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Tool Concert

red — Fri, 23 Jul 2009 20:23:16 MDT

Jason and I went to the Tool concert last night at the Star Center in Rio Rancho. The concert ranks up there as one of the best shows that I have been to. Most of the songs they played were from Tool's newer albums. I wish they would have played "The Pot" or "Prison Sex" as those are two of my favorite songs. Maynard was hidden in the shadows on the stage so you only could see his silhouette. The onstage props were cool looking and the lightshow was very entertaining. Hopefully, they will come back to Albuquerque or somewhere nearby. Tool's set list from the Rio Rancho show listed below.

Jambi
Stinkfist
Forty Six & 2
Schism
Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)
Rosetta Stoned
Flood
AEnima
Lateralus
Vicarious

2009 Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon

red — Thu, 17 Jun 2009 19:29:15 MDT

Last December I entered myself into the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon lottery. To my surprise, I won a slot to compete in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon on June 14th. Once I found out I was going to be in the triathlon, I committed myself to train for this triathlon for the next 4 months. The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon features a 1.5 mile swim through frigid waters (~54°) from Alcatraz Island to shore, a challenging 18-mile bike ride, and a demanding 8-mile run through the rugged trails of Golden Gate Recreation Area. The entire course is set against the natural beauty of San Francisco. The race had 2,000 triathletes participating and over 20,000 spectators cheering throughout the race course. This is by far the best supported race that I have been in. The bike/run course was closed off to traffic and there were aid stations galore.

As for the race itself, is really challenging. When I jumped off the boat to start swimming to the shore, I was totally expecting the water to be shockingly cold. Luckily my wetsuit helped keep the cold water out and I felt very comfortable during the entire swim. The only issue I had when I swam to shore was I got off track and ended swimming a lot more than I actually need to. I thought the current was going to be a lot stronger and I overcompensated for it which caused me to get off track. Once I got out of the water, I peeled off my wetsuit and put on my shoes so I could run to the main transition area. The run to the transition area was about 1 mile from where I got out of the water and it also allowed me to get the blood flowing through the rest of my body. Once I got on the bike, I was cruising pretty well through the very scenic bike course. There were a few steep hills that you had to climb but luckily living near the foothills in Albuquerque I did not have any issues climbing up them. The run was by far the hardest part of the race for me. I'm not a great runner anyways but there was a lot of vertical climbing involved and it felt like a trail run to me. The sand ladder was quite impressive and I had to walk up that since my legs were feeling fatigued after the 4.5 miles to get there. Once you make it to the top of the ladder, you have to run about another 1/2 mile up to the top of the hill and then the rest of the course is downhill. My legs actually crapped on the last mile or so but I was able to motor on through and finish the race. This was a incredible experience for me and I'm glad I won a lottery entry slot into this triathlon. Next year, I'm considering do the Escape for the Rock triathlon. I definitely want to swim from Alcatraz to shore again that was my favorite part of the race.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Sand Ladder	Total
Ryan Painter	1093	375	51:12	08:34	01:04:22	02:21	04:15	01:26:03	03:32:32

Official Results

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World�s Toughest 10K

red — Sat, 22 May 2009 15:09:0 MDT

The World�s Toughest 10K is a 6.2 mile uphill course that starts out under the freeway near I-25 and Tramway and finishes at the base of the Sandia Peak Tram parking lot. This was a challenging course. I felt pretty good for the first 5 miles and then the wheels came off on the last mile of the run. The last mile of the course is a 12 percent grade and I felt like I was walking up the hill even though I was trying to run up it. The race was well organized and they had hydration stations that were located at the 2, 4, and 5 mile marks. I was hoping to get a Silver shirt but I missed getting it by 2 minutes. Maybe that will be one of my goals for next year. My results are listed below.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Run Pace	Total Time
Ryan Painter	91	21	09:58.8	1:02:01

Official Results

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2009 Jay Benson Triathlon

red — Tue, 11 May 2009 18:03:20 MDT

This was my four year of doing the Jay Benson and I improved my time from last year by 1 minute and 13 seconds. Before the race started, I was adjusting my seat post and broke the bolt on my seat post clamp. I was worried that I was going to have to ride my fixed gear bike and that would not have been a fun ride only using 1 gear. Luckily, I had a seat post clamp from my old Trek bike and was able to use it on my bike. To add to my insanity, I forgot my bike water bottle so I had no water during the race, the battery on my Garmin GPS unit was dead, and I forgot my towel. I've had better mornings. As usual, my run time was not that great and was actually 46 seconds slower than the previous year. I really need to work on running 3 times a week to build up my endurance. I just need to find time to do that. :) I was able to improve my bike time and my swim time. I was hoping to swim about a minute faster but I had a hard time getting around all of the slow swimmers that were in front of me. I also got a nice little battle wound on my ribs from someone when I tried to go around them. I really wish someone would go over lap swimming etiquette. The weather was perfect on Sunday and it was probably the best we've had in the last 4 years. My glad my Mom was able to come out and watch me race on Mother's Day. It was nice to see her cheering me on at the end of the swim.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Run	T1	Bike	T2	Swim	Total
Ryan Painter	46	334	22:27	1:08	33:09	1:40	8:04	1:06:26.05

Official Results

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2009 Atomic Man Duathlon

red — Tue, 27 Apr 2009 09:21:46 MDT

This year I decided to do the Atomic Man Duathlon (Fat Man race). The Fat Man course was composed of 10k run, a 40K Bike (out and back), and 5K run. This was my first 10k run that I have raced in and it was brutal. The run course was a 5k loop that you had to run around twice and there was a nice steady climb up a hill for over a mile (over 200ft climbing)/loop. The bike course was an out-and-back on NM4 highway where you rode to Burnt Mesa trailhead and turned around. The bike section had a lot of climbing involved (~2800ft vertical gain) and most of the climbing was done during the first 12k of the course. Coming back you got to go down the hill in Ancho Canyon, where I was able to descend up to 45mph. This was a nice descent, which allowed me to rest my legs before I had to climb up the other hill in Ancho Canyon. My legs started to cramp during the 40k bike (7 miles in) and by the time I finished the bike and started the 5k run, I was running as fast as normally walk (12 min/mile) :(. This was by far one of the hardest races I have ever done but it was a good measuring point to see what I need to work on. My results are listed below. Next Race for me is Jay Benson.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Run	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
Ryan Painter	56	297	52:23	1:00	1:32:44	1:03	37:52	03:04:59

Official Results

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2009 Spring Fling Tri

red — Mon, 12 Apr 2009 09:58:18 MDT

I decided to sign-up for the Spring Fling Triathlon this year to gauge what sections of the triathlon I needed to work on. I've been running more this year as well as swimming. I have not been able to ride my bike as much do to the cold weather we have been having this past month. When I woke up yesterday morning, the winds were howling and Albuquerque was covered with rain clouds. It was pretty nasty outside. I made sure I brought all my winter bike gear as well as beanie to keep my head warm. Once the race started (run first), it started to rain and it continued to rain even after the race was over. The bike portion of the race was so cold. I was completely soaked the entire time especially on the bike and there was a nice strong wind blowing (avg. ~10mph). My hands were numb for most of the race. Jumping into the pool felt nice since it was warmer than the 39° F temperature outside. The swim part of the race was really bad. There were a total of 8 lanes but you had to swim a first in each lane. It was so hard to get a rhythm because I kept touching the back of the swimmer�s toes and nobody would let you go around them when you got to the wall. If you tried to go around the person in front of you, you had to dodge the oncoming people heading the other way. I felt like I could have swum a lot faster but there were too many slow swimmers in front of me to actually sustain my swimming pace. This was by far the coldest race that I have ever done. It took me a few hours to actually get back to normal body temperatures when I got home. My next race will be the Atomic Man up in Los Alamos, NM. Hopefully, the weather will be nicer then it was yesterday.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Run	T1	Bike	T2	Swim	Total
Ryan Painter	29	939	25:14	1:05	51:24	1:31	8:37	1:27:48.60

2008 Jay Benson Tri

red — Tue, 12 May 2008 17:37:20 MDT

This is my third time doing the Jay Benson Triathlon and I was able to improve my time by about 1 minute and I moved up 20 places from year. I was hoping to have a better time this year but I slacked off on my training preparation for the Benson and I still need to train more for the run. It was pretty windy this year and it seemed like there was always a head wind. I'm happy that my bike time was about the same from last year so I felt like I would have had a better bike time if it was not as windy. Overall, I had a good time competing in the Jay Benson and I'm sure I will be doing it again next year.

Ryan Painter	Place	Bib	Run	T1	Bike	T2	Swim	Total
Ryan Painter	49	307	21:41	1:10	34:38	1:46	8:26	1:07:39.20