Camp Parsons Day 1

We arrived at camp on time and without incident. After a short introduction to camp the boys immediately ran off to their respective merit badge classes. We took the swim test after lunch and all passed that took it. The boys enjoyed a swim at swim beach during the hot afternoon weather. For our first troop time we went to the archery range where many of the boys learned to shoot for the first time. Pictures from day 1 are on my flickr site.

 

We got up on Tuesday morning and 5 of us did the 6am “Polar Bear Pier Dive” (John, Lex, Ewan, Bros. Pulsipher and Donnahoo).

Tuesday we have scheduled: a 5 mile hike, rifle shooting, field games, and a service project.

Packing for Parsons…

I’m packing my stuff for Camp Parsons today. On Monday I leave with a bunch of scouts for a week-long summer camp. Should be quite a ride. On this blog I’ll be posting news about camp and links to cool/funny photos and videos.

School’s out for… um… Spring?

After nearly 13 years I am finally finished with my undergrad degree. Tonight, St. Patrick’s Day, at around 7:50 pm, I finished my last test for my last class for my Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Business Finance at the University of Washington, Bothell Campus.

Now that I’m done with that maybe I can keep this blog up to date. I still have to post my race results from last year and my plans for this year.

Wow, what a ride…

Tri Training (again)

It's that time of year...

 

I've been riding to work and to school lately in preparation for my first Triathon, which is less than 4 weeks away (May 31). Here's my list of events:

 

May 31 - Issaquah Triathlon (400m swim, 15 mi bike, 5K run)

July 26 - Federal Way Escape (400m swim, 11.66 mi bike, 5K run)

Aug 16 - Beaver Lake Triathlon (400m swim, 13.8 mi bike, 4.3 mi run)

 

That should keep me busy. For September I decided to do something a little different, the MS Bike Tour in La Connor, WA, 2 days of 75 miles each on a bike. Should be pretty cool.

 

The longer rides have really helped my training and I have lost 10 pounds in the last month.

Triathlon Pictures Part 2

The professional photogs from the Issquah triathlon just posted their pics from the race last weekend. I found 3 pictures of me by sifting through the unidentifiable pictures. Having my number on my back was convenient during the race but made it hard to find my photos later since they had no way to identify me. There were two from the run and one from the bike. Thank goodness they didn't take any photos of me during the swim. I wouldn't want to drive people away from this site with those...

 

 

Triathlon Recovery: Day 1 & 2

Day 1 - Sunday June 3

 

Today went pretty well. Muscle soreness is much less than I expected. Took some ibuprofen before church to make sure I could make it through 3 hours without much misery. The biggest issue so far is the recurring muscle spasm in my shoulder that has been acting up for some time: it got a lot worse starting last night but nothing serious. I am continuing the elevated calorie diet which should return to normal on Tuesday.

 

Day 2 - Monday, June 4

 

Feeling much better even though the heat at night kept me awake (no one in Seattle has A/C). Shoulder spasms are almost gone.

 

I talked to my parents Sunday night and found out some interesting things about my Dad. I knew he was a distance runner back in High School and College but Mom told me some things I didn't know about my Dad:

 

1. He held the record for the 2 mile run at his High School for several years

2. He won the west coast regional meet in the 3000 and 5000 meters while attending Lassen College in the late '60s (NAIA?)

3. His fastest mile run was 4:05!

4. On his 50th birthday he ran his fastest 10K ever at just over 32 minutes.

5. At his 40th high school reunion they still remembered him as the "fastest man on campus"

 

Way to go Dad! I used to go with him to his races when I was a kid (10K fun runs and such) but I didn't know he was this serious about running. I guess I should have pursued it a bit more when I was young.

 

Issaquah Triathlon Results

Wow, I actually did it and achieved my goal (finish in less than 2 hours). I arrived just in time to sit in traffic as the over 1000 participants waited to get into the parking lot at Lake Sammamish State Park at Issaquah, Washington, just east of Seattle. There was plenty of time for me to set up my bike and other things in the transition area and meander over to the starting area. While waiting in the line for the restroom I found a friend of mine from church who was participating in the Tri with his wife. It was nice to know someone else who did the race.

The swim start for my heat was at 7:18 am sharp. I stayed in the back of the pack and then did the breast stroke for just about the entire 400m swim. The water temp was perfect (for me anyway) at around 70F.  This was my weakest of the three events by far. My time coming out of the water was about 18 minutes (more on that below). The first transition went well considering I didn't have a wet suit to fool with. I put on my shirt, cleaned my feet, donned my shoes, and off I went.

As I was just starting my bike run I saw the race leader coming back from his bike run. He won with a time of 58:35, almost 1 hour faster than me. To put that into perspective, I did the bike portion of the race in just over 55 minutes. The next closest competitor to him was almost 5 minutes behind. I did pretty well on the bike. I noticed that a lot of people around me didn't use their downhill gears: I passed a lot of folks on the downhills with minimal effort. The one hill we had to go over and back on was a slow rise up about 300 feet. Lots of people looked at my funny as I sang Christmas songs to pass the time (i.e. "Walking in a Winter Wonderland", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Have yourself a merry little Christmas"). I was feeling really good coming out of the second transition.

The run felt really good except for one thing: of the entire course, only 1/4 of it was paved. The remaining was over grassy fields, dirt roads, or sports fields. My ankles were really bothering me as I approached the finish. Most of the course was shaded which turned out to be a blessing as the sun came out near the end. As I broke out of the trees for the final time I saw Wendy and the boys there to cheer me on. I sped up and somehow found the energy to sprint across the finish line.

Here are my official results:

Swim 00:18:23.6  T1 00:06:27.9  Bike 00:55:05.8  T2 00:04:37.9  Run 00:27:49.1  Finish 01:52:24.3  

Overall I am very happy with the entire experience and my performance in this, my rookie race. The 5K time is less than the 5K I ran last month (29:37). The only thing that went wrong for me on race day was that I forgot my shoes. I had to turn around and drive home about 3 miles from home. Good thing I remembered. I can race without a shirt; I can race without socks; but I certainly cannot race without shoes.