Since they won't let you save or copy the damn photos anymore... 40 bucks for a "HD" digital image??? Yeah freakin' right.
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=51639&BIB=110&LNSEARCH=1
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Spirit of Racine Race Report
So I'm a little late on this post, but I figured I should definitely write a race report for Racine this year so that I can remember it later.
I arrived with K.S. from VQ on Saturday afternoon around 3 - fortunately my favorite little Honda didn't die on us, nor did our bikes fall off my Saris bike hitch, which is missing two bolts. ;)We rode about 12 miles of the course, just to get a feel for what things would be like Sunday. The Racine course is pretty flat and easy, but there are a few bumpy patches (literally - the roads suck) and a few minor hills. After our ride, we registered (I bought a few things per usual at the expo), checked our bikes in transition, changed and met some friends for dinner at Salute, pretty much the only Italian restaurant in town, and had some pasta. M.A. tried to order a vegan meal but the waitress pretty much didn't know what that was. It was amusing. After dinner I drove to my hotel all by my lonesome and laid out all my stuff for race day while watching Mission: Impossible. Next time I will definitely plan ahead and stay with some friends. It was lonely out in Sturtevant (BFE, Wisconsin).
On race day I awoke before my alarm, per usual, and ate my PB & J bagel, a Chewy bar, and an apple. I had all of my transition stuff in bags so I was prepared for set-up. By 6 am I had everything ready to go, and walked toward the swim start with some VQ friends at 6:30. My wave went off on time at 7:13 and I started to feel anxious about my race. The Racine swim is fast, but what I don't like about it is that it is shallow - so eveybody stands up and dolphin dives. It is hard to establish a good cadence when you have people landing on top of you. I also got pulled out by the current a few times and didn't spot very well. Nonetheless, I finished my swim a good 3 or 4 minutes faster than last year in 29:45.
I ran a good .25 miles up the beach to transition and awkwardly pulled my wetsuit off. The water was 63 or so this year, so my feet and hands were a lot more mobile. Fortunately I'd remembered to down shift my bike for the climb out of transition. I felt fantastic on my bike after the swim and was moving along out of downtown Racine at 21-23 mph. The Racine course is pretty uneventful, save for the few hills and bumpiness I described earlier, so in other words, it is fast. My goal was to maintain a 7/10 RPE throughout the whole race, and this worked very well. My bike split was 2:42, a good 15 minutes faster than my previous bike PR (and 8th in my AG).
I came into transition ready to run and fortunately the temp wasn't too hot. I threw on my shoes, fuel belt and hat and headed out. Several VQ-ers were there to support and take pictures, so that was awesome. What isn't awesome is the two hills on the run course (well, I guess they're not that bad). I made myself run both of them, though I was slow. The Aquaphor-sponsored girl I passed on the bike steadily passed me back on the run. Alas, I am not a strong runner, but I suppose I am getting there. On the first loop I did pretty well, but my pace slowed on the second. Perhaps my aid station walks were a little bit longer than they needed to be. ;) The one thing that kept me moving along pretty steadily though, was "Oh shit, I can hit 5:20," "Oh wow, I'm going even faster than that, I can do 5:18..." and then I'd close my eyes, let my legs do the work, and pretend I was in Hawaii, relaxing on my back in the ocean (the next day I went on vacation to Oahu!) Overall run split was 1:58.
I ran toward the finish with a big smile because I'd blown away my goal time and surpassed my previous PR (my first tri ever, the Gulf Coast Half IM) by 43 minutes. I finished in 5:16:02, and 11th in my age group. IM Florida, you better watch out.
I arrived with K.S. from VQ on Saturday afternoon around 3 - fortunately my favorite little Honda didn't die on us, nor did our bikes fall off my Saris bike hitch, which is missing two bolts. ;)We rode about 12 miles of the course, just to get a feel for what things would be like Sunday. The Racine course is pretty flat and easy, but there are a few bumpy patches (literally - the roads suck) and a few minor hills. After our ride, we registered (I bought a few things per usual at the expo), checked our bikes in transition, changed and met some friends for dinner at Salute, pretty much the only Italian restaurant in town, and had some pasta. M.A. tried to order a vegan meal but the waitress pretty much didn't know what that was. It was amusing. After dinner I drove to my hotel all by my lonesome and laid out all my stuff for race day while watching Mission: Impossible. Next time I will definitely plan ahead and stay with some friends. It was lonely out in Sturtevant (BFE, Wisconsin).
On race day I awoke before my alarm, per usual, and ate my PB & J bagel, a Chewy bar, and an apple. I had all of my transition stuff in bags so I was prepared for set-up. By 6 am I had everything ready to go, and walked toward the swim start with some VQ friends at 6:30. My wave went off on time at 7:13 and I started to feel anxious about my race. The Racine swim is fast, but what I don't like about it is that it is shallow - so eveybody stands up and dolphin dives. It is hard to establish a good cadence when you have people landing on top of you. I also got pulled out by the current a few times and didn't spot very well. Nonetheless, I finished my swim a good 3 or 4 minutes faster than last year in 29:45.
I ran a good .25 miles up the beach to transition and awkwardly pulled my wetsuit off. The water was 63 or so this year, so my feet and hands were a lot more mobile. Fortunately I'd remembered to down shift my bike for the climb out of transition. I felt fantastic on my bike after the swim and was moving along out of downtown Racine at 21-23 mph. The Racine course is pretty uneventful, save for the few hills and bumpiness I described earlier, so in other words, it is fast. My goal was to maintain a 7/10 RPE throughout the whole race, and this worked very well. My bike split was 2:42, a good 15 minutes faster than my previous bike PR (and 8th in my AG).
I came into transition ready to run and fortunately the temp wasn't too hot. I threw on my shoes, fuel belt and hat and headed out. Several VQ-ers were there to support and take pictures, so that was awesome. What isn't awesome is the two hills on the run course (well, I guess they're not that bad). I made myself run both of them, though I was slow. The Aquaphor-sponsored girl I passed on the bike steadily passed me back on the run. Alas, I am not a strong runner, but I suppose I am getting there. On the first loop I did pretty well, but my pace slowed on the second. Perhaps my aid station walks were a little bit longer than they needed to be. ;) The one thing that kept me moving along pretty steadily though, was "Oh shit, I can hit 5:20," "Oh wow, I'm going even faster than that, I can do 5:18..." and then I'd close my eyes, let my legs do the work, and pretend I was in Hawaii, relaxing on my back in the ocean (the next day I went on vacation to Oahu!) Overall run split was 1:58.
I ran toward the finish with a big smile because I'd blown away my goal time and surpassed my previous PR (my first tri ever, the Gulf Coast Half IM) by 43 minutes. I finished in 5:16:02, and 11th in my age group. IM Florida, you better watch out.
Monday, July 13, 2009
18 Weeks Until IM FL!
So... 18 weeks isn't actually that far away. November will be here before we know it.
This month I decided to go ahead and hire a coach through VQ. His name is Cortino, and he is to be feared. Having a coach is good for me (or anyone) because there is accountability and I am afraid of the consequences if I slack on my workouts. ;) Anyway, he really knows his stuff and was on the elite ITU circuit for awhile.
The fantastic news is that I am already in better shape than I was just prior to IM Coeur D'Alene last year (it is sad that I was that out of shape then!). My run is progressing a lot, though according to Cortino I am still pretty behind on my mileage. I have new orthotics, which have been helping out a lot (they should at $500 a pair), but I am worried they will not hold up for as long as my podiatrist claims (2 years). We will see.
My swim has also improved a bit and my bike is, er, getting there. I get so bored on the long rides by myself, and thus get lazy. This weekend I drove out to Algonquin, IL for a 4 hour ride. Some of the hills and scenery were nice but there were some dodgy areas - I almost got run over twice due to the crappy cue sheet I found online. Cyclists beware - do not ride on Algonquin Ave. or N Quentin unless you want to die. Overall it was a good ride but I was tired from my Saturday run and the hills. Excuses, excuses.
We'll see what this week has in store for me. I feel good!
This month I decided to go ahead and hire a coach through VQ. His name is Cortino, and he is to be feared. Having a coach is good for me (or anyone) because there is accountability and I am afraid of the consequences if I slack on my workouts. ;) Anyway, he really knows his stuff and was on the elite ITU circuit for awhile.
The fantastic news is that I am already in better shape than I was just prior to IM Coeur D'Alene last year (it is sad that I was that out of shape then!). My run is progressing a lot, though according to Cortino I am still pretty behind on my mileage. I have new orthotics, which have been helping out a lot (they should at $500 a pair), but I am worried they will not hold up for as long as my podiatrist claims (2 years). We will see.
My swim has also improved a bit and my bike is, er, getting there. I get so bored on the long rides by myself, and thus get lazy. This weekend I drove out to Algonquin, IL for a 4 hour ride. Some of the hills and scenery were nice but there were some dodgy areas - I almost got run over twice due to the crappy cue sheet I found online. Cyclists beware - do not ride on Algonquin Ave. or N Quentin unless you want to die. Overall it was a good ride but I was tired from my Saturday run and the hills. Excuses, excuses.
We'll see what this week has in store for me. I feel good!
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