ITU here I come!!

Well, I finally found a place to get on the internet, and as I sit here at the Austin Public Library, it occured to me that I have not been in a public library in quite some time. This is a shame! I remember when my mother used to take me to story time at the Mineral Wells (TX) public library.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that my training isn't too bad lately, and I've finally caught up on some rest. Now, I will be racing the ITU Pan-American Continental Cup race on Monday. I'm not sure my swim is quite fast enough yet, but I didn't do too bad at the Splash N Dash on Tuesday, so we'll see how it goes. I got crushed by two Brazilian ITU guys out of the water and couldn't quite run them down.

I might have some even bigger news soon, so stay tuned, and I'll let you know how the race turns out and some other stuff going on as well ;)

Hasta,

Yorek

P.S. Please pray that I get my/Justin Litchfield/James Davison's ITU suit made up in time for the race! That would be very bad...and also give thanks that a good friend of mine, Brad Miller, was willing to let me borrow his road bike for this draft legal race. Hope is works out!!!

So Sorry!!

Hello everyone! So, I'm finally back home in Austin, Texas and it's great. Unfortunately, I don't have internet, so I won't be able to be posting much.

Well, I have to go.

Hasta soon!

-Yorek

It's all over!

Hello again!!

Well, it's all over.  I have my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.  That's still very weird to say, but I guess I should just get used to it.  Now, it's over to Kansas tomorrow mornin', then down to Austin, TEXAS on Friday mornin'.  I simply cannot wait.  I'll working at RunTex and training very hard to get into good races, so that I can get a contract and try to get on the ITU scene.

As one would expect, training these last couple of days has been erratic at best. But I'll try to catch everyone up.  Thursday I did absolutely nothing but take my last two finals and clean my room.  Later on that day I went out to see my mother who had rented an RV and was a couple miles outside of town at a KOA with my Gramma and my Aunt.  It was wonderful to see them!

Friday mornin' I got up and went to the pool, but I got to warm up and do 500m at race pace 'til my shoulder started hurting and decided to end the swim session to save my shoulder for the next day.  So I went home and rode the bike for about an hour.  That was it, because I spent the next few hours taking my family around to see the few sites here in Alamosa.  I can tell you about that stuff later ;)

Then on Saturday (graduation day) I got up early (after going to bed at 4 a.m. waiting for my poor sister (Shannon) to get here as she got lost on her way from Albuquerque N.M....she flew in from DFW)  and went on a very easy, chill run by myself to just enjoy the morning and prepare myself for the craziness that would come with graduation.  That was only about 7 miles, and was my only workout of the day.  It was a very long, but very great day after that.  I got to spend some time with Reed and Sean (from the MsM team) that drove up from SoCal Friday afternoon.  Then it was off to dinner with the family.  Great times...everyone was proud and I was proud to have them there.

This morning was a fantastic run with Mr. Matt Levassiur.  About 10-11 miles of just easy running and talking of sponsors and races and life.  He's a great runner and a great guy.  I have learned a lot from him.  Then I went to Campus with my mother, my sister (Mackenzie) and Resie for breakfast, then took my mom and sis back to the RV with my Gramma and Aunt and they all left to go back to Texas.

Now, its back home to pack, perhaps a bit in the trainer later, then getting everything ready for the trip that's comin' tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who has wished me well and supported me throughout my 7 year wait for the college degree.  Now it's time to focus on training and really see what this body can do!

hasta,

-Yorek

Celebrating with a run? What a nerd, haha.

Thank all of you so very much for the prayers that continue to help me. It turned out that the paper I thought was due on Thursday was actually due yesterday. So, starting at 7:45 am yesterday, I went 90 mph taking finals and knocking out a paper. By the time 2 pm came around, I had it all done. I don't know how I did it, (actually yes I do, the grace of God) but I passed all of my finals and turned in the paper on time.

To celebrate this momentus occasion, I went home, put on my running shoes, and knocked out an 11 mile run at about 6:15-6:20 pace, haha. I would have went even further, but I had some issues with under arm rubbing that hurt, so I cut it short.

Anyway, I don't have any finals today, so I knocked out 2 hours on the bike this morning, and I'm about to go run 60 min. with one of the fastest milers in the United States...Aucencio Martinez. He's a former National champ that I ran with at Adams, and has run the 1500m in 3:40 on 4 different occasions. He's due to break that stubborn 3:40 mark very soon.

Then later I'm going to FINALLY get in the pool. I really need to get back to work on my swimming. Once a week just doesn't cut it, haha.

Well, I'll certainly have some things to say after my last 2 finals tomorrow.

hasta later,

-Yorek

P.S. Please say a prayer (or 2-3) for fellow MsM teammate Chris Branson. He's working on finishing up his degree as well, and could use some help coming into the last few days. Thanks!

Finals Week!

Well, turns out, the prayers are working. So long as I pass all of my finals this week (3 on tomorrow & 2 on Thursday) then I will get my degree. Thank you again for your prayers.

I ended up taking the day off on Saturday. Though I needed it, it really threw off my training. So on Sunday I did two hours on the bike, and planned on a run later on in the day that never happened.

Today I did a brick consisting of 90 min. on the bike and then a 40 min. run of a little over 10k with some strides to finish out the day.

I had planned on going to the pool this evening, but I don't think that's going to happen. What with 3 finals tomorrow morning and a paper that's due on Thursday...I'll probably take a hit in training volume this week.

Also, plan on only a couple of updates this week with all this going on. I appreciate it and I'll be back to training hard again the next week while I'm in Kansas.

And just a reminder, I'll be moving in to my place down in Austin on the 15th this month!!!

Hasta later,

-Yorek

$h*& hits the fan!

Ok, so, yesterday...I'm all pumped about getting to graduate, I passed my stupid tech proficiency test, I'm all ready for a hard workout, just have to take this psych test real quick.

Well...I bombed it. I mean, Hiroshima bombed it. Which drops my avg. to a "D". I have to either hope that the prof finds some kind of amazingness in the answers that I gave or that I get a 100% on my final.

That's about all I want to say about it 'cause it really knocked me through the floor. Just say a prayer for me that I snap out of this and things work out.

Once this happened, my motivation for training went out the window and wow did I get depressed. Finally, after my bike stared at for a good two hours, I got on it and knocked out 90 min. in the trainer pushing a big gear...I'm thinking 53-14 or 53-13 something like that.

I still have yet to work out today as the weather here is horrible and it is starting to rain/snow. I'll probably get in a bit on the trainer later, but we'll see. Other than that, I've been trying to clean/pack up my room and get ready to move back to Austin.

In good news, I've signed up for the CapTexTri. I'm hoping that they let me in the invitational wave, but they have certain criteria that I have no idea if I fit. I don't technically have my elite triathlon card yet, and I have no idea where I'm ranked according to USAT. Really...it doesn't matter to me where I start. I just want to hear the gun (horn) go off so that I can let loose on downtown Austin, TX. After training so hard up here, and now with a ton of motivation to go out and show that I was born to do this, I want to light that place up and win overall. So far, my run at the Austin Triathlon (30:56) is the fastest run split ever seen in Austin...I'm hoping to smash it and tack on a nice swim and wicked run with it!

Again, please say a prayer for me over the course of this next week. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and I need all the help I can get.

hasta,

-Yorek

P.S. It is because of you (even if you are the only person in the world that is reading this blog) that I cannot and will not give up on my dreams...and neither should you...

The Last Friday of My Collegiate Career! :)

Hello everyone! First, I'd like to apologize for missing yesterday, I actually got some homework done and started some research on my last paper. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be graduating. Though I never really wanted to graduate or to have a degree, it is with great pride that I will walk across that stage because I know my Grandmother and Mother will be jumping for joy. This has been the longest, hardest, and most arduous race of my life, and I can see the finish line!

Anyway, enough of that, I still have another week where I can mess this all up, haha. So yesterday was finally an easy day. I ran about 8 miles at noon in the glorious sunshine that has been hiding from me this past year. Later on, I knocked out a little over an hour on the trainer to get in two hours on the day.

Today I have my staple brick workout consisting of alternating 800m runs at 2:30 or faster and 5 min. race pace on the trainer. I'm hoping it will be another beautiful day, which is usually not the case here, and to do the workout on the outdoor track. If not, it will be done on the indoor track yet again. Later on I'm hoping to get in the pool.

Well...that's it for now. I'll post up how/if ('cause ya never know with me, haha) the workout went later on tonight or tomorrow.

Hasta,

-Yorek