Life / Race report

noisycricket April 27, 2018

Sometimes the things you need to do get in the way of the things you want to do. That is partly what this is about though, the struggles of daily life intertwined with high expectations and goals.

I’ve been trying to sit down and write a race report all week but instead I have spent Sunday through to today prepping, painting, purchasing supplies, and scheduling installations for a bathroom remodel. I had one have everything ready for tile by Wednesday and until Sunday I had been spending all my extra time training and prepping for race day. After Saturday I spent every bit of my free time taping, mudding and painting. I really hate taping. Almost as much as I hate mudding.

The tile installers have made short work of the job and will be done today. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything close to the same quality in quadruple the time. I am still waiting on a vanity to arrive and be installed before the plumbing can be finished. Then I can finally use my bathroom again! Remodeling is the best. On to a race recap.

I slept absolutely terrible the night before. I know, who sleeps well before a race? I may have gotten a total of 3 hours, maybe. Not the best way to start out the day. I really need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. One of the most stressful parts of racing (for me) is all the logistics of getting to the start line. For this race it meant leaving early enough to find a parking spot downtown with plenty of extra time to catch a train to the start. Since the majority of runners catch the train you need to make sure you have time to spare in the event you have to wait a few trains before there is space available. This morning everything went really smoothly. I found a parking spot easily and was able to catch the first train within minutes of arriving at the station. I even ran into a friend from elementary school on the train. I got to the start with just enough time to make that last bathroom break, warmup a little and drop off my gear bag.

The first 2 miles of this race have 3 short punchy climbs and one steep decent. I stayed fairly conservative on the climbs and let it fly on the decent. Once I hit the top of the last short climb I tried to settle into a good pace and get into a nice rhythm. For the most part I felt good the entire race. Despite the lack of sleep I felt strong and I was able to hold my goal pace pretty easily. I never felt stretched or outside myself which is both good and bad. Good in that my run fitness is strong and I am getting faster. Bad in that it probably means I didn’t push as hard as I could have. I finished strong and hit a 2 minute PR on this course. I am very happy with the result but I can’t help wonder if (and how much) I could have pushed harder. There is only one way to find out. I think I need to race more and test pushing the pace early rather than being conservative. Racing “Prefontaine style” is a good way to test your limits. Both psychically and mentally. Time to channel my inner Pre.

Ragnar recap

noisycricket April 13, 2018

A short race recap for now. If I get some time I will expand on the race weekend but for now, Ragnar was absolutely amazing! This is the third year I have made the trip to Southern California to run with the Endurance Planet Ragnar team. Every year has been a blast and this year was no different.

Their initial plan was to have a standard team and an an ultra team. I was signed up for the ultra team. Due to a few last minute cancellations the ultra team was cancelled and they kept the standard team. 

One of the reasons I love running with this team is that there are no expectations for pace or placement but everyone pushes themselves to their absolute limit. 

Our first runner went out fast and that set the tone for the rest of the race, as usual. Everyone beat their expected times and we finished with an Endurance Planet best time of 23 hours and 42 minutes. I’ve run Ragnar here in Utah quite a few times and of course run 2 previous time in Southern California with this team but this is the first time I have been on a team that went under 24 hours. It was so much fun! I have to say it was really nice starting at noon and finishing in time for lunch. There wasn’t much time to sleep but it was all worth it.

Back on track

noisycricket April 3, 2018

After the small set back last week, this week went much much better. All swelling and tenderness in my left foot has completely gone. Stress? Perhaps meditation or some other type of stress relief is something I need to explore perhaps. 

I ended up with about 25 miles of running – with a bit of speed thrown in, 50 miles on the bike and a few thousand meters of swimming as I prep for Ragnar SoCal and the Salt Lake Half Marathon. My training is a bit light in regards to biking and swimming until after these two run races but the build for my first 70.3 of the season will start pretty soon.

Weightlifting is also back into the schedule. After a month of one session per week I’m back to two per week and hope to add one or two more strength days into the mix. I’m not sure how I’ll fit it all in but I am sure there is a way.

False start

noisycricket March 28, 2018

This last week felt a bit like a false start. Initially it started out really well. A nice race simulation on Sunday, a solid bike and swim session on Monday, then a tempo run on Tuesday in which I felt great. Wednesday, however, I woke up to a swollen left foot and had to put on the brakes.

My immediate thought was a stress fracture but swimming, biking, walking, running, and even lifting all felt fine. No real pain at all, just swelling, a bit of a bruise, and some tenderness where the bruise was. I set up a doctor’s appointment and dropped all remaining running for the week just to be safe.

The diagnosis was a small sist on the top of my foot. The recommended treatment… nothing. I was a bit overly paranoid I guess but it’s better to be safe.

I participated in a short virtual bike race over the weekend but otherwise I spent the weekend relaxing and trying to reset. This week it’s back to a normal lifting schedule and back to race prep. We will see what this week brings.

Getting started

noisycricket March 19, 2018

The challenge; to be competitive at the national level in two absolutely unrelated sports, the 70.3 distance triathlon and Olympic weightlifting.

I have no delusions of grandeur here, well maybe a little, but I know it’s unrealistic to think I can compete at the elite level in both sports at the same time. My goal is simply to be competitive. If being an athlete was my full time job then sure, why the hell not go all in? But as an amateur athlete with a full time job and the hope of retaining some sort of life outside of sport, can it be done?

My primary goal is to qualify for the 2019 IROMAN 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France. My secondary goal is to qualify for the USA Masters American Open Championships in the 40-44 62 kg weight class. Most likely in 2019 as well.

There is pretty much no crossover between these two sports and arguably each sport hurts the other. The only benefit I can see is that endurance sports might help me stay in the 62 kg weight class as I get stronger. I am right on the edge of a ‘heavy’ 62 kg lifter and a very light 69 kg lifter so that’ll be important. We’ll have to see how that shakes out as the year progresses.

More about, well everything, later. Where I am right now in both sports. Where I need to be. What my weekly schedule will look like. What my nutrition will look like. A lot of details to figure out but for now, let the journey begin!

Did I really just say journey? Strike that. Let the planning, training, and competing begin!