I didn't really let anybody know ahead of time, but today I ran my latest triathlon. It was a Olympic distance race here on O'ahu, across the island over at Kapiolani Park (near Waikiki). It was a quality endeavour, to be sure! I really had a good race (no, I didn't take home any hardware - at least, not that I know of). I felt really good, very strong. The official results are not posted yet, but once they are, you can see them here (scroll down to July 2006; it's the Tinman triathlon).
My recap of the race:
Swim: started ~0545, and the sun wasn't quite up yet. I was concerned that we would be swimming in the dark! To add to this, I have tinted swim goggles, which made it seem even darker. Fortunately, there were some "technical difficulties" that delayed the start about 5 minutes, which was just about enough time to get a little bit of light in the sky. Besides, I am never going to be the guy out in front of the pack on the swim, so I guess it's not critically important that I can see where I am going! I just follow the people ahead of me! I was out of the water in about 15 minutes, a pretty good swim for me (it was 750 meters long).
Bike: I felt that I had a fairly quick transition to the bike and it only took me about 10 minutes to get into a good rhythm. I downed a PowerGel and had some Gatorade. The course went east out to Hawaii Kai (against the tradewinds, which is good - they were behind me on the way back in to the transition area) and up a killer hill right before the turnaround point. I averaged almost 20 mph to the base of the hill and was at just over a 19 mph average when I got to the turnaround. I was consistently clocking 23+ mph on the mostly flat course back in to Waikiki, and when I finished I had an overall average speed of ~20.5 mph. I was hoping to average at least 20 mph on the bike today, so that was a good showing! The ride was 40k (just under 25 miles) and I wanted to do it in 1 hour 15 minutes or less. I accomplished that today.
Run: It took about 10 minutes to get my legs to feel decent for running off the bike, and there was a pretty good uphill grade for probably 1.5 - 2 miles on the first half of the run, climbing up and around Diamond Head crater. I got into a good rhythm once again and tried to push myself to catch the runners I saw in front of me. I pushed a good pace back up and over Diamond Head on the way to the finish and came across the finish line in 2:13:46 (unofficial - this is the time on my watch), feeling good and asking myself if that was it - wasn't there more to the race? This was a 10k (6.2 mile) run. My goal was 45 minutes or less; I think that according to my watch I did it in about 43.
Maybe I am starting to see some of the payoff for all the training I have done this year. I am sore now writing this several hours after the finish, but I felt fine earlier. Maybe it's because my last race (the Honu Half Ironman) was approximately twice as long as this one. Well, whatever it is, I like it! In a few days I might have some race photos to post here to go along with this.
Hmmm, let's see, what else is going on? There are some rock shows of coming up out here next month. Tool is coming to town. I will not be there. I will be here on-island when the shows are taking place. However, I was slow on the uptake in buying tickets. Now, there are none left. Two shows, both sold out. Darn. Tool is a good time, right Dave? Maybe I can dig up a spare ticket somewhere in the next few weeks...
Later in the year, U2 is playing here. Pearl Jam is opening for them. Since when does Pearl Jam open shows? The Cone? When? I would think their days of doing that were long past! Won't be going to that one either. Probably won't be here when that one goes on.
This upcoming week is the last one of my current graduate school class. It has been a good experience; I have learned lots! The professor, Allan R. Millett (see his bio here), has been great. Truly a wealth of knowledge, lots of relevant stories, and he seems to know personally just about everybody in the high echelons of the military and government. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take any classes this fall nor in the spring, so it will likely be a year before I am able to continue my graduate education. That is depressing, but it's the way it is. I have to live with it.
John is growing like a champ. Not sure what he's weighing nowadays but should know this week (he's got a check-up on Tuesday). I'm not sure if it's possible, but the little guy seems to get cuter and cuter by the day! New pictures will be posted soon, I promise!
Last for tonight, Grandma and Grandpa Sampson are coming to visit this week and next. I'm sure John is just going to blow them away! It seems like he is gaining new abilities every day, from holding up his head on his own, to holding up his full weight in a standing position (obviously he needs lots of help with the balance part) to scooting across the floor on his tummy if you brace his feet so he can push. Amazing!
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