Monday, October 14, 2013

So what happened to that triathlon I was supposed to run?

So for those who have been reading my facebook or blog, you might have seen that I was supposed to run a triathlon this year.  Whatever happened to it?  I had trained most of the summer for the race.  I even borrowed a nice road bike from my good friends Mel and Bryan.  I had donned a swimsuit and even did a few open water swims.



All in all, the training was going really well.  I was still pretty nervous about the swimming portion of it so I had been focusing most of my efforts on that.  The problem is that the week before the race, Boulder got a bit of rain.  And when I say a bit of rain, I mean more rain than I think it has ever gotten on record.  Some were calling it the 100 year flood, or the 1000 year rain.  It was pretty bad.  Several lost lives, millions of dollars in damage (road, property, etc).  I myself was holed up with my wife Joelle out in Broomfield.  To us it just seemed like several days of constant rain.  But 10 miles away in Boulder and even more so in the mountains to the north and west it was much much worse.

Anniversapocolpyse 2013

More Flooding in Boulder

So the company holding the triathlon had to take several issues into account.  At first it looked like they might go ahead with it.  They ordered a water quality test and put up a post saying that they might go forth.  But after talking to the city of Longmont they realized that the EMS and police staff that usually assist on races such as these were so overworked with flood relief that they couldn't staff the event.  So instead, they decided to reschedule it two weeks later.  Unfortunately I already had a race that I was running that weekend in Kirksville, MO so they (Without Limits) gave me a credit to run a race for the following year.  In the end I was pretty mixed up with how I felt about it.  On one hand, I was relieved. This is going to give me a lot more time to really practice my swimming before my first triathlon next year. I'm also hoping that I'll have some more time to get in on my bike.  On the other hand I had really been gearing up all summer long.  I had invested not only my time in prepping for this race, but also several friends that helped me prepare.  I had spent money on gear (swimming and biking gear mostly, along with wetsuit rental and rec center fees).  It's not that it will all go to waste, but still it was a bit disappointing.

So what happens next?  Well in September I completed the Disneyland 10k and 1/2 and had a great race overall even though my running had really suffered throughout the summer.  I also did the FLATS half marathon in Kirksville, MO a few weeks ago.  While my performance was not 100% (I wasn't tapered and been dealing with some injuries) it was one of the best experiences I've had on a race course.  I should have a race report up about it in the next week or so on Nerd Herd Running.

Other than that, my next big challenge is the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World in January.  For those that don't know, it's a new challenge of theirs where you will run a 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, 1/2 marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday.  I looked around for a few different training plans and decided to try out Hal Higdon's plan. It has a lot of miles but I'm hoping that it may prepare me better than I have been in years past.  Not only do I was to just complete the races, I want to feel good doing so.



If you haven't heard, I am not running this alone.  For the past 3 years I've been part of a running team called Team AllEars. This will be the fourth year I've decided to run with them and also raise money for a great cause.  Each person running is asked to help fund raise for Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

If you'd like to donate to help me out meet my fundraising goal, I'd really appreciate it.  Even $5 will help.
http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/DIY/General?px=5837494&pg=personal&fr_id=2350

Anyway, I think that's it for today, hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly as I get closer to the Dopey Challenge.

Thanks!

Mike