Blog Family..the best!

Training this week has been relatively good for running. Swimming has not happened due to procrastination and biking has not occurred because Dino is in H-twn at Liz's house awaiting my return. As you can see from the running elevation profile it is much more than flat but I have been adapting well. Yesterday, I went to the track to clock out 3 one mile show downs. My avg. time for the 3 peats was 8:25. which is totally awesome for me but my lungs sure paid the price but overall I felt good and will retest in about 8 weeks.

So now let's get to some cool stuff. Meeting the blog family! I had been in contact with MoMo this past week as she was heading to Vegas and we were looking to meet up so on Friday morning I met here and Big J (husband) at the Bellagio and we had breakfast. Now let me tell you all something, if you have not meet these two you are in for a big treat when you do. They are the nicest, funniest, down to earth couple you can find. It was great to talk with them and it felt like we had known each other for years and were getting back together. I am blessed to know people like them and to be on the course with Mo at IMCdA come June. I look forward to many more conversations with them, a few beers and hanging out. Thanks Big J and Mo for taking the time to meet with me!! You all are awesome.

This week's training will consist of hitting the weights at least 3 times and getting 4-5 runs in with 3 swims. I lifted weights yesterday for the first time in about 3 months and I can definitely feel the soreness setting in, in a weird sort of way, I miss that feeling.

rockon`

a change of venue..

OK, as I posted a few days back about the one thing that changed on my blog and you peeps were quick to pick up on it. Yes, JT is now living large in Sin City! There has been some personal changes in JT's life, decisions made and actions taken and I have relocated. My parents live here so that is a Plus! I have not been in the same city as them since I left home at the age of 18 for college so it's great to be living close.

So with the new relocation comes new training territory! So here is my lastest, today, run of 8 miles around the area! HFS! there is a huge change in elevation here from H-twn and although this was my second run of the week I did feel a little dizzyness as I first started but it went away after the 3rd mile.

I will take some pics of my new training area. I will not be riding till mid-nov. as I left Dino back with Liz after Canyon Lake Tri to take it with me on the final road trip from H-twn to Vegas as I have to go pick up my Suv and will stopping off in New Mexico to hang out with S. Baboo next month after he does Silverman Tri. Anyway, things are setteling in and I will be updating you from the town that never sleeps.. rockon`

TX. Tri Race recap

The TX Tri was an Olympic distance and my second of all time. My first back in July was finished out at 3:27:40, flat course and hot. So heading out to Canyon Lake, TX. was hilly and after taking the time early to drive out there on my motorcycle and GPS the course I knew it was going to be a tough bike course and probably a not so easy run course.

Myself, JD, and Daniel were signed up but JD bailed out as the time drew near, yeah, he earned the title Mr. Pink Panties for now, ha! So Daniel and I were at the starting line Saturday morning with this being Daniels first Olympic. Overall, there was 142 people who raced. The swim was a wetsuit swim at 76*, so some had it, like me, others like Daniel went without. Oh yeah, this was ol`skool timing, no Chips, manual calling out numbers with a clip board tracking.

Swim: Ok, the swim was good. There was 3 starting waves and Daniel and I were in the first wave. Not too big, no problem really. Just swim out counterclockwise around buoys and back. I felt good but could tell I got a little tired about the last 500 but finished well and on to T2.

Time = 37:52. (2:31min/100meters)

T1 and T2: no times but pretty uneventful, standard in out stuff.

Bike: As I headed out on the bike course it was a little cool coming out of the water but didn't take long to dry off. The bike course left the park where the swim and run were located but it was about 2.5 mile out of the park till you hit the main highway. During this time I started passing people and before I hit the hwy. I really thought I was going out too fast but noticed I was just hanging around 19mph so I kept rolling. Once on the main highway it was a left out of the park and basically a big circle loop back to the park. Immediately out of the park it was climbing time. The climbs ranged from long easy, to short steep! This went on for the first 9 miles of the course before we got to some down hill sections where you could tell we were at the highest point in that area and were working our way back down for the time being. My speed would range from 10 mph to about 26mph and HR was doing great hitting my z4 at times but then recovering. My legs felt fine for the first 15 miles even though at mile 9.5 was this freakn` short but steep hill and I saw people out of the saddle so I knew it was going to be work. I used all the down hill speed I could get but it didn't last long and I was down shifting and cranking hard. Then it was out of the saddle time and was like shit! This hill is longer than it appears and as my speed slowed to concentrating on cranking Left leg, Right leg, Left Leg, I began to think I really wasn't going to make it to the top! Lungs Burning now! Shit! (but you know when at times you just tell yourself that YOU HAVE to get there because getting off and walking or whatever IS NOT AN OPTION) that is was I thought so one stroke at a time and I made it up! Whew!

Daniel was out of the water at 31mins so he had a little start on me and I figured I would catch him by around 10 miles but it was at 13.5 I came up on him and yelled out, he was doing good and felt fine. During this part of the course, it was totally similar to Montgomery riding so I was holding a nice 21mph as I passed and kept up till the hill at mile 16. Now it wasn't as steep as the short kick my ass hill earlier but it was LOOOOONG and I thought this is going to be nasty but I attacked it as the base as far as I could and then settled in for some upright climbing in the saddle and hey, knocked it out! Now here is where it gets fun. The RD told us that this hill is a long climber and when you reach the top to use Caution descending because if you let yourself go, you could hit some great speeds. So now that I was at the top It was descent time and I started off pedaling but quickly gained speed to shift up to biggest gear and soon out pedaled that so now it was coast and fly time. I looked down and was going about 32 mph and was feathering the brakes just a little but realized I felt OK and no more brakes and just let it go!!! and GO!! AND GO!! There was time to see how fast I was actually going but I passed 4 people on the way down like they were standing still and I was praying that I was not going to have any "unscheduled dismounts!" (at the end of the race I checked my Garmin and I clocked 41.4mph down that SUCKER!! SHIT YEA! pays to be a Clyds. at times and use that weight for something) The rest of the bike was just work on the hills and recover on the downhills as the legs were tired after the 20 mile mark and overall bike course was 26 miles.

Time: 1:38:07 (15.89mph/avg.)

Run: 6 mile course. Once on the run course it was a little hot by now as the race didn't start till 8am. This was a 2 loop course through the park with a nasty steep climb at mile 2.5/5. The first part of the course was along the lake area and by now it was also really windy but even though it was annoying I just kept moving. My HR was in Z4 but expected. When I got to nasty hill I ran partly up it and then said I'm walking, there was a volunteer at the top calling you out but it still didn't want to make me run but I sure felt it in my ass while climbing. So once at the top it was basically back downhill to the finish line area where they make you run right by the finish line and do another loop, jerks! kiddin`. So I head back out for the second loop grabbing water cuz it's hot now and JT don't want to overheat. By mile 4 Daniel comes sneaking up behind me and we chat as he passed. I was surprised it took him that long to catch me as he is a 7min/mi type guy. Anyway, here comes nasty hill again and this time I say to myself to run up at least 1/2 way which I did and then walked the rest as the volunteer guy was gone. And now it's literally all down hill. I hit the finishing shoot and it was nice too see people cheering TNT JohnnyTri on and even a lot of the other racers were standing along the finish line area.

Time: 1:05:52 (10:58min/mile pace)

Overall Time: 3:21:51

Overall Place Clyds: 7/11

Overall Place: 111/146

The 6th place guy finished 7 mins ahead of me and 8th place finished 6 mins behind me.

I thought the race was a great and different. Yeah, there could have been better organization for such a small venue but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes. I did a better time on a tougher course. My swim was at where I predicted, my bike and run were a little slower than hoped for but I felt good and had fun. Oh and Daniel and I scored a couple of door prizes!

Daniel finished: Swim = 31:56, Bike = 1:52:38, Run = 53:03 Total: 3:14

Overall Place AG 30-34: 12/16

Overall Place: 103

And this has to take the prize for the gayest Tri Shirt Ever!!

rockon`

race recap to come.. But can you guess..

the one thing on my page that has changed? (sorry Bigun and Allez, you can't play cuz you know and could give the answer)

I will post race recap later.... But finished this Olympic in 3 hours 21 mins... just say I am tired and ready to rest! whew...

rockon'

For now..

enjoy the Lance Armstrong pics below.

This will be my last update till after Canyon Lake on Saturday.

Lot's going on in the JT world so can't wait to update everything next week, probably not till Tuesday or Wednesday, until then...

rockon`

Lance Armstrong in da HOUSE!!

Today, Liz and I headed towards the medical center for a hoopla with Lance Armstrong in a Tour he is doing for Prop. 15 here in Texas. We met at the Houston Zoo and rode down to the area he was going to be at expecting to see a whole bunch of people but turns out there were people, but dressed up, looking nice and there was one other cyclist, Liz and myself on bikes, wtf! Anyway, as Lance came of one of the two buses that was there he started walking toward the building, wearing a nice suit and looking great. He walked somewhat quickly and I was just snapping pictures as best I could. Then he went inside the building and I took off down front as I could he was walking down this hallway. I didn't even tell Liz, sorry, but her deal is better in a minute so I don't feel bad at all. I left Dino sitting outside this doorway and went inside as Lance came through and took some pictures. There were lots of people, cameras, press, etc.. He then waited for the elevator with some of the important people and the doors shut. Just then Liz appears and says, hey, you took off!

Well now there is no where to leave our bikes so not waiting to leave them alone we go back to the buses, take some pictures and hang out, knowing that he is coming back. After about 40 mins we see the people heading our direction, so Liz and I position ourselves right at the front of the bus he got out of and get ready with camera and sharpie to possibly get an autograph.

Then the bus driver tells us he has to move the bus and to go stand over there and points. So we move and are again in front of the bus waiting. The bikes are now leaning up against a sign just off in the grass area. Then Lance comes out of the hallway area and people crowd him and he starts signing stuff while walking along. I hear people yelling, Lance can you sign this, Lance, lance.. (how annoying for celebs) As he approaches Liz and I, he slowed and signed a couple of other pictures and Prop 15 posters, then some jackoff comes over the top of this little ol'lady (no that wasn't Liz, HA!!) with this clip board thingy and shoves it in his face. Lance quickly moves back to kind of helps the ol'lady and looks at this cop and the cop tells the guy to get back, NICE!

I am taking pictures and then all of a sudden Lance Stops! He looks at the stuff people are trying to get him to sign and reaches to the side and pulls Liz sharpie! She quickly turns around and he FREAKN` SIGNS THE BACK OF HER LIVESTRONG JERSEY!!!! Holy Freakn` SHIT!!!!!!

I am taking as many pics as I can cuz that boy signs fast. He finished, shook a hand or two and got on the bus.

So here are the pics!

Now that is a Rockon` day!

and now you know why I don't feel bad about leaving her when I went down the front of the building.

a new PR! with some Help.

Finally, a GREAT Day of nice cooler temperatures and lower humidity, a great morning to run and set a new PR. Here's how it went down:

So yesterday was our group TNT run, however, it was changed just a bit to an Honored Cancer Survivor run where all the Houston groups got together for a 10k and then had breakfast taco's afterwards. Everyone met at the West side groups location so there was a little bit of a drive but that's OK as it was new territory to run in and I had heard it was a nice area.

Once there we got the instructions and took off. In my little pack of runners was Geoff, Liz, and Lauren. Well it didn't take long before Geoff decided to Blast off and he was gone, dropping us like a wet dirty rag. Liz stayed with us on and off for a while but she was working through some of the other runners and checking on them. Lauren and I were running and chatting and after making one of the turn around just after 2 miles out we had been running around 9:30/mi pace, which was great! HR was doing good (cooler weather helps JT out big time!) Then we rolled pasted the 4.5 mile mark and the run course changed to a few short but steep hills and so I would attack them hard and then Lauren would fly down the backside of those hills and pass me every time. I just couldn't seem to run that fast down hill. Finally, around 5 miles Lauren asks for the time and distance we're at says,.. WE are finishing this 10k under 60 mins! I say Shit as I recheck the distance and time. At 5 miles we are 50 minsish. So that's means we have to bust a 10min/mile back which wouldn't be that hard but we had already picked it up over those hills and were running like 9's. Well I didn't have too long to think about it because Lauren freakn' took off from the water stop we were just at like crazy yelling Move it!! Let's GO!!

Catching up to her we did the attack the hills back and fly down the hill thingy and at 5.5 miles we we're going to finish right close to 60 mins so we had slowed just a bit and then I said Hey, if we're going to finish right at 60 for this 10k then let's push it and go for 59 mins! And we both kicked the pace back up. Yes, breathing was hard now, HR was in Zone 4 and it was work. As we hit the 6 miles on Garmin time was close.. I started almost sprinting... Come on Lauren we only have like 30 seconds let's GO!! (not really but wanted to make her run faster, hehe) As that down hill came, she freakn` fly by me!! and I was running faster down that hill than any of the others and as we hit the flat it was 6.2 miles! Time: 58:47! BoohYAAAA! We BOTH PR'd!!!!!!!!!!

We both High 5'd and was like...shit, we just ran a 10k in under 59 mins.. neither one of us have done that before! I was able to knock it out with Lauren and at a TNT run! SWEET! So a Big Thank You to Lauren for pushing the pace and looking to break that record as I had not even thought about it till mile 5 when you mentioned it, it was well worth it!

In other news, got an OWS in at Twin Lakes on Friday with Liz and crankd out 1500 meters in about 36 mins with the wetsuit. not bad but not the best.

Also yesterday was the Hawaii Ironman so Liz had a party at her house and a few others came over so it was great to see some people from the triathlon training group I had not seen in a while. Despite the technical problems just at the start of the bike course and missing Norman S. throwing up on the side of the road.. I say it was a pretty good. Weird how a lot of the pros were out on this race and I hope people don't start saying.. Well Chris Mac won but he wasn't racing against Norman or Ferris...blah blah blah.. Chris played a smart race and stayed just within the lead pack on the bike and the run is where he crancked it out. He's paid his dues there and even though he talks shit.. he Won and it was his time! Good Job! Maybe next year Mr. Puker.

Today, mostly rest after a few 6 too many beers, ha! Might get another swim in as I think Geoff is heading to the lake today. Other than that, go pick up Dino from the bike shop.

rockon`

some training and stuff..

There are times when change is needed. Why? Who the hell really knows but it's needed. Changes are happenin` with JT and will update those later on....but for now it's still training time.

After Sunday's ride I rested Monday and finally got a run on Tuesday morning of about 5 miles using a negative split run for each mile! It was great!

Then today, I pedaled out 10 miles in 30 mins to get the legs crankn` Overall, I feel good on the bike and will get another 2 Hill rides in before next week's Canyon Lake race. After the ride today, I dropped Dino off to be cleaned, soaked and tuned up!! So will get it back Saturday!

As for my Swim, that's a whole other story.. simply S-L-A-C-K-I-N-G! Like the Bigun these days!!! but fear not blog warriors, tomorrow is OWS day and will be swimming the full 1500 meter distance! Then I will probably have 1 maybe 2 more swims before race day.

and thanks to a cool front the morning temps as well as day temps are much better, whew, I mean it is October!

rockon`

Birthday Liz and week recap.

First off I must say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to LIZ! She is a great gal, friend and training partner. She is training for Clearwater, Fl, yup, she's going! Check her out.

So it has turned out to be a good recovery/training week as Canyon Lake Olympic draws closer.

First off I took off Monday as recovery from Cinco Ranch and just did the usual track night with TNT, no running tho.

Then Tuesday it was an easy run but didn't feel so easy as I streeetched it out some with a 7.25 miles. It was a little hot so this made it a little hard but got it done.

Wednesday was a nice little ride with Liz for about 30 miles and if you jump over and read her blog, don't even fall into that BS that she had to slow down and wait for me on several occasions, come on`..JT.. here! I just didn't want to lead.

Then Thursday was another hard ass run cause it was like 96* and just plain HOT! I ended up running about 6 miles but in those 6 I run some Hills, Fatleks, Intervals and just slow stuff with walking.

Then Friday Liz and I went out to twin lakes for some OWS and Geoff was supposed to met us there but got in late from out of town so we ended up getting 930 meters and I was able to use my wetsuit, although, it was freakn` hot, it was not as bad as it was the first time I tried it. So my 930 m swim was in 23 mins which is not bad but still a little slow.

Then Saturday it was so fukn Humid it was pathetic! but that didn't stop us from getting in 6.5 miles in before the running group. It was nice to be done with it as then I got coffee, went to my assigned water station, crankd` up da tunes and waited for the runners. And now for the epic day, Sunday. Today, was a nice little 56 mile bike ride out in Montgomery, which, I had planned on only doing 45ish but at my turn around point, Liz called me to ask where I was, Yes, I was ahead of her. So I said I would wait up and the ride a little more to the next little town where we were gonna meet up with the fast dudes, Geoff and Ryan. So when we got to the town those Bozo's had left and now I was at 30 miles so instead of doing out and back we just rode the loop. Once back at the car it was a quick change for a short brick to get the legs working and just at a mile we were done. One thing I noticed was that coming off the bike to run has not really bothered me and the legs seem to start working pretty fast and respond well. Other thing about today's ride was that I was pretty much all Zone 1 and Zone 2 which is totally awesome and if you are a quick thinker, Bigun, then based on that you will have known that I was bullshitting about waiting up for Liz as it was totally the other way around. OK, OK, I will say it, she is faster than me, period. But she cannot burn more Calories than me at the same distances and that drives her bonkers!

So the week has turned out to be a good training week with some not so pleasant temperatures to train in but hey, this is Houston! This week should continue on a nice build week as next week will taper it down some for Canyon Lake.

Other than that just TCB (taken care of business)

rockon`