1/9/14
My first full distance Ironman (Coeur d'Alene, ID) is at the end of June, and though I have been in 'pre-training' the past 2 months, I have yet to spend a single minute getting any thoughts on screen. Since starting this blog last summer, I made a decision to not document every single workout...I've read blogs like that, and not only do they make me feel insufficient, but unorganized. Nonetheless, I don't want to invoke such baseless emotions on the general triathlete public, so I am going to stick to key workouts, potential breakthroughs, and maybe some significant timelines over the next 24 weeks. May just keep this one continuous Post for a while -- mainly for sanity and simplicity. I am not such a good blogger that I feel the need to have a 'monthly-weekly-daily' structure. Perhaps as I go along, I'll find a reason to write a few side-Posts.
So for the better part of the last year, most likely due to being a new dad and lifting a baby/toddler on one side of my body, I've been dealing with some moderate sciatica. Up until late July/early August, it was bearable and I was working out without pain or loss of function and strength. But at the end of the summer I decided to take a month or so off to see if it would work itself out. I would swim and do my PT stretches and exercises, but ultimately I got restless, bored, and frustrated that nothing was really changing, so I decided to run a bit -- after which my symptoms got progressively better... who-da-thunk that working out is better for my back and hips. This motivated me to start some pre-base training in Nov. & Dec. I finally got a used bike trainer and was dabbling a bit on 45-60 min spins in the garage watching HBO, Showtime, and Netflix on the iPad. Plus it's guilt-free because Samantha is already out the door to daycare or asleep for the night. I call these moments in my cold garage 'vacation'.
The name of the game these past 2 months has been 'mental frequency and family planning' (not that kind of planning). If I think I am just going to start a 20-week plan of multiple 2-a-day-per-week workouts beginning early February, I could end up facing divorce and/or getting fired...not to mention real mental and physical shock. Basically, I've been looking at my work and home life during any one day or week, and if I can add-in any workout, no matter the 'what/where/when', I try to do it. I am not focusing too much on intensity, speed or distance yet, though I've kept some on-line DailyMile and mental notes, but I am preparing my family for what it's going to be like starting in 4 weeks. So far it's been manageable without any stink-eyes and cold shoulders... though I think laundry management is gonna be tricky...
Luckily over the past 2 months, I have been getting a pretty good idea for what realistic goals are for Cd'A, so here's some of my overall progress leading into the official training plan:
Swim: been around 2100-2500m workouts at a comfortable pace. Timing a few workouts and I've been hovering right around 2:00min per 100m with not too much fatigue, especially post-swim. On 1/6/14, I did a 2000m time trial in 41 min which is right on target.
2.4 mile IM swim goal: 1 hr 20 min (2:04/100m)
Bike: averaging 60-75 min continuous spinning. Did back-to-back 45 min sessions with 10 min rest between a few weeks ago. I'm able to spend more than half the time in the big ring. Limitations are going to be mental fatigue, wrist/palm discomfort, and learning to add-in bouts of intensity/speed while avoiding the iPad.
112 mile IM bike goal: 6 hr 30 min (just over 17 mph)
Run: Been doing a lot of treadmill due to weather, but it is helping with stride turnover and pacing. Well over race pace for now, but it's good neuro-training especially adding in a mix of treadmill incline and tempo bouts (1-5 min). Seem to have a solid, comfy, non-fatiguing base of 8-10 miles which is wonderful!
26.2 mile IM run goal: 5 hrs (11 min 24 sec/mile)
1/27/14
With 2 weeks to go until 'training' starts, I decided to sign-up for the 10k 'Yeti Chase' in Morrison, CO. A fun time with some running friends indeed...and guess what...you chase a dude in a Yeti outfit, so even better. Not that I plan to run a 7:17 mile at CdA, but I did PR with a 45:07 and felt quite awesome doing it. My friend Nicole reminded me that a fast run like this from time to time will help work on leg turnover and neuro speed, so I'm taking that advice into the next 22 weeks.
3/4/14
Into the middle of my 4th 'on paper' week of training, and National Pancake Day could not have come at a better time. Last night's swim-bike brick was not particularly difficult, but I woke up famished and still got my run in before breakfast...Snooze restaurant makes incredible gluten-free blueberry pancakes...no butter, add some cinnamon...BOOM!
Training is actually going very well. So far there doesn't seem to be any conflicts with the family as I'm keeping Stacey comprised every step of the way -- she's being beyond supportive, always fine with the evenings after work or the weekend long sessions. I really enjoy my days off where Sammie and I can sleep a little longer and I get her ready for daycare. This keeps me balanced and reminds me what's truly important and why I lead an active lifestyle...
So I've found a few interesting 'non exercise' discoveries Ironman training:
1) calorie intake is up 30-40% which I'm definitely not complaining about. though I'm losing weight which I need to reverse pretty quickly here...
2) Laundry has become the 5th sport disciple, following nutrition, but having my own laundry basket for dry fit (not allowed in the dryer....) is making it MUCH easier.
3) I don't really care how I dress to work, as long as I can put it together in under 3 minutes in the morning and it doesn't include jeans (BOOOO!!!!!)
As far as the workouts, my left hip is still tight causing that foot numbness in the AM, but it's going away much faster. Takes about 15-20 min into the AM runs to loosen up and really no bother on the swim or bike. Other than that, no GI issues, and pre-workout nutrition is starting to come together; I'm finding the simpler, the better. Speaking of GI, literally 10 seconds ago (at 10:18am), I received a wonderful $250 donation from my folks to my CCFA fundraising getting me to $2340 towards my $3000 goal!
Current status and progress as of 2/10/14 (20 weeks to IM CdA):
Swim: Key workout has been my 6X500m with 1min rests between for a 57:39 swim time. This is a projected race pace of 1:13 - 1:15...oh, and I get a wetsuit to help out with that ;) I joined a Masters group and try to go Tuesday nights. It's definitely helping with endurance and strength and forces me to rest much less. Plus, I am finally understanding the benefits of swim paddles and fins. Focus lately has been purely on technique:
- long elbow extension with body rotation. GLIIIIIIIIDE...
- hands to '11 and 1', not crossing the mid-line
- thinking of my hand-to-elbow as an oar
- rotate body to get the back muscles fully activated, making sure elbow doesn't surface too early
- trying to look down a bit more to relax neck and breath back towards the shoulder
Bike: Distances still unknown since setting up my cyclometer on the rear wheel does not seem very consistent on the trainer. Got my bike fit last week and there were some key saddle, handlebar, and aerobar adjustments. But my 2 hour ride on Sunday was MUCH better on my hands and elbows. My butt is still not used to the non-stop pedaling without coasting/standing for some rest/pressure relief, but that will just be a nice treat come race day.
After last night's spin at the gym with only my iPhone music on Shuffle, I think I want to make 1 indoor 60min bike session per week set to music where I adjust cadence and resistance to the beat of each random song to have an RPE of 5/6. Totally keeps the legs guessing, and slow/sludgy rock songs are PERFECT for some standing hill bouts!
Run: Been enjoying my early AM runs and adding in workouts with stride repeats (0:30 RPE 7/8 with 4:30 recovery RPE 3/4 for about 40-45min. Been attacking hills no matter how long or steep. Oh, and I came up with a weird 4-foot-strike mantra that's helping me run stronger from my core:
Step: "Squeeze"
Step: "The butt"
Step: "Take"
Step: "The punch"
Shut up, it's helping...
2/10/14
'Prep' phase ended yesterday and I move into 'Base 1' today. Summary of the first 4 weeks:
Swim - 28800 meters (17.9 miles)
Bike - 18 hours
Run - 93.2 miles (14 hours)
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Friday, August 9, 2013
Ironman 70.3 Boulder, CO - August 4, 2013
I am not going to lie, I had huge training expectations following the St. George 70.3 to break 6 hours for this race. Finishing SG in 6:03:17, and having a good spring/summer improving my running, I said I could find 3:18 to shave off somewhere, so I was gung-ho! But as the summer went on, life and family took over, and I never really felt as physically or mentally prepared going into Boulder this past Sunday. I just simply did not get enough actual training days in. I'd say during the final week, a few extra bike sessions at least got me psyched-up and calmed my nerves a bit, but in the end, I just didn't have that same 'attitude' as St. George...
That is until I decided, race day morning, to seed myself in the 34:00-36:00 minute swim corral. I did St. George in 35:05, so why not try again?? This was the 3rd non-pro wave, so I figured I'd rather try to keep up with fast swimmers than zig-zagging through a slower wave. Problem with time waves rather than age waves is that everyone swims with the same ability and it stays pretty bunched. I took some pretty good head, face, gut, and crotch shots on occasion, especially around turns 1 and 2, but we all kept our lines well enough. By turn 3 heading to shore, it was more spread out and I could tell everyone else was picking up the pace, so I went for it too, finishing in 33:35.
I of course had no idea of this swim time, but as I ran into Transition 1 and there was almost no one there (i.e., they were all still in the water), I assumed I had done good enough on the swim, relaxed a bit, and had plenty of space (sans chaos) to get ready for the bike . This time, the socks went on without a hitch (thanks pre-roll), but the stupid arm sleeve coolers would NOT go up over wet arms. Because of this, I felt my T1 performance was pure shit...again... So I took this more-than-moderate anger and put it directly into the bike.
The bike course immediately started with rolling hills, so right away, my heart rate was all over the damn place, not to mention my breathing. I finally calmed down and settled into the first 10 miles of climbs and some good descents. It was around mile 10 that I realized my odometer, although started on time, was not reset following my last training ride, so the mileage and ride time were basically random values and I couldn't gauge anything. I started to get an idea (via bad math) how I was doing, but I just focused on my MPH reading and tried to stay above 18-19 mph which would give me a 3 hour ride time and help chip-away at those 3 minute 18 seconds. After the hilly portion, it was basically a flat course with sections of rollers and false-flats (notorious in Boulder) between miles 25-40. And there seemed to be a constant light head wind in every direction (typical Boulder). I stayed in my aero bar position at least 80% of the entire ride, which allowed me to clip along well-above 22-23 mph most of the time, but I still had no clue what my actual ride time was. By the end, my gluts and hamstrings were starting to fatigue pretty fast. A flatter course means 56 miles of all pedaling with almost no downhill or coasting time to refresh or stretch out. But I felt good. My nutrition of Honey Stinger Gels and half a Cool Mint Clif Bar kept my blood sugar nice and controlled, and I actually felt OK rolling into T2.
My transition location was immediately in front of the bike dismount line, so I was into my run gear pretty quickly. And unlike St. George, I did NOT take a 3 minute pee break on my way out of T2, so again, I was thinking of the minutes I was gaining on my 6 hour goal.
As usual during the first 20 minutes off the bike, my whole body felt like Jello, but assumed it would pass. It did not. It was already pretty warm outside and there was no shade...anywhere. I started cursing to myself all the reasons I hate running around the Boulder Reservoir; it really does suck! Not to mention uneven terrain and rocks the size of baseballs covering a good amount of the course. My first 6.5 mile lap seemed to take forever and my feet hurt...like joint pain. So mentally I was breaking down. I came through lap 1 and noticed the cumulative race time (from the male pro start) was 4:38-ish. Doing more bad math, I knew I had my sub-6 hours in the bag which gave me a mental boost for sure, but lap 2 was just sheer exhaustion. I tried to pick up the pace, but could not. I even walked a helluva lot more in addition to walking every water stop. But those small 15-20 second walks kept the fatigue at bay just enough to finish strong in the final mile. I did a negative run split and was 4 minutes slower than in St. George which was kind of disappointing. SG's run course was sooooooo much more hilly, and it followed a much hillier bike course. So why was Boulder a harder race...???
I later found out I knocked 24 minutes off my bike time, so of course I didn't have the same steam for a solid run. I never though I'd ever break 3 hours on the bike, with my non-Tri bike and all, but today my original, 'pre-triathlon-era', endurance hobby came through and hurdled me to a 5:36:54 finish and a +27 minute PR!
So what started off as a 'blah' summer of training leading to less-than-enthusiastic race expectations, turned into the pinnacle of my triathlon experiences. As from all races, I learned a TON about what's continuing to work for me, and more importantly, what's not and needs some adjustment.
Ironman 140.6 Coeur d' Alene is next June and will be here before I know it, so January-February starts the 'real-deal' training. Until then, I am taking some down-time to just keep a fun and healthy base with my run club, do more Rocky Mountain hill cycling with Stacey, maybe do another 14-er before summer's over, and try to get back into strength training which will be necessary for the 140.6 training. I plan to slowly build my average swim distances to 2500-2800 over the next 4 months and it's probably time I pull the trigger on that indoor bike trainer ;)
That is until I decided, race day morning, to seed myself in the 34:00-36:00 minute swim corral. I did St. George in 35:05, so why not try again?? This was the 3rd non-pro wave, so I figured I'd rather try to keep up with fast swimmers than zig-zagging through a slower wave. Problem with time waves rather than age waves is that everyone swims with the same ability and it stays pretty bunched. I took some pretty good head, face, gut, and crotch shots on occasion, especially around turns 1 and 2, but we all kept our lines well enough. By turn 3 heading to shore, it was more spread out and I could tell everyone else was picking up the pace, so I went for it too, finishing in 33:35.
I of course had no idea of this swim time, but as I ran into Transition 1 and there was almost no one there (i.e., they were all still in the water), I assumed I had done good enough on the swim, relaxed a bit, and had plenty of space (sans chaos) to get ready for the bike . This time, the socks went on without a hitch (thanks pre-roll), but the stupid arm sleeve coolers would NOT go up over wet arms. Because of this, I felt my T1 performance was pure shit...again... So I took this more-than-moderate anger and put it directly into the bike.
The bike course immediately started with rolling hills, so right away, my heart rate was all over the damn place, not to mention my breathing. I finally calmed down and settled into the first 10 miles of climbs and some good descents. It was around mile 10 that I realized my odometer, although started on time, was not reset following my last training ride, so the mileage and ride time were basically random values and I couldn't gauge anything. I started to get an idea (via bad math) how I was doing, but I just focused on my MPH reading and tried to stay above 18-19 mph which would give me a 3 hour ride time and help chip-away at those 3 minute 18 seconds. After the hilly portion, it was basically a flat course with sections of rollers and false-flats (notorious in Boulder) between miles 25-40. And there seemed to be a constant light head wind in every direction (typical Boulder). I stayed in my aero bar position at least 80% of the entire ride, which allowed me to clip along well-above 22-23 mph most of the time, but I still had no clue what my actual ride time was. By the end, my gluts and hamstrings were starting to fatigue pretty fast. A flatter course means 56 miles of all pedaling with almost no downhill or coasting time to refresh or stretch out. But I felt good. My nutrition of Honey Stinger Gels and half a Cool Mint Clif Bar kept my blood sugar nice and controlled, and I actually felt OK rolling into T2.
My transition location was immediately in front of the bike dismount line, so I was into my run gear pretty quickly. And unlike St. George, I did NOT take a 3 minute pee break on my way out of T2, so again, I was thinking of the minutes I was gaining on my 6 hour goal.
As usual during the first 20 minutes off the bike, my whole body felt like Jello, but assumed it would pass. It did not. It was already pretty warm outside and there was no shade...anywhere. I started cursing to myself all the reasons I hate running around the Boulder Reservoir; it really does suck! Not to mention uneven terrain and rocks the size of baseballs covering a good amount of the course. My first 6.5 mile lap seemed to take forever and my feet hurt...like joint pain. So mentally I was breaking down. I came through lap 1 and noticed the cumulative race time (from the male pro start) was 4:38-ish. Doing more bad math, I knew I had my sub-6 hours in the bag which gave me a mental boost for sure, but lap 2 was just sheer exhaustion. I tried to pick up the pace, but could not. I even walked a helluva lot more in addition to walking every water stop. But those small 15-20 second walks kept the fatigue at bay just enough to finish strong in the final mile. I did a negative run split and was 4 minutes slower than in St. George which was kind of disappointing. SG's run course was sooooooo much more hilly, and it followed a much hillier bike course. So why was Boulder a harder race...???
I later found out I knocked 24 minutes off my bike time, so of course I didn't have the same steam for a solid run. I never though I'd ever break 3 hours on the bike, with my non-Tri bike and all, but today my original, 'pre-triathlon-era', endurance hobby came through and hurdled me to a 5:36:54 finish and a +27 minute PR!
So what started off as a 'blah' summer of training leading to less-than-enthusiastic race expectations, turned into the pinnacle of my triathlon experiences. As from all races, I learned a TON about what's continuing to work for me, and more importantly, what's not and needs some adjustment.
Ironman 140.6 Coeur d' Alene is next June and will be here before I know it, so January-February starts the 'real-deal' training. Until then, I am taking some down-time to just keep a fun and healthy base with my run club, do more Rocky Mountain hill cycling with Stacey, maybe do another 14-er before summer's over, and try to get back into strength training which will be necessary for the 140.6 training. I plan to slowly build my average swim distances to 2500-2800 over the next 4 months and it's probably time I pull the trigger on that indoor bike trainer ;)
Friday, May 24, 2013
Colfax Half-Marathon, May 19, 2013
I didn't really time my May events too well with St. George's 70.3 triathlon
2 weeks before a 13.1.
The Colfax Marathon and Half- happens every May in Denver's City Park, and it seems like the unofficial kick-off to run season, though every runner I currently know goes year-round. I signed up for this last fall when they were offering a super low registration fee for the first 500 people who registered, so I took advantage. I did this race in 2012 and it was a nice flat, fast course along one of Denver's original main streets. Now a haven for drugs and seediness, it still is a great way to experience a piece of Denver's historic settlement, when pioneers came upon these Rocky Mountains and...aw, forget it...crack and hookers....
Since my last three 13.1s in a row PR’d each other [1:57 - Louisville 2011; 1:55 – Colfax 2012; 1:50 – Dam Run, 2013], of which two of these courses were quite hilly, I thought I may as well try to beat that 1:50. The Mile High Track Club were the official pacers for the entire event, both the 13.1 and the 26.2. My friends Kristian and DJ were pacing the 1:45 pacers and the next time option was 2:00. So to break 1:50, my only real option was to start with the 1:45 group, do my best to keep up, and hope for a few “buffer” minutes to still come in around 1:48-1:49. Once our corral took off, and I saw how quick an 8 min/mile was, and how fast DJ and Kristian were guiding the pack through the crowd (I was already falling behind), I honestly thought I would never keep this up.
Last year, we started by leaving the park and going east on Colfax maybe 6 miles until it turned around and headed back through some really nice neighborhoods to the finish. But this year, they reversed it, so we started out through the park, but then around mile 2, we entered the Denver Zoo, the new feature perk of this year’s 13.1 course. Cool, right?!? Meh... Yeah I saw a donkey, some monkeys, a bunch of pink flamingos (something I have actually never seen aside from tacky lawn decor), and that's about it. Riveting. But the volunteers in the zoo were mainly kids, and they had fun watching the runners and holding up clever animal signs: "Run like a lion's chasing you", I mean come on, how can you not love that!!! This zoo mile was a tad bunched-up for the runners, and my pacers were getting farther ahead of me. I made a few zig-zags and started to catch them.
We left the zoo and started a nice consistent climb through some spectator-lined streets. By now I was right behind the pace group, now about a dozen runners working together. This was motivating enough to keep my speed up, and frankly, just seeing DJ and Kristian holding an actual “1:45” sign in front of me made it easy to turn my brain off and just run. At mile 6, our buddy Jake was waiting with homemade Mojitos in a Nalgene. We didn’t think he was serious when he told us that’s what his plan was. We decided to pass.
After a few turns, we came up on the Firehouse. I guess the intention is that a bunch of fire fighters line the inside of their firehouse garage, and as we run in and then out the other side, they cheer and glistened heroism. I think they phoned this one in, because I saw zero firefighters and some mechanics tools. Maybe they thought blaring Led Zeppelin through their sound system was a good substitute. Doesn’t matter, I respect them no matter what…but as far as"non-fire" obligations, they should stick to pancake fundraisers and parades. And OMG those monthly calendars!!! But I digress…
We finally ended up on actual Colfax street (who’d a thunk…) and for 2 miles we were blessed with the aromas of this blissful local habitat: fried chicken, donuts, liquor spills, and probably a dumpster fire… Our pace team was clipping along and before we knew it, we were down to the final 5k and running along beautiful 17th Ave. The spectators numbers were growing and at mile 12 I saw one of my wife’s best friends Kristin and her daughter Caroline cheering us on! As we ran along the park perimeter and saw the finish line inside the park, I still could not believe I had kept pace. It began to sink in that 1:50 was no longer the goal, it was now 1:45.
In the final quarter mile, we were getting wonderful cheers from the crowd, and as soon as Kristian started riding his pace sign in like a horse, the crowd went wild. We crossed the finish at 1:43:20 for a new PR that only screams “1:39:59 next time!”
The Colfax Marathon and Half- happens every May in Denver's City Park, and it seems like the unofficial kick-off to run season, though every runner I currently know goes year-round. I signed up for this last fall when they were offering a super low registration fee for the first 500 people who registered, so I took advantage. I did this race in 2012 and it was a nice flat, fast course along one of Denver's original main streets. Now a haven for drugs and seediness, it still is a great way to experience a piece of Denver's historic settlement, when pioneers came upon these Rocky Mountains and...aw, forget it...crack and hookers....
Since my last three 13.1s in a row PR’d each other [1:57 - Louisville 2011; 1:55 – Colfax 2012; 1:50 – Dam Run, 2013], of which two of these courses were quite hilly, I thought I may as well try to beat that 1:50. The Mile High Track Club were the official pacers for the entire event, both the 13.1 and the 26.2. My friends Kristian and DJ were pacing the 1:45 pacers and the next time option was 2:00. So to break 1:50, my only real option was to start with the 1:45 group, do my best to keep up, and hope for a few “buffer” minutes to still come in around 1:48-1:49. Once our corral took off, and I saw how quick an 8 min/mile was, and how fast DJ and Kristian were guiding the pack through the crowd (I was already falling behind), I honestly thought I would never keep this up.
Last year, we started by leaving the park and going east on Colfax maybe 6 miles until it turned around and headed back through some really nice neighborhoods to the finish. But this year, they reversed it, so we started out through the park, but then around mile 2, we entered the Denver Zoo, the new feature perk of this year’s 13.1 course. Cool, right?!? Meh... Yeah I saw a donkey, some monkeys, a bunch of pink flamingos (something I have actually never seen aside from tacky lawn decor), and that's about it. Riveting. But the volunteers in the zoo were mainly kids, and they had fun watching the runners and holding up clever animal signs: "Run like a lion's chasing you", I mean come on, how can you not love that!!! This zoo mile was a tad bunched-up for the runners, and my pacers were getting farther ahead of me. I made a few zig-zags and started to catch them.
We left the zoo and started a nice consistent climb through some spectator-lined streets. By now I was right behind the pace group, now about a dozen runners working together. This was motivating enough to keep my speed up, and frankly, just seeing DJ and Kristian holding an actual “1:45” sign in front of me made it easy to turn my brain off and just run. At mile 6, our buddy Jake was waiting with homemade Mojitos in a Nalgene. We didn’t think he was serious when he told us that’s what his plan was. We decided to pass.
After a few turns, we came up on the Firehouse. I guess the intention is that a bunch of fire fighters line the inside of their firehouse garage, and as we run in and then out the other side, they cheer and glistened heroism. I think they phoned this one in, because I saw zero firefighters and some mechanics tools. Maybe they thought blaring Led Zeppelin through their sound system was a good substitute. Doesn’t matter, I respect them no matter what…but as far as"non-fire" obligations, they should stick to pancake fundraisers and parades. And OMG those monthly calendars!!! But I digress…
We finally ended up on actual Colfax street (who’d a thunk…) and for 2 miles we were blessed with the aromas of this blissful local habitat: fried chicken, donuts, liquor spills, and probably a dumpster fire… Our pace team was clipping along and before we knew it, we were down to the final 5k and running along beautiful 17th Ave. The spectators numbers were growing and at mile 12 I saw one of my wife’s best friends Kristin and her daughter Caroline cheering us on! As we ran along the park perimeter and saw the finish line inside the park, I still could not believe I had kept pace. It began to sink in that 1:50 was no longer the goal, it was now 1:45.
In the final quarter mile, we were getting wonderful cheers from the crowd, and as soon as Kristian started riding his pace sign in like a horse, the crowd went wild. We crossed the finish at 1:43:20 for a new PR that only screams “1:39:59 next time!”
 |
| Some of my MHTC teammates. DJ holding the wrong pace sign. |
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Ironman 70.3 St. George, UT - May 4, 2013
I am not going to lie, I had huge training expectations following the St. George 70.3 to break 6 hours for this race. Finishing SG in 6:03:17, and having a good spring/summer improving my running, I said I could find 3:18 to shave off somewhere, so I was gung-ho! But as the summer went on, life and family took over, and I never really felt as physically or mentally prepared going into Boulder this past Sunday. I just simply did not get enough actual training days in. I'd say during the final week, a few extra bike sessions at least got me psyched-up and calmed my nerves a bit, but in the end, I just didn't have that same 'attitude' as St. George...
That is until I decided, race day morning, to seed myself in the 34:00-36:00 minute swim corral. I did St. George in 35:05, so why not try again?? This was the 3rd non-pro wave, so I figured I'd rather try to keep up with fast swimmers than zig-zagging through a slower wave. Problem with time waves rather than age waves is that everyone swims with the same ability and it stays pretty bunched. I took some pretty good head, face, gut, and crotch shots on occasion, especially around turns 1 and 2, but we all kept our lines well enough. By turn 3 heading to shore, it was more spread out and I could tell everyone else was picking up the pace, so I went for it too, finishing in 33:35.
I of course had no idea of this swim time, but as I ran into Transition 1 and there was almost no one there (i.e., they were all still in the water), I assumed I had done good enough on the swim, relaxed a bit, and had plenty of space (sans chaos) to get ready for the bike . This time, the socks went on without a hitch (thanks pre-roll), but the stupid arm sleeve coolers would NOT go up over wet arms. Because of this, I felt my T1 performance was pure shit...again... So I took this more-than-moderate anger and put it directly into the bike.
The bike course immediately started with rolling hills, so right away, my heart rate was all over the damn place, not to mention my breathing. I finally calmed down and settled into the first 10 miles of climbs and some good descents. It was around mile 10 that I realized my odometer, although started on time, was not reset following my last training ride, so the mileage and ride time were basically random values and I couldn't gauge anything. I started to get an idea (via bad math) how I was doing, but I just focused on my MPH reading and tried to stay above 18-19 mph which would give me a 3 hour ride time and help chip-away at those 3 minute 18 seconds. After the hilly portion, it was basically a flat course with sections of rollers and false-flats (notorious in Boulder) between miles 25-40. And there seemed to be a constant light head wind in every direction (typical Boulder). I stayed in my aero bar position at least 80% of the entire ride, which allowed me to clip along well-above 22-23 mph most of the time, but I still had no clue what my actual ride time was. By the end, my gluts and hamstrings were starting to fatigue pretty fast. A flatter course means 56 miles of all pedaling with almost no downhill or coasting time to refresh or stretch out. But I felt good. My nutrition of Honey Stinger Gels and half a Cool Mint Clif Bar kept my blood sugar nice and controlled, and I actually felt OK rolling into T2.
My transition location was immediately in front of the bike dismount line, so I was into my run gear pretty quickly. And unlike St. George, I did NOT take a 3 minute pee break on my way out of T2, so again, I was thinking of the minutes I was gaining on my 6 hour goal.
As usual during the first 20 minutes off the bike, my whole body felt like Jello, but assumed it would pass. It did not. It was already pretty warm outside and there was no shade...anywhere. I started cursing to myself all the reasons I hate running around the Boulder Reservoir; it really does suck! Not to mention uneven terrain and rocks the size of baseballs covering a good amount of the course. My first 6.5 mile lap seemed to take forever and my feet hurt...like joint pain. So mentally I was breaking down. I came through lap 1 and noticed the cumulative race time (from the male pro start) was 4:38-ish. Doing more bad math, I knew I had my sub-6 hours in the bag which gave me a mental boost for sure, but lap 2 was just sheer exhaustion. I tried to pick up the pace, but could not. I even walked a helluva lot more in addition to walking every water stop. But those small 15-20 second walks kept the fatigue at bay just enough to finish strong in the final mile. I did a negative run split and was 4 minutes slower than in St. George which was kind of disappointing. SG's run course was sooooooo much more hilly, and it followed a much hillier bike course. So why was Boulder a harder race...???
I later found out I knocked 24 minutes off my bike time, so of course I didn't have the same steam for a solid run. I never though I'd ever break 3 hours on the bike, with my non-Tri bike and all, but today my original, 'pre-triathlon-era', endurance hobby came through and hurdled me to a 5:36:54 finish and a +27 minute PR!
So what started off as a 'blah' summer of training leading to less-than-enthusiastic race expectations, turned into the pinnacle of my triathlon experiences. As from all races, I learned a TON about what's continuing to work for me, and more importantly, what's not and needs some adjustment.
Ironman 140.6 Coeur d' Alene is next June and will be here before I know it, so January-February starts the 'real-deal' training. Until then, I am taking some down-time to just keep a fun and healthy base with my run club, do more Rocky Mountain hill cycling with Stacey, maybe do another 14-er before summer's over, and try to get back into strength training which will be necessary for the 140.6 training. I plan to slowly build my average swim distances to 2500-2800 over the next 4 months and it's probably time I pull the trigger on that indoor bike trainer ;)
That is until I decided, race day morning, to seed myself in the 34:00-36:00 minute swim corral. I did St. George in 35:05, so why not try again?? This was the 3rd non-pro wave, so I figured I'd rather try to keep up with fast swimmers than zig-zagging through a slower wave. Problem with time waves rather than age waves is that everyone swims with the same ability and it stays pretty bunched. I took some pretty good head, face, gut, and crotch shots on occasion, especially around turns 1 and 2, but we all kept our lines well enough. By turn 3 heading to shore, it was more spread out and I could tell everyone else was picking up the pace, so I went for it too, finishing in 33:35.
I of course had no idea of this swim time, but as I ran into Transition 1 and there was almost no one there (i.e., they were all still in the water), I assumed I had done good enough on the swim, relaxed a bit, and had plenty of space (sans chaos) to get ready for the bike . This time, the socks went on without a hitch (thanks pre-roll), but the stupid arm sleeve coolers would NOT go up over wet arms. Because of this, I felt my T1 performance was pure shit...again... So I took this more-than-moderate anger and put it directly into the bike.
The bike course immediately started with rolling hills, so right away, my heart rate was all over the damn place, not to mention my breathing. I finally calmed down and settled into the first 10 miles of climbs and some good descents. It was around mile 10 that I realized my odometer, although started on time, was not reset following my last training ride, so the mileage and ride time were basically random values and I couldn't gauge anything. I started to get an idea (via bad math) how I was doing, but I just focused on my MPH reading and tried to stay above 18-19 mph which would give me a 3 hour ride time and help chip-away at those 3 minute 18 seconds. After the hilly portion, it was basically a flat course with sections of rollers and false-flats (notorious in Boulder) between miles 25-40. And there seemed to be a constant light head wind in every direction (typical Boulder). I stayed in my aero bar position at least 80% of the entire ride, which allowed me to clip along well-above 22-23 mph most of the time, but I still had no clue what my actual ride time was. By the end, my gluts and hamstrings were starting to fatigue pretty fast. A flatter course means 56 miles of all pedaling with almost no downhill or coasting time to refresh or stretch out. But I felt good. My nutrition of Honey Stinger Gels and half a Cool Mint Clif Bar kept my blood sugar nice and controlled, and I actually felt OK rolling into T2.
My transition location was immediately in front of the bike dismount line, so I was into my run gear pretty quickly. And unlike St. George, I did NOT take a 3 minute pee break on my way out of T2, so again, I was thinking of the minutes I was gaining on my 6 hour goal.
As usual during the first 20 minutes off the bike, my whole body felt like Jello, but assumed it would pass. It did not. It was already pretty warm outside and there was no shade...anywhere. I started cursing to myself all the reasons I hate running around the Boulder Reservoir; it really does suck! Not to mention uneven terrain and rocks the size of baseballs covering a good amount of the course. My first 6.5 mile lap seemed to take forever and my feet hurt...like joint pain. So mentally I was breaking down. I came through lap 1 and noticed the cumulative race time (from the male pro start) was 4:38-ish. Doing more bad math, I knew I had my sub-6 hours in the bag which gave me a mental boost for sure, but lap 2 was just sheer exhaustion. I tried to pick up the pace, but could not. I even walked a helluva lot more in addition to walking every water stop. But those small 15-20 second walks kept the fatigue at bay just enough to finish strong in the final mile. I did a negative run split and was 4 minutes slower than in St. George which was kind of disappointing. SG's run course was sooooooo much more hilly, and it followed a much hillier bike course. So why was Boulder a harder race...???
I later found out I knocked 24 minutes off my bike time, so of course I didn't have the same steam for a solid run. I never though I'd ever break 3 hours on the bike, with my non-Tri bike and all, but today my original, 'pre-triathlon-era', endurance hobby came through and hurdled me to a 5:36:54 finish and a +27 minute PR!
So what started off as a 'blah' summer of training leading to less-than-enthusiastic race expectations, turned into the pinnacle of my triathlon experiences. As from all races, I learned a TON about what's continuing to work for me, and more importantly, what's not and needs some adjustment.
Ironman 140.6 Coeur d' Alene is next June and will be here before I know it, so January-February starts the 'real-deal' training. Until then, I am taking some down-time to just keep a fun and healthy base with my run club, do more Rocky Mountain hill cycling with Stacey, maybe do another 14-er before summer's over, and try to get back into strength training which will be necessary for the 140.6 training. I plan to slowly build my average swim distances to 2500-2800 over the next 4 months and it's probably time I pull the trigger on that indoor bike trainer ;)
2008 - March 2013
Since I can't recall all the details of my experiences between June 2008, when I first got to Colorado, and this spring, I think I'll just list them in the best chronological order I can muster with some side notes. This is more for me so I don't forget...
2008 - registered for my very first organized Colorado bike ride! The always popular Copper Triangle in August. Nope...hit by a car while riding home from work in July. Bike wrecked, hip injured, no Copper Triangle. But I did ride the course that October since I got a jersey for registering...and the code is that you don't wear an event jersey without actually riding the course.
2009 - Iron Horse Classic. Durango to Silverton, CO (50 mile)
2009 - Elephant Rock. Castle Rock, CO (100 mile)
2009 - Tour de Cure Diabetes Ride. Boulder/Longmont, CO (100 mile)
2009 - Boulder Olympic Distance Triathlon. Boulder, CO (and this my friends was what got me into running...)
 |
| 1st triathlon in the bag |
2010 - Highline Canal 10k. Littleton, CO
2010 - Steamboat 10k. Steamboat Springs, CO.
2010 - Triple Bypass. Evergreen to Avon, CO (120 miles)
2010 - Mt. Evans Classic. Idaho Springs, CO (26 miles, climbs to over 14,000 feet)
2010 - Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon. Loveland, CO
2010 - Tour de Cure Diabetes Ride. Boulder/Longmont, CO (65 mile)
2010 - Boulder Heart and Sole 13.1 (literally the next morning after the Tour de Cure ride)
2010 - Denver Rock and Roll Marathon (my first 26.2, and at the time what I swore be my last...)
2011 - Louisville 13.1. Louisville, CO (broke 2 hours)
2011 - MS150 Bike Ride. Boulder to Ft. Collins, CO
2011 - Ironman 70.3. Boulder, CO (a whole new world opens up...)
August 2011 - abdominal surgery on small intestine. 8 days holed-up at Littleton Hospital. Nurses couldn't get past the fact that my resting heart rate was in the 40s and low 50s and my blood pressure was low 100s / low 60s. They kept checking all the wires and monitors attached to me thinking I was crashing on them. The last time I checked, those numbers were not considered a 'risk.' Though at one point a therapist got me on my feet and my O2 saturation dropped into the 60s and my BP was like 80/40. That felt HORRIBLE!!!!
We got pregnant in the fall of 2011 so I was done for about 9 months, not to mention that my recovery from the summer's surgery needed some attention.
2012 - MS150 Bike Ride. Boulder to Ft. Collins, CO. About 10 days before our due date...I wore one pink sock and one blue sock since he/she was a surprise! I made Stacey text me every 4 hours over the weekend to tell me she was fine and not going into labor. It drove her nuts but deep down she knew I was responsible and awesome)
July 10, 2012 - Greatest day of my life. All the rides, runs, and triathlons instantly became a distant 3rd to my wife and newborn daughter Samantha Reese.
July 2012 - EPIC Run Relay. Canyon City to Crested Butte, CO. (3 legs, totaling about 16 miles). My single greatest 'Colorado' moment came while summiting Cottonwod Pass just past 3:00am at over 12,000 feet (picture below). It was a crystal clear night and the stars and moon were intense. I could see the other runners along the switchbacks ahead and behind me with their headlamps bouncing around. A very unique experience.
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| Sammie and Stacey at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Time Trial - August 2012, City Park, Denver, CO |
November 2012 - joined my first run club at was once the "Boulder Running Company" and is now "RunColorado". This is my second family and the reason running is now more than just something I have to do for triathlons.
March 2013 - The Dam Run 13.1. Centennial, CO (new PR of 1:50 and change...)
OK, now that I cleared my head of all this, the rest of these entries will hopefully be in real-time, or as close as possible.
Quick intro and pre-Colorado recap...
I guess I'll start by saying that this is my very first ever blog attempt in my entire life, well at least since blogging has been around. I decided to pull the trigger on this yesterday, May 20, 2013, when I commented on a running friend's blog after her very first half-marathon in Denver. She told me "Do
it. If not to motivate and inspire others it will give you something to
look back over when you are wondering how far you've come!". So this is it...this is blogging. It's 3:45am and I have been awake since 2:00am listening to my daughter sleep-cough and wondering where and how to start... This is probably going to be 99% about running, cycling, and triathlon events I've done, with snip-its peppered in about my training for said events. I dare to call them races too often.
It all began in 2005, maybe 3-4 months after I met my soon-to-be wife Stacey in Palo Alto, CA. She had just bought her first road bike and at the time I was impressed I had an allen wrench set for my dad's hand-me-down hybrid cruiser. So in an obvious attempt to impress future wife, I bought my very first road bike. A bright yellow Felt F70. And that's it, that's all I knew about the bike. It was bright yellow and shiny and I didn't want to scratch it...ever. And this made me proud. That same summer we decided to do our very first registered bike ride, a 100-mile century down in Santa Cruz. Not knowing squat about how much training this really entailed, nor that an overly-massive bowl of gnocchi the night before was a bad idea, we both barely finished. But afterwards, I knew there was no end in sight and eventually Stacey would go on to say she "created a monster."
For 3 more years, we toured the roads and mountains around San Jose, San Gregorio, Berkeley, Milpitas, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, and Woodside. We even took some trips to ride in Sonoma wine country and down to Las Vegas. I got about 10 or so organized rides and fundraisers over those 3 years...centuries, half-centuries, metric centuries...but mainly just enjoying time with Stacey.
I made a few attempts at running while living in California, but it never stuck and I really didn't care. In late 2007, after being married for just over a year, Stacey came home and said she had a transfer option to Denver. I responded quite succinctly: "if you say yes, I say yes", and we were off. We miss Palo Alto and San Francisco, but Colorado grabbed me the second I rolled in and these mountains will hopefully keep us here. Because what Stacey didn't realize 8 years ago when she "created a monster" was that it would eventually get worse...I say better...
It all began in 2005, maybe 3-4 months after I met my soon-to-be wife Stacey in Palo Alto, CA. She had just bought her first road bike and at the time I was impressed I had an allen wrench set for my dad's hand-me-down hybrid cruiser. So in an obvious attempt to impress future wife, I bought my very first road bike. A bright yellow Felt F70. And that's it, that's all I knew about the bike. It was bright yellow and shiny and I didn't want to scratch it...ever. And this made me proud. That same summer we decided to do our very first registered bike ride, a 100-mile century down in Santa Cruz. Not knowing squat about how much training this really entailed, nor that an overly-massive bowl of gnocchi the night before was a bad idea, we both barely finished. But afterwards, I knew there was no end in sight and eventually Stacey would go on to say she "created a monster."
For 3 more years, we toured the roads and mountains around San Jose, San Gregorio, Berkeley, Milpitas, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, and Woodside. We even took some trips to ride in Sonoma wine country and down to Las Vegas. I got about 10 or so organized rides and fundraisers over those 3 years...centuries, half-centuries, metric centuries...but mainly just enjoying time with Stacey.
I made a few attempts at running while living in California, but it never stuck and I really didn't care. In late 2007, after being married for just over a year, Stacey came home and said she had a transfer option to Denver. I responded quite succinctly: "if you say yes, I say yes", and we were off. We miss Palo Alto and San Francisco, but Colorado grabbed me the second I rolled in and these mountains will hopefully keep us here. Because what Stacey didn't realize 8 years ago when she "created a monster" was that it would eventually get worse...I say better...
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