New Mexico Olympic weightlifter Barry Schroeder sets records and inspires

When I first started triathlon I was 292 pounds and couldn't swim, bike, or run worth a crap. Heck, I was so out of shape I could barely walk without breaking into a sweat and hyperventilating! Early on in my triathlon career I raced against a couple Clydesdales who were unbelievably fast. Arnold Ceniceros and Brian Pilgim. I was amazed and motivated by them and thier athletic dominance in the Clydesdale division. I used these 2 triathletes to motivate myself. By using these 2 amazing athletes as motivation to transform myself from the obese and sedentary person I had been to a triathlete who lost 117 pounds, qualified for 6 national triathlon championships, 1 national duathlon championship, and 1 world championship (the 70.3 world championships).


Now that I've given up triathlon and picked up Olympic weightlifting I've found another athlete who is equally unbelievable. Barry Schroeder. He's in my age group of 35-39, but he's probably even more impressive at Olympic weightlifting then Arnold and Brian were at triathlon. He has set 6 New Mexico state records in the 35-39 age group, 3 state records in the 85k (169-187 lbs) weight class and 3 in the 105k (206-231 lbs) weight class. Barry is a trainer at CrossFit Sandstorm in Albuquerque NM, and Barry's a beast! 

I've found that my body is not  particularly gifted for Olympic weightlifting, but I have the work ethic, determination, tenacity, and exellent coaching that very few do. And now I have found something- someone- that will fuel me. It's going to take a tremendous amount of time and hard work, but I'm going to out lift him someday. To compete with him will push every one of my physical limitations. I know I'll have to work twice as hard as him to get to where he's at. But once I get something in my mind I never let go.

                                   This is Barry Schroeder

South West Challenge series points almost totaled!

There's only 2 more races left to be tallied for the 2012 South West Challenge Series! The Elephant Man olympic triathlon and the Cotton Country triathlon. So far, with just 2 more races needed to be counted, there are seven triathletes in the 35-39 age group who are still in contention for the coveted top 3 awards in the South West!!!!

35-39 Age Group
58 points- Price Lawhon
49 points Cody Hanson
48 points- Jeremy Harwood
48 points- Jan Grande
46 points- Mathew Hall
44 points- Mike Edwards
38 points- Valentin Ramirez

I'm still 232 pounds and the first two races of the 2013 multisport season are only 7 weeks away so I'm certain I'll be racing in the Clydesdale open division next year. These are the top in the Clydesdale open division with 2 more races left to be tallied. This divisions year end points aren't nearly as close, but the athletes in contention are very fast.

Clydesdale open division:

57 points- Brett Laird
45 points- Arnold Ceniceros
35 points- Jeremy Sanchez
28 points- Martin Hedge

My daughter is only a few years away from competing in adults triathlons so I looked up their points totals for the season for the female 20 and under division and there isn't a single female under the age of 20 who completed the minimum 5 races to be eligible for awards in the South West Challenge series. Looks like my daughter will probably be able to take top 3 in the Female 20 at the age of 10 just by completing 5 races!!!!

The South West Challenge series male 35-39 AG standings

In one of my recent posts I blogged about the South West Challenge series male 35-39 AG points standings. That post was actually incorrect because I forgot to include the results for the Cotton Country triathlon that happened a couple weeks ago. The only triathlete who competed in the Cotton Country triathlon who is currently in contention for the SW Challenge series 35-39 AG was Cory Adair. His strong finish at the Cotton Country triathlon shot Cory Adair up to a solid 3rd place tie with Matt Hall. The 6 triathletes who are in contention for 2nd and 3rd place in the 35-39 AG in the series are only separated by 8 points!!!!!!!

I'm not going to be able to compete in the Holloman triathlon this weekend, so it looks like any one of the 6 triathletes who race the Holloman triathlon may end up knocking me out of the top 3 and taking 2nd or 3rd place in the series.

The SW challenge series 35-39 AG points standings is currently:

1st place Price Lowhon with 65 points
2nd place Cody Hanson with 46 points
T-3rd place Matt Hall with 41 points
T-3rd Cory Adair also with 41 points
T-5th place Jan Grande with 38 points
T-5thplace Valentin Ramirez also with 38 points
7th place Mike Edwards with 36 points

The 2012 Elephant Man olympic triathlon race report

Today, September 30th 2012 I completed the Elephant Man Olympic distance triathlon in Elephant Butte New Mexico. This was my 81st multisport race and my 8th Olympic distance triathlon. This was by far the hardest Olympic distance I've ever raced. As a matter of a fact, the Elephant man triathlon is easily the hardest course I've EVER raced. It has massive hills, lots of very steep climbing, heat, a rough road for cycling, and a mile of sandy dirt paths on the run. It's also one of the funnest courses I've ever raced. There's AMAZING views, lots of friendly volunteers, and the vehicle traffic was very courteous.

I knew I was going to be slow today, and I was right. Today was one of the 2 slowest race performances of my triathlon career, but I don't feel badly. To finish a race of this difficulty and distance with virtually no training at all in over 4 months is something I was proud of. My legs fell apart at the 10 mile mark of the bike, so the last sixty percent of the race I finished with nothing but heart. I'm in the worst shape I've been in in over 8 years, but my courage, ability to work through pain, persevere through adversity, and my determination has always been my greatest asset, and it came out in force today.

I swam a 1 mile open water swim having not completed any swim training in over a year and still finished it in 34 minutes 41 seconds, I was 10th out of 14 in my AG, 71st out of 156 overall. I finished the 25.5 mile bike in 1 hour 37 minutes, finishing dead last in my division, 92nd out of 156 overall. And I ran the 6 mile run in 1 hour, 12th out of 14, 82nd out of 156 overall. I finished the trithlon in a total time of 3 hours 17 minutes and 58 seconds, 12th out of 14 in my AG, and 110th out of 156 overall.

I only earned 1 point in the South West Challenge Series for the 2nd race in a row. I now have 46 points, and since the SW challenge series is no longer counting the Warrior triathlon 46 is how many points I'll be ending the 2012 season with. The SW challenge series 35-39 AG points standings is currently:

1st place Price Lowhon with 65 points
2nd place Cody Hanson with 46 points
T-3rd place Matt Hall with 41 points
T-3rd Cory Adair also with 41 points
T-5th place Jan Grande with 38 points
T-5thplace Valentin Ramirez also with 38 points
7th place Mike Edwards with 36 points

quick progress

I'm in my 2nd full week of triathlon training. Today I ran and I felt pretty good. During my run I didn't need to stop and walk to keep my heart rate in zone 2, I felt fast during my sprints, and I wasn't exhausted after the workout. Thank goodness my body has muscle memory. I was convinced it was going to take FOREVER to get back into shape! I think I'll be back into race shape by the Nutcracker triathlon.

If anyone sees Price Lawhon who races in the 35-39 AG, please tell him I said thank you. He was the one who motivated me to start training and eating well again after a 3.5 month layoff from training.

I'm currently 226 pounds , down from 238.

The 2012 Patriot triathlon race report

Last Wednesday I saw that Price Lawhon had surpassed me in the the points total for the South West Challenge series 35-39 AG. I'm crazy competitive so when I saw that Lawhon was ahead of me I HAD to register for the Patriot triathlon. I needed to place 7th or better in the 35-39 AG at the Patriot triathlon held in Rio Rancho New Mexico to regain my lead. Placing 7th at the Patriot triathlon was going to be difficult because of the three and a half months I took off from training and weight I've gained. I've only been training again consistently for a little less than a week.

The Patriot triathlon was my 80th multi-sport race and I finished it in 1 hr 37 minutes 19 seconds and took 10th place in my division. Today was the slowest I've raced in 7 years. I only earned 1 point for the series, so Price Lawhorn is still in 1st place in the series with a 3 point lead. I'm in really bad shape right now and slower than a one leg grasshopper, so if Price Lawhorn races again in a triathlon in the SW series there will be no possible way I could catch him.

A great friend of mine, Matt Hall is a super stud triathlete. He races in the same age group as I do and is competing in the South West challenge series too. Matt Hall raced today at the Patriot tri and did AMAZING! He placed 15th overall and 2nd place in our age group. He earned 9 points for the SW challenge series and is now in 3rd place in the 35-39 age group with 39 points. He's incredibly fast and will pass me in the SW series if he finishes 4th place or better at the Elephantman Olympic distance triathlon Scheduled for Sept 30th.

It's probable that Matt Hall and Price Lawhorn will end up passing me in the series and maintaining their lead and I'll be scratching and clawing for 3rd place in the 2012 SW challenge series. I'm grateful that I saw the action heating up in the series, it motivated me to start training again.

I was exhausted after todays race. Really exhausted. There's no way I'd be able to finish the Redman full distance triathlon, so I'll be taking my family to Carlsbad Caverns that weekend instead.

2012 triathlon season game plan

This year 2 guys came out of no where and won just about every local triathlon in my age group of 35-39. Having seen them dominate so thoroughly I've realized next year I need to have my best season ever to be compete. They were so dominant that if you compared the 2 best races I've EVER had to what Marty & Brooks accomplished this year, those 2 great races of mine were about the equivalent to their average this season.

To try and compete with Marty & Brooks next year I've come up with a 5 part plan.
1) Most importantly I'll pray! God blesses those who keep Him 1st and foremost in their heart. Philippians 4:13- I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
2) I'm going to start doing more group rides with pure cyclists. If I can hang with roadies on the bike I can hang with anyone!
3) I'll be implementing more strength and core training to build more block busting speed!
4) I need to drop more weight. My goal weight for next season is 175 pounds.

In 2011 I had a good season. But honestly the only reason I've had decent races is because of my lower body weight. I've maintained 182 since June. 182 is 30-45 pounds less than my normal racing weight, this is the 1st time I've maintained 182 pounds since 1992 or 1993! I've probably said it a thousand times in my blog, "light is fast", but it wasn't until this year that I've been able to drop and maintain around my ideal race weight. I'm currently at 6.8% body fat. For me to drop another 7 pounds and get the kind of speed I'll be needing I'll have to get to 5% body fat, drop a little extra muscle from my upper body, and build a little more leg and core muscle.

I've decided to start my new diet regimen on the 1st day after Thanksgiving! That should give me plenty of time to drop the weight and build as much strength and speed as I can by my 1st A race in 2012. What that race may be, I have no idea. I've decided I wont race again until I'm able to replace my time trial bike that was totaled in September of this year.

The Nutcracker triathlon

I registered for the Nutcracker triathlon, formerly called the Jingle Bell triathlon. The Nutcracker triathlon will be held on Dec 4th and is a sprint distance tri. It is a chip timed Run-Bike-Swim held at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center here in wonderful New Mexico. The bike course is an out-and-back (difficult bike course) and the run is a VERY hilly 1 loop course. The swim is a serpentine swim up/down one lane at a time. Distances: 5k run, 25k bike, 400yd swim. The Nutcracker's RD is Mark Miko, who is one of the 2 best RD's of all time (tied with the Greer's from Lubbock TX).

This race is only 14 days after Ironman Arizona. It's probably a bad idea for me to be racing only 14 days after IMAZ, especially since the Nutcracker tri is such a difficult course. In the last few years the 2nd place 35-39 AG finisher's average time in the Nutcracker tri has been 1 hour 11 minutes to 1 hour 12 minutes. In 2008 & 2009 I raced this event & finished with a 1 hour 25 minute (4th place AG) and a 1 hour 28 minutes (3rd place AG), but I was 20-40 pounds heavier. I'm currently in better shape and lighter than I was in '08 & '09, but I'll be riding the slowest bike ever manufactured. So only time will tell how I'll finish my 1st race of the 2012 season.

SW challenge series points

I'd promised I'd post on my blog if there was any changes in the top 3 of the 35-39 age group of the South West Challenge series. Marty Moriarty has secured 2nd place in the series with an AMAZING performance last weekend at the Elephant Man Olympic distance triathlon. He finished in 25th place overall out of 280 athletes and teams and 1st place in his division of 12! In the series he now has 7 races and 63 points total. Before this season Marty was a pure cyclist, which made his triathlon accomplishments this year absolutely stunning! He finished the 1 mile swim in 30 minutes! That's fast. I've never completed an oly swim in 30 minutes before. It was no surprise at all that he had the 3rd fastest bike split out of 280 finishing the very hard 25 mile bike course with a 21.9 mph average! He finished the 10K run in 47:09 keeping a 7:49 pace. The Elephant Man run course is REALLY hard, so that kind of a pace from someone who had never practiced his running until this year is dang impressive. This guys a stud triathlete.

The 1st time I raced with Marty was at the Atomic Man triathlon earlier this year. Up until facing Marty I'd never finished outside of 1st placec in my division at that race. Here's a picture of Marty and I coming out of T-2. He's a few strides ahead of me:




Having Marty and Brooks Vandervort in my division is going to make me train harder and race faster or I may be in danger of never seeing another top 3 in the South West again!

There's 1 race remaining in the series but the top 3 has already been determined. They are as follows:

1st place Brooks Vandivort with 8 races & 76.25 points
2nd Marty Moriarty with 7 races and 63 points
3rd Cody Hanson with 10 races and 56.5 points

Next year I plan on going back to specializing in sprint distance triathlons so that I have a chance against these 2 power houses. I'm hoping I can get my wrecked and totaled triathlon bike replaced by then!

2011 South West Challenge Series standings & points

I've competed in the South West challenge series every year since 2006. I love the series. It's an amazing challenge that an athlete has to work hard at and be dedicated to for an entire season. Since 2006 this will be the 1st year I wasn't able to compete at least 11 of the races in the SW series.

This year has been an amazing season! 2 incredibly fast athletes, Marty Moriarty and Brooks Vandivort started beating me early in the season which is unusual. I usually train hard on the indoor trainer throughout the winter and have my best races early when the other triathletes are just starting to build their base cycling fitness.

Cory Adair is currently in 4th place in the series. Cory is a solid and consistent athlete who is always in contention for the top 3 in the SW series. He has 8 races & 39.25 points. If he finishes in 1st place in the 35-39 AG the next 2 races he'll have a season total of 55.25 points which as of right now would place him in 3rd place.

Marty Moriarty who is a pure cyclist & bike time trial phenom is in 3rd place in the South West. He has 6 races and 53 points. If he finishes the Elephant man triathlon in 4th place or better he'll jump ahead of me & secure 2nd place in the series. There are only 2 SW Challenge series races left for the year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to hold onto 2nd place!

I'm currently in 2nd place having completed 9 races and have 56.25 points. If I hadn't been injured from a cycling crash I'd be competing in as many late season SW series races as possible to attempt to hold onto 2nd place.

Brooks Vandivort has absolute control of 1st place in the 35-39 SW series age group. He has completed 8 races and has 76 points! Brooks is in his 1st full season of triathlon training and racing but has already proven he's one of the fastest athletes in the entire region. He has the perfect combination of natural talent, dedication, and grit which allowed him put on more speed in less than a year than any other triathlete I've ever seen!

The 2 remaining races for the series is the Elephantman this weekend & the Raptor triathlon on Columbus weekend. I wont know until then if my 56.25 points will be enough to keep me in the top 3 of the South West challenge series this year. I'll let you know if there are any changes in the 35-39 AG.

Thanks for tuning in and please keep me in your prayers for quick healing from my injuries.

The upcoming 2011 Spring Fling triathlon

This Saturday I'll be competing in The 3rd annual Spring Fling triathlon. This will be my 70 multisport race, and my 41st sprint distance triathlon.

Last year I had a decent race time of 1 hour 26 minutes 36 seconds, I barely missed making top 3 AG. This is a really hard course for a sprint triathlon, the RD shortened the bike this year. I'm not even sure if it's the same bike course, so I wont be able to compare my times from last year.

This is my 5th race for the 2011 South West Challenge Series. This is turning out to be my most challenging year for the series by far. I've got some really fast athletes gunning for the 35-39 AG series this year. This will be the 1st year I'm not able to podium in the series if I don't start getting my bike times up.

Toughman competition at the Mesa Valley triathlon

This weekend was the Mesa Valley triathlon in Las Cruces New Mexico. There was some amazing performances this weekend.

Jason McClure passed me with authority just passed the half way point of the bike. He immediately got a flat on his rear tire, continued racing regardless of the flat tire & put even more time on me with a flat! Amazing performance!

Rob Lovit had a bad crash about a mile into the bike. He ruined his front wheel & had some pretty bad road rash on his hand, back, shoulder, & leg. It took him a bit to put his bike & wheel back together enough to be able to ride again, but as soon as his bike was able to be ridden he was back into the race pushing himself as hard as he could. Even with the crash & the pain from his injuries he was able to ride himself back into a 2nd place Clydesdale finish. Another amazing performance!

John Gardea, one of the most consistent & most improved triathletes in the SW series took 1st place Clydesdale. The clydesdale division is going to be one fierce battle this year & I'm looking forward to watching it as it unfolds.

Brooks Vandivort took 2nd place in the age group 35-39, which is my division. He's ahead in the 35-39 age group in the SW challenge series. He's getting faster with every race. He has absolutely crushed my course PR's at every race he's done this year.

Ross Martinez showed up & raced at the Mesa Valley triathlon after not racing for almost 10 months. His time off from racing sure didn't seem to slow him down any. He took 3rd place in the 35-39 ag.

Valentine Ramirez who has beaten soundly in 2 of the races I've competed in this year took 8th place in the 35-39. Turns out his weakness is swimming. Even though he's far superior to me on the bike & run, he struggles enough in the water I may be able to finish ahead of him in the SW series- as long as he doesn't improve his swimming much.

I had a great run finishing the 5K in 23:42 averaging a 7:38 pace. I had poor bike time of 49:11 in a 25K averaging 19 mph. I had a really poor swim time of 10:19 for a 500 meter swim. I finished in a time of 1:23:10 taking 5th place out of 9 in my age group & 32d male overall out of 133.

The 5th place this weekend gave me another 5 points for the SW challenge series, I now have 23 points total. I'm in 3rd place in the south West Challenge series 35-39 Age Group behind Brooks Vandivort & Val Ramirez. My next race will be the Holloman duathlon. Both Val Ramirez & Brooks Vandivort are registered for this race, and since there's no swim in the Holloman duathlon I'll probably be finishing behind the 2 of them. Hopefully I'll be able to find a race or two this year that the 2 of those beasts aren't going to be at, because the 2 of them keep getting farther & farther ahead in the SW challenge series with every race we do together. Since 2006 I've finished in 2nd place in the SW series twice & 1st place 3 times. This might be the year that I get beaten up & humbled. I'll do my best, but I be honored to be beaten by either one of those guys. They are great people & honorable competitors. Looks like this is turning out to be a challenging season! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

The 2011 Presadents day duathlon

I'll be competing in my 1st multisport race of the 2011 season next weekend, February 19th at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico. It's the Presidents day duathlon. The Presidents Day duathlon will be my first race since July of last year. It's been 7 months since the last time I've toed a start line. 6 of those 7 months I didn't train at all. The Presidents day duathlon will be a 5k run & 30k bike. Last year I took 5th place overall and 1st place in my age group 35-39 at the Presidents Day duathlon. I'm not expecting another break through race like I had last year. I'm physically unprepared for this race. I still haven't got my fitness & speed back from my very very long hiatus & I'm still carrying 23 pounds of the weight I had packed on. I thought about not showing up for this race, but since I have decided to race the entire season as an age grouper rather than a Clydesdale I will need every extra point I can scrape up for the South West Challenge Series 35-39 age group! I took 1st place in the South West Challenge Series 35-39 age group last year & am hoping to be able to take another top 3 position this year. To do that I'm going to have to race a lot more than I had originally planned. I'm expecting I'll need to race 8-11 of the races in the South West Challenge Series to guarantee a top 3 slot. So it looks like it's going to be another season of heavy racing!

Thanks for tuning in!

Age group(er) again

I was having a harder time getting back into the training & dieting groove this year. I was struggling to drop the off season weight I'd picked up & was getting to the point that I was expecting I was going to have to race the 2011 season as a Clydesdale again. In early January I got on a roll with my training & dropping the weight. I'm trying to lose the weight slower this time, I'm guessing I'll be down to 190 around mid April. Even though the 1st half of the triathlon season I'll be over 200 pounds, so I could race as a Clydesdale, I'm planning on registering in the 35-39 age group so that all my races for the year are in the same division.

190 is the weight I feel best at. I sport a 6 pack at 190. Anytime I drop below 190 I feel consistently hungry, get sick more easily, & am a grouch, but at 185 am I fast! I'm planning to maintain & race race at 190 until October, then in early October, God willing, I'll start dropping the extra 5-10 pounds to ensure I'm at my fastest at Ironman Arizona. I feel confident that I can go sub 13 hours as long as I get & stay below 200 pounds. I'm guessing I can be closer to 12 hours if I am able to show up on race day weighing 180-185.

My 1st race of the 2011 season will be the Presidents day duathlon, next Saturday at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico.

Closer than I ever dreamed

I spent 5 years training an average of 15-19 hours a week for Ironman distance triathlons. During that 5 year stretch I never placed in an A race higher than in the 50 percentage of competitors. 2010 is the 1st season I've trained exclusively for sprint distance triathlons. I found out very quickly my body is better suited for sprint distance training & racing!

This year out of 10 races I've competed in I've taken top 10 overall in 3 & top 5 in 3. Today I realized I'm getting very close to qualifying for the National sprint distance triathlon championships. If my memory is correct I need to finish in the top 3% of a USAT sprint distance triathlon to qualify. In my last 3 USAT certified sprint triathlons I've missed being in the top 3% by 90 seconds on the flat courses & 4 minutes on the hilly courses. Considering I've been training for sprint distance triathlons for only half a season, I think my chances are very good for building enough speed & fitness to make the top 3% within the next year or 2.

So now I start the process of figuring out how I'm going to knock of 1 1/2 to 3 minutes on a sprint distance triathlon.
-Hiring a coach would make a big difference! Later this year I'll put in for that promotion at work I've been procrastinating putting in for the last decade. Once I get that promotion I could afford to hire a coach again. I already have the coach I'd like to hire picked out. Julia Rossi from Mile High Multisport.
-I don't swim consistently at all! If I was to start swimming at least twice a week every week I could knock off at least 20 seconds on a sprint distance race.
-I haven't done any strength training for my legs since I started self coaching back in September of 2009. Having more power in my legs would increase my speed on the bike, knocking off perhaps another 30 seconds.
-More speed work/track intervals could knock off 15 seconds on the run.
-The single biggest thing I need to do to become faster is drop some body weight. My dream weight is 179. I'm currently 193 (I gained a couple pounds from the family vacation we went on this weekend). That would be a 14 pound weight loss. 14 pounds in endurance athletics is HUGE! Just dropping that weight alone would make me fast enough to qualify for the National Sprint triathlon Championships easily. Up until a couple weeks ago I was trying to lose an average of 2 pounds a week. I kept getting down to 188, then falling off the diet wagon & shooting back up to 192. A couple weeks ago I'd decided to stop trying to lose weight & maintain until November. Rather than take that all or nothing weight loss stance, I think I simply need to try & lose weight more gradually. I'm going to shoot for hitting my goal weight of 179 by Dec 1st. That will make for an average of .58 of a pound a week of weight loss to hit 179 by December. Attempting to lose weight much more gradually would give me more calories a day to eat, which would make me less hungry & less likely to end up falling off the diet wagon & binge eating again & again & again. Losing the weight more gradually would also make my body much less likely to trigger some of the self defense mechanisms that our body has to having lost as much weight as I have so far, & hope to lose by December.

Whish me luck!

The similarity of the taper blues, pregnancy, & PMS

My wife & I started talking about the similarity of a taper to pregnancy & PMS.

"when I was pregnant my ankles were swollen," she said.
"My feet don't fit into shoes," I replied (after my 1.5 mile run, 32 mile bike with 7X 1 mile max effort hill climbs, then a 2nd run of 5 miles with 9X quarter mile sprints).
"I wanted to sleep all the time."
"I do too!"
"My back hurt."
"Mine does too!"
"I had weird cravings for Taco Bell Mexican pizzas" she said.
"And Wienerschnitzel Chile cheese hamburgers & Chile cheese french fries!" I threw into the mix as my mouth was watering!
"I was emotional & got hurt feelings, & angry for no reason," she said.
"Yes, yes, me too!"
"You do sound like your pregnant! Or having PMS." she said.....

.....I didn't find her last comment very amusing, true or not. Which of course it is true... but regardless I had no idea how similar the symptoms of triathlon training, pregnancy, &, er, well, PMS were.


So, as you see I'm into my taper. I'm getting the taper blues. As any endurance athlete can tell you tapering causes bi-polar type issues with the body & mind. The harder the training block the athlete endured the harder the taper is to endure-for both the athlete, & the friends & loved ones of the triathlete.

I recently pushed myself harder than I ever have before. In the month of March not only did I set personal run & bike mileage records, I also completed more hill repeats, lactate threshold sets, & speed work than I ever dreamed I would or could. I was focused, dedicated, & pushing myself farther than I had ever imagined. Consequently this taper is feeling particularly difficult. One day I feel like I can bike or run better than any athlete in the world! The next I feel like a 3 toed sloth on a bicycle. One minute I'm setting personal best training days, the next I'm winded & needing to rest after climbing a single story of stairs. I'm starting to feel pains that I freak out on, thinking they are injuries, but disappear in days or in hours:(

I feel constant fatigue, I'm needing more sleep now than I did when I was hammering out the big & fast miles. Like I said earlier in my post, I'm hyper sensitive, grouchy, moody, even angry at times. I'm over reacting to the smallest transgression, sometimes even to imagined slights. I'm having massive food cravings!!! & to think us triathletes do this to ourselves on purpose!!!!

Because of the taper I have been backing off on my workouts. I'm reducing my training 30% during 1st week of the taper, 50% week 2, and 75% week 3 which is race week.

I have always been told to use the above described reduced training plan as a guideline, and to back off more if needed. The number one rule during a taper is to let your body heal, rest, and reboost from all the intense training. I'll let you know how the taper goes, if I can get my lazy butt out of bed to do anything as physically demanding as blogging. Ugh, I'm so tired! & did I mention I'm crazy hungry? I'd kill for some Wienerschnitzel Chile cheese hamburgers & Chile cheese french fries!!! But no! I can't touch 'em, because I'm down to 190 pounds!!! & I need to avoid putting on any weight before my race! April 25th is the date! White Rock is the place! Put The Atomicman duathlon on your calendar peeps because this former Clydesdale is going to rock that course!!!!

big training month & a first taste of this unusual organic veggtable

The month of March was the 1st time I completed more than 575 miles of cycling & more than 100 miles of running in 1 month! I felt like I made huge fitness and speed gains on my fitness the month of March. Perfect timing since my A race, The Atomic Man Duathlon is on April 25th. Aprils miles wont be as high because I'll be tapering for, that's right, my A race, The Atomic Man duathlon!!!! My 3 goals for my A race is

1) breaking my race PR of 67 minutes
2a)taking top 3 over all
or 2B)taking top 10 overall
3)taking 1st place in the 35-39 age group


I'm eating my first meal made with local Prickly Pear cactus. I harvested it from my yard, burned off the thorns, cut off the skin, and then sliced up the meat & threw it in my salad. Tastes like green beans. It doesn't get any more local and organic than this!!!

My current weight is 193. I've been stuck at this weight for 2 weeks, but rather than becoming frustrated & risk falling off the wagon I'm going to stay consistent, motivated, and weather this storm! After all, I'm only 1 pound away from having lost 100 pounds total! If I end up maintaining this weight, I'm ok with that because I'm faster at this weight than I've ever been. But I believe I'll get past this speed bump and get to one of my 2 goal weight of either 182.5 or 175.

My next race is this this Saturday April 3rd. It's the Wind triathlon at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico. Wish me luck & tune in here for my race report!

Polar Bear triathlon & the Jingle Bell triathlon race reports

The start of the Polar Bear triathlon was 20 degrees. This was a reverse triathlon so the run was first. Most people at this race were bundled up like Eskimos. I chose to race with the bare minimum to save time in transition. I wore gloves, ear muffs, cycling pants, & a sleeveless triathlon shirt. That's right; I wore a sleeveless light weight triathlon shirt. I was the only one who didn't have on heavy duty long sleeve shirts & jackets:)



As usual my adrenalin takes over at the start & I jumped off the start line like I was shot out of a cannon. I got control of myself by the half mile mark of the run & settle into a more maintainable pace. Usually at that point is when the really fast triathletes pass me. That didn't happen that day. By the 1 mile mark I was still in the top 8 & by the end of the 5K run I was in 11th.



I was still somewhat surprised when I entered T-1 that most of the bikes were still racked. That means they were still on the run course, & most importantly they were still behind me! I had a fast transition time & passed 1 person before we got out onto the run course, which put me in 10th place overall. I felt great about my placing so far because I have been really working on my cycling these last few months. That should be my strength that day. It was a 40 kilometer bike (approximately 25.5 miles) & so cold on the course my Gatorade bottle froze to the point where I couldn't get any fluid out! On the bike course one person named Bobby passed me, but more importantly I passed 5! I got off the bike in 6th place.



Bobby was my closest competitor in front of me; he was over 2 minutes ahead of me going into T-2. I knew since I raced with so few clothes on I'd make up a lot of time in T-2 compared to everyone else who had on a lot of cold weather gear. I jumped into the pool about 25 meters behind Bobby, having made up about a minute & a half in T-2. It was a battle in the pool, but at the 200 meter mark I passed Bobby. I was able to maintain a fast enough of a swim to prevent anyone else from passing me & finishing 5th place overall & 1st place in the 30-34 age group.



The next day was the Jingle Bell triathlon. I'll save you the gory details. Essentially my legs were trashed from the race the day before. I had what felt like a really slow race, but ended up gut checking the 2nd half of the bike to pull myself into 31st place overall. In the water I got really aggressive & used my heavier frame to take control & make up a lot of time. I passed 6 people in the 400 meter swim & placed 25th overall.



Finishing in 5th overall, 1st AG in the Polar Bear & 25th overall & 3rd place AG for the Jingle Bell when my legs were fatigued was even better than I had hoped. That gives me a 10 point & an 8th place finish for the South West Challenge Series. 18 points now has me in first place in the 35-39 Age Group. There are some REALLY fast 35-39's, so we'll see if I can hold onto the top spot in the series. I'll keep you updated :)

tough compatition

A couple years ago I raced in the 30-34 AG, I ended up winning first place in the South West Series AG that year. I figured I'd be going against the same people. There are a few more HIGH quality competitors in the 35-39 AG than I wasn't aware I'd be racing against this year. I'm still motivated to go out & show them what I'm made of, but I am in a state of awe over who I'll be racing against this season. Here's a few.

Browning, Robert L 1st place South West Series 09
Lugo, Alberto 2nd place South West Series 09
Gutierrez, Paul 3rd place South West Series 09
Trejtnar, Mark 4th place South West Series 09
James Webster (X-pro cyclist who is crazy fast)
Moseley, Clay. A pro level triathlete & local legend!
Tovar, Hector (Only person to beat Clay Mosely in a race last year)
Murray, Bobby
Armstrong, Michael

I looked over the last 3 years & the third place athlete took 3rd in the South West with the following year end points:
2009- 56 points. an averag of 7 points, or 4th place in each of 8 races
2008- 59 points.  an averag of 7.3 points per race, or a little less than 3rd place in each of 8 races
2007- 53 points.  an averag of 6.6 points per race, or a little less than 4th place in each of 8 races

my 1st 2 races of the season, a new AG, & illness

There's only been 2 other times I've been more exited about racing than I am for this weekends races. This weekend I will be competing in the first 2 races of the 2010 triathlon/duathlon season. The Polar Bear triathlon in White Sands Missile Range NM  on Saterday & the Jingle Bell triathlon in Rio Rancho NM on Sunday. Yup, you read that correctly, they will be on back to back mornings. I've never raced on back to back mornings before, that in of itself is exciting & will be a great challenge.


This will be my first year competing in the hardest age group, the 35-39 AG. I'm hoping to place top 3 in the South West in that division. Competing in the South West Challenge Series 35-39 AG will be the toughest multisport goal I've atempted to date, & it all starts this weekend, with these 2 races. To say I'm pumped up would be a vast understatement.

I started training exclusively for this weekend back in Sept after I completed the Redman half Iron distance triathlon. The training for this weekend has been completely different from the training I have done in years past. All of my training has been shorter distances doing a lot of intervals on hills & speed work.

My training up until a week ago was doing great. I was building a lot of streangth & explosiveness. Last week my entire family, myself included got the flue. Last night was the worst of it. I'm feeling much better today & am hoping that I can heal up quickly. If I'm not well this weekend....tough. I'll still go out & push my limits in both races. I can't control the conditions in which I race, the one thing I can control is wheather or not I allow the conditions to affect me. Regardless how I feel, I will push myself as hard as I am capable of. I 'm looking foreward to this weekends racing & the opertunity to test my limits.

This weekends triathlons will be my 54th & 55th multisport races since I completed my first one Sept 1st 2004.

My current weight is 212. I'm hoping to be at or close to 200 pounds by April.

Wish me luck! & thanks for reading.