Race: Masters swim meet
Date: November 22, 2015
Location: Greensburg, PA
Results: http:
Maybe I get too dramatic in writing these race reports, but the drama is truly going on in my heart and mind. Today I had a mountain to climb: the 200-yard butterfly. I've done it only once before, and it was at least a couple years ago. I decided to do it again this season to challenge myself. You see, I have been floundering in the water all summer and fall. I haven't been swimming as much as I want, but honestly, the source of this has been a lack of motivation rather than a lack of time. I went to dramatic measures to fix the problem, by forcing myself to do the 200-fly. This was more of a mental feat than a physical one. In practices leading up to today, I just couldn't catch my breath and stopped short of the 200-yard goal...every time. I have been dreaming for the last two weeks of delaying the 200-fly to a later meet, and that almost happened by accident. I left my swim bag at home and had to drive back to get it. I was almost relieved that I might have to miss my first event, but I alas, I got back to the Y with plenty of time to spare. The only harm done was I had no time for a warm-up swim. So now the actual event...
200-Fly: I finished in 3:19.57, lowering my personal best by 11 seconds. I had trouble believing it. But the swim really did go well. I was relaxed and having fun for the first 50 yards. I tried to go slow so I would still have energy for the end, but my split reveals a fairly quick 40.08 seconds. I always go too fast at the start. My second 50 yards surprised me because I didn't feel out of breath at the end. My split time was 45.68. I wasn't panicking like I had done in practice, but paused at the wall for a couple seconds anyway, just to regroup. The difference was that I was taking a breath with every stroke. I try not to so this (instead, I try to breath every two strokes), but I had just watched my friend Daniel Pruzinsky in the heat before, and he was breathing every stroke, so I though "hey, if it's good enough for him..." The consequence of breathing so frequently is that the legs don't generate a good kick, and at yard 160 or so, I felt my legs flutter around a bit. This would have disqualified me, but I fixed the problem rather quickly and the official didn't notice or didn't care. I paused at the wall at the 175-yard mark. It seemed like maybe 4 or 5 seconds. But I had just 25 yards to go, and my friends were there rooting for me, so I pushed off and tried to finish strong. My arms were finally tired but I felt so GOOD finishing this event!
Shannan Jones-Kellam asked me what my next event was and I said "it doesn't matter." Indeed, the 200-fly was the event that defined this meet, and I was so happy that (1) I finished, (2) I set a personal best, and (3) it was OVER. I looked at my entry cards and saw the rest of the meet would be easy--just 50- and 25-yard events.
50-yard freestyle: I finished in 29.39 seconds. This is 0.67 seconds slower than my personal best...not very good. When I got out of the pool, Jim F. said I could improve by doing two things. I said "I know the first thing you'll tell me is that my underwater segment after the dive was too deep and too long." He agreed. The second thing he noticed was that my arm strokes were too short--I didn't bring my hands back to my hips before taking them out of the water. I am sure this was true. I was doing a shoulder-driven freestyle (not hip-driven) my coach taught me, but maybe I have forgotten the proper technique for that. Lengthening one's stroke is never bad advice.
50-yard breaststroke: I finished in 39.19 seconds. This is 1.85 seconds slower than my personal best. Whoa, that's bad, but who cares! I had a good dive and pull-out. I think I was going quite fast during the first half, but then at the wall I did a strange turn. I touched the wall with both hands, then immediately let go of the wall, twisted around, and punched the wall with my feet to go in the opposite direction. It was the fastest breaststroke turn I've ever done, and for the rest of the race I was distracted by it. Did I touch the wall with my hands or just my feet (which would have been illegal)? I couldn't remember. I must have really slowed down as I thought about that.
25-yard butterfly: I finished in 14.98 seconds, which was 1.24 seconds slower than my personal best. I was trying to go fast, but just didn't have it in me. I still didn't care. I was still glowing with the success of my 200-fly.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
AMYMSA meet
Race: Masters Swim Meet
Date: November 8, 2015
Location: Clearfield, PA
Results: http:
I feel good about this meet. My times were still slower by about 3% from last year, but I think I'm getting closer.
200IM = 2:57.22 (personal best is 2:50.95). My butterfly and backstroke were strong but I lost fuel on the breaststroke. My triceps and shoulders felt fatigued and I don't know why. Jim F. told me I could improve with a better streamline off the walls.
50Free = 29.31 (personal best is 28.72); I've been doing a lot of 50s in practice, so it makes sense I'd do well here.
100Breast = 1:26.89 (personal best is 1:20.78) I found I couldn't glide as much as I wanted to. Just too fatigued.
100Free = 1:07.84 (personal best is 1:05.59) Felt good.
Date: November 8, 2015
Location: Clearfield, PA
Results: http:
I feel good about this meet. My times were still slower by about 3% from last year, but I think I'm getting closer.
200IM = 2:57.22 (personal best is 2:50.95). My butterfly and backstroke were strong but I lost fuel on the breaststroke. My triceps and shoulders felt fatigued and I don't know why. Jim F. told me I could improve with a better streamline off the walls.
50Free = 29.31 (personal best is 28.72); I've been doing a lot of 50s in practice, so it makes sense I'd do well here.
100Breast = 1:26.89 (personal best is 1:20.78) I found I couldn't glide as much as I wanted to. Just too fatigued.
100Free = 1:07.84 (personal best is 1:05.59) Felt good.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
AMYMSA meet
Race: Masters Swim Meet
Date: October 25, 2015
Location: Greensburg, PA
Time:
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
50-Backstroke: I wasn't excited to be at this swim meet because I knew I was not in top condition. I didn't want to see how bad I would be. My 50-back featured a turn that sent me to the pool bottom (I tried not to push off from the bottom, but I dragged my feet). Despite this, my swim didn't turn out too bad and I snapped out of my funk.
50-Fly: This went really well. I might concentrate a little more on my turnover rate, but I completed this race without even being out of breath.
25-Free: I hardly ever do 25-yard races but I wanted something easy this meet. I came close to a personal best today.
100-IM: My fly took me to the wall fairly fast, but then I messed up my turn. I ended up on my chest and took a freestyle stroke until I remembered I was supposed to be doing backstroke. I don't know why I got confused. I had played over the event for several minutes before this race to review what I had to do. Anyway, I briefly got discouraged from my mistake, skipping a full breatstroke pull-out, but I recovered and started speeding. I gained a lot on my opponents during the freestyle at the end, but my final time was still a couple seconds too slow.
I look forward to the next meet. I've got this now.
Date: October 25, 2015
Location: Greensburg, PA
Time:
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
50-Backstroke: I wasn't excited to be at this swim meet because I knew I was not in top condition. I didn't want to see how bad I would be. My 50-back featured a turn that sent me to the pool bottom (I tried not to push off from the bottom, but I dragged my feet). Despite this, my swim didn't turn out too bad and I snapped out of my funk.
50-Fly: This went really well. I might concentrate a little more on my turnover rate, but I completed this race without even being out of breath.
25-Free: I hardly ever do 25-yard races but I wanted something easy this meet. I came close to a personal best today.
100-IM: My fly took me to the wall fairly fast, but then I messed up my turn. I ended up on my chest and took a freestyle stroke until I remembered I was supposed to be doing backstroke. I don't know why I got confused. I had played over the event for several minutes before this race to review what I had to do. Anyway, I briefly got discouraged from my mistake, skipping a full breatstroke pull-out, but I recovered and started speeding. I gained a lot on my opponents during the freestyle at the end, but my final time was still a couple seconds too slow.
I look forward to the next meet. I've got this now.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Pumpkin Chase 5K
Race: Pumpkin Chase 5K
Date: October 17, 2015
Location: Wilmerding, PA
Time: 25:17
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 2 out of X
Results: http:
I pretty much knew after the first mile that this would be a tough run. I was more out of breath than normal. Had a good time with Dan, though, and we ended up being the second and third place winners overall. (Small race = not many fast runners)
Date: October 17, 2015
Location: Wilmerding, PA
Time: 25:17
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 2 out of X
Results: http:
I pretty much knew after the first mile that this would be a tough run. I was more out of breath than normal. Had a good time with Dan, though, and we ended up being the second and third place winners overall. (Small race = not many fast runners)
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Air Force Marathon
Race: Air Force Marathon
Date: September 19, 2015
Location: Dayton, OH
Time: 4:54.47
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 99 out of 183
Results: http:
This was my first full marathon. It was enjoyable enough that I think I’ll do a marathon again. I am so relieved! My main goal was to simply finish all 26.2 miles, but I did have a finish time in mind: 4:30:00. My actual performance was 4:54:47. I’m still very happy with this. Here’s the run-down:
Miles 0-3: I ran with Kendra. She was completing her first 10K race at the same time as my first marathon. Our routes followed the same path for the first 3 miles, so we ran together. I loved it. I am so happy to be her step-dad. Meanwhile, I felt strong on the first and only big hill of the route.
Mile 1: A man passed us by and apologized for drafting off my calves. He is not the first to tell me I have big calves. I took it as a compliment and ran a little stronger for the next half mile.
Mile 4: Another man asked me where my younger companion was. I explained Kendra was doing the 10K and her mom was doing the half-marathon. I was proud of my athlete family.
Miles 5-6: A smaller hill to climb. Others were saying “oh no, not another hill,” and I was thinking “I’ve trained in Pittsburgh; I’ve got this!”
Mile 6: I was running at a 9:48 mile/min pace, which was 3.5% faster than the median runner (male, female, young, old). In other words, I was running just above the average of 2,156 marathon participants.
Miles 7-13: There are official pace runners who hold signs telling others what time they intend to be finished with the race. I started the race with the 4:30 pace runner but steadily gained on the ones ahead of her. It was at mile 7 that I came up behind the 3:55 pace runner I decided to slow down and run with her (and a bunch of others doing the same thing). She was chatty and optimistic and doing a great job of keeping people in good mental and physical condition. I did begin to tire of hearing her say “don’t forget to hydrate!” after the 47th time.
Miles 8-10: These were the most fun miles because the course ran down the main street of the town of Fairborn, Ohio. Lots of people cheered us on, including lots of kids holding signs that read: “Touch here for power!” I made an effort to touch every one of those signs and high-five everyone who held their hand out. This energized me. I also felt very safe, given that snipers were on rooftops and giant snow plows were positioned at crossroads to keep terrorists from entering the town. Gees!
Mile 13: I was running at a 9:54 mile/min pace, which was 7.5% faster than the median runner . In other words, I was running slightly slower than before, but a little faster than average; everyone was slowing down, but I was slowing down less. And I was starting to feel it. It was becoming hard work to keep up with the 3:55 pace runner and I decided at mile 12 that I would ease off the gas at the half-way mark (13.1 miles). The chatty woman’s conversation faded into the distance as I drifted farther back.
Miles 14-16: I was starting to feel fatigued. I had been going too fast early in the race and now I was paying for it. (I do this on every race!). On my long training runs during the previous weeks, I had always found it necessary to walk after some distance past mile 14. I wanted to run the entire 26.2 miles today, but I knew that was unlikely based on past performance. I reasoned with myself that I should be able to do at least another 5K past the half-way point. So I went on, passing a surprising number of people who had started to walk at this point, including a striped-shirted young man who has sped past me at mile 6.
Mile 17: This was the point where I had given myself permission to start walking, but I felt I had another mile in me. I kept running.
Miles 18-20: At mile 18 I stopped to walk for 2 minutes. I was not out of breath. My heart rate was elevated but not abnormally so. I was well-hydrated. I was eating energy gels, bananas, and Stinger waffles, but still hungry…in fact, very hungry. I frankly don’t remember why I needed to stop running and walk for two minutes. Maybe it was the knowledge that I had 8 miles to go (uggh!). Or maybe it was the pain in my left foot that was getting progressively worse with every step. Regardless, I walked for 2 minutes and then started again. The first few running steps after walking were painful throughout my legs. It felt like a sputtering engine trying to get started again after months of inactivity.
Miles 21-22: At mile 21 I stopped running and walked another 2 minutes. I should have been thinking how close I was to the finish line (5 miles isn’t that much, relatively speaking), but instead, I calculated in my head how much time it would take to cover the distance (possibly more than an hour! Uggh). At this point I was running at a 10:37 mile/min pace, which was 8.8% faster than the median runner. In other words, I was running a lot slower now due to the walking intervals, but still faster than average; most runners were integrating walking segments into their runs, and I was doing so a little less than average.
Miles 23-24: At the mile 23 marker I stopped to walk for 4 minutes. At mile marker 24 I stopped to walk for 5 minutes. People were dropping like flies. They were stopping to stretch, walk, and commiserate. A husband told his wife “You beat me. I won’t make it. I’m sorry.” Another person lay on the ground, completely beaten. The stripe-shirt guy and I were alternately passing one another as he would start walking while I ran past, and then he would pass me when I stopped to walk. It was hard to keep happy at this point.
Mile 25: At this point my leg muscles (calves, thighs) were starting to cramp and I lost flexibility in my stride. I was barely running. At least in my mind, I was running for 5 minute periods and then stopping to walk for 5 minutes. Maybe my body was going at the same speed during my walk and run segments, but I was somehow proud of myself for at least attempting to run each time. I remember Kendra had told me to start running before the finish line to give the impression I was still going strong. Fortunately, when I saw Shannan, Shannan’s dad, and Kendra alongside the course before the mile 26 marker I was in the midst of my 5-min running segments. I smiled at them as I “ran” past. My body was really hurting, but it doesn’t take much effort to smile. My mind was still calm and collected.
Mile 26: I knew I had made it when I got to the Mile 26 marker. The finish line was in view and there was just 0.2 miles left. I was “running,” but this amounted to just a shuffling of cramped-up legs. Emotions hit me and I became aware of great pains in my body. I muttered aloud to myself “Ignore it! Ignore it!” I started to get tears in my eyes and as I tried to hold them back, the angst had to go somewhere and it lodged in my lungs, causing me to have the most serious bout of asthma I ever remember having in adulthood. At the finish line, I was not looking for Shannan. Instead, I was looking for a medic to help me breath. But then Shannan was there with a great smile and my asthma disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Emotions are such a strange thing, so integrated with the body’s physiology!
Finished! I finished in 4:54:47 with a pace of 11:16 min/mile. This was 4.9% faster than the average runner, but 5.1% slower than the average male in the 40-44 age group (I ranked 99 out of 183). All things considered, this was a great first attempt and I now have a personal best to try to break the next time.
Date: September 19, 2015
Location: Dayton, OH
Time: 4:54.47
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 99 out of 183
Results: http:
This was my first full marathon. It was enjoyable enough that I think I’ll do a marathon again. I am so relieved! My main goal was to simply finish all 26.2 miles, but I did have a finish time in mind: 4:30:00. My actual performance was 4:54:47. I’m still very happy with this. Here’s the run-down:
Miles 0-3: I ran with Kendra. She was completing her first 10K race at the same time as my first marathon. Our routes followed the same path for the first 3 miles, so we ran together. I loved it. I am so happy to be her step-dad. Meanwhile, I felt strong on the first and only big hill of the route.
Mile 1: A man passed us by and apologized for drafting off my calves. He is not the first to tell me I have big calves. I took it as a compliment and ran a little stronger for the next half mile.
Mile 4: Another man asked me where my younger companion was. I explained Kendra was doing the 10K and her mom was doing the half-marathon. I was proud of my athlete family.
Miles 5-6: A smaller hill to climb. Others were saying “oh no, not another hill,” and I was thinking “I’ve trained in Pittsburgh; I’ve got this!”
Mile 6: I was running at a 9:48 mile/min pace, which was 3.5% faster than the median runner (male, female, young, old). In other words, I was running just above the average of 2,156 marathon participants.
Miles 7-13: There are official pace runners who hold signs telling others what time they intend to be finished with the race. I started the race with the 4:30 pace runner but steadily gained on the ones ahead of her. It was at mile 7 that I came up behind the 3:55 pace runner I decided to slow down and run with her (and a bunch of others doing the same thing). She was chatty and optimistic and doing a great job of keeping people in good mental and physical condition. I did begin to tire of hearing her say “don’t forget to hydrate!” after the 47th time.
Miles 8-10: These were the most fun miles because the course ran down the main street of the town of Fairborn, Ohio. Lots of people cheered us on, including lots of kids holding signs that read: “Touch here for power!” I made an effort to touch every one of those signs and high-five everyone who held their hand out. This energized me. I also felt very safe, given that snipers were on rooftops and giant snow plows were positioned at crossroads to keep terrorists from entering the town. Gees!
Mile 13: I was running at a 9:54 mile/min pace, which was 7.5% faster than the median runner . In other words, I was running slightly slower than before, but a little faster than average; everyone was slowing down, but I was slowing down less. And I was starting to feel it. It was becoming hard work to keep up with the 3:55 pace runner and I decided at mile 12 that I would ease off the gas at the half-way mark (13.1 miles). The chatty woman’s conversation faded into the distance as I drifted farther back.
Miles 14-16: I was starting to feel fatigued. I had been going too fast early in the race and now I was paying for it. (I do this on every race!). On my long training runs during the previous weeks, I had always found it necessary to walk after some distance past mile 14. I wanted to run the entire 26.2 miles today, but I knew that was unlikely based on past performance. I reasoned with myself that I should be able to do at least another 5K past the half-way point. So I went on, passing a surprising number of people who had started to walk at this point, including a striped-shirted young man who has sped past me at mile 6.
Mile 17: This was the point where I had given myself permission to start walking, but I felt I had another mile in me. I kept running.
Miles 18-20: At mile 18 I stopped to walk for 2 minutes. I was not out of breath. My heart rate was elevated but not abnormally so. I was well-hydrated. I was eating energy gels, bananas, and Stinger waffles, but still hungry…in fact, very hungry. I frankly don’t remember why I needed to stop running and walk for two minutes. Maybe it was the knowledge that I had 8 miles to go (uggh!). Or maybe it was the pain in my left foot that was getting progressively worse with every step. Regardless, I walked for 2 minutes and then started again. The first few running steps after walking were painful throughout my legs. It felt like a sputtering engine trying to get started again after months of inactivity.
Miles 21-22: At mile 21 I stopped running and walked another 2 minutes. I should have been thinking how close I was to the finish line (5 miles isn’t that much, relatively speaking), but instead, I calculated in my head how much time it would take to cover the distance (possibly more than an hour! Uggh). At this point I was running at a 10:37 mile/min pace, which was 8.8% faster than the median runner. In other words, I was running a lot slower now due to the walking intervals, but still faster than average; most runners were integrating walking segments into their runs, and I was doing so a little less than average.
Miles 23-24: At the mile 23 marker I stopped to walk for 4 minutes. At mile marker 24 I stopped to walk for 5 minutes. People were dropping like flies. They were stopping to stretch, walk, and commiserate. A husband told his wife “You beat me. I won’t make it. I’m sorry.” Another person lay on the ground, completely beaten. The stripe-shirt guy and I were alternately passing one another as he would start walking while I ran past, and then he would pass me when I stopped to walk. It was hard to keep happy at this point.
Mile 25: At this point my leg muscles (calves, thighs) were starting to cramp and I lost flexibility in my stride. I was barely running. At least in my mind, I was running for 5 minute periods and then stopping to walk for 5 minutes. Maybe my body was going at the same speed during my walk and run segments, but I was somehow proud of myself for at least attempting to run each time. I remember Kendra had told me to start running before the finish line to give the impression I was still going strong. Fortunately, when I saw Shannan, Shannan’s dad, and Kendra alongside the course before the mile 26 marker I was in the midst of my 5-min running segments. I smiled at them as I “ran” past. My body was really hurting, but it doesn’t take much effort to smile. My mind was still calm and collected.
Mile 26: I knew I had made it when I got to the Mile 26 marker. The finish line was in view and there was just 0.2 miles left. I was “running,” but this amounted to just a shuffling of cramped-up legs. Emotions hit me and I became aware of great pains in my body. I muttered aloud to myself “Ignore it! Ignore it!” I started to get tears in my eyes and as I tried to hold them back, the angst had to go somewhere and it lodged in my lungs, causing me to have the most serious bout of asthma I ever remember having in adulthood. At the finish line, I was not looking for Shannan. Instead, I was looking for a medic to help me breath. But then Shannan was there with a great smile and my asthma disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Emotions are such a strange thing, so integrated with the body’s physiology!
Finished! I finished in 4:54:47 with a pace of 11:16 min/mile. This was 4.9% faster than the average runner, but 5.1% slower than the average male in the 40-44 age group (I ranked 99 out of 183). All things considered, this was a great first attempt and I now have a personal best to try to break the next time.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
SVC alumni 5K
Race: 5k run
Date: August 29, 2015
Location: Latrobe, PA
Time: 25:19
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
I did pretty well on legs that were still stiff from my long run 3 days before. Shannan and Kendra did it with me, so that added some fun!
Date: August 29, 2015
Location: Latrobe, PA
Time: 25:19
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
I did pretty well on legs that were still stiff from my long run 3 days before. Shannan and Kendra did it with me, so that added some fun!
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Presque Isle Sprint Triathlon
Race: Presque Isle Sprint Triathlon
Date: August 23, 2015
Location: Erie, PA
Time:
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
My first and only triathlon for 2015 is in the books. I went up to Erie with Daniel Pruzinsky to compete in the Presque Isle Triathlon. This was the 4th time we've done this race. The day was absolutely perfect for racing: clear skies, air temperature in the upper 60s, calm wind, flat water. About 30 min before the start of the race, I had what i thought would be a good omen. A green tree frog the size of a fingernail fell onto my head and then onto my arm, and just sat there, grinning, for 10 minutes while I admired it, showed it to people, talked gently to it, and then walked it to a safe place out of the way of the race course. This soothed my mood and made me happy. Later, we entered the water and started the swim. I took off very fast and felt really good during the first third of the swim (total length = 616 yards). However, after rounding the first buoy I began to lose my breath. The wet suit can be constrictive and the colder water temperature (74 degrees) didn't help. I lost my cool and stopped swimming for about a minute. I treaded water and watched half my age group swim past me in their green swim caps. A life guard in a kayak asked if I needed assistance and I shook my head. I just had to catch my breath and push past the mental inertia of staying put. I began swimming again, but stopped a couple more times for shorter periods to calm down. I don't know what happened to me there in the water, but I had started out feeling so good and now I was feeling lost and defeated. Sports performance of all kinds is dependent on a combination of mental and physical preparedness. I think what happened here is that I knew deep down that I was not physically prepared for this swim, but in the first few minutes of the swim I was making use of several years' worth of experience to mentally get through it. Eventually, my mind realized that despite "feeling good," my body was not trained for this swim, and then I panicked and stopped swimming. You see, I have only swum 7 miles within the last 5 months. Before I got busy moving into a new house and getting married, I was averaging 10 miles of swimming per month. OK, so with my swim over, I psyched myself up for the bike ride and did well. I averaged 21.6 mph on the bike during the 13-mile loop. Then I ran 3.5 miles at a 8:37 minute/mile pace. My bike performance was slightly down from 21.8 mph last year, but was still quite reasonable for a lack of training (only 24 miles in the last 2 months, compared to a typical level of 100 miles per month). My run was satisfactory. It was slower than last year but not by too much. I actually have been doing a lot of running lately, and I just set a personal best in a 5K a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, my disappointing swim was still in the back of my mind and there was little reason to push myself harder during the run segment. I always sound a little negative about my races when I write about them, but all is well. I finished 10th out of 20 in my age group and 94th out of 378 competitors. This is great for being so out of shape, coming off a wedding and honeymoon, and recovering from a head cold. I had a lot of fun and I am enthusiastic about beginning earnest training for next year's races.
Date: August 23, 2015
Location: Erie, PA
Time:
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: X out of X
Results: http:
My first and only triathlon for 2015 is in the books. I went up to Erie with Daniel Pruzinsky to compete in the Presque Isle Triathlon. This was the 4th time we've done this race. The day was absolutely perfect for racing: clear skies, air temperature in the upper 60s, calm wind, flat water. About 30 min before the start of the race, I had what i thought would be a good omen. A green tree frog the size of a fingernail fell onto my head and then onto my arm, and just sat there, grinning, for 10 minutes while I admired it, showed it to people, talked gently to it, and then walked it to a safe place out of the way of the race course. This soothed my mood and made me happy. Later, we entered the water and started the swim. I took off very fast and felt really good during the first third of the swim (total length = 616 yards). However, after rounding the first buoy I began to lose my breath. The wet suit can be constrictive and the colder water temperature (74 degrees) didn't help. I lost my cool and stopped swimming for about a minute. I treaded water and watched half my age group swim past me in their green swim caps. A life guard in a kayak asked if I needed assistance and I shook my head. I just had to catch my breath and push past the mental inertia of staying put. I began swimming again, but stopped a couple more times for shorter periods to calm down. I don't know what happened to me there in the water, but I had started out feeling so good and now I was feeling lost and defeated. Sports performance of all kinds is dependent on a combination of mental and physical preparedness. I think what happened here is that I knew deep down that I was not physically prepared for this swim, but in the first few minutes of the swim I was making use of several years' worth of experience to mentally get through it. Eventually, my mind realized that despite "feeling good," my body was not trained for this swim, and then I panicked and stopped swimming. You see, I have only swum 7 miles within the last 5 months. Before I got busy moving into a new house and getting married, I was averaging 10 miles of swimming per month. OK, so with my swim over, I psyched myself up for the bike ride and did well. I averaged 21.6 mph on the bike during the 13-mile loop. Then I ran 3.5 miles at a 8:37 minute/mile pace. My bike performance was slightly down from 21.8 mph last year, but was still quite reasonable for a lack of training (only 24 miles in the last 2 months, compared to a typical level of 100 miles per month). My run was satisfactory. It was slower than last year but not by too much. I actually have been doing a lot of running lately, and I just set a personal best in a 5K a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, my disappointing swim was still in the back of my mind and there was little reason to push myself harder during the run segment. I always sound a little negative about my races when I write about them, but all is well. I finished 10th out of 20 in my age group and 94th out of 378 competitors. This is great for being so out of shape, coming off a wedding and honeymoon, and recovering from a head cold. I had a lot of fun and I am enthusiastic about beginning earnest training for next year's races.
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