First Triathlon!...Lava in 2 weeks!

Hey everyone!

Its been a few weeks since my last post, and there was definitely a lot that has happened! Probably the biggest thing being that I competed in my very first triathlon! About a third of our team was training for the Desert Triathlon outside of Palm Springs. For those of us that were doing Lavaman, our coaches suggested that we race the "sprint" at Desert. A sprint is just a shorter course. In this case, it was a 500 meter swim, 14 miles bike ride, and a 3 mile run. Since I had already planned to go down there just to cheer my teammates on, I decided to sign up. It was so much fun!

Triathlons are such a unique and fun sport. Everyone is so supportive. Everyone that finishes gets a medal. Its funny, there wasn't a huge vibe of competition, people we just as excited to see someone finish last as first. Anyone that can make it through one of these races deserves the praise. It was so fun cheering all of my teammate in. I did pretty well I think for my first race. I placed 86 out of 395 overall, and 9th in my age group (30-34). I learned a lot in this race. It was a really good practice for Lavaman. There's definitely a few things I learned not to do for my race in Hawaii!

Unfortunately, after I came down from my high of last weekend, I came down with a nasty cough, then a mild flu. I'm still fighting it as I write this. I'm hoping its all gone come Kona. I've been trying to get enough sleep. Its been hard with overtime at work, and trying to maintain my fitness level. I felt better yesterday, and even went to a pretty intense training session with the team where they put us through the full length of the lavaman course. Half hour of ocean swimming, 25 mile bike, and 6 mile run. I felt pretty good through out. Though I still have a little tough time breathing. I still got through it though!

I feel ready for Lavaman. Its been 20 weeks of pretty intense training. Its been a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time. So assuming I can be 100% again in 2 weeks, I'm ready to go conquer Lava!

Lastly, though in 2 weeks, my training and journey to Lavaman will be over...this is not going to be my last Triathlon! I'm somewhat hooked now! I enjoy being in shape again, and really like pushing myself to new goals. So I've already signed up for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon at the end of the summer!

Hope all is well! 2 weeks from today, I will be done with my race in Hawaii and partying at the hotel! Can't wait!!!

-Matt

Fighting Injury, Work, and Sleepiness!

Hey Everyone!

Its been a few weeks since my last post. Things have been a mixed bag with the training. Over New Years my family and I went on a cruise. During the cruise I was hitting the gym everyday to run and cycle. During my third day on the cruise I did a 6 mile run. My left knee starting hurting, and for the rest of the week it just got worse. So since then, I have had problems with my knees. I went to a sports massage place, and have been using rollers to roll out the muscles. It has helped. But they are still in pain. I have cut back my running and have focused more on the swimming and biking. I feel pretty good with my endurance these days, and I'm a bit disappointed that I am not pain free. But then I think about the kids going through chemo, makes my problems seem way less. I am taking it easy on my knees these days, and they are feeling a bit stronger. If it continues to get worse, I will make an appointment with a doctor. Hopefully it won't come to that.



Aside from that craziness, the practices have been going good. I am always swimming and biking with the advanced group. It pushes me, and I can learn from my other teammates as well as my coaches. Work has gotten a bit busy these days, so its been a bit hard juggling training and trying to get Land of the Lost done. But I'm finding time to fit it all in. Sleep is the thing I am not doing well these days. I'm gonna try and do better there....I kinda have to!

Hope all is well, and I will keep you better posted from now till the race!

Oh, I'm also going to do the Desert Triathlon 2 weeks before Lavaman. Its just a sprint (shorter version) So it will be a nice warm up and practice run for Hawaii!

Take care everyone!

-Matt