2009 Aggieman Triathlon

This was the second Tri that I volunteered for this year. It was another excellent experience.

I got to the start line at 5am. Soon I joined Jeff and Orville to set up the transition racks in T1. When that was done, I hung out and watched people setting up their transition areas.

After the swim, I helped Jennifer with calling out the athlet's number so she could mark it down plus the time. When the Kayaker's were done, I had to call out the time. That was fun.

I waited for the last bike rider to leave T1, then I had to drive the bike route and tell the Road Marshalls that the race was over and I had to pick up the caution flags and vests.

I didn't pass the last bike riders until I was on Rt.236. When I took a right onto Rt. 9, I pulled over and waited. When the last bike rider passed, I followed her slowly.

When the bike riders were on Mountain Rd., I passed them and stopped at T2.

I saw Tim, Stu and Chris there (fellow Riptide members) and we waited for the last riders to show up.

After they showed up, I head up the mountain.

I got to the top and hung out. I ate some food and listened to the results.

Hopefully I'll be ready next year to do Aggieman.

My Tri

6/12/09:
This morning I did my own Triathlon.
For the swim, I spent 10 minutes practicing breathing and kicking in my kids 12’x3’ pool, with the help of a kick board. Then I ran from the pool to T1.
Before I put on my wetsuit, I lubed up with sun screen. I wanted to see if that would help me take my wetsuit off faster. When I took the upper half of the wetsuit off, it got stuck on my left wrist. My watch was on the outside of the wetsuit. So I had to pull it back up to take the watch off. When I took off the lower half, it came off easily. Maybe next time I’ll try Pam on my wrists.
Then I put on my Tri top (still scraping cash together for a Riptide top), jersey, sunglasses and helmet. My sunglasses fogged up so I couldn’t use them. Then I did a flying mount onto my bike and I was off.
For the bike ride, I rode 16.4 miles through Berwick and N. Berwick on very hilly terrain. It took a while getting use to riding without sunglasses.
When I got close to T2, I undid my shoes and did a flying dismount. I took off my helmet and jersey, and then put my shoes on. This took a long time, since I haven’t gotten Yankz yet.
My legs were very stiff on the beginning of the 3 mile run. I kept a consistent pace and I sprinted up my driveway to the finish line.
My Tri took me 1.36.
It was an excellent workout and it is now part of my Triathlon Training.

Volunteering at the 2009 King Pine Triathlon

Today I was able to volunteer for the transition area at the King Pine Triathlon. It was a blast and I learned a lot.

Check out the photo's at:

http://sports.webshots.com/album/572734158VekmCu

5/9/09 Pumpkinman Tri Sprint Course ride.

This morning I rode my bike to Spring Hill and rode the Sprint course for the Pumpkinman Triathlon. It was the second day getting use to my new Aerobars.

Knights Rd. has a nice shoulder for bikers and runners.

Emery Bridge Rd. was interesting.

There's a lot of road damage and in a few area's the road banks.

I took a left onto Boyds Corner rd. and it was uphill. When I reached the top, it leveled off and I picked up speed. I knew Thurrell Rd. was on the left so I kept an eye out for it. I started to go faster, then there it was. My back tire skidded when I braked to make the turn.

Going up Thurrell, there's a horse farm at the top of the hill. Going down the hill was fast. I hit 32mph.

Feeling pumped, I took a right onto Great Hill Rd. Oh man, what a long ascent.

I made it up the hill then I started to pick up speed. Then I had to brake hard again for the quick turn onto Hopper Sands Rd.

Pretty soon I was back at Spring Hill. I took a short break, then headed home. It took me 53 minutes to ride the Sprint. Pond Rd. reminded me of Paris Roubaix's cobblestones.

The Sprint course is a challenge. There are more uphills then downhills and it was tough.

I can't wait to ride it again.

Oh, my training.

I thought I mentioned earlier about my training, I didn't.

Last September while coming back from a 33 mile bike ride, I road into the bike ride for the Pumpkinman Triathlon. I road with a couple bike riders and they told me about the event. I got inspired to start Triathlon training.

Now I do 3 days of Strength training, 5 days of Ab/Ham training, and on Saturdays and Sundays I jogged 3 miles, Nordic Walk 1 mile, and when the weather cooperates, I'll work on bike cadence with a 2 or 3 mile bike ride. As I get into better shape, I'll ride longer miles on my bike. I do a 33 mile ride from my house in Berwick to the Kittery Traffic Circle and back. I'm also going to get a pair of Aero bars for my bike.

An addition to my training.

I added a 8 mile bike cadence ride to my training. When I get home from work on Tuesdays and Thursday, I'll gear up and do an 8 mile cadence ride. The cadence ride is over many long country hills.

The ride is an excellent workout. I started last Tuesday.

I worked Saturday so when I got home , I did a ride. It was tough. When I came back on Blackberry Hill Rd., there was a strong headwind. I kept up my cadence but the wind slowed me down. But the weird thing was that when I started the ride, I went the fastest I've ever gone on a bike, 36.6 mph. I beat my last fast time of 35.9 mph.

Thanks to my Specialized Allez Road Bike.

3/14/09 Monroe/Jefferson hike

I met BIGEarl, MadRiver, and Trailtrotter at 7:30am at the Marshfield Station parking. The plan was that BIGEarl and Trailtrotter would hike up Monroe then head south to Ike, Pierce, and Jackson. MadRiver and myself were just going to do Monroe but MadRiver wanted to go over to Jefferson after, which I thought was a good idea, since it was sunny, not too cold and not windy.

If you want to read BIGEarls trip report and look at pictures from our hike, go to:

http://www.rocksontop.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=5604