Iowa man dies during swimming leg at Hy-Vee Triathlon

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — A 46-year-old Iowa man died Sunday after being pulled from the water during the swimming leg in the Hy-Vee Triathlon, which was doubling as one part of the U.S. Olympic trials.

Jim Goodman signalled for help when he was about 150 metres from the shore of Blue Heron Lake, said Chris Friesleben, a spokeswoman for the sponsoring Hy-Vee grocery store chain...

...The cause of death wasn't immediately known....

...The triathlon began with a 1,500-metre swim in a lake, followed by a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run. The event was being used to select the final men's and women's members of the U.S. Olympic triathlon team for the Beijing Games. Two men and two women were chosen earlier.

These excerpts from an article today are an all-too-unfortunate reminder that it can be dangerous racing. I've got to keep that in mind both for the races and for when I'm training, especially considering I do a lot of training on my own and by myself.

My thoughts go out to Jim's family and friends. He had two kids racing in the same race.

Buffalo Triathlon Results

1. Complete the damn race


2. Complete the race without stopping for rest during any of the events (no treading water, no walking my bike up a hill and no walking during the run. If I'm in a crash, wipe out or just plain drowned it doesn't count.)


3. Swim goal of 36 minutes. (I'm afraid I might be as much as ten minutes off because I'll be so cold and unable to breathe in the water, but I'm still gonna tri-my-damndest)





4. Bike goal of a 3:15min/mile pace.



5. Run goal of 8:00min/mile pace.





My times were:

Swim: 36:27 ( This was the closest of my individual time goals that I missed out on)

T1: 3:49 (What the hell was I doing for so damn long? Almost four minutes and I didn't have clip on shoes for my bike...)

Bike: 1:25:58 (I was off my 1:21:15 goal by a little less than four minutes, which I'm super happy about!)

T2- Judgement Day: 1:23 (Which is wierd because the second I dismounted the bike, I did nothing but jog to my spot, drop my bike off and helmet and ran through the transition area... I think the transition area was just really, really big... )

Run: 1:01:46 (Which missed my goal by an Imperial fuck-ton! Which is a unit measurement I hope the likes of you never has to encounter.... I was off by 12 minutes and 36 seconds.)

In my division I placed 106/110. Out of all the racers identified as males I placed 259/277. And out of everyone doing the Olympic Distance Race I placed 327/358.

If I were to look at those final stats on where I placed I'd probably feel pretty bummed about the whole ordeal...

I'm not! I loved this race! I completed the two most important goals I set out for myself.

The run totally and unexpectedly kicked my ass more than I could have ever imagined. I came sooooo close on three different occasions at the end of the run where I almost gave up and walked the rest of the course... But I held in there. Considering the final three water stations RAN OUT OF FUCKING WATER, I'm proud of myself for not giving up. It was the worst feeling I've had during any sort of training or exercise... Even worse than any activity I did while training in the Army. Basically I took that as a message from the race organizers that I need to run faster next time, so I'll get the water BEFORE it runs out.

Buffalo Triathlon, Here I come...

Realizing that it's been a long while since I've updated, I can only say that my absence has been due to Rebel Mission's I've involved myself with throughout the Galaxy. I won't comment on any of my experiences, other than I did have a leave of absence to participate in The Tinman Triathlon earlier this April in Morris, MN.

That didn't go too well. The weekend previous to that race Minnesota was experiencing the warmest weather this year. Temperatures as high as the 70's, but come race day on April 24th, Morris, MN experienced a blizzard with over eight inches of snow!
I got a t-shirt for showing up, but no race ever transpired.
So for the time being I am not a Tinman.

Meanwhile....

Tomorrow is the day!

The Buffalo Triathlon in Buffalo, MN will be my first attempt at an Olympic Distance race and now that the time is upon us I'm way more nervous than I ever thought I'd be before the race. Being sick with a sore throat and cold this final week before the race has a lot to do with it, but
Yoda was so right when I told him, "I'm not affraid!" and he shot me down with the cold yet all too real, "You will be, you will be..."

The trickiest part of the race will be the swim. I don't have a wet suit and I'm afraid I may get sick from the cold water during the swim all over again. I'll just have to do the best with what I've got. (I've heard that the water in Buffalo Lake is expected to be a few degrees warmer than the English Channel).

Other than the cold water swimming without a suit, I feel pretty confident I can do this race.

My goals this race are:

1. Complete the damn race

2. Complete the race without stopping for rest during any of the events (no treading water, no walking my bike up a hill and no walking during the run. If I'm in a crash, wipe out or just plain drowned it doesn't count.)

3. Swim goal of 36 minutes. (I'm afraid I might be as much as ten minutes off because I'll be so cold and unable to breathe in the water, but I'm still gonna tri-my-damndest)

4. Bike goal of a 3:15min/mile pace.

5. Run goal of 8:00min/mile pace.

Learning my limits and knowing my capabilities from my past five months of training have really helped me determine my goals for this race and on a perfect day I know I can meet all five of them, but I also know that the final three goals are set pretty high for me this early in the year.
Yesterday I did my final workout on the bike in the form of a critical mass bike ride through Minneapolis with hundreds of other cycling enthusiasts. I can't think of a better event than taking over the streets with bicycles during rush hour and leisurely riding through Downtown, Uptown, The Seward, The West Bank and Dinkytown at a nice and slow thirteen mile/hr pace. Having squad cars on the tail of our peloton "woop-woop"-ing and bike cops riding with us throughout the ride acting all surly and macho only adds to the excitement. One bike cop kept riding to the left a group of cyclists and attempted to keep them in one traffic lane. He was telling everyone they needed to, "Stay right, stay to the right!"
But when I pointed out to him that, "If we always stay right, does that make you always wrong?" to which he gave up and sped ahead to be with his other cop buddies.
It's an honest question.

A little about myself...

The only experience I ever had doing any sort of running races where back when I was in the Army when I was 18. Back then I was physically fit and could run 3 miles at a 6 minute pace for PT in the morning.
I participated in four 5k run's while I was temporarily stationed at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, but back then it wasn't just because I thought it was fun. It was because I was stuck in the Army with no privileges to have any sort of weekend passes and the more "extra curricular" activities I participated in the more passes I got.
The longest race I participated in was a half marathon and I haven't wanted to do one since.
I don't have my exact time documented anywhere any more so I don't remember how fast it was. All's I do remember is that out of 77 competetitors I placed 12th or 13th. Along with my first and only weekend off-post pass, I got swollen knees and ended up not walking right for the next two and a half months.
I did something severely wrong- I didn't train properly and I ran way too fast for way too long.

Fast forward to now.
I've been a truck driver for two years. I spent about four of the five previous years driving Taxi in Minneapolis. I've gained about 35 pounds since I was 18 and I'm lucky if I can run ONE mile in eight minutes.
Two years ago I was involved in a bike crash where an S.U.V. plowed into me while I was driving the speed of traffic (about 25 mph). I healed from my injuries and last year I competed in my first triathlon in Paynesville, MN. I did a sprint distance triathlon and met all of my goals, and did the same a couple of months later in Hudson, WI.
This year I'm super excited to increase my speed in the sprint distances, but also complete an Olympic Size race. There's a part of me that wishes I could some day do something like an Iron Man competition, but then I remember how horrible it was for me to do just one half marathon.
For me, a mile+ swim, 20-30 mile bike and 10k run not only sounds fun, but just about the perfect amount of work out for my body to endure.

With the blast shield down, I can't even see...

...How am I supposed to fight???

Welcome to my newest blog. I have to say that I liked my friends idea of having a blog dedicated to Triathlon-ing so much I copied him. Check him out at http://www.tri-ngmybest.blogspot.com/
My plans for this new year are to compete in at least 5 events (mostly triathlons), two of which I hope to be Olympic Sized triathlons.