Salina "Sprint" Triathlon Race Report

Sorry all, not going to have any pictures for this one, the wife slept in and I made the hour trip west to Salina for this one!  Folks always ask me why I do triathlons and I just enjoy competing I guess.

Well, the reason I decided to race Salina just a week after my Manhattan race, was that due to timing and moving issues coming up, I wouldn't be able to dedicate the time I'd wanted to race the REV3 Branson 70.3 race, so instead of shelling out $275 bucks, plus travel, and not really being satisfied with my results, I'd save the money, continue to train until next year and ramp up with some Olys to get ready for this task next year.  So I'd decided to race local and get some more fitness under my belt for next year.

Well anyway, I got up for the second straight Sunday at the butt-crack of dawn (well, it was still dark until after I got to the race site), loaded up and headed out, rocking out with the road clear and loud music.  I arrived about an hour later, picked up my packet, got all marked up, set up the transition (which has been a nice change this year, they have been fast), and headed out in search of the potty.  This is always the thing that happens when I get set up, part of my routine, so I do it!

As it turns out, this was going to be a small race, since school had started, so no kids in the race, as well as this was the first year in a new spot.  The fact that the distance was very odd (300 yard swim, 22.5 mile bike, 4.5 mile run) placed it in the pseudo-sprint / short Olympic race, but I didn't mind too much.  This distance played a bit towards my strengths.

Whaaaaat!? Andrew can swim?

 Guess they had some photos of me!  Me getting ready to get wet

SWIM: 5:12 (1st in AG, 8th overall)

We started in a self-seeding, time trial start, and I think I nailed my seeding as I was about 15 people back, never got close to the guy in front of me and not letting the lady behind me catch up to me (I got a little scared in the middle of the swim!), but I think that I was thinking I would be about 5:30-6:00 for the swim, but again, there was a nice 200 meter run to the T1, so for all I know, I could have been about in the high 4:00, but either way, with minimal swimming, I am respectable at least and only loss about a minute to the top swimmer, so not shabby.

T1:  0:30 (1st in AG, 4th OA)

I have been hitting my transitions very well this year, and I think it helps keep my momentum going for the race.  I have been keeping it simple this entire year, and I think I can cut my T2 times down, I can make a little more bank.  But right now, I am happy with the T1

BIKE: 1:20:34 (1st in AG, 7th OA)

This was a lot longer than my usual bikes, but I had a good plan going into it.  Hammer the upwind portion, take it easy in the side / headwind, and on the last stretch, keep going hard.  Well it took me a bit to get going on the bike and picked off a few riders, and once we hit the northbound leg, it was with the wind and slightly down hill.  But since this was a nice long block route, you get the wind from all angles, but in the group that was all close together, about 5 of us that were within eyesight of each other, we all were about the same speed.  I was much better than 3 of them on the climbs and made up ground, only to give it away on the flats.  But I caught and lead the group of 5 for about half the race and I didn't see anyone else in front of me for the longest time, and I started to think that I might be in the lead.  I pushed that from my mind as I started to eat a bit on the bike and the 4 others caught back up with me and passed me, I hit a little lull, then picked it back up to chase mode, to try to get back in striking distance to them.  As we got back into town, I passed one other guy and the other three were just ahead of me as we rolled into T2 very closely packed.  I was happy to see that despite how close we all were on the bike course, I didn't see any drafting when I was towards the back, it was nicely spaced out.  But my legs felt a little toasted in the middle of the ride, but I knew the first 100 yards out of T2 would tell me how my legs were.

T2: 1:00 (3rd in AG, 28th OA)

As usual, my T2 has been ugly and this time was no different.  I had a little issue with socks (note to self, get a pair of sockless shoes for next year), and I racked my bike backwards, so I had to rack it right because in a bigger race, I might get a penalty for that, so practice makes perfect.  But I got all my gear, and got out in 60 seconds, but it was still slow as three guys I was with on the bike, exited before me, so I went into chase mode right away.

Heading in to the finish line in my old kit

RUN: 31:06 (1st in AG, 4th OA)

I did chat with a guy as he passed me, stating that I couldn't wait for the run, and boy was I right.  The first few steps, my legs felt great and fresh and ready to race this different distance.  4.5 miles is border-line for me right now with my run fitness (endurance, not speed) and it would be redline the entire way!  It took me about 2/3 of a mile to catch the guy I thought was in first out of transition, and he jokingly asked if I wanted to run with him, but I wanted to get some distance in case I was in first and just go until I blow!  So I clocked my first mile in 6:22, so yeah I was feeling good.  We turned on to a nice long stretch down a levee, and it was hot.  I ended up skipping the first two (of three) waterpoints, which was a mistake as the temperature rose.  I continued to look ahead to see if anyone else was there, and there wasn't, so I began thinking I might actually win this thing, which was nice to keep my mind off of my legs and the heat.  But I maintained a nice pace the rest of the way, and caught a second wind and finished semi-hard, not close to puking.  I walked around and checked the results (Oz Endurance has an up-to-the-minute results tracker that scrolls, and is VERY cool) and that is when I noticed that I was third.  Those time trial starts always get me, but the winner beat me by almost 9 minutes and I missed 2nd by a minute, but overall, I was happy with my race, at an odd distance, but I think that it might be time to move up in distances.

Finishing it up at the line

OVERALL: 1:40:20 (1st in AG, 3rd OA)

I was happy for my results and my effort, but still in looking at the overall winner, I still have a bit of a ways to go.  But one more triathlon in this season for me, the Fort Riley Splash and Dash, where I hope that I'll have the home field advantage over the field.  But we will see I guess!  I guess I'd better get back to training then!

2013 Manhattan "Apple" Triathlon Race Report

It is NEVER a good sign when vultures are waiting in the trees before a race!  But that's what they were doing around the River Pond at Tuttle Creek State Park for Sunday's 2nd Annual Manhattan Apple Tri.

I was deployed last year so this will be my first time here, and since it was almost two months without a race, it felt like the start of the season all over again.  I was planning on using this for a "speed" day of training and not worry too much about the results, as long as I was Top-15 or so, which I think was doable.

Well I rolled out of bed at 0500 in the morning and let the dog out, ate a piece of cold pizza, banana and some water and gatorade and got on the road with my lovely wife, Jen, who hates early morning races (sorry, most all of them are!).  We got out the door at about 0545, and made the quick trip to Manhattan, the Little Apple, which is home of K-State (EMAW!) and lot's of good restaurants (why I haven't gained 20 pounds is beyond me!).  The course was at the Tuttle Creek State Park, just below the Tuttle Creek Reservoir at the campgrounds.  The park is below the dam, by about 200 feet or so, which means, you get to climb out of the park on the bike!  Nice.

I picked up my packet yesterday, so all I had to do is roll in and set up transition, which was getting packed more and more by the minute, so got my body marked, and headed on in.  Found a good rack on the main aisle headed towards the "bike out" (tip: I try to situate myself close to the bike out/bike in "gate" as it is easier to just run without the bike than with it).  It was nice in transition with about half or so of many first or second timers to tris.  They were asking questions and both myself and a nice guy I racked next to, Steve Klappa, were answering questions and chatting up with everyone, so all in all a good time.  I enjoy helping newer folks to tri with things, because I was once there and nice folks helped me out, so it's always great to return the favor.  The only thing I would say was this wasn't a good bike course for first timers (with a nice 3/4 mile hill right off the bat), but looks like many survived that.

Note the "barrier" in the water.  Had to negotiate that twice!

 

Just before the start of the swim, the race organizers change the start to a time trial start instead of a wave start (time trial went off every 3 seconds) because of the swim area barrier could not be removed, so you had to go over, under, or in some cases, through it.  Twice.  Luckily it was in shallow water for the first crossing, and a bit deeper for the 2nd.  While I swam, I almost slammed in to it, then went under it.  It was kind of fun watching the people go over or around it in different ways, one guy even went all "western roll" on it, high jumper style!  Lots of "oohs" and "ahhhs" from shore.

Me heading to the water

 

Swim: 9:39 (12th overall) 500 meters

 

Well I seeded myself poorly, it seemed as I passed three people in front of me in the first 25-50 yards of the swim.  The swim was a bit tough as I was good sighting the whole way, even after the first turn buoy, which then went right in to the sun, and I wore clear goggles, oops!  But I was nice and straight in my lines, but a few times I got swam over, at a 90 degree angle.  Not sure where they were going but it wasn't the way I was.  It really didn't bother me at all, but with the time trial start, I really didn't find any feet to draft off of, but despite not swimming for almost two months, didn't really affect me much.  I think my time would have been very good out of the water, but there was a long 200 meter run on hard sand and gravel to transition. Ouch!

Passed 2 guys at the mount line, the other guy was like "Wow, that was a cool mount!"

T1: 0:36 (11th overall)

T1 was nice and quick, could have been a bit better as I had to wipe the gravel off my feet from the long run in.  I did pass two guys who stopped at the mount line to get on the bike, but I did my "flying squirrel" mount and was off and rolling, picking up two spots with less work.

 

Passed 2 guys at the mount line, the other guy was like "Wow, that was a cool mount!"

 

Bike: 34:06 (21.8 mph / 6th overall) 12.4 miles

 

As I stated, the first 1.4 miles of the route was uphill to get out of the park proper, with a little 200 foot of climbing, right off the bat.  Luckily, I could climb and I ended up passing about 7 folks on that first climb, including my buddy, Trevor Woods, who I ride with on post a few times.  It was a long way to the top (if you want to rock n' roll!  Sorry had to slide in some AC/DC in there), but once you turned onto Hwy 13, it was on like donkey kong, jack!  Nice flat and semi smooth road with a slight uphill towards the turn around point.  About a mile and a half later after passing him, Trevor blows back by me (on his way to 3rd fastest bike split, he may not climb well, but on the flats, watch out!).  The top 6 splits were between 31:48 and my 34:06, then the times started to drop off quick, but I know if I want to contend better, need to put more speed on the bike.  Might mean upgrades like wheels and a helmet.  Will have to see. 

Coming in for my "landing".  "Call the ball, Mav!"

 

 

T2: 0:45 (62nd overall)

 

 

Well T2 bit me in the butt again, because I put on socks, then shoes and apparently take a coffee break, but overall, it isn't a bad time, but can be better.

 

Rolling out of T2, looking to track down a few folks.

 



Run: 20:09 (9th overall) 5 km

On to my bread and butter, the run.  Again, I have been so bike focused lately, my run I thought would be really bad, but coming out of T2, I felt good and fresh, ready to chase down a few folks.  My legs felt great and I really have been running good off the bike this year, and that is what it is all about.  I did have some technical difficulties with the Garmin, as you can see below:

"Come on you stupid thing, start already!"

 

Since the bike was drafting clean and I wasn't mad at anyone, I didn't "run angry" like at Gull Lake, but I still ran strong.  The course was a nice flat-ish "lollipop" out and back course, and you could see all the folks in front of you and chasing (once you turned around).  Didn't have too much problems on the run, didn't need any water as it was still nice and cool, felt like fall to me.  I did catch and pass about 5 guys or so, with no one passing me and really brought it on home to the finish.  No gasping for air, wanting to puke or anything, a nice metered effort.  I was just behind Trevor and he crossed before me and we got our medals and some gatorade and chatted for a bit.  Then, I was told results were already up, which was very fast, so I headed over to the trailer and sure enough, they had a print out with your swim split, and a monitor (flat screen TV) with a scrolling list of finishers, in real time!  That is so very cool!  I have never seen that in a race yet, but the guys at Oz Endurance Timing really have there stuff wired tight!  The only downside is then I started to monitor watch, since we started in a time trial, you really didn't know where you stood, because a really fast guy could have started towards the back, but my 4th place and 1st military placing held up.

Trucking towards the line, pirate style!

 

 

Overall: 1:05:14 (4th overall, 1st in AG)

 

I went and cleaned up a bit and cleaned up my transition area, and waited on the awards.  I just missed getting on the overall podium by about 50 seconds, but I left a bit of time out on the course, but I met my goal of making it a good training race, and got a top-5 finish to boot!  And I'm glad they pull the top 3 out, since the winner was the 2012 USAT Sprint National Championship runner-up for my age group.  Yikes!!!  I was about 7 minutes back, powered by his 17:12 run split, I really need to get some speed work in to compete with that!

Me and my 1st AG win! (I liked the finisher medal better!)

 

 

Well, I have more training the next few weeks, with another race coming up, the Fort Riley Splash 'n Dash, which I am hoping to have a good showing at as it is my "hometown" race and would LOVE to win it, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, as there are a lot of fast folks who could pop in.  But I can always dream!  And as far as doing this race again, I would do another Oz Endurance race again, with the timing being up so quick and the overall results posted the same day, doesn't get much better than that!

 

Thanks for reading!



Gull Lake Triathlon Race Report

Ah another trip down memory lane with this race.  if you remember from my 2011 RR on Gull Lake, this was my first ever triathlon, back in 1993!  Wow, that was some time ago, but since it is about as close to a "hometown" race as I can, so either way, it is always great to get back and race it.  Just too bad I wasn't in shape enough for the Olympic distance, but next year I will make sure I am rip roaring ready for it, since I have a wedding for my wife's twin sister to go to, just hope the dates are good!

Well won't have any race pictures since I can't figure out how to download the ones from the race photographer (and I AM too cheap to pay for them too!), so I'll have to use "other" photos.  But I promise, they'll be entertaining!

I got up at 0500 to head over from Paw Paw to Gull Lake, about a 30 minute drive or so in order to get their early and get my warmup and transition set up all nice (and get a choice spot too!), so I skipped the standard hot shower and got out the door at 0515, and headed out.  Nothing like no traffic that early in the morning.  I rolled in and found a nice parking spot, got my gear, and rode the 1/4 mile back to the race site.

Got into the transition area, and found that all the good spots were gone.  Bummer!  But I found a spot in the middle, on a post that would work, I set up my area in minimalist fashion (my T times are getting really good, so I'll keep the K.I.S.S. from now on), moved my bag out of the way next to the fence and headed over to pick up my chip and packet.  I ran into the race director (RD), Jim Mishler, who I have chatted with in emails and on the forums at Slowtwitch, so I stopped and chatted with him a little bit, but let him go, since I knew he was a busy guy.  But it was great to chat with him and meet him in person.

After I got my goodies, I headed back to transition, and headed out on my bike to warm up and get ready.  I have been finding that warming up is a key part to getting ready, so I will continue to do that as well.  Nice uneventful ride, and got back and got myself ready.  Headed to the lake to check the water, and it wasn't too bad, so decided to skip the wetsuit this race as well, since it takes me a while to get it off, so no worries.

Well time was about ready to get this thing going, so got my warm up swim in and felt pretty good, so felt like a top-10 kind of day, so figured I'll find out in a bit.

The swim was an in-water start and of course the buoys were past where I could stand up in so I was towards the middle left and we took the countdown and we were off.  I put myself in the 40 and over wave, even though my bib said 39 and under (more on this later), and I could see that I was hanging in there with these guys.  My sighting was pretty bad, but just like in the Topeka Tinman, I was actually passing people in the water.  This is a new thing for me, so I worked to keep on peoples toes until someone faster went by, then jump to them.  So this is how you are supposed to swim!  It felt good not to get blown out of the water.  I stayed in the pack and we actually caught the under 40 crowd a bit (they had a 3 minute headstart) and I poured it on after the final turn buoy and came out of the water with my "death-warmed over" look, and ran up the hill to transition.

Swim - 9:13 (including a long run up to T1), good for 21st overall

I shot thru transition and turned in a blazing :37 sec T1 time!  Again, I kept it nice and simple, shoes on, glasses on, helmet on and bike and gone!  That was good for fastest T1 all day!  Passed a bunch of folks working on their wetsuits there.

T1 - :37, 1st overall

Now on to the bike, one of my favorite events, which helps set the table for a good run most days.  Well I ran past the mount line and conducted the flying squirrel mount and stuck the landing again (one day, I'll miss, and that might not be a good day for me!), but I got going and up to speed and started to hunt down other swimmers ahead of me.  I picked off a few guys ahead of me in the first 2 miles, when I felt a disturbance in the force.  Some guy had pulled up to me and sat on my wheel.  As you know, drafting is a big time no-no and against most every rule book (except when it is an ITU or other race that let's you, written, in the rules).  Most drafters in triathlons are looked at in the same breath as dopers and course-cutters, I think they are the lowest form of pondscum.  Guys who let others do 100% of the work to save their energy for later.

Usually most folks I know will pee while riding, covering the drafter in, um, nasty stuff, but I couldn't (I couldn't pee and never tried it while riding), so I just put in a nice surge to try to shake him off my wheel, which was difficult to do, since he was a bit fresher than me, since he was riding my draft for a mile already or so.  Well that didn't happen, so I just kept up my pace and tried to leave him behind.  Well, guess he got the hint and passed me, so I dropped back the 21-ish feet and kept working hard, while his "surge" must had pooped him out since riding out front is hard work. 

Well I passed him back and bang, there he is again on my wheel!  I wasn't going to let him mess with my ride so I just kept cranking and praying for a pothole to take him out!  But he just hung with me until about a mile from the turn around, and I just let him go.  About that time, the lead sprint racers were passing me, and as I saw, not that many were ahead of me.  NICE!  I didn't really see who was who, since there were two waves of sprinters, so I knew I was top 15 or so, so I put in another push and caught up with, and passed the DB (not douchebag, but draftboy!  But either works for me!)  I outbraked and out turned him and put in one more good surge to try to open the gap up a bit and that worked, for about a mile.  After he passed me with about 2 miles to go, I asked him if he was going to sit on my wheel all day or actually do some work of his own!  I might have tossed in a "cheater" and "asshole" too, but I ended up passing him on the last hill and rode into T2 with 20 seconds on him.

Bike - 28:04 (21.4 mph), 7th overall

Well, I am not sure what happened in T2, since I really gave away a bunch of time there.  My socks took a while to get on (gotta learn to run sockless), my shoes took a while to get off (might try dismounting without being in shoes, ouch!), and getting my running shoes on was slow (I have to run in shoes at least!).  But my T2 was just ugly!

T2 - 1:12 (could have been dead last for all I know, leader went out in :25, uggh!)

Well, my little friend DB headed out of T2 ahead of me and for me, that was game on (cue the video of the kangaroo with the ball!)  So, despite taking my time in T2 (tea and crumpets take time, ok?), I was out of T2 and starting to chase down folks like they owed me money!

The 5K run was an out and back route, which was good since you can keep track of everyone out there.  I caught a few folks in the first half mile and was really feeling good today, so I was just rolling on the power and catching people.  I came up on my little buddy, DB, and was going to ask him if he wanted to draft me on the run as well, but decided against it and just blew his doors off passing him.  I wanted him to know it was me and I was not just "ambling" bye him.  And I carried that effort past the first water stop where I let the volunteers know I was good and thanked them.  Up ahead, I counted only a few more folks and was surprised to see I was in the top 7 overall, with both waves included.  Wow, and the race leader (and overall winner) shot me a thumbs up as he was headed back in and I tossed a shaka his, letting him know I was nice and strong.  After the turn around I just put my head down and kept the legs turning over, and got only one other person before the line, but had a bunch more just ahead of me.  I finished up strong, didn't hurl and got my chip off, and waited for DB.

Run - 20:03, 1st overall (NICE!)

After he came in, I asked him why the need to draft me almost the entire bike leg, and he told me that it was draft legal today.  I let him know to the contrary and that drafting is weak sauce, and unless the rules specifically state it is draft legal, it isn't.  I told him to do his own work on the bike next time and left it at that.  I headed back and chatted with 1st place guy for a bit (he was in town visiting his parents in the area) and headed down to the water to clean up, cool off and change.  Wow the water was a lot colder the second time around!

After changing and feeling a bit more refreashed I went over and looked at the preliminary results, and looked in the 40-44 and didn't see my name.  I thought that weird til I looked at the top and saw that I was the Master's Champion.  Holy cow!  Ended up 2nd overall, thanks to a good run off the bike.  On the downside, I still haven't won my AG, but I'll still take a trophy anyday!

Overall, I was going into the race with a "I can make Top-10" and came away with a 2nd overall.  In addition to that, I found out that I qualified for the AG Nationals this August in Milwaukee, but I won't be able to go (getting ready to move and overall REALLY busy), but again, I will be working next year towards qualifying for the Nationals in the Oly and doing it in an Olympic race.

I have a nice long layoff till my next race (middle of August), so I guess it is time to get back to training!  I'll try to find some photos if I can.

Topeka Tinman Short Course Triathlon Race Report

Well I ended up having a pretty good day at the races this last Saturday, despite my best attempts not too!  On Thursday before the race, I went and explored the area where I am coordinating a mountain bike trail on Fort Riley and came back with a tick or two!  Awesome!  Then on my training ride, I was descending a large twisty hill and had a rear wheel hop and went into a tree at about 20 mph, which hurt!  But after I got cleaned up, the crash wasn't too bad, some minor scrapes and bruising, nothing too bad.  Even the bike wasn't too bad, just a flat front tire.  But that was a heck of a way to "tune up" for my first tri of the season!

Ended up getting up at the butt crack of dawn for the race, which wasn't too bad, despite the wife was coming with me so she was a little sleepy to say the least.  Got the car loaded and we hit the road for the about 60 minute trip to Topeka and Lake Shawnee, the home for the last 33 years for the Tinman Triathlon.  We got there pretty well without getting lost much and got into the park nice and early.  Got my chip, packet, and shirt all without a wait (benefits of getting there early) headed to transition and got to my rack, and got the "pole position" on the aisle, which was a bonus.  After setting up transition, headed back to get Jen and drop off my extra stuff I didn't need, came back and went for a warmup ride to get to know a little of the course.

Well despite reports that the course was flat, the opening area in the park was a little hilly, nothing major, but enough to get the gears shifting a bit, so rode out 2 miles and came back, so at least I knew those miles for the ride.  After I got back, I racked the bike, and headed to the water to see how cold it was.  The lake wasn't bad at all, a nice 75 degrees, so I would get to go without the wetsuit, and race in my new 2XU Project X trisuit. Swam a little bit, and got out to get ready to roll.

This year, I aged up to the tough M40-44 AG, so wasn't sure how tough it would be, but was nice to have a slightly smaller wave to go off with, so that was good.  Turns out the race winner was a M40-44, as was 4th overall.  Yikes, got some fastys here!

I ran as far as I could in my "onesie"!

 

Waited for my wave, wave 5 and lined up towards the back right, as the course was a trapezoid shaped course with all left hand turns.  Too bad my goggles kept fogging up with the humid air, but oh well, I was going to find toes and draft, which I did and then something happened that doesn't happen all the time; I passed people.  Lots of people.  Not that I was that fast, just that I was less slow.  So instead of getting run into, I was running into people (thanks goggles), but nothing too bad, and no panic attacks in the water either.  Just a bit slow, but I moved my way thru the crowd pretty well, only had to "otter" over to catch my breath two or three times, which is a big improvement!

Wet and a little tired, but still moving fast!

 

But I came out of the water about 17th in my wave, and mixed with the other 4 waves, so I was tired, but not tired enough to walk the hill to transition like a few in my wave were.  Hey, T1 is free speed and time in my book. But hey, if they want to walk, no problem, I'll run it and pick up places!

 

Swim - 8:32 / 400meters (17th in wave / 90th overall)

T1 - 1:32 (13th fastest overall) - This was my Achilles heel before!

 

Now with the non-fun stuff out of the way, now I can get to one of my strengths, the bike!  I have been working harder on the bike this year, which has seemed to carryover to the run and a little bit to the swim, which is great.  As I ran from transition, I ended up passing 3 folks who stopped at the mount line and mounted their bikes.  I chose not to do that and did the flying squirrel mount and stuck the landing (nailed it!) and started to motor.  With 4 waves ahead of me, the traffic was mighty thick and I was saying "On your left" a whole lot, so that I didn't cross the centerline.  But I started to put the hammer down early in the park, knowing I would have to power through the wind on the outbound leg of the "lolly pop" shaped course, and could get the tailwind on the way back in.  I was making sure that I was putting in a good, metered effort and tried to look a little more fresh when I passed guys in my AG who were fast in the swim than me.  I ended up passing 4 from my wave in T1 and was hopping to make more ground up on the bike, which I only caught another 4 on the bike, the rest were from the other waves, since I passed a TON of people out there (hmmm, now if I can get some aero wheels and helmet that would mean more fast! LOL), but still was moving up until I got to one guy who was in the 45-49 AG and we passed and re-passed each other.  Got a little annoying as he got me on the hills, but the downhills and flats I outpowered him.  After a few of the "cat and mouse" games I decided to put up a big effort to get hime away from me (don't think he was drafting me, but again, I don't look behind me when I race).

Sorry for the language, but this is funny!

 

So after we made the turn back on to the "stick", I put in a nice hard effort (around 27-28mph) for about a mile or so.  That seemed to do the trick, but I really had to pay attention to the road because most other folks were slower and objects in your Oakley's are closer than they appear!  Yikes, it was like in those video games when you hit the "turbo" button, you catch up to things a lot quicker!

Nice and low, getting ready for the dismount

 

I figured I was done with the dude, but just towards the end , he caught me and passed me, but I was going into power-down mode to get the legs ready for the run, so I figured I'd see him soon in T2 or the run.  I don't completely stop riding hard for the last two miles, I just stop the low RPMs, and get a higher cadence to get the legs ready, which translates to a few MPH slower, but worth it to have "good" legs versus "dead" legs.

 

Bike - 36:35 (21.3 MPH) 16th fastest bike split - not bad, could be better

T2 - :59 (still scrolling, still scrolling, ah 75th overall, ugggh, still not too bad)

Heading back in from the run.

Ah, on to my meat and potatoes, the run.  I wasn't sure how I would do after running the 10 miler this week and with the heat, but I was going to give it my best effort for the first race of the year (at least for triathlons).  But after a semi-quick transition (need to go sockless for the run), I was out and running and started to pick off folks right out of the gate.  I even found Mr. Cat-and-Mouse and passed him and just kept the pace up and keep my splits in the low to mid 6:00s, but the heat was a factor in that.  At least it was an even player out there and factored in to everyone's runs as well.  Despite the black trisuit, I was still in good shape and managed the heat well enough not to die, so I kept going and passing folks.  I did get passed by the eventual female winner, she came out of no where and passed me, which woke me up and I pressed hard the last 1.25 miles (the run was about .15 long, but still had a good run), and overall had a good run.

Thinking about icecream, icebergs, Ice Cube, Ice T, anything cool at this point!

 

Run - 22:09 (13th overall) and not too bad for a little long and a lot hot!

Overall - 1:09:44 (2nd in AG, 16th Overall)

 

Overall, not a bad day, I did get to move up to 2nd in my AG, since the race winner was in the AG (and 7 minutes ahead of me!), but this is a good measuring stick for the rest of the season I hope.  Incidentally, if I was still in the M35-39, I would have won by over 4 minutes, so woulda, coulda, shoulda, but that is ok.  I know that I have to work on my swim, or switch to a duathlon, but right now I am good with my first of the season, but know I can improve on a few things.

 

Next race up is the Gull Lake Triathlon, and hopefully cooler weather up in Michigan.  I get to vacation up there for a few weeks and going to sneak in two races (GL and a 5 Miler on the 4th!), so I will have to keep the mileage up and lay off the cake and ice cream!  Thanks for reading!

Victory Week 10 Miler Race Report

Well this past week was Victory Week here for the mighty 1st Infantry Division, the OLDEST active duty division, and each year at around the Division's birthday, we celebrate by holding a Victory Week were the units in the division compete against each other in many different sports, like water polo, basketball, flag football, soccer, and other team events (little known facts: People think that Kansas is known for being a basketball state; WRONG, water polo!  Yup!).  I am not sure about that fact, but hey, why not!

LTC(R) Ted Leblow (center in Big Red One singlet) was the team captain last year.

Well as part of the sports extravaganza, there was a 10 mile race, which serves not only to see who has the fastest battalion level team, but to select the always competitive and fast Fort Riley Post Army Ten Mile Team that races in Washington DC at the Army Ten Miler (Last year was the 8th team, and 3rd Active Duty Army Team!), so the team has dudes who can FLY.

But I lined up this year at 0600 in the morning to take an outside chance for the team (didn't want to go too hard since I have a race this weekend too), but as we started out, I could tell, top 15 was not in it for me.  My first mile was 06:31, and I was about 45-50 people back, yeah, not happening, but will use this as a nice endurance/speed workout for the week.  I am in good shape, but my focus was short, fast races, so the 10 miles didn't hurt too bad, but if I maintained sub-7 minute pace, it would hurt.  With a capital H.

 My two photos near the finish line. Amanda got both with both feet off the ground!  Good timing!

My splits slowly slowed down, which was good, and I kept them in the mid-7 minutes thru 7 miles, and topped out at 08:07, so kept the average for the 10 miles at 07:29, which was good for me, for any distance.  Biggest thing was the wind.  Wind at your back on the way out, everyone was flying, but once they turned back into the wind, the big guys started to shrivle up.  After the turn around, I started to organize "pacelines" of runners to take turns breaking the wind and that really helped, either physically or mentally, but my groups started to move up on folks, where I may have been in the top 50 at the turn around, I finished in the top 30 or so.  Was nice to keep picking people off, but most times, my drafting buddies were shelled out the back, so sometimes I gapped up solo to other runners.  Only one big guy didn't want me to draft him and he ran all over to make sure, so I left him in my dust and told him "See you at the finish line".

But I finished up nicely (route was 10.3, so a little long) but I still PR'd my 10mile time, my 15K time, my 10K (post college) and 5K (post college) times, so overall, it wasn't a bad day at all.  Now on to my notes:

1.  The kid who won the race, WOW, was flying big time.  I think I heard he hit the 5 mile turnaround at 27 minutes or something.  I hit it at 37 and change.  So he put 10 minutes on my, in 5 miles, in a 10 mile race.  Wow, out of my league.
2.  It was hot and windy, water stops were a must, mainly for cooling on the head, not so much drinking.
3.  I figured that we would have about 100 folks out there, Nope!  it was 300 and possibly closer to 400.  Nice turnout!
4.  Wish I would have worn my running stuff, instead of my "PT" stuff.  It breathes better, is lighter, and just feels faster.  Oh well.

Overall, I am happy with my run, shows that my fitness level is good going into these next few races, so I should make some noise this year in the sprints and be good to move to fewer, longer races next year, if I keep my volume up (mainly the swimming).

But looking forward to racing on Saturday in Topeka in the Tinman Sprint Triathlon, in my new age group, the men's 40-44 (I'm still 39 right now, but the age-up rule means I race at 40!), so I am the new kid on the block for this year, good times!

Salina Road Race (Bicycle) Race Report

Or "How not to ride a road race" or "Don't write checks your butt can't cash" or any number of funny slogans.  Well, I decided to venture once again into the world of bike racin', since last time I straight up raced was about 3-4 years ago in a criterium (think NASCAR / F1 racing, on bikes, with folks that CAN crash you), which ended, ironically, with me getting crashed, but I got up, sucked it up and raced the last crit and ended up in 3rd overall, so, meh.

But this was going to be my first road race, sort of like a nice group ride, but with everyone thinking "STRAVA SECTION!!!!" all the time.  But as this was my first RR, I of course had a half baked plan going in, but with luck, I knew one of the riders in my Category, Alex Ardussi, who drove a long way to race.  We said that we would work together since bike racing is not only an individual sport, but team tactics really plays out in these as one team in the CAT5 swept the podium (out of 4 riders on their team) so smarts plays into it and being a one man band isn't that cool.

I'm sooo roooonry!

Things started out nice, got there, warmed up on the first stretch of road and headed back to get ready and lined up for the CAT5 race, of which 11 brave souls signed up for.  As we all looked each other up and down, I noticed a few things about my competitors; A: They are all taller and leaner than me, B: They have nicer bikes and better wheels, and C: They all know each other, making me the odd man out.

Well as we started to roll out the first half mile was "neutral", meaning, the race was not on, but after we crossed the finish line area, it was on and our pace went from 18 to 22 mph, so a nice start to this hilly, windy, 30 mile race.  We stayed in a nice double pace line for the first 5 miles or so, with me tearing ass up a hill to see who could climb (answer: all of them), so I settled back in to the pace line, feeling a little dumb.  But about another mile later, one guy launches out on a break, and he gets about 30 secs up the road, I think to myself, "Hey self, we should chase him down" which was the WRONG answer!  Sure I caught him, but as the rest of the peloton absorbs me, chews me up and spits me out.  Being "off the back", "dropped" or "loosing a wheel" is the worst feeling in the world.  It seems no matter how hard you try to latch back on, you are toast.

So at the 10 mile mark, that was me, off the back.  It sucked.  No, it more than sucked!  It was lonely (as you can see from the picture up there, courtesy of Lanterne Rouge!).  It took me a while to get back any semblance of speed going and by then, I was out of sight, especially on the hills.  So, that was how I "raced" the last 20 miles.  Ugggh!

If you look hard enough, that was they guy I was chasing, waaaaay down there!

Well, to make matters worse, I had to contend with a bit of a head wind on the way back, so I just kept plugging.  I will fast forward to the end, because, no matter what I did, that speck on the road never got closer.  I did sprint the last 2 miles to the end, to get some good intervals in, but I ended up about 10 minutes down to the winners and 2-3 from Alex.  Overall, I was 10th of 11.  And the guy I "beat" was in his 60s, whoohoo!  Uggh, well my lessons learned are here:

1.  Stay patient for as long as you can.

2.  Stay with the peloton.  It saves energy.

3.  You will always overestimate your own fitness.

4.  The wind is not your friend when you are alone.

Could I have done better?  Yup, but I got all antsy in my pantsy, and before I knew it, BAM!  Done and gone!  But at least I learned a little more from this, now if I remember those lessons come next time!  And this catches me up on my race reports and all, but I have a busy next few months up ahead.

Next race up: Victory Week 10 Miler, tomorrow (Wednesday 12 June), to try to qualify for the Ft Riley Army Ten Miler Team, which last year was stacked.  I am looking to break my 10 mile PR tomorrow, so I have an "A" goal of 1:08 and quicker, "B" goal of 1:12 or quicker, and the "breakeven" goal of 1:25.  It is a pretty rolling course, nothing too major out and back, but we will see how this turns out.

I'll be back tomorrow with another RR!

* All photos for this post is courtesy of The Lanterne Rouge (Roger Harrison) (Thanks Roger!)

Fort Leavenworth CGSC Triathlon (Duathon) Race Report

Finishing up Run1 of the DU

Well, since I am on a roll here, might as well get my second race for the season race report out (this one was ONLY a month ago), so I can get back to posting a little more regularly and all.

Well, sorry to confuse folks with the title, but due to weather, the CGSC Tri became a Du, and they dropped the swim and modified the bike (less hills because of wet, possibly icy pavement).  Yeah I said possibly icy, game time temp was a brisk 38, hence the RD didn't want to have folks come from the nice warm pool, and freeze their butts off, get sick, and maybe keel over and have to crawl inside a Tauntaun (token Star Wars reference)!

But really, I was a bit mad because was going to try (no pun intended) my new 2XU trisuit out for the full triathlon, but guess it'll wait til next time.  And I was a little mad about the last minute change to the format, but found out that I actually like the no-swim kind of thing, hmmm, might do some more of these Du's!

Well the wife and dog and I made it a small little vacation the two and a quarter hours from Ft Riley for the race, and it was good to get back to my old stomping grounds at Ft Leavenworth, and no, wasn't in the "joint" there, just the one year school (which was almost the same!).  But got up on race morning a bit later than usual and drove to post and of course, got a crappy rack location, but oh well, I can ALWAYS use a good excuse in case I have a crap day!

Me at my rack, looking bewildered

 

Well, got my bike racked (brought the Jamis since I knew it was going to be wet and nasty) and laid out my transition, I got kinda smart and laid out my racing shoes (Nike Zooms) for my Run2 run shoes (the race was 2.25 mile run, 8.25 mile bike, and 2.25 mile run) and wore my regular shoes (Asics) for the Run1, that way I could kick them off, put on my bike shoes and roll out!  So my transition area kinda looked like Imelda Marco's shoe room, but it worked pretty good.  Plus my rack area was between the Run In and Bike out, but for the Bike In to Run Out, I had to double back, oh well.

Well, it's easy to pick me out (hint short guy in red)!

 

Well after the pre-race brief indoors, went back outside and got lined up for the run, which as always a good time, so I lined up about a row back so that the tall guys would block the wind a bit.  I love that every race I go to, I am about the shortest guy there, but that just means I have a lower center of gravity (which doesn't matter in running!).  But took off at the gun, and kept in the front area with the tall, lanky folks, and latched on to someone who was about my pace.  The course was a loop on sidewalks around the Ft Leavenworth golf course, with a few nice hills sprinkled in at the beginning and end, just to keep you honest.  But my legs felt good, and kept a nice pace and passed a few folks, mainly running up the hills at the end and got into T1 in good shape, and despite this having no swim, yeah I was wet from the drizzle / puddles, so I can kinda count that, right?

 Finishing Run1, not ready to puke yet!

Run1 - 14:54 (10th OA / 3rd AG)

T1 - :53 (10th OA / 3rd AG)



 

The benefits of being small: I can draft a gnat!

 

On to the bike, which I will say, fortune favors the prepared!  Being a guy, I rarely read instructions, but I was bored the night before, and read the rules for the race here.  Tucked down in the bottom of the rule book, was THIS IS A DRAFT LEGAL RACE (not sure if it was in bold but, that is how I read it!).  Hmmm this could be fun, and yup it was, since not everyone read the rules.  But after putting on my bike shoes, I ran past the mount line, flying mounted my bike and was off, looking for a wheel, which I promptly found.  Another guy on a road bike just left T1, so rode behind him for a bit and kept finding someone better and faster until I found a dude who was cruising on a TT bike, so bang, on his wheel.  Which was not an easy chore, we were moving at a good clip, but being small I could tuck in nicely.  We picked up another rider, and became a little train o' pain, I took the 3rd position since I figured I could hide from the wind better back there.  Well despite taking out the REALLY BIG HILL, there were still plenty of rises to keep you honest, but the pain train kept on rolling.  We all hit the turn around, a nice 180 turn, and boogied on back down the hill.  A little after the picture above, we lost our middle man, so it was a two-man show for a bit more.

Our little pain train.

 

 

After we were down to two, and with about two miles to go, I looked down for something, looked back up and my TT was about 20 feet ahead of me.  Just a little lapse in concentration, and boom, lost the wheel.  Well, guess I would solo back, trying to bring him back, but I didn't want to kill my legs for a few seconds on the bike when I might be able to run him down on the second run.  So I still was cranking it out, just not at max effort, since I wanted to have something in the tank for the Run2.

 

Bike - 24:26 (5th OA, 2nd in AG)

T2 - :57 (35th OA, 9th in AG)

 

As you can see, not too big of a gap!

It takes a little skill to run in cleats!

Again, I look lost in transition

 

As I mentioned before, my rack was not the best place for the rack-the-bike-and-run-out, but it was a nice quiet neighborhood!  My T2 was a bit sad, but I caught my breath here, put on fresh shoes, and headed out for the money-maker, Run2!

 

Well Run2 was a bit like Run1, but I was alot more tired this time around, but 2nd in my AG (oops, he was in my USAT aged up AG) was just ahead of me, maybe about 15 secs up on me, so I worked on closing the gap early to try to demoralize him.  Not sure it worked because over the entire route, I would close to about 10 secs or less and he would open up to 15-20 again.  I knew he was toast because he kept looking back for me, but I was just not getting the "jump" from my legs.  We cat and moused the entire run, and it was a bit frustrating.  I knew I didn't have anyone behind me, the race was in front of me, but didn't have the gas to catch him, well, maybe if it was 2 more miles, but it wasn't.

The gap early in Run2.  Guy behind me is the speck on the far right.

 

But despite not catching him (behind him by 20secs at the finish), I still finished nice and strong, placing 6th overall in my first DU, and love the fact that my run has really come along after a year of "training only" while in Afghanistan.  But I really think that I like this run-bike-run thing, it eliminates my worse event!  But I still like the swim, somewhat. ;)

 

Run2 - 15:59 (9th overall, 3rd in AG, see a trend?)

Overall results - 57:06 (6th overall, 3rd in AG) with a gap to 5th at :20 and to 7th at 1:12.

 

But I'd like to thank whoever took the photos, was a nice surprise to see so many photos, and to the Leavenworth Tri Club (just might have to join, they are a good group of folks) for putting on a nice race, as always.  And the brave volunteers / voluntolds (CGSC students) for helping make this a great event.  I keep telling myself that I'm going to have to volunteer a few times, to pay it forward/back so might just not race some weekend and help out, we'll have to see.

 

But I am on a roll for these race reports and almost caught up, next one is my disaster in bike racing next, then I can get back to posting how my training is going and other funny tips!  Thanks for reading!

 



2013 Eisenhower Half Marathon Race Report

Well since I just got back from Afghanistan in March and promptly went on 30 days leave, there is nothing like waiting until the day before a race to sign up, especially if it's a half marathon and you hadn't run more than 7 miles at one time prior to racing it.

Yeah,
I'm that guy.  But I did have a good year base from my time "downrange", so that helps a bunch.  Well now I have to knock out this race report, as it was "only" two months ago, so let's get this party started shall we?

Well signed up late for this race, and I made the one hour trip on race day to Abilene, a beautiful little town in Central Kansas, and boy, was it chilly.  I stripped down as much as I was going to and warmed up a little here and there, and headed over to the line a bit early.  i did duck in to the Greyhound Museum right across the street and was greeted by two nice grayhounds, so have much ear rubs (which I hope "channeled" some speed to me), I headed back out to the line and got in the "8:30 per mile" pace area.  I figured I'd be good there, but who knows.  Got a little National Anthem in, and off we went!  Went out in the first mile moderately fast and settled in for the long haul. 

This course was pretty flat as it is an out and back with a little loop in a park in the middle.  As I was running, each mile that would tick by, I would tell myself "only x miles to go!"  Since I started somewhat slow, I mainly passed people and didn't get passed, so that was good on the old ego, and about the halfway point ran up to a younger guy who was from the K-State ROTC unit in Manhattan and struck up a nice two mile conversation, which I didn't know pushed my pace to about 6:50s per mile.  Yikes!

This race started the marathoners and the halfs all together, with the full marathoners doing two times the route, which I think is cruel as they get to see the finish line and have to run away from it.  Bummer.  But as I was talking to him about running, the military and things, I noticed that he was going the full, and he had been running right around 7 min pace the whole way.  Wow, to be young again!  But after a bit I slowed my pace as I was heating up a bit in the park on the way back through and didn't want to blow up within 5K of the finish line.

The last 5K zoomed on by and the runners as we got closer to town, started to mix with the 10K runners, so I couldn't tell where I stood, so I just let loose with everything else I had and crossed the line (and NOT puking!) in a new PR of 1:40:39, which was 6 minutes better than my only other half marathon.  So bonus!  And on little to no training up to the race.  I hung around at the finish line for a bit and thanked the volunteers and then went to the pancake breakfast for some post-race yummies!  I am glad I did, because as they posted results, I figured that I was far enough back not to place, but ended up in 3rd in my AG (M30-39) even though in tris I would be aged up (which would have gotten me 2nd in the 40-49, but oh well), so I got to hang out and get a AG medal.  Very cool, as I wasn't really expecting it and was using this race as a nice long fast workout, but I'll take it.

Ended up 24th overall, which was another surprise, so overall, I give my effort a nice B average, with a better grade if I would have trained up more, but it is early in the year.

So not a bad start to the racing season, especially since I skipped a few races early, like the Dallas Rock n' Roll Half, but I think it will help me overall this year.  If I can find some photos, I'll post them later!

2013 Tentative Race Schedule (Part 1)

Well I did this last year and only hit up one race before I deployed, so I hope that my batting average improves this year a little bit.  So I will break this down into a few parts, so I can see how it goes with my time this year, so without further ado, I present Part 1:

16 MARCH 2013 - The 35th Annual St. Patty's Day run in Aggieville (Manhattan, KS).  Wanted to do this one last year, but wanted to spend more time with my loving wife, so victory to the wife!  But this is a nice 10K that starts and ends in Aggieville, which is the area near K-State in Manhattan, so this will be a nice fun run I think.  Not going to do too much on this one, just get some fast miles in, and for $22 bucks, not too bad at all.  Just praying for a little nice weather, but not like I haven't run in cold, nasty weather (See Topeka to Auburn Half-Marathon from last year!)  So a sub 48-ish will be good for me, considering it looks a little hilly.

24 MARCH 2013 - The Dallas Rock n' Roll Half Marathon.  This will be a nice vacation race for me, guess they have some serious nice swag, plus I'll get a shot at PRing here, since it's my second half, it's flatter than T2A, and I doubt it will be as cold, so all these are in my favor to break 1:46:00, so hope so.  This year I am looking at racing while on vacation, only if the wife allows it, but I think it will be a good way to see Dallas while I'm at it, so hey, I'm a sucker for nice point-to-point races.  Pricing is a bit steep ($105), but I am making a last minute call to enter or not, but I think I'll have a nice base of miles for this, so we shall see!

13 APRIL 2013 - The Eisenhower Marathon in Abilene, KS.  Was going to run the marathon on this one, but I really wimped out big time, but going to run the Half-Marathon this year, and build to a marathon sometime next year.  I heard about this race when I visited "Ike's" boyhood home and museum early last year, so I thought that this would be a cool race to run, looks pretty flat (for Kansas) and will be a nice race, since I like the small town feel of the race.  And at $50 bones, you can't go wrong.  So this is going to be a must do, and depending on how fast I run the Dallas race, we'll see about how fast this one will be.

4 MAY 2013 - The CGSC / Fort Leavenworth / Leavenworth Sprint Triathlon.  Oh yeah, last time I did this, it was on a mountain bike, no swim training, and ok running, so it is time for a little payback to this race.  This time I'll be ready!  But this is the start to my tri season, going to make it a get away race as the wife and I will take a vacation to KC area for the weekend, race this on Saturday, and relax.  But going to debut my new helmet (not the boxy one I raced with last two years), my nice new 2XU trisuit (if it doesn't bug me in practice, but for 30 bucks, if I only use it once, then that's ok) and going to be in better shape this time!  Oh and I will be in a new AG, moved up to the 40-44 this year, which between 35-39, are the two most competitive AG, in my opinion.  But I am sure I'll do a ton better this year than my first go at this race.

19 MAY 2013 - The Kansas 5i50 triathlon in Lawrence, KS.  Going to give the longer Olympic distance a go too, in hopes to qualify for the Hyvee US Championships in Iowa later in the year.  But as this will only be my 2nd or 3rd (depends on who you ask) Oly, this will be good for me as I bridge towards longer races this year.  My Achilles heal is still swimming, but I am going to hit the pool and get some distance in as soon as I get back from the 'Stan, so I don't lose too much time in the water.  Like a bunch of folks say "You can win a triathlon in the water, but you can sure lose it", so going to work on not digging a huge hole during the swim this year.  But this race will also determine if I race the Tin Man as an Oly or a sprint, so we shall see!

9 JUNE 2013 - The Ironman Kansas 70.3 in Lawrence, KS.  Oh boy, this is going to be a big one for me.  This race is dependent on how well my swim is by then, because I would hate to waste 300 bucks just to have a crappy swim, and have to push the bike and run to make it respectable, so, this falls into the "we will see", but would like to do it for the experience alone, but that price is a bit steep, so we shall see.  Am thinking of doing the REV3 Branson in September, so that my be the way I'm going, but we'll see!

15 JUNE 2013 - The Topeka Tinman Long and short course (Sprint).  Well this will be my second Tinman (did the Tinman in Hawaii a few years back, bet the water is warmer there!), so again, this will depend on the 5i50 race, if I do ok and feel good for a Oly (long) course race, so this is a good one from what I hear from everyone, so I think this is a must do, even if I don't do the Ironman the week prior.  Crap I might not recover by the 15th!  But we will have to see.

Well this is my tentative schedule for the first "half" of the season for tris and other races.  I might jump into a few cycling races this year, but it will be all time dependent, since I don't have my USAC license, and I'll have to buy my USAT one once I get back, so always comes down to cold, hard cash!  But this year looks like I might be a busy guy, if I want to, and I've been itching to race for a while, so the races I did here don't count, since I start at the back and race to the front for practice.  But I'll be back with the 2nd half shortly.  If anyone has any suggestions on races I missed and should do, let me know, I'm game!

See ya'll later!

Well took me a year!

Well it took me almost an entire year to figure out how to post from over here in Afghanistan.  Yeah, because of being over here, the blogger site puts all the text into Dari, the native language (and Pashto too) over here, but figured it out, so I guess I will continue my "stories" and my trials and tribulations of training on here.

Well I didn't exactly slack off over here on the training thing, had my good months and had my bad ones, like a 100+ mile running month, followed by a 30 mile month, but as of late, I have been a man on a mission.  That mission is to pick up where I left off, and improve my times, the bad part, I couldn't work on my worse event, swimming over here.  But the secret weapon over here is that I have been training at altitude for the year.  Not sure if that will help over the year, but running at 4900 feet HAS to do something for me.

But in the next few days, I am going to lay out my race schedule, a'la last year, and since I raced more over here in Afghanistan than in the states, might do a quick recap of those races (some were kinda fun!)

And since I have been here too, I have logged ONE mile on a treadmill, and it drove me nuts!  So despite the dust, heat, mud, snow and rain, I choose to run outside, much nicer that way.  I mean, we have mountains all around us, it truly is beautiful as all get out here, but I do have to ride indoors, mainly because I don't have a bike here, but only get to about 15 miles before I go insane!  Can't wait to hit the wide open roads in Kansas soon!

But it's good to be back, and now that I have this whole language thing figured out, I'll be better at blogging here now!

Laters peeps!