Saturday, June 8, 2013

#FBF: The First Little Piggy...

Those of you who know me know I love a good challenge. Obviously, that kinda comes with the job description of being a professional triathlete, but I also love a culinary ironman, so to speak. Something I have always wanted to do as a "foodie" is roast a luau pig. Yep, I'm talking dig a pit, build a fire in it, put a whole pig on top of the coals, and bury it. Then, 16 hours later, enjoy some delicious pulled pork!

There are several problems involved with this. The biggest one, in my opinion, is finding enough people to eat a whole 250 lb pig... I love pulled pork sandwiches, but I'm not sure I want to eat them for the next 6 months... So, the idea came into my head to do it for my brother's rehearsal dinner, which will be out at my parent's house!

I was pumped... Andrew and Heather were a little apprehensive...

Long story short, I've decided to do a few trial runs over the course of the summer, the first one being just a pork shoulder to be interred early tomorrow morning and enjoyed tomorrow evening! There will certainly be a follow-up post on this, including some detailed instructions, what works, what doesn't work, what can be substituted (yeah, banana leaves are hard to come by in Nebraska!) and all that good stuff. I will even include pictures for my 3rd grade level readers out there!

I know, this is sort of a cop out, but I wanted to give everyone a preview of what's to come! Until next time, FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!!!

Lawrence 5150

A couple weeks ago I did the 5150 in Lawrence, Kansas. I had done this race last year, or at least the equivalent, which was in Kansas City. I really enjoyed it last year, as well as this year, and I think I'll do a few more 5150's this season!

Rachel came down with me to watch her first triathlon, and on Friday we went to her friend's graduation in Manhattan. I had the day off of training as per normal, but sitting around for 8 hours that day (in the car, at the graduation, etc) and eating cake and ice cream was perhaps not the best idea, but sometimes you've gotta play ball and make your girlfriend happy on Friday so she'll come watch your race on Sunday! Either way, we all had a blast, I don't think it had a huge affect on my performance, and I would do it all over again.

Saturday meant my standard pre-race brick/course preview. The swim felt solid (the water was pretty stinky) and the bike was good, if the course was a bit long (25.9 mi)... however, whoever decided to call that course "gently rolling" was probably raised in the Himalayas. Granted, I've been a flat-lander for too long, but there were a couple monster climbs that I was not too thrilled about. The run course looked good, pretty fast, but it was also a little long at about 6.5 miles... Oh well!

Sunday morning we woke up to rain and clouds, but we drove to the race undeterred. I did my usual warmup, but we couldn't get into the water due to lightning. They postponed, and postponed again, and finally cancelled the swim. Sweet. I didn't wanna do my best leg anyway! 

That was sarcasm. You runners get it so easy! The slightest weather problem and every race director is so quick to drop the swim! Why? Because most people hate it! Truth be told, its my least favorite part of the race too, but at least I know I'm good at it. You never hear a race director say, "hey guys, its pretty hot out today, lets just call off the run and make this an Aqua Bike!" Now that would be sweet!

I couldn't help but have that Luke Bryan song, "Rain is a Good Thing" stuck in my head during the whole race. It made me smile and kept my attitude positive... after all, Mr. Bryan has a few good points in the song!

Anyway, we did a time-trial start on the bike, which is always fun starting on an uphill. The bike was good, but I played it too conservative. I passed a few guys, got passed by a few other guys, and did what I could to keep myself in the mix without exerting too much. In retrospect I should've pushed it just a bit more, but I was pretty happy with my time. I was just around 59 minutes for the actual 40k mark on a hilly, windy, wet course with water standing in the low spots! Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey...

I came off the bike and felt really heavy on the first mile. I am not used to running off a TT bike, and that showed. Still, I was able to run down several guys which is always fun... Again, you scrawny little runner guys get to have all the fun! I ended up running 35:40 for the long course, so I figure I was probably a 34 low for a true 10k. Not great, but not bad. I came in 10th overall. Whiskey makes my baby, feel a little frisky... 

Rachel was a trooper all day in the rain, and she cheered and looked sexy so I'd run faster! So, I rewarded her (that's my justification, this had nothing to do with what I wanted!) by going to get some barbecue at the famous Jack Stack Barbecue. Oh my lord, once again, one of the best meals I've ever been served! We drove home full and happy.

Well last weekend I raced the Dallas Pan-Am Cup, and that report will be posted soon! Until then, FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!