2012 Goals

Looking back on my short triathlon life I feel like I’ve been all over the board with my goals.  The first year it was simply to finish the swim leg without drowning.  The second year I had a couple of key races, but no real goals.  Last year I had a clear goal of qualifying for Nationals, which I did in my first race.  Unfortunately that left me without a goal for the rest of the season  This year I’m putting together a series of goals, with tier two goals should I complete the first ones too quickly.

Running
I want to run a marathon, in less than four hours, and feel like I want to do it again.  With only one marathon on tap, this could be a challenge.  If I come up short, then I’ll have to look at giving it another go in November.

Swimming
In virtually every triathlon I’ve done, my pace has been the same:  2 minutes per 100M.  This includes my first sprint, my half Ironman races, and even the races this past year.  My goal is to drop that pace.  Specifically, I want to do the HIM swim in 35 minutes, whereas previously it has taken me 40 minutes.  Today I could swim 50, maybe 100 meters that fast, but not much further.

Triathlon

1. I want to put together a complete HIM distance race, like I did at Nationals this year.  When I was done with that race I felt like I had completed each leg to the best of my abilities at that time, and they lined up with my pre-race expectations.
2. I want to break 6 hours in a half Ironman.  Note:  This should be easily accomplished.
3. Tier 2:  In conjunction with goal #1, I want to hit a race a peak conditioning, to enable me to finish in less than 5:45 minutes.  To do this I will need to hit my swim goal time, my best bike time from 2 years ago, and a solid but not crazy half marathon.

If you got this far, you know what I want to accomplish this next season.  I put it here so that it is in writing and I will be accountable.  However, I don’t need to be reminded of them.  So if you see me out there before a race, please be kind and don’t mention them – until after the race is over and I have accomplished one or more of them.

One week, three tests

Last week, as I prepared to get into the serious training, was my first set of fit tests.  Coach uses these fit tests to determine where I am at the moment, calculate my power ranges on the bike, and my run paces.  I’ve never done a swim test before, so I’m not sure what she will do with that.

So these tests are nothing new.  I knew they were coming, and I also knew that I was going to hate myself for losing the conditioning I did over the off season.  All I could do was go out as hard as I could and hope that the damage wasn’t too bad.  Here is what I did, along with a grade I gave myself.

SWIM

I said I’d never done this before, but that isn’t entirely accurate.  I have done swim tests, but nothing of this magnitude.  Coach had assigned me this test weeks ago, and for whatever reason I was unable to make it to the pool that day, or any day before this test for that matter.  I hadn’t planned to take a swim test on Wednesday, but that is what the master’s team had on tap, so that’s what I did.  After the warm up, drills and explanation, I swam 10x100 with 10 seconds rest in between.

I did great on the first one, great for me that is.  Only I knew it was faster than I would be able to maintain for 9 more 100’s.  True to expectations, by lap 4 I was pretty gassed.  I just couldn’t get enough air, and tried to hold on.  By the 7th 100, I was counting down the 100’s until I would be done.  On the last lap I thought for sure I was going to take a big gulp of water and have to stop midway through.  Somehow I miscounted, and I wasn’t at all happy when I figure that out.

I was supposed to negative split the second half, well that wasn’t going to happen.  If anything I did the opposite.  I did save enough so that my last 25 meters was the fastest of all if that counts!

I averaged 2:09 per 100, which is probably 6+ seconds that it should have been, and 15 seconds slower than I want it to be.

Grade:  C

BIKE

Fortunately for me I hadn’t totally blown off the bike.  I’d done some rides, and even worked in several spin workouts on my vacation.  I still expected to be disappointed.

During the warm up I did some short uphill climbs (this is all on the trainer mind you).  With the first one my legs started to burn and I figured I wouldn’t be able to hold even that pace for my test.

The test was 20 minutes of as hard as I could go.  I had an idea from my warm up of what gear I could handle, so I put it in one higher and just started pedaling.  Cardio was again the real problem.  My legs could have gone harder, but I thought my breathing was pretty maxed out.  With a couple of minutes left I went up one more gear and watched the clock.  It was freezing outside but I was dripping sweat, and totally spent when it was over.

I had a feel for what my computer read, but didn’t know what it meant until I got inside and downloaded the file:  I’d gone harder than my training levels at the end of the season.  This is huge for me.  I finally feel like I’m making progress on the bike and maybe this year will be the one my bike starts to improve!

Grade:  A

RUN

This was going to be ugly.  I haven’t run 6 miles since August, and spent a lot of the time in between nursing that darn hamstring.  I thought my legs might have healed up, but I didn’t think there was any way I’d be able to run any where close to what I was doing last year.

The test was simple:  run two miles to warm up, with a couple of 15 second sprints (strides) thrown in to get the legs going, run 2 miles as fast as I could, with the second faster than the first, and then cool down for 2 miles.

I knew with the first stride I was going to be slow.  I was going at what I thought was a pretty good clip, looked down, and saw I was hitting 8 minute/mile.  Considering this was a 15 second sprint and that I wanted to do 7:00 and 6:30 for my two miles, I was way off!

Whatever!  Focus on what you can control, I told myself.  When the two miles started, I just ran, much faster than I had been.  My watch would have told me how fast I was going but I avoided that section of the face, instead focusing on the distance (boy did those miles tick down slowly!)  I was so focused on running (and not being able to breath) that I missed hitting the lap button at the mile mark.  I was only a bit off, but still it was irritating.

I did pick it up for the last mile.  I kept telling myself just to hang on, that it was only 8 minutes or so, and I can do anything for 8 minutes.  Well that wasn’t true as I know I slowed down the last couple of tenths.  I was totally sucking wind.  I hadn’t planned to walk after those two miles, but it was either that or throw up, and I figured the lady walking her dog on the other side of the road wouldn’t appreciate the latter.

I regrouped and was able to start running again, actually fairly quickly, and at a much better pace than I expected.  I made it home, downloaded my pace file, and found I was about 30 seconds slower than I’d wanted.  Considering how little I’ve been running lately I should be pleased.  Of course being the person that I am, I’m not!

Grade:  B-

So that’s where I was last week.  It is what it is, and now it is time to get to work and improve those numbers.  I’d better quit typing and get off to the pool then!

And so it begins

I always seem to be more excited about the season at the beginning than at the end, and why should this year be any different?  I’ve picked a few key races that are pretty exciting to me, and if my body holds up to the challenge it will be a great year!

First up for me this year is a marathon in early March.  I ran one 30 years ago and swore at the time I would never do that again.  It has taken this long, and several decent triathlon seasons to get me to try it again.  If I race any before then, it would have to be a half marathon in January.  Seeing how that is only three weeks away I’m not sure I want to take up that course.

My other two key races for 2012 are both half Ironman.  When and where aren’t so important as the distance.  The objective of these races to me seems obvious:  I feel a climb to the Ironman summit in the near future.  I know which race I want to do, the only question is when.  Will it be in 2014 like I plan, or will I be more aggressive and try in 2013?

Stay tuned to find out…

2011 Age Group National Championships

Well I did it!  Back in March I achieved step one of this year’s goal, which was to qualify for Nationals.  This past Saturday I achieved step 2, which was to do the race.  Here are my thoughts about that race.

The day before the race, at bike check-in, I was able to sync up with two fellow athletes from Team RW&B.  Mike and Laurie are super nice people, great athletes and an asset to the team.  I especially like Laurie’s enthusiasm towards her volunteer work.

This was a big race, perhaps the biggest I’ve done so far, but certainly the largest Olympic distance race I’ve done.  There were a lot of bikes out there, and just about every one of them was a time-trial bike.  There were also a LOT of very fit looking people there.  Normally when I go to a race I can walk around as one of the more fit looking ones – not so in Burlington.  It wasn’t until the sprint people started showing up that I saw people who weren’t in incredible shape.

The venue was awesome!  While it was warmer race day than it typically is in Vermont, it was much cooler than what I was used to in Houston!  The water was warmer than I’d expected, and wished briefly that I’d brought my sleeveless wetsuit, but once the race started I never thought about it again.  This picture was from before the race started, when I was in my “I need to vomit” mode.

The water wasn’t very clear, but it was calm with minimal current and didn’t taste too badly.  I started near the back of the swim pack to avoid getting mauled.  Everyone was so fast that I was quickly alone and swam almost the entire race by myself.  By the time I got out of the water, I only saw one bike left in my area.  When you are racked by age group that isn’t typically a good sign!

It was a very nice bike ride, and I’m glad it was only 25 miles.  The course was one of the hilliest I’ve raced so far, and I would have struggled on the run if I’d had to do 56 miles.  I’m not sure if the first part was hillier or if it was the wind, but I was much quicker on the back half.  Everyone out there was quicker than me regardless.  There was a constant stream of bikes going by me, men and women both, and the only people I passed were in there 70’s!  The hills were steep enough that I think I used every gear I had.  I stood up on a couple of them to try and power up past people, but the exertion required was distressing my hamstring and I wanted to save it for the run.  As it was I hit and held power thresholds I’ve never seen before.  While it ended up not being my fastest 25 miles, it was by far the most intense!

Pretty quickly I was off my bike and out on the run.  I had no idea how I was doing relative to my goal, but I was so far back in the pack that I stopped to give high-fives to all my fans that were there. 

They were on both sides of the road, so I had to zigzag for a bit, but it gave me some extra motivation.  I would need it too, as the first 1/4 mile was up a serious hill.  Every time I thought I had reached the top I would see that the road had turned and we still had more uphill to go.  I passed several people walking, which gave me hope that I might make up some of my lost ground.

Someone told me before the race that it was all downhill after the first hill.  That got me through the first hill, even though it took me another 1/2 mile to get my breath back and HR down to a maintainable range.  They had lied to me though.  There were a couple more hills and a long false flat.  The latter appeared about the time I pick up the pace, and I doubt I ran much faster.

I remember thinking a couple of things on the run:  My water is hot, why am I still carrying it?  Where are the downhill sections?  Mostly though I thought about walking.  My leg hurt, I wanted some cool water to drink and I was plane old tired.  I kept thinking about what coach had told me:  no one will know if I walk but me and how I had people waiting on me.  In the end my mind held up and I kept running.

Everyone was there cheering at the finish.  I took my medal, water and stumbled away from the crowd looking for them.  At this point all the pain and suffering of the past year fade away and everything is smiles and happiness.  You ask why I race, this is why!

Of course this doesn’t hurt the cause any:  Ice Cream from the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Stowe with my parents.

Oops!

Have you ever had one of those days that start out wonderful, and then something odd happens and you are left with your mouth hanging open like a fish?  Well I had one of those Saturday.

With my big race less than a week away, my training for Saturday was pretty light; just a 2 hour bike ride.  Since I’d already shipped my time trial bike to the race site, and I didn’t feel like driving all the way to Magnolia to ride on my road bike for just 2 hours, I decided to do the local club ride.  They said it was 40 miles and 2 to 2.5 hours at 18-20 mph.

The ride lived up to expectations.  The pace was close to 20 mph most of the time, but being able to draft it was a very easy ride.  Towards the end of the ride I was getting a bit bored with all the stops and starts, and was ready to be done with it.

I stuck around the bike store for a few minutes, but not knowing anyone that wasn’t very exciting and I went home.  Not being very tired my mind wondered all over the place.  I remember noticing how the recycle hadn’t been picked up yet, saw that Kelli wasn’t home and was wondering where she might be when all of a sudden I heard a huge crash above my car where the garage door was.  My first thought as I looked up was that the garage door hadn’t opened all the way (which has happened in the past) and it caught my bike rack.  I quickly realized the problem was much worse!

I got out of the car to see my bike, still attached to the roof rack, obviously broken and in a lot of pain.  I had to back my car out of the garage to survey the damage, wondering firstly if I had scratched the roof of my car.  While my roof rack is slightly bent, nothing seemed to be touching my car.  Getting my bike off the rack was a bit tricky, as the frame was literally in pieces, held together only by the cables.

I don’t know if the normal stages of grief apply in this scenario, but I know I went through a few before I was finally able to smile just a bit at how comical it really was.  I mean seriously, how many people try to drive into their garage with a bike still on the roof of their car?

As you can see by the two photos below, the garage survived relatively unscathed.  The bike, on the other hand, has seen better days.  I’m not sure what I will end up doing with the pieces of what used to be my bike, but for now it hangs in the garage as a reminder of what happens when you forget about what you are doing!  By the way, I was still so shocked when I took this picture that I didn’t realize the rear wheel was upside down and couldn’t figure out what happened to the bottom bracket!

The moral of this story is:  If you can’t laugh at yourself, you may find yourself in a room full of people as the only one not laughing.

Keeping my chin up

With just 10 days left before my big race this year, there isn’t much I can do to improve my fitness.  At least that is what I have to tell myself as I struggle with a hamstring injury that just won’t go away.

The good news is that the pain hasn’t been so bad that I couldn’t gut it out if I needed to.  The bad news is that by not wanting to cause further damage I’ve had to cut back my running.  Coach revised my schedule, again, and removed all running until Sunday, and even that is scaled back.

At least I will be well rested come race day, although I might go stir crazy without my run workouts!  I will also need to watch my diet until race day.  I don’t want to gain weight because I’m not working out as much.

I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a long 10 days!

Headed back to Airrosti, really??

Today, with mixed emotions, I’m headed for a visit to Airrosti.  I’m very hopeful that they will be able to give me some relief from this hamstring injury that has been plaguing me for 2 1/2 weeks.  I kept putting off this visit thinking that a bit of an easier scheduled would give it a chance to heal, but with Nationals only 3 weeks away I don’t have any more time to waste.

I indicated I had mixed emotions, which is putting it lightly.  I am VERY hopeful for the results, but I am also fairly anxious as I remember how much it hurt the first time I went in.  Compounding the concern is that it might actually be two different areas that are injured.  With only an hour until I have to leave maybe I’d be better off working on deep breathing right now!

My workouts this weekend pretty much trashed me for the rest of the day.  I wonder if the other triathletes I know feel the same way.  I mean seriously, after my Saturday and Sunday workouts, I spent most of the rest of the weekend sitting on the couch reading a book or trying to take a nap.  Is this how they all feel, or am I too old or pushing myself too hard, or just a wimp?  Maybe I’ll query some of them to see how they do it.

Have a great week everyone!

My “A” race, part II

As I thought about this while doing an easy spin during lunch, I figured I’d better clarify something, even if just for myself.

Yes, I am going to the US Nationals this year.  You have to qualify for this race, and the standards aren’t THAT easy, so most everyone going will be pretty fast.  I’ve looked at the results from last year and most of the people in my age bracket are VERY fast!  No matter how many times I’ve reviewed last year’s times, they haven’t changed and no one got any slower.

For this race I’m going back to my old ways of not racing the other people, just racing against myself.  I’ve set a personal goal time of 3-8 minutes faster than my best to date.  While that time would be awesome at most races I’ve done, it will likely land me in the bottom third of my bracket.

It doesn’t sound very impressive when I think of finishing in the bottom third, and yet I’m excited about the possibility.  It came up in a conversation with one of the professional triathletes I’ve recently come in contact with (sorry Hillary B. and Jessica J., I can’t remember which of you it was), and she asked me if I was a glass half empty or half full type of person.

I don’t want to speculate on how I look at things in general, but in this case I am definitely a glass half full person.  I don’t care if I finish 40th, 50th or 60th, because on that day it is a snapshot of where I stand amongst the best in the nation at that distance, and whatever my place it will be awesome for me!

I will also have a great fan base there to cheer me on which always helps.  I want to cross the finish line with a smile, get pictures with everybody and enjoy the moment because I don’t know if I will ever make it back again!

Watch out Burlington, here I come!

Getting ready for my ‘A’ race

At the beginning of this season I sat down with coach and outlined my goals for the year:  To qualify for and race in the USAT National Championships.  I qualified with the first race of the season.  Everything since then has been about getting ready for the race, my ‘A’ race.

I try not to think about my ‘A’ races too much as I end up putting too much pressure on myself.  Fortunately I’ve been busy with racing and camp which didn’t leave me much time.  Unfortunately USAT has been bombarding me with almost daily emails reminding me about “The Big Day”.  That makes it a little tougher to not get stressed about it!

So, where do I stand?  I haven’t raced in a while, and in my last race the swim didn’t quite go as planned.  I’ve got a final tune-up race in about 10 days.  It is a sprint distance, so the purpose is to shake out the cobwebs and any lingering concerns over my last race.  The catch is that 10 days puts us in early August and it should be a pretty hot day.  Oh well, it should only last an hour or so!

I did have an excellent camp earlier this month.  I gained a lot of fitness strength and knowledge, but at what I hope isn’t too much of a cost.  While doing the running drills I tweaked my hamstring, and it is still bothering me a bit.  I’ve scaled back my training this week and will continue to do so until I can’t feel it anymore.  Right now it only bothers me when I run uphill or at a faster pace.  Obviously I will be avoiding both of those for a while!  I’m not sure if I will do this next race if it is still bothering me as it just isn’t worth it in the grand scheme of things.

I had my first encounter this weekend with cramping in over two years.  The first time it happened I didn’t know what it was.  This time I still didn’t realize it until it was all over, mostly because I’ve never had cramps in my quads before.  Thinking back to the first time it happened (after my first Olympic distance triathlon) and how my legs felt this time it is now obvious to me what was going on.  Fortunately both times it was when I was through with my race/run as I’m not sure what I would do if that happened in a race.  I do know this:  I’m going to work hard to try and prevent it from happening again!

After a day off yesterday and a very easy week last week (other than a solid weekend) I feel very rested, almost like I haven’t been training.  I’m ready to get back at it, gently.  I do need to get in some good quality workouts before the big race, mostly for my head, to remind myself of what I am capable of doing.

Let’s see how this week goes and how the hamstring feels!

Rockies Peak 2011

I’ve just returned from a ten day trip to Colorado, which included a four day camp called Rockies Peak.  I planned the trip to arrive several days early, which would help my body acclimate to the altitude.  While I suspect that it helped some, it wasn’t long enough to overcome all of the challenges of training at over a mile high.

I was able to get in one decent ride before camp, a simple out and back on the road between Boulder and Golden, and it was a good indicator of what was to come:  a long slow uphill followed by a long fast downhill.  Living in Houston it is difficult to get in any hill work, but I’ve done a fair amount of threshold training on the trainer which is supposed to be the same thing.  The biggest difference I saw was the length of the hill.  I found myself putting out maximal effort 20+ minutes, not my normal 5.  When combined with the lack of oxygen, the road out was very difficult and had my breathing maxed out of quite a while.

I won’t bore you with the details from all the workouts.  Here is the gist:  I sucked wind for all of them, especially the swim.  I hadn’t really thought much about swimming at altitude, though I’m not sure why since I’m always breathing hard at home when I swim.  While I was finally able to find some sort of a groove swimming, it was a long time before I could go further than 50-100 yards without needing to catch my breath.

I did finally get some quality swim assistance and coach pointed out a couple of areas on which I need to focus.  I sort of knew about one of them and have been working on it on my own, but obviously haven’t been successful at solving that problem.  I got pointers from several coaches and can’t wait to put them to work!

I toyed with doing an Olympic distance race the day after arriving and am very grateful that my coach told me no.  I suspect they would have had to rescue me from the swim 100 yards from the shore!  Instead I volunteered and met Miranda Carfrae, the reigning Ironman world champion who was there to cheer for “her man” Tim O’Donnell.  I should have paid more attention as Julie Dibens was also out there cheering!

Yes, the training was intense.  It’s been two days since camp ended (both of which I spent driving) and my legs are still sore and tired.  I probably need to get out for a little jog or bike ride to shake them out.

The best part of camp wasn’t the actual training (though I loved it all), it was the interaction with the high caliber coaches.  There are many camps out there, and what set this one apart was the coaches.  If you follow the sport at all you know Kelly Williamson, Hillary Biscay, and Richie Cunningham.  It was awesome to see that they are all just like every other triathlete I’ve met:  nice and more than willing to help out and pass on their knowledge.

We discussed things such as hydration and nutrition, sweat rates, pacing, stride lengths, swim drafting, dolphining for a shore entry, race strategies, which races to run, equipment and numerous other topics.

Practicing my dolphining start.	This is where we started our first bike ride, and ended up somewhere up in those hills.	Day 2 of the bike rides, preparing for our hill time trials. That was an intense 11 minutes, and most of the people were even faster!

The million dollar question is whether I will come back again next year. The only hesitation I have is due to the cost of camp and being away from home for 10 days and the long drive. That aside, I’m in 100%. However, I think I would invest in a different cassette, better suited for riding in the mountains!  It is worth pointing out that I was the second oldest triathlete present, the only one coming from sea level, and one of only a couple that came from a very flat area (is Indy flat?), which definitely put me at a disadvantage.    Next year I’d want to bring along some other Houston people so I wouldn’t suffer so much by myself!

Here are more pictures if you are interested:  Rockies Peak Camp pictures.

Thoughts before camp

Sorry, but I’m a bit behind in my blog due to work and travel constraints.  I’ve got a few things I’d like to say before I kick off Rockies Peak – the training camp in Colorado Springs.

I have been in Colorado for a few days to try and get used to the altitude a bit before camp.  I haven’t been able to get in all the training that I was supposed to, but what I did do was pretty good.  Both my runs and bike rides have been on roads that are much  hillier than anything I’ve done before.  I was certainly struggling for air a number of times, but at least my legs didn’t complain too much.  I’m not going to be here long enough to fully acclimatize, so I may never know if my wind problems were from the altitude or from the extra stress from the hills.

I wish I lived here!  Riding a bike on the roads is common in most areas, and while some drivers may not like it, it does seem safer than riding in Houston.

It takes a LOT of stuff to come here for 10 days when some of the time is for training, camping in the mountains, and everyday clothes!

Despite assurances from coach that this isn’t supposed to be a smash-fest, I’m a little concerned that the other coaches aren’t on the same page.  That said, I’m really looking forward to working with some other coaches, and having time to question them all about a variety of topics.  I jotted down my questions before leaving; I have a page and a half!

I wonder what the age and quality spread is going to be at camp?  Well, I leave to check in to camp in about 5 minutes, so I won’t have long to wait.  Tonight is check in, an optional swim, and them introductory dinner.  Tomorrow we start things off with an early morning swim, a bike ride, and then a running clinic.

Despite being nervous, I’m pretty psyched about the swimming, as I will finally be able to get some help with my swim!

Wish me luck!  I’ll try to post some updates at least every other day.

The joys of being a triathlete!

Saturday I’d planned to write about what a great training week I’d had.  Because I do want to mention something else, this summary will be a bit abbreviated.

Normally my weekend training starts on Friday, with everything building up to my swim Friday, bike Saturday and my run on Sunday.  With a race last weekend we moved around the training somewhat and my weekend started on Thursday with a brutal ride and run combination.  Either workout was difficult on its own, but with both in the same day it was a solid start to a 4 day training weekend.

Having had a rough swim at my last race, I pushed pretty hard on my Friday swim, and finished the 3000 meters in 5-7 minutes faster than normal.  It could be due to the actual workout that I finished earlier than normal, but I went to bed that night with very tired shoulders.

Next on tap was a 3 hour bike ride.  I figured it would be hot, so my fluids were loaded with electrolytes, and I brought a frozen bottle of water for after the ride.  There was road work on one of the roads I normally ride that I didn’t want to traverse twice, so the out and back became a loop, a loop of whose distance I wasn’t really certain.  The hills on the new roads are a bit better than my normal route.  They also have less traffic and more shade as I rode through the state park.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this course.  It is also longer than my normal route.  I ended up going 3:23 hours.  The entire time I repeated to myself that I’d rather do a longer ride than have to go over that rough road again.  It’s about one hour from my start to Grimes county where the road work started, so anything longer than 2 hours will have to use some other route that I’ve got to figure out.

Before I jump into my Sunday run, I need to disclose  the chain of events that got me where I am now.  Wednesday brought Houston the first real rain in almost 150 days.  It was a wonderful feeling running in the rain.  Many years ago I hated it, but after running in the heat for so long it was a welcome respite.  Unfortunately my shoes didn’t dry in time for my Thursday run and running in wet shoes gave me blisters (which popped and tore up) on both insoles.

I made sure that my shoes were good and dry before running again on Sunday.  I also started out with band aids to protect the raw areas.  As I stepped out of the house I couldn’t believe how humid it was.  It wasn’t hot, but it was like a steam room.  Within minutes I was soaked, and not long after that I could feel new blisters developing and the old ones flaring up.  I’d planned to run to the trail, do 5 loops, and then run home.  Halfway through my second lap I knew I was tearing up my feet.  I decided to run one more lap and see if it was getting worse or had stabilized.  I’m not sure if it got worse or not, but I knew that doing two more laps was going to do me more damage than the extra 3 miles would do good and abandoned the run.  It was a good thing too, as the first step on the hard road surface really started doing damage.

After limping home I removed my shoes only to find them soaked.  I’d sweat enough to make them as wet as earlier in the week when running in the rain.  My feet looked exactly how they felt, with new blisters and callus damage now on the heels.  The band aids I’d put on as protection didn’t stay adhered to my sweaty skin and those areas were exposed and more torn up.

Needless to say I won’t be running sockless for a while so my feet can heal, especially with camp coming up in two weeks and Nationals not much later.  I’ll be working up a plan to deal with this in the next few days/weeks, but it is suffice to say that I’ll be wearing socks on my longer runs, and trying different things for race day.

Ah, the joys of being a triathlete!  And to think that a full Ironman may be on the horizon makes me wonder what other tortures I will put my body through.

Not the gift I wanted, but I’ll take it

I started my Father’s Day with a short race at Lake Pflugerville, north of Austin.  I raced up there earlier this year and really enjoyed the venue.  The swim is in a small lake that is pretty clear, the run on a crushed gravel trail, and while the bike course had some cracks (probably due to the heat and lack of rain) it was pleasant and fast.

I was a bit anxious about the swim because it was my first non-wetsuit open water swim this year.  I’d watched the kayaks struggle to get the buoys in position, and the choppy water, but for what ever reason didn’t think about how that might impact my swim and maybe adjust my strategy accordingly.  I positioned myself where I would for any other swim, and took off when the gun sounded.

Not far into the swim I realized two things:  I was out near the front of the pack, and I’d gone out way too fast.  I pulled back some and then the real problems began.  The chop made it difficult to get regular breaths, and people caught up to me and I started to get pounded.  I remember one guy swam halfway up my back, and then stayed there.  I finally reared up and kicked him hard in the stomach to get him off.

I told myself to settle down, put my face in the water and just get into a groove.  The chop just wouldn’t let me and I finally grabbed on to a kayak for a bit to try and settle down.  I couldn’t believe how hard the swim was, and had to stop at the halfway point.  Two stops in just 250 meters!  My mistake here was in not getting a good sight on the next buoy.  I was so excited to be going with the current and finding some clean water that I didn’t realize I’d sighted in on the wrong buoy.  It’s no wonder my water was clean, I was headed back to the start instead of the finish!

At about 100 meters from the start I ran into another kayaker, where I stopped to figure out what was going on.  I didn’t stay there long because he told me I was cheating.  Although all the rules I’ve ever read said that I could stay there as long as I wanted as long as he wasn’t assisting my forward progress, I wasn’t really in a position to argue and took off for the finish line.

When I finally got out of the water I was absolutely disgusted.  I walked out of the water with my head hung low and very upset.  After just a few steps I started running.  At first I told myself that I was going to use the rest of the day as a couple of hard workouts.  Someone passed me on the bike while I was putting my feet in my shoes, which further angered me.  Once I was fully cleated in I took off.  I passed that rider back within minutes, and then started to reel in other riders.

I used my anger as riding fuel.  As a result no one else passed me the rest of the day, perhaps because all the fast people were in front of me!  Regardless, I had one of the best bike rides ever.  I had neglected to reset my computer before the race, and didn’t realize it until I was some distance into the ride.  That meant that I had no idea how far I’d traveled or how long.  This was actually good for me because I focused on riding hard by feel and not what my computer was saying.  I did finally notice someone had written big numbers on the road, which I think represented the miles remaining.  I’m not certain that’s what they were because I didn’t really pay attention to them.  At one point I calculated what my finish miles would be using those number, but then didn’t really use that.

I passed a LOT of riders on the back side where it was into the wind and hilly.  I figured that would slow down once I hit the front side as it was very flat and with the wind.  As I hit the freeway I really pushed and kept increasing my gear.  I was holding about 33 mph and still flying past people, people with nice bikes that I know thought they were going fast.

Before I hit the last hill I pulled my feet out of my shoes for a quick dismount, only to turn the corner and discover another up and downhill.  I couldn’t go quite as fast this way, but there was a large group of people I wanted to get in front of before the dash to transition.  Approaching the dismount line for my flying dismount I saw two cyclists blocking the line while they dismounted.  I did the best I could to go around them, and heard someone comment “now that’s a dismount!”

I knew I’d pushed myself hard on the bike and wasn’t sure how much I had saved for the run.  The thought of blowing up like the previous race entered my mind, but I was still pretty angry over my swim.  I was so focused on what I was doing that I climbed the hill before I knew what I was doing.  I thought I’d missed the timing mat and started my watch for the run, only to encounter it further on once I was on the track.  Someone came running up to me to hand me a cup of water which I took.  I gulped down some and then dumped the rest over my head.  Only the wind was so strong I completely missed my head!  I checked my pace, and at 7:30 thought I’d better back off or I’d never finish.  I don’t know that I really ever used my watch again.

The first leg of the run was into the wind, and while it was difficult running, I told myself that it was hurting the other runners more.  I continued to pass runners, and it wasn’t long before some of them started walking.  I saw one guy in front of me that looked stronger than most of the others around me.  I was still thinking that most of the fast people were in front of me, probably long done, until he started to pull away from me.  That didn’t sit well so I tried to pick it up and stay with him.  I was actually closing the gap when he pulled over to the side of the trail to, get this, put his cup into a trash can with a lid!  I was shocked, but used it to pass him.  I heard his footsteps behind me for a while and expected him to pass me back, but his steps died and he never showed up again.

With one mile left I passed a fellow age grouper.  I felt guilty for passing him so late in the game, but not enough to slow down.

The last leg was back into the wind and was really tough, especially because I was determined to pick up the pace even more.  I tried to draft off of other runners, but they were all going to slowly for anything but a brief respite from the wind.

I finished very strongly, and while I feel like I gave it everything I had on the run, I wished I’d had another mile to run down some more people.  I finished 5th in my age group, two minutes off the podium.  There is little doubt in my mind where I lost those precious minutes, nor any doubt that I will be working harder on my swim in the months to come.

Surprisingly I am pleased with my race.  I was able to overcome a horrible swim, not putting it out of my mind but using it as motivation to work harder on the remaining events, and really had a great bike and run.

And for anybody who might be following, yes I did run the tangents on the course!

The shortest distance

If you have done much running, then you are familiar with the concept of running tangents and please skip to the next paragraph.  It follows the idea that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Instead of following the right or left hand side of the road/trail, look ahead and choose a path that goes straight through the curves.  I wouldn’t recommend this on a road unless it is closed off, but it works great on trails.

This season I’ve gotten back to running our local trail as the crushed gravel is easier on my joints and most of it is shaded.  It does wind a lot and I use that to practice running tangents.  It’s not that taking the inside of curve is complicated, but as you get more and more tired it is progressively easier to just stay on one side.

It would be easier for me if this was my personal trail and no one else was allowed.  Alas, that isn’t the case and I find myself having to dodge walkers, runners, dog owners and baby strollers.  Bicycles aren’t supposed to be on the trail (I’m not sure why), but they do allow baby strollers, even the double-wide model that takes up most of the trail.  I digress though, let me save that rant for another day!

It is an obvious decision, if the road curves to the right, to take a straight line and end up on the right side of the trail.  I’ve tried doing the math in my head while I run as to how much distance I’m saving.  At first I thought it was just twice the width of the trail.  I can’t imagine that is accurate or correct.  Perhaps I need to get out there with a tape measure.  I’m sure the other runners would appreciate that!

There is bound to be a mathematical formula to calculate the distance for staying in the lane vs. running the tangent.  I suspect it will require values for things I don’t know, such as the width, length and curve of the trail, which puts me back out there with my tape measure.  Instead, I resigned myself to the fact that I’m taking the shortest distance and not knowing by how much.

Here then is the real question, one I have posed to a math wiz, a math wiz runner, and my son who is burning up money at UT Austin as a computer science major:  What if the curve is just a little curve such that running a straight line wouldn’t cause you to change sides of the trail?  Maybe it just moves you out of your lane by a foot or so.  Taking the straight line would be shorter, but here is the interesting twist:  the trail on this sorter path isn’t as nicely worn as the outer part of the trail and it takes a bit more energy to run on it at the same pace.

This is where it would be helpful to know how much distance I was saving by running the tangent.  If I was saving 2 steps by running the tangent on the harder part of the trail it might be worth it, whereas if it was only a few inches it might not.

Everyone has their own opinion, but no one, even the math wiz runner, has one based on any sort of math.  Until I hear differently from someone who can speak with authority and a conviction I can believe, I’m going to stick with my gut and only run tangents when I think they will shorten my total run time.

CapTexTri is always tough

I remember last year thinking this was a hard race.  Maybe when I’m done here I will go back and read last year’s report and see what I had to say.  That’s what I remember though, it was tough.

I’d been in Austin for a couple of days before the race, and it had been super hot.  I was prepared for the heat with extra water, electrolytes, and a strategy that I thought would hold up.  As we will see shortly, heat wasn’t the problem.

I won’t go into details about my last minute mechanical problems, or the lunatic racked next to me that thought he was God’s gift to triathlons, or my anger at finding someone had moved my bike overnight.  Suffice to say it was a stressful morning and I couldn’t wait for the race to start.

The water was cold, so I wasn’t real thrilled with treading water for 8 minutes, but that is what they wanted.  I hung on to the dock to conserve energy which meant that once the race started I was at the back of the pack.  The swim lanes were pretty wide and it wasn’t long before the pounding and thrashing was over.  I tried to find some feet draft off of, but every time I found some I ended up swimming right on by.  That is the problem with starting in the back.  I focused on keeping my cadence down, long strong strokes and before long the swim was over.  I did have some trouble getting my balance coming out of the water and needed several helping hands to get going.  They had wetsuit strippers this year.  As I plopped down to get stripped I remembered I hadn’t tied my shorts after my last potty break, and hoped she wouldn’t pull down more than she expected!  No problems though and I was quickly back up and running into transition.

While the run to the mount line is pretty long, I was soon off on my bike, only to hear some serious banging and clanging coming from the back of my bike.  One more stroke and I knew something had come loose and was banging around in my spokes – the sensor for my bike computer!  This usually happens when I change out my rear wheel.  I’ll bet you can’t guess where my mechanical problems were before the race!  It didn’t take me long to fix and then I was really off.  I’d used up most of the early flat area before discovering the problem and now had to quickly get my feet in my shoes as we were going up hill.

The goal for today’s ride was to push myself harder than I have in the past to see what happens on the run.  I’ve been doing well coming off the bike all year and was looking for the line that said I’d gone too hard.  I’d gone back and forth with several racers on the first three laps, so I really pressed the last lap and never saw them again.

One thing crossed my mind once I finally got off the bike;  uh-oh!  My legs were their normal wobbly self, but a pain in my hip made it difficult to manage even a simple jog.  I told myself just to keep going, get out on the run, and then figure out what is going on.  I’m not sure when it started, but before going 1/2 mile I had bad cramps in both sides of my stomach.  “Just keep on running” I said, it will work itself out.

I stopped at the early aid stations and dumped 2 cups of water (this would climb to 4 cups by the end) over my head.  I wasn’t hot yet, but it is much easier to keep cool than get cool.  One mile into the course we turned around, right into a brutal head wind.  It had been a mostly cross wind on the bike so I hadn’t thought about it much.  I was going to give it plenty of thought on the run.

Aside from the early stomach cramps, I could feel some rubbing on my left ankle.  I was irritated at myself for not doing a better job of securing my timing chip.  I even thought about carrying it in my hand, but wasn’t sure how the race people would feel about that.  When it started in my other ankle I figured it was my shoes and that it would be a fairly painful run.

I was doing ok for the first 3 miles, but around marker 4 the wheels fell off the bus.  I walked first through the aid station, and then a couple of other times as well.  At one point, with just over a mile to go, some girl behind me shouted some words of encouragement.  I made sure to track her down at the end, because I never walked again.  I saw Natasha about 1/4 mile from the finish line and she was telling me to push harder now, that I could die at the end.  I was already dying, but I did manage to hold to that pace until the finish.

In the end I set a new PR by several minutes, knocked 15 minutes off of last year’s time, and moved up about 180 slots in the overall standings (this morning it was up to 230, so I’m not sure what the real standings are).  I should be pleased, and I would be if I hadn’t of had such a bad run.  I remind myself that part of the goal was to find that line on the bike that I shouldn’t cross, and this was probably it, but it still bothers me.  I was passed by two peers on my last walking session.  Usually it is the other way around.  I don’t feel badly that I walked, I had to.  I feel badly because I had to walk.

I’m sore and beat up, but today starts another training week and I’ve got to get back at it.  Now that I’ve documented my thoughts, I can put the race behind me and move on.  Lessons learned and more experience gathered.

Finally, a night before the race post!

Not only did I remember to update my blog today, but I have time, and most importantly a little something to say!

For me, the day/night before a race is all about keeping things positive and distracting myself so I don't get all worked up. Well things just aren't working out this time!

It started with a simple request at the front desk: point me to a place where I could get some spaghetti that is within walking distance. I knew there was a Spaghetti Warehouse a few blocks away, but it was further than I wanted to walk. There was also a place across the street that had lasagna, but my normal plan is for spaghetti.

I take off for this place that ends up being a 20+ minute walk, mostly uphill. I should have taken the hint when I walked in and they asked if they could help me. I'd like to eat some spaghetti I replied, not sure exactly what he thought I was there for. Then, instead of walking me to my table, he pointed the way!

I got to my seat, and was handed the menu when problem #2 was discovered: there wasn't any spaghetti on the menu. Oh yeah, and it cost twice as much as the warehouse. Oh well, I wasn't going to leave now so we figured something out.

Dinner done, I walked home, only to be almost hit by a bus in the hotel parking lot. Really? Don't they know this is Austin and the pedestrian rules?

Finally I make it to the lobby, along with 3 bus loads of high school band kids with their instruments! I swear I heard them tell one boy he was in the room next to me, but seeing as how they haven't shown up yet I'm hopeful I was wrong. I'm back in my room now, with my feet up, trying to down another bottle of water or two and find something interesting on TV.

The magic question is how do I honestly feel about tomorrow? I told coach earlier today I feel stale as I haven't had a real hard workout in 3 weeks. Coach told me I should be fresh, which is true. My body does feel rested, maybe it's my mind that is stale. Other than New Orleans I haven't had to dig into the mental well for a while. I guess I'll find out tomorrow as conditions are ripe for a tough mental day.

My only complaint is that my hamstrings are still bothering me a bit. They seem to do ok once I get warmed up, so I'm hoping the bike will do the job. On the other hand, they started bothering me more the further I ran. It's a good thing this is only a 10K!

Once again I'm going to try to push harder on the bike. I was told not to watch the power, so I'm going to ride hard enough to keep the burn going whereas I usually back off to just below the burn point. I'm also supposed to start the run a bit faster - then again it could be hot so I'm not supposed to go out too fast. Looks like it will be a race day decision!

Coach said she was going to be out there volunteering, so I've got to make sure I look good when I pass the aid stations and finish strong!

Ironman Texas and our Homestay

Ironman Texas was two days ago.  We were fortunate enough to have a professional triathlete stay with us for the duration of her time in Houston, aka a homestay.  I tried to sign up for the program with WTC, but they just didn’t seem that interested and never replied to my submission.

Fortunately for us I said something to the captain of the Team RWB Triathlon team, and she was looking for someone for Jessica Jacobs.  We really didn’t know what to expect with the homestay and didn’t get very much guidance from anyone.  In the end we treated her like a family member and had a wonderful time.

Jessica’s husband Jake, and her daughter Kasey showed up a couple of days after Jessica and they too were wonderful.  I took what time she shared with us and tried not to get too much into her space, what with the big race and all, though I certainly would have loved more time with her.

We may never see any of them again, but I truly enjoyed our time together and hope that we can stay in touch!

This was my first Ironman experience.  I spent two days at the expo getting caught up in Ironman fever (it is very contagious) and by race morning I was again thinking I could and should try this one day.

I volunteered at the swim start, which was a boring job and I wouldn’t do it again; although I did get to see the mass start from up close and personal.  It was amazing to see over 2000 athletes churning up the water.  It wasn’t wetsuit legal, but a bunch of people chose to forgo the opportunity for a Kona slot (like that was going to happen for them!) and wore one anyway.  My only action that morning was helping one lady who started in a wetsuit and then decided she didn’t want it any more.  I just looked her up, and she did indeed finish in 16:22, with a swim time of 2:14.  I think the swim cut off was 2:20.  I heard that several people didn’t make the swim cutoff, including one guy by only 20 seconds.

After the swimmers passed me by I walked over to the swim exit in time to see the first swimmers coming out.  I stuck around long enough to see all of the professionals exit, including Kelly Williamson in first place, and my homestay Jessica.  It was then a long walk back to my car to find the run aid station where I would spend the next 7 hours.

At the aid station we spent the first hour cutting up Power Bars, and oranges, filling cups with water, coke and some Gatorade type drink.  I finally moved down to the sponge station where I spent the bulk of my time.  I got to see all of the pros come by and handed many of them ice-cold sponges.  I don’t know how they did it, but they would be eating with one hand, cups of water to drink in the other, and still grab several sponges!

The run was a three loop course and we were able to watch the race unfold as the runners came by.  I got to see American Tim O’Donnell run from fourth into second place, but the best part was watching Kelly.  The first time she came by she was in 8th or 9th place.  by lap two she had moved up a few spots, and by the last loop she was in 3rd place.  She ended up in second place and the first American.  As this was the US Championship, Tim and Kelly are the reigning national champs!

I also watched Jessica, who didn’t have as good of a day.  It started when we all overslept.  They only overslept by a few minutes, whereas I overslept by over half an hour.  I was so late that I couldn’t lead them to the Woodlands, and they ended up getting lost!  I don’t know exactly how she did on the swim, but she was near the end of the pack of the professional women.  Once out on the bike course she lost all of her nutrition early on and really suffered.  By the time she came by on the run she was really hurting.  I don’t think she saw me until the second lap.  This time I got up right next to her as she walked by.  I asked her if she needed anything and she just wanted me to talk to her.  I walked with her for a bit, where she told me she was sorry for not doing well and promised to finish the race.  I didn’t have any magic words for her, and she ended up dropping out at the end of the second loop.

I learned a lot about a lot of things this weekend.  The professionals are human like the rest of us, and we all can have good and bad days.  The question is what will we do the next day.  I know what Jessica did:  she got up and went for a run, played with her daughter, took a nap, and went to a fund raiser for Team RWB.

I went to the fund raiser dinner as well, where I bought an original oil painting done by Christina Quijano.  Here is a picture of it that was posted on the Internet:  Triathlon painting.  Anyway, the painting was sold by silent auction, and Tim O’Donnell and I got into a bidding war.  I suspect this is the only time in my life that I will beat Tim!

So ends blog Monday, another day that I spent getting tortured by the dentist.  Hopefully I only have one more of these in the near future.

The race that almost wasn’t

This race almost never happened for so many reasons.  My health hasn’t been that great, and then I developed a problem in a tooth requiring a root canal Wednesday.  It wasn’t until Friday morning that I decided for sure that I was going to go at all.

The drive by myself was hard, and I found myself wishing I hadn’t come.  Then I got to the race site and conditions were horrible.  It was very windy, which really was stirring up the water into a choppy mess.  While checking out the water Saturday afternoon I saw they had sunk a boat, not a good sign for an easy swim.  Everyone kept saying the wind would die down, so there was hope.

On my easy workout Saturday morning, I got a flat tire.  I had a spare, but needed to find another one for the race.  I drove all over trying to get a replacement.  It was after 3 pm before I finished my chores for the day and was able to sit down and relax – NOT the way it is supposed to happen.  When I started winding down for the evening I thought to myself that I wasn’t prepared like I wanted to be, and wished I had stayed home.  I told myself that if I didn’t race I would never know how I would have done, and that was it.

Race morning found the wind just as strong as the day before (where it was 17 gusting to 30).  I walked out to the water to check out the course and there were no buoys in place.  Long story short, the swim was cancelled due to the water conditions, and replaced with a 2 mile run.  I talked to several people who weren’t happy with the decision to cancel the swim, probably all strong swimmers.  In my opinion it was the right thing to do.  There were too many people out there that weren’t strong swimmers, and with limited support (no kayaks, and the jet skis were really fighting the waves), it was just too dangerous.

I had no idea how to approach this new run-bike-run format.  I can run 2 miles pretty quickly, but what would it do to my bike and second run leg?  I decided not to use my watch to time the run, and just go by feel.  I started off slowly, but had dropped to a reasonable pace by the end for an average pace of 7:50 or so.  It wasn’t a mass start, but my wave was all the men, and many of them started at the front when they had no business up there.  I really hate that!

My racing shoes are made for getting them on quickly, not so much for removing them.  I got one off and then tried to loosen the laces.  That was backwards and I fought with them for what seemed forever.  Also, I needed to take off my sunglasses before putting on my helmet.  This was a transition I hadn’t practiced and it showed.

Finally out on the bike I really noticed the wind.  It seemed to be mostly cross winds which made it hard to hold my line.  As we were still bunched up from the mass start, there was a lot of passing going on.  I saw several packs of riders.  They were making no attempt to pass, happy to just ride in a group which really bothers me.  I never felt much of a head wind, focusing instead on staying tucked in, making myself small, and focusing on my power.  My power seemed a bit high, but my legs felt ok, and the pace was in the mid 18s.  When we turned around at about mile 17 the wind was gone, evidentially it had been more of a head wind than I thought.  My pace picked up to around 23, that should give me a good bike split.  I got passed by two people in my age group, but they were too strong for me that day to try and stay with them.

There weren’t a lot of bike in transition when I got there, usually a good sign.  When I took off on the run my legs felt ok:  not great, but certainly not bad.  I was out there early enough to see the leaders coming in on the run.  They were flying and covered in sweat.  That surprised me a bit; with all the wind I was actually a bit cool.  At mile 1 I caught my first peer.  I told myself I had just run into 9th.  I’m not sure where I came up with that, but it was my motivation.  I wasn’t going to let him catch me from behind.  I really needed to pee, but wearing a one piece uniform that would be complicated.  I decided to skip the pit-stop and made up my mind I wasn’t going to walk at all, not even through the aid stations.

At this point there just weren’t that many people out there.  I didn’t think I was going to catch anyone, so I was going to finish in 9th.  I finally caught someone at the base of an overpass, another peer!  I leaned forward, picked up the pace, determined to capture 8th place.  About a mile later, coming down a hill I caught another one, I was in 7th.  I saw one last person in front of me, but with only 1/2 mile left I didn’t think I would catch him, and had no idea if he was even a peer.  At the six mile mark I did in fact catch him.  I thought for sure he was going to pass me at the finish line so I kicked it into the next gear.  It was a tough time to run fast as it was on gravel with lots of turns.

And then it was over!  I’d actually finished 5th, good enough for a nice little trophy for my office.  I’d also qualified for the HyVee championships.  Not a big deal for how small our field was.  I had already decided I wasn’t going if I did qualify, and then I heard them talk about the race.  Getting in to this race is hard.  There are races in DC with 4K entrants and NY with 6K, and they have the same number of qualifiers as my little race with 350.  I suspect more people will sign up for this race when people find out how easy it was to qualify at here.

So do I go to this race, where less than 100 people in the US in my age group will get invited, knowing I would probably be the slowest one of them?  Or do I take my trophy and invitation and run?  I don’t know yet, but with only two weeks to register I will need to decide pretty soon!

I couldn’t figure out where to put this without disturbing whatever flow I had going, but I think I could have run faster.  I was going pretty quick by the end, and could have gone further at that pace, so obviously I could have started that pace sooner.  I’m going to have to find out how to convince myself during the run that I can go faster.  I guess I will have to risk blowing up at one of these races to do so!

Tapering, but not enjoying myself

Normally I enjoy taper week.  I find myself with a lot more free time to sit around and read, watch TV, work on my honey-do’s and sit in the backyard enjoying the peace and quiet.  This week has started off a bit differently.

I did have a great weekend last weekend.  My workouts were a bit shorter, and I was surprised how fresh I felt after I was done.  I felt so good in fact, that I wondered if I’d pushed hard enough.  I knew I had, because during the workouts I made sure I was putting for the the effort I deemed appropriate for the weekend before a race.

So with several solid build weeks and the beginning of a taper week underway, what could possibly be the problem?  I made a tactical decision last week to get a couple of crowns put in.  While I am still a bit under the weather from my stomach ills, I figured two weeks would be enough time for me to be back to form.

Maybe under normal circumstances that would have been true, but of course nothing works out normally!  On Thursday I was still having pain in the area, and by Friday afternoon I knew something was wrong.  Unfortunately the office was already closed for the weekend.  I managed getting through the weekend with regular doses of Tylenol (including a 2 am dose), only to find out Monday morning that they couldn’t see me until Tuesday.

I had a brief conversation with the dentist yesterday, who promised to call me back regarding possible antibiotics and pain pills.  He also mentioned the dreaded words:  root canal.  Needless to say the thought of a root canal just days before a key race are not very exciting to me, nor is the thought of doing the race with my current situation.  I think that given a choice between the two I’ll wait on the extra work if I can get something that will allow me to be pain free for more than 4 hours, but not make me a blithering idiot.

A third choice is to cancel my race.  I really don’t want to do that because races are expensive, and this was a key race for me this year.

I’ll let you know how it all comes out, maybe after my current dose of Valium wears off!

My legs know what to do

I have to say that the body is an amazing thing!  I continue to be surprised with what it is able to do, I have only to tell it to do so.  I’m beginning to understand how most of the battles we have in endurance sports occur between our ears.

I saw something on the Internet recently, I don’t remember the exact quote but it went something like “Your legs know what to do, it’s your mind you have to convince.” 

If you race triathlons, at some point you will find yourself at an intersection.  The road to the left is an uphill run, against the wind, sunny and not the road you will want to take.    The road to the right is easier:  walk.  In between the two is a rest stop, where you can stop, put your feet up, get a drink, and start resting; an oasis away from your pain.  Which road will you take?

Of course this is a figurative intersection, but if you do triathlons long enough you will get there, trust me!

I wish I could say I always too the road on the left, but alas I cannot.  Several times I’ve taken the road on the right, and at least once I’ve stopped at the rest stop.  Afterwards I’ll briefly berate myself for taking the road on the right, but it is the rest stop that stays with me for a LONG time.

Obviously I don’t have a magic solution for always taking the road to the left.  If I did I would use it!  What can say is train like you want to race.  If you come to that intersection during training, don’t waste the opportunity to force yourself to take the correct path.

I had one of those yesterday.  When I got up my legs were dead, and I had a 10 mile run on tap.  The first battle was just getting dressed and out on the road.  I’ve found that getting to the starting line is half the battle, and if I can just get started…

Of course once I started I knew how dead my legs were.  I might as well have had sand bags attached to my feet.  My pace was slow and lumbering, but I kept going.  Within half a mile I’d lost the sand bags and was on cruise control.  I didn’t think I could do my 5K pace, but with 10 miles on tap it wasn’t necessary.

It was amazing to me that my legs responded and did what I asked them to.  In fact, I had no problem putting in a couple of faster miles towards the end.

In the grand scheme of things this was just another training day, but it is mental fuel I can use next time I get to that intersection.  I’m not sure when next I will come to that intersection, but when I do I hope that I will remember that my legs know what to do!

Oh yea, and my legs are even more tired today!

Whew, one tough build week

Sorry I’m a little late with this week’s update.  My best friend from High School was in town Monday and we spent the day catching up, and yesterday just got away from me.  I’m trying to get this done before today gets crazy.

Last week as a pretty tough build week as I get ready for my first big race of the year:  New Orleans 5150.  Coach and I built my schedule around this race and the championships, so I hope to be in top form.  To get there means lots of work these last few weeks.

The good news about last week is that I finished it strongly.  Friday through Sunday are usually my longest workouts of the week, and I managed the pull them off.  I was a bit worried about the run on Sunday as I started off that morning with very tired legs.  The beginning of the week wasn’t so good.

Monday I found myself pretty tired and worn out from the cumulative effect several weeks of racing and traveling, with a colonoscopy thrown in for good measure.  For the record, I don’t think two days off to deal with a colonoscopy should count as a day of rest.  Anyway, I ended up skipping my Monday morning swim to try and get some energy back.

Tuesday I had on tap a really tough bike ride in the morning and a strong run in the afternoon.  I misread the instructions for the bike, and started the first of my five my intervals to hard.  By the 3rd I had peaked and couldn’t hold on for the last two.  It’s funny how three minutes can be a very long time when you are really hurting!  When it came to the threshold section of my workout I simply had nothing left.  For the first time in a long time I failed to finish the scheduled workout.

There was a day when that would have really messed with my head and gotten me down.  I told myself that I had a bad day, left it at that and moved on.  Coach told me that I’d started too hot and was too aggressive in my plan.  Maybe for that day, but I still think I could do what I tried to do.

The rest of the week went as planned, even the run later that day.  It was an exhausting week though and I’m glad to be done with it!

When you need strength

I watched my first triathlon this weekend.  I also volunteered so I could get up close and personal with the athletes as they came out of the water.  While I saw a lot of smiles all day, there weren’t a lot of them as they stood up to climb through the sand and up the hill after the swim.  Now I know that the look on my face when I finish isn’t unique!

I got to witness my good friend Natasha Van Der Merwe kill the race taking first place overall for the women anchoring the race with a run pace that isn’t even on my chart, not even for a 400 meter interval!  I saw one guy (Jamie Cleveland) finish the swim in half the time it would have taken me, and another (Peter Mallett) crush the field with a 5:15 minute/mile pace on the run.  Really guys, that is just sick!

There were, however, two athletes there in whom I was particularly interested:  my father and older sister.  Their stories are wonderful; full of hope, inspiration and strength.  The next time I find myself struggling to complete a workout or feeling sorry for myself because I’m tired or it’s hot or windy or whatever excuse I might come up with at the time, I will use them as an energy shot.  Thinking of them and what they have been through will give me strength.

Deb Lockwood

My sister Deb is 5 years older than I.   Forgive my ignorance, but 5 years is a lot of time when you are a little kid.  Her interests were far more sophisticated than mine, though I did inherit her “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album which I played all the time.  I don’t know that she was particularly athletic growing up, but she was at one point involved in a master’s swim team, and pretty good from what I hear.

I don’t want to say anything here that she might not appreciate, but it was obvious that she gained some weight as she got older.  It was like the elephant in the room, something that everyone knew but no one talked about.

For whatever reason, Deb decided it was time to lose the weight.  Somewhere along her weight loss journey she decided it would be fun to do a triathlon, and attacked the training like a rabid pit-bull.  Despite needing shoulder surgery, she toed the line yesterday, determined to do this race.  I watched her swim, bike and run, all with the smile of a person confident she could do it (Ok, maybe she didn’t smile while she was swimming, but you get the point).  I saw her bike split and worried she had made the classic rookie mistake and spent too much energy on that leg, especially when her smile at the beginning of the run wasn’t a big (she had just twisted her ankle).

They disappear for a long time on the run, and you wait and wonder what is going on.  Did they have problems and have to withdraw, are they hurt or walking; where are they?  Suddenly there she was!  She was approaching the finish line so much sooner than I’d expected I almost missed her!  She was still running, and was ahead of much younger and thinner racers.  It is hard for me to say who was more proud when she crossed the finish line, what a wonderful race she had!

Deb might not appreciate me telling everyone how much weight she lost, but I can safely say this:  The announcer mentioned another racer’s weight loss journey, and my sister lost much more than her, and she is looking great!

Arnold Lachner

My father was never athletic when I was growing up.  A favorite family story is of how he went running with another of my sisters and he lasted a block.  He was in his 50’s back then, and the experience changed him.  He took up running, finishing one marathon and was training for another when he was injured and had to back out.  When his knees finally gave out he took up cycling.  I remember coming home from the Army, thinking I was in good shape, and he would put the hurt on me during long bike rides.

Knee problems continued and he was forced to abandon his beloved bike.  He started lifting weights and swimming, though as a former smoker he couldn’t swim 50 yards without gasping for breath.  Somewhere along this journey he suffered a major heart attack.  With his priorities firmly in place, the first post operative question he asked was will this improve my cardio!

It took me a year, several doctor’s visits for both his knees and heart, and some nutritional changes, but I was able to convince him to do a triathlon.  I think he was the the one who got my sister to also sign up.

During his training he suffered a calf injury.  He couldn’t run without pain.  He changed up his training to focus more on the bike and run, until he cut his arm and couldn’t swim.  I know he thought about quitting, probably a lot.  I would have understood if he had quit, how many of us in his shoes would have?  Amazingly, a little rest and regular usage of a foam roller worked that out and he was back running.  The cut on his arm healed and he was able to get back into the pool.  Unfortunately he lost several valuable weeks of training and started the race less prepared than he would have liked.

I was right next to him as he got out of the water.  I’d like to say he smiled at me as he walked by, but he didn’t.  He was focused as he walked up the hill, straight to his wife, who received a kiss.

I didn’t see him again until he came charging up the last hill before climbing off the bike.  He looked very strong, even standing up for a bit.  I wonder if he ever used his granny gear?

It was awesome to see him come running around the corner towards the finish line, yes running!  After more than an hour and a half of strenuous physical exertion he was still running!  The announcer gave him huge props as the oldest athlete on the field, at the tender age of 77.  Oh, did I forget to mention that my father was doing his first triathlon at 77!  He ended up winning his division, beating the nearest competitor by almost 40 minutes, despite giving up 9 years!

All in the family

I am proud to announce that we now have two more triathletes in the family.  Both of them have expressed interest in racing again, maybe later this year.  Then a crazy thing happened:  Deb’s husband and her son said they want to do a triathlon, then Deb’s daughter and her roommate chimed in as well.  The target race is still nearly 6 months away, but it looks like we could have 7 family members sign up!  I wonder what the record is?

All I can say to everyone (including myself) is that if you put your mind to it, there isn’t much you cannot accomplish!

The happy finishers:

Lonestar Sprint 2011

The Lonestar half-Ironman last year was my first attempt at that distance, and the first (and only race) I was unable to finish.  That left a bad taste in my mouth for a long time, and I was looking forward to a little revenge.  Completing a sprint as revenge for a half Ironman isn’t the same thing, but I did want to remove some of the mental voodoo the course had in my head.

One thing I didn’t put in my pre-race report was my plan.  I didn’t write it because it seemed audacious, and I was afraid to commit it to writing.  Here it was:  Go out fast on the swim (redline it was the phrase I used), make everyone have to work hard on the bike to keep up, and then really go on the bike.  If they wanted to beat me they were going to have to really pay for it.  That was the plan at least,  red-line all the way!

Pre race

I got to the site plenty early even though we had assigned racking.  It was chilly, so I walked around looking at people and bikes to keep warm.  At one point I came back and was looking at my bike, only to realize I’d forgotten to attach my bike computer!  I would have been fine without it, but it sure is nice to have.  It was my first race in a one piece race suit, and this one is very tight.  I’d tried it on a couple of times, but when I put it on and was walking around I felt pretty self conscious.  I actually took the top off my shoulders and put on a T shirt until it was time to leave the area.  With all these distractions I forgot my pre-race gel.  In fact, I didn’t think about it until I was on my bike.

The Swim

I was so relieved to finally get in the water, even if it was pretty cold.  I positioned myself at the front of the pack and treaded water for 4 minutes, during which time I got pretty cold.  The gun sounded and we were off!  Right away I felt the cold water inside my goggle.  I swam a bit more to make sure it was leaking and not just the initial shock.  When it kept filling up I paused long enough to give it a firm push with the palm of my hand to try and get a seal.  That didn’t work, and I did the rest of the swim  with one good eye.  Funny, I think this happened last year too!

I went out like I planned, really pushing the pace.  About halfway two things happened, my arms started getting tired from the pace, and I started catching people from the wave in front of me.  I kept the pace up for a while, but eventually had to back off a bit for fear of not finishing.  Even still, I passed a LOT of people in the water.

The Bike

That was to be the theme for the day, passing lots of people.  I ran past people on the way to transition, suited up, and then passed people on the way out of transition.  Using my new mount I was off in a hurry.  With my heart still racing I kept pushing.  There was a section with a no passing zone (boo!), and another with several speed bumps, but once we hit the seawall I was off.  I could feel a lot of cross winds, and while my power was pretty high my pace was lower than I wanted.  I assumed there was some headwind involved, ignored the speed and focused on keeping the power up.  I was passed twice on the bike, once by a mystery guy and once by a young lady.  I wanted to try and keep up, but they were too strong for me.  Everyone else was another story!  I passed people, a lot of people.  And I didn’t just pass them, I flew by them.  It reminded me of last year, only in reverse.  I thought I was having a pretty good bike.

At about mile 10 I passed a guy in my age bracket.  No mercy I thought, really push now and break his spirit.  I suspect there was some tail wind on the back leg because I was really flying.  I saw a speed in the mid 20’s a lot.

The Run

When I got into transition the first thing I noticed was that there were no bikes in my area.  Since all of old people seemed to be right together I figured I had gotten off the bike in first place.  All I had to do now was hold on.  After fighting a shoe that just didn’t want to go on I finally started the course.  My legs were heavy, maybe a bit more than usual, but I’d pushed harder on the bike than before.  I glanced at my watch and it said I was doing 13:30 pace!  There was no way I was running that slowly, I’ve never run that slowly, at least not since I started training for triathlons.  Maybe the GPS had lost its signal or it’s some crazy average pace for the entire race.  After running a couple more minutes I checked again and this time it said 13:45!  I never looked again because whatever it was displaying was useless.  That was probably the best thing that happened to me, it forced me to run based on how I felt instead of by numbers on my watch.

I was passed by another young lady who was really flying, and then a young guy (trust me, I check the ages as they pass!).  I tried to hang with the young guy, and then he faded and dropped back.  My pace felt slow, I was thinking about 8 minutes/mile, but it was all I had.  I continued to pass a lot of people, all younger.  Towards the end a couple of non-racers passed me, and I worked to stay with them.  They were very nice and encouraging, even reminding me to breath.  He must have been deaf, because I was certain they could hear me breathing over the entire course!

The Results

Once it was over I got a quick stretch at the massage tent, then headed over to check the results.  I was shocked and a little disappointed when I saw that I’d finished second.  I just knew I’d won the race.  It turns out that the mystery rider who passed me early on won.  I beat him everywhere but on the bike, where he smoked me to take 6th overall on the bike.  Don’t bet me wrong, I am very happy with my results.  The run, the one that felt so slow was at 7:02 pace.  That was after tearing up the bike with what I feel was my best effort to date.  2nd place was good enough to qualify me for Nationals again, so maybe the last race wasn’t just a fluke.

What’s next

After a couple of days to rest and recover, it is time to get back after it.  New Orleans 5150 is just around the corner, and with my newly charged confidence in tow there is no telling what could happen there.  I do think that with 5 or so more races on the schedule for this year, I could have a couple more podium finishes in store.

Hold on to your hats, this is going to be one CRAZY ride!

Twas the night before Lonestar

It may not be the night before a race, but if I wait until this evening I will probably forget, again.  So, without further ado, let’s take a quick inventory to see how we are feeling for tomorrow’s race.

Sleep:  While last night wasn’t the best night’s sleep, it was ok.  I got plenty of sleep the other nights so I should be ok here.  I might get time for a nap today, but I think that would be a mistake, making it more difficult for me to sleep tonight (as if I need any help there!)

Legs:  I noticed this morning while I was brushing my teeth that my legs were a little tired.  They aren’t too bad and should be fine tomorrow since today is a short swim.  I did a little run yesterday and opened it up for a couple of minute intervals.  That felt great!  I easily dropped to 7 minute/mile for the first one, and by the end was running sub 6 minute miles.  I think they will respond nicely tomorrow.

Neck and shoulders:  They were a little sore and stiff last night, perhaps from too much sitting around on my taper week.  I don’t notice it this morning, but I haven’t been up for an hour yet!

Stomach:  Here is the million dollar question, how is my stomach?  It is better than last week or pre last race, but still not normal.  I’ve been avoiding almost all dairy and that seems to have helped.  I’ll continue to skip it today, and then throw caution to the wind with my traditional post-race pizza!

Head:  Mentally I think I’m good.  This is a short race, so I haven’t spent much time thinking about it.  I know that last year it was windy and hot, but I think I’m better prepared this time around.  Plus my race tomorrow is probably less than a quarter of last year’s distance.  To be honest I have thought about the race some.  I’ve practiced my transition several times in my head and calculated the times for each leg.  I’ve even gone so far as to compare that time to previous years.  Instead of freaking me out, it has given me the confidence that I can do really well at this race.  I’m hoping to finish in the 70-75 minute range.  How I place will depend on who else shows up (I did look that up too, but don’t really have a way to figure out who is fast and slow).

Here is what I have learned over my 10+ races:  Your time and placement doesn’t matter.  If I am able to look inside and say that I gave it everything I had, then I will be happy.  Of course, with a chance to win…

Ready to race, again

Sorry for missing my scheduled post yesterday, somehow work got in the way of my social and racing life!  I’m back on track today, and just in time.

My second race of the season, a sprint, is this weekend.  It is one of only two sprints on the radar this year, and only my second sprint since my first season.  Because I haven’t done a lot of them I don’t know what to expect.  I vaguely remember the one I did last year.  I went out a little harder than normal on the bike, and struggled with the run.  In the end it wasn’t one of my better performances.  According to USAT, that sprint ranked only ahead of my half Ironman races.

This year I hope to improve that performance.  I don’t mean that in the sense that I hope to get better every year, or that because of my improved fitness I should do better.  I’ve actually thought about this race.  I’ve considered the distances, how hard I could and should be able to perform, added them up, and voila, it is a better time.

Comparing my projected time to previous years tells me that I should do well.  A win is not out of the question, and certainly a podium finish is possible.  That said, anything can happen race day, that’s why we race.  I could get a flat, take a spill on the bike, suffer cramps on the run, or a number of things I haven’t even considered.

Here is my plan for this race, summed up into a few short notes:

• Get to the starting line healthy
• Start off the swim hard
• Keep my foot on the gas for the bike
• Push the run and hang on until the end

Let’s see how this plan and race work out for me!

The Other Guy

I had good intentions of posting an entry Friday night about how I was feeling.  Then I got to the hotel later than expected.  After an all too short visit with my parents, dinner, and getting ready for the morning, it was soon time for bed and my writing was skipped.  It’s probably for the better, because I know what I was going to write.

I slept better than usual, especially considering this was the first race of the year.  I woke up early, and then I laid around waiting for the alarm.  I couldn’t move up the starting gun, so I ended up getting up early, then leaving early for the race, and then waiting around there.

I spent the time talking with my good friend, professional triathlete Natasha Van Der Merwe, the rookie parked next to me, and a couple of other nuts that were going without a wetsuit in 62 degree water!  Once my wife and parents showed up they distracted me until race time.

Once I got into the water and felt how cold it was, I certainly was glad I had a long sleeve wetsuit!  We got going, and the first thing I noticed, besides the normal jostling and pushing that goes on was the cold water going down my back.  That only lasted a few seconds, and I didn’t think about the water temperature again.  Perhaps that is because the water going out was super choppy.  It seemed like every time I came up for a breath the water would wash over my head leaving me drinking water and gasping for air.  Fortunately that made the water coming back to shore smooth and quick.  There were a couple of times that I noticed my heart was really pounding (especially on the first trip outbound).  Wanting to save for my push on the bike and run I forced myself to slow down.

I staggered out of the water, was quickly passed by Natasha, and struggled to get unzipped while trying to get to my bike as quickly as possible.  Finally some volunteer grabbed the string and unzipped me.  Running to the transition area I dropped two GU from my shirt pocket.  I don’t know what I was thinking when I turned around and went back to get them.  Note to self, next time leave them there!

I never slowed down through transition which was the plan.  Five minutes into the bike leg, with my foot firmly on the gas, my heart was still pounding.  It didn’t matter, I felt I could sustain this pace for the hour+ I needed.  While it was windy, my meltdown a few weeks ago in the wind prepared me mentally for it.  I noticed it in that my speed dropped some, and of course the only hills were into the wind.  To me it wasn’t a big deal, though I did hear people complaining about it afterwards.  The best part of the bike was that I was only passed by a couple of people, and I passed more than passed me.  Every time I felt myself easing up I reminded myself of the other guy.  He would be pushing hard right now so I had to push harder.  There weren’t many people out there so I wasn’t sure where I was in the pack, something that concerned me for the rest of the race.  Was I out front and holding them off, or had I fallen off the back and wasn’t keeping up.

I was out of T2 very quickly, donning my hat and race belt as I started the run.  Almost immediately I was passed by a young lady who was getting a lot of cheers from the crowd.  I decided to use her for motivation, and kept the same gap for most of the first lap.  The back leg of the run was with the wind, a nice break, but with no wind it got VERY hot, forcing me to grab some water for my head.  I got a side stitch and really wanted to walk.  I knew the other guy wouldn’t walk so there was no way I was going to either.  I was getting pretty tired.  Realizing it could be nutrition based I took a GU.  I didn’t notice the fatigue until near the end of the second leg, at which point I thought it was too late for a GU to help.  While my pace wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped, I knew it was the best I could manage at the time.  With 1/4 mile to go (into the wind of course) I gave it all I had.  I didn’t know who might be behind me, but I wasn’t going to let the other guy pass me at the finish.

The finish was a blur.  I got some cold water, a cold towel, and got out of the way to wait for the results.  They finally came:  I’d won my bracket!  My time was 3 minutes slower than I’d hoped, but good enough to qualify me for Nationals!  With that accomplished, I can now focus on getting faster and figuring out how hard I can push myself instead of worrying about getting qualified.

Accepting my first place prize was one of the proudest moments of my life, the other being in 1977 when I won outstanding musician at band camp.  I don’t know what else this season has in store, but this is one hell of a start!