Brian wins Mountains to Sound Race

Last Updated on Monday, 30 June 2008 10:44 Written by Steve Monday, 30 June 2008 10:44

The 100-mile Mountains to Sound relay race was run yesterday in 90 degree heat. 25% of the proceeds of the race go to ONW/Northwest client Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust.

The race has 5 stages starting at Snoqualmie Pass at 3000′ and ending in Ballard, at sea level, a mile from my house. Most competitors are part of 5 person teams, but a few hardy souls attempt the race solo.

My friend Brian Bruininks was one of those people who ran it solo. I had the pleasure of running along with him for moral support the last 6 miles of the race, and watching as he won it all! It was truly an inspiring performance and I’m going to try to take some of his ability to “suffer well” into my next few races this summer.

Incredible work, Brian!

Also congrats to Pat Shaw who’s relay team broke the top 10 overall! Nice work Pat!

Race Report: Cascade Edge Olympic 2008

Last Updated on Monday, 23 June 2008 07:32 Written by Steve Monday, 23 June 2008 07:32

On Saturday, I did an Olympic distance triathlon. I did the same race a year before and wrote it up here.

I am really happy with my results:

Total Time: 2:27:23
Overall place: 28th
Place in my age group: 5th

Swim split: 0:25:54
Overall Swim place: 38th

Bike split: 1:07:32
Overall bike place: 22nd
Place after the bike: 20th

Run split: 0:49:30
Overall run Place: 58th

The swim went fine. Last time I did the race I breathed every other stroke the whole .9 miles. This time I relaxed a bit and did some breathing every third stroke when things opened up a bit. The new wetsuit was great, and I hardly noticed the frigid water. I knocked almost 4 minutes off my time from last year.

I love my bike! At multiple points during the 28 mile ride I thought or even said aloud how cool a machine this bike is. It’s amazing how little energy is wasted converting muscle contraction to rolling. I hit 39.9 mph on one descent, and the bike was solid as a rock. What a blast! I was shocked to learn after the race that I was only 5 minutes off the best time overall. I’ve been focusing on the bike leg in my training, but I didn’t expect it to pay off this much. I averaged 24.6 mph.

The first mile of the run was painful. It was also painful to be passed by so many runners! In the swim you can’t really tell how well you’re doing because you’re underwater. In the bike, I don’t get passed a lot. But in the run, you hear people coming up behind you, then they pass you, and then you watch them slowly pull away. I ran around 8 minute miles, which was great for me, but I need to get to 7 minute miles to be really competitive, I think. I’m not sure that’s even possible!

I had the pleasure of traveling down and racing with John, a friend of mine from previous work experience. It’s a ton more fun doing an event with friends than going it alone. You get to tell all the race stories to someone who cares!

Workout Plan in Google Spreadsheet

Last Updated on Monday, 21 April 2008 10:16 Written by Steve Monday, 21 April 2008 09:36

That’s a summary of my triathlon training plan for 2008 published as a Google gadget. I built a Google spreadsheet to plan my year, based largely on Joe Friel’s methodology.

I estimate my weekly hours, marking the events I want to race. Then breakdown the weekly estimates into real workouts. Then track the actual workouts.

If you want to build your own plan, I’ve published a copy of it here. Take it and make it your own!

Update: Here’s an XLS download as well.