June 9th, 2011
Every Thursday night beginning in June, Racing Underground puts on a swimming and running event at the Boulder Reservoir called the Stroke & Stride. The race consists of either a 750m swim or you have the option of taking a second lap for a 1500m swim and then a 5k run. It’s a fun, laid back and relatively cheap event where you can practice your open water swimming and see where your fitness level is on the 5k run. June 2nd was my first stroke and stride not only this season but ever. I had a lot of fun and was relatively pleased with my fitness although I left with a sprained ankle.
When I arrived at the reservoir I was met by some pretty gusty winds. I was worried that the swim might be cancelled due to some large (for the reservoir) waves. Luckily they decided to hold the swim so this would be my first open water swim of the season after the Summer Open Triathlon was turned into a duathlon a few weeks prior due to high bacteria levels. This week I decided to only do the 750m option, I will definitely be doing the longer option in the weeks to come. As I put on my wetsuit I quickly remembered how much I hate putting these things on. They are so tight fitting and awkward. It’s really amazing that they are made in a way that allows you to have a free range of motion for your arms. After I eventually got the wetsuit on to start my first open water race of the year.
After a few minutes of eager anticipation the gun went off and I quickly started fighting for position with the swimmers around me. The first few minutes of an open water swim race are always a little hectic. But eventually I found my spot and got into a good rhythm. The swim out was fine. However, the way back was a little more difficult. I was looking directly into the sun on swim back to the shore which made things tough. As an added bonus, the wind was blowing right at me which created some small waves. This wasn’t really a problem but I did feel it was slowing me down a little bit. Apparently it was a problem for other swimmers, the reservoir lifeguards pulled out 10 people from the swim due to cold water 61, or the waves. I came out of the water in 13th place with a swim time of 13:33. Not terrible but I felt I should have broken 13:00.
The transition was an interesting experience. I usually wear socks on the run since I am prone to blisters. So I had a difficult time getting my wet feet into my socks. It took me an uncharacteristic 2:20 to get out of transition and onto the run. I will have to work on a better method to cut that down next time. Even with the extra time I spent in transition I still managed to forget my sunglasses. I didn’t even realize that I didn’t have them until after I was out on the run course. At this point it was too late but I felt a little naked without them.
The run is where this event really took a turn for the worse. I had a really good first mile ( I ran a 6:45) I was hoping to settle in and really throw the hammer down on the way back. However, when I made a turn after the first mile I stepped on some uneven ground and rolled my ankle. I could feel it immediately give way. After a few steps of hobbling I continued to run but nowhere near the pace that I wanted to. I crossed the finish line with a disappointing 22:58 5k and a sprained ankle. The time was good enough for 1st place in my age group and 6th place overall. However, I felt like I could have gone a lot faster without the injury.
I am writing this race report a little late (a week late) my ankle has improved with the help of LifeSport Chiropractic but it still hurts and certainly does not feel very stable. However, I have a race on Sunday in Broomfield and I will race it regardless of how the ankle feels. I am looking forward to my next stroke and stride on June 16th. I hope to better my performance and avoid any uneven ground.
May 24th, 2011
For the third year in a row I participated in the Without Limits Summer Open event. For the previous two years it has been a triathlon. However, this year it was turned into a duathlon at the last minute after the swim was cancelled due to dangerously high bacteria levels in the water. The Summer Open is traditionally my first race of the year and acts as a baseline to judge my fitness levels from previous years. It also tells me what I need to improve upon for the rest of the season. After this years race it is clear that I have a lot of work to do.
I picked up my packet on the Friday before the race and received the news that the swim had been cancelled. I was initially dissapointed that I would not get the chance to test out my swim fitness. However, I was not overly excited to swim in the bitterly cold 55° water in the first place. In 2010, the water was so cold that I could not feel my feet until mile 2 of the run. This year I bought booties but never got the chance to use them. I will have to wait until next year.
I was training for a triathlon and felt adequately prepared but I had never done a duathlon. I had no idea how to pace myself for the initial run. I knew that I didn’t want to expend too much energy so I would have something left for the final run. When the starting gun went off I quickly found that my biggest obstacle was dealing with the terrible condition of the road. Apparently all the water that had brought the bacteria to the Union Reservoir had also washed out the road and made giant divets to run on. I spent quite a bit of my attention trying to figure out the best path to run along instead of just focusing on my pace. I settled into an easy pace which turned out to be 7:18/mile. I felt I could have run faster but I knew that there were two more legs of the race.
Transition was fairly straight forward and I manged to get in and out in under a minute which is what I always shoot for. Transitions are the one part of the race that I can control and absolutely nail, I really try to get these down to a science. Heading out of transition and on the bike I noticed my legs felt a little tired. I don’t know if it was because of the run or from a lack of training. Most likely it was the latter. After the race I noticed that my bike split was slower than the previous year by almost a full MPH. It is clear that I need to spend a lot of time on the bike in the upcoming weeks before my next race.
Heading out of T2 my legs felt ok and I thought I was ready for the run. However, I felt like I was stuck in 4th gear and could not make my body go any faster. I felt as though I was running in place. This is nothing a few weeks of speed training and hill repeats can’t fix. It is just frustrating to know that your body can perform better than it does.
Overall, I felt like there is a lot of work to be done and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. It was a lot of fun to race again and be amongst my fellow triathletes and Fleet Feet teammates. I must say that the new custom Pearl Izumi uniforms looks very slick. The Fleet Feet triathlon team is sponsored by Saucony, Tifosi, Bicycle Village, Breeze Bars, Headsweats, Fuel Belt and Recofit. Having all of the various sponsors on the uniform felt very cool. I feel honored to be representing all of them. I look forward to putting in a few weeks of solid racing and getting ready for my next race in Broomfield on June 12th.
April 14th, 2011
When I set out to design my first website I was faced with many unknown questions and problems. The first was how do I get a domain name and how do I display my site to the world. The simple solution that many others have used is Go Daddy. With their large advertising budget, Go Daddy is the most visible answer to the first questions that face an individual or a group looking to build a website. However, just because they are the most visible solution it certainly does not mean that they are the best solution.
After I purchased my domain and hosting from Go Daddy it became increasingly clear that their solutions were not going to meet my needs. First of all their basic hosting is designed for basic static sites and is painfully if not almost unusably slow to run database driven content management systems such as WordPress. Note: their WordPress specific hosting is not much better. Even with all of Go Daddy’s drawbacks it is a bit of a pain to pack up your databases and web files and head elsewhere. As a result, I spent over a year using the substandard hosting. However, as my renewal date with Go Daddy grew closer I knew that I was destined to head elsewhere.
There are countless hosting companies competing for the right to host your website. However, not all provide the same level of service. From the research that I have done and the positive feedback that I have read and heard from peers in the design industry, it is clear that Media Temple is one of the best if not the best hosting company. Across the internet, some of the best sites by the most talented designers have “Hosted by Media Temple” proudly displayed in the footers of their sites. The reason is simple. Media Temple offers an outstanding product, with superior technical support at a competitive price. Isn’t that all one can ask for from any tech company?
I completed the process of switching over my sites to Media Temple relatively quickly and painlessly. However, when I did run into trouble their technical support staff (Stephen R.) was very helpful in quickly solving my problem at 3 A.M. on a Sunday morning. Once my sites were launched I instantly noticed the difference in speed. It really is quite amazing how the overall user experience of a site can increase when everything simply loads quicker.
I have only been with Media Temple for a short time now. However, I am looking forward to a long and happy relationship with them. If you are deciding what hosting to use for your website I would strongly recommend giving Media Temple your consideration.
