Going places that...well, I've been quite a few times before, actually. I finally got back to a consistent workout schedule. The past week was:
4.5 miles of sprints
The Dogipot 5 Miler
3 mile hard run
8 mile "long" run
A tough swim workout.
1.5 miles of 400s to help keep Meredith going during her long run.
And the reward for all that moderately hard work?
A cold.
Gosh darn it. *blows nose* Here's hoping it goes away before this weekend of OSU alumni band and IM spectating.
I got my tentative leg assignments for Reach the Beach, too. I'll have 7.2, 4.4, and 2.5 mile legs, assuming I decide to actually run the right course this year...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Absence
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. An intense work schedule and lack of interesting things to write about have kept me away from the new post button.
This week will be my return to consistent training, as we gear up for Reach the Beach 2008. I'm going to pick up a half marathon plan for the last few weeks. Meredith and I hit the track on Monday, and my legs felt pretty good for not being on a consistent plan right now. I did about 4.5 miles in intervals, and found that I can hit a pretty good 400m speed (for me), but that my endurance at that speed is pretty low compared to last year when I was in marathon training. So, I've got three weeks to get that built up a little bit.
We got to use the King's Island tickets that Meredith won last year this week. Going during the week is definitely the way to go! Pretty much every ride was a 10 minute wait or less. Even better, I didn't get a nasty sunburn this time around like our last trip there. :)
We're also going to try and get down to Louisville for the Ironman in 2 weeks. We've never seen one in person, and I'd love to get a feel for the event before trying it myself!
This week will be my return to consistent training, as we gear up for Reach the Beach 2008. I'm going to pick up a half marathon plan for the last few weeks. Meredith and I hit the track on Monday, and my legs felt pretty good for not being on a consistent plan right now. I did about 4.5 miles in intervals, and found that I can hit a pretty good 400m speed (for me), but that my endurance at that speed is pretty low compared to last year when I was in marathon training. So, I've got three weeks to get that built up a little bit.
We got to use the King's Island tickets that Meredith won last year this week. Going during the week is definitely the way to go! Pretty much every ride was a 10 minute wait or less. Even better, I didn't get a nasty sunburn this time around like our last trip there. :)
We're also going to try and get down to Louisville for the Ironman in 2 weeks. We've never seen one in person, and I'd love to get a feel for the event before trying it myself!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Don't Taze Me, Bro!
Last night, Meredith and I went down to one of our favorite cheap dinners: $4 burger night at a local Irish pub. Now that we're on a tighter budget with her quitting her job, we've got to look for those inexpensive ways to get out once in a while. There were a couple people ahead of us on the waiting list, so the hostess handed us one of those little things that buzz when your table is ready. We found a local paper on a bar shelf, and were reading it while we waited.
Fifteen minutes turned out to be more like two. Our pager never buzzed, but a woman came to show us to the table. She never asked for it, and I didn't see another hostess, so I just carried it with me to the table. After she laid down our menus, she turned around and said she'd be back for our drink orders in a second. I replied with, "Great, and I'll just give you this.", and held out the pager for her.
She jumped back.
I held it out again.
With a tinge of panic in her voice, she held up her hands and said "What is that thing?!"
Okay, now I was really getting confused! I held it out a third time and said, "Umm...it's our pager for the table."
Finally, she realized what was going on. It turned out that it was her first day working there, and in her defense, we were just talking last week about how much their pagers look like stun guns.
Pager:
Stun Gun:
She was (quite deservedly) teased mercilessly by both the staff and other patrons the entire time we were there. Afterward, she said she was ready to hand over all her tips when she saw it.
Hmm...
Maybe we have a way to make a little money on the side after all!
Fifteen minutes turned out to be more like two. Our pager never buzzed, but a woman came to show us to the table. She never asked for it, and I didn't see another hostess, so I just carried it with me to the table. After she laid down our menus, she turned around and said she'd be back for our drink orders in a second. I replied with, "Great, and I'll just give you this.", and held out the pager for her.
She jumped back.
I held it out again.
With a tinge of panic in her voice, she held up her hands and said "What is that thing?!"
Okay, now I was really getting confused! I held it out a third time and said, "Umm...it's our pager for the table."
Finally, she realized what was going on. It turned out that it was her first day working there, and in her defense, we were just talking last week about how much their pagers look like stun guns.
Pager:
Stun Gun:
She was (quite deservedly) teased mercilessly by both the staff and other patrons the entire time we were there. Afterward, she said she was ready to hand over all her tips when she saw it.
Hmm...
Maybe we have a way to make a little money on the side after all!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Help Me, Bob the Builder!
On Saturday, I was working on our photobooth, and had to go to Home Depot for some wood. I got my 1x2s, came home, did a couple test runs on scrap, and got ready for my real cuts.
I measured twice.
I cut once.
I put it all together, and it didn't fit. Why not? Because I apparently needed to do the math three times first.
So I had to take the walk of shame back to Home Depot. (Fortunately, it's maybe half a mile from our house)
Yes, you just saw me.
Yes, I'm buying more of what I just came in for 15 minutes ago.
*sigh*
I haven't done any training of significance since the race, but I think it's about time to get back in the saddle. My knees are feeling much better, I'm walking like a normal person again, and I'd like to find maybe one more race to do this summer. I'm thinking olympic distance, but haven't ruled out another half completely.
I measured twice.
I cut once.
I put it all together, and it didn't fit. Why not? Because I apparently needed to do the math three times first.
So I had to take the walk of shame back to Home Depot. (Fortunately, it's maybe half a mile from our house)
Yes, you just saw me.
Yes, I'm buying more of what I just came in for 15 minutes ago.
*sigh*
I haven't done any training of significance since the race, but I think it's about time to get back in the saddle. My knees are feeling much better, I'm walking like a normal person again, and I'd like to find maybe one more race to do this summer. I'm thinking olympic distance, but haven't ruled out another half completely.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Muncie Pictures!
Out of the lake, just before the storms hit.
Fuzzy from the rain, but still moving along...
Why do I have knee issues when I run? Oh, maybe because I fling my feet out to the side, apparently?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Race Report - Muncie Endurathon
Or, "Charlie Brown vs. the Muncie Parks and Rec Department"
So this was it. The culmination of all those hours of training, all the hours in the pool, on the country roads, and around the neighborhood.
We rolled into Muncie around noon on Friday and checked into our hotel after lunch. I'm glad to report that there was no evidence of the "cat pee" report from TripAdvisor. We did, however, get a smoking room. As much as we wanted to light up the day before our race, we wanted more for our room to smell halfway decent. The solution? Our last coconut scented pine tree car air freshener! We hung it off the coat rack, and by Saturday our room smelled like coconut and smoke instead of just smoke.
By order, Meredith (and thus both of us) were to go down to the race site and get in a practice swim, bike, and run. With a little friendly talk, we were able to get into the beach area without paying the admission fee, and walked down to the start location. The only bad part? Only the normal swimming area was open, so our spandex clad warmup swim was in amongst the locals sunning on their inflatable rafts. I'm sure we got a few strange looks. We then got in a 20 minute bike ride down the start of the course, and decided to skip the run because we were starting to feel the sun and needed some water. In the evening, we got some pasta at Olive Garden among flocks of people with numbers on their arms, got our things ready, and got to bed early.
Race day started out fairly uneventfully. The water temperature was 80°, so no wetsuits for us for the first time. We took the back roads in, got all our gear set up, and were about to head back to the car when the director called a meeting in the transition area. The weather, he said, was going to be getting dicey ("special" was his word) in about three hours, and they were going to put the start waves only 3 minutes apart. That meant a quick trip to the car and back, and no time for me to warm up. By the time we got to the beach, the first wave was off, and my fourth wave was lining up. We said our goodbyes and good lucks, and I was down to the beach. This was the most nervous I've probably ever been before a race, both because of the length of the race itself, and the threat of the weather.
I placed myself near the back of my wave, and planned to stay wide at the turns. I still managed to take a kick straight to my goggles (fortunately, it was so direct that they didn't even move), and one to my side (which the other swimmer apologized for - unneeded, but appreciated). The course was a near-triangle, and most of the bumping was just in the first leg. It was also some pretty choppy water thanks to the wind. I took one big wave in the face, which caused the only time I had to flip over and cough it out for a few seconds.
On the middle leg, the wind was at our back, and because I swung wide, I had a really nice clean swim. I really felt like I was moving well here. Because it was such a long stretch, you couldn't see the next buoy at first, so I sighted off the boats that were lined up along the course. I apparently did a really good job of sighting, because at one point I looked up, and I was about 2 yards from a head on collision with a big boat. The captain was standing out on the prow of it (I assume to make sure I was okay if I hit it), and we shared a chuckle as I made my way around the side instead.
At the second turn, I made my only big mistake of the swim. I went too wide, and due to the chop, I caused myself to have to swim against the current most of the way back. I'd sight, think I was going the right way, but then the next time I looked up, I would be off course again. Still, when I finally hit shore, I looked at my watch and saw it at 39 minutes or so! I ran up the long ramp to transition, quite happy and surprised with that time. I'll be a little greedy and wish I had done it 24 seconds faster, so it could start with a 3. :)
Swim: 40:23
As I was running up the ramp, it was drizzling a bit, and during transition, it got heavier. I did a much better job of preparing my things for transition this time, and got in and out probably the best of any race so far.
T1: 2:55
I wasn't on the bike course two minutes before I saw the first lightning bolt of the day. What happened to three hours before the weather hit us? Then, it got worse.
BOOM!
I saw the bolt back and to my right, and the thunder was almost on top of it. All I could think about was Meredith, and that she was probably still in the water since she was a couple waves behind me. I hoped they'd pulled out the swimmers, but I hoped they hadn't, because I didn't want her race day ruined. (Later, we heard secondhand that they did pull people out, but let them continue. Not sure what exactly happened there)
Not knowing what was going on back there, I decided I'd keep on with the ride. However, I felt like I was having trouble getting in the right gear. I was bouncing in the saddle, which usually means I'm in too easy of a gear. I upshifted, and was still bouncing. Tried again...still bouncing. Something wasn't right. My tire didn't look flat, but I pulled over to the side of the trail and dismounted to check it by hand.
Squish.
Uh oh.
Number of times I've changed a tire on Charlie Brown: 0
Number of times I've changed a rear tire on any bike: 0
Fortunately, someone had a camera on me.
The other issue compounding matters was that we were on the local rails-to-trails path, which had zero shoulder room - both sides were ditches. I got as far off as I could, and was still trying to figure out how in the world to change my tire in there when I heard a scraping sound and looked back. Another biker hadn't been paying attention, looked up and saw me, swerved, hit the gravel, and went down into the ditch. I went back with a couple other bikers who stopped and tried to help him out. Thank goodness, he seemed mostly okay - a few cuts and scrapes, but nothing broken. I really hope he made it the rest of the day...I felt awful, but I didn't know what I could have done differently.
Finally, I found a place where someone had laid a couple wood planks across one of the ditches where I could get out to the main road. I set up next to a police officer manning an intersection, and proceeded to teach myself how to change a rear tire (in a thunderstorm). Muncie's rules state that you can have zero outside help on mechanical issues, or else be disqualified. Even the race people can't help you. The sag wagon did stop by and let me know to radio them if I couldn't get it fixed, and they'd come and pick me up. So, there were two ways out. Figure out how to fix it, or go home.
After a little trial and error, I got the wheel off, but I didn't have tools with me, and the tire was too tight to get over the rim by hand. I looked around for a stick or anything else to help. The best I could find was a dead turtle. No, I didn't use that. Then I realized I had my sunglasses. I used one of the ends to pry under the tire, and finally got it off the rim. I got the new one on, hit my first CO2 cartridge, and hoped for the best. With a whoosh, it filled, and seemed to be holding air. I tried a second cartridge, but it just blew out its gasket, so the tire was as full as it was going to get.
While I was over there, I saw Meredith go by, which eased my mind that she had made it out of the water. She did her best Mr. Bill ("Ooohhh Noooooo!"). After the first turnaround for her, she saw me again, and handed off the car key in case I didn't make it. At the time, she hadn't realized that I was still going out on the first leg since I was over on the other road. When I hopped back on, my tire held, and my shifters seemed okay.
So. 40+ minutes into the bike leg, and I had made it maybe 5 miles. I had some serious work to do. By now, the lightning was at least more intermittent, but the wind and rain would keep up for almost the whole bike leg. I grabbed a bottle of gatorade (on the fly, thank you very much!) from the next aid station to replace my aerobottle that had spilled out during the change. I wasn't sure exactly what to do with my nutrition plan since I hadn't been riding continuously, and ended up making the executive decision to postpone everything 30 minutes from the original plan.
My challenge now was to stay positive, knowing very well that my 6 hour goal was out the window. I did my best, singing to myself, aiming to catch people ahead of me, and being as friendly and positive as I could to the volunteers and to everyone I passed. I also tried to race as if my delay hadn't happened, and see if I could hit my 3 hour goal minus that time. Because I didn't hit the split on my watch during the flat episode, I'm not sure if I made it, but I think I worked hard and came darn close. One woman out on the course asked me to tow her back, so I must have looked halfway decent. I said yes, if she ran for me, but she declined. :(
Fun fact: I ended up with the slowest bike split of any (non-wetsuit) finisher!
Bike: 3:34:52 (15.6 MPH)
Bike Minus Delay Estimate: 3:00-ish? (18.6 MPH)
T2 was pretty uneventful other than a quick bathroom stop. Meredith had given the excellent suggestion of putting my run shoes and socks in a plastic bag, so at least I was starting out with somewhat dry feet.
T2: 4:22
As soon as I hit the run course, my stomach tied in knots. I had a tough time getting as much gel down as I was supposed to, but I think I managed three during the run. My pace started off around 9:00-9:30, which was about right. I walked the water stops, and ran in between, which was a pretty successful strategy. Until mile 9 or so, I held onto that, and then I started walking a few of the rolling uphills and chatting with other runners. I imagine that if I was still challenging the 6 hour goal, I would have pushed a little harder, but as it was, I just decided to enjoy myself. My miles on the way back were closer to an 11 minute pace, for the most part.
One little girl at an aid station, after handing me a cold towel, asked the adults there, "Was he the last one?". I looked back with a chuckle and said "No!". Around mile 11 or 12, I passed the first person from my wave I had seen since the beginning of the bike, so I knew I wasn't going to be last after all...one little win in a long day. Finally, I saw Meredith up ahead cheering for me, and I knew I was almost done. I had resolved to run the last hill up to the finish, and I did. It was even the first race that I got my name announced at the finish line.
More than my first marathon, this finish really impacted me. For that race, I had to walk almost half of it because of knee issues, and so it was a little anticlimactic. In Muncie, I had to fight the elements as well as some rotten luck, and I still persevered through it and met 3 of the 4 goals I had set before the race. The only thing that really frustrated me was that the way things ended up, Meredith and I very well might have gotten to finish together, which would have been unexpected and nice. Still, I'm really proud of myself for getting through it, and despite everything, I enjoyed it.
Run: 2:21:22 (10:47/mile)
Total: 6:43:55 (42/44 Age Group, 510/590 overall)
So this was it. The culmination of all those hours of training, all the hours in the pool, on the country roads, and around the neighborhood.
We rolled into Muncie around noon on Friday and checked into our hotel after lunch. I'm glad to report that there was no evidence of the "cat pee" report from TripAdvisor. We did, however, get a smoking room. As much as we wanted to light up the day before our race, we wanted more for our room to smell halfway decent. The solution? Our last coconut scented pine tree car air freshener! We hung it off the coat rack, and by Saturday our room smelled like coconut and smoke instead of just smoke.
By order, Meredith (and thus both of us) were to go down to the race site and get in a practice swim, bike, and run. With a little friendly talk, we were able to get into the beach area without paying the admission fee, and walked down to the start location. The only bad part? Only the normal swimming area was open, so our spandex clad warmup swim was in amongst the locals sunning on their inflatable rafts. I'm sure we got a few strange looks. We then got in a 20 minute bike ride down the start of the course, and decided to skip the run because we were starting to feel the sun and needed some water. In the evening, we got some pasta at Olive Garden among flocks of people with numbers on their arms, got our things ready, and got to bed early.
Race day started out fairly uneventfully. The water temperature was 80°, so no wetsuits for us for the first time. We took the back roads in, got all our gear set up, and were about to head back to the car when the director called a meeting in the transition area. The weather, he said, was going to be getting dicey ("special" was his word) in about three hours, and they were going to put the start waves only 3 minutes apart. That meant a quick trip to the car and back, and no time for me to warm up. By the time we got to the beach, the first wave was off, and my fourth wave was lining up. We said our goodbyes and good lucks, and I was down to the beach. This was the most nervous I've probably ever been before a race, both because of the length of the race itself, and the threat of the weather.
I placed myself near the back of my wave, and planned to stay wide at the turns. I still managed to take a kick straight to my goggles (fortunately, it was so direct that they didn't even move), and one to my side (which the other swimmer apologized for - unneeded, but appreciated). The course was a near-triangle, and most of the bumping was just in the first leg. It was also some pretty choppy water thanks to the wind. I took one big wave in the face, which caused the only time I had to flip over and cough it out for a few seconds.
On the middle leg, the wind was at our back, and because I swung wide, I had a really nice clean swim. I really felt like I was moving well here. Because it was such a long stretch, you couldn't see the next buoy at first, so I sighted off the boats that were lined up along the course. I apparently did a really good job of sighting, because at one point I looked up, and I was about 2 yards from a head on collision with a big boat. The captain was standing out on the prow of it (I assume to make sure I was okay if I hit it), and we shared a chuckle as I made my way around the side instead.
At the second turn, I made my only big mistake of the swim. I went too wide, and due to the chop, I caused myself to have to swim against the current most of the way back. I'd sight, think I was going the right way, but then the next time I looked up, I would be off course again. Still, when I finally hit shore, I looked at my watch and saw it at 39 minutes or so! I ran up the long ramp to transition, quite happy and surprised with that time. I'll be a little greedy and wish I had done it 24 seconds faster, so it could start with a 3. :)
Swim: 40:23
As I was running up the ramp, it was drizzling a bit, and during transition, it got heavier. I did a much better job of preparing my things for transition this time, and got in and out probably the best of any race so far.
T1: 2:55
I wasn't on the bike course two minutes before I saw the first lightning bolt of the day. What happened to three hours before the weather hit us? Then, it got worse.
BOOM!
I saw the bolt back and to my right, and the thunder was almost on top of it. All I could think about was Meredith, and that she was probably still in the water since she was a couple waves behind me. I hoped they'd pulled out the swimmers, but I hoped they hadn't, because I didn't want her race day ruined. (Later, we heard secondhand that they did pull people out, but let them continue. Not sure what exactly happened there)
Not knowing what was going on back there, I decided I'd keep on with the ride. However, I felt like I was having trouble getting in the right gear. I was bouncing in the saddle, which usually means I'm in too easy of a gear. I upshifted, and was still bouncing. Tried again...still bouncing. Something wasn't right. My tire didn't look flat, but I pulled over to the side of the trail and dismounted to check it by hand.
Squish.
Uh oh.
Number of times I've changed a tire on Charlie Brown: 0
Number of times I've changed a rear tire on any bike: 0
Fortunately, someone had a camera on me.
The other issue compounding matters was that we were on the local rails-to-trails path, which had zero shoulder room - both sides were ditches. I got as far off as I could, and was still trying to figure out how in the world to change my tire in there when I heard a scraping sound and looked back. Another biker hadn't been paying attention, looked up and saw me, swerved, hit the gravel, and went down into the ditch. I went back with a couple other bikers who stopped and tried to help him out. Thank goodness, he seemed mostly okay - a few cuts and scrapes, but nothing broken. I really hope he made it the rest of the day...I felt awful, but I didn't know what I could have done differently.
Finally, I found a place where someone had laid a couple wood planks across one of the ditches where I could get out to the main road. I set up next to a police officer manning an intersection, and proceeded to teach myself how to change a rear tire (in a thunderstorm). Muncie's rules state that you can have zero outside help on mechanical issues, or else be disqualified. Even the race people can't help you. The sag wagon did stop by and let me know to radio them if I couldn't get it fixed, and they'd come and pick me up. So, there were two ways out. Figure out how to fix it, or go home.
After a little trial and error, I got the wheel off, but I didn't have tools with me, and the tire was too tight to get over the rim by hand. I looked around for a stick or anything else to help. The best I could find was a dead turtle. No, I didn't use that. Then I realized I had my sunglasses. I used one of the ends to pry under the tire, and finally got it off the rim. I got the new one on, hit my first CO2 cartridge, and hoped for the best. With a whoosh, it filled, and seemed to be holding air. I tried a second cartridge, but it just blew out its gasket, so the tire was as full as it was going to get.
While I was over there, I saw Meredith go by, which eased my mind that she had made it out of the water. She did her best Mr. Bill ("Ooohhh Noooooo!"). After the first turnaround for her, she saw me again, and handed off the car key in case I didn't make it. At the time, she hadn't realized that I was still going out on the first leg since I was over on the other road. When I hopped back on, my tire held, and my shifters seemed okay.
So. 40+ minutes into the bike leg, and I had made it maybe 5 miles. I had some serious work to do. By now, the lightning was at least more intermittent, but the wind and rain would keep up for almost the whole bike leg. I grabbed a bottle of gatorade (on the fly, thank you very much!) from the next aid station to replace my aerobottle that had spilled out during the change. I wasn't sure exactly what to do with my nutrition plan since I hadn't been riding continuously, and ended up making the executive decision to postpone everything 30 minutes from the original plan.
My challenge now was to stay positive, knowing very well that my 6 hour goal was out the window. I did my best, singing to myself, aiming to catch people ahead of me, and being as friendly and positive as I could to the volunteers and to everyone I passed. I also tried to race as if my delay hadn't happened, and see if I could hit my 3 hour goal minus that time. Because I didn't hit the split on my watch during the flat episode, I'm not sure if I made it, but I think I worked hard and came darn close. One woman out on the course asked me to tow her back, so I must have looked halfway decent. I said yes, if she ran for me, but she declined. :(
Fun fact: I ended up with the slowest bike split of any (non-wetsuit) finisher!
Bike: 3:34:52 (15.6 MPH)
Bike Minus Delay Estimate: 3:00-ish? (18.6 MPH)
T2 was pretty uneventful other than a quick bathroom stop. Meredith had given the excellent suggestion of putting my run shoes and socks in a plastic bag, so at least I was starting out with somewhat dry feet.
T2: 4:22
As soon as I hit the run course, my stomach tied in knots. I had a tough time getting as much gel down as I was supposed to, but I think I managed three during the run. My pace started off around 9:00-9:30, which was about right. I walked the water stops, and ran in between, which was a pretty successful strategy. Until mile 9 or so, I held onto that, and then I started walking a few of the rolling uphills and chatting with other runners. I imagine that if I was still challenging the 6 hour goal, I would have pushed a little harder, but as it was, I just decided to enjoy myself. My miles on the way back were closer to an 11 minute pace, for the most part.
One little girl at an aid station, after handing me a cold towel, asked the adults there, "Was he the last one?". I looked back with a chuckle and said "No!". Around mile 11 or 12, I passed the first person from my wave I had seen since the beginning of the bike, so I knew I wasn't going to be last after all...one little win in a long day. Finally, I saw Meredith up ahead cheering for me, and I knew I was almost done. I had resolved to run the last hill up to the finish, and I did. It was even the first race that I got my name announced at the finish line.
More than my first marathon, this finish really impacted me. For that race, I had to walk almost half of it because of knee issues, and so it was a little anticlimactic. In Muncie, I had to fight the elements as well as some rotten luck, and I still persevered through it and met 3 of the 4 goals I had set before the race. The only thing that really frustrated me was that the way things ended up, Meredith and I very well might have gotten to finish together, which would have been unexpected and nice. Still, I'm really proud of myself for getting through it, and despite everything, I enjoyed it.
Run: 2:21:22 (10:47/mile)
Total: 6:43:55 (42/44 Age Group, 510/590 overall)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Unofficial Results
6:43 by my watch, but boy are there stories to tell about it!
I'll try to post a report soon, probably tomorrow after some pizza and sleep. :)
I'll try to post a report soon, probably tomorrow after some pizza and sleep. :)
Friday, July 11, 2008
Off To Muncie!
We're off this morning to make the drive out to Muncie. The plan is to get in a workout on location, and then get some good pasta. (Read: Olive Garden)
My tentative goal is 6 hours, but I totally understand that anything can happen in a race this long, so it's only tentative.
Goals:
1. Have fun! This is a new experience, so make sure to enjoy it.
2. Finish.
3. Finish in 7:00 (0:50 swim, 3:30 bike, 2:30 run)
4. Finish in 6:00 (0:45 swim, 3:00 bike, 2:00 run)
My gut feeling is that the run is the most variable of the three, and it looks like it'll be a hot one. My bottle holder for the bike is as tight as I can get it, so the plan is to have some better hydration and nutrition than in the Deer Creek tri. With any luck, it'll be a fun 13.1 mile victory lap, rather than a death march. :)
My tentative goal is 6 hours, but I totally understand that anything can happen in a race this long, so it's only tentative.
Goals:
1. Have fun! This is a new experience, so make sure to enjoy it.
2. Finish.
3. Finish in 7:00 (0:50 swim, 3:30 bike, 2:30 run)
4. Finish in 6:00 (0:45 swim, 3:00 bike, 2:00 run)
My gut feeling is that the run is the most variable of the three, and it looks like it'll be a hot one. My bottle holder for the bike is as tight as I can get it, so the plan is to have some better hydration and nutrition than in the Deer Creek tri. With any luck, it'll be a fun 13.1 mile victory lap, rather than a death march. :)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Taper Time!
So...what do you write about when it's time to cut back the miles?
Meredith and I went out for our last big ride last week - a three hour trip out into the countryside. Fifteen minutes in, my IT band was hurting. For anyone new to the blog, that's been my achilles heel in training ever since my first marathon. In fact, why does Achilles get his own body part? From now on, it's the Dave band.
Anyway, I did complete the ride. The soreness let up for a good portion of it, but came back by the end. I took a couple days off with ice, tried a run on Friday, and had to call it off less than a mile in. If I can't run evenly, I figure it's probably doing more harm than good, and I'm not willing to risk my race to get in one last 4 mile run.
Today, I went up to the lake for a last open water swim. It was my first time up there not in a wetsuit, and I was anxious to see how much difference it made. I was happily surprised not to feel all that much change. Maybe I didn't glide quite as much, maybe I need to concentrate a little more on body position, but now I'm more confident that I can do Saturday's swim.
Of course, now that I check their site, the lake temperature is down to 76°. Maybe the wetsuit is making the trip after all?
My swim was supposed to be a continuous swim. One problem, though? I forgot my goggles at home, a 30 minute drive away. To make the best of the situation, I swam with my eyes closed and practiced swimming in a straight line. I wasn't very good at it, ending up out by the buoys at the edge of the swimming area (or maaayybe beyond them if no local lifeguards are reading this) a couple times. Still, I think I got what I needed to out of the workout, which was more mental than physical.
My hope now is to get in a couple more light workouts before Muncie to make sure I feel okay, and to not make my Dave band feel any worse in the process. I know I'm ready - now I just need to make it to the start line in one piece!
Meredith and I went out for our last big ride last week - a three hour trip out into the countryside. Fifteen minutes in, my IT band was hurting. For anyone new to the blog, that's been my achilles heel in training ever since my first marathon. In fact, why does Achilles get his own body part? From now on, it's the Dave band.
Anyway, I did complete the ride. The soreness let up for a good portion of it, but came back by the end. I took a couple days off with ice, tried a run on Friday, and had to call it off less than a mile in. If I can't run evenly, I figure it's probably doing more harm than good, and I'm not willing to risk my race to get in one last 4 mile run.
Today, I went up to the lake for a last open water swim. It was my first time up there not in a wetsuit, and I was anxious to see how much difference it made. I was happily surprised not to feel all that much change. Maybe I didn't glide quite as much, maybe I need to concentrate a little more on body position, but now I'm more confident that I can do Saturday's swim.
Of course, now that I check their site, the lake temperature is down to 76°. Maybe the wetsuit is making the trip after all?
My swim was supposed to be a continuous swim. One problem, though? I forgot my goggles at home, a 30 minute drive away. To make the best of the situation, I swam with my eyes closed and practiced swimming in a straight line. I wasn't very good at it, ending up out by the buoys at the edge of the swimming area (or maaayybe beyond them if no local lifeguards are reading this) a couple times. Still, I think I got what I needed to out of the workout, which was more mental than physical.
My hope now is to get in a couple more light workouts before Muncie to make sure I feel okay, and to not make my Dave band feel any worse in the process. I know I'm ready - now I just need to make it to the start line in one piece!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
IM Lodging Questions + Fencing End Of Season
So, I'm starting to look at lodging options for Coeur D'Alene next year to get an idea of what's out there. It looks like there are a lot of options, but I'm not really sure what direction to go.
Anyone have any advice?
1. Hotel vs. House rental
2. How critical/preferable is it to be in walking distance of the transition area?
3. How long before/after race day do you like to stay?
(I'll add on if I think of anything else)
In other news, fencing season is over for a while. My club had our season-ending tournament last night, and I managed to take home a very shaky third place medal. I fenced 11 pool bouts, winning 9 of the 11. However, there were four 5-4 nail biters in those nine wins. It's sometimes a thin line between a good draw and a rough draw in the elimination round, and last night I managed to just squeak into the former category. With as little spare energy as I have in my legs right now (this being peak week for Muncie), I was quickly dispatched when I hit the first fencer ranked higher than me in the semis. Third was actually a little better than expected with as little as I've been able to make it to practice lately.
Anyone have any advice?
1. Hotel vs. House rental
2. How critical/preferable is it to be in walking distance of the transition area?
3. How long before/after race day do you like to stay?
(I'll add on if I think of anything else)
In other news, fencing season is over for a while. My club had our season-ending tournament last night, and I managed to take home a very shaky third place medal. I fenced 11 pool bouts, winning 9 of the 11. However, there were four 5-4 nail biters in those nine wins. It's sometimes a thin line between a good draw and a rough draw in the elimination round, and last night I managed to just squeak into the former category. With as little spare energy as I have in my legs right now (this being peak week for Muncie), I was quickly dispatched when I hit the first fencer ranked higher than me in the semis. Third was actually a little better than expected with as little as I've been able to make it to practice lately.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Decisions, Decisions...
I went online to book us a hotel for Muncie today. Unfortunately, most in town are booked full at this point, but there were still two choices showing on TripAdvisor. Which to choose?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Crazy Laps, Neighborhood Style
8 x (4 min run, 10 min bike, 4 min run)
That doesn't seem so long, right? I completely did the math wrong in my head. Three hours later...
But I'm ahead of myself. I debated where to do this training day, and eventually just settled on putting my bike on the trainer, and transitioning in our foyer. Today, however, was humid. So humid that when I did get on the trainer, my sunglasses fogged up completely (yes, I had my sunglasses on indoors), and my helmet was making me sweat all over the living room. (yes, I had my helmet on indoors)
The point of today was transition practice. And practice it I did. I managed to cut about 30 seconds off from my first transition to my last, and it was changes that can be used on race day. Pretty excited about that.
Since indoors was hot and sweaty, I did the rest of the laps outdoors. Two minutes out one way, hop on the bike for a 3 mile ride around the neighborhood, and then two minutes out the other way on foot. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what the guy running crazy laps in spandex was up to, but that's their problem. :)
I should also admit that I broke the law. Amidst all the cornering practice and short straightaways of the residential streets, I did see my bike computer hit 25.1 mph at one point. Surprisingly, I'm still a free man.
After I (finally) got done with all those reps, we were off to Meredith's family reunion. Nothing better for a post-race recovery meal than a potluck! And as Meredith will attest, I took full advantage!
That doesn't seem so long, right? I completely did the math wrong in my head. Three hours later...
But I'm ahead of myself. I debated where to do this training day, and eventually just settled on putting my bike on the trainer, and transitioning in our foyer. Today, however, was humid. So humid that when I did get on the trainer, my sunglasses fogged up completely (yes, I had my sunglasses on indoors), and my helmet was making me sweat all over the living room. (yes, I had my helmet on indoors)
The point of today was transition practice. And practice it I did. I managed to cut about 30 seconds off from my first transition to my last, and it was changes that can be used on race day. Pretty excited about that.
Since indoors was hot and sweaty, I did the rest of the laps outdoors. Two minutes out one way, hop on the bike for a 3 mile ride around the neighborhood, and then two minutes out the other way on foot. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what the guy running crazy laps in spandex was up to, but that's their problem. :)
I should also admit that I broke the law. Amidst all the cornering practice and short straightaways of the residential streets, I did see my bike computer hit 25.1 mph at one point. Surprisingly, I'm still a free man.
After I (finally) got done with all those reps, we were off to Meredith's family reunion. Nothing better for a post-race recovery meal than a potluck! And as Meredith will attest, I took full advantage!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
That's Gonna Leave A Mark
What is the one (okay, two) most important thing to remember on a training run?
Shoes? Well, yeah.
iPod? Nice to have.
Watch? Can do without if needed.
Nope, none of those. These.
Let's just say I went straight from my 90 minute tempo run to the laundry room. You'd think one of these days I'd have the whole checklist of things to remember all in my head. Sigh.
(The return trip. I'm the one in yellow.)
Other than those issues, the run was good. I can tell that I'm not as fast on the run as I am during marathon training, but yesterday was probably the strongest long run I've had this summer so far. It was a 20 minute warmup, 10x (3 min tempo, 2 min recovery), and a 20 minute cooldown. Thanks to going a bit faster than expected, my very last tempo interval came on the only uphill on the return trip. Really had to dig in to get to the end of that one.
I'm getting close to completing another piece of furniture for our house, and I'll be sure to post pics of it when I finish. I had made some desks for our loft, and now I'm making a cabinet to go between them.
In another whole level of training craziness, there might be a major announcement on Monday. Stay tuned!
Shoes? Well, yeah.
iPod? Nice to have.
Watch? Can do without if needed.
Nope, none of those. These.
Let's just say I went straight from my 90 minute tempo run to the laundry room. You'd think one of these days I'd have the whole checklist of things to remember all in my head. Sigh.
(The return trip. I'm the one in yellow.)
Other than those issues, the run was good. I can tell that I'm not as fast on the run as I am during marathon training, but yesterday was probably the strongest long run I've had this summer so far. It was a 20 minute warmup, 10x (3 min tempo, 2 min recovery), and a 20 minute cooldown. Thanks to going a bit faster than expected, my very last tempo interval came on the only uphill on the return trip. Really had to dig in to get to the end of that one.
I'm getting close to completing another piece of furniture for our house, and I'll be sure to post pics of it when I finish. I had made some desks for our loft, and now I'm making a cabinet to go between them.
In another whole level of training craziness, there might be a major announcement on Monday. Stay tuned!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Race Report - Wendy's Triathlon
Or, "Charlie Brown vs. the Internal Combustion Engine"
I was looking forward to this Sunday's race. It's a lot closer than the race we did last week, and it's a much bigger race. That means less time all alone out on the course, and the prospect of actually passing some people, which is always fun. :)
We had the good fortune to be in the very last (or first) rack in transition, which meant plenty of room to set up, and no trouble in finding your spot. You'd think that would make for quick transitions...
The water was noticeably warmer than last time we swam at Alum Creek two weeks ago. Meredith and I were both in the 5th wave of the day, which was the largest of the race. After a kiss for good luck, I lined up a little farther out, in hopes that we wouldn't be running into each other during the swim. Better to be kicking people you don't know, right? Even though this swim was only half the distance of last week's race, it seemed long due to the lack of landmarks along the way. It was just a straight shot down the beach, with only two yellow buoys to guide you. Since there weren't any turns, there wasn't nearly as much contact as last week. Other than one flip to my back when I choked on some water, I stayed in pretty good motion the whole way. The only flaw in the swim was at the end - I thought we had to go out even with the yellow inflatable buoys, then make a 90° turn. Instead, we could cut over to them as soon as we passed the last orange boating buoy. (Green: ideal line, Red: me)
That certainly added a bit to my time, but I was still happy with my watch when I hit the split on the way out.
Swim: 14:44
Okay. The transitions are supposed to be the easy part, right? You come out, you change gear, and you go!
For some reason, I can't seem to do it. First, I couldn't get my wetsuit over the chip on my ankle. I should have taken it off first. Then, I managed to put my new bike jersey on inside out. After pulling it off, turning it around, and putting it back on, it managed to get all rolled up, and I couldn't get it on all the way. By this time, Meredith had entered transition, gotten all ready, and headed off with a "Good luck out there!" All I could manage in return was a sound of frustration. To top it off, I realized on the way out that a sock had gotten bunched under my foot, so I had to stop and pull it out.
T1: 3:13
I decided to push myself on the bike in this race. At the OSU triathlon, I was really just getting used to my bike, and I didn't even put it into the big gear. On Sunday, I only left the big gear to get up the park road to the main road at the start, and then up the big hill at the end.
I got my speed up around 20 mph, and tried to hold it there for the first part of the course. Other than a bit of unwanted headwind, it was a successful effort. As we turned south for the second half of the course, it went through some gentle rolls, and I found myself behind...a car! Some woman had managed to get her car in the middle of all the bikes, and was going about 15 mph. That was bad news for me, going 18+.
Are you allowed to draft off a car during a triathlon? I wasn't sure. Instead, after throwing a hand up in the air at her, I hit the pedals hard, and passed her on the left. After a couple minutes, she decided she would pass me, and others, back, and finally got off the course.
The course at Wendy's ends with a fairly good hill, which I was prepared for after riding it a couple weeks ago. After the hills at Deer Creek, it didn't seem so bad. However, when I turned onto the last road, what did I find in front of me? Another car! This time, I cut around it on the shoulder. I wasn't about to waste the momentum I had built up in preparation just because a car decided to be in the way. The hill was fun this time around, because I found myself passing all sorts of folks on the way up. Once up at the top, it was less than a mile back to transition. I felt like I raced this part well - not too tired, but I definitely pushed myself harder than either race to date. I think the course was long, as both Meredith and my bike computers had a much higher average than was listed in the results.
Bike: 54:00 (18.7 mph chip time, 19.5 mph on bike computer)
I may not be able to get through T1 to save my life, but I'm pretty good at T2. I took an extra swallow of my Nuun water before heading out on the run in hopes of not repeating last week's debacle.
T2: 0:59
The run was a little more cross country than I expected. Probably a full mile of the race was through some muddy and rough trail. I went out a little easier than last time, hesitant to push too hard. My body held up better this time, though. I got a little stitch again, but was able to run through it. I know I got passed by at least a couple guys in my age group, but still, I think I had a decent run. In retrospect, I might have been able to push a little harder and still hold it together.
Run: 27:26 (8:51/mile)
Total: 1:39:21 (18/26 age group)
Though I didn't quite make the top half of my age group, I was only 3 minutes from the 10th place finisher. It's encouraging to think that there's that many people in range of some small improvements. I was in the top half overall though, finishing 142/451. By this time next year, I think I'll have a good shot at getting in that top half.
I was looking forward to this Sunday's race. It's a lot closer than the race we did last week, and it's a much bigger race. That means less time all alone out on the course, and the prospect of actually passing some people, which is always fun. :)
We had the good fortune to be in the very last (or first) rack in transition, which meant plenty of room to set up, and no trouble in finding your spot. You'd think that would make for quick transitions...
The water was noticeably warmer than last time we swam at Alum Creek two weeks ago. Meredith and I were both in the 5th wave of the day, which was the largest of the race. After a kiss for good luck, I lined up a little farther out, in hopes that we wouldn't be running into each other during the swim. Better to be kicking people you don't know, right? Even though this swim was only half the distance of last week's race, it seemed long due to the lack of landmarks along the way. It was just a straight shot down the beach, with only two yellow buoys to guide you. Since there weren't any turns, there wasn't nearly as much contact as last week. Other than one flip to my back when I choked on some water, I stayed in pretty good motion the whole way. The only flaw in the swim was at the end - I thought we had to go out even with the yellow inflatable buoys, then make a 90° turn. Instead, we could cut over to them as soon as we passed the last orange boating buoy. (Green: ideal line, Red: me)
That certainly added a bit to my time, but I was still happy with my watch when I hit the split on the way out.
Swim: 14:44
Okay. The transitions are supposed to be the easy part, right? You come out, you change gear, and you go!
For some reason, I can't seem to do it. First, I couldn't get my wetsuit over the chip on my ankle. I should have taken it off first. Then, I managed to put my new bike jersey on inside out. After pulling it off, turning it around, and putting it back on, it managed to get all rolled up, and I couldn't get it on all the way. By this time, Meredith had entered transition, gotten all ready, and headed off with a "Good luck out there!" All I could manage in return was a sound of frustration. To top it off, I realized on the way out that a sock had gotten bunched under my foot, so I had to stop and pull it out.
T1: 3:13
I decided to push myself on the bike in this race. At the OSU triathlon, I was really just getting used to my bike, and I didn't even put it into the big gear. On Sunday, I only left the big gear to get up the park road to the main road at the start, and then up the big hill at the end.
I got my speed up around 20 mph, and tried to hold it there for the first part of the course. Other than a bit of unwanted headwind, it was a successful effort. As we turned south for the second half of the course, it went through some gentle rolls, and I found myself behind...a car! Some woman had managed to get her car in the middle of all the bikes, and was going about 15 mph. That was bad news for me, going 18+.
Are you allowed to draft off a car during a triathlon? I wasn't sure. Instead, after throwing a hand up in the air at her, I hit the pedals hard, and passed her on the left. After a couple minutes, she decided she would pass me, and others, back, and finally got off the course.
The course at Wendy's ends with a fairly good hill, which I was prepared for after riding it a couple weeks ago. After the hills at Deer Creek, it didn't seem so bad. However, when I turned onto the last road, what did I find in front of me? Another car! This time, I cut around it on the shoulder. I wasn't about to waste the momentum I had built up in preparation just because a car decided to be in the way. The hill was fun this time around, because I found myself passing all sorts of folks on the way up. Once up at the top, it was less than a mile back to transition. I felt like I raced this part well - not too tired, but I definitely pushed myself harder than either race to date. I think the course was long, as both Meredith and my bike computers had a much higher average than was listed in the results.
Bike: 54:00 (18.7 mph chip time, 19.5 mph on bike computer)
I may not be able to get through T1 to save my life, but I'm pretty good at T2. I took an extra swallow of my Nuun water before heading out on the run in hopes of not repeating last week's debacle.
T2: 0:59
The run was a little more cross country than I expected. Probably a full mile of the race was through some muddy and rough trail. I went out a little easier than last time, hesitant to push too hard. My body held up better this time, though. I got a little stitch again, but was able to run through it. I know I got passed by at least a couple guys in my age group, but still, I think I had a decent run. In retrospect, I might have been able to push a little harder and still hold it together.
Run: 27:26 (8:51/mile)
Total: 1:39:21 (18/26 age group)
Though I didn't quite make the top half of my age group, I was only 3 minutes from the 10th place finisher. It's encouraging to think that there's that many people in range of some small improvements. I was in the top half overall though, finishing 142/451. By this time next year, I think I'll have a good shot at getting in that top half.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
To Wetsuit, Or Not To Westuit?
That is the question, because we're on for the Wendy's triathlon this Sunday!
The swim is an 800m dash down the shoreline, and I'm debating whether to bother with a wetsuit. Will it cost me more time in transition than it'll gain me on the swim? Is it better to practice the transition, even if it's slower?
Anyone have any bright ideas?
The swim is an 800m dash down the shoreline, and I'm debating whether to bother with a wetsuit. Will it cost me more time in transition than it'll gain me on the swim? Is it better to practice the transition, even if it's slower?
Anyone have any bright ideas?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Back to Work
Two days after the race, it's time to get started again. I'm still debating whether to do the Wendy's triathlon this weekend. It would probably be good experience, but it's pretty expensive.
Today is a fallback week in the training plan for Muncie, but I decided to ride my intervals on the trainer a little harder than I have been in the past. Something about every other bike flying by me on the course makes me think that maybe I'm not riding quite hard enough. Part of that is just because I don't have a lot of experience in knowing where my limits lie on the bike.
I guess I have 5 weeks to find out.
Today is a fallback week in the training plan for Muncie, but I decided to ride my intervals on the trainer a little harder than I have been in the past. Something about every other bike flying by me on the course makes me think that maybe I'm not riding quite hard enough. Part of that is just because I don't have a lot of experience in knowing where my limits lie on the bike.
I guess I have 5 weeks to find out.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Race Report - Deer Creek Olympic Triathlon
Or, "Sunny/95 is a better radio station than weather forecast"
After arriving a little close on time for the OSU race, we made sure to get down to Deer Creek in plenty of time on Sunday. We got down there around 6:30, taking note of how high the water was on the way into the park. You could see side roads blocked off that just went straight down underwater. Once we got signed in and situated in transition, we went down to check out the lake. It was so high that you could see the railings to the stairs down to the beach...but they were just sticking up out of the water. The stairs were completely covered. A couple practice laps out to a buoy, and we were ready to go.
Before the olympic start, there was a sprint triathlon going on as well. The women's wave was a complete debacle. The lead woman sighted off the wrong buoy, and half the field followed her diagonally across the course. I have no idea how many of them corrected course, or how the officials would deal with so many athletes going off course.
My swim wave left before Meredith's, and when the horn went off, we squished down through the muddy grass into the water. This was my first open water race, and there were definitely some anxious moments as I was grabbed, poked, and pushed. I'm pretty sure I did just as much in return, and I tried to stay as calm as I could. I tried to keep my freestyle stroke going as much as possible, but I did find myself having to breaststroke just a bit when I needed an extra moment to find a line. The swim was definitely a mental fight for me. I alternated between running into people, and feeling like I was the last one out there when there was no one around. One other issue I had was getting behind someone who was just a tiny bit slower than me. I didn't know whether to slow down and hang off their feet, or try and go around. I chose the latter, but it took some energy out of me to keep hitting them. The lake was so murky that you had no idea if someone was near you until you hit each other.
Because I felt alone, I figured I was going to come out in the 45 minute range, and decided to be okay with it. When I hit my watch on the way out, I didn't really "get" the number on it, and so I just went on without really thinking about it. It was only after the race that I looked at it and was proud of myself. My time was perfectly competitive with everyone but the fastest couple people in my age group.
Swim: 30:02
I walked a little going up the hill to the transition area as I got my arms out of the wetsuit so I could get my legs back under me. In transition, the girl next to me was also there (who must have rocked her swim), so we chatted as we changed. I tried to be a little more efficient about things this time around. Apparently, I failed, as it was the second slowest transition in my age group. I got out just in time to see someone just getting on their bike topple over much like I did on our ride a couple weeks ago. At least it wasn't me this time!
T1: 3:58
The bike course was two loops of a 12 mile course. I didn't know a whole lot about it going in, so I arbitrarily chose a strategy. I decided to stay in a smallish gear until the first turn so I could get my legs loosened up, and then I'd kick it into a higher gear and go. This seemed to work pretty well, though I have to say it was pretty discouraging to hit 24 mph (probably my fastest flat-ground pace to date) and still get passed like I was standing still.
On the last couple legs of the loop, we had to hit a headwind as well as a couple short but steep hills. As I hit the first hill, I attacked it pretty hard, which may have been a mistake. Though I passed a bunch of people (many walking up, one more falling over), it got my heart pounding pretty hard and I had a hard time getting my speed back up afterward. The second hill was a little longer but not as steep, and basically finished off the loop.
Continuing on to the second loop, I was starting to feel a little fatigued, so I kept the bike in a little smaller gear. That sacrificed a couple mph, but I was trying to stay fresh. For the most part, the second loop was a lonely ride other than getting passed by a few women from the wave behind me.
Then the first big issue of the day hit me. As I was getting my gatorade from the cage behind my seat, I felt the cage come loose, as it had done on our last long ride. That wasn't a big deal, though I knew it would annoy me by bouncing around the rest of the way. But then, maybe a mile later, I hit a little bump, and it felt like the back of my bike exploded. It took a couple seconds to realize what happened, but I looked back and saw the cage bouncing along the road, with one of the bottles heading the other direction. I think it might have hit my wheel as it fell, which is what sent it flying. So, I had to choose between time and money. I chose to go back and get it, but had no way to reattach it. Fortunately, there was a police officer in sight, and I rode it up to him and he agreed to turn it in for me at the finish line when he closed the course. I didn't catch his name, but thanks again!
In retrospect, I made a critical mistake here. My aerobottle was almost empty, but I had one spare water bottle in a cage on my frame. What I should have done was empty that one into the aerobottle, then swap one of my gatorades into my frame cage before handing it off. Instead, I only had water and a gel for the rest of the course. Those who know me know that I am a...how to say it..."profuse" sweater, so this is a big issue for me.
On the bright side, my bike was a little lighter, and I went on to finish the rest of the second loop. I took the hills a little easier this time around, and had more success on the flats immediately following them. I came back into transition starting to feel tired, but still pretty good.
Bike: 1:26:53 (17.1 mph)
The second transition was pretty uneventful - hat for helmet, swap shoes, and go. I was jealous of all the sprint triathletes packing up their things, as the heat was really starting to take effect.
T2: 1:36
As I went out onto the run course, I actually felt pretty good. I decided to just run at whatever pace felt good for the first mile, and reevaluate at that point. When I hit the first mile marker, I was at an 8:10 pace by my watch. Probably a little fast, but I still felt okay. At that point, I had 50 minutes to finish the last 5 miles and get in under 3 hours. No problem, right? I tried to slow my pace a bit to be conservative.
And then it hit me. I got the world's worst stitch in my side, and just could not shake it. I tried breathing as deeply as I could, stretching my arms overhead...everything I could think of. My conservative pace dropped to a jog, and then to a walk. I kept trying to cool off by pouring water on myself, but it wasn't any use. I was overheating, and it was all I could do to just keep one foot in front of the other. They had 4 water stops in the 6 miles, but I could have used one or two more, just to try and stay cool and hydrated. I could feel that I was dehydrated, and ended up showing some symptoms post-race as well. My fingertips were all pruned at the end, which I now read is a sign of dehydration.
I've never seen so many people walking in a race as I did on Sunday. Probably 80% of the field in my sight was walking at any given time. It made me feel a little better, but I was still frustrated that I was so close to my "reach" goal of 3 hours, and wasn't going to make it. Meredith caught me around mile 4, and I wished her good luck on the way back in. Finally, in the last mile, my stitch eased up, and I was able to start running between some of the cones.
It was a pretty sad way to end the race, but I'm honestly not sure what I could have done differently. I might have been able to push myself to run a few more intervals, but I don't think I could have pushed hard enough to do the 10K in an hour without taking risks I don't want to take. We saw two people get carted off in ambulances on the run course, and I didn't want to be a third.
Run: 1:16:52 (12:24/mile, blech)
Total: 3:19:20
All in all, it was a fairly successful first effort at a longer race, and one with an open water swim. In 75 degree weather, I think I could have broken my 3 hour goal, but with my struggles in heat, it just wasn't meant to be yesterday. Still, my swim and bike times were wins for me, and maybe next time I can put the run in that category as well!
After arriving a little close on time for the OSU race, we made sure to get down to Deer Creek in plenty of time on Sunday. We got down there around 6:30, taking note of how high the water was on the way into the park. You could see side roads blocked off that just went straight down underwater. Once we got signed in and situated in transition, we went down to check out the lake. It was so high that you could see the railings to the stairs down to the beach...but they were just sticking up out of the water. The stairs were completely covered. A couple practice laps out to a buoy, and we were ready to go.
Before the olympic start, there was a sprint triathlon going on as well. The women's wave was a complete debacle. The lead woman sighted off the wrong buoy, and half the field followed her diagonally across the course. I have no idea how many of them corrected course, or how the officials would deal with so many athletes going off course.
My swim wave left before Meredith's, and when the horn went off, we squished down through the muddy grass into the water. This was my first open water race, and there were definitely some anxious moments as I was grabbed, poked, and pushed. I'm pretty sure I did just as much in return, and I tried to stay as calm as I could. I tried to keep my freestyle stroke going as much as possible, but I did find myself having to breaststroke just a bit when I needed an extra moment to find a line. The swim was definitely a mental fight for me. I alternated between running into people, and feeling like I was the last one out there when there was no one around. One other issue I had was getting behind someone who was just a tiny bit slower than me. I didn't know whether to slow down and hang off their feet, or try and go around. I chose the latter, but it took some energy out of me to keep hitting them. The lake was so murky that you had no idea if someone was near you until you hit each other.
Because I felt alone, I figured I was going to come out in the 45 minute range, and decided to be okay with it. When I hit my watch on the way out, I didn't really "get" the number on it, and so I just went on without really thinking about it. It was only after the race that I looked at it and was proud of myself. My time was perfectly competitive with everyone but the fastest couple people in my age group.
Swim: 30:02
I walked a little going up the hill to the transition area as I got my arms out of the wetsuit so I could get my legs back under me. In transition, the girl next to me was also there (who must have rocked her swim), so we chatted as we changed. I tried to be a little more efficient about things this time around. Apparently, I failed, as it was the second slowest transition in my age group. I got out just in time to see someone just getting on their bike topple over much like I did on our ride a couple weeks ago. At least it wasn't me this time!
T1: 3:58
The bike course was two loops of a 12 mile course. I didn't know a whole lot about it going in, so I arbitrarily chose a strategy. I decided to stay in a smallish gear until the first turn so I could get my legs loosened up, and then I'd kick it into a higher gear and go. This seemed to work pretty well, though I have to say it was pretty discouraging to hit 24 mph (probably my fastest flat-ground pace to date) and still get passed like I was standing still.
On the last couple legs of the loop, we had to hit a headwind as well as a couple short but steep hills. As I hit the first hill, I attacked it pretty hard, which may have been a mistake. Though I passed a bunch of people (many walking up, one more falling over), it got my heart pounding pretty hard and I had a hard time getting my speed back up afterward. The second hill was a little longer but not as steep, and basically finished off the loop.
Continuing on to the second loop, I was starting to feel a little fatigued, so I kept the bike in a little smaller gear. That sacrificed a couple mph, but I was trying to stay fresh. For the most part, the second loop was a lonely ride other than getting passed by a few women from the wave behind me.
Then the first big issue of the day hit me. As I was getting my gatorade from the cage behind my seat, I felt the cage come loose, as it had done on our last long ride. That wasn't a big deal, though I knew it would annoy me by bouncing around the rest of the way. But then, maybe a mile later, I hit a little bump, and it felt like the back of my bike exploded. It took a couple seconds to realize what happened, but I looked back and saw the cage bouncing along the road, with one of the bottles heading the other direction. I think it might have hit my wheel as it fell, which is what sent it flying. So, I had to choose between time and money. I chose to go back and get it, but had no way to reattach it. Fortunately, there was a police officer in sight, and I rode it up to him and he agreed to turn it in for me at the finish line when he closed the course. I didn't catch his name, but thanks again!
In retrospect, I made a critical mistake here. My aerobottle was almost empty, but I had one spare water bottle in a cage on my frame. What I should have done was empty that one into the aerobottle, then swap one of my gatorades into my frame cage before handing it off. Instead, I only had water and a gel for the rest of the course. Those who know me know that I am a...how to say it..."profuse" sweater, so this is a big issue for me.
On the bright side, my bike was a little lighter, and I went on to finish the rest of the second loop. I took the hills a little easier this time around, and had more success on the flats immediately following them. I came back into transition starting to feel tired, but still pretty good.
Bike: 1:26:53 (17.1 mph)
The second transition was pretty uneventful - hat for helmet, swap shoes, and go. I was jealous of all the sprint triathletes packing up their things, as the heat was really starting to take effect.
T2: 1:36
As I went out onto the run course, I actually felt pretty good. I decided to just run at whatever pace felt good for the first mile, and reevaluate at that point. When I hit the first mile marker, I was at an 8:10 pace by my watch. Probably a little fast, but I still felt okay. At that point, I had 50 minutes to finish the last 5 miles and get in under 3 hours. No problem, right? I tried to slow my pace a bit to be conservative.
And then it hit me. I got the world's worst stitch in my side, and just could not shake it. I tried breathing as deeply as I could, stretching my arms overhead...everything I could think of. My conservative pace dropped to a jog, and then to a walk. I kept trying to cool off by pouring water on myself, but it wasn't any use. I was overheating, and it was all I could do to just keep one foot in front of the other. They had 4 water stops in the 6 miles, but I could have used one or two more, just to try and stay cool and hydrated. I could feel that I was dehydrated, and ended up showing some symptoms post-race as well. My fingertips were all pruned at the end, which I now read is a sign of dehydration.
I've never seen so many people walking in a race as I did on Sunday. Probably 80% of the field in my sight was walking at any given time. It made me feel a little better, but I was still frustrated that I was so close to my "reach" goal of 3 hours, and wasn't going to make it. Meredith caught me around mile 4, and I wished her good luck on the way back in. Finally, in the last mile, my stitch eased up, and I was able to start running between some of the cones.
It was a pretty sad way to end the race, but I'm honestly not sure what I could have done differently. I might have been able to push myself to run a few more intervals, but I don't think I could have pushed hard enough to do the 10K in an hour without taking risks I don't want to take. We saw two people get carted off in ambulances on the run course, and I didn't want to be a third.
Run: 1:16:52 (12:24/mile, blech)
Total: 3:19:20
All in all, it was a fairly successful first effort at a longer race, and one with an open water swim. In 75 degree weather, I think I could have broken my 3 hour goal, but with my struggles in heat, it just wasn't meant to be yesterday. Still, my swim and bike times were wins for me, and maybe next time I can put the run in that category as well!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Our Own Little Infomercial + Deer Creek Goals
We went to dinner with Meredith's family last night, and I was sitting next to our nephew, who's 5. During the meal, he asked me why I had a napkin on my lap. I explained that it was in case I spilled food on my pants, and he followed up by asking what would happen if I spilled on my shirt. Well, I explained, I'd have to wash it. His eyes lit up, and he said:
"With Oxy Clean? It gets the tough stains out."
Umm...maybe they've been watching a few too many commercials...
I also thought through my goals for the race tomorrow. I don't know exactly what the transitions are like, but allowing maybe 5 minutes total based on peoples' times last year, here goes:
1. Finish and have fun
2. 45 minute swim, 1:40 bike, 1:00 run, 5 min transition: 3:30 total
3. 40 minute swim, 1:23 bike, 0:53 run, 4 min transition: 3:00 total
"With Oxy Clean? It gets the tough stains out."
Umm...maybe they've been watching a few too many commercials...
I also thought through my goals for the race tomorrow. I don't know exactly what the transitions are like, but allowing maybe 5 minutes total based on peoples' times last year, here goes:
1. Finish and have fun
2. 45 minute swim, 1:40 bike, 1:00 run, 5 min transition: 3:30 total
3. 40 minute swim, 1:23 bike, 0:53 run, 4 min transition: 3:00 total
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
How are we supposed to swim when it's thunderstorming 24/7?
Meredith got kicked out of the pool at the gym yesterday because of lightning. I had hoped to swim before work yesterday (nope), and then again today (double nope). Instead, I settled for a 45 minute spin on the bike trainer, and will probably have to run indoors as well.
I'm pretty sure this has been the longest tornado watch we've ever been under, too. The weather here hasn't gotten threatening enough to be especially worried, but we've pretty much been under a watch for the last 24 hours.
My nerves are starting to get going for the race this weekend. I'm not too concerned about my place or time, but I'm excited to get out there. I officially own a wetsuit as of yesterday, so I'm set on that front. From looking at the pre-registrations, I think Meredith has a real shot at placing this weekend, so I'll be excited to cheer her on if I see her during the race. There's a much more sizable signup for the men's division, so I'll just do my best and see where things shake out.
Meredith got kicked out of the pool at the gym yesterday because of lightning. I had hoped to swim before work yesterday (nope), and then again today (double nope). Instead, I settled for a 45 minute spin on the bike trainer, and will probably have to run indoors as well.
I'm pretty sure this has been the longest tornado watch we've ever been under, too. The weather here hasn't gotten threatening enough to be especially worried, but we've pretty much been under a watch for the last 24 hours.
My nerves are starting to get going for the race this weekend. I'm not too concerned about my place or time, but I'm excited to get out there. I officially own a wetsuit as of yesterday, so I'm set on that front. From looking at the pre-registrations, I think Meredith has a real shot at placing this weekend, so I'll be excited to cheer her on if I see her during the race. There's a much more sizable signup for the men's division, so I'll just do my best and see where things shake out.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Cresting the Hill
It's hard to believe, but we're already at the training week with the highest number of hours in our plan, at 10.5. It seems like just yesterday that I was struggling to swim a 400.
This morning was a 3000m swim, broken into 6x500. Once I got through it, I thought it would be a shame to end up 200m short of 2 miles, so I tacked on a 200 meter cooldown, and broke 2 miles for the first time!
I was a little bit of a slacker last week, and took a couple days off in a row. My knee had been a little tight after the race last week, and I wanted to rest it, but the rest ended up being a little excessive. For me, it's tough mentally to get back in the groove once I allow myself an unplanned day off.
Yesterday it was back in the saddle, but before the saddle was the first open water swim. I rented a wetsuit for the weekend, and we drove up to Alum Creek State Park for the day.
Open water swimming is tough!
I had a really hard time keeping a straight line, and the water was choppy from wind and boats. Meredith assured me that the water is usually calmer for races, since they're usually in the early morning. We think we did maybe 1200m or so, but there were quite a few breaks. It's got me a little nervous for the race this weekend - I know I can finish the distance, but I hope I won't have to tread water too much to figure out what direction I'm going!
Following the swim, we hopped on our bikes for a 2-hour tour of the lakes of northeast Columbus. It was a pretty scenic ride, and offered quite a bit of hill work on some of the roads. One hill in particular, though short, hit us pretty well. I think I was down in single digit MPH by the top. After the climb, we got to come down the other side, and I hit my top speed for the day at 30.5 MPH. One more climb back up to the dam where we started, and we put our bikes away in favor of running shoes.
This is the part where we both kicked ourselves afterwards, because we were so hot and tired that we decided to cut down our run from 30 minutes. We aimed for maybe a mile, at least, to get the experience of running right after the bike, but then we opted for the air conditioned car.
After this week, it's all downhill to Muncie!
This morning was a 3000m swim, broken into 6x500. Once I got through it, I thought it would be a shame to end up 200m short of 2 miles, so I tacked on a 200 meter cooldown, and broke 2 miles for the first time!
I was a little bit of a slacker last week, and took a couple days off in a row. My knee had been a little tight after the race last week, and I wanted to rest it, but the rest ended up being a little excessive. For me, it's tough mentally to get back in the groove once I allow myself an unplanned day off.
Yesterday it was back in the saddle, but before the saddle was the first open water swim. I rented a wetsuit for the weekend, and we drove up to Alum Creek State Park for the day.
Open water swimming is tough!
I had a really hard time keeping a straight line, and the water was choppy from wind and boats. Meredith assured me that the water is usually calmer for races, since they're usually in the early morning. We think we did maybe 1200m or so, but there were quite a few breaks. It's got me a little nervous for the race this weekend - I know I can finish the distance, but I hope I won't have to tread water too much to figure out what direction I'm going!
Following the swim, we hopped on our bikes for a 2-hour tour of the lakes of northeast Columbus. It was a pretty scenic ride, and offered quite a bit of hill work on some of the roads. One hill in particular, though short, hit us pretty well. I think I was down in single digit MPH by the top. After the climb, we got to come down the other side, and I hit my top speed for the day at 30.5 MPH. One more climb back up to the dam where we started, and we put our bikes away in favor of running shoes.
This is the part where we both kicked ourselves afterwards, because we were so hot and tired that we decided to cut down our run from 30 minutes. We aimed for maybe a mile, at least, to get the experience of running right after the bike, but then we opted for the air conditioned car.
After this week, it's all downhill to Muncie!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Upper Arlington 5-Miler + Weekend Recap
Saturday Swim-Bike-Run
Saturday was supposed to be a mock-triathlon triple workout. It started off well, as we got down to the pool and put in a 30 minute swim. Meredith was flying, completing 1600m in the 30 minutes. I was a little slower, coming in around 1400m, I think. At least she was going fast, and I wasn't as slow as I felt seeing her zoom by me.
We then drove out to her parents' house, where we were supposed to begin a 2 hour bike ride. The first street took us into a pretty nasty headwind, and Meredith got a little panicked about how tough it was, and decided to scrap the rest of the day's workouts. We were also going to watch her high school track team in the district meet, so we opted for that instead.
Caught Kremey-Handed!
On our way back from the swim, we stopped by Kroger to pick up some gels for our ride and run. As we left the store, we saw the Krispy Kreme truck parked outside, back door wide open, and full of pallets of sweet, sweet donuts. Sadly, as we sidled closer to get a better look (and sniff), the driver came out of the store with a "Don't think I can't see you guys..." and a smile. No free pallets of donuts for us.
Sunday Bike-Run
Take two.
Sunday began a bit on the chilly side, so we postponed our bike till late morning. Again, we started from Meredith's parents' place, and rode out from there to Croton along the same path I used for my 2:30 ride. When we told our 5-year-old nephew where we were riding, his response? "You should take a car, actually." It's a nice ride for two, since we were able to ride side-by-side for quite a few of the quiet roads. It was a beautiful day, and I'm sure Meredith will post some pictures from the ride.
Because we were running a race the next morning, we shortened the run from 30 minutes down to 1 mile, so we'd still get the brick experience without tiring the legs any more than necessary. Our nephew decided to tag along on his bike and entertain us with his comments.
"And you know what?" (Followed by story after story)
"Actually, Uncle Dave is running faster."
"Actually, Meredith is running faster."
"You guys should try to run a little faster."
"I'm faster than you guys are."
Upper Arlington 5-Miler
I mentioned before that I had a faster half-marathon PR pace than 5 mile pace. This race reminded me why that was. It's not a flat course, for what we're used to around here!
Mile 1 - Mostly flat, with a little bit of roll. Dodging around people, being passed by people you'll see again later...the usual small race things.
8:14
Mile 2 - This mile is almost exclusively downhill, and winds through wooded residential areas. There's a loop at the bottom, and I just got to the point where it splits in time to see the leader.
7:52
Mile 3 - "What goes down, must come back up." There's a bit of a false hope in this mile, too. After you climb for a while, it turns and flattens out, only to head back down again. I just tried to take little steps and not burn out too badly.
8:34
Mile 4 - More uphill, and a nice short stretch on a wooded trail. The runners were pretty sparse near me in this part, and the guy I had picked out to tail stopped to walk. :P
8:30
Mile 5 - Some slight uphill, but probably flat to anyone not from the midwest. I was a little disappointed I couldn't bring it in better than I did, as I felt like I ran faster than my split indicated.
8:24
Overall time: 41:34 (8:18/mile) PR by 1:04, or 19s/mile.
I was happy with the way I ran this race. I tried to adjust my strides to the slope, and I think it worked out pretty well. I didn't fall apart on any of the uphill stretches. There wasn't a whole lot in the tank to sprint in to the finish, but that's probably a sign that I ran well. Or at least that I had done a bunch of workouts this weekend. :)
Saturday was supposed to be a mock-triathlon triple workout. It started off well, as we got down to the pool and put in a 30 minute swim. Meredith was flying, completing 1600m in the 30 minutes. I was a little slower, coming in around 1400m, I think. At least she was going fast, and I wasn't as slow as I felt seeing her zoom by me.
We then drove out to her parents' house, where we were supposed to begin a 2 hour bike ride. The first street took us into a pretty nasty headwind, and Meredith got a little panicked about how tough it was, and decided to scrap the rest of the day's workouts. We were also going to watch her high school track team in the district meet, so we opted for that instead.
Caught Kremey-Handed!
On our way back from the swim, we stopped by Kroger to pick up some gels for our ride and run. As we left the store, we saw the Krispy Kreme truck parked outside, back door wide open, and full of pallets of sweet, sweet donuts. Sadly, as we sidled closer to get a better look (and sniff), the driver came out of the store with a "Don't think I can't see you guys..." and a smile. No free pallets of donuts for us.
Sunday Bike-Run
Take two.
Sunday began a bit on the chilly side, so we postponed our bike till late morning. Again, we started from Meredith's parents' place, and rode out from there to Croton along the same path I used for my 2:30 ride. When we told our 5-year-old nephew where we were riding, his response? "You should take a car, actually." It's a nice ride for two, since we were able to ride side-by-side for quite a few of the quiet roads. It was a beautiful day, and I'm sure Meredith will post some pictures from the ride.
Because we were running a race the next morning, we shortened the run from 30 minutes down to 1 mile, so we'd still get the brick experience without tiring the legs any more than necessary. Our nephew decided to tag along on his bike and entertain us with his comments.
"And you know what?" (Followed by story after story)
"Actually, Uncle Dave is running faster."
"Actually, Meredith is running faster."
"You guys should try to run a little faster."
"I'm faster than you guys are."
Upper Arlington 5-Miler
I mentioned before that I had a faster half-marathon PR pace than 5 mile pace. This race reminded me why that was. It's not a flat course, for what we're used to around here!
Mile 1 - Mostly flat, with a little bit of roll. Dodging around people, being passed by people you'll see again later...the usual small race things.
8:14
Mile 2 - This mile is almost exclusively downhill, and winds through wooded residential areas. There's a loop at the bottom, and I just got to the point where it splits in time to see the leader.
7:52
Mile 3 - "What goes down, must come back up." There's a bit of a false hope in this mile, too. After you climb for a while, it turns and flattens out, only to head back down again. I just tried to take little steps and not burn out too badly.
8:34
Mile 4 - More uphill, and a nice short stretch on a wooded trail. The runners were pretty sparse near me in this part, and the guy I had picked out to tail stopped to walk. :P
8:30
Mile 5 - Some slight uphill, but probably flat to anyone not from the midwest. I was a little disappointed I couldn't bring it in better than I did, as I felt like I ran faster than my split indicated.
8:24
Overall time: 41:34 (8:18/mile) PR by 1:04, or 19s/mile.
I was happy with the way I ran this race. I tried to adjust my strides to the slope, and I think it worked out pretty well. I didn't fall apart on any of the uphill stretches. There wasn't a whole lot in the tank to sprint in to the finish, but that's probably a sign that I ran well. Or at least that I had done a bunch of workouts this weekend. :)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
More Hardware!
So, despite my complete lack of any epee experience, I managed to take home second place in that smaller tournament tonight. (Tempered by the fact that most of the field shared my lack of experience)
I swept my pool except for a loss to my "A" ranked assistant coach, earning myself the 2 seed again, and a first round bye straight to the semifinals. After a close win against the same fencer that knocked me out of the foil tournament semis, I got to face my coach again in the final, and lost 15-4 - better than I thought I'd do.
Lucky for me, the head coach decided on the spot that coaches couldn't get awards, so I ended up taking home the first place trophy, despite my second place finish. It doesn't quite feel justified, but who am I to turn down shiny new hardware? :)
I swept my pool except for a loss to my "A" ranked assistant coach, earning myself the 2 seed again, and a first round bye straight to the semifinals. After a close win against the same fencer that knocked me out of the foil tournament semis, I got to face my coach again in the final, and lost 15-4 - better than I thought I'd do.
Lucky for me, the head coach decided on the spot that coaches couldn't get awards, so I ended up taking home the first place trophy, despite my second place finish. It doesn't quite feel justified, but who am I to turn down shiny new hardware? :)
Brick: House
Cold + Wet + Rush Hour = Trainer
Unfortunately, today's morning brick* had to begin in the living room due to the above conditions. The Today show took me through a fairly easy spin on the trainer for an hour, and then it was out the door for a 30 minute run. During the first brick a couple weeks ago, I had a tough time getting my pace below 10 minute miles. This time, however, I was moving much more easily. I wish I had splits for the miles, because the first one felt slow, but I ended up finishing 3 miles in 26 minutes and change, and my effort wasn't even very high! It was really nice to have an easy workout with some encouraging results. Am I actually getting faster?
Fencing this weekend was a success as well. I placed third in the foil tournament, tempered only by a bad semifinal loss. I don't get frustrated purely from losing (much), but I do get frustrated when I don't do my best. That match was one of those times - my electric cords kept failing, so when I attacked, the machine kept stopping the match. I don't blame the loss on it by any means, but it was mentally tough to keep focused.
The good side of the tournament was that I beat a "D" ranked lefty in my preliminary pool bouts. This same fencer had knocked me out of my last tournament with a 15-3 thrashing, and it felt great to come back and get a little revenge. I went undefeated in my pools (defeating 2 D's), and earned the 2 seed for the eliminations. Again, a good sign, because I traditionally don't do so well in the pools when I match up against ranked opponents. I beat a fellow E 15-4 in my quarterfinal before bowing out.
I also entered the epee tournament, which, due to time constraints, will be completed at tonight's practice. It was pretty funny seeing all our foilists (myself included) trying to hit arms and legs and missing horribly. Epee touches feel cheap to me, though...clipping someone on the wrist just doesn't feel like a real score. That said, it's kind of fun to have a change of pace!
* For my non-triathlete readers, a brick is a back-to-back workout combining two or more of the sports.
Unfortunately, today's morning brick* had to begin in the living room due to the above conditions. The Today show took me through a fairly easy spin on the trainer for an hour, and then it was out the door for a 30 minute run. During the first brick a couple weeks ago, I had a tough time getting my pace below 10 minute miles. This time, however, I was moving much more easily. I wish I had splits for the miles, because the first one felt slow, but I ended up finishing 3 miles in 26 minutes and change, and my effort wasn't even very high! It was really nice to have an easy workout with some encouraging results. Am I actually getting faster?
Fencing this weekend was a success as well. I placed third in the foil tournament, tempered only by a bad semifinal loss. I don't get frustrated purely from losing (much), but I do get frustrated when I don't do my best. That match was one of those times - my electric cords kept failing, so when I attacked, the machine kept stopping the match. I don't blame the loss on it by any means, but it was mentally tough to keep focused.
The good side of the tournament was that I beat a "D" ranked lefty in my preliminary pool bouts. This same fencer had knocked me out of my last tournament with a 15-3 thrashing, and it felt great to come back and get a little revenge. I went undefeated in my pools (defeating 2 D's), and earned the 2 seed for the eliminations. Again, a good sign, because I traditionally don't do so well in the pools when I match up against ranked opponents. I beat a fellow E 15-4 in my quarterfinal before bowing out.
I also entered the epee tournament, which, due to time constraints, will be completed at tonight's practice. It was pretty funny seeing all our foilists (myself included) trying to hit arms and legs and missing horribly. Epee touches feel cheap to me, though...clipping someone on the wrist just doesn't feel like a real score. That said, it's kind of fun to have a change of pace!
* For my non-triathlete readers, a brick is a back-to-back workout combining two or more of the sports.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Swim Time Trial 2
Emphasis on trial - I actually managed to get slightly slower since my 1000m time trial a few weeks ago. :(
Honestly, it wasn't a big difference. I finished in 20:07, up from 19:55 last time. 12 seconds over 1000m seems like pretty much the same pace to me, right? It's just the mental side of:
a) Getting slower during training.
b) Going over a big round number.
That's what got to me. Now, for the positives. I choked three times during my swim (should have taken an allergy pill, and we'll just leave it at that). How is that a positive? Well, I had to flip over and kick my way through the rest of the length each time, which probably cost me at least 12 seconds. Take those out, and I might have edged my last time.
The training plan recently hasn't had much swimming, which probably didn't help me either. This month has had each week focusing on one of the events, and I was really sick during swim week, so it's been probably four weeks since I had a solid week of good swimming.
For the weekend, I have another fencing tourney on Sunday. We're also supposed to do a 10K race, but I'm not quite sure if/when I'll do that. I don't really want to do it pre-tournament...but I also know I won't feel like it afterwards. :)
Honestly, it wasn't a big difference. I finished in 20:07, up from 19:55 last time. 12 seconds over 1000m seems like pretty much the same pace to me, right? It's just the mental side of:
a) Getting slower during training.
b) Going over a big round number.
That's what got to me. Now, for the positives. I choked three times during my swim (should have taken an allergy pill, and we'll just leave it at that). How is that a positive? Well, I had to flip over and kick my way through the rest of the length each time, which probably cost me at least 12 seconds. Take those out, and I might have edged my last time.
The training plan recently hasn't had much swimming, which probably didn't help me either. This month has had each week focusing on one of the events, and I was really sick during swim week, so it's been probably four weeks since I had a solid week of good swimming.
For the weekend, I have another fencing tourney on Sunday. We're also supposed to do a 10K race, but I'm not quite sure if/when I'll do that. I don't really want to do it pre-tournament...but I also know I won't feel like it afterwards. :)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Boy And His Anomaly
First off, I have to share a quote from our nephew the other day.
Meredith's Dad: "The price of Pepsi is astronomical right now."
J: "You can say that again!"
Guess a 5-year-old's paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to!
And now my story. I was reading Andrea's blog today, and I noticed her fine idea of including paces in her PR list on the side of the page. Like any good blogger, I decided to steal the idea.
Little did I know that my half marathon pace is actually faster than my 5 and 10 mile pace! I think I might now have a date with the Upper Arlington Memorial Day 5 Miler. I haven't really been running a lot as part of my tri training, but I would hope I can at least beat an 8:37 pace if I ran a minute faster than that per mile at the end of the OSU triathlon...
Meredith's Dad: "The price of Pepsi is astronomical right now."
J: "You can say that again!"
Guess a 5-year-old's paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to!
And now my story. I was reading Andrea's blog today, and I noticed her fine idea of including paces in her PR list on the side of the page. Like any good blogger, I decided to steal the idea.
Little did I know that my half marathon pace is actually faster than my 5 and 10 mile pace! I think I might now have a date with the Upper Arlington Memorial Day 5 Miler. I haven't really been running a lot as part of my tri training, but I would hope I can at least beat an 8:37 pace if I ran a minute faster than that per mile at the end of the OSU triathlon...
Monday, May 12, 2008
A Poem
Dedicated to the guy swimming in the lane next to me who kept trying to race me this morning:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
It doesn't count
If you're wearing paddles.
What can I say, I was a science major. :)
I got to do my longest bike ride to date this Saturday: 2.5 hours out into the Ohio countryside. It was a pretty ride, with some dramatic clouds and springtime farm vistas. It was also the first time (okay, this might embarrass me...) that I put my front gear in the big ring for any extended period of time.
Wow, it really makes a difference.
Now, I know that in a tri, I usually should be in an easier gear so as to keep some legs for the run, right? But it was sure fun to see what I could do. I'm sure they're not great numbers for experienced bikers, but I was excited to hold stretches up in the low to mid 20's, with a max in the high 20s. (28ish? I can't remember now.) Getting out of the city, and even out of the suburbs, made riding a lot more fun. I'll have to get out that way more often on the long rides.
What else did I learn on the ride? I definitely need more calories, whether it's before the ride or during. I took one Hammer Gel with me to eat at the turnaround, along with two bottles of water, but sometime near the 2 hour mark, I really noticed my effort level going up to maintain the same speeds. Next time, I should at the very least have one more gel with me, and it might be good to have a gatorade and some pretzels, or something of that sort.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
It doesn't count
If you're wearing paddles.
What can I say, I was a science major. :)
I got to do my longest bike ride to date this Saturday: 2.5 hours out into the Ohio countryside. It was a pretty ride, with some dramatic clouds and springtime farm vistas. It was also the first time (okay, this might embarrass me...) that I put my front gear in the big ring for any extended period of time.
Wow, it really makes a difference.
Now, I know that in a tri, I usually should be in an easier gear so as to keep some legs for the run, right? But it was sure fun to see what I could do. I'm sure they're not great numbers for experienced bikers, but I was excited to hold stretches up in the low to mid 20's, with a max in the high 20s. (28ish? I can't remember now.) Getting out of the city, and even out of the suburbs, made riding a lot more fun. I'll have to get out that way more often on the long rides.
What else did I learn on the ride? I definitely need more calories, whether it's before the ride or during. I took one Hammer Gel with me to eat at the turnaround, along with two bottles of water, but sometime near the 2 hour mark, I really noticed my effort level going up to maintain the same speeds. Next time, I should at the very least have one more gel with me, and it might be good to have a gatorade and some pretzels, or something of that sort.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Race Report - Ohio State Triathlon 2008
Or: "You're a Good Bike, Charlie Brown"
Nervous didn't begin to describe me on Saturday night. I was obsessively staring at the checklist on the little USAT card, making sure I didn't forget anything for the race. How embarrassing would it be to show up to my first triathlon sans helmet, or shoes, or goggles? While Meredith was calmly watching TV, I spent the whole evening back and forth between the bedroom and my staging area behind the couch, carting things back and forth.
Surprisingly, I slept pretty well until the wake up call at 5:15. Our goal (which didn't happen) was to be down at the transition area by 6:30, which would give us plenty of time to set up. We racked our bikes, started getting out our gear, and then realized that we had an assigned rack. Oops. Take two. We went and got our chips, found out our assigned spot, and went to set up again. By coincidence, my dentist was set up two spots over, and we wished each other good luck.
I was a little self-conscious about wearing my bike shorts to the pool, but I certainly wasn't the only one. There was time for a quick bathroom break (Barefoot, ew. But thanks OSU for the most immaculate men's bathroom I've ever seen!), and then it was downstairs to the pool. The swim was a 400 meter serpentine swim, which entailed ducking the lane lines and alternating directions for each lane. They lined us up by estimated swim time, and off went the leaders.
It took about 30 minutes for us to get up to the start line. Just before we were to start, we noticed one guy going the wrong direction in one of the lanes. He had head-on collisions with three or four people, and we pointed him out to a race director, who rolled his eyes and made sure a volunteer stopped the swimmer at the end of the lane. :) Meredith started right before me - 5 seconds later and my first triathlon was underway!
My plan of jumping in next to the wall and beginning with a nice kick went awry, as I jumped too far out, and got a nice "dink" of my toes off the wall. Oh well. My stroke settled in fairly well, and I got a nice rhythm going. Unfortunately, I saw Meredith backstroking, and pulled up at the end of the lane to make sure she was okay. (Aw. And she was.) I passed her, and kicked off into lane 2. Over the rest of the swim, I think I was passed twice, and probably passed three or four swimmers. Mentally, I was trying to stay calm and not think about longer swims ahead, or the fact that the pool was waaaay deeper than the 4' I'm used to. I hit the ladder, and noticed Meredith right on my tail. She had a really strong swim after her initial troubles.
400m Swim (plus some running/stairs to transition): 9:19
We ran together up to transition, or so I thought. She says I was walking, which I very well might have been - it was kind of surreal finally being in the middle of the tri experience. I took some time to sit and dry off my feet before putting on my socks and bike shoes. (The words "You looked like you were getting a spa treatment" may have passed the lips of someone close to me afterwards. :P) By the time I left transition, Meredith was long gone.
T1: 2:35
The bike started out around Ohio Stadium, and then went west and north, before a jaunt down to the Schott and back, and then back across the river to the stadium. Two loops of that made up the course. I started off fairly quick (for me), and erred on the side of harder gears for most of the course. Just before the Schott turnaround on the first loop, I spotted Meredith. I passed her on the way back, and told her I'd see her on the run. Other than a few spare bike parts and potholes in the road, the bike was fairly uneventful. I stayed in aero position for probably 80% of the ride, which is pretty good for me.
20k Bike: 41:51 (17.8 mph)
Back up the ramp to transition we came, which this time I managed more quickly. It was just off with the bike shoes and helmet, on with running shoes and hat, and out the gate.
T2: 1:03
From the start of the run, funny enough, I could see my dentist maybe 25m ahead of me. For the first mile, I worked on narrowing that gap, and right around the first mile marker, I caught her. She tucked in behind me, and stayed there for the next two miles. Just after the halfway turnaround, I saw Meredith flying down the course. She said I had proved my superiority, but I truly still thought she'd catch me, as I wasn't that far ahead. Even though my mile splits were really quick for me, I managed to keep my pace steady, and before I knew it, we were winding around toward the finish. At the last turn, my dentist took off on a dead sprint. Even though I knew I had her on total time because of the staggered start, my competitive juices kicked in, and I did my best to win the race to the finish. Urged on by the announcer and the crowd, I managed to barely edge her by a step or two. I had barely gotten a drink and turned around before I was cheering Meredith in for her finish.
3 Mile(ish) Run: 22:47 (7:36 min/mile)
Total Time: 1:17:34 (4th in age group out of 8)
I really was happy and surprised by my time. The pre-race goals were:
1. Finish and have fun
2. 1:45
3. 1:30
Um...a 1:17 wasn't even on my radar. Although the course was short, my pace was somehow below my 5K PR pace, which was the biggest surprise. The swim was right about what I expected, and the bike was strong for me. Meredith finished around 1:19, also shattering her goal of 1:30. So, it was a successful day for the Gordons!
Next up is probably an international distance tri in a month. But for now, it's back to training!
Nervous didn't begin to describe me on Saturday night. I was obsessively staring at the checklist on the little USAT card, making sure I didn't forget anything for the race. How embarrassing would it be to show up to my first triathlon sans helmet, or shoes, or goggles? While Meredith was calmly watching TV, I spent the whole evening back and forth between the bedroom and my staging area behind the couch, carting things back and forth.
Surprisingly, I slept pretty well until the wake up call at 5:15. Our goal (which didn't happen) was to be down at the transition area by 6:30, which would give us plenty of time to set up. We racked our bikes, started getting out our gear, and then realized that we had an assigned rack. Oops. Take two. We went and got our chips, found out our assigned spot, and went to set up again. By coincidence, my dentist was set up two spots over, and we wished each other good luck.
I was a little self-conscious about wearing my bike shorts to the pool, but I certainly wasn't the only one. There was time for a quick bathroom break (Barefoot, ew. But thanks OSU for the most immaculate men's bathroom I've ever seen!), and then it was downstairs to the pool. The swim was a 400 meter serpentine swim, which entailed ducking the lane lines and alternating directions for each lane. They lined us up by estimated swim time, and off went the leaders.
It took about 30 minutes for us to get up to the start line. Just before we were to start, we noticed one guy going the wrong direction in one of the lanes. He had head-on collisions with three or four people, and we pointed him out to a race director, who rolled his eyes and made sure a volunteer stopped the swimmer at the end of the lane. :) Meredith started right before me - 5 seconds later and my first triathlon was underway!
My plan of jumping in next to the wall and beginning with a nice kick went awry, as I jumped too far out, and got a nice "dink" of my toes off the wall. Oh well. My stroke settled in fairly well, and I got a nice rhythm going. Unfortunately, I saw Meredith backstroking, and pulled up at the end of the lane to make sure she was okay. (Aw. And she was.) I passed her, and kicked off into lane 2. Over the rest of the swim, I think I was passed twice, and probably passed three or four swimmers. Mentally, I was trying to stay calm and not think about longer swims ahead, or the fact that the pool was waaaay deeper than the 4' I'm used to. I hit the ladder, and noticed Meredith right on my tail. She had a really strong swim after her initial troubles.
400m Swim (plus some running/stairs to transition): 9:19
We ran together up to transition, or so I thought. She says I was walking, which I very well might have been - it was kind of surreal finally being in the middle of the tri experience. I took some time to sit and dry off my feet before putting on my socks and bike shoes. (The words "You looked like you were getting a spa treatment" may have passed the lips of someone close to me afterwards. :P) By the time I left transition, Meredith was long gone.
T1: 2:35
The bike started out around Ohio Stadium, and then went west and north, before a jaunt down to the Schott and back, and then back across the river to the stadium. Two loops of that made up the course. I started off fairly quick (for me), and erred on the side of harder gears for most of the course. Just before the Schott turnaround on the first loop, I spotted Meredith. I passed her on the way back, and told her I'd see her on the run. Other than a few spare bike parts and potholes in the road, the bike was fairly uneventful. I stayed in aero position for probably 80% of the ride, which is pretty good for me.
20k Bike: 41:51 (17.8 mph)
Back up the ramp to transition we came, which this time I managed more quickly. It was just off with the bike shoes and helmet, on with running shoes and hat, and out the gate.
T2: 1:03
From the start of the run, funny enough, I could see my dentist maybe 25m ahead of me. For the first mile, I worked on narrowing that gap, and right around the first mile marker, I caught her. She tucked in behind me, and stayed there for the next two miles. Just after the halfway turnaround, I saw Meredith flying down the course. She said I had proved my superiority, but I truly still thought she'd catch me, as I wasn't that far ahead. Even though my mile splits were really quick for me, I managed to keep my pace steady, and before I knew it, we were winding around toward the finish. At the last turn, my dentist took off on a dead sprint. Even though I knew I had her on total time because of the staggered start, my competitive juices kicked in, and I did my best to win the race to the finish. Urged on by the announcer and the crowd, I managed to barely edge her by a step or two. I had barely gotten a drink and turned around before I was cheering Meredith in for her finish.
3 Mile(ish) Run: 22:47 (7:36 min/mile)
Total Time: 1:17:34 (4th in age group out of 8)
I really was happy and surprised by my time. The pre-race goals were:
1. Finish and have fun
2. 1:45
3. 1:30
Um...a 1:17 wasn't even on my radar. Although the course was short, my pace was somehow below my 5K PR pace, which was the biggest surprise. The swim was right about what I expected, and the bike was strong for me. Meredith finished around 1:19, also shattering her goal of 1:30. So, it was a successful day for the Gordons!
Next up is probably an international distance tri in a month. But for now, it's back to training!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Monthly Totals - April
Run: 33.3 miles
Bike: 7 hours, 45 minutes (no bike computer for most, so no distance)
Swim: 18050 m (about 11.2 miles)
It sure doesn't seem like much running! But I'm following the plan. The cold this past week didn't help my numbers either, but overall it was a good consistent month.
The swim distance certainly shatters anything I've done before. :)
Bike: 7 hours, 45 minutes (no bike computer for most, so no distance)
Swim: 18050 m (about 11.2 miles)
It sure doesn't seem like much running! But I'm following the plan. The cold this past week didn't help my numbers either, but overall it was a good consistent month.
The swim distance certainly shatters anything I've done before. :)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Time Out
Well, a weekend of tough and fun workouts became a weekend of sitting on the couch blowing my nose. I think I'm on the mend now, but it hit me pretty hard.
Yesterday, I did manage to get back on the trainer, even though I skipped the pool workout. (I don't know how to swim if I can't breathe out my nose?) We did a 75 minute ride with 1 minute sprint intervals every 8 minutes. It felt awful and great to be working out again, all at once. Even though I had to stop occasionally for tissues and more often for coughing fits, I dragged myself through it, and managed an average pace of 13.1 mph. My top speed was about 31 mph, though I only held it for a moment.
Also, in a bit of a book review, I'm currently reading "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", by Richard Rhodes. It was a bit tough to get started, but it's absolutely fascinating, and a much better read than you'd expect for a book so heavy on physics. I'm only about halfway done, but based on what I've read so far, I highly recommend it.
Yesterday, I did manage to get back on the trainer, even though I skipped the pool workout. (I don't know how to swim if I can't breathe out my nose?) We did a 75 minute ride with 1 minute sprint intervals every 8 minutes. It felt awful and great to be working out again, all at once. Even though I had to stop occasionally for tissues and more often for coughing fits, I dragged myself through it, and managed an average pace of 13.1 mph. My top speed was about 31 mph, though I only held it for a moment.
Also, in a bit of a book review, I'm currently reading "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", by Richard Rhodes. It was a bit tough to get started, but it's absolutely fascinating, and a much better read than you'd expect for a book so heavy on physics. I'm only about halfway done, but based on what I've read so far, I highly recommend it.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Bleh.
I came down with a cold today. And then I got called back in to work. So now I'm here at 6:30, blowing my nose, and hoping I feel better before the reverse triathlon and epic swim in the works for the weekend.
Bleh.
Bleh.
Friday, April 18, 2008
19:55:56
Better swimmer than expected?
Worse estimator than expected?
Can't count to 40 correctly?
You make the call!
I think I got my count correct, but I lost my concentration on it somewhere around 30, so there's the possibility that I was 2 lengths short. Even so, that would add about a minute, and still put me well under my 25 minute estimate. It certainly wasn't comfortable by the end, but I think that's probably the way a time trial should feel.
Worse estimator than expected?
Can't count to 40 correctly?
You make the call!
I think I got my count correct, but I lost my concentration on it somewhere around 30, so there's the possibility that I was 2 lengths short. Even so, that would add about a minute, and still put me well under my 25 minute estimate. It certainly wasn't comfortable by the end, but I think that's probably the way a time trial should feel.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Back to Basics
After this weekend's success and a 2-hour ride on the trainer Sunday, my legs have been pretty beat up. I showed up to the gym yesterday for a recovery swim, expecting a nice relaxing day, and instead getting an hour of flailing around feeling like I can't swim. It was the first swim workout in the schedule that didn't include a warmup, which is where I usually get in some drills.
Obviously, consistency is still an issue. While I know that there are good days and bad days, I don't want to risk a day that bad on race day.
So, for today's swim, 4x300 became 300 of drills, and then 3x300. I don't know if it was the drills, better concentration, or just an extra day of rest, but it was much better. I was even the fastest person in the pool for once, and I don't just mean the water aerobics crowd! (Other than one guy. But then I saw he had flippers, so he was immediately disqualified from our imaginary race in which he didn't know we were competing.)
This Saturday is supposed to be my first time trial in the pool - 1000m. However, I think we're going to be in Boston for some race, or something? So tomorrow looks like time trial day. The triathlon we're doing in early May makes you enter a time estimate for your 400m swim, and I put down 10 minutes as a rough guess. That would translate into a 25 minute time trial (would be 0:48ish half iron, 1:37ish iron), so let's mark that down as the goal for now.
Obviously, consistency is still an issue. While I know that there are good days and bad days, I don't want to risk a day that bad on race day.
So, for today's swim, 4x300 became 300 of drills, and then 3x300. I don't know if it was the drills, better concentration, or just an extra day of rest, but it was much better. I was even the fastest person in the pool for once, and I don't just mean the water aerobics crowd! (Other than one guy. But then I saw he had flippers, so he was immediately disqualified from our imaginary race in which he didn't know we were competing.)
This Saturday is supposed to be my first time trial in the pool - 1000m. However, I think we're going to be in Boston for some race, or something? So tomorrow looks like time trial day. The triathlon we're doing in early May makes you enter a time estimate for your 400m swim, and I put down 10 minutes as a rough guess. That would translate into a 25 minute time trial (would be 0:48ish half iron, 1:37ish iron), so let's mark that down as the goal for now.
Monday, April 14, 2008
E for Effort!
In college at OSU, I did some fencing. I took the classes, and fenced with the club occasionally, but I never tried out for the varsity team. I always sort of regretted that decision (back then, I might have had a shot...not with the current team!), and when I picked back up with my fencing a couple years ago, I decided that earning a fencing classification would go on my life list.
Now, the rules for earning rankings are a little complex (here, if you're interested), but to make it simple, more people + higher ranked people = more and higher classifications awarded. The classifications go from A (highest) to E (lowest), and then U (unrated) for everyone else. On Saturday, I fenced two tournaments: one for only unrated fencers, and one for D and under.
A little more background on fencing tournaments, as well. The first part of a tournament is broken down into smaller pools, generally 5-7 fencers in the tournaments I've done. In your pool, you fence each of the other entrants, first to 5 touches wins. The second part of the tournament is a single-elimination bracket, seeded from the pool results, and each bout is fenced to 15 touches.
The unrated tournament began first. To our surprise, enough fencers registered that the top four spots would be awarded a classification: D for the champion, E for the second place and both third place finishers. (There's usually no consolation bout, so third place is considered a tie between the losers of the semifinals.)
My club had three fencers entered, so our goal was to finish among the top four seeds. That way, we'd be guaranteed not to meet before the semifinals. I felt great in my pool, and it showed in the results. I won all four of my bouts, and only received four touches total against me. It wasn't quite good enough for the top seed - my teammate edged me out with only three touches against, so I took the 2 seed. We were happy to see after the pool rounds that we had indeed taken the top three seeds for the bracket.
Moving on to the elimination bouts, I was probably a little overconfident in my first match. My opponent did very well, even coming in as a low seed. She kept the bout close for the first few minutes before I pulled away. After the win, I realized I only needed to advance one more round to reach the semifinals and get my E ranking! Fortunately, I drew a fencer I had already faced, and had some strategies going in. She was much improved from the last time we matched up, but I managed to win this one as well, with a fair margin. I'd earned my E, but there was little time to celebrate, because the tougher matches were still coming.
Thanks to being edged out in the pools, I had to match up against one of my teammates in the semifinals. He is left-handed, which always gives me trouble, and despite being fairly new to fencing, he and I are fairly even. Fortunately, I jumped out to an early lead, and it was my day. On to the final! Or so I thought.
Remember how I was also fencing in the D & under tournament? At this point, I got called over to start my pool bouts for that one. Despite my best attempts, I couldn't convince them to let me fence my final first, because they were already changing their schedule for me. I decided I was going to be aggressive and end those matches quickly, for better or for worse. My first matchup, who I've faced before, made short work of me, 5-1. Due to the scheduling delays, I didn't get a break, and had to fence a second bout in a row, but I returned the favor, downing the next opponent 5-1.
My reward for those two bouts? Immediately jumping into my final bout for the first tournament, matched up against my teammate. He jumped out to an early lead, and I struggled to stay within range. Then, on what would have been a touch for him, my next challenge reared up.
In competitive foil fencing, fencers wear a mesh jersey that allows the electrical scoring system to register a touch. On one of my opponent's attacks, he hit me, but it didn't register a touch. He asked to test my equipment, and we found that it had a dead spot, which meant I had to change to new equipment. Sadly, I only own one.
I couldn't wear my teammate's that I had faced last, since he's a lefty. So my opponent in the final offered me one of his backups.
He's 13.
Now, I've never worn a corset, but I can now imagine what it would be like. I sucked in my stomach, got the zipper started, and then breathed out to get it zipped up. I couldn't take a deep breath, but somehow it held. We continued our bout, and I fought back. Down 14-13, I thought I blocked his attack and touched him, but I didn't get the call from the referee. So, I fell in the final, 15-13. However, if there's anyone I would have picked to lose to, it was the right person. He and his family showed a lot of sportsmanship by offering me equipment to be able to finish the match, and even brought me water during a break since I didn't have any time to get some before the bout.
The second tournament ended up going okay as well. I fenced fairly well, and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, but I wasn't too concerned at that point. I got my ranking, and went home happy.
Now, the rules for earning rankings are a little complex (here, if you're interested), but to make it simple, more people + higher ranked people = more and higher classifications awarded. The classifications go from A (highest) to E (lowest), and then U (unrated) for everyone else. On Saturday, I fenced two tournaments: one for only unrated fencers, and one for D and under.
A little more background on fencing tournaments, as well. The first part of a tournament is broken down into smaller pools, generally 5-7 fencers in the tournaments I've done. In your pool, you fence each of the other entrants, first to 5 touches wins. The second part of the tournament is a single-elimination bracket, seeded from the pool results, and each bout is fenced to 15 touches.
The unrated tournament began first. To our surprise, enough fencers registered that the top four spots would be awarded a classification: D for the champion, E for the second place and both third place finishers. (There's usually no consolation bout, so third place is considered a tie between the losers of the semifinals.)
My club had three fencers entered, so our goal was to finish among the top four seeds. That way, we'd be guaranteed not to meet before the semifinals. I felt great in my pool, and it showed in the results. I won all four of my bouts, and only received four touches total against me. It wasn't quite good enough for the top seed - my teammate edged me out with only three touches against, so I took the 2 seed. We were happy to see after the pool rounds that we had indeed taken the top three seeds for the bracket.
Moving on to the elimination bouts, I was probably a little overconfident in my first match. My opponent did very well, even coming in as a low seed. She kept the bout close for the first few minutes before I pulled away. After the win, I realized I only needed to advance one more round to reach the semifinals and get my E ranking! Fortunately, I drew a fencer I had already faced, and had some strategies going in. She was much improved from the last time we matched up, but I managed to win this one as well, with a fair margin. I'd earned my E, but there was little time to celebrate, because the tougher matches were still coming.
Thanks to being edged out in the pools, I had to match up against one of my teammates in the semifinals. He is left-handed, which always gives me trouble, and despite being fairly new to fencing, he and I are fairly even. Fortunately, I jumped out to an early lead, and it was my day. On to the final! Or so I thought.
Remember how I was also fencing in the D & under tournament? At this point, I got called over to start my pool bouts for that one. Despite my best attempts, I couldn't convince them to let me fence my final first, because they were already changing their schedule for me. I decided I was going to be aggressive and end those matches quickly, for better or for worse. My first matchup, who I've faced before, made short work of me, 5-1. Due to the scheduling delays, I didn't get a break, and had to fence a second bout in a row, but I returned the favor, downing the next opponent 5-1.
My reward for those two bouts? Immediately jumping into my final bout for the first tournament, matched up against my teammate. He jumped out to an early lead, and I struggled to stay within range. Then, on what would have been a touch for him, my next challenge reared up.
In competitive foil fencing, fencers wear a mesh jersey that allows the electrical scoring system to register a touch. On one of my opponent's attacks, he hit me, but it didn't register a touch. He asked to test my equipment, and we found that it had a dead spot, which meant I had to change to new equipment. Sadly, I only own one.
I couldn't wear my teammate's that I had faced last, since he's a lefty. So my opponent in the final offered me one of his backups.
He's 13.
Now, I've never worn a corset, but I can now imagine what it would be like. I sucked in my stomach, got the zipper started, and then breathed out to get it zipped up. I couldn't take a deep breath, but somehow it held. We continued our bout, and I fought back. Down 14-13, I thought I blocked his attack and touched him, but I didn't get the call from the referee. So, I fell in the final, 15-13. However, if there's anyone I would have picked to lose to, it was the right person. He and his family showed a lot of sportsmanship by offering me equipment to be able to finish the match, and even brought me water during a break since I didn't have any time to get some before the bout.
The second tournament ended up going okay as well. I fenced fairly well, and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, but I wasn't too concerned at that point. I got my ranking, and went home happy.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tris and Quads
I told Meredith yesterday, "Either I'll have the strongest quads ever by race day, or my legs will fall off."
This Wednesday was the first "long" run of the training, a 90 minute run with Meredith and Andrea. For them, it's taper time for Boston, so I managed to hang with them for their 7 miles (for once :) ), and added on another bit on my own at the end. It was nice to get back out there, but I had a right quad that was on the verge of cramping during most of the run. I hydrated pretty well that day, so I'm not sure what was going on there. Afterward, we got our Wednesday night $4 burgers, and I realized I had all of 8 hours or so until a bike ride.
Thursday's ride was back in on the trainer, and honestly wasn't a great ride. After the fun of the outdoor ride, it was mentally tough to focus on pedaling in the living room again.
And after work, the fun really began with fencing practice.
But let's take a step back first. Meredith is quite the napper - she loves to grab an afternoon siesta after work, or exercise, or...well, pretty much anytime. :) I, on the other hand, usually just lay on the couch and watch TV or sit at the computer for my relaxing time. But yesterday, I don't know what happened. I set down my gym bag on the bed around 4:15...
And then I woke up at 4:55, sideways on the bed with my feet hanging over the edge. Tired much? I had to scramble to get my fencing gear together and zipped off to class. Thanks to my lateness, I got to run some extra laps before class started. We began with some shuttle runs and strength training, and here's the spot I thought my legs would fall off, or I'd just end up on the floor some other way.
For those of you who haven't fenced and want to try this exercise for yourselves:
Let's just say I was looking forward to a swim-only day today. :)
Oh, and a little math I learned today...
(Forgetting to wear bandaids on the first longish run of the season) + (Pool Swim) = Ouch x 2!
This Wednesday was the first "long" run of the training, a 90 minute run with Meredith and Andrea. For them, it's taper time for Boston, so I managed to hang with them for their 7 miles (for once :) ), and added on another bit on my own at the end. It was nice to get back out there, but I had a right quad that was on the verge of cramping during most of the run. I hydrated pretty well that day, so I'm not sure what was going on there. Afterward, we got our Wednesday night $4 burgers, and I realized I had all of 8 hours or so until a bike ride.
Thursday's ride was back in on the trainer, and honestly wasn't a great ride. After the fun of the outdoor ride, it was mentally tough to focus on pedaling in the living room again.
And after work, the fun really began with fencing practice.
But let's take a step back first. Meredith is quite the napper - she loves to grab an afternoon siesta after work, or exercise, or...well, pretty much anytime. :) I, on the other hand, usually just lay on the couch and watch TV or sit at the computer for my relaxing time. But yesterday, I don't know what happened. I set down my gym bag on the bed around 4:15...
And then I woke up at 4:55, sideways on the bed with my feet hanging over the edge. Tired much? I had to scramble to get my fencing gear together and zipped off to class. Thanks to my lateness, I got to run some extra laps before class started. We began with some shuttle runs and strength training, and here's the spot I thought my legs would fall off, or I'd just end up on the floor some other way.
For those of you who haven't fenced and want to try this exercise for yourselves:
- Place your feet a little more than shoulder width apart.
- Turn your back foot (left foot if you're right handed) 90°, so it's perpendicular to your other foot. Keep your weight slightly shifted to your back leg, so you feel it in your quad.
- Lower yourself so that your knees are bent. This is en garde position, which should look something like this:
- Take a small step forward, front foot first, then back foot.
- Keeping your back upright (don't lean over!), squat down so that you are sitting on your back heel, which will come off the ground.
- Using your quads, push yourself back up to en garde position. Don't straighten your legs!
- Take another small step, and repeat down the length of the gym.
Let's just say I was looking forward to a swim-only day today. :)
Oh, and a little math I learned today...
(Forgetting to wear bandaids on the first longish run of the season) + (Pool Swim) = Ouch x 2!
Monday, April 07, 2008
First outdoor ride!
It's about time! The weather finally cleared and warmed enough to take the bike out on the streets for the first time.
Speaking of the bike, I'm sort of tired of calling it "the bike". I think it needs a name. I'm leaning toward "Charlie Brown". He's a perpetual underdog, always gets beat by the same girl, but everyone roots for him in the end. Plus, this is an artist's rendition of my top tube as seen from the saddle:
So, Charlie and I took to the streets on Saturday for my two hour ride. First order of business? Those evil clip things that live on my pedals. I walked my bike down to the street where it's flat, and threw a leg over it. Right foot? Check. Push off. Left foot? Check. Hey, that was easy! I rode around our little loop, and came to the stop sign on the other side. Unclip right foot? Check. Stop bike? Check. Put foot on ground? Um...that ground is lower than I remember it...wobble...wobble...reach for curb and narrowly avoid the dreaded slow motion tip-over.
Assess situation...Oh yeah. Get off the saddle first before reaching for the ground. Details, details. :)
Next step - ride around the neighborhood. It amazed me how much smoother and easier this bike rides than my mountain bike. It's no wonder I couldn't keep up with Meredith and friends last time I attempted a long ride with them. I did about 4 miles around the neighborhood, and was feeling good and waving to all the cheering masses. (Pictured below, actual size)
It was time for the real roads.
Now, where we live isn't ideal for biking. On one side we have a very busy 2-lane road with constant lights and business entrances that's really not an option. The other side is a fairly lightly traveled road, with one caveat. It's barely narrow enough for two cars to pass at certain points. We don't especially even like running it, since you can get run off the road. I was nervous to ride it on my first time out, but it was pretty much the only option if I didn't want to drive somewhere. Thankfully, it was uneventful today, and I started up toward town, with one loop around a local golf course.
I started out east on one of the less-populated main roads, and headed for Abercrombie headquarters. On a Saturday, it's a nice flat deserted stretch out in the fields, other than all the half-naked models wandering around in their corrals. I used this part to test out my aero position. Not too bad...it felt comfortable. One problem:
I got to the end of that stretch of road, and paused for a moment to appreciate how quiet it was. The difference between running distance and cycling distance became apparent to me at that moment. From there, I rode another few miles before turning around, and got startled by one of these chasing me:
Fortunately, he stopped at the end of his property. I also saw some of these:
Despite their obvious viciousness, I managed to pedal past without incident, and made it home in 2:00:09. Total mileage (approximate, used MapMyRun.com): 28.55 miles. So, about 14.25 mph, and I wasn't stopping my watch for intersections or riding especially hard. Not too bad for a first try, I suppose.
Oh, if you want to see a video of my course, this pretty much sums it up (wrong state, but still...):
Speaking of the bike, I'm sort of tired of calling it "the bike". I think it needs a name. I'm leaning toward "Charlie Brown". He's a perpetual underdog, always gets beat by the same girl, but everyone roots for him in the end. Plus, this is an artist's rendition of my top tube as seen from the saddle:
So, Charlie and I took to the streets on Saturday for my two hour ride. First order of business? Those evil clip things that live on my pedals. I walked my bike down to the street where it's flat, and threw a leg over it. Right foot? Check. Push off. Left foot? Check. Hey, that was easy! I rode around our little loop, and came to the stop sign on the other side. Unclip right foot? Check. Stop bike? Check. Put foot on ground? Um...that ground is lower than I remember it...wobble...wobble...reach for curb and narrowly avoid the dreaded slow motion tip-over.
Assess situation...Oh yeah. Get off the saddle first before reaching for the ground. Details, details. :)
Next step - ride around the neighborhood. It amazed me how much smoother and easier this bike rides than my mountain bike. It's no wonder I couldn't keep up with Meredith and friends last time I attempted a long ride with them. I did about 4 miles around the neighborhood, and was feeling good and waving to all the cheering masses. (Pictured below, actual size)
It was time for the real roads.
Now, where we live isn't ideal for biking. On one side we have a very busy 2-lane road with constant lights and business entrances that's really not an option. The other side is a fairly lightly traveled road, with one caveat. It's barely narrow enough for two cars to pass at certain points. We don't especially even like running it, since you can get run off the road. I was nervous to ride it on my first time out, but it was pretty much the only option if I didn't want to drive somewhere. Thankfully, it was uneventful today, and I started up toward town, with one loop around a local golf course.
I started out east on one of the less-populated main roads, and headed for Abercrombie headquarters. On a Saturday, it's a nice flat deserted stretch out in the fields, other than all the half-naked models wandering around in their corrals. I used this part to test out my aero position. Not too bad...it felt comfortable. One problem:
I got to the end of that stretch of road, and paused for a moment to appreciate how quiet it was. The difference between running distance and cycling distance became apparent to me at that moment. From there, I rode another few miles before turning around, and got startled by one of these chasing me:
Fortunately, he stopped at the end of his property. I also saw some of these:
Despite their obvious viciousness, I managed to pedal past without incident, and made it home in 2:00:09. Total mileage (approximate, used MapMyRun.com): 28.55 miles. So, about 14.25 mph, and I wasn't stopping my watch for intersections or riding especially hard. Not too bad for a first try, I suppose.
Oh, if you want to see a video of my course, this pretty much sums it up (wrong state, but still...):
Friday, April 04, 2008
Exhausted
That was the slowest swim ever.
Last night's intervals were wet, but good. I decided to shoot for 600m in my 3 minutes of tempo, which is about an 8 minute pace. Not blazing fast, but...well, that's where I am in my running right now. After the first interval, which was right at 600m, I managed to get somewhere around 650 for the rest, which is about a 7:25 pace. For the last one, I tried to dig deep and get to 700 in the 3 minutes, but I missed it by about 8 seconds. Not sure if the chicken got me, or maybe I was just out of gas after the morning swim-tervals.
So, this morning was a 1500 continuous swim. I wasn't even...um...hausted...to begin with, so it was a fight to complete it. The first 30 lengths seemed like they'd never end (but they did), and by the finish I felt like I was purely kicking from my knees and splashing my arms down hard.
Props to the gym for the "Top Gun" soundtrack that was playing today. Other than "Take My Breath Away". That's not what you want to hear when you're struggling in the pool. :)
Last night's intervals were wet, but good. I decided to shoot for 600m in my 3 minutes of tempo, which is about an 8 minute pace. Not blazing fast, but...well, that's where I am in my running right now. After the first interval, which was right at 600m, I managed to get somewhere around 650 for the rest, which is about a 7:25 pace. For the last one, I tried to dig deep and get to 700 in the 3 minutes, but I missed it by about 8 seconds. Not sure if the chicken got me, or maybe I was just out of gas after the morning swim-tervals.
So, this morning was a 1500 continuous swim. I wasn't even...um...hausted...to begin with, so it was a fight to complete it. The first 30 lengths seemed like they'd never end (but they did), and by the finish I felt like I was purely kicking from my knees and splashing my arms down hard.
Props to the gym for the "Top Gun" soundtrack that was playing today. Other than "Take My Breath Away". That's not what you want to hear when you're struggling in the pool. :)
Thursday, April 03, 2008
My Parents Would Be So Proud
If they weren't halfway across the world right now! They're on a cruise down around the southern end of South America. Really sounds like a cool trip, but 50s and rain isn't so bad, right? Right?
This week, Meredith and I went to the grocery store. The grocery is not an every week occurrence for us, since we procrastinate on it all the time. But that leads to us eating out all the time, which makes for sad wallets, and sad waists. We loaded up on fresh things this trip (what?!), and things that are actually good fuel for our training. Apples, bananas, yogurt, grapes...things that haven't graced our fridge for quite some time. We really want to make a concerted effort this month to eat well, and save the restaurant cash for better things, like triathlon registration. :)
And yesterday, I changed the brake pads on Meredith's Element. If there's one thing I learned growing up, it was how to change brake pads on a Honda. Apparently, it's not quickly forgotten, because I knocked out the whole thing in an hour, even though my socket wrench decided to play hide and seek with me. (It won.)
So, Mom and Dad, this week, I ate healthy, and I changed my own brake pads. Thanks!
Today is interval day, both in the pool and on the track. Got the swim out of the way this morning. I'm pretty sure my 20x75 "sprints" in the pool, translated to land, would be indistinguishable from a normal walk...perhaps a light jog if I was lucky. This afternoon will be a 75 minute interval run, probably in the rain. Fun!
This week, Meredith and I went to the grocery store. The grocery is not an every week occurrence for us, since we procrastinate on it all the time. But that leads to us eating out all the time, which makes for sad wallets, and sad waists. We loaded up on fresh things this trip (what?!), and things that are actually good fuel for our training. Apples, bananas, yogurt, grapes...things that haven't graced our fridge for quite some time. We really want to make a concerted effort this month to eat well, and save the restaurant cash for better things, like triathlon registration. :)
And yesterday, I changed the brake pads on Meredith's Element. If there's one thing I learned growing up, it was how to change brake pads on a Honda. Apparently, it's not quickly forgotten, because I knocked out the whole thing in an hour, even though my socket wrench decided to play hide and seek with me. (It won.)
So, Mom and Dad, this week, I ate healthy, and I changed my own brake pads. Thanks!
Today is interval day, both in the pool and on the track. Got the swim out of the way this morning. I'm pretty sure my 20x75 "sprints" in the pool, translated to land, would be indistinguishable from a normal walk...perhaps a light jog if I was lucky. This afternoon will be a 75 minute interval run, probably in the rain. Fun!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Not. A. Morning. Person.
Last night, Meredith and I got to attend the OSU-Dayton game and send off the Buckeyes to the semis of the NIT. It was the third game in a row we managed to sit in the first three rows, thanks to some timely ticket purchasing, and once again the team didn't disappoint. It was a 9:00 tip-off, though, and by the time traffic cleared out and we got home, it was a fairly late bedtime.
So, 6 AM came early today (or 6:15, in Meredith's case...). I got some granola, laid on the couch to watch the news, and generally was pokey in getting ready for my 60 minute run. When Meredith left, I got down to the treadmill to finish off The Empire Strikes Back and get my run on. It didn't feel great, which I attributed to the late night and long swim yesterday. So, I cut it down to a walk for a bit after each set of strides to let my feet and legs recover before kicking it into gear again. Not my best run, but I got it in, and I already know I can run the needed distance for these races.
I got upstairs to take a shower, and went to take my shoes off. Huh. Not my running shoes. Go figure, the brand-new-worn-three-times $30 knockaround shoes I just bought the other day didn't feel good during a run.
Yeah, not so much a morning person.
So, 6 AM came early today (or 6:15, in Meredith's case...). I got some granola, laid on the couch to watch the news, and generally was pokey in getting ready for my 60 minute run. When Meredith left, I got down to the treadmill to finish off The Empire Strikes Back and get my run on. It didn't feel great, which I attributed to the late night and long swim yesterday. So, I cut it down to a walk for a bit after each set of strides to let my feet and legs recover before kicking it into gear again. Not my best run, but I got it in, and I already know I can run the needed distance for these races.
I got upstairs to take a shower, and went to take my shoes off. Huh. Not my running shoes. Go figure, the brand-new-worn-three-times $30 knockaround shoes I just bought the other day didn't feel good during a run.
Yeah, not so much a morning person.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Just keep swimming...
Last night, Meredith and I headed down to the gym for a 30 minute recovery swim. After a little drilling, I started in on some light swimming, mixed in with a little bit of ill-advised racing when we happened to be next to each other. :) I could keep up with her for a bit, but I knew that wasn't the best way to do a recovery swim. Also, I knew I'd be doing plenty this morning.
Today's swim was the longest in the training plan to date: 200 warmup, 2000 main continuous, and 200 cooldown. I didn't count laps yesterday, and afterwards realized I had gone close to 800m without a major break. If that was possible, why not 1000? Why not 2000?
And I did it. Continuous. I just got in a rhythm today. Yes, I'm still over-rotating to breathe. Yes, my kick is ugly at times. But I finished 2000 meters without stopping. That's longer than the swim in Muncie. It took me 51 minutes, which some might call a bit slow. I call it under the cutoff pace for IM Austria, with 15 months still left to improve.
Oh, and I forgot to add this initially...I made it to the door of the gym today, looked down, and instead of my water bottle, I had grabbed my tupperware container of apple crisp. It might not be as refreshing, but it certainly would have entertained the other folks in the pool to see me stuffing handfuls of apple crisp in my mouth between laps. :)
Today's swim was the longest in the training plan to date: 200 warmup, 2000 main continuous, and 200 cooldown. I didn't count laps yesterday, and afterwards realized I had gone close to 800m without a major break. If that was possible, why not 1000? Why not 2000?
And I did it. Continuous. I just got in a rhythm today. Yes, I'm still over-rotating to breathe. Yes, my kick is ugly at times. But I finished 2000 meters without stopping. That's longer than the swim in Muncie. It took me 51 minutes, which some might call a bit slow. I call it under the cutoff pace for IM Austria, with 15 months still left to improve.
Oh, and I forgot to add this initially...I made it to the door of the gym today, looked down, and instead of my water bottle, I had grabbed my tupperware container of apple crisp. It might not be as refreshing, but it certainly would have entertained the other folks in the pool to see me stuffing handfuls of apple crisp in my mouth between laps. :)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Hills
Sorry Meredith, it's not about the show (or the program).
This week is the start of month two in my training plan for Muncie. Now that a base has been established, I get to start doing some more intense sessions. Today was the first "hill" ride, though it was actually inside on the trainer.
Now, I've only been on the new bike a couple times, but it's seriously uncomfortable in the seat area. I hope that's something that goes away as you get used to it, because I'm not sure I could take it for eight hours of riding. I was actually looking forward to the hill intervals today, because the added resistance meant taking pressure off the seat.
Any bikers out there that can offer me hope for what I've got, or should I be looking at a different seat?
This week is the start of month two in my training plan for Muncie. Now that a base has been established, I get to start doing some more intense sessions. Today was the first "hill" ride, though it was actually inside on the trainer.
Now, I've only been on the new bike a couple times, but it's seriously uncomfortable in the seat area. I hope that's something that goes away as you get used to it, because I'm not sure I could take it for eight hours of riding. I was actually looking forward to the hill intervals today, because the added resistance meant taking pressure off the seat.
Any bikers out there that can offer me hope for what I've got, or should I be looking at a different seat?
Monday, March 24, 2008
A Contest, Eh?
This weekend, Meredith and I stopped by McDonalds for breakfast before her audition to sing the national anthem at our local minor league baseball team. Pretty normal, uneventful meal, but we sat right by the poster for their current "Disney Princess and Pirate" happy meal promotion.
On the poster, it had all the fine print. Mostly the standard stuff, describing what happens when you find the winning piece in your happy meal. But then we saw this line:
"To win, a Canadian must answer a skill-testing question correctly."
This obviously raises many questions. Would we get to choose our own Canadian? Is one assigned to us? What kind of skill-testing question requires a Canadian in the first place? Our guess was something about hockey.
On the poster, it had all the fine print. Mostly the standard stuff, describing what happens when you find the winning piece in your happy meal. But then we saw this line:
"To win, a Canadian must answer a skill-testing question correctly."
This obviously raises many questions. Would we get to choose our own Canadian? Is one assigned to us? What kind of skill-testing question requires a Canadian in the first place? Our guess was something about hockey.
Friday, March 21, 2008
*click*
Training is so strange sometimes.
Two days after my disaster of a swim, something clicked, and today's swim (albeit shorter) was great. I did the last 400 in one stretch, and felt like I could have kept going. My concentration today was on my front arm position and my head position. By not ducking my head, I felt like air was more readily available when I needed it. I also kept my front arm at a shallower angle, which seemed to keep me from submarining after a breath.
I was even relaxed enough to breathe bilaterally today, though my left side is still almost a 90° body rotation.
In other news, the 24/7 Elton John song rotation in the pool area during the morning seems to be no more; today I heard Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles. For the first couple weeks of training, literally every song was Elton John. I'll probably be humming "Bennie and the Jets" all through the swim at Muncie.
Two days after my disaster of a swim, something clicked, and today's swim (albeit shorter) was great. I did the last 400 in one stretch, and felt like I could have kept going. My concentration today was on my front arm position and my head position. By not ducking my head, I felt like air was more readily available when I needed it. I also kept my front arm at a shallower angle, which seemed to keep me from submarining after a breath.
I was even relaxed enough to breathe bilaterally today, though my left side is still almost a 90° body rotation.
In other news, the 24/7 Elton John song rotation in the pool area during the morning seems to be no more; today I heard Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles. For the first couple weeks of training, literally every song was Elton John. I'll probably be humming "Bennie and the Jets" all through the swim at Muncie.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Big One
And out of the ashes again comes the blog. :)
As you probably already know if you read Meredith's blog, we're training for Ironman Austria in 2009.
Along the way is the first big goal, the Muncie Endurathon this July. It's a half-Ironman distance: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. For now, that distance seems overwhelming enough. Thoughts about the full race can wait till after that one. :)
I'm about 3 weeks into my training. Running is certainly the easiest right now, which is little surprise considering it's the only one I've really done over the last few years. We just got our bikes last week, so hopefully we can get outside on them once Downpour '08 finishes up.
Today was a swim, 1650 meters in all. The swim is what scares me the most about the triathlon. Now, I can already "swim". The challenge is turning it into something that I can do for 1.2 miles, and eventually 2.4. Right now my biggest problem is breathing. Just to test myself today, I tried to swim 25m without breathing. No problem. And yet, I always feel like I'm struggling for breath when I breathe every 4 (or 3, or 2) strokes. Definitely something that needs to go away by July.
As you probably already know if you read Meredith's blog, we're training for Ironman Austria in 2009.
Along the way is the first big goal, the Muncie Endurathon this July. It's a half-Ironman distance: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. For now, that distance seems overwhelming enough. Thoughts about the full race can wait till after that one. :)
I'm about 3 weeks into my training. Running is certainly the easiest right now, which is little surprise considering it's the only one I've really done over the last few years. We just got our bikes last week, so hopefully we can get outside on them once Downpour '08 finishes up.
Today was a swim, 1650 meters in all. The swim is what scares me the most about the triathlon. Now, I can already "swim". The challenge is turning it into something that I can do for 1.2 miles, and eventually 2.4. Right now my biggest problem is breathing. Just to test myself today, I tried to swim 25m without breathing. No problem. And yet, I always feel like I'm struggling for breath when I breathe every 4 (or 3, or 2) strokes. Definitely something that needs to go away by July.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
2007 Columbus Marathon
Well, it's not the most exciting race to recap, but I'll give the overview.
My Mom came down for the race, which was much appreciated. Meredith's parents picked us up a little over an hour before the start, and we all headed downtown together. While last year in Chicago, we were shivering and wearing gloves, long sleeves, and trash bags to keep in the heat, this year a long sleeve pullover was plenty to stay warm before the race. After we met up with our friends downtown, we all walked over to the start line together. In our short sleeves and shorts. Not feeling cold at all. While that's nice for any normal day, it's not a good start to a marathon.
My plan was to run with the four hour pace group for the entire race, and try to break that mark at the end. I fell a little behind during mile 1, just due to the general mayhem with different paces at the start of the race. Also, while there were about 3300 people running the marathon, another 6000+ were there running the half marathon, which ran the same roads for the majority of its course, and started at the same time.
I picked up the pace (maybe a little too much, around an 8:40 mile) during mile 2, and caught the pace group. For the next 3 miles or so, I ran with them pretty comfortably. After that, though, I knew something wasn't right. My stomach began to feel...not so good, and my legs felt numb, like I had already run 20 miles. Seven miles into a marathon, that's not a good feeling to have. I was able to still hang with the pace leader, but it felt like I was expending far too much energy to do it.
Mile 10 took us back through downtown, and past our moms' cheering section, which was a nice pick-up. After that, we did about a three mile loop down through German Village, which has some nice crowd support, and then began the long climb up High Street. I crossed the halfway point at 2:00:52, almost exactly on pace, but extremely tired and feeling dehydrated. While we climbed up High Street for the next four miles, I would look up, and each time, the pace group was gaining on me more and more. That was the most discouraging part of the race, and the part where I seriously considered just turning around and walking back.
But, I decided that I'd rather have a slow time than waste all my training just to quit, so I kept going. By mile 16, my body was already exhausted, and I had to start walking some significant stretches. That would become a theme, as I never ran another complete mile. I started getting cramps in my stomach, and at one point in my hamstring that forced me off the side of the road. Thank goodness it never completely balled up, but it felt like it was about to do so. The second half of the race is also almost completely in the sun, and I certainly wasn't the only one suffering - at some points, there were more people in my view walking than running.
Rather than beat myself up about it, I tried to just enjoy the rest of the race as much as I could. On this day, I realized that it wasn't about not training hard enough, or not preparing well. I hydrated well, other than missing one early water stop due to crowds. I took my gel packs at the appropriate times. I think my body just didn't react well to the heat, and that there's not much I could have done about it.
I ended up with a 4:39, which was disappointing given the amount of training I did, but is still my second best time. Judgment on when/whether another marathon will happen is reserved until my body recovers from this one.
My Mom came down for the race, which was much appreciated. Meredith's parents picked us up a little over an hour before the start, and we all headed downtown together. While last year in Chicago, we were shivering and wearing gloves, long sleeves, and trash bags to keep in the heat, this year a long sleeve pullover was plenty to stay warm before the race. After we met up with our friends downtown, we all walked over to the start line together. In our short sleeves and shorts. Not feeling cold at all. While that's nice for any normal day, it's not a good start to a marathon.
My plan was to run with the four hour pace group for the entire race, and try to break that mark at the end. I fell a little behind during mile 1, just due to the general mayhem with different paces at the start of the race. Also, while there were about 3300 people running the marathon, another 6000+ were there running the half marathon, which ran the same roads for the majority of its course, and started at the same time.
I picked up the pace (maybe a little too much, around an 8:40 mile) during mile 2, and caught the pace group. For the next 3 miles or so, I ran with them pretty comfortably. After that, though, I knew something wasn't right. My stomach began to feel...not so good, and my legs felt numb, like I had already run 20 miles. Seven miles into a marathon, that's not a good feeling to have. I was able to still hang with the pace leader, but it felt like I was expending far too much energy to do it.
Mile 10 took us back through downtown, and past our moms' cheering section, which was a nice pick-up. After that, we did about a three mile loop down through German Village, which has some nice crowd support, and then began the long climb up High Street. I crossed the halfway point at 2:00:52, almost exactly on pace, but extremely tired and feeling dehydrated. While we climbed up High Street for the next four miles, I would look up, and each time, the pace group was gaining on me more and more. That was the most discouraging part of the race, and the part where I seriously considered just turning around and walking back.
But, I decided that I'd rather have a slow time than waste all my training just to quit, so I kept going. By mile 16, my body was already exhausted, and I had to start walking some significant stretches. That would become a theme, as I never ran another complete mile. I started getting cramps in my stomach, and at one point in my hamstring that forced me off the side of the road. Thank goodness it never completely balled up, but it felt like it was about to do so. The second half of the race is also almost completely in the sun, and I certainly wasn't the only one suffering - at some points, there were more people in my view walking than running.
Rather than beat myself up about it, I tried to just enjoy the rest of the race as much as I could. On this day, I realized that it wasn't about not training hard enough, or not preparing well. I hydrated well, other than missing one early water stop due to crowds. I took my gel packs at the appropriate times. I think my body just didn't react well to the heat, and that there's not much I could have done about it.
I ended up with a 4:39, which was disappointing given the amount of training I did, but is still my second best time. Judgment on when/whether another marathon will happen is reserved until my body recovers from this one.
Monday, October 01, 2007
NBHCMTS 20 Miler
Quite the acronym, no?
Anyhow, this 20 miler was the last tune-up before tapering down to the Columbus marathon in a few weeks. It's mostly an out-and-back race, with a few hilly miles more on the out.
I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a couple other guys around mile 5, and we ran together until around mile 13, when I turned up the speed a little bit. My goal was to be somewhere between a 9:30 and 10:00 pace, so as not to burn myself out too much before the real goal in three weeks.
After New Hampshire, the hill toward the end of the race didn't seem nearly so steep this year, and I cruised across the finish line at 3:15:39, a 9:46 pace. I was pretty happy that I was able to pace myself well on a long race, and never walked. Last year, I had run a 3:11, which surprised me when I looked back today. For only a four minute difference, I ran much more in control and comfortably this year, and I wasn't even trying to run my fastest. Makes me think the training is going pretty well...or at least I will convince myself that's what it means. :)
Now it's time to taper down the miles and get ready for the big finish to fall training!
Anyhow, this 20 miler was the last tune-up before tapering down to the Columbus marathon in a few weeks. It's mostly an out-and-back race, with a few hilly miles more on the out.
I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a couple other guys around mile 5, and we ran together until around mile 13, when I turned up the speed a little bit. My goal was to be somewhere between a 9:30 and 10:00 pace, so as not to burn myself out too much before the real goal in three weeks.
After New Hampshire, the hill toward the end of the race didn't seem nearly so steep this year, and I cruised across the finish line at 3:15:39, a 9:46 pace. I was pretty happy that I was able to pace myself well on a long race, and never walked. Last year, I had run a 3:11, which surprised me when I looked back today. For only a four minute difference, I ran much more in control and comfortably this year, and I wasn't even trying to run my fastest. Makes me think the training is going pretty well...or at least I will convince myself that's what it means. :)
Now it's time to taper down the miles and get ready for the big finish to fall training!
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