This weekend I competed in the 1.2 swim that was part of the Iron Mountain Triathlon day. DLT events had a 70.3, sprint triathlon, open water swim, half marathon, and aqua bike all on the same day.
I competed in the open water swim. My goal for this swim was to be able to swim comfortably and hit a PR for the 1.2 mile swim. They had to change the swim on the day of the race to a two loop triangle swim. I started off the swim well and about half way through the first lap started to fill comfortable. I still did not have a great stroke through the swim however. Also, for some reason when I swim in the open water I feel I'm really trying too hard. I was able to finish the swim in 44:00. I was hoping for somewhere around 40:00. I love getting the experience in the open water. After I got back home, I even started looking for open water swims only. The only way to improve is to continue to tackle the open water.
After the swim, I watched other people complete the 70.3. Congrats to everyone who finished. It became a hot day that's for sure and would have been one tough race. I talked to some people after the race and they said it was good course. The course contained some rolling hills on the ride and then an uphill on the 3 loop run that you ran up at the beginning at each loop, but at least it was downhill towards each finish of the loops.
Two weeks until Buffalo Springs 70.3!
Showing posts with label DLT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DLT. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
1.2 Mile Swim this Weekend
This weekend begins with a 1.2 mile swim down in Arkadelphia. I'm just doing the open water swim because I have Buffalo Springs 70.3 two weeks after that. Open water swimming is my slowest part of a triathlon. I'm going into the event relaxed and hopefully keep my focus on swimming smoothly and slowly. This will hopefully allow me to swim quickly. After the swim, I'll get to watch other people I know finish the 70.3 and sprint triathlon that are going on at the same time.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Change the Weekend Plans
Weekend plans can change in hurry sometimes. On Wednesday, I found out that the Spillway Triathlon that I was supposed to race in had been canceled. They canceled it due to storm damage/debris along the race course. Also, the volunteers were from Teen Challenge. The Teen Challenge facility was hit by a tornado this week, so the race could not put together volunteers on a short notice. The race director was gracious enough to allow you to roll your registration amount into any of the other races that DLT manages. Since, I have a couple more in mind for this year I appreciate this.
So onto to the new plans! I now plan to race in the Toad Suck 10k and participate in the Tour de Toad. The TS 10k is here in Conway, so I'll just have a short distance to travel for this race. I hope to beat my time from last year. My running is feeling pretty strong, so I'll just have to wait and see. The weather is also looking pretty reasonable for the race also. It will probably be in the 60s at the start with no rain.
The Tour de Toad is a bicycle tour that goes West of Conway. You can either do a 33 or 46 mile route. I'll do the 46 mile route. This will be a great training ride and also a chance to meet other riders from the area or elsewhere. I'm sure it will be a casual ride which will be nice. Hopefully the rain hold off for this or it rains Saturday night. Rain will cancel this event.
So onto to the new plans! I now plan to race in the Toad Suck 10k and participate in the Tour de Toad. The TS 10k is here in Conway, so I'll just have a short distance to travel for this race. I hope to beat my time from last year. My running is feeling pretty strong, so I'll just have to wait and see. The weather is also looking pretty reasonable for the race also. It will probably be in the 60s at the start with no rain.
The Tour de Toad is a bicycle tour that goes West of Conway. You can either do a 33 or 46 mile route. I'll do the 46 mile route. This will be a great training ride and also a chance to meet other riders from the area or elsewhere. I'm sure it will be a casual ride which will be nice. Hopefully the rain hold off for this or it rains Saturday night. Rain will cancel this event.
Monday, February 7, 2011
First Three Races Report
I figured I would go ahead and just have one post for the first three races so far this year. I'm looking to build fitness at this time and didn't expect to see any PRs. I will also call this the tale of three different weather runs. One Hr track run was around 40 degrees with rain, the trail run was 60 degrees and sunny when it started, and the 15k had to be delayed for 3 hrs due to snow. The 15k was 35 degrees and sunny when it started. It was awesome running with snow on both sides.
One Hour Track Run
This run takes place in Russellville at Arkansas Tech. The point of this race is to see how many laps you can complete in one hour. This was my first time to run this race. I haven't raced since December when I ran the Memphis marathon and have just started training again. The race weather was wet, cold, and 40 degrees. I started with the 7:30 mile/min and above group knowing that I couldn't hold that type of pace at this time. I ended up completing 30 laps and 361 ft. I was able to run 7.56 miles. My splits were pretty consistent with the last three pretty fast and approaching a 7:38 pace. I was happy with the 7:56 mile/min pace, but hope to see improvements in the future. The key is slow improvements over time.
This event had 172 runners. I was able to finish 42nd out of 172. I would say 172 is a pretty good showing for the cold wet weather that we had for that day.
Cadron Trail Run
This was a 4 mile trail run at Cadron Settlement Park in Conway, AR. This was the first race of a new 4- race trail series in Arkansas put on by DLT Events. I have not run any trail races before, so this was going to be an experience. Race morning started in the 60's. The weather was awesome. Around 40 people lined up for the start of the race which was (2) 2-mile loops through the park. The race started with a big climb right of the start and continued with plenty of ups and downs throughout the course. My first mile was around 7:34 min/mile. This would soon come back and bite me. By, the time, I got finished I would be closer to 8:34 min/mile. I was able to finish the race in 34:31 which for my first trail run I was happy with. This got me 4th in my AG and 11th OA.
I really enjoyed the trail run and will have to head out to the park more often to run. I knew the park was there, but never had been out there. It will provide a challenging workout for sure! The next race in the series is in Arkadelphia on 2/12 in Arkadelphia. I will be out of town for the one in Arkadelphia, but will be running the one in North Little Rock on 2/26. For more even information go to DLT Events.
River Trail 15k
This is probably one of my favorite races. This is the third year that I've done this race. It is run in Burns Park and along the River Trail. There was some concern that this race may not go due to snow the previous day. However, they delayed it for 3 hrs to allow the snow to melt off. The snow melted off the trails and off we went around 12:15. My hope for this race was a pace of 7:50 which was similar to my pace for the hour track run. I started off really well and pushed thru the first 5 miles averaging 7:42. I was able to hold this pace throughout the 9.3 miles. I crossed the finish line in 1:11:38. This was about a minute slower than last year, but I was really happy with what I averaged for the race. I'm thinking that my fitness is starting to come along slowly which is good.
The next race for me will be the Trail Run in North Little Rock on Feb. 26th.
One Hour Track Run
This run takes place in Russellville at Arkansas Tech. The point of this race is to see how many laps you can complete in one hour. This was my first time to run this race. I haven't raced since December when I ran the Memphis marathon and have just started training again. The race weather was wet, cold, and 40 degrees. I started with the 7:30 mile/min and above group knowing that I couldn't hold that type of pace at this time. I ended up completing 30 laps and 361 ft. I was able to run 7.56 miles. My splits were pretty consistent with the last three pretty fast and approaching a 7:38 pace. I was happy with the 7:56 mile/min pace, but hope to see improvements in the future. The key is slow improvements over time.
This event had 172 runners. I was able to finish 42nd out of 172. I would say 172 is a pretty good showing for the cold wet weather that we had for that day.
Cadron Trail Run
This was a 4 mile trail run at Cadron Settlement Park in Conway, AR. This was the first race of a new 4- race trail series in Arkansas put on by DLT Events. I have not run any trail races before, so this was going to be an experience. Race morning started in the 60's. The weather was awesome. Around 40 people lined up for the start of the race which was (2) 2-mile loops through the park. The race started with a big climb right of the start and continued with plenty of ups and downs throughout the course. My first mile was around 7:34 min/mile. This would soon come back and bite me. By, the time, I got finished I would be closer to 8:34 min/mile. I was able to finish the race in 34:31 which for my first trail run I was happy with. This got me 4th in my AG and 11th OA.
I really enjoyed the trail run and will have to head out to the park more often to run. I knew the park was there, but never had been out there. It will provide a challenging workout for sure! The next race in the series is in Arkadelphia on 2/12 in Arkadelphia. I will be out of town for the one in Arkadelphia, but will be running the one in North Little Rock on 2/26. For more even information go to DLT Events.
River Trail 15k
This is probably one of my favorite races. This is the third year that I've done this race. It is run in Burns Park and along the River Trail. There was some concern that this race may not go due to snow the previous day. However, they delayed it for 3 hrs to allow the snow to melt off. The snow melted off the trails and off we went around 12:15. My hope for this race was a pace of 7:50 which was similar to my pace for the hour track run. I started off really well and pushed thru the first 5 miles averaging 7:42. I was able to hold this pace throughout the 9.3 miles. I crossed the finish line in 1:11:38. This was about a minute slower than last year, but I was really happy with what I averaged for the race. I'm thinking that my fitness is starting to come along slowly which is good.
The next race for me will be the Trail Run in North Little Rock on Feb. 26th.
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