56 miles complete

I made my longest ever ride this morning of 56 miles. That's the distance of the bike leg for the Half Ironman. All you real cyclists stop laughing...that's a long way for me! I averaged 18mph over a fairly hilly course (2423 ft of total climbing). I think the SC HIM course is a lot more flat, so I'd like to think I can average more like 19-20mph.

Here's my route:








Here's the SC HIM course:







Looks like the worse hills are in the first 12 miles of the HIM course and you get a nice last 6 miles downhill to get your legs ready to run. I was pretty worn out at the end. I hated to think I would have to get off and run 13.1 miles. I have four weeks until the SC HIM and I'll get two more long rides in before then.

C-L-E-M-S-O-N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whose ready for some college football??

Fun With Photoshop...

Greenville Sprint Tri

Sunday was the second year I raced the sprint at Greenville. The day started out with some big question marks...it was pouring down some steady rain and lightning all around. I set up my transition area in the rain. I put my bag over both pairs of shoes to try and keep them from being completely water logged. They announced that if it was still lightning at 7:00 they would change to a duathlon and if it was still lightning at 7:20, they would cancel. Thankfully, the lightning stopped just before 7:00 and it was a go!


My only warmup consisted of about 100m of swimming and some stretching before things got underway. I don't think many folks got their usual warmups in since it was raining so hard.

Swim: second year in a row I turned in an actual realistic swim time and passed at least 5-6 swimmers before getting stuck behind a pack of three. Next year I'm turning in a time that's about 20s per 100m faster than actual. Time of 7:15 (including run to T1) 64th OA; 6th AG.

T1: I didn't like the fact that the racks are assigned the same as the swim start. This meant I had to get around several guys that were there sitting on the ground, stuff strung out all over. I actually had to pick my bike up over the heads of two guys sitting there putting on shoes to get out of the racks. Time of 1:04.

Bike: Was hoping for a good improvement over last year. I really thought I could get this done between 40-41 min. Felt good at the start and at the end, but jut couldn't keep it together in the middle section to really get the time I was looking for. Time of 43:19, 100th OA; 6th AG.

T2: Mediocre...should be about 0:35. Got to get more consistent here. Time of 0:56.

Run: My best 5k ever!!! I've been staring down breaking 20 minutes in the past 4 sprint races. First all, my Garmin couldn't get a satellite signal and I turned it off/on several times but nothing. So I said, "Screw it, just run hard chase down as many as you can!" Obviously it worked. Felt good the whole run and put in a great surge at the end to catch one guy (see big guy in bright tri suit!!)I had eyed a the start of the 2nd lap. Time of 18:54, 15th OA; 2nd AG.

Overall: 1:11:37, 51st OA, 4th AG.

Also, this was Julie's second triathlon. She did really great and I was proud of her race!!! Go to the family blog to read about her race, see pics, and times! http://www.jasonandjuliethomas.blogspot.com/

Humbling Speed Work

Will and I went to the SCSDB track at 5:30am for our speed workout. There is a group from the Spartanburg Running Club that are out there every week. Some of the same ones are always there, and there's usually a new face every now and again.

Today Rob Wilder showed up to run. Rob is in his mid-40's and 12 years ago he qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials. I don't think he was able to compete due to injury...but get the point that he's an excellent runner.

We did 5x800m intervals. One the first one, Rob was still warming up and I lead out with a 3:01. Rob joined us and lead from then on. My intervals (from memory) were then 2:49, 2:40, 2:38, 2:45. The thing is...I was dying by the third one and Rob just kept getting faster. I don't think he was really breathing hard either.

As much as it hurt...I hope he comes out every week!!

Motivation?

I've hit one of those training lows the past few weeks. I'm sure everyone's experienced it from time to time. I think the lack of racing and some nagging lower leg problems (plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, other associated ankle pains) has taken the wind out of my sails a bit. However, today I read a great article today in the latest Runner's World on Ryan Hall and saw some video of him on YouTube that really picked me up. Definitely worth checking out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7iHQqbJm-U

I'm not sure that God created me to be a world class athlete like Ryan, but I know that he did give me the physical ability to do some great things and the mental fortitude to push through when others quit. I think of my friends Nick and Sami Napier, both have a genetic disorder that weakens their connective tissues and makes anything physical nearly impossible. All Nick wants to do is run!! They have inspired me so many times when I wanted to quit. I just want to run the race set before me, pushing on towards the prize that is Christ Jesus!

So I'm ready to go now. Just finished a great tempo run on the treadmill. It feels good to sweat and pour yourself out. Time to get focused and trained up for my first Half Ironman...and maybe one day, THE Ironman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh1yMnrby3w