« November 2006 | Main | January 2007 »
December 31, 2006
2006 Year in Review
As I wind down this year, and prepare for next season, it gives me a chance to reflect on how things have progressed. This has been an incredible year for me, as I pushed myself beyond limits that 5 years ago I would not have dreamed possible. I have had very limited injuries (no showstoppers) and lots of new achievements and personal bests.
Some of the athletic highlights of this year, in no particular order....
A new 5K Personal Best time of 22 minutes, 07 seconds in the Durham Almond Blossom Race - and out sprinting a High School track kid into the finish chute
Finishing my first 100 mile bike ride (The Wildflower) with my good friend (and faithfull blog reader) Paul.
Completing my first Marathon (Thanks Dave, for the motivation to try to beat you - I'm still looking for a rematch in 2008).
Training and racing with my team-mates from the Town of Paradise at the North forebay Tri, City of Gold Tri, and the Paradise Adventure Race.
Setting a new Personal Best 10K time of 48 minutes, 08 seconds in the Almond Bowl Race.
Introducing one of my good friends son to the triathlons, and helping him finish his first race.
Completing my second Olympic Distance (Tahoe again) which gave me the confidence to sign up for my first Half-Ironman Distance next year.
The beginnertriathlete.com website I use to log my training has a really cool feature - it tracks your training volume, and totals it for the year. For 2006, my totals are:
Swimming - 60,055 yards (or about 34 miles)

Biking - 1,300.6 miles

Running - 574 miles

As we roll into the new year, I hope that you and your family have a great year, full of good suprises. Keep on training, my friends......
Posted by Dennis at 05:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 22, 2006
70.3
70.3
What does that number symbolize to you? Just a little less than a hundred, a bit more than 50….
Now think about that number in terms of a distance. From Chico, 70.3 miles will take you almost to Sacramento – or almost to Redding if you are going north. Not a terribly long distance in a car, but you better have a full tank of gas!
The number 70.3 also has a special significance in the world of triathlons. 70.3 just happens to be the total distance that a triathlete will travel when undertaking a ½ Ironman event. 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking, and 13.1 miles running.

The date is July 22, 2007 – the Event is the Vineman 70.3, in Sonoma County, CA. Assuming that I can stay healthy, over the next 6 months of the most intense training of my life, I hope to cross the finish line about 6 ½ hours after the race begins.
The pro’s will already be showered and headed home – Tim Deboom, Christopher Legh and two others completed last year’s race in just under 4 hours. This event is one of four races in the United States that are “KONA QUALIFIERS�. This particular race is also a qualifier for the Ford Ironman 70.3 series in Clearwater Florida, so I suspect there will be lot’s of big name professional triathletes participating, along with about 2,000 or so non-professionals such as myself.
I will kick off the training program I will be following officially after the Holidays are over. The training plan is 140 days in duration, so I still have another month or so to continue to work on building my base before officially jumping off on this “Adventure�.
I picked this race for a number of reasons - primarily it is the right time of the year, to fit between the various local triathlons (2 in Oroville, one in Chico), if fits between my primary running races (Almond Blossom in Feburuary and the Bidwell Classic in March). It also is within driving distance (shipping a bike is a huge pain in the neck), and it does not involve swimming in the ocean (I'm not quite ready for that yet).
If you have ever considered doing a ½ Iron distance, and you would like to look at this one all the race details are here. I would love to have some company to help keep me motivated, and a little moral support on race day never hurt anyone!
Drop me an email (dschmidt@maxinet.com) or post a comment if you are interested…
Here's a little promo video from the USAT website to help get you motivated...
http://www.usatriathlon.org/2006elitevideo.aspx
By the way, I just sent in my entry fees today - which is a great way to motivate yoursellf to "get training". Nobody wants to spend that kind of money and then not be prepared on race day!!!
Posted by Dennis at 05:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 04, 2006
Wildflower Century
Well, the flyer is up!!! April 22 is the day, and that is less than 4 months away. If you haven't been riding your bike, it's never too early to start "gearing up" for one of the best rides in California!!
Get all the details here!!! http://www.chicovelo.org/pdf/Century%20Series%2007%20Reg%20Pack.pdf
Posted by Dennis at 08:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wake Up!!
Found this video clip on the web - pretty cool background music, as well as a motivational little video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sao4ikNbACk
Speaking of Nike Shoes - I just bought what is probably the last set of size 9 2005 Nike Air Pegasus shoes in existance - at Copelands Sports. Bad news is they are going out of business, good news is that everything in the store is 20% off.
Posted by Dennis at 07:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 02, 2006
Paradise Lake Adventure Race
Here are the promised results!!! As you can see the Paradise Fire Department team was able to beat all three Town Hall teams... I'm not going to give any excuses - but, I am hereby requesting a rematch. We will be back out at the Lake Oroville Triathlon in May - and I am throwing down a challenge to any and all police and fire department teams OR INDIVIDUALS!!!
Team/Individual Run Start Run End Run Time Bike Start Bike End Bike Time Kayak Start Kayak End Kayak Time Total Time Place
Jim Roberts/Chrissy Paul 0:00:00 0:28:44 0:28:44 0:28:44 1:02:34 0:33:50 1:02:34 1:21:42 0:19:08 1:21:42 1
Touchette Team 0:00:00 0:21:27 0:21:27 0:21:27 1:09:10 0:47:43 1:09:10 1:25:08 0:15:58 1:25:08 2
Ken's Automotive 0:00:00 0:24:08 0:24:08 0:24:08 1:08:40 0:44:32 1:08:40 1:25:10 0:16:30 1:25:10 3
Paradise Seventh-Day Adventist 0:00:00 0:23:41 0:23:41 0:23:41 1:09:43 0:46:02 1:09:43 1:26:14 0:16:31 1:26:14 4
Paradise Fire Department 0:00:00 0:27:56 0:27:56 0:27:56 1:15:00 0:47:04 1:15:00 1:32:06 0:17:06 1:32:06 5
A Better Pest Control 0:00:00 0:21:45 0:21:45 0:21:45 1:13:30 0:51:45 1:13:30 1:32:22 0:18:52 1:32:22 6
Mt. Shasta Spring Water 0:00:00 0:29:30 0:29:30 0:29:30 1:16:24 0:46:54 1:16:24 1:32:33 0:16:09 1:32:33 7
Town of Paradise #3 0:00:00 0:30:56 0:30:56 0:30:56 1:19:25 0:48:29 1:19:25 1:36:52 0:17:27 1:36:52 8
Smith Family 0:00:00 0:29:15 0:29:15 0:29:15 1:18:15 0:49:00 1:18:15 1:38:06 0:19:51 1:38:06 9
Foster Chiropractic 0:00:00 0:27:30 0:27:30 0:27:30 1:16:24 0:48:54 1:16:24 1:39:28 0:23:04 1:39:28 10
Beyond Fitness 0:00:00 0:23:47 0:23:47 0:23:47 1:12:37 0:48:50 1:12:37 1:39:52 0:27:15 1:39:52 11
Town of Paradise #2 0:00:00 0:28:56 0:28:56 0:28:56 1:31:45 1:02:49 1:31:45 1:51:50 0:20:05 1:51:50 12
Town of Paradise #1 0:00:00 0:38:25 0:38:25 0:38:25 1:44:30 1:06:05 1:44:30 2:05:05 0:20:35 2:05:05 13
John Touchette 0:00:00 0:21:27 0:21:27 0:21:27 1:03:08 0:41:41 1:03:08 1:18:50 0:15:42 1:18:50 1
Brad Foster 0:00:00 0:21:08 0:21:08 0:21:08 1:00:30 0:39:22 1:00:30 1:20:48 0:20:18 1:20:48 2
Nick Weber 0:00:00 0:24:10 0:24:10 0:24:10 1:16:40 0:52:30 1:16:40 1:38:48 0:22:08 1:38:48 3
Christine Roberts 0:00:00 0:25:20 0:25:20 0:25:20 1:14:32 0:49:12 1:14:32 1:39:37 0:25:05 1:39:37 4
Jeff Mason 0:00:00 0:27:01 0:27:01 0:27:01 1:16:24 0:49:23 1:16:24 1:39:50 0:23:26 1:39:50 5
Click here for the formatted results off trailhead adventures website - it is a little easier to read.
Posted by Dennis at 08:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack