Chasing Deer

My goal for 2013.  To run down a deer and catch it with my bare hands.

I was presented with this opportunity early in the year.  Unfortunately, I was in horrendous shape during this opportunity.  I gave it my all, but suffered for the rest of the day as if I had done an ALL OUT 800 meter run, or mile.  Both hurt A LOT.

After reading the book "Born To Run," I took several things away from this book.
A. running in racing flats is all the support that I will ever need in a pair of shoes.  I'm not going full extreme and getting the five finger shoes or the running sandals, but I do like racing flats and the feel of them.

B. The stories of running down deer is awesome and I want to do that.

I learned in 2011, that lesson A was a good idea, but I developed a heel spur and then a wicked case of plantar fascia that I dealt with for 1.5 years.  So, more support in my shoes for now.  If is ain't broke, don't fix it, right???

But the deer would make a great story if I were to ever run down a deer.  On February 6th, I was running a recovery jog in the park (about 9 min. per mile pace) and 1.5 miles in, there was a family of 6 deer.  I was so excited I got that little feeling in your stomach that you get when something sudden happens (you know what I mean).  Well, I wasn't sure how to start the chase to I just ran straight up to them.  Since the park is a popular place, the deer themselves were used to people and actually let me get a lot closer than I expected before they took off running.  Almost 30 seconds into the chase, 1 deer to separated from the rest and I knew that was the idea of the chase.  I managed to keep it separated for a little bit but it was able to sprint faster than me and get around me and back to the family.  For the next 2 miles I sprinted/jogged very slowly for recovery while chasing these deer over a few open acres of a grassy field. I ran about 12 minutes for those 2 miles which about killed me.  I was weezing and coughing the rest of the morning.  The deer escaped and made me look stupid as this field is right beside a busy road that many Nashvillians use to commute into downtown.  The only thing that I was really worried about was chasing the deer into the road so anytime they took off in that particular direction, I stopped chasing immediately.

I walk / jogged back to my car and got in about 2 more miles than I had planned and at a much higher intensity than I had planned.  Needless to say, the run the following day was my recovery run.

About a month later, the deer were there again, but it was in a different section of the park that was closer to the wooded area.  I chased for about 45 seconds and they got around me and into the woods.  They just into and across the small creek thus ending that chase.

Those are the only 2 chases I've had in 3 months but I'm hoping for more as I'm in much better shape.

I want revenge for this guy.  Sure this happened in S. Africa and this was an Antelope, but its the same family, right?

Mud Run 5k RR

So I know this isn't much but it is my first finished race since a Duathlon I did in October of 2011.  Finally feeling somewhat healthy, my wife and I decided we would find a fun race to do together.  A local high school put on a 5k mud run that I find about a week before the event.  We discussed it and I happened to have the day off from work, so we signed up.

Race day came and it was a pretty warm day for the middle of March.  The SEC Tourny was going on and I had hoped to stay out late the night before after watching a UK victory, but that did not happen.  I showed up wearing some longer running shorts, normal running shoes, and a t-shirt.  There were some seriously dressed up guys that looked like they were there to dominate.  Wearing some 5 finger shoes with their Mud specialty clothing, I felt that I might have some competition.  Casey reminded me that this was for fun, but I knew deep down that I wasn't going to let anyone else win.

Luckily, I got put in the first wave and we started at 9 am.  The gun went off and I took off just like any other race that I've competed in.  About 100 meters into the race, I already had a significant lead.  There was a hay bail to jump and then 75 meters straight uphill.  Right at the top was the Mudpit that was advertised.  The mud/water was about 2 ft. deep and about 15 - 20 yards long.  I was first out of the pit and off running.  Over the next 1/2 mile it was mostly running on grass with some hay bails to hurdle and some hurdles to go under.  There was a sand crawling section straight into a slip and slide which was the best part.  The rest of the 1.5 mile loop was more hay bails, crawling obstacles, and a large slip and slide right before the finish/start of second loop.  I pushed as hard as I could just getting that competitive flow going that I used to love.  The second loop was me against myself and I continued to push as that is what I have come to love.  I did lap the guys who were dressed up like they raced mud races professionally so that gave me a little laugh.  I didn't lap many people, but those 2 guys were about 50% of the lapped field.

I crossed the finish line about 4-5 minutes before the next competitor.  I realized this was a small race, and mostly people just running for fun, but it was enough to remind me how much I love to run/race.

Casey was the first female across the finish line from wave 1 so it was a couple tag team for first place.  Unfortunately, there was a timing issue with one of the other heats and 3 ladies all finished within 3 seconds of each other finished as the top 3 females.  They either only ran 1 lap or their timing chips were off.  Usually the winner of just about any race looks somewhat fit, and these ladies all looked like they were out for their Sunday morning 2 mile walk.  Anyways, we had fun and made for a great start to a fun day as one of my groomsmen was visiting for the weekend.

More to come in 2013.

You're still here?

So I know that it has been almost 1 year exactly since my last blog.  I took some time away from the sport and dealt with some personal stuff.  Mostly GREAT stuff as I got married in September of last year and then we moved to Nashville, TN.  I trained last summer but was still dealing with some foot issues.  I felt that if I didn't train, then I would get out of shape and that I was letting my "professional" career slip away.  I didn't want to be the pro that turned pro too early and then disappeared.  But guess what, I believe that is exactly what happened, ha.  It is now May of 2013 and I haven't finished a triathlon since September of 2011 at the Tri for Sight in Lexington, KY.  I believe I'm going to compete in some low key races this year just to get some of that fire back.

Ever since 2003, my life has revolved around my workouts.  Whether I was travelling, studying, working, or whatever else, I was always thinking about my workout the next day.  Missing a workout was something that always got under my skin and then I would be the grumpy guy for the rest of the day.  In 2011, it was at its all time high.  I was training more than ever, and sacrificing everything outside of my triathlon career.  I had some pretty good results but I believe I made some of my "A" races the same as a lot of the "faster" guys and I finished outside of the top 10 so I got a little down about most of those results.  Looking back on it, I was averaging close to 300 watts for 56 miles and then running in the ball park of 1:17 - 1:15 off the bike for 13.1 miles.  (I wish I was in that kind of shape right now.)  Anyways, I believe things happen for a reason.  I got hurt, was forced to put things in perspective, and am finally getting better.  I fought that plantar facsia injury for most of last year until I got to my breaking point in September.   Right after the wedding, I finally decided I was going to take time off completely.  I still swam a few days a week but that was about it.  We went on our honeymoon in December and I had a job where I was working 40 - 45 hours a week, but they were later in the day shifts so I was working a lot of 11 - 8 or 9 pm so I was mostly doing a short swim before work followed by a little lifting. Then we got short staffed at work so I ended up working a lot of 9-8 shifts thus cutting more into my workout time.  Not that I was training that much.  My foot still didn't feel like it was getting better after 10 weeks of no running what-so-ever. I did my research and decided that not running was not the answer.  I got some professional "scraping" done, did a lot of foot strength exercises, and got some custom orthotics.

I finally started running again mid December.  I was running 3-4 time a week for 2-4 miles at about 9-10 min. per mile pace.  And it was NOT easy.  I just kept this up and gradually picked up my mileage.  January of 2013 I ran about 120 miles for the whole month.  All of it was slow mileage with maybe my fastest mile during that being a 7:45 mile in the middle of a random run.

During all of this time, I was getting in a short workout, then making time for all of the other things going on in my life.  If I didn't get around to running one day, no big deal.  Especially making time for my new wife, even if it was just laying around and watching a movie on a Sunday afternoon.  It was nice to not worry about workouts and be a little more relaxed about my eating habits.  I didn't have to go to bed early on Friday worrying about getting in a 5 am bike ride on Saturday that was 3 hrs long with race pace efforts before traveling/working later Saturday morning.

I now have a new job that has set hours that never change outside of 8-5 and that works great.  I finally am getting that fire back in me as triathlon season is starting and I'm seeing results that are just mind blowing.  Guys are swim crazy fast, then 20-30 guys are holding 300+ watts for the bike leg then getting off and running 1:15 or faster.  I know I have a lot of work to do, but I'm up for the challenge.
April 1st was my first swim since November and it was ugly, ha.  I now have a month of swimming and it is coming along.  I am running consistently and cycling is the last thing that I've really wanted to do but it's finally coming around.

Motivation is definitely something that comes and goes and I didn't want to start my comeback too early before I was ready.  Forcing workouts is never a good idea.  Take a break when you need it, mentally and physically, and train hard when its called for.  I have been very consistent with my workouts since January, even if it has only been a 2 mile run at 9 min. per mile pace.

One big change that I've focused on this off season that has been a change of pace for me is lifting weights.  I have hit the gym at least 2-3 times a week this whole winter and definitely feel stronger than I have in the past.  Focusing mainly on leg strength and my stabilizer muscles as I'm pretty sure they were all pretty week from my down year and my injury.  I will blog more to come, I promise.  And I'm not down for the count, just took a little sleeper.

Tony

Mind Games - Are you holding yourself back?

So one thing that I can't stop thinking about is how hard I need to go during workouts.  Whether I'm swimming, cycling, or running, when I have a hard workout, I am constantly looking at my pace/wattage/speed to make sure that I'm where I need to be.  I have found that this is a catch 22 situation.  Some workouts you are practicing pacing for long races and this is a good thing to do.  But often, you have FAST intervals while swimming, or told to do some sprints while on the bike, or strides after an easy run.  These are meant to turn your brain off (or at least just focus on good form while running) and just GO.  Don't set limits on yourself.  Don't tell yourself that a fast 100 is a 1:30 and be happy with it. You may be able to go 1:25 and you would never know if you keep accepting that 1:30 as being fast.  Don't run a 5k and run the first mile in 6:00 and then freak out if its a little fast and make yourself slow down.  Just go with it.  You may be setting yourself up for a big personal best. 

A lot of times, this can be learned from young teenagers and rookies.  Swimming with the Age group swim team this past weekend, the younger kids were just trying to keep up or beat the older team members while the older team members weren't racing, they were "pacing" themselves for the FAST efforts. 

When I was new to triathlon, I was naive about nutrition, pacing, proper gear, etc.  I just went out and went as hard as I could.  I would swim fast, bike fast, and then run fast.  I had a great first few years in the sport and was able to progress and end up where I am now.  But now that I have raced for 6+ years, I have an experience with most race distances and know how much each race hurts.  If you are not willing to accept the pain, then you psych yourself out and you end up not going quite as fast as you once were able to.  Your mind may be the reason you have hit a plateau in your career.  The first time I raced a 70.3 distance, I just went "almost" as hard as I do for an Olympic distance and it worked great until about the 11 mile mark on the run.  and I only bonked a little so it worked out for me.  But each and every time I would race a 70.3 after that, I would "pace" myself a little better so that I wouldn't hurt like that again.  It worked sometimes, but other races it left me well outside of the top 5 - 10 until late in the run and well behind the leader of the race.  Sometimes you need to take a risk to put yourself where you need to be to succeed. 

One of my buddies is a great example.  During one of his track meets, his only goal was to run a personal best, not to race the other guys in the race.  This was a high school track meet, which the whole point of these is to earn points for your team.  Yes, you need to pace yourself to a point, but at that age, you are very naive and you just want to go fast.  But anyways, 1 lap into his 2 mile race, he had let the main pack gap him by 10 - 20 meters and they were pulling away fast.  I yelled for him to keep in contact for as long as he could.  He turns to me and says, "I'm right on pace."  I was flabbergasted.  I couldn't believe he had just spoke to me while he was racing.  Why was he running to only run a personal best by 1 - 2 seconds.  Why wasn't he willing to pace off of the other guys?  He ended up not running a personal best and finishing a good distance back from the winner. 

At the State high school track meet my Senior year, it was my first time there and knew that those guys were significantly faster than me.  I qualified with a time of 10:44 for 2 miles.  I knew that if I ran that again, I would be not close to the leaders and I did not want to get embarrassed.  When the gun went off, I just took off with the main pack and hung on for as long as I could.  We went through 1 mile just under 5 minutes (which I had never been before during a 2 mile race).  I ended drafting off of other competitors on the windy stretch of track and then would run by 1 - 2 guys per lap on the tailwind section.  I sprinted in and passed 2 more competitors to finish 7th (I think).  I never once looked at the clock (other than hearing the time at 1 mile split) and ended up running around 10:15.  This was almost a 30 second PR in just a 10 minute race.  Had I "paced" myself, I may have run a PR, but sure would not have finished inside the top 8 - 12 as they were all well under 10:30. 

I have experienced this same phenomenon in some of my races in the last few years.  My best races have come when I have just turned my brain off and raced.  I go hard and race the guys around me and end up running much faster than I anticipated.  I have run several running road races where this has worked great.  One year at the Bluegrass 10k, I had some good competition that was around my pace and we all just went head to head and I forgot about what pace I was running and ran to beat those guys.  I ended up running a personal course record and having my best finish in that race.  I have yet to run faster on that course than that year.  Another 10k that I ran 2 years ago in Bowling Green turned out the same way.  I took off with the faster guys and probably went out a little too hard.  But I ended up going through the halfway just over 16 minutes (close to my 5k PR) and held on for dear life to run a personal best in the 10k and it was the only time I've been under 33 minutes for a 10k.  My half marathon PR also came in the same fashion. I went out too fast with some faster guys, but it didn't really feel too fast at the time.  Before I knew it, I was well under PR pace through half way and was able to hold on and run MUCH faster than I expected.    

  Everyone is so caught up with how fast they SHOULD be going and they forget to race.  Dathan Ritzenhein did this over the weekend.  He went to Europe (or wherever it was) to run a 10k track race to get his Olympic "A" standard.  He decided not to go with the leaders early in the race and "just" run the A standard.  Well, he ended up missing the A standard and will have to run it at a later point this summer.  Had he gone with the leaders, they may have dragged him along to the A standard.  Or he may have blown up, but he will never know.  Sometimes you have to be willing to take a risk.

Are you brave enough to turn your brain off and just race?

Feedback / Injury Update

Well, I guess that foot problem that I was dealing with at the end of the season last year never really got 100% healthy as it is back. I am now on day 16 of no running and it is feeling better which is a good sign. I did go to the doctor this time and got an x-ray to make sure it wasn't a stress fracture or heel spur. The pain is mainly in my right heel and it only really bothers me when I'm running downhill as I tend to put a little more force on my heels when I'm running downhill, who knew??? Swimming was my only form of activity last week to give it a full break and I did cycle yesterday but I believe my foot wasn't too happy with me this morning so I just swam twice today. I figured this may be a blessing in disguise and will allow me to work on my swim. The next few weeks will probably be some high yardage with some quality workouts along with some cycling as the foot gets better. Cycling doesn't stress my foot too much so I should be fine as long as I'm not doing anything crazy. When I have been running over the past 2 months, the pain would be bearable during the run, but the worst part would be the rest of the day when I'm just walking around. The run would irritate it and then I would limp around afterwards. I figured that isn't any way to spend this whole season so I backed off and am letting my heel heal, ha.

 And I figured my blog needed an update. Let me know what you think.

Here is the swim workout I did yesterday just for fun. You can adjust the send off's as needed.

Main set
4 x 150 odds first and last 50 at take out/finish effort, middle 50 long and lovely Evens middle 50 fast, 1st and last 50 perfect - 2:10
4 x 50 odds easy, evens mile pace :50
4 x 125 odds 1st and last 50 at take out speed, evens middle 25 fast 1:50
4 x 50 odds easy, evens 1000 pace :55
4 x 100 odds 1st and last 25 at take out speed. Evens middle 50 fast 1:40
4 x 50 evens at 500 pace 1:00
4 x 75 odds 1st and last length at take out/finish speed evens middle length fast 1:10
4 x 50 evens fast 1:05
200 easy

And a little picture in honor of my wedding that is coming up in September.

National Champs

I know I'm a few days late, but I still can't believe that UK won its first National championship since I have attended UK. I was a freshman during the 2003 - 2004 season when we were the #1 of #1 seeds in the tourney and then were upset by UAB. It ripped our heart out and the whole campus was just in shock for the remainder of the tournament. Unfortunately, over the next few years, we struggled to make it to the final four. In 2005, we had that thriller with Michigan St in which we lost in OT. Then in 2006 & 2007 we were the #8 seed. That is unheard of for UK basketball but we struggled during the year so we were happy to make the tourney. We hired a new coach in 2007 (big mistake) and he didn't even get us into the NCAA tourney in 2008. Fortunately, Calipari came to UK in 2009 and with him, we brought in DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall along with a few other studs. That year was AMAZING for UK fans as the last 3 years of UK basketball were horrendous. We had a fabulous team and were one of the top teams in the tourney. We were upset by West Virginia in the Elite Eight and that was as heart breaking as the 2004 tourney loss. I can't remember, but I believe we were the favorite to win and we didn't even make it to the Final Four. Then we lost 5 players to the first round of the NBA draft, which we kind of expected, but were hoping to only lose 3 - 4. The 2010 - 2011 team gave us what we wanted. The team didn't seem to be as good as the year before but they got us to the Final Four. We had a terrible SEC regular season as we lost most of our games on the road. But once we got to the tourney, we upset OSU in the Sweet Sixteen on a last second shot which was one of my top 5 moments as a UK fan. Then we went on to beat UNC in the elite eight before losing to UConn in the Final Four.

This year we had a extraordinary team and were just unstoppable. To have a player like Anthony Davis, and to have great support players for him is what made our team so great. Teague developed throughout the year along with MKG and Jones. Miller played a fabulous role coming off the bench. Lamb knocked down some big shots for us and played pretty consistently all year.

We played terrible and still almost beat Indiana at Indiana (if it weren't for that last second shot) and then we played like we were unbeatable during the SEC tourney and we almost lost the first 2 games before losing to Vandy in the final. I believe this was key for us to win the Championship as it reminded the boys what its like to lose and put a little first in them before the NCAA tournament. We played great the whole tournament and won a title.

Unfortunately, our fans acted like they did after we beat Baylor (Elite Eight), Louisville (Final Four), and the big game against Kansas. We were the heavy favorite to win so why would you celebrate like that after beating a Baylor team who wasn't THAT good and then again against Louisville. We were expected to win those games so there is no need to burn couches, flip cars, and shoot guns while destroying all kinds of other property. I feel that the celebration after the Nat'l Championship game was almost the most acceptable as most people just went to the streets and enjoyed the company of other UK fans as opposed to doing a bunch of stupid stuff like after the Baylor and Louisville games.

I'm super happy to be both a UK fan and a St. Louis Cardinal fan. I don't know if I have ever had my 2 favorite teams win a championship in the same year. And on top of that, the Cards won their opening night game last night. Baseball is a LONG season, but I'm always ecstatic when the season starts.

Now that the triathlon season has officially started with some big races this past weekend, it made me wish I had signed up for one of those 70.3 races and traveled to either Texas or Cali. I'll have to look into it next year, but I'm gearing up for NOLA 70.3 here in about 2.5 weeks.

T-Bird

The Hunger Games & March Madness

Yes, I know, its been out for a while but I'm late to the game. I just finished reading this book and it was fantastic. It was a super fast read and I thoroughly enjoyed it and am super pumped for the movie that comes out tomorrow. What a great way to enjoy my "recovery" week other than watching the Cats play tomorrow night, watch the Hunger Games on Saturday, and then hopefully watch the Cats again on Sunday (assuming we can beat Indiana which we failed at miserably the first time we played them).

Training has been going great with no set backs and with race results starting to pop up, it gets me even more excited for the season. I was kind of depressed with San Juan 70.3 last weekend since I was sitting in KY not doing that race like I did last year. But the weather has been AMAZING for the past 1.5 - 2 weeks. It is 82 right now and sunny. This has allowed me to put in some solid bike miles without riding the trainer once. I had a huge bike week last week, when compared to all of my other weeks this year, and am recovering from that week this week. Its my down week this week so I have been doing some catching up on my reading and enjoying my relaxed workouts.

When it comes to reading, I believe I have done more reading in the past 3 - 4 months than I did all of 2010 and 2011 combined. I start every morning with my Bible reading (or 90% of mornings). I am currently doing a "read the Bible in a year" plan and as of right now, I am right on schedule. Obviously, I'm still in the Old Testament and it is very interesting.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was kind of the book that really got me reading a lot this year. I read that series of books in about 2 - 3 weeks or so. These are great books but there is A TON of info/details that has to be processed. These books go into a great amount of detail and they introduce a bazillion characters. So its hard to remember each and every character but they are definitely worth your time if you haven't already read them.

Then I went straight into Stephen King's new book "11/22/63" which was fantastic. I had trouble putting this book down. In short, its about time travel and the Kennedy assassination. This, I believe, is the longest book that I've ever read. But it went by fast.

I then read "The Meaning of Marriage" which was actually recommended to Casey and myself (since we are getting married in September) by several different people. It has some fabulous insight into marriage and how to make the marriage work while also helping each individual realize that their relationship with God is the most important aspect of one's marriage (or single life). I believe it will help our relationship and our marriage while helping up develop that strong relationship with God.

And most recently was "The Hunger Games." I am now reading the 2nd book and making quick work of it as I'm about a third of the way through it and just started it last night. This may mean I have too much down time and I need to train more???

The first 1/2 of my race schedule is now posted at www.usprotri.com I will start it off in NOLA for the 70.3 there in April. Then Rev 3 Knoxville on May 6th, Columbia Triathlon on May 20th, Rev 3 Quassy on June 3rd, and Eagleman 70.3 the following weekend. I will then return to Muncie 70.3 for revenge on that stupid run course as it destroyed me last year. After that race, there are about 6 - 8 races that I have my eyes on, but only 2-3 that I can actually fit into the schedule before the Wedding. I'll keep you updated but am focused on the first 1/2 of my season for right now.

Well, I guess the main focus for RIGHT now is for the Cats to win the big dance this year. Calipari has done a fantastic job with the team and they have been exciting to watch this year.

9:45pm tomorrow night vs. IU. tune in.