Except me. I went out for a ride today, and was feeling really good for the first 30 minutes or so. I felt like I was cruising pretty easily, and keeping a good pace.
Then I turned.
Roads that last week were an easy 17-18 mph became 10-11 today. It was all I could do to keep my cadence over 90, like my coach asked me to do. I guess I should have known that the first couple roads were too good to be true.
The other part of the prescribed ride, though? The important part? I did just fine, thank you very much.
On the way home, I was spinning my way along, and passed a guy on a mountain bike wearing a backpack. I didn't think anything of it until a minute later, when he passed me back, pedaling furiously! I'm self confident enough that I didn't feel any need to race him, despite his obvious attempt at it.
But...I did anyway. One big gear later, and he was nowhere to be seen by the next stoplight. :)
I actually missed it yesterday, but I wanted to start a series of these posts so I can look back and see my progress. Yesterday marked 8 months out from Ironman.
Biggest Challenge This Month:
I think the biggest challenge in October was simply getting back to training. After Muncie, I took a fair amount of time off other than a little pre-Reach the Beach training. Swimming, especially, has been tough to recover; my form left me quickly after a couple months of neglect, but is starting to come back a bit now.
Biggest Success This Month:
Since there haven't really been any "epic" workouts or anything so far, one success has been building up a little bit of a base without the usual nagging injuries I seem to get when starting out.
However, the biggest success for me has been finding some mental toughness to get in nearly all my workouts. I'm usually pretty bad at this, but maybe the magnitude of the race has scared me into it. Other than the week I was sick, I've only missed one workout without making it up later.
How I Feel About Training:
Pretty good so far! I'm really excited to be working with my coach Liz, and look forward to seeing what's next. I'm starting to feel my body adapting to the training, and not just by being hungry and sleepy. :)
How I Feel About The Race:
It's still a long way off, and doesn't seem very real at this point. The longest I've ever trained for anything to this point is probably about 4 months. Watching Meredith train hard and speed through her race has inspired me to want to be faster, and not just plod across the line. That said, I'll gladly accept a 16:59:59 finish if that's what it takes.
What's Next?
Heart rate training next week. I've never done anything with a heart rate monitor before, so I'll be really interested to see how it goes. I'm also trying to convince my coach to let me run a 4 mile race on Thanksgiving.
Also very important: finding a place to stay in Coeur D'Alene. If anyone out there has a good recommendation for lodging for two (hopefully not excessively pricey), let me know!
8 Months Out Theme Song:
"Eight Days A Week", The Beatles
Chosen because it is also the answer to the question, "How often will Dave be swimming/biking/running from here on out?"
It was good news for Meredith this weekend, as the temperature in Columbus fell off a cliff to the 60s. She, after all, was running the Columbus Marathon on Sunday!
Before we got there, we had a Saturday of fun and rest. Our niece was playing in a soccer game conveniently located in a town just over an hour by bike from our house. My scheduled workout? A 75 minute bike ride. Charlie and I got up early and left the house about 7:45 AM. Now, I've never really trained in the winter. And I *certainly* haven't ridden a bike in cold weather before. Just a few minutes out, I found myself wishing that I had more than three layers on, or at least something to break the chilly morning winds. Once I got going, my core was fine, but my fingers and toes were not! (This led to a trip to my local Roll store to pick up some booties for future rides.)
I'd never ridden this way before, so it was sight unseen as to how the little back roads I was taking would look. The course ended up not being too bad, though it was uphill most of the way, and on a one way ride, there's no "at least it'll be downhill on the way back" with which to comfort yourself. One of the roads got a little rough, too, but was more of an "uggityuggityuggityuggity" rough, as opposed to the end of the Muncie race's "ka-CHUNK ka-CHUNK ka-CHUNK" of crack repairs. A few stretches, though, were new blacktop, which just feels like heaven on a bike.
Meredith met me out at the...um...pitch?, and got me some warm clothes (whew, much better) in which to watch the soccer match. After that, it was back home for the first lazy Saturday in a long while, and a chance to watch our Buckeyes beat up on Michigan State.
Sunday was marathon day, and we were downtown really early this year for the 7:30 start. I'll let you read Meredith's report for the details, but suffice it to say that she ran a great race, and hit her goal of 3:30. I was really proud of her for achieving it after putting in so much hard work.
And what better way to celebrate than to go out for a run of my own? I hit the trails at a local park for an hour run. Let's just say that cross country is not my strength, and I may have booed out loud when I came upon a couple flights of unexpected stairs on one of the trails. After an hour, I had gone just over 6 miles, which isn't too bad for the terrain and for trying to keep it at a fairly easy pace.
Today's my first brick (bike-run) of the training plan, which I'm actually looking forward to quite a bit. Next week begins the harder training, as well as heart rate testing. I'm not exactly sure what that will entail, but the words "Here be dragons" from old maps come to mind...
If I said that my race number from Muncie was still on my bike, would that give any indication of how much I've ridden since July? Okay, there were a couple little rides in there, but they involved things like stops at Starbucks for hot chocolate...I'm not sure that counts.
Today, the number came off, the helmet went on, and Charlie and I hit the road again. My first ride of Ironman training was a 60 minute easy ride, and it couldn't have been a more beautiful day for a spin on the bike. The temperature was just a little brisk, the sky was completely blue, and the wind stayed to a minimum. I decided to reprise the course for my first ride in the Muncie training plan and ride out past Abercrombie headquarters.
Since it was just an easy ride, I didn't go into aero position very much; I just took in the day. Other than a few cars starting left turns into me before hitting their brakes, the traffic was light, and I was able to pick a high cadence and stick with it. Because the traffic was a little too light, I had to push my way over one-footed to the crossing buttons for one of the stoplights, or I never would have gotten across. 32 minutes out, I hit my turn and headed back home. My cadence meter decided to flake out on me (18 rpm? Really? That must be the biggest gear ever if I'm going 19 mph on flat ground!), but I tried to keep it light and easy back through town, and hit the driveway at 59 minutes.
One thing I learned today: Cool Mint Chocolate Clif Bars are my new favorite bike fuel. Today's ride wasn't one that really needed a mid-ride bar, but riding at 1:00 without lunch demanded some calories. This flavor will definitely be making the trip with me on all future long rides.
I didn't realize how much I had missed riding. It's so nice to do a workout that isn't in the same 4 miles that most of my runs take place in, or in the pool. Now, if I can just keep enjoying my bike this much, I might just make it through those six hour rides I'll be doing in the spring!
I really hope getting back to training keeps me healthy. Ever since Muncie, I haven't been able to make it more than a few weeks without problems.
I'm now working with a coach, Elizabeth (Fedofsky) Waterstraat, who's a pro triathlete based out of Chicago. Very excited to see what her training can push me to accomplish!
On Monday, Ironman training kicked off with a 2200m swim. Close to a mile and a half for the first workout, eh? I was a little worried since I hadn't been in the pool for a while, but it actually went pretty well. Even then, I was starting to feel a little sick, and my stamina tapered off before I finished, but finishing wasn't any problem.
The problem came the next morning, when I woke up with a massive cold, which (as always) turned into sinus issues. Sigh. So, I've been laid up with that until yesterday, and I think today I can finally get back to my plan.
Well, it's almost here. Ironman training officially starts Monday. We've got a wedding to attend and shoot this weekend, so Sunday will be my only day of rest before it gets underway.
Let's hope it goes better than this guy's training:
Thursday morning, nine of our twelve teammates gathered at Port Columbus airport to begin our journey to Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. We picked up Bob in Cleveland, where we connected for our flight to Manchester. There, Steve joined us by car (he drove 7 hours to meet us), and one van stuck around Manchester to pick up Mandy, our final teammate, that evening. We got some groceries (okay, peanut butter M&Ms), and drove up towards the mountains.
After checking into our home away from home, the beautiful Profile Deluxe hotel (also our namesake), our van went up to Cannon Mountain to get signed in for the race. It was cold up there! We went through the orientation meeting, got our shirts, and got back to the hotel. Usually, we all go out to a bar/restaurant across the street for some pool, darts, and other entertainment. This year, though, we were pretty tired, and just got some dinner and went back to get some rest before the big day.
Morning broke, bringing more cold weather, low overcast skies, and some light rain. The race course changed this year, and actually ran right by our hotel. The team grabbed some plastic chairs and brought them out to the curb to cheer on the early teams. The first waves of runners started at 7:30 AM, while we weren't due to start until 2:40 PM. It's a long time to sit around watching other people run, but we always seem to make it an entertaining time. Unfortunately, Meredith had caught a cold, so she missed some of the entertainment while taking a nap.
Finally, 1:30 rolled around, and we packed up for the long hours ahead. A quick trip back up to Cannon Mountain, and we were ready to cheer Mandy on for the first leg of the race. Each twelve person team is packed into two vans. We were van two, so while van one stuck around for support, we jumped ahead a bit to grab some lunch and fuel up for the evening. We found a Quizno's on the course, and sat outside watching more runners go by. Meredith hadn't brought a sweatshirt, and it was so cold that we bought her one there. (It's got a moose on it, and says "Live Free Or Die!")
I was leg seven, the first runner for van two. So, before I knew it, I was standing at the transition area at the Attitash Ski Resort, ready to take the handoff. (The baton is actually a slap bracelet. Remember those?)
I'm the slowest runner on our team, so I'm always eager to hit my estimated times. It was nearing twilight as I began my run, and it had just begun to drizzle. Leg 7 was a 7.2 mile run that went up through "The Notch", as the locals told me afterward. It was too dark and foggy to see any of the scenery, though. Almost immediately, two men passed me, and were gone. A couple more trickled by within the first couple miles. As we wound around the side of the mountain, a pair of women passed me, and I managed to hold on to their pace for a bit. They would gain on me on the uphills, but I was flying down the downhills while they were playing it safe, and kept I ending up right behind them. Eventually, though, they pulled away, and one other woman passed me as well. The course instructions told me I'd be turning at mile 5, but that turn ended up being more like 6.7 miles into the run. Thank goodness I knew my road names this time! During my run, the drizzle also turned into a steady, heavy rain. It didn't feel too bad, but it's really distracting when you have a headlamp on illuminating the drops right in front of your face. By the finish line, I could see a headlamp behind me, but I managed to hold them off. The transition area was a blur of flashing lights and sound after a dark run in the woods, and it took me a few moments to find Bridget, our next runner.
Leg 7 - 7.2 miles Pre-race Estimate: 1:04:00 Actual Time: 1:04:00 (8:53/mile) Roadkill: -7 (+0, -7)
After my first run, I found a slice of pizza at the fundraising stand for the school at which we were handing off. It tasted amazing.
The rest of our van's runs went off without a hitch, and we raced ahead to the next point at which we'd run to try and get some sleep. My next run was estimated to start at 4:00 AM, and we arrived there at 1:30 AM, so we wouldn't get much. I decided to sleep in the van, because I was worried that I wouldn't hear my watch alarm. Soon enough, we got the call from van 1 that they were on their way, and I had to hurry to get ready for my run.
My second run, leg 19, was a 4.4 mile run, with some hills. The first half mile or so began uphill, but then the next three miles were a nice steady downhill. This leg, other than extremely high humidity, was beautiful running weather...felt like mid 50s, and no rain. Again, I was passed twice early, but then it finally happened. Five legs into my RTB career, I finally caught a runner! I'd add two more before that downhill was over. After the descent, though, we took a sharp right and began a sharp uphill. Another runner was in sight ahead of me, and I tried to chase her down on the hill. My stomach, however, decided it had had quite enough, and mutinied. I never (quite) lost my lunch, but had to walk a bit to get everything settled, and got passed by one more guy. After that incident, I managed to coast into the next handoff, and was excited about my time. I had worked hard during that leg, and it showed.
Leg 19 - 4.4 miles Pre-race Estimate: 40:00 Actual Time: 36:17 (8:14/mile) Roadkill: 0 (+3, -3)
When I finished, I was informed that one of our runners was missing. They had to leave the last transition area without him to pick me up and drop off our next runner, so we headed back. Eventually, we found him standing with a couple members of our other van. He had overslept, and received quite the abuse for the rest of the race over it. :) Thankfully, the leg after mine was over 9 miles, so we still had time to get down there and do the next handoff without interruption.
The next set of legs are really kind of a blur, as I was dozing off during a few of them. I think sleep deprivation was setting in for all of us.
I do distinctly remember doing a U-Turn and stopping at a Dunkin Donuts during Meredith's run. She was giving us a thumbs up, but after she saw what we were doing, I'm not so sure it was her thumb anymore...
Morning broke again during our legs, and we handed off to the other van in a suddenly hot and sunny day. Far from buying new sweatshirts, now we were all putting on sunscreen and trying to stay hydrated. We all tried to find some shade and get a little rest before we brought the race down to the shore. My last leg was 2.5 miles, and it ended up being a nice flat/slight downhill run for the entire distance. My goal was just to bring it in under 8:00 miles. My calves had cramped up pretty badly from the first two legs, so I had to work at it. I only saw one other runner on this leg of the race, and I passed her pretty easily. The transition area finally appeared, and I handed off just under my goal.
Leg 31 - 2.5 miles Pre-race Estimate: 20:00 Actual Time: 19:35 (7:50/mile) Roadkill: +1 (+1, -0)
We wound down through the coastal towns, and before we knew it, we were cheering Nathan in for the last few steps of the entire 200+ miles. Most of us took the opportunity to hop in the ocean (who needs an ice bath?), and enjoy the afternoon before heading back for pizza and some much needed sleep. Our team did very well this year. We finished in 25:45:37, a 7:23/mile average. That was good enough for 29th place out of 356 teams finishing the course.
But then, the adventure really started.
Our Contintental Airlines flight from Manchester went off without a hitch, getting us to Newark around 11:30 on Sunday. We were scheduled to have a connecting flight just before 2:00 PM. The staff informed us that there was a mechanical problem with our airplane, and the flight coming in from Mexico City would now be our plane. So, we waited three more hours in the terminal. Then, they said that the flight crew had been on duty too long, so they were cancelling our flight. Didn't they know that three hours earlier?!
Everyone scrambled to the customer service counter, and our team scattered. Five of our teammates who absolutely had to be home the next morning rented a car and drove the 8+ hours home from Newark...ugh. The rest of us took the hotel vouchers and spent the night in Piscataway, NJ at the Radisson. Down in the lobby, there were a multitude of women in short, short dresses, and had obviously had some...um...work done. We were guessing either prostitutes or adult film stars, but Google says it was a pro wrestling convention/dinner. Everyone but Meredith and I got on a flight to Cleveland at 6:00 AM, while we were back on the same 2:00 flight in the afternoon.
We made sure to use up all our meal vouchers on lunch, ice cream, and anything else we could find. Eventually, we were left with $16, and I went to McDonalds and told them to give me as many bottles of water as it could buy. The cashier didn't look amused, but I got 7 bottles out of it to bring home. :)
At 2:00, the Continental rep announced that some of the flight crew never showed up. We thought sure that we were spending another night in Piscataway, but eventually they found a replacement. Only 28.5 hours after arriving in Newark, we were finally on our way home.
When we got to Columbus, we found that the storms in Ohio had knocked out the power for half the city, including our house. The estimate was potentially a week to get it back, but thankfully, we woke this morning to blinking alarm clocks and a working fan.
Hey, it wouldn't be Reach the Beach without stories. It was another great year!
Or maybe rain. And 50 degree weather. And living free and running at 4:29 AM, if the estimated schedule holds true.
Must be time for Reach the Beach! My cold (and then antibiotic-requiring sinus infection) took me completely out of my training plan for about a week and a half, so I'm way behind on the miles I hoped to get in before the race. All those grand plans about speed work? Umm...yeah, not so much.
So, I went out and did 3 miles yesterday, at about an 8:50 pace (without stopping the watch during a couple stretch stops for my stubborn shins). Not a bad pace for my training runs, but I was putting out an awful lot of effort to get there. That has me a little worried for the 7.2 mile run that I kick off with on Friday. At this point, I'll just have to rely on the couple runs longer than that I managed before getting sick. The plan now is just to get in a couple more runs at an easy pace before we leave, and hope for the best.
And if the best includes an OSU victory to cap off Saturday evening, even better! Go Buckeyes!
Okay, I know this is a few months old, but I hadn't seen it until yesterday. It's a clip from the Bulgarian version of American Idol. If anyone else out there hasn't seen it...enjoy! (And I actually went to high school with someone named Ken Lee, which made it doubly funny)
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...
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!
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!
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.
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.
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. :)
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!
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.
