A Marathon, a Triathlon, and a Great Season

12/30/2012 Taichung Science Park Matathon - After deciding to change my life and begin exercising, I told myself that I would run at least one marathon every year until I couldn't anymore.  My first MARATHON was the 2011 Freeway Marathon here in Taichung City almost exactly one year ago from this marathon in 2012. It was the 2012 Taichung Science Park Marathon. The course was hilly (almost 1000m of climbing), but thanks to my Garmin 910XT I was able to consistently keep my average pace right on target.

Strava Link Here

I did not prepare for this one (no marathon specific training, just exercise) and ended up with 3:57:xx with the last bit in pain!

3/10/2013 2013 Romantic Lover River Triathlon - This was my first tri last year. I was really excited for this one and had been preparing, particularly my run. My post swim-and-bike run is quite weak and I'm happy to say that this triathlon proved I had grown.

Strava Swim   Strava Bike   Strava Run

Last year - This year time improvements:
Swim: 34:51 - 25:33 = 9:18
Bike: 1:12:36 - 1:03:17 = 9:19
Run: 1:03:37 - 51:59 = 11:36
Total: 2:51:05 - 2:20:50 = 31:15

Last year's swim was 34:51, bike was 1:12:36, and run was 1:03:37 with a total time of 2:51:05. This year was swim 25:33. bike was 1:03:17, and run was 51:59 with a finish time of 2:20:50. I got 9th in my AG and 44th overall. Stoked!

Packing

 Love River in the am

 Shot of the day with 200m left

Ironman 70.3 Taiwan Race Report

After hours of mental and physical preparation, thousands upon thousands of calories burned, sacrificing sleeping in, and sore commutes to and from school, I was finally able to compete in and complete my first half Ironman, the Ironman 70.3 Taiwan.

30 minutes til' swim start. 

Chris "Macca" McCormack took last years race and I was a little sad that he wouldn't be there to defend his title. There were still plenty of pros in competition, but none who drew as much attention as Macca. 

1.9 km swim - 37:29. The swim started at 6:15am and was a 1,600 people mass start. Unfortunately, I am not able to afford a wetsuit yet, so I swam with my trishorts as always. I set a goal for 35 minutes on the swim, which was a little ambitious considering all the people swimming with me. The water was super warm and the jellyfish were out. I had to swim against a group of people who were cutting the buoy, then I got stung by a jellyfish on my upper lip. I had a terrible first lap. There were two 950m laps with a short on shore run around a cone and across the censor before the second lap. Strava Swim link here.

10 minutes until the pro swim. 

90 km bike - 2:45:21 The bike course (Strava link here - I'm 5th place!) was flat and fast. It was 2 1/2 laps around the south western tip of Taiwan. We rode clockwise along the ocean as well as through rural farming neighborhoods and rice fields. I was able to maintain an average speed of 34.1 kph on my detachable aero bars. I only had three small mishaps. I hit a bump a few minutes in and one of my nutrition bottles fell out. I had to stop, unclip, and grab it. I dropped another bottle towards the end of my second lap and only a few minutes later, had a sticker stuck on the tire, so stopped to rip it off. I took a GU every 45-minutes and switched between caffeinated and non-caffeinated.

I need to work on the bike mount. 

21 km run - 1:59:00. Terrible! I started way too fast, but I felt like my body was just going that fast, I wasn't trying to push or set a pace. Lesson learned. Strava link. The run was flat and paralleled the last segment of the bike course. 14km south, and 7km back north to the finish line located at Yoho Beach Resort.

I have finished three half-marathons, one marathon, one sprint triathlon, and four olympic distance triathlons, but nothing felt quite like finishing this race. I struggled the last mile, but summed up the strength to run the end. The crowd was amazing, slapping hands and cheering loudly. A strong sense of emotion and accomplishment hit me as I rounded the corner to the finish line.

After crossing the finish line, the first thing I did was look for my wife. Lauren has been nothing but supportive of me on this journey and it is to her I owe my accomplishments. I love her infinitely. We were able to sneak in a congratulatory kiss before I went and collapsed for a few minutes on the grass.

I did it. I finished. I hit my goal. 5:21:50. 

Time to eat the 6,500 calories I just burned!

Lauren and I spent Sunday relaxing and eating. We used our new Samsung Galaxy S3 to take some sweet panoramic pictures. 

This place is called Chuhuo 出火. There are natural gasses that come out from these rocks and even though the chain fence says 'No Trespassing' we couldn't help ourselves from purchasing popcorn from the old lady and popping it over the open flame. Cooking popcorn on an eternal natural gas flame was a first for both Lauren and I. 

Ah... Baisha Beach 白沙 was good to us as usual. We seriously had perfect weather. I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

We went to some nature preserve museum at a lake. 

See you next year?

2012 International Hualian 56.5 Triathlon

Official Results: Swim 29:40.83  Bike 1:21:03.87  Run 55:39.31  Total 2:46:24.01

Saturday was my 3rd triathlon. It was at Carp Lake (鯉魚潭) in Hualien. It was a beautiful race and well organized. After school, I grabbed my gear, and headed to the train station.

Here's my bike all packed up. Also pictured are my Jesus sandals from the night market.

The gear minus the bike and swim cap. 

 I'm really loving my set-up. My bike is precisely obedient. 

I arrived at the hostel a little late and it was too dark to see anything. When I woke up, I saw this.

http://www.lake-house.in/

If you ever find yourself in Hualien, I highly recommend staying here.

This isn't my finished set-up, but close. 

The swim was beautiful. Perfect water  temperature (wetsuits not allowed) and no waves.

Play by play:

Swim - I was in the second heat (5 minutes after the 1st), which was terrible. The pros and women go first. Even if I tried, there's no way I could catch the pros, but the women are a different story. I had passed more than half by the first turn, and many more on the way back. I spent most of the swim spotting and dodging instead of just focusing on technique and breathing. I felt great coming out of the water.

Bike - There were two 22.5km laps for the bike, downhill the first half, and uphill the next. I was alone for a while on the bike. I passed two guys on the downhill, but eventually got caught by some crazies who were flying. I drafted behind them for a while, but couldn't hang. They were too strong. I was wasted after the first lap, but found a sweet group and we all drafted (legal in this race) the second lap. I felt strong and was ready for the run. 

Run - I felt great on the first mile, but got a double stitch and had to walk. I though this was going to be a repeat of my last two triathlons. I was frustrated because I've been doing bricks to prepare for this. Then, as fast as they came, they went away. I finished strong and didn't let anyone pass me on the last 5k. I'm pretty sure it was an 11k run. Well, at least that's what my watch told me.

I don't have my official time yet, but know it was 2:46:xx. That was a good enough time to put me 8th in my age group. I'll have to wait a few days to see my overall rank. I got a trophy, my picture taken, and a lot of pride. 

The way home was terrible. I ended up sleeping on the floor of a train storage car to Taipei, where I had to get off and catch a bus back to Taichung. I got home at 1:30am totally wiped out. Worth it!

MILE	TIME	AVG.PACE
1	7:48	7'48"/mi
2	16:54	9'06"/mi
3	25:30	8'36"/mi
4	33:48	8'18"/mi
5	41:49	8'01"/mi
6	50:07	8'18"/mi

Here I am a couple hours later with my 8th in age group trophy.