3 Race Reports

Wow, THIS WAS ALL INCREDIBLE!! I don't know where to start. I finished the triathlon in 1:31:16, way below overall goal time of 1:45. Then I did the 5k in 26:00, way below the 28 min goal. Kelley did her first 5k in 30:13, and Bigun finished her race (untimed) and showed off her finishers medal to everyone!


First, the cute. Saturday was the Grandmother's Tea Party, and this year both girls got to attend with my mother.



Evil Genius was only "mildly Evil" for the party. Mildly Evil but totally cute!


They both had a really good time. My mother's good friend started this years ago for her granddaughters, and has invited other kids with their grandmothers since then.


The whole crew. How incredibly Southern is that? Girls in white dresses (except Bigun) with big hats on? Sooooo cute! I think the girl pointing in the front row is Madeline. She ran her first triathlon earlier that day at Furman. Then her mom and dad ran the Greenville Sprint with me on Sunday.

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Greenville Sprint Triathlon

On to the triathlon Sunday morning. I finished 259 out of 345 men with an overall time of 1:31:16. Again, I'm the back of the pack guy who never beats anybody else at an athletic event. So this was amazing. There is no age group breakdown available online (dissapointing!) but it does list overall placements for each event.


Everybody lining up before starting the swim. Why this race needs to start at 7 AM? I think it's the heat. At the awards ceremony at 10:30 it was already up into the high 80's. But wow I hate having to be there at 6 am to get TA setup.


Hanging before the swim start. Tri folks are the best. The SUGOi tri suit is rockin! It really came through for me in the race.

The Swim: Last year 10:50, Goal 8:30, Actual 8:22, 161/354


Starting the swim. I put in the wrong 100m time at registration, so I thought I was going to be flogged in here. Instead, I saw why most people prefer an open water swim over a pool swim. I passed several people, and then got caught up behind a group of 5 bastards who were clogging up the lane. Open water? go around. Pool swim? get kicked in the stomach. I kept hitting this guy's feet, normally that means hold up at the next turn and let me pass you slow shit. He didn't get it. I think I could have cut another 20 seconds off the swim time if it was in open water.



That's pretty good form! Might have my head a little too high out of the water, but still feeling good. You can see the splash of feet in front of me.


I'm starting to pass this guy in the white cap. Again, decent form. That's me in the blue cap.

Exiting the swim, then I had to run about 100 yards into transition. Notice the other guys waiting on me to get out before they can exit the pool. Slow bastards. I had to wait behind a few other people too.

T1: Last year 6:17, Goal 2:00, Actual 2:45, 252/354 FAIL

This is my one real logistical failure. I had 2 gel's sitting out on the towel next to my bike shoes. They did not make it into the 2 pockets on the back of the SUGOi, so I had no gels to take on the bike. I did have a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water on the bike, and the nutrition plan was to take one gel in the first few miles, then another one near the end so I would be fueled up for the run. Instead, I threw on the bike helmet, socks & bike shoes, grabbed a sip of gatorade and water from the bag and took off.

Bike: Last year 1:10:39, Goal 50 minutes, Actual: 49:38 Holy SBJ success!
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Heading out on the bike. This is where the biggest time gains were made. Last year I remember seeing the sign "entering Greenville County" and thinking that I had already been on the bike for hours. This year, I was shocked how fast that sign came up. I left jenny in the big chainring most of the time, only dropping back on 2 of the 4 climbs. I was passing people riding uphill, I came out of the saddle to speed up for a pass, I got passed a few times towards the end. But overall I was loving the bike ride. I knew when to push hard and when to sit and spin. I did not get chased by 2 pit bulls like I did last year. I did have one car incident. Big pack of bikes, 2 cars, me, then another car. So I spent a good 7 minutes sucking exhaust before the pack got right and the cars could pass. That wasn't fun. But overall, I turned that bike leg into my prison bitch.

Coming back in from the bike leg. My quads were shattered and I was missing that gel. Check out that sweat!

T2: Last year 2:47, Goal 2:00, Actual 2:28


WTH? That wife of mine, she do like the eye candy. In T2, I had to change bike shoes for running shoes. I did get some stretchy shoelaces at packet pickup, so no tying the running shoes. Just slide on and go. BUT I had to take the time to take a gel, and shot down a bunch of water. My new camelbak hasn't come in yet, so I was relying on the aide stations alone for hydration. Hence the extra time in T2. Oh well, that's what I get for not putting those gels in the SUGOi for the bike ride.

Run: Last year 32:00, Goal under 30, Actual 28:06 PR

Holy crap I cannot believe I actually finally broke 30 minutes in a 5k in a triathlon! My legs were incredibly fatigued from the bike, I knew I wanted to push the bike hard and that might mean sacrificing some energy on the run. I just let my form carry me, walked when I needed to (this run course had some killer uphills!) and let my time fall whereever.

Out of T2 and on the course. That's a decent forward lean, but I'm still coming down with a slight heel strike. The HeadSweats visor you guys recommended kicked ass! It just came in last week, so this was my first time running with it. You know you're running in a triathlon when they put 8 aide stations on a 5k run! actually, it was 2 aide stations on a 2 loop course. so you hit each aide station coming and going on both loops.

Finish: Last year 2:02:30, Goal 1:45, Actual 1:31:16 PR

A great runner once said, "if I cross the finish line with a smile on my face, hit me in the stomach with a 2x4. It means I didn't put everything I had into the race." Staring down at the mat arms pumping isn't exactly the best finish line pic, but holy shit I had my eyes on the prize. Even after setting my individual sport goals, I thought there was no way I was going to be able to make the 1:32 overall time that they added up to. It's only fast people that finish in an hour and a half. The top 3 in my age group finished in 1:05, 1:07, and 1:08 so I was nowhere close to the awards. Still, absolutely amazing. I had no idea this would actually be possible. There was also 3 people this year who finished the race in under one hour.

In case you forgot, this is what happy looks like. After the finish line. The TOA sprint tri I did in Raleigh in April took 1:42, and it had a 10 mile bike instead of the 15 mile bike yesterday. How I can ADD 5 miles to the bike and finish 11 minutes faster I have no idea. but I like it.

5k, Kids Run, baseball game

Bigun is ready to race! the outfit is so cute with the pink tank top and pink running shoes. She got so excited!

The girls had a ton of fun playing around before the race, and we were off! My dad snapped this shot of me starting the race. It ended up being the only pic we got for the 5k. I slept a litte bit Sunday afternoon while the girls were napping, but my legs were still feeling a little fatigued after the triathlon. This race started at 5:30 pm. There was a decent hill at the start, then a second really steep uphill. I was channeling The Gazelle and her love of uphills to get me up that sucker, but I think I pushed it a little too hard at the start. After the first half mile, the rest of the course was flat or slightly downhill. Awesome! If I had gone a little easier at the start I could have hammered longer at the end. I walked once in the first half, then it started raining about the one mile mark. At the halfway point there was the only aide station, I walked and drank. So thirsty! My shoe came untied during the second half, and I had to stop and tie it again. I wished I had the other pair from the tri on. With about a quarter mile to go I walked again so I could make a stronger push at the finish. Then pushed it really hard. I totally chicked this huge guy at the finish line b/c he had taken off his shirt and had to show the officials his number. HA! this race was gun timed, not chip timed. So when I stepped on that finish line and saw 26:00 on the clock my jaw just dropped! That's an 8:22 pace, or 7.2 speed on the treadmill! I've never gone that fast that far even in tempo runs, and I even slowed to a walk 4 times. so my pace while running was even faster. Each walk break was less than 10 seconds I think, but still. that's insane. The winner finished in 15 minutes, I have no idea where I was in the age group. Results should be posted online soon.

I waited around for Kelley to come in. Knowing when the clock hit 30 minutes I had to get on the trolley to head back to the stadium and catch Bigun's run. Kelley came in at 30:13! She was amazed. I'm really proud of her. this was her first 5k ever. She's done 5 mile, half marathon, and full marathon distances, but never a 5k. So 30:13 is a great PR for her too. Even if it is a PR the Glaven way.


We both made the first trolley back to the baseball stadium, and Bigun wanted both of us to run with her in her race! It was one lap around the ballfield. She flew out of the gate, then started breathing hard around center field and asked "where is the finish line?". Kelley did the same thing in her first race, so we had a great laugh about that. Coming into 3rd base my parents were taking pictures with our camera.
Check out that smile! That form! That's my girl.

She hasn't taken off the medal yet.

Kelley and EG enjoying the ballgame. The rain we got during the race delayed the start, so we only got to see the first 2 innings. I got in the hot dog, but the beer had to wait until we got home.

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Overall, it was an amazing weekend. I can't believe I did 2 races in one day. I don't think I will try that again. But I PR'd the Greenville Sprint by 31 minutes, NOBODY makes up 31 minutes in one year! 10 or 15 minutes maybe. but wow. That included a PR in the 5k (28:06) and my anytime sprint triathlon PR. Then I PR'd the 5k AGAIN? that's nuts. And Kelley got a 5k PR and Bigun finshed her first race. So what did you do this weekend?