2005 5430 Sprint Race Report

This race was terrific! I needed a good day to get over the fiasco that was the HalfMax this year. I like racing a sprint or two, because it's fun to go out and just blitz the course sometimes.

Swim - 0.5 miles

This was a good, fast swim. The results have me down at 13:44, but I think I was a little faster than that. The timing mat was up a ways from the beach, and I looked at my watch as I came out of the water, and it was closer to 13 minutes.

Bike - 17 miles

Fast, fast fast bike course. The first 4 miles or so is a slight uphill, but when you get past that, it's screaming fast. I averaged nearly 22.5 mph on the bike, and came in with a 46 minute split over the 17 miles. I can't wait to see the course for the 5430 Half.

Run - 5k

This is my weakest leg. I've run a 24 minute 5K leg before, but my run training has been crappy this year. I ended up doing an 8:30 pace, for a 26 and-a-half minute 5K run. Not my best, but certainly not my worst either.

Total: 1:29:15

2005 HalfMax Race Report

This was a majorly disappointing race for me. I'm a huge fan of the long course races, and was looking forward to doing three Half IMs after a terrific first Ironman race last year. I did this race in 2004, and it was my best Half IM race yet. After a really good swim, I was able to hold nearly 22 mph on the bike, and I actually PRed my stand alone half marathon time.

This year was exactly the opposite. After moving to Denver in August 2004, I thought the altitude training would have me ready for another PR. But, after good, dedicated winter training, I pretty much lost interest in my workouts starting in April. Although I did most of them, I think my lackluster attention to detail made them mostly "junk" miles, instead of good, focused training.

St. Louis was really hot this year. Although the race was 3 weeks later last, it was a much cooler day in 2004. After a 33 minute 1.2 mile swim, I had a good transition, and jumped on my bike ready to tackle the new 2 loop, 56 mile bike course.

Everything was great until about 20 miles in. Suddenly, I had terrible spasms in my back, and I lost all power in my legs. I managed another 8 miles, and decided to call it a day. No way would I be able to finish the bike, let alone run a half marathon after that.

So, my day ended early, and I watched the other competitors finish their races. I'm glad I didn't push it, but I REALLY hate DNF'ing a race.

Commuting by Bicycle

Wow... I haven't blogged in a long while. I'll need to work on that.

Last night, the planets were aligned just right, and I got to thinking about how outrageously expebsive it's getting to fill my gas tank. Thoughts of how to conserve gasoline overwhelmed me to the point that I finally decided I can no longer justify driving in to work. With:

• triathlon race season upon us,
• warming temperatures,
• soaring gas prices,
• the fact that I drive an SUV,
• the Cherry Creek trail going almost right past my house and straight to downtown Denver,
• the fact that I live maybe 5 miles from work, and
• my gym having showers and other amenities being in my building...

I finally decided to stop talking about it and, to borrow a phrase from a well-known company, just do it... commute by bicycle, that is.

I have to say that I loved it!

I left the house at 5:30 this morning and rode 2 miles to the Washington Park pool to do a quick 2000 yard swim. After that workout, I just jumped back on the bike and hit the Cherry Creek Trail north straight into dowtown Denver. It was so easy and so invigorating, I can't believe I haven't done it before.

I highly recommend commuting by bicycle, if you can. Of course, it helps to have your gym near work, and it helps when you don't have to carry a lot of stuff back and forth to and from the office. I don't see this happening every day, because sometimes, I have too much stuff... but I will do it as often as I can.

Sometimes I Just Don't Get People

I had and interesting experience yesterday on the trinewbies.com website, a triathlon community and forum that I frequent. Basically, some lady posted about how her husband, a frequent visitor and contributor to the forum, had been cheating on her with "hundreds" of women, and that she knew there were some in the TriNewbies community. She then proceeded to blast the whole community, as well as the sport of triathlon, as the cause of the destruction of her marriage.



All I could think was... "Geez, lady! Get a grip. There are nasty people everywhere. Why blame all of us?"



Anyway... you'd think that'd be the end of it, but no. Some of the morbid freaks on the forum kept after her to name names and tell everyone who the offenders were... It went on all day, and predictably, ended with names named and feeling hurt.



I just don't get why people would do that. Is it morbidly fascinating? Sure. But these are real people, who have real problems that don't need to be aired on the Internet. How cruel can we be?



All right... rant over. Time to go to work.

Back in the office...

Today is my first day back at work after the holidays. I hate coming in after extended time off... It's so hard to get back into it. I do have a lot of work to do today, though... so this will be a very short post.

Got up at 5:30 am today to get in the following workout before work:

• 1 hour and 15 minutes on the spin bike. Mostly at aerobic HR. It's base building time.

After work, I'll hit the weights.

A New Year

Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope to make 2005 a really good year, both professionally and personally. I have many goals this year, and I'm setting them down in writing on this blog site. Maybe we'll look back on December 31, and see how many I've met.

My Goals for 2005

• Bring in 5 new clients to the law firm
• Bill 2000 hours for the year
• Stick to my 2005 triathlon training plan
• Qualify for the Half Ironman Championships in Kansas City

I'm sure there are more... I'll add them as I think of them... unfortunately, I'm a little crunched for time today.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend

I got this book for Christmas, and started reading it today. It's hysterical. It's the story of the life of Jesus Christ as told by his childhood best friend, who also happens to be a real asshole. I haven't made it too far into the book, but I've already laughed out loud several times.

The book is by Christopher Moore (www.chrismoore.com), and I'm sure you can get it at amazon.com.

So far, I highly recommend it.