Summer 2023 Triathlons

 Really training hard so far this spring and early summer! Check out this graph from TrainingPeaks showing total calories burned per month! That's almost a 5% greater effort that any previous month!  Damn, no wonder I'm tired!  

May 25th, 2023- MWU Graduation

Today was our MWU DPT Graduation for the class that started June of 2020.  They called themselves the "COVID class" and it was tough getting to know them that first 6 months because we were online for much of the curriculum.  But in the end, this turned out to be one of the most fun and likeable classes. Students like O'Dell, Deena, Leo, Jason, Kat, and Courtney were fun and super nice. Then there were also students who overcame some personal struggles like Samir, Tyler and Ashley, but who did amazing in the end. Lots of other fun students like Rachel who invited me as a guest for their class' HIIT workout and Victor who unassumingly cruised through the curriculum at a high level, impressing everyone with his maturity and professionalism and never let on that he was an army vet paratrooper. These people all moved seamlessly from being students, to just being amazing people who I will miss.

Every year when Dave Johnson, the Bagpiper, begins to play on that crazy instrument, leading the graduates, a strange feeling comes over me. Its like I'm suddenly aware of time passing and that I'm taking too much for granted. My kids are getting older..., this will be the last time I'll likely see most of this PT class..., I'm getting older, and the world is changing. Graduations always have a slight bitter-sweet element, but every year it gets more bitter than sweet. I will miss this class. I will miss people who retire and people who pass away. I will miss Stuart's personality as he slips further and further away from us.  I fear for friends like Daryl and I worry that I have fewer and fewer people that I can call friends.          

 Almost my B-day, just 3 more days.  Hoping that this will be a break-through season and I can be really competitive in triathlons, for a change!  Here are my races so far:

1) Duathlon Nationals, April 20th

2) Steelhead 70.3 June 25th

3) Triathlon Nationals, August 6th.  

That last one is my A-race!  Fingers crossed.  Mad

Chicago Marathon 2022

 Still trying to figure out how I feel about this race. My time was fine, 3:06:... but I never felt really good during the race.  Given the great conditions this year, 50s most the way and then maybe just 60 degrees in the last few miles, I was hoping to go faster. Definitely should have stuck with the 3:05 pace group because I past them at about mile 8 or 9 and then died toward the end.  It was fun showing Carlos Andres around and meeting up with him, Paul and Ozzi race morning! Met an interesting guy completing his 42nd Chicago Marathon.  

Still, glad to be able to be part of this event and finish and race!

 

North Ave Beach Swim 9-1-22

Good way to welcome in metrological fall: really fun swim with Rich in Lake Michigan this AM and got to see the sun rise over the lake!  A chilly 68 degrees and no wet suit so I was FREEZING. But survived.  

Mid-season Burnout

Well, its August 4th today and I'm feeling a bit burned out. I have one more multisport event, the Naperville Duathlon, on Sunday 8/7 and then just the marathon in October. I've had an up and down season so far. Du Nationals was great, then I struggled at the St. Joe's Steelhead 70.3 and went off course at the Wauconda Olympic distance tri. I don't have much else to show for this season. I'm hoping I can find some additional motivation and energy before Sunday's duathlon. One thing that was fun was our vacation in ME. Lots of great hiking around Acadia National Park and amazing views of the ocean. I got in some good runs as well and we had a fun family bike ride at the Schoodic Peninsula. Finished off with a great tour of Boston.

2022 Duathlon Nationals, Irving, TX 4/30/22

Duathlon Nationals went well. Won my age group by over 3 minutes!  Really fun race too. I hung back through the first 3 miles of the opening 10 K and then took the lead on the second lap of the run course and never looked back.  The bike was really fun too because I had the lead motorcycle out in front to follow until mile 20. I knew I would get passed by the overall race leaders, but expected to be overtaken sooner, so the fact that I was still out in front that far into the race was very reassuring.  Also, my coach Liz was at the race and giving me updates on the competition.    

Here is my bike the night before the race, ready to go. It had a major make over and I got a bike fitting the month before the race. It really paid off because my bike split was 1:02, that's fast for me!

Here I am with the 2nd place winner, Paul. Below top 3! 

MATTS John Frasier Memorial TT April 10th 2022

 Did my first TT in at least 10 years on Sunday.  This was the Matts 7.7 mile TT in Maple Park, IL.  Very flat course but incredibly windy. My time was 20:13, so about 22-23 mph? Finished toward the bottom of my age group.  I'm happy with my race and it was a learning experience. Need to make serious adjustments to my bike and riding position before Duathlon Nationals in 3 weeks!    

Sad End to 2021

Well, 2021 is going out, much like it came in, sucking big time! This year stunk on so many levels. Yes, things did look up for a while there: at points in the summer and fall it looked like it might go back to some resemblance of normal. But that was just a teaser, were still as fucked as ever! Right now, my entire family has COVID or at least some nasty flu like disease. We all got tested and just awaiting the bad news!

At least there were some races in 2021. Many tris were canceled, but I eked out one race, Lake Zurich. It sucked! No bike. Yes, that's right, no bike. WTF, right?  

The Chicago Marathon was good though. I felt unsure going into the race, but ended up talking to a lot of runners around me and actually had fun and a good race. My time was slow, but so was everyone's due to warm conditions. 

Now on to 2022 with great trepidation! I have a busy race schedule if, and only if, all goes precisely as planned. Fingers crossed! Damn COVID!  

Chicago Marathon 2021

Had a pretty good Chi Marathon this year. It was very strange to NOT have L & M out there cheering me on, but it was also great that Diana came down and found me at some key spots on the course!  After 27 years, she is still my main fan!  Thanks Hun!!!  

Too warm for a good clock time, but I placed 3rd in my age group so that was exciting.  I talked to quite a few people during the race and that made the whole experience so much better!  Good luck to my new friend, Charles, who I ran with from mile 13-23!  

This may be my last Chicago Marathon for a while becuse I want to race the Pittsburg Marathon with Lance in May 2022 and the Twin Cities Marathon (which goes by Michaely's dorm) just a week before Chicago in 2022. I'm not one of those people who can race back to back!  A long term goal is to race the Ironman in 2023, the same day as the Chicago Marathon that year, so it may be at least 3 years before I get back here.  But I will be back, with any luck!  

Thank you Chicago for a great run of runs!