Today was our first triathlon of the season.  It was an indoor triathlon and we had no idea what to expect.  There were only two heats, but it was ran very well.  They were very accommodating to the athletes and there were even giveaways.  Met some cool people, Tom and Sally who were in our heat and Tina who is part of TriKC as well.  I set some goals for the race based on last years races.

I wanted to get 500 yards during the swim.  I didn’t take any warm up laps, but I should have.  I always start off too fast.  I was breathing heavy after 100 yards.  Luckily I calmed down a bit (or I got tired) and I was able to settle into a regular pace.  I finished the swim with 650 yards in 15 minutes.  I’m pretty sure thats a personal record but I haven’t checked that yet.

I wanted to get 6 miles on the bike section.  In order to do that I had to have a good transition.  I felt like I had the best transition I could have had.  I didn’t know how to use the computer on the bike so I probably could have have added some more distance.  With all that said, I finished with 10.4 kilometers, plenty over my goal of 6 miles.

The run goal I had set was probably the most aggressive.  I wanted to get 2 miles which would have required me to average better than 10 minute miles because of the transition.  I know I can do 2 miles at that pace on a training day, but to do it after the other two events was going to be much more difficult for me.  I came very very close to meeting that goal as well.  I was about .05 miles short of that distance.

All in all this was a great benchmark for the rest of the season.  In two weeks I will attempt to improve on all 3 distances.  My mother and my niece will also be racing with me and my wife at that event as well, so it should be fun.

I raced today and I can still walk.  There were training days that made it hard to get up and down stairs last year.  Being able to move fairly normally is also a real milestone for me.

I was dead last of all three of the guys, but thats okay.  Also, we finally got our TriKC jerseys today.  So the tiny race felt like a really big race because we got a shirt!

Very happy about how this season is going to go.

• Breast stroke clinic with world class swimmers Jessica Hardy & Eric Shanteau. #
• Just now leaving the office… Hu huuuuu #
• We do websites that win awards! #
• "The requirements are in from the requirement team." #
• Social media is on my radar too, hiring specifically for it? http://bit.ly/cRPeFq #
• My niece got (mis)quoted by an area newspaper: http://bit.ly/9Val0J #
• I've got a good friend representing at NetWar this weekend. I might not be a gamer, but I got friends that are. http://bit.ly/csDCbA #
• Kcmultisport social with @jillianranee #
• Looks like Whitney made finals for 50FL. #
• Wow Wow Wow. GE Smart Grid demo: http://bit.ly/9HDbSe
  #GE #smartgrid #

My niece has her last swim meet of the indoor season this weekend.  She had a season with incredible accomplishments.  She’s only 8, but she truly has inspired me to do more.  I’ve been a “swim uncle” pretty heavily the past couple of months, now it’s time to transition to doing instead of watching.

Tomorrow, the 2010 triathlon season begins for me and my wife, with an indoor triathlon.  At 9:40am we start together and at 10:40am we will finish together.  The indoor triathlon is measured by distance covered, not time.  After 15 minutes we switch to the bike, 25 minutes later we switch to the run, then 20 minutes later we finish.

Even though I don’t think I’ve had as much time in the gym or on the road this year, I definitely think I’m much stronger at this point in the year.  It’s very nice to be able to look back at all of my previous workouts and measure the change.  Especially when that change is an improvement.

I have no idea what to expect tomorrow.  I don’t really know how to set goals for tomorrow.  But I’m going to give it a shot.

If I can get 500 yards in 15 minutes I think I will be happy.  I’m not sure how to judge the bike part.  It will be on a stationary/spin bike, I’m not sure what the conversion calculations are, but I’ll shoot for 6 miles there.  Then, if I hit the 6 mile mark I will be toast.  If I can get 2 miles on the treadmill, I will be ecstatic.  I know this is pretty aggressive for the beginning of the year, but accomplishing this will really require me to nail my transitions.  Last year I used the transitions as a break to rest.  This year I would like to improve that part of my game.  I think the indoor triathlons will give me a good opportunity to do that.

I still don’t know what to eat before races.  Tonight I had some g.i. issues during my run.  I thought this might be a good sign, since it was before my race instead of during my race like I’ve had too many times before.  The plan is to get a good night sleep, have a small breakfast of perhaps a breakfast bar or two and some fruit.

The race is being hosted by one of the triathlon clubs in KC, TriKC.  It is at Kirmayer Fitness Center near KU Medical Center.

So, I’ve got myself convinced that putting races on my schedule is better for my training.  I’m really considering adding the Rock the Parkway race on March 27.  I would only want to do the 10k in hopes of knocking out one of my goals for the year.  But I guess I would be happy doing the 5k as well.

Chip timing and t-shirts make the race worth doing for me!

I’ve recruited some help from a friend, Laurie, to convince my wife that we need to do this race.

Wow. What started out very innocent and comical a few weeks ago has totally changed.  Today Jillianranee.com has overtaken both this website and whitneyjohnson.net in traffic the last 30 days.  My expertise as a web developer is now being challenged along with my pride.

It appears that I too must learn how to be clever with my writing.  Or start writing about something that people care about.  So much work to do.

I’m still catching up with the rest of the group but the past few days have really been wonderful training days.  My work schedule has been pretty crazy and stressful with one of our largest customers demanding some additional attention.  Both Saturday and Sunday required some additional time at the office.  Sunday I was in the office from 8:30 until about 7am on Monday.  So my Sunday workout and my Monday workouts were jeopardized.  Monday I was able to get into the pool for 40 minutes.  On top of that, I was able to do it with Jillian.  Things couldn’t be going any better with the current situation at work.

Our first triathlon is this weekend.  It’s a 1-hour indoor triathlon.  Not sure what to expect but really looking forward to it!  I’m also going to try have my “Hearts to Shamrocks” 140.6 finished by next Monday.  Wish me luck!