Clearlake International

What a trip this past weekend was for the Clearlake triathlon just south of Houston. I made it to packet pickup just in time. I had a flat (in my car) on I-45. I am driving along and I'm thinking to myself this road sure is bumpy (similar to that of what my friend Tracy though the night before the McKinney tri). I thought it might be the road, but then looked at other cars and none were rattling as bad as mine was, so I decided I better exit and I pull over in a run down looking motel parking lot to change it. I looked around the area and decided this wasn't the "good" part of H-town. I debated whether or not I should call someone (since I don't have the coolest phone) to help me find the nearest tire shop or just change it myself. Since this was the first time I actually had to change a tire myself without supervision. I've been fortunate to have been able to locate a place before it got too bad in previous times. I proceeded to empty my trunk out which was a job itself and get the jack out...it took me a few minutes to get it all together but once I figured it out, I was good to go. I need to ask Brent about doing more strength training, because my arms about gave out taking them lug nuts on and off. But the guys, at Wal-Mart the following day when I went to get a new tire, said I put a 180 pounds of pressure on those nuts, enough to hold a tire on a duele. I called my dad after I changed the tire and told him I was a mechanic now.

Oh yeah, so the triathlon went alright. I got off to a great start on the swim. I positioned myself behind the eventual winner Bradley Pigage (won his 4th consecutive race) and got off to a smokin' fast start. However, that only lasted so long before I found myself in the back of the invitational wave. I was drafting off this one guy and it must have been his first race in the elite group. I'll admit I was tapping his feet a bit too much, because the pace wasn't challenging enough and at the same time, it would have been too much for me to go around him so I sat right there and Ryan Lindsay was drafting off me. The guy was kicking hard and I knew he wanted me off of him, but its a race and you can draft in the swim, so I'm going to do that. Then starts to zig zag all over the place, then suddenly stops in front of me. In my head, I'm like, "Whoa, dude that is not a nice way to race." Ryan then gets around me and I miss his feet, I tried to keep him in sight hoping I could pull him back in but was unsuccessful. I enter T1 past my spot right back up, I had visually remembered how I placed my helmet so I could see it coming into transition. I found my helmet on the ground and not on my bike where I had put it and my new oakleys were missing, I spent several seconds looking around then got my game back together and took off on my bike. My swim was nothing impressive 26.47, some say it was about 2 minutes long though.

I had a real good bike and my fastest average bike split of 26.2 mph, a total time on the 25 mile route in 57:14. The course was flat and wind on are side for much of the beginning portions until we turned into a headwind and had some chip seal rode. Although I heard traffic was controlled better this year and nobody was a hit by car (Brad). There was a couple of intersections that were quite dangerous. One I never saw a police officer, but fortunately I had the green light. Then the next one probably could have been coned off better, had us making a left turn and traffic was on our left. How the heck am I supposed to get over when there is this big truck on my left blocking me? I surged just in time and showed that (blank spot here) that I can ride and cut in front of him and made the left turn, as a cop is running out into the intersection.

I some how had the fastest T2 of 30seconds! And my mom always complains about how slow and clumsy I am. The following picture is me running towards transition. I think the guy behind me is mad at me because, he stopped suddenly in front me as I am still rolling in and I slightly clipped his bike I think.

After a hard bike I found myself in the fight for the top 3 spots with the exception of Brad we were right there together. Ryan L. and Stephen Milford were just up the road in front of me. I caught Stephen first but unfortunately he had to pull out due to a strained muscle in the back. I caught Ryan soon after, before the halfway point of the run, I was feeling it was getting slower, we made the turn around I could Ryan not far behind, so that was motivation to me that I needed to suck it up a bit. I finished the 10k (6.2 mi) course in 36:50. Not bad considering how bad I felt, I used to do that on a day feeling good.

Picture of me and my house mates for the weekend Bradley Pigage and Stephen Milford.
Here is me and Aaron Palaian, owner of OnUrLeft Sports. He talked to me after the race. OnUrLeft and OnUrMark Productions puts on the some of the best put on triathlons I have been to including this year which include Gateway to the Bay and Bridgeland. I'll mention more about OnUrLeft Sports soon!

I'd like to give a few shot outs to few people. First is Jesus Christ for protected me in some of the worst traffic in the United States and a good race!!! Stephen and Brad for the homestay. Aaron Palaian from OnUrLeft Sports. A big congrats to all the competitors out there. It got quite hot as the day went along. I'd like to mention and ask for prayers for my riding buddy, Jim McCan, a 64 year old and one of the toughest road racers I know. He had a bad crash at the Hotter and Hell 100K road race in Wichita Falls, Tx, where a dude decided to swerve in front of him and take him out.

Next up in less than two weeks I'll be competing in Jack Weiss' race of Ironhead Race Productions, the Prairie Man half Ironman. I have heard despite how flat the race is, it can be one of the hardest half ironmans, so cheers to that, it should be a good one to do.

Take on the Heat

I took part in the 3rd of 4 races of Play Tri's North Texas Tri Series this weekend. Take on Heat which benefited The Colony Fire Fighters it started as a 350 meter pool swim. I was #61, but people were nice enough to let me move up and I started in front of my buddy and home stay Bender. The plan was to let him pass me then I draft the rest of the way. It took him about 2 laps to catch me but when he did I had to really work to stay on his feet and I was almost getting a bit sick to my stomach by the end of the swim, my swim wasn't impressive but it was 18th fastest. The bike was 2 loops and more technical with lots of turn at the beginning of each loop. I've never rode well technically before, but today I did thanks to Austin Saylor who I had to work hard to stay legally behind him. We went back and forth, but he did most of the work because I never could pull up close enough to him to go around him until the very end where I just smashed it as hard as I could and passed going into transition. I finished the bike with a 25.3 mph bike split. Finally, on the run my legs felt good like at Bridgeland and I could see Ahmed way up ahead so that was giving me motivation to keep pushing. My garmin is messed up again and I think possibly for good this time so I would "manually" count out loud how many seconds he was up on me, it was like 45, 29, and eventually I caught him near the 2 mile mark, but Ron Tribendis was still up ahead and I finally caught him, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to by the end of the run or not. In these pool swims you never know who is where really on the course. It felt like I was running faster but I still finished with the top run time of 17.34, about 5:39 average mile. Overall it was a good race with NO mechanical issues (besides the Garmin).

As you can see there were only two guys in the race. Me and Austin.

Some of guys were lucky enough to be with some of the beautiful ladies of the Frisco Triathlon Club.

Thank God for a good race and for remaining alive with DFW traffic! and Thanks to Bender for letting me stay with him again and Lance for gluing on a tubular tire on for me this week. Up next I am doing my 4th race this month in the Houston area again, the Clearlake international distance triathlon. It should be more good times with some of my homies Stephen and Brad.

Bridgeland Triathlon: Overcoming Murphy's Law

What could go wrong did go wrong, known as Murphy's Law. I stayed with my buddy Anthony, which was close to the race site. When we were about the load up the bikes, we put air in our tires and a malfunction to my disc wheel where the stem broke on the tubular...uggh trying to remain calm, I happened to carry my training set with me and put that rear wheel on which isn't as aero at all and I have a heavy set tube in their too. I had actually had a dream about this happening earlier in the week, but I didn't carry my training set with me, so in the dream I wasn't able to compete. Then also my garmin malfunctioned, it wouldn't come on. It has been forever (if ever) since I've raced without a watch.

The swim was 500 meters, and for me, I had another good swim. I had a guy I found to draft off but he may have cost me more time than he saved me. He was zig zagging all over and then started to go off course, I didn't follow him then. I ended up swimming most of it without and help and still managed to come out of the water and gaining, just behind Stephen Milford for the second week in a row.

Trying to mount my bike and get caught up to Stephen my chain popped off,I felt like Andy Schleck and this other fast cyclist guy goes past me and Stephen is already way up the rode. I avoided saying any kind of 4 letter word in front of a bunch of people, at least out loud. I would spend the whole 14 mile failing to chase them down. At the first turn around I see Stephen way in front and he looks at me and I just shake my head. I got out biked big time, but still managed to avg 25.0 mph without the disk, the course was fast!!!

Needless to say, I was looking forward to getting off the bike and getting to the run. I was 7th off the bike. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised how good my legs actually felt running. I enjoyed the run course especially the gravel trail sections, reminding me of the Trinity trails. I got to work on the run and finished in 3rd place, by catching Stephen by mile 3. He tried to hang with me and I was hoping he wouldn't, so I had to increase the pace a little more and held him off. If things went right and I had gotten off the bike with Stephen where I should have been makes me wonder how close to 2nd I could have been. Oh well what's done is done.

This race I learned no matter what obstacles are thrown at you it's best to remain positive and deal with it and do what you can do. My buddy Brad Pigage in the middle of the picture just won his 3rd race for the 3rd week in a row. He is going to seek his pro card at the Age Group National Championships in September. I like to give a shout out to my good friends Rachel and Brooke for waking up super early and making it out to cheer us on and my new friend Tammy for coming out! Thanks to my buddy Anthony Limon for letting me stay at his place and play with his little greyhound dogs. I thank God for teaching me a good lesson today about determination and not giving up physically, but, most importantly not giving up mentally.

This month is a busy month of racing. I have next weekend off from racing, but in 2 weeks I'll be at the Take on the Heat sprint triathlon for races 3 of 4 of Play Tri's North Texas Tri Series. I am looking forward to it as it was my first triathlon in 2007, when I had no clue what I was doing.

Thanks for reading this, I realize I got more wordy than I intended.

30th Annual River Cities Triathlon

I raced in Bossier City this weekend in the 30th annual River Cities triathlon. RCT is the largest and one of the most competitive sprint triathlons in the south! It was a lot of fun and fast competition, including legend Dave Scott. I had a good swim for me, came out of the water right behind my buddy Stephen Milford. He wasn't expecting me that close. I was ready beat down on the guy that kept pulling me under, by my leg early on in the swim. The bike was fast, but got off to a slow start, managed to average 25.2 mph, I got to experience what it was like racing semi ITU style. Me and Stephen set the pace of our pack and everyone else pretty much latched on, we did most of the work going back and forth. Our pack had built up to what looked like 10 guys by the end of it. T2 definitely was crazy and rushed with guys trying to take an advantage with a lead out on the run. LSU cross country runner Mark Primeaux dominated the run by going under 17 min off the bike. I had some awful stomach cramps on the run, but managed to come back some on the last mile to take over 4th place with just over a quarter mile to go, for an 18:04 5k run. There was no way I was going to let that Aggie beat me.

Stephen Milford (7th), Brad Pigage (1st), Me, and our awesome host Ms. Roeten!

I'd like to thank Debbie and Rachael Roeten for hosting me and my buddies (Brad Pigage and Stephen Milford) and their smelly shoes, who they have never met before and to Scott and Terry Harkey for cooking an awesome pre race dinner for us. I stopped by my mom's house the afternoon before the race, and she must think I am skinny or something, she kept trying to feed me. I ate good food at her house too!! Thanks to the good Lord for keeping us all safe out there in a weather advisory heat wave. Big shout to Brad for winning!!! Me and Stephen are were so nice to Brad, before we confirmed all the travel arrangements to make sure Brad was even in the race to start with.

This weekend I get to to do it all over again with another sprint triathlon in Cypress, Texas, the Bridgeland tri. It is managed by OnUrLeft Sports.

Legend Dave Scott was there handing out the awards.

Peach Pedal Crash!

This past weekend was a training weekend in the Fort Worth area. Me and Brent did a 4.5 hour brick with a 4 hour ride in the Pedal Pedal tour. We got off to a very fast start with the front group and hitting around 30 mph about the time a dog ran out onto the road and caused us to slam our brakes my rear slid out and Brent hit it and we both went down. Fortunately, the crash wasn't as bad as it could have been. I have mostly superficial wounds while Brent is more sore and hopefully just bruised up. The other good news is the bikes are o.k. I know you were wanting to know. We still got back on our bikes and finishes strong.

The back of Brent's arm is banged up

I love it when Norma rubs my legs

Brent is pissed, broke his custom made Oakley jawbones

Moments before the start.

Some of my battle wounds on my leg.

Derek Bender Photography

Last month at the Play Tri Festival, Derek Bender chose to use me as a sample for his new photography business. Instead of being disappointed by a few random photos from an event, Derek Bender offers a unique service where he will follow a single athlete or a small group around and photographing them on their day! Not just a couple of photos either, but a large amount (he shot over 400 of me). He can also do slideshows, books, or anything you want. If you like the work you see of the sample slideshow he did for me then send him an email to discuss your next event. derekdbender@gmail.com. Derek is a super cool dude and fun to work with and easy to get long with. Check out www.bendershoot.com for other work.

Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake

It was tough weekend in Lubbock. The plan was to race tactical and conservative. You don't want to blow up on this course and with the heat. I got off to a good start on the swim. By the first turn I found myself right behind Tyler Johnson, I got on his feet for awhile and somehow lost him and then later I saw him just up ahead again, so I kept him in sight and another guy comes along and I jump on his feet to the end. I rushed to T1 and found Tyler still getting his helmet on. My swim was a 28:06, but I am sure this a few minutes short.

On the bike the hills were tough, but I didn't push as hard as I could up them, but kept the effort steady and controlled and still out climbed most people. I sat (legally) behind Tyler for the first 10 miles. I kept a steady conservative effort on the bike for the most part. At mile 45 I found Weslie Anderson, who beat me at Galveston by 20s. I sat behind him for a few minutes before going by and tried to reel in David Jones from the Richardson Bike Mart, that guy is solid strong!!! He brought me into T2. I biked the course in 2:26.25 with a 22.97 mph average.

The 13.1 mile run was long and painful. I didn't have no legs for the run. I have never walked so much in a half marathon before. I kept looking back thinking Tyler or Weslie would catch me, but apparently there were lots of people having a much harder time than I was. David Jones caught me again with about 4 miles to go but I wasn't able to go with him. My run time was a 1:36.32 for a 7:22 mi/pace. I ended up 51st OA and 5th in my age group an overall time of 4:33.34. Buffalo Spring 70.3 was a humbling experience.

Congrats to Bo and Bryce for finishing their first 70.3 along with my new friend Sarah. A shout to my coach Brent Poulsen who killed it for 8th overall in 4:o6 and a run time of 1:20 on a very tough course. Also to Brent's fiancée Carley for looking over an economics paper I had due for school. Thanks to Cam for letting us at crash at his house. Thank Jesus! for letting me survive the race and the long drive.

Here a few pics from the weekend.

The finisher's shot.

Before our Saturday morning prep ride. Notice how big my rear has gotten since I've been riding bikes.

Team dinner at Chili's.

Me and Brent before our prep ride. Notice how he is decked out his K Swiss gear and I went with a t shirt and aviator sunglasses.

Me and Cam ran into Terenzo Bozzone, who ended up 2nd overall.

Eustace Pioneer Day 5k

Last Saturday I ran in the 5th annual Pioneer Day 5k run in downtown Eustace. It's very close to where I live and draws out some of the area's local high school runners. I was on a hard week since I am gearing up for Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3 right now. My goal was to break 16 minutes. I got off to a very fast start with two guys and we were taking turns taking the lead at least for the first half mile before they fell off. They stayed with me for the first half mile then fell off, I hit the first mile in 5:04 and all by myself. Tired legs were setting in by half way, I quickly ran some ugly miles after that, but held off for the overall in 16:48. Good job to Gene Myers and Josh Sypert who organize and direct the event.

I'll be making the trip out to the Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3 in Lubbock this weekend. The top triathletes in the world are going to be there Craig Alexander the 2008 and 2009 Ironman World Champion and Chris Lieto, the top American. Joining them will be Luke Bell the course record holder and Terenzo Bozzone who has won several races already this year including Ironman Texas 70.3. This one is known as one of the hardest 70.3's in the country and it will be a hot one.

Play Tri Fest

It's been awhile since I've last posted. Don't worry though, I am still here and here to stay. I've been busy working, training, and taking naps during the day since school ended for the spring semester, but summer semesters are here and I am very busy once again.

This weekend I went to Dallas with my swimming/training partner Lance, and did the Play Tri Festival olympic distance triathlon. It was his first olympic distance and he put it on the line and did great. I am very proud of him about the way he races. We had a great host, my buddy Derek Bender, who also took the most of the photos below. The photos of his are an example of his services he wants to offer single athletes or small groups who would rather have a photographer focus on them alone out there on the course for them. That is what Derek Bender did for me. You can even see more photos of the event on his or my facebook page.

The night before the race we heard Ahmed Zaher speak at Hully and Mo's bar in downtown Dallas about his horrific bike crash in Hawaii last year when a truck's side mirror hit him and cracked 6 ribs, clavicle, and collapsed a lung then 9 months later he is competing in the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. Zaher owns Play Tri and is one of fastest triathletes in the DFW metroplex. He also dominates his age group at Ironman events. His speech of the accident even caused one guy to pass out and paramedics has to be sent to the bar. The guy was alright.

After the speech we/I was starving and ate at the Olive Garden. I loaded up on way too much salad and breadsticks and barely finished my spaghetti and meatballs. I will have to be sure not to make that mistake again. Because I paid for it.

It was an unreal humid morning. My warmup jogg had me soaked in my own sweat. You could see the smog over the downtown Dallas skyline. About the only thing I go good for me was my swim and even that is not that great. I swam the 1500m in 21:06 which is a smashing PR if it is legit, but I think the course was short. I got in the pack and got a good draft and barely sighted for most of the swim. The guy I was swimming with put some distance on me at the last turn which was a long straight shot back, but after that I kept our distance about the same, but I was working a lot harder to do it. I surprised myself when I beat Michael Dawdy out of the swim.

On the bike I could never get my legs going in a good rhythm for whatever reason, they finally started to feel decent by the end of the bike, then it was too late. The bike course had a few decent hills in it. Overall I think it was a fast course, and I did it somewhere around 58 minutes for 24 miles. But Michael Dawdy rode like a beast!!! He passed me as if I was sitting still. I tried to keep him in sight but lost him when there was confusion at a turnaround point midway.

The run was terrible for me. I think over eating at Olive Garden caused me to have some serious side cramps. These cramps where very intense. I slowed my run down to a slow trot by the first mile and was debating dropping out, but I knew Ahmed was in front of me and I never beat him before. I kept on. I worked on my breathing hoping the side cramps would go away. The run was 2 out and backs, by the time I started the second one the pain was subsiding somewhat and I was able to pick it up and caught Ahmed and held on. The overall and runner-up, Tyler Johnson and Michael Dawdy were too far ahead for to me make and I ended up 3rd OA. With a time somewhere around 2:00.36 hrs.

Special thanks to! Derek Bender for being an awesome host and photographer, Lance Vernon for getting me to Dallas and back. Most of all the good Lord for keeping us safe out there in those humid/hot conditions. Thanks to my Sponsors to include: blueseventy, that speedsuit is very fast!!!, Brandon Perry and Monavie, keeping my joints healthy!!! Brooks for the shoes! And everyone else family and friends for your support!!!

Next up this month I am doing a local 5k run, Pioneer Day 5k in Eustace, Tx, on June 19th and June 26th I am doing Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 again for the second year in a row. I have also added a couple of races in August so be sure to check those out.

Thanks for Reading!!!

Cheers!

William

P.S. Enjoy the pics.

Where the Old Cowboys Stadium used to be.

The physical therapist who had cold towels for us at the finish line and we met them the night before at the bar.

Me and Lance.

Me w/ Rachel and Ahmed Zaher

Starting the bike.

Derek Bender Photography

Dealing with stomach issues on the run.

Derek Bender Photography

Derek Bender Photography

Derek Bender Photography

On a mission.

Derek Bender Photography

Coming out of the swim

Derek Bender Photography

Derek Bender Photography

Derek Bender Photography

Historic McKinney Kiwanis Triathlon

This past weekend kicked off one of four triathlons for Play Tri's North Texas Tri Series.This first one was a 300 yard pool swim, 13 mile bike, and a 3.5 mile run, held at the McKinney High School. Honestly, I was fortunate by the Grace of God to be alive that weekend and make it to the start line. (Right Tracy?). I had a great host for this event. A friend from college, Tracy Bailey let me stay at his place and we went to the Grapevine Mills Mall to shop for our mothers, but ended up buying stuff for ourselves. Funny how that works out. (Sorry Mom). Long story short, we leave the mall on a busy freeway, when Tracy says, "This road sure is bumpy". He switches lanes and it get's worse. I say, "I don't think it's the road, I think you might have a flat". He merges over and we see the passenger rear tire roll past us on the drivers side. The tire pretty much came completely off.

Once we got back, Tracy cooked up this great pre race meal. Baked chicken topped with red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, placed on a bed of (non-salt) seasoned brown rice. served with a spinach salad with advocados, tomatoes, and carrots. Also with whole english green beans, corn bread and a boiled egg.

The race itself was low key, but good, and organized. It was a 300 yard pool swim with swimmers going in both directions in each lane. I was out of the water at 4:30, for the 13th fastest swim. Off to my bike next for the 13 mile bike portion, it started flat in town but ventured off on some country back roads with some rolling hills and some sharp curves thrown in. I didn't see anybody for awhile on this road and was wondering if I was lost, missed a turn or something. Finally, I came up on Pedro and then once I got close to Aaron the lead cyclist, I backed off the last 2 miles and did some soft pedaling. Even with slowing down a lot the last 2 miles I still averaged 24.4 mph on the course for the fastest bike time by 0.9mph. During the run portion my calves were cramping right away, but I ran through it until it went away, the run was quite hilly with one hill after another, especially the first 2.5 miles. We ran from the high school to downtown McKinney and back through a park and back. The course was supposedly 3.5 miles, but my Garmin 310xt measured 3.6. It was showing the mile markers as being right on with the course mile markers until the very end. Either way still finished in 20:27, my splits were something like this 5:42, 5:45, 5:34, and just under a 5:30 mi/pace the last bit, for an average of 5:40 mi/pace for the fastest run. The race benefited the McKinney Kiwanis which supports the youth and other variety of charities.

Thanks to my Lord for another good race and Tracy for being an awesome host and cooking up a delicious meal! I am excited to start another block of training tomorrow. I already have my water bottles filled and in the fridge. I won't race again until June 6th at the 2nd North Texas Tri series, the Play Tri Festival. I am doing the intermediate distance race then.

Thanks for everyone's support!

WILLIAM