I competed in my first sprint tri at Purdue University on April 6th. It was a cold day! Luckily the swim was indoors! I felt really good for my first sprint of the year. It was the first time I raced with my Flo wheels and could really tell a difference. The swim was in the nat, the bike course went outside of the campus area a bit and had A BIG HILL! After coming back into campus the run wasn't too bad but had a few hills as well. The course markings were horrible around Mackey Arena. I almost got off course. I finished with a time of 1:13 and finished 6th out of 15 in my age group. I was pretty happy with that. After the race, Nickole, Evan, Anniston and I had lunch with the Lindauer's at The XXX Restaurant to refuel.
In April I had a work trip out to Denver Colorado for the Lifesavers Conference for a few days. It was a nice trip and I got to ski one day. The weather was a lot colder then normal and we got a lot of snow while out there. The Boston Marathon Bombings also occurred while we were in Denver. It was a sad day.
Evan and I went to a Pacers game and listened to Tatum sing the national anthem. This was Evan's first Pacers game. We had a great time and had great seats! I was humbled by a lady who sat two seats down from us. She stated she was a family therapist and was impressed on how I interacted with Evan and stated I was a model dad and wished that she could have video taped us to show other dads how it should be done. I felt very proud!
May 4th, I competed in the 500 Festival Mini Marathon. The weather was great for running and I had a personal best of 1:48. I felt like I had a little more in the tank after the race and felt really good! I negative split the race as well. My nutrition was spot on.
May 11th, I competed in the Muncie Olympic triathlon. This was my first Olympic distance tri. I was a big step up from the sprint distance. The swim was 1500 meters, It was a cold, nasty day. The race was delayed an hour and was very disorganized! Nickole and the kids came to watch me and that made for a long morning. The swim was in Prairie Creek Resvoir. The water temp was 61 and the air temp was 41! This was the first race that I have swam in a wetsuit. I felt pretty good during the swim. My sighting was a little off but I managed. During the T1 I forgot to put my gloves on. Big Mistake! My hands were numb by the time I was done. I felt great on bike other than being cold. During T2, I could barely tie my shoes! I negative split my run and was happy with my time. I finished in 2:50 and I placed 8 out of 18 in my age group. I was happy with my performance for my first Olympic Distance
After the May Olympic I continued to train hard. I had a couple of group rides and boy the guys I rode with were fast! It pushed me a lot. I got rained on during a couple of training rides as well. I ended up getting another pair of running shoes. My Mizuno's kept giving me blisters. I decided on a pair of Brooks Ravenna 4's. So far they have worked out fine. They are a little heavier than the Mizunos but I like them.
At the end of May I got a surprise that a Sgt. self demoted himself. I was #1 on the Sgt.s list and that meant I would probably get a call to step up. I did get the call and would be assigned to day shift and my hours would be changing. I was really worried about my training but talked to coach Winn and I believe we have it figured out.
Nickole, Evan, Anniston, and I spent Memorial Day weekend at Dale Hallow Lake with Joe, Joy, John and Debbie. I got a nice 1.2 mile open water swim in on Friday. It was nice and relaxing except for the bad tuna salad I got on Friday night. I got sick on Saturday morning and didn't feel good until Sunday at lunch. Sunday was the first Indy 500 I had missed since I was 12 years old. Dad and I have had the annual tradition for years. I was a little sad and it was considered one of the best Indy 500's with all of the lead changes but I got to watch it on tv on the houseboat in good company. I was glad for TK getting a win. Anniston got her 2nd trip to Tennessee on the water and the weather was starting to warm up. Naps in the hammock were nice! I am looking forward to another relaxing weekend at the lake without the food poisoning!!
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| My Support Crew! |
On May 30th, Evan and I shaved our heads for Tatums Bags of Fun! We were able to raise close to $600. Evan was a little shy getting his shaved because there were so many people in the Main Street Barber in Carmel. I didn't take mine down as much as other teammates but I still did it. The event raised over $11,000!! I am happy to be apart of a great team and organization!
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| Tatum Approved! |
On June 1st I competed in my first 70.3 race. Nickole and I got a hotel room at the Holiday Inn in Richmond IN. I got my packet picked up and met some fellow Tatum Bags of Fun teammates at the Pizza King. Pizza was definitely not in my pre race meal plan! I ended up getting baked spaghetti and still regret getting that! Red sauce usually doesn't agree with me the next day! Before bed, we learned of the giant tornado's that hit Oklahoma City. The front was moving towards Indiana and there was a high chance of bad weather for Saturday. Saturday morning we woke up at 4:50 and checked the radar...not good! I loaded up the bike and ate my usual peanut butter and honey bagel. I also ate a sweet potato. Shortly after getting to Middle Fork Reservoir, it stated to rain. I got my bike checked in and waited for the pre-race meeting. It stopped raining and there was a short window on the radar. It was then time to swim 1.2 miles! I felt great during the swim but didn't push myself. I got out of the water and Nickole greeted me to see how I felt. I got in and out of T1 feeling good. The bike course was pretty hilly! I had to use my granny gear a couple of times. I didn't push myself and was working on my nutrition. I had a bonk breaker the first hour, a honey stinger the 2nd hour and then a GU. I took in Gatorade and water. It was actually pretty nice weather and that window with no rain stayed. it didn't rain the rest of the day! I got the 56 miles done in 2:48. 20.1 mph avg. Once I got to T2, I have a few mistakes. One, was that it was a beast to get on my compression sleeves. It took me a lot longer than I wanted to and I got frustrated. I then grabbed my clear container of salt tabs....or so I thought! I put them in my tri top. As I started my run it sounded a little more noisy than usual for salt tabs. One guy passed me and said, hey sounds like you have tic tacs, ....I said no they are my salt tabs, and he said i know. WELL, as I approached the first aid station, I reached into my back pocket to pull out my first salt tab and low and behold...TIC TACS!! Arghh!! I was not happy and chucked them into the grass. Needless to say I was a little mad and worried. It was starting to heat up and I was sweating more. Luckily I saw a couple of TBF teammates and was able to bum 3 tabs. That was still short of what I needed according to my plan. I felt decent during the run despite the big hills. I finished my first 70.3 race in 5:30 and 11 out 25 in my age group. I was really happy with my time for my first 1/2 Ironman Distance!
I had a promotion ceremony on June 3rd that Nickole, Evan, Anniston, Mom, Dad, Kathie, Olivia, Gary and Cheryl attended. It was after a long day of orientation. I have a lot to learn in my new position but am looking forward to the challenge. I will be in training on night shift for two weeks and then will be placed on day shift until Oct when shift bids happen.
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| Chief Kehl pinning my Segeant's badge on |
I was pretty sore for a couple of days from my 70.3. I was able to make it Louisville and ride a portion of the IRONMAN Course. I rode with TJ, Marie, Chuck and Hugo. We parked at the church in Shiloh, which is where the out and back starts. The hills were pretty big on the out and back. I didn't have to get out of the saddle, but definitely used my granny gear. The out and back is about 10 miles total, Once back out on 42 there were a few more rolling hills and then onto KY 393. There were 2 decent size hills and more rollers. We stopped at the gas station in La Grange. You could tell that the people there don't like cyclist and gave us some dirty looks. We headed into town and out to Ballard School Road. That portion of the course wasn't too bad but not sure how it will be in the heat, after swimming 2.4 miles and after riding several miles to get there. Once on Ballard School Road there was one or two decent hills but nothing too bad. It was onto Old Sligo Road. There was one little hill that I had to get out of the saddle on. After Old Sligo it was on to L'Espirit Parkway and awesome horse country. I stopped a took a picture of a few of them. After going through horse country it was back onto 153 and 42. Everyone was pretty tired and we only did "one loop." Our total mileage was around 48 miles for the day. I felt pretty good but need to get back down there for more training rides. The hills keep you busy!!!
That is all for now and I hope to keep up better on this blog!!
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