Tinely Park Duathlon....Flat Tire

This past Sunday, June 28th was the 9th Annual MetLife Tour Around the World Duathlon located in Tinley Park, IL. For those who are unfamiliar with a duathlon format, it is a run, bike, run. This race covers 15 miles with two, two-mile runs divided by an eleven mile bike. This was the third consecutive year that I was going to be a participant. After a year hiatus, my sister Becky was making her return. More excitingly, my parents had entered the Co-ed Team Division. My father was the runner and my mother was the cyclist.

I arrived in Tinley Park at 6:30 am, approximately a hour-and-a-half before the start of the race. Everything was going smoothly until I realized the Port-a-Potties had not been delivered. Thankfully, the Tinley Park Fire Department had opened their stalls to all competitors and fans! Around 7:15 am I saw my family had arrived. Now, chaos ensues! There was a slight problem pumping up my mother's rear tire. Apparently I pulled the stem off while trying to remove the pump nozzle. It is a little hard for the tube to hold air when the stem is detached. Fortunately I had a spare tube in my bag and I was able to change the tube with about fifteen minutes to spare before the start of the race.

The race began promptly at 8:00 am. I started off on the first run. I did not feel too good running but I was pleased with my time. I believe I was just over 14 minutes for the first two miles. I was well on my way to reaching my goal of a time under one hour. Once on the bike I felt great! I had a nice comfortable cadence going and I was excited! Then I made a turn around mile seven. I felt a little wobble in my front tire. I also noticed that it looked low. I was hoping it was a slow enough leak where I would still be able to finish the ride. It was not. At the eighth mile is dismounted my bike and began my three mile walk back to the transition area.

As I reached the transition area, I looked behind me and saw my mother biking in. I was able to see my parents switch positions and my father take off. About 22 minutes later he crossed the finish line. The "First Race Oldies" where officially finishers in a duathlon.

While I was disappointed in not finishing the race, I am very thankful that I was able to race and share the experience with my parents and two sisters. Kristy was the official photographer. I am also thankful to Adrienne and Carly for coming out to watch. Adrienne and Carly wanted to burn the posters they made, but I will not allow that to happen.

Let the training begin for the next race!

North Avenue Beach

On Wednesday night I was offered the chance to help some friends in need. I was asked to be a fill-in player on their beach volleyball team. We did not win. We lost to a team that only had four players. It sucked! However, I was able to see a variety of fellow cyclists tooling around on their two-wheeled machines. The highlight was the four-wheeled machine pictured along with this post. This four-wheeled machine has the capability for four passengers and it got me to thinking. Who would be the four most likely people I know to be seen riding that contraption in public. With out a doubt in my mind, it would have to be John Brandt, Kevin Murawski, Ryan Wesley and of course Will Ebel.

Pewaukee Triathlon

I wanted to register for the Pewaukee Triathlon today, but unfortunately for me the field was full and I will not be able to participate in this event. I am disappointed. Guess I will have to wait till August for my next tri.

Weekend

I had a great weekend of training and exercising this past weekend. Started out Saturday with a rousing game of tennis. It was my first time back on the court in nearly five years. I was back to my old dominate ways. I had my powerful forehand and deadly backhand. It took me a while but I was able to get my cut serve working once again. After the game of tennis I went back to running. The course I covered was over 3 miles, but WE did not exactly run the entire 3 miles. There was some walking involved. After a two-and-a-half hour drive to Pewaukee, WI I jumped on the bike for a nice little bike ride with a fellow football coach. The Pewaukee area is a very hilly terrain full of steep inclines and steep descents. I maxed out at a high speed of 45.3 mph. That was fast.

Sunday was Father's Day. Coming up on Sunday June 28th my parents will be joining my sister and myself in the Tinley Park Duathlon. My father, my sister Becky and I decided to go out for a run. I will never run with my dad again.....well maybe I will. Apparently while he was running he did not like that my sister and I were carrying on a conversation. Apparently he wants it to be absolutely quiet. Sorry Dad, but that is boring.

In the end, it was a good weekend for exercising. The weather is starting to warm up and with it comes the humidity. Good times and Happy Summer!

Swim

It was great to get back into the pool today, despite the warmer than normal water temperatures. I was in the pool approximately 45 minutes. Not quite sure how many laps I did today. I really could use someone to help count my laps. I always seem to lose count after four or five laps. Anyways, hopefully the rain holds off for the rest of the day. Might do a short sprint workout on the track later and another swim in Lake Michigan down on Lake Shore Drive.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to former Concordia University Chicago baseball player Jack Walker. Jack was selected in the 20th round by the Washington Nationals in the 2009 amateur draft. Please follow the link below to read about his accomplishments.
http://www.cuchicago.edu/athletics/sportnews_pop.asp?id=1348

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog. If you were a follower of my first blog, thanks for your years of dedication. I felt it was time for a change. I plan on using this blog to chronicle different aspects of sports. Obviously it will be easy for me to discuss football and the team that I coach. But I will also like to speak about some of my other passions. For instance, cycling, triathlons, duathlons, golf and perhaps beach volleyball from time to time.
I hope you enjoy the topics. If you don't like them, don't read them.
Peace!