My 2nd Olympic Triathlon

Today (19 June) I completed my third Olympic-distance Triathlon. Now, as I don't think there were any pictures taken of me during this triathlon, I will not be blogging about it in detail. Exactly one week ago; however, I completed my second Olympic Tri, and there were plenty of pictures taken during that event, so I will be blogging about it.
First off, what an incredible site! While sleeping ranks high on things I'd like to be doing at 5:30 on a Sunday, if I hadn't been up, I would have missed this.

At 6:30 about 40 racers got into the water for the first leg of the triathlon. 30 of them were doing the Sprint Distance, and 10 of us were doing the Olympic.
I'll admit that while I'm decent at swimming, it is definitely my weak area in the triathlon. This is probably due to the fact that the only time I swim is when I'm doing triathlon races. 1,500 meters is not extremely difficult, but in the open water you not only have to deal with the tide (which isn't too bad where we swim), but you also have to try to swim in a straight line (something I suck at). As such, even though I only get credit for swimming 1,500M, it probably ended up being more than that.

After 4 laps and approximately 32 minutes, I was out of the water, and onto the 6-lap, 40K Bike portion of the race.

As I said, I'm not really fast on the swim, so the bike is where I start to make up my time. For several triathlons now I've been duct taping a Gatorade-filled water bottle in between my aero bars. It's definitely not classy, but it gets the job done, and keeps me hydrated. I've also learned my lesson and make sure I have a lid on my bottle so my straw doesn't bounce out of the bottle the first time I hit a pothole.

The hardest thing about the bike portion of the race for me, is keeping track of the laps. Six laps on the same flat course can get to be a little monotonous so I try to focus on the road ahead of me and pedal as fast as I can. With only 10 people doing the same distance, it is hard to keep track if you are not close to someone who you are racing. Luckily, Stephanie was there to not only take pictures, but tell me when I could transition to the run.

After an approximately 71 minute bike ride, I was on my feet for the last 10K. As with every triathlon, by the time I get to the run my legs feel like a combination of cement and Jell-O. I'd say the run is my strong point too, and is where I tend to pass the most people. I think it comes down to sucking it up, and gutting it out. It's hot, you're tired, but you have to finish.

47 minutes after finishing the bike, I was crossing the finish line. Total time was 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 47 seconds. Although it was only my second Olympic-distance Triathlon, it was my new personal best. I was rather surprised to find out that I came in first of the 10 people doing that distance. I still say it's all about finishing, not when you finish (after all there are no trophies or medals), but it is pretty cool to win.

I'll talk more about my third Olympic Tri later, but I know I've been bad about updating the blog and posting pictures, so I thought I would go ahead and post this one.

2011 MAN HIKE II (Merizo, 21 May)

There was was too much time between my last two blog entries, and my last blog entry was way too wordy, so let me do the complete opposite. I'll keep the words short and let the pictures speak for themselves. I never pass up the chance for a MAN HIKE: no real plan, men only, bare essentials (water and camera), and beer at the end. Last month the men of the Guam Crew decided to do a final Man Hike before Chris departed for his new assignment in Turkey.

Here are the men of the Guam Crew about to embark on our manliest MAN HIKE to date. (Left to Right we are: Chris, Shea ("Jasmine"), Jesse, Jed, Me, and James).

Like with all of our other man hikes we looked to a point in the distance and said we should go there. In this case it was the tallest mountain in sight.
The key to a good MAN HIKE is to get off the beaten trail and blaze you own path. For us that usually means barrelling through Sword Grass. It's very cumbersome, slow, and you are guaranteed to get cut up, but it is very MANLY.

We're not posing here; we have to get low in order to get through the grass. This was early on so we are still in good spirits and fairly clean.

Finally breaking through the sword grass is always a great feeling, and it gives you a renewed since of energy, even if you are facing a steep, uphill climb...BRING IT ON!

The view from the top is really what makes it worth it. You truly feel on top of the world. Of course once you get to the top, you eventually have to come back down. We opted to take a different route from which we came, and see just how far we could go.

Sword grass continued to be a problem, but we also dealt with the thick roots, a complete lack of trails, and less than 100% certainty about which way we needed to go. Despite what Jed might have told his wife, at no time were we ever lost, we merely opted for the longer route. Eventually we made it to the river bed and decided to follow the river out of the jungle. A couple of times we tried to get back up the hill, but the impossibly thick sword grass turned us back every time. The water was VERY refreshing, plus the trees provided some relief from the sun.
Of course, we weren't done once we hit the paved road. Because we had decided to go down a different way, we were no where near the car. Still, walking on paved road is much easier than through sword grass. Chris and I were the only ones that actually walked all the way back; these lazy bums waited outside a convenience store until we came and picked them up. We actually did, (aren't we nice?) No Man Hike is complete without the cold beer at the end. All in all our hike lasted about 5 hours. By the time we were done, we had almost no water, we were exhausted, and everyone had cuts on their legs and arms. Now that's what I call a Man Hike!

Lots of Running (Lots of Catching Up...Weeks 20-23)

Quite a bit has happened since my last blog entry. For starters, I added 19 runs and 106 miles to my log. In addition to that I went on another crazy MAN HIKE, took a 4-day trip to Palau, and competed in my second Olympic Triathlon (which I won first place in). I have a blog entry coming for the Man Hike and the Olympic Tri. As for Palau, I don't know if a blog entry can do that trip justice. In the mean time, though, let me recap my running adventures.

Week 20 (16-22 May) included a Wing Run Day. I've mentioned the Wing Runs previously, but I'll say again, that I typically enjoy Wing Runs. It's only a 1.5 mile run, and the pace is REALLY slow, but for me it's less about the exercise and more about the camaraderie. Additionally, it gives me an excuse to show up to work late, and I get to add a few extra miles to my weekly totals. I make it a point, to run as much the day of the Wing Run before the run actually starts. As such, I always arrive to the formation dripping with sweat. Without fail I always hear comments from people asking if I got caught in a rain storm or if I jumped in a pool. My usual response is "This is what 'Excellence' looks like." Really, I figure if I'm in PT gear and running shoes I might as well get a workout. Aside from the Wing Run, I had an amazing MAN HIKE on Saturday, but that is for another blog entry.

So for Week 20, my totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 6
Total Miles: 27.2
Total Time Spent Running: 3 hours, 27 minutes, 33 seconds
Average Pace: 7:38 (min/mile)

Week 21 (23-29 May) was short not just in miles, but also in days. This was due to the fact that it was Memorial Day Weekend, and Stephanie and I took the opportunity to Scuba Dive in Palau. As far as diving goes, they say it's the best in the world; "they" being anyone and everyone that has ever dived and made it to Palau. I had hoped to do a run while I was there, but we spent all of our time on the water, so it just didn't happen. Even though my trip cut into my running plans, it was TOTALLY worth it. If you Scuba Dive, Palau is a must-take trip.

Week 21's totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 4
Total Miles:19.5
Total Time Spent Running: 2 hours, 28 minutes, 54 seconds
Average Pace: 7:38 (min/mile)

With regards to my weekend travelling and my running plans, the disadvantage of travelling is that it typically not only messes with my running on the week I take the trip, but also the following week as well. With Palau, we got back around 5:30AM on Tuesday, so I was really not in the mood to run that day. Still, during Week 22 (31 May-5 June) I was determined to get my 25 miles. With less days available in the week that meant I needed some longer runs to meet my goal. Mainly it involved one 11.6 mile run on Sunday. Of course I chose to do it during the late morning when the sun was up and it was HOT. It was not a fun run, but I made it, and met my goal.

Back on track with my running, my Week 22 totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 3
Total Miles: 25
Total Time Spent Running: 3 hours, 15 minutes, 18 seconds
Average Pace: 7:49 (min/mile)

There was excitement on several days of Week 23 (6-12 June). Wednesday morning the Drongo birds were so unbearable I ran 8.4 miles on one street to avoid them. Wednesday night my car wouldn't start which screwed up my Thursday morning running plans (but I still managed to do some running). Turns out I needed a new battery, and not a new Starter so I was happy about that. Friday we had a Wing Run which helped me get my mileage up. We also ran it more than 2.5 minutes faster than normal, which I enjoyed (though a lot of people couldn't handle it). Sunday was my 2nd Olympic Triathlon. I will blog all about it later, but I will say I had a great time, FINISHED, and added 6.2 miles to my weekly total.

Week 23's Totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 6
Total Miles: 34.3
Total Time Spent Running: 4 hours, 20 minutes, 37 seconds
Average Pace: 7:35 (min/mile)

PHEW!! That was quite a busy 4 weeks for me. Looking at previous 4-week spans the total mileage wasn't that great, but it still puts me ahead of my goal.

My new "as of" totals:
Total Runs Logged: 120
Total Miles: 659.8
Total Time Spent Running: 85 hours, 7 minutes, 3 seconds
Average Pace: 7:44 (min/mile)

REFLECTION TIME: I need to blog more often, write less, and put more pictures up. I got it! Man Hike and Olympic Triathlon entries are coming quickly. Additionally, with 3 weeks left before I hit the halfway point, I have a short term goal. I am a mere 90.2 miles away from hitting 750 miles by the 6 month mark. That means I need to hit 30 miles a week for the next three weeks. It's very doable, and should give me the motivation to get up and run! I'll keep you updated; I promise.