The Weekend It Was

Dear readers,

What a blast I had this weekend. I have no idea about where should I begin. Very exciting to have the chance to be able to go to Cleveland and hang out with my good friend Deirdre and her famliy so that she could take me to the practice run of the Greater Clevelant Triathlon. How cool is that you get to prepare for a race on the course that the organizer sets up for you just like it would during the race. Swimming in lake Erie was an experience that morning. There were some serious waves that morning. It was intimidating at first but when I saw Deirdre and her husband jump in the water without any care in the world I had to put my fears away and jump right in. We got tossed around pretty good but it was fun. I got the chance to preview the bike course as well. It should be a fun time on the bike while we make our way through the 56 Miles around Mentor, OH. There is a little bit of everything out there so I need to get my bike in time for sure.

Even cooler was to see the Kids Race practice run. I was blown away by the interest of the 6 to 12 years old so eager to do the swim, bike, and run. I got to meet to girls (no more than 10 years of age) who were so into the sport that each had their own trek bike with clipless pedals! I could not believe my eyes. I was told by them that later on their father will let them graduate to aero-bars. But all together, I really enjoyed the kids running around and listening to the race organizer/director Mickey Rzymek tell them all of the instructions so that they can be race ready. I can't wait to Saturday August 11th to watch the race in full force.

It was a great pleasure to meet all the folks from the Cleveland Triathlon Club (CTC) who came out for the practice day. I look forward to race against you guys on Sunday August 12th. I also look forward to meet a number of you during the expo on Saturday before when you will have the chance to participate in the CLOT BUSTER RAFFLE @ THE GREATER CLEVELAND TRIATHLON.

So, that was Saturday, on Sunday I lined up to participate in the Columbus International Triathlon which is part of the Clot Buster's races series this summer. Surprisingly enough I did not feel tired at all from Saturday's fun. I went out there and the swim went well. I was able to get the two lap swim course done in about 25 minutes which is not a bad time considering the traffic we had in the water once the sprint distance people got in the water. The bike course at this race is one my favorites ever. Getting the chance to ride on a major highway within the city is REALLY COOL and VERY FAST. I am always amazed at the speeds I can go during this bike leg. I was able to average a speedy 22.8 MPH for 25.5 Miles which is one of my fastest bike splits ever. Very pleased about that I have to confess.

Look closely and you can see me with my fancy helmet heading out from T1. Should I get some polka-dots painted on that helmet? What do you think?

Here you go working on my 22.8 MPH...

From there we went to the run. Believe it or not I have the Olympic distance run of a 10K pretty much down these days. I know that 45 minutes for a 10K is far from world class but for the Clot Buster this is very good and very motivating because I know that I have what it takes to bring it down some more. I know of some speed workouts I need to do to get this time to come down some more. It is getting better and that is all I can ask for.

BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my wife's cousin Brian Jones who came out on Sunday to try his hand at his first duathlon. He even placed SECOND in his age group, how about that!!! BRIAN CONGRATULATIONS! Now give me my bike back!

Brian and his father Tim... CONGRATULATIONS Brian! Well done!

So, after all this I had only one more thing to do this weekend. Get showered and rested so that I could head to downtown Columbus and take part in the Jazz and Ribs festival. This is one of my favorite festivals in the city. The music is great but the ribs are even better. Oh! I can't even begin to explain how good they were. Although, I had difficulty walking I enjoyed the chance to go and enjoy some of the food.

So, I've been writing this post for several days now. During this time, so much has happened I can't believe it. Will there be any people left at the Tour before it gets to Paris? You have to be kidding me about the doping going on here... I am blown away. But I can write about on a later post.

For now, HUGE NEWS for the CLOT BUSTER RAFFLE @ THE GREATER CLEVELAND TRIATHLON. I am so excited about these news that I need to wait a little while before I let you know about just so that I can peak your interest. But I can sure that it is good, VERY GOOD!!!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster