Temple International Triathlon – May 15, 2011

I am out here in Phoenix for the Tempe International Triathlon at Tempe Town Lakes.


I ran this race last year so I know what to expect. The temperature will be in the 70s when we start but probably in the 90s by the finish of the run. It will be sunny. The only real unknown right now is whether they will allow wetsuits. If the water temperature is above 78 degrees they won't be allowed. The wetsuit buoyancy improves my swim time by a minute or more. Last year we got to wear them and I am going to assume for my goal setting that we will do be able to do so again.

Here's my goal:

YEAR	TOTAL	SWIM	/100	T1	BIKE	MPH	T2	RUN	MIN/MILE
5/16/10	2:49:19	33:13	2:01	2:10	1:18:31	19.1	1:50	53:32	8:34
GOAL	2:43:00	30:00	1:50	2:00	1:17:00	19.5	2:00	52:00	8:19

I didn't swim very well last year, got a little off course, but I'm much more confident in my swimming this year and I know I can do that distance in 30 minutes. The bike course is flat and again, I need to hit it a little harder at the beginning. I've had weeks of training on the computrainer and I know I have the strength to push for 25 miles.

Last Saturday I ran the Wisconsin Half-Marathon and my time at the 10K mark was 50 minutes, so I don't think 52 minutes is an unreasonable goal for the run.

I will find out on Sunday, which happens to be my 60^th birthday.

Nicojoy Millinery

My daughter, Nicole Joy - the founder of Nicojoy Millinery - is displaying her line of eco-friendly hats - Chapeau Noveau - at the Green Festival in McCormick Place, Chicago next weekend.  You can check out some of her creations on her "Chateau Nouveau" Facebook page.

Wisconsin Marathon

This morning I ran in the HALF Marathon component of the Wisconsin Marathon ("the world's cheesiest race"). Last year, my first attempt at this distance, I ran the course in 1 hour, 49 minutes. I had entered it to help me get ready for the Half-Ironman races that I had later in the year. So this year I had a better idea of what to expect. My goal was to run it into 1:47 and I was well ahead of that pace through the 8 mile mark, but again, like last year, I faded in the stretch. I had plenty of cardio reserves, just couldn't get the legs to move as fast as I wanted.  Could be an age thing, but more likely it's because I don't do much long distance running.

I finished with a time of 1 hour 48 minutes. A pace of 8:14 per mile.

It is a nice race, well organized and the volunteers and crowd were friendly and supportive. The weather forecast was for rain and 49 degrees, but the sky was clear and the temperature was in the 50s and there was no wind. Perfect conditions.

I finished 250^th out of 2057 competitors. They don't provide age group results, but as I scanned the totals, it appears that I finished 2^nd in the 60 to 99 year old category. But the guy who finished ahead of me was only 61 and he was 6 minutes faster, so I have some work to do, to catch him next year.

Here were my split times:

MILE	2010	2011
1	0:08:36	0:08:10
2	0:08:09	0:07:53
3	0:08:17	0:08:00
4	0:08:02	0:07:56
5	0:08:10	0:08:07
6	0:08:02	0:08:02
7	0:08:10	0:08:11
8	0:08:14	0:08:11
9	0:08:17	0:08:15
10	0:08:27	0:08:21
11	0:08:33	0:08:29
12	0:08:40	0:08:27
13.11	0:09:31	0:09:58
TOTAL	1:49:08	1:48:00
Pace	8:19	8:14

 I can't believe that my last mile was that slow. I was trying to go faster. Maybe they measured the course wrong?  No action pictures this year, either. I drove up by myself and was home before my official photographer was out of bed (almost.)