HITS Triathlon Series 140.6

March 24 we got to race and met up with Nat and Laura, plus got to see the open triathlon run. Spent most the day taking pictures and scoping out the race course. The open was fun to watch, bunch of first timers and a few who was using it as a warm up for Sunday. Feel like it would have been good maybe if I would have joined them but took it as a rest day instead. 

March 25, race morning. Got to event early, did not leave my bike the night before cause of storm that was passing through. Bike was set pretty easy, nutrition took most of the time then double and triple checked things. Had the feeling something missing just could not figure out what it was. As it turned out, I did forget the Salt Stick and Anti Fatigue Cap but had enough to cover me anyways. 6:45 headed to water while putting wet suit on for a warm up. 7:15 was the start because the sunrise was little later and 7 was still dark. Start kicked off and the games had begun, normal at first with all the madness at any start. Soon found a line and stayed with it. Ended up swimming the entire first 2000 meters wedged between a guy and this girl ( ones in top pic in dark caps) on the dock I seen Mark and Nadine. Thought I should let them know I was 1/2 way and jumped out of water for the pic. Left the other two there and set out alone for the second half. Going out on lap 2 seemed to take forever, back went way quicker. Passed Mark Wilson and my buddy Mark as I got out of water 1:10:22 they yelled. Huh not bad little faster then I was thinking and had a few hundred meters to T1. I was hit with 4th out of the water as I made it to transition, had to deal with a few of the athletes doing the half who was just in front of me. T1 passed pretty quick for getting off wet suit 2:23 was it. As I got on the bike thats when it hit me bout the Salt Stick, grabbed one each out of shirt and was off. Knew it was gonna be rolling hills for the entire course so mentally had a rough day expected. By mile 5 I was passing the half bikers, not sure how many I did but there was a bunch. Nadine and Mark was all over the bike course and was giving me splits to the leaders in front. Good or bad I dont know but never stopped them. Started at 5min then time kept dropping and finally passed the 4th and 3rd place doing the full. Stayed in 2nd the rest of bike after passing the 3rd place guy at mile 60. I was telling myself, take it easy we still gotta run but found I kept wanting to charge on. Came off the bike at 5:22:12 in 2nd place over all and Mark made sure I knew it as I was in T2. As much as I had told myself for days before I was feeling my game plan slip away for the run. 2:25 and I was out of T2. Plan was to run a 8- 8:30 pace and hold it long as I could. NOPE ! 7:25 out the gate and couldnt find a way to slow. Chasing first place and trying to put as much distance I could from 3rd place got me in trouble. Knew it was a matter of time after mile 10 that he was gonna catch me and by mile 16 he did as I fell apart. Ended up walking cause stomach was wanting to empty. Stopped in the woods for a bathroom break and found hydration was blown !! It was hot , like 86 but thought I had a good jump on hydration from the bike, I was wrong. Around mile 18 I knew I needed to be at mile 20 within 3hr if I wanted to go under 11 hours for the day. Made my mark but walking was eating up a lot of time. Finally changed from water to Coke and the stomach settled, was able then to run/ walk way more then before. With the finish coming, pulled things together and ran. Out of the woods Mark yells at me, letting me know 3rd overall was me! WOW I was thinking, what a day ! Hit the finish line where all I seen was Nadine, what a sight for sore eyes. I finally get my kiss I been waiting on since my warm up swim where they went to the dock and I didnt get to seen them again. My run time was 4:04:31, bout 15min slower then I wanted but with being forced to walk I will take it.  10:42:58 time on clock, 1 hour 7 min faster then my last 140.6 time. Had a good day and feel had I stuck with my running plan, it might have been faster. It really hit me hard this day that this distance is by far my favorite of all. Sure I will run any distance but my true enjoyment is on the long course !! Looking for another and it just might be TX on April 29, who knows maybe I can pull it off and try it again. 

Things been going good, finally go to the ocean for a open water swim today. Water was great 72* and flat. It was a toss up for the wet suit but figured I will be in it next week for the race, so decided to wear it. Stayed out for 41min and just over 1 1/2 miles. Time looks kinda bad, was having issues with goggles. I made them looser the other day after a long swim. Going to tighten them back up tomorrow. I think we are gonna run the brick and hit the ocean again. Nadine really wants to get in the open water and tomorrow should be nice, if we get on the road early. Monday or Tuesday taper is gonna start. I am not looking forward to it, I get way to bored and go stir crazy. Thats it I'm feeling good and after the next 2 OWS its only gonna get better. 

Marathon team set

Today started sore soon as I stood up. Two days ago I said I was done with 2x a day workouts and it was a good call. Except for Sunday, its going to be the last brick day before race. Little close to race day but missed two of them while sick. I really do not think its going to hurt me to bad, not gonna be long maybe 50 and 5 I think. Did roll out a good swim today 4300 meters of speed/ sighting and hand paddle drills. Things was good, Saturday I will be in the ocean and try to fit in another 2 next week. 
So I got my orders and all travel papers done last weekend, for the State of FL  National Guard Marathon Team. Five of us was selected from the entire state. Now we will met all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico in Lincoln Nebraska on May 6. Figure there will be between 300-350 Guardsmen running for a spot on the All Guard Marathon Team. Last year they took the top 57 runners for the team. Gonna have to have a good day if I wanna shot at the team. After this 140.6 in Ocala I am making the whole month of April, training for the race. I will still be on my bike, can not leave it out. Good cross training for off days from running. Just got my tickets in a email but need to call SATO Travel in the morning to straighten out the ticket. Ya know cant expect the military to get everything correct !! I am excited about the race but best thing is Nadine is going with me. Had I known I could take her I would have gotten us a room. Now she has to fly on her own and find a room close to race. I dont think she care all to much as long as she is there. A bad thing about it, if I make the team I have been told I will not make it to Afghanistan. I am OK with that I was trying to make the team  when I got deployed the last time, just stayed in the desert for 2 years to long !! Just hope my training has not been hurt getting ready for this up coming race. I am confident I can turn things around, just gonna take a little work but I'm good with that.

Time has passed

Not really sure where to start, it has been awhile. Last month training was going great, I was getting in some outstanding times and distances. Things was going good and felt on top the world. Then out of nowhere BAM! I was sick. Found myself in bed for 9 days, little food was going in but liquids was. A few time a day I would actually get up and try to move but always ended up in the same spot, back in bed. About day 10 I could not take it anymore and decided to stay up and get moving. Day 13 I went for a run, yeah not to good, could not run for more then 5min at a time without walking. Plus everything was off, I was still dizzy and was about falling over m feet. Then as fast as it came, it was gone! Nadine and I planned a open water swim but found a front coming in with high winds, that had the Gulf of Mexico with 2 foot seas and I was not letting her get out there for only her second OWS. Hit the bike that day for 100 miles with a 5 mile run after, maybe not the smartest thing but mentally I had to get out there. March 25th is the HITS Triathlon Series in Ocala FL. I am doing the full distance, but had not signed up yet. I gave myself to the 15th depending on how I felt. I was gonna drop back to the 70.3 but really still wanted to do the 140.6 distance. After the ride the next day I stepped out the door, looked around and thought lets run. Next thing I was at 17 miles and thought I better stop so not to injure anything. Next day was another 45 mile ride and that night slept on it. Got up early before Nadine and signed up for the race, couldn't take it anymore. So as it stands I'm in, feeling good and looking forward to the race. Whats gonna happen or how things are gonna go, well can't answer that one, just gonna have to see. I will keep a close eye on hydration and nutrition for sure, as always but even closer now. I can't say I scared or worried but its sitting on my mind for sure. This week I need to get to the ocean for some time in the open water but all the long training is done and taper will start next Wed. All I can do is hold things together and hope for the best along the way. Winds have been a killer on the bike, few days had 30mph gusts out there. Mentally I'm game, just hope with the 2 main weeks of training lost I didn't lose all that I worked so had for. It will be interesting for sure and can't wait till race day. I feel like there is a huge weight on my shoulders for this race. Like there is a ton on people watching or gonna be tracking me during and sure don't wanna flop on my ass. Hold things together in the water, push parts of the bike, fly through transition and keep in the moment on the run. Thats my plan and how I'm gonna work it.

Another 1/2 marathon

Finally I thought it might not ever happen ! A PR at the 13.1 mile distance and never seen it coming. Last weekend at the Naples Daily News Half Marathon here in town, where I had set the old PR a few years ago before deployment. Was a chilly morning, in the mid-high 40's at the start, and nothing above the 60's all day. The race needed to get moving, once I took all the cloths off. The course is a pretty good one, for here in town. Some say its scenic and guess it would be if I didnt live here but it is flat and pretty fast. First 6-7 miles slipped away and all the splits was 6:30's-6:40's and was not sure how long that pace could be held. Thought I would pull it back to the 7 for a couple miles miles then drop it back down. Never happened though, Garmin showed the next 5 was in the 7's although they felt faster. At 12 miles I did the math real fast and realized I had to go sub 7 for the finish and went back to 6:40 to finish. Finishing time was 1:31:14 but that was not the only one for the day.

Nadine also wanted to drop her time from the Disney race, which she did also ! She took off 9 minutes this day, and went the first time under 2 hours. 1:58 would be her finishing time, All along leading up to it I knew she had it in her but the weather really had her down. Total over the first 2 weeks into the new year, we have a combined 4 new PR's and her first triathlon !! Year has started off on a rip and in a few days we are off to the ING Miami Marathon, will it continue is the question. All the training is done, sitting here in taper week. Pictures are from post race in Naples.

HITS Triathlon Series

What a fun weekend this was, they really got something going here. Spent the whole weekend at the race event. Friday I went and ended up spending the entire day , not even meaning to. Saturday I got to watch Nadine run her first triathlon. She ran the sprint after I moved her to that distance on Friday. She did great , even won her AG ! Did find out that she is in need of OWS, this was the first time she had to swim in the ocean and in a wet suit. 

Sunday I ran the HIM race ( should have went with the full !!) and the ran the full at the same time. In all only about 100 people ran between both races, so the small field a PR was in view from the start. Swim was good, a L shape going out then north in the Gulf of Mexico, with water temps at 69. I came out of the water somewhere around 14th, from what I could tell. By far the worst part of the day was the bike. Outside it was only in the 50's and being wet it was brutal for 35 good miles. Never felt my feet at all till the ride back into town, and I needed that to get ready for the run. Came off the bike rolling ! Garmin was reading a 6:39 pace and knew I needed to slow it up a bit, when it finally hit a 7:09 I figured that was good and would hold it as long as I could. Run was a out and back, coming off the bike I was now in 10 overall. Within 3-4 miles I had passed people who passed me on the bike. The turn around I could see how much room I needed t make up and that I was now in 6th. Around mile 9 legs started getting heavy and was able to pass one more guy for 5th place. Never seen the 4th place till there was only about .5 mile to go ! or I would have given it a run at him. Talking to him, he knew I was there and fast approaching him. It was a PR for the day , with a finishing time of 4:54:08 , 5th over all and 1st place int he military division. Splits was good, even with the long in and out of T1 and T2. Swim 36 min (33 min out of water) bike 2:35:17 and run 1:40:00. I have been in recovery, today is the 3rd day and need to move. Was really sore last 2 days, think the weather on the bike had something to do with it. Lots of cranking going on, not much pulling with the legs. In all I cant wait for the next event in Ocala, almost sure its going to be the full. All I do know is, here in 4 days is the Naples Daily News Half Marathon and yep Im in ! Not gonna be a PR but should be a good day if the weather holds out. 

Race week

Things have been going really easy this year so far. Trying to come up with a new goal for the year. Last year I set a 1300 mile running goal, hit it at the end of November. Year ending total was 1437, which was my longest year yet. January is gonna be a pretty easy month, by what im looking at. I have three races this month. This weekend a HIM at the HITS Triathlon Series here in Naples on Jan 8, Jan 15 Naples Daily News HM, then off to Miami for the ING Miami Marathon. Gonna be at the race site from basically Friday till Sunday this week. Gonna work with Nat Friday and I have a meeting later that day and packet pickup. Saturday Nadine and I are volunteering from 4-8 body marking, then she is also racing her first triathlon that day also. Sunday I have to hang around for all that and bike turn in later that afternoon. Weather is not working at all, the cold front has it pretty damn cold here and its gonna be around through the weekend, 50's at race start all weekend and water temps are in the low 60's. Not gonna be a fun day whatsoever, days should be up in the higher 70's but not gonna make up for the swim. Just gonna have to see how things work and deal with it as it happens. Really wanted a PR at this race and think my bike and run are on target for it, the swim i will be the difference and T1 is a good clip from the water. Mental day is all I can chalk it up to, stay in the zone and disregard the weather is the best thing I can try and do.