Columbia Triathlon 2012

I (Michael) raced the Columbia Triathlon yesterday (May 20, 2012) for the first time. Overall the race went well, though the bike portion was (as usual) the worst portion. The Columbia Triathlon bike and run courses are some of the hilliest I have raced on; it was quite a challenge. The race is an Olympic distance (1.5 km swim, 41 km bike, and 10 km run) and my race time was 2:28:04.  Of the 77 males 25-29, 1,124 total males, and 1,683 total finishers,  I finished 12th, 161st, and 173rd, respectively. 12th in my age group likely qualifies me for the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship Age Group race in September, but I’ll know for sure in the coming days.

Morgan and Ruby were there to help me get ready and to cheer me on throughout the race. Morgan is absent from all the photos as she is usually taking them all.

Ruby showing Mike love before he starts his race.

1.5 km Swim: The swim went well enough. I haven’t been focusing much on my swim training, just mostly getting in the pool to maintain my swim strength held over from high school swimming. I completed the 1.5 km swim in 22:27, a 1:30 per 100 m pace.  This put me 7th in my age group on the swim alone.

The swim wave Mike was in shortly before the start of his race.

Transition 1: My first transition was slow but not too terrible. I got out of the water and was on my bike in 2:46. After stumbling around the other swimmers while exiting the swim course I ran into transition, struggled to get my wetsuit off (this cost me most of the delay), put on my socks and shoes (more delay), and  ran my bike out to the mount line.

Mike in transition to the bike.

41km Bike: OK, so here was the miserable part of the race. The course was hilly to begin with, but I had other complications along the way. The first thing I noticed shortly into the ride was that my Garmin computer crashed or died right away (no idea why, I charged it all last night). Recently I made some adjustments to my bike, and unfortunately for me, the fit isn’t yet correct so I spent most of the ride with lower back pain, mostly when I got into ‘aero’ position. And to top it all off, I missed a turn (along with the lady I was following) and lost some minutes having to backtrack to get back onto the course. Still I was able to complete the 41 km bike in 1:18:58  which is 19.0 mph overall pace. This put me in 26th in my age group for the bike alone. This is my weakest leg of the race to begin with and the days complications didn’t help matters.

Mike headed out on the bike.

Transition 2: My second transition was much better, getting off the bike and onto the run course in 0:59. I practiced getting out of my bike shoes before the dismount line which went well enough but still needs work.

10 km Run: Now this segment went well. The run course was hilly with some seriously challenging hills. I started the run feeling good but immediately got painful, sharp cramps in my sides that took some time to work out. Thankfully I pressed on through the cramps and they were gone within the first mile. I was happy to pass some of my fellow 25-29 age groupers that passed me on the bike. I have been very focused on my run training and it has paid off. I completed the 10km run in 42:56 which was a 6:56 per mile pace and put me in 7th in my age group for the run alone.

Mike running the last stretch of the race. The finish line is just ahead!

Overall, this was a good race. I was disappointed about the bike, but I still did well. Perhaps I can do this race again next year with the goal of making top 5-10 in my age group. Next year I move up into the 30-34 age group which is a pretty tough group.

Mike ‘reflecting’ on his race shortly after the finish.

And of course Ruby had fun enjoying the weather and people around her.

Ruby enjoying the sun and being a good spectator

 

 

Chrissie Wellington Book Signing

Michael with Chrissie Wellington (four time Ironman World Champion) at her book signing event.

Chrissie Wellington started the American portion of her book signing tour in Columbia, MD. We made it out to the event on May 12th and had the opportunity to buy her new book , get it signed, and snap a couple photos with her. She entertained all of us with stories about her childhood and her start in triathlon. She was really funny and sweet; I’m glad we attended the event. Unfortunately, she is taking an indefinite time off from triathlon, which makes me sad, because she was such a joy to watch race. She never lost a race at the Ironman distance, even through the difficulties like this last years accident two weeks prior to Kona. Congrats to Chrissie on all her success and best wishes in her new adventures.

Rock Hall Sprint Triathlon

The Inaugural Rock Hall Triathlon Sat/Sun June 25th/26th.  The Olympic distance race was on Saturday and the Sprint distance race was on Sunday.  Michael decided (semi-last-minute) to race the Spring Tri on Sunday.  The event benefited the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  The tri included a 750 Meter Swim, 15 Mile Bike, and 5K Run.   It was a short trip over the Bay Bridge to the shores of Eastern Maryland.  The weather was great (a bit warm for racing), and the course was flat.  Mike had an excellent race given the little training preparation beforehand.  He finished 4th in his age-group and 11th overall!

Swim Time: 10min 42sec (1st place in age-group)

Bike Time: 43min 12sec (7th place in age-group)

Run Time: 22min 4sec (3rd place in age-group)

OVERALL TIME: 1hr 19min 28sec

Let the fun begin!

 

Swim Time

 

Before the Start

Brothers Tri – Round 1

Michael and Bryan both competed in this years University of Maryland Terrapin Triathlon.  It was Bryan’s first triathlon and a good starter race for the season for both of them.  This sprint triathlon included a 0.5 mile indoor-pool swim, a 12 mile bike course on the UMD campus, and a 3 mile run on the Paint Branch Trail.  They both came out of the pool at the same time after the swim.  Bryan left the Swim/Bike transition first with Michael a couple minutes behind.  Michael caught and passed Bryan on the bike and stayed ahead of him through the next transition and into the run.  The both did a wonderful job and finished in the top 10 over all (out of the 101 participants).

Bryan’s Results:  9th Place Over All with a total race time of 1:16:35.

Michael’s Results:  5th Place Over All with a total race time of 1:12:05.

More “sibling rivalry” to come in future races!

Getting the bike ready

Transition Area Set-Up

Almost "Go Time"!

Post-Race

26.2

We’re a little behind on blogging lately, but I figured it was worth sitting down for a few minutes to journal about my experience for one of my “bucket list” items: running a marathon.

As many of my friends and family know, I am most certainly not what most people would call a runner. Unfortunately, my father passed on those genes to my younger sister, not me. I’ve always been slow. Short and slow. Joining the military after college, I ran my booty off in basic training. I still wasn’t fast, but I learned a lot about pushing myself during those weeks and months. When I got back to Maryland after tech school, Michael had taken up running as a hobby. He ran his first race, the Marine Corps Marathon, in October of 2008. His family and I cheered him on throughout the race and were there to greet him after his 3hr 28min journey (a great time for a first marathon!). When he started the race that day, I watched as thousands of people crossed the “Start” line. Many of them looked like Michael, fit and healthy runners. Many others however surprised me. There were much older folks and some that looked very much out of shape starting too. I watched everyone, and as more of the “back of the pack-ers” crossed the line, I thought “Geez, if these people can run a marathon, so can I”.

And so it began…my first race wasn’t a marathon, it was the GW Parkway Classic 10-miler in April of 2009. I ran several more races in 2009 and the GW Parkway Classic again in 2010. I went on to run the Frederick Half Marathon in April 2010 and after we got back from our honeymoon in June, I started training for 26.2. 20 weeks of training later I had run a lot of long distance training runs, learned about what to eat and what NOT to eat along the way, what to wear, and most importantly how to push my body beyond extreme fatigue. On October 16th, Michael and his family, my friend Angela, and my running buddy/co-worker Kavita showed up to support me. Kavita was originally supposed to run the Marathon with me, but due to surgery, could only run the Half-Marathon that day. So, she waited for me at mile 16 and we ran the last ten miles together.

Luckily for me, the weather was just about perfect, if not a little windy. I didn’t have any “stomach issues” along the way either. The course was pretty hilly from miles 18-22 and I walked up a lot of them after coasting down a lot of hills in the first half of the course. I enjoyed the energy of race day and all the cheers from race spectators. I “hit the wall” like many runners do in the last six miles, but Kavita was there to help take my mind off the pain and remind me that finishing is all I needed to do to “win”.

I crossed the finish line at 26.2 miles, 5 Hours and 37 Minutes after I started the journey. I call it a journey because that’s what it was. I think many experienced distance runners may trivialize that and many non-marathoners may never understand it, but it’s a special experience to keep your mind in the game when everything about your body wants to quit. Obviously, this isn’t a story about how I became a fast runner; in fact, many many marathoners finish fast than my time every year. It’s just another testament to what you can do when you set a goal, train diligently, and plan your successes.

The night before the race

Getting my stretch on

Around mile 8...still smiling

Finishing it up!

Kavita and I

The best cheerleader

26.2!!!!

Helps to have some people cheer you on too!