John Tanner Sprint Triathlon

John Tanner
Triathlon – Sprint
Total Time :1:20:42
Age Group Rank:23/32

Pre-race

Saturday morning I woke up had a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey and two bananas and loaded my things into the Green Machine and hit the road. I woke up with a sore throat that I hoped wouldn’t affect me and I honestly don’t think it did. On the road to the triathlon I happened to see two cars flipped on the interstate and I was calm the entire time. The thing I did the best on the day was not let the weather become a distraction for me. After a hellish run in October, not letting the weather become a distraction is amazing. Got to park ran straight to the bathroom and headed to get my packet and set up my transition area. I somehow was smart enough to bring a garbage bag to set on my transition bag so I was lucky to have dry shoes for the bike and run.

Warm-up

Right before the national anthem (best I’ve heard at a tri) I dipped myself in the water to get rid of the initial shock and went and hung out with the group. I haven’t exactly grasped the concept of warming up. This would later turn out to be huge mistake on my part during the swim.

Swim:
Goal - sub 12 mins
Actual – 12:48.2

I started the swim and felt fine for what seemed like the first 50 meters, then it was like all of hell broke loose. I have never been so afraid in the water in my life. I could not breathe at all. I swam out to the side to avoid the swimmers behind me and still could not catch my breath. So there I was floating on the outside thinking I was on my way to see Elizabeth like Fred Samford. I’m so happy there wasn’t any canoes on the outside of the loop because I seriously considered quitting after starting a second time and still not being able to breathe. After strategizing for what felt like forever I rolled over to my back and began back-stroking and saw blue caps (my wave) behind me and that gave me the confidence to continue. It wasn’t until the last 100 to 200 meters that I felt comfortable in the water. The timing mat wasn’t at the edge of the water but rather at the beginning of the transition since I walked from the water to transition I probably came in closer to 12. I've been told since the race that you should always get in the water and go as hard as you can for a few meters to warn your body of what's to come. Next time hopefully i'm smart enough to fix this.

T1 3:22
I should probably start my race reports after the race …j/k I walked all the way from the lake to my transition and slowly talked myself back into the race. I put on my race belt in hopes I would save a few seconds in the next transition. For some reason I wanted to sit down so badly in transition. That swim really had a adverse affect on me. I am notoriously bad at transitions and definitely need some practice.

Bike
Goal
Actual 37 mins (my watch)
I started the bike rather conservative not knowing or trusting where my level of fitness truly is on the bike. The one thing I focused on during the bike was drinking. Last year I had a really bad problem of cramping on the run and I think a big part of that was not drinking until I became thirsty and that usually didn’t happen til the run and that always was too late. After playing leap frog with some guy the first 9 miles I pushed as hard as I could the last two. I really need to spend more time focusing on the bike.

T2 1:29
Thought I had a relatively smooth transition but my watch says otherwise. I thought this transition would have been much faster being that I didn’t wear socks and I wore my race belt on the bike portion. After getting my shoes on I had a problem of getting them tied but I prefer to run with laces and not the quick strings so this is something I need to practice for the future. I honestly don’t understand how I’m so slow. I really need to improve my transitions.

Run
Goal 27 mins
Actual 25:22

Coming out of the transition I felt great. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so good starting out a run. I exited the transition with a All3Sports girl and ran with her until I realized that I should probably slow down if I didn’t want to be forced to walk later. In retrospect, I wish I was able to turn my mind off and run with her longer, because I was in no pain, and she was moving. While cruising along on the run, my mind began to wonder and it convinced me that I hadn’t press the timing button for my transition on my garmin, which I had. So for the last 2.25 miles I was on my own without any idea of how fast I was running or my overall time, which wasn’t a bad thing, but I definitely needed to something to occupy my thoughts. There was one section where I had to walk and Matt came up and told me not to stop, which helped me find a cruising pace. There I was cruising along until I passed Jon Reckers on the way back in and he warned me that he was going to catch and pass me. Now, Jon is a much faster runner than I am, but the challenge to not let him catch me was very good motivation to find a pace where I was working. Needless to say Jon never caught me but he definitely pushed me to a PR on a 5K (I’ve never run a official 5K but I have had a timed 5k run and it was 26:16). Overall this was a really good run for me, made even better by teammates. Hopefully the running improvements keep coming and the injuries stay away.

What would I do different
Well I only beat my rival by seconds so I really need to work on my transitions for Chattanooga. I'm sure I gave up at least a minute in the transition. I also need work on my focus on the run. I have to be mentally prepared to race a long with the physical part. Outside of the swim and transitions, I was satisfied with my effort. I know going forward if you're allowed to warm up for the swim, jump in the water and warm up. I never want to experience a swim like this again in my life. If my schedule allows I think I may do the second John Tanner later to see just how much I have improved.

The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare

Things are again looking up. After suffering through a few runs I finally had a good one. Tuesday night I set out to have what I thought would be a medium effort run but it felt so good that I had to just had to push. After looking over my previous times, it wasn't a PR but boy did it feel good. Runs like the one I had must be what people who love to run feel when they go out for their much faster runs. Today i'm sore in the right places and i'm really encouraged going into the rest of the week. Especially considering I did leg weights on lunch and I really pushed during that workout too.

Last week things were blah on the work out front. My right IT band tried it's best to convince me working out wasn't a good idea but, I fought through it and got the work I could get done. Someone posted a quote that was right on time for the motivating factor "The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare”- Juma Ikangaa. I won't be winning any races no time soon, but I do have personal goals that aren't just going to magically become attainable without busting my ass. I shockingly even missed what looked to be the best birthday party of the year to get in a bike ride. I also finally splurged and bought myself a Garmin. I have to say so far there is no buyers remorse on this one. I like being able to see all the information it gives, especiailly in the charts and graphs. Here is what my training looked like last week (pre-Garmin):

• Monday- Weights on lunch, Monday night swim where I felt like I was dying


• Tuesday- Pilates on lunch, TNR 6.2 @ 9:59 (easy)


• Wednesday - Weights on lunch, Spin Class LT test (kicked my ass)


• Thursday- Bike Hill repeats (30 miles)


• Friday- Swim 2000m


• Saturday- long run 13 miles


• Sunday- Long bike ride 31 miles (Cartersville Ga was tougher than I expected can't believe it took so long for me to make it to one of these rides)

This week has been going good so far, hopefully me going so hard during the week won't have too much of a adverse effect on my first race this weekend, the John Tanner Sprint Triathlon. I'm not going to taper off my training for this race, since it's definitely a C race, but it will be nice to kick off the triathlon season with 40 people from my club. Let's hope i'm not #40 to cross the line, that would be a little embarassing. This race will be a good test of how to take off/swim in/everything else that goes a long with a wetsuit, before Gulf Coast Half Ironman in a couple of weeks (which i'm not even close to being prepared for.) Hope all is well, for everyone out there on the interwebs. Race report will soon follow.

Well it's the Big Show...

Well, we are 5 months out from the big show. I am still battling the same right leg issues. Some days are better than others, but I’m going to battle with it. If I can make it off the bike I can crawl 26 miles if need be.

After not being able to go home for Easter, last weekend I had to go home to show my condolences for my brother-in-law’s mother. Death is not something I deal well with, but it’s something that will one day be upon all of us. The silver lining in it all is that I got to see my Mama and the rest of my family. Friday morning my mama woke me up in bed with a box of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. There is nothing higher than #1 and she already has that, but I’m sure she will cash in on the gesture at some point. Man, I love that woman. I also changed the oil in the Green machine, I really enjoy working with my hands fixing (and/or breaking) things.

Enough of that, back to the last week, training was going good til I took a trip home and ate pretty much nothing but shit til it was time to come back. I've been paying for it my first few workouts this week. My workouts last week were.

• Monday - Yoga on lunch, Swim at night 1850m
• Tuesday - TNR 9.1miles 1:27
• Wednesday - Morning swim 500m (pretty much got in the pool so the horrible morning wouldn't win), 1 hour on the trainer
• Thursday - Swim on lunch 35minutes
• Sunday - 8.2 miles 1:32 very bad run very bad

Hopefully this week improves from the beginning of the week. I hope everyone elses training is going smoothly. 151 days to IMMOO

Week 1 is in the books

What a week it has been. With the nice weather came a huge increase in volume with the workouts. Nothing to complain about .... yet though. I am going to do my best not to complain about the heat, lord knows I don't like running or biking in the cold, so I'm going to embrace the heat- let's see how long this last. Last weekend was a great way to lead into the triathlon season winter left with a bang, now it's time to work. First race looks like it may be April 24th, a short sprint. The first real test will be May 8th with a Half Ironman distance race and i'm not prepared for it at all. Let's hope I can prepare in a month - don't plan on dying in Panama City.

This week the training looked like this

• Monday - 50 mins Yoga on lunch; Hour and a half Bikram Yoga in the evening (great for hangovers)
• Tuesday - Pilates on lunch; TNR 7.1 miles @1:03
• Wednesday - Morning swim 1600M; Weights on lunch; Hour on the trainer in the evening
• Thursday - 3.92mile run @ :33 on lunch; Cycling Hill repeats 12 miles
• Friday - 1200 meter swim (fail) endurance swim
• Saturday - 12 mile run @ 1:55
• Sunday - 52 mile long ride @ 3:06, Brick run .85 mile run (IT band not participating)

That's 89 miles for the week, it will be nice to see this number increase as the year goes along.

I went to the bike shop hoping to order a Tri Bike, and they weren't taking orders on the model I wanted. This was definitely a low moment of my weekend. I really like this particular bike shop because it's small and I know the owners, and they look out for me, so I really hope I get to order the bike from them. Hopefully I will hear something from them in the next couple of days and we can get the bike ordered. It would be nice to do the May 8th triathlon on my new bike. Lord knows I need as much saddle time as I can possibly get (on a new bike or my current one.) Easter came and I got to break my fast of Little Debbie's and Ramen. Welcome back to my diet deliciousness.

Week 2 Let's Go. 161 days til Wisconsin.

In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb

Wow, time is really flying by especially now that the warm weather is finally here. Last weekend I had a blast with friends for my birthday. Celebrating 21 never gets old, in fact I think i'm going to keep doing it until someone is calling me dad or i'm married and it gets vetoed (hopefully i'm married before any kids - there is a chance the wife may be cool with it so both are valid.) I'm a firm believer in "you're only as old as you think you are." I really appreciate everyone who played a part in my weekend I truly had a good time. Oh I also have this jewel to tape to my handlebars at Wisconsin.

This is my little brother Chad in a tri suit that doesn't belong to him. If this can't get me through a Ironman bike ride, I don't know what can.

Well with Monday came the official "i'm not going to miss anymore workouts my life is completely devoted to being a finisher at Ironman Wisconsin" mode. Should be a interesting yet fun journey. I think mother nature was on the same schedule because since Monday the weather has been pretty nice. Also after my Tuesday night run, which I struggled a little bit with but decent overall, I went in to see the Chiro and I haven't felt this good since last year. Went out to test my legs Thursday and ran 4 miles at a 8:17 pace (great for me) and didn't feel like I was pushing - talk about a confidence boost. Hopefully things are looking up from here on out. May 8th is my first big race. A half ironman which is a new distance for me. So I hope April takes it's time.

You can tell tri season is here, all of the triathlete blogs on my reader are updatting less and less. Hopefully I will have internet this weekend and can recap my week on Sunday. Not that anyone reads this or cares - but yeah. If you do read I hope Chad brought a smile to your face (yes that is a star wars tattoo - he puts the C in cool.)