Author: Peter

During that first swim practice back in June, when Coach Garrett said “Do 200 yards to warmup”, and I responded with “I’m not that far along yet…maybe I can do 50.” I am not sure Garrett knew what he was in for. After swimming 50 yards, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to swim 400 yards at once in just 3 months.

Well I did it, and not only swam it, but felt comfortable doing it, in a crowded pool with people splashing and passing me. I ended up doing two Triathlons in September, both were short, the first one really short.

That first one was the Great Buckeye Challenge in Ohio over Jen and I’s anniversary weekend. There were 4 different distances offered, I choose the shortest because I didn’t think I could handle a long swim. It measured 250 yd swim, 7 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. I started out in the water too fast and too excited, but was able to find a groove about halfway through. As I ran out of the water toward my bike I tried to keep my heart rate low. The bike was a pretty flat course. Went hard and was getting a little worried I was going too hard, but after that mile came in slower than I wanted I pushed it hard for the rest of the route. After the high cadence bike ride my legs kept wanting to go fast, so I let them. Had a really nice time on the downhill first mile, and mentally kept focused on passing people on the uphill. Had a sprint finish but wasn’t able to make the last minute pass. However, the race had a staggered start, so I ended up beating him according to the watch. I got first in the small field in my age group. But the race I had really been training for was 2 weeks later.

I am also super proud of my wife. She had done her first triathlon a few years ago but for the Great Buckeye Challenge, she choose the “Olympic” distance which is almost a mile swim, 26 miles on the bike and 6.2 miles running. That doubled the distance of her previous tri and she did great!

Two weeks later, on a cold dark morning back in Lexington the nerves really started to hit. As I walked my bike to the setup area, I could see the steam rising off the pool. This was the morning I had been training for, for four months. A 400 yard swim, 13 mile bike and 3 mile run.

The morning started out cool but because it was a staggered start I got to wait an hour so I was able to keep long sleeves on until just a few minutes before my swim and at least the sun was emerging behind the trees by the time I was left with nothing but shorts on. The swim went really well, I felt confident. Did get stuck behind a log jam once or twice and I was able to get out of the pool with plenty of energy left.  For the bike portion I managed to keep the same pace as my mini Tri even though the bike portion was twice as far and hillier. As I dropped off my bike and headed out for the run, I still had my helmet on. Luckily, a volunteer stopped me, before I got too far along. For the run I barely squeaked under my goal time. I didn’t know how realistic that was, because it was the same pace I try to keep for a standalone 5k. I didn’t win any awards among the bigger field but felt well prepared and very satisfied with my times.

All in all, my first two triathlon were a ton of fun. Really enjoyed them and they definitely won’t be my last.

I feel old now.

It seems that every time I have a birthday recently, people ask “do you feel older?” A couple of weeks ago I got, “so do you feel like you are 30?” Well, after Sunday, “yes, yes I do”.

On Sunday, October 16th, I completed my first marathon, and dang was I sore for a couple of days.

It was a beautiful morning for a run, 49° and cloudy but surprisingly warm even with the wind. While the spectators were bundled up, I was perfectly comfortable in shorts and my new florescent yellow short sleeve technical shirt.

Even though it was very crowded near the start, I saw my faithful supporters before mile 2. Jen cheered loudly, the yellow shirt worked! The crowds did help keep me from starting out to fast.

After training for a marathon, it is surprisingly easy to run 8, 10, 13 miles. I saw my fans twice in this time frame. Jen letting Pablo run along side of me, my father-in-law getting some great pictures and my mother and mother-in-law cheering wildly really helped push me along and stay positive. By the time the half-marathoners were turning off to their finish, I was at 1:46, dead on my target pace! However, I knew the second half wouldn’t be as easy as the first.

I figured at this point it was safe to push it. In fact my fastest mile, was number 17 with a 7:43. But, at mile 19, I knew I was starting to slip. By mile 21, I had never run this far before.

My legs were really starting to hurt now. Very strong pain in my calves and the top of my gluteus distracted me. As my pace significantly slowed for miles 23 and 24, I almost lost some tears. Luckily, I was still making progress and around that time I was able to start smelling the finish line. My legs were so tired, they were tired of hurting and I knew I would be able finish strong.

At about that time Steph comes riding up on her bike. She cheers me on and then starts riding along side me. Not only did I have the pressure of someone I knew watching me, but also video taping my stride (darn you iPhones). I couldn’t let up now.

As I got about a mile away I saw Jen and my mother-in-law. That was only half of my crowd, I knew the other two must be closer to the finish line. I wasn’t going to leave anything on the course. I passed people left and right on the way to the finish. I didn’t hear my mom cheer as I crossed the finish line, just a medical person ask if I was alright.

The next twenty minutes consisted of the worse leg pain I have ever felt, but I wasn’t surprised because it was similar to my 20 mile training run 3 weekends earlier. You should have seen me try to walk to the massage area. The soreness lasted in earnest through Tuesday. By Wednesday I felt a lot better.

It was a great race and well organized. While I didn’t hit my goal time, I am happy with my finishing time 3:42:11, a 8:29 pace. Pretty respectable for my first marathon. Will I do it again? I’m not sure, it was a great sense of accomplishment.

You can read an even more detailed explanation of the race on dailymile and view my full interactive results at mtec results.

One thing I can’t omit was the great surprise my wife helped pull off. We were leaving Keeneland on Friday afternoon and Jen said that we needed to stop by the airport because a friend who had flown back from an international trip that week had miss placed a bag, it had now arrived. Sounded fine by me, I needed to use the restroom anyway. We pulled up to the curb. Jen ran in and quickly came out hauling a blue suit case, she was now going to stay with the car as I ran inside. I walk in the doors by the baggage claim and I see a familiar profile leading against the wall. “Mom?” I ask, “what are you doing here?” She asks the same question back at me. I go on to explain that we are picking a bag up for a friend. After I finish my detailed explanation I realize no one’s bag got misplaced. Even more time passes before I realize she has flown in to watch me run my marathon. What an awesome surprise. The fact that my mom flew in to watch my first marathon was right along side the feeling of completing the marathon itself.

So Peter and I attended a Nationwide Series race at the Kentucky Speedway this summer. If you are not super familiar with NASCAR, it was like watching a minor league baseball game. We had a blast!

The first time the cars came around the turn heading to a green flag just took our breath away.

Heading around turn four to the start.

The wind, the dirt and grit, and the noise. You just have to experience it for yourself.

The winner of the night – Joey Logano.