Highs and Lows

Over the last two weeks I have had some good races that have really helped get my season off to a great start. Two weekends ago I placed Fourth Overall and First in my Age Group at Duathlon Regionals in Greensboro, NC behind Glenn Thompson and two Pro Triathletes- Albert Harrison and Mike Starkey. Mike blew by all three of us on the bike section and we were like "who the heck was that?!?" We later found out- it's the same Mike Starkey that won the Beach 2 Battleship Half Iron.

 

 

So after that I was happy to get back in the water to start prepping for my upcoming set of Triathlons that are to include the Chasing Chicken Reverse Tri, Angels Tri , and Smith Mt. Lake Tri over the next two months. Well that may be put on hold AGAIN this year. After my swim workouts on Saturday and Tuesday everything seemed fine, but during Thursdays workout I had to stop due to numbness and weakness in my left hand and shoulder. Immediately Thursday evening I was able to see Dr. Henning at Roanoke Orthopedic to get it checked out and I have an appointment at Balance Wellspace this week to check my alignment. At this point it appears to be a nerve impingement causing the issue and I have to just wait it out. I am able to swim all be it... it definitely feels weird and I am sure it looks just as bad as it feels. I am still day by day on competing in Tri's for now.

After the disappointing week in the water, I really needed a moral booster. I had the RV SPCA Tail Chaser 5K this past weekend and after looking at the race times posted last year was hoping it would be a good speed workout. It didn't disappoint! As I lined up I noticed Joe Cotter seemed really excited and ready to go and sure enough... when the gun fired he took off like he was chasing the bullet! Our first mile was a 5:14 pace and I knew that if he kept that up I was going to have to let him go. Luckily for me he did slowdown... a lot, actually too much so at the turnaround I attacked and instantly had 20 yards on him. I held tempo for the rest of the race beating Joe by 22 seconds and finishing in 17:02 which is a new PR for me and just the pick me up I needed!

 

So my running and biking are coming along nicely and that is very good news. I am a bit frustrated with the shoulder, but will do my best to be patient and see what happens. If it doesn't show improvement this month my plan is to scrap the Triathlon's again for this season and after finishing up Long Course Duathlon Nationals in May and Short Course Duathlon Nationals in July I start my training for the Masters 5K Championship in Syracuse NY in October. So... seeing as how swimming is my weakest link and I have a game plan in place I am still super excited about the rest of the season and, God granting, I have a lot to look forward to!

Shamrock Hill 5K Race Report

This past weekend I took part in the Shamrock Hill 5K which I missed last year so I was happy to see how much I could improve over my previous course time in 2012. My running is well ahead of where I started last season so this was a good first test to officially check my progress.

 

The weather this year has been all over the place to say the least but on this particular day we were fortunate enough to have clear skies and a morning temperature at or near 50 degrees which was awesome, but the wind was gusting at 15-20 miles an hour. I knew that Patrick had won this race last year but he was no where to be found, however the last two second place finishers, Lance McDaniel and Andrew Smith, were so I would definitely have some guys to chase.

 

As the gun fired, immediately the three of us rushed to the front and as we took the turn onto Shenandoah Ave. the wind hit us right in the face! I tucked in behind Andrew to shield myself from the wind and we both settled in to our pace as we watched Lance eased away. For the first mile and a half I was content drafting Andrew but knew I would have to make a move soon. I felt pretty good so I jumped and surged on Andrew as we came to the turns leading into the turn around. I was now redlining and eating the headwind on my own just hoping to create enough separation from Andrew to make him willing to allow me to go on without him but to no avail. As we picked up the tailwind on the way back to the finish line he returned the favor and surged on me and I was not able to hold on.

 

In the end, Lance took first, Andrew was second, and I finished third Overall and first place Masters with times that were a little off from last year definitely due to the wind. Even with the wind, my first 5K of this year was sixteen seconds faster than last year so I am well on my way to hopefully finding some more speed as I get closer to Duathlon Nationals in May.