Saturday, August 30th, 2008
Slipping the Training In
Work has been just that.
Between meetings, prepping for meetings, and following up on meetings it has been a struggle to find energy and time to get the workouts in.
Scott Tinley’s Extreme Mountain Bike Tri is nearing a month from game time. If you haven’t signed up yet you should seriously consider it. There are a bunch of fun races for all of us (”King of the Hill”- Sprint & Extreme Mountain Bike Hill Climb On-Road Triathlons – International Distance* or Sprint Distance Off-Road Triathlons – Sprint Distance Tri-Cal Kids Triathlons) and the Tri-California crew – that brings us Wildflower is polished and able to provide a much more personal event. So I propose that those of us that won’t be at Incline Village, NV that first weekend in October meet-up in San Luis Obispo and have Tinley with the Eternal Timing System decide who is fastest.
Last year I went 2:01. A PR, being that it was my first race at that distance. This past week I have been slipping the training in and I’m mighty glad considering that I am now on for the Big Sur Half Marathon. My wife registered in the last two weeks with a bunch of her friends and has been trying to coax me into it. Tinley’s races are on October 4 and 5 and with Big Sur 1/2 on November 9 I have added another date onto my racing schedule.
Having gone to Cal Poly and spent hours driving miles across the coastal roads of the Central Coast looking for surf and camp spots I have added motivation for these races. I love being up there. Lake Lopez used by Tri-California for the race is where my Aunt windsurfs when the wind is up and where I fell back in love with triathlons last year. Big Sur has always been a place mentioned with reverence.
I started racing tri’s in junior high and had some good age group finishes throughout early high school before I burned out on it. Not sure if it was the speedo jokes from the guys I played beach volleyball with or the 30-year-old bike nerds that spent $6,000 on a bike and would fly past me age 14 after I had left them in the ocean. Either way, road tri’s weren’t for me. That has been the joy with mountain bike tri’s. A good swim, a challenging course requiring more than some training and a big budget, and a off-road run that takes everything.
Tomorrow we will be booking our hotel room in Pacific Grove for November 8 and 9 as the rooms must be almost gone. Everything I have heard pegs this as an amazing Fall race in Monterey. I am looking forward to running along Cannery Row and then staring off to sea and Monterey Bay. The 1/2 Marathon is nearing 70% capacity so don’t wait long to register.
Matt Smart
Outside All Day
on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 8:04 pm:
Back in “the day,” I ran every morning before work to stay in shape for backpacking. It was less scientific, less engineered: shoes were just that — shoes, not pontoons; sweatsuits were okay. One crazy Sunday I drove out to Newbury Park, CA, signed up, ran the Hidden Valley Half-Marathon. No training, no prep, no brains. I finished it, got the T-shirt, went home and told my wife I’d just run it. “Well, that’s nice,” she said.
It was. I still have the shirt.
Marvin Sosna