Bridgeland Triathlon

This past weekend I spent a few days in Houston getting ready for the Bridgeland triathlon/ After a month of training I was able to finally let it out this weekend. That night was a fun filled night at the Union Kitchen with some of the athlets in the OnUrLeft crew. I scarfed down a big cheezy pizza.

Kids tri - pre swim

I did some volunteer work at the kid's tri bright and early Saturday morning. It was a lot of fun the kids were excited. I got to help get these kids in order which was not easy! It's probably harder than herding cattle. But it was all godo. I got to high five a few kids and talk to them about their goals for the day. They simply just wanted to have fun and finish! Some of the parents were taking it super serious with their words of wisdom and arguing with official as you see below. "That Parent". They goodness my parents were half as bad as this guy, ha! when I played sports.

"That Dad". His kid probably got caught drafting, illegal blocking, or something ;)

I'm super excited and ready to race!

In the elite/invitation field field with top amatuerus and professionals. We're off. I came out of the water with a good pack in the 500 meter swim. A little faster than last year at 7:44.

Unfortunatley, I probably shouldn't have worn the speed suit and raced shirtless to save on drag as it cost me some change getting it off. I missed a good pack on the bike including Trent Stephens and Ryan Lindsay. Which meant I did a lot of biking solo, I was able to come back on some people. The end of the bike my race belt came off and I held onto it and it got tangled up as I was dismounting. Thankfully, I landed succesfully on my feet without face planting like I did in Galveston. Either way finished the bike in 27.8 miles per hour on the flat course. But nothing compared to my OUL teammate Grant Glauser a new pro who went over 30 mph. Wow!

Out onto the run, I came out swinging. Reeled in a few others including the overall woman who was still out there in front of me. Finished the 3.63 miles according to Garmin in 20:58 equating to a 5:40 pace on the run. Which is nothing compared to the overall winner Derek Yorek who went 5:02 per mile to take over in the last half mile of the run to win it.

I had an awesome time in Houston and the Bridgeland triathlon. I am thankful for my super awesome home stay Angie Henderson, who is one of the coaches on the OUL team. She let me crash hard on her couch every night while she was hard at work, working countless hours to make this race possible. Thanks again to OnUrLeft/OnUrMark Productions for putting on another 5 star race. Patrick at Bicycles Plus fixed my seat and made sure I was ready to go. Blueseventy for keeping faster than I would be in their jammers, wetsuits, and speed suits. My newsest sponsor Tri It Wear keeping me looking fly in casual triathlete apparel. Also many of the individuals that have helped me out in one way or another. Most certainly, my protector, Savior Jesus Christ for letting have a great time and keeping the wheels down on my bike and car in the Houston traffic.

Thanks for reading and for all the comments and messages I got all weekend in long on facebook. I'll be heading to Vegas next month to race my age group in the 70.3 World Championships!

Ready...to Roll!

Training is going well. We have been having some strong group rides up here, usually leaving Ron's house in Frisco with some of the baddest triathlete-cyclist in the metroplex. I am lucky they even let me show up to the start.  Here is a shot at a pit stop in Gunter, Texas on a group ride North of the DFW Metroplex. Apparently half our group had some misscommunication where we turning around at. I was one of the smart ones and turned around with the early group. 

This weekend I am looking forward...actually I am super pumped for a variety of reasons, but either way I am excited to be representing OnUrLeft Sports and ready to roll this weekend in one of their own events the Bridgeland Triathlon in Cypress, Texas. 1500 plus people have signed up for this. It's probably going to be the biggest and best sprint triathlon in the South! 

Some good ridin'

This week I've been on the grind getting ready for Vegas and the Bridgland sprint coming up. The pool where I normally swim has been closed down so I have to come and suffer in the hot outdoor pool at Austin Ranch where I stay. Not exactly the best for pool swimming but it works well for open water practice without going to the lake. I had another cool picture of the Saturday morning group ride with some of the top local triathletes in DFW  with our bikes lined up at this gas station, which made for a good shot. There was 8 of us total and the ride got really fast after the first hour.  

This video that I shot a few days ago is dedicated to my man Nathan Villa who hooked me up with a saddle. My previous saddle was hanging on by a thread. It was bad, my riding partners would often make fun of my saddle before our rides. I no longer look as ghetto when I ride now, but I will always be ghetto. 

Tri It Wear

I am excited to announce new sponsorship with Tri It Wear, LLC. A company based out of Austin, Tx.  I recently signed on at the expo at BSLT 70.3. The make causal tees for triathletes. You can now find me often 'sporting their tees, if you haven't already.  They look great, fit great, and are quite soft, I might add.  With my code "ritter" you get 20% off your purchase. You can also still order the special edition BSLT tees and free shipping code is "BSLT" along with my code "ritter" should get you a nice deal for a soft comfy tee you can wear anywhere and look great in! Check out http://www.triitwear.com. Now I gotta get back to chopping wood and carrying water before Vegas. There is still a lot of work that must be done! 

Triathlete Breakfast

I finally got around to updating my computer with my camera program and can now make short videos again. Here is my typical breakfast for the day. 3 large scrambled eggs mixed with olive oil, organic soymilk, spinach, tomato's, onions, and salt & pepper. Also is a bowl of organic granola cereal w/ cocunut milk, strawberries, blueberries. For beverage a glass of OJ and cup of coffee. Hope you enjoy my video and my East Texan accent that stands out. 

Buffalo Springs 70.3

Overview of Buffalo Springs Lake

The good, the bad, and the ugly. It was a good ride over with Megan and Austin. (Thank you Megan and Austin for driving btw ;) and we crashed at my good friend Cam's house. We arrived late in Lubbock Friday night and went out to the cheapest sit-down dinner we could find....kinda jokingly but thanks to our waiter we only had to pay a buck or two for our meals and Austin got the "very last bit" of water out of the container the waiter was pouring. It's one of those things, you had to be there to see it. 

Saturday was the usual pre race boring stuff including a little run for me and then we hunted for a place to swim, but to no avail we could find one any of us could afford. 

Sunday, I was so excited I missed my alarm go off again for this race. Only because I was up and moving around before it had went off. Due to the extreme heat Lubbock was having that weekend they combined a lot of waves and pushed them closer together which made for an interesting swim. Somehow, I had one of my better swims. I was off to a good start ran into the water and got in with the front pack, probably should have got a couple of dolphin dives in but I I didn't think about it. Soon as we got going, I felt the washing machine effect of the feeling like I was spinning around and everyone was out get me. There was kicking, pulling, punching and everything else you can think of. The swim was a rectangle shape and when we made the far end turn I began feeling the effects of the heat being in the wetsuit in 75 degree water or whatever it was claimed to be. On to the swim exit, I got stuck behind some people in the wave before me and I was trying to be nice about it, in my head I said "alright guys, I'm coming through".  I ended up cutting up between these two people reaching one guys shoulder and pulling him back as I took a stroke. Running out of the water I noticed Cam had beaten me out of the water. I chased him down and passed him through transition. 

On the bike, I tried to get into my shoes too early and swerved to the left and almost got knocked off. There were about 3 large hills to climb before we got really going outside of the park. Cam had passed me again at the start of the bike but blew a tire. It was basically windy in all directions. I held back on the bike, since it was going to be a brutal run. The bike had several good size climbs in it and it was starting get pretty hot midway through. At one of the turn arounds, I noticed Cam had bounced back and was on his way to catching me on the bike. The last 10 miles or so was directly into the wind and it sucked every bit of the way to get back to T2. Coming up the last hill at the end of the ride, I switched to the small ring only to drop my chain. I started loosely spinning and was like "uh oh". I jumped off before I had a chance to fall over and get it quickly back on, but then to start back on a steep uphill like that was slower than I would have liked. 

On the run I was feeling good at the start keeping it really chill and hitting about 6:45 pace. This was the first year I was able to "trot" up the first big hill without walking....Go Me! Into the "energy lab" a long straight away with no shade to hide behind things were getting tough and I started going through one of those dark moments you hear a lot of endurance athletes go through. I was able to bounce back from that. Then starting the way back in, I noticed I was hardly was sweating. I knew this didn't seem so good. My main objective was just to keep moving (and catch Adam Duey on the way back). Coming up the last steep hill with just over 3 miles to go I caught up to Adam. Then going down the last steep hills at 3 miles, things got really rough....just down right ugly! I couldn't hold an 8:30 mile to save my life here. The last 3 miles were combined with lots of trotting and walking...and some more walking. Somewhere in the last half mile I found a little spring back and was able to finish strong...at least I thought until the guy who caught me strongly insisted I go get some IV's immediately before I had a chance to catch my breath. 

Not long later, Cam and I found out Megan had to be taken to the ER due to severe dehydration after she had fallen off her bike. She came out alright a few hours later and we made it back to Dallas safely! 

Congratulations to my buddy Bryce and Cam who qualified for the 70.3 World Championships in Vegas this September. Looks like it's going to be a fun trip. 

I realize I have a lot of work to do to be ready for Vegas and to get anywhere near some of the goals I have set. I am forever grateful for some amazing sponsors I have: Aaron Palian and OnUrLeft Sports a Houston based triathlon coaching company have believed in me since they have met me. I couldn't do some of things I do without their help. Bicycles Plus in Dallas, who keeps my bike in check for me with products and services (yes a seat, coming soon one day). I owe a lot of thanks to Craig who took me in when I moved over here and to Dallas who has done so much labor on my bike without complaining. The guys there always have great attitudes and I never see them offer poor service or bad attitudes to customers. Blueseventy, letting me have the opportunity to race in the fastest wetsuits and speed suits. NEW sponsorship with Tri It wear that I signed at BSLT actually. They make some of the coolest T's for triathletes. You will find me 'sporting them around whereever I go, if you haven't already. 

Next up, I will be at the Bridgeland Tri, August 7th for race 2/3 of the TX3 Series. Thank you again for all the comment you guys dropped on facebook page during BSLT 70.3 weekend. I'll probably do it again next year. 

Play Tri Festival

I never heard my alarm went off Sunday morning as I was wide awake an hour before I had it set. I enjoyed a cup of pre race cup of joe out on the balcony of the new place at Austin Ranch while I caught up on the World news and of course the latest in the triathlon world, only to knock my favorite coffee cup off the arm rest to shatter it on the concrete. 

I jammed out on the way to the race and had a good warmup. I was about to jump in the water to warmup when me and a 64 year ageless (it says so on her leg) lady was chatting it up on the stairs that went into the water when the race patrol told us we couldn't get in the water yet. She said she was just getting her hair wet and I said, "oh yeah, I was just getting my hair wet too." 

I got off to fast start on the swim as I was hanging with the front pack for about 15 seconds which included a college All American swimmer Adam Duey and Play Tri's Egyptian olympic swimmer Ahmed M. Zaher was in the main group. I had a horrible swim and somehow  led the second pack out of the water. The swim was short, I came out in 19:36 but the top guys came out in just over 15 minutes. My T1 was slow as my helmet strap messed up as I was trying to buckle down my helmet. I scooted on out of there before the rest of the pack had a chance to catch me. However, RBM's speedo wearing old man David Jones was in  fast pursuit. I knew he was a strong biker and my legs were still getting warmed up as he finally caught me I stuck on him as he past and not long later McKinney Velo's Pedro Trinidade has improved his cycling skills and we were all together. It was so tight between us 3 that the race officials were monitoring us pretty much the whole time. I was hoping we could close the gap that the top 3 guys had on us but we ended up making no ground. My split was 24.4 mph for the 25 mile bike or 58:55. I threw down a couple of 5:30 miles the first couple of miles hoping I could close the gap again on the top guys, only they had same thing in mind. I closed the time by a lot but it was still not enough to reel them in. I did ended up catching the All American swimmer Adam Duey in the last mile, to scramble my way to 3rd overall, but I had nothing left after that. The run was only just over 5.5 miles, my watch said I ran 5:58 per mile. It was a solid race, not what I was going for but apparently it was a bad idea to race within 7 days of each other. Congrats to Ben Morgan and the old guys who made me work for it today, Ahmed, Pedro, David, and Adam. 

A big praise to the Lord for keeping us all safe out there in the super hot weather. Thanks again to my super supportive sponsors this year!!! Bicycles Plus, Nathan Villa, Richard Miller making sure I make it to the starting line with a bike that fits. Blueseventy, Matt Embry, Shirley Greene, ONURLEFT Sports!!! It was great to see everyone out there and make some new friends. 

pre-race warmup. Todd Brinkley Photography 

No face plant dismount this time. Play Tri Photgraphy. 

Enjoying a post race massage by Dynamic Touch Massage. Loc Ly I Phone Photography. 

In a few weeks, I will be making the scenic drive to Lubbock to compete in one of my top goal races Buffalo Springs 70.3, I've set my goal high for this one.  It is also a very busy month as I strive to finish 1 of 3 classes left in grad school and other exciting oppoturnities that awaits. Thanks again for reading. 

Cap Tex Tri

It was another OUL weekend and Moxie weekend, last weekend it was down in Austin. I love the city of Austin, for the obvious reason, so much good food. In all seriousness, I was down there for business.  I stayed with my favorite comedian and also a fast Jack & Adams Ironman athlete Kevin Russell, just right down the road from the race. The Cap Tex triathlon has been going on in Austin for nearly two decades I believe and the last three years I know there always seems to be some glitches, and it's unfortunate what happened to pro race this year, when a mis informed volunteer told the pros they were all swimming the wrong way. Andy Potts was confident that he was going the right and swam under the kayak while the rest of the pros turned around and then had to turn around again when they found out they were mis informed. Potts came out of the water 3 minutes ahead of everyone else and held on to a 13 second win. 

I race in the open/invitational division with some of the best amateur elite athletes in the region including Ben Hall an 18-19 year old national champion who would later to go on to win the race and Brad Pigage who dominates the Houston/Bay Area racing season. There was also Andrew Montes a former division 1 runner from A&M and Mark Saroni out of UT Tyler, plus many others. I started off the swim with my signature move of swimming way to the left, luckily I wasn't too far back when I got back in the pack and found some feet to draft off and stayed on his feet until the end. I came out of the water at 22:59, just a few seconds behind Keith Kotar and ran him down out of transition. It took me awhile to get going on the technical bike course but once I did I was feeling good, but by the last lap it was heating up real good. Off the bike, I started the run clipping sub 6 pace feeling relatively strong. Jenn and Bella were super supportive giving me updates on how far back I was on certain people. At mile 4 I caught a real bad stomach cramp which almost put to a walk, but I somehow with enough determination stuck it out and it went away and caught Austin's Frank Sarasody about 4.5 miles and all I could see up the road was Montes. At mile 5 I knew I was closing in on him but I wasn't quite confident I was going to be able to catch him by the finish. With a quarter mile to go I was coming up on him and I distinctly heard Jenn telling me to get on him, I surged past Montes with a finishing kick I didn't expect to have, which left me almost puking and bent over at the finish chute. I finished at 4th overall just shy of 3rd overall Mark Saroni. I think it came down due to taking too long to get my wetsuit off. 

I'd like to thank my Lord for helping me get through the race with a super strong effort, Jenn for being there and being extra supportive. I couldn't have done as well without her there. Not to mention my amazing sponsors Nathan Villa, Richard Miller, and Bicycles Plus for helping me get to the starting line with a bike. Also, Matt Embry,  ONURLEFT Sports, and blueseventy! 

Enjoy my small pics! 

With up and coming pro Alexander Ramsey! 

Trying to hold it together on the run. 

Me w/ Andy Potts

ONURLEFT Sports dinner @ Whole Foods 

Next up literally is tomorrow's Play Tri fest in Las Colinas. Which reminds me I gotta start getting my stuff ready! 

Out at Ironman Texas!

Treked out to watch the first Ironman in Texas! Oh, that is the first FULL Ironman in Texas, all 140.6 miles of it. These guys swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and then ran 26.2 miles to take it to the house. First of all I like to say congratulations to everyone who did this huge and extremely hard event. You have to have to be missing some part of the rationale in your brain to even sign up for such a thing. Think about it....It's May, it's in the Woodlands which means it's going to be hot and humid. Regardless congrats, especially to all my friends who competed and work so very hard over the winter to make it possible. There are too many of you to mention by name but each of  you know who you are. Thank you to Stephen Milford for letting us crash at his place all weekend and a huge thank you to the grill man from the Houston Triathlon Racing Club for the bbq and OnUrLeft Sports for having the best spot on course!

OUL Elite athlete Michael Barney enjoying his day shooting Ironman athletes by cooling them off. 

OUL Elite athlete Stephen Milford in a hoola skirt shaking the booty for everyone. 

Michael Barney, Stephen Milford and Jenn at the OUL extreme spot. 

Tim O' Donnell chasing down Luke Bell and Eneko Ellanos. 

Luke Bell (Left) and Eneko battling it out. 

Chris Lieto on the first loop before dropping out. 

None other than Chris Lieto first off the bike. 

OUL athletes at their best. 

Stephen and I on our ride. Jenn taking looks from behind. 

The ultimate sun protection team. This is not what it looks like. 

The weekend was fun hanging out doing some training and all at the same time. I am heading ot Austin for Memorial weekend to race in the Cap Tex triathlon and then that same weekned here in Dallas I'll race Play Tri fest. I owe Richard Miller and Nathan Villa a big thank youfor making this possible! Without these guys I would have to skip these to events. 

McKinney Tri

Where do I even start with this one? I am sitting here at the Starbucks near the Galleria Mall. I have been putting this blog post off but I absolutely know you are wanting to know my thoughts regarding what happened at the McKinney triathlon. Let me just say I appreciate guys like Aaron Palaian with OnUrLeft and his attention to detail.  Now don't get me wrong, me and the other ten guys should have known the course and things happen and thats how it is.

Pre race warmup routine. 

I was looking forward to having fun with this race as I was competing on my old road bike that Bicycles Plus fixed up for me. I even had my headlight on the blinking mode the whole time. "The Spanish Beauty" is needing some beauty work herself, she wasn't able to make it out this time.

I wasn't expecting to see my buddy and old competitor Tyler Johnson who has a few up on me in the short distance races. He started just before I did and I was after him, I tried real hard to get on his feet I only got right on his feet right at the end. I came into T1 a split second behind him in 4:25 for the 300 yard swim.

I knew the race would be between me and TJ. Our bike

s were close to each other, since I was on a road bike I knew this would cost me some time here as I waited for him to leave t1 first so I could "legally draft" off of him. Well, that didn't turn out so well, as he rode away. Just moments after that it became a downpour of a storm, with crazy winds, and hail. Let me just say that crap hurt, the hail. The bike was technical and there were several times I thought I was heading towards a ditch, but fortunately I saved just in time. Finally making my way around towards the major turn around, I notice TJ not that far ahead as I thought along with another guy and Aaron Patel was closing in on me. Well all of us that

 I know of in that group blew by this turn we were supposed to make, it was absolutely not visible. I understand if it was just me, because we all know I suck at navigating, but when a considerable amount of people go by it..... When I was turning around the officer says "you have to go that way." and I said, "no, I missed my turn so I'm gonna go back that way." I catch up to this one guy and he tells me that the leader missed the turn too, that is how he knew to turn there, so I was like well maybe he isn't too far ahead so I start hammering again. Perhaps  my slowest bike split ever of 18 mph an hour...ok if you included the extra mile and half I rode it would have been 20 mph. 

Jumped off the bike without diving into the pavement this time. 

On a mission now, got the look.  

Starting the run I couldn't  feel my feet. It took a good mile to get into it, I wasn't feeling good, then and was debating to drop out because I didn't think I could hold it, but after that I was running fairly strong and convinced my mind to stay with it. I ended up holding a 6:01 average, I didn't think it was too bad after not running for 3 weeks. I made up a lot of time but I was still down 3 minutes, when it was all said it done. I was 8th overall and 2nd in my age group.

Bringing it in ot the finish! 

I owe all my sponsors a huge thank you!!! The guys at Bicycles Plus for working hard on my bikes. (I hope to get a better result next time for you guys!! ) A big thank you to Jenn for coming and standing in the crazy wind, rain, and hail. Praise to the Lord for watching over us and keeping us safe from serious injury!

Next up is Cap Tex in Austin on Memorial day and maybe Play Tri Fest June 5th. Thanks for reading!