As I close out 2010 today, I decided to make a list of the great memories! I could do negative but who the hell cares about negatives....So here is a list of some of the best things that happen in 2 O Ten.
1. I became a runner, I couldn't' even run 2 miles without dying a years ago.
2. Raced in my first 5k and 10k
3. Completely 4 Sprint Triathlon and 1 Olympic Distance one.
4. Had the best birthday gift ever when my friends surprised me by showing up to a race and for dinner.
5. Lead two awesome small groups called Dirty Chai and Time Out.
6. Learned how to handle conflict with a Christlikeness manner.
7. Grew close to a real Christian community
8. Learned about how to Glorify God and what that looks like and means.
9. Had a fulltime job with Joseph Construction where I had many great stories.
10. Learned how to truly have good heart to heart conversations and not put any walls up.
11. Graduated college with a degree in Civil Engineering.
12. Passed my Fundamental Engineering Exam.
13. Got a full time engineering job even before graduating (God truly blessed me with that).
14. Moved off campus and established a life independent from parents.
15. After 4 months of liking Kelly, finally asked her out on a date.
16. Started my first serious relationship with Kelly and learning to make it all about Christ
17. Learned how to relate my life for running/triathlons to a relationship with Christ.
18. Learned how much I love and need God's Grace.
19. Learned that its ok to be a silent leader.
20. Learned I love working with Middle Schooler because I got to coach a Cross Country team.
21. Learning to Love Christ first, not your self, your relationships, your possessions or your job.
Those are some of the highlights of 2010, I could talk for hours about each one, and I know I have many more. Now here are a couple things I would love to accomplish for 2011!!!
1. Love Christ first and everything else second.
2. Using running/triathlons to proclaim Christ's name.
3. Get more of my friends into running.
4. Complete my first Half Ironman 70.3
5. Keep pursuing Kelly like the first date we had, and keep pursuing the relationship with Christ first.
6. Become more confident in leading a bible study.
7. Continue to be a hard worker and do the best I can at Geos!
8. Be smart about my finances and save money for big purchases.
9. Be a better friend, boyfriend, son, brother and roommate.
10. Weekly remember how important it is to have intentional conversations.
So excited for 2011, a couple years ago when I worked for Young Life I truly thought the best seasons of my life were over. But I hadn't experience 2010 yet. This past year has truly been the best year of my life, and I can't wait for next year.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The Seasons are Changing
It seems to be a trend I blog every two weeks. The past two weeks have been crazy. Its been the perfect amount of time before I start my new job on Monday at Geo Services. I'm glad to jump right into the working world, God could have not blessed me any more. Its bad to say, but I now just feel like something bad will happen with all this good luck I am having.
Graduation was low key. I truly was not affected by it at all until the moment we moved our tassels from the right to left. I will even go ahead and admit I did shed at tear at that point. I was turning my back and walking out the door of the University of Tennessee with my head held high ready the conquer the working field. I do feel like UT prepared me well for my first day on the job, but I also know I'm leaving with a lot to learn. I'm leaving with lots of great memories of study parties with friends and classmates, I'm leaving weeks where I've been in tears cause of stress, and I'm leaving a university that I'm proud to be an alumni of. I jokingly like to say "I can't believe the let me graduate" I think its funny to say, and the truth is I couldn't have done any of this without the help and support of my friends...especially these past two years where I have really learned what a Christian community is.
Here is a great shot of my family post commencement.
Since graduation pretty much the only other thing I've been doing is Christmas shopping and hanging out with my lovely girlfriend, Kelly. While I'm graduating and going to work she's doing the opposite and going to get her masters. I'm super excited for her to do this and go be a teacher for elementary school kiddos. With such big changes in seasons for both of us its pretty obvious we won't see each other as much. Which leads into why its been so much fun the past month, we've gone on tons of dates to squeeze what time we have together. We've had double dates, surprise dates(it failed, my surprise date was closed), we've had sunrise dates, dates where the parents meet and so much more. It was fun to see the parents have so much fun together, I think we were both shocked how well they got along. Here are some pictures of some of the fun dates we had. These are in no particular order.
Max Patch Sunrise Hike....1 out of the 4 times you'll see Kelly up before 6. And for just rolling out of bed she still looks beautiful.
Following that date we hung Christmas lights (She likes this picture cause I'm using my tool holder in my carhartts)
We also had a blast on a double date with Krista and AJ Babel that I love getting to hang out with!!!
We also went to Grandfather mountian in October with her parents where we just acted goofy the whole time.
Graduation was low key. I truly was not affected by it at all until the moment we moved our tassels from the right to left. I will even go ahead and admit I did shed at tear at that point. I was turning my back and walking out the door of the University of Tennessee with my head held high ready the conquer the working field. I do feel like UT prepared me well for my first day on the job, but I also know I'm leaving with a lot to learn. I'm leaving with lots of great memories of study parties with friends and classmates, I'm leaving weeks where I've been in tears cause of stress, and I'm leaving a university that I'm proud to be an alumni of. I jokingly like to say "I can't believe the let me graduate" I think its funny to say, and the truth is I couldn't have done any of this without the help and support of my friends...especially these past two years where I have really learned what a Christian community is.
Here is a great shot of my family post commencement.
Since graduation pretty much the only other thing I've been doing is Christmas shopping and hanging out with my lovely girlfriend, Kelly. While I'm graduating and going to work she's doing the opposite and going to get her masters. I'm super excited for her to do this and go be a teacher for elementary school kiddos. With such big changes in seasons for both of us its pretty obvious we won't see each other as much. Which leads into why its been so much fun the past month, we've gone on tons of dates to squeeze what time we have together. We've had double dates, surprise dates(it failed, my surprise date was closed), we've had sunrise dates, dates where the parents meet and so much more. It was fun to see the parents have so much fun together, I think we were both shocked how well they got along. Here are some pictures of some of the fun dates we had. These are in no particular order.
Max Patch Sunrise Hike....1 out of the 4 times you'll see Kelly up before 6. And for just rolling out of bed she still looks beautiful.
Following that date we hung Christmas lights (She likes this picture cause I'm using my tool holder in my carhartts)
We also had a blast on a double date with Krista and AJ Babel that I love getting to hang out with!!!
We also went to Grandfather mountian in October with her parents where we just acted goofy the whole time.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Knoxville Marathon Relay - HoRay
You might be included in this post!!!
So lately I have become super duper excited about next years races. I'm pumped to start training again in January for Rev3 70.3 and other various races. One of my favorite races last year was the Knoxville Marathon. I literally only had been running probably 2 months when I ran the Knoxville Marathon Relay with Team Dirty Chai. This year I can't wait to do it again, I've started recruitmented people as of a couple weeks ago. My goal was to get two teams together for the 2011 race. Needless so say I want more a of a challenge, my goal now is to get 3 teams from the Thursday Night college group named Time Out. At the top of my list of people to get is:
Sam, Kendel, Melissa, Jaylin, Merrick, Stephen, Seth, Myself, JC, Chelsea P., Bobby, Clay and anybody else...maybe go to 4 teams!!!
** Please Add Patrick and Tim to the list too
This is the start of my list of people to nag into doing it haha. I think it would be tons of fun to do this many teams!!! Basically if you told you me you've run before I selected you to try and convince you to do it.
No matter how fast you are, how many miles a week you run, or how many races you've done you're a runner. If you've been doing it for 7 years or today is your first day running, you're a runner.
My word of encouragement to people is give it a try, last February I couldn't even run a mile when out almost killing over. But this summer I accomplished one of the most fun things of my life yet, an Olympic triathlon. So don't doubt yourself if you think you can't do it. I know you can! I know I haven't been running more than a year, but would love to help set up a group to train for the marathon relay. Running to me is a passion, its a way I find to Glorify God and find strength in Him when nothing else is left in me to give!
Hebrews 12:1 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us.
So lately I have become super duper excited about next years races. I'm pumped to start training again in January for Rev3 70.3 and other various races. One of my favorite races last year was the Knoxville Marathon. I literally only had been running probably 2 months when I ran the Knoxville Marathon Relay with Team Dirty Chai. This year I can't wait to do it again, I've started recruitmented people as of a couple weeks ago. My goal was to get two teams together for the 2011 race. Needless so say I want more a of a challenge, my goal now is to get 3 teams from the Thursday Night college group named Time Out. At the top of my list of people to get is:
Sam, Kendel, Melissa, Jaylin, Merrick, Stephen, Seth, Myself, JC, Chelsea P., Bobby, Clay and anybody else...maybe go to 4 teams!!!
** Please Add Patrick and Tim to the list too
This is the start of my list of people to nag into doing it haha. I think it would be tons of fun to do this many teams!!! Basically if you told you me you've run before I selected you to try and convince you to do it.
No matter how fast you are, how many miles a week you run, or how many races you've done you're a runner. If you've been doing it for 7 years or today is your first day running, you're a runner.
My word of encouragement to people is give it a try, last February I couldn't even run a mile when out almost killing over. But this summer I accomplished one of the most fun things of my life yet, an Olympic triathlon. So don't doubt yourself if you think you can't do it. I know you can! I know I haven't been running more than a year, but would love to help set up a group to train for the marathon relay. Running to me is a passion, its a way I find to Glorify God and find strength in Him when nothing else is left in me to give!
Hebrews 12:1 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Last Week of My Edumication
As I'm about to start my last week of school I'm seeing that, 1. I'm extremely blessed, and 2. Everything is about to change. I had my 2nd interview on Wednesday and I'm glad to say that the job sounds pretty good. I would love to work for this company, it really is a perfect fit for me. Its here in Knoxville, and the way business is going, it has great potential to grow. I hope to hear something from them early this week. I hope they weren't pulling my leg, but the way they talked to me it sounded likely they were sending me a job offer.
I have realized that this opportunity is truly a blessing. This weekend I've noticed how much God has given me, he's truly blessed me with everything. I have amazing friends that when I truly suck at life, like last week, they still love me. I have a great family that's always supported me and loves me. I have a great girlfriend that is always on the same page as me, I have a job possibility that I do not deserve, and I have a Lord and Savior that saved me from death and I know I don't deserve that either.
I have to say this weekend was full of a lot of conversations that were meaningful. I had very intentional conversations with both my parents. Its started to hit me that in the next month I will be on my own and paying for everything on my own. Some my run away from this, but it gets me excited. I made a budget this weekend and I really enjoyed it to be honest! I'm just praying that God gives me the opportunity to work with this company I interviewed with and start this new chapter in my life and see what God teaches me.
I have realized that this opportunity is truly a blessing. This weekend I've noticed how much God has given me, he's truly blessed me with everything. I have amazing friends that when I truly suck at life, like last week, they still love me. I have a great family that's always supported me and loves me. I have a great girlfriend that is always on the same page as me, I have a job possibility that I do not deserve, and I have a Lord and Savior that saved me from death and I know I don't deserve that either.
I have to say this weekend was full of a lot of conversations that were meaningful. I had very intentional conversations with both my parents. Its started to hit me that in the next month I will be on my own and paying for everything on my own. Some my run away from this, but it gets me excited. I made a budget this weekend and I really enjoyed it to be honest! I'm just praying that God gives me the opportunity to work with this company I interviewed with and start this new chapter in my life and see what God teaches me.
Monday, November 15, 2010
"Hide yo kids Hide yo wife"
If you really knew me you'd know I really desire to be a creative talented person...but I can't...I wish I could sing, but I can't, wish I could dance, but I can't, which I could act but I can't. (If Jillian Michaels heard all those "can'ts" she would probably make me cry :/) Most of my ideas and desires come from some kind of viral video and it gets me thinking "oooo Woww" I wish I had those skills.
This morning I saw some acepella videos that were created by one guy, Mike Tompkins. My sudden obsession with aceplla may or may not be because of Glee. Well the cool part is, technologically, I have the skills to make the videos just not the talent to sing them :(. Here are some examples of what he's done.
This is the one they featured this morning on the Today Show.
And after that they showed how the anchors produced their own. I feel after seeing the whole feature story and listening to Ann, Al's and Matt's original voices I may have a shot at doing one. This is what they produced below, keep in mind they showed the raw clips during the feature and none could carry a tune, so there is hope for me.
If you really knew me you'd know I get inspired by projects like this and will think about them for days, or nights, or months. I don't want my video to be viral to become famous or friends to be impressed, but I think its so cool to take raw footage/audio and create something cool out of it. I did it with Young Life some in 2009. This is what I made for my Summer Staffers last year!
Like I said I love doing this stuff, wish I was better at it cause I know some people that are far better at all of this than me. There are a ton of videos cause I just learned how to post them haha!!!
This morning I saw some acepella videos that were created by one guy, Mike Tompkins. My sudden obsession with aceplla may or may not be because of Glee. Well the cool part is, technologically, I have the skills to make the videos just not the talent to sing them :(. Here are some examples of what he's done.
This is the one they featured this morning on the Today Show.
And after that they showed how the anchors produced their own. I feel after seeing the whole feature story and listening to Ann, Al's and Matt's original voices I may have a shot at doing one. This is what they produced below, keep in mind they showed the raw clips during the feature and none could carry a tune, so there is hope for me.
If you really knew me you'd know I get inspired by projects like this and will think about them for days, or nights, or months. I don't want my video to be viral to become famous or friends to be impressed, but I think its so cool to take raw footage/audio and create something cool out of it. I did it with Young Life some in 2009. This is what I made for my Summer Staffers last year!
Like I said I love doing this stuff, wish I was better at it cause I know some people that are far better at all of this than me. There are a ton of videos cause I just learned how to post them haha!!!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Well I Survived
Let me tell you...taking an 8 hour test is not my idea of fun. Granted the afternoon session was a little more enjoyable but that's because it was Civil Engineering based. The morning session of my test was a nightmare..well not really I just felt dumb on the stuff I did not know. I basically got 80% done with the test and hit the Electricity and Thermodynamics part when my brain went fried. I just remember putting my hand on my face and taking a deep breath cause I was done, I just kept pushing through through so I could enjoy my lunch.
I was so greatful when we were done with the morning session, it was pleasent to go outside get some free Lenny's Subs and also see that all my other engineering friends were there that weren't even taking the test. It was great to talk to them and laugh a lot before the afternoon session. The afternoon session was great...I even finished early!
Now that the test is all done I feel that graduation is in sight. I have applied for grad school and now I'm just waiting to take the GRE...drain...another standardized test. I would perfer not to go to grad school, but at the same time I would love to learn more about Geotech engingeering. I'm hoping I can land a job in the next couple of weeks and I might have a chance, I have an interview with a company here i Knoxville that does work in East Tennessee HURRAYY, I would get to stay in Knoxville.
Overall things are going great I'd say. I'm having tons of fun in life, God is teaching me amazing things in my quiet times, and I'm just growing up in general into a big kid haha. I hope God continues to provide these blessings for me. Well I'm off to Rock the Vote!
I was so greatful when we were done with the morning session, it was pleasent to go outside get some free Lenny's Subs and also see that all my other engineering friends were there that weren't even taking the test. It was great to talk to them and laugh a lot before the afternoon session. The afternoon session was great...I even finished early!
Now that the test is all done I feel that graduation is in sight. I have applied for grad school and now I'm just waiting to take the GRE...drain...another standardized test. I would perfer not to go to grad school, but at the same time I would love to learn more about Geotech engingeering. I'm hoping I can land a job in the next couple of weeks and I might have a chance, I have an interview with a company here i Knoxville that does work in East Tennessee HURRAYY, I would get to stay in Knoxville.
Overall things are going great I'd say. I'm having tons of fun in life, God is teaching me amazing things in my quiet times, and I'm just growing up in general into a big kid haha. I hope God continues to provide these blessings for me. Well I'm off to Rock the Vote!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Crunch Time
Well the day is getting closer and closer untill I can walk away from my FE test and not have to worry about it ever again. I've spent the better part of 2 weeks really studying for this test, and with two offical practice tests down and about a bagillion practice problems I feel ready enough to pass it yippie!
It just stinks that it also falls on the week from hell with school. An Acccounting test, paper and lab report all due in the next couple of days. I do find myself being unproductive lately though, but once things get with in the 24 hour crunch I really kick it into gear, with that said tonight may be a very late night...we'll see. Once I'm out of Lab next Tuesday I'll be home free. My treat that night is I get to go to some pizza place in Kingsport with my girlfriend, Kelly, and her family. She claims its the best pizza in the world....we'll see though, I'm a little skeptical. They probably put crack in it and thats what keeps people coming back...thats just my hypothesis we'll see come next Tuesday.
I haven't had much time to do anything else but school and work though. I wish I could be out running and probably had the time to do it yesterday, but I didn't want to risk getting blown away. Knoxville has had some pretty crazy weather the past few days. I love it...if you really knew me you'd know I love Thunderstorms! In fact one of my favorite shows comes on tonight featureing Reed Timmer and his Dominator vehicle...Its called Storm Chasers, sounds intense eh! What is the Dominator you ask...oh just a supped up Ford Explorer with body armor that can drive through a tornado..yeah no biggie. We'll see how they do this year, last year they intercepted one tornado, unfortunately the Dominator v1.0 had a window blown out and Reed and his crew suffered some cuts and bruises. This year it should be different though.
On a serious note...not that tornados aren't...they are! I finished my month long secular music fast. As I was getting to the last week of it I couldn't wait for it to be over, I had seen how God really changed things in my just like my concious when driving. With the change in music I have become a much calmer person...which is hard to believe since I'm quiet as is haha. I think that was the change that I thought Pinkner meant when he said doing a month long secular music fast will change your life. I was excited to turn back on some of my favorite non Christian artists like Matthew Perrryman Jones, Nickel Creek, Eddie Vedder and Ray Lamontagne (I called me Ray Lamontague for probably a year oops...I may have just learned that last month). Well....when Monday came around and I started going through Knoxville's secular stations I just got very disturbed...all that music that I enjoyed listening to a month ago, I couldn't stand anymore. I used to love the music style and beats of those songs, but now I pay attention to the lyrics a little more and I can't even get through a song because I'm so discusted by the raunchiness of the lyrics. God has really changed my heart through this and allowed me to cut out some of the more unpure things in my life that I never really thought affected me. I'm thinking Glee might have to be cut out next..kidding.
Well tomorrow night is my accounting test and I have 20 mins of some study time before I partake in some exam for UT in my Senior Design class...Who knows what is on...I think its basically a survey. I think A sounds like a good answer for everything!
It just stinks that it also falls on the week from hell with school. An Acccounting test, paper and lab report all due in the next couple of days. I do find myself being unproductive lately though, but once things get with in the 24 hour crunch I really kick it into gear, with that said tonight may be a very late night...we'll see. Once I'm out of Lab next Tuesday I'll be home free. My treat that night is I get to go to some pizza place in Kingsport with my girlfriend, Kelly, and her family. She claims its the best pizza in the world....we'll see though, I'm a little skeptical. They probably put crack in it and thats what keeps people coming back...thats just my hypothesis we'll see come next Tuesday.
I haven't had much time to do anything else but school and work though. I wish I could be out running and probably had the time to do it yesterday, but I didn't want to risk getting blown away. Knoxville has had some pretty crazy weather the past few days. I love it...if you really knew me you'd know I love Thunderstorms! In fact one of my favorite shows comes on tonight featureing Reed Timmer and his Dominator vehicle...Its called Storm Chasers, sounds intense eh! What is the Dominator you ask...oh just a supped up Ford Explorer with body armor that can drive through a tornado..yeah no biggie. We'll see how they do this year, last year they intercepted one tornado, unfortunately the Dominator v1.0 had a window blown out and Reed and his crew suffered some cuts and bruises. This year it should be different though.
On a serious note...not that tornados aren't...they are! I finished my month long secular music fast. As I was getting to the last week of it I couldn't wait for it to be over, I had seen how God really changed things in my just like my concious when driving. With the change in music I have become a much calmer person...which is hard to believe since I'm quiet as is haha. I think that was the change that I thought Pinkner meant when he said doing a month long secular music fast will change your life. I was excited to turn back on some of my favorite non Christian artists like Matthew Perrryman Jones, Nickel Creek, Eddie Vedder and Ray Lamontagne (I called me Ray Lamontague for probably a year oops...I may have just learned that last month). Well....when Monday came around and I started going through Knoxville's secular stations I just got very disturbed...all that music that I enjoyed listening to a month ago, I couldn't stand anymore. I used to love the music style and beats of those songs, but now I pay attention to the lyrics a little more and I can't even get through a song because I'm so discusted by the raunchiness of the lyrics. God has really changed my heart through this and allowed me to cut out some of the more unpure things in my life that I never really thought affected me. I'm thinking Glee might have to be cut out next..kidding.
Well tomorrow night is my accounting test and I have 20 mins of some study time before I partake in some exam for UT in my Senior Design class...Who knows what is on...I think its basically a survey. I think A sounds like a good answer for everything!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Friday Night Lights
Well my test is 17 days away and the days are going by fast. I've started crunching for the practice tests next week. Prior to this week I had been freaking out about how much there is to do but lately I've just been able to take it one subject at a time and its been much less stressful. Part of my strategy is to treat this studying as a job...easier said than done though. I do great studying in the morning and and late at night but mid afternoons study sessions are rough...like right now! I should be studying but I'm sitting with Corey watching Friday Night Lights. Which is far better than studying! (I'm getting yelled at right now by Sam via facebook chat for not studying haha)
I have to say this show has become one of my top shows. I usually don't care for dramas like this show but the videography, the script and character development roles are amazing. Its sad to admit but when I watch this show it really brings me into it...I get super excited when there are reasons to celebrate and I get really upset when things are sad. I call that a successful show.
In Triathlon news! I ordered my first two magazine subscriptions Running Times and Triathlete Magazine. I hope I get a lot out of them...I've never really read either but I'm sure I'll learn something. I know I like Running Times cause they ran articles about Ryan Hall and his faith which was awesome, and changed my whole view on running. Random fact: After that day I read it I emailed him and he actually responded back! Yes be jealous!
Other random news I started cooking again. And No I have not had to call the fire department! So far I'm 2/2 on successful recipes last week. I'm excited to cook again this week, now I just have to find the time. Well I think i better get back to studying before Sam yells at me again :) via facebook chat.
I have to say this show has become one of my top shows. I usually don't care for dramas like this show but the videography, the script and character development roles are amazing. Its sad to admit but when I watch this show it really brings me into it...I get super excited when there are reasons to celebrate and I get really upset when things are sad. I call that a successful show.
In Triathlon news! I ordered my first two magazine subscriptions Running Times and Triathlete Magazine. I hope I get a lot out of them...I've never really read either but I'm sure I'll learn something. I know I like Running Times cause they ran articles about Ryan Hall and his faith which was awesome, and changed my whole view on running. Random fact: After that day I read it I emailed him and he actually responded back! Yes be jealous!
Other random news I started cooking again. And No I have not had to call the fire department! So far I'm 2/2 on successful recipes last week. I'm excited to cook again this week, now I just have to find the time. Well I think i better get back to studying before Sam yells at me again :) via facebook chat.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Creeper Trail
Well it wasn't training but it was tons of fun on a bike for 17 miles. Yesterday we took a group of to do the Virgina Creeper Trail...let me just tell you I've never planned so much for something that took only 4 hours haha. It was frustrating at times but in the end it was a blast. We got a very late start due to Sam's work schedule but it worked out great, Kelly had made reservations at 4 and we got there right before then. The group was large, 10 to be exact, and it was a logistical nightmare to get 10 bikes up but it was worth it. I should probably just go into logistics cause in the end it worked out early. We finished the trail just...I mean just as it got dark. It was a great way to spend the afternoon outside. I looked back at our pictures on facebook and I realized how time truly flew by, but I remember it being so much fun. The whole trip to Kingsport and Damascus was fun in general though from arriving at the Y and joking around to getting back to church to hear about Joel's bike falling off the back of Clay's car. Ah such a funny story although I kept giggling in church a whole lot haha, I wish we were behind them when it happened cause it'd be so funny. It was fun getting to hang out at the Fairweather's house too, dang when we come to Kingsport they never let us go hungry! They weren't even there but still had food waiting for us. When I was a kid I would get really bored at places that weren't Knoxville, but lately the past years I've grown to love smaller cities, I love having the feeling of getting away from the business of Knoxville life. Just like the brewery trip this summer it wasn't the actual destination that was the most fun it was the trip as a whole, you always end up having great stories. I can't wait to do the Virgina Creeper again...its a great day trip or even one night trip. Since this is a tri blog eh...somewhat I might as well throw in some future training. In the future I would love to try it as a brick workout of some sort, maybe bike up the mountain then run down it, or try the whole thing to Abington...ok thats my tri insert for this blog. Done!
Oh yeah late update: I've decided that anybody that goes on the Creeper trail ends up getting some kind of diseases and you end up saying creepy things that can't be repeated...I'm just saying! So far I've seen 4 cases yesterday and today.
Oh yeah late update: I've decided that anybody that goes on the Creeper trail ends up getting some kind of diseases and you end up saying creepy things that can't be repeated...I'm just saying! So far I've seen 4 cases yesterday and today.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Anchor Splash Sprint
Today I got the pleasure in racing in what is probably my last sprint race of the season. Its been 5 weeks since I got to really be in a training schedule, so I didn't expect greatness, my time was eh alright, and my placing was eh alright. Going into the race I didn't really care for either. I just really enjoy doing it, and when you get to race for freeee what do you have to loose. In fact I don't even really care to give a detailed race review...The swim was great..didn't use too much energy, I did 300yards in 4:45 unfortunately thats the only stat I know. My bike was poor as usual, next season I really need to step this up. And my run, I ran into the same issue with my Lactate Thresold and I just felt terrible coming off the bike. As usual though once I got going and brought my LT down I picked up the pace and finished strong.
The New Race Day Events is great! I got the chance to help volunteer with them and I just really enjoyed working with everybody, I even got a part time job offer going to conferences and selling The Stick. Martin was right in his email...the new RDE is very relaxed and enjoyable. I'm excited to work with them again. This was a great event to get to know the TriVols, when you work with a group you really get to bond with them well and I made tons of new friends and training partners. It makes me really upset to know I'm graduating soon :(. Is it bad I want to do grad school just so I can race with TriVols? One of the best parts of the day was the fact Kelly came to watch the race, I get really excited when people come watch me. They could seriously be doing something so much more useful than waking up early; then they sit , wait, cheer (repeat x3). Just a great feeling. I think thats why I loved Panther Prowl so much and did so well.
As for whats next for races...I don't know I'm finding life to be super busy at least til October 30th. Its probably not wise for me to Tri train for Hickory Knob, but then whats the point of doing TriVols... however I'm called to be a student first and thats what I need to focus on. I am doing a Half Marathon in November...just found that out the conversation went like this Abby "Hey Andy want to do a half marathon, I need somebody to do it with, Paul's not doing it." Andy - "Yeah Sure"... yep thats how it went. So I'll change to more of a running work out probably which takes up less time. I really just want to finish, in the Spring I'll train more for that goal of mine to get sub 2 hour half. At the same time though I would like to do some training for the off season, I don't want to go hard though maybe a swim a week and a bike a week or even every other week. As for 2010 I think I'm calling it quits for this season, I felt overall it was a great season 5 races, 1 being Olympic!!! I still will post blogs, but more about life hopefully. In 2011 The only race I am going for right now is Rev3 which will be AWESOME, don't know if I'm going for the half or olympic yet though...we'll see.
Kelly and Me after the race
The New Race Day Events is great! I got the chance to help volunteer with them and I just really enjoyed working with everybody, I even got a part time job offer going to conferences and selling The Stick. Martin was right in his email...the new RDE is very relaxed and enjoyable. I'm excited to work with them again. This was a great event to get to know the TriVols, when you work with a group you really get to bond with them well and I made tons of new friends and training partners. It makes me really upset to know I'm graduating soon :(. Is it bad I want to do grad school just so I can race with TriVols? One of the best parts of the day was the fact Kelly came to watch the race, I get really excited when people come watch me. They could seriously be doing something so much more useful than waking up early; then they sit , wait, cheer (repeat x3). Just a great feeling. I think thats why I loved Panther Prowl so much and did so well.
As for whats next for races...I don't know I'm finding life to be super busy at least til October 30th. Its probably not wise for me to Tri train for Hickory Knob, but then whats the point of doing TriVols... however I'm called to be a student first and thats what I need to focus on. I am doing a Half Marathon in November...just found that out the conversation went like this Abby "Hey Andy want to do a half marathon, I need somebody to do it with, Paul's not doing it." Andy - "Yeah Sure"... yep thats how it went. So I'll change to more of a running work out probably which takes up less time. I really just want to finish, in the Spring I'll train more for that goal of mine to get sub 2 hour half. At the same time though I would like to do some training for the off season, I don't want to go hard though maybe a swim a week and a bike a week or even every other week. As for 2010 I think I'm calling it quits for this season, I felt overall it was a great season 5 races, 1 being Olympic!!! I still will post blogs, but more about life hopefully. In 2011 The only race I am going for right now is Rev3 which will be AWESOME, don't know if I'm going for the half or olympic yet though...we'll see.
Kelly and Me after the race
Monday, September 20, 2010
Things Are Changing
Its been a long time since I've posted something...honestly things have been crazy, but in a good way. The summer wrapped up great in terms of Triathlons, I finished 27th out of 250 in the Springbrook Sprint and got 3rd in my age group. The following weekend I raced in my goal race of the summer, my first Olympic Distance at Fall Creek Falls. It was so much fun, one of the best days of the summer. In fact that week following despite school starting was the best week of my summer just cause of a number of things going on in my life. Again the race was a blast, I destroyed my goal I had set. I told people I wanted to beat 3 hours, but secretly I wanted to get under 2:50:00...I ended up at 2:37:00...man what a great feeling. After reflecting on that race I realized I had truely had one of the best summers ever. God taught me so much through this training, working full time and having a community of believers.
The past month has been busy, I got to train somewhat but not Tri training specifically, mostly just running with Cross Country...New fun fact - I help coach a Cross Country team for Norwood Middle School - I have to say at first I was scared to death of middle schoolers for some weird reason, but I've grown to love working with them. Mallory has told me some conversations she has had in school with the students and how much the look up to me and enjoy me running with them, just hearing words like that makes me really excited and happy to be pouring out my new love for running.
My weeks are packed right up until October 30th, I'm counting down the days till then. That day is the day I take my Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. This test is BIG I have to review everything I studied the past four years...drain. It hit me hard yesterday that I really need to get going on studying so now I'm trying to set an hour aside each day. I don't want to be the 2 out of 30 students in my class that will fail. After school I'm still not sure what I'll be doing, most likely it will be Grad School or find a Geotech Job. I'm hoping the latter because I'm tired of school. Of Course although I'm tired of school I'm having a blast not having to work from 8 - 5.
Well this is enough for now, I just read somebody else's blog this morning and realized I'd forgot about updating mine. I should get back to studying FE stuff like Statistics. Caio
The past month has been busy, I got to train somewhat but not Tri training specifically, mostly just running with Cross Country...New fun fact - I help coach a Cross Country team for Norwood Middle School - I have to say at first I was scared to death of middle schoolers for some weird reason, but I've grown to love working with them. Mallory has told me some conversations she has had in school with the students and how much the look up to me and enjoy me running with them, just hearing words like that makes me really excited and happy to be pouring out my new love for running.
My weeks are packed right up until October 30th, I'm counting down the days till then. That day is the day I take my Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. This test is BIG I have to review everything I studied the past four years...drain. It hit me hard yesterday that I really need to get going on studying so now I'm trying to set an hour aside each day. I don't want to be the 2 out of 30 students in my class that will fail. After school I'm still not sure what I'll be doing, most likely it will be Grad School or find a Geotech Job. I'm hoping the latter because I'm tired of school. Of Course although I'm tired of school I'm having a blast not having to work from 8 - 5.
Well this is enough for now, I just read somebody else's blog this morning and realized I'd forgot about updating mine. I should get back to studying FE stuff like Statistics. Caio
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Psalm 37
So...I get to blog again today cause my job is doing nothing thus far this morning. I've been pretty productive: set up online giving, filled application for FE, written thank you notes, emailed peeps, and blogged!
If you've haven't picked up on my blog, faith is a big part of my triathlon experience. God has been a great "motivator" I guess you can say, and the reason I quotation that is cause it sounds cliche but I say that because I've lately seen the relationship between Christ and training. For example as hard as it is for me to get up at 5 in the morning and go swim, its just as hard to make sure every day I spend time with Jesus. In my head I know it will help me in the end, it plants a seed to grow. With both training and Jesus every time we do quiet time or workout we sometimes expect to learn something huge or accomplish a new goal. However most of the time its just planting a seed that will be a great harvest in the future. With so much going on at the beginning of the summer my quiet times quickly faded. And although life wasn't going bad, it wasn't like I was on cloud 9, I felt complacent, and that was the problem when in a relationship with God you never want that, and I knew I needed to get back on track and spend time with God daily. I knew I might not have a big ah ha moment everyday but I knew it was planting a seed.
I think what God as taught me the most this week is just to find ulimate joy in Him. We read Psalm 37 last night in Collegelife, which is one of my favorite Psalms, and it was great, it was a gentle reminder that I will be OK no matter what. What I must do is just find ultimate joy in Christ and put nothing else ahead of Him. But Gah that is so hard to do, I always want Christ and ... but that's my goal, to always LOVE Christ for what he's done for me, and just delight myself in Him, find joy in just Him and what he's given me. So many times we are caught up in theology and cross referencing the bible we forget the simplicity of God too. Sometimes we just need that rest in Him to get us going again, and that certianly has also been the case this week. I have enjoyed being able to be still and wait on God in his timing, I might have not been patient all the time, but I'm trying to trust God with all my heart even when it seems impossible, whether that be triathlon training or my life's circumstances.
Psalm 37
1 [a] Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever,
but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;
29 the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
seeking their very lives;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future [b] for the man of peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future [c] of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
If you've haven't picked up on my blog, faith is a big part of my triathlon experience. God has been a great "motivator" I guess you can say, and the reason I quotation that is cause it sounds cliche but I say that because I've lately seen the relationship between Christ and training. For example as hard as it is for me to get up at 5 in the morning and go swim, its just as hard to make sure every day I spend time with Jesus. In my head I know it will help me in the end, it plants a seed to grow. With both training and Jesus every time we do quiet time or workout we sometimes expect to learn something huge or accomplish a new goal. However most of the time its just planting a seed that will be a great harvest in the future. With so much going on at the beginning of the summer my quiet times quickly faded. And although life wasn't going bad, it wasn't like I was on cloud 9, I felt complacent, and that was the problem when in a relationship with God you never want that, and I knew I needed to get back on track and spend time with God daily. I knew I might not have a big ah ha moment everyday but I knew it was planting a seed.
I think what God as taught me the most this week is just to find ulimate joy in Him. We read Psalm 37 last night in Collegelife, which is one of my favorite Psalms, and it was great, it was a gentle reminder that I will be OK no matter what. What I must do is just find ultimate joy in Christ and put nothing else ahead of Him. But Gah that is so hard to do, I always want Christ and ... but that's my goal, to always LOVE Christ for what he's done for me, and just delight myself in Him, find joy in just Him and what he's given me. So many times we are caught up in theology and cross referencing the bible we forget the simplicity of God too. Sometimes we just need that rest in Him to get us going again, and that certianly has also been the case this week. I have enjoyed being able to be still and wait on God in his timing, I might have not been patient all the time, but I'm trying to trust God with all my heart even when it seems impossible, whether that be triathlon training or my life's circumstances.
Psalm 37
1 [a] Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever,
but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;
29 the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
seeking their very lives;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future [b] for the man of peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future [c] of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Slump
No I'm not talking about the slump test you do for concrete...although those are pretty cool, if you make a good concrete mix. Sorry lame Civil Engineering joke. What I'm speaking of is the kinda funk I've been in for the past two weeks. As much as I love this sport I feel like there comes a time when you have to take a break in your training. This same thing happened with me when preparing for the marathon relay about week 6 I hit a wall and just hated training, I wasn't having any fun...so I took a break for 4 days and was back to running and loved it again.
The same thing happened this past week...this time I got to week 8 though, so I'm improving to say the least haha. I've read a lot about overtraining from the spring and thought it might be that, and I guess it could be. But lately I've just felt like I kept on going and going. Now if you really knew me you'd know that I love me sleep, but in a weird way, I can't sleep more than oh 9 hours, but also I get upset if I'm no in bed early enough to where I'll get less than 7. So needless to say I get me rest each night....ahhhh so great. However I've see that this is really just temporary, I've seen patterns in my life where you can go and go and go for weeks on a time, but eventually life will catch up to you. And I think thats what happened, so what did I do, I prioritized. I was kinda down about not seeing friends and such so I moved them up in time I spent and just chilled out the last week. I put in some tri training but not a lot. Needless to say this week I feel very rested and ready to go hard in any workout. Sunday I did a 50 min tempo run (25 warmup: 20 tempo: 5 cool down) not going to lie it sucked, but I know it helped. Then monday I did a spin class....oh guuu... That was hard I think I flooded the floor with sweat in just the warmup...my shirt (which wasn't even cotton) had to be dried out by the bathing suit dryer haha. And this morning I got the joy of finally putting in 2000m in the pool. So I think I'm back on my way to great potential for the fall to finish my first Olympic distance tri!!!
The same thing happened this past week...this time I got to week 8 though, so I'm improving to say the least haha. I've read a lot about overtraining from the spring and thought it might be that, and I guess it could be. But lately I've just felt like I kept on going and going. Now if you really knew me you'd know that I love me sleep, but in a weird way, I can't sleep more than oh 9 hours, but also I get upset if I'm no in bed early enough to where I'll get less than 7. So needless to say I get me rest each night....ahhhh so great. However I've see that this is really just temporary, I've seen patterns in my life where you can go and go and go for weeks on a time, but eventually life will catch up to you. And I think thats what happened, so what did I do, I prioritized. I was kinda down about not seeing friends and such so I moved them up in time I spent and just chilled out the last week. I put in some tri training but not a lot. Needless to say this week I feel very rested and ready to go hard in any workout. Sunday I did a 50 min tempo run (25 warmup: 20 tempo: 5 cool down) not going to lie it sucked, but I know it helped. Then monday I did a spin class....oh guuu... That was hard I think I flooded the floor with sweat in just the warmup...my shirt (which wasn't even cotton) had to be dried out by the bathing suit dryer haha. And this morning I got the joy of finally putting in 2000m in the pool. So I think I'm back on my way to great potential for the fall to finish my first Olympic distance tri!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
I got 1st Place
Ok granted it wasn't really a real race, but I soaked it up for the 20 secs after I crossed the line. This was more of a fun run so really it never counted. But Fleet Feet put on a great even last night where we tried out a new timing chip for a local company and they got to just test results stuff. So the idea was we guessed our time and tried to see how close we were to our time. Most people just went out and did a training run...me being the overacheiver was one of the only few that went for race pace. Honestly all I wanted to do is see how fast my 5 k run time had gotten. I guessed I would be at 23:15. Thoughts being that I may have not focused on running lately but with speed workouts and a higher VO2 I could do better. Well needless to say I got with in 10.3 secs of my time! And we all got free DriMax Socks woot woot. My final time was 23:04, I was impressed with myself. I hope to see if I can shave off 30 more seconds which I think is very possible considering it was 85* out. But I thought it was a great improvement - thats a 1 min 35 sec improvement from my 5k in March. Hopefully my trend will continue like it did in swimming back with Clay at Crestwood, every race was a PR for me cause I was so new to the sport.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Official Times
So...Tonight's report is a little interesting. So as predicted the splits were posted tonight. What perplexes me though is that the time are different. So I'm not to sure what exactly happened but everybody's time is different so therefore nothing really changes place wise. So here are my results.
Place Plc/Div # Age
19 3/5 14 Andy Westbrook 23 M
Swim: Place Time
5 2:10
Transition 1:
0:59
Bike: Place Time Bike+Run Place & Time
38 32:22 31 35:31
Transition 2:
0:58
Run: Place Time
18 18:56
Final Place and Time
19 55:24
So the results are actually what my watch said. Something must be off with their total time. I do think my swim was under 2 mins, its just the mat was about 20 yards out of the water so that would be the reason I would say that. Again it looks like my bike needs some work. My swim place was great, and my running time was right on par with my place. But my bike time is lacking so that will be the focus of the next couple of weeks.
This afternoon I started thinking about my next races. Triathlon and running. And as much as I want to do the Tellico Sprint because it would be an open water swim I'm thinking about holding off. My main reason is I'm afraid I'm going to get burned out and I'm scared I'm going to get injured too, only 3 weeks between the races is not enough to improve so most likely I'm going to hold off. So just like the Tri 201 prepares me for my big goal will be Fall Creek Falls Tri...and at some point I might do another sprint, but I really want time before my next tri to get better at the bike so we'll see.
Place Plc/Div # Age
19 3/5 14 Andy Westbrook 23 M
Swim: Place Time
5 2:10
Transition 1:
0:59
Bike: Place Time Bike+Run Place & Time
38 32:22 31 35:31
Transition 2:
0:58
Run: Place Time
18 18:56
Final Place and Time
19 55:24
So the results are actually what my watch said. Something must be off with their total time. I do think my swim was under 2 mins, its just the mat was about 20 yards out of the water so that would be the reason I would say that. Again it looks like my bike needs some work. My swim place was great, and my running time was right on par with my place. But my bike time is lacking so that will be the focus of the next couple of weeks.
This afternoon I started thinking about my next races. Triathlon and running. And as much as I want to do the Tellico Sprint because it would be an open water swim I'm thinking about holding off. My main reason is I'm afraid I'm going to get burned out and I'm scared I'm going to get injured too, only 3 weeks between the races is not enough to improve so most likely I'm going to hold off. So just like the Tri 201 prepares me for my big goal will be Fall Creek Falls Tri...and at some point I might do another sprint, but I really want time before my next tri to get better at the bike so we'll see.
Panther Prowl Race Report
Preface: This race was super exciting for me. I think it was because it was on my birthday and unlike the Foothills Sprint I was somewhat ready and had one tri under my belt. Also I had some goals to shoot for like place in my age group and get under an hour even though it was a short race haha. Well all the results aren't in yet but I'll do my best to give you a report.
This race course was great, lots of fun on the bike and the run. The bike was fast and flat and the run was in the shade on a green-way. We got there right at 6:30 when we were suppose to be there. Not many people were there which I liked, the set up of the transitions area was not idea, it was small and cramped and to get out you had to do like a zig zag that was really annoying. Sam and I got our packets and started warming up. It was a nice easy run and then we got on our bikes for a quick spin. I debated not doing this but I had to do some urgent bike maintenance early that morning and I wanted to make sure it was good enough for the race. On our way back I had a great surprise though, I saw a Benz S class driving and I knew who it was right away my only reaction was holy crap! Clay came! And that was only the beginning. After finishing the bike we did a quick swim warm up and got ready to race. Having Clay come early was great cause I he's able to give you the last minute encouragement in telling you you can break 2 mins on the swim and give you some pointers on swim too.
Here you can see Clay and I talking about the last minute swim plans...well not really but it sounds official and all professional sounding.
This race was very small which I liked, however not many people were racing in it that I knew except for a handful. I was glad to see Joel was there too. And with all the extra time before the race because of all the mass confusion at the pool you can see the 4 of us just killing time and talking about how these stupid tri tops create a lot of drag.
Another thing to add before I start my race report is that for the first time I was wearing a heart rate monitor. Under the recommendation of Shahin we wanted to see how my body reacted during the race.
Swim:
The swim was pretty good. If you saw me start you would have laughed really hard. I did one of those swim starts like the 10 and unders do in summer leagues. In tri's you're not allowed to dive, but I started to anyways but caught myself in the middle of it so it looked pretty friggin bad lol. I kept a good pace not sure how my splits were, maybe next race I'll get somebody to take splits. I may have finished under 2:00 too the splits haven't come in yet, but I know I was really close to it. If its not under 2 i'll blame the tri top because I could feel the drag from wearing that its not fun.
You know I hadn't looked at this picture closely til now, and I'm not going to lie despite the drag I felt, I'm looking pretty good. I've never really seen myself in photo or video, but I like the form I have. I just need to adapt my stroke for open water swims now.
Transition 1:
My T1 was pretty routine, I didn't run into any problems, I was seeded probably # 6 in the swim so nobody was there to get in my way. I felt exhausted from the swim thought so instead of rushing through the T1 and risk forgetting something I just took a couple extra seconds to make sure I was good to go.
Bike:
My bike was going to be lots of fun I thought. But I was still breathing very heavy from the swim. My first mile in the bike I was in just kind of a panic cause I couldn't get my speed up to 20mph like I wanted. I think when riding on Saturday I didn't factor in the fact I was drafting which means I was much slower on Sunday. I was fortunate on the bike though that there weren't many hills. What sucks about it being a sprint race, is just that its a sprint the whole time, I know I can do the distance, but I just now want to do it fast. I got passed by 3 or 4 people one being Ali, and I had counted that there were only 5 people in front of me at the turn around. So I felt pretty good. Unfortunately around mile 8 I felt that back cramp come back..which now I have to figure it out again. Cause I had a good bike posture this time, at least I thought so. In the picture below you can see that I have the flat back and hips tilted forward. This picture was also a huge point in my race. I turned this corner and was so focused on passing this girl that all I heard was people yelling GO Andy...and it wasnt just clay and my parents. I heard girls too lol, and I was just like wait thats different. Ah man what a great feeling, even in such a short race having supporters was my favorite part of the race.
Here is the bike in up to T2 as I was passing the cheering section.
And here are the great supporters that surprised me with a schweet sign.
As I said I was wearing a HR monitor along with my schweet new watch I got for my birthday. This gives you a good idea of what my speed, route, elevation and HR were like, pretty awesome I might add. Click on the run title too to see what my run data was like.
T2: My T2 was good, it was a quick transition out of my bike shoes to my running shoes. The only problem I had was knowing where to go, I must have not been listening very well pre-race. Luckily people were yelling and asking where to go so I just followed.
Run:
As I said coming into the bike all I heard were people cheering for me "Go Andy" what a great feeling again I might add. So on the run out I got to see who all it was, and read the sign that was specifically for me!
The run was fine up until the half. I had a really good pace going of around 7:40. At the turn around though I was just ready to finish, I was starting to cramp and I didn't know it but my HR was going through the roof. I got through the next mile but the last half mile I got really nauseated and felt like I was going to varmic, that goodness I didn't and I made it to the end of the finish line. You can see where I did get sick though and walked for a couple seconds, but as soon as I stopped I was just like...NO Andy, You have to run this whole thing, you can do it. So I picked up up the pace and ran hard to the finish. At the same time I was looking at my watch and just thinking holy cow I'm going to be sub 1 hr.
I have to say of the few pictures of me running, they're not too bad some people look like they're dying but me, I look like I'm running on air in my Nike's.
Finish: The end of the race was rewarding the first thing I did was smile to Katie, Joel, Jessica, Clay and Kristin cause they were there with another sign! At the same time though I was schweaty and exhausted I cooled down quickly haha, and my mom got this funny picture
From there we waited for some fellow Fleet Feet people to finish and cheer Sam on as he finished his race.
What a finish - I was so impressed, Sam did a great job for his first tri, I'm sure he learned a lot and is still processing it all, cause I know it took me a while to after foothills. Look that picture too, look how jacked he is as bobby said about my picture below "Hey I need to do some laundry, can I use your abdominals?" lol great line The Bobs. Did I mention how surprised I was when he told me he had gotten people to come to the race.
Here is a picture of us all together at the finish :)
Results: Well I don't have the splits in yet, but I got both of my goals! I got 2nd in my age group WAHOO, my prize was a cool backpack, and I got below an hour!!! Quite possible the best birthday gift to myself from myself.
Birthday Gift: The best birthday ever! I think more than anything in that day I realized how loved I am from my community. I didn't tell anybody before, but really the only birthday gift I wanted was support from friends whether it was showing up at the race or getting together for me. I got both I had friends show up and support and I got a dinner at Aubrey's with my best friends. I had picked up on the dinner at Aubrey's cause Wasabi Bobby spilled the beans but it still meant so much. They even gave me the coolest cake ever it had little men on it dong swim:bike:run. I think what made it special is that I celebrated people's birthday throughout the year and was just glad to spend time with them on that day. But when its you're birthday and people gather in celebration for you its just a lot different. You see the love of Christ in that community. Last year, yeah I had some community, but none like I do this year. Like I said in my first post...its been one heck of a year. God has taught me so much, particularly through the community I have at fellowship. Love you all.
This race course was great, lots of fun on the bike and the run. The bike was fast and flat and the run was in the shade on a green-way. We got there right at 6:30 when we were suppose to be there. Not many people were there which I liked, the set up of the transitions area was not idea, it was small and cramped and to get out you had to do like a zig zag that was really annoying. Sam and I got our packets and started warming up. It was a nice easy run and then we got on our bikes for a quick spin. I debated not doing this but I had to do some urgent bike maintenance early that morning and I wanted to make sure it was good enough for the race. On our way back I had a great surprise though, I saw a Benz S class driving and I knew who it was right away my only reaction was holy crap! Clay came! And that was only the beginning. After finishing the bike we did a quick swim warm up and got ready to race. Having Clay come early was great cause I he's able to give you the last minute encouragement in telling you you can break 2 mins on the swim and give you some pointers on swim too.
Here you can see Clay and I talking about the last minute swim plans...well not really but it sounds official and all professional sounding.
This race was very small which I liked, however not many people were racing in it that I knew except for a handful. I was glad to see Joel was there too. And with all the extra time before the race because of all the mass confusion at the pool you can see the 4 of us just killing time and talking about how these stupid tri tops create a lot of drag.
Another thing to add before I start my race report is that for the first time I was wearing a heart rate monitor. Under the recommendation of Shahin we wanted to see how my body reacted during the race.
Swim:
The swim was pretty good. If you saw me start you would have laughed really hard. I did one of those swim starts like the 10 and unders do in summer leagues. In tri's you're not allowed to dive, but I started to anyways but caught myself in the middle of it so it looked pretty friggin bad lol. I kept a good pace not sure how my splits were, maybe next race I'll get somebody to take splits. I may have finished under 2:00 too the splits haven't come in yet, but I know I was really close to it. If its not under 2 i'll blame the tri top because I could feel the drag from wearing that its not fun.
You know I hadn't looked at this picture closely til now, and I'm not going to lie despite the drag I felt, I'm looking pretty good. I've never really seen myself in photo or video, but I like the form I have. I just need to adapt my stroke for open water swims now.
Transition 1:
My T1 was pretty routine, I didn't run into any problems, I was seeded probably # 6 in the swim so nobody was there to get in my way. I felt exhausted from the swim thought so instead of rushing through the T1 and risk forgetting something I just took a couple extra seconds to make sure I was good to go.
Bike:
My bike was going to be lots of fun I thought. But I was still breathing very heavy from the swim. My first mile in the bike I was in just kind of a panic cause I couldn't get my speed up to 20mph like I wanted. I think when riding on Saturday I didn't factor in the fact I was drafting which means I was much slower on Sunday. I was fortunate on the bike though that there weren't many hills. What sucks about it being a sprint race, is just that its a sprint the whole time, I know I can do the distance, but I just now want to do it fast. I got passed by 3 or 4 people one being Ali, and I had counted that there were only 5 people in front of me at the turn around. So I felt pretty good. Unfortunately around mile 8 I felt that back cramp come back..which now I have to figure it out again. Cause I had a good bike posture this time, at least I thought so. In the picture below you can see that I have the flat back and hips tilted forward. This picture was also a huge point in my race. I turned this corner and was so focused on passing this girl that all I heard was people yelling GO Andy...and it wasnt just clay and my parents. I heard girls too lol, and I was just like wait thats different. Ah man what a great feeling, even in such a short race having supporters was my favorite part of the race.
Here is the bike in up to T2 as I was passing the cheering section.
And here are the great supporters that surprised me with a schweet sign.
As I said I was wearing a HR monitor along with my schweet new watch I got for my birthday. This gives you a good idea of what my speed, route, elevation and HR were like, pretty awesome I might add. Click on the run title too to see what my run data was like.
T2: My T2 was good, it was a quick transition out of my bike shoes to my running shoes. The only problem I had was knowing where to go, I must have not been listening very well pre-race. Luckily people were yelling and asking where to go so I just followed.
Run:
As I said coming into the bike all I heard were people cheering for me "Go Andy" what a great feeling again I might add. So on the run out I got to see who all it was, and read the sign that was specifically for me!
The run was fine up until the half. I had a really good pace going of around 7:40. At the turn around though I was just ready to finish, I was starting to cramp and I didn't know it but my HR was going through the roof. I got through the next mile but the last half mile I got really nauseated and felt like I was going to varmic, that goodness I didn't and I made it to the end of the finish line. You can see where I did get sick though and walked for a couple seconds, but as soon as I stopped I was just like...NO Andy, You have to run this whole thing, you can do it. So I picked up up the pace and ran hard to the finish. At the same time I was looking at my watch and just thinking holy cow I'm going to be sub 1 hr.
I have to say of the few pictures of me running, they're not too bad some people look like they're dying but me, I look like I'm running on air in my Nike's.
Finish: The end of the race was rewarding the first thing I did was smile to Katie, Joel, Jessica, Clay and Kristin cause they were there with another sign! At the same time though I was schweaty and exhausted I cooled down quickly haha, and my mom got this funny picture
From there we waited for some fellow Fleet Feet people to finish and cheer Sam on as he finished his race.
What a finish - I was so impressed, Sam did a great job for his first tri, I'm sure he learned a lot and is still processing it all, cause I know it took me a while to after foothills. Look that picture too, look how jacked he is as bobby said about my picture below "Hey I need to do some laundry, can I use your abdominals?" lol great line The Bobs. Did I mention how surprised I was when he told me he had gotten people to come to the race.
Here is a picture of us all together at the finish :)
Results: Well I don't have the splits in yet, but I got both of my goals! I got 2nd in my age group WAHOO, my prize was a cool backpack, and I got below an hour!!! Quite possible the best birthday gift to myself from myself.
Birthday Gift: The best birthday ever! I think more than anything in that day I realized how loved I am from my community. I didn't tell anybody before, but really the only birthday gift I wanted was support from friends whether it was showing up at the race or getting together for me. I got both I had friends show up and support and I got a dinner at Aubrey's with my best friends. I had picked up on the dinner at Aubrey's cause Wasabi Bobby spilled the beans but it still meant so much. They even gave me the coolest cake ever it had little men on it dong swim:bike:run. I think what made it special is that I celebrated people's birthday throughout the year and was just glad to spend time with them on that day. But when its you're birthday and people gather in celebration for you its just a lot different. You see the love of Christ in that community. Last year, yeah I had some community, but none like I do this year. Like I said in my first post...its been one heck of a year. God has taught me so much, particularly through the community I have at fellowship. Love you all.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Flying Squirrel Take Two!
Last night Sam and I rode the 10 mile course for this weekends race. I'm pumped - I'm disappointed the swim isn't longer cause I know thats my strength, I mean last race I placed 50th in the swim...but I can still make up some good time in the pool at 150 yds. My time is estimated at 2:30, but after talking to Clay I'm going to try and break 2 mins. Today is a day of ADD blogging - I always wish I could swim like a dolphin on my tail fin, found out its called tail walking ah ha...I'm just saying how awesome would that be if you were in the pool with your friends and said look what I can do!
The course on the bike was tons of fun, I had an easy ride last night and it was nice to enjoy the scenery. Although I'm a little sore this morning but I don't know why. This course is fairly flat and has one maybe two gentle climbs if you can even call them that, so its going to be a fast course and I'm excited. I would love to break 30 mins on that, but I don't know if thats possible. Following our easy ride we practiced some T's, I figured I could brush up more and Sam needed to try some. I'm glad he did it before the race, probably would have been pretty stressful, and it was better for him to take a spill then in front of me, than all the single ladies racing with us. Side note - I'm glad they have the age thing on your leg, not that I was planning on it hitting on a girl, but lots of the people look a lot younger than they are, not a bad thing at all, but going to hit on a cougar would not be something I want to do. My first race I saw these three girls that were friends which I thought "Hmm I wonder if they go to UT I wonder who they know, I wonder if they go to crossroad" you know the drill. Well this was in the line where we got marked up...haha I was off on age by oh 10 years they were like 33 lol. I thought it was quite comical.
Also, I realized that I was technically doing the flying squirrel the whole time, I just am not legit enough to ride with my shoes already on my bike. Being a small guy allows you to be pretty agile and I can do the fancy acrobatic moves. So I call it a success today!
Tomorrow Fleet Feet is having a brick workout(Bike to Lake:Open Water Swim:Bike Back), and while I know I shouldn't go the day before my race I've been pretty lazy this week on training and I could use it to stay sharp. Plus its only a sprint race I have some extra energy to spare. I hope to start documenting races and training with videos and pictures this weekend so maybe the 1 or 2 people that actually read my blog will see them.
The course on the bike was tons of fun, I had an easy ride last night and it was nice to enjoy the scenery. Although I'm a little sore this morning but I don't know why. This course is fairly flat and has one maybe two gentle climbs if you can even call them that, so its going to be a fast course and I'm excited. I would love to break 30 mins on that, but I don't know if thats possible. Following our easy ride we practiced some T's, I figured I could brush up more and Sam needed to try some. I'm glad he did it before the race, probably would have been pretty stressful, and it was better for him to take a spill then in front of me, than all the single ladies racing with us. Side note - I'm glad they have the age thing on your leg, not that I was planning on it hitting on a girl, but lots of the people look a lot younger than they are, not a bad thing at all, but going to hit on a cougar would not be something I want to do. My first race I saw these three girls that were friends which I thought "Hmm I wonder if they go to UT I wonder who they know, I wonder if they go to crossroad" you know the drill. Well this was in the line where we got marked up...haha I was off on age by oh 10 years they were like 33 lol. I thought it was quite comical.
Also, I realized that I was technically doing the flying squirrel the whole time, I just am not legit enough to ride with my shoes already on my bike. Being a small guy allows you to be pretty agile and I can do the fancy acrobatic moves. So I call it a success today!
Tomorrow Fleet Feet is having a brick workout(Bike to Lake:Open Water Swim:Bike Back), and while I know I shouldn't go the day before my race I've been pretty lazy this week on training and I could use it to stay sharp. Plus its only a sprint race I have some extra energy to spare. I hope to start documenting races and training with videos and pictures this weekend so maybe the 1 or 2 people that actually read my blog will see them.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Flying Squirrel
So as I try to work a big boy job now and train for a triathlon, I use my time wisely at work. This week I've probably clocked 24 hours of work and only done 3 hours of actual work...the construction busniness is slow this week, and being an intern there isn't much to do either. So I've done a lot of researching on triathlon blogs, I try to pick up cool tips to use...I probably retain on 20 % of what I read....I'd say thats pretty dang good for an engineer. The other day I read and watched youtube video's on transitions...who knew you could do it so fast (Thats what she said)...sorry couldn't resist, but I found that I could make up a lot of time here. They have this one thing that's nicknamed the flying squirrel...it sounds and looks schweet. But I've also heard it can be deadly...well dangerous and you don't want to be that guy that holds everybody up. So tonight I decided I would practice this death defining stunt....so I took some tips and did the little rubber band thingy and set up my shoes already clipped in....well the good news is I didn't fall off my bike...I even got strapped in, the bad news is I think I could have done a my old style transition 3 times before getting situated. Oh well...that was part of my first regret in all my purchases I should have went ahead and bought tri shoes instead of mountain biking shoes...I was cheap though...maybe next year. I did attempt to try and get out of my shoes too while still clipped in....epic fail, got one foot out but then it shoe caught the pavement and I pretty much went down. Needless to say for the next 20 mins I just practiced getting in and out of my shoes....hey you got to start somewhere.
Tommorrow, hopefully Sam and I will ride the Panther Prowl course and practice some transitions again. I think I'll be fine on my T's but any second I can shave will be good. I'm super excited to see if I worked out all my kinks from the last race. The swim will be easy I plan going at a moderate hard pace, and hope to break 2:00 mins for the 150 yds...but we'll see. The bike is where I hope to improve the most placing in 134th place sucked at Foothills so I hope with my new riding position I'll be able to up my average speed, I'm not too worried about the run cause I think just changing my bike position will help a lot. I'm not to sure what my goals are yet...I would love to be sub 1 hour, so I would love to just do 1 hours and under 5 mins. I'm not sure how my run pace will differ from my first 5k. This is again a good learning tri for me. Between doing it this week and doing a demo 5k next week for a new timing system with Fleet feet I'll have a good idea what the differentiation is like. --- Well that --- was me taking a break, I just did some reasonable math and I doubt I'll get below 1 hour so lets officially shoot for 1:05 I guess... That like a 25.5 min 5k, hopefully 35 min bike 2 min swim and 3 mins in T's. If I don't get it I won't be upset cause I have no comparison. I'm just shooting too to place in my age group, I'm banking on not many people wanting to do the new race and me being one of the few my age lol. Well I'm headed to bed, this mornings early swim was hard to get up for so I want more sleep.
Tommorrow, hopefully Sam and I will ride the Panther Prowl course and practice some transitions again. I think I'll be fine on my T's but any second I can shave will be good. I'm super excited to see if I worked out all my kinks from the last race. The swim will be easy I plan going at a moderate hard pace, and hope to break 2:00 mins for the 150 yds...but we'll see. The bike is where I hope to improve the most placing in 134th place sucked at Foothills so I hope with my new riding position I'll be able to up my average speed, I'm not too worried about the run cause I think just changing my bike position will help a lot. I'm not to sure what my goals are yet...I would love to be sub 1 hour, so I would love to just do 1 hours and under 5 mins. I'm not sure how my run pace will differ from my first 5k. This is again a good learning tri for me. Between doing it this week and doing a demo 5k next week for a new timing system with Fleet feet I'll have a good idea what the differentiation is like. --- Well that --- was me taking a break, I just did some reasonable math and I doubt I'll get below 1 hour so lets officially shoot for 1:05 I guess... That like a 25.5 min 5k, hopefully 35 min bike 2 min swim and 3 mins in T's. If I don't get it I won't be upset cause I have no comparison. I'm just shooting too to place in my age group, I'm banking on not many people wanting to do the new race and me being one of the few my age lol. Well I'm headed to bed, this mornings early swim was hard to get up for so I want more sleep.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Garmin...GPS...Watch...Yes Please
One of my favorite things that I have gotten to us this year is the Nike+ system with an ipod nano. This nifty little device has been preety schweet. It tracks my calories, distance, time and pace. And then you can upload it online after your workout and see how you've done. I loved it at first I could listen to my music and run and get updates on my run at the touch of a button from an attractive sounding british lady. After my "defining moment" (in the words of one of my favorite Pastor Andy Stanley) I decided to ditch the music idea on most of my runs...even though it was Jesus music, and just run in silence...or in the presence of natural sounds, like birds, people laughing, dogs barking, lawn mowers, cars, semi trucks...you know those kinds of things. I have loved this so far, its just time that I get to spend just "resting" it takes away all the destractions and the noises of media and bosses and even friends. The problem though is now its hard to track milage...so dun dun dun da! I've been looking at these fancy Garmin watches for my birthday. Can I just say after hours of research like a typical Andy would do I have come to love these Garmin watches. Now there are lot of companie like Polar, Suunto, Timex and Nike that have some slick watches, but nothing compares to these Garmin watches. The are great size and great functionality. The one I'm looking at, Forrunner 310xt is pretty legit its even meant for triathletes and has cool features like...GPS and multisport mode. In my research I have found one of the best Tri bloggers, DCrainmaker, and I encourage you to read his stuff. He was even here for Rev3 apparently...and he got hit by a car and he finished. This just goes to show you how bad knoxville drivers are, geez. But hopefully I'll look at getting this legit watch soon, while kinda pricey I think it will be worth it down the road and I won't regret it.
It's not all about the swim, bike, run
Last Saturday I learned a great lesson. After embarking on a 3 hour tour...yes it was a 3 hour tour and we came out alive....kinda, well during this 40 mile bike I learned a lot about my athletic ability. I had always heard about how important it was to get carbs and calories in your system after hitting the 45min/1 hour mark. I guess I was just lazy that morning or thought it wouldn't happen to me. Hehe wow was I wrong, the beginning of our ride was great. It was an easy ride and we had a good draft line going so I was content. At one point the advance riders just broke away in a dead sprint, no clue why I just remember looking down then up then down and then up again and they were gone. John and I stayed together untill we hit a fork in the road..we were lost haha the guys had sprinted off so fast that they managed to lose us. Well we caught back up with Shanin and he led us in the right direction to DQ. After our stop in the DQ parking lot is where I went down hill, I couldn't notice my exhaustion in like just yawing and stuff, but I did notice it in my performance...every thing was going downhill, my avg speed, my hill climbs, my gears...just all around bad. I was exhausted when I got home and just loaded up on protein, water, sodium and calories. I knew my problem was nutreitional so I went to the internet...ugh way to much info. But after consulting my tri coach, hammernutrition.com and Melissa (the one person that just made it simple for even me to understand). I tried what she suggested last night which was a meal 2-3 hours before my workout that had a carb to protein ratio of about 4:1. This worked AMAZING...my performance was top notch we went for a 3 mile run straight to a 15 mile bike back to a 2.5 mile run. And I wasn't the least bit exhausted, and we kept a pretty fast pace. This was a key running workout is what Shanin told me. You warm up with your run, exhaust yourself on the bike then go back to the run and make that run faster than your first. We did just that and it felt great, my running legs after my bikes have come back much faster, probably within 3-4 mins last night. I never really needed any Gu last night, my bike though I packed water and high concentrated electrolyte mix and just sipped on that. I have to say this was a huge turning point for me last night, great fun.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Foothills Sprint Tri - My First Race
This story is actually hilarious...well to me it is cause its not something I would typically do. I've been training with Fleet Feet for about 3 weeks now and 4 weeks before that on my own. My goal was always to do the Westside Y Tri as my first race. Well everybody else thought differently, My first day of FF training on a bike ride, the girl I was riding with, lets call her Rachel, cause I forgot her name oops. Well as we were riding/(me using her draft zone to make my ride easier) we were talking about races and such and she just straight up said that I should sign up, I told her she was crazy haha. So I pushed that aside till this past Saturday when a guy/great Christian guy in my FF program suggested I do the same, again I made up the excuse I have to go tear down the sound system at fellowship, he said he understood my commitment. Secretly though I had been dying to do the Westside Y Tri and was so excited for it to come, but it was still 6 weeks away. Well on Sunday of this past week, the day before the race I might add I went to listen to Shanin (my tri coach) do a transition clinic. I met a girl there that was a TriVols member and when I told her I hadn't planned on doing the foothills tri, she just kinda looked at me and continued to persuade me. She did have some good points like: I had said I was super excited for the Westside Tri and the day before I had done a 40 mile bike ride. So after her persuasion (geez women) I signed up!!!
That afternoon I spend time getting all my things ready to take to the race. Going to bed was horrible, I think I just laid in bed for 1.5 hours just thinking about the the next days race, to top it off I had dreams about the race like forgetting my chip and such. Morning came quick though, and I woke up to a dark rainy view outside my window. Luckily this didn't make me the least bit upset. I ate a simple breakfast, packed up and drove to the site. I got there really early which was good. I saw a lot of familiar faces which helped me so much to relax. I had been nervous all the time before but once I was there I felt great. I warmed up in all 3 sports and set up my transition area, I learned the most here. I did a lot of people watching, I learned stuff like what to pack in, which is a 5 gallon bucket (its a seat and a water tight container - GENIUS)
The race started with the swim as usual. I paced myself at about 6:30 in the starting line and ended up finished up at 6:24. In my rankings I was 50th out of 255 which I thought was legit. I felt great with that, I do need to work on some bilateral and rhythmic breathing, it felt kinda off, but didn't prove to be too much of a problem. I also want to practice flip turns under lane ropes...tricky but shouldn't be too hard. After getting out of the water I ran into the trainition area, keep in mind it was a wet morning, I don't remember if it was raining then or not, I kinda just didn't notice anything. My T1(Transition 1) was slower than I wanted I tried to put my running shirt on but with the rain and being wet from the pool I just ditched that idea, so I won't do that in the future unless I have a tri suit. Other than that delay it wasn't to bad. I'm glad I got mountain shoes for my clipless pedals cause they're easy to run in.
The bike started out great, the day before I had driven the course to see what kind of hills there were and from when I drove it I saw some bad hills, but when I got to riding them, they weren't bad at all. About half way thought I started getting a tight pain in my lower back, not sure what muscle that is, but it hurt, I was just tight and cramping. I rode through the pain and just wanted to get my 10 miles in. I got passed a lot, and I know it was cause I was so distracted by that pain. After the race I talked to Shanin about it and he told me about my riding position and thats why it happend, so I will be working on that too. I ended up placing 134th, so thats where I really need to focus some time to.
My T2 was easy, having Yantz really helped. I had done some bike rides followed by a run to practice getting my muscles to go from biking to running. So I knew what to expect, but the side cramp/tightness hadn't gone away. My first 1/2 of the run was miserable, I had to walk twice, but when walking the girl TriVols girls that talked me into the race, Alli, passed me and yelled out some encouraging words. I then got back into my run and once I hit the halfway point it was all great from there. The past few weeks I have really gotten a great running rhythm down, and I felt my body just kick into that as I turned the bend. As I made my way back I saw Shanin as he had already finished and was out running again with people in his class...(this man is a beast)...I also saw Joel and Sarah just seeing these new friends was great. I finished strong in the pouring down rain and its has just been such a rewarding thing. In my run I finished at 21:20 with a avg pace of 8:20 which was 110th place. I must have been booking it on my last part especially if I walked twice.
The end of the race was great, I hung out and talked to some of my new friends, and even so my co-leader Mary from DC. It didn't hit me until I got in the car to drive home what I actually did...I have been blown away all day, and all I can do is praise God for the strength and discipline to do something like this. It took a lot of energy, just from a nutrition perspective, I don't think I've ever been so hungry in one day. I had two breakfasts, some chocolate goo, a huge lunch, afternoon desserts snack, big dinner, and now I'm hungry again, I think this is all kinda funny. So how did I do over all, well my goal was 1st to finish the race, Check, my second goal was to not finish last in my age group, check HAHA I got 6th out of 7. Overall I got 111th out of 255, not bad for your first tri I thought. Hope you all enjoyed reading about my first race, I hope to keep up sharing about my Tri experience.
That afternoon I spend time getting all my things ready to take to the race. Going to bed was horrible, I think I just laid in bed for 1.5 hours just thinking about the the next days race, to top it off I had dreams about the race like forgetting my chip and such. Morning came quick though, and I woke up to a dark rainy view outside my window. Luckily this didn't make me the least bit upset. I ate a simple breakfast, packed up and drove to the site. I got there really early which was good. I saw a lot of familiar faces which helped me so much to relax. I had been nervous all the time before but once I was there I felt great. I warmed up in all 3 sports and set up my transition area, I learned the most here. I did a lot of people watching, I learned stuff like what to pack in, which is a 5 gallon bucket (its a seat and a water tight container - GENIUS)
The race started with the swim as usual. I paced myself at about 6:30 in the starting line and ended up finished up at 6:24. In my rankings I was 50th out of 255 which I thought was legit. I felt great with that, I do need to work on some bilateral and rhythmic breathing, it felt kinda off, but didn't prove to be too much of a problem. I also want to practice flip turns under lane ropes...tricky but shouldn't be too hard. After getting out of the water I ran into the trainition area, keep in mind it was a wet morning, I don't remember if it was raining then or not, I kinda just didn't notice anything. My T1(Transition 1) was slower than I wanted I tried to put my running shirt on but with the rain and being wet from the pool I just ditched that idea, so I won't do that in the future unless I have a tri suit. Other than that delay it wasn't to bad. I'm glad I got mountain shoes for my clipless pedals cause they're easy to run in.
The bike started out great, the day before I had driven the course to see what kind of hills there were and from when I drove it I saw some bad hills, but when I got to riding them, they weren't bad at all. About half way thought I started getting a tight pain in my lower back, not sure what muscle that is, but it hurt, I was just tight and cramping. I rode through the pain and just wanted to get my 10 miles in. I got passed a lot, and I know it was cause I was so distracted by that pain. After the race I talked to Shanin about it and he told me about my riding position and thats why it happend, so I will be working on that too. I ended up placing 134th, so thats where I really need to focus some time to.
My T2 was easy, having Yantz really helped. I had done some bike rides followed by a run to practice getting my muscles to go from biking to running. So I knew what to expect, but the side cramp/tightness hadn't gone away. My first 1/2 of the run was miserable, I had to walk twice, but when walking the girl TriVols girls that talked me into the race, Alli, passed me and yelled out some encouraging words. I then got back into my run and once I hit the halfway point it was all great from there. The past few weeks I have really gotten a great running rhythm down, and I felt my body just kick into that as I turned the bend. As I made my way back I saw Shanin as he had already finished and was out running again with people in his class...(this man is a beast)...I also saw Joel and Sarah just seeing these new friends was great. I finished strong in the pouring down rain and its has just been such a rewarding thing. In my run I finished at 21:20 with a avg pace of 8:20 which was 110th place. I must have been booking it on my last part especially if I walked twice.
The end of the race was great, I hung out and talked to some of my new friends, and even so my co-leader Mary from DC. It didn't hit me until I got in the car to drive home what I actually did...I have been blown away all day, and all I can do is praise God for the strength and discipline to do something like this. It took a lot of energy, just from a nutrition perspective, I don't think I've ever been so hungry in one day. I had two breakfasts, some chocolate goo, a huge lunch, afternoon desserts snack, big dinner, and now I'm hungry again, I think this is all kinda funny. So how did I do over all, well my goal was 1st to finish the race, Check, my second goal was to not finish last in my age group, check HAHA I got 6th out of 7. Overall I got 111th out of 255, not bad for your first tri I thought. Hope you all enjoyed reading about my first race, I hope to keep up sharing about my Tri experience.
How did you decide to do this? - Long Introduction Sry
After my first triathlon race my Mom and I were talking about how far I'd come this past year and just all that I had accomplished. In looking back I have done so much this year like: helped lead a small group, wrangle horses, operate a ropes course, run my first 5k, run my 1st 10k (DirtyChai Relay) and run my first triathlon. If you told me a year ago I would have accomplished all that I would have told you to "Shut the front door!" Christ has blessed me with such great opportunities to prove myself to others and to myself. I wish I had the time and energy to describe all the learning experiences I had, but I don't want you to get bored too fast...so you can ask me.
So how did I just into such a, difficult sport you might ask? It started in January after I picked up some casual running, through the help of my awesome small group, which was called DirtyChai(DC), we decided to run the Knoxville Marathon Relay, so we signed up and I haven't stopped since. If you're thinking about running your first race the first thing to do is sign up no matter if you're ready or not, thats what motivated me so much to train. I trained with a Hal Higdon 10k plan for 8 weeks. The week before the race I did a 5k just to get the feel of my first race which was great, my favorite part was the start when I was running down Volunteer Blvd and we were being led by a Police Car, just seeing this mass group made me excited. I did great too I got a PR(umm Duh, Andy it was your first race), - thats not the point, I beat my goal by 1:20 and finished 24th with a time of 24:40. The next week our DirtyChai Team - Myself, Melissa, Sam and Christie, ran in the Knoxville Covenant Health Marathon...lets just say week did great even with it raining cats and dogs on Sam, we did it in 4 hours and 3 mins and placed 16th in our division. We had some fun times during that race...I remember looking over at Mal and Sam as Christies was running up and just threw up the most nervous look as they took a picture of me haha. I was truly nervous, I don't know why I just was, I think it was the Noelton Drive hill that I was most scared of, but I conquered it easily. My favorite part though was just running through the finish line all four of us together and hearing Dirty Chai announced in Neyland Stadium, and to make it even better Mallory and Kelly were there to great us with some legit signs, I was impressed how dedicated they were to stand in the rain and watch us come through the finish.
So...Triathlons....well hmm after the relay, I was proud of what we did, but something wasn't right. I realized I was truly missing the whole...God aspect of the sport, and yes that is a huge part of it. I just felt like I did all of this, it was me that trained, it was me that dealt with the pain and the overtraining...me me me. I was always like what's next for ME to do, what can I prove to people that I could do. I wanted to show people that, despite my size, I can do something people say "wow you did that." This attitude did not settle well for the sport nor my spiritual life. After reading a blog by Ryan Hall about how he runs for Christ and to Glorify Him. I was really just hit hard, it was one of those spiritual moments where you get slapped in the face with a cricket bat. So from then on running and tri's have been all being able to do it cause Christ has given me the strength. So I decided my next challenge would be triathlons, since running is not my strong point I thought this would be a great sport cause I used to swim and I do the occasional mountain bike...so it made perfect since. And thats all she wrote about how I got into these sports. I started training with my friend Kim with no program, but once I moved home for the summer I joined the Fleet Feet Team to train for the summer in hopes to get ready to race with Tri Vols in the Fall.
So how did I just into such a, difficult sport you might ask? It started in January after I picked up some casual running, through the help of my awesome small group, which was called DirtyChai(DC), we decided to run the Knoxville Marathon Relay, so we signed up and I haven't stopped since. If you're thinking about running your first race the first thing to do is sign up no matter if you're ready or not, thats what motivated me so much to train. I trained with a Hal Higdon 10k plan for 8 weeks. The week before the race I did a 5k just to get the feel of my first race which was great, my favorite part was the start when I was running down Volunteer Blvd and we were being led by a Police Car, just seeing this mass group made me excited. I did great too I got a PR(umm Duh, Andy it was your first race), - thats not the point, I beat my goal by 1:20 and finished 24th with a time of 24:40. The next week our DirtyChai Team - Myself, Melissa, Sam and Christie, ran in the Knoxville Covenant Health Marathon...lets just say week did great even with it raining cats and dogs on Sam, we did it in 4 hours and 3 mins and placed 16th in our division. We had some fun times during that race...I remember looking over at Mal and Sam as Christies was running up and just threw up the most nervous look as they took a picture of me haha. I was truly nervous, I don't know why I just was, I think it was the Noelton Drive hill that I was most scared of, but I conquered it easily. My favorite part though was just running through the finish line all four of us together and hearing Dirty Chai announced in Neyland Stadium, and to make it even better Mallory and Kelly were there to great us with some legit signs, I was impressed how dedicated they were to stand in the rain and watch us come through the finish.
So...Triathlons....well hmm after the relay, I was proud of what we did, but something wasn't right. I realized I was truly missing the whole...God aspect of the sport, and yes that is a huge part of it. I just felt like I did all of this, it was me that trained, it was me that dealt with the pain and the overtraining...me me me. I was always like what's next for ME to do, what can I prove to people that I could do. I wanted to show people that, despite my size, I can do something people say "wow you did that." This attitude did not settle well for the sport nor my spiritual life. After reading a blog by Ryan Hall about how he runs for Christ and to Glorify Him. I was really just hit hard, it was one of those spiritual moments where you get slapped in the face with a cricket bat. So from then on running and tri's have been all being able to do it cause Christ has given me the strength. So I decided my next challenge would be triathlons, since running is not my strong point I thought this would be a great sport cause I used to swim and I do the occasional mountain bike...so it made perfect since. And thats all she wrote about how I got into these sports. I started training with my friend Kim with no program, but once I moved home for the summer I joined the Fleet Feet Team to train for the summer in hopes to get ready to race with Tri Vols in the Fall.
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