Some of this is True

My short story, "Some of this is True," has been published by The Linnet's Wings . It starts on page 47.

The issue has stories by Tyler Bigney, Cherryl E. Garner, Stan Long, Abigaile Louise LeCavalier, Nonnie Augustine, Chris Castle, Charlie Britten, J Scott Harden, Townsend Walker, Kaye Linden, Bill Frank Robinson, Andrew Olsom, Rebecca Burns, Maureen Wilkinson, Tom Burton, Linda Simoni-Wastila, Bobbi Laurie, Len Joy, Bill West, Oonah Joslin, and Marie Fitzpatrick.

My story is fiction, but was inspired by a real event.

Lake Havasu Triathlon Results - 2011

Yesterday, as planned I competed in the Lake Havasu Triathlon. We start and finish the run race by running over London Bridge pictured above. Lake Havasu is a big spring break destination, but none of these girls were interested in watching us compete.

It was a good first race of the season for me. I got a break on the weather, as it was cloudy and cool so I didn't face as much of a climate-adjustment challenge as I have in some years. I've entered this race for the last four years. The first year I made a mistake on the swim course and had to disqualify myself, the second year I made a wrong turn on the run and ended up running an extra two miles and last year I ran a good race, but my legs started to cramp on the run so I wasn't able to finish strong. Nevertheless I did manage to finish 3rd in the 55-59 age group.


This year I graduated to the 60-64 age group and finished first. Of course my pleasure at being number one is tempered by the knowledge that there were only two entrants. But I did beat the other guy by about forty minutes.  I didn't achieve my goal for this race, but I was very pleased with my swim time. I averaged 1:52 per 100 yards and that's the best swim performance I have had (last year they cut the swim course short by about 200 yards so it took less time to complete the leg but I wasn't as fast).

I've devoted more time to swimming this winter and it is nice to see the results.  I keep hoping that I will be able to post better run times. My biggest opportunity for improvement remains with the bike. This was a challenging bike course with lots of difficult hills. I did well on the uphills but I remain too cautious on the downhills so my overall time suffers. On a flatter course with more training I hope to achieve my goal of 20 mph.

This race qualifies me for the USAT Championship which will be held in Vermont in August. My quest when I started this goal is to finish in the top ten for my age group. It's not an impossible dream, but I need to make some serious improvements in all three categories to have a shot.

Below are my results versus for Lake Havasu versus the goal and last year's results. Because last year's swim course was shorter, I actually think these results are slightly better than a year ago overall.

Year	Total	Swim	/ 100	T1	Bike	MPH	T2	Run	Min/Mile
2010	2:51:46	27:28	n/a	3:30	1:23:41	17.93	2:00	55:07	8:49
GOAL	2:43:30	31:00	1:54	2:00	1:19:00	19:00	2:00	49:07	7:55
2011	2:54:35	30:39	1:52	2:44	1:24:34	17.90	2:32	54:04	8:39

Lake Havasu Triathlon – March 19, 2011

Next Saturday I'm competing in my fourth Lake Havasu Triathlon. The race often coincides with Spring Break for the college crowd. I had hoped that there would be sort of a Girls Gone Wild scene with throngs of cheering thongs lining London Bridge as we finished the race, but apparently college kids don't get up before noon.

I am hopeful that this year I will have a good race here. The first year I cut the swimming course short and had to disqualify myself. The second year I made a wrong turn on the run segment and had to run an extra mile. Last year I finished 3^rd in my age group and had a decent race, but my legs were cramping on the run and I wasn't able to really push myself.

This will be my first race in the 60-64 year cohort. But, of course, I am not even close to 60 yet. Still have over 2 months to go. But by tri rules that's my age group. So I should be the youngest. No age excuses. Unfortunately the guys still competing in their 60s have a lot of experience.

This is a difficult race for me to predict my performance because the weather conditions can be so extreme (and my performance so erratic.) Plus last year when we swam the official who told us where to swim made the course about 200 yards shorter than it was in previous years – which is why my time last year looked so good on the swim leg. So while I'm reluctant to make a prediction it's no fun if I don't, so here it is:

Year	Total	Swim	/ 100	T1	Bike	MPH	T2	Run	Min/Mile
2010	2:51:46	27:28	1:41	3:30	1:23:41	17.93	2:00	55:07	8:49
GOAL	2:43:30	31:00	1:54	2:00	1:19:00	19:00	2:00	49:07	7:55

 I know that I am stronger on the bike and in the water than I was a year ago. I've had intense workouts for the last two months. My legs feel good so I'm hopeful that I can do better than this goal. I'll report back after the race.