Thursday, April 30, 2009

2009 Tri Season Under Way...

Boy it's been a long time since I wrote on this blog, but now that the season is underway, we'll try to get more in. Moved to Omaha in early January, freezing cold, snow, clouds, ice, blah, blah, blah... Seriously, it has been an adjustment! I did go back to AZ in March to visit ANC Phx., see the kids and do the Lake Havasu Sprint Tri. With not a lot of training under my belt and on a borrowed bike, I had no idea how I'd do. And of course, a huge part of how you finish has to do with who shows up.
Well, some very fast guys showed up this year - much faster than the previous four years. I got 6th overall, missing 5th by 1 second (Ouch) and won my age group. I was satisfied, though that one second still bugs me. The guy who won was from Germany and he beat me by 10 min. which is a life-time in a sprint distance race. He started 5 min. behind me and as I was running into transition from the bike to run he yelled something at me in German as he tried to pass. I think translated it went, "Get out of my way you stupid old man with gray hair!" Ha. The top two broke an hour which I don't think has ever been done before on that course.
This Saturday is a sprint tri up in Sioux Center, IA. Three other guys are going to race with me - Josh, Troy and Justin - first tri for all three of them - so it should be fun. Looked at the last two year's results and am hoping for a pretty high finish. As always, it's in God's hands though.
Then, it looks like this:
May 17 - Local 5K run
May 25 - Local 5 mile run - maybe
June 6 - Norfolk Tri
June 13 - Holiday Lake Tri - Brooklyn, IA
June 20 - Local 5K - Mead, NE
June 18 - HyVee Tri - Des Moines
July 11 - Local cycling Time Trial in Elkhorn
July 18 - Lake Okoboji Tri - maybe
July 26 - US Sprint Nationals - CA
Then we'll see...if I go top 12 in my age group at Nationals, I qualify for Team USA and Sprint World Championships in Australia Sept. 12. Jen and I tentatively planning on going if I qualify. If I do, I'll probably do just one race in August to stay sharp and reduce the chance of getting injured though there are 3 that month right around here I could do.
Goals for 2009. Race to glorify God first and foremost. Encourage and help all the triathletes I can. Get to know a bunch of triathletes, cyclist and runners here in Omaha. Represent my sponsors with excellence. Go top 10 at Nationals and Top 10 at Worlds. Be named USAT All-American. Finish top 2% in my age group nationally.
Goals are good to set (Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.") but we must place them all in God's hands and submit to whatever He allows to happen, because it's always for our good. (Prov. 16:9 "The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.")
More to come...
Linc



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