tattoos now, but for all intensive purposes it is permanent. 

After listening to this interview, I now don't think I want to get one.  It would be similar to getting a Delta tattoo because I love to fly delta, or a Zaxby's tattoo because I really love their chicken finger plate.  Instead I think I would get a tattoo similar to one of those car stickers that just says "140.6" or 70.3" (half iron distance).  I want to mark and commemorate the event that was completing a triathlon of that distance, however I don't want that necessarily to be related to a brand.

The problem is that Ironman has become synonymous with long distance triathlon.  If one is trying to describe a ultra long or long distance course to a newbie triathlete or someone who does not know what triathlon is then you will almost always reference "iron distance" or "half iron distance" race.  Or if you are having trouble explaining the race, you might throw up your hands and say it is an "Ironman" or "Half Ironman."

On the other hand, the Ironman brand is a great brand.  Expensive as it may be, I have never had a complaint regarding a race when I have completed an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 3event.  Ok I did just think of one... And WTC I hope you are taking notes :)  There was nowhere in the race info packet about having reflective material on your running gear, and then on Friday evening (race was on Sunday) they say this in the meeting.  Thank goodness there was a Sports Authority nearby.  I grabbed the next to the last pack of reflective stickers and the cashier made a point of saying that happened to be a popular item that day. I cannot say the same thing for other races that I have completed.  The Peachtree City Tri Club puts on a world class show just south of Atlanta, but MANY of the other race companies leave MUCH to be desired. 

That being said, I think that the WTC needs to be careful.  Like Microsoft, straying away from what the public really wants, at the price they want it at, can create great unrest and fierce competition.  Hence events such as Beach2Battleship, Rev3 Long Course, Silverman, Great Floridian, etc...  I think though there is going to have to be someone with a vision like the WTC to create a competitive brand that can compete with the WTC.  Also I think this will drive better quality races out of the WTC and the competing firms, as well as keep the prices down. 

Other than inflation increases, I don't think that WTC can raise its prices too much higher or it will have a great amount of falloff from the general age group athletes.  Many of these Iron-Distance events can be at least $100-200 cheaper than the Ironman Branded races.  I have heard that Silverman is a top notch event, it is close to my parents in Nevada, and it is $200 cheaper if I pay early.  With my service fee through Active.com, I paid $603.75 for Ironman Florida 2011, $575 of which was the actual entry fee.  When I think about what I receive over the 4 day weekend when I am there, I can directly attribute about $200 of that to what I can see and experience, and the other $375 I don't really see or I am not aware of (obviously some of this portion is for staff salaries, website maintenance, building rent for HQ, renting police for the bike course, etc...). 

However, with all of the volunteers that participate, I wonder how much they could drive their costs down if they better managed the volunteer process.  I volunteered at Ironman Florida '10, and while I had a great time and WILL volunteer again, I was less than impressed with the management of the Volunteer process.  Volunteers not knowing what to do, where to go, too many volunteers in some areas and not enough in other areas.  I think if they spent a small amount of human investment in better training and organization of the volunteers, then they would yield much better results on pre race/race/post race events.  That and they could afford to allocate resources to more important areas thus saving both human and investment capital.  They could then pass this as savings back to the age groupers that sign up in long lines to compete in their events.  If you look at the competitors to Ironman, there is a $200 or more price discrepancy.  Maybe then again, Ironman is the Louis Vuitton of ultra long triathlons, and events such as Silverman are the Target of ultra long triathlons (not a knock on Silverman, I love Target and I love Silverman).

This is also not a knock on the WTC or the Ironman brand, just my thoughts on the topic.  I will say though, as a free market economist, if someone comes up with as good as or better brand than the WTC for cheaper, then I will be the first in line.  However, I am still waiting... and so is the tattoo.


Have a great weekend!  Train hard, train smart,


Murtha...

10,000 unique viewers, and other news!

Hello Everyone!

     I hope that everyone is having a great Turkey week!  Mine started on Friday evening when I began preparing for our annual "Friendsgiving", which my roommates and I were hosting this year.  Between the setup, breakdown and cleanup (on Sunday) and the actual event on Saturday night, there was not much training to be had.  Ergo, no training at all.  Oh and there was the alcohol.  Holy crap can my crew ( of 55 pepole) drink some alcohol.  That goes for me as well.  Although I did not have an official hangover on Sunday, I did feel a bit off, and we still have a keg to finish (people brought way too much alcohol anyways), so I have been downing about 4 pints a night.  Not that healthy, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Thankfully my roommates are helping me, so we are taking out about a 12 pack a night on the keg.  When I get home tonight I will be getting back on the horse and running, in the rain.  Yup.  Memories of CDA will come back to haunt me... just kidding, I can use the motivation of how I bested the course in the crappy wind, rain, and cold to get me through a measly 40 minutes around the park.

     So I am really excited that about two weeks ago, I hit 10,000 unique views to my blog!  Yeah, it took me 4 and a half years to get there, but it has been a journey.  I have met many new friends in the blogosphere as well as in person.  Some have come and gone, moving on to other things in their lives.  But I have had great experiences with all of them, and all of you who are still here with me.  I need to do another semi-annual review of all the blogs I follow, as a few people have fallen off the radar, and I have a few new people to add! 

     I will also be adding my posts on a regular basis to Facebook as well, so for you who are linked to me via facebook, you will be able to see my new posts in you live feed on your home page.  I am going to get this RSS thing figured out as well, so I am not actually having to go to 50 different sites everyday to read people's blogs, I will have those 50 different sites push the content to me instead :)  I am also officially commenting on BeginnerTriathlete.com now so you may see me in the threads from time to time.

I have gotten the calendar together for 2011, I just have not decided on which races (except IMFL) that I will be competing in.  I also have my training calendar template figured out for the next 12 months, and I have through new year's already planned out.  Should be exciting.  I hope all of you have a delightful Thanksgiving holiday, whatever your plans. 

Train hard, train smart, race excellent,

Murtha...

Rev3 Knoxville 2010 Race Report - May 9, 2010

It was a good weekend.  A really good weekend :)  Other than the fact I broke a cardinal sin of competing in triathlons, which I will get to later.

I got off work a bit early on Friday and headed home to chill out and pack for the evening.  Patsy was going out for the night with her girlfriends, and I knew this would mean I was going to be driving on Sat morning, which was expected.  This was my weekend, let her go have fun on Friday night and she can sleep in the car.  Woke up about 15 min before my alarm went off, and took a long shower, finished packing, woke Patsy up and ran a couple of errands while she was getting ready.  We left fairly early in the morning because I wanted to make the group practice swim.  Mike and Melissa were along in tow, they were taking their own car because they had to be back in Atlanta as soon as the race was over for Mike.  We arrived into Knoxville just before 11:00am.  I chatted with Wes on the way up there, he was just behind me a few miles in his car, and Sarah's family lives in Knoxville, so she was already hanging out at the Expo (she went up Friday night).  After failing to be able to check in early (Mike and Melissa had the same problem), we decided to head down to the expo to check things out, and then head down to the dock to go for a practice swim.

Wes and I are famous!!!  Slowtwitch.com posted some pre race event photos for Rev3 Knoxville on their site, and we both made it on there!  It is hard to see us at the pic on the left, as we are already in the water and if you look between every one's legs you can see us.  After the OWS, Sarah left to go visit her grandfather at the hospital, and then Wes, Patsy, Mike, Melissa and I all met up at Calhoun's on the River for some lunch.  After lunch, we all went back to our hotels to check in (Wes went to the Expo since he was staying with a friend) and then headed to the Expo to retrieve our packets and check our bikes in for the afternoon.  I forgot my USAT card in the hotel room, not once, but twice! :)  Luckily I have a patient girlfriend.  I kind of feel like the Expo area was not as cool as it could have been, because the vendors were all stacked on top of one another, considering that there were areas of the "lawn" that were void of any tents, etc...  Other than that, the big screen showing you finish the race with your stats, and the finish chute were really cool! 

After hanging out at the hotel for an hour or so, Mike and I met back up to drive the bike course and check it out.  I will say that I think future years at this event will see better sections of the bike course than we did, since there was some construction in the first few miles of the bike (and at the end, since it was an out and back course).  One sizable hill, and you had to go up it on both sides.  Actually with the number of turns I was glad that I had a regular road bike with clip ons rather than a tri bike.  I felt like I had much better handling on the bike course.  After the drive on the bike course, we headed back to our respective hotels, and then got ready for Dinner.  We ate at Oodles Uncorked in the Market square, downtown Knoxville.  I have not had a pasta dinner before a tri in so long.  The food was great!  I got a spinach/walnut/fruit salad, and then chicken afredo for the main course.  After this we all headed back to the hotel and I got all my race day stuff together, packed my transition bag, repacked my wetsuit, and read some more of Superfreakeconomics before I headed to bed around 11pm. 

I woke up around 3:30am and fell right back asleep.  The alarm went off at 5:15am and I hopped out of bed to immediately eat my blueberry muffin and other nutrition, went to the bathroom (only once this race, weird), and took a quick shower.  I don't know why I take a shower before races, I just hate the way I feel after I wake up in the morning without a shower.  Race morning temps were around 50, and I did not bring any long sleeve anything to keep me warm before the race.  Let's just say it was an incentive to get the wetsuit on earlier than normal before the start of the race.

It was pretty cold!  I was looking forward to getting in the water, which was somewhere between 66-68 degrees.  The race directors were not allowing anyone to swim prior to the race (since swimming in the river early would have affected people actually participating in the race).  The pros went off around 7:45am.  Wes and Sarah went off around 8:00am, and then Mike and I went off around 8:10-8:15am.  Jump into the water, "warm" the suit up ;) and then the gun went off.

Swim

I felt really good during the swim.  There was kind of some bumping after the first few hundred yards of the swim, which was weird, because there weren't even 100 of us in my AG that went off.  There were lots of things to sight, so I don't think I was too off course for the majority of the race!  We were in the sunlight for the first quarter mile or so, and then on the turnaround it was much easier.  They said that the river flow would help, I don't think it did, although the wetsuit certainly helped :)  That was the fastest Olympic Swim time I have ever posted.  My last oly distance swim was around 35 min, and it was without a wetsuit.  I think the combination of training and the wetsuit really helped.

Swim Time :  25:10.16, Div 21/36, Overall 163/
T1:                  3:52.00

For some reason I was out of it going through T1.  I felt great during the swim, but I lightly jogged through T1 and didn't even go between the bike racks, I ran around them to my rack position (Sorry James, I know you are going to yell at me!).  I decided that although my goal was to finish in less than three hours, I am not gonna bust it in transition.  Earlier in the day I took my cleats off my bike and left them on the ground to run in.  I also wore socks.  I still don't have all the neat attachment features for my garmin so I took it from my hand (was in my swim cap), and put it on my wrist for the bike.  I sprinted with my bike out of transition and I guess I was the only one at that time, because the announcer yelled my name twice as I got on the bike :)

Bike

I started out in a higher cadence and tried to get my heart rate where I wanted it to be before getting too far down the road.  We headed west and then meandered through UT's campus.  I never got to see the Phi Psi house, but I am sure it looks great.  Around mile marker #4 I was going up (literally up) Cumberland to make a right over the Henley Rd. Bridge, when Bjorn Andersson flies right by me.  Now let's be fair and say that they started around 7:45am, and I began around 8:10am, and they swim faster than I do.  I was surprised that Bjorn had a big lead on everyone, and since this was an Olympic Distance race, I figured that over 6.2 miles he could close the deal. 

Anyways onto my bike ride :)  I was doing pretty well up through mile 7, and then the first sizable hill of two came up.  I decided that since I had not done enough bike/run bricks yet this year I would save my legs and use the granny gear some.  I got over the hill, and had to have the hands on the brakes on the way back down since there were so many turns.  Oh and did I mention that most of the road on the first and last third of the oly bike course, not that good!  Another thing, the whole damn bike leg it seemed as if there was a headwind, no matter which direction you were headed.  Then again, it was really windy all weekend long.  They have my bike times separated by 3 different areas where they had timers and I was not really happy with the last leg, I think that was where the final serious hill of the race was before heading back into downtown Knoxville.  I also think that the hill was steeper and longer, as I used my granny gear for a longer period of time on the way back up the backside of the hill.  I think the hill on the way back was steeper and a longer distance.  Back over the hill and down again to the bridge, and then doubling back through campus I arrived at transition.  People were screaming at all of us, which was good. 

Bike Time : 1:34:12, 16.47mph, Div 22/36, Overall 173/

T2:                 2:11.47

Run

By the time I was headed out of T2, the announcer had stated that Matty Reed had won the men's pro event.... wait huh?  Borjn couldn't hold up the lead he had coming off the bike.  Matt is a beast!  It looks like he ran on average a minute per mile faster than Bjorn on the run to take it.  Anyways... on to my run :)

Remember earlier I told you about that cardinal rule of racing I broke, well here is how it started.  Every year when the season really gets going around April/May, I begin going sock less with both cycling and running, mostly in sprint/oly distance races.  Well I was a bit late in breaking in the sock less so I really began doing it the week of the race.  I figured how bad could it be?  How about blister 2 inches long by 1/2 an inch wide on my right arch, one of those that has to scab up and takes a week or more to heal.  How did that affect my run you ask?  Well despite what my mind wanted to do from Fri-Sun (race day), my body told my foot to walk on the outer edge.  That put a lot of stress on my foot all weekend long and it did not bode well for my run.  I basically ran in pain the entire 6.2 miles.  I walked 5 times for about 45sec-1min each time.  The good thing about all this is somehow I completed the race averaging a 9:23/mi pace.  When I finished I was limping around for the rest of the day.  The bottom/outside of my foot hurt like hell, as well as the tendon that runs from the bottom of my foot, up under and around the back of my ankle to my calf (peroneal tendon), and I stressed it pretty bad.  However, I finished!!!  Hooray!!! First race of the year in the books.  I also finished in (just) under three hours, which was my primary goal.

Run Time:  1:00:20, 9:23/mi  25/36, 184/

Final Time:  2:59:42.39

Post race was great!  A finisher shirt on top of the shirt that they already gave me (instead of a water bottle, thank goodness, I have about two weeks worth in my home), and a boxed lunch, some Mix1 (Tangerine Flavor) and Deer Park Water (because ya know, it tastes like real water oughta ;)  After we watched Mike finish, Melissa and he ran back to their hotel and checked out to head to Atlanta for their other engagements.  Patsy and I headed back to the hotel because our checkout was at 12pm.  Once we checked out, I hobbled back down to transition and picked up my stuff and brought it back to the car to load on top.  We stayed until around 2pm, and decided to head back home (Sorry Wes and Sarah!)  We were exhausted and we both had to work the next day.  I had trouble staying awake in the car but that was nothing a little Coca Cola and music could not cure.

Rev3 Tri series is a great event and well managed.  I think there were some little things that needed to be corrected, but it did not detract from the overall greatness of this race and the series.  I think also that the interaction you get with the pro field is great.  I think I said "hi" to Matt Reed and Chris Leito about 4 times each not realizing who they were at the time (they look different in person).  I stood in line next to Natscha Badmann at the porta johns before the swim on race morning.  I mean, you go to some of these races, Ironman Events, etc, and you see these athletes far off in press conferences, or corralled off in a small area pre race.  That was not the case for this race, and I loved it.  The fact that I was walking around in the presence of pros just as if they were age-groupers was a great experience.

I still don't know what pro got in the bad bike accident on the course, but I hope he is ok.  He was making a left turn coming back in town and swung too wide, slammed right into a car stopped at a stop light.  He was taken to the hospital I was told, hurt pretty bad!  Also would like to give a shout out to Michelle Ford, hope you had a great race, and to Drew Marlar, part of team Dynamo Multisport, who got 1st in his AG in the Half Iron distance event, and 4th overall.  I could be wrong, but I think team Dynamo in the Half Iron event (men's) placed 2nd, 4th, and 9th overall (there were more, but that was the top 10).  I also saw a few people from the Atlanta Tri Club as well, I hope you guys did well!

Day 3 post race my foot is feeling better, I think I will be able to try it out (lightly) beginning on Sunday.  Right now it is trainer and swimming only.  I will make sure the rest of the pics are posted on facebook for those of you who are my friends there!  Hope all of you had a great weekend training/racing, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Possum Trot 10K June 21st 2009, Roswell, GA

Hi Everyone!

I just did my first race of the year. Granted I am reporting on it two days later, but I don't think that matters. Heck the fact that I posted twice in about a week is amazing! So this was a last minute entry (i.e. Stopped by Big Peach Running because I really needed to do something last Thursday) and then I stopped at James' house Saturday morning 6:15am for the race. His wife Tandy and his two daughters ran the 1 mile fun run, and then at 7:30am the race was on.

The first half

Sooo... I went out like a gazelle. Ok, not that fast, but I was definately pushing just under 8:00 min/mi pace. Did not really feel the humidity until about mile two, as it had rained earlier that morning, and the sun was trying to burn through. Oh did I mention pancake flat, with the exception of two hills? Sweet. As I hit the turnaround, I kinda felt like I was losing gas, so I slowed up just a bit, because I knew that I wanted to have enough in the tank if I wanted to have a good finishing time.

The second half

Annnnd... I came back in like a hippo. As I got to mile three, I realized that I would need a "rabbit" (yes I normally pick the female type, so sue me :P ) so I hooked onto one that was passing me and followed her for about half a mile. At that point she started pulling away and I thought to myself, "Is she speeding up?" No, as it turns out, my Garmin was telling me that I was slowing down. Thanks Garmin, really appreciate it.

As I approached what I thought was the finish, I realized that everyone that was going down the finishing chutes was going in the opposite direction that I was running... What!!! we are not done yet? Awh Crap! As I looked down Garmin once again laughed at me and told me that indeed I had about 1.7 miles left to go.

About that small hill... yes, at this point I was pushing my HR max the second half of the race and if not for the fact that I could take much more punishment, the hill reared its ugly head and laughed. I had to walk part of it. I got up over the hill, to the 2nd turn around, which was the start of the race, and then headed directly back to the hill. At this point I looked at my watch and decided to get this crap over with, so I ran the hill and finished the race.

And the worst part was...

that I did not qualify for the Peachtree Road Race 2009. As my watch said 54:18, my official time ended up being 55.27. While I can understand the 45 seconds due to a mass start and I was at the back of the pack, I cannot fathom the 24 seconds after I crossed the finish line. I mean I crossed at 55.03 right when the clock was in front of my face, and somehow I got 55.27. There were some other people I raced with and they noticed the same problem, so I assume that everyone got that increase. You need sub 55 to prequalify and there is another lower tier of times to get subseeded in the Peachtree Road race. The race organizers (Atlanta Track Club) give preference to those people when then enter the following year, over general entrants.

I had a good time though, and in the end that is all that counted.

Once race in the books for the year.

In other news I signed up for the Tri-PTC triathlon in Peachtree City, GA. Not too far South of Atlanta for those of you who know the area, and moreover, a wannabe Buckhead for those of you who know Peachtree City oh too well. That one's for you Matt ; )

Finally, and I will let you guys guess this one, until I get a new clock up on my blog....

363 days...


Murtha...

What motivates you...

Hey Everyone...

I have fallen off the face of the tri world. I have also fallen off the face of the tri world. It is interesting that so much has happened since my last post (March 25th) and yet I come full circle to where I was earlier this year. Once again trying to find my motivational drive to push on and do something I love, or thought I loved. We will get to all of this in just a minute.

I got out and went swimming yesterday! About damn time! I swam for about a half an hour at Gault's Ferry in Lake Allatoona. Nice to see it about full pool. Last year I was swimming in a shallow mess, and I would get a sinus infection everytime I got in that lake (GA drought last year that we are still kinda in). Anyways, the lake is pretty much back to full pool and it was sweet. Except for the kids. This one 13 yr old kid teasing me about my speedo. I just gave him a dirty look, considering his parents were sitting right there on the shore. ; )

My workouts have been few and far between as of late, heck let's be honest. All year long. I have not competed or signed up for one event of any type this year. Back up on weight, but not breaking 180..... yet. I mean I have not even gone out for a run/ride yet today, and to tell you the truth, I am not really in the mood. Just had one of my friends stop by for about half an hour and told him the whole story. He said I just need to figure it all out. The problem is that I don't know what "it" is.

Well yesterday was a start. I know I have not done anything today, and if I am going to do anything tomorrow or Tuesday, it will have to be in the morning, since I work both jobs at the beginning of the week. That is fine, get it out of the way.

Ironman CdA is this coming weekend. I am thinking about signing up on Sunday when online begins, yet I will not put too much thought into it. After not getting online signups last November with IMFL, which is a less popular event, I don't think it will happen this year. NA sports even issued an official statement in December stating that at the Full Distance level, you will pretty much have to sign up in person, volunteer then sign up, or pick a community slot, which is not necessarily a bad deal compared to volunteering (depending on where you volunteer at).

Good news that the 70.3 series is going to have a race in Augusta, GA next year. Same city as The Masters for those of you not very familiar with golf. I am excited about that one... for once a Ironman event that is not a 7-8 hour drive away (closest one without having to hop on a plane). I can feasibly take one day off work and then mosey on over to Augusta, rack my bike, hang out for the afternoon, and then get ready for race day, even hang out the day after (depending on Saturday/Sunday race).

I will get motivated again, I just need to figure everything out in my head. As much as this sport punishes your body, 80% of this game is mental. Period.


Murtha...

Murtha......Murtha........Murtha?

Yes,

I am here. For the few of you who email back and forth with me, you have known what I have been up to. Last week was my week 9 in my now 19 week training program (was 20, and then after I started the program for my race, they rescheduled the race a week earlier this year), and I decided to make it a rest/recovery week due to scheduling. I only got in two workouts, and I worked every day including 4 doubles last week, three of which were back to back to back. Kinda like "wash, rinse repeat." Except mine was "Bank, Wolfgang, sleep."

I have some updates on my race schedule for this year. I have officially signed up for the West Point Triathlon that is on Sunday August 26th. I will be racing with Wes in this event. I had to rack my brain on how I wanted my season to progress with my last race of the year I am anticipating to be the South Carolina Half. My schedule calls for one Olympic race and one Sprint race in the latter part of my training program. There was really no other option as far as a "local" Olympic distance race. However I think this will work out really well considering that while I am having to reschedule my training by 1 week for my taper, putting the shorter distance race seems to work well with my taper period. I will follow up the West Point Triathlon with my regimented annual race now (this is my 3rd season, and I have participated every year), the Tri-PTC. This is a Sprint distance triathlon two weeks after West Point, and one of my more favorite local races.

Tonight was pretty crappy. I was supposed to do a late night workout at the pool, and when I got there, I noticed that there was no one in the LA Fitness parking lot. I went up to the front door and there was a sign saying that it was closed due to Renovations until Friday. Well that sucks. So I came home and made some dinner, and started watching some of Stage 16 of the Tour de France. Vini sucks!!! He is one of the better cyclists in the world. He did not have to screw up his career by cheating. Sure he might not have done as well, but just to be known as one of the better cyclists in history, as well as one of the better cyclists of the Tour de France would be good enough for me.

That is about all I have for now, I want to get some reading in before I go to bed, as well as watch some more of the Tour. If I can think of anything else, I will post it tomorrow.

Murtha...

Recapping the weekend...

Well,

This weekend went really well. I did not double up on my workouts like I would have wanted to do, but that is fine. I had more important things to do, like hang out with friends, family, etc. Saturday morning I worked, and then went home and got some stuff done. Laundry, Cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the bedroom, etc... I was also waiting for the temperature of the afternoon to come down a bit. I also was in the hunt for a different running location. If any of you are ever looking for something different for the bike or the run, I think you need to choose these two websites out.

Map My Run
Map My Ride

I ended up doing a 5K from Kennesaw Mtn State Park over to downtown Marietta, 5 min break for Gu and Stretching, and then 5K back to my car at the Park. I will have to say, I probably should not have stopped for that short break (as much as I needed to stretch), since my lap average really suffered after that. I was taking it easy, so I was trying for 9:30/mi pace, and I pretty much hit that on the way out, but on the way back in there was a large stretch of road that was 11:30-11:45/mi. The last mile was flat/downhill, so I was able to get my heartrate back down and increase the pace faster again.

Sunday, I got up early (8:00a for Sunday) and I went to the gym to put in some laps. This is the one workout I have been slacking on lately. I did a 100M warmup, 50M worth of drills (just swimming on my sides) and then did 2x400M free drills. I did not time myself, I just did them as best as I could technique-wise. Halfway throught my second 400M I had to keep refocusing on what the heck I was doing. There was a lady who was in the lane next to me, and we were swimming about the same pace, so it was easy for me to see if I was off pace or not, from my RPE.

After that I spent the rest of the day down on the south side of Atlanta visiting with my aunt and uncle, and then my best friend and his wife. It was good to see all of them again.

This week is going to be pretty hectic for me. I will be working all weekend long, so I will have to get in over half my workouts during the week. I am also working at night on the 4th. Booo. The funny thing is that the fancy 4 star restaurant next door is only going to be open early in the morning for the Peachtree Road Race, and then closing promptly at 10:00a. We're opening at 2:00p and then staying open until 9:30p. Now you know at 9:30p no one is going to be there, because they are all going to be out watching fireworks and cooking out. They are going to waste all that money on labor and operating costs for the little money that they are going to make. I am sure Wes can throw his two cents in (since he is in the restaurant business) about how well as fast casual restaurant does on the holdidays (not well).

Oh, I also was up Sunday morning checking out the European Ironman Championship. I used to speak German very well, and now I hardly know any. I picked up some on what the announcer of the program online was saying, but mostly I was just focusing on the race. It was the perfect time in the morning for me as well, since Germany was six hours ahead. By the time I pulled it up on Ironman live, the men were in the last few kilometers of the finish. I was very suprised to see how far back Norman Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan ended up in the race. I guess every race cannot be your best race. However the duel between Nicole Leder and Andrea Brede was awsome!!! Just like a close superbowl or BCS championship game, this finish was great to watch.

Workout tonight, and then two tomorrow. If I can get two in on Thursday or (Thu nigh/Fri morning) then I will be really happy, since that will leave me with two remaining workouts for the weekend, as busy as I am going to be.

Murtha...

Countdown.... (Yet again), And pro sightings in Atlanta!!!

I was a total slacker yesterday. It was one of those days where Jackie was allowed to call me out for being lazy. She even drove out of her way to go to my gym because they had a class later in the evening that she wanted to attend. No excuse. Oh well, you can't win them all, can you?

So I am participating in Tri the Parks, Indian Springs State Park this weekend. Renee is competing in the event as well, and I am kind of excited about that. Hopefully we can hook up.
This time there is no road construction that splits the freeway and makes the left lane an express one, so we should be ok on getting to the race site at a decent hour of the morning.

I will also once again be representing Team Javelin, so I will definately be visible (probably from space) with my highlighter yellow and green suit.

Tomorrow it is double duty on my workouts (that is what happens when you slack off), however, both of them are light workouts so as not to make me wake up Saturday morning sore as hell. James is going to help me with transitions tomorrow night, in the hopes that both my transition times will be sub 1 minute (forgoing any 50 mile treks from the water to t1). He told me straight up the other day that socks are not allowed. NO SOCKS!!! Oh well, I suppose Band-aids are cheap, as well as Neosporin. Who needs feet? At least I am not battling with plantar fasciitis again.... (boooo!!!). Maybe I will be worthy of a 2007 foot picture entry on Kahuna's blog.

I think the fastest transition time I have logged was just over 1 minute, and that was mostly due to the fact that I had to back track a bit in T2 during a sprint race because of where I was located. I need all the help I can get if I finally want to break 1hr 20 min... ;-)

Have I told you I am kind of excited? This is only my 2nd tri of the season (and 3rd event). I really need to log a few road races over the summer. They are low maintenance, and they are much cheaper than a triathlon (no $9 USAT one day fee!). I am still signed up for the Tri-PTC in September. I think I am going to make that a yearly event, unless some other tri event or lifestyle change prevents it.

I am also thinking about starting my own tri team... Wha? (like i need to add anything else to my plate!!!) I dunno... I think what I really need to do is join Tri-Atlanta or North Atlanta Multisport first, and then see where that leads me. What can I say, I am just a sociable person, and as well all know, this sport can be just downright lonely at times. For now I think this subject will be on the "back burner".

And guess who was in ATL last weekend??? I'll give you a hint, the winner of the 1st Ryka IronGirl Atlanta event (at Lake Lanier).

Michelle Jones!!!!!!!!

I had to work at Wolfgang Sunday morning, so I missed my opportunity! Oh well, I am sure once my "habit" takes me to some larger events, I will see many more tri-personalities. I was kinda suprised about her winning time, but I think a week or two before she had just competed in a major event and this was more of a recovery thing. Hey, she beat my best time in a sprint tri.... I think Wes went with his wife, and I told a couple other people about it who were interested, but I have not heard of anyone else who went.

If any of you ladies are participating in the Ryka IronGirl event this year, I (meaning Jackie) would love to hear about it.

Signing off for now,

Murtha...

The Plan!!!

I am writing this on one of my few free nights, but I am not sure if I will finish it tonight (not that you will know anyways, it will all show up at the same time).

I began listening to the GYGO podcast last night before I went out to run some errands, I did not get that far through it, and I was only halfway paying attention, until I heard Iron Wil exclaim something about flashing. I will have to spend some extra time to listen all at once.

In other news, my youngest sister's graduation is Saturday morning at my old Alma Mater, the University of Georgia. I cannot believe that she is already graduating. She has a job already lined up in the fall, and will be moving to Atlanta in the late summer.

Also, I might not have mentioned in previous posts, but I have found some fraternity brothers (whom have moved back to Atlanta since graduation) that are participating in endurance and multisport events. It seems at this time that our schedules conflict, but I hope to be able to trian and maybe even complete a few races with them.

Ok, now on to business (right....).

Since my last race and the bike tour last weekend, I have been working on a plan for the rest of the year. It involves only 2-3 races later in the summer and is spread out through October. I have only signed up for one of them, due to selling out early, and the fact that I have made a point to complete the race every year (Tri - PTC). The rest of the races I am going to completely play by ear, so that if I don't want to do them or can't, it will make no big difference.

It is a 20 week program, and I have about 2-3 weeks before it begins, and hopefully will culminate in either a Oly or Half Iron distance race at the end of the 20 weeks. I am also trying to get some sort of consistent schedule going with my second job (if that is possible) so that planning my training on a week to week basis is not so screwed up. Usually I do not find out my schedule until around Friday afternoon for the following week. I am also planning to take a full week off of my second job before I start this whole "PLAN", so that I can make sure I have all the little things taken care of (I need to get caught up on some stuff anyways.

When I look at last year as compared to this year, I see many differences in what was/is going on in my life, but one major difference is that I had some sort of gameplan to take me throughout the entire year. This time around (2007) I just decided to wing it. Fast forward to today, and I can see now how that just was doomed for failure, combined with what all is going on.

Another certanity is that I will promise to use and rely on the support of my family, friends, bloggers, (i.e. anyone) who is willing to help me with this small cause in my life, as well as all other aspects of my life. As some other people have stated in their blogs (and i whole heartedly agree with them), this is a loner sport at times, and you tend to become selfish, self-sufficient, and/or individual-centered due to that fact. There are some ways around it, such as joining a club/team, masters swim programs, yet at the end of the day it will be the course and yourself. Because of this I have unconsciously shunned the support of my family and friends who have wanted to provide support that would most ultimately lead to my own personal success and betterment (not just in triathlon, but in general).

This week I have tried to put everything in perspective (including your comments) and I have greater positive mental attitude about things than in previous weeks. Happy Andy is back :-) (not that he ever really left...).

The Picture Nazi (he he he, just could not help myself J, sorry!) still has not let loose on her death grip of the pictures from the last two weeks, but I promise that I will get them out there as soon as possible (she distracted me last night by making me replace the fixed tire back on her Jeep).

I am going to take some of you up on that open water swimming offer here in the next few weeks if I can find out when I get some free time on the weekends. I still owe Wes a ride on the SCT, or I need to get up on Kennesaw and ride around the mountain with him.

Mutha out...

Ironman Florida 70.3!!!

Registrations for this year have finally begun!!

I decided that I would get some more motivation over the past weekend by actually signing up for some of my races. I looked at my calendar, looked at my work schedule, days off, etc, and came up with my first couple of races for the year.

I am going to have to update my blog for my 2007 schedule, as well as my time countdown clock.

Here we go

Tri the Parks (Georgia) Series Race #1 - John Tanner State Park, Carollton, GA
April 28th

Ironman Florida 70.3 - Orlando, FL
May 20th

I still have one more race to sign up for in this timeline, and that is the "5 boroughs bike tour" in New York. This is May6th. You might be asking if that is too close to IMFL 70.3? Maybe but it is not a serious race. It is a leisurely 42 mile bike ride through all the 5 boroughs, and it is not supposed to be a race unless you are in the pro race circut. I have never actually been to New York before, so I thought it would be a good experience.

My next leg for the year will be completing the Peachtree Road race (assuming I get signed up for it) on July 4th. I will schedule no races during this time so I get about two months off until my next set of races that will run me from August until the South Carolina Half Ironman in October.

This will set me up for my 2008 season, where I will actually complete an Ironman! I will have to sign up for the event in 2007 due to the popularity of the Ironman North America series. I mean, this is Kentucky's first year, and they sold out fast. IMFL sold out in an hour. I really do not want to wait until late in the year in 2008 (i.e. IMFL) to complete a full Ironman, so I will have to look to other races to complete. Maybe Arizona! I could go hang with the Commodore if he completes it in 2008, and my family would only be a 3 hour drive away from the event, and my grandparents would be in Mesa.

Also, I know I am jumping the gun here, but depending on how far down the top 8-10 slots for my age group in IMFL 70.3 go, there is a slight chance I could qualify for Clearwater (IM 70.3 championships) in October. I am not going to be in the top 10 in my age group, but the other issue is that not everyone that finishes the race before me will want to (or have the money to) go to Clearwater. Last year it got all the way down to 5 hours and 40 minutes in my age group before the last person took the final slot.

If this happens, then obviously I will be sub'ing Clearwater for the South Carolina HIM. We shall see.....

Murtha...

New Blogger Everyone!!!

(dee dee d d dee dee dee d d d......that news music thing you used to hear on SNL)

Breaking news!!!

Jackie now has her own blog!!! She will now be able to comment on everyone's (specifically Jessica's blog) blog and have her own posts. The blog is currently under construction by your's truly, and then she will begin posting. If you want the link, or you want to hyperlink it on your page,

krawczyktri.blogspot.com

Gotta love those Polish last names!!!