Paul Asay

The concept of racing at Ironman Muncie started in the Fall of 2010 when I heard that Ironman Corporation was buying out the Muncie Endurathon Half Ironman race.  With Ironman coming to Indiana, and looking for a marquee event for 2011, this was an obvious one.  Not long after I talked to my friend Greg Lucas, and next thing you know we are both making plans to go.  One of the best things that happened shortly afterwards was getting hooked up with Daniel Bretscher as my coach.  He set me on a path to success that began November 1 st and continued right up until race day. Race day itself was a good experience until about an hour before the race after everything was setup and ready to go.  Then the nervousness hit me.  Thankfully my wife Sherrie was there, and made the wait to the swim start much easier on me.  At the swim start I lined up fairly close to the front of the pack with Greg.  Had the opportunity to talk with my fellow B...

This past Saturday I raced the sprint triathlon at Eastern Illinois University called the Redhawk Rampage.  Nice short tune up race for Ironman Muncie 70.3 this coming weekend.  It was fairly small with 70 finishers, but well organized and a lot of fun. Saw a friend and teammate Andreas Mayer there and always fun to race with him.  We are close on the swim and bike, but he has out run me for 20 + years, so we know one another rather well. Started off with a 300 yard pool swim going 1 at a time with 15 to 20 seconds between swimmers.  We sort of seeded ourselves among the 5 -6 minute swim times.  We started in lane 1, and going under the lane lines after each 50 so you end up in the last lane when you are finished.  Didn't focus well at all and had a slow swim.  Out of the water you run down the long hall way on carpet then out the door to the transition area.  Got through T1 in a decent time and hit the bike course feeling good.  The firs...

Last week we had the opportunity to take a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines to Half Moon Cay, and Nassau Bahamas.  While I’m in my key weeks of training for the Muncie Ironman 70.3 triathlon it wasn’t the best for training, but I did get to swim at the best location ever.  If you get the opportunity to visit Half Moon Cay, bring your goggles and plan on a great swim.  Can’t begin to tell you how beautiful this beach is.  What really surprised me as how calm the water is and perfect for swimming.  The beach features a floating safety line with two sections; the longer one is well over a ¼ mile.  Did and out and back swim next to the line to start, then as the crowd picked up I switched to the shorter section and did a few laps next to that line.  The water is crystal clear turquoise that is just as beautiful as it gets.  Just before the cruise I was at my planned race weight of 137.  I haven’t hit a scale yet, but I’m sure I gained a few p...

Having been to Stone Mountain, which is just outside Atlanta, I've watched cyclist fly by as I visited the park.  This time is was my turn as I got to ride and run the paths around the park on the way to our Florida vacation.  Had some time early on Friday June 10th to get in a 20 mile ride and 7 mile run around the park.  Just a great place to ride and run.  Plenty of hills, smooth roads and nice shade to enjoy the morning. Using it as a quality session I pushed the pace hard on the bike till around the 20 mile mark my Ergopower shifter jammed in top gear.  Well I planned to ride further, but no worries, I just put the bike back in the car, fetched my running shoes ran 7 miles instead of 5.   Hills were a good challenge, and the shade on 90% of the course made it a lot easier than it would have otherwise been. After heading back to the hotel I got sometime in the afternoon to check Google what the problem with the shifter might be.  Found an artic...

This past Saturday I rolled out of bed early and headed down to Jasper Indiana for the Spirit of Jasper Duathlon.   This was the weekend I had planned to race the Rev3 Knoxville Triathlon, but the North High School Senior Prom sort of got in the way.   Jared is a senior this year and so his plans for the prom preempted my travel plans for the weekend.   Well after a losing argument with Sherrie!  Thankfully Rev3 rolled my entry to next year, so very appreciative of that. My last trip to Jasper was probably as a college student, so needless to say it has been a long-time.   I arrived in Jasper by 7 am, just as the transition area was opened.   This was a first-time event, with a 5k and a duathlon which consisted of a 5k run, 15 mile bike, and another 5k run.   The first three bikes in transition were all serious aero machines so I knew from the start the competition would be good.   As soon as I got in line to register Nick Waninger, a friend a...

This has been a stressful week as Race Director for the Terre Haute Triathlon in just two weeks.  Not just sweating the details which is always the case, but also concerned that registration numbers are way down.  Too much competition on the event schedule for a limited amount of triathletes seems to be the real issue.  At least that’s how it seems to me anyway. Today the weather was much better, sun was shining and I was able to run on my lunch hour today.  I’ve been nursing a strained calf muscle, so my running has been limited.  Somehow that really seemed to improve my mood.  As I was thinking about the race, it is much more about the athletes that show up more than it is about numbers.  The best thing we can do as a race team is build an event that really focuses on providing a safe and fair race giving the racers the best opportunity for success that we can. Thinking on that I wrote the following on the Registration page for the race: The Thund...

Couple of months back my boss asked me if I would attend a conference in San Francisco and stay over a couple of days for a specific training class.  Thought about it for like a millisecond and said yes.  The only day that didn't feature the conference or class was Sunday April 17th so I took a look a what was going on that day.  Turns out the Presidio 10 run was on tab that features running across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Needless to say the only decision was to run the 10k or the 10 mile race, settled on the 10 mile (full effect) course. Race day arrived and I got there early just to make sure I knew where I was going and to relax a bit before the start.  It was maybe 50 and cloudy with a brisk breeze.  However, the scenery is nothing short of amazing.  The race started exactly on time and I line up just a bit back from the start.  The first mile is lots of uphill running till a turn around.  Running nice and smooth, trying to save it for...