End of the year reflections…or…Where’d the stinkin year go?

Woh…2009 is over?  Man I just can’t believe it?  Where did it go?  Wasn’t it just yesterday I did the “Hangover Handicap” run in Coeur d’Alene on January 1st?   Wow..

Well as I look back over the year I feel good about things overall.  I had many high’s and one low.  My race list was much shorter this year due to finances, and having signed up for Ironman 2010.  Did you know that cost $550.00 bucks?  Yikes!  So that pretty much took up my entire racing budget for the year including my birthday, Christmas and anniversary.

Just for the heck of it, here’s the list of races I did this year:

Hangover Handicap 5 Miler – CDA, ID
CTRUN Ultra Marathon 37 miler: From the Idaho state line to 9 mile in Spokane, WA
Windermer Marathon: Spokane, WA
Bloomsday: Spokane, WA
EWU Sprint Triathlon: Cheney, WA
Tiger Tri Olympic Triathlon: Colville, WA  (Link to Race report)
Titanium Man Olympic Triathlon: Pasco, WA
Black Diamond Half Ironman: Enumclaw, WA

So compared to last year (17 events) this seems rather modest, oh but wait…there’s more here than meets the eye!  (or eyes if you have two of them)

But 1^st let’s start with what I feel were my top 3 events:

1: My 1^st Ultra Marathon: Somewhere in the back of my head I always wanted to try and do one and since this was right here in my home town I figured why not!  I have to say this was not only my top race of the year it was just an amazing amount of fun! I’m sure some folks will say I’m nuts to run 37 miles but it was done at such a relaxed pace that it never felt difficult until the last 3 miles….THAT was work!  To read more about it, click here:

2: My 2^nd Half Ironman was the best triathlon I’ve ever done…bar none!  Why?  Well…. soooo many reasons:

• I think I was trained up properly and didn’t do more than what I had trained for.  I had hoped on finishing under 6 hours (My previous half was 6:14:00) but secretly had 5:45:00 in my sights. 
• I stayed within my abilities.  There’s no magic on race day.  You can only do what you have been training to do; so for each leg I set reasonable goals and met them.  Even if I felt particularly great during any part of each leg I made sure I stayed within my “box”, knowing that if I pushed here then perhaps somewhere down the road I won’t have enough left to finish and finish strong.
• A strong support group!  Almost my entire family was there to cheer me on and that was amazingly important to me and helpful!  Also, my two training bud’s, Steve & Jerry, also did the race and it was a source of encouragement seeing them out on the course.  (Having Steve breathing down my neck helped immensely!)
  To read more about this race, click here:

3:  WTS:  Warrington Triathlon Series Triathlons….whew!  That’s a mouthfull!  This was a 12 week period (3 MONTHS!) of mock triathlons that included Jerry, his wife Dawn, Steve-o & I.  This is something that Steve’s wife, Brenda came up with as a way to reduce the cost of doing triathlons and yet actually get the same effect.  So Steve drew up some bike and run routes and we started swimming at Medical Lake (YUCK!) and after two of these mock tri’s we just knew we had to find a different lake as swimming in goose poop is not a lot of fun.  So again Steve came up with Fish Lake as our take off point and I have to say, it worked beautifully.
                Starting in Fish Lake gave us a beautiful location to swim, bike and run.  Twelve Saturdays of open water swims at 6:30 AM was amazingly helpful in building not only our strength during the 30 minute to 1 hour and 30 minute swims but also awarded us with some amazing beauty found only in early morning training sessions.  I think I’ve miss this the most since our last mock triathlon.

                We then would “slowly” transition onto the bike leg and again due to the location we had a number of beautiful routes in which to choose from. (Show pic)

                After the bike we would head out onto a paved ‘flat’ trail that gave us out and back distances of 10 miles or more if we wanted to run into Cheney.  Mostly we did short bricks once we figured out that doing 10 or 12 miles wrecked us for the rest of the training week.

                Suffice to say that this was a highlight in my training for the entire year and although I had doubts that this was the ‘best’ way to train, it certainly was the most enjoyable, even the 43 degree morning with fog on the lake…absolutely the best!
              You can read more about these: Here and Here

Okay, I realize that I could go on and on about the best, because there were soooooo many highlights:

–          Volunteering for Ironman 2009: I’m telling you…if you don’t DO Ironman CDA, then volunteer!  You WON’T be disappointed.  I would highly recommend doing the kayak as you are “up close and personal” with all the athletes.  And if you go a few days before the event you can go out on the swim course and tag along with any of the swimmers as most really enjoy having someone there and will usually pop their heads up and chat with you for a while.  (If you are interested then contact ginger@cdachamber.com to sign up.)  Another good spot to volunteer for is the transition area as you get to see all the athletes but you also have some down time which enables you to cheer them on as they come and go for the bike and run.

–          Biked over 100 miles…well, it was 101.6 but still, that was a high and a low…ugh my legs!

–          Signed up for Ironman CDA 2010.  For sure that was a high!  I was sooooo giddy!  I felt like a little kid!

–          Trip to the big Island and Kona…oh, yeah, and I saw my daughters and son-in-law, but KONA! (Just kidding kids)  Yes, that was a real treat as I was able to swim the same course that they do in the World Championships, except much shorter, and they even had buoys out.  What a thrill!  Each time I breathed I was able to see Ali’i Drive where they bike and run and each breath was a thrill as I took in the panoramic view of shops, cafes, and lava rock sea wall!  Someday I’ll be doing the thing for real!

–          Boise Foothills:  I know this seems like a small thing but there’s something about those hills that just beckon me to run.  For more info and pictures, click here.

Okay, so those were some of the good things and I guess I could also add that there was only ONE bad thing so that in its self is a good thing, right?  I’m so confused.

The one bad thing was doing the Windermer Marathon here in Spokane.  You can read my comment to the race directory here: http://www.active.com/running/spokane-wa/windermere-marathon-2009#Reviews

But suffice to say I didn’t make my time of 3:45:59, instead I did 3:49:07, which is 3 minutes and 8 seconds too slow.  Good enough for 2^nd place in my age division but not good enough for Boston.  And this also was one of those highs and lows all in one race.  The high was running with my training partner Steve-o until around mile 18 as he unselfishly gave me his watch as mine had malfunctioned and told me to continue on as he started having cramps.

 I felt so good in the run!  I hit EVERY split right on time until mile 23…which was mile 24..but, let’s not go there.  So, I didn’t qualify for Boston and to be honest that hit me so hard that I don’t think I’ve fully recovered from it mentally and it’s been a struggle to even think about it ever since.  This photo pretty much sums up how I felt at the end.  (More pics here)

But…over all, this was a fantastic year and I need to thank a few people.

First off and most important, I want to thank my Lord and savior, Jesus (Just in case you weren’t sure) for allowing me to chase these goals and for the health to be able to complete them.

Secondly I want to thank my wife for putting up with my crazy athletic endeavors and also for joining in during the 12 weeks of mock triathlons.  It was so great seeing you out there riding next to us as we ran and then afterwards swimming with you. (I know, I only did it once…but I was tired!)  And for all the times I was grouchy before a big race.  (Yes, all of them are big to me)  Thanks for understanding.

Thirdly (is that a word?)  A great big thanks to my #1 training partner Steve-o, “slow-mo, don’t follow me I’m lost” Warrington for all the miles we’ve put in together both on the bike, the run and in the water.  Doing this sport of triathlon can be a lonely endeavor or it can tedious if you have the wrong training partner.  But you have proven again and again to be very accommodating, patient, long winded…(in a good way!) and a Godly man.  I feel so honored to be able to train with you and know that each time we go out for a run, bike or swim that I’m not with someone I have to put up with, but someone who is a blessing and an encourager and one who honors his wife and family and enjoys the simple pleasure of sport without ego or pride.  Someone that I would be honored to run 100 miles with….oh yeah!  Here we come Western States 100! (http://www.ws100.com/home.html)  I know I know..2011, right?

Also thanks goes out to the triathlon community as well as some of my good friends who often race or train with me:

Jerry & Dawn Gray: Thanks guys for being there at all those WTS’s!  Let’s say we all do another Half Ironman together in 2010…yes Dawn, you too this time, I KNOW (I mean it!) you can do it!

Suzie: Thanks for always having a great big smile (and big guns!) and providing all the great energy each time I see you at the races.  It’s infectious and uplifting!

Spokane Al: Hey thanks for all the encouragement and advice.  I’m hoping to join Team Blaze this year and can’t wait to meet and train with everyone.

To all the guys at work: I don’t really think you read any of this silliness, but I do appreciate your encouragement and patience when I’m doing those long training miles and have to stretch the lunch hour a little longer than normal.

To “The Age Grouper” podcast dudes, “You RAWK!”.  Really, you guys are such an great source of information and hilarity.  I can only wish that you guys lived closer so I could train and race with you!  (For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about go to http://theagegrouper.com/ and click on the Podcast link and download a few of them.  You won’t be disappointed.

To my kids: Well most of the time you’re not even in Spokane, but thanks for praying for me and for the encouraging comments and I do hope one day we can ALL meet in Kona and you can watch your old Dad do something that he has dreamed about for the last 5 years.

To my Dad:  Dad, thanks for the good genetics that you and Mom gave me and the freedom that I had as a kid to play any sport I wanted….except football.  I’m soooo glad Mom wouldn’t sign that permission slip.  Who knows what part of me would have been broken beyond repair!

To the sport of Triathlon:  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to all the other triathletes…I love watching you struggle and eventually succeed.  It gives me hope and encouragement that one day you’ll be looking at my back for a change.

Press on.

TriMoot

Mt. Spokane to Sandpoint 190 Mile Relay Race – 2008 whew!

Well, another 1st for me starting tomorrow (Friday).  I’ve never done a relay race before and this one sounds like a doosey! 

We start at the top of Mt. Spokane where the ski lodge is and then one of our 12 team runners starts down the mountain.  We’ll head down to where the next leg starts and wait for our runner and all the other 61 team members to pass by and then we’ll put our 2nd runner out on the course and pickup the 1st.  We’ll have two vans with 6 runners each, and after we pick up our 6th runner we’ll head somewhere to rest for about 3 1/2 hours until we’re ready to start all over for the next 6 legs. 
  We’ll continue that way running all through the night until around midnight where we’ll stop at Silverwood and ride the new killer rollercoaster!  That should be a lot of fun!  Then we head off again and run through out the night until 190 miles later we end at Sandpoint Idaho! 
  Through all 36 legs there are a number of things to keep us interested and motivated.  They have awards for the best lighted outfits, the best wig, the fastest runner, the team with the most team spirit, and on and on.  Don’t know how we’re going to do, but I think it’s going to be a blast!  Can’t wait!

Check out some of these team names:
Run Phatty Run!
Two Dudes and a bunch of Diva’s
What were we thinking??
Cheaper Than Gas
FRS-Funky Running Sisters
Bustin’ Cheeks
Tiny Shorts and the Revealers
Shh…we’re hunting woadkill
Iron Legs  (My Team!..probably how our legs will feel at the end!)
Dude, Where is My Team?!

For more information head on over to http://www.spokanetosandpoint.com/

Hopefully I’ll have the results for you by Sunday.  Oh…did I mention this will take about 28 or more hours to complete? YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TriMoot….Out!

Spring Thaw Duathlon WINNERS!

Okay, maybe we weren’t winners, but we took 2nd in our age group!

Go Susie!

 

Hello world!

My 1st attempt at bloggin.  This should be fun!
What will I blog about?  All things active including Triathlons, Duathlons, Running, Hiking, Kayaking, etc!
Stay tuned for updates!