Not the race I wanted, but it ended on a good note. For whatever reason, I just didn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders on Sunday. After a subpar swim to start the day, I got on the bike and it felt like I was already in the middle of an Ironman. I just lacked that freshness that I usually feel at the start of a race. Nevertheless, I rolled on hoping to warm into the day.

Things never really improved and somewhere between miles 30-35 I realized my front tire was flat. I stopped and pulled the wheel off to find a tack/nail in the tire. I changed the tire and got back on the road. At this point I was probably the last male pro on the bike course or at least very close to that. I rolled along at an easy effort for a little while and decided that I would try to get something out the rest of the day. I decided that I would ride 4:30 as hard as I could followed by 30 seconds easy (we had a cross/tail wind now so I could float a little) all the way back to T2.

This gave me something to work with and I rolled the last 15+ miles of the course following this pattern. I got into T2 and changed into my running gear. I had planned to just run a steady pace and finish off the day.

I started running and I actually felt ok which was the polar opposite to how I felt at the beginning of the swim and bike. I took a split and saw I was running a little faster than 6:00/mile and it seemed like trying to hold this pace to the finish would be a good challenge to end the day.

I managed to do just that and even though I didn’t catch very many people, it still felt good to feel like I was racing again.

This brings my four week racing block to a close. I got some nice experience out of the three races and I definitely think I can take what I learned into Ironman Texas. Now its time to start training again and move my fitness up before May 21st.

until later,

j

I’m a couple days away from the Galveston 70.3 (US Pro champs on Sunday).  I’ve had a crazy month+ so far and to give you a better idea of what I’m talking about….

After the Endurance Corner Tucson Camp ended, I spent a couple days driving back to Boulder.

I spent ten days in Boulder training; then

Spend all day traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Spend two days resting for the race, one day racing San Juan 70.3 (7th overall), then up at 5:00 a.m. the day after the race and spend a whole day flying home.

Spend four days in Boulder recovering and training.

Spend a day flying to Jackson, Mississippi.

2.5 full days of a triathlon camp for Mississippi Heat Triathlon Team (Great group!). Instructing/presenting/coaching all day(s) long.

Spend a half day at the hospital (nothing is wrong with me, I’ll write about this trip some other time); the other half traveling back to Boulder.

Spend three days training in Boulder.

Get on another airplane and fly to Houston.  Transfer to Clear Lake, near Kemah, Texas.

Rest one day in Clear Lake.

Race the Memorial Hermann Gateway to the Bay Olympic Distance Triathlon in Kemah (9th overall). Tranfer to inner city Houston where I’ve been resting most of the week.

Today I’ll transfer to Galveston until Sunday when I race Galveston 70.3. Then I’ll head back to Houston and fly out on Monday to Boulder.

Good times….

Its been a little hectic, but all in all I think I’ve managed to do a pretty good job of training when I can, resting when I can, and racing as hard as I can in between it all. San Juan 70.3 was a really good race for me. I managed a 7th place finish, but with two miles to go I was still running in 11th place so the final result was quite gratifying.

Kemah was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I swam and ran fairly well and rode somewhat poorly; which is somewhat surprising given my usual MO involves a stronger bike leg. At any rate, it was a good hard effort that I hoped would set up nicely for this weekend’s US Pro Championship. I think the field has about 47,000 professional men on the start list so its nice to have an effort in me above HIM pace.

I’m looking forward to getting another race under my belt this weekend in preps for Ironman Texas on May 21st.

While spending some time in Houston, I’ve been fortunate enough to take on a great new local sponsor: Kinetic Bodyworks. They will be helping me with my recovery needs along the way to Ironman Texas; and with this busy schedule, I will definitely need it.

I’ll touch base post-race,

justin