Hi from Emma!

THE BIKES

We're getting ready to leave for Show Low and I got both bikes cleaned and ready for the weekends races. My triathlon bike just got a new upgrade with the aero bottle, carbon stem,carbon brake levers, carbon base bar and carbon aerobars. I really like the way they look so sleek and it even dropped the weight of my bike by almost a quarter pound. It now weighs as is 16.4 pounds. The mountain bike got new tires which actually made it a little heavier but much more reliable.

SUMMERTIME 

It's here!  School ended last week and we officially checked out of our rooms today.  Lindsey and I both were able to get a run in early this morning before Emma was even awake.  We walked to the pool and were there pretty much the entire afternoon and I was able to get in a workout when Emma got cold and wanted to take a warm shower.  Before I was finished however, she was already back in after having already changed back into her dress.  She's really getting to be a good little swimmer.  It seems like she is doing more and more every time we go.  She can jump off the board, flip from the side, dive from the side, go anywhere while holding onto a noodle and kicking, do a "pencil drop", a torpedo, a corkscrew... the list goes on and on.  

This last weekend were over in Phoenix for a relatives high school graduation party and to spend some time with my oldest brother, Paul.  We had a great time and even drove through snow and  fog in Payson on our way there.  One of the highlights was going to be swimming in our cousins pool but the unusual cold spell had knocked the temperature down to 71 degrees and a little too cold for us.  On the Tuesday before we had arrived, the air temperature in Phoenix was already 110 degrees!  It took Emmster a little bit to get out of her shell but she did and her and her Uncle Paul had a lot of fun together.  They were being sneaky and playing tricks on everybody with ice cubes.  She had a blast and laughed so much as she enjoyed being a little bit mischievous.      

Coming up is this weekends triathlon festival in Show Low, AZ.  The races are called Deuces Wild and there is a total of 3 races over the weekend but the most one can participate in is 2.  I have decided to treat the weekend as a fun training weekend and I am registered for an Olympic  triathlon (1500m swim/40k bike/10k run) on Saturday and an Xterra off-road triathlon (800m swim/24k mtn bike/8k trail run) on Sunday.  Mike will be in town tomorrow and he will be doing them too so I'm looking forward to it all.  

And I'll leave you with a video by Kenny Chesney called (what else) Summertime... 

Jay Benson Triathlon

Today was my first triathlon of the season and I have to say that I surprised myself. The triathlon was the Jay Benson memorial sprint triathlon held on Kirtland AFB, in Albuquerque, NM. The distances were a 3 mile run, a 20km bike and a 400m swim.

The day started dark and early at 5:00am and we were on the road to ensure plenty of time to get onto base, pick up my race packet, and set up my transition spot. The weather was cold and windy but by race time conditions had improved. Everything went smoothly and I had a good warm up before the 8:00 am start.

All men started together and ran along a street lined with all the supporters and women racers who would start later. As you can imagine the run started out fast! I on the other hand started out pretty conservatively. I know that my best runs are always when I negative split them so I held back and let a lot of people go knowing I would see them again. I let things settle down and I started picking people off one and two at a time. At the first turn on the course I counted that I was in 28th place overall. I continued picking up the pace until my legs were running as fast as they would turn over and I never let anyone pass me . Finish time was 19:07. I never felt like dying and was able to finish strong so I know I can go faster once I start putting some speed work into my training. The fastest run on the day was 16:47 to put things in perspective.

Once onto the bike I started working hard from the get-go. I just started picking people off one by one. I only allowed one person to pass me and I finished the ride in 30:35 which amounts to an average speed of 24.4 mph! At this point I was in 8th place overall. The fastet bike split of the day was 29:06. My performance on the bike was a big surprise for me and is really encouraging as my real training hasn't even started yet.

On the transition to the swim I ran passed one person (the guy that passed me on the bike) and jumped in right behind the 6th place competitor. As soon as I jumped in I got a huge cramp in my right calf. It was so tight I couldn't point my toes out, kick, or push off the walls. Fortunately I didn't lose any places during this time and by the halfway mark it went away and I was able to start "swimming". I was able to get around one person and finished the swim in 6th place overall! I was so glad to be done I took a deap breath at the end of the pool not knowing I still had to jump out and run about 12 feet to the timing mat. At that point I allowed the two guys behind me to beat me to the mat and push me to 8th place overall by less than a second :(

Total time was 58:55, I finished 8th overall and second in the 30-34 age group. Total, there were 183 male competitors. Like I said earlier the final stats surprise me...in a good way. This race is one of the faster races in New Mexico as it's the only triathlon held in Albuquerque. With this result I am really looking forward to training some more over the next 3 weeks before I race again at the Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival in Show Low, Arizona. There I will be doing an Olympic distance triathlon on Saturday and an Xterra off-road triathlon on Sunday. Then the following weekend is arguably New Mexico's most competitive triathlon, the Milkman triathlon in Dexter, NM. This race will serve as the NM state championships for 2008.

Thanks to Lindsey and Emma for getting up with me and cheering me on all day. I even surprised her when I came back from the bike ride as she wasn't quite expecting me yet! You guys make the day even more special, happy Mothers Day and I love you.

Training Update

Track is now officially over and I am eager to ramp up my own training and get summer started.  I really enjoyed coaching track and am really proud of 4 of our athletes that were brought up by the high school team and are already top athletes for them.  One girl in particular, the one I wrote about on here not too long ago, missed qualifying for the 400m high school state championships by only 1 second!  

I am having one of my best training weekends in a long time.  It's really not a whole lot compared to what I have done in the past or what I want to be doing but it is still something I have not been able to do for a long time.  Yesterday I ran for an hour and a half.  The total distance was just over 11 miles.  Today I rode 50 miles alone in 2 hours and fifty minutes.  Both workouts felt good and pushed me just the right amount.  I still want to get to the pool for a little swim but I think we are having some people over that we work with for an afternoon cookout so we'll see how that goes.    

Check back as I'm actually writing stuff again.  Stay tuned for my first triathlon of the season next Sunday, mothers day.  

Yes I know it has been a really long time since an update, sorry. As you may or may not know, Lindsey and I have been coaching middle school track and it just so happens that tomorrow is our last meet of the season...HOORAH! I do enjoy coaching but I also enjoy some time for myself and my family. Triathlons are starting and I will be doing my first of the season on Mothers Day in Albuquerque, NM. It's called the Jay Benson Memorial Triathlon and it's one of the races that I used to do every year back when I first started doing triathlons 12 years ago. This race is always competitive and very fast. Being in Alb it sells out and attracts top local talent. For me, I am not chasing any overall placings, I just want to do it comfortably fast (whatever that means) and just get back into the swing of things. Last year, I only did the Socorro triathlon with very little training and the only reason I did that one is because I have done every race there since the innagural and I wanted to keep the streak alive. I recently read that there are three things in life: family, career, and your hobby. You can only choose two to do well because you can't do all three well. I guess last year I had to let triathlon go in order to work on the other two. Now with things falling into place and the fact that my career offers me the opportunity to have more than 2 months off I can again concentrate on my hobby. Being a teacher does take the career part out during the summer...SWEET!

Please keep checking back often for updates and don't be afraid to leave a comment, it shows me that people actually read this!

SPRING FEVER

Today is the start of spring break here in Socorro and we had a great start to it. Yesterday, we had our first track meet in Belen and our kids did really well. We were proud of many of them for the way they performed. I look forward to seeing them continue to work and improve this season and beyond. Being a teacher is sometimes (a lot of times) difficult; We deal with many issues that are simply not in our control. We do our best and for whatever reason, there are some things we cannot change. I know we make a difference in the classroom, but I feel I do more for the kids I coach and interact with in that atmosphere than I do for the ones that are just students. I really enjoyed talking with some of our kids last night and encouraging them as many of them were nervous. One eighth grade girl even ran so hard and gave everything she had that she just burst into tears upon finishing a very gutsy 800. She's normally a pretty shy girl in class, never one to be the loudest or neediest. But oh man, watching her run she made a very loud exclamation that she is much more than just a "girl". I never saw Lindsey run although we were at several of the same track meets, but I think she would have reminded me alot of her.

Today is also Good Fiday, a day that many people celebrate with a sacrafice or a pilgrimage. Lindsey and I knew we were going to run from the church in Socorro to the church in Polvadera, 12 miles away, for a while now as it has become an annual thing for us. But we were more than happy to have 2 of our runners join us for the jog. It made the sacrafice even more meaningful as one of the boys mothers is in Albuquerque today receiving chemotherapy. I know his mother as she is a teacher and Socorro is the type of place where you know everybody. He made a comment about how it sucked that she was spending the day with an IV in her arm and he knew she would be sick for the days that followed. I thought of her, I thought of Lindsey and I, and I thought of my Dad. I really miss him and wish I had more time with him as I have a lot to ask him and show him. Ah well, I enjoyed the conversation I had with the kids too as they are always full of questions. I am not sure whether I impressed them or freaked them out when I told them that I peed once while running (literally while running) in a triathlon because I didn't want to stop and get passed. Also, once when one boy was hurting, we could hear them talking to each other and listen to one encourage the other and even change the subject by asking if he would rather be eaten by a shark or a tiger. They are kids :)

The afternoon has been spent lying around watching basketball, a princess movie, napping, and ebay. The weather is 75 degrees and it's not windy. I couldn't ask for anything better. I hope all the people in my life are having a wonderful start to thier holiday too.

Steven