Stepping Stone Boise 70.3 Race Report

Hoping my running legs come around!

The first big race of the year took place on June 11th. Boise 70.3 is a home race for me so anxious nerves and energy overwhelmed me the days leading into the race. First and foremost want to send a shout out to God for giving the ability to compete in endurance events, my family, friends, and coach Rebecca Preston with TeamTBB.

Doing my warm up I felt good on the bike and run. I was ready to see how the past 10 weeks training would pay off.


Swim- I felt ok, missed the first little pack in my wave so I was stuck swimming by myself the whole swim which next time I will really try to get on that first pack. The longer I got into the swim the better I felt, which may be do to the cold water. It was 52 degrees!!

Bike- Felt great the whole ride. Right from the get go my legs were ready to put on the gas! I had no idea how fast I was riding it is all off feel just like training no speed or watts. I built into the effort and really felt my strength kick in the second half.

Run- I started off just cruising, in my mind I tried to picture build set I do in training. Hit two miles at just under 6min pace which I felt pretty comfortable, really thought I could build into the run from there then I pulled up with a bit of a stich/cramp in my stomach. I had to walk/jog for a bit, finally coming good with the aid of some coke. I think it was a nutrition thing which I know that through racing more and getting use to how much fluids/calories to take in during the day we can get it figured out.

Overall I am happy with the race. Consistent with 5th best swim, 3rd best bike, and 4th best run, which I know I can run much faster! This is a stepping stone in the direction I want to go, but there is still a lot of work to go. With 2 and 1/2 months of training with Team TBB the results are huge, I am looking forward to putting in the work for the next year and then we can really see the benefits of the program!

Until next time, Cheers!!

Happy Mothers Day

Growing up my brothers and I would anticipate mothers day. Sounds funny I know but we would always go to the local nursery and buy my mom flowers. Not the kind you put on the table in a fancy vase, but flowers that my mom could plant in her garden. Tenderly placing each plant in a desired location to grow. Looking back now I see how much my mom appreciated that small act. Seeing my mom's delight in the small things, reminds me that she is the greatest mom one could ever ask for and although I did not go to the nursery for some perennials I know that my mom will be working in her garden, hopefully reminicing on the past. Here's to you mother, happy Mothers Day!!

Family Dinner

Nearly every friday my "Family" Rick, Meg, and myself get together for a little dinner action. Most of the time we work on the perfecting of our gourmet pizza. Thanks to Meg who by the way should have her culinary PhD because of her baked goods and meals, everything turns out tasting fantastic! Enjoy some of the photos.

Our creation

Great way to start the evening

Cheers!!

The Hosts with the Most!

And sometimes it's just boys night in!!

When the cats away the mice will play

Bon apetit!!

Mancation!

A week ago my good friend Rick and I went down to Boulder City for a little mancation. Now adays our man trips are few and far between, so we try to really take advantage of the time when the opportunity arrises. Even though this trip was all about taking care of training business we still had a share of fun. Here are some pics to describe the experience rather than words.

Beginning.......again!!!

Well it has been sometime since I have made a post. I didn't want to make it a whole year and since one of my new year resolutions was to start posting again I thought what time better then now to get started. I intend to make educational post involving my training and racing in pursuit of my athletic endeavors of becoming a professional triathlete. So heres to starting again.

Wildflower!!

Wildflower is a race unlike any race I have competed in before. I had a great time and know that someday in the near future I will have a breakthrough race there. However this year those dreams of stading up on the podium did not come true, which leaves me as an athlete even more hungry to go back and find where I can improve do achieve my dreams. The race: For some reason I did not feel mentally there, it was as if on race day I was just going through the motions, which in big races like this one needs to be operating on all cylinders and I was not. Getting ready in transition I was trying to get mentally prepared to do what I knew physically I am capable of. I had a descent warm up riding to transiton, and running a bit pre race, then it was time to head down to the swim, I hopped in the water and managed about 15 min of good swimming with some fast sprints in there. Knowing that the gun would be going off in a few minutes I got out of the water and visualized my plan of attack for the swim. Gun goes off and what a chaos it was, swimming with hundreds of others trying to get out to the first buoy as quickly as possible. Normally in the swim I try to tag onto the draft of someone in front of me however, on this day I just missed the opportunity and was hung between two groups. Out of the water in 23minutes, a bit off my time but up near the front of the pack, into T2 I passed a few people. Now onto the bike and within seconds the infamous Lynch Hill climb. Legs were not happy that right off the bat were being asked to hammer up a hill steeper than steep. Nonetheless we made it to the top passing a couple more dudes. Out onto the main section of the bike course I was finding my legs and trying to gain as much time as I could. Some friends yelled out I was in 13th at about mile 20 on the bike. Passed one more dude and then I was passed by another dude who seemed to be shot out of a rocket. Still in 13th heading off the bike and onto the run. This is where I shine and put a lot of hurt into my legs. The first 3k of the 10k run seemed to fly past and I was running just where I wanted to be right around 10.5 minutes for the first 3k. From about 4k to 7k there is a pretty good climb, this is where I was hoping to really hammer out a fast tempo to gain back some time from those ahead of me. However when I tried to go my legs had other plans and really wanted to just keep a steady pace. Usually I find that I can work the hills, however on this day they really worked me. Finally, my form came back during the last 3k of the race, unfortunately for me it was too late to gain a whole lot of time. Running the last 1k of the race is something I will not soon forget how the crowds seem to carry you into the finish. 1000's of people yelling and encouraging you to run fast keeps the mind positive no matter what the race outcome is. I am happy with my finish, and have been an athlete long enough to know that somedays we have it and somedays we dont. I believe that my greatest race is in the future, until then keep on keepin. Thanks for all who showed there support throughout this race and thanks as well for reading. Here is a link to check out some more of the Woodstock of Triathlon, Wildflower. http://www.tricalifornia.com/. Until next time, Neil.

PATIENCE

Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. This is how Mr. Wikipedia defines it. The past couple of days I have humbly been reminded of such, (Thanks Mom, and Rick). How often do we rush into the unknown or even the known with great expectation of what we want and how we want it to work out, failing to be patient and enjoying the journey? At the same time we forget to be patient in our trials and steadfastly work toward a dream. For example today during a swim Time Trial Rick showed me how effectively patience can work in the form of ENDURANCE, I learned today that in order to go fast one must slow down. As an endurance athlete I have learned that to be good at this sport of Triathlon/Duathlon it takes a long time, (PATIENCE) plays a vital role in this sport not only in the development but also in the training and racing that we take part in each and everyday. So my encouragement is this, to take forth each day with a purpose and patience seeing each ambition to the end. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)