Columbus for a third time

For me, the second time at Columbus was a charm (broke 3 hours for the first time) but I've decided to give it another go. I won't say I'm aiming for another sub-3 but I will definitely give the race a solid effort and hope for the best.

2009 Pirate Triathlon

Had a great time at the newly themed triathlon held annually in Fairport Harbor. My time was a little off from last year but not by much. The swim went as expected, slow. Had a decent bike, but battled some nasty headwinds (not to mention car traffic) on the second half of the course. Felt very sluggish transitioning from bike to run. This is where I think proper tri training (bricks) makes a big difference and since I haven't done any of that this year, it's no surprise that nearly 5 minutes passed before I got my run legs back. I was at or near 6 minute/mile pace for the last mile and was able to finish with a relatively strong kick.

Following the race, I marveled at a 12-year old whos finish time was only a minute or two off from mine. Next year, I'm pretty sure he'll beat me with ease.

My final splits were as follows.

Swim - 15:00
T1 - 3:15
Bike - 36:11
T2 - 1:26
Run - 17:57
Total - 1:13:51

Back In The Saddle Again

Got out for a 20 mile ride with D. Mika on what was a perfect evening for biking, especially in the valley where it was nice and cool. Mounting and clipping in to my bike felt great! There were three moderate climbs on the course we chose and plenty of straights to make use of the higher gears for short sprints. To my surprise, I never dropped out of my 53 chainring (fresh legs make a difference). Going to swim/bike brick in the AM. I forgot how much fun tri training is!

2009 Painesville Sunrise 5-Miler

Woke up super early Sunday morning to be at a race on the other side of Cleveland by 7AM. It was a 5-miler, organized by my brother, through the streets of Painesville (the neghboring town of where I grew up). It's been 2+ months since I've run mile repeats or 800's or any sort of consistent tempo running. Nonetheless, my plan was to go out running 6:00 min/mile pace and see how it felt. About 1/4 mile into the race I was in 5th place. The leader/eventual winner established what looked to be about a 5:30 pace and didn't look back. He was smokin'! I sat comfortably behind #2, 3 and 4 waiting to see how the race for second would shape up. Mile 1 (5:58) was no sweat. A long downhill and equally long uphill defined mile 2 (6:21). By mile 3 I was in 3rd place and holding 6:00 min/mile pace with relative ease (despite coming off a hill). I never fell off pace but had a hard time finding that extra gear at the end. Finished 3rd overall with a time of 30:21 (6:04 min/mile).

Talked with the 4th place finisher following the race and was surprised to find out he was just a 22 year old "kid" working towards a Boston qualifier. He was throwing questions at me left and right and I was happy to share with him what has worked for me. Kinda made me wish I would have said a few words to him out on the course as I pulled even with him. Some runners are so hardcore though... say two words to them and they chew your head off. This kid would have loved some encouragement. He's local so it's possible I'll see him again. I hope so.

Pittsburgh 2010

Columbus 2009 is likely to be my fall marathon... but why think fall when I've got spring 2010 to look forward to? I got a heads up from a friend on a one-day-only early bird special on Pittsburgh 2010 registration so I'm in for a run through the steel city. Should be fun!