JustKev.in  •  From Lazyman to Ironman, one inactive guy's journey to triathlete (and everything else under his beer helmet.)
June 23rd, 2010 | 56 views | 3 Comments »

2010 Tri at Baxter Race Report

This race was my second triathlon of the year and it was a special one.  It was Melissa’s first triathlon and I had convinced her to race it.  I wanted her to have fun and be proud of herself.  And I wanted to be there!

I came off almost a week of illness and the thought crossed my mind not to race it, and my wife even suggested that I shouldn’t.  I got so sad at the thought of not racing with Melissa, that I told myself that I didn’t have to be fast, just be there and finish.

To add to my troubles, I was up until midnight the night before trying to fix my bike.  You see, after I installed my bike on the new trainer, I realized that my rear brake was rubbing.  I tried everything that I knew, pulled the crank (with the hidden brake on the Felt B16, the crank has to be removed to fully access the rear brake) I had the rear tire removed, etc.  I should have taken a picture; this was a mere 6 hours before I had to be there!  Well, I didn’t get it perfect, but I thought it would be good enough.

5:15AM-

Wake up time.  Hit snooze.

5:24AM-

Getting up now (so I thought), turned off alarm.

5:35AM-

Jenn says, “Get up, you’re going to be late!”  I went into the bathroom for a quick dressing with tri shorts and top under “street” clothes.  Good thing I had prepared everything the night before.  I went downstairs, grabbed a granola bar and went to the car where my bike and all my gear were already waiting.

6:10AM-

I met Melissa and Jeff at the race site.  Melissa was already setting up and she did a great job.  I guess the practice and the REI workshop paid off!  I got my transition area set up and we went to get body marked and get our timing chips.  We saw Scott and then Alex arrived after that.  We then went back to transition to check over everything and grab our swim gear.  We went to the bathroom and then to the pool for a little warm-up swim.  This is the benefit of arriving early.  We were able to take our time and get comfortable.

ummm?

someone's missing something

Scott giving last minute advice

The Swim:

Once it was my time to get in the water, I was feeling pretty good.  The swim went well and I felt I seeded myself correctly.  I passed the person in front of me and I allowed two people to pass me.  The short distance of 300 meters was nice!

getting in the pool

starting the swim

on the swim

almost done with the swim!

Melissa, ready to go!

go machine!

The Bike:

As soon as I started pedaling, I realized that I had not fixed the brake as well as I had thought.  The brake was rubbing a good bit.  This not only slowed me down, but I realized it was a big mental hurdle as well.  It was very frustrating to have to give more effort than I was getting out of it.  As I made my turn around at the halfway point, I started to look for Melissa.  She was not far behind!  And she looked great!  About 3 miles before the bike finish, I saw Scott walking his bike.  He was not hurt, so I did not stop.  Apparently, his chain had problems and he could only coast down hills and was forced to walk up them.  This did not stop him though, he still finished strong!

out for a ride with a rear brake rubbing!

heading out on the bike

Melissa in T1

back from the ride

Melissa is all smiles!

The Run:

After a frustrating ride, I was tired and a little annoyed.  It was hot and I was not feeling well stomach-wise.  I ran and walked the entire 3.4 miles and made for a VERY slow run.  Scott passed me first, then I heard Melissa’s voice not too far from the finish say, “Don’t let me catch you!”  That was enough motivation to run the rest of the way, but I knew she already had me beat; she started 1:40 after me.  There was no way for me to make that up at that point.  Congratulations Melissa!  Next time, though, I will be better prepared!  Speaking of, Melissa had a great time and is hooked!  What’s the next race, Melissa?

Jenn and the girls ready to cheer us in

Sadie's having a blast!

starting the run

heading out for the grueling run

melissa's smile is bigger than mine at this point!

Melissa on the run

Scott passed us both on the run!

that's the smile of finishing with my girls cheering me in

finish

pain!

I am hurting!

Melissa finish - she actually beat my time with the delayed start!

congratulations, TRIATHLETE!

the trio

It was a great race and a fun time with family and friends.  Melissa got hooked on multi-sport and Scott, Alex and I fueled our fires.  My bike is now in the shop at TrySports, so hopefully I will be back in the saddle next weekend without a rubbing brake.  I did actually finish 3rd in my age group, but I can’t really count it since there were only 3 of us!  Next up is the Ballantyne Triathlon, where Sally, Melissa and I are racing as a relay team.  Should be fun and we should be pretty fast!

Results:

Overall ——- Swim 300M ——- T1 ——- Bike 16M ——- T2 ——- Run 3.4 ——- Total
Place Place Name Bib No Age Rnk Time Pace Time Rnk Time Rate Time Rnk Time Pace Time
3 78 Kevin Davis 78 27 3 06:37 2:12 02:40 3 1:00:35 15.8 00:49 3 40:27 11:54 1:51:10
Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training
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May 9th, 2010 | 101 views | 2 Comments »

2010 Tri the Rock Race Report

This race marked the “anniversary” race of my first triathlon.  It was also my first tri of the year and I had not been training the way I should due to a very busy schedule.  So I did not know what to expect, but I hoped to beat my times from last year.

The swim:

I was running late to the race due to a faulty alarm clock (or perhaps it was my faulty hearing?) and arrived at the race with less than 5 minutes before they were to close the transition area.  Good thing I had picked up my race packet the day before and had my numbers on my race belt, helmet and bike.  I got my transition area ready in a hurry and went to get body marked and my timing chip.  Luckily there was not a line at this time and I was able to get in and out of there.  After that, I hit the bathroom to christen another special place and then headed to the pool side.

They were midway through the pre-race meeting, so good thing I had raced this event before and pretty much knew what to do.  I waited for my swim start (this year 57th) and the race was on.

I actually felt pretty comfortable in the water, as opposed to last year, and went at a steady pace for the 500 yards.  I must have seeded myself a bit fast as there were a few people that needed to pass me along the way, which required me to stop at the walls a few times to let them.  That slowed me a bit, but no big deal.

Swim time: 12:09

Last year: 12:06

The bike:

As always, after the swim I am glad to be heading out on the bike.  I had a relatively quick transition and hit it.  I was soon to find out that the weather conditions were windy and that wind was pushing against me on the way out.  This made for a very tough bike, but relented a bit on the way back.  I also realized that they extended the bike course by about a mile or so, which the extension was uphill and into the wind!  I didn’t beat my bike time from last year, but the conditions and extended course could explain.

Bike time: 51:42

Last year: 50:24

The run:

After the tough bike, I was tired.  I headed out on the (also changed) run course hoping to finish strong.  Early into the run, I had calf cramps.  I stopped and stretched.  I went on with a run/walk program for most of the remaining run.  I also didn’t beat my run time from last year.  I attribute that to under preparedness in addition to the tough bike.

Run time: 32:11

Last year: 29:40

Total time with transitions: 1:39:20

Last year: 1:32:09

Complete reults here.

Overall this was a very fun event again, and will most likely race this one every year.  Also, Jenn, Mia, Sadie and Melissa came to cheer me in!  Oh and remember my brother-in-law, Alex, who said he wasn’t ready for the race because he hadn’t run or cycled since Christmas?  He freakin’ won his age group.  Told you he would win it anyway!  Go Alex (aka The Machine!)

I will post pictures once I am able to get my hands on some…

Thanks Melissa for the pictures and for being there!!!

P.S. see Keith, I really did do it and have the pictures to prove it!

Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training, special places
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May 7th, 2010 | 12 views | 1 Comment »

tomorrow’s tri and 100 posts

Tomorrow is my first triathlon of the year, Tri the Rock in Rock Hill, SC.  About 1 year ago, I raced my first triathlon, which happened to be the same event.  Not too long after, I started this blog.  I think it fitting that my 100th post be the day before I race this triathlon for a second time.

I only hope I can beat my times from last year:

Swim – 12:06

Bike – 50:24

Run – 29:40

I picked up my race packet at lunch today, and guess what?  Dry-fit event t-shirts!  More and more events seem to be moving away from cotton t-shirts, which is great so the participants can actually use them while exercising!  Plus it works for the event because it works as advertising.

As always I am looking forward to the support of my friends and family.  Jenn plans to bring Mia and Sadie to cheer me on (Mia already told me she wants to bring her pom-poms :) ), Melissa said she wants to come and my brother-in-law, Alex, who convinced me to race this triathlon last year will be racing as well.  He says he won’t do well, but I think he will win it in spite of the fact he hasn’t ran in months.

I will report back and let you all know how it goes!

On another wonderful note, I will be racing my first triathlon as part of a relay team!  Sally will tackle the swim, I will take the bike portion and Melissa will run to the finish!  We will race at the Ballantyne Triathlon on July 10th.  We are currently throwing around team names, so what do you all think?  Check out some of the names suggested on Melissa’s post today.

Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training
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November 2nd, 2009 | 0 views | 4 Comments »

PR for 5K and start of diet

I ran in the Great Pumpkin 5K on Saturday morning and since it was Halloween, I decided to run in a costume.  I wanted it to be funny, so I decided on dressing as a beer bottle.  I figured this would slow me some, and it did, but I still managed to set a new PR for 5K at 25:42.  My previous PR was at the Concord Bunny run in April and my time there was 26:55.  It was a fun event and my brother-in-law, Alex, placed 1st in his age group!  The costume slowed me a bit and it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to run in, but it was still fun to do, especially with everyone cheering me in with “Hooray Beer!”  After the 5K, they had a 1 mile fun run for the kids and Mia attempted to run and did run for a while, but not the whole way.  She earned a medal anyway though!  As always, it was great to have Jenn, Mia and Sadie at the finish line to cheer me in.

Almost there!

Almost there!

Hooray Beer!!!

Hooray Beer!!!

On Sunday, I decided it was time to test my shin on a long run.  I set out to run at least 7 miles, but I ended up running 10 miles in 1:48:45, a nice and easy pace with a few walk breaks.  My legs were tired, but the shin still feels okay.  Hopefully this means I will be able to work my mileage up to be able to still run the marathon.

And today is the day I resume the “Daryl Diet.”  I have decided to do as Tyler does and post a weekly weigh in on Wednesdays.  See you then!

Categories: Weight Management, marathon training
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September 17th, 2009 | 0 views | 4 Comments »

shifting gears

After not doing any training for the past 5 days to recover from the Blue Ridge Relay, I am now focused on this Saturday’s triathlon.  Most people would not have scheduled a triathlon a week after a race like the BRR, and I wouldn’t have, except I had already signed up for the tri when Alex invited me to run with him in the relay race.  Not being someone who likes to waste money, I am doing both!

When I asked Jason Sutton about recovery after the BRR, he told me not to do anything at all for a week and a half or so, then build back slowly.  So when I told him I had a race next Saturday, he said, “well, good luck, your probably gonna feel it on the run”

My legs feel about 95% recovered now and I am hoping it won’t be too bad.  It is a sprint triathlon with a 750 meter lake swim, 14 mile bike and a 5K run.  After the tri, I can then focus on marathon training.

Categories: BRR training, Triathlon Training, marathon training
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September 14th, 2009 | 1 views | 8 Comments »

a race of a lifetime

You all know that I ran with Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners) in the Blue Ridge Relay race last weekend.  It was an experience that I will never forget.  I will try to recap the adventure as best as I can, but I am sure to leave out many, many things that were certainly of value.  I had full intentions of bringing pen and paper to document things that I would want to include on the blog, but I forgot to bring them and I am not sure if I would have had the time to do so anyway!

Friday, September 11, 2009

2:25 AM – I woke up to take a quick shower and get dressed.  I went downstairs and packed the few things that I had thought of as I was tossing and turning during the 4 hours of broken sleep the night before.  What a time for Mia to decide to cry twice during the night!  Chris made sure I was up and we got the car packed.

3:15 AM – Chris and I left my house to rendezvous with Alex and the Jasons.  We arrived at Alex’s house was dark and the Jasons were not there yet, but we were early, so we just waited.

3:30 AM – Alex came out and offered his bathroom, which I took him up on.  Then the van came around at about 3:40 and Jason Sutton was driving.  Apparently Jason Martin had forgotten a few things and he was to meet us in Charlotte.  We drove to Charlotte and picked up Whitney at her hotel and then picked up Jason Martin at a parking garage he has access to.  From there, we hit the road towards Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.

The team - ready to go!

The team - ready to go!

7:20 AM – Our team’s start time.  Jason Martin starts us off and at a very fast pace.  He arrives at the first exchange zone way before I expected!

Let's get it started!

Let's get it started!

From this point on, everything sort of runs together in a sweaty, sleep deprived delirium.  I remember some details from each of my six legs which I will share below:

Leg 3 – my first run

Not a terribly difficult run, but along some gravel roads that on a few occasions scare me that I will roll my ankle on the rocks.  I did feel a little pain in my left ankle, but it worked itself out.  First run of 5.2 miles down, 5 more of over 20 to go.

Leg 9 – my second run

This leg was almost completely flat for the first 4 miles or so.  Then the course turns onto Big Hill Road and things got interesting and hard!  A big hill climbing up from the river I had been running along.

Leg 15 – my third run

This run started at the gates to Grandfather Mountain Park.  Jason Sutton had the task of running the 10 miles straight up to this point and I almost felt I was cheating since all I had to do was run 2.4 miles down.  It was my first night run, so I was in the van putting on my reflective vest and getting my two blinking red lights and headlamp on and Jason Martin came up to the van after changing clothes.  It was getting dark and I was very sleep deprived and I thought it was Jason Sutton.  I panicked thinking I was supposed to be running already.  I say to him, “You’re back already!?” and he says, “back from where?”  I am confused and thinking he is messing with me, but I can’t figure out why he would mess with me and cause the race to suffer.  It doesn’t make sense to me and I think he realized that I was confused and he explains that I am okay, that Jason Sutton is still running.  I calmed down and realized that the mental game is a part of this whole thing.  When Jason Sutton did actually come in, I ran down and enjoyed a good pace on the downhill run.  It certainly was eerie running in the dark of the night, but it was an experience that was serene as well.

getting ready to run in the dark

getting ready to run in the dark

Leg 21 – my fourth run

Another short and downhill night run.  This run took me through downtown Spruce Pine.  The town at this early hour was deserted except for a few runners and their support vans.  Again, I feel like I am cheating with my short downhill runs, but the team tells me they are nice and easy, but they still have to be done, so I am contributing.

nightime in the van

nightime in the van

Leg 27 – my fifth run

I am now back to the 5.2 mile distance again.  This run was mostly a slight uphill and at this point I started to notice the effects of all that was going on.  The run seemed pretty difficult to me and I know that it shouldn’t.  A guy passed me and I attempted to keep up with him for a bit.  I could not keep his pace.  A little while after that, I heard a voice come from behind after a dog started to bark and it was a female asking if she could run with me because she is afraid of dogs.  I said sure and she sprinted ahead to catch me.  We ran the rest of the leg together and I think she felt like I slowed down to keep her company, but in truth she probably kept me going a little faster than I would have on my own.  When I finished, I found the van and curled up in the back seat to attempt my first real sleep in over 27 hours.  I slept for about an hour while Alex was running and felt a little better.  We had stopped at the next exchange zone and I had to pee, so I got out of the van to find the port-a-johns.  A step or two into the walk I realized that my legs from my thighs down were in a world of hurt.  My right knee had the worst pain and this was the first time that I doubted my ability to finish.  I knew the run that I had coming up was a terribly difficult one and here I was having trouble walking 50 feet down a slight incline to the bathroom.  I decided to walk around a bit to try and loosen up and it felt a little better, but still extremely painful to walk.  At the next exchange area, there was a nice river that Alex suggested we go soak our legs in.  I thought he was crazy at first, but he convinced me and to my surprise it helped a great deal!  My legs were still fatigued, but the knee pain was gone and I felt much better.

Alex soaking his legs - I had just gotten out

Alex soaking his legs - I had just gotten out

Leg 33 – my sixth and final run

This is the only leg of the race that I had run prior to the race.  I knew what to expect and that was on one hand nice to know what I have before me, but also intimidating because I knew just how hard it was!  I started the run at the bottom and took advantage of the slight uphill and ran a fairly good pace.  I hit the steep part and walked.  A guy did pass me while running, but he may have only gained about 20 feet on me before he started to walk too.  It was so steep that you really do walk as fast as you can run.  It made me think that whoever decided to pave this road so steep either did so with no intention of anything non-motorized ever attempting to go up it or with a sadistic humor that they knew someone would try.  I reached the top and my team had stopped to cheer me up the hill.  I enjoyed the cheers and the 10 feet of flat before the road goes right back down the other side.  I ran down at a pretty good pace before I started cramping.  My legs from my hamstrings to my calves were seizing up at this point.  I stopped and stretched with about 1.5 miles to go.  I started to run again, but the cramps came back.  I ran it out, but in extreme pain.  I had set a goal for myself to complete this run in less than 1 hour and I cam close with a time of 1:00:34.

They should add "Only attempt to run if you are nuts"

they should add "only attempt to run if you are nuts"

f

me walking up the extreme incline - the photo does not do it justice!

run

running down the other side

 Chris finished the last leg of the relay about 32 hours after Jason Martin had started.  We were all extremely exhausted, but completely proud of our accomplishment.  We all also had the opportunity to witness the first solo completion of the course.  How amazing is the determination that would have to take place to run 211 miles in 3 days!

solo

the man in the white hat ran the entire course!

Melissa, Jeff and my parents came to Asheville to cheer us in.  It makes such a difference when you have support from your family and friends at a race.  Melissa, Jeff, Chris and I grabbed some burgers and beer in Asheville before heading to my in-laws cabin to discuss the events and to get some real sleep.

finish

the team running the last few feet

finish2

2009 Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners)

Read Jason Sutton’s blog post on the race here.

Read Chris’ post here.

Read Melissa’s post here.

From another team’s perspective here.

You can see all of my pictures here and Jason Sutton’s here.  I do have some video footage and will get on YouTube soon.

Categories: BRR training, Race Reports
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July 8th, 2009 | 0 views | 2 Comments »

Another Very Early Morning

I couldn’t sleep well last night. 

Perhaps it was the lack of exercise for three days in a row after the triathlon last weekend that had my feet itching or perhaps it may have been my excitement stemming from committing to run the easy leg of the Blue Ridge Relay with Alex and 4 other runners.  It is a 208 mile race that will take 30 hours or so to complete.  And I say easy leg because I don’t think I could do the harder legs.  My leg will consist of 6 different runs over the 30 hour timeframe that will total more than 25 miles.  Call me crazy, but I can’t wait.  It is also the weekend before a triathlon I already have scheduled, so it should be an interesting couple of weeks.

So at around 2:45 this morning, I woke up and could not get back to sleep.  I tried, but when I decided it wasn’t going to happen, what else is a guy to do but run?

I fiddled with my IPod a bit to get it to work, but failed.  I think the battery is having some issues.  Oh well.  So I loaded the last Podcast of the Freeway to 10K mix onto Jenn’s IPod and got dressed.  I leashed up Althea, let Diego come in the house so he could do something special too and set out.

The temperature was comfortable in the dark morning and I was feeling good.  Traffic was very light so there were no issues with the cars.  I did a sort of out and back for a total of 7.1 miles.  I was very pleased with my pace of 9:24 minutes per mile.  See the stats here.

On the cool down walk back to the house I suddenly realized something was wrong.  MY NIPPLES ARE ON FIRE!  I have heard guys talk about running marathons with band aids on their nipples to keep them from chaffing, but I didn’t realize it could happen after just 7 miles.  But it did.  I feel like I have sort of graduated the next step in my running career now that I have sore nipples.  Today it has been a sort of reminder that I went the distance this morning.  I was lucky enough to not have a severe case; I have heard they can get so bad they bleed.  I have nothing like that and I don’t want to know what that feels like.  I will plan to use some Aquaphor (thanks Jeff!) or something before I go out running in the future!

Categories: Triathlon Training
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June 17th, 2009 | 0 views | 1 Comment »

Wet Morning

This morning is wet.  It is raining, but also I was able to roll out of bed at 5:15 and head to the pool!  I was able to get in 700 yards of swimming, or 28 lengths of the 25 yard pool.  It was a challenging workout, but I felt very good with my form and I can tell it is improving.  I am still concerned that I feel the need to rest between laps, but I was able to rest less today.  I did 100 yard repeats with about 20 – 30 seconds rest between each.  Normally I would only do 50 yards before resting.  I am also still concerned that I won’t be as comfortable in the  open water (as opposed to a pool swim) when I go to my next three triathlons that I have scheduled. 

Next up is the Recon Off-Road Triathlon and Relay at Ann Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill, SC.  It will be my first open water swim, but I am confident I will be able to swim the short 400 meter course.  It will also be my first off-road triathlon which consists of mountain biking and trail running instead of on paved roads.  It will be nice to run in the shade of the woods in July though!

After that, I will compete in my first international distance triathlon at the Assault on Cherokee at Kings Mountain State Park near Gaffney, SC.  It will be a 1300 meter swim, 26 mile bike ride and a 10K run.  This will be my biggest triathlon event of the year.  It will certainly test out how well my training efforts have paid off.

Then I will compete in the Cane Creek Triathlon in Waxhaw, NC.  It is another sprint distance triathlon, but it looks to be a nice event and it is close to home.  My brother in law, Alex, will also be competing, so that will be fun as well.

My hope is that these three events, combined with the marathon in December, will give me the motivation to continue my training and give me the confidence to do a few international distance triathlons in the spring and early summer of next year and shoot for completing a half iron distance triathlon in the fall.

Next up training wise is a bike ride this evening if the weather holds out as they are calling for storms again today and then a run in the morning.  I will try to get the time on Friday morning to swim and then bike to work.

Categories: Triathlon Training
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June 15th, 2009 | 0 views | 2 Comments »

Great Weekend!!!

This weekend was my first official 10K race.  I ran the Lake Wylie Splash Dash 10K.  When I first mentioned to my brother in law, Alex, that I was thinking of run it, he said “Oh, it is pretty hilly, are you sure?”  I was worried after that comment, but determined.  I found out what the race course was and I convinced my sister, Melissa, to come try the run with me.  We did it and we thought it was tough, but we made it.  So we signed up!

We arrived a little later than we wanted, and the line for the bathroom was longer than we would like, but it worked out okay.  I had already relieved myself and went to check on Melissa who was still waiting.  She was about 7th inline and someone came up and said, “Don’t worry.  They won’t start until you are all done here.”  That made us feel better!

We were walking to the starting line and we saw our grandmother!  We had thought she was going to come, but we weren’t sure.  We gave her a hug and continued to the start line.  There were about 260 people that were starting, about half doing a 5K distance and the others doing the 10K.  They announced to us that we could decide to opt for the 5K if we wanted to, and just let them know so they would put you down for the correct race.  I did not want to know that I had an easy out, so I turned to Melissa and said “We didn’t hear that did we?” 

We started out strong, but the first hill came quickly.  Melissa had already mentioned that her heart rate was unusually high.  I checked mine and it was kind of high too.  It must have been the race excitement.  I figured I would have to walk some along the hilly course, but I didn’t want to have to walk before the first mile, so I kept running.  Melissa had to fall back to try to keep her heart rate down.

Most of the run was nice and shaded, but it was already hot.  I was glad that I had decided to carry my own fluids so I could drink whenever I wanted.  I used my new hydration pack for the first time and it was great!  Very little bouncing and for the most part I forgot that I was carrying it.  I carried two 10 oz bottles with Lemon Lime HEED and a flask of Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel.  I also wore my new compression sleeves for the first time and they were great too.

The people stationed along the route were mostly in good spirits, which makes for a good run.  I always enjoy joking with people along the way as it makes you forget you are tired.  One of the volunteers said to me “You make that look easy; you are having too much fun!”  I replied back, “This is fun!  Almost there!”  I kept thinking that I wish I had worn the Beer Helmet because that would have encouraged some laughs for sure.

I felt like walking at a few of the hills, but I kept thinking, you know I am almost halfway; I don’t want to walk yet.  Then it was I have come this far, I don’t want to have to walk now!  To my surprise, I was able to keep I run stride the entire way!  I went down to a slow pace on several of the hills, but that’s okay.  As I came to the finish area, I saw my grandmother, Jenn, Mia, Sadie and Jeff.  I heard Mia say her “Go Daddy go!”  And that was all I needed to speed up and finish fast.  My official time was 57:43.  That was good enough for 72nd out of 122.  I did finish last in my age group, which bummed me out.  I told myself that it was because of the challenging course, more experienced runners were most likely prevalent.  I was happy to have met my goal of finishing under 1 hour.  Melissa came in with a time of 1:08:40, which is certainly respectable on the hard course.  That was good enough to beat two others in her age group.  Check out the results here.  You can also see the run as captured by the Garmin here.

We stayed around to see the awards given out and then went to breakfast.  I was very hungry so I ate pancakes, eggs, bacon and grits!  We went home and got the girls to bed for their naps and I got a crazy idea and called Melissa to see if it would be okay if I rode my bike to her house instead of driving to meet her at her neighborhood pool for a swim.  She said sure and I got dressed and headed out.

It was very hot by this time and all I could think about is how nice the water in the pool will feel!  I made good time and rode the about 10 miles to her house in around 35 minutes.  See the stats here.

When I got there, she asked if I wanted to go for a short ride with her so she could see how it is to ride on the roads.  I said sure and after I adjusted her bike and filled the tires with air, we headed out.  We rode about 5 miles and ended at the pool.  She said she enjoyed the ride, but was uncomfortable when we had to make left turns.  When you make a left turn, you have to check behind you to make sure there are no cars.  This is difficult until you get used to it.  See those stats here.

We had a short swim because the pool was crowded and adult swim only lasted for about 15 minutes.  One the kids got in the pool again, there would be no way of swimming laps.  Jeff arrived and we sat around and discussed possible future tattoo designs for triathlon, “26.2″ after we run the marathon, “70.3″ for after a half Ironman and finally the “140.6″ that I want after the full distance Ironman.  Those numbers are the distance in miles for each of the events.  Anybody have any ideas for designs?  Andrew, you are a talented artist, any thoughts?

The ride home was even hotter than the ride there.  And there was no pool waiting at my destination.  At about this time, I felt the day’s events take their toll on my legs.  I was fatigued and just ready to get home and be lazy.  I did not make great time on the way back as you can see here.

All in all it was a great Saturday and Sunday all I did was mow the lawn and watch the Yankees win 15-0 over the Mets!  I will take Monday off too and get back to training on Tuesday.

Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training
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May 14th, 2009 | 1 views | No Comments »

Introduction

So I decided to start a blog.  I have been thinking about doing it for a couple of months now and finally decided that I should.  Mainly for myself to look back at in the years to come, but if someone else enjoys reading it too, great!  Anyway, I guess I will tell you a little about myself.  My name is Kevin and I am 25 years old.  I live in Fort Mill, SC and work in Rock Hill, SC as a loan officer at a credit union.  I have a beautiful wife, Jenn and two adorable girls.  Mia is 2 years old and Sadie is 8 months.  I recently changed my lifestyle dramatically for the better and started this blog to write about that and whatever else happens to come across my mind.

It all started when I bought a Wii for myself and a Wii fit for my wife last Christmas.  We first did the Wii fit on 12/30/08 and although I knew I was not in the best of shape, what it told me made me make a life changing decision.  I weighed 194.2 pounds and was well into the “overweight” classification.  After not weighing myself in quite some time, I thought I was maybe 175 or 180, but I knew I should weigh about 150.  I had recently made several weak attempts at starting a running routine, but after a week I would lose motivation.  194.2 is the number that finally motivated me.  I did not want to be 200 pounds.  So I started running a week later (I still wanted to enjoy my New Year’s Eve festivities, so I put it off a bit).

I started a new diet plan that my boss worked up for Crystal (a co-worker) and her husband that focuses on increasing protein intake and reducing fat and sodium.  It also focuses on healthy, natural foods like fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods.  If anyone would like the plan, e-mail me!

I started running using an IPod podcast called podrunner intervals First Day to 5K with an end goal of being able to run 5km or 3.1 miles.  It is a 10 week program that progressively increases your running time and distance.  After 8 weeks, I ran my first official 5K, The Frosty 5K on 2/28/09 at the McMullen Creek greenway in Charlotte, NC.  I finished in a little over 32 minutes and I had the best feeling in the world after finishing!  I was definitely hooked.  I have run in several 5Ks since and have improved my time with each one.  My PR is 26:55 on 4/11/09 in Concord, NC at the Bunny Run.

Finishing my first 5K

Finishing my first 5K

The most fun I have had at a race is definitely at the Terrapin Beer 5K Plus one Mile (4.1 miles).  The race was in Athens, GA on 4/18/09 and sponsored by the local brewery and it started at 4:00PM.  After the race, you collect the beer glass they give you and you can sample up to 8 of their finest products.  My sister had the great idea to dress up for this event to have even more fun, so I ran the 4.1 miles in a beer helmet with two (empty) cans of PBR.  Terrapin only bottles in glass and I wasn’t about to run with glass bottles on my head!  To see some photos from this event and read what Melissa has to say, see her blog post.

I took off in another direction in March when my brother in law, Alex, said that I should do a triathlon.  He has been doing them for years and he convinced me to go to the local pool and just jump in a see if you can swim 500 yards, or 20 lengths of a 25 yard pool (the distance of the swim leg of the triathlon, Tri the Rock, he was planning to do on 5/9/09).  I went and swam about 2 lengths freestyle before I had to turn over on my back to breathe!  I e-mailed him that day and asked if you had to swim the whole thing freestyle or if it mattered.  He replied saying “you could doggie paddle the whole way if you wanted to, but with practice, you’ll get better.”  So I signed up!  I trained for about 10 weeks of swimming twice a week, biking twice a week and running twice a week.  Each Monday was a rest day.  I enjoyed the training so much that I plan to keep doing this until I can’t for some reason.  I made a new life goal to complete a full distance Ironman.  Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a marathon, 26.2 miles.  140.6 miles in all.  10-15 hours of constant exercise.  My wife thinks I am crazy, but she is supportive.

It is now 5/14/09 and I have completed my first triathlon and it was incredible.  It was even better than the first 5K.  The feeling makes you feel like you can do anything you want if you are willing to put in the time, which is absolutely true.  I finished the 500 yard swim, 16 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run in a little over 1 hour 32 minutes.  My goal was to finish period, but I did want to finish in less than 1.5 hours.  I came close, and I am happy with that because I was pretty sick the day before.

On the run leg of my first triathlon

On the run leg of my first triathlon

With all of this exercise and diet changes, I have managed to lose 34.7 pounds.  I am at 159.5 now and about 11 pounds from my “ideal” weight.  Apparently it really is what they have been saying all those years; that diet and exercise are the keys to being healthy.

My next event is a 10K in Lake Wylie, the Splash Dash on 6/13/09.  My sister, Melissa, and I went and ran the hilly course about 2 weeks ago and it is challenging, but that’s the point, right?

I will then plan another triathlon that includes an open water swim, probably the Cane Creek Triathlon on 9/19/09.  And if the running continues to feel right, and I can comfortably run 13.1 miles by 7/31/09, I will sign up for the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte on 12/12/09.  Again, my wife thinks I am crazy, but I know I can do it if I do it smart.  Then, next year I will plan to do an Olympic distance triathlon in the spring and a half Ironman in the fall.  Then I will go for the big fish: a full distance Ironman in 2011.  This blog will chronicle the journey.

Categories: Introduction
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