I’ve Said It Once and I’ll Say It Again…

I love race week! Chattanooga Waterfront is this weekend (1.5k swim/42k bike/10k run). Training has been pretty good. I’ve missed a couple of workouts, but I feel strong in the water and on the bike and somewhat strong on the run. I got my new tri top and shorts. I feel pretty fast in them. I haven’t swum in the top , but it fits a little snugger than my black top so it should be good in the water. The run is with the current so swim times tend to be a little skewed. The bike course is a bunch of hills but nothing too steep, just long inclines which tend to wear you out and test your legs on the run. The run course is crazy flat except for two flights of stairs (cruel aren’t they) you have to go up and down at mile 1 and 5. It should be a fun race as long as it’s not too hot. I’m afraid that the heat index is going to stay near 100 which is gonna suck come the run. Regardless of the weather, I should be able to beat last years time of 4:11:48 (sloowww). My goal is sub 3hr. I might have a chance to qualify for the USAT Nationals with this race. Spots are given to the top 5 or 33% (whichever is greater). We will see. I’ll try and get a post up after the race to let you know the results then a race report will follow next week. MH will probably tweet as the race goes on so if you’re curious as to how it’s going, give her a follow.

There’s so much to do before we head up there. Clean my bike, get all my gear together, pack our other stuff, cut the grass, and on and on. Have a great weekend!

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Dadadadadada” ~Lucas

Good couple of weeks

Well, the past two weeks have been ok. I’m still struggling trying to fit all of my training in during the week. It’s funny…if it’s not something at home (broken A/C, broken garage door) it’s something at work. I keep on having to make up time at work because of stuff at home and doctor’s visits…oh well. I had my last OrthoVisc shot on Tuesday. No lie, this one hurt. Bending my knee right after the shot hurt like hell too. Sophia was a little concerned b/c the pain is suppose to be less as you do the second and third shots. I laid off the high impact running this week. I did manage to get a nice long ride in on Saturday. I headed out to Anniston to ride on the Ladiga Trail. I rode a few miles past the state line and back for a total of 81 miles. I felt pretty good. I was ready to be done by the time I hit mile 60 though.
I did go test ride my (ok so one day it will by mine) new tri-bike. The setup was super aggressive when compared to my road bike, but it was comfortable. It was also crazy fast. You drop onto the aero bars start hammering away and you are gone! Fingers are crossed that everything will work out so I can get it sometime in August. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much; taking it for a spin did not help one bit.
I’m looking at changing up my race schedule. I’ll have it posted sometime this week. I’m going to add a few more Olympic distance races maybe a century ride or two over July and August.
New Gear! Gonna be ordering a new tri-top and tri-shorts soon. Hopefully I’ll have them for Chattanooga. My black top isn’t very “stand out” in the field. I think that these will help MH and the fam spot me.


FYI…loving the World Cup. Big names getting beat and not advancing eehhmm..Italy. Dramatic finishes and controversies…refs are sucking. If the USA hosts the games in 2014, I told MH that I was going to take a month off to go watch the games. She didn’t respond…I think that means yes! It was a heartbreaker to lose on Saturday. Too many missed opportunities. It was a good tournament. They should hold their heads high.

Eric’s Clip of the Day: This is from a bar in Seattle. They are huge soccer fans/MLS supporters in that area. This was when Donovan struck the game winning shot against Algeria. USA! USA! USA!

Buster Britton Race Report

Well another race in the books. I didn’t meet my goal, but I still had an awesome time and I managed to shave some time off from last year (big plus is that last year’s swim course was shorter).

Pre-Race
Up at 415 to get the blood pumping. Drank some coffee, cooked some breakfast and ate (turkey sausage & watermelon). Got everything loaded up in the Acadia. Put on my race garb, kissed the wife and kid, and hit the road. I took an apple and a bottle of diluted gatorade with me to have between now and the race. I rolled into the park around 6:10 b/c there was a butt-ton of traffic heading into the park. I aired up my tires, and started on the walk to transition. One of my buddies from Masters was there helping out with body marking so we chatted it up as I got inked (#456). I headed back to my rack at the end of tranision. Since I lollygagged and didn’t register until the night before the race, I was stuck at the back of the pack. Up until the Wed before the race, your race number is assigned based on your estimated swim time. Turned out to be ok, several of my friends were procrastinators too so we were all in the last rack of transition. Everything was set up and all that was left was waiting. I hung out with some friends and then went to track down the fam. MH, Lucas, Mom, Mo, and Jackson had come out to cheer me on this morning. We talked for a bit and then I headed onto the beach to wait on my turn to start. The race started around 730, those of us at the back got to go about 30 minutes later.

The Swim (400yd)
The water was almost warm this morning. I ran until it was about mid thigh deep and then dove on in. It was way crowded in the water. I never was able to find any clean water for an extended amount of time. I was weaving in and out…getting kicked in the shoulder and leg by people doing the breast stroke and some sort of weird back/side stroke. I kept grabbing so much butt and leg it was crazy. I was pleased with this swim. It was one of my better open water swims. I sighted well and didn’t swim off course at all. I really tried to hug the inside and turn tight at the buoys. I made the last turn and tried to pull just a little harder. Once I could see the lake bottom clearly, I stood up and started on my jog to transition. 8:36 rank 5/16 (last year 7:04-shorter swim rank 11/14)

T1
It’s a good little jog into transition from the lake. Being on the last rack made it easy to find my bike. On with my helmet, shoes, & glasses, and off to the mount line to start the bike. I felt like this was a pretty decent transition time given the distance you have to cover. 3:09 (last year 4:17)

The Bike (13 miles)
The bike started out good. I was able to get in a big gear early and pass the about 7 people before we turned onto the main road. I kept on pedaling and keeping an eye on my cadence. I tried to take in fluids on any descents. I passed a few more people on the climbs. I only got passed by a couple of folks by the time we reached the turn around. The ride back in has only 1 bad climb so once you hit it, you can really hammer it out. I passed a guy that had been playing leap frog since the first turnaround and left him behind. I hit the second turnaround by the pro-shop and headed back towards the lake. Once I got to the paddle boat area, I slipped my feet out of my shoes and tried to spin the rest of the way to loosen up my legs. I hopped off and headed on into transition. 46:26 rank 8/16 (last year 51:00 8/14)

T2
This was a pretty good transition. I racked my bike and dropped the helmet and glasses and grabbed my hat. I struggled getting socks and shoes on but still managed to get out onto the run in 1:43 (last year 2:42)

The Run
By this time, it was brutally hot out there. The first (and last) half mile are on this hot asphalt with not really any cover. Once you hit the treeline, the hills start coming. There is really only one “bad” hill, but the heat just really took it out of me today. I walked a little and then would run. My HR was a little out of control at this point. I could feel/hear it beating in my ears. I took a sip of water at the aid stations and poured the rest over my head. It was good idea at the time until I hit the turnaround and my shoes started squishing. Not sure if it was due to the water or the sweat. Probably a combo of the two. Once I hit the “bad” hill on the return trip, I picked up the pace a little bit. I hit the treeline and started pounding that asphalt with the sun beaming down. I made the turn into the finishers shoot and crossed the final timing mat. 35:34 15/16 (last year 39:08 13/14)

Final time of 1:35:26 was good enough for 11/16. I improved in all aspects of the race. I was happy with my swim and bike. If I could just get my run upto par, I would be happy. It’s pretty easy to see when you look at my ranking in each discipline which one limits me the most. I’ve got two more injections and a couple of weeks of PT left. Then I have got to start getting faster on the run. Florida is creeping up. It’s the run that will determine if I’m going to meet/beat my time goal. 26.2 miles is tough enough let alone when you put it after 112 miles on the bike and 2.4 miles in the gulf. I don’t need to make it any harder.

Quick shoutouts to a few of my friends that tore it up at Buster Britton…(as though they actually read this)
Julie for finishing 3rd female overall and 1st alabama female for best of the USA Amateurs
Laurie for finishing 2nd in her age group
Amanda for finishing 1st in her age group after taking off from triathlon for 2 years

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “I'm so hungry my stomach thinks my throat's been cut"~Dad