Tag: Nationals Beatings

Bubble Burst – 5/21/17

As a Cubs fan for a long time, the slogan has been ‘wait until next year’. It eventually happened for the Cubs this past year after 108. I know it won’t take that long for me to push to the next level; if just has to be a ‘next year’ view.

Even though I won’t get to race in the Nationals wave, I will still be at Nationals (PC Open). That’s a step in the right direction and towards that goal. And it’s better than where I was at for last PT Nationals. Since it was in Santa Cruz, I couldn’t even race PC Open due to it being cost prohibitive.

With the qualifying changes, this race was my last chance to qualify for 2017 PT Nationals. Unfortunately, it went as bad as it could have. Between losing time on wall turns, gear issues/torn pavement slowing us down on the bike and my lower back becoming one huge pretzel knot on the run, it was a loss. I think I was over qualifying time by the time we were ½ a mile into the run.

Disappointing to say the least, but it could have been worse. As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I almost didn’t have this chance. Thanks to an amazing guide that stepped up in the 11th hour, I was able to get there and race. While I am disappointed in not qualifying, I would have been even more so if I had not had the chance.

This is just the first outdoor race of the season. I am focusing on rocking the PC Open wave and towards qualifying for 2018 PT Nationals (among other things). If you’re at Pleasant Prairie, feel free to stop by and say hi.

National Beatings – Weeks 5 & 6 (4/10 – 4/23/17)

[Still not me, but getting closer to qualifying opportunities so I can be there…]

Like weeks 3 & 4, there were struggles with getting workouts in. While I’m not hitting every one, I still believe I’m on track to qualify. I hope to get two bites at the apple in May, but need a guide for the 1st one at this point.

While there were struggles, there were several very bright spots. These included:

1) A local facility helping to make sure we’re comfortable in the pool (next post).

2) Another organization putting their support behind me (2nd post).

3) Finding a solid alternative to having to go to St. Charles every time. I will still do that for major issues, but it’s really nice to have them close.

The story of the last month has been ‘it’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s that you get up one more time…’

National Beatings – Week 1 (3/13 – 3/19)

[I do not know who this is – just best Nationals Finish line picture I could find]

As I look at Dionne sitting on the char and purring contently, I thought it was apt to provide an ASPCA type disclaimer. “No Triathletes were harmed during the creation of this blog”. (Although that doesn’t necessarily apply to the underlying events…)

When I saw that the Nationals Qualifying season had been compressed, I knew that there was going to be a lot of hard work ahead. And then I lost two weeks of training time due to some absurd work-related stuff. Definitely not the best time to have that happen.

But you can’t control everything that happens in life. All you can do is adapt, adjust and then get back on the horse. Good practice in normal; a bit harder when there are several ticking clocks. So I accepted that the next 75 days would be utter hell, with the payoff being a spot at the grownups table.

Things started in earnest on Monday with a mile in the pool followed by time on the bike. The swim was a bit of a challenge because I was having to share a lane. It’s hard for me to see the lane lines on the bottom of the pool in general, and an even bigger challenge to make sure that I stayed on my half of the lane. But it worked out – albeit that my hands hurt afterwards from so many lane line strikes.

Tuesday was the ‘off’ day of the week with just a short bike workout. Given what happened on Wednesday, that was probably a good plan.

Wednesday was an extremely hard pool workout. As I’ve said in the past, bilateral breathing is not my friend. But it helps on so many different levels, so that was a big chunk of the workout. I was so beat afterwards that I was having trouble holding thoughts as I was talking with my coach.

Yesterday was a walk to the gym, a hard bike workout and then time on the treadmill. The machines there are the newer models that use touchscreens for most everything. I had planned to run first and then bike, but couldn’t get the treadmill to work. I even tried the Pebble but couldn’t figure it out. I finally did after time on the bike though, and while I wanted to keep going tapped out early for safety reasons. When I couldn’t keep up with the treadmill at an easy jog since my legs were so tired, it seemed time to go.

Tonight will be a walk, long run and short swim. Tomorrow will most likely be run/strength and then Sunday is an indorr Triathlon plus another strength workout.

I realize that my body will not be happy with me at many times during the next 70+ days. But unless something is seriously wrong, it just needs to STFU and keep with the program. I do not intend to be sitting at the kids table.