Little Miami Triathlon - Spring 2014 Results

The SPRING 2014 Little Miami Triathlon on June 1st results blog!

The weather was almost perfect. No rain and ~75 degrees at the start. It said a high of 85 but I think it almost hit 90 because it was hot!

This year we had 3 team participate:
Dave and Jesse were JUST GOT BACK FROM OUR HONEYMOON AND BOY ARE WE TIRED.
Casey and Brad were TRI BEING ENGAGED
and Cousin-in-law Scott and I were CRUISING COUSINS (slogan "Partner's for Life")

Annie and Julie were our ATHLETIC SUPPORTERS and met us at the top of the hill and the finish line.

Top things I learned this time:
1) Wear sunscreen! With all the pumping up of bikes and getting things sorted I forgot to put sunscreen on and got a little burned on my next, arms and face. Not good.
2) I don't think I ate enough the night before or the morning of so I just didn't feel like I had much energy even with eating 3 shot blok bars during the race.

Some things I noticed was that the triathlon was under staffed. There were not enough canoes when we got there so they were pulling out of the "bad" piles. All 3 of our teams ended up in metal canoes even though only Scott and I should have had one. Also at the end of the canoe you almost couldn't reach the shore due to the HUGE pile up of canoes. It looked like volunteer boy scouts were helping but this part of the race was much less organized than in previous years.

I was concerned about battery life since my larger back up battery didn't fit in the waterproof pouch so I didn't run the HR monitor via bluetooth. At the end of the race I think I had ~40% life left on my battery which seemed pretty good even while using the small extra battery.

On to the results: I continued to generate data proving that if you don't exercise much you are slower than when you exercise. Hopefully that motivates me to find more time to exercise even with a baby toddler. I just didn't have the energy today for any event.

Side note: I wore my Louis Garneau yellow jersey to stay cool but was chased for 0.5 miles on the run by a bee so next time I'll wear white!

 

Canoeing ~6mi [64 min, +10 mins from last FALL]
Scott and I had a pretty good canoe trip. For the first half we were pretty close to the front of our heat. Then we probably got tired and slowed a bit. Casey and Brad also contributed by trying to T-bone us a few times so both teams were slowed down for those shenanigans.

I think the main reason our time was ~10 minutes slower from the fall was because we got stuck on rocks 3 times. We really got surprised by a set of rocks that lines the river. We should have stayed to the right but we went left into all sorts of trouble. I think Scott and I did an awesome job of not panicking even when water was starting to pour into the canoe (I really don't know how we didn't end up swimming). We were able to get free and we continues on but got stuck 2 more times for 3 in total and I think we never made back that time. Looking through the data based on our initial splits we probably lost 5-6 minutes in total on the rocks.

 

Running ~5mi [66 min, +2 mins from last FALL]
I hadn't run since the indoor tri in March so I knew this wouldn't be that great. It was also a hot day so I didn't feel that great. Only remarkable thing to say on the run was the fact that a bee was chasing me on the bike trail for about 0.5 mile. It would land on Scott's hat and "launch attacks" at me so I waited until it landed on Scott's head and then I killed it. Unfortunately in doing so I slapped Scott's head harder than I anticipated (sorry partner!). But we triumphed over the bee! I saw one other person being chased by a bee so I think I'll wear white next time.

 

Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [13 min, +2 mins from last FALL]
At the end of the run Scott went ahead because he was going to change into bike shorts so after the canoe and run I was the last one up the hill. I ended up on the bike ride ahead of Scott but it didn't take him long to pass me for good on the bike.

Biking ~18mi [79 min, +3 mins from last FALL]
I knew getting on the bike that I wasn't going to break my PR. I was pretty far behind my times. As I said Scott was gone and for most of the bike ride I was pulling up the rear. This was also my first event on my Cervelso S3 so it was not a good debut for my bike.

It was surprisingly windy for what initially seemed like a calm day. There was a stretch around mile 10 into the wind and those uphill "S-curves" until mile 13 that still seemed a bit hard. But in general I think my time was slow just because I didn't have any energy.

Other notes would be that I didn't cramp much at all this time which was nice, however after the race the bottom of my feet were tight so I need to look into that. Also my S3 isn't geared for hills but I had (just) enough gears for this course.

Summary[ +17 mins from last FALL]
It's amazing to have lost 17 minutes from the fall, though I was only 3 minutes slower than last spring so I guess I don't keep in shape much over the winter and then get in a little shape furing the summer.

Also looking at 4.5 years of doing this event it is interesting that my times haven't moved much so I obviously haven't figured out how to build on fitness year over year which is something I would like to do. I really like having a consistent benchmark 2 times per year to track my fitness. No other race on my calendar is as easy to fit in as Morgna's Tri.

If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Fall of 2014! I'll see you there!

Vegas 2014

This year Dave, Adam and I stayed at the Wynn Encore and it was a blast!

 

Panoramic View.

 

The view from our room was nice!

 

Here's a Wheel Of Fortune win!

 

This was the first Vegas trip that UMass made it to the tourney so I finally got the chance to lose some money betting on UMass.

 

The last night I couldn't lose at a Black Jack table in the Encore and took $700 profit off the table.

 

Highlights of the trip included the Wynn buffet, playing $10 craps right outside our tower elevator with a couple from Vancouver, and being up $700 on the trip!

Lifetime Fitnesss Indoor Triathlon - 2014

This past weekend we completed the Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon and it was a great time! We did the same event last year and enjoyed it so I was glad when we got a LARGE group together to do it this year.

This year Dave, Jesse, Casey, Brad, Julie, Scott and I participated. At the last minute Brad was unable to participate when a doctor's visit turned up performance enhancing drugs ended in elective surgery.
The Indy group deserves a LOT of credit for driving down early in the morning for the event. It was a blast having them here for the day!

Although this event is for individuals, Scott and I competed as a team (Partner's for Life) and we came in first place among all other teams.

OK on to my results. (some pictures are from 2011).

[ 10 min Swim ]

I'm in the far right lane -
and blurry because I am swimming so fast!

I learned my lesson from last year about not trying to exert myself in the swim too much too early as I ended up wasting time resting.

This time I did the breast stroke relatively easily and mixed it up with the backstroke when I wanted to catch my breath. This worked out well as I completed 13 lengths in 10 minutes, 2 lengths better than last year.

My swim rank was tied for #50-55 out of #65 which is improved ~8 spots from last year. Take SWIM LESSONS already!


[1st Transition ]
I was more prepared for the short transition time this year but still didn't really have time to adjust the seat height of my bike properly before it started. Also apparently my SPD-SL clips don't work with these bikes.

[ 30 min Cycling ]

I'm blurry because I am biking so fast..

So after giving Lifetime Fitness poor reviews in the bike last year (since they always change their unrealistic mileage and you can't compare year to year) I was actually open to the changes they said they made this year.

It was supposed to be more realistic distances however I think the calibration of the bikes were all over the map. My bike was in kilometers which is fine as they easily converted the distance to miles however I finished in the top third of cyclists last year and this year I was at the bottom. I think others in our group felt their bike results were not accurate. I know Scott was working hard and it didn't show up in his distance, and I watched Casey's feet / cadence and I think she got ripped off on her distance. Also Jesse scored ~100 points in every other event but the bike so I am sure her distance was not accurate either.

Again - Lifetime should just track revolutions and calculate a score. I've participated in this event 3 times and the bike is different each time ,aking it frustrating and hard to compare.

My biking rank (for what its worth) was  tied for #51-52 out of #65 which much worse than last year (by almost 30 places) when I earned 2/3 of my total points on the bike alone.

[ 5 min transition ]
This transition was pretty straight forward and you just walk over to the treadmills. There was plenty of time to get ready for the next event. We were told to take a shortcut through some other classes which I don't think made sense. Next time I'll just go down and around as usual.

[ 20 min run ]


The run was pretty straight forward - 20 minutes on a treadmill. It was great to have such a large group of us competing together!

I was able to finish 1.70 miles which was better than last year and gave me  a rank of  #45 out of #65 competitors on the run. Believe it or not this was my best event this year though I am not buying the bike part this year.

Summary
Overall - I came in a not-too-great but expected #53 out of #65 competitors. Although I improved in my swim and run the bike score brought me down and this is a worse overall result than last year but I guess I feel pretty good about my performance.

Also I again wish that the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon was more than once per winter as there isn't much else to do AND I always have the bug to do a little better after I figure out how to do the indoor tri again.

Maybe next year...

Halloween 2013

It's the 2013 version of Halloween pumpkins!

Jesse made a donut - or an Ohio State logo!

Dave S. made a ghost peeking out of a door.

Dave D. drew free hand a baby head down in the womb! (He just had a baby so it makes sesne)

Matt carved a ghoul hiding behind a door.

I carved a kitten ontop of a pumpkin in a pumpkin.


The best part of this year was that I got a lot of help!

Anna really wanted to be part of the process!

She even decorated her own pumpkin!

Anna's pumpkin. So proud! I think it's a globe. I can see Asia.

Little Miami Triathlon - Fall 2013

The FALL 2013 Little Miami Triathlon on October 6th results blog!

With rain in the forecast the weather turned out WET but warm fort his time of year at 66-70 degrees.

This time we had 2 team participate:
Dave and Jesse were STILL TAPERING.
Scott and I were CRUISING COUSINS

Annie and Julie were our ATHLETIC SUPPORTERs to cheer us on in the rain at the start.

I also want to comment that althought the cost of the tritahlon was back to normal there were even less participants this time(591 instead of 1,150). I think the rain may have kept some away but hopefully they didn't alienate too many people by raising prices so much last time.

After 7 trithlons with great weather we knew eventually it would catch up with us. It rained all night before and all morning. We actually had to get ready at the start in the rain. It stopped pretty much for the actual triathlon but we were already soaked. A few cars got stuck in the mud leaving including Dave and Scott.

This picture sums up the race:

On to the results: I didn't end up using my new bike because of the rain, and I may wish I had because it was windy on th bike ride and I missed my PR by 90 seconds. No doubt this bike would have helped :)

Canoe ~6mi [54 min, -10 mins from SPRING]
Scott and I had the TIPPIEST CANOE I have ever used. We had a tough time not tipping just sitting and paddling. We did a great job just making it without getting in the water though we came close a few times. One time we tipped so far over we took on water but somehow we stayed up. I think with all the rain the river was high and running fast which helped out time. Scott and I had the fastest canoe time I have had in the Little Miami Triathlon!

Running ~5mi [64 min, -3 mins from SPRING]
Not much exciting to say on the run. I didn't run much before the Tri so I didn't expect to set a running record anyway. If anything the sool weather helped. It was fun too because Scott and I ran the whole way together so I had company for the Canoe and Run.

Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [11 min, +1 min from SPRING]
The course up killer hill was MUDDY. There was running water across the bottom of the trail and there wasn't a way to avoid dipping your shoes in it. The hill was slippery and not easy to climb but the new stairs helped.

Biking ~18mi [76 min, -1 mins from SPRING]
Since the canoe time was so fast and I did OK on the run I thought I had a chance to set a PR on the bike. The first 7 or so miles I was averaging 15 mph and on pace to set my record. Then I hit the wind. It was a pretty strong wind and it was in the LMT classic direction where every turn in one section you seemed to be going up wind.

There was a section where some bikers crashed and one was taken off in a stretcher. I was biking when the ambulance and firetruck went by. It was a bit tricky to bike around the scene but the women who fell looked to be doing OK as they were putting her on a stretcher.

For most of the bike ride I was yo-yoing with a guy on a red masi bike. I ended up finishing first and he complemented me as being good motivation for him to go fatser so that was nice.

I also passed a lot of people and wasn't passed by too many on the course which was good. If not for the wind I think I could have been around 3:22 but intead I finished with my second best total time.

Other side note: This was the first time I raced without my HRM. While that may be good because I just pushed myself I like having the feedback. I'll get a new battery this week. See you in the Spring 2014!

Emerald Ash Borer

Well - I didn't think it would happen so fast but the Emerald Ash borer is in our back yard :(

As you drive around Mason you can see hundreds of dead trees on the side of the road or highway.

And now my back yard. Out of all the Ash trees only 15 are being treated (about $100 per tree).

The only upside was that I thought 100% of our trees were Ash but it turns out only 90-95% of them are!

I took some pictures to remember our backyard at it's peak.



 

Little Miami Triathlon - Spring 2013 Results

The SPRING 2013 Little Miami Triathlon on June 2nd results blog!

With rain in the forecast the weather turned our sunny and 72 at the start and 78 at the finish. Maybe a little hot but overall great weather.

This year we had 2 team participate:
Dave and Jesse were STILL TAPERING.
I was alone in a kayak.

Again we didn't have any ATHLETIC SUPPORTERs to cheer us on but the athletes had a good time.

I also want to comment that there were noticeably less participants this year (850 instead of 1,150). I think the increase in the cost of the race was a big factor. They were continuously selling out in previous years so it makes sense to rainse prices but they may have gone too far.

Also the new timing chips attached to the back of the race numebrs had a double sided sticky tape that when it got wet it bled blue ink on my white (expensive) jersey. We have washed it and stain sticked it a few tims but there is still some ink on there :( Next year I will remove the tape backing before the race.

As we were getting out of our cars and putting out stuff together I saw someone wearing a yellow Boston Marathon 2013 official shirt. It caught my eye becase it was so recognizable from TV and all the coverage this year. I guess if you raced in the Boston Marathon this year it would stick with you.

On to the results: I heard that Jesse had a Personal Record (PR) and Dave was a few seconds from his PR so great job by the STILL TAPERING team. I found out that they had a secret training program the week before by snow-shoeing in Alaska. I'll have to try that next time.

I ended up generating data to prove that if you don't exercise much you are slower than when you exercise. Hopefully that motivates me to find more time to exercise even with a baby todler. It had been a year since I raced the Little Miami Triathlon (LMT) because we attended a wedding in Boston the race before.

Side note: This was the first LMT that I didn't wear my Apple Jacks jersey. While it is a crowd favorite I am cooler in my Garneau breathable jerseys.

 

Kayaking ~6mi [64 min, +5 mins from last SPRING]
This was my first time ever kayaking and I think I prefer canoeing with a partner. The advantages to kayaking woud be that your time is not dependant on yourpartner and therefore more consistent year to year (to track improvement etc).I also believe that in theory the kayak could be faster than a canoe. The disadvantages to kayaking are that you have no one to talk to for an hour, it takes more effort and energy to kayak, and you can't really grab a quick drink or eat anything because no one else is paddling.

While I was grabbing one of the old or normal kayaks someone who works at Morgan's canoe told be to grab one of these green kayaks. he said they were faster. That is probably true. But he forgot to mention that the shallow wells would quickly fill up with water. I spent an hour sitting in water with my shoes mostly under water. With every stroke water dripped down into my kayak. This is the first time I realy ever got wet in this triathlon. Fortunately I had tri shorts on and good socks so it wasn't an issue but more of an annoyance.

Next time I will try to find a canoe partner, otherwise I will grab one of the older kayaks.

 

Running ~5mi [67 min, +4 mins to last SPRING]
I remember feeling good on the run considering I hadn't run much. I think the weather was cool enough for me to feel pretty good and not get my heart rate too high. Not much else to say. I wish I could run a 10 min mile. Probably time to see a pulminologist.

Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [10 min, -2 min from last SPRING]
The course up killer hill was new with more stairs built in. I think it was a little longer but not as steep and I liked it. It seemed easier and I set my best time. That being siad I saw more carnage on the hill than I remember seeing before. Usually I am the one leaning against a tree to catch my breath but there were multiple people around me suffering against a railing or tree. I felt great when I got to the top and I was ready for the bike.

Biking ~18mi [77 min, +2 mins from last SPRING]
I knew getting on the bike that I wasn't going to break my PR. I was pretty far behind my times. Dave and I started the bike together and I went out and gave it a strong effort and Dave stayed right with me just about the whole time which is awesome. I ended up cramping a bit on the hills at the end and Dave finished the bike first. Jesse was already in the club house for 40 minutes.

I noticed that more of the bike ride was tar and pitch surface (the cobbles) and I think mile 3-11 and 14-16 are now rough road. Also this year the wind was in a different direction which was nice for some of the typically harder parts in the wind but I think it was subtly tougher as you were headed into the wind later. But nothing could be as bad as when Jesse and I biked 50 miles in 20-25 mph winds so the wind was fine.

As for the temperature it was a bit hot by now on the bike and I finished both water bottles but it was fine overall. I was basically slower all the way around so it is time to work out this summer.

If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Fall of 2013! I'll see you there!

Calvin's Challenge 2013

I had this on my radar fora while but this year Jesse, Dave and I participated in Calvin's Challenge.

Calvin's Challenge is a 12 Hour Bike Race is held each year on the weekend before Mother's Day, starting at Shawnee High School in Springfield, Ohio. It's a race to see who can bike the furthest in 12 hours. There is also a 6 hour bike race, a 100 mile time trial and a 50 mile time trial.

One of the things I like is that there are TONS of different tipes of bikes at this event.
• 3 Tandem classes
• Singlespeed/fixed gear
• Recumbents
• Hand Powered Vehicles (HPV)
• High wheelers
• Triples
• Trikes
• 2-person team
• 4-person team
• Ellipticals

Or one of those crazy old bikes but with aero bars!

This year we even saw some scooters (kick bikes). They were a debacle in the wind. Which brings me to this year's race. This year Jesse and I participated in the 50 mile TT. Dave was recovering from being sick and still tapering for the next event so he did the shorter loop TT.

It was cool at the start and WINDY! It was 60 degrees and cloudy with 20-25 mph winds in the begining. It was weather where you question why you are doing your first long event under these conditions. If that wasn't bad enough the first 30 miles in almost all seriousness was into the wind. At the 25 mile mark we were on pace for a 5 hour time trial. I thought maybe we should have just enetered the 6 hour race! I recall really long stretches where I was working hard and going 8 mph. Fortunately the last 20 miles was away from the wind and it was warmer and sunny. I think I was averaging 18-20mph the rest of the way and finished in under 4 hours.

All in all I was glad I did it. I hadn't ever spent 4 hours on the bike and I was surprisingly not that tired at the end. I ate plenty of energy bars on the way which really helped (about 1 entire clifs shot block per hour). I wore bike shorts but wish my seat were more comfortable. Either my gel seat is too worn in or a slightly stiffer seat would work better with padding from bike shorts (tri shorts actually).

I was really glad Jesse wanted to do the 50 mile TT with me and I plan to add Calvin's Challenge to my annual events. I plan to eventually step up to the 6 hour race and the 100 mile TT.

Vegas 2013

This year Dave, Vishad, Adam and I got a Suite in the Venetian with a strip view. The Venetian was nice but it is weird how you have to take an elevator to another lobby to then get in an elevator to your room.

 

Just about as soon as we put our stuff down and started walking the casino Dave found a gave giving away WILDS.

 

Good news is he won a bunch - bad news is they took his social sec # on a post-it note and have him a W2-G

 

We also found the mechanical ponies on our trip. I think our room spent 6 hours there with the same 2 other couples.

 

After "breaking" the machine 2 times each and being hand paid for all the quarters they owed us our room took out over $2,000 from this machine. We all had already won too much and while they were hand paying us we all hit the 200-1 winner.

 

Everyone won so much that we had to pose with our buckets of quarters!

 

 

On this trp we also passed a roulette table in the Mirage that was DUE!

It was so due that there is a red number off the screen. Everyone at the table was betting black. So much so that they lost their shirts and when black came up no one had money on it. After 19 spins in a row without a black it finally came up. The "dealer" said they had never seen anything like this and they were motioning to the other roullette "dealers" to check out their wheel!

 

Sh*t Triathletes Say - I'm Totally Busted!

This video is so funny because it contains stuff I've heard other triathletes say, things I'd say, things Meghan would hear me say, and the one thing Dave S says...

Lifetime Fitnesss Indoor Triathlon - 2013

Last weekend we completed the Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon and it was a good time!
I did the same event 2 years ago and enjoyed it so I was glad when Dave's girlfriend Jesse tried to get a group together to do it this year.

This year Dave and Jesse, Jesse's friend Katie and I participated. Although I have a competitive streak in me it is a good thing I can focus on just competing with myself because I knew Jesse was a good athlete from her Little Miami Triahtlon, but it was also a last minute surprise to find out that Katie was an Ironman finisher as well. Needless to say the girls in our wave did awesome.

While I usually focus on my own results but I want to give a quick shout out to Jesse for coming in 4th overall and 1st place for Women! Also great work to Dave for finishing his first swim triathlon. Maybe he'll get the bug like I did for swim triathlons. Katie did great too and was the most consistent performer across all 3 events of our group.

OK on to my results. Note: Pictures are from the 2011 Indoor Tri when Meghan took them.

[ 10 min Swim ]

I'm in the far right lane -
and blurry because I am swimming so fast!

The last time I did this triathlon I swam the breast stroke nice and easy the whole way which is a bit relaxing and keeps my heart rate down, though I only did 13 lengths in 10 minuets that time.

This year I decided to start out swimming freestyle and see if I could get a few extra lengths in before switching to breast stroke. It turned out to be a bad strategy as I got my heart rate up and it never really went back down so I ended up catching my breath here and there and only finished 11 lengths in 10 minutes this time.

My swim rank was tied for #58-61 out of #62 which is terrible. Good thing someone only did 9 lengths otherwise I wouldn't have gotten any points for the swim.

Next time I will go back to a nice and easy pace the entire time - or of course I should just take SWIM LESSONS already!

[1st Transition ]
The 10 min transition time seemed shorter to me this year. I also realized in the locker room that I forgot to bring my bike shorts. Good thing I swam in tri shorts so I just wore them the rest of the way. I got ot the bike with about 1 minute to spare but the guy running the spin bikes didn't know how to set it up for my clips so I ended up using my sneakers in toe straps.

[ 30 min Cycling ]

I'm blurry because I am biking so fast..

I knew what to expect from the spin bike from the last time but I was disappointed with a few things. First of all the scale for how they calculate "mileage" was changed again so I didn't know what was a good distance this time unlike last time. This time most people were in the 50-55mph range.Secondly the spin bike guy told me that if I went over 55-56 mph that my computer could reset my distance and mess up my score.

I can't say this effected my score much but a few times I went over and slowed down. The guuy also told me not all bikes had this issue so I think I could have tested this on my bike more and pushed it a bit. Overall I averaged 53 mph which was just OK. I also proved I could keep my heart rate between 195-202 for 30 minutes staightso I wasn't anaerobic yet at 195 bpm. I saw V02 max testing going on at Lifetime Fitness so maybe I should sign up for that and see where my zones are.

My biking rank was  #20 out of #62 which is about even with last time I did this event. I also earned 44 out of my 61 points in this event. I need to improve my swim and run.

[ 5 min transition ]
This transition was pretty straight forward and you just walk over to the treadmills. There was plenty of time to get ready for the next event.

[ 20 min run ]

I'm blurry because I am running so fast...

The run was pretty straight forward - 20 minutes on a treadmill. I felt much better this time than the last time I did this event and I was able to run / job the whole time. Last time I walked more. I wonder if that means I pushed it more on the bike last time versus this time.

I was able to finish 1.57 miles which gave me  a (sad) #51 out of #62 competitors on the run. Believe it or not this was an improvement over my 1.51 miles last time and an improvement in rank.



Summary
Overall - I came in a not-too-great but expected #48 out of #62 competitors. It was a slight improvement in rank percentile over last time so I guess that is good. Also I didn't get much of a chance to exercise beforehand. The best thing out of this event is it lit a fire in me to start exercising again and I hope to do more events this year than last year.

Also I again wish that the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon was more than once per winter as there isn't much else to do AND I always have the bug to do a little better after I figure out how to do the indoor tri again. I know I could have gotten into the Top 10 on the bike had I just known I needed to squeeze out 0.5 fake miles more out of my 26 fake miles total.