Super Mom, Super Weekend

I've been on a break from training for the past 2 weeks. What I've taken for a break my wife Jen has made up for with her own performances. Jen decided to do the "Triple Crown" this weekend. We started things off by driving to Camanche, Iowa where she would run a 5k on Friday night. She won the race, running 18:30 and picked up another $100.00 check for her efforts. On Saturday morning she entered our hometown race, the legendary Le Claire Tug Run. Jen didn't expect a lot of competition at this race and said she would use it to "recover" for her last race on Sunday. She won the Tug Run by almost 3 minutes in just over 19:00. She was actually 3rd overall including the males. On Sunday we teamed up in the Du State Duathlon for her last race of the "Triple Crown". Jen would run 2 miles, I would bike 15 and then Jen would run another 2 miles. This was a race Jen signed up for as a relay long ago thinking I would be competing as an individual. I had won the race the past two years. This past week I said I would be her teammate if Laurel Darren, her registered teammate was able to find another good runner. Laurel did just that allowing Jen and I to team up together. Jen came in off the first run in 5th place and I put the chip on and headed to my bike. Uh-oh, I hadn't even bothered to check where I racked my bike. I was lost in transition in one of the smallest races I've ever done. That is a good reminder to always check the placement of my bike by counting racks. We were taking turns watching the kids while the other competed and I didn't do anything for a warm-up. This would be my first workout in 2 weeks and I knew it was going to hurt. I also knew it would be fun being on a team with Super Mom. Once I located the bike I got on the road and started pedaling hard. By about 2.5 miles I was in the lead and my legs were on fire reminding me they didn't like racing after sitting around doing nothing for 2 weeks. This race is the toughest bike course I've ever raced on with 4 really big climbs. I typically climb very well but I wasn't on this day. I was able to open up a pretty big gap with the fastest bike split of the race by nearly 3 minutes. I was about 20 seconds slower than last year. This was actually a pretty big confidence booster for me. Last year I was as fit as I'd ever been and this year I felt as un-fit as I've been in quite some time. To be only 20 seconds slower was a good reminder of how much I've benefitted from time in the weight room. That is the only consistency I've had in my training through this injury. Jen finished off the run with the 3rd fastest split on the second 2 miles and we would win the relay competition completing her 3rd win of the weekend. We took this silly picture in our sweet Du State Du hats after the race. It was a lot of fun watching so many locals compete in this event. Congratulations to Judd Allbaugh on his overall win in the individual race. I've crossed paths with Judd out on the bike quite a few times this year and I know he has worked really hard. Also congratulations to Team Tri-Fit member Luke Cooley for his runner-up finish. He has improved a ton over the past year. Finally it was really cool watching one of my 8th grade students, David Zimmer finish 12th overall. David has a really bright future in the sport if he continues to work really hard. Most kids in my class couldn't run 2 miles, let alone do it twice with a tough 15 mile bike ride sandwiched between the 2 runs. His first run ranked 4th and his second one ranked 12th. I was really excited to see him compete so well. Congrats to all the finishers who did this event.

Today I began a new phase of training that I'm not really used to. It's too early for me to begin hammering away when my next race isn't until May 7th but I also can't keep sitting around doing nothing so I'm beginning a "train just to train" phase in which I'll try to gain some general fitness without putting in big hours. I'm going to start with 10 workouts this week (2 swims, 5 bikes, and 3 lifts). I'll add 1 swim to that in the coming weeks so I'm swimming 3x a week. My plan is to start the real training on November 1 when I hope to be at 17 workouts a week. My achilles is feeling better but is still slow healing. I've begun to do some impact exercises that should get me closer to being able to handle the impact of running. Ironman St. George remains the goal. Congrats to Jen on her 3 awesome runs this weekend (4 if you count both in the Duathlon). She's had an outstanding summer and has now won about 10 races. She's awesome and I'm lucky to have her support. She's constantly told me she would give me one of her good achilles if she could and I believe her. Finally, I never posted pictures of Payton running the Junior Bix a few weeks ago. Last year when she was 1 she finished last in her heat and got beat by some kids in the next heat as they were yelling at me to get her off the course. This year she trained up and down the hallways and ran loops around our island in the kitchen proclaming, "I train for Jr. Bix!". From the pictures you can see the results were nearly identical to last year. We're still proud of her for putting in the effort to prepare. Dream Big!