No Mans land of February

So it is February...

Eh

Usually by this time in the winter everyone hates the cold, is tired of the snow and is about as pale as a ghost.  The same is mostly true for this winter except the snow mountains.. or any snow for that matter.  If nature is reading this it could definitely send us some and make me happy!
Back to the point.
It is the middle of winter with no snow and nothing too exciting is happening.  The little hope we have is spring break lingering in the almost reachable distance.  At this point it is one of those "so close but so far away" things.   My eye is on San Diego and the Super seal Triathlon.  As for now I get to look forward to class and tests. 

Training is going well. I actually don't have much else to say so am filling space ;) This is the boring crap. Cycling is strong right now with finally breaking my bike test PR.  It has taken a long time to do it so I am relieved to finally see progress.  After a little IT band flare up a few weeks ago things are back to normal.  Coach decided to dial back running a little to be on the cautious side and keep healthy.  At the moment I am in a swim stroke funk but that will hopefully get worked out soon.  The 4th sport of lifting is going well.  Lifting is something I have not been very consistent with in the last few years and hope some consistency will start to show gains. 

The nutrition experiment!

Last week I had the light bulb flashing moment.  Lets see what I can do to zone in on nutrition.  After twisting Ellen's arm and maybe in the end paying her with a bike she agreed to help.  This week I am going into the Bod Pod to measure body composition and doing a metabolic test.  After this we are going to start tweaking things so maybe I can get a little more out of my workouts and recover better.  It is exciting to think about getting so in-depth with nutrition.  You are what you eat, right? More to come on the experiment when we figure out how my body is functioning right now!

Random picture from the College of Design.  Must have been some pretty strong fertilizer!

First ITU Race

Last weekend I headed out to Buffalo for the Nickel City Triathlon.  This would serve as my first ITU draft legal race and see if the style of racing fits me.

Headed out there late Thursday and chilled most of the day Friday.  Had some great food at a place called Anchor Bar with my parents as my pre-race meal.  The race was not until 2:00 in the afternoon so it was nice to sleep in and hang out in the morning before heading to the race site.

Going into the race I had no expectations and 2 goals: be able to finish (not get lapped out) and not get last place.  The goals were not too lofty but with a new format and not knowing how things would play out I was just getting my feet wet with this one.

Mission accomplished: 65 guys on the start line- 46 finished and I placed 38th.
Results here: http://www.score-this.com/ResultFiles/20110924NCTMResults.pdf

I was pretty much dead last heading out on the run but had an ok run and picked off some guys.

My weakness is the most obvious right from the gun.  I was damn slow in the water.  The full second loop I was all alone and was kicking myself for not finding some feet.  This set me up for getting caught in the tail end of riders.  I was between a pack of 15 guys in front and 3 behind me.  After the first lap I could tell I was not gaining any time so sat up and hoped to work with the group behind to make up time.  We didn't make up much time but at least I was not dumb and TT'd the whole thing.  We almost got lapped but luckily were able to finish and get onto the run.  For a bit of the first lap I was running in last but then started to pick off some guys.  Ended up 38th.

My education: SWIM FASTER.  Thats it-  Dont find feet or get in a decent pack and thats it.  So back to the pool!

Need to throw a huge thanks to Ruster Sports for their Hen House bike case.  It got my bike there SAFE and CHEAP.  If you dont know about these you should check out their website or follow them on FB or Twitter.
Only cost me $50 round trip as a single checked bag to get the bike there.  No more $150 each way bull crap.

Another thanks to DiscountTriSupply.com for all their help with gear.  Check out their end of season sales and save some $$$.

Now it's time to get back to studying and prepping for Myrtle Beach in 2 weeks.

Enjoy the fall weather because it will soon be winter!