7/18/2010 and 7/25/2010 Training with Trace (and Jarvis)

Folks,

For the past two weekends, Trace and I have completed a nearly 2.0 mile course which starts from Northshore Park and mirrors as much as possible the actual CB&I Triathlon run course. Yesterday, Trace, AKA White Chocolate Smoothie, basically tore up the course in comparison to last weekend. Let me explain.

Trace and I headed out of Northshore Park on 7/18/2010 at about 6:00 a.m. We were joined by a friend of mine, Stuart Ford, who was in town from Oregon. The really funny thing is that Trace, me, and Stuart are all lawyers who generally don't like or hang out with other lawyers. So there we were, three lawyers walking together on a Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. To everyone's amazement, I am sure, Trace talked the whole way. There were several breaks along the way and the total time for the 2.0 miles was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

So yesterday Trace and I head out again at approximately 6:00 a.m. The first mile by Trace was the strongest, fastest and most consistent mile I have ever seen him do. On the way back, Trace began to get fatigued. Again, there were several breaks. Before the finish and in his mind, I think Trace believed that he was doing a slower time than last weekend. Wrong! Trace finished the course in 1 hour and 7 minutes, a good 13 minutes faster than last weekend. That is 6.5 minutes faster per mile. White Chocolate Smoothie was moving.

There are several questions to be asked here. Do we ever let Trace walk in a pack of lawyers again? Did Trace's talking last weekend with Stuart tire him out more than the walk? Those questions may or may not be useful but I think the simplest explanation is likely the most reasonable one, Trace is improving.

Well done White Chocolate Smoothie! For those of you who do not like my new nickname for Trace, please feel free to make up your own. He says he hates it but we know he loves it.

Nathan