Naples Sprint Triathlon RR

Being my first sprint triathlon in 3 years, gotta say I had a blast at this race. So much different the the long course, it was a little shock to the body. I had a good feeling about this race going into it and the day ended up just about where I thought it would. I could have been a little faster I think but in all was a good effort on my half. First off I have never raced with so many people that I know, made it kinda a weird day from the rip. Swim was straight across the lake at 1/4 mile, split my Garmin when I came out of water and it said 6:13. Timing mat was at T1 a ways off had me at 7:08. I was 4th outta water, that was cause I gave a spot to this guy over half way there. We was shoulder to shoulder and I wasnt gonna give but his splash from his arm kept messing with my right side breathing. Backed off a bit and tucked in on his feet for the rest of the way. Bike was odd, had a bunch of speed bumps on it. Not the steep ones but ones that roll easy over. Had a issue with the first one, my left aero pad for my elbow came loose soon as I hit it. Almost fell and elbow kept slipping out. What it cause was me not being able to pull back on areo bars, like I do so often when I need to ride hard. Bike was 10 miles and split was 28:25 , that was with the timing mat on the back side of T2 . The mats ( or mat) was only in 1 place so they kinda added in transition time along to either the swim or bike. Run was 2 laps around the lake. Came outta T2 chasing the same guy I was making time on , on the bike. We went through T2 together and I was chasing him for bout half of the 3 mile run but after the first mile split at a 6:42 I wasnt sure if I could hold that. I should have went harder longer on the run for sure, looking back at it now. Run split was 20:28 for the 3 miles. Total time was a 56:02 , Finished 5th overall and 1st in age group. 

 In off the Bike, love the new 360 Degree Athlete kits Natalia got for us. They fit way better then the one piece did.

 Mark came down from Tampa and got 2nd place in the 40+ Clyd. category , Nadine won 3rd place in her age group and me 1st in age group.

Next is the Siesta Beach Triathlon , its a OLY distance on Aug. 4th. Natalia , Laura and me will be racing, cause she got with Multirace and got us a few free spots to race. Nadine although she wants to is gonna sit this one out but will be there for sure. 

Next few events

Tomorrow we are going to the Freedom swim, its a 1.5 mile OWS across the Peace River. Should be interesting with all the rafts and parties that are going on. For sure will be back to update this with some pictures and a swim report. Sunday is the Naples Sprint Triathlon, gonna be a good day I got that feeling. Mark will be down from Tampa and a few friends will be joining us too. Just got word today that my sponsor got us into the Siesta Beach OLY Tri on Aug. 4th. Gonna be good for Nadine before we hit NC and the Beach 2 Battleship. Training is coming around pretty good, bike is doing ( or coming around) well. Did mile repeats this morning with a avg. pace of 6:38 followed by a 40 mile bike in 1:54. I really think adding these 4 new workouts to this IM training plan is gonna make the race for me. I have 2 goals for the B2B, 1 is to get as close to a hr swim as I can and 2 finally a sub 4 hr marathon on the course. I been flirting with the 4hr mark but keep missing it by just a few minutes. First things first and its the swim tomorrow, not worried about it just gonna have fun and use it as a training OWS ! 

Where has time gone

Just got back to town a couple days ago, been about 6 weeks since I been around. After Nebraska I ended up at Warrior Leader Course at Camp Blanding. Got home to find out orders had me being back up there in two days for another 3 weeks. I unpacked what I didnt need, packed what I did and headed back north. Not the funnest lifestyle at times but its what I do. Did not run for almost a month, till the last 3 weeks, just no time during training. Hills became my friend the last 3 weeks, even ran the Camp Blanding Family Day 5K while there. Placed 3rd overall with a 20:01 time, couple young Air Force guys beat me with a strong finishing kick. Back home for 4 days now, while gone all I could think about was Nadine and training. WELL this storm sitting out in the Gulf of Mexico has other plans, been some windy / rainy runs the last 3 days, missed rides and one day in the pool that it. Bad part it July 8th the new Naples  Sprint Triathlon from Elite Events and we are in to run it. I really had a good feeling of pulling off a win at it, now have moved it to trying to place. Nadine and I yesterday go into the Beach 2 Battleship 140.6 in Wilmington NC on October 20th. Gonna be her first Ironman distance triathlon !! Cant wait got some wotk to do with her but looking forward to it. 

Lincoln National Guard Marathon

Well at the last minute, my orders came in. Got Nadine's ticket and room set up and we was on our way. Two different flights and two different ways across the country but had the same destination.Lincoln was a lot more calm then I thought it would be, seeings it is a collage town. Although they did have one hell of a farmers market! Got there Friday late afternoon and really didnt do to much besides catch up on some sleep. Saturday I had a few meetings and a class to go to, along with race packet pickup and the expo. It was a good set up for a race of 10,000, the National Guard had a bunch of stuff there with people working the expo. Which was good cause usually each state takes turns working it, so we didnt have to this year. 
Race day I got up early to check the weather, Rain with hail that had just passed. Rain was coming and going, according to the news the worst had passed. Walked up to the start and did the normal pre race stuff. It was getting humid from the rain but nothing I aint seen before. The word was it was gonna be hot and I looked forward to it. Gun goes off and things get moving, not real packed on the roads had plenty of room to move around. Pace was right where I wanted it for least half of the race, Garmin was splitting right ahead of time every 5th mile. Nadine catches me at mile 9.7 and says I am not tracking? Splits was never coming across her phone and after I walked and talked to her a minute; told her I was just gonna keep running and see what happens. Half way I guess she started getting my splits but I never knew any was. After all the 1/2 runners cut off the course got even more open. Course got into the rolling hills on a bike path along the river ( by far the worst part of the race) and I knew with the turn around at mile 20; I was gonna have to repeat this part of the course. More hills out there then I thought. Everyone I talked to seemed to think it was gonna be flat but never worked out that way. Temps. was over 80 by this time and people was dropping out fast, the first guy I passed on his back was at mile 8 ! Later would find out that they ( medical) had run out of IV's on the course. 16 to almost 20 seemed to be up hill into a head wind, could not wait to hit 20 and turn around. Had to lose the shirt at 15, got lucky it was there as I passed on my way back through. In all it was and felt all of 26.2 miles, just glad my time chip started working. Fun race and I look forward to running with the guard again.

After I got back to FL, I got a email from the marathon people. They asked about my time and that I only ran the 2nd half of the course. After sending what I had from Garmin ( because my final time was clock time of 3:44:38) to them and telling them when I started, they was nice enough to take me off the DNF / DQ list !! Also corrected my time after doing some research about it. Thank you Lincoln Track Club ! the DQ bothered me more then the 3:44 for sure. Final official time is now 3:36:37 - Overall I was 221/ 1169, Males 179 / 684, and Age group 38 / 125. Not sure if I will ever make it back to Nebraska but I sure had a heck of a time there. If you ever have done any of the military races, such as the Marine Corps Marathon, Air Force or Army 10 Miler; I suggest looking into this one too ! Hurry though they only take 10 grand entries and it sells out in about 20 days. Opens early Dec. 

Lincoln Marathon

So its Monday and no orders yet, when am I gonna see them. I have been in contact with the FL Marathon Team and have everything I need to go to Nebraska but the orders to fly. There is three of us going from the state, to race against all the other states teams. Things have been set for us, for weeks now and really looking forward to racing for them. I just wish I would see some news. I got a in touch with the people looking for my orders Friday, said I should have them today but as the military works, no news yet! No big shocker really but it does stop the rest of my plans. Nadine is going with me but we cant get her room or ticket till I see if I am even going. So the price keeps going up for her each day. My tickets , room, and registration is done, hers is the issue right now. Im good if the team captain gets them but till someone does , limbo is how I sit. The taper is driving me crazy and I either wanna workout or get ready to race. The race is now 6 days away, guess I will see later this week 

306 Degree Athlete

I had been offered earlier this year to be a part of the 360 Degree Athlete team. Never been asked for anything like this but it has been so much fun racing for them. Natalia takes good care of me, hands down. Although I couldnt race in my suit I did get to take a few photos for her and these a a few. I like the suit, its just the body is a bit short and pulls on me from bottom and top. A 2 piece is in the works and cant wait for it. 

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.