Sprint in Larache - The African Cup

Open-Water Swim in Harbor near Ocean - 500 meters
Bike - 20 km
Run - 5 km

Overall time - 1:34:00

So it sounds a lot easier just looking at the numbers, but today was definitely a challenge for me. I am so tired right now. Sleep is banging on my eyelids. Gotta record today, though.

I knew it was gonna be a tough day when I started my warm-up swim across the harbor to the starting point. The current was so strong, every one of us were being pushed out into the ocean. It was tough, esp having to swim straight into the current just to get back on track. And that was supposed to be warming us up. Talk about exhaustion before stepping up to the starting line.

I don't know how, but a 13-year-old boy beat every single one of us out of the water. I was way too far back to notice, but I heard that he smoked us all. Thankfully the swim after we started was much easier, since we didn't have to swim into the current, rather it carried us most of the way to the ending point. I think I came out in 13 minutes. I do know that is very slow since 75% of the other folks were already on their bikes.

Once we got to the bike, there was a massive hill waiting to greet us. I would actually say that hill was the nemesis of the entire race. Our bike route consisted of 4 1/2 laps around the city square. That meant we had to climb this hill 5 different times on our bike. It was a booger, esp since the steepest part was right at the top, once we were already wiped. But I pushed through. And I finally caught up with Masterson on the final lap.

Then came the business phone call about 100 meters from the transition area. I had a cooking class starting at that moment, and the driver was calling to tell me he was outside the house. Quite a site to see me unclipping my shoes from the pedals while conducting some business on the phone.

The run took us back to that great big hill another 3 times. The legs were jelly and the heat was blazing, but I kept thinking bigger picture. If I want to do the longer tris, I need to press on when I don't have much left. So I ran the 5k without stopping, and actually running the 3rd lap much faster than the first.

But all in all, I was towards the end of the Age Group, again. My friend Simo came in 4th overall. I am so excited to have him as a training buddy. He will definitely get me moving faster.

In the next few days, I will post my official times and some great pics.

Nudges

Bike - 30 miles
Swim - 1 km

I am completely exhausted. I hooked up with SiMohammed and his friend Kamal today for a cooling down 30-mile ride as we prep for the Tri in Larache next weekend. There was no cooling down about it.

With a fierce head wind, we headed out trek Fes about 25 kilometers, then turned around and flew back. They had me going 18mph into the wind up hills. Coming back, with the wind behind us, we were cruising easily between 26 - 30 mph. It was a killer. They kept telling me to get on the person's tire right in front of me. I couldn't keep up to do so. Then came the hand on the small of the back pushing me to keep up. What great friends that they help me so!!!

At one point, I looked at my heart rate monitor on my watch. I was around 160-163. I looked over at SiMo...barely at 140. He just laughed as I was gasping for breath. Then I picked up my speed on a straight away. Not 30 seconds later, both of them FLEW by me as if I were on a tricycle.

Back in town, immediately it was into the pool for a 1km swim. I haven't swam that slow since I had swimmies on my arms when I was 5. Maybe it was the large shorts I was wearing...or maybe I am just slow regardless.

Either way, I have been moaning all afternoon.

Catching Up

It has been too long since my last post. Things keep happening, yet I am not recording them. I need to put them down in this blog so that I can remember them later in life. But I just keep forgetting to find time to record anything. So here are some of the highlights from the past month:

* Swam 2700 meters a few weeks ago. Unfortunately had to swim fairly slow since I stupidly ate some lasagna about an hour prior to the swim. Kind of afraid I was gonna make a name for myself by hurling in the pool. But I held it down.

* Have done several longer brick days. I think 2 weeks ago, I rode about 30 miles, then got off and ran 6 (at a 8:45 pace). The last time I had tried to do that was the Tri in Austin on a 90 degree day. Didn't do a lot of running then. But was able to complete the 6-mile run fairly easily.

* Starting to ride with Masterson on Sundays in Rabat. This past weekend, we went and finally got shoes and clips for my bike. I had been using my tennis shoes in old pedals with zip ties as my clips. How embarrassing. But I did notice a major difference with the new kicks.

* Met a few folks up in Ifrane that love to do Tris. Now I've gone from nothing in this country to at least 3, if not more each year. Plus, Duncan has competed in numerous IronMan events, while Thomas is in training. Gonna learn from the pro while being pushed by the trainee. Looking forward to talking shop and competing with these guys.

Now that I am caught up on some of the more important details, I can't let this much time pass in between recordings. I have a horrible memory and don't want to forget the small things.