Stonebridge Ranch

Praise God! For a super weekend of racing and good times w/ friends and so forth. I was at the Stonebridge Ranch tri hosted by Play Tri in McKinney this weekend. The 1500 m swim seemed a bit long to me or it could have been all the zig zagging I did. I couldn't swim straight that day to save my life. But I have a hard time swimming straight in the pool, so what did I expect anyways? The 4 loop bike course was eventful, the wind picked it seemed like on each loop and it got more crowded each time I went around. I had to slow it down more than usual because I felt my hamstring give a twinge and thought I better back off, but later as I moved more forward in the saddle it didn't bother me. I need to work on staying in that aggressive position. I also almost lost control going around the second turn, so after that I took some of the turns a little easier. I still had the fastest bike split of the day in 25.1 mph, if you exclude the relay teams. I got passed as if I was sitting still by a relay team they averaged over 27 mph on the bike, I tried to hang back with them, but I kept getting blocked off by people riding over on the left side of the road. Coming off the bike I thought I was the lead, but then found out I was 2.5 minutes down in T2 (This is where you come in Adam). So, surprised of how good my legs felt after that and no hamstring issues at all on the run. I worked on a quick cadence with my legs and that seemed to work well. I stayed consistent with my pace almost the entire way on a curvy path with several sharp inclines. I caught the guy leading, Adam, maybe after 2 miles in the run. I finished the 10k in 35:57 or 5:48 a mile, although, I know I started my watch late in the run, but I think that could be slight short, I do know though I picked it up a lot the last half mile. Overall it was a very fun day!!! I think my overall time was 2:02:34 and it was my first win at the olympic distance. As always it was great meeting new people too! Congratulations to all the racers out there, especially to Liz Raz for winning the womens side at the olympic distance and Korey Sessions and Ashley Johnson for winning the sprint.

This weekend was a big weekend for racing. Congrats to the other competitors that did the USAT Age Group National Championships in Alabama, Augusta 70.3, and The Houston Triathlon.

I owe a super thank you to Derek Bender for connecting me with some awesome hosts! Shane & Tracy Hernandez and their 4 young boys opened up their beautiful home to me and my buddy Lance. Tracy cooked the most awesomest dinner. Me and Lance watched her cook the whole time while I asked her simple of questions of why she was doing this and that. The food was way better than Olive Garden, we had spaghetti and home made sauce that included a hint of red wine, carrots, celery, and Italian beef. We also had a Caprice salad which I never had before and dessert was chocolate coated strawberries. Then after a couple of embarrassing matches, I beat the 14 year old Garret at a game of ping pong and showed him who was boss ;) If you need a dedicated physical therapist then Shane is your guy check out http://www.edgetherapy.net

Thanks also to my generous sponsors and supporters. As always thanks to Jesus Christ for blessing with me abilities, passion, determination, and health. Brent Poulsen for the hard core coaching and aways keeping me on my toes and sore after hard sessions. Blueseventy, Brooks, Monavie (Brandon Perry), and OnUrLeft Sports. I have also been working with someone else and will release some details on that soon!!!! But, next up in less than 3 weeks I'll be racing Ironman 70.3 Austin.

Here are some pictures before my swim today at the Shorrock's house on Cedar Creek Lake. The water nice and refreshing today, good for recovery.

Fight to the Finish Line

This is a story about my friend and hero Kami Nedbalek and her battle with lung cancer. She was one of the people there in the beginning when I first began my triathlon journey in the Tyler, Texas area.

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13169891

Posted: Sep 16, 2010 8:51 PM CDTUpdated: Sep 16, 2010 10:44 PM CDT

Click image to enlarge

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By Ryan Peterson - bio | email

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Kami Nedbalek prides herself on finishing the race. Competing in Lubbock two years ago, she couldn't reach the finish line.

"We started to swim and I'd take a few strokes and I couldn't breathe," said Nedbalek. "I did the whole swim that way stopping and stopping. And biking I had a tightness in my chest, like something was really wrong. I didn't know what it was."

After a friend told her to see a doctor, Nedbalek Kami reluctantly agreed. The news wasn't good. Her lungs were filled with 12 cancerous tumors.

"It was such a shock," she said. "I was kind of like I want to do the Iron Man (Triathlon) and I want to see my grandchildren some day. I just thought I never thought about life, just having a few years left. I remember feeling so defeated when I didn't finish that race. That's the first one I hadn't finished. I had friends at home tracking me. It was a long drive home from Lubbock. But now I definitely know it was a blessing."

Nedbalek says the triathlon she couldn't finish saved her life. Despite cancer treatment, asthma and knee surgery, she keeps on competing.

"Why not do something that keeps you healthy and helps your body fight?," she said. "When you're out here training it takes your mind off of all those other things and lets you sort of get away from things."

Two years after finding out she had cancer, Nedbalek's prognosis looks good. The tumors are shrinking and her competitive fire keeps on growing. She'll be in the field for the Rose City Triathlon Saturday morning.

"One of the fun things for me is seeing newcomers complete something they didn't think they can do," said Nedbalek with a smile. "I just love being in the race, even if I'm behind everybody else."

Copyright 2010 KLTV. All rights reserved.

OnUrLeft Sports and Update

I am grateful to announce a sponsorship with OnUrLeft Sports a Houston, Texas based company. OnUrLeft Sports is the most comprehensive multi sport team, offering a variety of services which include monthly coaching and a variety of performance testing, and nutritional guidance. I'd like to thank the owner Aaron Palaian for this opportunity.

The sister company OnUrMark Productions puts on simply the best triathlons including the Gateway to the Bay and the Bridgeland sprint triathlon. This weekend is also the debut of The Houston Triathlon which is expected to sale out any day now. Currently on 27 spots left!!! Be sure and check them out!!!

This week I had to find a new place to swim on the lake since someone ran their barge into a bridge that crosses over from Gun Barrel City to Seven Points where I usually go swimming. The bridge is closed now and anyways I owe a huge thanks to Steve and Jane Shorrock for "opening" up their boat deck to me and allowing me to get that needed open water swimming in. They are super cool and allowed me and my friend Candice to ride on their jet skis all over the lake this weekend for a couple of hours. We are both super sore right now. I wish I had brought my camera on the jet ski, but I was kinda scared about dropping it in.

Some of you may know, I dropped out of Prairie Man half-irondue due to a slight pull in my hamstring at the end of the bike last weekend. It was my first time to drop out of a race due to physical (in)abilities. Well, praise God for some healing because all seems to be good now! I didn't do much this week as I was starting to go crazy mid-week. I did some icing, epsom salt baths, massage, ultra sound, and gentle stretching. The massage lady, Ginger, made me hurt really bad, every time she would go over my calves my feet would cramp up. It's hard being patient.

Well since all is good now, I'll be at the Stonebridge triathlon in McKinney this weekend. It's time to get my booty in shape. Not sure how well it's going to go but regardless can't wait to give it a shot.

Prairie Man Half Iron

Not much to write about tonight, so I'll do my best to keep it short and sweet.

In Grand Prairie, TX (DFW) at Joe Poole Lake.It was a very hot and humid day. The water was unusually calm. I had my best swim time for 1.2 miles, 33:01 with the 13th fastest swim time in the half iron. Many people say the race director Jack always have long swims. Coming into T1 my zipper on my speed suit got hung up. It took me awhile realize it was already over half way undone, so I was able to get out of it. I got off to a strong start on the 4 loop fast bike course, but every loop I saw that my average was gradually falling. On the last last loop of the bike course my hands were starting to cramp and I could feel as though I was almost getting shaky, then coming into the park I caught a big cramp under my left butt cheek (the hamstring insertion point). I was barely able to get off the bike. I finished the 56 mile bike in 2:17.08 for a 24.5 mph average. Starting to run didn't go so well as I was still feeling the cramp and it was getting worse the legs not wanting to go. After several attempts at giving it a go I made it to the 1 mile mark in 11 minutes and decided to call it day.

Afterwards I could barely lift my knee to my waste without some intense discomfort and a guy did some A.R.T. on me afterwards and after a couple of minutes I had full range of motion back. Now it's just sore. I hope that's it at least.

I owe a huge thanks to Lord from keeping from risking further damage. Bo, my buddy who let me stay at his house and to Lance Vernon who tuned up my bike to get all the gears working and for gluing some new tubular tires on my wheels. Next if I'm ready, I'll be doing the Stonebridge olympic in two weeks.