Camp Humphreys Sprint Tri

15 September 2012-

I was really looking forward to this race as I have done it 4 times previously.  I convinced my coach to let me race and he made sure I paid for it in terms of making sure that I didn't rest for the race and then stacked up some good workouts with the race as well.  I wanted to see where I had improved since last year so figured this race was a good place to do it at.  Same course the past 3 times gives a good gauge of my fitness.  I hadn't raced any other of the same courses as years past this year, actually this was only my 3rd tri of the season.

I showed up a little late and wasn't able to get my typical 1-2 mile warmup run and short swim.  I got in the water for a few mins just to get use to the water and made sure I knew where the mark was for a good flip turn.  The weather was about as good as it gets in terms of temps, but the winds are always a little weird at Humphreys.  Luckily I had my HED JET6 on the front so wasn't too worried about the wind, but my buddy Dan had a Zipp 1080 up front and he was a little worried, after the race he was talking about getting blown around quite a bit.

Swim- 400LCM (50m pool)

I had a good swim and felt good coming out of the water.  I had really been putting in some solid time in the pool and really felt good coming into the race.  I was happy to confirm my swim fitness with a mid 5min swim, not great but good for me.  No one took my split but by estimation of my other times and total time I estimated a 5:20 to 5:30 swim time.

Bike- 20K (2 10K loops)

I came out of the water in the lead, as I was in the first of 5 waves.  I wanted to hammer the bike really hard and see how my legs felt running off a all out effort.  For some reason my legs didn't come around right away and I was quite disappointed with my power output for the ride.  I still set a bike PR on the course and was happy with my time, but it just took a while for the legs to come around.  I opened up the gap to Dan, who ended up 2nd, and I knew he would be one of the guys to watch for.  With the race being wave start it is really hard to gauge where everyone is, but we try to get all the "fast" guys in the first wave so we can race heads up.  It worked out well and we got most of us in the first wave and second wave.

Run- 5K (Out and Back)

With the limited running in the early season my run has been the one thing I have been worried about..  It has slowly been coming around, but wasn't sure where my short course speed stood.  I had a decent run at Armed Forces but hadn't ran a hard 5K in a while.  I ended up running a few seconds slower than last year but felt very good with my run.  I didn't see Dan for quite a while, I had already hit the turn around and was about 800m back down the road.  I still pushed hard on the way back and wanted to see how my time compared to last year.

Overall Time- 53:11
Swim- 5:30
Bike- 29:15 Strava Link: http://app.strava.com/activities/21222094
Run- 17:58 Strava Link: http://app.strava.com/activities/21223614

Sept 2011 -56:01
Swim-5:50
Bike- 31:18
Run- 17:42

Overall I was really happy with how the race went.  I lost a little on the run but smashed the bike compared to last year.  I think my other place of improvement was my transitions.  The other thing that I was really happy about was the amount of people that came down from Osan and how great of a showing we had.  It is always fun to go down to the Army base and have a bunch of AF people take the top spots.  I am sad that this will be my last race in Korea for quite some time, but I am sure I will find myself out there sooner than later to race again.

Here are some pics from the race:

 Outrunning the storm, that never showed up

 Finishing the run

 Team RWB Far East Representing at the race

 1st Place for Male 20's and Overall

 The Osan Crew

Exciting News: Representing Team RWB for 2012 and Beyond

12 Nov 2012-

Some of you that have been following me over the past 3 1/2 years may recall a blog I wrote back in 2010.  “Running for a Purpose” , It was then in September of 2010 that I changed the way I raced.  I had a conversation with a good friend of mine and fellow runner.  She had told me that running for yourself gets boring and the satisfaction of your results are not near as great if you run for something more.  Yes, it is great to run and do well and the feeling of succeeding is great.  But when you are out on the course and you have to dig deep, knowing that you are racing for something more than yourself makes it that much more rewarding to dig deep and battle it out.

Since that race in 2010 I have raced for different reasons every race.  I have never asked anyone to donate to a foundation or cause and have never represented a company or organization.  For 2012 and many years to come I have decided to team up with Team RWB.  I had heard about Team RWB a little bit here and there from fellow military triathletes and had been doing a little bit of digging into what they were about.  So what is Team RWB about?

“We are a veteran support organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of wounded veterans and their families. Ultimately, we aim to transform the way wounded veterans are reintegrated into society when they return from combat and exit their position in the Active Duty Reserve force or National Guard.”

               

So where do I fit into all of this?  Well after doing some research and connecting with Team RWB I met one of their representatives out in Kona, Kurt Larson.  I spoke with him at the awards banquet about Team RWB and was able to ask some more in depth questions about the organization, which opened my eyes and made me want to join the team.  The next morning I woke up to an email from Mike Erwin, founder and Executive Director of Team RWB.  He asked that I join Team RWB and be an “Elite Ambassador”.  This was an amazing email to receive and opened my eyes to the difference that I could make.  I could use my athletic presence and help spread the word about Team RWB.

             

I have taken my time and ensured this is an organization that I want to represent.  After doing the research and having the same hopes and vision that they have I am glad to be joining forces with them.  They already have some big names involved with the Team RWB Triathlon Team with Timothy O’Donnell, Jessica Jacobs, Nick VanDam and fellow Air Force athletes, Kathy Rakel, James Bales, and Jolene Wilkinson.  To join ranks with these amazing athletes and help spread the word about Team RWB and network with other current military athletes and the wounded veterans is something that I look forward to doing and representing Team RWB the best that I can.