Triathlon Keeps Me Sane

I raced!!

2009-10-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

25h Annual FLORIDA CHALLENGE TRIATHLON
SUPER SPRINT: 200 yard Swim - 8 mile Bike - 2 mile Run
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - Clermont, Florida USA
>>> Produced by SOMMER SPORTS <<<

With a time of 45:15.68 I was 5th of 49 men and 85 finishers. There weren't age groups, but I would of been 2nd.

Finish Swim Swim Trn1 Trans Bike Bike Bike Cum Cum Trn2 Trans Run Run Pace
Time Plc Time Plc #1 Plc Time Rate Plc Time Plc #2 Plc Time /mile PENALTY
===== ====================== === ===================== ============ ==== ======= ==== ===== ==== ======= ==== ==== ======== ==== ===== ==== ======= ===== =======
5 45:15.68 9 3:35 4 1:25 6 24:08 19.9 5 29:07 3 0:34 12 15:36 7:48

Racing wouldn't be such a big deal, but this has been a crazy and busy year. This is only the third race that I have done this year. My training has been extremely sporadic as I've been marketing Pilster Photography. I guess you could say this is pretty important, because this pays the way for me to go out and race in triathlons. The tougher the economy, the harder it is to market a company (If you need a wedding photographer, or any photographer for that matter, drop us a line!)

On another note, now that I'm shooting weddings it makes it harder to find a free weekend. I am much more careful about signing up for a race in case I book something, so I waited until the last minute to sign up for this race.

With very little training and most of it sporadic, I placed 5th overall in this little super sprint. Overall I'm pretty happy with doing that well. I felt just as exhausted as any other race I've done. I don't know if it's because I pushed myself harder in such a short distance, because I'm out of shape, or some of both.

My swim was a little slower than I wanted, actually everything was slower than I wanted. It was a super sprint and my splits were all slower than a sprint race I ran on a similar course at the beginning of the season. Actually the course at the beginning of the season had more hills. The area that I probably did the best in were my transitions. There was only an 8sec difference between myself and the leader. I think that's the smallest window I've ever had.

There are only a couple sprint races left before the season is over. Hopefully my schedule will let me race in them. Either way my main goal right now is to improve my running and consistency. I am working on taking my running shoes to the pavement 5 days a week. Then I hope to take a break and start to build up for the racing next season. We'll see how that goes.

See the photos here!

Summer Triathlon Coaching

2009-06-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

The summer Triathlon class at DeLand's YMCA has started, and guess who the coach is. This is the first year that a class has happened after May. I took over from previous instructor, Kathy, who is an amazing triathlete herself.

The first class started out a little bit rough. Rain was coming down like a waterfall about half an hour before class. It was the first class, so I wasn't sure who was attending and I didn't have any contact information. Two of five students did show up and the third caught up to us later in the program.

Since the roads were wet and lightning could still be seen in the distance I had to improvise. I was planning to do some mid-tempo training on the bike and then intervals on the run. Outside of a bike trainer, I have yet to find a decent stationary bike replacement.

I had my team do a five minute warm-up on the bike and then 10 minutes at about 70% exertion. We then headed over to the treadmill where they did a 1:30 rest and then 400m, then a 1:30 rest, and 400m for 4 times. We then headed back to the bikes for 5 minutes of easy riding. We finished with another set of 4x400.

The original plan was to do a cool-down on the bike, but the sun peaked out of the clouds. We all agreed that we needed some fresh air, so we took the class back outside. We ran an easy 1 mile with some plyometrics mixed in half way.

Overall it was a great workout. They will have swimming on Tuesday and then I will see them again next Thursday. If you are interested, you can still join in, just contact the DeLand YMCA.

No Swim St. Anthony's Triathlon/Duathlon

2009-04-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

St. Anthony's Triathlon
1500 Meter Swim/40K Bike/10K Run
April 26, 2009
St. Petersburg, FL
Race Director: Philip LaHaye
Timing and Scoring: Alta Vista Sports
www.altavistasports.com

With a time of 1:55.18 I was 57th of 223 in my age group and 480 of 3556 finishers.

57 480 588 Chad Pilster 32 Deland FL 1:55:18 1:03 34 1:04:41 23.1 1:36 83 47:59 7:44

For the first time in the 26 year history of St. Anthony's the water was too rough to hold the swim. I'm sure some other factors played on it like three years ago there was a death in water that was also as rough. Also a recent report came out citing 13 of 14 deaths over a 2 year period in triathlon were during the swim.

They made it a bike and then run. You start at the end of the swim and run to your bike with whatever gear you want (Helmet, glasses, shoes, etc) and then run it out of transition.

I am not a strong runner, and it has been a rough and inconsistent training season up to this point. When you take out the swim my chances of being competitive for the top spots drop significantly.

There were a few positives this weekend.

Even though my times were very close to the previous year I felt strong. I don't remember feeling this strong last year, and maybe some of it comes from experience.

I had a chance to see the pros come out of the water. Usually I would be in the water at the same time that they are, but instead we waited by the end of the swim. It was the first time I've been able to watch the pros except when I pass them in the opposite direction on the course.

I had a chance to work on sprinting to my bike. Usually when I get out of the water I'm dizzy and it takes me a while to figure out if I'm even running straight. Without this, I was able to get my legs moving in the hundred yard dash mode. The scary thing is that I had my helmet and glasses on (I nixed the shoes because I felt I could run faster without them), and some of the pros who did swim had a faster transition time than me. I wish I had a chance to watch how they do this, but with 6000 people crammed into a tiny area, there was a wall between where I was standing to watch them come out of the water and the transition area.

Maybe I'll do 200m interval days where I sprint to my bike and throw on my shoes and then sprint another 200m with my bike.

My good friend Sara McLarty rocked the pro womens' field! She was first out of the water (no surprise), fastest on the bike, and then lost first by a measly 23 seconds and second by 6 seconds during a sprint finish. I saw her when I started my run and she was in second place, and I thought she had it. I can't wait to see her pull off a few upsets this year!

I qualified for the USAT Regional Championships by being within the top 33% of my age group. (I was at 25%) Although I am unsure if it will count since there was no swim.

Once I was on the bike it only took me a little bit to recover from the sprint, but I started moving pretty good. My bike time was 18 seconds slower than last year, but I would guess the wind was gusting up to 25mph. I don't know if I can attribute this to no swim before the bike, but I definitely would of been faster with no wind and that's a good thing.

During the ride I did a lot of passing. The roads were nice and open, most of the time, so passing was easy. About half way in I got a tail. Someone decided to draft off of me. Whenever he saw a USAT official, he would go wide like he was getting ready to pass, but rarely did. When he was in front he offered to let me jump on, but I dropped the three bike lengths back until I had the energy to pass him. He sat back there for a good 20 minutes until someone actually passed me. He jumped on their tail. This must of burned him out, because he dropped off of him and he didn't jump back onto my tail for the rest of the race.

My transition went much smoother than last year. I was off my bike without falling and into the transition area. I was a little sloppy through transition, so once again this is an area to work on. Maybe I'll set up a transition area by the TV and work on it while watching a movie.

Once I got out to the run I was feeling good. I held back my pace a little bit, because I knew I had 6 miles to go. At a couple points I thought about pushing my pace, but my legs would feel like they were starting to cramp in both the quads and the hamstring. I found a pace where I didn't have issues with this, but at some points I had to slow down more than I wanted to. I took my hydration, Gatorade and my nutrition and I still cramped up.

This has happened to me in almost every Olympic distance race I've run in. I was thinking it was the swim because I had trouble repeating it in training, but I was able to repeat it with the run and the bike. I believe that it may be my road bike setup. Now that I know I can mimick it with bricks I am going to try and train better for it.

Overall it was a good training day anda it told me that I am probably just a little bit ahead of where I was last year. I would probably be more upset with this if my training had been more consistent. Now I need to pick a couple more races to focus on this year, keep my training more consistent and do better!

My Gear - Sportcount - a stopwatch and lap counter for the pool

2009-04-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Doing laps in the pool can be tedious. As you swim you want to concentrate on improving your stroke, your drills and count laps. I always lose track of my laps, especially when I am concentrating hard on everything else.

I forget where I heard about it, but I found a device that counts laps, split times and it fits on your finger so it is out of the way. It's called the Sportcount.

It's nice to be able to do laps and not have to look up at the wall clock and try to remember what number you started on. My biggest problem now is that I sometimes forget to tap it when I do my flip turns. My other issue with it, is that my model doesn't give you individual splits. When you are done with a workout it will tell you your total time, your average per lap, your fastest and your slowest laps.

This is very basic, but it get's the job done. I love having one less thing to think about.

April 5, 2009, 26th Annual Great Clermont Triathlon - Race Wrap-Up

2009-04-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS

26TH ANNUAL GREAT CLERMONT TRIATHLON SPRINT -
Swim .75K * Bike 22K * Run 5K
April 5, 2009 -
Clermont, Florida
By SOMMER SPORTS

1:13:37 made me 1st in the 30-34 Age Group of 10, 8th of 76 men and 8th of 110 people

Finish Swim Swim Trn1 Trans Bike Bike Bike Cum Cum Trn2 Trans Run Run Pace Place Name Age City/State Time Plc Time Plc #1 Plc Time Rate Plc Time Plc #2 Plc Time /mile
1 CHAD PILSTER 32 DELAND FL 1:13:37 1 12:11 3 2:38 1 34:51 22.7 1 49:39 2 0:57 3 23:01 7:25

Triathlon season has officially started and it started out on a pretty good note. I started training a little later this season than I had planned for and some of that showed, but otherwise I had a pretty good race.

The first race off was the Olympic distance. Since we were kicked out of transition when their race started I had to bring my wetsuit with me. This made it tough to warm-up my run, so I spent my warm-up focusing on my swim, doing some in water running and stretching. It's not the same thing as if you could get on a bike or put on your running shoes, but sometimes you have to make do.

The start went off great, I was up towards the front of the pack and kept a decent line through most of the race. It took me about the first half of the swim to get into a rhythm though, and once I was there things went smoothly. First-triathlon-of-the-season problems didn't arise until I was in transition. My wetsuit came off quickly, but getting my Rudy Project glasses and helmet on weren't as smooth as I would of liked. Then as I pulled my bike away I noticed something dragging. My wetsuit had caught on my bike and I had to back-up about 10 yards to put it back in my area.

Once I was on the bike I cruised. The course was pretty decently marked and slight hills at the beginning gave me a chance to catch my breath after the swim. There was two significant climbs, and I powered up them both with relative ease.

There wasn't any particular thing wrong with my transition off the bike, but it just didnt' feel smooth. I think I may work on transitions when I have a few extra minutes to spare during the day. If I can make my transitions smoother, I think I can bring 30sec-1min off my time.

Finally we came into the run. I felt like I was moving at a decent pace, but I definitely am not where I was last year at this time. This could be a good thing too. I think I had peaked a little bit too early last year. This year my goal is to peak at St. Anthony's in St. Petersburg in a few weeks and then go strong until the middle of my season when I hope to take a little bit of a break.

I have to say that I was a little irritated that the Sprint Distance race was looked on like the red-headed stepchild. We were kicked out of transition as soon as the Olympic race started (Which is understandable and I am used to) and then we weren't given awards until after the Olympic awards. This made for a VERY long day for a very short race.

Last years 25th anniversary event was one of my favorites of the entire season and I was looking forward to coming back, but after the way the event was run I don't know if I'm going to race any more Sommer Sports races. The race was great, but the event had it's issues. Some other things of note is that I found that there was a HUGE shortage of volunteers. Water stations that had 3-4 volunteers only had one. They ran out of filled goodie bags! The BBQ was one guy on one grill having trouble keeping up with the line of 20+ athletes. I also overheard a lot of chatter about how this may be the way these races are heading.

Hopefully this is just a recession blip, but I'm interested in hearing from others.

On to St. Anthony's!

Rudy Project is having another awesome sale!

2009-03-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

My Rudy Project gear does everything I need it to plus more. They are a great sponsor. A few months ago they were having a sale where they were practically giving everything away and it seems like that sale is back. When you buy a pair of glasses for $199 + 19 for s&h, you get $250 worth of other gear. If you are in the market, check them out at http://www.e-rudy.com

Feb. 28th Clermont Swim Clinic

2009-02-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Two amazing swimmers are putting on another swim clinic at the National Training Center in Clermont.

I did one with them a few weeks ago with them and I learned so much that I will be busy working on much of it throughout the season.

Misty Becerra and Sara McLarty are looking to teach swim technique and open water tips for swimmers of ALL LEVELS.

There class will be on Feb. 28 2-4p

For more info visit http://usantc.com/event_list.php?&eventid=363

What if women had a head start, would they win a 5k?

2009-01-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

Front Running Sports is sponsoring a race to see who is the fastest! Women get a three minute head start and then the men have to catch-up. Wherever you finish is where you finish, there is no gender category.

There is no other race in Central Florida quite like it. I'm interested to see who is going to win!

The race is on February 14.

http://www.frontrunningsports.com/2008/11/23/catch-me-if-you-can-5k/index.php

The race benefits the Coalition for the Homeless First Steps Program. This program is set up for those getting a fresh start and it uses the sport of running to help them.

b-cleaning - Tri Bike Fit

2008-12-31T09:48:00.000-08:00

Outside of paying someone else to fit you, you can try setting up your bike to yourself. When I bookmarked this page, I think I was looking for an inexpensive way to fit myself to my bike.

One question that I had was that this page is titled "Tri Bike Fit" and I have a road bike, will following these instructions help me better fit on my road bike for a triathlon? This page got WAY more complex than I was ready for. Many fitters will also tell you that there is a mix between numbers and each person's body.

I think I still am going to get a professional fitting, but it doesn't hurt to have this information nearby.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/bikefit.html

Filed in "Fitness/triathlon -> Gear Maintnence"

Solutions for Garmin Forerunner 301 USB problems

2008-12-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

I grew up in California. You could leave just about anything on your
front porch for years and not worry about it. In Florida if you leave
anything outside for a couple days the humidity can start to mold,
rust, deteriorate and just destroy things.

This is the same for my Garmin Forerunner 301. The USB port had
stopped working and after digging for solutions I think I may of
found one.

Spray some WD-40 on a toothbrush and scrub the USB port. The WD-40
will help remove any rust or corrosion and improve the contact
points. Let the Forerunner dry and you are good to plug it in to
charge it or download your running info.

b-cleaning - Finding a road bike

2008-12-27T06:27:00.000-08:00

Consumer Research does a pretty good job of researching the internet and making sense of a lot of the sites out there, putting it all in one place and then actually referencing the sites that they found the information on. Referencing places that you found information on adds a ton to your credibility, especially on the internet.

I believe that I bookmarked this site when I was looking for my first road bike and the site still has it's relevance. It was last updated in March of 2006.

If you are looking for your first bike or 10th, you may want to see what they have to say. They look at everything from the entry level bikes to high end ones.

http://www.consumersearch.com/road-bikes/review

going in my "fitness/triathlon" folder

B-Cleaning - Gordo World Training Tips

2008-12-25T17:34:00.001-08:00

This website is full of some nice training articles. Coach Gordo completed his last six Ironmans in under 9 hours.

http://www.gordoworld.com/

Going in my "Fitness/Triathlon" folder

b-cleaning - Bike Maintnence

2008-12-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

Unless you have the money to take your bike to the shop every month, you better learn how to take care of it. You should be doing some regular once a week if you are riding often and want your bike to last you a good long time!

I found this site buried in my unsorted bookmarks. It has a great step by step guide with graphics of the different parts. I probably need to go back and actually look through it a little better myself!

http://www.trinewbies.com/BikeClean/Welcome.asp

Put in my "Fitness/Triathlon -> Gear Maintnence" folder

Things I've learned - Transitioning quick

2008-12-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

If you aren't moving in a forward direction, then you are losing
time. A transition is not free time.

After locating and setting up my transition area I will walk to the
entrance, and sometimes all the way to the exit of the water, at the
coral. I then walk through it as if I was transitioning. I look for
visual clues to locate my spot. I have also been known to bring
little orange flags (That you can find at the hardware store), but I
haven't had a bike position that's been so hard to find that I felt I
needed them. I run through my bike transition in my head to make sure
that all of my gear is properly laid out. I then walk to where I will
exit and repeat the walk through and mental task into the run.

I may be a little paranoid, but after this walk-through things have
gone really smooth during my races.

Make sure I have my goggles, cap (Wetsuit if I'm using one) and have
removed any unneeded items (shoes, shirt, etc) and head to the water.
If I'm wearing a wetsuit, I may pack some gels on me. I've also seen
people wear their race number under their wetsuit.

Exit the water, remove cap and goggles, (SKIP - if you don't have a
wetsuit) pull down the zipper on the wetsuit as I'm SPRINTING to your
bike. Remove both arms from the wetsuit. Get to my transition area,
throw my goggles onto the towel and just remove my feet from the legs
(Make sure you practice this before the race. Also if you put Body
Glide on your legs, this goes a lot easier.) (END OF SKIP) Rudy Project glasses
on, Rudy Project Syton helmet on, then grab my bike and go. Remember if you get on your
bike without your helmet strapped, it's a disqualification. Put my
shoes on while I'm moving.

End the bike, take my shoes off before I get off the bike, pedal
barefoot, and then dismount in the dismount area. As I run back to my
spot I unstrap my Garmin GPS, so that I can use it for running. Once
I get back to my spot and rack my bike I remove my helmet. Sometimes
I take my glasses off and sometimes I don't depending on the weather.
I slip my feet into my shoes. Before I leave the transition area I
grab my race number and Honey Stinger hat to put on while I'm moving.

Any questions? Hope this helps.

I wish I could of read a step by step account like this before my first race.

Things I've Learned - Setting up your transition area

2008-12-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

Setting up a transition area can almost be considered an art and a
science. The goal is to spend the least amount of time there, but
have everything available to you that you might need or are required
to have.

There may be ways to tweak my transition area, but after examining
the pros transition areas when I raced at St. Anthony's and racing
for two years, I think I have a pretty good system for the Olympic
and Sprint races. I am always willing to change if if there is
something that might make me faster.

In reality there are only a few things that you NEED in your
transition area. A bike, helmet, running shoes and race number.
Anything beyond this is just to make your race more comfortable, but
it may slow you down.

The first thing I do after finding my spot is to rack my bike. I then
lay down a towel in front of it. I used to use a bucket to wash my
feet. Unless I was running through sand it really didn't do much
because I would continue running in my bare feet before I mounted my
bike.

My shoes are clipped onto my bike and I usually use rubberbands to
keep them from dragging on the ground.

I place my Rudy Project Syton helmet upside down and rest it on my
aero bars. I make sure that it's in a position so I can just flip it
onto my head and buckle it. I rest my Rudy Project Horus glasses with
the glasses facing into the helmet.

I check to make sure that my Garmin Forerunner is set for triathlon
mode. It sits on my bike. I already prefilled my water bottles.

My race number is attached to the bike seat post. I think this is the
most out of the way spot. It's also where I've seen the pros put
their numbers.

On my towel I put my running shoes down. I put some body glide on the outside
of them and also on some spots in them where I've been known to get
blisters. I flip the tongue up and make sure there is a good opening.
I have used three different type of quick lace shoelaces and have yet
to find one that I like better than the others, but I would
definitely recommend these. I lay my race number attached to a race
belt and a Honey Stinger hat above the shoes.

A couple extra things that I put in my transition area. I leave an
extra towel to wipe something off if need be. A few extra Honey Stinger
gel packets, in case I drop some on the bike. Water Bottles
with Gatorade and Water. I usually have an extra pair of shoes in a
backpack nearby (Just in case). I read a story about a pro who showed
up at his transition area to find his shoes missing. I'm not sure if
it would be within the rules to reach into my backpack though.

My next post will be a quick one on the actual transition

More on the DeLand YMCA Masters!

2008-12-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

From kathytris

Hi Everyone,

I just spoke to Nadine from the Aquatics Department at the YMCA so I wanted to fill you in on the Master's Swim program. If you have further questions, you can inquire at the front desk. Also, as always, you can ask me & I will try my best to get the info for you. Here's some of the details of the program:

- Tu & Th 7:45-8:45 a.m. AND Tu & We 7:30-8:30 p.m.

- Cost - $55 for members & $75 for non-members per month

- You can attend all 4 class times if you wish. The cost is the same whether you come 1 or 4 days per week.

- The first session will begin Tuesday, January 6th.

- There will be 3 instructors leading the program. The morning session will be led by Nadine and Bonnie and the evening session will be led by Rob.

- There will need to be at least 8 participants in the program in order for it to continue. If you are interested, I would sign up soon to insure the program will start on time.

- The instructors will gear the program to fit your training needs so all levels are encouraged to attend.

It's great to finally have a Master's Swim program at the Deland YMCA. I hope the DeLand community will support the program. Remember, since you will be starting the program, you will have input in the direction of the program as well. If this is what you are looking for, please join and help make the program a success. I know a couple of people have already signed up so thank you!

Thanks for your time.

Kathy Schwerdfeger

Faster Things - A time trial bike

2008-12-05T21:21:00.001-08:00

My first road bike was a Jamis Ventura Race. It's a great bike and two years later I still race on it. I would like the option of a time trial bike though. I have yet to compete on one and I'm interested in how much of a performance difference it will make.

The Xenith 2 was released last year as Jamis tries to solidify itself into the tri and time trial market. It is a gorgeous bike.

I am also looking at some other affordable time trial bikes. Orbea, QR, Blue. Any suggestions? What competes well under $2k?

Things I've learned - Make a list!

2008-12-03T06:56:00.001-08:00

When you have to get up at 4am to go to a race your brain is not functioning and you are bound to forget something. After the first year of racing I made a list of everything that I might need at a race and at what point I can pack those things. I just go down this list and put a mark by anything that's packed.

This also allows me to sleep better the night before, without worrying if I forgot something.

As the years go on, I have started to find that there are a lot of things that I REALLY don't need and there are still a few things that I will add to the list. One example is you don't want a wetsuit laying on the seat of your car, so bring a plastic bag.

I also am a Boy Scout, I live by the motto to "Be Prepared" and if it can go wrong it will, so I tend to try and bring extras of EVERYTHING that would prevent me from competing in a race due to equipment failure. Most of the time this stuff just stays in the car, but it's good to know it's there.

I also have created lists for different situations. One situation is when there will be an overnight stay before the triathlon. Here's my list.....

Things to pack the night/day(s) before the race
FOR THE SWIM
2 pairs of goggles
towels - 2 large, Chamois, 1 small
bucket for water to dip feet
extra swim suit
WETSUIT
Body Glide (Or pam)

plastic garbage bags (To put the suit in after the race)

FOR THE BIKE

pump up tire
check to make sure seat is tight
check to make sure aerobars are tight (bring screw)
extra cleats

Rudy Project Syton aero helmet

Rudy Project Zuma helmet (In case something happens to my aero helmet)

Rudy Project Zyon glasses

Bike
bike shoes
3 extra tubes

(Bring repair kit)

tire pump
cycle gloves
lock
bike lights (Rear and front)

rubberbands (To attach shoes to the bike)

cold weather bag (Leg warmers, arm warmers, gloves, hat)

FOR THE RUN
3 pairs of race socks
number belt
extra running shirt
2 pairs of shoes
hat

GENERAL/OTHER/PRE-POST RACE

headlamp (It's dark when you get to most races)

scissors (Never know what you might need to cut)

tape, gaffer tape

Change of clothes - shorts, underwear, socks, shoes, shirt, sandals (For after the race)

extra Honeystinger energy bars/Gels

Honeystinger Honeystinger Bars

extra bananas
GPS - Forerunner
GPS - Ique
Heart Rate Band (Bring +1)

Orange flag (To mark where your bike is at a big race)

MP3 player
cell phone
rain jacket
sweatshirt
first aid kit
race info
Camera - Both cameras, extra batteries, cards, both lenses
video camera
Sharpie
pins for race number
pen and paper

NIGHT BEFORE/Day Before -
Put bike on Car, Check air pressure, cover seat and gears, strap down, flip pedal up, bungie cords, protection over brake
take pack and lock off of bike
Charge IPOD
Charge GPS
Pack gear into bag
5 water bottles. 2 with gatorade, 1 gallon of water
Two water bottles with Gatorade
Put in fridge

Change wedding ring (I bought a cheap ring that I am not worried about coming off my finger during the middle of a race or other excercise)

DAY OF (SET OUT NIGHT BEFORE)
tri shorts
tri jersey
Put on Sunscreen, lip balm

Eat powerbar/cereal (Up to one hour before)

Banana
go to bathroom
get bottles out of fridge
grab garmin
cell phone
emergency cash/wallet, license, USAT license, credit card
Sweat pants

Leave at 5:20am (I always set the time, so I don't have to think about it)

Hope this helps!

Things on my XMas Tri Wish List - Bike Trainer

2008-12-01T03:37:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm in Florida, you can ride here all the time... Even though it may be a warm 40 in the winter, compared to -32 up north, that's still way to cold to ride. There are going to be days that I (want) need to get a ride in and it is just too cold or too dark (I really don't trust Florida drivers if I don't have to, and especially in the dark)

I haven't decided which trainer I want, although Steve over at Plan B uses one for his fittings, which he said is relatively cheap, quality and has a power meter.

You might start seeing cheap as a common word in my vocabulary. It is, but I am willing to spend a little extra money if it will make a major difference in quality.

If anyone wants to recommend some bike trainer's that fit into the cheap, power meter, and quality categories. I'm listening!

I heard good things about the CycleOps Fluid"

Things on my Xmas Tri wish list - Bike Fitting at Plan B

2008-11-29T03:04:00.000-08:00

I've ridden my bike in almost the same position for 2 years. It's a road bike, but I wonder if I have it setup in the best triathlon position.

Getting your bike properly fitted is one of the top 10 things you can do to add speed for very little.

I took my wife to Plan B Cycling for her birthday to get fitted on a bike we got her six months earlier for Christmas. She went from pain in her back to wanting to ride every day.

I don't have any pain (Except for my cramping), but I feel like I could be a little more aerodynamic.

Steve will look at everything and make little adjustments to see the power increase or decrease. This is one gift I will probably get for myself if someone else doesn't get it first.

Next years goals - Swim faster!

2008-11-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

SWIM FASTER!

Of course I can get faster at everything, but it doesn't hurt to focus on this one.

There are a few things I can do to make this happen.

* Go to the masters swim program more (Or get masters level swimmers to train closer to DeLand with me)

* Actually develop a training schedule instead of just hammering with the masters group

* Have my stroke technique videotaped in Port Orange. They do this great program where they videotape you and analyze what you are doing

* Swim straight in open water

Another great deal. From my sponsor Rudy Project

2008-11-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a new pair of glasses, NOW IS THE TIME! For $200 you can get a pair of glasses and $290 of other gear. Including a helmet, shirt, bag, etc. Check it out!

http://www.e-rudy.com/

Honeystinger Protein Bar Offer

2008-11-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

One of my sponsors is having a really good special on their protein
bars. I have not had a chance to try the Peanut Butta Pro, but the
dark chocolate ones are rich and awesome! They are great for recovery
after a long workout, a light meal when you are busy, or a heavy
snack. I attached the ad below....

"In appreciation of our valued customers, the crew at Honey Stinger
would like to extend a special offer. Our three awesome power-packed
protein bars, perfect for workout recovery or a light meal replacement
are on special for 25% off - that's just $21.29 for a box of 12 bars.
Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond, Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond, and
Peanut Butta Pro are all available for the special. And - if you
purchase for or more boxes, the shipping will also be free. Place
your order today at
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?HoneyStinger/d83147ed27/36f69af223/2d38c554be,
or call toll-free: 866.GO.HONEY.

Have a great day,
The Crew at Honey Stinger"

Next years goals - Not cramp up in the Olympic

2008-11-24T02:50:00.000-08:00

I need to get through my cramping in the run. 3 Olympic distance races, 3 times that I cramped up during the run.

I have a few suspicions about what it might be.

* Not getting enough nutrition on the bike. Not downing enough HoneyStinger gels

* Pushing myself too hard on the bike

* Not being at the top fitness level I could be at.

What I have tried -

* Drinking more fluids

* High cadence at the end of the bike

Next years goals - Place in an Olympic Distance

2008-11-22T02:46:00.000-08:00

I am going to place in an Olympic distance. I have yet to place in my age group at one of these.

I was only a few seconds from medaling at the AFACTri (They had 5 places in the AG), I'm assuming this just wasn't my season.

I really need to work on the endurance of my run and holding onto a faster pace.

Next years goals - Get an overall

2008-11-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

I am going to get my first overall!!!

I have been in the top 10 long enough. I was in the top 4 at one race this year, although it was so small there was only one overall place.

I am going to get a top 3 in one of my races next year. I don't know which one, but I feel it coming.

FINALLY! A Masters Swim Program in DeLand!!!

2008-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

I just received this awesome news from Kathy! (kathytris@bellsouth.net)

I am looking forward to joining the Master's Class!

And if Kathy needs it, helping out with the Tri-Training!

Master's Swim Class

Nadine, DeLand YMCA Aquatics Coordinator, has set up a Master's swim class beginning in December. The monthly cost is $55 for members. There will be a morning and evening session available to you. The morning session is on Tuesday & Thursday from 7:45 - 8:45 a.m., and the evening session is on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Triathlon Training

I will be starting my triathlon clinic at the beginning of the year. There is a possibility of having an evening session as well as the usual morning session. The evening session would begin somewhere between 5:00-5:30 p.m. (M,W, or Th) and the start time for the morning session between 8:00-9:00 a.m. (Tu or W) If you are interested, please let me know what day & time would be best for you. At this time, I do not know the day or time for tri swim training, but I will keep you posted.

Please give me feedback as to your level of interest in these programs and any other suggestions that you feel would make the programs beneficial to you.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to those you know may be interested in finding out more about these programs. Thank you for your time.

Kathy Schwerdfeger

Next Years Goals - Become a certified spin instructor

2008-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:00

After just falling short of quite of a few of my goals, I hope to achieve them next year. I also am setting some new goals.

I am looking heavily into getting certified as a Spinning instructor. This will also put me in position to become a fully certified trainer. I also am interested in becoming a USAT 1 coach.

There are very few coaches in the area and triathlon seems to be springing up left and right. I love to see new people trying this sport out and I enjoy giving back.

ACT Run for the Runaways 5k

2008-11-17T09:57:00.001-08:00

My wife, Liz, raced her first 5k. I wasn't sure if I was going to be a fan
or join her, but since it was for a good cause I decided to join in.
Outside of the gift of giving to a good cause, we were well rewarded with some nice door prizes at the end of the race.

As for the race, the tide was high and it was difficult to find hard sand for this
beach run. There was also a 5-15mph crosswind from the west.

Running 1-2 times a week is not the way to train if you want to set a new PR, so I wasn't expecting it of myself. There were only about 50 people in the race and a couple regulars. I was happy with a 22:39, 7th overall and first in my age group (Of only 3 people in my age group). This was a 7:17 min/mile pace.

The difference between me and first (An amazingly fast 10 year old!), was 1:31.

Liz did awesome for her first race, she was 24th overall and first in
her age group. She's doing awesome for someone who had given up on running at the beginning of the year. She has only given it a second chance and started training in it over the past few months.

Our next 5k is the Thanksgiving 10miler and 5k put on by AltaVista here
in DeLand. I know there will be a lot more people for that, but I
also hope to do a bit more training over the next couple weeks.

Things on my XMas Tri Wish List - New Garmin Forerunner

2008-11-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

As I said before, my Garmin Forerunner has been indispensable. The
new ones (305 and 405) have only become smaller. The 305 is only a
little more expensive than a new 301 right now and there is an
upcoming sale on it at Costco. This will make it almost the same
price.

The biggest advantage that I see to upgrading is the size (and having a working heart rate monitor again). These new ones are small enough that I don't see them getting in the way during the swim. The 301 is large enough that I had attempted to swim with it, but found it cumbersome. All of these Forerunner's are water resistant.I have not had a chance to play with the 305 or the 405, but in looking at the specs here are the biggest differences that I have seen.

The 405 is smaller and newer.

The 305 allows you to do multi-sport with the press of a button. This means that each time you switch to a different sport you can do so by pressing a button. This is great during races because there is no break in your timing. If you press the button at the right times you can even have your transitions. I use this feature whenever I race with my 301 and I love it. I would hope that the 405 has some way to do multi-sport and I'm very weary to buying one until I find this out. This would definitely send me back to the 305 or waiting for a newer model.

The 405 allows you to send your data to your computer via wireless.

The 405 is not compatible with the mac. This was a problem with the 301, so I can live with it, but actually having a compatible Forerunner would be nice, especially with so few other differences.

I am going to need a heart rate monitor for the new season, so I'm probably not looking at waiting for the next model. And with the great price on the 305, there very well may be one under my tree this year.

Things that worked - Garmin Forerunner 301

2008-11-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

I've used the Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS almost every time I run or bike
for two years now. It tells me accurately how fast I'm going, how far
I've gone, how to get back home if I get lost, it let's you set-up
training programs like intervals, and soooo much more.

I even race with it. It's great to know your pace on the run, so you don't burn yourself out.

This wasn't my first Garmin. I used a Garmin Ique for my car a few
years before I got this one. I was so impressed that I knew I
couldn't go wrong with GPS.

Combined with the FIRST program, this little device gave me a lot of
motivation. Seeing instant results of how you are doing, without
having to do do the math of minutes per mile, is a huge inspiration.

My biggest complaint is that I have had to send it back to the
company because the heart rate monitor stopped working. I bought a
second one to hold me over until the first one came back. The second
one got lost, and now the first one's heart rate monitor has stopped
working again.

Even without a heart rate monitor, it is one of the best purchases I
have ever made and I definitely plan to continue upgrading.

Things I learned - FIRST run Training

2008-11-11T02:42:00.000-08:00

This isn't exactly new. I used this last season, but it helped me drop my first year run time down from a 8:30/mile in my first sprint triathlon to a 7:06/mile for a 5k at the end of the season.

The Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training has training programs for a 5k through a full marathon. First you find your tempo pace, and then you plug that into each program. You then have a 12-16 week run training program, with run training only 3 days a week. That's right 3 days a week.

http://www.furman.edu/first/

Things I Learned - Goggles don't last forever, ways to make them last

2008-11-09T02:34:00.000-08:00

* New goggles make the fog go away

Your swim goggles won't last forever. They start to loose their coating and fog up easier. They also get scratched up.

A way to keep them from scratching though is to keep the case that they came in (My Speedo goggles came in a plastic case) and always put them back in the case when you are done. This will keep them from moving around your bag and getting scratched.

12.2.08 @Triatheletemag: Put a few drops of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo in each goggle lens. Rinse them until there is just a slight film left. No fog = "No More Fears."

How to be frugal with your triathlon training

2008-11-08T03:31:00.000-08:00

Active posted this nice article on how to save some money with your training. I know I put it on twitter, but I thought it was worth a blog entry.

http://www.triathletemag.com/Departments/Training/2007/The_frugal_triathlete__Success_for_less.htm

I would like to add. You can check out books and DVDs at your local library for free.

Also you can usually find cycling clubs for free. A great resource for the Orlando cycling community is blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_thechaingang/

Things I learned - Duck dive when you start

2008-11-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

When I was really young and living in California we went to the
Hawaiian Islands often. The waves were big there. The only way to
get out in the ocean to body surf the waves back in, or body board on them, was to dive
under them right before they crash down.

In a lake swim there may not be waves, but diving into the water can
give you an advantage. If you try to run through the water, you are
going to meet a ton of resistance. If you try to swim through the
water, you are going to find a pack of people ahead of you.

The best method is one that I learned by watching the pros in a few
races (And had learned long ago from a surfer heading out to the waves in the ocean). You dive, stand-up, then dive again and repeat until you can't
stand. This is where it's really important that your goggles are on
tight.

When I started this late in the season, I would find myself in a good
position. Now only if I could swim straight to keep that position!

Things I learned - Tighten your goggles before a race

2008-11-05T03:23:00.000-08:00

* tighten your goggles before a race!

Early in the season I was running into a problem that I didn't remember having the previous year, my goggles would slide off early into the swim. I had bought a new pair of goggles of the 2008 season. They felt just right when I trained in the pool and if I tightened them any it started to become painful.

I started asking around for solutions, and Karen McLarty gave me the answer (Thanks!). She said to just tighten my goggles before a race. She also showed me the proper way to wear them (although I'm still bad about this) You wear them on the top back of your head and not over your ears like glasses.

The race is quick, unlike long days of training in the pool, so being tight isn't as much of an issue. This is also important to help with the next thing I learned....

Things I learned - Heat WILL slow you down, even if you train for it!

2008-11-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

* Florida heat can REALLY affect your training, even if you are acclimated to it. This mainly applies to running.

The beginning of my season, early March and April, was great. In sprints I was PRing on my runs faster than a 5k that I ran in November. Then came the Florida summer. I just thought I had been overtraining when my run times started to drop drastically.

I thought it might be attributed to a poor training routine (And I'm sure this didn't help). Then I did some research and came across an article stating that your run can drop as much as 10% in the heat of the summer. This described me exactly. There is a similar article in the NY Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/health/nutrition/03Best.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Just to back up my theory. I was out in California, and I ran 10 miles easily. I was struggling to run 6 miles in Florida, even with hydrating well.

When I figured this out late in the season. I started training on the treadmill, which helped, but due to some life situations I didn't get to really expand on this.

After learning this I plan to do more training early in the mornings or head to the treadmill at the gym. If I do end up going out in the heat, I am going to stick to workouts I know I can finish while fatigued and not get on myself for not accomplishing goals in the heat.

There are also some pointers on training in the heat at http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Keep_Your_Cool__10_Ways_to_Beat_the_Heat.htm

Things I learned - Watch out where you peak

2008-11-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

* Plan your races accordingly and give yourself some rest in between major races.

I think that I peaked too soon and once I fell off my high I started to drag through the rest of the season. I tried hard to hold onto what I had left.

My first race was good. My two Olympic distance races in March were decent. My races after the Olympics were awesome! By early June I was starting to see my times falling, even after I gave myself rest. I was feeling burned out in my run (Which also had to do with the heat) and I found it hard to train when I wasn't reaching goals I set.

I also need to figure out a way to give myself more rest in the middle of the season and really plan out my season for a few peaks and breaks. I Also am going to start my main training a little bit later this next season.

Bike Pack Riding Rules - Read on Sara McLarty's blog, courtesy of Hal

2008-10-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here is Hal's outlook...

You can't have been at Lakemont last Saturday and not have known of the horrific crash that occurred in the first group as they sped along SR 434 west of the Greeneway. An experienced and strong ASV team rider who was directly behind the leader went into a tuck position on a bike with aero bars. His front wheel touched the back wheel of the lead rider at 33+ mph sending him into the pavement face-first. Ten to twelve more riders went down; most were able to get up, dust themselves off and continue (some only discovered injuries after getting home). Unfortunately, the rider directly behind the guy who caused the accident did not fare as well. He broke four (4) ribs, chipped his scapula, has horrible road rash and, worst of all, sustained a collapsed lung. He was air-lifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the Winter Springs Police shut down the highway.

When something like his happens, it requires us to assess how we got here. Speed is a drug -- it's no surprise that people show up for their weekly fix and Lakemont has become the most popular ride in central Florida. Unfortunately, along with the popularity has come a large degree of danger which, when exacerbated by bad choices, results in very bad consequences. Anarchy reigns if the groups fail to police themselves. Seasoned cyclists have traditionally admonished newbies for dangerous or just plain stupid practices. That guidance has been lacking for awhile at Lakemont and cannot continue.

So that there's no question, here are the three (3) rules that have to be enforced by everyone or my association with this circus is over:

1. You must wear a helmet; this rule is violated rarely but, when it happens, it always seems to be by an "experienced" rider that I'm supposed to look up to or is regarded as "too cool" to confront;

2. You cannot wear earplugs and listen to your iPod or put one of those stupid phone thingies in your ear; we need your full attention to the task at hand; if you need more stimulation than Lakemont dishes out, you are not someone I want to ride with; and,

3. You cannot go into a tuck position on any handlebar/aero bar arrangement that limits your ability to control your bike and access your brakes; a standard road bike arrangement is the ideal; you may use a time trial/triathlon bike only so long as your hands remain spaced evenly with your shoulders and are immediately ready to access your brakes; to do less is to endanger yourself and everyone that rides behind you. Exceptions: you can go into a tuck only if (1) you find yourself at the front and must impress us; or (2) you are at the back and can only hurt yourself if you lose control.

I don't care how "good" or "safe" or "strong" you think you are. If you do not believe, in good faith, that you can adhere to these rules, you have no regard for the people that you ride with. This is not about you, it's about the group. I have no doubt that the rider who caused the crash last week was completely convinced (ignorantly so) of his superiority. I have great sympathy for him, for his injuries and for the fact that he's got to live with the terrible consequences to his teammate.

Things I learned - Leave your shoes on your bike

2008-10-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

* Leave your bike shoes on the bike

All last season I thought that there were advantages to putting your bike shoes on while you were not moving. I didn't think that you lost that much time and that running with shoes on through rough dirt would make up for it. It also gave me a chance to clean any sand off my feet before I put my shoes on.

I've learned now that every second you are moving forward, even if it's not very fast because you are putting shoes on, you are still moving in a forward direction. This also applies to when you are getting off the bike. If you have to spend time messing with your shoes while you are not moving, you are wasting precious seconds.

Also I haven't had that many problems with dirt in my shoes. I think the worst was during a beach race and it wasn't that bad.

The biggest reason that I waited so long in my season to do this is that I had to get new shoes, ones that would not interfere with the operation of my bike. In time gained this one has been huge. There were more than a few races that I was behind someone coming out of the water and then never saw them again after I got on the bike.

The differences between triathlon bike shoes and regular bike shoes is that the velcro opens in the opposite direction and most tri shoes only have one strap.

Should drafting be legal

2008-10-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Like many I have developed an opinion on this. If you bike at all with a group, then you've practiced drafting. Once you get to a triathlon, it's illegal, unless you are a pro and racing an ITU race (Which only seem to happen internationally)

So the question came up to the http://www.active.com message boards. If there was a draft legal race, would you race in it? I let my thoughts be heard. The thread can be found at http://community.active.com/thread/50732

Yes I would race in a draft legal race, but a couple points to note.

Rookies should not be allowed in draft races, there is a lot to think about in your first couple races and drafting should not be one of them. I think there should be an advanced amateur division where you have to have say a minimum of 9 races or 3 top AG finishes under you belt. In bike racing they have 5 levels, although all of them are able to draft, the lower levels go significantly slower. The stronger bikers tend to break away quickly though in the more rookie divisions (I should also note that you can win your race entry fee back plus some in bike racing) At St. Anthony's they have Pro and Elite Amateur divisions. How about Advanced Amateur as another division.

Every race doesn't have to be a draft legal race. If you don't want to draft, then don't show up to a drafting race, but I think there should be draft legal races for amateurs. Right now you don't have an option in the U.S. Some weekends there are three sprint distance races within driving distance here in Florida. It would add to the variety. I also think it would help develop our pro athletes.

Yes you would have to have different strategies for a drafting race. Wouldn't it be interesting to see teams in triathlon and not ones where a different person swims, bikes and runs? Even on the bike racing circuit, you will get a person that pulls away from the peleton and stays in the lead. You just have to make sure that you can run the fastest in the peleton of bikers you ride with.

Someone made remark that triathlon is an individual sport and if there was drafting it would really be like two events instead of three. Technically you can draft in the swim and the run. Maybe there is not as much of an advantage, but there is still less resistance when you follow someone.

With the pros, many times everyone comes out of the water in a close pack. In the AG the pack tends to be a LOT more spread out, at least in my experiences.

Maybe with draft legal races the swim should be longer (Maybe it shoudl be longer anyway?!). In proportion to the bike and the run, it really is the shortest and it only get's shorter as the races get longer. Look at the proportions of the swim to the run and bike in a sprint versus and Ironman.

Things I've Learned - Use a Wetsuit when allowed

2008-10-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

* If the water is within wetsuit legal temperature and you are competing for a place in the race, use a wetsuit.

Wetsuits are great equalizers, it makes the ok swimmers just as buoyant as some of the great swimmers.

In the first race of the season, I was clobbered in the swim by those people wearing wetsuits. The buoyancy of a wetsuit can give you a huge advantage. The minutes you gain in the swim can easily make up for the time it takes to remove the wetsuit. Yes I did say minutes, even in a sprint distance race.

-I borrowed a Quintana Roo sleeveless wetsuit, but I would recommend a full suit for the extra bit of added boyancy (Thanks again Scott!!)

Season Wrap Up - Goals I set and how I did with them

2008-10-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Season Wrap-Up

I think it's an excellent idea to set goals for yourself. No matter what level you are at, they give you something to reach for. Even when the rest of your life falls off track they give you some focus.

When you set goals, you start to learn what is and is not possible for you to achieve. They also set you up to create new goals and accomplish goals that you didn't realize you had until after you complete them.

My goals for the 2008 season -

* Get Sponsored
Thank you Honeystinger and Rudy Project. I hope to add to my sponsors next year.

* 6:30/mile

During the beginning of the season my training was going excellent. My run splits for my sprints were consistently around 6:50/mile and I was consistently setting PRs. I thought for sure I would see as much improvement as I did last season and reach a 6:30/mile. Then the heat came. I didn't know this was the problem though.

I don't remember my run suffering as much last year, but my time dropped. I was still being competitive, but I was having trouble training and I didn't have a clue what it was. I thought it may of had to do with some inconsistency's in my training. Then I started doing research and I read in a couple places where heat can fatigue your run by 10%. This was almost exactly where I was at. I went on a trip to California and I saw my distance and speed increase dramatically without feeling fatigued.

I am planning to do some 5ks in my off season. I hope to peak into January before I take a break. Now that I have figured this whole heat thing (And it's actually starting to get cool around here) I hope to set some huge PRs and raise the bar for myself for next triathlon season.

* Place in the top 5% overall regularly

This may of been a bit of a lofty goal. 5% in many of the races would of meant me finishing 1st or 2nd overall against the men. I consistently placed near the top 10% of men. I was 3rd in my age group in one race and I was never worse than 2nd in my age group over another 6 different sprint races. In every sprint race I was in the top 20 overall, and the races ranged from 60-350 people.

Olympic distance races were a completely different story. I just couldn't break through a barrier. In the two smaller ones I raced in, I was 8th and 5th in my age group and never worse than 60th overall. Small being 325 and 505 people. At St. Anthony's, 3415 people, I was 26th in my age group and 245th overall (This includes about 40 pros). I still have a ways to go here.

* Qualify for nationals

USAT's qualification system is a little bit hard to understand, but apparently by finishing so well in my age group, at USAT certified races, I qualified on multiple occasions. Unfortunately due to losing my job, and some difficult financial situations before that, I wasn't able to go.

I hope to qualify again next year, and I hope my situation will be better. There is a sprint race in California to qualify for worlds. If I can afford it, I may go.

* Help others achieve their triathlon goals

I helped Kathy teach another round of a beginning tri group at the YMCA. Late in the season I worked with Jennifer in the pool. I carried Mike Mott along in my draft during long rides so he could get his mileage in (You know I'm joking, right Mike. I only did this early in the season, haha)

If you have any questions, let me know. I am looking for topics to discuss here or I'd be happy to meet up with you and help you out. I am now heading into my third year and still remember a lot of the speed bumps I had to go over to improve and get to where I am at. I realize I have a lot more speed bumps to go, but I have definitely learned a lot.

FINALLY! 9/21 Athletes for a Cure Triathlon Race Report

2008-10-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

I may of procrastinated about posting this because I just didn't do well in it, although I did much better than I planned to. I know it's just an excuse, but trying to find a job and getting my personal life together sent my training into a tailspin. Triathlon training is about consistency. If you train for three days and then take two days off, train for one day, take two days off, you may maintain your fitness, but you aren't going to improve.

This was the last race of my season, but I do hope to run some 5ks and maybe some 10ks through December. I will then be looking at resting for a few weeks, mixing up my exercise routine, and working more on the core, before I start to train for my next season. I hope to start up again March (Anyone have a wetsuit I can borrow?).

I have high hopes that by March my work life will have figured itself out and I can stay consistent. Even with the issues I had, I had a great season, and be looking for a highlights post. I also plan on keeping you entertained with a bunch of things that I learned this season.

Now for the results!

Athletes for a Cure Triathlon

1.5K Swim/ 40K Bike/ 10K Run
09/21/2008
Lake Buena Vista, FL
Race Director: LZR Sports
Timing and Results: Alta Vista Sports

http://www.altavistasports.com

6th in my age group of 38, 60th overall against 329 men, and 65th overall against 504 people

2:36:20 total, 1:57/100m swim (29:23), 21.83mph on the bike (1:08:26), and 8:45 min/mile in the run (54:18)

MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34
Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run Penalty
===== ===== ===== ======================= === ==================== == ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= =======

6 67 687 Chad Pilster 31 DeLand FL 2:36:20 6 29:23 3:03 6 1:08:26 1:11 13 54:18

It was one of the foggiest mornings I have ever seen at a race. You could only see the first of three buoys and they delayed the race for a half an hour for safety.

Our age group went almost last, this was a new experience for me. Usually there are not many people ahead of us, but today there were almost 500 people. I started out great. I've really started to get good at duck diving. You dive in the water, stand up, dive in the water and start swimming when you can't touch the ground.

This helped me start out well in the lead, but unfortunately my swim still needs work. My line was all over the place. At one point I started siting the wrong buoy slightly to my left. It was one of the buoys that was supposed to be after the turn and in the fog they all were similar colors. The next thing I knew I had a lifeguard shouting at me and pointing me in the right direction. I don't think I was too far off course, but I'm sure I lost some time.

I also ran across a lot of feet and more slow swimmers than I'm used to. I would come up on some feet and if they were way slower than me I'd blaze by them, if they were close to my pace I would draft them for a little bit before I was ready to move ahead. I came out of the water sixth in my age group.

It was a good quarter-mile-plus run and not very wide to get around the slower people. I did the best I could and was on my bike quickly. I also threw a jersey over my head that had my http://www.honeystinger.com gels in it. I'm glad I did, because a couple gels that I had put on my bike fell off. Next season I may get a gel dispenser where I can empty all my gels into. This would save me the trouble of carrying multiple packets and be more environmentally friendly.

The bike went smooth, until the end. The course was relatively flat, but there were a few no pass zones, which made things difficult when some people were only riding 16mph. I took my http://www.honeystinger.com gels at all the right places and was out of water and Gatorade by the end of the 40k. Right before the race started, the race director told us that there would be no water station at the halfway point on the bike.

At the very end of the bike I started to cramp up in the same place that I've had problems in every Olympic distance race I've done this season. In my hamstrings. On top of this, I thought I was close to the finish line, so I slid my feet out of my shoes about 2 miles before the transition. My biggest concern was that the cramps were going to be bad when I jumped off my bike, but I didn't have any problems. Once again I blazed through transition.

My hamstrings were tight, but I did my best to keep moving and they finally loosened up. I went about four miles into the run and I just couldn't keep myself moving. I had to walk. I knew my training had been horrible and now I was paying for it. After a little break I started moving again, until I was about 5.55 miles and then I slowed to a walk again.

I watched the back of legs as they passed me to make sure that no one in my age group was going by. At about 5.75miles I found someone in my age group and I started to pace them hoping that they might not notice that I was in the same group. I tried to be patient and wait for the right moment to make a break for the end.

I looked at my Garmin and saw that I was within only about a 0.10 of a mile and I saw the fences for the finish, so I decided to make my move. Unfortunately I moved to soon. There was someone in front of us, he went right, I was stuck on the left with no room to pass them and no energy to push myself. Maybe if I had waited another couple seconds I could of planned it better. He out sprinted me by 4 seconds! I found out later that I was 6th and missed medaling by one spot.

This gives me a goal for next year, to place in my age group at an Olympic distance tri!

Thanks again to everyone for being such awesome supporters this year. Especially my wife Liz and my sponsors, http://www.honeystinger.com and Rudy Project , who make it possible for me to race.

092108 Athletes for a Cure Triathlon

2008-10-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Athletes for a cure Triathlon

This is from a few weeks ago. I hope to have a race report up soon.

1.5k Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run

at Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL

Last race...

2008-10-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

My last race of the season was the weekend before last, and I wanted to post sooner, but things have been crazy. I just finished three grueling days of updating my website at http://www.pilsterphotography.com and other stuff I've needed to do to get a business off the ground. I didn't do as well as I wanted to do, but I did better than I was expecting after the preparation I had done. Now that my triathlon season is over I hope to try and focus on some running races and see if I can improve my speed, but more on that in the upcoming post race blog.

REWIND.... August 6, 2008

2008-09-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

August 6, 2008. I'm on my way to California to help my dad move to Tucson.

It was really nice to get away from all of the stress of trying to start a business and do something completely different. If this freelance stuff doesn't cut it, I could see myself as a mover. I had fun throwing all of that stuff into boxes, my training has put me in good conditioning to move boxes and it was a great new experience driving a 26ft truck. The whole thing was a different type of stress, but I dedicated myself to it like I do my photography and my training.

Boy do I miss the West Coast. I was having trouble hitting 6 miles, outside, in Florida and then I made it to California after doing light training the week before, and I easily ran 10 miles. The water in the pool was actually a little bit chilly. My biggest wish would of been being able to take my bike with me. I took golf clubs instead (And only used them once)

Like my good friend Mike, I love to sit in the window seat and take pictures out of the airplane. He seemed to think it was weird, but then I guess we're weird together!

I have to say that Southwest Airlines has become one of the best airlines still in business. I used to not be the biggest fan, because I always want a window seat and I hate that their is the chance I may not get it. Also their is a chance that I may not be sitting next to my wife.

Now choosing a seat has become lower on my list as airlines start to nickel and dime you. Airlines are charging you for one checked bag and even more for two. If you want peanuts, that will be $2 please. If you want a pillow, fork over the credit card. None of this has made it's way to Southwest.

Southwest is so customer friendly, that when they bring your snack, they say to take whatever you want, take two or three even. I hope that Southwest thrives and other airlines start taking note that CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEY! And if they are cheaper, I'm still going to fly Southwest because they treat me right.

Driving a truck near L.A. When it get's windy though, you notice.

This is on the way to the Arizona border. Living in Florida I REALLY miss the mountains.

While we were unpacking boxes, I had a day to take to myself and went down to Mexico with James Gregg, a very awesome friend. You can read about it here.

Nov. 29, Triathlon Party/Clinic

2008-09-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

I just received this and thought I would pass it along. My friend Sara McLarty has just set-up shop in Clermont, and it looks like things are going good for her.

Hello Friends,
Sara has moved to Clermont, Florida
She has been hired by the National Training Center to
be the master swim coach and put on triathlon clinics and
events....here is a link with limited information but lots more
information to come soon... http://www.usantc.com/event_triathlon.php
her first event is the saturday after thanksgiving, Nov 29
it is a "triathlon festival" that will include rides, runs, swims,
yoga, transitions, lunch 9:00-3:00
$30 for individual
$50 for 2 people
I hope anyone interested will support her first professionl event !!
It should be a lot of fun and a great workout !!
please forward this to all your trialthon friends
thanks,
karen

Archives older than September 1, 2008

2008-09-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers

This blog was on Myspace, but sooooo many people are having trouble with it there, I moved it here. Heck even I was having trouble with it there. The worst is that people had trouble even getting to the blog, but that was only the start of it.

I know I may have new readers, so I even brought over all the archives. Even my older readers may want to catch-up. It wasn't extraordinarily difficult, but you'd think someone would of made it easier. Just a copy and paste. This has left some remnants of Myspace on the blog, so please just ignore them.

Enjoy,

the Management

Monday, September 01, 2008

2008 Advocare Sprint Series 2nd Place Overall!!
Current mood: excited
Category: Sports

I forgot to mention that this race gave me 2nd place overall in the 2008 Advocare Sprint Series. This is based off of four races and you have to race in at least three to qualify for the final point standings. They haven't posted the final results, but I was only about 10 points out of first. You can find a better explanation of the series here.

3:46 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

2008, 3rd Annual Fall Triathlon Festival
Category: Sports

2008, 3rd Annual Fall Triathlon Festival
Moss Park Tri

750m Swim, 12mi bike, 2.75mi run

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Moss Park, Orlando, FL

6th of 147 people and 79 men, 1st in my age group of 17 people

11:44 swim (1:33 100/m), 32:00 bike (22.5mph), 21:10 run (7:41 min/mi)

1 161 Chad Pilster M ST M 30-34 DeLand FL 0:11:44.569 0:01:43.925 0:00:31.320 0:32:00.119 0:00:30.616 0:21:10.286 1:07:40.835

So now that you have watched the video can you guess what one word can sum up this race? WET! Thank you Tropical Storm Fay!

You had to walk through a flooded swamp just to get to the swim. In the first hundred hards of the run my shoes were soaked as there were no options to go around the puddles.

Amazingly, I surprised myself with a 6th place overall and first in my age group. If you read my previous post, you'd understand why this was a surprise. I had been in California for two weeks helping my dad move and before that my life had been so hectic that I was lucky to get training in. My race seemed slow, but I still did well.

Now if I could just swim straight, I would be doing awesome. I must have added at least 100 meters. My goggles fogged up in the first few seconds of the swim and I could barely see someone swimming next to me. I couldn't believe when I got out of the water and I saw two kids, that must of been in the 15 and under category, running in front of me. I definitely need to train with the kids at the pool!

Transition went fast and I must of made up a bunch of spots on the bike. I was only passed once, but it gave me someone to keep pace off of. I didn't lose sight of them. In the middle of the race I passed another rider and he said there were only three people in front of me. I found that hard to believe, and just kept pounding away. I came to a spot on the course where I saw the leader and the pace car. I counted, and sure enough there were only three people in front of me.

The rider who passed me was one of them, but they were only about 50 meters ahead. I took his spot in transition and it took him a good couple minutes before he gained it back. My run is still my weakest event, and not training didn't help. I just ran relaxed and only ended up losing four spots. Working on my run is again going to be my off season training goal.

Three more weeks until the last race of my season! September 21, Athletes for a Cure.

Also I am starting a blog just to focus on my photography. Look for it at pilsterphotography.blogspot.com

3:00 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, August 28, 2008

082308 Moss Park Tri Video
Category: Sports

Here is the video. Thanks to my wife Liz for doing the hardwork of filming it. I just ran the race and put the whole thing together. The blog is coming soon.

9:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Am I not ready?

Boy am I not ready! I have a race this weekend and I've barely been able to train. Trying to start a new business from almost scratch takes a lot of time! That's not the only thing I've been up to. The past couple weeks I helped my dad move his 3000+ sq ft home 820 miles from San Jose to his 2200 sq ft home in Tucson.

I recommend that everyone moves regularly, this keeps the junk down. My dad hasn't moved in about 10 years, and I think he had at least six sets of dishes. Who needs six sets? If you live near Tucson, let me know and I may be able to work some deals out for you ;)

So while I was moving, I found time to get some training in about once every couple days. I found one chance to jump on a bike, and I only had the time to ride it 1.5 miles to the pool and back.

I got back yesterday and have watched heavy rain and winds from T.S. Fay completely ruin any chance to jump on my bike today. I wasn't even sure if the "Y" was open. It didn't matter, because I have spent most of the day doing MORE business stuff.

I am completely off schedule for my routine, I miss it and it's frustrating!!!

The little bit of training I have done, has kept me sane. It has pulled me away from long hours in front of the computer trying to figure out what's the next step in getting my freelance photography off the ground. When my hours were more regular, I had a set time to get a workout done in. Now that I can go anytime, my "job" always seems to take up the prime hours.

I wanted to do well in the race this weekend because it is the final for the series, and I have a chance to be in the top three overall. We will see

I have one more major race this season and it is Athletes for a Cure on September 21. I have to make money to race (Not to mention just to eat and pay the bills), but getting out and training keeps me from going insane before I make any money. How life can be so frustrating sometimes.

Btw.... I don't know if I mentioned that I have a new blog specifically focused on my photography at http://pilsterphotography.blogspot.com. I hope to start posting pictures there soon and not just rants.

7:51 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, August 18, 2008

Crazy Situations

I'm in Arizona right now, I just helped my dad finish a move. I'm supposed to fly back into Orlando at 6:10p. Right now a hurricane (At the moment it is Tropical Storm Fay) is supposed to hit Tampa at 8p. Now I know most people would want to run away from a hurricane, but even though I no longer have a job at a newspaper, my instinct is to get back there in front of it.

This eagerness comes from the urge to be with my wife and dogs, but some of it is the possibility that there may be something to cover. Some of it is I don't want to be stuck at an airport on a layover, when I could be with family in either Arizona or home.

Hopefully many people won't be sharing my urge to head to Florida, and I may be able to book and earlier flight. Looks like I'll be on the phone to Southwest tomorrow figuring things out.

And don't forget that if you need photos when the hurricane hits, I'm available for freelance!

2:26 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Starting a Pilster Photography Blog

For a couple of reasons, I'm starting a second blog to focus on my freelance photography and issues surrounding it. I am still going to continue this one to focus on triathlon and my life in general. My new blog can be found at Weird But Cool! Thanks for reading!

2:14 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, July 24, 2008

5th Annual Moss Park Triathlon
Category: Sports

Sprint Triathlon - .75 km swim, 20 km bike, 2.75 mile run

A time of 1:07:44, 1:55/100m in the swim, 24.06mph on the bike, and 7:10/mile on the run

1st in my age group of 12 and 6th out of 93 men and 184 overall people

,
ST M 30-34

1 193 Chad Pilster ST M 30-34 DeLand FL 0:14:23.770 0:01:33.887 0:00:33.589 0:30:59.664 0:00:30.378 0:19:43.258 1:07:44.546

Moss park isn't anything exciting, but it's great to race the same course over and over. You never know how you've improved in triathlon until you race the same course, because every course is different. This is the fourth time I've done this course and the second time this year. I was excited to see a minute drop off my time earlier in the season, but a little upset to watch my run time increase.

Once again my photographer wasn't able to make it. Her bed was much more exciting than a park she's seen me race at four times. I certainly hope she makes it to watch me race this park a fifth though. Right now I'm second in the overall points for the Advocare Sprint Series and the race is looking close!

The swim started out right into the sun. I found myself looking for the buoy way to often when there was no way I was going to see it anyway. I need to just put my head down and trust where I'm swimming to. I knocked 40 seconds off of my time earlier this season, but the first guys out of the water were three minutes ahead of me, so I still have a lot of pool work to do.

My bike was really good. I blazed through transition and was off on my bike. I had my shoes on, a gulp of water and watched as I passed people. At the halfway mark I made a loop and saw a pack of five riders on my tail. I kept it in high gear and finally one of them caught me, but that was it. I stayed on his tail the best I could and when we made a loop I saw the pack of riders even further back.

Once again I blazed through transition (Did I mention I like my new biking shoes!). The run started out smooth and I amazingly started to watch myself close a gap on the runner in front of me. I've been so used to being passed when I hit the run that it really is exciting for me to close in on other runners. Unfortunately I still had one person pass me, so I was back in the same position that I started in. It's really exciting to see improvement in my run, even if I was 40 seconds slower than when I started this season. I hope by the next race at Moss Park in August that I can set another PR in my overall and do it by dropping my run time!

6:29 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

No time for training!
Current mood: focused
Category: Sports

A race on Saturday gave me something to focus on besides trying to market my freelance photography business. I used to think I was busy when I had my job at the News-Journal, but now most of my days include waking up and starting on one project or another and then not getting to bed until 1am.

All of this has totally wreaked havoc on my training. I feel like I want to get all of my projects done before I even step foot out the door. Sometimes I don't finish a project, and sometimes there is a lightning storm going on outside. I started to feel like the light at the end of the tunnel was getting closer, when a curve ball was thrown at me. An opening for a photographer position at one of the papers I've been eying for years, and even more so in the past few months. I've had to switch gears to get everything ready to make their deadline 12 days after they posted the opening. I think I have one more day and I'll have the packet ready to go out the door.

As I check things off my to do list, one of the most major projects is 99% complete and live! I finished a major overhaul of my website at http://www.chadpilster.com. If you see a problem at it don't hesitate to let me know. I think I know most of them and will be working on them as soon as I get some priority projects done. Now that this is up I can start marketing myself to some editorial and advertising clients. Without a current portfolio, it's hard to show people what you can do.

My to do list is still a mile long, but things that needed to be done yesterday are turning into things that can be done next week. Just when things are starting to slow down, other things are coming up. Friday is my wife's birthday and party (Happy Birthday honey!), next weekend I'm off to St. Petersburg, Fla. for the amazing Geekfest workshop by Aphotoaday (I haven't missed it since 2002, and they have only gotten better), and then the Tuesday after that I'm off to California for two weeks to help my dad move to Tucson.

During this whole time I hope to get my act in gear for training. I know, I have an excuse and I shouldn't be hard on myself, but my excuse is finally starting to give me some free time. I am planning on taking full advantage of this free time and getting ready for the last two races of my race year. I will, I will, I will train! I miss regular training, I'm getting tired of staring at the computer. The only excuse that's going to be acceptable to me is that I have a freelance job or other job, otherwise see you on the road or in the water....

6:34 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, July 13, 2008

CANCELLED!
Current mood: stressed
Category: Sports

FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR ATHLETES AND VOLUNTEERS, THE TRIATHLON HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER IN THE AREA.

FREQUENT LIGHTENING AND HEAVY RAINED PREVENT US FROM BEING ABLE TO SAFELY CONDUCT THE RACE.

The 3rd Annual Morton Plant Mease Triathlon
For the first time in my short racing career a triathlon I was supposed to race in was canceled. That's pretty amazing considering the amount of crazy weather we get here in Florida. A drive to Tampa and the usual 4:45 a.m. early morning wakeup call was wasted. A poor volunteer standing in the rain with a flashlight got to tell me that the race has been canceled (I just want to say these hardworking guys standing in the rain do an awesome job!).

So I read once that if you don't finish a triathlon it's against triathlon lore to wear the t-shirt. What about if the whole event is canceled?

I feel real sorry for those two bikers who didn't have lights on their bikes, riding in the pitch dark and biking through the rain (Who I nearly ran over, because I couldn't see them before I passed them) who were 75% of the way to the park when I saved them the trip and told them the bad news.

Thank you to our great hosts Debbie and Helmut, and I'll see you whenever the race get's rescheduled. If we didn't get to see you two the trip would of been a complete gas burner.

Since there are no photos this week, take a look at my new wedding photo website. I hope to update my main portfolio site in the next week. More triathlon will be coming soon, i'm headed back to Orlando for the Moss Park Triathlon next Saturday. Right now I'm third place in the Advocare Sprint Triathlon Series and I hope to keep that spot or better it in the next two races of the series.

4:37 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

4th Annual Orlando Triathlon at Baldwin Park
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Sports

Triathlon - Swim 0.75 km - Bike 13.4 mi - Run 2.5 miles

With a time of 1:09:13 I was 2nd in my age group of 22, 10th of 219 men, and 11 of 348 people

2:03/100m swim, 23.83mph bike, 7:24/mile run

2 282 Chad Pilster M ST M 30-34 DeLand FL 0:15:23.292 0:00:33.722 0:33:44.703 0:00:36.725 0:18:31.964 1:09:13.663

Training was difficult this week. On Monday I found out I lost my job. In between making over a 1000 minutes worth of phone calls, consuming lot's of alcohol with VERY supportive friends, getting equipment to go freelance, and figuring out what's happening next, I made it to the pool twice for masters, ran one day and didn't get on the bike at all (The afternoon thunderstorms haven't helped either). Oh yeah, I did have that race last Sunday and then another Yesterday (Sunday), so you might call those training days.

Well for not training everything went smooth. For my first race ever my support team (photographer (So there are no photos this week), cheering squad, best friend in the whole world) wasn't there. I think the whole week was harder on her than it was me and she couldn't handle the 5a.m. wake-up call.

The swim was SOOOOOO much better than last year. Last year, you could pull yourselves by the weeds. Ten feet out and the bottom dropped out, I don't think I felt a single weed until I was ready to stand. It was also 800 meters, and I really enjoy the longer swims, it sorts the people out. I like doing races that I did the previous year, because it gives me a nice gauge to see how much I've improved.

My transition was fast just like last week. I highly recommend a good pair of tri biking shoes to anyone that doesn't have them. I had my Rudy Project Syton Helmet and Horus glasses and I was out of transition in about 36 seconds and already moving on the bike while I put on my shoes.

One person passed me, but I stayed with him the rest of the bike. We made five laps around. They said there might be 600 people and at one point everyone was on the course. I really know how the Rolex 24 hour drivers feel. They have multiple classes of cars on the track, so the faster cars are always passing the slower cars. I was constantly shouting "On your Left!" as I rolled by averaging almost 24mph. It added a whole new challenge, or at least one that I hadn't seen since last year, and it evened out some of the stronger bikers.

Once again my transition went smooth. This has been a whole new experience from the beginning of the season. Only about a quarter mile of a 2.5mile run was in shade, and with a lot of pavement around it was hot.

For the second week in a row my race was very smooth. I hope to get back into my routine soon, but just getting out the door is refreshing. I have one more definite race this season in about two weeks. I hope to finish out the Buttar Sprint series. I may do one more Olympic late in the season, but unless my work situation improves I'm going to have to cut out a few races and maybe end my season about a month early. Wish me luck!

6:47 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Archives older than June 23, 2008

2008-09-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 23, 2008

Bloody Monday
Current mood: sad
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

I wrote the blog below on Friday. I didn't want to post it, I was hoping Monday would of been different for me, but in the end it was me and 98 others. Some of you I told already and others it is the first time hearing it. It was 5 and a half awesome years at the newspaper.

It was a combination of things. The main thing is the newspaper is in a lawsuit with Cox and the paper has to be sold. The second thing is that newspapers are having a rough time. In preparation for sale they are trying to make the paper look good on paper, but not necessarily the content of the paper itself.

I hope to go back into newspapers. I enjoyed the News-Journal, and may even go back if a position opens back up and I'm still in the neighborhood. I don't think I'm leaving soon. We bought our house two years ago and I don't think we are going to get what we paid for it for another two years.

My wife says that things come in threes, and I tend to feel the same way. In between the two car crashes I saw in just a few days and the layoffs, I am hoping I'm at three.

What's next for me? Pro triathlete? Not realistically, at least not this year (I hope to keep improving as much as I did from last year to this, and maybe it might be more realistic). I wouldn't mind doing more with triathlon. I also am not ruling out going into public relations, marketing or even doing reporting. As of this moment I am getting all of my marketing together to become a freelance reportage/advertising/wedding/etc. photographer.

So if you can help me out in any of those areas, I am very grateful. Thank you very much to my friends who have already shown me so much awesome support. I hope to get back to all of your letters, I may be unemployed, but I'm definitely not busy. Getting started in freelance, keeping my life together and keeping training is not easy.

10:39 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Tigershark Sprint Triathon 1
Current mood: anxious
Category: Sports

Tigershark Sprint Triathlon 1

1/4 Mile Swim/8 Mile Bike/3 Mile Run

June 22, 2008 at Daytona Beach, FL

Race Director: Rob Wallace

50:52 put me 1st in my age group of 4, 7th of 54 men and 8th of 85 people

1:33 100/m in the swim, 22.46mph on the bike, and 7:11/mile in the run

MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34

Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run Penalty

===== ===== ===== ======================= === ==================== == ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= =======

1 9 17 Chad Pilster 31 Deland FL 50:52 2 6:15 1:16 1 21:22 0:27 1 21:33

What a great day to be at the beach.

Or go for a swim.

The ocean is a lot calmer than it was when I was north of Daytona Beach Shores for the Ormond Beach Triathlon.

When the horn went off the pack stayed together. The water was shallow and you were almost able to stand by the time you got the the first buoy. I got some great pointers on how to keep my goggles on (Thanks Karen!!), so I was diving, running, diving, and then swimming as soon as I couldn't run anymore.

The swim felt short, and went quick. This is the first race that I'm using my new tri bike shoes and they made for an amazingly fast transition. I didn't even have a chance to blink before I was on my bike and moving. A guy that I was behind coming out of the water actually caught up to me, I'm sure that he had his shoes clipped in also, but I beat him through transition. He probably wouldn't of caught up, but I was having some trouble getting my shoes on.

I passed him and then he stayed behind me for the rest of the bike. No one else passed us in the blazingly short 8 mile bike.

This was my first time for a beach run and things went smooth. I passed three people out of transition (Did I mention I love my new shoes!) and made it just around the half way marker before two people passed me.

It is a weird feeling having races that go so smooth after having so many kinks earlier in the season.

Justin, getting the angle on the bikers!

10:33 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Jobless on the Horizon?
Current mood: worried
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

If it's not me, it's definitely going to be someone else. Some people were reportedly laid off today (Friday). I have been told to come in on Monday, even though there is already someone working and there are no assignments on the board. I haven't heard about anyone else who has been told to come in on mandatory Monday. I heard maybe the bureau may close down

For a company that talks sooooo much about family, it must be the type of family that never sits down at the dinner table and talks. I feel like everything operates here in a cloak and dagger fashion.

When the newspaper was originally sued we read it in the competing paper an entire day before our paper published anything. We shouldn't have even read it in the paper, there should of been an email sent out.

Lately I've been watching other papers front pages. I've been really trying to find out where I want to go next. I've started to really realize how good of a package our paper puts together, even though it seems like a dysfunctional mess in management sometimes.

I really enjoy working at this paper, especially with the great writing staff we have. they have amazed me with some of the stories they find. Unfortunately lately it seems like they've just been cranking out stories. The staff has dwindled.

The worst part is not knowing why I'm working Monday, is it because they are going to just tell us something, they are going to close the bureau and move us all to Daytona, the other photographer is getting let go, or I am getting let go. I'm trying not to stress about it, but how can I not. I'm trying to work my regular shift, but it might be my last day. The nice thing to do would be to at least let employees have a couple weeks notice and not just throw them out the door. Going to work thinking it may be your last day just sucks. It's stressful at a job that I've rarely been stressed by.

If I can, I'll let you know on Monday, the suspense is killing me.

8:30 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, June 23, 2008

Ormond Beach YMCA TRI-Y Triathlon
Category: Sports

Ormond Beach YMCA TRI-Y Triathlon

1/4 Mile Swim/10 Mile Bike/3 Mile Run

May 25, 2008 at Ormond Beach, FL

Finished in 56:23 making me 2nd in my age group of 30, 19th in men of 175, and 20th overall of 266

2:16/100m swim, 24.49 mph bike, and 6:53/mile run

Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run

===== ===== ===== ======================= === ==================== == ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== =======

2 23 23 Chad Pilster 31 Deland FL 56:20 4 9:14 1:18 2 24:30 0:40 2 20:41

The water was rough, the baggies were well stuffed, the door prizes were excellent, the trophies were awesome and the competition was some of the best in Central Florida.

The water was so rough that they needed to wait until 30 minutes before to make the call. Last year they cancelled the swim, but this year the swim was on. I didn't think it was that bad, but apparently the lifeguards were busy and at one point Air One was called out because they thought they lost someone. Luckily they didn't.

Again I had my goggles fall off as I entered the water. I have received some advice from some very knowledgeable experts and we'll see how my next race goes. After I entered the water I found myself with the pack and I couldn't get much separation until I cleared the first buoy. Once I was going parallel to the shoreline I tried to find some people at my pace. For much of the time I couldn't even see the next buoys, because of the waves. I over shot the final turn buoy, ended up shore a little more than I wanted and I tried to run with the waves instead of riding them like I had planned. All of this lead to a swim time that put me about 30th. It was still fun and some of the most challenging swimming I've had yet.

After having my friend Mike Mott come into transition behind me and then sitting a minute behind him at the start of the bike, I've made my next investment and bought tri bike shoes. I hope to blaze through my transition and be lacing up my shoes while I'm on my bike in my next race.

The bike went really smooth. I found a small pack of two others that I would draft and clear within the 15 seconds and then drop back as they past me. It's fun when you look at it like a game of leap frog. You just have to be careful to be legal about it.

I had another PR for my run. 6:53/mile (20:41) is faster than I've even run a 5k by itself. My goal now is to break 19 minutes. This is definitely a race I'm looking at again for next year.

8:07 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Pending random chance
Category: Sports

Within four days I saw two accidents, that pending random chance, I could of been a part of. Pending random chance I also witnessed them. Preovolos is a friend who seems to have these random chances happen more than most of us. I'm sure he'll correct me, but once his car was roped off in a crime scene and other times he watched breaking news happen from his apartment. It's a weird experience when this stuff starts happening to you, almost like your in this void.

The first was on Saturday as we were on our way to run errands near Orlando. We pulled onto highway 472 headed south. A car in front of us pulls over to the grassy median, as we are passing him the driver opens his door, sticks his head out and it looks like he's puking. About a half-mile down the road that car comes flying up behind a truck in the left hand lane and starts to tailgate him at about 60mph. I'm in the right lane, but I have a car in front of me and nowhere to go. As the guy was tailgating for about a mile, he kept weaving to the left like he was going to try and pass the truck in the grassy median. The car in front of me finally pulled away and as I pulled forward the tailgater tried to slide behind me, but a silver Ford Mustang had come up quick and I watched in my rearview mirror as they slammed into each other. They went sliding in both directions off the highway. I was too far down the road by that point to do any more than call 911.

The second accident nearly involved me and a friend on our bikes. Monday rolls around and Mike Mott calls me up to try and get a ride in before the afternoon Florida rain. We both did long Sunday rides and weren't planning to overwork ourselves.

We are on the ride and with 15 miles left, as we headed along Grand Ave, we looked at the clouds and decided that we'd cut about 8 miles off and take Plymouth Ave. home to beat the rain. We had barely gotten back up to speed after turning east onto Plymouth when two cars came flying around a corner headed west. We were riding two wide and I shouted to Mott to get over. The first car slides over the double yellow to about where Mott was at, but then he starts to correct himself. The second car appeared to have more control in the turn. The first car then lost control spinning to one side of the road, just missing concrete polls sticking out of the ground, to crash through a fence that housed an old covered landfill.

After the car had come to a rest for a second the driver jumped out and bolted for the other side of the road and jumped/rolled over a barbed fence into a new landfill. The passenger jumped out a second later and followed.

At this point Mott was on the phone to 911. After he had been talking to the operator, a Waste Management truck shows up. After asking if we were alright the driver of the truck asked what's going on and we give the brief story, but tell him that two kids jumped the fence into the landfill. The driver of the truck puts it in reverse and spins that truck around like he was on a mission. He gunned it back down to the entrance of the landfill. As we are standing around waiting for the cops to show up, we see trucks zooming through the landfill.

Another car shows up and the driver tells us that he had seen the car that spun out and the SUV that was chasing it in a fender bender at Spring Garden and Plymouth. Apparently the blue Mitsubishi had run into the back of the truck and then sped off.

Pretty soon a kid walks out of the landfill and we recognize him as the passenger. He says that he had just broken up from his girlfriend, he knew the driver from DeLand High, but he didn't know his name, and he had just hitched a ride. He just hung around at that point.

The Volusia County Sheriff's department starts to show up and ask us what happened. Sometime later we start to see the Waste Management trucks heading back down the road. They pull over and in the back one of the guys shouts "We got him!" He also holds up a little bag of what looked like white powder to the sheriffs.

So now we had to wait until the Florida Highway Patrol showed up so we could give our statements. Luckily the one officer that probably covers a couple hundred square miles got there quickly.

After about an hour from beginning to end we were able to start making our way home, but the rain clouds were really looming now. We pushed ourselves harder than we probably should have after letting our legs cool and the day after some major rides, but we hauled to get home.

I was watching the lightning and counting. "Flash" "one" "two" "BOOM!" I don't care about rain, but lightning is one of the major killers in Florida and this was right on top of us. We missed making it by about five minutes. Just before we turned onto Taylor Rd, with about a mile and a half left to get home, the sky opened up and a waterfall started to pour down on us. I had done my swimming that morning, but when I got in the door it was like I had jumped in the pool with all my clothes on. I had a puddle under me about an inch deep.

The even more ironic thing, was that it was 5:15p.m., that's when we would of met to go riding on a normal Monday.

The car through the fence. I didn't make much effort to make good pictures and my camera phone isn't the greatest.

EVAC treats the passenger.

Deputies and firefighters talk to the driver who is sitting in the back of the Waste Management truck.

We were almost to the street on the right, when after the cars came flying around the corner on the left. The blue car almost hit those red poles on the left when it spun out.

I snapped a shot of Mott before he spun away.

10:28 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Tri start tips
Category: Sports

This ranks up there with the top 10 funniest commercials ever and you may even get a training tip out of it.

4:52 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Windy Runs in Kansas!
Current mood: relaxed
Category: Sports

This week Liz and I took a much needed vacation to head out to Kansas and watch my brother-law and step-brother-in-law graduate. This trip also gives us a chance to visit with all the relatives, sit back, catch-up with everything I brought with me, do what training I can without a bike (or what requires borrowing transportation) and really do nothing.

One thing about Kansas though is that it's windy. We think that Florida is windy, but the wind in Kansas would be called a hurricane in Florida (Although I've been told the current wind is an anomaly) . There are no trees and nothing to slow the wind down. On the schedule for Tuesday was 13 miles, unfortunately on the Kansas schedule was 27mph winds with 35mph gusts. I thought if I went out early I might have a better shot at getting some lighter winds.

The first 5.5miles I ran with the wind, which was a bad idea. I really should of gone vice versa and ran into the wind for the first half, but that would of required crossing a major road. A busy road would of been worth it to end with this atrocious wind at my back.

The wind didn't help me much, because I only averaged about 8:00/mile. I'm sure some of this had to do with the roads being unpaved. I had to watch my step for rocks and try to dig in a little harder to get a grip.

The second half was 5.5 miles of agony. The heavy winds just beat at my face. I had to put a head band back on over my headphones just to stop the ringing of the wind in my ears. I ran for about the first mile, but then it felt like the wind picked up and I don't think I was moving because both feet were in the air. I would try to run, but it just felt like I was standing still. I would walk a little bit with a slight tilt to my body just to continue forward. If you think that walking might make things easier, it didn't. I exerted almost as much effort walking as running. My usual heartrate for a 13 mile run at a little faster than 8 min/mile would be about 160. The 5.5 miles that I did at 10 min/mile was at 160. I really thought I could do the last two miles, but the wind had tortured me and frustrated me and I was DONE. I'm sure I got the training in I was supposed to, and I'll save my next long run for Florida where we have some slight breezes.

Another thought I had was who needs to spend $1500 on wind tunnel testing time for the bike. I say just take your bike to Kansas, put it on a trainer and see how things go. With winds of 25+ mph it's perfect wind tunnel speed.

7:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, May 05, 2008

DeLand YMCA Family Fit Fest
Category: Sports

DeLand YMCA Family Fit Fest

Triathlon:300 yd swim; 12 mile bike; 3.1 mile run

Deland, Florida; May 4, 2008

1:01:20 and 3rd in my age group of 19 and 4th overall of 34 men and 60 total

01:36 100yd in the swim, 22.41mph in the bike, and 6:59 /mile in the run.

MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39
Place No. First Last Age City St Finish Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run
===== ===== ============ ============== === =================== ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== =======

3 461 Chad Pilster 30 Deland FL 1:01:20 2 5:17 0:40 3 32:56 0:47 3 21:42

I did back to back weekends of triathlons. I went from an Olympic with St. Anthony's with 4000 people to our little hometown triathlon at the "Y" with 60 people. It was relaxing to race within ten minutes of my home and is fun to race in front of the people I see at the YMCA all the time and those I've helped train to run their first triathlon.

I was a little tired from doing St. Anthony's the week before, but I spent the first part of the week with an active recovery and the second part with a little bit of training and the last part with a taper and a little bit of rest. I gave myself no excuses. Based off of how well I did last year and how much I thought I had improved, I was pushing to break 1 hour and that would of won me last years race. Unfortunately the competition showed up. One of the best triathletes in Central Florida, Kevin Grogan, decided to check out our little triathlon after he was enticed by another excellent local triathlete and friend, Mike Mott. This took away my overall, but I was very excited to see how much I've improved when I raced these two a little over a year ago. Grogan still crushed me by about 5:30 minutes, but I was only within 3 of Mott. That's a far cry from the 10minutes I was beaten by in a duathlon against them in Ormond. My own time was 6 minutes faster than last years and the person who beat me by 20 seconds then was over 8 minutes behind me this year. I was very excited to see this real gauge of my improvement.

The race started with some confusion. The swim was a pool swim with a staggered start. Everyone was supposed to submit swim times and they would start with the fastest first. After telling us to line up by number, they then told us that that didn't matter and to just decide ourselves where to start. I went first last year and found it tough when I was neck and neck with the person I had to beat and I needed to get 10 seconds over them. So this year I tried not to go first, but somehow I got pushed to 4th position. I stayed neck and neck with the two other top triathletes in the pool and even passed the person in front of me on the last lane. When we jumped out of the pool shouts of "walk, walk" words that just don't translate well to people trying to race, were shouted at us so we don't trip and fall. Grogan apparently speaks an entirely different language when racing, because I later heard that he did the 100m dash across the pool deck.

My birthday is this week and I've decided to by myself a pair of triathlon shoes. I'm all ears if you have any recommendations, because my transition was one of my most major downfalls again! After a walk run to the transition area, I got there and had a sloppy transition into my shoes. As I was pulling my bike out one of my handlebar plugs fell out. I grabbed it, because there's a rule that states you can be disqualified without these. With the long run to the mount area and holding the plug in my one hand, I got the idea to try and put on my glasses while running. This was just a bad idea. I dropped my bike. There was about 20 seconds lost (And my position between third and fourth) as I picked up my bike. Then as I was trying to jump on it, I just couldn't clip in. Once I finally got rolling I accidently dropped the handlebar plug. Luckily no one caught me to disqualify me (They are pretty light on the rules at this local race anyway, last year I had someone draft me the entire bike leg.). I also found out that my thumb was bleeding from someplace I cut it on the bike. I have a race the weekend I get back, but I'm planning to order the shoes this week, and I'll be wearing them the rest of the season. I'm hoping this will alleviate these stupid problems I've been having.

The bike went great. I leap frogged and stayed even with Steve Bodraruk, the owner of Plan B Bike Shops on his decked out triathlon/time trial bike that put mine to shame. Once again I came into the transition and was sloppy. I just couldn't get my shoes off and on quick enough.

The run went good. My goal was to break 20 minutes, but once again I was a little bit short at 21:42. If I had made this goal, I would of accomplished my other goal. It was fun to pass a bunch of the runners doing the 5k, otherwise the only person I would of seen was Steve as I tried to close a medium gap that had opened between us. Unfortunately I couldn't close the gap and he beat me by about 13 seconds.

Overall it was a great race and I'm really glad that the competition showed up, even though it stopped me from taking an overall, because it forced me to do better and really get a feel for how much I improved over last year. Now I'm looking forward to the the ocean swim at the Ormond Beach Tri-Y which we were deprived of last year because of rough water. Unfortunately I won't be able to compare my time from last year to this year, because they made last years race a duathlon, but after two weeks of rest I'm looking forward to this being a very good race.

Photos by Liz Pilster

8:18 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, April 28, 2008

25th Annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon
Current mood: tired

St. Anthony's Triathlon

1500 Meter Swim/40K Bike/10K Run

April 27, 2008

St. Petersburg, FL

2:19:54, 26th in my age group, 296th overall out of 235 men in my age group and over 3500 people overall

1:36/100m swim, 23.2 mph bike, 7:42/mi run (7:12/mi according to the 6.6mi my Garmin Forerunner said I did)

26 296 597 Chad Pilster 31 DeLand FL 2:19:54 13 23:49 1:36 2:15 26 1:04:23 23.2 1:42 68 47:47 7:42

St. Anthony's is as advertised! Everyone who has run in this before told me how awesome of a triathlon this is and how I have to sign up for it. It was like an entire expo. The event moves amazingly smooth yet they follow the rules to the dot. It was a completely new experience for me and triathlons and I hope to back next year.

Next year I plan to get out of the house a half an hour sooner the morning of the race. We amazingly found parking relatively quick, but we were still running late. At 6:45a.m., as the loudspeaker blared that everyone needs to leave the transition area, I had just checked my transition area one last time and was running out of it. It's a good thing that I ran, because as I pulled on my wetsuit and got to the beach, my group was in the on deck circle.

Nothing ever seems to go smooth, but then I guess it wouldn't be as exciting if it didn't. After the horn I ran and dove into the water, only to knock off my goggles. Luckily the water was shallow enough that I could stand and put them on again. I dove again and knocked them off. I still was able to stand. The third time I had them staying on and I was off. Apparently this didn't slow me down though, I was 14th in my age group for the swim. I stayed on course today and was practically touching every buoy (So was the guy next to me as they whacked me with their stroke.)

I can't take all the credit. Scott has loaned me a wet suit for three races, although I only raced with it in two, because I didn't have time to train in it for the first one. Everyone that did have a wet suit in the first one blew me out of the water on the swim and I learned quick.

I was out of the water and through my transition at a decent pace. Once I was on my bike I ran into another problem. I keep going back and forth on if I should have my tool kit on my bike. If I have a flat, can I change it fast enough to still post a decent race finish, or should I leave it off to save milliseconds in the weight and aerodynamics? Well in my rush to get my transition setup and a last minute decision to put the bag on, I didn't attach it right. When I jumped on the bike I was hanging off. For the first few minutes on the bike I was fiddling with the bag and trying to either fix it underneath my butt or get it off. I got it off and found a way to attach it to my aerobars (Where I'm really sure it affected my aerodynamics!). I was thinking of throwing it off at my wife, when and if I saw her, but with my luck a marshal would of seen me and DQ'd me for leaving something on the course. I don't think I'm going to worry about this decision anymore, I'm just going to leave the bag off, one less technical thing to go wrong.

As I was fiddling with the bag I saw one of the masters swim regulars, Sean, pass me. Once I had things straightened out I found him pretty quickly and opened up a gap (Which he closed on the run and put 2 minutes on me. I look forward to racing him again!)

..Take a look at my new Rudy Project glasses, because I broke one of my philosophy's to race with these. Due to some unforeseen circumstances I had to replace my last pair of Rudy Project glasses, and these ones arrived on Friday. I never had a chance to bike with them or even test to make sure that I could transition with them smoothly. Well they worked great!

Well the middle of the bike was good, I had good speed (Which I might want to credit some to my new Rudy Project aero helmet.), but at the end I nearly chipped my two front teeth and scraped myself up. The end of the bike is on brick. I went to jump off my bike with my bike shoes and cleats, as I was almost to a stop I put my foot down and slipped. My bike went down, I went into the handlebars, I bruised up my right side and I ticked off a couple other bikers who were right behind me and I didn't realize it. I jumped right up though and ran to my transition.

Once I was out the run gate I did a body check to see if I had any bones sticking out, any flesh popping out of my shorts or if I was bleeding all over the place. A little bit of blood from under my lip, but otherwise everything seemed good and I only had 6+ miles left to go. The lesson learned is always practice your transitions on the surface that you will be making transitions! I hope in the near future I can buy myself a new pair of biking shoes that will allow me to just get my feet out of them and pedal. This is also a solution.

This week my final surprise came about a half mile into the run. My hamstring cramped up AGAIN! I walked for about 10 yards and massaged it and it went away. I ate my banana this morning and everything. I need to really figure out how to stop this.

The last thing I learned as I hit the fourth mile was that I really needed to take one more shot of my Honey Stinger gel. I had it with me, but I didn't think I needed it. During the last half-mile I was just trying to convince myself that I could slow down my pace, but I wasn't going to walk. I know if I had a little more nutrients it would of helped tremendously!

I also think I may of been tired sooner than I thought because I was looking at my Garmin Forerunner GPS and it was telling me I had already run 6.1 miles. By the end of the race I was at 6.6 miles. I'm not sure where that last half mile came from, but my GPS is pretty accurate. This would of put my run time at 7:12/mile which I'm very happy with. I would of known for sure, but as usual I forgot to stop my watch at the finish line (This has been something I've meant to do every race and haven't yet! Definitely on my things to train for!). I figured my run time was 49:30 on my Forerunner and 47:47, so I assumed that was the two minutes of me just standing and recovering at the finish line

Next came the fourth transition to the food tent. What is included here really shows you what level a triathlon is at by how they feed their participants. They had juice boxes, bananas, strawberries, pizza, beer, and among many other foods, one of the main triathlon staples, rice and beans (From the Columbia restaurant, nonetheless.).

After this I couldn't find Sean to congratulate him in making a comeback on the run, but I did locate some other Plan B riders and those that I see at the masters swim.

Another one of the great benefits was a massage. This is something that every athlete needs, but time and money many times stands in the way. This definitely helped some sore muscles. I'm also hoping this helps me recover for two more events coming up this week. On Thursday I'm competing in the corporate cup 200yd relay swim, where I get to go all out for 50yds. On Sunday I'm helping to support my local YMCA by running in their Family Fit Fest triathlon.
We watched the pros get their awards (Almost an hour and a half later than announced.) Which was cool, because these are the guys that I read about all the time, but rarely ever see in person. It's always nice to see that they are real people and that there really are 4000+ people slower than them.

Overall I had a great time and once again I learned more than I planned to. I raced great and beat over 3300 people (3700 according to the race directors on the loudspeaker. They said there were 4000, but I only saw 3600 overall places.), but I still had 27 in my age group who beat me. There was only 10 minutes between myself and first in my age group and I know, I truly believe, I can gain about 7 (if not more) of them back in the run.

This sport really has become another passion for me, and I definitely see myself winning some overall places in the future, but I also realize how much fun it is. Racing is such a small part of the training. I enjoy the getting ready for the races as much as the races themselves.

Photos by Liz Pilster

6:25 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, April 07, 2008

25th Annual Great Clermont Triathlon
Current mood: hopeful

INTERNATIONAL - Swim 1.5 * Bike 40K * Run 10K

April 6, 2008 - Clermont, Florida

2:25:43, 7th in my age group, 59th in men, and 64th overall out of 20 in my AG, 231 men, and 337 overall.

1:34/100yd swim, 21.1 mph bike, 7:45/mile run.
64 60 CHAD PILSTER 31 DELAND FL 2:25:43.35 40 23:40 75 2:41 49 1:10:25 21.1 40 1:36:44 77 0:53 133 48:08 7:45

The rolling hills, the tough competition, and a well run event made for a fun race. I felt like I did ok and could have easily done better. I definitely had the bumpiest race of my short triathlon career.

(See the Clermont hills in the background)

The bumpy day started with the swim, but this was probably the tiniest of many big fish. At my earlier race in the season I did well with my siting of markers and staying straight, but today I kept going right. I probably added an extra 100m to my swim. Every time I’d look up, a marker buoy was farther to my left. At one time I made a hard turn at a buoy and realized that it wasn’t a turn buoy. Instead this buoy was just marking the line to the turn buoy.

This was my first time racing in a wetsuit and boy was that wetsuit AWESOME. I swam at 1:34/100m and it probably would of been 1:30 (See above). To compare this to my race just a few weeks earlier, I was swimming at 1:52/100m for only half the length. There may of been some other factors (Like unaccurate race course length and wind), but if future races are "wetsuit legal" I’m putting on a wetsuit. THANKS to Scott for loaning me his wetsuit (Is it for sale?)! And Bev for letting me take it out in her lake to test.

(See the arm coming out on the left, that’s me. See how far I am from the buoys!)

The transition from the water to the bike was a little farther than I expected, but I felt like I did decent. After you get on the bike you start up a major hill. I was right on the tail of a few others and I paced them. Since I can’t carry my Honeystinger energy gels on the swim, I tape them to the bike. I grabbed the Honeystinger gels and put them in my pocket just fine, but when I went to grab my first one, the other one dropped. This was important energy that I would need down the line.

About the 10th mile in I started noticing a squeak. Within another mile I found my seat had come loose. If you’ve ever ridden with a loose seat, this is VERY uncomfortable, it put my body in a bad position for aerodynomics and it slightly changed the muscles which affected other things such as the run and how much power I put into the pedals. This was one of the rare times racing that I’ve ever seen so many people pass me on the bike (I think there were 4 or 5) and it was frustrating. The hills were definitely my strength. People would close ground on me in the flats and I would take it all back, plus some, on the climb. (Hills also make me miss California and the opportunity that I missed to ride a road bike through them.)

The race wasn’t over after the bike and neither were my problems. I got my first leg cramps during a race and they weren’t fun. I loosened up off the bike and I wanted to loosen up even more, but my muscles felt tight. I wanted to get my run cadence up. I tried lifting my legs higher and stretching them out, but things only got worse as we moved from a flat start.

After mile 2 it got hilly, and then we looped back through the same route, with the same hills until about mile 4.5 and that’s when the tightness turned into a full blown cramp. I was able to run through some of it, but about 15 yards from an aid station I had to walk to it. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade and downed it all, and then I tried to run again. I got the cramp to go away. I knew there was only about a mile left, and it wasn’t a fun mile as I tried to fight back the cramp.
Within 10 seconds of the finish line I was passed one last time. After I crossed the finish line and stopped I almost couldn’t stand.

Before this I was running around a 7:15/mile. I finished with a 7:45/mile. If I wasn’t tight, I wonder what I could have done.

I believe most of the cramping was from the bike issues I had. Other thoughts are the hard climbs on the bike and run added to it. I also missed my morning banana, and maybe that potassium would of helped. I also wondered if I got enough liquid and energy drink, but I was hydrating constantly and it wasn’t extremely hot.

The rumors about Sommersports races are true, they are awesome and well run events. I wasn’t sure what event organizers could do to make things better, but Sommersports showed me with their excellent post race BBQ, from Bubbalou’s Bodacious BBQ, numbered bike racks, a host of vendors who had a good selection of gear for sale, and just a generally well run event. I’m sure there’s even more I could list that made it excellent.

WOW the competition was tough! The West Point academy was there in force, some trigators, a couple speedsters from over the Atlantic, and many West Coast Floridians. There is something about the west coast of Florida and those that race from there. Last year in Tarpon Springs I had my worst placing in my age group, but my best time all season. I also had a bad Olympic distance race last year, but I wasn’t nearly as well trained. I think there must be some triathlon speed juice in the water on the West Coast of Florida!

In three weeks I get to test myself again against the West Coast Floridians at the St. Anthony’s triathlon in St. Petersburg. Off to my third Olympic distance race ever! It should be a lot flatter, my seat will be a lot tighter, there should be about 2500 more people, and a wetsuit will be packed just in case Florida doesn’t warm-up. You don’t get better if the competitions not there!

Thanks again to the photos by Liz Pilster

8:15 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Archives older than March 31, 2008

2008-09-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 31, 2008

Thank you Buttar!
Category: Sports

I want to give my apologies to the fine folks at Buttar, they do fix their mistakes. They eliminated the second place overall, which appeared to have an obvious error in the timing. I looked again at the results from the the Wildman race, which happened on March 15, and I am now first in my age group and 13th overall out of 243 people. The guy who is now third overall, moved out of our age group.

Now I look forward to seeing the mistakes fixed before they announce the awards, but this is a good step in the right direction!

THANK YOU BUTTAR!

6:34 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Triathlon Season has begun! Wildman Tri!

CORRECTION: Due to an error on Buttar’s part they have adjusted the scores. I’m now 1st in my age group and 13th overall as the first person in my age group placed in the overall. Also there were only 243 people in the race.

The beginning of triathlon season is upon us!

1:08:08 - 2nd in Age Group, 14th overall out of 14 in AG, 158 men, and 250 total people.

3rd Annual Wildman Triathlon Festival
Moss Park, Orlando, FL
.8km swim, 20k bike, 2.5 mile run
2 296 Chad Pilster M ST M 30-34 DeLand FL 0:15:03.294 0:01:42.719 0:32:07.242 0:19:15.166 1:08:08.421

Was it the 69 degree water, was it the decision to stay away from the wetsuit, was it something I’m not even thinking about or was it the busload of Purdue and Navy Academy kids on spring break who were ready to get out of the snow and into an actual lake?

I’m sure it was one of the first three, because I’ve been training hard in the pool and I had a pace of 1:49/100m. This is only a second faster than last year and I’m in WAY better shape. I have had races easily at the 1:30/100m before I started training in the pool and I know I was much slower before I started training with the masters swimmers. I only did about 100m of warm-up, because I didn’t want to tire myself out in the chilly water. I really didn’t feel like I started to get my stroke down until the race was half over. I then started to feel myself reaching. I probably spent the entire week debating about what I was going to do in this chilly water. I didn’t use a wetsuit all last year. I didn’t get a chance at all to train with it, so I was really leaning against using it in the race.

I do have to give accolades to those collegiates from Purdue and the Navy Academy, they are FAST.

After I exited the swim to the bike, I realized two things. First I found out that my feet were a little numb and my head was spinning as I went from the cold to the warm. Next I found my hamstrings aching. I really hope to get some practice time in with the wetsuit and I also hope to work with the Masters on figuring out where the kinks in my swim still are. I know I’m faster in the pool than this and I hope to translate it to the lake/ocean/intercoastal.

Now that I’ve griped, I came in second in my age group and I’m excited about that! Also I was 14th overall and if you get rid of the foreigners (The collegiates), I would of been 5th, but competition is competition. On top of all of this I’m peaking and unrested before I start a taper over the next three weeks for my key race of the season.

After I got the aches out of my hamstrings I blazed on the bike. I blazed and only had about four people faster than me. On my run I knocked over 4 minutes off my run, going from around 8:30/mile last year to a 7:00/mile flat! My goal is 6:30, but I’m still excited to see that much improvement and I feel the faster times coming!

Once again I wonder about Buttars timing system and/or their refereeing. Last year I found a guy, who placed third in my age group, would of had to go 29mph (Can you say Floyd Landis at a time trial!) at Baldwin park, where riders were stacked three wide. If you subtracted a lap he would of been going closer to 22mph. This race the second place overall has believable, but slow, swim and bike times and suddenly he get’s an unbelievable run time. Did anyone make sure he didn’t just run from T2 to the finish line? I know it’s hectic out there, but you really think they’d look at weird anomalies before announcing awards.

PHOTOS BY LIZ PILSTER

3:46 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, December 17, 2007

75 mile Monday ride and getting sick
Category: Sports

I'm going to be doing some back blogging here. During the busy holidays there have been a few posts that I've really wanted to put up here, but haven't had the time.

On Monday I went for my first 75 mile ride. I woke up and had a little bit of a sore throat and it was the coldest day of the year here in Florida, but I told the McLartys' I was going to be there. I told myself my throat isn't that bad.

Being a little bit groggy, I was moving slow and I got to the ride a little bit late. I forgot my computer, so I never knew how fast I was going or what mile we were on.

We started at 8 a.m. when weather.com says it was 28º and 75 miles later it had only warmed up to 49º. Brent was an awesome friend and he let me borrow some leg and arm warmers. I put them over the Nike long sleeve shirt I had on under my biking jersey. I also had ear warmers, a knit cap and gloves on. It was painful when we bike through the shade and any bit of sunshine was treasured.

I think my legs would of been tired, but I couldn't feel them, so I just kept pedaling away at what felt like a decent pace for the first 35 miles when we made a restroom stop. We started from our usual point of Skydive DeLand and headed out on 44 and then cut over to 42 until we made it to some civilization in Atoola (I think?). We biked about 20 more which took us through some rolling hills near Alexander Springs and the Ocala National Forest. We took an energy replenishment break in Astor. The last 20 was familiar and relatively flat through Barberville, DeLeon Springs and North DeLand.

It would of been a completely different ride had the weather been warmer and I was actually able to feel my legs, my toes and my face. I am totally looking forward to doing it again and I definitely look forward to doing a century ride.

The next day my sore throat stayed and I took a day off from training. On Wednesday I had some congestion and the rest of the week I had a little bit of a cough. By Sunday I was was mostly over it and relieved that it didn't get worse. I hope this is my biggest health challenge of the winter.

2:57 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Happy Holidays! and another new sponsor!
Current mood: tired

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and enjoyed their holidays! I'm back into training as I get ready for the Great Clermont Triathlon, regional qualifying race, in April. I'm on a three day a week running program, training with the masters swim group in Port Orange twice a week and swimming once a week on my own, and mixing up my biking three times a week with spinning and group rides.

I'm also excited that Honey Stinger has decided to sponsor me. They have gels, energy bars, and protein bars that they base off of honey! I have loved honey since I was kid, so I'm definitely looking forward to this partnership.

2:28 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sponsorship

I'm very excited to have my first sponsor. Rudy Project makes excellent helmets and glasses and I'm excited to be riding with their gear.

I think one of the coolest things about them is their lens replacement program. If the glasses get scratched, I'm covered.

It's a good feeling to know that I've reached a level where someone feels I will bring recognition to their product.

This was one of my off-season goals and I'm still on the hunt for more sponsors. I really want to travel outside of my region and compete in more than the local triathlons, but to do that I really need sponsors.

Thanks again Rudy Project for being my first!

4:17 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Health First Sprint Triathlon (Melbourne, FL)
Category: Sports

Health First Sprint Triathlon

1/4 Mile Swim/15.9 Mile Bike/3.7 Mile Run

October 7, 2007

Melbourne, FL
Race Director: Christine Lighthill
Timing and Scoring: Alta Vista Sports
www.altavistasports.com

MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34

Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run Penalty

===== ===== ===== ======================= === ========================= == ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= =======

1 5 620 Chad Pilster 30 Deland FL 1:28:19 4 11:27 1:26 1 43:49 0:45 6 30:54

What a great way to end my season on a wet and windy day. I placed first in my age group and 5th overall. I was just 10 minutes behind the overall winner and most of it was because of my run.

Because of work we didn't even get out of DeLand until 7 p.m. Once we got to Melbourne to check into our hotel it was past 10 p.m. I really feel a need to see the course a day before the race, so against her will I dragged Liz with me for a half an our ride around Melbourne. It's too bad that we didn't have more time, because our hotel was awesome and the town seemed really cool. Liz admitted that she did have a good time seeing the town, but we didn't get to sleep until 11:30 p.m.

Because the Olympic race went off first, we were locked out of the transition area over an hour before our race. Even though the sun was up, I didn't have access to my bike or shoes. I tried doing some short jogs in a parking lot, until I realized it was littered with glass (I pulled a decent sized shard out of my foot later in the day after the race.)

My swim went good. I still felt like I could of gotten into my rhythm sooner, but I was out of the water within a minute and thirty seconds of the leader and with most of the leaders. My transition was blazingly fast. I went without socks for the fist time, and was on my bike and flying down the road fast.

There were two bridges and three big climbs. The first bridge had two climbs and we were biking into what someone said was supposed to be winds with gusts up to 25mph. I rode fast on the flats to get to the bridge and then pushed myself through the wind and over the hills with the knowledge that I would have about 5 miles of flats to recuperate before the next bridge. Through much of the race I was passing stragglers from the Olympic portion, so it was hard to tell where I was at, but after they made their turn I was all by myself. Next I made my turn off the flats onto the second bridge and things suddenly got easier. The wind was behind me and I was moving at about 30mph until I hit the bridge. I flew up to the top of the bridge without dropping below 20mph, and once I hit the downhill slope I reached a speed, I never thought possible on my bike in Florida, of 40 mph.

This transition was a little bumpier, but I still moved quick. With overcast skies I decided not to wear a hat at the last second. Within the first five minutes of the run a downpour hit and it felt great. I felt a little weird asking for water at the water station, but that's what I felt my body needed. The rain stopped and I started back at the bridge, this time running into the wind once again and heading uphill. I had two people pass me on the run. When the second person got past me, I kept with 30 seconds of them. I wish I had stayed on them, because it would of made running into the wind a lot easier, but I don't think it would of changed my position because they had started a few minutes behind us.

When I finally made it back into the transition area, I found everything very wet! Overall it was a great race and it was fun. My triathlon season is now over and I'm backing off of the heavy training in swimming, biking and running until December when I hope to start preparing for a couple major races coming up in April.

3:17 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, September 08, 2007

19th Annual Tarpon Springs Rotary Triathlon
Category: Sports

19th Annual Tarpon Springs Rotary Triathlon

.25 mi. swim; 10.5 mi. bike; 3 mi. run

Howard Park; Tarpon Springs, Florida

Tarpon Srings Triathlon

Sept. 8, 2007 8AM

Event Timing & Results: John Boyle

Alta Vista Sports

Place O'All No. First Last Age City St Finish Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run

===== ===== ===== ============ ============== === =================== ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== =======

7 44 248 Chad Pilster 30 Deland FL 58:38 8 5:56 1:19 5 27:25 1:03 10 22:57

Tarpon Springs is an awesome little town. It started as a greek sponge fishing town and it still is. It has a really cool downtown area, brick streets, homes with old victorian architecture and awesome greek food. You can walk along the water front and see the sponge fishing boats. I would go back just to try more of the food. We ate at Mama's Greek Cuisine and had a greek sampler. I don't know if it gave me the carbs I wanted before the race, but it certainly tasted awesome.

What a tough group of competitors there are on the west coast of Florida. I raced to probably my best time all year, under an hour, and I still placed 7th in my age group and 44th overall with a time of 58:38.

This was my first salt water swim. It wasn't at a beach that had waves, I'm still looking forward to that. It seemed like a really short swim. After the charge into the water I started to try to move through the crowd. At one point I was trying to get by a guy who was doing the breast stroke. Every time the guys arm would come back I'd get hit in the head. By the time I hit the first buoy I think I was placed where I finished. I really need to work on my running water entrance, I don't think I'm getting far enough out there.

The race for the top 7 in my age group was so close that my really sloppy transitions could of put me up about two places. I've decided to start working on racing without socks, which should help a little bit. I would like to try starting the bike with my shoes attached, but the velcro goes the wrong way and runs into the bike. Next season I might get some shoes that don't have this problem

The bike went decent. I spent most of the time staying within a couple bike lengths of two guys on some serious time trial bikes with their aero helmets. It's kind of nice when I'm on my basic road bike with my Target "sale" helmet. Although I was reading that a aero helmet can save 40seconds on a 25mi ride. I'm actually considering getting one, more to help with my Halloween costume of a Star Wars Imperial Guardsman, than improve my time though.

The brick streets are cool to look at, but not to ride on. At one point I hit a pot hole and heard a bang. I thought I messed up my front tire. I just kept riding without any problems. It luckily must of just been something in the hole. Also there must of been 100 corners on the course. At one time when I was fighting for position with one of the guys on the time trial bikes, we approached a slow mover as we were moving towards a corner. I was dealing with "time trial" and i forgot to warn the guy I was coming up on his left. He started to go wide to take the turn when he realized I was there. I apologized as "time trial" and I blazed past him.

Another time I was fighting with the same guy for position and he took up the whole side of the street, so I went a little bit over the double yellow. There was a car coming, but not very close. The guy screamed like a girl, because he thought I was gonna get hit. No problem for me to get back into the regular lane. If that guy wants to see some aggressive riding he should watch Bike messengers are on Crack.

My run rocked. I've been working extensively on improving my run and I dropped it over 30seconds per mile for a 3mile run. I went from 8:11/mile to 7:39/mile. I'm feeling really good about my run and I think I can drop it again for my last race of the season.

I was leaning towards running the Olympic distance race during my last race of the season at the Melbourne Health First triathlon, but I got this crazy notion in my head that I might actually be able to attract some sponsors next year. Since I've been racing sprint distances so much better, I'm thinking that if I continue to do well it will look better on my race resume. Either way the race will be October 7 and then I'm taking a "break" until racing starts again in March next year.

6:49 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, August 19, 2007

4th Annual Moss Park Olympic Triathlon
Category: Sports

4th Annual Moss Park Olympic Triathlon 8/19/07

1500m Swim, 40k Bike, 5.5mi run

Pos Bib Firstname Lastname Gender Class City State SwimTm RunToTrans T1Tm BikeTm T2Tm RunTm TotalTm

OT M 30-34

7 59 Chad Pilster M OT M 30-34 Deland FL 0:28:45.994 0:02:06.244 0:00:56.795 1:02:50.662 0:00:45.450 0:51:03.392 2:26:28.537

2:26:28, 7th place in my age group, 31 of 59 overall.

My first Olympic distance triathlon. I felt like I did great until the run when I had to walk a little bit to recover. It was a whole different experience, it's amazing what adding a few more miles will do.

I did ok in the swim. My time wasn't as fast as I would of liked, but I came out in the middle. I've only been in the water a couple times so far with this many people, and I'm learning what works and what doesn't work. I started on the side and I didn't get out to the front as quickly as I probably should have. Once everyones spots were determined I slide behind someone and started drafting them, but like any draft they would get tired and I started to try to make my move to pass them, but would end up running into someone.

Everything that I've learned about spotting and heading to the point in the water was thrown out the window when the race starts at this time. For the first part of the swim it was almost too dark to see the marker or anything else in the distance and then as it got later I was looking right into the sun. I just started looking around me to make sure that other swimmers were nearby. I did learn that if you see a lot of people on your left and the buoys are supposed to be on the right, you are most likely inside the buoys and vice versa.

I am looking forward to more races with a lot of people in the water, I still feel like there is a lot for me to learn here. I really feel like I can come out of the water even quicker just from experience and less from training.

I'm sure if I left my shoes on my bike I could transition a little bit faster, the problem is that the shoes I'm using aren't great tri shoes. My next major upgrade is definitely going to be the shoes.

The bike was awesome. I averaged about 23.7mph and felt good the entire time. For the first race ever I used gels during the race. This kept my energy level up. I ate one and then stored the packet in my race pockets (They are messy, but I don't want to litter the course.) At one point someone actually started to pass me on the bike, but I kept with them the rest of the race. This was a nice incentive to push myself when I started to lag a little bit. We constantly traded the lead back and forth.

The run is still my weakest area and even after training hard to run 6 miles, I still could only make 4.5 off of the bike. My pace must of been good, because even with walking, my final pace was under 10minutes. The next olympic distance I train for I think I'm going to work on more brick workouts and train as if I'm running a half marathon instead of just 6 miles. I think I just need to strengthen my legs. A faster run has been my goal all season, and it's going to still be my goal when I start my off season on October 6th.

I'm off to Tarpon Springs on Sept. 9. This will be the first race I'm going to stay overnight at a hotel. My last race of the season is either in Melbourne or again at Moss Park on October 6th. Either way I'm trying to decide if I want to do a sprint or end my season on an Olympic distance.

6:39 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Ouch

Injuries are weird.

I've been training for triathlon's over the past year and I've stayed relatively healthy while training. The major injuries that I have had happen have been more annoying than anything else.

In high school I partially dislocated a shoulder after I was goofing around at the end of a rugby practice. I went down to scoop up a ball on wet grass and hit my shoulder wrong. I still played, but it slowed me down.

When I was out in Oregon recently a colleague (I'm not naming names.) put his chair down on my little toe of my left foot. I'm sure he broke it, because it swelled up the size of a grape the next day and still hurts a little bit, months later, when I touch it to this day.

The other day I got a stupid injury. I was doing laps in the indoor pool which is 25yds. I haven't been inside to swim since summer started. The outdoor pool is 25m and has lines on the bottom. When I'm doing sprints I don't usually look up. Well I was set on doing a sprint workout, and right when I was getting into a rhythm I put my hand out into the wall. I jammed two fingers.

The little toe doesn't seem that important though, because no matter what I do in training it doesn't hurt, not until I touch it. With the fingers it slowed me down, but once again it's not a season stopping injury.

My biggest fear while training for triathlons is that I'm going to get hurt and have to sit around. That last season in rugby when I wasn't able to play a position, because it might hurt my shoulder, it sucked.

I see injuries and hear about them with other athletes, I hear some of them shy away from even talking about injuries, and I see some who have been injured, but they have recovered to be even stronger. Some athletes think of themselves as invincible.

I'm even more careful especially a few weeks before an event. I see myself as being able to accomplish something I never thought I could. My biggest obstacle isn't beating someone else or pushing myself to my physical limits, but keeping myself healthy. I think I'm afraid of that major sport ending injury, but I also think that if I wasn't afraid and I thought of myself as invincible I would be the farthest from invincible. All I can do is prepare myself, go do what I love, take life as it comes, be frustrated when I hurt myself and keep on working until my body won't go any further.

6:29 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, August 05, 2007

<$10 Wine Night a Rousing Success!

Well the first annual <$10 Wine night (and Liz's birthday) was an awesome success. We had over 16 people and just as many different types of wines (Even some beer.). Not all of the wine was finished, so Liz and I have been trying to polish off what is left before it goes bad. Amazingly some of the wines which we hated that night, have improved after being open. We don't know when, but we'd like to have the second annual <$10 Wine Night. The only rule is that you can't bring a wine that was at the first one. The wines we tried are listed below...

Whites

2006 Nobilo - Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand - 8.5

2005 Jane Ventura - Spain - Xasel, Lo Muscat, Subirat Parent - 6.0

2005 Bohemian Highway - Chardonnay - St. Helena, CA - 7

Reds

Riunite-Lambrusco - Italy (Cold Red) - 6.7

2006 Little Penguin - Pinot Noir - East Australia - 6.5 (8.0 after 3 days)

2005 Luzon Verde, Jumilla - Monastrell - Spain - 7.5

2005 Fat Bastard - Shiraz - France - 6.5

2005 Yalumba - Shiraz - South Australia - 8.5

2004 Aaku - Shiraz - South Australia - 8.7

Rex Goliath - 47lbs Rooster - Shiraz - Woodbridge, CA - 8.5

2006 Black Opal - Shiraz - South Australia - 8.5 (9.0 after 2 days)

2004 Jacob's Creek Reserve - Shiraz - S. Australia - 8.0

2005 Zinfatuation - Zinfandel - Amador County, St. Helena, CA - 8.0

2004 RED - Red Wine - Sonoma County, St. Francis, CA - 8.5

2004 Red Diamond - Cabernet Sauvignon - Washington State - 7.5

2004 Fish Eye - Cabernet Sauvignon - Ripon, CA - 7.5

2004 Blackstone - Cabernet Sauvignon - Woodbridge, CA - 7.0

Desert Wines

White Gold - Peach Wine - 9.0

Frutecia - Sunshine Blend - 8.0

2:27 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Archives older than June 13, 2007

2008-09-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Trip to Portland

So it's not really June 13, but I really meant to post this right after our trip. Needless to say things have been crazy busy.

DAY 1

Things started out early. You need to wake up at a crazy hour like 3am to get a cheap flight across the country. On the ride from the parking lot to the airport, we should of known that our trip was going to be great when we noticed who the driver was.

During our layover in SFO they were offering to buy our seats. If we hadn't been up so early we might of jumped at the chance. Unfortunately we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us when we got to Portland, and we were ready to go back to bed at this moment.

DAY 2

We visited my grandma and uncle. I hadn't seen them in 7 years and they hadn't met my awesome wife. My mom just moved to Eugene, so hopefully it won't be another 7 before I see them again.

After an awesome visit to the relatives we made a stop at the King's Estate winery before heading to Portland. The wine was ok, but the winery was gorgeous. Looking at vines follow the rolling hills of Oregon is a fantastic sight.
..

Once we made it to Portland I was ready to jump into Geekfest. It's always awesome putting faces to the awesome pictures that I see on Aphotoaday. It's even more awesome hearing the philosophies of these kick butt photographers.

DAY 3
For the first day of shooting I decided to join my wife and head to the Oregon Zoo. The greatest part of this zoo is it seems that they have put all of the animals in environments very close to their natural ones. None of the cages look like cages.

We made it back just in time for me to listen to some speakers, but Liz went in to take a nap. When things went long she went to dinner without me. Eventually we finished and a group of us went to to find something to fill our starving bellies. Liz caught up with us to hang out.

DAY 4

The next day was the Rose parade day. It was a stereotypical Oregon day; Raining! We had scheduled the workshop around this event so there would be at least one crazy thing to shoot. I ditched Liz as she watched this parade, so I could take photos of it for a couple hours. We thought it was getting close to finishing so we went to have lunch. An hour later we came back to find the parade still happening. It was time for a nap though.

Later that afternoon we went to see downtown Portland and just explore.

That night we wrapped up the workshop and said our goodbyes.

DAY 5

This was the day for me to catch up with my other long lost relatives. It hadn't been 7 years since I last saw my cousin, but it had still been a good amount of time. He's lived in Portland for a couple years now and made a great tour guide. We spent the rest of our Sunday exploring the awesome Oregon waterfalls.

And while we were there we met up with the blue woman group.... Actually they were a bunch of my cousins-wifes-friends visiting from Wisconsin. They were a cool group to hang out with. I wish we could of tagged along on their trip up into Canada. I might of been out of place being the only guy though.

DAY 6

On the last day of our trip we headed back to wine country. Once again, seeing those grapes move along the rolling hills is a beautiful sight!

What an awesome trip! We can't wait to go back!

10:11 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Baldwin Park Triathlon 7/1/07
Category: Sports

.75k Swim, 13.4 mile bike, 2.5 mile run

4th Place in my age group, 45th overall

Triathlon M 30-34

Pos Bib Firstname Lastname Class City State Leg1Tm T1Tm BikeTm T2Tm RunTm TotalTm

4 287 Chad Pilster Triathlon M 30-34 Deland FL 0:11:22.692 0:01:01.883 0:34:27.020 0:00:42.657 0:22:23.782 1:09:58.034

Even though this was my fourth triathlon I was nervous about it. It was my first full on triathlon and it was against tough competition. My first triathlon the competition was everyone in their first triathlon, the second was only about 15 people, and the third was changed to a duathlon. I was most nervous about the swim, because I really haven't done a mass pack swim, but once I was in the water everything just went.

I could of placed if I competed in the novice. My age group had 7 of the top 10 overall times. I was still 45th overall and in the big picture I was happy with my 4th race ever. I'm glad that I'm consistently staying in the upper quarter of the pack. Only 13 minutes separated me from the top and 8 of those were from running. There were 400 people overall and over 200 men.

There were a few mistakes in the timing that I found and I emailed Buttar. 1st place overall, the leader, had a 1:25 swim time, which gave him an overall time that was way to low, I think Kevin Grogan's time is closest to reality.

The third place in my age group was 7 minutes faster than the fastest bike time, which makes me think that they missed a lap. I'm a little concerned at all of the mistakes they have in their timing, especially in the top spots of all the divisions. I know they are in a hurry, but you would think they would look closer at the award winners. They only put the final times up at the event and not the splits, so no one was able to scrutinize anything until the posted the results on the web site.

There were things that I liked about the course. It was cool that people get to see you and cheer for you on multiple occasions. Baldwin Park is just a really cool place and there are restaurants and lot's of places to park. They had the whole course blocked off from any outside traffic and it was VERY flat which meant it was very fast. Also at the two Buttar races I've been at you get a free pancake breakfast. I would do it again next year, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Now the list of complaints about the course are pretty long. The weeds were really bad, they sent us along the shore for the first leg of the race, so you were swimming with the weeds for about 200m. If they had sent us out into open water, the few weeds at the start would not of been too bad. They also made the start line really narrow, so the first wave was very packed together. The exit of the water was really muddy, but the weeds were worse, I'm amazed no one put their feet down and got tangled up in them. One person told me he just grabbed them and pulled. I have little scratches all over my arms, which I am sure is from them.

They didn't have your age division on your leg. It would of helped to know if it matters who is passing you.

The bike course was kind of crazy, I almost NEVER left the left lane. I needed a voice recording that I could play that said "On your left," because of the amount of warnings I gave people. I was constantly passing people. Some of the few times I moved from the left lane was because people would take corners too wide and I'd have to pass them on the right. I have gotten REALLY good at taking corners tight, without using breaks and then powering out of the turns peddling. I only had two major problems on the bike course. The first one came after my first lap and I was approaching the transition zone. They had given us no warning that we needed to move to the left lane anywhere in pre-race, but as I approached it in a lot of traffic, I couldn't see the guy waving the flag for us to move left. I had to brake to merge into the bike traffic. The next three times I was ready for it, so things went pretty smooth.

The other problem was my fault. I was coming into a corner and I messed up my cornering somehow. I got wobbly at the beginning of the corner, but regained myself in the corner, although I nearly finished the turn into the curb on the opposite side of the road.

My run was slow, but I think it was the heat. It also could be that I'm in a training cycle for a different race. The trail was really nice, except it had almost no shade and there were only three water stations, including the one at the very beginning. I ran an 8:17/mile.

At the end of the race there was very little shade. It would of been nice if they had some more tents and maybe a mister tent. I think I appreciate Moss Park a lot more, because of the tree covering that you get to run under.

6:04 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Gallery opening!

I'm excited. It's awesome when I get to put my stuff in a gallery. If nothing sells, then I'm going to have some great Christmas presents for a few people.

4:44 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, May 20, 2007

I Turned 30, So I jumped out of a Plane!
Current mood: happy

Liz's birthday present to me was the chance to go tandem skydiving at Skydive DeLand. This is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

When we first left the plane it didn't even feel like I was falling, but then you start to hit 120mph. Imagine sticking your head out your car window at 60mph and double that. You feel the wind blowing by your whole body, and there's nothing to hold onto.

It goes by so quick, you feel like you only get part of the experience.

The next time I do it I'm sure I'll notice something new, but this time it was just surreal!

The video
Some people said they had trouble viewing this

Thanks to Edson Paccheco, one of the best skydive videographer and photographer's ever!
All the pictures in the air and on the plane are courtesy of him.
Thanks to my wife and Zach Mahone for the shots on the ground!
They also dragged Sara out to support me.
Thanks for being there!

P.S. Some people think you're crazy to jump out of a plane, because of the risks. Earlier in the day a skydiver died while trying to show off. I didn't find out about it until after I landed, but even if I had found out earlier, I still would of jumped. You only live life once, so enjoy it!

3:06 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Triathlons' 2 & 3
Current mood: accomplished

5/6/07 DeLand YMCA Family Fit Fest

300 yd swim, 20k bike, 5k run

I ran my second triathlon on May 6. It was put together by the local Y, it only had about 15-30 men that I competed against, and about the same amount of women.

The pool swim was staggered. I was the lucky one that got to jump in the pool first, I think it's because of the swim time I put down. In my second tri I learned that it is a lot easier to chase people than leading and being chased. This came into play at the end when I was tied with the person who started behind me. He had a 15 second lead, because of the early stagger, even though he was right next to me at the finish. It's a lot easier to run side by side with someone than it is to run 15 seconds ahead of them.

Three people passed me in the pool, but during the 12 mile ride I could see two of them about 100 yards in front within 5ft of each other and one within 5ft behind me.
When we got to the run the other two disappeared and the guy right behind me stayed there until we were neck and neck at the finish. I thought it went really well for my second triathlon ever.

Liz has become my official photographer, she's awesome.

MALE AGE GROUP: 19 - 39

Place No. First Last Age City St Finish Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run

===== ===== ============ ============== === ===================

2 152 Chad Pilster 29 Deland FL 1:07:05 2 5:15 2:06 2 33:34 0:35 2 25:36

5/27/07

Ormond YMCA Tri Y Triathlon (Duathlon)
2mi run, 10mi bike, 2mi run

This week a crazy lady nearly ran into me. I was approaching a runner on my bike, going about 22, and the runner was approaching an intersection that we DID NOT have a stop at, but this woman pulling out onto our street did. Apparently she felt that since we're only pedestrians, she can cut us off. At the moment I was about to pass the runner she cut us both off. I saw it coming and I had to slow my pace down by hitting the brakes hard. The runner heard me curse and agreed with me. In my first race ever I had a similar incident, but the driver wasn't as blatant. Can't people wait 30 more seconds before pulling into the street!?

The swim was canceled because the Beach Patrol said the water was too rough. This hurt me, because I am not nearly as strong of a runner as I am a swimmer. They turned the race into a duathlon. My first run run I did my best time ever at 6:53/mile, but I was still in the back of the pack. i tried to catch up on the bike and had the 7th fastest bike time, but I couldn't find the energy to run as fast as I did the first half of the race and ran an 8:11/mile. This is what I have run the past two races in.

There were about 105 men and just as many women. I placed second in my age group and about 29th overall against the men. Three women also beat me. I did great in the first run, but the second two miles kicked my butt.

MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34

Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Run 1 Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run 2

===== ===== ===== ======================= === ================

2 38 228 Chad Pilster 30 Deland FL 57:45 3 13:48 0:45 2 26:18 0:35 4 16:20

I'm looking forward to the Baldwin Park triathlon on July 1 even though I've heard the course has some issues.

3:05 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, March 17, 2007

FIRST TRI EVER!

My first Triathlon ever. It was awesome!

Wildman Triathlon at Moss Park

400m swim, 20k bike, 2.75mi run

Everyone competing was in their first triathlon. There were about 40 people, and I placed second overall.

MFT M Overall

My First Triathlon

Pos Bib Firstname Lastname Gender Class City State SwimTm T1Tm BikeTm RunTm TotalTm

2 152 Chad Pilster M MFT M Overall Deland FL 0:08:01.986 0:04:07.364 0:33:40.405 0:23:37.903 1:09:27.658

2:50 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, April 12, 2007

New pup

We decided to go ahead and get a new puppy. Soma. She was born 1/22/07. It was going to be Sonoma, but we are worried the "no" could be misunderstood everytime we called her name. We had high hopes that she would get along with Cheya and the two have been like sisters. She has no fear and regularly beats up on Cheya. We think Soma's an Akita mix, but the humane society had no info on either her mother or father.

4:00 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Couch

We bought a new couch. We got it just in time for Thanksgiving. Thanks everyone who came over.

3:23 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove