Race report, and final post

Well... it's done. It was an amazing experience and I will never forget the struggles that occurred during the time it took me to finish this race. It was so much harder than I had expected. I'm not sure if it was because I expected it to be comparable to the racing I had done in the past, or if it just wasn't my day. Either way, it was a huge learning experience for me. Enough of the excuses, time for the race report, and yes, pictures.

We got to Williamsburg late Friday afternoon, checked into the hotel and went out for dinner. I followed my normal routine and had a nice big dinner, in hopes of waking up with a full tank of calories and energy. What better way to do this than with chicken, spaghetti and some amazing stuff to go on top (goat cheese, spinach, sun dried tomatoes... mmmm). Little did I know, it would take more than anything I could eat the night before to keep me fueled for the next day. It was a fairly early night. I was asleep by 10:45ish... ok 11. The alarm clock was set for 5:30. The anticipation was building.

5:30 never seems early when you're waking up to do something you love. I was up and out of bed in seconds of hearing the alarm clock go off. I packed everything up. Made sure I had all of my belongings and race stuff, and we were off to the race site. We got there with a decent amount of time to spare. It was strange, because I expected myself to be nervous, or somewhat intimidated by the monstrosity I was about to embark on, and I almost felt numb to it all. It felt just like any other race.

I got out into the water for a quick warmup and got out of the water just in time for the pre-race meeting. Once it was over, we all lined up in the water... waiting for the horn to blow. Once it did, it was time to put all these months of training and racing into action. The strangest thing about where we were swimming was how shallow it was. It took a good 100 meters before it was even deep enough to warrant swimming. I think everybody was a little unprepared for this. Some people just started swimming, some ran, some did a mix of both. I swam for a bit then ran, then swam again. Which seemed to work well. Within a minute or so it was finally deep enough to get into a full fledged swim. The first thing I noticed was how much easier it is to float with a wetsuit on. I thought maybe people were just saying these things so they could justify buying an expensive wetsuit, but it really does make a difference. The first 1200 or so meters of the swim was great. I was in my rhythm just gliding through the water as I had hoped. The hard part came when we turned the buoy for the last stretch of the swim. The current pulled almost everyone wayyy out, and because of the sun, it was almost impossible to see the buoys or where we were swimming to on the shore. This section of the swim felt like an eternity. I kept feeling like the shore wasn't getting any closer. But luckily it was and my time was only a minute slower than I had projected it would be, although I didn't know this at the time.

Of course your always sort of disoriented after getting out of the water at a race of this distance. Even at the Olympic race at Lurray, it took a few seconds to get used to being on land again. The run from the water to the transition area was at least a half a mile... wayyyy longer than any other races. Usually it's right there, but for some reason they decided to have it further away. Not so big of a deal because we all had to run the same distance. I got there as fast as I could, with my wetsuit around my waist at this point, and made it to my bike. I wasn't in as much of a rush as I usually am. I guess I figured I'd be out on the course long enough that a few extra seconds making sure I had everything wouldn't hurt. I grabbed my 4 gels, and 2 Cliff Bars, put on my sunglasses and headed out.

The first portion of the bike was fast. Maybe too fast. My legs were feeling great. The course was smooth and I was so excited that I had 56 miles to take care of business. Unfortunately it was pretty hot out on the course so I really had to focus on drinking fluids. I was a little worried that I would take in too much, but I certainly didn't want to be dehydrated. So the big question a lot of you are probably asking is, how did the nutrition go on the bike? Well, it went well. I still don't think I was eating enough, because I could feel my energy starting to lull right before it was time for my next gel or Cliff Bar. Maybe a gel every 20 minutes instead of every 30. It wasn't so bad though that it messed anything up. I will say that it's really hard to scarf down a whole Cliff Bar at 22 mph after 90 minutes in the saddle. I'm not sure how I did it, but somehow or another I managed to get my 300 calories/hour in. I was starting to struggle towards the end of the bike when I came up on my rival from VT. As soon as I passed him I was immediately motivated to keep pushing. By the time I got to T2 I had gained 10 minutes on him. I didn't know I had that much of a lead on him, but I knew I was ahead of him. I was feeling great at this point! It wasn't my best race so far, but it was going smoothly. I managed to keep it in the big chain ring for most of the way and only dropped to the small one for the last 10 miles. Even in the small chain ring I was keeping a consistent 21-22 mph. After the race, comparing my bike computer with other peoples, the bike course was really 58 miles, instead of the advertised 56. Not a big deal, just interesting. I guess this was a 72.3 race, not a 70.3.

Okay, so this is where the day went awry. As soon as I got off the bike, the first thing I thought was man it's hot, and I'm really thirsty. Like most people I wasn't in too much of a rush. I hurried a little bit, but I was more concerned with making sure I had my gels, my watch and my visor. So after a minute or so, I headed out, grabbed a cup of water from the first aid station and started the run. I didn't feel so bad at this point. Of course I had the normal concrete legs feeling that you always get after making the transition from the bike to the run, but I was still feeling pretty good about my race at this point. Unfortuneatly, the heat never went anywhere, and my legs never loosened up. I just couldn't do it. Everyone that I have ever talked to, has said that they blew up on the run at their first half Ironman. I told myself, it's not going to happen to me. I'll eat enough on the bike and I'll drink lots of water, and I'll just take the run one mile at a time. It sounds good, but you can't beat the heat, no matter who you are, and if you're thirsty, chances are you're probably already dehydrated.

As soon as I realized my legs weren't going to loosen up the race went from doing really well, to just finishing. It really is a strange feeling, especially when you're used to doing these things to win your age group, or be in the top 10%, to put yourself in the "I just want to finish category". It took me over 6 hours to finish, far longer than I had anticipated or hoped. I was on track to finish in 5:15 after the bike, but just couldn't keep pace on the run. I was disappointed at first, thinking that I really should have done better, but after a little bit of thought, I realized that it was only my first one, and finishing was just fine with me. Even though I blew it on the run, the swim and the bike were great. It's just a matter of changing a few things here and there and being a little more comfortable with the transition from such a long bike to such a long run.

All in all... It was an amazing experience. It has motivated me to train harder, and smarter. Will I was struggling on the run I kept asking myself why I wanted to do something like this. But as soon as I finished, I knew exactly why. I also knew that I'll be back sometime next season to take it on again. I have talked to a lot of other triathletes who have said that their first long distance event is always a tough one. They also say, the second is usually a lot better.

There is a new blog. So you can follow some of the changes I'll be making in my training. Especially now that I won't be training specifically for long distance, a lot of exciting things will be happening. I'll post the link as soon as it's set up. There will be more commentary there about this race since it has turned into a huge learning experience which I will dissect piece by piece.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING MY BLOG AND SUPPORTING ME.

I would never be able to do these things with out great friends and family supporting me along the way.

Pre-race Report.. It's finally here!

Well, the day is finally here, almost. In less than 24 hours, the race will be under way and this entire season of training will be put to the test, this blog will be no more, and I will be on my way to accomplishing what I set out to do several months ago. I'm excited, and very confident that all of the preparation will pay off. As the season progressed I became less and less concerned with "just finishing" and more concerned with really putting forth a respectable effort. I think my abilities in all three disciplines (swimming, biking, and running) have really improved by immeasurable amounts since last season. Between this season and last season, I think there is no comparison. This season was serious.

So, the race strategy for tomorrow...

First off, I'm praying that the water is 77.9 or less, because I bought a sweet wetsuit and I really want to wear it. If not, oh well, but man would it be nice. I plan on keeping with my normal strategy of starting off with my head above the water until I get my rhythm (about 50-100 meters in) and then pick it up. I would like to start a little harder than usual, so I don't get used to a slow rhythm. I don't plan on being the first out of the water, far from it in fact. I just want to keep up so I can be in a good position to do some damage on the bike. 1.2 miles is only slightly longer than the 1500 from Lurray. So while it's long, I don't think it's much more than I'm used to.

After I'm out of the water, it's all gravy from there on out. I'm really excited about the bike course. I've heard it's flat with minor hills, and a big chain ring the whole way through. So going back on what I said after the West Creek workout from Monday, I plan on doing the majority of this race in the big chain ring. I'd like to come in to T2 at about 2:30. That would mean an average of just a hair over 22 mph. If the course is flat like everyone has said, I think that's very reasonable.

Now for the real challenge. It even gets it's own section here. Nutrition on the bike is going to be key. As I said before I plan on alternating Cliff Bars and gels. I'll do gels on the half hour, and Cliff Bars on the hour. This will put me at about the 300 calories per hour for solid food, maybe a little under. and the rest will come from sports drink. I've got a bag full of gels, Cliff Bars, and Heed, so everything is going to be good. The make it or break it point for this race, is being able to hold on to the Cliff Bar. The first run through on Monday was not so good. I'll just have to focus harder tomorrow, and eat faster.

I know for a fact my legs are going to feel terrible after 56 miles of cycling. I'm not even going to try to sugar coat it. It's going to be rough. No matter what, that first mile just has to happen at a decent pace. I need to get my legs awake and moving, and if I start out slow, I know I'll stay that way. Once the first mile is done, it'll will get a little easier, probably until mile 8. I have a feeling the last 5 miles will be hell, but I'm trying not to think about that. I plan on doing a gel every 30 on the run. So that's 3- 4 gels, depending on what kind of pace I can keep. 8 min/mile would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath. At Lurray I kept a 7:14 mile for 6 miles after the wildly hilly course. So I think 8:00 pace for 13 miles is reasonable goal to shoot for after a 56 mile bike. We'll see.

Predictions... I hate predictions. You should just get out there and do what you can do. If you make predictions or set goals that "acceptable", then you will live only to meet those guidelines. For this reason I always set my sights high. If you ever reach your ultimate goal, then you didn't set your limits high enough. Online tri calculator says I should do a 4:30. I on the other hand have made a few of my own calculations.

Swim- 35 minutes (I hope)
T1 - 2 minutes (We'll assume it's a long run)
Bike - 2:30
T2 - 2 minutes (Maybe my shoes don't go on straight)
Run - 1:41-1:51

Total Time - 4 hours 50 min - 5 hours

I think this is reasonable. Lets just see how close I come. I hope I'm way off in the lower direction, and if I'm over, only by a few minutes. I really don't like making such a prediction, but it's a very very rough prediction, and I won't hold myself to it.

Ladies and gentleman, I am ready to take on this race, which will be the greatest physical challenge I have ever encountered, and I couldn't be more excited. The time has come, and I am ready.

When I'm done... Oh dear when I'm done I will feel so good. I plan to take it easy for at least a week. Minimal training. Then it's time to start mixing things up a little bit. I'd like to make some changes to my training routine and diet. Nothing major at first. Just small changes. Because, just like this season was on another level compared to last season, next Spring, it's going to be totally different. There will be no "top 10%", it's going to be "top 10 overall". There will be a new blog, and you will be able to read allll about it.

There will be pictures. Unfortunately I don't think anybody will be there to see me finish, but I'll have plenty of pictures until my lady friend has to leave. Sort of disappointing to know that there won't be anyone there to celebrate with, but oh well. I will feel great on the inside knowing that I just went 70.3 miles and did it as fast as I could. The next post you will see will be a race recap, and pictures. There will also be a link to the new blog so you can follow the new stage of my triathlon career that will begin in the coming weeks.

Thank you for reading. I hope none of this has been too boring. To all who have read, come to my races, or even just made that wierd face when you heard what I was doing, your support and time has been greatly appreciated.

God bless.

Reset

Wow. I went to bed last night at 11, nearly dead, and woke up this morning totally recharged. I'm sore, really sore but I feel great. One of the benefits of a massive workout like yesterdays is waking up the next morning. There's nothing you can't do, only because it would never live up to what you did the day before. Time to get stuff together. Just figured I'd slide in an update. Peace out yall!

Listening to: Tony Bennet

Feeling: Great

Oh my

As I said yesterday, the plan for today was to get in a good brick workout. Which I did, but there's more to it than that. Last night I had to go into work to setup a few experiments and shut off a machine that had been running one of our samples all weekend. One of my pals called and asked if I'd be up for some racquet ball. I figured sure, why not. It's racquet ball. How hard is it? While we were on the way to the gym he casually mentioned to me that he read online that it burns roughly 500 calories per hour if played competitively. I was still underestimating the workout I'd get. Keep in mind that this was after my 6 mile run yesterday. We played for 2 hours and I was drenched in sweat when we were done. It wasn't that I couldn't keep up for the whole 2 hours, it was just that it was stop and go and short fast efforts. Something I'm defineatly not used to. Awesome workout.

Once I got home I decided that I really wanted to get up early (8ish, hey it's a holiday), and get out while it was still a reasonable temperature for this brick workout that I'd been dreaming of. Well... I slept in until 9:30. Sometimes when you're tired, you're tired and there's nothing you can do about it. No worries. I hung around, still a little tired from yesterday's athletic theme, ate a piece of ciabatta bread, drank some Gatorade, and took my time getting out the door. I figured why rush? I figured I'd do it right and head out to WestCreek for the workout. I packed up plenty of fluids. Plenty of Cliff Bars and headed in that direction around noon. I got a little ambitious when I got there and told myself I was going to do 54 on the bike and 10 miles on the run. Well, I'll tell you right now the 10 mile run didn't happen.

My goal on the bike was to practice some nutrition and see how it went trying to eat a cliff bar half way through and drinking fluids on a regular interval. I wanted to average above 20. It's going to be tough pacing myself on the bike. Not necessarily because of muscular or cardiovascular fatigue but mainly because 56 miles at 95% leaves you with nothing left in the tank no matter how much you eat on the bike. You, well I, just can't put that much back in and maintain a reasonable pace. I figured I'd start out the ride in the small chain ring. Get my legs warmed up before I did anything crazy. Well, to my delightful surprise I was able to maintain 21-22 mph with ease. After the first 6 miles, once I was warmed up, I figured why not keep it here and see what happens. I kept a decent pace for the entire ride. My average was 20.7, but West Creek is a bit hillier than the Patriot's course will be so hopefully it will be a bit higher than that next Saturday. I will say on the flats I maintained 23-24 easily. I noticed a few things during the ride today that stood out to me:

1.) My heart rate was much lower pushing the same speeds in the small chain ring as it would be if I was in the big chain ring.
2.) I was able to maintain competitive speeds for long periods of time on the flats. When the hills came I didn't have to change 9 million gears, just shift down a few times (i.e. - more appropriate for any hills that may arise).
3.) On the downhills, I only hit 28-30 where I'd usually hit 35-38. This is something important to consider. While it was slower, it's a reasonable trade off to be a bit slower on the down hills and maintain a faster pace with less effort on the flats.
4.) When I did change to the big chain ring about half way through the ride it was smoother and felt easier on my legs. So if the time comes that I need a bigger gear, it's there.

As girly as it may be. I may use the small chain ring for a lot of the race. I'm telling you, I was turning over the pedals with almost zero effort. My heart rate was low, and I could keep it at fast pace for a long period of time. The huge fluctuations in speed caused by any false climbs or hills were almost eliminated because I was within reach of some climbing gears. In the big chain ring sometimes you have to do a lot of adjusting when things change and it really screws up your rhythm. I'm thinking what I'll do is keep it in the small chain ring for the first 20 miles. See how I'm feeling. Judge the terrain, see how variable it is (of course I'll do this by car the night before but it's always different on the bike), and go from there. If it's flat, and my legs are feeling good, I'll hit up the big chain ring and power through the last 36 miles.

The nutrition plan for today was a gel every 15 miles, liquid every 6 (and with gels) and a Cliff Bar in place of a gel at mile 30. This was not enough. It was really hot out. At least it felt like it on the bike, and when I was done I was a little drained. I think I'll probably do a gel every 10 miles. So 5 total. I'll substitute the 2nd and 4th gel with Cliff bars. This will put me at 700 calories for the duration of the ride. The sports drink will account for the remaining calories. The rule is 300 calories per hour (from what I've read), and I'd like to do that, and hopefully surpass that a little bit. There are 2 water trades on the bike so I think the fluids situation will be good. I need to find the straw extender for my aero bottle to make it effective. At this point I'm just leaning down to reach the straw and it's throwing me off my rhythm. And the key to putting in the calories on Saturday will be to NOT DROP MY STUPID CLIFF BAR!!!!!!!!! I opened it up, and took a bite, and I'm not lying when I say that a Cliff Bar has never tasted so good. I thought, well, while I'm enjoying this wonderful snack, I'll take a drink. I leaned down and I almost thought for a minute that I was on my couch at home enjoying a Cliff Bar and some Gatorade. Well, you don't hit bumps on a couch that cause you to drop your snack. I hadn't even eaten half of it. Whatever, I'm not going to practice eating a Cliff Bar and riding a bike at the same time. I'm just going to expect myself to be competent enough to do it on Saturday.

I finished the bike averaging 20.7. I was pretty happy. It was hot out and I was sure that I was slightly sun burned at this point and we all know what kind of damage the sun can do on a good training session. I got off the bike, sprayed myself with water which felt amazing, put on my running shoes and iPod and was off. I brought a water bottle with me to hopefully keep myself hydrated for the run. It was absolute torture. I don't even want to know what my average pace was. I just pushed my way through 5 miles and prayed that I didn't crack totally. It was hot on the bike, and felt even hotter trying to keep a respectable pace on the run. My plan for running 10 miles was quickly out the window. When I was done I was covered in salt crystals and sweat and my head hurt (clear sign of not enough fluid). It was a disaster, but a good one, because I learned a lot about my nutrition plan. You can't drink enough and it pays to eat even when you don't think you need to. Because by the time you start to feel empty, it's already over. There are other factors that can play out in such a painful run, but my plan is to minimize as many of these as possible. I'm going to go ahead and come up with the most reasonable explanations for the run today being so rough:

1.) It was hot (can't do anything about that).
2.) I didn't get enough calories on the bike (eat more).
3.) 31 miles on the bike and golf on Saturday, 6 mile run and racquet ball yesterday (get lots of rest in the days leading up).
4.) Not so much to eat the day before (eat a nice dinner and lots of carbs in the days coming up).

I'm not making excuses. But I plan on being fully rested for Saturday. I will have no explanation for cracking on the run, because it won't happen. I'm going to be liberal on the calorie intake and drink as many fluids as possible. I will also follow my usual routine and eat a nice big dinner the night before. Morning of, as usual, bagel, banana, Gatorade. It's going to be the trick. I'm getting excited just talking about it. As soon as the gun goes off and the battle in the water begins it's only a matter of time before I cross the finish line. The preparation has been painful and long, but I think that it's only because it's the first time. The next time it'll be a matter of cleaning things up and refining.

My hips and legs hurt. Time to eat something small so I don't wake up with a headache. HRM said 3300 calories for today. Jeez. It feels like it though so I'm not going to argue with it. Goodnight yall!

Great workout today even though it was grueling. I will remember it for a long time. We all learn from these things.

Listening to: Dexter Gordon

Feeling: Destroyed

No surrender

The race (yes... THE race) is less than a week away. Oh man! It's wild to think that this season has come this far and has been so much fun. I'm looking forward to next Saturday. It's going to be a grueling, but awesome 4:30 min (hopefully, haha). So this next week is going to be key. The last thing I want is my legs to get stale, but I certainly don't want to wake up Saturday sore from a crazy workout. Tomorrow, I'm going to get in one last massive brick. I'm going to do a long short workout. I'm either going to go for a long bike and a short run, or a shorter bike and a long run. I'm leaning towards the long run only because that's what I'm most worried about. I'm guessing for the rest of the week I'll probably run once or twice, go for at least one easy bike ride and swim once. This has worked for every race so far this season, so I don't see why it would fail me now. I'm just riding out the season and maintaining my fitness from now until October. The time to make major changes to anything is long gone. That's what the off season is for. Thursday morning... I'm done until Saturday at 8. I'm getting hyped just thinking about it.

So I had a plan. Scary, I know. My plan was to do an easy bike ride on Saturday, easy run today, and then a massive brick on Monday. The bike ride yesterday was awesome. It felt so good to get out on the bike. It was a little warm, but it was a great day for a ride. I averaged just over 20 on the road bike over 31.7 miles. I was pretty happy. I wasn't trying to kill myself, just get an easy ride to get my legs feeling good. Not much else to say about that.

This morning I was downtown by 9:30 to pick up my tri uniform which is awesome. I was so happy to have it. The top is a little short, but who cares. It fits everywhere else. It's motivation for me not to slouch on the run and burn off a little bit of chub. I wanted to run between 8 and 10 miles this morning. You know, get some good distance. But it's damn near impossible to do this without water stations or gels. I was on empty by mile 6.5. It's ok though. Because considering there will be water stations along the run and the bike and I'll be sucking down gels like candy everything will be cool. I felt fine after the 6 miles in Lurray so it's a defineate plus having the gels and water.

Tomorrow. Big brick. Fast, and intense. Gels, cliff bar, water. It's going to be good.

Rest of today. Laundry.

Sorry if my writing has been sub par lately. I either write here right after a workout when I'm totally wiped or before I go to bed.. when I'm totally wiped. Thanks for readin yall!

Listening to: Bone Thugs - No Surrender

Feeling: Tired

Long time no post

Sorry yall, it's been a while. School started last Thursday and I've been trying to get into the swing of things. I have been working out and I have been thinking about the race. I've been running and swimming more than biking unfortunately. It's just a lot easier to put on my running shoes and head out the door than it is to put on my uniform, get on my cycling shoes, find my helmet, warm up and then finally get on the road. But that's OK. That's what Wednesday night time trial practice and weekends are for. I'm looking forward to getting in a good long ride this weekend. It won't be intense, but it'll be long and easy. I'd give you a recap of all the workouts from the past week or 2 but I honestly don't remember all of them. I know my running has been good. I've been keeping my heart rate up and pushing a 7 minute mile at times. My swim workouts have been awesome. I started using fins again and it's doing tons for my kicking. Along with the fins I've gone back to my swim workouts from last semester with a few ladders, drills and a long set. It's always a good workout. I can usually tell the next morning.

I had my running VO2 max tested this past Tuesday. Apparently for MOST people their running VO2 max is higher than their biking VO2 max. That is, except for me. haha. I'm an anomaly it looks like. I honestly haven't looked at the results yet but I do know it was higher than 60 (which is good) but still lower than 65.7 (which is strange). Here's where it gets interesting. I met with the head trainer at Endorphins (the local tri training facility) about setting up a workout plan for the off season. We sat down and looked at my race results, test results, talked about my goals and what kind of schedule I had. He seems to think that I have a lot of potential for improvement, especially on the swim and run. After talking about my workout plan he said I'm doing a lot of good stuff but I need more structure and technique work. Which I agree with. Structure and technique work is not something you do on your own, at least at first. Basically it comes down to becoming more efficient on the bike (which I am not), having better running form (which I defineatly do not have) and being more comfortable in the water. To do these things, you need someone to give you feed back and help you see your problems. Since his suggestions were reasonable and he was speaking from experience I'm willing to go a long with it. Most of their athlete's are usually in the top 10 at races and I figure that's enough for me. I don't know, maybe the power cranks and endless pool they have persuaded me a little bit too. haha. I'm really looking forward to getting in there and getting some good training in this winter. I'll probably be starting sometime in November after my last race.

Time to get ready for class. Golf tonight, bike tomorrow. We'll see.

Listening to: Not hardcore.

Feeling: Like it's Friday.

Race report

Good morning ladies and gents. I'm finally back from racing and vacation. It feels great to be back and relaxed and ready to start classes (and get back to training). My first class is today at 11 so this morning I'm getting my stuff together, cleaning up my room and doing some laundry. I was thinking about hitting the pool, but I really didn't want to rush and be late on the first day of class. So enough jiba jaba. There's some exciting stuff to type about the race.

So as you may know, the race on Saturday was my first Olympic distance race. I'll admit I was a little worried about it. I wasn't sure how I was going to do with the longer distances and the last thing I want to do is break half way through and not be able to finish. On top of this, if I could survive an Olympic race, I knew I was at least one step closer to finishing the Patriot's Half. So I was in Lurray all by myself, which by the way is an interesting experience. Finding yourself in a place that's sort of in the middle of no where and slightly isolated by yourself with crappy cell phone reception is a very... ummm... strange experience. Well, anyways, enough about that. The night before I had a HUGE dinner. Crab salad, blue cheese burger (cooked medium of course), fries, bread, bread pudding. I'm used to pigging out the night before races and Friday night was no different. I sort of feel like if I go to bed feeling full and good, I'll wake up feeling full and good. Plus, this way there's no worry of being calorie deficient, which would be strike number 1 for a longer race.

The swim was 1500 meters in Lake Arrowhead (I don't think it's a natural lake). They had a 750 meter triangle loop and we swam 2 laps around it. I felt fine with the swim, and actually didn't do half bad. I think I was 58th out of 35o people at 29 minutes. That's OK, I guess. The bad part is that the 3 guys ahead of me in my age group all swam 22 minutes. So I was 7 minutes back before I even got on the bike. So with that being said, I'm really happy that I did so well on the swim compared to everyone else, but unfortunately feeling good doesn't win races. I think my plan from now on will be to just do some 100-200 splits on a certain time to work on keeping pace for longer distances. The best part about the swim was that I never ran out of breath and I really never thought about quitting. My horrible experience from Giant Acorn is well in the past.

After the fun in the water, the run to T1 was quite long. It was on sand, over grass, up stars and through trees. Once I made to my bike, the transition was, umm, OK. I know I've been faster. Comparatively I was 45th fastest. That's good for me, but I need to find a faster way to get on my heart rate monitor and race top when I'm soaking wet. So once all that was figured out I was out on the trail. I felt good, and knew that I had it in me to power through 25 miles of beautiful roads at the foothills of the mountains. This was the most scenic and most interesting course I've ever ridden on. It was absolutely breath taking. There were fields, mountains, old barns, rivers, hills... it was amazing. It was also very dynamic. One minute you were on a flat, then it was a massive climb (which by the way I blew by people on), then it was a huge downhill (I actually hit 45 mph at one point), then flat again. The bike course looked like a lollipop, and we did 2 laps around the outer loop. The nice part about this was the 3 mile long gradual climb on the back side of the outer loop. Man it was awesome. HAHA. Holy crap. It honestly looked flat, or even down hill a little bit. But when I was struggling to do 16 mph, and I was passing people, I got the hint really quick that it wasn't flat. The second time around it wasn't nearly as bad since I knew what to expect and had some idea how long it was supposed to last. After the second loop they had us coming back towards the lake, but... first we took a quick detour. They brought us up the steepest hill I've ever ridden on my tri bike. I've hit some comparable hills, but on my road bike. Climbing on a tri bike just isn't as smooth. OK, I will say one thing about this hill so you can get a nice friendly mental picture. I was going 8 mph, max, and I passed 4 people on this hill. I honestly thing some of the back of the pack people probably had to walk their bikes up it. It was intense and cruel in some ways as well. And on the way into T2, before the bike dismount, the really scary looking guy with the US Coast Guard uniform on with the badass bike coming in right next to me damn near smashed his face. I don't know what he did, I don't know why he did it, but out of no where I heard a loud noise and I look to my left and this guy is on his front wheel and his rear wheel is quickly coming from behind. Sort of like when you were a kid and you hit a huge hole on your Huffy and you flipped over the handle bars and you thought it was going to hurt but when you got up you were OK. Just like that, except his bike was really expensive and his feet were firmly attached to his pedals. Bad news. He must have jammed on his front break, for whatever reason. Needless to say, I was a little worried considering he was 3 or 4 feet to my left. He made to the run with out any scratches, luckily. OK, so 20th fastest bike with a time of 1:15. A little longer than I had liked, but the course was a bit hilly, so I'll take it and go with it.

T2 was fast. I got in with my bike, racked it and then put my shoes on, and for a second stopped and felt like I was forgetting something. Once my head kicked in I should be running I was out the door. For some reason, running 6 miles after all of this was a little worrisome. I wasn't sure how I'd feel at mile 4 or even at mile 2. I knew it was going to be tough. I did the smartest thing I could do. I caught up with a guy I passed on the bike at the very end, and stuck with him. The run was hilly also, but not as bad as the bike. I was able to pull out a 45 min 10K. Not too much to be said about the run. I mean, what do you want me to say? I ran.... for 6.2 miles.... I had on my running shoes? Haha. It was good times. I didn't crack and managed to pass a bunch of people too. The idea of running 13 miles is looking more and more reasonable every day.

Nutrition wise this race was great. I sucked down as much water and Heed as possible. I used 2 gels on the bike. One at mile 8, and one at mile 20. Then on the run at mile 3ish I had another one. Before the race I did the usual, bagel, banana, and Gatorade. Right before the swim I did have some shot blocks (basically gels in the form of gummies). I had enough energy to make it home, and then to VA beach, so I guess I did something right.

So... here's the exciting part. For my first Olympic race, I was 40th overall. I'm very very pleased with this. I was 4th in my age group, and it's only because they beat me on the swim, I beat them all on the bike and we were fairly close on the run. Close enough that the swim is what dealt out the awards that day. The good thing, I know now exactly what I need to work on.

The beach was amazing. I didn't do anything. I did a little surfing, but other than that, I didn't do anything, except, eat sleep and lay around. It was great. OK, I did run a few times, but it was only so I could say I ran on the beach. I didn't even put on my HRM. It was great. I feel relaxed and ready to go. Honestly I'm really glad to be starting school today, because it sort of shifts my schedule back into place and hopefully I'll have some more time in the mornings to train.

Thanks for reading guys. Swimming tonight, downtown hopefully. Hope you enjoyed the report and pictures.

Listening to: Nothing

Feeling: Tan

Yarg

Wow, I'm in a really crappy mood tonight. I don't know why but everything is making me angry. Even more of a reason to come here and type about something that will cheer me up. And by the way, the weather is pretty crazy at the moment, so if the power goes out... you won't be reading this. So as I said earlier, there's a lot to talk about. Big race this weekend, which I will, unfortunately and unexpectedly, be doing by myself. My girlfriend has to work so she can't make it and my training partner is M.I.A. Oh well, sometimes you just have to tighten your bootstraps and get serious. A few of my teammates and myself had our VO2 max levels checked earlier in the week and I've had a few good workouts. So sit back, get some popcorn and relax (just don't fall asleep).

Lets start with the VO2 max testing. So, they set your bike up on a trainer and hook all these wires up to it. Along with all of the wires they put a nice book sized box on your bars that tells you a whole bunch of stuff. Some of it I didn't even recognize. Random numbers everywhere. Then (here comes the scary part), they put this mask on your face which covers your nose and mouth. The idea being that any air that you breathe out is picked up by the machine. It also has a valve that opens when you breathe in. Needless to say, you have to take slightly deeper breathes to make it open. When I was telling my buddies about this, they all said "Oh, yeah, like the Gatorade commercial". Yes, just like the Gatorade commercial, just not as smooth looking or feeling, and oh yeah, we all had sweeter bikes. So they start the test at 25 watts of resistance. You are told to pedal at a cadence of 80-90 rpm. The test will go on as long as you can maintain that cadence. Sounds easy? Of course it does, only because I forgot to mention that they increase the wattage by 25 watts every time your heart rate stabilizes. Everything is OK until you start breathing hard and you need every bit of air you can get, and the damn valve stops you from taking those breathes just enough that it gets a little scary at times. So from this test we should be able to get an idea about different training zones (i.e. for endurance, or speed etc.) and of course we can get an idea of how "fit" we are by our VO2 max. So my total was 65.4 (if I remember correctly). It was in the mid 60's I do remember that. The guy who ran the test for us said that the majority of people who come there to get tested are in the 50's. A few people are in the 60's (us apparently), and almost nobody gets in the 70's. So I think I passed. No training zones yet though. We're just waiting on him to send us our reports.

Workouts for this week. Let's see. Where did we leave off. Oh yes, golf on Sunday. So Monday evening I hit the gym as usual. This time I was pretty sore from all of the twisting and turning from the golf range. There are some very interesting ab muscles that get a workout when you play golf. I ended up getting a great workout in though. I did a lot of my sets to burnout, so by the end everything was pretty worn out. Especially my biceps and abs.

Tuesday we had VO2 max testing. Luckily it was early enough that I was still able to make it to swim practice and then run. We did 2000 meters at swim practice with A LOT of work on our transitions. Meaning transitioning from right arm stroke to left arm stroke and getting as much power out of it and making it as fluid as possible. It really was one of those practices where I made some significant changes in the hour I was there. Thanks Pat for fixing my stroke. Now I just need to work on my kicking. The run afterwards was good. I feel better and better every single time I put my running shoes on. I'm looking forward to working on my running this winter. I think I could be a strong runner next season.

Yesterday was time trial practice. It was supposed to be an "easy" effort since it was in the upper 90's to low 100's. Well, easy for the several cat-2 and 3 cyclists and world class triathlete and duathlete that were there. Jeez. I love time trial practice because its really a great workout and I get a lot of feed back from the people that are there on my form and other things, but man can I get a break??? I'm doing almost 30 mph at some points and I'm barely keeping up. Something seems off here to me. 30 mph... easy workout... barely keeping up.... Or maybe they're just monsters, oh yeah, I forgot, that's it. Same thing with the run. It was supposed to be easy. I was guessing 3 miles at an 8 min pace. Thats pretty easy. Nah, it was 4.5 miles at a 7:15 pace. Good god. It's good for me though. I keep telling myself that. It's why I succeed against other people in my age group at races.

Today... I just went to the gym. No cardio. I didn't want to wear myself out and spoil my legs for Saturday. I did light weights on everything in hopes of just keeping everything alive and awake with out tearing up too many muscle fibers. Then I came home and ate a ham sandwich, and damn was it good.

So now it's time for some race strategy. Crush it. It's longer, but not long enough that I feel like I should pace myself too much. I'll pace on the swim, a little bit, maybe in the begining, but as soon as I'm out of the water, it's on like Donky Kong... uhhh, ok maybe not like that. But it's gonna be crazy. I'm comfortable doing the 25 miles on the bike, and 6 miles on the run is just a matter of finding that rhythm and sticking with it. Since most of my training has shifter to longer distances, I'm confident that I'll be able to find that cruising pace and stick with it. In fact, I think I actually struggle at shorter distance races because I'm so used to a more long distance type pace. Not a a sub 7 mile for sure. Between 7 and 8 is more reasonable for distances over 3 miles. So that's what I'm shooting for. Goal time... under 2:30. I'd like to be under 2:27 so I can hopefully take the age group, that is if the competition is the same as last year. We'll see.

As soon as the race is over... it's off to the beach for 5 days. Finally I'll have the chance to even out my triathlete's tan. I'm really looking forward to running on the beach. And laying around, and reading, and eating good seafood, and doing nothing. I'm just disappointed my lady frined won't be able to make it. It'll be time for some self reflection... haha, maybe not. Maybe just some rest and relaxation. Who knows maybe she'll be able to get a day off work and make it down. That'd be great.

Good night ladies and gents. I'll be back on the 22nd. See you then!

Listening to: Thunder

Feeling: Edgy

Coming soon...

Huge post coming tonight. Lots to talk about. Training since Sunday, race preperation, race tactics, VO2 max results, shenanigans, drugs, sex, and rock and roll. It's going to be awesome. Tonight, I promise.

Listening to: Roland Kirk

Feeling: Like a nut.

Golf

Yesterday's workout was a huge burnout for me. It was too hot for the kind of workout I did and I didn't refuel the way I should have. I had a headache for the rest of the evening and woke up with one. I was thinking of trying to swim today but defineatly wasn't feeling up to it. Instead, I decided to wash my car and mow the lawn... in the heat. Probably not a good idea, but it needed to be done. It's amazing how much the heat will take out of you, it really is debilitating.

Later on in the afternoon when it started to cool down one of my pals, who is really good at golf, and I went to the driving range. It's really only the second time I've went with serious intentions of working on my swing. You might not think so but golf is really tiring. It works muscles in your back that don't get worked on a daily basis. It also stretches them out, which is good since my back has been so tight lately. I was sweating by the time I was done. My swing was getting pretty good too. I just need to work on rotating my hips during my follow through.

Sorry for the pointless post.

Listening to: Coltrane

Feeling: Hungry

85 with a heat index of hot

So in the last post, if you may recall, I had fallen on my wonderful 30 mile ride on Tuesday. Well, Tuesday night I went to swim practice and ran afterwards. Not so bad. I was fine. I got to practice early and swam just under 1000 before practice and we did 2000 during practice. Most of it was a long set which I altered myself to make some of the distances longer. So the rest of the team was doing shorter intervals (mostly 100's and 150's), I was doing 300-500's. Which was good since the Olympic race is next week. It's going to be awesome. I'm feeling good about myself in the water. I have the endurance, now it's just pushing myself to go faster (who would've thought you'd want to go fast in a race?). After practice I ran suicide trail, complete with the extra detours and gravity hill and it came out to just under 4 miles. It was a good workout. The last thing I want to do this winter is stop running or biking because when the season comes back you're starting from scratch. It's taken me this long to really get my groove again. The key will be maintaining it.

Today my plan was to get in the pool and swim for about an hour and get in 2000 meters. But.... since I do have a life and decided to stay out a little later than I usually do last night, I didn't wake up until 11, and figured a bike/run brick would be appropriate. So on the bike I did 30 miles, averaging 21.1. 10 minutes of the ride was the one foot pedal drills, which by the way are even harder in the aero bars. It was hot, but I was drinking and pouring water on my face to stay cool so I was feeling pretty strong when I got home. That was until I started running. The first mile was absolutely torture. I don't know what was wrong, but it was the longest mile of my life. My legs were heavy and I was thirsty. After that though, everything fell into place as it usually does. I brought a water bottle with me which made a huge difference. I had my rhythm and I just went with it. Total distance was 5.8 miles at a 8 min pace so I was out for a little under an hour. It was so hot. At mile 4.5ish my heart rate was up to 185 which was a little scary but I think the heat had a huge part in that. I was drenched with sweat and I still feel pretty dead. Next on the list of things to do is eat as much as possible. Great workout today. Good prep for the race next week. Total calories... 2450... which is exactly why I'm leaving you to go eat.

Have a good night ladies and gents.

Listening to: My heartbeat

Feeling: Awesome

OUCH

Well. I went to the gym last night and got in a good workout. I did my normal a little bit of everything workout but focused a little bit more on back and biceps. Basically I just did an extra set of each. Next time I'll do chest and triceps. I'm not so keen on the idea of specializing each workout to a certain muscle group, especially since I'm there for fitness and muscle endurance, so for this reason I'm going to stick with the multiple muscle group workouts. It seems to be working. I feel stronger and don't look as soft (haha, at least I hope not). Great workout followed by some brown rice and steamed dumplings. mmmm.

I was up early this morning for a 30 miler. I told myself that I really need to start riding more, so I got up this morning and went for a ride. It was a good ride. I averaged roughly 20 mph and the calorie count was just over 1000. Pretty good for before 8:30 in the morning. On the way back I decided to do some pedaling drills. I've never tried these before but many have suggested so I figured why not. So the idea is to unclip one shoe and leave the other clipped in. All of the work is put on that one leg that is still clipped in. It sounds a little silly and pointless, but oh is it painful. I did 1 minute on each leg, 3 times.I rested about 15 seconds between each leg, so it was roughly 10 minutes of these things. It's not so bad at first, but after awhile you start finding muscles that didn't exist 15 minutes ago. I can defineatly see the advantage of doing these types of drills. It helps with having a smooth pedal and develops a strong circular pedaling form, which I apparently do not have. So here's where it gets exciting, or maybe not so exciting. I was on my way up one of the last hills. Crankin' it. My legs were feeling good since I just finished the drills and I was on my way home. I came around the corner at the top of the hill.... hit some gravel... and hit the ground. Talk about scary. The part that hurt the most was that I had fallen on gravel so not only was I all cut up but there was shit all over me. One woman stopped and asked if I had a cellphone, and then kept driving. There was a truck driver who was nice enough to stop, ask if I was OK, and then wait to make sure I was on my way. He offered to give me a ride, but I wanted to make it home myself.. You can see the extent of the damage below, or... well, maybe not. I'll spare you all the pictures since I think a few ladies read this. Luckily my bike wasn't damaged and I wasn't seriously injured. My arm is cut up and my leg and knee are scraped up a little. I looked worse than I felt when I got home. The ironic thing, was that when I was doing the one footed pedal drills, a woman stopped and asked if I was OK. I guess I looked like I was in pain. I was a little surprised by this since most drivers aren't so considerate towards cyclists. And then 10 minutes later I wiped out. I dunno, maybe it was an omen, or just a coincidence, or maybe I just have a really miserable looking game face.

Well there is a good side to this. I still managed to average over 20 mph and get a good workout, and I now know what it feels like to ride home bloody and sore. Haha. Well hopefully it's not only the first but the last.

Hope everyone has a good day. Swimming and running tonight.

Listening to: The most epic trance set ever made...(you know which one I'm talking about)

Feeling: Stingy (not stingy like cheap, but stingy like my arm stings)

Motivation

The hardest thing about this sport is staying motivated to train hard with enough sustained intensity to reach your goals. There are days that you will wake up and not want to do a damn thing. Why? Not because your injured, or because you've plateaued, just because you don't want to do it. If you ate the same thing for breakfast every morning, there will come a day when you really just want something different. So what is the prescribed fix for this? Get out and do it. I was once told by one of my professors that he could tell me exactly what I needed to do to win the Nobel Prize. I was thinking he was going to say something corny and it would involve hard work and studying a lot. But I was surprised at what he told me. He said, you need to love what you're doing, be passionate about it. And most importantly, you need to be persistent. Not everything is going to work the way you want it to. But if you keep trying and approach your endeavors with a positive attitude and a genuine interest in succeeding you will not dissapoint yourself, or anyone else for that matter. I have commented previously on the struggle of balancing training with work and social stuff as being a really hard part about being a triathlete. I think that having the mental stamina to want to succeed every day is just as hard, and not something everyone can do.

"Some dream of success, others wake up and work hard at it"

So with that being said. I was pretty burnt out Thursday night. I really wasn't in the mood to swim or run any more. So I dragged myself to masters practice. The workout was interesting. It was put together around 300 m sets. We did our normal warmup and then went right into a 300 build by 50. Then we did 300 m of drills focusing on rotating in the water. The we did 6 50's. We repeated this with each set of 6 50's on a faster interval. It was a great workout to help work on some body positioning in the water and still get an aerobic workout. As usual, it was roughly 2000 m.

Afterwards I got the running gear on and set out to run suicide trail (appropriately named by my pal because of the terrible hill at the end). I added a few twists and extra turns so It would come out closer to 4 miles. My legs were tired. I feel a lot better on my feet than I did at the beginning of the season, but man I can tell when they're tired. I kept a 7:30 mile for most of the way and called it a night after the 4 mile loop. Usually, 2 loops isn't such a problem, but considering the previous workouts this week, 1 was OK for me.

Friday was a day off. I needed to let me legs rest so I could be revamped for the Saturday morning group ride.

My alarm clock went off at at 6:45 this morning and I had just about 30 minutes to wake up get on my uniform, get some water bottles and head out the door at 7:30 hopefully. I rode the 7 miles out to the meeting point. We had about 12 guys. At 8:03 we were on the road doing a solid 23 mph, which didn't stop the entire way. I sprinted up a few of the hills and did my turn at pulling for 10 or so miles maybe. I almost (keyword almost) got dropped on a few of the hills. I usually end up in a crappy position on the hills and am either trapped behind some guy who is out of shape or I'm pulling until the bottom of a hill when a few guys blow by me sprinting up the hill and I'm not in any condition to follow. The total ride distance was 51 miles with an average of 22.5 mph. Calorie count was at over 2000 and I didn't notice my heart rate get above 175. I was sweating a slightly more tan when I got back at just after 10. Not many people can say they did so much before 10 a.m. on a Saturday. I've been sitting around since then. My legs are tired and sore.

I'm thinking of building a serious track machine for off season solo training. You'll hear about the progress here. My pal said he'd sell me his track frame for $30-40 which is an awesome deal if you ask me. And since I'm such a savvy e-bayer now I think it'll be a fun project. No rush on it though.

I hope everyone is enjoying your air conditioned houses/appartments/places of occupation because it's humid out.

Listening to: Darude - Salmiakki Sessions #16 featuring Above and Beyond

Feeling: Like I should be taking EPO (just kidding).

Good brick

So tonight was supposed to be time trial practice, and this morning was supposed to be a long run before work downtown. Well, 6 o'clock rolled around, and I called my pal, just like I said I would, to let him know I was coming his way. Well, I got no answer, and since it was 6 a.m., and it was 6 a.m., I went back to sleep. And what do ya know... my contacts got ruined before heading to work (it's a long story not worth telling), so time trial practice was out of the question, since running with my glasses on would be a miserable experience and I can't see without them. So after work, I decided to head home for a run/swim/run brick. Oh yes, not your standard run/bike brick. I could do those all day everyday, in fact, I don't think I ride my bike without running afterwards. It's standard. But running to the pool and swimming and then running back... now that's something I don't have the opportunity to do every day. OK, so what I did tonight:

Run: 3.5 miles at 7 min pace (it was quick)

Swim: Total workout distance - 3100 yards (damn it was long)

Warmup - 3x200
Set - Ladder x 4 - 300,200,100
Cooldown - 50 easy

Run: 2.5 miles in the dark (fast enough to sweat, slow enough to see where I was going)

The run to the pool tonight was crucial. I kept the pace up and focused on keeping my form "poppy" and "quick", if that makes an sense at all. I have a problem with slouching when I get tired or hot and becoming sluggish. I wanted to keep myself standing up straight and have fresh footing the whole way. It was an awesome run. I was drenched in sweat when I got to the pool.

The idea for the swim workout tonight was to just get the distance in. I wanted to give my arms a chance to feel what 3000 yards feels like. I kept a reasonable pace the whole time. Nothing so fast that I was dying, but fast enough that I had to work to keep the pace. It ended up being around a 1:40-1:45 pace. I'm happy with that. I only rested about a minute between each length and set. I didn't really need much longer (if that gives you an idea about the workout intensity). It was a good distance workout, you know how I know that? It was boring as hell. I'm glad I did it, but jeeze sprints would have been more fun.

The run home was interesting. It was dark out. Nothing too exciting. Just 2.5 miles home on another route. Once I got home I could tell I was running out of fuel. I just had that feeling. I was a little sick to my stomach too. Probably not a good thing. No worries though, I'm always happy to put the calories back. I'm guessing it was a 2000 calorie night. Need to eat more during the day.

Time to sleep... finally. Goodnight everyone.

Listening to: Silence

Feeling: Empty

Oh the humidity...

Man it's humid out. After the crazy hot AND humid time trial on Sunday I was hoping the weather would be a little more forgiving this week. Not so much. Monday morning I made it to the gym for some regular weights. Nothing to special. I was feeling good afterwards. I'm glad I started lifting a little bit again. I helped my girlfriend move into her appartment later that afternoon, and trust me, I could feel the morning workout. My muscles were tired. Whatever, it was good exercise, even if it was in jeans and a polo shirt.

Today the plan was to hit up masters practice and go for a long run afterward. But since the sky couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or not, we decided to do the run before. It thundered the whole time but not a drop of water. We ran 3.4 miles. I was feeling so so once we got back to the end of the loop and my pal was feeling like crap so we decided to stop there. Both of us were drenched and it was probably a smart move to call it quits, at least for the sake of not passing out and dieing. Either way, we kept a good pace for the whole 3.4 miles (7:15-7:45) and if it weren't so humid I think we would've had no problem going for another loop and making it a 7 miler.

I'm staying downtown tonight so the plan is to go for a run in the morning and time trial practice tomorrow night. I'm excited about running downtown in the morning for the first time. It'll be nice to get up early for a long run, then get back with time left to spare. Anyway, time to head to the store to get some food and all that good stuff. Big workout tomorrow. I'll probably run to his appartment before the run to add some distance. Time trial practice is always tough and then we have the 5 miler afterwards. It should be fun. Adios yallll.

Listening to: Etn.fm

Feeling: Sticky

Time Trial Race Report

Damn it was hot today. It was really hot out in fact. I was a little nervous about the time trial today mostly because the last one didn't go as well as I had planned and I had to use a different wheel set up than usual. We got to the Portsmouth Ruritan Club (yay) at around 10:00, about an hour before the first CAT-5 person was supposed to start. This was good, enough time to get set up and warmed up. I guess it was good, but once I checked in I found out I wasn't set to start until 11:39... Yeah, so I had plenty of time to sit around. Not a problem though, I'd rather be way early than late as I usually am. Once the time came I pulled out the rollers and started warming up. My legs were feeling pretty good. I wasn't getting my hopes up, but maybe, just maybe today would be a good day on the bike. After 10-15 minutes of warming up, by which I was already drenched in sweat, I lined up to start. 11:39 came and I was off. If anybody could describe a pancake flat course, they would be describing the course at the PLT. I don't recall a single hill. I do vividly remember the headwind on the way out, but that's a different story. I started out at 26 mph, but decided to tone it down so I wouldn't burn out. I maintained 22-23 for the first portion of the course. Once I got to the first turn I was thankful for having a spoked rim in front because the Cervelo handled much better than usual. I didn't feel like I was going to slide out. After about mile 12 I started to turn it up. From this point on I was keeping a pace of 24-25 for the remainder of the race. The tailwind on the way in helped a little. I finished with a sprint and a final time of 57:54. I was very happy since my goal was to break an hour. I felt pretty horrible afterwards mainly because of the heat. My legs were OK, and once I got some water I felt a lot better. So, with my PR time, I ended up 10th out of the 30 or so guys in my category. I was very pleased with this.

So here's where the good part starts. One of the guys on my team (who just so happens to be a monster) comes up and asks if I wanted to go for a run. In an attempt to not be a wimp I agreed not realizing I just finished a 23 mile time trial. But, here's the but, I really didn't feel like it when I started running. My legs felt fresh, and cardiowise I was good. This is a good sign for the Olympic race on the 18th. I'm ready for it. Nothing left to do but polish at this point and continue to train for the Patriot.

Since I couldn't find my camera yesterday I'll post some pictures today...

I promise my form isn't usually this bad. Being on the rollers forces me to move back on my aero bars.


Sweet new uniform.


Tired, sweaty, hot, and thirsty, but not lonely.

Have a g'nite yall!

Listening to: Clint Mansell

Feeling: So tired I'm not even tired anymore.

Sorry for the long delay...

Sorry for the long break in posts. The Tour de France captured my attention on weeknights from whenever I get home to when I go to bed. So this doesn't leave much time for posting. I promise my training schedule hasn't been so distracted. This week has been HUGE for cycling, with all of the doping allegations and Contador taking the yellow jersey, there is bound to be tons of discussion. I have some personal opinions on the whole doping issue, and some other views on this years tour as a whole. I'll probably post about those another time but for the time being we'll stay on topic.

Monday:

In the morning I took the chance to get into the gym. Since it was so long ago, I really don't remember what I did, just that it was a good workout. I switched up a few of the workouts but kept the idea the same. Monday night I wanted to get a good bike workout in. The PLT time trial is tomorrow so I figured I'd use the week as a chance for some good cycling workouts. I showed up at West Creek with my sweet new uniform and heart rate monitor. I was ready to go. I felt great. Well... I did, my legs didn't. First, the wheel size setting on my computer was wrong so it said I was going slower than I was, secondly my legs were still a little sore from the race on Sunday. I think, the computer having the wrong wheel size setting (I didn't know it was wrong at the time) made me push a little bit harder which I think could have led me to wearing out my legs before the end of the night. Even with all of the struggles involved, I was still able to fit in a 1:45 ride and according to the computer I had done 30 miles. Since it was off it was probably more on the 35-37 range.

Tuesday:

Ahhh, good ol' Tuesday night swim workouts. This was a solid 1:15 in the pool with some decent sets. I was pushing it and felt great. I'm feeling stronger in the water day by day. I now feel like the only thing holding me back is my muscle endurance. I'm comfortable with breathing in the water and my short distance speed is OK too. Once my muscle endurance gets a little better I think my long distance pace will speed up. Anyways, here's the workout...

3x200 Warmup
5x100 On the 1:35 at a 1:30 pace
100 50 kick/50 3 count switch
6x75 On the 1:10 at a 1:00 pace
100 50 kick/50 3 count switch
7x50 On the 45 at a 40 pace
100 Slow cool down

This came out to about 2200 yards plus or minus a few slow 50's in between sets.

Wednesday

Oh jeez. I got my ass handed to me on Wednesday. My computer on my tri bike was just plane not working. I lost the magnet. I have no clue where it is and hadn't figured out a solution by this point. We did our intervals on different times. It was usually 4 min on, 4 min off. We did a few of these (5 or 6), then we did sprints. The sprints were shorter, maybe 15-20 seconds. The first few were OK. It got incredibly tough to find any leg strength after 3 or 4. After the sprints we did more timed intervals. I just couldn't keep up for the entire interval. I think I was starting way too fast, mainly because I would usually keep up or lead for the first minute or two, but if we hit a hill, or even if we didn't I would start to fall back. It was an incredible workout for me, even more humbling because I really was struggling. We did our normal 5 mile run afterwards. It was tough, but it certainly felt better than the cycling. We did 5 miles in just about 35 minutes, so needless to say, my legs were fried at the end. Oh yeahhhh, did I mention I went to the gym Wednesday morning too?? I had forgotten about it by the time I was falling asleep on Wednesday night.

Thursday

Masters workout. Our coach didn't show up so we put together our own workout. I really don't remember what we did totally. But I do remember we did 5 100's on an interval (1:35 for me), 5 100's, with 50 drill of choice, 25 easy and 25 spring, and 5 50's sprint, 1 easy 100 and 1 fast 100. The first set still escapes me but by the end of the night I was at roughly 2600 yards if you include the warm up (3x200 as usual). I fell asleep on the couch Thursday night. Not good.

Friday

I got up early for a quick ride. I was still pretty sore from swimming the previous night so it was a painful ride. I got in about 21 miles, maybe a little more. My legs hurt, and so did the rest of my body. I'm glad I went though. I needed to get my legs going so they'd be ready for Sunday. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! Only on pay per view ladies and gents.

Saturday

Rest. I rode the tri bike around the neighborhood for 30 minutes or so just to make sure everything was working. I couldn't get the magnet and monitor to talk to each other on my HED3 front wheel. I fiddled with it for the longest time. After an hour or two I figured just take it to Ben and have him fix it. It'll probably take him 3 seconds. Soooo, tomorrow I'll be running a HED3 rear and Shimano 550 front. I tried it out for awhile and it felt smooth. The bike handled better than usual. I'm guessing the spoked rim on the front makes it a little less obtrusive to wind and it's not as stiff. Who knows, maybe this is the magic formula. The only problem is that the HED3 is a tubular and the Shimano is a clincher, so there may be some pressure differences, but it'll due for tomorrow.

Tomorrow

Should be fun, nothing serious. I'm just going to ride as hard as I can. We'll see how it turns out. I'll probably be middle of the pack. Top 5 would be nice but I'm not holding my breath. Since there's no swim or run involved, it's everyone else's advantage. Wish me luck! Ahh, I posted a picture of the bike with it's setup for tomorrow. Sorta looks cool too I think. OOOOOKKKK, I guess I won't since I can't find my camera. No worries, have a good night.

Listening to: Blank and Jones set

Feeling: Ties

Race Report

Alright ladies and gents. The 3sports sprint was today, and first let me say that the weather was beautiful! I was a little chilly before the race but once I got going everything felt great. I was seeded number 104 out of 437 people. I found that a little interesting since I put the same swim time as the Power Sprint (same course) and was seeded 54.

Anyways, I woke up at 5 as usual and went for a quick 1-2 mile warmup jog. My legs were feeling good which is sort of abnormal for me. But hey, I'm not going to complain. Got back to Amanda's, got the bike, and my bag and was out the door. On the way I picked up an oatmeal cookie and a banana and downed a water bottle of Heed. I got to the race at just before 6. Just in time, not to many people there yet so no worries about getting marked and set up. I jumped in the pool for a warmup and felt good there too. I was getting excited because usually my swim and run warmup are painful for whatever reason. Even better, my stomach wasn't mad at me.

I was set to start at 7:21. The one thing I don't like about pool swim tris is the staggered start. I like starting with all of my competitors. It makes it more fun and easier to push yourself because you know the guy in front of you is really just in front of you. Once 7:21 rolled around I was in the pool and off. I felt good. Nobody passed me and I passed one person. Some jackass almost swam directly into me 3 times! The first 2 times I didn't really mind. The third time I stood up and pushed him. I was pissed. He really could have hurt someone. I'm really not sure why he was so far over in the lane. Yet another reason I don't like pool swims. You get stuck swimming near people like him.

I hopped out of the water and ran to my bike. Once I got there I put on my HRM (which I really need to do faster next time), got my glasses, helmet and I was gone. I wish I could tell you I was flying on the bike but I really have no clue. My computer was not working so I was just pushing the whole time. I will say I passed a whole bunch of people and was only passed by one person, who just so happened to be on my cycling team and comes to time trial practice every week. With that in mind I didn't feel too bad. My mount and dismount were fluid. The dangling shoes are very awkward but it works and saves time so it probably just needs practice.

Here was the moment of truth. I was off the bike, my helmet was off and shoes on. This is usually where my legs feel like cement. This time it wasn't the case. I felt great on the run! No pain, no cramps, nothing. I was able to keep about a 7 min pace for the whole 5k, which I was happy with. Now I just need to break into the sub 7 category.

In the end I had a time of 1:01:01, over 4 min better than the power sprint and over 8 min better than last year. I'm feeling great about this improvement. It's personal validation for all of the training. I was 5th in my age group out of 21 and 41 out 437 so I was in the top 10% as I had hoped. Some of these shorter races are starting to feel too short. I'm looking forward to the longer races coming up. I don't know if this is just me being cocky, but I really think I'll be solid at longer distances. My endurance is good. In these shorter races you've got guys runing 16 min 5k's! That's just over a 5 min mile. That doesn't make a good triathlete, it just makes a good runner. Not to put them down, but I feel like there are 2 different kind of triathletes, those who are endurance triathletes, and those who are sprint triathletes. One isn't better than the other. It's just a clear difference. Not to say the longer races will be easier, but it'll be interesting to see how my endurance matches up against others.

My heart rate was just at 180 +/- 3-4 bpm which is reasonable since I train at 155-170. It's really handy to have it and be able to see where you're at in terms of how hard you're working. It's a good gauge for your performance and fine tuning your efforts.

Next weekend, Peter L. Teeuwin Memorial Time Trial. It'll be my first chance to wear my team uniform in a race. It should be fun. 24 miles of pure fun... haha. Time to do some laundry. Have a good evening folks!

Listening to: Tech:no

Feeling: Hungry

Pre race report...

Tomorrow (9 hours and 30 min from now to be exact) is the 3sports sprint tri. Same course as the power sprint from earlier this season. It's a really fast, and really fun course. I'd really like to beat my time of 1:05 from earlier this season. I def think it's doable since I had some cramping problems on the run. I still ended up in the 30's at that race so I'm really excited to see how it plays out this time.

Changed up the cycling form a little bit. I've been focusing on keeping the intensity up. OK, I'll explain a little bit more. Instead of cruising at a nice pace and pushing on the hills to maintain that pace, I'm pushing all the time, and working to keep speed on the hills. There are several reasons for the change, all of which were explained to me by a friend on my cycling team.

- Push through the hills and continue to pedal through the pain all the way through the top of the hill.
- Once you get to the top your cadence will pick up because you're no longer going up hill.
- The lactic acid will flush out of your legs from the increased cadence.
- You will be less fatigued and not suffer on the hills as much.

I like this idea. I've been working on it on the road bike and it's working. The pain on the hills isn't going away, but once I get to the top I've been pedaling through the pain and within a few seconds my legs are back to normal. I used to think that if I pushed too hard my legs would burn out. It's starting to feel like it's just a matter of putting up with the pain and waiting for your legs to cool off. Even better, my heart rate doesn't sky rocket on or after hills. It goes up a little bit (5-10 bpm) but nothing monstrous. We'll see how this goes tomorrow. The course isn't really hilly but there are a few parts that are slightly uphill.

Gym workouts have been going well. I'm enjoying lifting weights again. I feel stronger, more solid, and not as soft. I don't know if I actually look any different but I do feel better. I've been focusing on doing as many reps as possible. At the very least I've been doing 12, and sometimes 15. I've felt stronger in the pool since I've started lifting again. I think the endurance aspect of lifting weights is really helping out. My arms don't feel as fatigued as usual after being in the pool (the few times I've been able to get to the pool lately).

Well, my class is over now officially. So you should be seeing more consistent posts about workouts. Hopefully more cycling. I love cycling and I miss being able to do it everyday. I'd like to get out a few mornings during the week in addition to time trial practice and Saturday group rides. Even if it's not for an intense workout, at least for a decent ride.

OK, I need to leave to get downtown. Staying down there tonight so I can get to the race on time. Big things will happen tomorrow (I hope).

Listening to: Salmiakki Sessions

Feeling: A little heartburn.

My schedule will be opening up soon.

Ahhh, back from vacation. It was great. My girly friend and I went away to DC for the weekend and we had a blast. The hotel we stayed at was amazing, the restaurant there was top notch, and of course, there was plenty to do. As usual when visiting DC, everything involves walking. You'd be crazy to try to drive too many places in that city because the roads are crazy and the traffic isn't much better. So even though it was a weekend off (if you count out the 3 miler on Sat morning) I still was able to stay on my feet for the 2 days and ate pretty well. The restaurant in the hotel specialized in seafood from the Chesapeake so it was all fish all weekend. Dinner on Saturday involved smoked salmon as an appetizer and pan seared tuna for dinner. I honestly have never had pan seared tuna as good as Saturday. There was just something about it. Even better, it was served on wild rice with beans. I will never forget it, simply amazing. Oh and by the way... eggs Benedict tastes amazing over smoked salmon. A lot of uncooked meat this weekend but man oh man was it good. If you ever want to get away for a weekend and don't mind spending a few bucks I strongly recommend the Fairmont in DC. The hotel itself it beautiful and the restaurant is crazy delicious.

OK, enough about slacking off. This week is the last week of my summer class (thank goodness) so next week my schedule will free up again and I'll be able to start making it to swim practice again and working out on a more regular schedule. For this week I'll probably be doing some easyish workouts in the mornings. I got out for a six miler this morning. After 878 calories, 48 minutes, and roughly 165 beats per minute my legs were still feeling good. I really like running now. I used to hate it with a passion. Now that I'm getting faster and more comfortable with longer distances it isn't nearly as much of a chore. I'm looking forward to the winter when I can focus on long distances and work on my form some more. Now that it's the middle of the season the important thing is just getting enough mileage in to be comfortable with race distances. Unfortunately since the 1/2 IM is a 13 mile run it means increasing my distance from what I'm used to. Not too big of a deal but it probably would've been a better idea to come into the season being comfortable with 13 miles. We all have to start somewhere I guess.

I'm looking for some new racing shoes. My training Adidas' are burnt out so I'm using my racing shoes as my training shoes now. I'm looking at another pair of Adidas for racing. Something really light weight. I'm looking at the Adidas adiStar Comp 4. I need something neutral with a slight amount of stability and something light. Well this fits the build. It's classified as a neutral racer (similar to my training shoes which were neutral trainers so I'd expect similar support) and it comes in at 7.4 ounces (almost 3 ounces lighter than my current racing shoes). On top of that the green is bangin. Any suggestions are welcome.

Cycling uniforms for TNP will be in this week and Tri uniforms will be in in the beginning of August. Can't wait. OK, time to finish my final project for Stat. I might make it to the gym tomorrow morning or possibly in the pool. Race this weekend so I need to stay fresh. Keep doin what you're doin ladies and gents.

Listening to: Crazy tech"no"

Feeling: Tired of stats

I lied

OK so I lied. I got out for a quick 3 miler this morning. I wanted to do something before I left for the weekend. It was my first opportunity to use the foot pod with my new HRM. It's awesome. It's really nice to see how far you are really running and what your pace is. I'm still not 100% sure how to use the heart rate readings. What I do know is that I'm generally in the 160's, 170's if I'm really cookin' and 150's when I'm slowing down or slackin'. I was thinking my 3 mile route was actually going to come out to be 1.4 miles or something crazy short because that's just how my luck goes. Fortuneatly it was almost 3 miles on the dot (3.03 to be exact). I was right at the 7:45 - 8 min pace which is good for a training run. In races I'm generally closed to the 7 min pace. Training wise it's harder for me to have the intensity and adrenaline to keep a quick pace like that. The good thing is that if I can keep an 8 min pace in a training run I'm sure I can keep it in a longer race (i.e. The Patriot). Anyways, my legs and hip joints were a little sore. Maybe from all of the running from Wednesday and Thursday. More to come on all this heart rate stuff.

Leaving now. Have a good weekend.

Listening to: Norma Jean

Feeling: Sweaty

Two bricks and weight training

Wow. A lot to write tonight. Over the past 2 days a lot has happened. I had 2 great bricks, one of which stopped me from being able to stay awake long enough to type up an entry, a successful trip to the weight room, some guy boning his secretary in his car, and a new HRM (finally). Wait... woah woah, did he just say some guy boning his secretary in his car? Uhh, yeah, I did. In the middle of my ride through West Creek tonight I passed a Land Rover which seemed to be parked in an odd place on the side of the road. On my way back around I couldn't help but notice that there was a man in the drivers seat... and a much younger woman in his lap, and they were going to town. It was probably the most awkward training moment of my entire life. The weirdest part was that it was light out, there were other people running and cycling, and there were cars passing by. I don't know, it just makes me laugh. Now that I got that exciting experience out of the way it's time to move on to the workouts. I'll start with last nights time trial practice...

We did things a little differently this time. We usually do our intervals with distances as our bench marks. Usually it's 2 miles on, 1 mile off for 30 miles. Last night we did it with timed intervals. 3 minutes on, 3 minutes off. What was even crazier was that we did it in a similar fashion to a ladder. We started in 53x15 and worked our way down to 53x11, and then finally back up to 53x15 again. After this we 3x5min @ high cadence with 2 min of rest in between. I can't figure out why just yet, but the high cadence stuff was hard. Hard to keep your form while your legs are going crazy and hard to have your muscles working so fast. It was good though, because if you can feel good at a higher cadence you can save yourself the trouble of having to struggle in a higher gear. Great workout. Between the 2 workouts (time and distance based), I prefer the timed intervals. It was a lot harder on your legs, and not as easy to give up on. After our intervals we did our normal run of just under 6 miles. My running is really improving. I feel a lot more comfortable and my legs are moving a lot quicker than they used to. No frisky adults last night though.

This morning I got up and made my way to the gym for my normal workout. Lower weights, more reps, more sets, less rest. I'm really curious to know what kind of heart rate I have while I'm working out at the gym and defineatly how many calories I'm burning. I've read that you burn a lot of calories while you're lifting weights, although it sure doesn't feel like it. The exercises were the same as Monday night. I'll probably stick with one group of exercises for 2-3 weeks, then switch to new ones. I'm not a fan of switching exercises all the time because I like to see improvement, but it is a good idea to switch it up every once and awhile so your muscles don't get stale and used to the same ol same ol, hence switching every 2-3 weeks.

All of this leads us up to tonight. I got a call from 3sports today to let me know my HRM had come in. I swung by the shop to pick it up. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I really did not know what kind of information I would be getting from this type of thing but I knew that once I figured it out it'd be really helpful. And indeed it was. The model I got came with the chest strap and watch, a foot pod (for distance, speed and running pace) and batteries, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. I strapped it on and hopped on the bike. I had planned a simple workout for the evening. 30 miles on the road bike, 6 miles running. No intervals, nothing complicated, just a strong bike workout and a steady run. I ended up averaging 20.8 for the 30 miles and, according to my HRM, burning 1300 calories just from the bike. I'm still not sure how to interpret the heart rate readings but I stayed in the 150-170 range for most of the ride. I unfortunately wasn't able to figure out the foot pod before my run so I wasn't able to get any pace information (I need to read the manual), but I did burn another 700 calories and kept my heart rate in the same general area as when I was on the bike. The coolest part about having it was knowing how hard my body was working. A lot of triathlon is your mind telling you that your body is struggling and you should slow down and your legs are sore so you should stop. But thats all psychological, at least most of the time. Knowing your heart rate gives you an idea of really how hard your working, and it's a little easier to ignore what you're head is saying if you can see that your body is really doing OK. Another great brick. Burned a total of just over 2000 calories. Holy crap thats a lot.

I figure after learning that I actually do burn that many calories after such an intense work out, it's a good time to address my most recent problem. I don't think I'm eating enough. I am dragging all day, half asleep, half awake, but mostly asleep. I can't get any energy to do things at work sometimes and staying awake in class is a battle which I usually lose. I was concerned when I saw that I had gained a few pounds that maybe I haven't been eating right, so I started to watch my intake. Not really change it too much, just being mindful of some of the not so good things I was taking in (i.e. cookies etc.). Now I'm thinking that I just need to eat! Its no wonder that I'm struggling at work. I'm easily burning 2000 calories in one workout and I don't even know if I'm eating that much every day! I will resume my habit of putting a scoop of peanut butter in my oatmeal in the morning and having a cookie with my lunch. And that's the end of that problem.

Long post. Lots of good stuff. There's more but I don't want to write a book. Vacation this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to try to get a run in Saturday morning but you probably won't hear from me again until Monday. Thanks for reading.

Listening to: Trance radio.

Feeling: Like a car feels when the gas light comes on.

Today

So here's what's going to happen for today.

Time trial practice tonight - Intervals for 90 minutes at ~90% max.

Run 6+ miles.

It's supposed to rain. If it does I'm going to hit the gym and the pool for a distance workout. So, just as important as managing your time is having a backup plan. Because when you really want to go for a ride, it usually rains. The mornings you can't, it's usually beautiful.

One thing I've noticed in the past few races is that you are better off than you usually think you are. Often when you train, it always feels the same, or you get 3 levels of response. Good, normal or bad. Even with a HRM or a bike computer you really only get a number that tells you how you performed. It never tells you how you improved or how your training will benefit you. Once you get to a race, you find out that you're in way better shape that you ever thought. And if you feel like you were having a rough swim, you usually find out that everyone else was too. Even more of a reason to work hard.

Too much commentary these past 2 days, nobody really cares what I think. More workout stuff, I promise.

Listening to: Scarlet

Feeling: Hungry

The struggles of an age group triathlete in college...

The biggest challenge for any age group triathlete is finding time to train. Throw in college and a few ambitions and it gets down right impossible. Some may find this to be a problem and may be the reason for some that so many expensive bikes pop up on ebay. People start the sport, train a lot for a few weeks, or months, then find out it takes more work to fit in training than its worth to them and they give up. But to me this is what makes the sport so much fun.

To someone who is not involved with triathlon may think that the only difficult thing about the sport is training. They might think that swimming 1.2 miles, biking 54 miles and running 13 miles is crazy! As crazy as they think it might be, tell them how fast you plan on doing it and you'll blow their mind. But what they don't know is that for someone who lives a regular life with a busy schedule (such as a college student), finding the time to be successful in such an activity is just as much a skill as doing what it is you set out to do.

You have to make every training session count. You have to know when to wake up early and when push hard. You also have to know when you need to rest and when to push yourself. You also have to prioritize and decide what things are important enough to you to take a break from training. There are certain things that can only happen once and it's important to realize this. These are the things that you should take time away from your passion to enjoy. If you are unable to do this then you will miss out on some very important times in your life.

I always beat myself up when I can't make it to the pool 3 times a week or get out for a run when I want to because I have something else to do, or I'm just too worn out from school to wake up at 5:45 to work out. Today, one of my buddies got his PhD. I also had swim practice tonight. The plan was to meet up at Cap Ale House to celebrate the ocasion. My idea was to stay only for a little bit and then swim a distance workout on my own. After a few minutes of being there, I decided that my friend will only get his PhD once and it was worth staying out to celebrate (with minimal amounts of beer and junk food of course, I'm not giving up one everything). Time in the pool can wait and missing tonights workout won't make me or break me. But I sure would've felt bad for missing the chance to celebrate my friends hard work. I got home, ate dinner (grilled chicken and potatoes, very tasty) and started on my homework for this ridiculous statistics class I'm taking. By the time I finished it was almost midnight. Well, I skipped swim practice and I probably won't make it to the gym tomorrow morning. It doesn't bother me one bit. It did at first, but after I thought about it, it was worth it.

So all of this rambling about managing your time and knowing what's really important has to mean something. We, age group triathletes that is, should understand what it takes to accomplish what it is we want to accomplish. If you are willing to do what it takes, then you need to do it. But there are also some things which are worth missing a workout for. Because when you look back you will remember those things that matter more than anyone workout. You will also find that your time is much more valuable when there is something you love doing that makes your decisions on time management that much harder.

This may make no sense what so ever. But the things that draw people to this sport and cause them to spend a huge portion of their time training are just as interesting to me as the new Kuota tri bike or how to run a sub 40 10k. I've always felt that for every one thing that will draw someone in, there is 10 other excuses or deterrents that will cause them to lose interest or motivation to do what it is they originally wanted to do.

Set goals. Train to achieve them. And enjoy the ride along the way.

Time trial practice tomorrow with a long run afterwards.

Listening to: Classical radio.

Feeling: Tired of statistics.