Ironman pacing on the bike

Thursday morning was the group ride as usual and we had a pretty good turnout considering that it is so late in the year. Lance is organizing a group to go down to the coast for the Brett Robinson Alabama Coastal Tri – an Olympic triathlon taking place in Gulf Shores on September 19th. I do not think that I will be making this race…

I decided to try out my ironman bike pacing during the group ride. I just jumped into the heart rate zone and kept it steady. The pace felt comfortable but maybe just a little bit challenging. I was at the upper end of my zone – 88% of my bike LT – which is 149 beats per minute. The last race that I did, the Heart O’Dixie, I was able to average 171 beats per minute for 1:08:44 (27.5 miles). This heart rate average is so much higher than last year. I was pushing to average in the low 160’s last summer. however, my run average is lower this year – give and take, ebb and flow I guess.

I skipped the gym for lunch but still had my commute home – just 6 miles. Those 6 miles just happened to be in the rain. I still enjoyed the ride!

I have been retrospective this week – my first blog post – almost a year ago (September 3, 2008) –

Pushing the envelope and way out of the comfort zone. After debating with myself all day today - I finally pulled the trigger and registered for Ironman Louisville (KY) 2009. You have to register a year in advance - these races fill up quickly. Looking over the stats for the 2008 race there were around 3000 people who registered and 2000 people who started the race. Another 200 people started but did not finish the race. From registration to finishing only about 2/3 completed their goal. My friend Jim was one of these people that did not finish. I have great respect for Jim and his fitness level. He got caught up in a tragic bout of dehydration after 70 miles on the bike. He felt much better after several IV's at a nearby fire station. This is not encouraging.

As of today I have never swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles or ran a marathon (26.2 miles.) This will be a challenge and a goal for 2009. Pushing the envelope and way out of the comfort zone.

I still have not ran a marathon but I will in 8 days

Swim drafting is tough stuff.

I got to the gym early on Wednesday. I wanted to do a short hard run. I thought about intervals and then I remembered a graded treadmill test that I used to do – I thought it would be fun to compare these results to the last time that I did the test – August 2007.

On this test I would start at 6.0 MPH and increase the speed 0.2 MPH every minute. With my heart rate monitor I would record laps (Lap HR, Lap AVE HR, LAP MAX HR) and chart the HR at each minute. You continue until you cannot hold the pace.

This is a challenging test! While on the treadmill I noticed that guy next to me was wearing a ½ iron New Orleans shirt. I am always quick to make conversation. While I could still maintain a conversation I invited Ren out to the OWS later in the day.

I noticed that at 6MPH my heart rate was higher than it normally would be at that excretion – It is usually way low at that speed. I had looked at my last results from two years prior and new where I needed to finish – 10.4 MPH (total time of 23:00 minutes). As the speed increased I was getting worried about failing. Surely I am in better ‘shape’ than two years ago – I certainly know that I feel that I am in better shape and all of my other measurable criteria would indicate that I am in better shape.

However, not on this morning. I stopped the test at 10.0 MPH and 21:00 minutes. I was a little bit dejected. I did, however, continue on and do about 25 more minutes at a lesser pace. However, there is one inconsistency with this test (other than the fact that the treadmills are 2 years older) and that is that I did not record the slope of the treadmill. I may have had the treadmill at the default slope of zero and now I always use a slop of 1. I will attempt this test again in the near future.


At lunch I was practicing my swim stroke. Just nice and easy swimming. Jim was there and we talked about the weather, literally. The 10 day forecast showed that the Friday before the race in Louisville the high could be 78 degrees – how nice would that be? Now it shows the high on Saturday at 84 – still pretty nice. The swim consisted of 6 sets of 500 yards – I felt good the entire swim – no problems – none!

I picked my bike up from Drew at Hattiesburg Bicycle. He replaced a couple of cables and gave the bike the complete once over. The bike looked and felt great. I made it out to the lake just as everyone was gathering. We had a big crowd. There were most of the regulars (Lance, Raland, Jen) plus about 4 new guys – including Ren from this morning. I bet we had 10 people! Sam even showed up. Mike headed out and I waited for Sam to get started. I was going to try to jump on his feet. Sam blew by so fast – I attempted to catch up – he was about 20 feet ahead of me. I tried to catch him for about 50 strokes and just short of blowing up I had to let him go. I would swim the 600 or so yards solo. This swim also felt good. Later during the swim Sam practiced some drafting drills with Mike and me. Sam told me to try and keep tapping his feet. I was going full speed and his feet were just out of reach. And then I got them and he would speed up a little just out of reach again. This went on for a few minutes and then I was just done. I slowed a bit to recover and then swam at my own pace. I finished up the swim with about 1800 yards of valuable swim experience.

Lose ends.

I did a nice and easy bike ride on Tuesday morning. I got out to the trace a little late. I really did not think anyone would be out there today. I was doing my own thing and threw in a few sprints - just having fun. I crossed paths with Lance and Raland and made a quick u-turn. We chewed the fat for a few minutes. I turned towards home even before getting 20 miles.

On my way to work I took my tri-cycling shoes to the shoe repair place. The velcro has been starting to pull away from the shoe. These are really nice shoes that I got off of eBay about a year ago. I wear them all of the time now - I really like the carbon sole. Anyway I had gone by the shoe repair / truck rental / cemetery monument place (they do it all) on Saturday but they were closed. On Tuesday I was not expecting them to be open prior to 8AM but they were. I took the shoe in and asked if they could sew it back together. They said no problem but it would take a while. With my race in two weeks I nerviously asked how long? The guy told me that the shoe would not be ready until noon! Wow, no problem. The shoe was picked up later in the day and is good as new for $3. Can't beat that!




It was pouring down rain at lunch and I skipped the gym - no workout was on the schedule and I did not want to get soaking wet walking across campus. I will get my bike back from the shop on Wednesday - I have wrapped up most of the lose ends and I am ready to race!

Swimming PR during taper

My legs were a little stiff from the long run on Sunday but they were not bad. I slept in on Monday morning but still got to work early. It is amazing how much time you have in the morning when you are not riding 20 or 30 miles.

Chris shot me an email about swimming at lunch – I had been on the fence about swimming or taking the day off. I would always rather swim with someone so off the pool I headed. Chris was wrapping up his warm up when I arrived – he had just put in an easy 500 or 600 yards. We chatted a bit about the upcoming age group nationals in AL. I wished that I could have made this race – it is going to be huge but I have other races on my plate.



While we were talking Sam showed up – I have not seen Sam since the early part of the summer. He has been travelling the country training and racing. Sam whipped out a workout and we set to it. It is good to be with Chris and Sam – in this group I am the slowest by far – it really pushes me.

There would be no warm-up - We started off with 4 x 200 yards with 15 seconds reset. My 200’s would be challenging at 3:00, Chris would be at 2:50 and Sam would be at 2:15 – (ouch). The last time I was in the water with Chris we pulled off several sets of 100’s at 1:30 pace – 200’s would be a challenge.

Although out of breath each set was completed. In fact, while they did not get easier, once I warmed up I did not drop off the pace at all. We moved onto a single set of 500 yards. Sam would again be about 1:10 – 1:15 per 100 and Chris was going to do 1:40’s. That was my plan also – I was going to pace off of Chris for as long as I could.

The first few laps were actually kind of easy – I looked at the clock and we were right at 1:30. Chris has a giant flip turn and at each end of the pool he would gain about ½ a body length on me – I would speed up a little to maintain the pacing. This kept up for the entire set until the last lap or two. I finished the 500 yards at exactly 7:30 which is a 1:30 pace – which is a PR at that distance by about 25 seconds (Chris finished just ahead of me – just a couple of seconds).

We finished up with 6 x 200 yards at all out pace with 45 seconds rest. The first four were good – I was still swimming the same pace (1:30) however I dropped off on the last two – I dropped to about a 1:32-3 pace. This was a challenging workout for me. It tested my cardio swim fitness. My arms never got tired or sore or anything – although I did start to feel it in my back.

It was not that long ago that 1:50’s was a good 100 yard set – and I certainly could not have strung 500 yards together at a fast pace. And even more important – I am actually starting to enjoy the swim. I know that I have said that before but this time it is more than just positive thoughts!

Galloway Ironman?

I am still recovering from my stomach ailment – my normal cast iron stomach has rusted a little bit. To help compensate I have switched my diet up – a lot more fruit and vegetables as well as a little yogurt thrown in everyday. These are changes that I have needed to make anyway and this is a good time to do it!

So, I woke up Sunday morning bright and early with a stomach ache. Nothing like what I was experiencing last week but a little nauseous none the less. I did some chores around the house not really wanting or feeling like a long run. I had messed around long enough so I sucked it up and hit the pavement at 9AM. Being in Southern Mississippi in August, the temperature was not really that bad – oh, but the humidity. I was soaked from head to toe in no time. The stomach problem melted away once I got moving – I just had to get moving. This was just a long easy run – but at 15+ miles none of these runs seem easy. I have thought a lot about how to run this ironman (Galloway) and it was timely that I was listening to a podcast (imtalk – episode 172) and coach John Newsom mentioned run / walk for ironman. He said that it was benifical in ironman marathons for anyone running more than about a 3:45 – oh, yeah – that would be me! There is also a short article on endurancebasecamp.com.

Anyway, the basic premise is that if you take short walk breaks at the beginning of the run then you can save yourself long, hard walk breaks at the end of the run. You will be giving up minutes throughout the run and save 10 of minutes (if not more) at the end of the run. It will be hard to start talking these walk breaks after only 9 minutes of the run but this should save me huge of the back end. In addition, the mental aspect of feeling fresher at the end and passing people instead of getting passed could be huge!

From that article –

The biggest benefit that I had during the year using this method was during the Ironman. It was hugely beneficial going into that race knowing I would have to walk, because when I started walking that first mile, I was able to say to myself “this is part of the plan.” That was more empowering than getting to 15 or 16 and saying, “I have to walk because I don’t know if I can run anymore.”

Once again, I think that this also will be huge for me! IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PLAN THEN YOU PLAN TO FAIL. Walking early will allow for me to ‘work the plan’ – having this structure built in will allow for me to succeed when times get tough.

I did not practice this during this run since I did not start off doing a run / walk. However, I did start to add the walk breaks at about mile 13 or 14 – really too late to be effective. I ran into Becky at Jackson Station with about a mile and a half to go – we chatted for a bit as I refilled my water bottle. Stopping for a minute or two I felt refreshed and ran the last little bit home at a good clip. My shoes were soaked and my legs were tired but I felt good. I wrapped up with a little over 17 miles at a 9:31 minute per mile pace. I feel like I used to be faster than this but at this point I will take it. I have not been running much this summer and it shows. During this year of training my running has gone from my strongest event to my weakest. To be fair, my running in standalone 5k’s (from February and March – 2 PR’s back to back – my best time was 19:09) is faster and my running in triathlons has been faster as well. It is just that my swimming and biking have improved more – I worked on them more – go figure. This has been a great year (I was faster in every race compared to last year) but there is lots of room for improvement.

Water jogging

I had a big event on Friday at work and was not able to work out in the morning or at lunch. I was feeling better and a little stir crazy so I jumped on the bike trainer for a little while. It was an easy hour.

I got up early on Saturday morning and headed out to the lake. The lake was perfect. I calculated a route and headed out. I was planning on swimming about an hour and a half. It was going to be a nice and easy swim. I swam out to the buoys, about 600 yards, and then I was going to do 3 sets of approximately 1000 yards. Each set got about a minute slower. The first was 18:30 then 19:30 and finally 20:30. During one of the sets I practiced the ‘peeing on the swim’. This has not been easy. I think it took me about 200 yards to get it going and unlike other times – once it got going I had to concentrate to keep it going. However, I was successful! I swam back the 600 yards to the dock. Total swim was 4200 yards in about an hour twenty. This swim was a big success – it was like a slow, easy jog.

During the bike, I was testing my different intensity levels (either 82 % or 88 % of LT). For the 40 miles this felt easy – as it should. The only problem was on the hills – it was difficult to keep the heart rate low on the climbs. To keep it low I had to jump down to my granny gear. During race day I will have two extra gears. My training wheels have a 12 – 23 cassette but I will be riding either a 12 – 25 but probably a 12 – 27. The 12 – 27 is for insurance. Regarding the racing intensity - I will probably split the difference for race day. I want the ride to feel easy.

I have put a lot of miles on my race bike this year and the rear brake cable has started to drag as well as the front derailleur. I took my bike over to Drew at Hattiesburg Cycle for replacement and a once over. I do most of my own bike maintenance but I would rather Drew catch anything this week than have something pop up on race day.

Recovered?

I truly appreciate all of the kind words of encouragement. I am feeling much better - after my run on Thursday morning I stopped at the grocery store and stocked up on peaches, bananas, and yogurt to get my system back on track.

I was still a little run down but I went to the pool anyway at lunch. I was not going to push it or anything. I ended up having a nice easy 2000 yards and felt better after the swim than before. This was reassuring! The swim is still there and my times were within reason even though I was swimming very comfortably.

I had originally planned for the volume to drop off a lot this month but for the intensity to increase. Well, my body is not going to allow me to increase the intensity but I have dropped the volume down. I honestly know that my training has been in order and that I should still be able to tap into it on race day. I still have 2 weeks to get everything in order and I know that I will not build any additional fitness this month - I am just hoping to restore a little bit of my prior fitness.

This has been a very frustrating "taper" but I bounce back quick and I am sure I will be ready by race day. I am just going to have to manage my health more closely - like they say - it is better to go in __% under trained than __% over trained (you can insert what ever percentage you want - I have seen them quoted all over the place - I like 20% under and 1% over).

Sick and tired - and weak

From my last blog post: “My goals for the rest of the month are to stay injury free and fresh - both mentally and physically.” - I wish.

I woke up Monday morning feeling fine from the weekend events. Maybe I was just a tad tired from the weekend. I decided to sleep in and hit the pool at lunch time. I only got to swim once last week and really wanted to hit the pool hard this week – give the legs a break and really fine tune the swim.

I swam about 600 yards and then Chris joined me in the pool. He had some challenging workouts. We started with a couple of 50’s on 60 then moved on to paddles. We finished up with 5 sets of 100’s on 1:40 – that is fast for me. The first couple were okay and then they got hard. Chris said that I completed each 100 at less than 1:30 – it would have had to be close.

I’m not sure if it was from the pool or what but my stomach got just a little upset during the afternoon. I am so big on talking about never getting sick – well this year has been a big exception. Anyway, Jodie and I went for a drink after work. She had a glass of wine and I had a couple of drafts – nothing major but we had a good time just chatting. We ran some errands and then made it home by about 8:30PM. My stomach was still a little sour but no big deal. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and some iced tea.

However, I woke up around midnight in intense pain. It felt like Mike Tyson had punched me in the gut – not some simple upset tummy. It was like I did about 1000 sit ups and crunches times 100. Being completely still in bed my torso from the bottom of my rib cage to the top of my pelvic girdle ached. My stomach was bloated and I needed to throw up. I made it to the bathroom and everything came up – the beer, the sandwich and the tea.

You would have thought that I would have felt better but the aches were still there. They lasted all night. All of the next day I continued to have difficulty keeping anything down. I tried to keep my fluids up but they even came up sometimes although I was able to keep urinating so I knew that I was not dehydrated. This lasted all of Tuesday and Wednesday. Since Monday I have lost 7 pounds – not really they way that I wanted to get down to my goal weight.

Feeling better on Thursday I went for a short 3 mile run before work. It was very hard starting out but it got easier. I am not back to 100 percent but I think I will bounce back just fine.

Last week I thought that it was good to get the back pain out of the way before the big race – now this week the stomach bug. What will next week bring – a broken clavicle – lord I hope not.

2008 IMKY - bike video preview

Simplystu #71: Louisville Iron Distance Route Preview

I had touble embeding the video - here is the link - it's an hour long -

Louisville Iron Distance Route Preview

King of the Mountain

Friday was a rest day. I was pleased that after the long run on Thursday night nothing was hurt, sore or damaged. I had no aches or pains. Sure the legs were a little tired but nothing much.

There were a couple of groups of riders meeting early Saturday morning. I hooked up with Lance, JD, Keith and the gang first. We did the Cain Brake loop and then headed to Epley Road. Lance wanted to do a ‘King of the Mountain’ type race. I was looking for a tempo ride –but we headed out. This was a full, all out, draft legal race. The Epley out and back is a very rolling hills total 10.5 mile out and back. The out is much faster than the back. Keith took off with a long hard pull with Lance and Raland on his wheel. I was sizing up the situation – I had a long day planned and did not want to crack early on racing with these guys. However, being 20 yards behind the group was not the place to be. I did a hard acceleration and pulled up their wheel – why not grab the draft if it is available. Lance tried a hard pull to form a breakaway but Keith only grabbed his wheel. When Lance was expecting a hard pull from Keith, to create a gap, it did not come. The rest of the group eased back up on Keith’s wheel. At the turn around point everyone had cracked except for me and Keith. I had not done a single pull up to this point. So that we would not have to worry about the others Keith and I did a series of hard pulls. The gap was now insurmountable – no one could catch us. We eased off of the pace just a little bit and were jockeying for position. There was a lot of posturing. I tried to only pull on the up hills to limit the draft advantage that Keith would have on me. I’m still not sure how it happened but at the last hill I managed to out kick Keith to the finish (He must have given it to me – but he said he was done).

This was the first of the hilly Epley Road loops for the day. I soon met up with Jim and we added a lot more miles. I felt really strong on this day. On the second Epley loop, about 20 miles later, I time trialed it by myself and finished only about 90 seconds off of the group pace. Another 20 miles later and I did the loop at my projected ironman pace – another 90 seconds off of the pace. I went from averaging 23 to 20 to 18 on the back half of the loop. This allowed me to put my pacing in order for the ironman. 18 seems like it will be about accurate for the bike in Louisville.

Jim wanted to do a brick after riding the 90 miles. I was not planning on running but it seemed like a good idea. Jim said just an easy 3 miles. I challenged him to a 5 mile run / walk. Although the run was not easy it was very manageable and Jim and I walked away with a confidence inspiring 6 miles (no walking) at 8:36 pace. We had a good day. I was especially satisfied with the different exertion levels during the bike. I was able to recover and still log the miles. During the group ‘King of the Mountain’ my heart rate maxed out during the last sprint – 188 beats per minute – this is way above my LT for biking (and running for that matter).

Sunday would be an easier day – I ran 3 miles with Jodie and hit the jungle gym equipment at Jackson Station. The heat was oppressive but I did about 40 pull-ups / chin-ups and quite a few push-ups and sit ups. I felt heavy and weak – that is what a lack of strength training will do for you.

Later, I left the house to meet up with the group ride at 1PM. I took my running shoes to grab an easy brick after the ride. On the way to the ride my left pedal spring dislodged or something – this has happened once before. My foot would become disengaged easily if I was not careful. Not a big deal because I would not be riding hard. However, this ride would be much more challenging than I anticipated. Michael, an ultra runner that I have not seen before, pulled the group out the 15 miles at a break neck speed. The group got split up several ways and it was a pretty hard ride. I was riding out of the draft for most of the way.

At the turn around I was riding with Jim and talking. Not really paying attention we got dropped. I knew that I could probably catch the group if I wanted so I just let them ride away. I waited too long – I think that guy Michael was pulling them back. So the return trip turned into a pretty good tempo ride – not the recovery ride I was wanting. I met back up with Ben after the ride and we did an easy 3 mile brick. I picked his brain for more ironman tips.

After the exercise we headed over to Kily’s house for a pinebeltpacer meeting. There was so much good food and drink – not to mention the pool. I had a great time hanging out with everyone but especially Charles and Jim and Eric – we were rocking the pool with cannon balls and preacher seats.

My goals for the rest of the month are to stay injury free and fresh - both mentally and physically.

hot and humid and hard

I arrived at Jackson Station on Thursday morning for the group ride. I brought my backpack so that I could continue the ride to the university. I usually put my bag in someone’s car because riding with a backpack – especially in a pace line or sprint is not much fun. Well, I hung out at the Station for a few minutes and it was deserted. Mike’s car was there but he is an early morning rider. He probably got there about an hour earlier. No one showed, not a big deal but that meant that I would have to ride back to the house to drop off the pack. Even before I got home I had already made up my mind to scrap the ride. I 86’ed it! I really did not have purpose for the ride other than camaraderie so I poured myself that second cup of coffee. No regrets – I had a long run planned for after work.

Having done strength training the day before and the run planned for later in the day and the pool being closed this week – there was nothing to do at the gym for lunch. Jodie and I went for a walk and ran some errands around campus (checking book prices for classes). I had a good time at lunch.

I met up with Jim shortly after work. With the heat and humidity I have discovered that my running shorts (the ones with the liners and stuff) get completely saturated during a long run. This can cause some chaffing to occur – not fun at all. So, on occasion, I will wear some tight compression shorts underneath the shorts. I have had these compression shorts for years – they are white and tight and keep everything in order. I originally got them for softball and for a cup – short stop – necessary protection. But for this run I pulled on some triathlon specific shorts from Zoot. I don’t wear these often – they are a nice blue silver color but the color of the fabric darkens with water. You start to show exactly where you start to sweat – kind of gross – kind of reveling. This would not be problem on a longer run – the shorts would have a uniform color by the time I was done.

Jim and I left campus along the Long Leaf Trail and we were looking for anywhere between 12 – 18 miles. We would pass my house at mile 6 and continue on – If I were running by myself this would have been difficult. My legs were so heavy during this run. We were running at an easy pace – my heart rate was in my low-low recovery zone but the perceived exertion was much higher. I think that this was because of the heat and humidity and also the accumulated fatigue of the past year (I am really hoping for this super compensation thing with my taper this month). Jim was looking strong.

A couple of months ago I was strides ahead of Jim but tonight he was stronger. A couple of months ago Jim would challenge me and he would turn around a mile or so from a station and let me go on. I cannot back down from a dare. I would sprint out hard, reach the turn around and then catch Jim. These were some of my best runs – throwing a hard tempo run in the middle of a long run – valuable.

Well, I had to turn the tables on Jim. Jim was a bit stronger than me at this point and he was starting to run a little faster. I was not willing to hold his pace – I was starting to fatigue and there were still miles to go. Between mile 10 and 11 (1 ½ miles from Epley) I turned around. I did not walk but I took a gel and continued my pace. Mile 11 felt like the longest mile even though it was not any slower. At mile 12 I felt better – instead of the long gradual incline to Epley I was now on the long gradual decline home. I was running just a bit faster but it was much easier. I took another gel at Clyde Station and looked back for Jim – he was nowhere in sight. I really did not expect him – He was running 3 extra miles and I was not walking. There was no way he was going to catch me.

I got home having clocked 15.5 miles and cleaned up and had a blue berry smoothie. Jim arrived a little bit later with 18 miles under his belt. He was a little stronger than me tonight but we were both successful – no joint or muscle aches or pains. It was hot and humid and hard but manageable.

Off day - swimming and strength training - lol

Following the Tuesday 2 a day (bike AM – run PM) with the evening bike kicker I took Wednesday morning off. And with a long run planned for Thursday evening and the pool being closed I did not have much to do at lunch. I decided to do a little upper body strength training. I have missed the strength training for the last couple of months – my strength training has been very sporadic. I had to cut it out for time constraints but even more importantly I just was not fully recovering.

I hit my core and back and chest. I’ll be a little sore tomorrow but I am okay with that. After work we got together at the lake. The water and air temperature were perfect. We swam out the 500 yards and then swam from buoy to buoy. I have had to miss the swim for 5 days it felt good, however, it took about 400 yards to warm up. Once I was warm I felt like I could swim forever – a good sign. I was sighting off of Mike and we were making good time. I was practicing changing my pacing and I was swimming hard for 10 strokes and then swimming easy for 10 strokes. This is a good drill for me – it pushes me out of my comfort zone but not far enough out to prevent a quick recovery. Total swim was only 1200 yards or so but the OWS is so much more valuable to me.

I am still contemplating the road bike for the ironman – I know I will be much faster on the race bike but I am starting to think of this race as an event. I really want to do well but I also want to be in the moment and soak everything up.

Ironman pacing

Only very minor back pain remains! I went on the morning group ride on Tuesday. We had a good turnout but we really did not all ride together. I was riding in a narrow heart rate range – just testing out my ironman pacing. The range was 20 beats per minute less than my ½ ironman pace and about 30 beats per minute less than my average on my last triathlon (27.5 miles). I was expecting the pace to feel easy. While it was not hard it sure was not easy. I am going to re-evaluate my ironman pacing for the next few weeks. I really want the bike to be easy. I have read so many stories about killing the bike to just walk 5, 10 or 20 miles of the run. As the saying goes, I would much rather have an easy bike and have the entire marathon to make of time than have a wonderful bike and suffer the run. I ended up with 20 miles in just over an hour.

At lunch Jim and I braved the heat. It was so damn hot and humid – about 15 degrees warmer here than KY. Jim and I discussed the ironman – special needs, eating, drinking, etc. I finished up with 5.6 miles (I had a little warm-up ½ mile waiting for Jim). We were soaked – I mean, my shoes were soaking wet when we were done. That does not usually happen on such a short run. An extra pair or two of socks will be in my special needs bag – maybe even an extra pair of shoes.

After work we had a good group of cyclist – Charles, Terry L., Dawn and Jim. It was still hot but the little bits of shade helped. Again, I decided to test my ironman pacing. It was a lot easier this time – but still not easy. We arrived at Eply Station and turned right onto Eply road. This is a rolling hilly road that is about 5 miles until the turn around. Going out I was easily maintaining 30 + MPH on the down hills – but you have to turn around and ride right back up them. The cassette on my training wheels is a 12 – 23. My race wheels have a 12 – 25 cassette. I have been thinking about getting a 12 -27 for the hills in KY. The last hill coming back to Eply Station is not huge but I was forced to drop into my small crank and spin up the hill – this was to keep my heart rate in the zone. I mentioned wanting to get a new cassette just for KY to Jim and Terry said that he has a 12 -27 and that I was welcome to borrow it. It is good to have friends. This is exactly what I am hoping for with a multisport club – we all have gear around the house that others can use – if we can tap the collective everyone will benefit!

Speaking of hills – I have noticed that it is much easier to climb on my road bike. I am contemplating putting my extra aero bars and race wheels on my road bike just to see if it is the best option. I know that my race bike is faster and the 78 degree seat angle might save my legs more – but with this long of a race comfort and ease might trump speed. Not sure on this one.

Case closed - or at least settled.

Jury duty is over. The case was settled before anything really happened. Either the jury looked too tough or the jury looked too easy – I guess we will never know.

The weekend ‘off’ day helped the back immensely. I went from my back hurting 90% of the time to 10% of the time. It was much easier for me to find comfortable ways to sit and sleep. It was hard to feel really good except for my back. The weakest link I guess – frustrating. While my back was sore I did do some bike maintenance. I put a new chain on my old road bike and now it is road ready. It had been scaring me a little bit with the chain popping off.

I forgot how hard it is for me to ride the trainer. I set up fans and stuff to watch and the whole 9 yards. 30 minutes was about all I could muster. I tried again in the late afternoon and only got about 15 minutes. I was trying to ride at a good tempo pace but it was hard. I should have just ridden outside but I was still babying my back – I thought the trainer would allow for me to pick a position and not have to move at all.

In addition, I have been riding my road bike a lot recently – almost exclusively except for races. I have been riding with groups and I have not done much solo work. When I switch back to my race bike I always feel it in my legs. The race bike just uses my muscles in a different way. I have decided to mothball the road bike until after IMKY. This is the home stretch and I think specificity rules.

Jury Duty - a pain in the back...

It was hard lounging around the house but better for me in the short and long run.

I rode 30 minutes on the trainer this morning - the first time that I have been on the trainer in a long while. I thought that it would be better for my back - I could control the environment. The good news is that the ride was easy and my back felt fine. The bad news is that it is not completely better - running might have to wait for a few more days.


This morning - Jury Duty - more time off from the plan.

Must need more supermans...

On Friday we were to wear out ‘dirty clothes’ to work. We had a lot of cleaning to do and also move a lot of heavy equipment in our data center. I was planning on getting an early run in before work but I just could not get out of bed – stayed up a little later than usual the night before. So I got to work early and knocked out my routine tasks. The rest of the morning was dodging the rain while we had to move large heavy things from one side of the building to the other side. With Vic out this week that makes me the next biggest guy – kind of sad – I’m 5’9” at 160 pounds. The other guys I work with are in the 120’s and 130’s. However, we did have some help from Kyle who was able to put his back into it! I took my hex weight set home – we have not been using the much at work but I had 5 / 20 / 30 / 35 / 40 dumb bells in my work area. I also recycled the 20 or so ‘whey protein powder containers’. I had been collecting them and I was going to make a raft. We determined through minimum math and lots of trial and error that it takes 3 containers to float 20 pounds. I would need 27 containers to be successful in keeping me and the vessel afloat. But alas, the raft will have to wait for another day.



I took a late lunch and with all of the rain and storms and such I decided to get my run in on the treadmill. I was going to run a fast 8 miles in about an hour but I wimped out. I warmed up slowly and did the first mile in 10 minutes – real slow warm-up. But, like I said I wimped out on the last mile – I’m not sure why I wimped out but I ran the next 6 miles in 42:xx so I the total run was 7 miles in 52:xx. It would have been easy to wrap up the 8 miles in 7 something more minutes but I just stopped. It was a hard run but not that hard.

Back at work we finished up the cleaning and moving. I often preach about functional strength and I am pretty strong for my stature. In the bench press and doing body weight exercises – I am – pound for pound – about as tough as any of the guys I work out with. But when it comes to maximum lifts, etc I top out pretty quick. Now, back to this functional strength – I always say that it really does not matter how much weight I can lift or pull or anything else – I just want to be able to pull myself up, run up some stairs, carry something around the yard, swing an axe or even climb a rope – this would be functional to me. And I think that I have done a good job achieving this goal. I have also always tried to keep the whole body strong – this means a strong core as well as extremities and cardio. I am fortunate that I have had very few injuries and I think that this balance has a lot to do with.

However, Friday night my lower back was killing me. I have never had back pain. This was not spinal pain just one of the muscles in my lower back was very sore. This would not allow for me to rest. I had trouble laying down, sitting up, rolling over, etc – there was no position where my back was not hurting. If I breathed deeply it hurt. I took some ibuprofen and suffered though the night. I always thought that I never had back pain because I lifted properly and I did back exercises (pull ups, chin ups, superman’s, and back extensions).

I had plans for Saturday afternoon so Jim was coming over at 6AM for a 3 – 4 hour ride. I was questionable about my back. Funny enough my back felt fine on the road bike – even in the drops. There were a few positions that it would sting and feel sharp but I tried my best to avoid those situations. Jim and I rode towards Jackson Station and we picked up Terry L and Marisa. We then headed out of Jackson Road to Classic Drive and ended up in the hilly section of the avenues to tackle 40th street and Richburg road. Terry proved to be a strong climber and Marisa easily held her own.

We had a few fast pulls when back on the trace but all in all it was a fun easy ride. We did cross paths with Robin and crew. They were doing a broken brick – bike 10 / run 2 REPEAT. I think that they said they did this 3 times for a total for 30 bike miles and 6 run miles. It looked tough. I split off from the group and ended my bike at about 52 miles. Jim eventually got over 100 miles with a short brick thrown in for good measure.

Saturday night was not much fun. My back was much worse and I used a heating pad, aspercream stuff and more ibuprofen. I did not sleep well. I think that I am going to have to 86 this entire day. I don’t want to but I know that a couple of days off are better than a couple of weeks off. Friday morning I was ready to do this ironman – now I am having trouble just standing.

Things sure change quickly.

The home stretch

Thursday morning was a light group ride. We had some new blood in the group - Marissa which is good since JD and Keith have been AWOL for the last couple of rides. There was nothing crazy this morning – I think my legs are still recovering from the 10 mile run yesterday and from the race last weekend. I raced the Heart O’Dixie well but I was a little surprised at how long it has taken for my legs to bounce back – bounce back completely that is. I had a pretty good taper for the race – about a day and a half and I just think that I quickly forgot what tired legs feel like. I mean, I have had tired legs for what has seemed like months but you get used to it – until they are not as tired anymore.

We left Jackson on time, just at sun up, and headed to Sumrall. This was a chat fest and I enjoyed the camaraderie. There was lots of talking about the race last weekend and my upcoming Ironman race. I arrived at school with a good 28 miles in before work. Not too bad.

Once again I took a workout with me to the pool. I do not know what it is but with workout in hand the swim sessions are so much more productive – You would have thought that I would have caught on to this earlier. For lunch I had a strong 2900 yards of various mixed speed sets. The 5 x 300 yards with laps 4, 8, and 12 hard are really challenging to me. I think it is because for the 25 yards I am way out of my comfort zone and then I have to actively recover while swimming. This should pay dividends in the long run – like when I lose a breath in the open water due to congestion or something. It should allow for me to settle back down into my rhythm without any panic or struggle. After the swim, Jim paid me a compliment – he said that my swim stroke was looking ‘even better than in the spring’. I’m not sure what my swim looks like but he is right – I am feeling much stronger and more efficient. It is really cool to swim faster AND easier. I still need to refine the swim but I am so encouraged – I know that I have said this before but I really think that I have drowned my swim demons for good this time.

On a side note – ouch – the pool will be closed for the next 10 days due to maintenance.


Uncharacteristically of me, I went out to eat at lunch on Tuesday and I went out to eat with friends on Thursday night. Ever since my race last weekend my diet was been off and it has been reflected in my weight. For these next few weeks and especially with the taper – the diet will be even more important. I will be exercising less and that in and of itself will require even more diet discipline.

Looking at my training plan for the next month – it looks like I have a long run tomorrow and a long ride next Sunday – everything else is easy peasy. This is the home stretch and I feel like I am ready to do this race tomorrow!

Swimming with a plan

I felt a lot better after taking Tuesday off. I got up early on Wednesday for an easy run. The humidity hit me like a brick wall. It wasn’t 10 feet before I was soaking wet. I headed west at an easy pace. I would not have enough time to get all the way to Eply this morning.

Anyway, I was feeling good – no aches or pains and although the legs were still tired they did not put up very much resistance. I turned around at the 5 mile point just past the beaver pond. At mile seven I decided to pick the pace up a little. I have been having trouble putting in hard efforts on the run. The hard efforts on the bike have gotten easy – it’s just running hard that is, well, hard. Most of my miles were around 8:30 minute / mile pace but I picked it up at mile seven and did a 6:46 minute / mile pace. It was a hard effort. I think that running fast should be a bit easier right now. I understand that my endurance is going through the roof but I feel so slow. Earlier this year – real early like February and March I PR’ed twice at the 5k distance with my best being 19:09 – I don’t feel like I am even close to that mark at this time. I do realize that I am not training for a 5k right now but …

I wrapped up the 10 mile run in 1:24 at an 8:28 minute / mile pace. All in all it was a good early morning run.

I made it to the pool during lunch. Learning from my past two experiences I took a workout with me. Just like clockwork – when I have a plan I stick to it! I churned out a fast 3000 yards consisting of the following:

WU: 200
MS:
1,000 time trial.
500 time trial
2x:
- 200 yd free w/ 20" rest
- 150 yd free w/ 15" rest
- 100 w/ 10" rest
- 50 w/ 1' rest CD: 300

The swim felt good and I was proud of myself for sticking to a plan. It was not hard – I have just had a hard time getting the swim in – well the last two swims any way – I have swum 35,000 yards this month.

Running - from strength to weakness?

With the racing and BIG weekend training days I have been winging my plan. I have had two swims in the last two weeks that have had no purpose – when this happens they get cut short. It is time to get back on the plan! These last few weeks the plan will be followed much more closely. However, regarding my training, I feel that I have put in the time and I am feeling good about this home stretch.

So on Tuesday I took the entire day off. The race had taken more out of me than I thought that it would. Running on Sunday and Monday following the race was a little more than my legs needed. I started to feel run down and thought that I might have a cold coming on. To nip it in the bud the day off was necessary.

So, I was looking at my resent race results – I had had some good races but it is funny how my run has gone from my strength to my weakness. Although my run time has improved in all of my races my swim and bike have improved more. I’m still not going to win any of these races but if I can make the same kind of progress with my run that I have with my swim and bike – my placing will jump up quite a bit.

Post race recovery

I decided to do an easy run on Sunday. I wanted to run down to Jackson Station and do some pull-ups and chin-ups. My upper body strength training has been neglected the past couple of months. The run was easy but my quads and hamstrings were really tight from the race. Not painful but sore. I ran the 1.5 miles to the exercise yard / playground area. I was not able to do nearly as many ‘-ups as I was in the spring. However, the run was feeling good so I continued the run a bit further and turned around at mile 3. Back at Jackson Station I did another couple of sets of ‘-ups and I headed back home. It was much hotter on this morning than race day!

I had some lunch and then prepared myself for the group ride. I was only going to do the 30 mile out and back but we had such a good group that I decided to ride further. We hooped of the trail and took Rocky Branch South. The traffic was pretty bad for a Sunday afternoon but once we were out of the congestion the ride opened up. This was a hilly loop and a little more than I had wanted. But it was all managed fine. I sprinted ahead for just a few minutes with Ty. Ty is a very strong rider and just let me spin out ahead until I was done. Then he took the pull and I just held on – I was glad a junction was up ahead and we stopped for the group. I also got another break when someone flatted. Ended the day with just under 45 miles.

As a side note – remember that you can recycle your used CO2 cylinders – they are aluminum and can be tossed in just about any recycle bin.

I slept late on Monday and hit the pool for a little bit at lunch. I was really not feeling the water very well and jumped out after only 1000 yards. I was going to go up stairs and do some strength training, however, I crossed Jim and Ryan in the locker room and they were going outside for a run. I decided to tag along and we did an easy 3.5 miles.

Heart O'Dixie Race Report 2009

2008 10/50 SWIM 13/50 14:27 T1 1:23 BIKE 09/50 1:13:50 22.3 T2 2:05 RUN 09/50 51:55 7:25 2:23:38
2009 13/60 SWIM 10/60 13:10 T1 1:10 BIKE 06/60 1:09:09 23.9 T2 1:57 RUN 16/60 48:21 6:55 2:13:46

I rode up on Friday with Ben for the race. We got to the packet pickup early and then checked in the hotel. We prepped everything for the next day. This is a point to point race. You swim ½ mile and then ride 27.5 miles to T2. And the race then finishes 7 miles from T2. You have to bag your T2 stuff and bag stuff for after the race. My T2 run stuff is just a number belt, shoes and a hat. Pretty light stuff when it comes down to it.

I was starting 419 out of about 435 (not sure of exact number). This is a staggered start so I would be starting about 35 minutes after the start of the race. Also my T1 transition area was at the back (however, this was closer to the exit than almost anyone else).

SWIM

The staggered start really makes the swim easy. The swim was a clockwise horseshoe shape – just the kind that I like. All the buoys were to my right and that made it easy for me to sight. I have said it before: when you start at the back, the only people left in the water are people that you are faster then. I started my old Timex stop watch and I ran out into the water and just started my swim cruise mode. However, within the first 200 yards the Velcro on the watch started to slip and the watch was gone – oh well – nothing to do about it. As I swam I came upon a few people back stroking and breast stroking. I know that they were just trying to get through the swim – I can empathize. I tried to give everyone a wide berth and tried not to disrupt them. Like I said, I empathize – I have been there. I just cruise along the outer perimeter of the swim and finished faster than last. The swim was 1:17 faster. My age group swim rank was 13/50 last year – a really good swim for me. This year it was 10/60 – even better. Also, I have not yet begun to push the swim. I have a lot of time to gain as soon as I am more comfortable during the swim part of the race.

T1

I had a little bit of trouble getting my wet feet into my cycling shoes. It felt like it was taking forever. T1 was 17 seconds faster than last year.

BIKE

Starting at the end of the race there are only people to pass. I think that this is actually good for my race strategy. There is always someone that is in front of you and that you can overtake. With my personality I think that this pushes me. However, once again the traffic on the course was difficult. This is two lane blacktop and when there is a slower rider the cars back up trying to pass. You have to ride aggressively. I was passing cars and cyclist in many sections. I bet that I was passed and re-passed by the same group of 10 cars about 5 times before the road widen so that the cars could get away. I found it easy to keep my heart rate up in a high zone and keep the speed up. This course is rolling hills and it actually finishes at a slightly lower elevation than the start (a hundred feet or so). These are not steep rolling hills and you can really fly down the backsides. There were miles that I averaged 28 MPH for the entire mile. I pushed the bike hard for the first and last 40%. Reviewing my race data, I’m not sure why – probably stuck behind some cars crawling up hills, my heart rate dropped in the middle of the race. I passed Keith in the last few miles of the bike. Last year I had my best bike, here – it is a fast course and finished in my age group 9/50. This year I improved that to 6/60 and bettered my time by 4:41 and averaged 23.9 MPH. As a side note – doing the math I was about 10 seconds from the website reporting 24.0 MPH – damn. 24 seems so much faster than 23.9.

T2

I thought that my bike was a long way to run to in T1. I wish that I had a photograph to show you what a nearly 2 minute transition time looks like. I am always pretty good in the transitions – easy speed. However, I do not do a flying dismount and I run in my cycling shoes (LOOK type cleats). So I had to clip clop to the far end of a parking area before racking my bike. It took forever and seemed even longer. That being said my T2 time was 8 seconds faster than last year with a 1:57.

RUN

Last year I had to walk within the first few hundred yards and watch some of my age group rabbits pull away. This year I felt fine. I was running a comfortably hard pace. I was running a pace like a good tempo run. I could have, well should have, pushed harder. I had the overhead but I just did not push it. My cardio capacity was there but my legs were tired and a little sore. I was passing everyone (once again that is what happens when you start almost last). At about mile 2 a 16 year old kid passed me – His race number was in the 300’s – I had about 5 minutes on him. He was running a little faster than I was. He said something like – ‘Looking good’ when he passed. I latched onto him about 20 feet back. I was still running comfortable but a little faster than before. At about the 4 mile mark I caught back up to the kid. I got beside him and told him that I was not running any faster. We ran together side by side for about a mile and then I told him to ‘PICK IT UP – LETS GO!’ I surged forward and accelerated. The kid came with me and I let him get just in front of me. These were my fastest miles. The run was now becoming hard – like it should be. Once the run enters the fairgrounds you follow a white chalk line on the packed red earth. The route winds through ‘Victorian Style’ cabins. The chalk line is so old school. The race finishes on a packed clay horse track. You run about a lap and a quarter on this track. It is hard to guess when you should kick – The track is wide open and you have to make sure that when you kick you can finish it. I brought myself side by side with the kid. I told him that he did not want to be out kicked by me. He didn’t budge. A little bit farther down the track and his dad was telling him to pick it up. The kid kicked it up and finished strong. I kicked a little and finished well. Last year my run was 9/50 and it dropped to 16/60 even though I was 3:34 faster. I was looking at the race results when the kid came up to me and shook my hand. He said that he finished second in his age group and was very excited. I congratulated him. He asked me how I had done – I beat him by about 6 minutes. He said something like wow and asked my where I placed – I told him 13th and said that it was a tough age group.

Total
I was faster in every aspect of the race: SWIM / T1 / BIKE / T2 / RUN. I finished with a total time of nearly 10 minutes faster – 9:52 faster. A lot of this time gain can be attributed to the cooler temperature and different equipment but it was a very good race for me. To win my age group last year I would have need to be 12:24 minutes faster – this year only 8:09 minutes. In addition, to podium last year I would have needed 7:09 minutes and this year only 5:53 minutes. I finished 55 in males and this year 37th even though there were about 100 more participants. This is also the first time that I finished in front of Mike L. – by about 2 minutes.

Post Race

I wore my racing flat Zoot’s for this hilly 7 miles. I think that is pushing the distance for these shoes. At one of the water stops on the run they were giving out ice chilled towels. I grabbed one and put it on the back on my neck and then on my chest. It felt great for about a minute, however, my shoes were soaked by then. I started to get a couple of hot spots on my left foot. Nothing major but my feet hurt for a little bit after the race. As soon as I showered and put socks and fresh shoes on all was better. I got a post race massage for my quads and hamstrings. It felt good. We hitched a ride back to Ben's car with the pinebeltpacer gang. I enjoyed swapping race stories with Becky, Raul and Susan.

Heart O'Dixie - PREVIEW / 2008 REVIEW

Thursday morning was an easy morning trace ride. Normally it would be a group ride but it was only Robin and I that showed up. No matter. We still had a good 25 mile ride. We talked a lot about upcoming races and time trails. It seems like the boys of summer have dropped off for a little bit.

Friday morning I got a little swimming in at the pool - 3 sets of 300 yards + 200 yards with paddles – for a good 1500 yards. The swim felt good. I was really trying to over emphasize the roll – starting with my hips. A few weeks ago this felt very awkward but now it is not so bad. Starting the roll with my hips is allowing for my entire body to roll – not just my shoulders. It feels like my body is much longer and I am grabbing bigger chunks of water. Although, I have not seen any speed improvement, I do believe that I am swimming more efficiently.

From the Meridian Star:

“The Heart o’ Dixie is the oldest triathlon in the continental U.S.

This year’s race officially sold out some two weeks ago.

We normally don’t hit 300 until the week of the race and this year we’ve got 400 two weeks before the race,” said race director John David Williams. “It’s a growing sport. Everybody wants to do this race. It’s going to be a good day. I’m absolutely looking forward to it.”

I’m leaving for the Heart O’Dixie race a little later today – Ben is picking me up from work and we are heading out. This will be the 30th Annual Heart O’Dixie Triathlon – I am amazed that this race the oldest triathlon in the continental US – In the middle of Mississippi. I bet you would not have guessed that!

The start is staggered – you start every 5 seconds unless you are seeded in the top 10. Your start number is determined by went you register. I registered last week – I will start 419th. Last year I started 325. The good news is that my friends Keith, Raul and Tony will be starting 355, 430 and 431 (Tony is last) respectively – maybe we will go have some breakfast before the race (I’ll be starting about 35 minutes after the start of the race). On the other hand Ben and Mike will be starting 88 and 178 – I hope they save me some food. The race is a point to point ½ mile swim, 27.5 mile bike and 7 mile run.

2008 Heart O’Dixie Race Report
Total Time: 2:23:38
Overall Rank: 55/338
Age Group Rank: 10/50
Pre-race routine:

Ate 3 packages of oatmeal and drove to race. Set up transition.

Event warm-up:

Quick dip in lake for a swim. I cut my foot on something in the mud. Decide to wear socks during the bike and run because of this. I registered late for this race. It was a staggered start - every 5 seconds. I started at number 325. I got to see many people complete the swim before I even jumped in.

Swim: 14:27 - 1:38s / 100 yards – AG RANK – 13/50

I am not strong in the swim; however, I now realize that I am better than some. It was difficult passing the many people ahead of me. Starting so far in the back of the pack meant that everyone that swims better than me was out of the water. The only people left on the course were struggling. All in all I still had a decent swim for me. Still working on this.

What would you do differently?

Try to start earlier. Continue to work on breathing, sighting and speed. I AM A MUCH BETTER SWIMMER – I WILL TRY AND JUST PICK MY OWN LINE LIKE I DID IN THE SUNFISH AND CRUISE THE SWIM.

T1: 1:23

Bike was farthest from swim exit / bike start. Had to put socks on and run through grassy transition.

What would you do differently?

Work on running bike mount. STILL NOT DOING THE FLYING MOUNT – NO SOCKS THIS YEAR!

Bike: 1:13:50 – 22.35 MPH - AG RANK – 9/50

The bike was fast. However, once all the bikes had left transition the traffic picked up on the road. These cars were all of the racers families and friends going to meet the racers at the fairgrounds. This created a lot of traffic. This is 2 lane blacktop. I was travelling faster than the cars at many places. Got held up.

What would you do differently?

Remain in the zone. Keep concentration up. This was still a very good bike for me. WITH SO MANY RACERS IN FRONT OF ME I MUST USE THEM AS RABBITS AND KEEP IN THE PASSING ZONE. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP MY CONCENTRATION UP IN THE LAST 2 RACES!

T2: 2:05

Transition placement was again poor. Legs shaky. Dropped a gel and stopped to get it.

What would you do differently?

Practice dismount and riding with feet on top of shoes. STILL NO FLYING DISMOUNT.

Run: 51:55 – 7:25 min/mile - AG RANK – 9/50

First mile was a killer. I was with a group of fast runners in my age group that were also numbered near me. I tried to hang with them but I was not doing well. Had to take two 10 second walk breaks. Choked down a gel and picked up the pace. Found someone to pace with and kept going. Walked the water stops. Got some support back from a friend that is a good runner. He came by and I was able to use him as my rabbit.

What would you do differently?

Tough out the run. Remain focused. More bricks and speed work in training. STILL NEED THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS TO KEEP THE RUN HARD – REAL HARD.

Post race

Warm down:

Stopped cold and grabbed a wet towel and a water bottle. Ate some cookies and got in line for a massage. They worked on my calves and it felt great. Ate a whole lot of pizza (I had a long drive home and did not want to get spacey). Jumped on bus to take me back to race start. Grabbed my goggles and then drove to T2 to get bike. Started to rain - a real downpour for most of the 2.5 hour drive home. I was so glad that the rain did not hit during the race.

What limited your ability to perform faster?

Still building swim / bike / run. Become more comfortable during the swim so that the bike / run do not suffer. Pick the pace up on the run and become strong at hills on the bike. HOPEFULLY THE SWIM IS BECOME A NON-ISSUE. SURE I AM NOT GOING TO WIN IN SWIM SPRINTS BUT I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUSH THE BIKE. NOW IF I CAN JUST FIND THE BALANCE BETWEEN THE BIKE AND RUN!

Easy lake swim -

I took almost all of Wednesday off. I slept late and enjoyed it. I went to the lake after work for a very quick swim. Only Robin and Darian were there. Darian was with his family. I had a relaxing swim out to the third buoy for an easy 500 yards or so – nothing major. The lake was empty and the temperature of the water and air was a bit cooler.

IM Course Elevation Data
1. France 11193
2. Lanzarote 10282
3. Lake Placid 7911
4. Austria 7829
5. Australia 7659
6. Louisville 7578
7. Switzerland 7505
8. Wisconsin 7353
9. Canada 6719
10. Coeur D’Alene 5851
11. Brazil 5419
12. Germany 5281
13. S. Africa 5182
14. Hawaii 4554
15. Arizona 3824
16. W. Australia 2538
17. Florida 2007

I got these elevation numbers from the RC Triathlon and Adventure Blog. Robin did Lake Placid last year and John has done Switzerland, Brazil, South Africa and New Zealand. Louisville is 5th on the list and 2nd for North America. Talking with Robin and John, neither of them thought that any of the ironman’s that they have done were ‘that’ hilly. But, they are, ironmen after all.

From our 78 mile ride last weekend my gps read a total elevation gain of 5,789 – from garmin-connect. Doing the math - 78 miles is 70% of an ironman and 70% of 7578 feet is 5304 feet. It would appear that our rolling hills of South Mississippi are comparable to the Louisville course. One big proviso – as we can see from the chart below (captured from trimaven – the first 10 and the last 25 miles are either flat or down hill. That would put the all of the elevation gain in the middle 78 miles or so. I guess the rolling hills will be bigger.



To clarify about the pop tarts and trashy food in the previous post. That was what I ate during the exercise session. I ate much better post ride – streamed veggies, lean protein, etc. The pop tarts have just become an easy, cheap portable food source.

Eating on the Swim / Bike / Run

I slept late on Tuesday and skipped the group ride. My legs were tired from the trail run the night before. At lunch I went to the trace with Vic and Adam and we decided to run intervals. 10 x ¼ miles with 90 rest sounded good. As always, they started out hard, but manageable and then just got harder. I was able to finish all of the intervals in the high-high 120’s. In the spring I was running these in the low 120’s but I was not as consistent. It was a good effort. My rump was a little sore from the bike tip-over the night before.

On Saturday’s epic training day I looked at the amount of calories that I consumed:

PRE-SWIM
400 CALS - 2 POP TART S
PRE-BIKE
400 CALS – 2 POP TARTS
BIKE
400 CALS – 2 POP TARTS
500 CALS – 2 PEACAN LOGS (MINI)
400 CALS – 2 SPORTS DRINKS
200 CALS – 2 GELS
PRE-RUN
400 CALS – 2 POP TARTS
500 CALS – 2 PEANUT BUTTER CRACKER PACKAGES
100 CALS – ½ SPORTS DRINK
RUN
200 CALS – GELS
POST RUN
100 CALS – ½ SPORTS DRINK
100 CALS – LIGHT BEER


TOTAL = 3700 calories

The last hurrah -

I slept in on Monday morning. I had decided to give the legs a rest after the weekend and only do a swim. Chris was at the pool at lunch time and we had to share a lane for just a few minutes. I warmed up with an easy 500 yards. Chris wanted to do some speed work and I was game. Since I so rarely do any swimming speed work I knew this was going to be tough.

Chris is quite a bit faster than I am I would just try to keep up with him. We started with 6 x 25 yards on 30. I was able to touch just behind Chris in all of these sets – they were taking about 20 seconds. We then moved up to 10 x 50 on 60 – (originally it was going to be 6 but Jim showed up a little bit late and we increased the reps). At the 25 yard mark Chris was consistently half a body link in front of me. However, with my lack of flip turn and his huge flip turn – as soon as we turned around he was a full body length in front of me. As the set continued it got harder – this was a good swim work out. Next would be 3 x 200 yards on 3:30. The same scenario – Chris just increased his lead on me after each lap – I was finishing a couple of body lengths behind him – I was finishing at 3:00 minutes.

That was it for the day – or so I thought. It was posted on the forum that there was a nice trail run at 7PM at Eply Station. It is hard for me to pass up group training when it is on the trace – I mean; I get to ride my bike there. I rode out to Eply and arrived just before 7 – Robin, Lance and Neil were there. Jim showed up a few minutes later – calling me out since I said I was only going to do the swim. There were also some of Robin’s cross-country students. An unnoticed dirt road was just off of the trail – that was the run for the evening. My plan was for a nice easy 8:30 mile pace, however, Neil was there. Neil was one of my old 5k nemeses. Last year we were running right around the same pace and I was able to use him as a rabbit in a couple of races last year (this year also). Neil was chasing the sub 20 minute 5k for much of last year and that was my goal also. In mid August I was able to follow Neil up to about the 2 ½ mile mark at a 5k and then pass him. I got a PR of 19:57 – I would not have been able to do it without the good pacing. Neil broke 20 minutes a few races later. Anyway, Neil has been running a lot and I went out on the trail run with him. The 8’s turned into 7 ½’s and then it seemed to quicken to about a 7 minute pace. I had to let Neil go. I fell back at the turn around and waited for Jim and Lance. It was a really good trail run for me – Jim and I also tacked on about 1 ½ miles along the trace to give us an even 6 miles.

Talking shop after the run I was circling Robin, Lance and Jim. I was doing figure eights on my bike – just tooling around. And bam, I slowed too much and leaned the wrong way. I did one of those super slow-mo falls in a parking lot. Luckily, I fell really well – not a cut or scrap or anything. I landed right on my rump and I don’t think I will even get a bruise – except for my ego – and even it will be just a tiny bruise. That was the first fall in a couple of years (I did have a crash last year – but that definitely was not just a fall).

Race update – I did end up registering for the Heart O’Dixie this weekend. At exactly five weeks out from IMKY it will be the last hurrah of summer. I will be sticking to the IM training plan exactly here on out – even if the taper kills me!

Hobble then Gobble in July?

Having not run much in the last week I decide to get an early morning run. I headed out the door just before 6AM on Friday morning. It was muggy to say the least – I think I was the dew point. My legs felt good after almost a week of rest – I did a 5 mile brick in the middle of that century plus bike ride last weekend and no running since then.

My legs felt so good that I was pushing the pace and I decided to do a rare tempo run. I ran out towards Clyde Station and got the blood flowing quickly – no warm up – just a quick run. The first mile clicked off in 7:19 and I pushed a little harder. This was not like a 5k race or anything but just a hard tempo run. I hit the 2 ½ mile turn around and held steady. This was a HARD effort. Nothing was easy about it but it felt good. No aches and pains – just a solid effort. I struggled just a little to keep the intensity high in the last mile or so – but it was maintainable – I think I could have run a mile or two more at this pace – my splits:

1. 7:19
2. 6:58
3. 7:05
4. 6:59
5. 7:05

This is about a minute off of my 5k pace. This was the same pace as the run in the Sunfish last weekend. Preparing for the weekend I rested the remainder of the day (bowling at lunch).

I met Jim at the lake at 6AM on Saturday. We were planning a bit longer bike and run leg after the swim. We jumped in the lake and it took me about 10 minutes to fall into my rhythm. The swim was not hard; however, it just was not as easy as it has been the last few weekends. I think that I might still be a little ‘under recovered’ … not sure about that phrase but I think you get the drift.

I did the approximate 2800 yards in about 55 minutes – I think I was a few minutes faster 2 weeks ago. I may have hit the corners of the lake a little better on this day and covered a little more distance – it is hard to tell in the water when you are using ‘soft’ landmarks. Anyway, with the swim out of the way we prepared our bikes for the day. John, the legend, was waiting for us and he would do the bike leg with us. John has 4 ironman’s (from all over the world) under his belt and his advice and camaraderie is always welcome.

We had decided to try and tackle as many hills as we could find. I have been reviewing the IM Louisville course for the last week and I am trying to determine just how hilly the bike course is. I found a couple sites that reference Garmin’s motion based website to determine the elevation. It would appear that IMKY is between 7500 – 8400 feet of climbing – I guess those rolling hills add up. I would be taking my gps with us to see just how Southern Mississippi’s hills will match up. We went west and did out usual loops and then headed towards Sumrall. After Sumrall John took us on the 5 counties loop and then we started to head back. This ride, even though hilly, was so much easier than the last couple of weeks – mainly due to the temperature only being in the high 80’s – 89 for the high. Two weeks ago it was 100+ and all the humidity you could ask for – this was a huge difference. I think we all enjoyed the ride and made it back to the lake. John offered to drop water along the course and wished Jim and I well for our run. The plan was for an easy 10 miles – as easy as you can get after swimming and riding hills for 78 miles.

Jim and I would do the Hobble then Gobble thanksgiving race loop x 2. We headed out and across the spillway. This run would be easy. I was going to do a ‘Galloway’ and was planning on walking a minute at every mile marker. I have never done a run like this – never – not in races or training. The first mile came up quick at about 8:30. I took my 1 minute walk and grabbed a cold (frozen) water bottle – John had left them out on the course for us. The minute ticked by slowly and I really wanted to get moving again – I was tempted to jump the gun – but I waited / walked it out.

As the run wore on it got much harder. I kept to my guns and only walked 1 minute at every mile – however – those miles were coming up slower. After 8 miles it got real hard. The 8:30’s had jumped to 9:30’s and by the time mile 10 rolled around they were in the 10:30’s. All in all I got 11 miles at a 9:39 minute per mile pace. I can live with that but I know that the pace is not sustainable. With another 15 miles to go I can see those walks getting much longer and that pace climbing higher and higher.

I jumped in the lake with an ice cold beer and just relaxed for a few minutes. Jim and I chewed the fat about what worked and what didn’t – but mainly about how much better the day went without the intense heat from the past few weeks.

Sunday was a nice and easy recovery group ride. I never turn back at Sumrall – I mean never – but I took my own advice and just let this be an easy 30 miles. Nothing to gain by pushing it – average heart rate for this Sunday ride was only 113 BPM and the max for the ride was 138 – that is so low for me – like zone 1 recovery low – I never ride done there.

Fresh Legs? Lessons learned?

I rolled out of bed on Thursday morning for the group ride. It was still a little dark when I left the house at 5:30AM. Already the days are getting shorter. Pretty soon the group ride will not get started until 6:00AM. My legs felt great. They were completely refreshed – and they should be – I have been off of them for 3 days.

There were just a few of us for the group ride. I started to pick the pace up early on and knew that my legs were still tired – this was disappointing. I would not be able to hang with a really fast group ride. I did, however, attack Keith and Lance a few times. Keith is in top form right now and Lance and I just had to let him go – we stayed back and had a nice medium effort ride. Keith made the comment that he had just over 100 miles on the bike last week – all I could think was that that I had that many on Sunday. We are training for different distances so I cannot argue with Keith’s training – the guy is just getting faster.

Since I was planning on a trifecta day – bike / swim / run – I rode the bike to the house and drove to work. I got in a good swim session in at lunch even though I left for the gym late – I had been planning on 12 x 250 on 4:10. In the past I have always done these intervals on 4:15 – just trying to mix it up a little bit. The swim went great but do to starting just a little late I had to cut the last interval. Even though I missed the last set I was able to easily keep up with the times that I set. The first 8 sets were all within a second or two of each other then they started to creep up. All in all I felt it was a good 2750 yard effort.

In the evening I was planning on doing some speed work out at the track. Robin was out for vacation but Lance had agreed to take the helm. Robin had left him the workout – 10 x 400’s. This would be a tough workout in the evening heat. At about 4PM I started to have some kind of strange allergy attack and the sneezing would continue until about 6 o’clock. I have suffered from some allergies since I moved to Mississippi but nothing like this – I mean, the sneezing and runny nose literally left me exhausted. It was a tough workout. I was still planning on the speed session and then, thankfully, the skies opened up and the rain started to pour. This was a true WIN / WIN – we really need the rain and I skipped the speed session.

I have been on the fence about the Heart O’Dixie race next weekend. I looked the registration page up last weekend prior to the Sunfish and the dang race had sold out. Last year I entered it the week of the race. It is a great race – a little bit of a pain because it is a point to point to point – you end up 34 miles from the start of the swim but still a great race.

Also, I am a little unsure of how a maximum effort race will fit into my ironman training plan. The race would be 5 weeks prior to IMKY and would be my last high intensity all out effort. However, I saw how my body reacted to the race last week – I got worn out. However, I actually do not think that the all out effort of the Sunfish is what got me – it was the 100+ mile bike ride and the 5 mile brick the following day that put me over the edge. Well, they have re-opened registration - so, you experienced ironmen – Let me know what you think. Should I do the race?

Recovery and new site

Well, a full day off during the week does not happen often. I was thinking about going to the lake last night but the swim was called off do to many people being on vacation. I have been working on a website to better coordinate training sessions and get more people involved in triathlon – so yesterday I created Hattiesburg Multisport. There is not much there right now but the forum is live – link.

I should be ready to hit the training again full force. The high intensity race Saturday coupled with the 100 + miles on the bike the next day did take a big chunk out of me…

A little grouchy

Tuesday I had planned on doing a long pre-work bike ride. For some reason I thought that the group was getting together for another TT. I set out all of my gear and puffed up my tires. I knew that a time trial this close to the hard work out from the weekend would not produce good results – but I thought that I might ride the route anyway.

Five AM rolled around rather quickly and my legs were not recovered. I could not climb out of bed – there was no way that I would be at Jackson Stations by 5:45AM. I ran through my contingency plans – I could still get to the pool by 6:30AM and get an hour swim. Still rather lethargic I made it to the gym at 7:15AM – not enough time to do a swim. I went up stairs and did some abdominal exercises.

For lunch I had planned on doing an easy run for 6 or 7 miles. I got held up going to lunch so I switched to another swim – my legs were not recovered anyway. As I entered the natatorium I ran into Chris who was just leaving. We talked for just a minute and then I jumped into the pool. I did 2000 yards straight – nothing tough just racking up yards. Chris later spoke with Jodie after class and said that I looked worn out. He said that I looked like I needed some time off. Chris, okay proper name is Sports Physiology Dr. Chris – who always podiums at all the races, called me later in the day and asked when I took my last day off – It was Friday before the race. I told him that I had taken it easy after the weekend. I told him that I had only swum the past two days. Dr. Chris clearly stated that swimming and weight training were not days off. Chris said a day off is reading a book during lunch and just taking it easy all day long – tough words for me to hear. He also advised me about my diet and that I need more calories – not just any calories but carbohydrates.

It is so much easier for someone outside the situation to see things that you cannot see – I know when I am overdoing it – I get grouchy but I always push it just a little farther. Chris is very knowledgeable and I respect any advice that he offers. I’m glad I have friends looking after me! So, today, I am taking the day off even though I really want to go out to the lake tonight and have an easy swim – I was also planning on getting a run in after the swim.

So, I brought a book for lunch – I’ll take it easy today and hit it hard tomorrow.

Unplanned century

Jim came by the house at 6AM on Sunday. We wanted to get some uber hill climbs. Jim wanted to do 40th street and Richburg Road. We headed towards the university. We wove around the streets of the neighbor hoods until we reached 40th street – these were big rolling hills. We made it up the hills until we arrived at Richburg Road. We hung a left and went east – I think I topped out in the high thirties going down this hill. We did a short loop at 28th street and went back up the long grade that we had just come down. We had a good series of climbs. We made it back to the trace and headed west. I wanted to go north on Epley Road and turn around at highway 42 – these were also good rolling hills. As we neared Epley Jim was not feeling well. We had 30 miles in the saddle and Jim was going to call it a day. I continued and did the Epley hills and then went further west past Sumrall to the Munn Road hills. All in all I got 68 miles on Sunday morning. Talking later with Jim he ended up getting a little better than 50 miles – not a bad day.

Back at the house I did a quick change and decided to grab a brick. I thought about running for maybe an hour and a half or possibly two hours. I had a frozen 32 oz bottle of water in my hands to keep cool. I started to feel light headed after only a mile. My math was not so good. I pushed on and realized that I had not eaten enough that morning. Last week I ate 11 pop tarts – this week only 3 gels. I turned around at Clyde Station and headed home. The frozen bottle had melted in the 38 minute run – I was hot.

I made myself a big lunch and within an hour I was feeling much better. Disappointed in my run I still had time to jump on the Sunday group ride. I changed clothes again and headed towards the trail head. There was a large group and went out to Sumrall. On the way it started to rain – no one was expecting this. It has only rained once in the last 4 – 6 weeks – we are in a drought. As luck would have it – it has now rained twice and I have been on the bike both times. I guess that just means I have been on the bike a lot. The group ride split and there were only 5 of us willing to continue. We decided to do Munn Road – that would be twice in one day for me. It was still raining lightly as we left the trace. As we turned onto Munn Road Todd – the helicopter pilot for the hospital went down. I was right behind him and swerved just in time to miss him. Luckily he did not hit any joints and just had a big road rash cherry on his hip. A quick once over on the bike and he was rolling again. I have had this thought rolling through my mind – “We all have bad things happen to us – it is how you react to them that matters”. Todd did a good job.

For the day I ended up with 108 miles on the bike and 4.5 miles on the run. I was tired but nothing was sore and I was not any worse for the wear.

Monday I let the legs rest and just hit the pool for some lap time. I ended up with 12 x 250 yards on 4:15 – for 3000 yards total. The swim was good but I was tired the rest of the day.

After work Jodie and I went to the book signing for Tony. We also ran into Becky from the pinebelt pacers. It was fun to talk with Tony and get a copy of the book. As a bonus the libraries ‘food club’ was meeting and they made all kinds of pancakes – oatmeal, buttermilk, Johnny cakes plus desserts. Good times.

2009 SUNFISH RACE REPORT

2008 SWIM 10:52 T1 1:17 BIKE 47:41 T2 1:02 RUN 22:26 TOTAL 1:23:18
2009 SWIM 08:40 T1 0:57 BIKE 45:20 T2 1:03 RUN 21:15 TOTAL 1:17:13

Last year I remember looking out over the water and thinking about how far it looked. I swam the course the night before and it really calmed some of my fears. The distance did not look so far this time – I am amazed at how different my perspectives are a year later. I swam the course again this year and was about 2 minutes faster than last year.

I slept well the night before the race – I had almost no pre-race anxieties. I can get a little worked up prior to races but I did not feel any of the pressure for this race. I had clear cut goals – I just wanted to hammer the entire race – DON’T HOLD BACK! This is a time trial start. Robin, my closest rival, would start 40 seconds behind me – I did not want to see Robin at all!

SWIM: I jumped in the water 12 minutes after the start of the race. I picked the ‘left lane’ and just cruised through the swim. I was just using the people that I was passing to sight off of – I probably went a little too wide but the swim just clicked. I was swimming efficiently, fast and feeling good. I could have / should have pushed the swim a little faster but I was still more than 2 minutes faster than last year. I swam at my ‘one’ speed and was comfortable. When I swam the course the night before I was actually 5 seconds faster.

T1 was short and sweet with no incidences. Jumping on the bike there is a large hill immediately out of transition. I just stood up in the pedals and powered right up – no big deal. I passed a few people that were struggling. The first half of this bike course is VERY challenging. A big hill once you leave the park. Last year I dropped down to my lower crank and my highest gear and just spun up the hill – it was hard. Last year I got blown away by Mike L. and Chris – they just powered up the hill and left me in the dust. Not this time – I stood up in the cranks and took the hill – I would do that for all of the hills. I was not going to hold anything back – I was redlining the entire bike. On the down hills I was flying – there were a couple of occasions where I was spinning out – no more gears to grab. Post race I noticed that I topped out at 42 MPH! I did not let up the entire bike – I flew into transition and my legs were shaking. I was only passed twice during the bike leg – and one of them I passed back. Unfortunately one of them was in my age group.

I fumbled for a few seconds trying to get my running shoes on - I was having trouble balancing on one leg. I charged out of T2 with a goal of not letting my run pace lag. My heart rate was in zone 4 and I was not going to let it drop. I passed a couple of people early in the run and then two guys in my age group came by me – the first one had started about a minute fifteen in front of me – I had to keep him in site – the other was running much faster than me and had started after me – no hope there. The run really came down to me just trying to hang on at the intensity that I was running. I was getting hot and the run was getting hard – I am not sure why this flat 5k is so hard – it must be the hills on the bike. I ended up losing ground to both of the age group runners. Heading back up the levy with about a half mile to three quarters of a mile to go Robin comes by me. He taps me on the back and tells me to pick it up – I dig deep and try to stay on his heels. I remember that I have 40 seconds on him – with my bonky mind I think I just have to keep with in 40 seeconds of him – how wrong could I be? I NEEDED to beat him by 40 seconds. This is not going to happen. Robin finished 11 seconds ahead of me at the line for a total time of 51 seconds in front of me. However, I really appreciate Robin – he forced me to run better and harder at the end of the race – I love the competition.

I ended up meeting or almost meeting all of my goals for the race:

Swim a good race – better, faster, stronger – DONE - better by 2:12

Bike a hard race – DON’T LET UP – DONE – better by 2:21

Run a better than 7:00 minute pace – ALMOST – my watch indicated a 6:53 but race results showed a 7:03 – STILL – better by 1:11

Finish faster than last year by 5 + minutes – DONE – better by 6:05

Last year I finished 36th overall - this year 24th.

Beat Robin - Not a good goal - I can only control myself - CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR – DEFEATED BY 0:51 seconds

CHEESY VIDEO - (Jodie took the photos and the video clips)

The Longleaf Trace Companion

My close friend Tony has written a book- “The Longleaf Trace Companion.” In my opinion, The Longleaf Trace is the jewel of the Hub City. Chances are if I am not at work or home I am somewhere along the trace. It was a deciding factor of where I live. This rails to trails provides a ribbon through the piney woods for all of my recreation / training needs. I am excited that there is now a reference that will provide the history of this scenic trail.

Tony is a fellow athlete (He did Kona a few years ago!) and has been gracious in his training knowledge and is always so encouraging. He is doing a couple of book signings this month. I’ll be checking him out Monday, July 13 at the Oak Grove Library – and getting my signed copy of the book.

If you would like more information: The Longleaf Trace Companion

My mother 1946 - 1999

So, I was talking with my sister the other day and she commented that yesterday would be the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death. My sister could not believe that it had only been 10 years while I feel like it has been forever – I guess my sister and I were at different points in our lives and different things have happened since that time.

The death was tragic and sudden – my mother was only 52 years old. I have always been very date oriented – I do not forget birthdays, anniversaries, special dates, etc – and this event – this date was so significant. This was the first true death that I had to experience. It really drew a line in the sand for me – it was one of those dates where my mind catalogs everything as either before or after.

Before my mother’s death, looking back, I was really in poor health and I did not care. I was just like everyone that I worked with – everyone that I hung around. Everything was super sized and the more fried or the more bacon the better (I would have loved the baconator!). My favorite places to eat were the “all you can stand” variety – the more food the better. I also had been smoking since high school. There was no exercise in my life – none – I didn’t even make excuses. I would drive the 1/2 mile to the gas station to buy my cigarettes.

So, when my mother died, I was 27 years old, I was about 50 pounds heavier, I did no exercise and I smoked heavily. I also put back a lot of beer. My mother was in better shape than I was – she walked her dog daily and was more active. However, she also smoked and believed that everything went better with a stick of butter. I also, for the first time, realized that I didn’t have any grandparents anymore – heart disease runs in the family. The writing was on the wall - I was headed down a road to disaster.

I took my mother’s death at such a young age as a wakeup call. My health was deteriorating – I would not be able to maintain this unhealthy lifestyle of a 20-something much longer. I was scared. I took responsibility of my actions and within a few months I had successfully quit smoking – it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I rewarded myself negatively with food but I was fighting one battle at a time. Once the cigarettes were out of the picture I had to drop the weight. I had ballooned up –the last straw was when I had to stop on the way to a bar-b-queue to get a pair of 40 inch shorts.

I started to make small adjustments to my diet. Just by cutting out the very worst parts of my diet I started to see results. I cleaned up the diet even more and the results were so encouraging. Then the exercise started. There was a park near my house that I started to jog around. It took months but I remember the immense gratification I felt when I could run around that park without stopping – it was only 8 tenths of a mile!

I started to run 5k’s and ride bikes and enjoy the outdoors. I started to play sports at work – softball, volleyball and soccer. I was feeling great and my self esteem was sky rocketing. The TV set was never on anymore – fast food was a thing of the past. I was in the best shape of my life and just getting better – just feeling better. I hate the fact that it took something so tragic to make me wake up and evaluate my life. I miss my mother – but I have gained tremendously from her death.

I cannot imagine where my life would be without the changes that I have made. I believe that exercise and a healthy lifestyle saved my life. Years later I would once again use these life skills to overcome huge obstacles.