Make sure to hit the Kelly’s IronMan Race page for all the latest updates.

Last weekend I drove to St. Louis to fly my remote-controlled sailplanes at the 2008 Mississippi Valley Soaring Association‘s “Gateway Open” content.  Friday was handlaunch, and Saturday and Sunday were the “big ships” – thermal duration. It’s a part of the Ohio Valley Soaring Series.

I managed 3rd on Friday and on Saturday I managed 10th out of 26th in a really tight contest.

Read more about the contest here: Flying Report – 2008 Gateway Open @ MVSAClub.com.

St. Louis soaring buddy Chris Lee took some excellent photos:

Kelly’s been using BeginnerTriathlete.com to help her train for her 2008 Louisville IronMan triathlon. Being the statistic-loving guy I am I went and pulled Kelly’s mileage totals for all of the training she’s logged since mid-April:

2008 totals

Bike:	  1814.42 miles in 122h 30m 46s
Run:	   332.94 miles in 59h 24m 16s
Swim:	    77.50 mi1es (124,865.7 meters) in 43h 16m 45s
Strength:   15h 55m
Canoeing:    2h 00m
Step:	        45m
Walking:     1h 40m

Man, that is far when you put it all together. Far!

Kelly is a total bundle of nerves, and there is still 10 days to go until IronMan Louisville 2008!

Want to help cheer her on?  Check out this handy page that will be updated with all the latest and greatest news and info I can muster: https://thelocust.org/blog/ironman.

Wanna join in the fun? Check out my Socializr invite: http://www.socializr.com/event/686211368

Update: This just in – Kelly’s race number is 877.  We’ll be making signs and such this weekend.

On Saturday, I competed in the 28th annual E. P. “Tom” Sawyer Triathlon (sprint-distance). I also ran in last year’s Tom Sawyer triathlon – my first ever! This year, I just wanted to do better.

…and I did!

Last Year: 1 hour 47 minutes 12 seconds

This Year: 1 hour 36 minutes 44 seconds

Woot! A great race, and I really felt the difference that my training made this year – I was much, much stronger than last year, and it showed. I cut nearly 6 minutes off the bike and almost 3 off the run, and my transitions were much faster. Awesome!

Kelly had the rare opportunity to watch me run a race while she spectated, and she took all the photos you’ll see here, including this one – a real gem:

During the last 50 yards of the run, I saw a guy coming up on my right side and when I looked back he was just behind me, so I took off on a sprint. He responded with “OK, boss!” and took off after me. He wasn’t in my age group and thanks to the seeded swim start, it’s impossible to know what time the other guy is at – but it was great fun and we had a good laugh over it. (Update: that guy is Kevin Maynard, and he finished in 1:32:44)

I’m also turning 30 this year – so I moved into the Men’s 30-34 age group, which helps my age group ranking a bit – 9th out of 22. Last year I was 2nd to last in the Men’s 25-29 age group. Though, had I stayed in the Men’s 25-29, I would have been 10th out of 13th. Age groups are a funny thing though – the race and your locality all play into it making it all a bit of a crapshoot. Though I do prefer to be in a crapshoot of which I finish squarely in the middle.

Being the stat nerd that I am, I took the results that you can find on HeadFirstPerformance.com (2008, 2007) and put them into a readable, sortable Google Spreadsheet you can view online:

2008 E. P. “Tom” Sawyer Triathlon Results (view in browser)

2008 E. P. “Tom” Sawyer Triathlon Results (Excel)

More photos in the 2008.08.02 – E. P. “Tom” Sawyer Triathlon gallery.