Shadow Creek Results

Preliminary results are in.  I gotta say I am a bit disappointed, as I did not do as well as I wanted to on the swim and the run.  BUT, the good thing is that I did a bit better than expected on the bike and the transitions, AND that I actually felt the swim and the run being harder (wonder if they were because those were the same two things that I pushed a bit more than needed on Saturday)

Anyway, comparted to Tejas, I improved on everything except the run.  Here are the pace comparisons (remember, all distances were different)


                               Tejas Pace        Shadow Creek Pace
Swim (min/M)              0:34:19               0:33:45
T1                               0:02:18               0:01:39
Bike (MPH)                  18.7                   20.1
T2                               0:01:50               0:01:38
Run (min/M)                0:09:50               0:09:56

One good takeaway from this is that I can improve more on the Run.  And I need to.  I think with more concentration on that area I can hit 0:09:30 soon.  Probably not for the 6 miles of the Olympic, but for sure for the next Sprint (maybe I'll sign up for one in August).

Finally, when compared with the "standard" Sprint, which is something I like to do, the time would have been 1:27:09.  Thi is more than a 3 minute improvement over Tejas.

Shadow Creek Sprint Tri... DONE!!

So, this is done!  It started harder than I thought.  I was not enjoying the swim that much, but I remembered what the goal was and some tips I read online, and got through it.  Fortunately the space was very open, so i did not have any of the kicking and splashing that usually happens, so it was just another opern water swim.

The transition to the bike was good.  I took it slow, decided not to overdo it.  We'll see the time, but I think it will be around the 2:00 mark.    The bike itself was awesome, felt really good the whole time.  Started slower, to warm up the legs, and that was a good strategy for me.  The only misshap was that I dropped my water bottle at mile 4.... and never saw it again.  Good thing I had already taken 2 sips, but the next 12 miles were dry.

To the run:  it felt harder at start, but I did not let up.  It turns out I was probably running faster than what I thought at the moment, but we'll see that in the results.

Overall, I believe I did at least the 1:32 I had as a goal, if not better.  I will post official results as soon as I get them, and as before, compare to the 750m/12.1mi/3.12mi "standard" Sprint Tri.  In the meantime, here are some pics.

Ready for tomorrow.

Shadow Creek, here I come.

Como es esto posible??

Como MIERDA no se van a pronunciar?

Camacho: Gobierno no se pronunciará sobre renuncia de ministro Papadimitriu

IRENE HERNÁNDEZ G.

DE LA PRENSA

irene.hernandez@prensa.com

English version

LA PRENSA/Archivo

Luis Eduardo Camacho, secretario de Comunicación del Estado.

Notas relacionadas:

• Silencio oficial sobre Papadimitriu
• Gobierno calla tras la renuncia de Jimmy...

El secretario de comunicación del Estado, Luis Eduardo Camacho, dijo este sábado, 14 de julio, que el Gobierno no se pronunciará sobre la renuncia del ministro de la Presidencia, Demetrio Papadimitriu, que revelada por el diario La Estrella, ayer, viernes.

"El gobierno se pronunciará cuando hay cosas que comunicar; no hay nada en este momento sobre lo que tengamos que pronunciarnos, contestó Camacho, en una entrevista vía telefónica.

Tras el anuncio de la dimisión del ministro de la Presidencia, Demetrio Papadimitriu, se corrieron fuertes rumores acerca de la renuncia de otros miembros del Gabinete, incluso de la viceministra de la Presidencia, María Fábrega.

Estas versiones no han sido ni corroboradas ni desmentidas por el Gobierno.

Tejas Triathlon revisited (and now corrected

Today I was calculating what time I should do tomorrow at Shadow Creek, which got me thinking what time I would have done at Tejas if it had been the "Standard"  distance (750/20K/5K).  So, here it is.

Based on the fact that Tejas was (600/19.28/4.82), and my paces (see other post for these), my projected time for a "Standard' distance would have been...

1:30:44

Well, did not break the 1:30:00 mark, but certainly an improvement over the 1:42:+ I did in Sherman in 2008.  AND, something to look forward to tomorrow.

Shadow Creek Triathlon is TOMORROW!!!!!

I am getting anxious about the Sprint Tri tomorrow.  I know it is only a Sprint, but it is my second one now, and of course you know and I know thatt I want to compare performance to Tejas.  Most of all I want to compare Paces..

So, with that in mind, there are my goals for tomorrow:

                                  Tejas                                          Shadow Creek Goal
Swim                      34:19 min/mile                              31:00 min/mile
Bike                       3:12 min/mile (18.7MPH)             3:00 min/mile (20.0 MPH)
Run                        9:50 min/mile (6.1 MPH)              9:30 min/mile (6.3 MPH)

Based on these paces, the distances for this race (500m, 16.6mi and 3.2mi), my goal for TOTAL time for this race 1:34:12  (have revised this twice based on corrected calculations)

Tomorrow I'll post real results.

Good Tips for a Triathlon

http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Tips-for-Your-First-Triathlon.htm?page=1


http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/How-to-Reduce-GI-Distress-on-Race-Day.htm

University of Texas Ranked No. 30 Among World Universities

Courtesy of UT

AUSTIN, TX — The Center for World University Rankings has ranked The University of Texas at Austin No. 30 in its inaugural list of the world’s top 100 universities. The ranking combines seven factors — educational quality, faculty quality, alumni employment, patents, publishing, faculty research citations, and influence.

The factor that most moved the university into the top ranks was quality of faculty, an index that denotes the weighted number of faculty members of an institution who have won prestigious honors such as the Nobel Prize, the Wolf Prize, the Turing Award, and the Schock Prize, all of which have been won by current faculty members — physicist Steven Weinberg (Nobel Prize in Physics), chemist Allen Bard (Wolf Prize), computer scientist E. Allen Emerson (Turing Award), and mathematicians John Tate (Wolf Prize) and Luis Caffarelli (Wolf Prize, Schock Prize), among others.

According to the CWUR, the university is the 22^nd best in the United States and the 8^th best public university. Other Texas institutions that made the top 100 include UT Southwestern Medical Center (29), Rice University (57), Texas A&M (73), and UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (96).

“This ranking confirms what we've known for a long time — that world-class universities are built by world-class faculty,” said President Bill Powers. “I’m gratified that excellence at UT Austin has been recognized by yet another organization with a multifaceted analysis of the world’s best academies. This is more good news for Texas alumni, whose diplomas increase in value the higher our rankings go.”

The Center for World University Rankings is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A different system, the Academic Rankings of World Universities, created by a Shanghai-based think tank nine years ago, currently ranks UT Austin 38. Times Higher Education, the United Kingdom’s leading higher education publication, ranks UT Austin 29^th in the world.

For more information, contact: Gary Susswein, Office of the President, 512 471 4945.

Week 4/18 - Olympic Triathlon Training

Week 4 was actually not that hard.  I think the body is geetting used to it. What I do have to do is work out in the mornings more because that thing of doing 2-3 workouts in a day to catch up is crazy.

I was abel to do all the workouts this week, so so far I have done 35 of 36 routines.  And I have been able to add 2-3 weight workouts in these 4 weeks.    Very proud of myself!!

This is the summary for the week

Swimming:  3,500m 
Cycling: 60 miles 
Running: 85 min (about 9 miles)


Next week is Shadow Creek.  Check it out


http://www.shadowcreekranchtriathlon.com/

Tomas's Progress

Last week we had the 5 month progress report with Dr. Harris and Maureen.  We had our first report at 6 weeks, and even though we had totally noticed the progress, we had no FORMAL date to back it up.

Well, at no surprise to us, Dr. Harris and Maureen are both EXTREMELY IMPRESSED with the quality and speed of progress of our little Tomas.  They really did not expect the progress to be so good (well, WE DID... jeje).

There is actual data and progress reports to back this up, and I might try to post them soon.  But for now know that everything that has been going on, the good and the bad, is totally worth it because we are giving him a chance at a happy, easier life.


BTW, Ramon is super excited too because he is getting his little brother BACK...

Dismal hiring shows economy stuck in low gear

This sux for me.  It is hard enough already to figure out where to get my skills and experience to fit (at a high enough level), to then have the economy still be sluggish.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/06/us-usa-economy-idUSBRE86504K20120706

Elevator Pitch tool

Nice tool.

http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/careers/pitch/

This is why I love Google.

Sometimes it seems Google is very distracted with too many projects, and that may be true, but they still make super cool products.

http://lifehacker.com/5923588/the-best-google-features-youre-probably-not-using

New Chromebook

Today we got our new Chromebook.  For those of you who don't know what this is, you can learn about it in

http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/


I am very technology savvy and friendly, and I think it will take me a while to learn how to live in the cloud  Or if I can live out of my portable Hard Drive.  As I learn I will post more info.

Week 3/18 - Olympic Triathlon Training

Third week flew by.  This week felt a bit easier, I guess the traning is working out.  I only missed one workout this week (1,500 yd swim), and only because of rain.  But I did push it a couple of days, doing 3 workouts in oine day to catch up. 

This is the summary for the week

Swimming:  2,000m (I skipped Saturday's workout, it should have been 3,500m for the week)
Cycling: 65 miles (1st 30 mile day ever, half the time under hard rain.  Very cool)
Running: 85 min 

Tejas Tri Results

I realized recently that I had not posted my Tejas Tri results.  My thoughts on these:

Swim:  I can do better, but this is not the area I need to concentrate most on.  My rank of 37 / 67 is not that bad.

Bike:  here's where I sucked the most.  60/67?  Sux.  I can definitely improve on this time and pace, and should hit 20MPH on my next tri. That is the goal!!

Run:  also, sucked here.  57/67 is better than the run, but not really!!  My pace of 9.50/mile is better than before, but I think I should be able to hit 9.00/mile or under next week.

Keep you (who?? jeje) posted.

Overall

------------ Swim ------------

------------ T1 ------------

------------ Bike ------------

------------ T2 ------------

------------ Run ------------

Time

Total

Place

Place

Name

Bib No

Age

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Rate

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Pace

Back

Time

Penalty

57

417

Alejandro Alvarez

436

38

37

11:48.5

387

2:18.1

60

38:27.3

18.7MPH

473

1:50.4

57

29:31.6

9:50/M

28:13.8

1:23:56.1

Panama Canal Expansion is a Big Deal in Texas.

Panama Canal Stakeholder Work Group Shedules Inaugural Meeting

http://www.txdot.gov/news/028-2012.htm

Esto es Preocupante: Banco UBS dice que Panamá pierde credibilidad

“El Gobierno parece sobreextender su búsqueda de financiamiento adicional [y] en el proceso ha empañado nuestra opinión de su compromiso con la responsabilidad fiscal”

Banco UBS: Panamá pierde credibilidad | Panorama-Impreso | Prensa.com:

'via Blog this'

Week 2/18 Olympic Triathlon Training

Two weeks gone.  I defnitely felt it this week, as the 9 workouts from last week took a toll on my (not son in great shape) body.  Today I planned to go do the 25-mile bike session on the road, but while getting my bike ready I made it flat.  Apparently I broke the valve.  What a rookie.

Today I finished week 1 of 18 of the triathlon training plan I downloaded from http://www.trinewbies.com/ . It is supposed to be for Intermediate triathlets (I guess I am?) .  I feel good, not too tired, but tired and worked-out enough.  In summary, the plan includes 9 workouts (in 6 days, Fridays are off days), and this week had the followiing totals:

Swimming:  2,250 m (I skipped Monday's workout, it should have been 3,000m for the week)
Cycling: 60 miles (almost 100km week).
Running: 75 min (a little under 8 miles)

Sat morning after run

This coming week distances go up for everything, and keep going up.   Yikes!!

Saturday morning after swim

For the training plan that I am following go to

http://www.trinewbies.com/

Fan Installation

Today I installed the 4th fan in our (rented) house.  It really is a simple process, but one that many people are afraid, embarrased or don't know how to do.  I really owe my skills in this matter to my dad.  The simple things, I hope I can pass them to my kids.

NO PICTURE OF BEFORE (NOT SO USED TO THIS BLOG THING...)

MID-WAY THRU THE PROCESS 

FINAL PRODUCT - IT WORKS!!!!