It hurts because it should

Well, the time is finally here. Collegiate nationals in 6 days! Now that taper time is here I actually have time to get another post up...

The last month of training has been crazy. Hard rides, hard bricks, ridiculous swims. During many of the workouts I have caught myself wondering if I would be able to finish my swimming sets or hold my race pace even when I'm on the verge of donating my last meal to the roadside.

I have also had the chance to get my first two tris in for 2009. The first was the Havasu Triathlon. The venue is awesome--my hometown, low-key event, and this year the weather was awesome! No white caps and 20+ MPH headwinds on the bike. The result? Ridiculous PRs for everyone. Mine was something like 18 minutes better than last year. I'll attribute something like 10 minutes to the better conditions, meaning something like an "actual" PR of 8 minutes. I'll take it!

The next week was the Tucson Tri (a sprint on the UA campus). It wasn't a spectacular race for me, but still a PR of over a minute. As long as I keep improving I'll be happy.

Besides that, lots of training... Suddenly my swim workouts are regularly over 400o yards, which to me is pretty crazy. Before last month I had never swam more than 3500 in a workout. Last Sunday was 4800! I might become a fish after all. Bikes and runs are getting shorter but more painful. It will be nice to enjoy some base training again after this week.

On other fronts--still plowing through school. Looks like I am going to take a class over summer and hopefully (!!!!) defend before August--August 2009. As in 11 years after I started at the U. Now that is craziness. Family has been a ton of fun. We no longer have an infant. A terrible two (who's not so terrible :) ) and the youngest is ready to walk any day. Sleep is actually occurring on a regular basis. HOWEVER, there is no sleeping in. 10 minutes before the sun is up, the girls are up. Alarm clocks are no longer effective for me. Screaming babies on the other hand are EXTREMELY effective.

The only other real news is that I am finding it hard to resist signing up for 140.6. St. George looks like an awesome venue. We'll see. Maybe if I think about it for a few more weeks the race will fill up and I won't be tempted anymore...

Alrighty. Off to enjoy the rest of my Easter Sunday, watch some golf, and absorb this taper. Until next time.

Don't you forget why you came to the dance

So it has been WAY too long, and I figured I need to either post or throw in the towel. So it's posting time!

SO much has been going on, hence the lack of online activity. The first big thing is that class is back in session. Yes, I am STILL in school. Every semester I feel like I lose a little more steam. Nothing different this time around. 9 more credits to take, so I signed up for 9. A month later I was knocked on my butt and so I'm back to 6. The big news is that means I can't graduate this semester no matter what. I will be at the U of A until at least mid-summer...maybe (but hopefully not!) longer. One more math class and then wrapping up my dissertation. A small task? No, but I'll pull it off. Why am I posting tonight? Spring break! Yeah, that's right...28 and I still get a spring break.

Next, the economy finally hit home. Scares about losing jobs drove us crazy for a month, but luckily we made it through. My boss did ask for volunteers to go less than full-time, so I felt obligated to take him up on it, at least through May. More time for family, class, and training. As long as we can pay our bills in the meantime, things are all good.

Okay, on to less depressing topics...fun times lately on the Tri front! Went to a group ride with Eneko Llanos and a ton of local triathletes from TriSports and it was a blast. All the amateurs had fun destroying each other making mini-breaks for it while Eneko kept it in Zone 1. Next, TriFest '09 was a blast. Lots of tri gear I can't afford and a ton of great people and fun events. The expo was exciting, talks were interesting, and the after-hours events were great (casino night at TriSports...awesome).

Next, let the racing season begin! TriCats spring training camp was paired up with the Desert Classic Duathlon as usual, and it was a blast. The weather this year was awesome (compared to the rain and cold last year). I was very happy with my race--it was an improvment of over 15 minuts--but the field was stacked this year. I finished in the same place in my age group. Crazy! Some pictures here:

Tricats Base Camp:















All my junk:














A great morning to race:














Mid-ride:













Hanging out post-race:



















The big news is that I am going to collegiate nationals this year! It will be the first and last time I get to go--aging out and hopefully(!!!) graduating before next fall. This has been a HUGE goal of mine for over a year, so it is awesome that I actually get to go. The selection was a combination of speed, participation in the club team, and politics (imagine that!!!). But I made the cut and I am ready to do it! However, there is obviously a lot of pressure involved as many more people from the club wanted to go than could be selected. Suddenly I feel obligated to make it to workouts and really take everything on. 15 hours of training per week has become a minimum and over 14,000 yards of swimming, which is WAY over average. I have also been able to make myself push harder than I ever thought possible. Last night for the first time in TriCats history I doubted that I would finish a track workout...4, 8, 12, 16, 8, 4, 8, 12, 1600, AND the last 1600 was the fastest I have EVER run a mile. Great stuff! It is painful, but so rewarding to see the hard work pay off. Competing at nationals has been my goal for a year. Time to saddle up and do what it takes!

So, next up: Havasu Tri next week (March 21), Tucson Tri the next Sunday, two weeks without racing, then Nationals! Here we go!