What's Next???

Well, as you know by now, my triathlon last weekend was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike. 6 weeks of training for this triathlon and I was really hoping to compete. You see, my parents were going to be at this race, along with my wife and kids. My father has always had such bad joints, especially in his knees, that i wonder when and if mine will go out. At 37, I still feel great, I mean I get sore, but running 5 miles or biking 30 will tend to do that to a guy!So anyways, I understand that people lost their homes and lives were lost, and I understand that what I do is a hobby.
In my opinion, the race director (RD) made the right call. The forecast was for 30-60 mph winds and rain. The RD said that if weather was a factor, it would be turned into a duathlon (run, bike, run, no swim). Either way, if you have ever tried riding a bike into a strong wind, well forget about it. It is extremely tough and if you add a wet street to it, you are asking for trouble. You see, the bike tires on a road bike are very thin and the brake pads are also very thin, get them both wet and stopping is an issue. Top that off with being clipped in the pedals and you are really vulnerable to some serious road rash. I told my wife that I was not sure if I would have done the race if they had it, but I know i would have.

So as you can tell by my countdown thingy to the side, my next race is the Los Locos Duathlon. It consists of a 2 mile run, a 15 mile bike and a 2 mile run. 19 miles in all, hopefully in under 90 minutes. I have done this race before, on a road bike and it is a great race. My son might do the 1 mile kids fun run at this event too. he is doing a kids triathlon this weekend, and I am so proud of him, he is awesome!!!

Anyways the weather is getting nice, so get off the computer, and ride a bike or take a walk already!

Back off Ike!

Sunday the 14th, I am schedule to complete my final triathlon of the season. It will be my 5th Tri this year and I really hope to do it. This tri is one of the very first ones I ever did and I want to kick its butt this year, but it seems that Hurricane Ike is going to trail around and hit.

Now I do not mind running in the rain, but swimming and biking are totally different. The swim would be harder than it normally is. Imagine swimming with 75 of your closest friends, all fighting, kicking and slapping the water to get finished, you take gulps of air when you can and try not to take gulps of water at the same time, now imagine that with rain coming down. It would be like a game show or something.

The biking could potentially be as dangerous. My road bike has very skinny tires and when the brakes get wet, there is no guarantee of stopping. Many things on a road can get slippery as well, especially the paint for the lines. Last thing I want to do is lay down my bike on a wet road while it is raining.

They have said that the race could be turned from a triathlon into a duathlon, which means we would run, bike and then run again. I have a duathlon already scheduled for the 28th, so I guess it would be good practice, but I so want to finish out with a good time on my triathlon.