week of 7/17/11 update

Hey everyone,
 Hope you guys had a great week! I sure did. Lots to tell you about this weeks too! This past week I went down to lovely San Diego, California for a 3 day training camp and man was it beautiful! I took the train down on thursday where I met up with some of my best Friends with of whom I would be rooming at over the next few days. After gettting settled in and going for a nice easy ride, we headed to the go-cart track for some fun, my competiveness prevailed and I was the fastest among my friends and 5th fastest of the day. Friday I set out early for a time trial speed workout on the bike. I tried to make it out to the beach but got very lost and never found it haha. Later that day I headed to La Jolla Cove for a open water swim from the cove to a beach a little over a mile away. That was very awesome. we ended up going to and from the beach and cove,  being somewhere between 2-3 miles round trip. During the swim we saw so much wildlife it was amazing i have never seen so much in the ocean at once. In the cove where we swam to and from there were thousands of fish many different types as well. In the middle of the kelp forest we swam through there was another school of fish that had to number in the thousands. I also caught a glimpse of a ray and the largest jelly fish I had ever seen which was a bit scary it was probably a foot taller than I am. You could also hear the dolphins communicating back in forth between one another that was just awesome. I'm slowly letting up on my fear of the ocean swimming. Saturday was a good long bike practice that i actually got to the beach that time and today was my running time trial day which was fairly successful but my leg still has a nagging pain that we are trying to shake loose.

Race Updates- This weekend I will be racing in San Luis Obispo on the 24th of July with the very last start time of 1:00 P.M. this will be one of my last tune up races before heading to Burlington, Vermont on August 20th for the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championships.Drop on by the Race at Sinsheimmer Park and  come suppor your local athletes including me as they train and race towards there many goals. Can't wait to see you all out there!

2011 USAT Southwestern states 3rd Place Finish

Hello All!
 Just got back from a very busy weekend! I headed out to San Francisco on Friday after getting a brand new pair of white wall racing tires! I got a bit lost looking for Crissy Field but got there eventually (6 hrs. Later) After stressing out about possibly missing packet pickup and getting to Treasure Island itself I was able to eat dinner and settle in for an early bedtime! Race mornings are always fun when you need to be up at 4:30 A.M but i did sleep well better than the night sooner from just being so excited for the races. After another stressful hour of just getting transition and everything set up I was able to warm up for nearly an hour get a small amount of nutrition and get my suit on. The race started promptly at 7:30 the water temp. for the morning was 58 degrees slightly chilly. It was also a bit chilly on the course until the run portion. The swim didn't go to great I wasn't happy with the time to begin with I added 2 minutes from my previous race but did exit the water 1st. Going onto the flying mount at the Transition 1 for the bike i cramped up on the back of the knee at the hamstring connector. after a half lap i was spinning up and feeling great. The bike course was six laps with 15 turns each lap, very technical but my average speed was the same as when i raced on a flat straight fast course so I am very happy with the outcome of that, the bike is getting better and better every week! I came off the bike in 5th place overall, not to bad. Going into the 10 k run i was feeling a little sluggish for the first half lap after shaking everything loose I started picking it up I negative split the three lap course but unfortunately with 1.5 K to go I cramped up and lost a little bit of time I couldn't shake the cramp up until the last 300 M or so and was able to kick hard into the finish. My efforts earned me a 8th place overall finish and a 3rd place state championship finish. I'm overall quite happy with the bike split and set up for the run and next time I'll be hunting for the win at national championships this August!

2011 USAT Southwestern States Regional Championships

Good Morning Everyone,
 So today is the day before state championships and i can say that i have not been more excited for a race before! I could not even sleep yesterday and that is two days out from the event. I have my bags packed, bike cleaned and have checked through all of my equipment ten times now! Regionals will be taking place at San Francisco's Treasure Island tomorrow morning the 9th of July! The swim will be 2 laps in the chilly bay with an expected high of 58 degrees in the water. The swim will take place on a very technical bike course over six laps 8 kilometers each lap and then will finish with the 3 lap 10 k run! I haven't had a chance to preview the course to much yet but the plan is to do that when i drive in this afternoon! Wish me luck this weekend my goal time is 2:04:00 which would break the current course record as well as win me a state title!

Week of 7/3/11 Update

I'd like to Start by saying happy 4th of July to everyone!
Last week was quite a workweek! Some very notable workouts took place especially during our lovely three day weekend! Saturday morning started out with a lovely 21 mile warmup from Oceano to Lake Lopez with a nice climb to finish warm-up. My coach and I get to the lake expecting to swim a mile to start the rest of  the workout! Unfortunately though the lake was as green as the hudson on St. Patrick's Day. So we skipped the swim and I started the bike part of workout with the coach. That's when the fun started! the temperature was climbing quick and reached the high 80's as I started my hill repeats on Hi mountain Road. Those were a lot of fun especially coming back down the road racing my coach to start the second round of the climb. that was very motivating. Following two rounds of repeats we rode into the Lake and headed out for a short and quick run. first ten minutes were race pace then the finish was a recovery jog! I had never cramped up so much in my life but it was also one of the most fun workouts of my life!

sunday the 3rd was quite awesome as well went for a recovery run and a open water swim with the Avila Dolphin's. I swam about 1.5 miles I need to send out some kudo's and thanks to Duke and Chad on teaching me some sighting skills.

on the 4th Coach Dave, the crew and I endured the St. Patricks day water for a nice 2000 yard swim working on sighting and not drinking in Water! That went really well and felt great. Then i met up with Duke for a 70 mile recovery ride from Arroyo Grande to Cayucos and back. Let me tell you it was one of the most beautiful rides I have done in my life. I started to cramp up on the way back but they let up and after playing frogger through pismo and Shell beach. We made it safe and averaged just over 17 for the ride! Good recovery in my opinion. This friday I head up to San Francisco for Regionals looking for a win!Stay tuned during the week for more