On Labor Day, we had a chance to go cheer on our friends M and G while they were doing their first sprint tri. Looking back a couple of months ago, we got them hooked shortly after we came back from our Ironman. M had mentioned that she had started running but we think they got to consider doing tris after talking more and more about it to us. We helped them go and check out bikes, talked them through the basics, helped them work on a training plan that was doable, and then they signed up for their first tri.
G coming into T2
G after a fast T2, getting on his 5K
Their first tri was the Blackland Sprint Tri. They were a bit nervous that week, asking the normal questions and we helped them plan the race, and help calm their nerves. They were ready and wanted to have fun. We had told them we were going to cheer them on during the race, so we planned to get there for the start, but a storm rolled in so it pushed us back a bit as we had to drive about 30 miles to get to Plano, TX. We had calculated their times and figured we would catch them coming into T2. We actually had a good place as we set up right at the dismount line. We got to see others before them come in and cheer everyone on. We saw G and M and then headed to catch them at the exit of T2. they looked great and seemed to be enjoying the race. We headed to chase them on the run. While we were waiting, we were able to see a few of our Instagram and Twitter friends and that was cool too, to get to cheer so many awesome people on our rest day :)
All smiles from M, it must have been a good ride :)
it wasn't too bad, she was still smiling
Cheering made us think about our beginnings, also made us think of why we do this, which is one of the big reasons of this blog. We remembered how our first race was, our nerves, excitement and all the different emotions that go along with simply racing. Now, even though we have moved to longer distances and we have gotten more experienced, we haven't forgotten that we do this for other reasons. First and foremost it's to have fun, we push our bodies and want to do well, but we want to have fun. Although at times, pain comes with racing, the feeling of accomplishment at the end is amazing! We also do it because we want to become better individuals and better as a team. Team Res-Puli that is! We've grown so much as individuals, not only physically through this process, but also mentally. We are tougher mentally, which makes us better on the personal and professional fronts. As a team, being a couple that tris has taught us so much, tri-ing as a couple, being married, pushing each other, building a stronger relationship, and having fun together.
So while we had a lot of fun cheering and had a great time seeing M and G become part of the triathlete world and being proud of them, we also had a chance to look back and think about our tri life. We think that we'll be triing for a while, we love it, enjoy it and best of all... we still have FUN!!.
That's it for now... our next post will be probably be after we take on Trifecta for the 2nd time. Should be a fun race.
Last Sunday (August 4th) we had our latest race. It was a race that we signed up for before Ironman Texas so it was a race that even though we wanted to do to some extent turned out to be a bit of a drag. To start like we've been talking for the last few entries we haven't really found that motivation to get back into the groove of training with the same intensity we were before. Additionally, our work schedules have been crazy busy with traveling on both sides. To the point that for instance this time the one traveling pre-race was Res and going to Denver on an all week work training wasn't the most inducing environment to train and returning Friday to leave on Saturday morning to race on Sunday was a bit exhausting. To all that add a couple of weeks of above 100--degree weather in Texas and really makes things difficult. Yes we started using the "it's too hot" excuse. Oh well, we think we deserve it after training all winter for IMTX.
We don't really have any major races scheduled... Oh wait. Lets take that back, we don't have any long distance races scheduled. I guess an Olympic Tri (trifecta Tri), Bourbon Chase and Dallas Marathon sound so short after a 15:00 hr day. Needless to say we feel like our bodies still have some endurance left despite the few pounds we packed since May 18th. Maybe not.... We know that.
We went to Rivercities Tri pretty much just wanting to do it just to do it. Maybe with the goal of not coming back with worse times than last year and maybe getting a PR, other than that the usual have fun and try to do our best.
The day came, Saturday our drive east to Shreveport was easy. We convince K to do the drive so Puli was actually happy to not be the driver as normally happens. It's always fun to go to this race as the swag is pretty good. Better than most. For some reason it is one of the top 5 tris with the best swag.
Had to take the same pic as last year :)
Our day started at the typical 5:00 alarm, get ready have a little breakfast. Packed the bikes and bags and headed to the lake. It is a beach start so it is always fun to have those. Puli was in the 3rd wave and Res was a couple of waves after. So off we went. The swim was pretty good for both of us, both of us lowered our times on it which was a good start. Our bike splits were good. Puli's was 0.1 mph faster than last year and he felt pretty strong the whole way to the point he was worried that he was going too fast and wanted to have legs left so he pushed back. Res' bike while not faster than last year was strong, consistent, and really the progress has been seen on it. Our run was when the wheels fell off. Puli was feeling good and started ok, but the heat took a toll on him and he couldn't get his HR down or stay cool. Res' run was great 2:00' PR over last years run which was amazing. Our transitions suffered a little as the racks were weird and the bikes were hard to get in and out. So in recap Puli didn't PR by less than a minute which he wil take and Res PR by over 2 minutes which she was excited about.
Results...
In summary we decided that we definitely need to get back in the groove of things. Can't imagine if we had stuck to the training plan we have on our schedules which is focused on short races and building that speed that we need especially getting off the bike or on the swims.
We also felt like we had lost respect of the distance to some extent. Our sprint or olympic nutrition/hydration is not as well thought out as our long distance ones. Is like we feel we don't need it. We needed it last weekend. We ran out of Infinit on the bike as it was so hot and humid. So starting the run with that in your mind that your are already digging up your reserves is not the greatest feeling.
Throwback podium... last year's podium
We will do a short 5k in Belmar, NJ this weekend. The Belmar Chase, supposed to be pretty flat and fast we will see how the Jersey shore treats us. In the meantime we will definitely start our training discipline back on Monday when we get back home. We have a month to tweak a few things before Trifecta as we definitely want to PR this one. We have about 15 or so teammates doing it as well.
Then after that we plan to take a triathlon hiatus and focus on our Bourbon Chase and Dallas Marathon to close out the year. We want to focus on the runs as it seems to be our weakest leg and also the one that we've lost the most on after IMTX.
We'll hope to share the experience after Belmar's 5K. We want to keep the tradition of doing a race when we go to NJ, it might not be a podium like last years but we will keep the tradition alive.
