Thursday, April 29, 2010

Picture Time










Here are just a few photos from the past 2 weeks or so. I have a few from my first Tri of the year, a few from Keeneland and then one from the WA swim banquet last week.
Enjoy.
















Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Past Few Days

So I am trying to get my butt in gear and get in a consistent training block before some of my bigger races come up. I know that I'm nowhere near my fitness last year, but psychologically, I feel much healthier. I know what to expect when I compete against some of the best athletes in the world and I know that I have a long way to go this season before I would consider myself "in shape." haha. But I don't know if I really consider myself "in shape" most of the time. I have a warped opinion and have probably only been in peak physical condition a few times in my life.

I have had a great time with training and work lately. Its fun to go out for a bike ride with a few other guys, or even a large group. Its fun to meet up with guys for an easy run or a to swim with the kids that I coach just a few months ago. Even though I am working more, and forcing myself to workout at hours that I'm not used to, I am having fun which is the key for 2010. I have Memphis in May next on my schedule which is somewhere around the 23rd of May.

I spent last Friday in the UK dental school for about 7 hours. My old roommate is graduating from dental school and he needed a patient that had a cavity and I ended up having a cavity (actually about 4). He gave me 2 fillings on Friday, and then his good friend gave me another on Saturday morning. And since I qualified to be his patient, I got paid. It was nice to have a few cavities filled and to be paid to do so. But it made for a long weekend. And my good friend Tyson married his sweet heart Amy Saturday evening. That was a great wedding and a great reception. We had a lot of fun.

After a long weekend, it was great to have a little fun Monday night by going to The Catspy's. My girlfriend finished up her 4th year of elgibility for the UK swim team and was invited to the "Catspy's Awards." I was lucky enough to be her date. This is just a little awards banquet for all UK athletes and they really do put on a good show. It was cool to see guys like Randall Cobb, John Conner, Pattrick Patterson, and of course John Wall. But also the athletes that don't get as much publicity that compete for "the love of the game."

That about it for now.

T-Bird

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Happy Birthday Bethany

Today is my sister's 19th bday. Happy Birthday Bethany.

This past Saturday after the race, Bethany, my brother Ben, Casey, and myself all went to Keeneland to celebrate the wonderful weather and my sister's birthday (a little early). It was as crowded as I have ever seen it, but it was still fun. And it was the first time in a LONG time that I have left Keeneland after MAKING money instead of losing money. Of my last 5 bets, I made money on 3 of them. So after betting almost 30 dollars for the day, I left with about 40 dollars. I know, I dropped some big money, haha. And we ended the day by eating some Pazzo's, which is always one of my favorite places to eat.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Heart and Sole Triathlon RR

Well this is my first race report in a long time. I haven't been working near as hard as I did last off-season and yesterday gave me a good idea of how far behind I am.

The few days before the race, the weather was predicted to be cold and rainy. Saturday was supposed to have a low temperature of around 38, which is really cold for a triathlon. What I found out Friday night, is that low temp was for Saturday night, going into Sunday morning. And the rain came a little early by hitting us Friday night. So the roads were dry, and it was only in the low 50's race morning. That is still a little chilly, but it wasn't terrible, I've raced in worse.

I was the #1 seeded person again this year, so I didn't have to worry about fighting with people in the pool as I try and snake my way through the pool for the 400 yard swim. The swim was about normal, and without any highlight. I came out feeling pretty comfortable and took off on the bike. I pushed hard on the bike, but I didn't want to go all out because of my lack of fitness. Well, that plan didn't work because I found myself really hammering the hills and then asking myself why I was pushing so hard. My legs haven't felt pain like that this year so it tells me there is a lot of work to be done. Because I was the first cyclist coming through the bike course, all of the cops that were directing traffic were still in their cars so I had to stop at a stop light, but got lucky with the other intersections since I hit a few green lights. I came off of the bike and my legs felt like jello. My feet were numb from the cold wind on the bike and I just felt like I have never ran off of the bike in my life. It was pretty rough for about 7 - 9 minutes, but I loosened up and probably ran faster for the second half of the 5k. I forgot how nasty and hard that XC course was. I crossed the finish line in 59:57. Which to my surprise was less than a minute slower than last year, so I was pretty happy with my performance. I was hoping to run a little faster, but I haven't done any speed work so I feel that will come fast.

Thanks for reading.

Friday, April 9, 2010

I know, I know

So it has officially been about 4 months since my last post, but nothing super exciting has really happened in that time. I have only raced once since that time and it was a smaller Half Marathon located in Bowling Green, KY. My training has been really spotty, but now that the weather has changed, it is starting to look better. But here is my last 4 months in review:

After my really successful 2008 season, I was really excited about my 2009 season, and my first year racing as a professional. I started training for the '09 season in December of 2008 after only taking 1 - 2 weeks of down time after Clearwater. I put in a large amount of training during the winter months and was ready to go in April of 2009. After a disappointing St. Anthony's, I began to question whether I was up to the challenge of racing as a Professional. I doubted my fitness and lost a lot of confidence at that race. I raced for the rest of the season with a little chip on my shoulder. I was stepping on the start line of every race analyzing the field and telling myself who I could beat, and who was just out of my league. When you step on the starting line for the first time against guys like Matt Reed, Andy Potts, and Tim O'Donnell, its hard to tell yourself that you can beat these guys when I had looked up to them for the previous few years as the icons of the sport. Races like Chattanooga and Tri for Sight were fun little races for me to compete in, but still it seemed like I had a lot of pressure on me. I was racing as if everyone in the sport would notice if I didn't race "fast." I did end the season with my best race of the year. I went into Augusta 70.3 with a different attitude. I was to stay relaxed in the swim as opposed to freaking out because I was swimming with "faster" swimmers. I came out of the water not to far behind the main guys and had a pretty solid race overall.

Once the season was over, I took some time off, and when I starting working out again, I wanted to focus on what I really wanted to improve. I felt that I needed to improve my swim and my run so that is all I did leading into December. But once it got really cold, I lost a little motivation and started working out less and less. I finally realized that I needed a break since I had been "training" for almost 2 years straight.

I have had a lot of fun this winter with coaching and training. I would go out for a run, swim, or bike when I wanted to, instead of sticking to a plan. This has helped my mind set for the year and gotten me back to my roots. The first few years I raced, I was a runner that did triathlons. So that is what I've been doing. I have been running more than usual, while also swimming 5 - 6 times a week, and the occasional bike ride. And now that the weather is nice, I have enjoyed going for bike rides. Instead of training because I HAD to, I have been training because I have WANTED to. This makes a world of difference.

I have also started a new job since my last post. I am the Assistant Manager at "Swim Bike Run of KY." I am now finished with my assistant coaching position with Wildcat Aquatics and am solely working at the new tri shop that has opened here in Lexington, KY. This training/retail center is an awesome place. We have a computrainer studio, an endless pool, and a few tready's in the training half of the shop. On the retail side we carry just about anything and everything you would need to do a triathlon. I am grateful for the swim coaching position that Ben Davis gave me, and I developed many life long relationships with him as well as with the swimmers that I coached.

My training is coming around and I am excited about the upcoming season even if I may not be in near as good shape as I was at this point last year. I'm swimming in our home Master's swim meet this weekend and then I'm racing the Heart and Sole Triathlon in Versailles, KY on the 17th of April.

That's it for now. I'll probably watch "The Master's" today and see if Tiger can shoot another amazing round. Then I'll head to the UK baseball game this evening if the weather warms up a little.

Tony