Days 3, 4, 5, and 6...

My apologies for being so tardy with this post. I was sans internet this weekend, but not sans camera. Hence, the challenge rolls on.

Day 3 - Fire



I was not especially happy with any of the photos that I took for this, but this was my favorite. The aura being given off sends some warmth waves to the viewer.


Day 4 - Water

I put a couple photos up for this one because I liked a couple for different reasons. Comment on which you like the best.









Day 5 - Spring

This one is meant to be about spring. The blog that I originally took these challenge themes from had this challenge listed for April, which puts me a tad behind and trying to find photos for themes that may not necessarily go with what is actually happening right now. With that said, what is more "spring" than flowers?




Day 6 - Shadows

I was pretty busy today and didn't really take any photos of the theme, but managed to pop this one off. It isn't great, but will do.

Day 2: Flight

Today was interesting. I finally felt like I had some creativity. I didn't want a cliche bird or airplane photo, however, you've seen the result. I wanted a paper airplane shot or maybe a kid swinging, but what parent really wants some dude taking photos of their kid swinging? So, I went down to Frances Short pond just to see what was happening and I found this blue heron just chillin. It took a while before he took off, but I got the shot. Its a tad blurry, but the lighting was good and the motion is great. I went with it.

Before I left, there were these two circling hawks. I probably took 50+ photos of these guys before I felt happy with a shot. Check it out:




And now for a different kind of flight:

Day One : Self-Portrait

Alright, here it is. My Self-Portrait. This was tough. I could have just held the camera out and taken a photo and been done. But, I didn't want that. It took forever to get a good exposure, composition and set the focus density correctly. The sun popped out this afternoon/evening and I tried to use it to my advantage. I threw the flash on as well to get rid of the shadows, dropped the color, and added a tad of contrast.

I am just glad that this one is over. I realized I will never be a good model, nor do I like having pictures taken of myself by myself or anyone else.

See you tomorrow. What's it gonna be? You'll have to wait!

Long-term thinking...

My spring training is over and I have officially begun my post-spring training recovery week(s).

My hamstrings were tight after the race this past weekend, reticent of the previous issues I have been having for the past 8-9 months. I don't honestly known what to do except continue to work on strengthening them and lossening them up. My foot felt fine, no worries.

Moving forward from here means at least 3 weeks out of the pool, not because I want or need it, but because I just won't have a pool to swim in til Memorial Day weekend. I plan to continue riding with an emphasis on mountain biking as the trails are real nice. And I plan to take at least another month off from running.

In the next month, I am going to hit the stretching and strengthening routines hard! I am going to outline a schedule and a workout plan and really try to build more overall strength and rehab my hamstrings so that when I get back to running I stay injury free and stronger than ever. I am finally thinking long-term and if that means taking a couple months off from running so that I am 100% better and running injury free, then so be it. I understand that I have tried to do too much too quickly. I am only 21 years old for goodness sakes! I probably have 5 years before I even start hitting my best years. Why do I need to try and be the best out there right now? The answer is, I don't. And I need to get that through my head. Either way, it is not beneficial to continue pushing through pain and tightness and injuries for short term success, when I truly want to be the best in 5 year and beyond. Long-term success is what I truly want.

With that in mind, I am happy with my result from this past weekend. It was a true Olympic Distance race and while I did not hit my goal time, it isn't something to be hard on myself for. A 2:12 is really great. My swim needs improving and I know that if I had been training for the running portion, I would have easily been a couple minutes faster. That was my best effort on the day, but not my best effort, which give me confidence moving forward that I can and will improve.

Now, onto something not related to triathlon at all. I am commencing on my 30-day photo challenge. I will begin posting photos on here everyday. Each day has a different goal product to shoot. I will post the photo and a little info about how I came to like the posted photo over the rest. Stay tuned, this blog is about to get more posts in a month than I had all of last year!

Rio Salado Tri recap...

After the less than spectacular finish at the Marquee tri three weeks ago, and the more than spectacular bonk that occured along the way, yesterday was a small bit of redemption.

I slept well the night before, early to bed, early to rise and no unannounced wak-ups during the night. Easily the best sleep I have had before a race. I am really working on staying nervous-free before races by keeping my mind on other things. It seems to be working.

As always, the morning began with a shower and some oatmeal before heading down to the transition area just after 5am. It might have been the first time when I was not to transition as it opened. No need yesterday, I was not even close to being the first wave. Transition was set up, sun was up, time to race!

Despite the rule of "not trying anything new on race day," I had a new wetsuit and goggles. I tried not to think of another spectacular fail in a race. Good news is, it didn't happen. The gun went off and I flew out off the line. I couldn't count the individuals in front but I think I was in the top 6 or so people for the first third of the swim. Then, my quick early pace caught up with me and so did some others in my wave. I was trying to focus on my form and keeping the intensity up. I finished in about 25 minutes off the actual swim. Not quite what I wanted. But, it was the first open water swim since last July and the first in a race since June. Not bad, I will take it.

My transition felt a little slower than it actually came out. I am still hesitant about taking my wetsuit off, so I used the wetsuit strippers, which probably slowed me down a tad. Either way, it took me 1:12.

I had the hardest time trying to get my foot in my pedal! Probably wasted a minute or so cause my foot would not clip in! But, when I got there, the bike felt really great. Myself and a couple other guys, one from Tri Scottsdale and the other from a team i don't remember, were cruisin together for about the first quarter of the race. Switching leading duties, trying to stay legal however I knew the cat from Tri Scottsdale was blocking a little bit because he would have been drafting if he was in the right. So, no harm no foul. By the turn around on Rio Salado another dude flew past us and I knew that I was feeling too comfortable with the other two, so I made a move to catch up and push my pace a bit. He got away but I put some time between myself and the other two that I was racing with. I tried to keep the pace honest around the next lap and keep on the tail of anyone who passed me. The difference between this race and the Marquee is my consciousness level. I never got into a deficit state where I was just riding to finish. I was always conscious of my level of effort and comfort. I was able to match moves that were made and go with those that passed me. It felt much better. Time: 63:44. I was shooting for an hour, but with my shoe issue and all the turns, it may have been impossible at my riding strength right now.

My T2 was normal. 53.0 seconds. Not the fastest but far from the slowest.

I went out fast on the run. I kept telling myself on the bike that it was only a 5k, even though it was a 10k. I knew that if I went out fast, even if I slowed down, it would still be faster than if I held back my pace because of the longer distance. My first mile was under 7 minutes, maybe just under 6 minutes. I was fighting a cramp for the majority of the first lap. I think I drank too much on the bike which came back to hurt me in the run. Every aid station was walking a fine line between drinking to much and perpetuating the cramp and needing to drink because of the warm 80+ degree temps. I only got passed a couple times during the run. And passed far more. My goal was a sub-40 minute 10K. I didn't know if that was realistic. I hadn't run at all since the Marquee. My lack of fitness, the heat and my cramp slowed my goal time down to a 41:19. Not bad and could have been much worse.

Overall, the race went well. I missed my goal by a bit. I usually understand my fitness very well, in order to set a realistic goal time. I set a 2:10 as a respectable time and came in at 2:12 and change. It came down to a couple mistakes and the heat certainly effected my run time. Had the weather been better and my mistakes been managed, I would have been right there. I don't necessarily think my overshot of my goal was due to my lack of fitness. It was my first Oly distance triathlon and I think it went very well. I am pleased with the effort and I now know how much better I can be over this distance.

Taper and Race...

I love working out. No doubt about it, but I think every athlete relishes the time when they can take a break. My break starts Monday. May 9th. Iron Gear Sports Rio Salado Triathlon (mouth full yet?) is on Sunday. My spring season will have wrapped up with a little less excitement than expected.

I have had hamstring issues since August of last year. They would get to a point and never get worse, so I would continue pushing through them. However, the running was never enjoyable because of the nagging discomfort. Rolling on my foam and stretching never quite let them totally heal. Even after a month off of running over Christmas, I came back with one leg fine and the other worse. Which led to a very weak spring of training (only 150+- miles so far this year!). My longest week of running has only been 23 miles. No speed training. And after the Marquee Triathlon , my foot was aching. I decided to give up running and take a whole new perspective on my training after this weekend. But, before I get to that, I want to let you in on my cycling and swimming too.

Swimming is going, well, swimmingly. I have put in more distance in the pool this spring then last spring and am already over half my total distance from last year (nearly 100,000 meters, which I will hit this week). While I am not making the leaps and bounds in my times that everyone shoots for, I am slowly making progress and hope for a PR at the Rio Salado this weekend. I have hit certain times that I have never hit before which is always great. Slow progress every year is all I can ask for. I have improved my 400m short course time by over a minute and a half in my four years in college. I can knock down intervals at 6:20 over 400m, when 4 years ago I couldn't break 8min all out over the same distance. I can drop under 8min for 5oom on long course without breaking a sweat. So, I am truly thankful for the progress I have made. However, I am not satisfied and will continually work, with God's help, to make my training and racing even better.

Now onto cycling. I am having a resurgence of love for this sport. As is the case every spring, I tend to fall in love with it as if I was a child. I think it has a lot to do with the wonderful memories I had as a kid in the city-run mountain biking camp that I was a part of for years. Wonderful weather + great trails + all day in the forest + nothing better to do = awesome childhod memories! All that is said to say that I want to get back into more bicycle racing. Not so much mountain bike racing because there is more of a spiritual connection to that side of riding for me. I love just being in the woods, taking my time, enjoying how beautiful the world is around me and getting some excerise in at the same time. But, road racing is totally different. I love the strategy of it all. The break aways, climbs, sprints, points, GC, all of it. I miss it. I don't know if I am in the kind of shape right now to be competitive with those guys. Plus, I need to get a new bike before I dive back into that scene, cause the one I have now is a little embarrassing. It gets the job done, but it does not hold up against other racers.
As for training, I am over halfway to my total mileage for all of last year, similar to swimming. Although, I don't necessarily feel any stronger or faster. My ride up snowbowl last week was a little slower than my PR, but for this time of year and my first time up the road, it wasn't bad. I know I can go a lot faster.

Since those are out of the way, lets get back to my running. I am writing this more as a training lesson for anyone who wants to read it. So, take this as a free long-term training session.
My Issue: Too many injuries from overuse.
Solution: Longer Base Mileage.
Background: I was hardly injured in high school save for a couple weeks of shin splints and a foot strain from running in flats for the first time. Nothing serious. Since I have been in college, I have had ITBS, Runner's Knee, Stress fractures, some odd Osgood-Schlatter's type knee pain that could never get a for sure diagnosis, and odd and end other ailments. In my mind, and I am usually correct in my assumptions, I did too much too soon. In high school, I never ran over 30 miles per week (that's a guess since I didn't actually count mileage). The intensity or training was less and I ran slower times in races. I would then take time off between cross season and outdoor track season and between the end of outdoor track season and the beginning of cross season. Low intensity, low mileage, lots of recovery. No real chance for injuries.
In college, I bumped up race distances, am running faster and take less recovery. I would run a couple to a few days a week between 8-12 week build-up for races. I am going from 15-25 miles/week to a build-up where I want to run PRs over distances as long as half marathon. I would jump in to these races with a small base, and bump intensities really quickly in order to run quickly.
I had little to no long-term base coming out of high school, as more committed runners do, because of my 3-4 month seasons with little in between. It was no foundation for the type of running I wanted to do in college. If you want to run well over a long period with a low chance for injuries, you need a long term (a year or more) base to build on.
My mistake: Too much, too quickly with no base. Lots of injuries.

Solution: I am taking the next couple of weeks off from running. I am going to make sure that I am 100% injury free. I am going to make sure that my hamstrings are no longer an issue. I am going to stretch like crazy, do some extra strength training and come out of the next couple weeks ready for a build-up. I am going to slowly build my base up until december and shoot for higher mileage, at a SLOW pace, than I have ever hit before. Take a week or two off in December to recover from the months' long base phase and then begin a 14-16 week marathon build for a mid to late spring marathon.

I want to race this marathon well, the first time and stay injury free. I am sick of being injured and having to take time off for it. I want to enjoy running well again and fast. I have decided I NEED to make these changes for my own well-being if I want to continue on running for any length of time in the future. I don't plan on racing hardly at all for the rest of the year to really focus on building some good mileage.

Sorry about making these things so long. I need to update more often, i guess. Hope the information in here can help someone. Blessings

Marquee Triathlon recap...

My weekend truly started on friday evening. My youth group had a lock-in planned on Friday night as part of a fundraising campaign for World Vision and their 30-hour famine money drive. Everyone fasts for 30-hours in an attempt to learn a bit of what kids around the world go through each and everyday.

We met at 5pm at church, played games, did a bible study, talked about their experiences thus far with being hungry for a day, broke fast at midnight and went to bed. I never sleep well at church, even though I shoot for the couch in the youth room. I am not sure if its being in a weird place, temperature or what not, but I was up at 6am after a patchy night of rest. I immediately turned on NPR after looking out the window and watched as my car was continuously buried under the 6 inches of snow that was already on the ground. My biggest worry was getting out of town before they closed I-17 and I wouldn't be able to get to phoenix.

I made it on to the highway. Pushed 50mph over mostly good roads and was in phoenix by noon. First mission accomplished. Apparently when it is snowing in Flagstaff, it stays cold in phoenix too. I was just hoping that the weather was going to be nicer and warmer the next day, cause I hate cold weather races.

I make it to Tempe Town Lake and walk into the check-in tent. As I get my bib number, the volunteer informs me that the swim for tomorrow is cancelled. The recent rain tends to drain bacteria into the lake and there was not enough time between check-in and race morning to analyze samples for cleanliness. Go figure. Kind of a bummer as my swim was going fabulously this spring and I was really looking forward to setting a new PR over the distance. It is what it is. The triathlon just turned into a duathlon.

I wandered through the expo, bought a new pair of cycling gloves as they were on sale and I needed new ones. Took all my gear back to my car, unloaded my bike and began to make my way to transition for bike check-in. I got a nice spot in transition. Bike rack places were reserved by race number. I was number 22 and was on the second rack you see from the run-in and out. Put a trash bag over my frame for safety from the rain and went to check in at my hotel.

The hotel was nice, albeit odd. It seemed more like a short term housing unit as there were bikes chained to stair railings, people milling about and other odd features. But, this was not a $20/night place. Odd, very odd. The room was very large, small kitchenette, couch, two beds, desk. For one night, no problem. I got settled, watched some TV til dinner and went in search of food. Made it old town Scottsdale which I would love to go back to when its warmer. As a historian, I love the old town places that retain much of their original aestheitic. While Old Town does an ok job at this, and has become a snobby hangout for rich artists and those wannabe artists, I can still sense the atmosphere of the area from a hundred years ago. It was just a tad too late for most things to be open and was cold and drizzly which made me retreat back to my car and head back to the hotel after my stomach was full.

I found Good Morning Vietnam on TV (one of my favorites) and watched that til it was time for bed. I was not as nervous for this race and really tried to keep my mind off it. I never sleep well before races and wanted to change that. It mostly worked. I probably had my best night's rest before a competition. However, just like the night before at church, I was up before my alarm. I turned on the weather channel to check the temperature, made some oatmeal and coffee. Did my final touches. Loaded my car, checked out and headed to the race venue just after 5am. There wasn't the same buzz around transition as normal because the olympic distance and sprint distance went of an hour and two hours, respectively, after the half-iron. Most people didn't want to get up just to sit around, especially cause it was pretty chilly outside.

I set up my transition a little different because of the duathlon format. I didn't need to set down my running things because I would be wearing them for the first 5K leg of the race. That left just my helemt and bike shoes. Pumped up my tires, taped my Gu's to my top tube and left for a morning prayer service led by Ryan from FCA Endurance. The turn out was disappointingly small, but we take what we get and the guys who showed up were great.

I left my bag with Ryan, took my sweatshirt and sweatpants off and headed for the start line, which was now on the Mill Ave bridge, instead of at the water line, for our 5k run.

We close in on 7am, start time, when tehy inform us that their is a vehicle accident out on the bike course that is blocking all four lanes. Delay the start 15 minutes.
National Anthem sung, 5....4....3....2....1....GO!!
I have never done a duathlon and was not sure about how to pace myself. We started in waves (I was in the pros/20-39 age group) and I settled in comfortably in about 11th place. I used Bo Reed's advice of transitioning (not to be confused with triathlon transitions) and running with the course. Relaxing on up hills, pushing downhills. With a mile to go, I was in 4th place and feeling strong. By transition, I was in 2nd. I was blown away!! My longest week of mileage since Jan. 1st has been 16 miles and I have done little to no speed work. And none of the little speed work I have done has been faster than 6:45 pace. I finished the first 5k in 17:26. Good enough for the second fastest of the day overall.

I had a blazing fast transition for what I am used to. Despite taking it easy and slowing down. I am out on teh bike course in second place overall. By mile 5 I am passed by two brother who are working together. I stick with them for the next 5 miles but start to lose ground and need to regroup. By the first turn around, 14 miles in, I am in sixth place. I am riding hard and can't do anything about it, they are just superior riders. I hammer it downhill back toward transition to complete the first loop of the bike. I am starting to feel a little tired but keep checking my pace and it hasn't slowed. By the 40 mile mark I am hungry. Full blown hungry and realized I didn't eat enough. My couple bowl of oatmeal were eaten 6 hours ago and all I have had since is a few Gu's and some cytomax. Not enough. Its survival mode. To make matters worse, the wind has picked up and I am fighting it all the way home. I finish in 2:40. I know that I was inshape for a 2:25. Bummer.

My toes are frozen and running into transition is difficult. My second transition was slow for a couple reasons, frozen fingers and toes, and bonking. I know that there is an aid station just a couple hundred meters out on to the run course. I try to run but my legs have nothing in them. I grab a handful of pretzels and eat them as I walk. Thank you to everyone who asked if I was ok during this portion of the race. I do a run/walk for the next mile and grab some animal crackers and gatorade at the next aid station. I am beginning to feel just a bit better. But, it takes a good 4 miles before I have any kind of sustainable strength in my legs. I end up running between aid stations and walking the food line for the rest of the race. Eric, Nate, Gary, and Wendy, all of Team FCA, help encourage me and keep me moving forward. My race is already over, it is just a matter of finiahing now. I could tell that some individual that passed me earlier are coming back to me and I am making up ground. Which tells me that my late-race strength is there, but the first four miles of the run left me uncompetitive and making up a deficit the whole race both in nutrition and speed. Since there was no body marking because of no swim, I had no idea who was in my age group or what place I was in. The only person I know for sure was in my age group was a kid in an ASU singlet. I see him in the last mile and continue pushing until I was right behind him with 50 meters to go. Except, while he was hurting before, he finds an extra gear and beats me by 1.5 seconds.

I had no answer as was the case most of the day.

Good things to take away from this race:
1. My 5K speed is there. Where did it come from? no idea. But, it's there.
2. Despite starting the half marathon on a bad note, give it some time and it can turn around. I believe I was listening to Frank Shorter speak one time and he said this same thing. Everyone runs in to bad patches in a race, maybe for 10 seconds, maybe for 2 miles, but they will eventually turn around.
3.I have 4 more weeks to make my swimming even better before my next race.

Bad things to take away from this race:
1. Keep working on cycling strength. There is no reason I should have been dropped so easily.
2. Eat more before a race!! It was a lapse of judgement and I usually know better.
3. Take more food on the bike, just in case.