Sunday, September 30, 2007

Mightyman SPRINT Triathlon

Mightyman Sprint Tri – Montauk NY September 29, 2007

First things first…..

I’ve mentioned that I didn’t race much this year because my partner was diagnosed with lymphoma in March. It has been a long seven months, but on Friday we found out she is CANCER FREE inCOMPLETE REMISSION!!!! I can’t tell you how it felt to hear those words. We would have gone out to Montauk regardless of the news, but it turned into a weekend of sheer joy.

I decided to race the sprint only about 4 weeks ago. We knew Carolynn would be done with Chemo and figured it would be a good time to take a 3-day weekend and relax. I’ve been back in the training groove only since the end of august and have been just working on building base with no “race” to cap it off. Racing is like the punctuation at the end of a sentence. It makes the sentence complete. I feel that way too. Racing makes me complete. In a life filled with loose ends and many unknowns, a race is the one point in time I can see something to the end and then when it is over, look to begin again. With my family beginning the ascent out of the shadow of cancer. It made perfect sense for me to just give it my all.

Saturday, race day, was a beautiful day, very cool (53 at the start) and VERY windy. The winds were sustained at 16-18 MPH with gusts to 26 MPH out of the north. I was so excited to be there. I had a secret goal of a 1:30 finish, but really I was just happy to be there.

Got to the transition area ridiculously early, set up and went for a little bike ride. It was still dark when I back, put my running shoes on and went for a mile run. I was way to peaceful. Normally I am a bundle of nerves before a race. I was chatting with some other athletes; many had chosen not to wear their wetsuits because the water was so warm. I put on my wetsuit and headed for a warm up swim in the calm fresh water of Fort Pond. Calm my a**! It was like a blender! The wind was coming in straight out of the north and whipping up 2+ foot chop in the lake. Oh man, I thought, this one is gonna be rough. The first 300 meters were due north, right into the wind and chop. I was the only athlete who jumped in to warm up, everyone else just stood and watched. Back to the transition area for one more gear check and I was ready.

Swim: Wave 3, chest deep start. The water was so choppy I couldn’t see the kayak to my left over the white cap. Also, since it was a fresh water lake, you didn’t rise up with the wave like in the ocean, it just crashed on your sorry head. I started to scull and get prone, the gun went off, and so did we. The usual kicking and beating commenced, but the water conditions made it really hard to swim and sight. Two strokes and a white cap would stop you mid breath. I stayed calm, but it was the hardest swimming I’ve ever done. Lots of carnage, 2 and 3 people hanging on the kayaks and more than a few cries for help. I rolled over on my back for a few strokes about every 50 meters just because I was swimming so much harder than I should have been I needed to catch my breath. Even that was rough, because more than once a wave would crash right over my face and put me underwater. Made it around buoy 1 and changed direction to head north west, Swimming was easier, but sighting was still a nightmare and I probably added 50 meters by getting drawn off course. Around buoy 2 and I made it home. I was hoping that the chop would help take us in, but again it wasn’t like a wave or a current, and it was only a little helpful. It wasn’t pretty, but it was over. I was confident that I could swim this in 15 minutes, but that was before I saw the water conditions. I did the best I could. No regrets. Probably went 18-20 minutes.

T1: No big problems here. My wetsuit came off easily. I did do one foolish thing. I put my garmin on my handlebars and had trouble getting it off. No biggie. Hopped on my bike and took off.

Bike: I’ve ridden this course several times. There is one big climb about 1 mile in, but other than that, only small inclines and declines. I have learned to love hills, but headwinds I can do without. At one point, I came around a corner and hit a headwind so strong I swear it almost stopped me in my tracks. I went from 17 MPH to 6.6 MPH in a matter of yards. Oh well. My HR stayed in upper zone 2 most of the time and climbed above only on the hill. I stayed seated and aero on all of the climbs. I actually stayed aero the whole ride, except to shift (my next bike will have bar end shifters).
I don’t have my splits yet, but my garmin clocked me at 15.6MPH for the leg. Much slower than I knew I could do, but with the wind conditions, I was ok with that.

T2: Seamless. Invested in yankz. 1:30 in T2.

Run: Since I wasn’t preparing for a race per se, I didn’t do any brick work. I expected to feel like crap for the first mile, but it didn’t happen. After the first 100yds or so I felt great. According to my garmin I ran 10:30, 10:05, 10:15 HR around 160. I was VERY pleased. If my Garmin is right I ran a 5k PR!

The finishline clock read 1:35:40, since I was in wave 3 the offset was 4:00, so I missed my secret goal of 1:30:00 by a minute 40. No worries here though, after only 5 weeks of training I sliced a whopping 8 minutes off my best sprint to date and 14 minutes off my sprint from June of this year. So maybe with a little work ethic, I could really be good at this? I’m beginning to think that the whole “training” concept has some merit. Kona 2009 here I come.

Two great points I have to mention. I got a high 5 from my triscoop friend Tom (Ram) just about a mile before the finish. That was a great boost.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the race was Carolynn, cancer free and smiling at the finishline. She is the real champion in the family.

There is 741 days to Kona 2009!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Losing to go fast

My stats today

155 pounds
29.5% body fat
Long Run to date: 9 miles @ 11:35, average HR 156, Max HR 166
Long Bike to date: 25 miles @ 15.5 MPH, Average HR 138, Max 150
Long Swim to date: 1000m @ 2:05/100, 20:50minutes, RPE: Hard

This past week was a recovery week, but a good one. I had some really good workouts. Tomorrow is a 30-mile bike ride and Sunday is a 10-mile run. I’ll post those results on Monday. I’ve re-posted my training calendar, you can scroll down and click open the link. I have decided to participate in the Mini Mightman sprint triathlon in Montauk next weekend. I’m doing it because it will make me feel good. I don’t really care where I finish I just really want to race.

As you can see, my weight is starting to drop. That’s a relief! I was starting to get depressed. I’d like to get to 18% body fat, which I’m estimating will put me around 135 pounds. I’ve never been lower than 146 pounds in my entire adult life, so I haven’t a clue what 135 will feel like. I do know that several studies have linked weight loss and running pace. It is generally accepted that a 2 pound weight loss will result in a 5 sec per mile gain in speed. So while I’m busy lugging an extra 17 pounds around and building leg strength, I can expect to be about 45 seconds per mile faster (at least). Then there is the bike.

I’ve promised myself a new bike for next season. I love Clyde (my current bike), because I credit Clyde with getting me into triathlon. I rode him now through 5 tri’s and he is still my only bike, but he is a steel frame Raliegh Sport. Complete with a triple chain ring on front and an eight speed cog set on the back, the shimano sora group set is a shifting nightmare. I love Clyde, but at 31.5 pounds he’s also a little portly. Even a modest tri-bike won’t tip the scale at more than 21 pounds (probably a little less) and with an additional 17 pounds off my frame, that a whopping 27 pounds less to lug up the hills of Tupper Lake NY! I’ll have to remember this if I’m tempted to fall of the wagon again.

750 days to go!

Friday, September 14, 2007

The Choice is Yours

I went to bed the other night about as “tri” psyched up as I could be. Sunday was Ironman Wisconsin and several of my Triscoop friends were racing. From 6:30pm until about 9:30, I was glued to my computer screen. I had the live feed from the Ironman finish line in one window and the athlete tracker on the Ironman website open in another to keep tabs on my friends. On the top was the Triscoop transition area chat room with up to 28 people chatting about all things triathlon. Watching the finish line feed gets me so emotional and choked up. Just listening to the announcer say “Bob, from Texas, you are an Ironman!” brings a lump into my throat. Then to also have a virtual Ironman party in the chat room just left me feeling so motivated and committed to my goal of racing IMLP with the intent of qualifying for Kona. I was triathlon dreaming all night long.

I had planned a longish bike ride the next morning of 100 minutes before work. I only work 5 minutes from my house so if I leave for my ride by 6:00am, I have plenty of time to fit in up to 2 hours of training and still make it back, take my daughter to school, and get myself to work at a reasonable time. I set my alarm for 5:45.

I woke before the alarm and looked at the glowing red numbers on my alarm clock; 5:27. The first thought that went through my head was, “I could get up now, sneak out without the alarm waking everyone else up, and have a little breakfast before my ride.” That was immediately followed by, “It’s so dark out still, I’m really comfortable.” And so began this well scripted fight between Jen the over achiever and Jen the under achiever.

OA: “I have to get up.”

UA: “I could really use a few more hours sleep.”

OA: “Carolynn will be annoyed if I don’t get up and the alarm goes off.”

UA: “I could tell her that I don’t feel well.”

OA: “I couldn’t live with that lie all day, it would kill me.”

UA: “It’s raining out.”

Here I must of dozed back off because when I looked back at the clock it was 5:39.

OA: “Turn off the alarm and get up.”

UA: “I’ll turn off the alarm so it won’t wake Carolynn”

I turned off the alarm. I must have dozed again, because the clock now read 5:48

OA: “This is your last chance get up or fall back to sleep.”

I wish I could say that my mind was completely united in the pursuit of becoming a champion, but as evidenced above, that’s not the case. As I thought about writing down this internal conversation, I began to wonder if perhaps, I lacked the natural mental drive of a champion. I couldn’t imagine Lance Armstrong or Paula Newbury-Frasier having that kind of inner dialogue. Is this evidence that I don’t have what it takes to commit to this dream? After all, if I struggle with getting out of bed, what am I going to do when I’m faced with a dozen climbs during Lake Placid?

Faced with a dozen climbs, I’d do what I always do, take one at a time, gut it out, and think about the downhill on the other side. You can’t decide to ride all of them at once, you just choose to as they present themselves. I guess in the same way, you can just choose to be a champion all at once; you have to choose as opportunities present themselves. There are hundreds of ways those opportunities can show up; during training, when eating, when thinking, when trying to get out of bed. Each decision will either lead you closer to your goal or take you farther away. Becoming a champion is a long series of choices you make every day.

So, back to my inner conversation:

OA: “This is your last chance get up or fall back to sleep.”

I swung my legs off the bed and stepped on the floor and thought to myself. “That’s one step closer to Kona.”

757 days to go.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

How NOT to run 9 miles.

I did my long run today in conjunction with the NYRR Fitness 4 miler in Central Park. The men went off at 8:30 and the women at 9:30, so I figured I would run with the men plus 1 then make it back around to start the 4 miler on time. I sandbagged a bit and left myself a 15 minute cushion in between. Not all days are good ones. Below is a lap/pace/HR chart of someone who spontaneously combusted during a 9 mile run, see if you can figure out what stupid mistake I made:

Mile 1: 10:52 max HR 158

Mile 2: 10:29 max HR 159

Mile 3: 11:17 max HR 163

Mile 4: 11:10 max HR 164 (yikes)

Mile 5: 10:42 max HR 164

(15 minute break)

Mile 6: 10:52 max HR 166 (tick, tick)

Mile 7: 10:50 max HR 166 KABOOM!

Mile 8: 13:45 max HR 166 (Walking!)

Mile 9: 12:04 max HR 166

It’s not like I haven’t run long before. I should have known better. I had no business going that fast that early, or charging up the hills, or not taking in any fuel, or stubbornly ignoring my HR in lieu of pace. Man I crashed hard and I kept crashing. I took in about 600 Kcals of fruit and yogurt right after the race. I was starving. I could have fallen asleep in my car on the ride home. I did fall asleep when I got home for 2 hours. You would have thought I ran a marathon.

Normally, I would have been very dejected after a run like I had today, but I’m still pretty jacked up. I think without the pressure of a race looming over my head, I can keep my eye on the big picture, without getting so caught up in the smaller pieces of the puzzle. Even though I blew up today, it still progresses me toward my big dream.

Oh yeah.... 763 days to go.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Vacation Agrees with Me!

I wonder if anyone has done a study on the effects of stress on athletic performance and training. If not they should. I had an amazing week of training while on vacation in Montauk, Long Island. I love training in Montauk. Situated at the tip on Long Island, there are many beautiful miles of riding, running and open water swimming at your fingertips. I did not plan a structured week of training, but wanted to do at least one long workout in each sport before the week was out.

I took my bike out for a quick ride, just to put myself in vacation mode. Twelve miles later I realized that I averaged a 16 MPH ride at a HR of 143 up and down one of the most challenging climbs out there. Building on that little feel good moment, I went out for a four-mile run the next day. It was hot, but beautiful. I nailed the run with an 11:06/pace with my HR in Zone 1 the whole time and no walk breaks. I felt wonderful and refreshed. It was shaping up to be a great week.

I had 2 route choices for my long bike. One was a familiar loop to the lighthouse and around town. This is actually the course of the ½ iron distance that is held out here in October. It is very hilly with lots of climbing. I’ve ridden it before and just love getting out to the lighthouse. The second route would take me out of town on Montauk Highway. I’ve never ridden the route, but the appeal of it has to do with a 5 mile uninterrupted stretch of flat road. I don’t have many flats around my neighborhood, and I was very curious to see what I could do on such a nice open road. I chose the flats and decided to ride that portion as a time trial of sorts.

To get to the flat portion of the ride, there was a substantial climb out of town, so I was fully warmed up before hitting the flat. I hit my lap timer, shifted into a reasonable gear, and got down on my aero-bars. My cadence sensor is broken, but I tried to keep my legs focused on making big circles and estimated I was turning at 80RPM or better. There was a bit of a headwind on the straightaway and I kept my muscles feeling just a bit above the point of feeling pushed. I purposefully did not look at my garmin, so I used my RPE to figure out where my HR was. I could speak in a complete sentence; I knew I was right in Zone 1 or 2.

Lap 1: 5.04 miles, 18:12, 16.6 MPH avg/ 20.5 MPH max, 142HR avg/ 147HR max

I took a 1.5 mile recovery lap before heading back. Then rocked the back lap!

Lap 2: 5.06 miles, 16:11, 18.7 MPH avg/ 26.4 MPH max, 144HR avg/ 150HR max

That’s what I’m talking about! I felt great, so great I managed a 14.7 MPH avg over the hills of the next 7.5 miles back home and never let my HR get over 150bpm. The ride was a big confidence builder for me. 25 miles in 1:36:30, compared to my last long ride of 19.5 mile in 1:28:30. Nice.

Next up was my long run. Eight miles is hardly a “long run” for some people, but it would be my longest since March. I knew I wanted to stay on a reasonable course without any mountains to climb. I headed out starting on the same course I ran the 4 miler to build on that success. Historically on my long runs, I stop every mile to drink and take a walk break, but with the success I had going 4 miles straight a few days earlier, I told myself I’d stop only when I felt I really needed to. I checked my garmin at 1 mile at with an 11:20/ mile my HR hadn’t even gotten above 140 yet. I kept going on to mile 2 picking up the pace ever so slightly. I hit mile 2 at a 10:57 pace and my HR settled in at 143. The next five miles I ran a consistent 11:15 pace and my HR stayed between 143 and 148. I felt so strong that my last mile was my fastest at 10:55 (up a mile long incline!). Woo Hoo! I’m Baaaaaaack! 8 miles in 1:29:28, compared to 7 miler in 1:23:40. Sweet.

Clearly, vacation agrees with me!

767 days to go.