I’ve been working on getting together my triathlon checklist of everything I will need to bring for the event. Again the event is this Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at Alum Creek, called the Wendy’s Triathlon. I keep going over this list in my head since I don’t want to get there and have forgotten something. So here it is (please leave a comment if I’ve left an import item off the list):

Swim
2 Towels
Swimsuit
Swim Cap (Provided by Event)
Goggles

Bike
Shoes (will also use for running)
Running Socks (will also use for running)
Shorts (will also use for running)

continue reading "Triathlon Checklist"

With the Triathlon about 4 days away, we decided to go to Alum Creek in Columbus, Ohio and check out where the Wendy’s Triathlon was going to be held - June 10th is the event day. It’s a really nice, green area that definitely looks like it has plenty of room to hold up to the 1000 competitors that can enter.

The first the we did when we got there, was jump into the water. I was unpleasantly surprised when I felt how cold the water actually was. It took about 10 minutes for my body to get used to the water temperature. So for race day my goal is to get into the water at about 6:45am since the race starts at 7:00am, hopefully I’ll be acclimated by then. The next thing I realized that swimming in open water is a lot harder than swimming in the pool. With the cloudy water you can’t see ahead of you, so I was constantly picking my head up to make sure I was heading in the right direction. Also, swimming against the wind doesn’t help anything. I will definitely be looking forward to completing the swimming stage of the event. We were also wondering if we would be able to touch bottom during the swim… The answer to the is a resounding “No”.

continue reading "Alum Creek Triathlon Training"

Yesterday I went over to Tri-Tech MultiSport and picked up my race day packet for the Wendy’s Triathlon (which is June 10th, 2007). I felt a little nervous going in there after seeing all the bike enthusiasts (not sure if there were any of the triathletes competing this weekend or not) wearing biker clothes and sitting on their bikes in the store. But I was able to go in no problem and pick up my packet.

Looking through my packet, I was number 589 out of a possible 1000 entrants. In the packet included a race number for both the running and biking portion of the triathlon. There was also a swim cap, t-shirt (almost Dri-fit material), energy bar, race recovery drink mix, advertisements, Buca de Beppo Spaghetti Dinner coupon, more instructions for race day, a water bottle and a few other small miscellaneous items.

I’ve been reading more about what I need to have together for the race so hopefully I don’t forget anything. Once I have my list finalized, I will post what I am taking for race day. Here’s a continued list of my training so far:

Friday June 1 - Ran 3.1 Miles 21:15
Saturday June 2 - Swam 1 hour (completed 150m without taking a break - good for me)
Monday June 4 - Ran 3.1 Miles 21:22

Well the Wendy’s Triathlon is nine days away now and I’m pretty far behind in the training for it. I’m still nervous about the swimming part the most because that is where I am least experienced. I went swimming on Wednesday in a 20 yard pool so a 800m swim would be about 40 laps. I was able to swim the 40 laps but had to take a breather every 3 or 4 laps.

I was swimming with someone that swam competitively through high school so that helped a bunch. I think part of the secret about swimming is to be as smoothe as possible and use as little energy as possible at the same time. After I started to get the hang of it a little bit it felt more like I was gliding through the water instead of laboring through it, like it did the first time I tried it.

I’ve done some exercise everyday this week just to try to get my body ready for the triathlon next week. Here’s my training for the week:

Monday - Ran 3.1 Miles (20:30 time)
Tuesday - Played basketball for 2 hours
Wednesday - Swam for 1 hour
Thursday - Ran 3.1 Miles (21:15 time)
Friday - I plan on running again today and them swim tomorrow again.

I can’t wait until we do the event, because I believe it will motivate me to train that much harder and try to enter another one soon (after extra training of course).

June 10th is the Wendy’s International Triathlon in Columbus, Ohio at Alum Creek. The order of the events is 1/2 mile swim, 16.8 mile bike and a 5k run.

As I have never raced in a Sprint Triathlon before, I am definitely nervous. I haven’t actually picked up the training at all for the event, just continued with the conditioning I had done before I found out about the race. I believe I will have no trouble with the 5k portion of the race as most of the conditioning I do is with running. I am however skeptical about how the 800m swim will go. I tried to swim in the pool a few months ago and after about .1 miles I was out of breathe, my legs hurt and my arms felt like they were going to fall off.

continue reading "Wendy’s Triathlon, June 10th in Columbus"

There are a few rules that are misinterpreted all the time by players playing in open gyms and playgrounds across the country. I would like to take the time to set some of these straight in hopes of removing a few arguments from the game.

1. Kicked Ball: Just because the basketball touches a players leg does not automatically mean that is a kicked ball. The player must intentionally use his leg to deflect or gain control of the basketball for the other team to gain or retain posession. Throwing the ball of the other players leg is not a kicked ball.

2. Backboard Out of Bounds: If the basketballball touches the top or side of the the backboard it is not out of bounds. Only if the ball touches the back side of the backboard or if it goes up and over the top of the backboard is it out of bounds.

continue reading "Confusing Basketball Rules"