Race Report - BIKE - 70.3 New Orleans

Okay - I made it out of the swim. Some of my swim demons surfaced but I battled it out and crossed the timing mat at 40:20. I shut the door on the swim and ran through transition - the swim never entered my mind for the rest of the race.

My bike was in the first quarter of the transition area - bike closest to the bike start / finish. With wetsuit in hand I ran through transition. My feet were a little tender on the asphalt but I really did not notice them. It was a long run to the bike.

Helmet on - sunglasses on - really thin socks on - cycling shoes on. I clip-clopped to the mount line and clipped in (I'm not a flying mount / dismount guy yet). 3:05 in transition. It took me two tries. I had taped about 8 gels to the top tube of my bike and I took one at this point. I ate one every 30 minutes on the bike.

There were lots of bikes in front of me as we started out and I felt like going faster than them. I got up to speed quickly and my heart rate was still higher than I wanted. I tried to keep it low but was not very successful - it was about 162 and I wanted to keep it in the high 150's.

Out along the levee the wind was mild - there was wind but it was manageable. The route had completely closed road and lots of police support. About 20 to 30 minutes into the bike we came upon the first of the bridges. Some were overpasses and one was a draw bridge. I am not a strong climber - I'm and spinner not a masher. So I dropped down into my low crank for the draw bridge. I was not going to try and power up this steep bridge. I shifted a little too soon and lost some momentum but stayed seated and just kept spinning. Down the backside I was flying. I have no idea of the speeds but I was spinning out in my largest gear. Doing the gear math that would put it close to 40 MPH.

The first bottle exchange came up quick. I dumped the contents of my water bottle into my profile aero bottle and grabbed a fresh one. No drama.

The bike continued out into some swampy land along Chef Menteur Highway. It was windy at this point - the wind was blowing from the south west. A tandem bike was flying through the field. I believe that it was physically challenged athlete that was blind. That tandom was making some time!

I looked at my watch and I was an hour into the bike when I crossed the leaders heading back. Not sure who was in the lead but someone near me yelled go Macca. The soft tissue was starting to get a little irritated at this point. The cardio felt fine - the legs felt fine. We turned around on Chef Menteur Highway at about 30k's.

Turning around you could feel the wind. It was tough. I was making pretty good time but knew the wind would be a problem. After just a few miles we made a right turn North onto Highway 11. This took us out way into swamp land out onto a peninsula. There were boats and trailers decent crowd support. When we turned around on Highway 11 the wind took hold. There was another bottle drop at this point. I took a bottle and also managed 2 gels - better safe than sorry.

The wind was in your face and fierce. I am thankful that there was no dust or debris flying about. This stretch into the wall of wind was a little demoralizing. I was wanting to get off the bike. My heart rate had dropped and I was having to remind myself to keep up a good pace. There is definitely a mental aspect to these longer races - I need to work on this.

I turned back onto Chef Menteur Highway and the wind did not let up but I knew I was on my way back. I churned away on the bike and then I turned back North again on Paris Road. There was some relief from the wind and in the home stretch. I think I was passing the 2 hour mark on the bike. I was doing the math in my head and was still thinking that if I could jump off the bike and have a near perfect run than I would be close to my fantasy goal time.

Back along the levee and back up the draw bridge. I again shifted into my lowest gears and spun up the bridges. It was slow and steady but I was passing people. They suffered the wind also.

Lots of people were lined up along the street going back into transition. I was so ready to get off of the bike. My legs were tired but felt fine. My soft tissue areas were cooked. My skin was dry and caked with grim - grim from the lake and grim from me. I stopped and unclipped at the bike dismount line and looked at my watch - 2:42:48 - 20.64 MPH. I was pleased but the effort seemed like it was worth a little more.

Race Report - SWIM - 70.3 New Orleans

We had a nice dinner at Tony's sister's house on Saturday night. Everyone made Jodie and I feel as if we were at home. I ate a little too much. Went back to the hotel and had a little bit of trouble sleeping.

I woke up at about 4:30AM and started to get ready. There was nervous tension in the air. Checked out of the hotel and drove to the transition site to set up. The roads were already closed and not knowing the area well we kind of meandered around in the dark.

I finally found the long line of cars entering parking lots of the UNO (University of New Orleans) and parked in the residence parking lot. It was probably a half mile from transition. Started walking with my transition pack and then remembered that my wetsuit was in the car.

Walking into transition I literally bumped into someone doing body markings - short and sweet. I got into transition at 6:15AM (it would close at 6:45AM and my swim start was at 7:20AM). The swim start was about a mile and a half away (the walk is further than the swim). They had buses to take you most of the way there but the line for the buses were enormous. The time was 6:35AM and I did not feel that I could wait for the bus - there were lots of people walking. I had not planned for this and I would have to walk bare footed.

The rough asphalt was tearing up my feet so I tried to walk in the grass. Jodie offered me her shoes but I declined. Lots of nerves during the walk. I got to the swim start and got my timing chip. I was putting on my wetsuit as the pros took off at 7:00AM. I lined up in the corral ready to go with about 5 minutes to spare.

My age group (3rd wave of my age group) was called into the water. I waded out and filled my wetsuit with water. I positioned myself towards the back and waited for the horn. The water was shallow and I passed a lot of people by just continuing to walk for maybe 15 yards before swimming. I started swimming and I tried to control my breathing and concentrate on long gliding strokes. It was working. I was feeling good. I'm not sure what happened first - I either started to catch some of the people in front of me or people started to catch me - but I was in the middle of a lot of churn. I got kicked and hit in the face. I tried to regain my composure and keep swimming. I would take a few strokes and then get jostled. I would instinctively look up and by stopping I would be swam over.

My breathing was out of control at this point. I was trying to settle down back into a rhythm and was dying. I looked behind me and saw the second half of my wave converging on me. I had to settle down and get out of the way. I thought about quiting right then and there - it was that rough. I was only 2 buoys into the swim - out of 16. I swam over to one of the kayaks and ask the swim rescue guy that if I grab onto the hull of the craft if I would be disqualified. He said no. I'm not sure what I would have done if he had said that I would be done. Anyway I grabbed the hull of the kayak and caught my breath. He asked me if I was cold and I said that my heart rate was 175 and that I just needed a second to let it drop. After about 30 seconds the guy said that he was not sure how to get me to shore. I said that I did not want to go to shore and just need a couple for seconds. I probably held on for about 2 minutes (but time is kind of funny in those situations). I was better after that. I swam more towards the shoreline where is was less congested. I was still not in a good rhythm. I stopped again on a shoreline point before half way. I could touch the bottom and cleared my goggles.

I continued on with the swim. It was taking forever. Swimming along the shore every time I would stop and sight there was this lady yelling at me - she would say, not in an encouraging way, but rather demanding 'YOU'RE ALMOST THERE - DON'T STOP NOW'. That drill Sargent lady helped.

The rest of the swim was uneventful. Hard but uneventful. I pulled my wetsuit down half way and ran out of the water. There were strippers (I know it's New Orleans but not those kind of strippers) about 50 feet out of the water and I dropped down like a turtle. Short and sweet and I thanked the lady.

The run out of the swim was about a 100 yards up a small hill that was either grassy or carpeted. I ran across the timing mat in 40:20. I was glad to be out of the water.

Humbled by the wind - 1/2 Ironman New Orleans

I finished my first 1/2 ironman. The bike and run were billed as flat and fast. And the bike could have been except for the gale force winds. I finished in 5:30:21 and I am truly humbled. I know everyone always does this but I already see minutes for improvement. About 8 in the swim, 8 - 12 in the bike and 15 in the run. How do you do a sub 5 hour 1/2 ironman - first do a 5:15.

Full race report to follow.

1/2 Ironman 70.3 - show time!

Restless sleep last night. There is an athlete tracker online. Just enter my bib number - 680.

http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/neworleans70.3?show=tracker

NOLA 70.3 - T-minus 1

I did a triathlon check list last night and packed up everything for the race. I still need to pack some clothes for the weekend. We should get to NO by about lunch time. Jodie has prepared all of the travel food - the drive is less than 2 hours, but... - we still need travel food.

I realize that adding the swim portion seems to require so much more stuff than the Duathlon I did just last weekend. For the Duathlon - bike, bike shoes, bike, helmet, running shoes, sun glasses and race belt.

True, this is a 1/2 Ironman and I have to travel so the list is much longer.

goggles
extra goggles
wetsuit
unitard thingy
towel
bike
bike flat repair stuff
bike shoes
floor pump
crack pipe - adapter thingy for race wheels
helmet
race wheels
socks
sunglasses
water bottles
bike tools
running hat
running shoes
socks
camera
contacts
directions to race, etc
race foods (gels, etc)
heart rate monitor
heart rate monitor strap
towel - post race
transition bag
USAT card
wallet - money
victory speech

So once I get to NO I will go to the host hotel and do the mandatory race briefing, hit the expo (a little shopping maybe) and then drive to the bike check-in.

I hope to get a quick swim in the lake this afternoon. Kristin blogged about there being a pretty good chop in the water yesterday. I'll need to check that out.

Then off to the hotel to check in. I'm having dinner at a Tony's sisters house tonight in Meterie. Tony invited all of us Hattiesburg people down for pasta. It looks like a lot of fun.

NOLA 70.3 - T-minus 2 days

I went to the Keg and Barrel last night for the unveiling of a new brew - a Smokey Porter. I know Sam (different Sam - not local fast guy Sam but brew meister Sam). It really was dark and smokey. Very smooth but definitely the kind of beer that I can only drink one of. They also had an all you can get Bar-B-Que spread. Pork and beef and corn and all the fix'ns. Good stuff.

The fecal count of Lake Pontchartrain has gone through the roof in the last few days due to heavy rains. The beach where I will be swimming has gone from 24 to 350 MPN (mean probable numbers of colonies per 100 milliliters - or turds per square inch). They advise that swimmers use caution at anything about 200 MPN - not sure how to use caution while swimming - avoid the dark spots I guess. LINK

On a side note, someone sent me a funny onion article yesterday and then I saw this in the store and thought that life truly does follow art (I guess it is art). LINK


The market? Listen, we make the market. All we have to do is put her out there with a little jingle. It's as easy as, "Hey, shaving with anything less than five blades is like scraping your beard off with a dull hatchet." Or "You'll be so smooth, I could snort lines off of your chin." Try "Your neck is going to be so friggin' soft, someone's gonna walk up and tie a goddamn Cub Scout kerchief under it."


That's right 5 + 1 baby!

Swimming and leg cramps

I went to the gym today and decided to go for a swim. I was really just playing around and boosting my confidence in the swim. No warm up and 500 yards turned into 1000 yards and the one set ended up being 3000 yards (60 laps). Nice comfortable pace. However, between 2500 - 3000 yards I started to experience incredibly painful calf cramps. I mean these cramps were excruciating. I had to stop on at the end of one of the laps for my left calf and just stretch it out. It hurt really bad. I started swimming again since I only had about 5 laps left and on the 59th lap the other calf caught on fire. This one stopped me mid lap. Even after the swim was over sitting at my office my calves were more sore than if I had done a demanding leg workout.

I looked up possible causes of this can came across the following from here.

Triguy asks:

I often get leg cramps in my calves toward the end of my swims. How can I avoid this?

Triguy - firstly let me say that you are not alone, lots of athletes and especially triathletes suffer from calf & foot cramps while swimming. Here are some things you can do to help solve that problem:
1) Go into your swims well hydrated. This means water of course but not water alone - also include an electrolyte drink. A muscle is far more apt to cramp when dehydrated so keep yourself topped off.
2) Include ankle stretching in your body maintenance routine. Running often stiffens the ankles making it harder to point your toes very far. Swimming requires a more flexible ankle so that the foot becomes a long, smooth extension of the leg rather than a flat surface plowing through the water. One approach would be to simply kneel down on a soft surface, point your toes so the tops of your feet are on the ground, then sit back on you heels for a few minutes. This will stretch your ankles and improve you flexibility. This must be progressed into gradually!
3) Relax while swimming. Too much leg tension will over stress the calfs and all that does is elevate your heart rate without any benefit from propulsion. Keep your legs relaxed and your kick small and easy.

All the best, Ian

I'm not real worried about this upcoming 1/2 ironman but foot and leg flexibility will definitely be in my training regime prior to IM-KY!

Stadium lunges

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

I have been getting to work early this week. No exercising in the morning and it seems like I have an extra hour. Not sure what to do with myself.

At lunch I went to the football stadium and did lunges up the bleacher seats. Not over doing it but a pretty demanding leg workout. And, I know that I should be in complete taper mode, but, I ran some 50 yard and 100 yard dashes at about 90 percent effort. It felt good. After the leg workout it was back to the gym for abs. I worked my abs a little bit on Tuesday but really hit them hard again. My midsection was sore. I try to work on functional strength as much as possible and swinging the bat in softball has really brought that to light. My left obliques are getting really sore after batting practice. I guess the side planks are just not up to the task. I have been investigating better oblique workouts. I have some old POWER 90 DVD's (the pre-cursor to the P90X) that have some killer ab workouts. I might need to dust those off. What is the point of doing these exercises if they do not translate to real world strength?

We did end up winning our second softball game by default again. The other team just did not show up - pathetic but we might make the playoffs!

70.3 NO - T minus 4 days

I had a great swim in the pool on Monday at lunch. A couple of 500's here and there and then a 1500 yard set. I was cruising and felt like I could just keep swimming. I was not timing the sets but I was feeling the water! That just does not come naturally to me.

We won our first softball game on Monday night. The frat delta delta sig pi something or other did not show up. They thought that the game was at 7PM - nope 6PM. Brains over brawn. Sometimes you get the W by just showing up! Here I come New Orleans!

Yesterday was just a strength training day - abs and chest. During the bench press I felt uber strong. I was crushing the weight. And with this taper stuff I have rested my legs for two whole days. I'm not sure why but my appetite has really increased even though my work load is way down. Struggling with the weight but I am okay with it.

I'm not sure why but my legs have been aching like I have worked them hard. They are rested. I'm not used to these feelings. My legs usually feel fine or dead - right now they are achy. I hope that these days off are allowing them to recovery fully and I will have one of those super compensation days - like the chest work out yesterday.

Another softball game tonight - we might actually have to play.

Weight - ???

My original weight goal was to be 155 by April 5th. If you look at the chart – this simply has not happened. My weight has bounced around like a fart in a mitten. It would seem like it was trending down but jump right back up. Now my weight will fluctuate easily from water weight but it should be dropping. There have been just too many activities (crawfish boil, St Thomas Italian / Irish fest, Beer Club, Running Club – separate clubs but basically the same, meatball cones, founders day celebrations, ballroom dance socials, etc.). Add to the fact that I have been putting some serious mileage in and my appetite has been through the roof.

The diet is easy to control at work – I have a regimented schedule except for various work place social functions. But at home, especially on the weekends, it is a different story. I’m working on it.

I do try to do the right thing. For example – at the duathon last weekend, due to weather, the turnout was a little lite. There were whole pizzas left and we were encouraged to take one. I looked through them trying to find a cheese pizza. All that was left was pepperoni or sausage. I grabbed a sausage pizza. Jody has grad students that work in the field everyday with her. They crawl around on the ground and wear fatigues and stuff and it has been cold and rainy. I thought that I would be a hero and bring them a pizza.

Well, I got home a little late from the race and they were gone. I stuck the pizza in the frig and I would take it to them in the morning. I told Jody my plan. It turns out that in addition to Jody being a vegetarian (I knew this of course) that so is another of her students. Also, one of her students is allergic to meat (beef, chicken, pork). So guess who ate the pizza (or half of it) – that’s right – from hero to zero.

If there is any consolation prize – according to my bio-luminescence, bio-mechanical, bio-electric thingy thingy scale I have lost 2 percent body fat. This is not an accurate measurement device but it has proven to be precise. I’m going and get my Dexa body fat measurement when I won’t be embarrassed by the results.

Group Ride and taper

I went to a crawfish boil Saturday night. Too much to eat. I got into a 3 hour volleyball game. It was just for fun - I had a great time.

Slept late on Sunday - after all that is what tapering is all about. I did end up going for a 40+ mile bike ride with the Sunday group ride. It was a cool day and I was wearing arm and leg skins. I let the fast group pull away and stayed in the back. No need to push it this late in the game. The fast group slowed and waited for everyone at Epley and I was able to bridge the gap. I still was not pushing a hard pace. For one of the first times I headed back at Sumral. I would have liked to continue the ride but I had softball practice a little later in the afternoon.

I got back to campus and just had time to change for softball. We threw the ball around and batted for about an hour and a half and then I headed home on the bike. Vic took my softball bag home with him since I was on the bike. It occurred to me, after the fact, that my drivers licence, school id and cell phone were in the bag. Luckily I had keys to the office where my bike was - glad that key was on a lanyard or I would have been walking.

With no way to get to the gym this morning (no ID) I slept in again for a little bit - probably a good thing. At lunch I decided to swim. I got 3000 yards and I feel strong in the water.

I am excited about this weekend.

The lake conditions for Pontchartrain Beach -: http://saveourlake.org/water_quality.asp

Fecal / Coliform = 24
Water Temperature = 68
Salinity = 5.8
Disolved Oxygen = 6.62

April Fool's Duathlon

Did a nice 6 1/2 mile run yesterday at lunch - nothing big.

It rained cats and dogs all last night. Thunder and lightening. The rains stopped around 6 AM. It was hard to get out of bed but I decided to head out to the race site. We do not get many races that are actually in town. I got to the race site at about 7:15 - there were not many people there but I knew several including the race director. The race was scheduled to start at 9 AM.

Sam, Chris and Steve all showed up shortly. I registered and was the first to set up in transition. I got the best place. The race would be a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and another 2 mile run. I was strategizing with Steve on how hard to go out. Sam had said pretty much to go all out. Steve and I were debating how hard to do the first run so that we did not blow up on the bike. The race got started about 30 minutes late. I did not have a lot of nervous tension like I can sometimes have - I think the tension is mainly anticipating the swim. The air was thick at the start of the race but the rain was gone. There were mud puddles all along the run course.

I did not even try to stay with the front runners - I know better. The leader of the race was Jacob (twenty something fast guy) who just won the Sunfish Duathlon last weekend. He had a big X on his back for Sam to chase - Sam would be on his road bike with aero bars (his Scott Plasma developed a crack and was sent back to the factory). Steve - the guy that I paced off of in my last 5k - the guy that pulled away by about 30 seconds was 20 feet ahead of me. I was watching my heart rate monitor. I did not want to red line during this first run and fade on the bike. I stayed in my HARD EFFORT zone and let the front runners pull just a little ahead of me. I entered the transition area after the 2 mile run at 11:53. Having the best transition spot meant that I could continue to run through the transition and not have to run with my bike much. My transition was okay - a run through the transition, a shoe change, helmet on and run up a short hill with the bike - total 1:02. The bike course was very wet and there were a few sharp turns leaving the subdivision. I got up to speed pretty quick and was pushing hard. Once we got out on the highway it was all up hill. Not steep just hard up hill! I was grinding away and just thinking to my self that at least it is an out and back so I get to ride down the hill. Chris passed me going up the hill and then I passed Steve on the same hill - yes this was a long hill. I was stuck in no man's land. The leaders had pulled away from me and I had pulled away from Steve. Thoughts of missing turns entered my mind. It was a straight out and back on the highway - no chance of missing turns but I thought about it. At one point I had to drop to my lower front crank. I have not had to do this in a while. A little demoralizing but you do what you have to do.

I hit the turn around and I was hurting but feeling good. The down hills came up quickly and I was flying. The chip and seal roads did not help. I do not carry a cyclometer on my race bike but people after the race said that they hit 40 MPH - that seems a little high, but... I continued on to the transition, the roads were much better in the subdivision. I hit the bike dismount line with a bike time of 29:50 - about a 20 MPH average.

My next transision was 52 seconds and I was back on the same 2 mile out and back. I was feeling tired but running pretty good. I just kept my heart rate in my LT zone and cruised. There was one runner about 50 feet in front of me and a guy named James about 20 feet behind. James is in my age group. I just needed to keep him off of me. I just trucked this run out. The run was the same as the first but you ran through transition to the finish line - so maybe another 150 feet. This run time was 13:29 - about a minute slower than the first run.

My total time was 57:07. Sam ended up winning the race and the Jack 'N the Box trophy. I'm not sure but I think I finished around 8th. I was pretty sure that with Sam winning I would be first in my age group but I only placed second. I forgot about Robin - another fast guy in my age group. I'm probably a little faster than Robin on the bike but his run blows me away.

All in all a good first Duathlon.

Funny captcha

Ran across this earlier tonight - wow!

Pool time - the taper continues

With the pool closed all last week I have been in the water a lot this week. I really felt strong yesterday at lunch. I followed the workout as prescribed and everything just clicked -

Swim Endurance
45 minutes - 2500 yards
Long easy swim.
Warm Up: 400 swim
Main set:
400 pull
400 w/paddles
300 swim
300 pull
300 w/paddles
6x50 Fast on 60"
Cool Down: 100

Easy stuff. This morning I was back in the pool and did 1 x 1500 yards. Not my best time but it was okay (24:43 - best is 23:59).

I want (and NEED) to get some open water swimming but the weather here has not cooperated - big time thunderstorms and stuff. Maybe this weekend.

Sharks and bears - oh my!

A torrential downpour occurred yesterday as we were walking to the gym at lunch. When I say torrential I mean it! We were all soaked to the core even though we had umbrellas. Since I was already wet I decided to go for a swim. I hung my clothes up the best that I could so that they could dry and jumped in the pool. This taper thing is hard. It is making me tired. I seem like I have lost my energy.

In the pool I just started and did 1 x 1500 yards – no warm up – no cool down. I just did it to get it done. I did not take a stop watch with me but my time was within a minute of my best. It was no big deal.

I did a small amount of leg strength training after the swim. Because of the rain and storms the softball game was cancelled. I had ridden to work with Jodie (she teaches a Wednesday night class) so I had some time to kill.

I hung around after work for a little while and then decided to walk to the Keg and Barrel – normally I would have gone to the gym. I ran into Rob at the bar. He had stopped for a Guinness on his bike ride home. I see Rob at the gym almost every day – his locker is right by mine and he is in the pool a lot.

It was a nice chat – he lives in St Petersburg, FL and we talked a lot about ocean swimming. When you talk about such thing the topic of sharks always comes up. I think the fear is from being consumed – same fear with bears (remember with bears – I don’t have to run faster than the bear – I just have to run faster than you!). Then Jodie came by to pick me up and she had a pint also.

My tolerance has gone to nothing and I feel the beer this morning. Oh well.

There is a fast and furious Duathlon this weekend (2M - 10M - 2M). This will be a good shakedown for NO70.3!

Speed work on the trace

I met up with Chris, Steve and Sam out on the trace at lunch. They were doing 12 x 1/4 repeats in 1:20 - 1:23 second range with 90 seconds recovery. I got there just a little late and ran the first interval only half way with them. The pace seemed pretty easy - at about 1:30 and only for half way.

Chris had just had his body fat measured. He is faculty in the Human Performance college and has a DEXA body fat analyzer right down the hall from his office. He was right at 10% body fat. Wow! That is impressive. I have never had a real body fat analysis done. Chris said to come on over any afternoon and I could get it done. I feel a little heavy right now but it would be nice to have a baseline. Check it now and then again at the height of summer.


Some info about the DEXA scanner from http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/bodyfat.htm.

This test is used to measure bone density, but it also measures body fat percentage as well as where most of your fat is (as if you didn't know). DEXA uses a whole body scanner and two different low-dose x-rays to read bone mass and soft tissue mass.

It takes about 10-20 minutes to do a body scan

It provides a high degree of precision with a 2-3 % margin of error.

This is considered a gold standard for measuring body fat and bone density

It's painless

Back to the intervals - the easy never lasts! I was, I guess, comfortable for the first 6 or so repeats. I was able to recover quickly and have some conversation with the guys - chew the fat if you will. Towards the end of the intervals it was taking longer and longer to recover. Sam and Steve were pulling away. Some of the intervals they ran were as low as 1:16 (that is a 5:04 pace!). I was still clocking in at 1:22 - 1:23. It was hard to watch them pull away but I just did not have it in me - but I'm working on it. Them finishing a little ahead also cut into my recovery by a few seconds. A very good workout. My times for the quarter mile repeats were:

01. 1:23
02. 1:20
03. 1:22
04. 1:19
05. 1:21
06. 1:21
07. 1:23
08. 1:22
09. 1:26
10. 1:24
11. 1:21

Back at the gym I did a little strength training - bench press and dips. It is tough getting back into the swing of the lifting. My body was sore and tired all last night. A good sore.

Another softball game tonight if it does not get rained out.

Softball?

Went for a 50 mile bike ride with Jodie on Sunday. It was at a good pace and we enjoyed the ride. I get a little antsy and had to sprint ahead a couple of times. My legs felt strong. Later that night they were a little achy - I guess just from the combined workouts of the weekend. An intramural softball team started up last week. The first game is Monday - we did not really have a team but we did get a short practice in on Sunday - 5 people. I do a lot of ab work in the gym but I can feel my obliques from the bat already.

I got up late on Monday morning and did not have much time in the pool. I saw Jen who had just won her age group in the Sunfish Duathlon. We chatted a bit and I only swam 500 yards. Oh well.

Monday's lunch was a nice and easy (8:30 pace) 4 mile run and then some back strength work. Hitting the weights was tough after a week off. It was really hard to hit the back muscles - my arms were fatiguing quickly.

Had a great time at the softball game on Monday night - even though no one on our team got on base. We were playing one of the fraternity teams - I think some of the girls must have played high school ball. We were just out classed but it was a fun time.

I got up a little bit earlier today - back in the groove - and got a solid 1500 yards in the pool - 250 warm up - 12 x 100 yards with progressively shorter recovery and a 250 yard cool down. I brought the wet suit with me to work and I am going to try to get out in a lake after work. There are thunderstorms on the horizon and this may be my only chance for the rest of the week.

Hard Hilly BRICK

Yesterday, I decided to get 20 miles in before getting together with the group. I started out of the house and my legs were very tired. I drove all day yesterday from Texas and I think that takes more out of me than many exercises. Also, my race bike was making some noise from the left (non-drive side cranks area). I stopped 2 miles out to take a look at the bike - and just a break for my legs. I had already switched out the wheels, skewers, and pedals to isolate the noise - still no luck. I headed back home to mess around before the group ride.

I met up with Chris and Butch at Jackson Station right at 1PM. Shawn was nowhere to be found. Chris gave him a call and he was going to meet us at the next stations (3.5 miles away). Chris, Butch and I had a leisurely warm -up on our way to Clyde. Shawn was there and we all decided to hit the hills off of the trace. I had never been on this route. These rolling hills were demanding. I was hitting 30+ on the down hills and trying to climb them without standing up. Chris soon pulled away from me and I pulled way from Shawn. Butch took a side road about half way through and we said out good byes.

The group stretched out again and with 30 miles on the clock I lost sight of Chris. I looked behind me and Shawn was no where to be seen. I had a basic idea of where I was but the road did not look familiar. I just trucked along up the long stretches of hills. I rolled into Sumral and refilled my water bottles. Chris was absent. About 5 minutes later Shawn rolled up. He said that Chris had called him and had taken a different route back home - family commitments. Shawn and I chatted for a few minutes with a couple that was riding the trace. The man was on a cyclocross bike and the woman was on a 3 wheeled recumbent. Nice couple - they were heading back to the trail head. This was the hardest, toughest ride I have been on in Mississippi. It was the hills and chasing Chris who is faster than me. My legs were spent.

Shawn and I rode pretty fast back towards Clyde. I pulled way from him and pulled into my garage for a short but fast brick.

A couple of minutes transition and I was out the door and running hard. My heart rate was up and I was feeling strong - for exactly 2 minutes. My old Timex GPS watch said that my pace was 6:20ish. The instant pace is never right but that was way to fast. My entire right side of my body started to hurt. From my Achilles through my calf, up in my hamstring and even my lower back. It was painful. I stopped for a few seconds to shake it out. I started running again fast. I would have to stop again in that first mile. Even with the stops I clocked a 7:07. The next mile was also hard even after slowing down. It went off at a little over 8 min /mile. I walked the rest stop (Clyde) and got a drink of water. The couple from the other station were just making it to Clyde.

On the return trip everything eased up. I was not hurting anymore. I kept my heart rate down a little and just churned out some mileage. I'm not sure what happened but I was thankful. Just a few minutes turned a horrible experience into something that was positive. I continued running past my turn off and got a total of 5 miles in just under 39 minutes.

I spoke with Chris later after my run and he said that it is very difficult to run race pace after cycling - especially in just training. I have to agree. I think that I have sorted my paces out a little better after this brick.

2 week taper starts now

household chores complete... check
new tires mounted on the race bike ... check
weather - high of 77 degress ... check
weather - 0 % chance of rain ... check

Meeting up with the guys for a fast 50 miler. I'm going to try and get a short but faster BRICK in after the ride.

I got up this morning in East Texas and ate breakfast, played badminton, kicked the soccer ball and then went for a run. The run was with my brother-in-law Joe and niece Isabelle. Isabelle rode her bike and we raced up and down the hilly terrain. It was a good hill workout with many repeats.

Later in the day we did brave the frigid lake. Joe was without a wet suit and his core temperature probably dropped 5 degrees in the 20 minute swim. With my wet suit my feet were frozen for the first few minutes but I was comfortable once I got moving. The water was so cold on my face it was hard to get started in the swim. Breathing was difficult but I soon settled in to the swim. Joe will usually smoke me in the pool but I had an unfair advantage - the wet suit for one and just the temperature of the water. I had intended on practicing on drafting but I was just a little quicker than Joe. Like I said - if it was an apple to apple comparison Joe would have been lengths ahead.

Tomorrow will be another travel day but I hope to get a bike ride in before dark. I have still not decided about the Sunfish Duathlon on Saturday. Meridian is about 2 hours away and I would have to leave the house at 6AM. I don't know if I am that committed to the race.

My sister got a puppy - Oscar -

Spring Break

St. Patty's day was spent with the running club. The March Track-on-Tap was moved up for the holiday. We started off with a 1.5 mile run downtown to the Bottling Company. They had 2 for $3 16oz aluminum green bottles of of Bud Light. We then continued downtown and stopped at the wine garden. Black and Tans were the special. Once last stop back towards campus to the Keg and Barrel. They had an Irish band, an Irish buffet and they were packed. The house was full, the porch was full and the yard was full. No place to sit so we had to bail. Our last stop was Mugshots. They had Jameson Whiskey on special and we all ate. I had some kind of hamburger that had peanut butter on it - crunchy. Not as odd as it sounds. I really did not taste the peanut butter much. A full belly and about 3 miles running.

Yesterday was a travel day. It is just a little under a 7 hour drive to my Dad's house. Not too bad. I loaded up on podcasts and audio books and hit the road by 7:30AM. An uneventful ride - always a good thing except that Louisiana gave me another windshield chip. Yes - I got the last one driving through Louisiana going to my fathers.

Today, Joe , my brother-in-law and I are going to get in a little run and then brave the lake. Joe will be hitting the water in just a jammer while I will be wearing the bib-john wet suit. I will probably be cold but not like Joe.

Another long BRICK and a hard days night

My long group BRICK that was scheduled on Saturday was rain delayed. It was rescheduled for Sunday morning. More rain. Finally at noon on Sunday we were able to take off. However the rain scared away most everyone. Ben and I were the lone participates. The sky was gray and it looked like we might get a little wet.

We were both planning on working on our half iron distance heart rate paces and nutrition. I was loaded up with GU and would take one every 45 minutes while drinking a diluted Gatorade mixture. I'm pretty fortunate in that I have a cast iron stomach - even that meatball on a cone the night before could not stop me.

The sun was popping out here and there and the temperature was just about perfect. I had my arm and leg skins on but I could have gotten away with shedding either or both of them, but I did not want to be cold if we got into showers.

The bike went well and we clocked about 63 miles 3:36 - this included 3 stops for water and bathroom. Ben will be at New Orleans next month. We got to chat about race strategies from wearing socks in longer races to peeing on the bike - both valuable information. By the time we got off of the bikes, late afternoon, the weather was perfect. We took a somewhat long transition and changed out our clothes and hit the trace.

We were running at a comfortable conversational pace. It was easy! Ben was suffering a little from his Achilles and we took a couple of 1 minute walk breaks. Still we finished 8 miles in 1:19 (about 10 minute miles all things considered). I felt like I could run all day. This is very encouraging to me, however, I know that at my race pace it will be much different. After a fast bike I can imagine a fast half marathon run. I'm working on my visualization and mental preparation. I'm not kidding myself - this is going to be tough.

Yesterday was a killer at work. It is spring break here at the university so it is a good time for computer outages. We have been renovating out Data Center and had to move all servers to new racks. This requires powering everything down, removing from the old racks, moving to the new racks, powering everything back up and hoping that it still works.

So a core group of people started yesterday morning at 7AM and did not finish up until after 1AM. Everything went surprisingly well. We ate well (too much) all day. I blew the diet with bar-b-que, baked beans, Kristy Kreme's and banana nut bread.

My legs felt fine most of the day following the BRICK, however, the 18 hours of lifting and being on my feet started to take a toll. My quads started to ache a little bit last night. I can think of better recovery scenarios.

I will check in with work today and then have a nice bike ride. I'm driving to Texas in the morning to visit with my father and my sister and her family. My brother-in-law Joe (also my best friend from high school) is a fantastic swimmer and I am taking my wet suit. Joe often brags about getting into the pool in early spring when the water is unbearable. I bet the lake temperates in Texas are in the mid to high 60's. We will have to take a look.

Irish / Italian Fest

The weather for the 5K race on Friday night was just about perfect. It was cool - not cold and the rain held off. During the race I paced off of Steve. I have ran intervals with Steve last year and did a 10 miler with him and Sam a few weeks ago. I asked him what he thought he might run the race in to see if I should pace off of him. He said maybe under 20. Steve took off and led the race most of the way. After about half a mile I dropped right behind him. The first mile was at a 6:08 pace. That is a little fast for me. I was able to stay right behind Steve for a little over 2 miles. Then I started to drop off the pace. Steve finished in a PR (by about 30 seconds) at 18:3X. I POSITIVE split (meaning the second half of the race took longer than the first) by about 25 seconds. I was just trying to hold on for the last half mile or so.

Saturday it rained all day and I took the day off from training. Went to the Irish / Italian festival (read Guinness and pizza) put on by the local Catholic church. It was still raining Saturday evening. The swag bag from the race included tickets for food or beer. They also gave out samples of Irish whiskey. I ended up eating a meatball on a cone (yeah - I know - gross) and gained 5.5 pounds. These Catholic festivals are so much more fun than the Southern Baptist ones.



There was also another 5K race Saturday morning. Due to the rain only about 70 people showed up. This race had a cash purse of $100 for male and female winners. The male winner won in something like 20:XX and the female was 21:XX. I should have climbed out of bed - I actually like running in the rain.

Friday Night 5k

Just a quick note - NEW 5K PR - 19:09! - 3rd overall and 1st in age group.

Another bike TT and climbing on the exercise bike.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. - William Blake

I got home yesterday and did another race bike TT. These have not been apples to apples comparisons (no warm-up, no ROCKET helmet, no UNITARD, etc) but my time is off by 25 – 30 seconds. I don’t feel fast but I seem to be faster everywhere else (swimming and running) and a maximum effort bike will not be required for my half and full ironman’s, but, it is disappointing.

I started a fire in the fire pit in the back yard last night. I am still mesmerized by fire. The TV has not been on in a while (no cable anyway) but I have had fires in the back yard a couple of times each month. With a good beer in my hand I could the flicker of the fire all night.

I actually had a couple of good beers last night and woke up pretty dehydrated. With the diet and training I have not drank much since the beginning of the year and my tolerance has dropped to nothing. I’m a light weight now.

On a positive note I did weigh the least that I have all year. I actually hit the 160 mark (well – 160.4). I’m sure the weight will jump back tomorrow being fully hydrated. I’m still trying to get down to 155 by April 5th.

I had a surprisingly demanding exercise bike ride at the gym today. There were interval hill climbs and I had to stand up out of the saddle for them all. It really became more of a strength training program. Good stuff.

Reduced volume and loving it!

If we know where we want to go, then even a stony road is bearable. - Horst Koehler

This has been a reduced volume week and I am digging it (I did 14 hours of training last week) - I normally have trouble throttling back but not this week.

I had a good running interval session yesterday and today had good 1500 yard swim PR (23:54) - wow - feeling good.

I have a 5k after work on Friday and then a big BRICK on Saturday. There are about 10 of us doing a 50 - 60 mile bike followed by 6 - 12 mile run. It will be a blast.

I spoke with Tony who lives on Lake Serene. He said that the temperature was in the low 60's. He was out in it recently with a wetsuit on - he reported that it was not pleasant but the water was bearable. I might get a chance to try it myself this weekend or early next week.

I am also getting back into bike commuting to work - I have missed it!

The commute is still the best part of the day!

Rode the bike to / from work again. It is that time of the year and I hope to be in the car as little as possible. Last year I was able to do most running around chores on only one day a week. Saturday we would start at one end of town and hit the library, recycling, the university, grocery store and what ever other shopping was necessary.

It took just a little bit of planning to commute each day - take a weeks worth of clothes to the university, a weeks worth of food, etc. Food is pretty easy for me at work. I eat a lot of oatmeal and tuna.

So I rode to work this morning and had to start out in the dark. The darkness will lift in just a couple more weeks and then maybe I can start getting longer rides in in the morning. The sun is out much later now but by the time the day is over I am pretty done also.

I did some nice little 1/4 mile intervals out on the trace during lunch. Six 1/4 intervals with a 1/4 mile recovery. All of the intervals were between 1:24 and 1:28 - that would equate to a little better than 6 minute miles (if I could run a full mile at that pace). The last 5k I did (a couple of weeks ago) worked out to a 6:12 pace.

Looking forward to the 5k after work this Friday but I am not feeling particularly fast - in addition it will be much warmer than last time.

Tripping in the dark.

Men trip not on mountains, they trip on molehills. - Chinese Proverbs

I took yesterday (Sunday) off to do some yard work and what not - trim the bushes, etc. I felt bad for not exercising on such a beautiful day - but oh well. I was pleased that I was not sore from the day before. The quads were just a little rough but nothing much.

I ran to work this morning in the dark - thanks to DST. It was pitch black again and foggy when I left the house for the 6 miles. I was running next to the trace on the soft dirt and pine straw when I nearly bit the dust. My foot got caught on something and my chest flew out about 3 feet in front of me. I'm not sure how I managed to right my self but there were several seconds where I knew that I was going down. This would have been such an enormous face plant that I almost wish someone would have been there to see the save - or even the disaster - it was that good - either way. But since no one was around I am certainly glad that I was able to keep off of the ground. Hitting the ground hard all alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere with 4 miles to go - not fun I imagine. This near fall tweaked my hamstring just a bit but no real damage.

So I was running to work without heart rate monitor and stuff - free running so to speak - not harnessed to technology. Well, I did have my Timex ironman watch (an older one with the GPS arm band) so I knew how fast I was running. I guess even with the full day off my legs were a little tired. I was only managing 9:30 miles. This is way off of my comfortable pace. It took me 56 minutes to get the 6 miles to work. I usually do this in 48 and my best is a hair over 42.

So much for this free running.

At lunch I got in the pool and continued to work on volume. A short warm up followed by a 1500 yard set. This took just under 25 minutes - 30 seconds slower than last week. No harm but it does seem like I am trading speed for endurance.

A quick bike ride home and I have called it a day.

DST and long BRICKs

You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle. - George Lucas

I woke up this morning and it was dark. The time has changed once again. I know that it will only be a few weeks until I can ride an hour plus in the morning but I'm a morning person and I am already missing it. It will be nice to have the sun out until 7 tonight. I have an evening 5k race this week. The race starts at 5:30 PM after work. That would not be possible without the time change.

I lived in Indiana for about a dozen years and they never followed Daylight Saving Time. Half the year we would be on the same time as Chicago and the other half we would be on New York. Living on the Illinois border it was a pain for people that lived in IL but worked in IN - and vice versa. But not changing the clocks worked out pretty well. During the summer months the sun would be out until 9:30PM - 10:00PM. That was great for softball games, soccer, etc. The last year that I lived in Indiana the decided to get on the stick and follow DST. They let the individual counties determine what time zone they wanted to be on. Counties closer to Chicago picked CST and counties closer to Louisville and Cincinnati picked EST. I do not know if it worked out or not.

I did a huge brick yesterday and I am satisfied. Along the lines of this TRAIN SMART thing I actually took adequate nutrition. I had a big bowl of oatmeal about an hour prior to the ride and a gel every 45 minutes of the session for a total of 5. I was pretty surprised that I felt good the entire time - no bonk - no confusion - all systems firing. Maybe there is something to this smart training.

I rode the race bike with all the same gear that I will be racing in - a dry run so to speak. That meant the unitard one piece race suit, the Rocket Helmet, the fast wheels - everything. I kept my heart rate in a nice zone 2ish for the 25 miles out - which was in 1:12 - just over 20 MPH. The out is always much slower than the back because of the slight elevation change. I refilled water bottles for about 2 minutes and headed back - still feeling good. I caught a friend of mine Steve on the way back. I rode with Steve for about 15 miles back. The heart rate slipped back into zone 1. Finished the back 25 miles in 1:19 - much slower but the run was coming up.

I had a couple of minutes transition in the garage - I had already set everything up. I was debating whether to run a 6 or 10 mile brick. This was also not going to be fast but just for endurance. I decided on 6 miles and ran towards the university - I could take a shower at the gym. I had my car there and I was meeting Jody. I got about 1/2 a mile out and I remember that I forgot my school ID on my bike. Back to the house and out again. Heading towards the university again the first mile was at 7:30 pace. I and got about 2 miles into it the run when I saw my friend Charles headed the other way. This was an opportunity to go ahead and get the 10 miles. I turned around and ran with Charles back to Clyde station. This pace was a bit slower than I was running - Charles was running about an 8:30 - 9:00 pace. I left Charles at Clyde Station with 5 miles under my belt. I was now further from the university - 8 miles out. I had another gel and I was feeling fine. I was keeping track of my heart rate and keeping track of my pace. My pace was still in the 8:30 - 8:45 range. Feeling good, however, I noticed that mile 8 was at a 9:00 minute pace. That was too slow! I picked the pace up just a little bit. The next mile was 8:20. I'm not sure if it was the picking up the pace or just the duration of exercise but this is where it got hard. Prior to that mile I felt as if I could have ran all day. Now it was hard work to just maintain the 8:45 pace for the last few mile.

All said and done I did 50 miles on the race bike (2:33) and a 13 mile run (1:58) in 4 hours 31 minutes.

Back on the bike

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race - Calvin Coolidge

Wednesday after work I did a 12 mile TT on the race bike. The sun dropped like a rock and before I knew it it was pitch black and I had to abort - it is a good thing that I am on the trace - no cars. I slowed way down but I could hear all of the night animals scurrying about.

It has been cold (cool) and windy here for most of the week. The weather turned beautiful on Thursday. I was able to get a nice 20 mile bike ride (including another 12 mile TT - getting slower - 20 seconds off pace) in before work on Thursday - the last one before the time changes. I also took a ride with Chris a lunch (got a flat - 4th since Christmas)and I still needed to ride home from work. I ended up with 58 miles for the day. Not bad for a work day.

I woke up on Friday and got dressed for work - I was going to the gym for an hour swim. I thought to myself - "Why are you not riding into work?" I packed my work clothes and jumped on the bike. I still got a half hour swim and really enjoyed the ride to work. During the swim I did a 1500 yard TT - 24:30. I can do better but I was pleased with the volume. That is the longest, continuous swim I have done in some time. Everything has been working on drills or speed.

A another beautiful day so I got a nice and easy 7 mile run in at lunch. The pace was easy and my heart rate stayed where I wanted it, but the perceived effort was higher than I wanted. I'm getting a little tired.

Today calls for a lot of volume. I am planning a 50 mile bike (on the race bike) followed by a 6 mile run. Nothing fast - just volume.

Four weeks until 70.3 New Orleans!

Wetsuit in the pool.

I got a swim in on Tuesday at lunch. I did another 1000 yard TT - this time I was 16:26 about 30 seconds slower. I am not sure what was up. Oh well.

With the lakes here still in the 50 degree range I decided that I needed to break the wetsuit out in the pool. I have heard horror stories about panic and what not so I have to ease those wetsuit fears.

I got dress at home and then drove to the pool Wednesday morning. The temperature was in the 30's so I was not overheating. I did get some looks walking into the gym. Chatted with Jen in the pool for a few and then did a quick warm up. The suit is so buoyant that you kind of just float. I did back to back 1000 yard TT's in the suit. My normal swimming TT best is 15:56 (1:35.6 / 100 yards). With the suit I clicked off a 14:23 (1:26.3 / 100 yards) and 14:48 (1:28.8 / 100 yards). I think that is pretty substantial. According to a swim calculator the 1:26 / 100 yards would equal a 28 minute half iron swim while my time without the wetsuit (the 1:36 time) would equal 31 minutes. It will be good to have the extra 3 minutes since I will probably be zig zagging all over the place - swimming any direction but straight. I realize that I am not a swimming speed freak compared to many of you but the improvement I have seen in the last couple of months (since Christmas) has been remarkable. The wetsuit fit perfect and I did not feel any since of claustrophobia. However, I did get very warm in the pool. My skin under the wetsuit was hot to the touch. I had a my one piece tri suit unitard on underneath so I took the wetsuit off in the pool and did some pool down laps. The water was very refreshing.

I am trying hard to embrace this TRAIN SMART NOT HARD mentality.

Off day and more running.

Yesterday was an off day - which means that I swam in the morning and did light strength training at lunch (abs and back).

Ran intervals on the treadmill this morning. I think I could have run harder but I finished pretty strong - 10 minute warm up at a slow 6 minute / mile pace and then 5 x 5 minutes with 3 minute rest. Total distance was 8 miles in 1 hour.

The intervals were as follows:

Warm up for 10 minutes

1. 9.2 MPH
2. 9.2 / 9.5 MPH
3. 9.5 MPH
4. 9.5 / 9.8 MPH
5. 9.8 MPH (for about 4 minutes)

Cool down for 10 minutes

The official results for the 5k Run for Love has me at 19:18. I have already gone to the McMillan Running Calculator and updated my pacing (printed the page out and stuck it on my bulletin board). It says that I SHOULD be able to run a 1/2 marathon in 1:29:13 and a full marathon in 3:08:09 (That would be a BOSTON qualifying time). Maybe I will work on these next year.

Ready for the open water - not yet.

One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn't feel the cold. - Tanzania Proverb

I did an easy swim this morning. Warm up then 1000 yards in 15:56 - the same time as last week. I have been working on form all this past month with my swim class. I am really going to increase the volume during March - my 1/2 ironman is just a month away. I have to get in the water with the wetsuit. I have never swum in it! I have heard some horror stories about being claustrophobic and panic attacks and such - I do not want that to be me.

Funny thing, I bought an aquarium thermometer the other day so that I could see how cold the lakes are right now. I tied a string to it and found a bobber (it was actually a rusty small propane tank – the individual sized ones). I tied the bobber about a foot up from the thermometer and threw it out in the lake. I guess I either threw it too hard or the string was not long enough because the string broke. There was my thermometer and bobber floating in the lake about 20 feet out. I was not planning on it but I pushed the kayak in the lake to fish out this apparatus. Long story short, the lake is 57 degrees. A little cold to say the least. On top of everything else – I ended up breaking the thermometer.

Early morning trace run.

It doesn't matter if the water is cold or warm if you're going to have to wade through it anyway. - Teilhard de Chardin

I went for a run this morning. It was cold and dark and windy. I left the house at 5:45am to meet Sam (and I thought Neal) at Clyde Depot on the Long Leaf Trace. This is just a hair over 2 miles from my house. The temperature dropped all day yesterday and it was 35 degrees. There was frost on the ground and the wind was howling. This was the first time that I had to pull out the balaclava for a run in Mississippi - I have worn it on the bike. As I ran in the darkness towards Clyde Depot I could hear the wind rushing through the trees. I could hear the trees creaking and bending. Did I mention that it was dark? I ran along the dark ribbon that was asphalt. It was only a micro shade darker than the surrounding dirt and pine straw. The woods sounded like something out of 'Sleepy Hollow'. As I approached Clyde Depot I saw headlights. Sam had pulled up and Steve was with him. Neal was a no show - I think because of the early time. I have ran with both Sam and Steve before. If you remember, Sam is one of the local fast guys that is in my age group - he won the 30 - 39 group yesterday - I was second - about 1:20 behind him. A very long minute and 20 seconds behind - a quarter mile is just about forever in a 5k race.

Anyway, we had a nice and easy 10 mile run in the cold and wind (just under 90 minutes for the 10 miles) . The sun came up just a little after 6AM. It was fun to swap race stories and talk about the upcoming season. We came upon one large felled tree on the trace and had to hurdle it. While this was not the fastest 10 miles I have ever run the time did go by the quickest. I think that I will try to meet up for these early morning runs more often. I was pretty happy that I was not sore from the race yesterday!

I am not sure about the bike ride this afternoon. The wind is still howling and it is still cold (four hours after the start of my run this morning and it is still in the 30's). I have a fun 3 mile run this afternoon ending at a tavern. A few guys from the run club are meeting to measure out a 5k downtown route. It will be cool to have a race downtown. I will try to get a little time on the bike trainer after house hold chores are complete.

New 5k PB

Just got back from the first 5k of the year. It rained really hard all night and most of the morning but it let up about an hour before the race. I did this race last year with a 20:31 (11th overall). I have not been working much on speed this year but everything is coming along. I got 8th overall (about 1:20 behind the fast group that pulled away) and finished with a 19:19 (not offical - it was between 19:15 - 19:19 so I am rounding up right now). My previous best was 19:56 set in August (2008). I felt really good in this race. I paced it well with the first mile at 6:21. I usually go out much to fast and just try to hang on. I feel that I have a little more speed in my legs and want to see 18:5X this year.

5k Race prep

It rained like cats and dogs last night. There is a chance for thunderstorms all morning. The 5k is on the rails to trails (asphalt) so it will not be muddy or nasty - just warm and humid. My 5k PB is 19:56 and I hope to best that time. I did an easy 4 mile run yesterday but my legs are still a little tired. I'm sure they will wake up once the race starts.

It is going to be a tough day.

ROTC and a new swim PB

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave... - Patrick Henry

I rode the exercise bike yesterday at lunch - a hill workout no less. I hate these exercise bikes at the gym but they are a good workout. The interval hills that I did required for me to stand up on the machines to just keep the cadence in the 60's - this is tough stuff.

This morning I did a easy, quick 4 mile run on the trace in my sorta-fast, sorta- flats racing shoes. I put a set of yanks on them the other day so I needed to test them out prior to the 5k race on Saturday. The running was an out and back and I passed the ROTC crowd - they were coming at me - I guess it is that time of year. I do not see them on cold mornings - on those days they train on the basketball court in the fitness center. Don't get me wrong, I completely respect anyone who enlists for military service - but some mornings when I ride my bicycle to work and they are taking up the entire multi-use trail - it can be a pain to get around them.

As I turned around on my out and back I was thinking these thoughts. There were many ROTC'ers in front of me and 'patrolling' the long leaf trace. They were lined up on both edges of the asphalt all decked out in their fatigues and carrying M-16's (I don't think that they are real - but they do look real!) As I started to pass the back few one of them yelled 'Shift Right!' It was pretty cool. They all moved over to the right and it created an entire lane for me to run. However, it did force me to pick the pace up a little so that I did not look like I was loafing off. I finished the 4 miles in just over 32 minutes.

At lunch I had my last swim class. We took it easy and did a lot of drills. I need to remember to keep a high elbow on the recovery, reach out really far, enter the water with my finger tips and not cross my center line. I really enjoyed the class and the attention of someone that knows how to swim. I also did one 100 yard time trial and finished in 1:16. This has been time well spent in the pool. Now I just need to put these skills to practice and really increase the volume over the next month.

Morning ride.

I had my second to last swim class last night. I have really enjoyed the coaching. It is nice to be challenged and then get critiqued on my form. I am definitely feeling better in the water. Last class will be Friday.

For the first time this year I hit the trace on the bike for an early morning ride. The sun was barely starting to come up at 6:30AM. A nice 20 mile out and back to start the day - nothing killer but I finished in 1:01.43 on my road bike. That is a pretty good time on that bike.

Although I am looking forward to more light in the evening I wish the sunrise would continue to get earlier. Remember Daylight Savings time is March 8th - SPRING FORWARD in 2 weeks.

Lite running preparing for the 5k

I did some quarter mile intervals yesterday at lunch at just under a 6:00 mile pace. I got a total of 10 miles in for the day (easy 6 in the morning - hard 4 at lunch).

I had fun in the pool this morning with a really easy and quick workout. Just a 250 yard warm up followed my 10 x 100 yards with 20 seconds rest. These were all in the 1:33 - 1:35 second range. In retrospect I really was not pushing very much. That is near my average last week for 1000 yards with no rest. Anyway, followed it up with an easy 250 yard cool down. I was just trying to practice my head position during this swim. I have swim class tonight.

Ran an easy 4 miles on the trace and borrowed a GPS watch from Vic to calculate the approximate 5k start and finish for the race on Saturday. I was right on with my guess last week. Did lots of abs after the run. I will probably be a little sore tomorrow.

Day Off?

Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

I actually took a cardio day off yesterday - it was scheduled! No running, biking or swimming at all. I normally have my swim class on Monday evenings but due to Mardi Gras the campus was closed. Yeah - that's right - No classes or anything here in Southern Mississippi during Mardi Gras (staff has to work though). I did do some strength training during lunch (back and abs) but nothing big. My legs felt better this morning so I ran the 6 miles to work at a conversational pace (just under 8 min / mile). Might do some speed work at lunch.

Also I think that I will sign up for a 5k for the weekend to test my speed and follow the race with a longer run.

Cycling TT PB and complete exhaustion

I wanted to get up early on Saturday and do a cycling Time Trial but it was freezing – okay nearly freezing - 39 degrees. I was suited up with all of my cycling gear. I decided to get some chores out of the way while waiting. I also ate a bowl of oatmeal.

It finally got a little warmer – about 50 degrees and I decided to brave the outdoors. I saddled up and decided to ride the course as a warm up prior to going full speed. My legs felt like lead and my arms ached in the aero bars. I was not feeling myself at all. I also got very cold really quick. I did the 12 mile out and back – this was supposed to be a warm up – and turned home. I was going to go home anyway and pick up the ROCKET helmet but just went inside. I did not change out of my cycling clothes in hopes of getting another chance at the time trial. I also ate another bowl of oatmeal.

It got warmer and I got psyched up for a real attempt. I donned the ROCKET helmet and headed out again. I stopped at the Time Trial start line and zeroed out my heart rate monitor / stop watch. With one foot clipped in I started the timer. I fumbled briefly getting the second foot clipped in and then I was off. The last time I did this time trial was July 31st, 2008 I had the option of someone holding my bike by the seat while I was completely clipped in – just like the pros. I did not opt for this and instead held onto a stop sign. During that time trial we had 5 or six entrants and a 30 second staggered start. I went second to last. This was as near head to head competition as it gets. Bragging rights were on the line. You could barely see the person in front of you but you knew they were there. Male ego and testosterone flowing you want to pass as many as possible and damn sure do not want to be passed. I got passed in about 5 minutes by Keith – the strongest of the group and I ended up passing two others. I got third place last summer. I missed second place by 4 seconds.

Everything was better this second attempt of the day. I immediately got up to speed. My heart rate was building. My legs were pumping. I don’t even remember my arms –they were not a factor. There is only one cross road on this section of the trace. I rarely used road that you can see cars coming easily from both sides. You slow a little but rarely need to stop also the out portion of the time trial is slightly up hill. I hit the turn-around at just about 17 minutes. The back portion will be faster. The trace was relatively deserted and I was flying. I was keeping my heart rate up. I was keeping my speed up. I was nearing the end of the 11.85 mile course. During the last ¼ to ½ mile I sprinted with everything I had. As I crossed the finish line I stopped my heart rate monitor / stop watch. The final time was 32:00.1 (average 22.22 MPH). I was a little let down. I had thought that I did last summer’s run at 31:XX or something. It was a good effort but not enough. I’m not talking depression or anything but I was disappointed. I rode the same bike with the same times and wore the same clothes with the same helmet. Everything that I could control was the same and I was slower than last summer. Sure I was peaking last summer when I did that trial. Sure I cannot control the conditions of the course – the wind, the temperature, the humidity, the road conditions – but I am working of it.

I felt better for having done the exercise. I always get a lift from a good effort. I looked up my time from the summer. I finished the 11.85 miles in 32:10 (average 22.1 MPH) – I beat my time by 10 seconds! I immediately felt better. 10 seconds really should not have that much control over my attitude! I’ll try to remember this. Funny enough, I average 23+ MPH in two races last year. I seem to perform better on race day. Maybe it is the competition or maybe the taper – probably both.

On Sunday it was too cold once again to ride outside so I did a long run in the morning. An easy 12.25 mile run on the same course as the ride yesterday. I ran next to the asphalt, in the pine straw, on the way out. This is just to save the wear and tear on the joints. On the return trip I started to feel my right hamstring again. I thought that this nagging injury was just about over. The soft surface seemed to help the joints but it certainly upset the muscles. I ran on the asphalt on the way home. I had to stop for bathroom and water three times during this 1:42 hour run.

I forgot to take nutrition on this run. I am trying to remember to take a gel or something with me. I did eat oatmeal prior to the run so it was not a big deal but I need to do better.

I messed around the house the rest of the morning before the 1:30 group ride. I dressed in my arm / leg warmers and headed out. I immediately knew I was under dressed. There was a fierce cross wind. The kind of wind that you never get a break from – it feels like you have to fight it both ways. No relief.

For the first time in forever I decided to turn around at the first stop. I always get a longer ride but I was simply miserable. I was riding strong but I was freezing – 31 miles would have to do. As soon as I got home I had a meal and filled the Jacuzzi tub with hot water and bubbles. I grabbed a beer and a running magazine and had a nice soak. With my core temperature returning I was feeling good again.

Later that night I nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Starting around eight o’clock I could not keep my head up. I could not keep my eyes open. I knew that I needed to make coffee for the morning – don’t even get me started on the necessity of my morning coffee – but I just could not get up to do it. I crashed hard. I have done longer runs and longer rides and with more intensity than yesterday and not felt as tired. The only times that I have felt like this are following a maximum effort. This happens after a race or a huge breakthrough training session. I had neither yesterday.

The training plan has today as an off day – I’m feeling better though.

New bike stand -

Just for fun I turned my single bike stand into a double bike stand. Quick, easy, painless.

Since I live on a rails to trails I have thought about having a group BRICK session or even a mini-duathlon. The transition could take place in my garage (a secure area). It would be very easy to make a collapsible rack like this for several bikes. For about $10 I think you could make one that would stretch the entire length of the garage and hold about 10 bikes. A buck a bike is not bad!

More swimming - I'm on a roll

Julie - Thanks for the picture and yes - that is my ROCKET helmet.

I got up early this morning to do a 1000 yard time trial. At the end of January (before swim class) I did a 1000 yard time trial. Same conditions (pool -duh) but I was unsure of the total elapsed time - It was either 16:20 (1:38 / 100 yards) or 17:20 (1:43 / 100 yards) - I'm betting now that it was the 17:20 - I feel faster! This morning I did an easy 500 warm up and then a 1000 yard swim in 15:56 (1:35.6 / 100 yards). A new personal best! It was harder than I wanted it to be - I know it is supposed to be hard but the only time I am going to be swimming in a race I will have that bike and run stuff afterward. My warm up and cool down 500 yard sets were just about the same pace.

Had a nice 5 mile run outside at lunch. I was going to be a longer run but I saw some Sam and Chris on their bike and they were broke down. Sam's cassette lock ring kept spinning off. He was on his race wheels with a SRAM red cassette. Super light stuff. Anyway - it is good that if he was going to have a break down then it is better on a training run than a race.

I am thinking of the trifecta - doing a known out and back bike route in the morning (followed by a brick). It would be interesting to see where my biking is compared to last year.

Running and swim PB's

Went for an easy 4 mile run at lunch yesterday. A nice recovery run. After work I had another swim class.

Mary thought it would be interesting to do 8 x 100 yards every eight minutes. I thought this did not seem like a very tough workout. When I do running intervals I do not rest nearly as long as that - at most a 1 to 1 ratio.

I had to do each of these sets at full, all out race pace full blown intensity. The very first set I finished in 1:20! A full two seconds faster than my previous best at 1:22. It was hard and I swam a couple of 100's to cool down while waiting for the next set. This one seemed like it took forever. The last length coming back was very difficult. I would have thought that more than 6 minutes rest I would have been completely rested. I clocked in at 1:19 - my fastest ever. I only had Coach Mary for about 50 minutes so I could not get all 8 sets in - thank god but I did complete 6. I progressively got slower. The times are noted below -

1:20
1:19
1:22
1:23
1:24
1:22

Got up early this morning for another 4 mile run. Easy the whole way - conversational pace - I did a measured 5k at 22:55 minutes.

Went bowling at lunch!

Swimming and running PB's

Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail. - Marva Collins

Yesterday was a scheduled off day. I do not do these well. I did let the legs rest but I worked my abs and back and then had a swim class after work. Mary really pushed me during this session again. I am feeling strong and making improvement. I did another 100 yard time trial. I started way to fast, like I was doing only a 50 yard TT - I had to hold on for the second lap. I finished the 100 yards in 1:22 - a personal best by 2 seconds. I think I have some more time in me (my kick is improving).

I rode the rollers this morning for 30 minutes. The rollers put a lot of pressure on my wrists. You do not notice how often you move your hands around around when you ride. I am getting very comfortable on the rollers but not enough to just be able to take my hands off of the bars.

At lunch I decide to try and redeem myself from the running time trial that I failed at last week. This was a little different. It was cool outside and I ran a known 5k route on the long leaf trace. There has been some construction so I am not completely sure of the exact distance so I added about 30 feet to the start / finish. This is an out and back and the back is just a little bit up hill. I ended up splitting this run perfectly. At the turn around I was at 9:55 and finished at 19:50. This would be a personal best. My average heart rate for the 19:50 was 173 with a max of 189. My complete max heart rate is right about 195 and I have been really close to this (194) during a real 5k. I might have just a little bit more speed in me yet. This is a good thing since my real 5k PB is 19:56. All of the 5k's are starting soon - should be a good year.

No drafting!

I had planned on another 4 + hour bike ride on Sunday but it was wet and raining outside. I knew that I could not ride the trainer or rollers for that long so I looked for more productive things to do. I decided it was time to do the bike maintenance - quick tune up of the drive train and true any out of whack wheels.

I got some warm sudsy water and went to town on each bike. I was a little embarrassed when I had all of the bikes together. There are only 2 people in the house, Jodie and I, and we have a total of six bikes. I have 2 road bikes (old and new) and a tri bike. Jodie has 2 road bikes (old and new) and a mountain bike. I want a mountain bike.

Anyway, lots of bikes to clean. Jodie's new road bike (new - three years old) had so much gunk in / on the cassette that I decide to remove it to get everything out. It was gross. I have been promised cookies for my efforts.

Before:

After:

The sun decided to come out around noon. I loaded up on the tri bike to meet up with the group ride. It was still wet outside and a little chilly (I know 60 degrees is not cold). There were only about 6 people that showed up. As there was still a lot of puddles on the ground I decided to hang back a good deal - no drafting - no spray. Everyone except for Ben wanted to turn back at the 15 mile mark. Ben wanted to do about 50 miles. I did not really plan my nutrition for a ride that long - 2 gels and I actually ate one at the beginning of the ride because I was busy in the garage and did not eat a snack - oops.

We headed out towards Bassfield. Ben is in his forties and has been doing triathlons for his whole life. He actually promoted the 'Heritage Eagleman Triathlon' here in Hattiesburg and is a USAT triathlon official. I really enjoyed talking shop with someone with as much experience as Ben. As a side note, Ben is also doing the New Orleans 70.3 in April.

I stopped at a dumpy little tobacco / beer store in Bassfield to fuel up. Butterfingers were 2 for $1 - nom nom. I ended up getting 60 miles in just over 3 hours. No drafting at all and on the tri bike. I was pretty pleased that I have built up a comfort level on the tri bike so quickly this year. That first ride last month was such a killer to the quads and 'soft tissue'.

Valintine's Day - For real this time

Valentine's for me this year = 2 hour training run. It was raining most of the morning and I was not looking forward to having to go to the gym to get two hours on the treadmill. Fortunately the weather that looked like it was going to slam us did not and I hit the trace. I was running by heart rate zone 1 / 2 which is about an 8 minute / mile pace. The first 90 minutes kind of flew by then I started to notice the fatigue. I always say this after longish runs - I need to start taking something to eat with me. I start getting tired and fatigued and then loopy. My math skills stop working and I can (not too bad) get a little confused. Like today, I run an out and back course and at one of my landmarks (a station on the long leaf trace) I noticed that I only had 18 minute to complete the last 4 miles. I could not figure out how my pace had slowed that much. I was a little demoralized and frustrated. It took me a few minutes to realize that I only had 2 miles to go (I calculated the out and back distance). I do this all the time. I finished the 15 mile run in 2:04.xx with 3 stops for water and a quick chat with Audrey from the pinebeltpacers.


I have a whole case of GU just for training but I have not been taking them on the runs. Starting tomorrow, anything longer than 90 minutes and I will take nutrition!

Valentine's Day

They did not have Valentine's candies like that when I was a kid! Maybe I am just cynical but that's a little creepy.

I rode the rollers for 45 minutes this morning. I was practicing a higher (normal) cadence in the 90's. On the rollers my cadence has fallen. I bounce a little with the high cadence but I think that is the purpose of the rollers - to smooth out your riding and make you better. I also started to lift one hand off the bars for 15 seconds at a time. It is much easier with my right hand. I am not comfortable yet but I can at least wipe the sweat from my eyes.

Swimming and rollers

No one's star-struck here. You puke right next to the best of them. - Catharina Hedberg

I had my swim class last night. I worked on POWER. It was a tough workout. Lots and lots of laps. The hardest sets started at 2 x 100 yards then 3 x 75 then 4 x 50 then 4 x 25 with decreasing rest intervals. By the last 25 I think I was only getting like 5 seconds rest. I thought that I was going to puke that last lap. I think Missy understands something about this.

I did 30 minutes on the rollers this morning in the garage. I almost made the entire 30 minutes without stopping, however, I still can't take my hands off of the handle bars very well. I tried to make it the last five minutes but the drops of sweat on my eye lashes were very distracting. I still have to master the one handed roller riding before I put the tri bike on the contraption.

For lunch I worked on more swimming. I just did lots of small sets for a total of 2000 yards - warm up plus 10 x 50, 10 x 100, cool down.

Running TT - strong and a wimp

I rode the rollers this morning in the garage while watching the rain come down. 35 minutes and practiced clipping and unclipping from the pedals.

The running TT took place at lunch. My legs still fell like lead but the mind was willing. I did my easy 10 minute warm-up (10:00 minute / mile pace) and then accelerated. The 2 mile mark of the working set ( the Time Trial ) came at 13:20 - right at a 6:40 minute / mile pace and I was still working into the set. I leveled off at a 6:30 minute / mile pace. My heart rate was climbing into the mid 180's - higher than I would have liked for this speed - this heart rate is not sustainable. At 186 I backed the treadmill down to let my heart rate recover a little bit. This was right about 19 minutes into the time trial. This is where the machine malfunctioned. I had slowed to about a 7 minute / mile pace and my heart rate was back in the 170's. I went to increase the speed of the treadmill and it would not go. I was running along at this less than maximum pace and getting frustrated. I hit the stop button in hopes that I could then resume the workout. The treadmill just stopped and reset itself. I started running again but by this time my heart rate had recovered down into the 150's. I also did not a have distance that could compare to the earlier time trial. I wimped out here. I called it a day - a 10 minute warm up with a hard 20 minute set - good for just about 4 miles.

I still have a swimming class later today.