Today was a typical Monday. I was getting a lot accomplished when I decided to check out what was new on the usatriathlon web page. I was surprised to see myself pictured with the lead pack at mile 2 of the USA Duathlon National Championships last Spring in Tucson AZ. I am still far from famous but its a great way to start the week for me. Hope all is well and to race again soon. Here is the link to the page and picture.
http://www.usatriathlon.org/membership-services/membership-home.aspx
Pictured in my sweet TYR Kit and Pink Oakleys provided by Kompetitive Edge and the T6 racers by Brooks. Thanks
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Prairie Fire Half Marathon
I love to write about great days, fun times, and of course winning. However, today was one of those days that I pursued my passion and love of running without getting anything in return, except the satisfaction of running.
A week ago I wrote about how I was considering one of two half marathons or possibly both. Little did I know that less than two days later I would come down with a miserable cold. With a runny nose, sinus headaches, and aching from Tuesday through Friday, I had considered not running. Saturday I was feeling better, still with a runny nose but I could handle it. I decided I had nothing to lose, so I drove down to Wichita on Saturday evening and raced Sunday morning.
Starting my warm up, I ran into Kimberly, a friend from college who is very into training and personal fitness. We warmed up together and had a lot of fun catching up. When the gun went off, I found myself feeling relaxed and enjoying the cold temperatures in the rain. This lasted for 5 miles at sub 5:30 pace. Unfortunately, a little past the 5 mile mark, I began having hard times breathing. Severe congestion in my throat was causing me to gag, and I quickly received a side stitch. Right then, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to fight the pain but was quickly caught and lost my lead of the race. I managed a couple more miles before the stitch got bad enough I felt like walking, and a port-a-potty was looking really good. I ended up stopping twice to use the bathroom. Finally at mile 10 I knew any chances of winning or placing in the top 3 were out the window, so I began to just cruise for fun. Cold, wet, and running may sound miserable to most, but I found it to be okay. Feeling pain somehow is very relaxing to me. It is a reassurance that I am alive, that I am pushing my limits. Sometimes it’s not how fast we run, but what we get out of it. My final time was 1:20.55, ten minutes off of a personal best, but I survived and got in a good long run. Catching up with friends, eating at Buffalo Wild Wings with Kimberly after the race and having a few laughs is exactly what I needed to forget the race and make sure I remember what is important. I love to run, I love to run for Christ, and I love to be with friends.
Great job today Tim Testa in the 5K, and to Kimberly, Rob, and Dawn in the ½ marathon, and way to go Ashley in the Marathon! Also, I want to say thanks to my amazing parents and brother who always do such a great job of supporting me in my insanity.
Post race with Kimmie.. Ill open my eyes next time.
A week ago I wrote about how I was considering one of two half marathons or possibly both. Little did I know that less than two days later I would come down with a miserable cold. With a runny nose, sinus headaches, and aching from Tuesday through Friday, I had considered not running. Saturday I was feeling better, still with a runny nose but I could handle it. I decided I had nothing to lose, so I drove down to Wichita on Saturday evening and raced Sunday morning.
Starting my warm up, I ran into Kimberly, a friend from college who is very into training and personal fitness. We warmed up together and had a lot of fun catching up. When the gun went off, I found myself feeling relaxed and enjoying the cold temperatures in the rain. This lasted for 5 miles at sub 5:30 pace. Unfortunately, a little past the 5 mile mark, I began having hard times breathing. Severe congestion in my throat was causing me to gag, and I quickly received a side stitch. Right then, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to fight the pain but was quickly caught and lost my lead of the race. I managed a couple more miles before the stitch got bad enough I felt like walking, and a port-a-potty was looking really good. I ended up stopping twice to use the bathroom. Finally at mile 10 I knew any chances of winning or placing in the top 3 were out the window, so I began to just cruise for fun. Cold, wet, and running may sound miserable to most, but I found it to be okay. Feeling pain somehow is very relaxing to me. It is a reassurance that I am alive, that I am pushing my limits. Sometimes it’s not how fast we run, but what we get out of it. My final time was 1:20.55, ten minutes off of a personal best, but I survived and got in a good long run. Catching up with friends, eating at Buffalo Wild Wings with Kimberly after the race and having a few laughs is exactly what I needed to forget the race and make sure I remember what is important. I love to run, I love to run for Christ, and I love to be with friends.
Great job today Tim Testa in the 5K, and to Kimberly, Rob, and Dawn in the ½ marathon, and way to go Ashley in the Marathon! Also, I want to say thanks to my amazing parents and brother who always do such a great job of supporting me in my insanity.
Post race with Kimmie.. Ill open my eyes next time.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
One or Both
With two very big half marathons approaching, I am debating which one to race. While they both offer prize money, they also both have pros and cons. The Prairie Fire Half is a relatively fast course but is the day after traveling to Hays to coach, and my legs will not be as rested as I would like. The Kansas City Half would allow for rested legs, but unfortunately falls on a hilly course. To help me decide, I hopped in an 8K in Baldwin City last week the day after running 13 miles and felt relatively strong. I finished the hilly course in 27:04 but paid for the 5-flat first mile in mile 5. Last week's 8K also gave me a second race without swimming or cycling first which I hope will remind my legs of what it's like to race without the other two disciplines. I hope to decide by Tuesday! Both races have offered me free entry fees, so there is a chance I might just run them both and see what happens. Either way I am racing to glorify God while having some fun. Training is going well for my 2012 triathlon season. I am spending plenty of time at the pool and fighting to still put in the miles on the bike. Thanks for the support and kind words. The good luck texts and congratulatory emails really help me push through workouts while training by myself.
On a side note, I am very excited to receive my Pure Project Cadence before their official release on Saturday. The Brooks representative will be at Salina Running Company for their release Saturday afternoon; so, I hope to see a big turn out!
On a side note, I am very excited to receive my Pure Project Cadence before their official release on Saturday. The Brooks representative will be at Salina Running Company for their release Saturday afternoon; so, I hope to see a big turn out!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Settling into Salina
Just short of 1 month in Salina, and I am feeling at home. For those of you who don’t know, I inherited a program with very few runners, and by very few I mean 3. Those three runners, I had to negotiate and recruit in the first few days of being hired just to come run for me. The previous coach knew he was leaving and did not recruit. He also told his runners he was leaving back in May while not telling the university till July. The few returners decided to transfer or give up running. While the 3 that I have are fantastic kids, I am working very hard on the recruiting trail, hitting up meets and spending 10-14 hour days in the office. This is a challenge that most would not enjoy, but I am looking forward to building a program with my principles and goals at the core. I have now found some great friends here in town to hang out with, and after a few tries I have found a church that feels like home. At Kansas Wesleyan I feel that I have found a school that supports me. The head soccer coach has even agreed to work with me by giving me his top runners to make sure I have a full team at conference. This may seem like no big deal, but these are 8 starters who are willing to run for me while still doing soccer. I must say I am excited and ecstatic for next year when I can bring in my own recruits.
Today marked the start of my fall road racing season. I had first heard about this race a little over a week ago at my first trip to First Covenant Church, then after working a few days this week at Salina Running Company, I decided it would be a good workout and test.
While warming up, I noticed Daniel, a fellow runner, who had beaten me in Wichita two years ago. With him there, I knew the pace would be honest and with a very hilly course around Indian Rock, I also knew that it was a race that I had to go out under control while staying close to Daniel. He and I ran side by side for just short of 3 miles. Luckily when we cleared the last hill, I could see the finish and was able to shift gears and put a small gap between us. Two of my athletes got up early to come cheer me on, so as I finished I couldn’t help but think of what I say to them and focused on good form finishing the 5K in 16:19 winning by 2 seconds. While 16:19 is far from an impressive time, I am very pleased. Training long slow runs, long slow bike rides, and easy form drills in the pool, I am far from being my quickest. However, with more runners on a flat course I am easily under 15:30 shape which is exciting for me. Another month of training throwing in a few quicker workouts, and I should be ready to run 2 or 3 quick half marathons this fall.
A great city, fun friends, an environment for success, and my training is going great. I truly am blessed to have such supportive friends and family and a God who has not given up on me and is doing great things in my life!
Best of luck to all of you this fall!
Today marked the start of my fall road racing season. I had first heard about this race a little over a week ago at my first trip to First Covenant Church, then after working a few days this week at Salina Running Company, I decided it would be a good workout and test.
While warming up, I noticed Daniel, a fellow runner, who had beaten me in Wichita two years ago. With him there, I knew the pace would be honest and with a very hilly course around Indian Rock, I also knew that it was a race that I had to go out under control while staying close to Daniel. He and I ran side by side for just short of 3 miles. Luckily when we cleared the last hill, I could see the finish and was able to shift gears and put a small gap between us. Two of my athletes got up early to come cheer me on, so as I finished I couldn’t help but think of what I say to them and focused on good form finishing the 5K in 16:19 winning by 2 seconds. While 16:19 is far from an impressive time, I am very pleased. Training long slow runs, long slow bike rides, and easy form drills in the pool, I am far from being my quickest. However, with more runners on a flat course I am easily under 15:30 shape which is exciting for me. Another month of training throwing in a few quicker workouts, and I should be ready to run 2 or 3 quick half marathons this fall.
A great city, fun friends, an environment for success, and my training is going great. I truly am blessed to have such supportive friends and family and a God who has not given up on me and is doing great things in my life!
Best of luck to all of you this fall!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Kansas Wesleyan University
Brent Bailey has been named the Cross Country and Track coach at Kansas Wesleyan University. He has led the Coyote programs since August 2011.
Bailey comes to Kansas Wesleyan after spending two years as graduate assistant coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. Bailey’s emphasis at Baker was coaching the distance program, coaching 73 All-Heart of America Conference selections in track and nine All-Heart of America Conference selections in cross country. He also coached a ninth place finisher in the women’s marathon and the NAIA National Championships while coaching at Baker and helped the Wildcat women qualify for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships for the first time in several seasons after winning the Heart of America Championship for the first time since 2002.
A native of Limon, Colo., Bailey attended McPherson College in McPherson, Kan., where he earned dual degrees in Physical Education and Business Administration with minors in Accounting and Finance. While at McPherson, Bailey was elected student body president. On the course and on the track for the Bulldogs, Bailey was a four-time All-KCAC performer in cross country and qualified for the NAIA National Championships, and was a KCAC Champion in the 1500m and earned All-KCAC honors ten times.
He then continued onto earn his Master of Liberal Arts degree from Baker University.
During his prep career at Limon High School, Bailey was a state champion and helped his team to back-to-back Colorado State team titles. He also ran club track with the Colorado Springs Striders, where he competed at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in the 4x800m relay and the 2000m steeplechase.
Bailey is a USATF Level 1 certified coach and continues to train and compete on an elite level, twice qualifying for the USA Duathlon National Championships and the USA Triathlon National Championships.
“I am truly excited to have the opportunity to return to the KCAC as a coach,” Bailey said of his hiring at Kansas Wesleyan. “Coaching is in my blood and is truly my passion. I look forward to the challenge of building this program to be the top program in the conference.”
Bailey comes to Kansas Wesleyan after spending two years as graduate assistant coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. Bailey’s emphasis at Baker was coaching the distance program, coaching 73 All-Heart of America Conference selections in track and nine All-Heart of America Conference selections in cross country. He also coached a ninth place finisher in the women’s marathon and the NAIA National Championships while coaching at Baker and helped the Wildcat women qualify for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships for the first time in several seasons after winning the Heart of America Championship for the first time since 2002.
A native of Limon, Colo., Bailey attended McPherson College in McPherson, Kan., where he earned dual degrees in Physical Education and Business Administration with minors in Accounting and Finance. While at McPherson, Bailey was elected student body president. On the course and on the track for the Bulldogs, Bailey was a four-time All-KCAC performer in cross country and qualified for the NAIA National Championships, and was a KCAC Champion in the 1500m and earned All-KCAC honors ten times.
He then continued onto earn his Master of Liberal Arts degree from Baker University.
During his prep career at Limon High School, Bailey was a state champion and helped his team to back-to-back Colorado State team titles. He also ran club track with the Colorado Springs Striders, where he competed at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in the 4x800m relay and the 2000m steeplechase.
Bailey is a USATF Level 1 certified coach and continues to train and compete on an elite level, twice qualifying for the USA Duathlon National Championships and the USA Triathlon National Championships.
“I am truly excited to have the opportunity to return to the KCAC as a coach,” Bailey said of his hiring at Kansas Wesleyan. “Coaching is in my blood and is truly my passion. I look forward to the challenge of building this program to be the top program in the conference.”
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Finally!
With nothing to lose, Kompetitive Edge was able to pull some strings to get me into the Denver Triathlon on short notice. I was praying for some redemption from my past few races. This summer I had one solid race and two subpar races. This was not making sense to me as my training had been going fantastic. After a terrible race in Boulder, I headed to Longmont for some time with my coach Jim Hallberg. He told me that I was capable of racing a lot faster than my races had shown, that I just needed to hammer the swim and the bike as hard as possible, and then just see what would happen. Today, I started with a very simple strategy. Simply swim, bike, and run faster than I ever had before. This may seem as an unrealistic expectation, but knowing what I had done to train, I knew it was not.
The race kicked off in Sloan’s Lake, a very dirty and terrible tasting lake. Due to the warm temperature, wet suits were not allowed. Luckily, I was equipped with the TYR Torque speed suit. Knowing that I wouldn’t have a wet suit for buoyancy I figured I would be very lucky to be anywhere near my PR in the swim. I took out in a crowded wave and hammered it just as I was told. As I exited the water, I knew I had just swum a great split, 27:12, nearly a two minute PR. Off on the bike I was cruising, finding my way into the biggest gear, and pushing it. This strategy was working well but not without some help from the Big Guy upstairs. With my two favorite Bible verses written on my aerobars and a certain tune stuck in my head, I knew I had God with me. In case you are wondering what the song was, it was the Arky Arky Song from church camp. With His help, I had just biked 63:10, averaging right under 24 mph. Now that my arms were tired and my legs trashed, it was time to run. The out and back course was not a flat fast course as I had hoped, but a rolling one that pushed me to my limits in the heat. I knew that if I could hang in there I could break 2:10. My run split was a 37:46 that put me at 2:09.50, leaving 10 seconds to spare!
All in all, I am ecstatic! I had needed a sub 2:15 race time to assure me a spot in the elite category in several races, and today took care of that. At this time I am unsure if I will be racing any more triathlons this year, as the summer comes to a close. I want to say thank you to the Olson family for allowing me to stay in their very nice town home on the 20th floor! It was great to have such a nice place located close to the race to relax and sleep. Also, thank you so much to Byron Thomas who is a gifted massage therapist. He took great care of me before and after the race, putting some life back into my legs. Finally, a thank you goes to my family, friends, and sponsors who have been there with me on good races and bad. May the Glory go to God now and forever!
The race kicked off in Sloan’s Lake, a very dirty and terrible tasting lake. Due to the warm temperature, wet suits were not allowed. Luckily, I was equipped with the TYR Torque speed suit. Knowing that I wouldn’t have a wet suit for buoyancy I figured I would be very lucky to be anywhere near my PR in the swim. I took out in a crowded wave and hammered it just as I was told. As I exited the water, I knew I had just swum a great split, 27:12, nearly a two minute PR. Off on the bike I was cruising, finding my way into the biggest gear, and pushing it. This strategy was working well but not without some help from the Big Guy upstairs. With my two favorite Bible verses written on my aerobars and a certain tune stuck in my head, I knew I had God with me. In case you are wondering what the song was, it was the Arky Arky Song from church camp. With His help, I had just biked 63:10, averaging right under 24 mph. Now that my arms were tired and my legs trashed, it was time to run. The out and back course was not a flat fast course as I had hoped, but a rolling one that pushed me to my limits in the heat. I knew that if I could hang in there I could break 2:10. My run split was a 37:46 that put me at 2:09.50, leaving 10 seconds to spare!
All in all, I am ecstatic! I had needed a sub 2:15 race time to assure me a spot in the elite category in several races, and today took care of that. At this time I am unsure if I will be racing any more triathlons this year, as the summer comes to a close. I want to say thank you to the Olson family for allowing me to stay in their very nice town home on the 20th floor! It was great to have such a nice place located close to the race to relax and sleep. Also, thank you so much to Byron Thomas who is a gifted massage therapist. He took great care of me before and after the race, putting some life back into my legs. Finally, a thank you goes to my family, friends, and sponsors who have been there with me on good races and bad. May the Glory go to God now and forever!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Stagnant
Today was the 4th time I have raced Boulder Peak,that is if you can call what I did "racing" today. The summer started off with a terrible race in Kansas, but I followed it up with a fantastic race at the Loveland Lake 2Lake. Riding high and with training well ahead of last year, I felt today would have been a day for a great race. However, a great race was not in the cards today. Throughout the swim I felt very relaxed and comfortable but unable to shift into a faster stroke. I actually swam nearly 30 seconds faster than last year, but I did not do justice to my swim training. As I headed away from the Boulder Reservoir and up to Old Stage Road, I felt very tight and stagnant, just as in the swim. I managed to throw up a fair amount of water as I approached the summit of Old Stage, disappointed that I had climbed a little over 1300 ft to the top with a belly full of lake water it would appear. Over the summit and feeling a lot better, I started to roll. I was able to fight back and was only 20seconds slower than my bike split of last year. The run was finally here, and I couldn’t have been happier. It only took me half a mile to realize this out and back course was going to be more like a fartlek workout than a race. I started in the second to last wave, over an hour and 1200 athletes behind starters. Running well through the first couple miles, I began to run into strong traffic, bumping shoulder after shoulder, weaving my way in and out, trying to find a rhythm. I was stagnant once again and beginning to become frustrated. I ended up running a 37:59 for the 10K and felt disgusted to see such a horrific time. All in all, I finished :67 seconds behind where I was last year and not happy at all.
Now what? Back to the drawing board! I am hoping Kompetitive Edge can find a way to take care of me by getting me into the Denver Triathlon in two weeks. With another race, I hope to redeem myself and better use this gift of being a triathlete that God has given me to better glorify him. After the race I was able to talk with my coach Jim Halberg and teammate Brandon Jessop which helped to calm me down and get my mind right to race again. I am so blessed to have a great coach and to be part of the Kompetitive Edge family. Hangingout with Jared, Ryan, and Brandon was truly the highlight of my weekend.
Special thanks to Jim Halberg for putting me up and to my parents for coming to watch and cheer me on.
Written in Pike's Perk with great friends, Adam, Lars and Andrew!
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