QR Athlete Charisa Wernick Earns 7th Place at the San Fransisco Triathlon at Alcatraz

QR athlete Charisa Wernick earned 7th place at the inaugural San Fransisco Triathlon at Alcatraz last weekend. Described as "not a race for the faint of heart", Charisa completed this international distance triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 7 mile run) in 2:48. Wow!

Below is an excerpt from Charisa's race report from this epic triathlon.

The day before the race we went down to scope out the swim. There is no other triathlon swim start that compares. Standing on a 6" rail on the edge of ship in the San Francisco bay facing the Goldgen Gate bridge before a race start is nothing short of breath-taking. And if that doesn't take your breath away, jumping into the frigid water will. The bay was full of swells and waves and often when sighting all I saw was the wave in front of me.
Thanks, Charisa! Congrats on a great race, despite feeling miserable at times! For Charisa's full race report, please visit her blog at http://charisawernick.blogspot.com/[read more]

QR Athlete Scott Johnson Competes at the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games

QR athlete Scott Johnson had a stellar showing at the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games in Madison, WI at the end of July. Scott participated in a number of individual events including running, swimming and cycling, and brought home the medals to prove it! His results from the Games include:

6th in age group in 5K running race

Silver medal (missed gold by 2.5 seconds!) in 500 m Freestyle Swim with time of 6:57

Silver medal (missed gold by 2 seconds!) in 5K Cycling time trial

4th in age group in 20K Cycling Road Race (average speed was 22 mph)

7th overall in the Virtual Triathlon (only double lung transplant recipient in this one)

Way to go, Scott!

You may recall reading about Scott, a double lung transplant recipient and elite athlete, in an earlier post to the QR blog. (http://quintanarootri.blogspot.com/2010/06/meet-qr-athlete-scott-johnson-ironman.html)

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Kelly, QR, and Kona-Part 2

The second post in a multi-part series called "Kelly, QR and Kona", read how QR athlete Kelly Williamson is preparing to be screaming fast in Kona this October. Time at altitude, endurance runs and swims, and some fun time with family are a recipe for success.

Please enjoy Kelly's entry below, prepared exclusively for Quintana Roo fans.

After about 5 weeks out in Colorado, we have returned home, back to balmy Austin, Texas. The trek back was interesting; about 16 hours in the car with 3 bikes, many boxes and bags, a cat and a dog; the 22 pound cat crammed in a small carrier bag. (I though he had died when about 15 hours in, I was poking and prodding the bag and hearing nothing in return. I think the kitty drugs had taken full effect by that point). While the altitude training was incredible and the lack of stoplights and endless climbing even better, it is always nice to be back to home sweet home, even if it is near 100-degrees every day.

The bulk of the time spent in Salida was doing longer rides, very much endurance swims (though I did have a swim partner the last week and we rallied to do a few more challenging sets!) and endurance runs with some nice challenging trail runs thrown in there, many at 9000+ feet. I scouted out a nice dirt road which I took to for mile intervals a couple of times. The Arkansas River is really what the town of Salida revolves around, and we were only a 3 min walk from the river. So, I had the luxury of soaking in the cool river after all of my bike and run workouts and we also enjoyed taking our dog Amico down there at least once a day to play. While scared at first of the water, he became quite the little swimmer and even started leaping off the rocks to fetch his stick. This was by far my most favorite part of the day! We finished off the trip with spending a few days in Durango, CO with my aunt and uncle who live in Bayfield, near Vallecito Reservoir. While this past week (traveling back home) was a 'down week', I did get in a nice 3 hour ride from their place into Durango and back; losing about 1000 ft of elevation on the way in and of course gaining it coming back. The roads are incredible outside of Durango, and it really just makes you want to ride forever; absolutely beautiful part of the country. We celebrated Derick's birthday on August 17th, and he wanted to fish, so we headed to Purgatory where he and my uncle found a stream to spend the day. Thursday was spent in the car for 16 hours, and Friday back in Austin we were greeted with the typical 100's right off the bat. One thing I actually missed about Austin in terms of weather was the air conditioning! Nothing is air conditioned in Colorado, whereas here we at least have some reprieve from the heat!

Friday I did a loosen up-welcome back to the heat-50 minute run and 4000 meter swim, and Saturday jumped back into the volume with a 101 mile ride. I opted to nix the off bike run, since I finished at 2:00 pm and the temps were creeping up there. I believe there is a fine line between doing just the right amount and getting yourself into the trouble zone, especially at this time in the season. I decided best to call it a day and recover. Sunday was a 15 mile run with about 6 miles of this at an up-tempo pace, which was a solid and fully-drenching effort.

Looking forward, I have got 2-3 more weeks of big volume but I will also hit some harder workouts to take advantage of the gains made from being at altitude. I will race the Austin Triathlon on Labor Day, which is put on by Jack & Adams and High Five Events; an awesome, local Olympic-distance event only 4 miles from home! After that will be one more big week and then I will race Branson 70.3, 3 weeks out from Kona, after which the name of the game is R-E-S-T and I have no doubt I will be fully ready for it by then.

Thanks for checking in ~ more to come in a few weeks! In the meantime, stay cool; that is what I'll be trying to do!

...I somehow skipped over the details in my first Kona Update, but while in Salida, I did compete at Steelhead 70.3 on July 31st in Benton Harbor, Michigan. I was lucky enough to come away with my first 'official 70.3' victory, albeit a small field of 4 women, with a big PR of 4:15. It was very cool as both of my parents were there to support me and I also had a handful of friends there (as I am originally from Indiana). Also pretty cool to note that I biked a 2:22 for the bike portion, which was a stellar ride for me! Anytime you only give up a few minutes to someone like Heather Jackson is a good day on the bike. So, this was a little confidence booster to see that my speed has not disappeared since Coeur d'Alene! It is easy to do an Ironman and feel that you lose the 'speed' gear. It was encouraging to see that that gear is still in me. :)[read more]

Support Team Magic and the Gulf of Mexico While Having Fun!

Please support Team Magic and the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission in their efforts to put on a great triathlon weekend while bringing visitors to the Gulf of Mexico. The Brett Robinson Alabama Coastal Triathlon will be held in Gulf Shores, AL and features both sprint and intermediate distances on Saturday, September 11. The festivities continue on Sunday, September 12 with huge prize giveaways to triathlon participants including TWO 2010 Quintana Roo CD0.1 Ultegra bikes!

Team Magic organizers have just returned from a visit to the beautiful coast-there were lots of swimmers and lots of sun! Grab your bike and swimsuit and make a weekend out of it!

For more information on the event, please visit the Team Magic website at www.team-magic.com.[read more]

QR Athlete Wil Emery Shares Insight on Return From Injury

INJURY is a dreaded word for any athlete. The related mental problems can be just as tough as the physiological problems. QR athlete Wil Emery at ACME Multisports appears to have overcome a few issues this summer and is now ramping up again for Kona.

Read Wil's insightful look at injury and why it is so tough to deal with. A must-read for any athlete:

I decided not to do the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon considering I had a tooth out that week. Then I could not participate in the ACME Multisports Music City Triathlon because I was reduced to a limp with my hamstring injury. After much patience and home therapy, I think I'm back on the road. I've played high level sports since I was in college, and while I know better, my fears about getting ready for Kona led me to put in a massive week after my dental problems were over. That was a mistake. The hamstring injury put me down for another week. At least this time I could at least swim, so I was staying active. However, I was very concerned about my leg. I was limping, and could not run or ride without pain. Of course, that did not help with my fears about preparing for Kona. I had to let it all go for a few days, concentrate on my swim, ice my leg, and use my foam roller at home.

Wednesday was the first day I rode my bike in about six days, and after taking it pretty easy I was feeling a little better, but I had no confidence in how much I could test the leg. Thursday was only swim, and Friday I was back on the bike. I don't let this out too much, but honestly, I'm not one for having any lack in confidence, and that was frustrating me. So, Friday it was time to let it out. I'm glad I did, because my leg was feeling pretty good, and while I could feel that I lost the smallest bit of strength, it was nice to know that I could still put in a good effort pain free. Passing another test, I still had to wait to see what my leg would feel like in the morning. Up early today, I was feeling good and looking forward to the next test. Learning from my previous mistakes, I knew I needed to run easy, and also relatively short. This was my first run in about ten days, and much more high impact on the hamstring tendons that had been such a problem. But, my leg was only going to feel better, or hurt, and there was only one way to find out. Plus the only way I was going to feel more confident, was to get out there and make some moves. A somewhat easy 30 minute run followed, and again, I was feeling pretty good. The only problem I had during the run was, I could not keep a regular pace. But, those things come with time and regaining strength and fitness.Thanks, Wil! Good luck on your return to training[read more]

QR Athlete Kyle Pawlaczyk Featured in Hamburg's Sun

QR athlete and Hamburg native Kyle Pawlaczyk is the pride of his hometown. The local newspaper, the Sun, featured an article about Kyle, from his success in high school and collegiate running to his first year as a professional triathlete. Along with highlights from his first year alongside top level professionals he had seen in magazines, Kyle gives a great introduction to the sport of triathlon.

For the article titled "Pawlaczyk eases into first pro triathlon with 13th place finish" by Michael J. Petro, please visit the Sun website at http://www.metrowny.com/sports/864-Pawlaczyk_eases_into_first_pro_triathlon_with_13th_place_finish.html.[read more]