February 25, 2010

no longer a clydesdale & the HalfMax National Championships

I've been using dietpower.com religiously since December. My starting weight late December after my 2 weeks off of triathlon training & the holiday feasts was 222 pounds. As you may have been able to tell from the new name of my blog, my weight this morning was under 200 pounds! 199.8 to be exact. This is only the 2nd time I've been below the 200 mark. I've raced twice under 200 & BOY WAS I FAST. I shattered PR's at both of those races.

My next race is the Sully Super Sprint triathlon in Alpine TX on March 21st. I'm hoping to be 192 pounds by then, which will make that the lightest I've ever raced at! I'll keep my peeps updated on how I do.

On another note I had decided to only train & race sprint distances this year to improve my speed & to have more time with my mini-me's. Today my best friend called me & told me he was doing the HalfMax National triathlon championships in September. I also qualified for this years HalfMax nationals, so like a good friend I'll be racing with him in Oklahoma city in September. This will be interesting because I'm still going to train strictly for sprint distance triathlons. I'll be essentially showing up & gut checking a half ironman distance race.

On one hand it will be a very difficult race for me because I won't be used to such long distances. On the other hand I'm excited to see what kind of times I'll be able to put up because I'll be 18 pounds lighter (if I can hit my goal weight & maintain there) than I was when I PR'd this course September of last year. Again, I'll update you to how that race goes also.

Cody the FORMER Clydesdale!

February 18, 2010

Presidents Day duathlon race report

I competed in the Presidents day duathlon this last Saturday, February 13th. This was my 56th multisport race.

It was a 5K run & a 30K bike.

I did average on the run finishing in 24 minutes 39 seconds. I took off way to fast just like I do at every race. The run was a long gradual uphill on a sandy dirt road. I finished the run somewhere around the 25th place.

I'd been working a lot on my cycling this year. I put in 550 cycling miles in the month of January alone with a big portion of that being hill or speed work, so I was pretty sure I was going to have a good day on the bike.

Once on the bike I started hunting guys down like they were Saddam Hussein. No holes out here to hide in guys.

Since it was an out and back bike course I was able to count how many people were in front of me. When I hit the half way point I was in 10th place over all. I was able to keep 10th place for all of 15 feet before Mark Ballsinger passed me. I knew if I could keep up with Mark I'd have a great finish, Mark B is fast. I was able to hang with him for about 6 miles, which is a first. After that he started to pull away from me.You know what's really impressive about this story? Mark is 64 years old.

Anyway I ended up finishing in 11th place over all, 1st place 35-39 AG. The closest 35-39 to me was 5 minutes behind. This was my 2nd first place finish out of the 3 races I've competed this year. I have 28 points out of a possible 30 for the South West Challenge Series & am currently in 1st place. I'm pretty happy how my speed has been improving. I weighed in at 204 on race day. I'm hoping to get down to 182 by May. Oh me, oh my, but I'd be fast at 182!

My next race is the Sully Super Sprint in Alpine TX. I love the Sully. It's only $35 for the registration. It's a semi fast sprint in a great little town.

I'll keep you posted how my next race goes.

February 08, 2010

an overdo update

I haven't posted much on my training, diet, weight, & racing for awhile. I think in the 4 years of maintaining my blog this is the longest I've gone without writing of such things. Usually that's a bad sign for me. This time it's just that I'm unsure exactly how all my training is going. I had to let my coach go in December & have been self coaching for the first time in about 3.5 years. In December I also stopped training for Iron & 70.3 distances & have been training exclusively for sprints. I've dropped down to 204 pounds, dropping weight usually makes endurance athletes faster, but with all the changes to my training & coaching I'm a bit uncertain of how I'm doing in regards to my speed, endurance, etc. Essentially I'm training well-I think, & dieting well day in & day out & simply waiting anxiously for a race to see how I'm doing.

I won't have long to wait, this Saturday is the Presidents day duathlon (formerly known as the White Sands Duathlon and also as the John Stermer duathlon)in WSMR. I'll be competing in my 3rd race as an AG 35-39, which is the hardest AG by far. I'm excited, anxious, nervous........

I'll let you peeps know if I do well, and if I dont do well I'll tell you what changes to my training I'll do. I sure hope Tim Chaves, Hector Tovare, & Clay Mosely miss this race. They are in my AG and will be my toughest competition of the year. If they no show, I have a great opportunity for my 3rd top 3 finish of the 2010 season. Wish me luck!!!!

February 06, 2010

growing up

I had published this post awhile back. This is by far my favorite post, and I hope you dont mind me reposting . A buud of mine is expecting thier first child & when I read thier blog post I became sentimental & wanted to re-share this one.

Growing up

My son sat up for the first time today. Last week he weighed in at 20 pounds so he can face foreword in his car seat now. My children are growing up so quickly. To quickly. In each stage I see them in I think to myself "this is my favorite stage." But I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed the last stage with all my heart.



My precious daughter has learned what things are funny. When she sees or hears something funny, she'll laugh or say "that's silly Daddy". She heard someone tell a knock knock joke recently. She came up with one of her own & now tells me it 20-30 times a day. She says "Daddy, knock knock." When I say "who's there" she replies "it's me!". She says this with so much glee I can't help but to laugh. I laugh even after hearing it a thousand times.



It's so wonderful to see them growing up. But I so desperately wish they'd slow down. I do believe my wife & I are lucky that she & I don't take for granted the times we have with our children. We even catch ourselves smiling at one another when our children are having a fit or tantrum. It's not that we spoil our children when they are bad or encourage their misbehavior. It's that she & I are realistic enough to know we will look back at these moments in fondness & miss them.



When my daughter was 6 months old I took her to visit my Grandmother in Hobbs. It was just my daughter & I. My wife was stuck in Santa Fe with work. The 1st day there I gave my princess some food that gave her horrible gas pains. I held her all night as she cried. She cried louder than I thought any child as small as her could. Consequently my daughter & I were both tired & cranky the rest of the trip. But I remember that night as one of the most precious moments of her childhood because in between her crying fits she would wad up my shirt in her tiny little hand & keep hold of me as she slept. If I tried to move or lay her down she'd feel it because she'd have hold of my shirt. So she'd wake up & start crying again. I ended up not getting up or even moving much the entire night. I just held her up against my chest, rocking her gently in my Grandmothers lazy boy chair.



5 weeks ago my son who is 9 months old now started grabbing my shirt & pulling on me until I'd pick him up. He'd sometimes pull so hard he would almost pull himself out of my wife's arms. It's gotten to the point where he's so strong that when he pulls if I don't pick him up right away he'll stretch the collar of my T-shirt. Now most of my shirts have stretched collars. I'm not annoyed by that in the least. If anything I'm proud of the fact. The shirts I wear with the ruined collars give me an excuse to talk about my son.



Today my wife & I took my son & daughter to ride the train at the Albuquerque botanical garden. While on the train ride my son grabbed hold of my shirt, but this time instead of pulling harder & more forcefully until I gave in to his demand, he crawled into my lap by himself. This was a first. A very very big first. I'm excited he is progressing as a child should be. It means he's healthy & happy. But I became a little teary-eyed when he did that. I became emotional partly because of what he accomplished. But also partly because he grew out of a stage. There was no warning, no baby steps where we could watch his progress. He simply decided he was ready to move into another stage. As usual I wasn't ready. Them growing into new stages & me getting teary-eyed seems to be a common occurrence around our house.



I had no idea when each child was born I'd become more sentimental & unable to keep my emotions to myself. I must say, the birth of my children has made me a more sensitive person. I cry much easier now than before my babies were born. My eyes fill up at the drop of a dime now, & not just when it pertains to them. Anytime. I don't think it's that I'm weaker now. I think it's that my children opened up a part of my heart that I never knew existed. My children have made me a better man. They've taught me how to love unconditionally & how to forgive. How to better respond when I'm angered or slighted against. How to give more willingly to those in need. All these things God has been wanting me to do long before my children were born. Come to think of it, perhaps the biggest change since the birth of my 1st child 2 years 10 months ago hasn't been in my children after all. Perhaps it's been in me.



Cherish all the joys in your life. But take a moment to recognize where those moments came from & give thanks to Him.