Keep Moving Forward

This weekend marks the 33rd annual Western States 1oo. The WS100 is one of the oldest ultra's in the world and is a big event in the ultra running scene. To quailify you have to meet one of the requirements below, so you can't just sign up for this one.

a) 50 miles in under 11 hours
b) 100 kilometers in under 14 hours
c) completion of any OFFICIAL 100-mile trail race

My ultimate goal is to complete the WS100 in 24 hours. After I finished the 30 at McNaughton in April, I decided that I would step up next year to the 50 miler and try to complete it in the 11 hour time frame. Even if I quailify for WS100, I most likely will not run there in 2007. I just do not think I will be ready for that event in a years time, but finishing McNaughton in less then 11 hours is a top sports related item for me.

If you are interested in "watching" the progress of any of the runners at the event this year, go to the Start List and click on a runners bib number to follow their progress. Just a few names to watch with links to thier bibs as well as thier blogs or websites;
Catra Corbett - 140
Dean Karnazes - M7
Tim Twietmeyer - 11

Good luck to all the runner!!!

-Keep Moving Forward

I arrived at the race location around 6:45. I got my clothes changed, aired-up my tires, set up my transition area then went for a quick bike, followed by a short run. streching, then off to the water to get in a few strokes.
The water was a bit chilly at 74 degrees, but compared to the air temp of 65, it felt great. Everyone was asked to get out of the water to start the race. It was decided that it would be a mass start from the beach. The race director yelled "GO" and all 80 of us ran into the water. There is a lot going on when 80 people jump into a small space and try to swim at the same time. I never really got going on the swim, it was actually one of the worse swims I can recall lately, but I got through it. I'm not sure if I was actually faster this year or not. Overall the swim times for the event were minutes lower on average, but there were a lot better athletets too, so the swim may have been a little shorter then 400 meters, but who knows.

My T1 was so-so also. I was a little frustrated after the swim so I did not have a clear head going in and I took a little longer then I should have. I'll continue to practice my transitions and get better. Once I was out of T1 I got clipped in and took off. I knew I had a lot of time to make up from the swim so I decided that since I had the best chance to make up ground here that I would just go for it. There was one small problem, it was a little windy most of the way out on the bike course. I had to really smash the gears and burn some engergy to get up to a good pace. I got to the turn around and was averaging right around 17.5 MPH, the wind had got me a little. I knew that I would have the wind at my back so I was not too concerned. I got to the turn around and passed some friends there, got some words of encouragement, gave some encouragement, then put my head down and got moving. I saw my cousing Jenn coming from the other direction, she was going great!!! Once I got on the level ground I started hitting my stride and was averaging over 20MPH the whole way back. I was approaching the transition area and started to remove my bike shoes. I've been working on this little time saving trick for a while now and finally got it!!

Approaching T2.. pedaling on top of my shoes so I could get my running shoes on faster.. success!! 28.45.7 for 9.2 miles 19.2 MPH

I got into T2, threw on my socks and shoes and got out in what I felt was a good time with not a lot of extra effort. My legs felt like they'd never been used before, the general feeling triathletes get after getting off the bike. I tried not to think about how they felt and concentrated on good running form. The first 1/4 mile out of transition was a gradual uphill, so it was a struggle to get going, but once I got to where the road leveled out I settled it in. I made up a lot of ground on the run too. I was feeling good and decided I better kick it in and finsih hard. I was not sure what pace I was running, but I knew it was better the 8 min/mile. I saw the turn to get back to the start/finish and got after it. I finished in 1:01:18. 4th in my age group and 33/80 overall.


I'm pumped!! best 3 mile run ever. 20:17, 6:46 min/mile




post race, just relaxing.



Some friends from Beginnertriathlete.com. "oneslowdoc" finished 25/80 and 5th in a really hard age group of 35-39. The female in the picture is my cousin Jenn that I mentioned above. She had an awesome race and finished in 1:17:26, 2nd in the 30-34 group and "Writebrained" who won the Clydesdale division and was 47/80 overall


Overall, it was a good race to start the season. It definitely put some reality around where I need improvement. In my age group I finished Swim-7th, Bike-3rd, Run-2nd, so as I know, the swim is my worst event, but that's why I am in classes.

I’ve completed my first week of triathlon swim class. I swam on Tuesday and Thursday. We jumped right in on Tuesday and swam 2400 yards in an hour. To a experienced swimmer that’s not a lot, to me… it’s a lot and fast. The instructor is an Olympic qualifier for triathlon, which is great, because she knows how to wrap it all together. That’s not to say that a swim coach who had not done triathlons could not coach the class, but having someone who has “been there, done that” adds some credibility. The coaching that I did get was welcome. I was told I have a good base, but I need to finish out my pull. Apparently I was stopping short on my pull through, which was making me less efficient. Check out the super high tech picture I found that displays the “proper” way to do it.

In Thursday’s class, I took it easier than I did on Tuesday. I was still a little sore from the previous class and since I have a race this weekend, I needed to just get some laps in and work on my stroke. I only swam about 2/3 of the scheduled workout but still felt like I had improved over the previous session.

I’m really excited about the race this week. My ITband has finally started cooperating consistently and my run times have all been under that 8 min/mile pace even on bricks, so hopefully I can pull it all together for a good start to the season.