Tri/tbay group - CLOSED (Page 15)

Good morning everyone.  Yesterday's Gladiator 5K was a lot of fun.  I thought I would just post my blog post I wrote last night regarding the day and the event.  In both of the photos, I am the one on the far left.

May 21, 2001 began as any normal day. Little did I know at that time things were going to change. After waking up, it was time to take a shower. As I was in the shower, I began to experience dizziness like I never have before. I could not keep my balance and was falling to the left. I crawled from the shower and laid down in the bed. My mother was in town and I told her I was not feeling well so I was going to lay in bed. As the dizziness continued to get worse, I asked mom to get me to the doctor.  After many many tests, an MRI revealed that I had a stroke. I ended up spending 8 days in the hospital back then.

Fast forward to today. Today is the 10th anniversary of that stroke. I wanted to do something today in honor of that day 10 years ago. With my endurance, the perfect fit would be a race of some sort. I wanted to try and find a race with a challenge. As I looked for events on May 21, I came across the Gladiator 5K. I thought this would be the perfect type of race that puts obstacles in your way, just as the obstacle of the stroke was to me.

As with health situations, there are obstacles to overcome. You have to fight through these obstacles and have the will to overcome. The same is true with any race and especially with the Gladiator 5K. Throughout the course there was going obstacles to conquer. There were tests for your balance, climbing abilities to scale 6' and 8' walls, getting low and crawling through tunnels and under cargo nets as well as going through a pool of water. Since today was a warm day, that water felt pretty good.

Being able to complete this challenge with friends and run it as a team made it even that more special. Thank you to my friends Jon, Mark and Brandon....or should I say fellow gladiators. We came, we conquered, we finished the challenge. Thanks guys for being there today. Words cannot express how much that meant to me to have you guys there. 

Here are a couple of photos.  The first is before the start and the second is after the race.

We have challenges in our everyday life. They may be at home, at work or even in a race. God gives us the strength and abilities to overcome all challenges. Thank you Lord forgiving me the opportunity to glorify you today. God provided the will, the determination and the strength to overcome the stroke 10 years ago and he provided for today and will provide forever.

Awesome job Brett! You are an inspiration to not let anything slow you down!:0)

Okay so I did the Sarasota Dirty Duo this morning. It was awesome, first we started off with 3-legged potato sack races, followed by piggyback(yes I carried my friend). Next we proceeded to run to the bike and she started running up the hill as I biked up it. Man it was steep, had to get off half way and run the bike up. So the trail took us up and down and around, then we had to do 10 push ups, to proceed to the slip and slide, Tractor tire flip, we also had to cross a waist deep canal and carry the bike over to the other side, drainage tunnels, mud pits, and human wheelbarrow. We did a good job judging when to switch to the bike. REPEAT. Anyway, we ended up 2nd Place Female Team! Whoo-hoo!

Hey Vin how was your race?

Don't forget if you guys are planning on running in the Rock n roll half marathon 2/12/12 in St. Petersburg- tonight at midnight registration opens and the first 500 people only pay $55!

(Dirty Duo 2nd place.jpg)

@Chick: What a great story of recovery against adverssity.  Great jjob.  The race looked like a lot of fun.

@Courtney: I think my wife and I are going to be signing up today for the half in St. Pete.  Looks like there are still $55 spot left (With a $4.99 Active.com processing fee.. grrrrr, really don;t like Active.  They are the Ticketmaster of the sports world)

Did a "character building" 17.5 miler this weekend.  Started too late and did the last 4-5 miles in the heat of the morning.  It was so muggy and no breeze.  I came really close to puking more than once.  Probably went through a gallon of liquids in the last 5 miles.  BRUTAL!  I need to start running earlier in the morning.  Like midnight...

That was our last LONG run before CdA.  We have a 5 hour ride in the hills of San Antonino this weekend (anyone is welcome to join) and then another 5 hour the weekend after.  Then it's taper time.

Thanks for the kind words Courtney, Sean and Roy.  It is amazing in the abilities that God has given us.  We can use something that we absolutely love and still be able to share to Gospel.  It is God that gets all the glory!

I finished my weekend with a good 15.5 mile ride on Sunday.  Man, it was hot out there but it felt great to get out there.  I was flyin down some of the hills hitting a max speed of 38.5 mph on one of them.

This morning I went out at 4:40 am and ran 3.75 miles in 37 min.  At that time the humidity was already 94%.  Instant sweat.  Once I finished I hit the pool for a 600 yd swim before having to head in to work.

Next up is my second sprint tri on June 4.  This is a 300 yd pool swim, 12 mi bike and 5K run.

Brett - nice job, way to celebrate the day. Looks like a great time with you buds at the race. Cant say I know exactly what it feels like for you, but I am inspired and I know it was a special day for you. Congrats.

Courtney - dam... pretty soon you are going to be a pro. Sounds like your boot camp training paid off this weekend. I can only imagine myself trying to do the wheelbarrow (would not be a pretty sight)

Sean - 17 miles in FLA heat this time of year sounds like torture. Way to stick it out.

My race: Columbia Tri

Swim: good Bike: ok/good - very fun course w/some fast hills Run: Terrible (no gas left at the end of the race)

So my swim was good. What a difference calm water makes. The lake was definitely brown from the runoff/stormwater but if the sun wasnt shining directly on it you didnt notice. I took it easy on the swim and came in around 29 minutes (not a fast swim, but I wasnt even close to pushing it)

Bike - bike was fun - some really fast descends. Had some trouble with shifting (I had some trouble getting back into the big ring - probably lost a few minutes there)

Run - holy hills. OMG - hills hills here and freaking steap. I have never ever seen a line of 200 athletes walking up a hill like I did on this run course. I am glad I was not the only one walking here. Anyway I was out of gas after mile 3 and trying to run up some of the steep hills. The sun also came out and I was tired.

I was so happy to finish this one up and I am totally motivated to get my endurance back. My cousin from NY came down for this race... she is pretty elite in my book and she won her age group (beat my time by an hour.... wow)

So - next up is Eagleman - 1/2 iron - not sure if I am going to do the run. We will see.

CdA can range from 50 to 90 (over the last few years).  But there is next to no humidity so 90 would not be that bad (and the course is pretty shady).  The temp that worries me right now is the lake.  It was 47F last week.  That is going to be scary cold.

It has been pretty amazing.  The butterflies are starting to set in.

Hey Sean,

I finally got a reply back for this question

Hi Courtney,

I had am e-mail forwarded to me in regards to relay teams at the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship.  The Championship does not have relay teams but the Hy-Vee triathlon (taking place immediately following the championship waves) does have a relay team category.

Thanks,

Philip LaHaye

Director of Operations - 5150

World Triathlon Corporation

Ah.. OK well that's too bad...

Wow Phil is running to whole 5150 series.  That's great.  He's one of the better Race Directors out there.

They are guessing mid 50s.  There is a 137 page thread going on here on BT about CdA.  Lots of good info.

Yep.  Full suit.  Swim cap, neoprene cap then another swim cap.  Booties.  Larger mask (covers more of the face than standard goggles).  And lots of thinking warm thoughts.

A coworker who scuba dives suggested bringing a gallon of room temp water and pouring it down your suit just before you get it.  Your body will warm this water and limit the shock of the cold water.  Sounds like a good idea.

I like the warm water idea...... I think that would really help. I am going to use that next time I am facing some cold ocean temps.

Thanks Roy & Vin! Yeah they are so much fun and really pushes your endurance. Boy the warm water trick would've come in handy for my Oly back in April. Good to know for next year!

So I am signed up for the Rock n roll half marathon! Whoo-hoo! Sean, hopefully I will get a chance to meet you and your wife.

@ Vin, Congrats on your race! So don't you think it is time to post a race pic!:0) I am the profile pic police if you didn't know!lol.

Have a good week everyone! Courtney

Did a 70 (ok it was 69.7) mile ride in San Antonio yesterday.  Got to meet a few more Lanksharks (Ronnie Tatum and Ed Bee)  Actually had met Ed a few times before.

It was not too hot unless you stopped.  Felt petty good overall.  Tuckered today however.

I hope everyone had a great memorial weekend.  Spent the weekend in Myrtle Beach.  I was able to get 2 runs in on Friday and Sunday.  Really humid but felt great to pund the pavement for a change.

This morning I headed out for a short 6 mile ride before having to get ready for work.

My second sprint is this Saturday at the Gary Kirby Triathlon.  300 pool, 12 mi. bike and 5K run.  Looking forward to seeing how this one goes and excited that my dad is visiting from Indiana this weekend so he will be there.  The bike course is a 4 lap course through a subdivision.  Looks like the elevation is pretty flat so it should be fast.  I also like the fact that my family will be able to see me multiple times because of the laps.

Have a great week!

We are supposed to find out our start times by 9pm on Thursday night.  The event is full with 200 participants.  I submitted a 1:40 time for my 100 split, so I hopefully will be alright, but you never know.  

It will also be pretty hot with the daytime high of 95 and humid.  Even with the 8:00 am start, it will be toasty.  Hydration will be key for this event.  

Thanks for the tip about possible congestion on the course with the laps.  I had not thought about that.  

I will be sure to post a report and some pictures.  My wife will be there taking a bunch of photos and I will have my dad taking video too. 

A good friend of mine that did the Gladiator 5K race with me last weekend made an awesome movie trailer from our day.  I thought I would share it with all of you.  This turned out really good.  Here is the link and I hope you enjoy it.   We are planning to make one from the pictures and video taken at the triathlon this weekend.  I will be sure to share that when it is done.

http://vimeo.com/m/#/24297608

x2 ---- on this!!! In my first tri that was a tt pool start I put down I was going to swim it in 10 minutes and ended up passing and trying to pass slower swimmers. I did it in 8:49. Anyway good luck this weekend. My next Sprint Tri is June 12th Dunedin. I think I am going to sign up for an International Distance in October. 2nd Annual Longboat Key International Distance Triathlon & Duathlon. Anyone heard of this one. Looks like fun! Have a great day everyone!

???I was feeling a little sluggish in the swim after the first 100. Not sure why, but just battled through it to the finish. Overall swim time was 6:08. That included probably 20-25 seconds from exiting the pool until crossing the timing mat. 

This was a great event and well run. FS Series put on a great race. I would like to thank the Kirby family for their hospitality.?????

Roy and Team,

Sorry to keep you in the dark recently.  Work had me by the short hairs preparing a major proposal for a huge opportunity.  That's now submitted so I have more time to catch up with online friends! 

I started a new training regime this week -- 12 week Intermediate Sprint, RPE based.  It looks like it will be a good fit for me and lines up nicely with my next A race -- the Hammerhead Olympic Triathlon (HOT -- aptly named!) at Camp Blanding the end of August.  They run both a Sprint and an Olympic tri at the same time.  I'm committed to running the Sprint since that's the best fit for my training time available. 

I'll try to keep in touch more in the coming weeks. 

Any recommendations about putting aero bars on a road cycle -- good idea or a big mistake?

Thanks,

Mike

Awesome pictures Brett! Great job too! Yep I am racing this weekend, and if I don't sound too excited it is because I am a little under the weather. Started feeling it yesterday after teaching bootcamp. My trainer is out of town so I am teaching until Monday. Anyway drank a lot of OJ and downed some extra vitamins, feel a lot better today, but still a little sluggish. Oh well, to quote Roy "do what you can when you can"! Training has been sparse a swim here and there. It has been said that they already have 800 people signed up for this Sprint! This will be my first whole TRI over 100 people. I did St. Anthony's but just the running leg. Kind of nervous with all these people scheduled to race. Any good tips for tranisitions in the crowd?

Have a good weekend!