Recent Races

I have done 2 tri relays in the past few weeks:

Newport Naval station sprint Tri: total time 1:15:10

Wild Dog Sprint Tri: total time: 1:00:10 (first place overall relay!!!)

Race reports to come!

Here we go!

Tomorrow is my first race of the season. Nice little sprint tri, the Naval Station Newport/Sprint Triathlon.
I will be doing the swim and bike portion of the tri and a friend of mine, Justin, will be doing the run. We are looking to have a good time and not set any course records. I will post a race report as soon as I can.

later

Bike rides!

Thursday and Friday I hit the bike path for my first ride of the season. WOW I am way out of shape. 7 miles on Thursday and 9 on Friday. I was dead by the end of each one, but felt great that I got out there and did it. For me its all about my frame of mind. I am so excited right now to get out there and train for whatever TRi I sign up for. This coming week is going to be awesome! Sun is expected all week so I will get in a few nice rides. I am aiming for the full bike path ride within 2 weeks. I don't want to over extend myself. I could probably do it now, but not in the amount of time I have for my lunch break.

Its About Time

Well folks its been over 5 months since my last post. I have been doing absolutely nothing in the way of training or anything. Its freakin May!!!! I should at least have a good 2 months of base training in by now!!!! Well I kicked my self in the ass and got it into full gear today. I hit the Y for my first swim. I did 600m which felt like I just swam the English Channel. Tomorrow looks to be my first bike ride of the year, can you believe that? I am wicked excited to get back out there.

To tell you the truth, I have also started Weight Watchers again. I slacked off big time since December and now, today, was a start of something new. I am super excited and can't wait to tackle all the obstacles that are thrown at me.

I have no races planned so far. I have a few on my mind. As with any summer, I need to coordinate with the family to see what weekends are available.

Until next time....lets do this!

Year in Review

I started 2009 with many goals and high expectations. I knew I wanted to do at least one Olympic distance Triathlon, a few sprints, a couple 5ks, a 10k and a half marathon. I had all my training laid out for each month and I was fully committed to making 2009 the best year ever! In January I was training for my first 10k, the Hyannis 10K. On Superbowl Sunday I ran the Super 5k in Narragansett. I was going for a PR, but I went out to fast and was totally dead by the 3rd mile. On February 22, Mark, Drew, Justin and I met up with Mark's sister Laura in Hyannis for the 10k, Half marathon, marathon race. It was my first 10k and I was ready to kill it. The race was great! My Garmin time for the 10k was 59mins 50 sec! Under an hour. Official time was 1:01:20 which was good enought to place 2nd in my Clydesdale group! That race was a great stepping off point for the beginning of my tri training. I was so ready to get into the pool and on the bike.

March I was in the pool, I was on the bike trainer and I was doing some speed work for running. Things were running smoothly. My next race was the Cox 5k on May 3rd. I wanted to PR so bad for that race. I was hitting the hill, I was on the track, tempo runs, you name it I was doing it. On Easter I ran the longest I have ever gone, 10 miles! I did it to see if I could and possibly sign up for the Cox Half Marathon instead of the 5k. Well those thoughts were short lived. I developed some sort of Shin Splints and was sidelined from running for 2 weeks. I only got 3 runs in before the Cox 5k.

The Cox Road Races 5k was held with a half marathon and a marathon. Justin and Mark completed their first marathon with Mark going under 4 hours!!! Congrats guys! Drew and Laura did the Half marathon. This was Drew's first and Laura's...I don't know...100th or something. It was pretty cool. I drove out to the course and ran with them for a bit. Then back to Providence for my race. The 5k was awesome! I just felt so good during the whole run. My Previous 5K PR was 27:35. I killed that with a 5k time of 26:47!! I was so happy with my time. It just goes to show you, if you put the effort into something, all the hard work will pay off.

May was starting off on a good note and end on a bad. During my last brick workout before the Mystic Sprint Tri in June, I hurt something in my left knee. I have no idea how, but it was alittle sore. I went to the Doctor after waiting a few days to see if the pain would go away. He told me I had an ACL strain and I should take a break for a week or so.

I was a little worried about completing the Mystic Sprint Tri. This was only my 2nd Sprint Tri and longest swim, .50 miles. My knee was sore but I wanted to do the best I could. The swim took forever and the bike was slow at first, but was much faster towards the end. I did help this one girl out during the bike portion. The run was ok at best. I did not run for 2 weeks before and my run time showed it. I completed the race in 1 hour 50 mins. I would say about 10 mins of the race was helping that lady on the bike. Still it was awesome and I couldn't wait for my knee to heal and jump back into the next one.

I had an MRI scheduled for the day after the Mystic Tri. I had to wait a week for the results. I didn't do much of anything those 2 weeks. Then I met with the doctor who told me the worst news I could possibly hear. I had Articular Cartilage Injury involving the Medial Femoral Condyle in my left knee. To simply put it, The cartilage in my left knee had been worn away to the bone. He told me I should not run anymore. I just could not believe it. This was suppose to be my best year racing ever! Now this? Really? The drive home from the doctors was just bad. I was in shock. I really didn't know what to do. It took all I had just to keep it together. I got home, told Kim and broke down. I couldn't hold it in. Till this day, if I think back to that day I get a little choked up. It was really a hard pill to swallow. What was I going to do now? I had so many things, races, goals laid out before me. Half marathons, marathons, Half and full Ironmans, all gone. Well I had one more race scheduled in July, the First Crabman Sprint Tri. I was going to complete that one at what ever cost.The Crabman Sprint Tri was great. The race was held only 15 minutes away from my house. My swim time was a little slow, but my bike was awesome! The run, well run/walk took forever. I walked until no one in my family could see me, then I started to run. I ran the first mile and mostly walked the rest. The worst thing was everyone telling me to "keep going"..."don't stop running you can do it"...I just wanted to yell..." I can't!!!! I have a busted knee". Anyways I finished the race in 1hour 33 mins. From that race on, I told myself I would never walk a tri again.

I tried to keep up with my training program with the swimming and the biking. The Doctor said I could do anything except run. In August I decided to do the Wild Dog Sprint Tri as a relay with Drew doing the run leg. That was great. I was all out on the swim and bike, posted PRs for those to events and Drew did awesome for the run leg. Our time was 1 hours 7 mins 34 secs, which was good enough for 3rd place in the all male relay event!!! I was super excited to recieve a medal and prize. I was thinking this was my last race of the season.

But in September the company I work for was paying for anyone who wanted to run the CVS 5k in Providence. I thought I could just run alittle, but mostly walk the race. Race day came and I was lined up with my sister in law Beth and I just couldn't help myself. I ran most of the race. I hadn't run in months and I was just cruising along at a 9:30 pace. It just felt so good being out there with all the runners. I soaked in every second I was on the course. I did walk a little, probably 3 mins worth. My total time was 32:03. I didn't care about time. I just enjoyed the race itself.

Then in November I decided to walk/run the Mews 5k. I told myself this was going to be my last 5K ever. Alot of people from work were running the race so I wanted to join in the fun. It was a tough one. My time was 34 mins. I walked most of the race and ran when I could. My knee bothered me a little, but nothing to bad.

Now it is December 31, 2009 and I am still trying to come up with some sort of plan for 2010. There are a few races I want to do as a relay and some other side events I would like to complete. I will definately do the Crabman as a relay and the Wild Dog as a relay. I plan on doing the Save the Bay Swim and probably walk the Blessing of the Fleet. I really need to work on my bike and swim speed. I will sort these things out in the next few weeks.

As for 2009, I had some great moments that I will never forget. I need to think about what was good about 2009 and i hope it will motivate me for 2010. I know my knee will never heal, but there are plenty of other races and activities I can do that do not involve running. Don't get me wrong I will miss running. I would do anything to get the chance to do it again, but I need to think about the future.

Thanks to all those who read this blog (which isn't many). Thanks for the encouragement and thoughts throughout the year.

I wish everyone a Healthy and Happy New Year

Shawn

What is Next

The past few weeks I have been trying to figure out what is next for me. I know that weight loss is and should be my #1 priority right now. So far I have lost 14lbs and have a ways to go. I am losing weight to relieve pressure off of my knees. I figure it would only help if I was 30lbs lighter. My knee is not healing so the thought of running again is gone. So that leads me to my current situation. I have been tossing around a few ideas for next season. The race I really want to do is the Firmman Aquabike in September and do a relay for the Crabman Sprint Tri in July. I also want to do the Save the Bay Swim, but that remains up in the air. So I have a few things to figure out before I start really training for these races.

Take care and its almost Christmas!!!!!

Mews 5K

I will be running/walking the mews 5k today. It should be a lot of fun. I will run as much as I can and if I feel anything in my knee I will stop. Plus I haven't really trained at all for this so I predicted my finish time to be around 37mins. We'll see.
Not bad for a run/walk. My left knee is a little sore, but should be fine.

SHAWN MURDOCK
35 M
34:55.55 11:32....Not yet!