Happy Holidays

I don't think that the holidays could be placed at a worse time on the training schedule. Just when you get all geared up to lay a good base for the following year work gets crazy, holiday parties pop up, and the weather turns south. I already missed a couple workouts this week, so hopefully that's not a sign. My legs ached all over for some reason, too; maybe the 70' run on Sunday was a bad idea. I'm going sllloooowwww on pretty much every run so far to keep my heart rate down, but somehow my knees hurt more than when I go at a faster pace! Something to do with my form? I didn't think it could get much worse than it already is.

The Takoma pool was back to normal operating temperatures on Thursday which was nice. I got two short sessions in on the trainer trying out the new bike. All of the cables need adjustment, it's skipping on a couple gears, and I can't even shift into the big ring right now. Guess it's time to learn how to fix that!

Tomorrow we are running the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler up in Baltimore on our way to BWI for a short weekend in Madison and Liz's brother's graduation. Hopefully we'll actually be able to get out ahead of the weather. No guarantee that we'll be able to get back, though ...

All your base are belong to us

Week 1 of the spring TNT schedule is behind us. It looks like we're going to have a really good team this year; several participants have been involved with other charity training programs for marathons. The weeks leading up to the New Year are all about building base miles, low intensity workouts designed to get the body used to running and biking again (or at all!). Swimming is a bit of a different animal since it's typically the discipline most people need help with. The workouts are geared towards short drills and building the form that will help develop efficiency in the water. These are mixed in with some longer intervals for those that already have a good swimming base under them. You can always tell the former competitive swimmers in the group: at the beginning of practice they say they're worried about not having taken a stroke in 5 years and then go and blow most of us out of the pool! A powerful message that building muscle memory for an efficient swim stroke is the biggest advantage you can have in the water.

Saturday was the Triathlon 101 clinic. Coaches Jenni and Noah went over gear, basic nutrition, hydration, and a high level overview on what to expect on race day. I saw some worried expressions as they went through all of the "stuff" that you can get to race. I told my team members not to worry about all of it right now. Our bike schedule is pretty light, and that's where 90% of the "stuff" comes in. They will have a bike clinic this Saturday where they will be able to pick up the necessities. It can be a bit overwhelming when you see it all laid out in one place!

Luckily we have most of this gear from last season, but that doesn't prevent the desire for better gear, a disease that seems to be rampant in the triathlon world. To wit, my new bike:


I hadn't planned on picking up a new bike. Honestly! But that's before I signed up for a 1/2 Iron event. Even after being fit on my old bike (but not very well, I fear) I was never comfortable on it. My hands would get tired and numb when I was on the hoods, and my back and shoulders would get sore when I was down in the stubby road aerobars. I wasn't looking forward to 3 hours of that. The folks at Bonzai Sports were having good deals on some 2007 models, so I went in to see what they had. This Felt was on clearance and after a couple hours of adjustments and swapping out some parts I think it fits me pretty well. I'm still planning on getting a professional fitting sometime around the New Year when I have some miles in the saddle, but it already feels leaps and bounds better.

Week 2 (and 3 and 4) is still all about base miles. I'm adding some more run mileage on my own to prep for the 1/2 marathon in March and start laying down some better base to get me through 70.3 in June. It'll take some adjustments to the TNT schedule, but I think I'll be able to fit them in

Onwards and upwards

The big ol' TNT training schedule officially kicked off this morning at 5:30 in the pool at the Lab School. Everything was the same as I remembered from last year except for two things: we weren't locked out in the cold waiting for a lifeguard that never showed and I didn't have horrible butterflies in my stomach not knowing what to expect. All in all it was a little .... underwhelming? In the "not overwhelming" sense of word, not the "not exciting" sense. It was interesting to see the faces of the new participants and wonder if I had the same look prior to our first swim practice 12 months ago. I was in the "fast lane" this morning by default, but it looks like we have some former competitive swimmers in this group, so I may demote myself once they get back in the groove. I've kind of plateaued with my swimming ability, and my aim is to keep myself there with maintenance workouts and focus more on my running this winter in prep for the 1/2 marathon ...

... AND the freakin' 1/2 Ironman I just signed up for!

Holy crap. I mean, holy crap!! I've been going back and forth on this for a couple weeks, and after talking to Teen I took the plunge. There will be a group of us going up (and a couple more doing the Olympic the same weekend), so it should be a fun trip. The #1 reason (by far) that I waffled is that Liz may not be able to come up due to end of year school duties. I really, really want her to be there, but will understand if she can't come. #2 reason is the schedule I've now set up for myself:

4/27: St. Anthony's Olympic in St. Petersburg
5/18: Columbia Olympic in MD just north of DC
6/8: Mooseman Half Iron in Bristol, NH

That's 3 weeks from first to second Olympic; I did 2 weeks between North East and Annapolis this year, but that was the end of the season, and I didn't have a 1/2 Iron (!!!!) looming over me in another 3 weeks. I'll definitely need to treat Columbia as one long workout and not "race" it. It's a hilly course and I could easily get myself in trouble if it takes me a few days to recover from that one.

Hopefully the 1/2 marathon will get me in running shape to tackle this, but I have a long way to go. The biking is what I'm more worried about; we won't get to put that many miles in with our St A's captain duties, so I'm going to need to squeeze in what I can. That may mean lots of time in the trainer. Ugh. I'm pretty scared of this one but pretty excited at the same time. If my legs can hold up to the run, I'll at least be able to finish. And, really, that's a good enough goal.

Holy crap!!

Back for more!

Well, it's been a while. Last summer was a busy one, and updating this thing fell off the priority list. Big news, of course, was the wedding. Everything was fantastic, right down to the weather, even after some emergency surgery for Liz 2 weeks before the big day! We couldn't have asked for a better weekend with all of our friends and family.

Next piece of news is that we are back for more with TNT, this time as Team Captains for St. Anthony's. We've suckered some more friends to join in with us. It's going to be a great season! Of course we are fund raising again. That little link on the right will take you to my personal fund raising page. Anything you can do to support this great cause is appreciated. I'm paying my own way down to FLA this year, so every donation goes straight into the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's coffers to help fight blood cancers.

I'm looking mostly to improve my running in the off season as we gear up for a big summer. Prior to St A's we're signed up for our first ever half marathon in Virginia Beach over St Patrick's Day weekend. We'll see how that one goes! Liz and I are planning a big trip for a belated honeymoon sometime after she is out of school, so the rest of the race calendar is up in the air. The only one we are signed up for is Columbia, 3 weeks after St A's. I was hoping to attempt my first 1/2 Ironman, but our travel schedule may make that impossible. I think I can wait another year for that ...

Some race updates from last I typed:

Charlottesville Sprint: 1:31:08, 42/143 Male, 9/26 30-34 Age Group

I was looking forward to this race, but it wasn't all that enjoyable. The swim was super short and kind of weedy (and really muddy). Bike was actually great and scenic, but super hilly. I was not prepared for the run. It was a true trail run, single track up and down steep inclines, over roots and rocks. That was tough. There were more than a couple people carried out of the woods with injuries. I was pretty pleased with my time, but don't know if this was one I'd choose to repeat.

New Jersey State Sprint: 1:15:10, 92/429 Male, 12/44 AG

This one was really fun! We rolled up to the Jerse with a big group of racers and stayed with Teen's family. It was a beautiful day, and a nice flat course. My first tri swim without a wetsuit; it was a learning experience, the lesson being that even tight fitting tri tops produce a lot of drag in the water! I put up a 24:52 5K on the run which was less than 30 seconds off my PR from earlier that summer. That was definitely the highlight of my day. If we are around for it this summer it's on my must do list (maybe the Olympic this year, though)

North East Olympic: 2:44:08, 149/275 Male, 19/38 AG

The USAT Mid-Atlantic Championships this year, so there were a lot of fast people in the field it seemed. Water was really warm so no wetsuits. This time I left the race jersey in transition. It probably cost me 20 seconds or so struggling to get it on, but I'm sure I saved that much time in the water (and some energy fighting the drag). I had planned to take it easy in the water anyway, and my time kind of reflects that. Bike course was hilly and not easy. Run was just boring and brutal, a simple out and back with loooooonnngg hills on the shoulder of a 2 lane highway. Ugh. Plus it was pretty hot. I shaved some time off of my St. A's 10K, but felt even worse doing it. Probably not on the list for next year.

Annapolis Triathlon: 2:36:50, 345/853 Male, 51/120 AG

This was a fantastic race all around. The course was a little odd with two transition areas, but it was really well organized (well, except for the bag drop thing). Despite fears of jellyfish the swim went great, and the bike course was fun. A few challenging hills, and it was a bit crowded, but it was a good course. Run route was changed at the last minute and had us weaving in and out of the Navy/Marine Corps Stadium for the first couple of miles. The rest of the route was pretty flat except for one big hill out and back on a bridge over the river. I had a great run (for me!), and was thrilled with my final time. I'll definitely be back for this one.


Throw in a few running races and it was a busy summer. After the wedding I pretty much stopped real training and have just been running in frequently and swimming a couple times (the bike has been racked since Annapolis). All that changes next week, though!! Back to the big schedule starting 5:30 AM on Tuesday! I can't wait.

Black Bear

Sunday was the second triathlon of the season, a sprint on a new course up in the Poconos (Black Bear Triathlon). We have some pictures up here (thanks, Liz!). One thing is for sure: I didn't do enough hill training on the bike! There was no in between on this course; you were either grinding up a steep hill in the lowest gear or flying down the other side tucked in as best you could. 7MPH up, 35+ MPH down! Other participants said that it was the most challenging bike leg they've seen, and that included some of the 1/2 Iron racers who had done Lake Placid and Timberman generally considered to be some of the toughest bike legs on the east coast. I'm just glad we were in it for 17.7 miles and not 56!

Saturday morning Steph and I drove up to PA with Noble trailing in his car. After dropping our gear off at Liz's parents we drove the hour up to the race course to check in (no Sunday check in or else we would have just done it the next morning). It did give us a chance to check out the venue and drive the course. We had some idea about what it would look like from the elevation profile, but I don't think any of us realized how relentless the hills would be. It was a dose of reality to see the climbs, but I'm glad I could prepare myself mentally as opposed to going in blind.

After driving the hour back to Wayne we tuned up our bikes, got dinner and went to bed. Liz took the train up from D.C. after her graduation duties and got in sometime after I fell asleep. Up at 4:00 to load up and out the door at 4:45. Traffic was light so we made good time up to the race venue getting there around 5:45. Transition was set to close at 7:00 so we racked bikes and headed down to the beach. The lake was nice and calm, 72 degrees, and clear. The 4 sprint waves went off from 7:30-7:45 and the 1/2 waves started at 8:00. I figured they would have preferred it the other way around since they were out on the course at least 4 times as long as we were, but the logistics of having the shorter swim leg start second prevent that. Noble and I were both in the first wave at 7:30 and headed into the water at about 7:20. I had some real trouble getting my swim cap on for some reason; it kept flying off my head. Once we were in there was time to warm up for a bit. About 2 minutes before the gun was supposed to go off the race director got on the loudspeaker; the buoy marking the second turn had come loose and was floating off. That would have made it a much longer swim! Since it was so close to the start he told us to scrap that corner and just make it a diagonal between the two closest buoys. It probably cut 150 meters off of an already short swim.

Once the gun went off I started well, but got out of breath really quickly. For some reason when I'm in a wetsuit my legs have a mind of their own. I've developed a nice 6-beat kick that doesn't tire me out at all in the pool, but in this swim and at St A's I've had to really concentrate on kicking because I was all over the place and out of synch with what the rest of my body wanted to do. At all other times that's become automatic. Anyway, I was reduced to breathing every stroke instead of alternate sides. I slowed down to get my kicking sorted out and catch my breath. By the time that happened I was almost back at the beach! I figure it took me about 600 meters to get to that point at St A's, but I'll need to adapt better for New Jersey or just ditch the suit entirely. About 20 yards out I stood up to wade in; I maybe should have swum a little more, but at that point I was frustrated and just wanted to be out of water. I came out pretty much by myself well behind the lead pack but in front of the main pack.

The run to transition was kind of ridiculous: 1/4 mile uphill from the beach. I got passed by lots of guys trucking up the hill, but I took my time and kept my heartrate down. A few people took their suits off on the beach and ran with them; that might have been a good idea. One guy put his flip flops back on and slapped his way back up the pavement. The timing mat was at the entrance to transition, not the water's edge, so swim times are pretty inflated. I forgot to start my stopwatch in all of the confusion during the buoy fiasco so I have no idea what my out-of-water time was. It worked out to 200/minute with the probably 3 minute run so it couldn't have been horrible, but probably not that great.

Transition was good this time. I had an end spot right near the bike exit and had no trouble gearing up. The wetsuit got stuck on my chip strap and that took me a few seconds to resolve, but otherwise it went well. I decided to put socks on for the bike to give my feet some extra cushioning pushing the pedals on those hills. I would have put them on for the run anyway so there was no net loss there.

The exit from transition was a slight uphill, one little roller, and then a huge climb/descent. I was trying my best to spin out at a higher cadence, but I just didn't have the gearing to do that at my current level. I hit my highest gear in the middle of that hill and just started mashing. I was out of the saddle for a few meters towards the top as my momentum started to die. Over the crest of the hill then clunk, clunk, clunk into 50x12 and push until I started spinning out. I hit 43 on that first downhill with enough momentum to keep myself in the big ring until about 1/3 up the next climb. Mash, tuck, repeat. There was a small section towards the end where it was rolling leading into the biggest descent of the day. I had been trading places with this one guy on the previous couple of hills: he would pass me on the way up, I would hit terminal velocity faster on the way down. As we were heading down the hill the road got a little rough and the handling twitchy. I was building more than enough speed to pass him but didn't want to risk taking both of us out at 40+ MPH for maybe a 10 second advantage. I alternated between sitting up and letting my body act as an air brake and actually hitting the brakes when I got too close. The last hill right after that was the almost vertical line in the elevation profile. It was brief but nasty starting out as a short climb into a 90 degree corner and just kept on going. I was glad I at least knew it was coming from the previous day's ride through. I heard one of the guys behind me say "You've got to be f*@&in' kidding me!!" as he rounded the bend and saw that slope. It was rolling for the last 1.5 into transition. I was off the bike at 1:02 which was good for 17.2 MPH average. Overall I'm thrilled with that; I was expecting much worse.

T2 was again pretty good. I had dropped one gel out of my pocket exiting the watter and had nothing but HEED on the bike. That was a mistake. I downed my only remaining gel while getting my shoes on and headed out on the run. The course was a trail run through the woods alternating between crushed gravel, grass, and actual dirt singletrack. I remembered to start my watch to check my mile splits. I was really hoping to be able to average sub-9:00 miles for the run. I started out mostly downhill, and my quads were aching from the bike. The first mile split came up at it was 8:48. Great! I felt like I could hold that pace until a nasty short little climb in the woods that had me wanting to walk. I didn't, driving my knees up the hill, but I probably would have done it faster it I had just walked! The second mile came right after a long slight downhill and across a concrete section of the dam to the second aid station. Mile 2: 8:15! "Wow", I thought, "I'm cruising pretty well!". I backed off slightly since I knew we had to climb back to through to mile 3. Mile 3 split was 9:38. Not unexpected since I was starting to cramp a bit from lack of fuel, but still on track to hit sub-9:00. I felt I had some kick left in me. There was a sign somewhere announcing 1/2 mile to go, and looking back I didn't give it a second thought; there were different signs for the 1/2 Iron course and maybe I thought that was it. For a 3.3 mile run it was awfully close to the 3 mile sign, though, and it seemed like it was a lot longer. I chalked it up to just being tired and wanting the run to be over. The last little bit was uphill, crossing an old covered bridge and a jump over a 4 foot wide culvert. They had to make the finish that much more challenging! That last "0.3" miles? 4:58! That's a 15+ minute/mile pace, with a final kick! I think I could have walked that fast if the distance was right. Something was clearly off on the mile splits out on the course; 1 and 2 were short, 3 might have been about right, but the last 0.3 was definitely off. After having seen great splits in my first two miles I held back to conserve myself. I definitely could have pushed harder had I seen the actual, slower pace. Oh, well. I at least felt good on the run. I haven't learned to judge my speed based on perceived effort. I should have guessed by all the guys flying past me!

My final time was 1:51:05 - 95/277 Overall, 72/180 Male, 12/22 30-34 AG. I thought I had a top ten in my AG, but #1 and #3 overall were 30-34 so they didn't count towards our official ranking. Still, pretty pleased with that, although my run obviously didn't do me any good. It was a beautiful course and a perfect overcast morning with little wind. Plus we got shirts with black bear logos on them. Can't complain about that.

More Racing

The training hasn't really picked up again, but we're still plugging along getting sessions in when we can. The whole sticking-to-a-schedule thing isn't working out all that well. Part of it is just getting back into the routine; part of it is just finding the time. This past Memorial Day weekend saw a couple of good workouts though. Steph and I joined Teen for a ride down to Mt Vernon on Saturday morning; it was a gorgeous day and we hoped to be out there before the trail got too crowded. It wasn't that bad, but still a lot of folks out riding. In the end we did about 40 miles, which is probably the longest ride I've done this year.

Sunday we were up in Baltimore for an O's game and a 10K in the morning. After success at our last 5K I wanted to see how I was holding up and how my standalone time would compare to what I endured at St A's (I'd never run a timed 10K before). I wanted to at least go under 1:00 (St A's goal time), and would have been happy with a 9:00/mile average, which is about where I thought I should be for this distance. The course covered a lot of the same ground as the St Patrick's 5K we did: nice long downhill on the first mile, then flat to rolling on the main out-and-back leg. The big difference this time was that we had to run back up the hill in the last 1/2 mile or so. I started out way too fast (again) with an 8:00 on the first mile. I slowed back down to just over 9:00 on the next two, but mile 4 at the turnaround was rough. We went out and back across an overpass just before the gates to Fort McHenry and the sun was starting to get to me; it was turning out to be a hot day with not much shade at all on this part. Mile 5 was mostly flat/downhill and I managed sub-9:00 there, but then we climbed one gradual hill back to the Harbor Pavilion and then another steeper one back up to the finish line. Mile 6 was around 10:30, and I was feeling every step. There was a slight downhill to start the last 0.2 which gave me the energy to pick up the pace to the finish. Total time: 56:42, 9:09 average. It's almost 10 minutes faster than my St A's time, so I'll take that.

Moving Along

It's been two weeks since the race, and it's three weeks until the next one. Kind of hard to get back into training mode when you don't have a plan in front of you. Guess that means I'll need to get a new plan! Liz has drawn one up for the NJ tri, so we're following that but not very well. There's no sense of urgency to the training schedule like there was for TNT. Still, I'm out running and in the pool twice a week; I've only really been out on the bike once for any serious ride. I hope to change that this week. Following a reduced training regimen for the sprints will be nice, but I'll have to pick it back up in July for another Olympic at the end of August. I may add a sprint in Charlottesville a the end of June depending on how I feel.

In the mean time it looks like my running is coming along, but I still feel that I have a lot of work to do in order to put up decent times at the end of a race. St. Anthony's was a painful lesson in conserving some energy for the run. A bunch of us ran a local 5K in Reston on Saturday (which Joe promptly won outright with a 90 second cushion or something ridiculous). My previous 5K best was about 26:30 at the St. Patrick's race in Baltimore on a course with a nice, long downhill for almost the entire first mile and no real hills. I have been feeling stronger on the run and felt I could break 26:00. It was a little humid at the start, but not terribly hot. The course was an out and back on the same trail we rode and ran on during training with some small rolling hills. I went out at a 7:30 pace (yikes!) and slowed down to 8:00 on the second mile and finished with about a 8:10 pace. So, yeah, I went out a little too fast and petered out at the end, but it was still good for a 24:30 finish time. 2:00 off of my PR! That felt good, and I wonder if I can get that to translate to a 27:00 or so sprint finish? Who knows. I'm just glad that I can hold that pace for a standalone 5k for now. We're running a 10K in Baltimore over Memorial Day so we'll see what happens then. After that all that is one the schedule are 2 (possibly 3) sprint tris before the end of July.

Finished!

I only found out my exact time the next day: 2:49:08!! If you're just reading this post the gory details are in the previous 4 or 5, but here's the general breakdown:

Swim - 00:25:17 (1:42/100 meters pace)
T1 - 00:02:57
Bike - 01:15:25 (19.8 MPH pace)
T2 - 00:03:04
Run - 01:02:06 (10:03/mile pace)

Total - 02:49:08

So overall I either hit or was really close to my goals. My swim time shocked me! I found out later that I was only 1:18 away from 10th place in the men's TNT group which would have meant an award. That's almost unfathomable to me; I am not a fast person. And the difference? The 10th place guy (also a D.C. TNT participant) had a combined transition time 1:18 faster than mine. If I had known that could I have gone faster? Maybe a couple seconds in transition, but I really didn't leave much out on the course. I don't think I could have pushed much harder on the run without getting in some real trouble. To put things in perspective here is how I fared overall in my age group (with TNT and novice men 30-34 included) and how I did in the TNT group (which includes TNT men of all ages):

• Overall
• TNT: 16/126
• AG 30-34: 143/252
• Swim
• TNT: 2/126 (!!!)
• AG 30-34: 45/252
• Bike
• TNT: 14/126
• AG 30-34: 128/252
• Run
• TNT: 48/126
• AG 30-34: 185/252
• T1 + T2
• TNT: 37/126
• AG 30-34: 184/252

So my run and transitions hurt me (duh), but I thrilled with the swim (top 18% of my age group!) and bike (right in the middle of AG). One day I hope to be able to run in the middle of the pack. Maybe I should stick with the aquabike events! Overall results for St A's can be found here. I had to import them and resort to get the overall AG results with TNT and Novice athletes above.

The party at the infamous Cha Cha Coconuts was a lot of fun (just check out the pictures). I have no idea how we could possibly have danced for two hours after that, but we did. Sunday we packed up and headed home, more than a little sore but not as bad as I would have thought. It was an incredible weekend and I can't wait to do more. We will definitely be back next year, TNT or not. We're going to rest up for a bit with only a 5K on the immediate horizon, but here's what's on the calendar for the rest of the summer:

Black Bear sprint
New Jersey State sprint
North East Olympic
Dewey Beach sprint

I don't think we'll squeeze any more in there ;)

Run

I remember looking at my watch crossing the timing mat out of transition and seeing 1:47-something. My goal for the run had been sub 60:00, a little under 10:00/mile pace, doable as a standalone effort in training in nice cool weather. I would be happy with that time and it would have put me well under 2:50:00 for the whole event. My overall goal was sub 3:00:00 so at this point I relaxed a bit knowing I had that in the bag unless I totally blew up on the run.

The first mile or so out was almost without shade. It was about 11:00 AM at this point and HOT! Heat index was probably 85-90. My stomach immediately started feeling a little queasy (I brought along a gel in my jersey, but decided against taking it). I probably took in to much on the bike and was paying for it, but figured that too much nutrition was better than too little. In truth I was probably already a little dehydrated which isn't good. My legs felt dead. There were water stops every mile and I walked for 10 seconds at the first one to grab some water and force it down. Luckily my stomach didn't reject it like I was worrying. Steph re-passed me at this point; it was good to see a friendly face. I forced myself to stay on her pace for about 2 minutes just to get my cadence up until she pulled away around a corner. At this point my legs had loosened up a bit and my brain started telling me that it could pick it up. That lasted about a 1/2 mile. Slowing down the mile 2 water stop to grab some water I had to force myself to run again. I didn't know what my pace was since I forgot to take my split again, but the first mile I had gone out too fast (probably around 9:00) and needed to slow down. It seemed like forever until the turnaround came at 3.1 miles. There were lots of turns in the residential neighborhood and I kept thinking it would be around the next bend. That's a bad mental game to play so I started concentrating on other runners and the surroundings. There were lots of families out spraying down runners with hoses which felt great. I started seeing lots of folks from earlier waves coming back and saw Teen (but somehow missed Steph after she hit the turnaround).

It was pretty much all TNT on the course at this point so there was lots of "Go Team!" as people passed you. I was hoping the turnaround would be a big boost. Half way home! It wasn't. I was really hot and started to feel a bit faint even. At the mile 4 station I grabbed a water for my head and got some down but still felt light-headed. I wanted to run the whole thing minus the aid stations, but at this point I was really hurting. I stopped to walk and looked up to see Liz coming my way. I walked until I could slap her hand which gave me a boost to get running again. Still feeling queasy I took off my hat to run my hand through my hair. It felt really good! I had put it on to keep the sun out of my face and hopefully keep cool but think it was overheating me. Into the hand it went and I felt a little better instantly. Not good, just not on the verge of passing out. It was at this point that little goals became really important: count strides to that light post, keep your eye on the fire hydrant at the next turn, go strong up and over the bridge, the Mile 5 station is just around the corner! One more cup of water at mile 5 and another over my head. Around that turn there was no more shade, just a straight mile shot to the finish line.

I was in lots of pain a this point, physically exhausted and mentally worn down. I forced my cadence back up and just concentrated on my form and seeing the finish line. Got some words of encouragement from coach Bryan just at Mile 6 and tried to find another gear for the finish. I didn't really start kicking it in until I was in the final turn for the finish chute. It was definitely no sprint to the finish! I didn't even see the clock at the finish line and forgot to stop my watch so I didn't even know what my time was, but didn't care a bit at that point! Got my finisher's medal and an ice cold towel around my neck (which felt better than I could possibly imagine). Teen was right there at the finish line screaming, "Congratulations, triathlete!". I think she may have tried to hand me a beer, but I don't remember. I felt really light-headed and dizzy. That ended up lasting for about 20 minutes until I was able to get some water and food in me. I knew enough to keep walking around and not sit down yet, but I crouched down by a tree near the finish and almost didn't make it back up! I spotted some more TNTers, signed in so they knew I was alive, and generally walked around in the shade waiting for Liz to finish. We had given the camera to one of the coaches but couldn't find it in the TNT tent so was a bit worried; it turned up but I was hoping to have it for finishing pictures.

Liz finished and we went back to the TNT tent to trade stories, eat and drink more water, get a quick massage, and finally grab a beer!! I started feeling really good if still a bit dazed from exhaustion. I still didn't know my exact time, but figured I was under 2:50:00 which was incredible. In the grand scheme of things that put me towards the back of the middle of the pack in my age group, but it's a time I was really proud of even in my wildest expectations. I didn't even want to think about it and just enjoy being done. Done!

Bike

It took about 20-30 seconds just to get to my bike in the back of the transition area. I quickly got the suit down to my ankle and off (the BodyGlide really helped here). I had a gel bottle with one gel serving and water ready so I took that down with some water and put on my shoes. I was paranoid about getting sunburn so I sprayed some more on my exposed shoulders and lower back even though I had put Bullfrog on before. Sunglasses one, helmet on and buckled, unrack the bike and head towards the exit. Another 20-30 second jog in bike shoes (luckily it was on grass). The timing mat to start the bike was at the transition exit and I had planned on hitting the splits on my watch as I crossed every one. I must have been too excited to get out on the bike course at that point because I forgot. Oh well, I still had the cumulative time running so I could have some idea how I was doing. My goal for the bike was to average 20 MPH which would have been about 1:15:00 on the 40K bike course.

I crossed the mount line (yes, that's what it is called) just as we entered the roadway. I got over to the right side, clipped one foot in, pushed off to clip the other in and was off. The first 300 meters of the bike is over bricks and it really bumpy. I saw a couple folks ahead of me wobbling trying to clip in. I don't blame them, it was rough if you didn't get it the first time. After the first turn it was all on pavement, though. I immediately started passing people on the straights and then ran into a stretch of relatively open road. You aren't allowed to block the left lane, it's only for passing, so I kept checking behind me. You also aren't allowed to draft with 3 bike lengths so I didn't want to be in the right lane weaving in and out of a string of riders. I would hang out in the left to pass packs of riders and stay right as I could.

The bike course wound through St Petersburg with two major out and back sections and a twisting section running through a golf course. The first big out and back was very slightly uphill and I worked on keeping my cadence up and my speed around 18-19 MPH. At the turnaround we headed back downhill and I was able to push for a bit closer to 24-25 MPH except for one train track crossing. It was more of the same heading down to the golf course; I was hitting 25 on some of the straightaways with a tailwind. Overall I felt great. I had my watch set to beep every 15 minutes as a reminder to drink. I had mixed 3 gel servings into each of my two water bottles and wanted to consume at least 1 1/2 of them by the end of the bike. I probably overdid it on the nutrition as I would later find out. I saw Steph just before the golf course; Teen said she saw me coming back on one of the legs as I was heading out, but I didn't see her despite keeping my eyes open. The wind was swirling a bit on the golf course and there were speed humps everywhere. It took me 3 or 4 of them to realize that if I hugged the curb I could avoid them altogether. I was still passing groups of people. Just as we exited the golf course there was a water hand off. I grabbed one of the water bottle and drank about half of it before dropping it. One more out and back and then a turn north along the water. This is where it got a bit rough. We had a headwind the whole way home, the last 5 miles or so. My legs started burning and my speed dropped to around 17 MPH. I had to drop into some lower gears to avoid spiking my heart rate. I probably ended up pushing it a bit too hard; The bike was the best place for me to eat up chunks of time since I knew the run wasn't going to be my best leg.

I was glad to see the finish line in sight and dropped into an easier gear to get my cadence up and loosen my legs a bit. Back over the bricks where I almost bit it on a pothole I didn't see, clip out, coast to the dismount line, and off the bike. On the run back into transition I immediately knew that I was in a bit of trouble; the left thigh was aching and my back was really tight. In transition I racked my bike, got my bike shoes off, took a swig of water, stretched my legs for 20 seconds, socks and shoes on, hat on, more sunscreen sprayed on my shoulders, and back towards transition exit. I didn't know it at the time but my bike leg clocked in at 1:15:25, 19.8 MPH average. Right on pace. My transitions had been just average (6:01 combined, my "goal" was around 5:00), but this was my first tri so I wasn't too concerned about that. Better to take my time than make a dumb mistake. I was already tired and feeling the heat even before hitting the run course. The next hour was going to be tough.

Swim

I was practically bouncing up and down in the starting chute trying to keep loose. We all lined up at the back until the previous wave went off and then walked up to the start line. The swim course was U-shaped and went straight out about 500 meters, took a 90 degree turn to the left for another 500 meters, then a final left turn for about 500 meters to the exit. There were big orange inflatable buoys every 100 meters; yellow buoys marked the turns. You basically wanted to hug the buoys and keep them on your left at all times.

When writing up my race plan I included some goals for each leg, just a time or pace that I thought I could hold in the best of all possible scenarios. I figured if I met those goals I would be very, very happy with my overall time. For the swim it was 27:00 for 1500 meters which was reasonable based on my best continuous swim times in Sunday practice. I would be slowed down in the open water by running into people, picking my head up to sight, and generally not swimming in an exact 1500 meter straight line, but the buoyancy of the wetsuit is supposedly good for 1-2 minutes over the course of an Olympic distance swim.

At the start I lined up in the second row on the inside hoping to be ahead of the pack for the first 100 meters or so to avoid getting kicked. Before I knew it the horn sounded and I was running into the water. Two dolphin dives in the shallows and I was swimming out! I only found a couple guys in front of me before the first buoy but was able to split between them and to the left of a 3rd guy to find some open water pretty quickly. Sighting on the first 2 buoys went well; I pushed a little left heading to the 3rd but was able to correct. Around the 4th buoy before the final turn I ran into some poor woman treading water from the wave that started 10 minutes before mine. I asked if she was OK and she said "yes, she was just catching her breath" but looked a little panicked. There was a lifeguard in a kayak not 30 feet away watching us from inside the buoys. They only pulled one person from the water this year after 30 or 40 the year before in pretty terrible conditions.

After the first turn I looked up to sight on the next buoy and get my bearings. It looked really far away, but I figured my eyes were playing tricks on me so just put my head down. Turns out I went about 20 degrees to far on the turn and had sighted on one of the buoys on the next leg! I soon felt some tapping on my feet and though it was someone drafting off of me but it was a kayaker tapping me with his paddle to let me know I was off course and inside the buoy line. Thanks, guy! After that little detour I straightened out and finally found my groove (it takes me 600 meters or so to really warm up in the pool and get my breathing steady). I had been taking breaths on one side for most of the first leg so it felt good to settle into an alternate-side rhythm and go a little straighter. At this point I started passing people from the previous waves in greater numbers (or rather running into their feet). Some people will literally swim over people in their way but that seems like too much work besides a really crappy thing to do; I just went around except for one guy who crossed my path at literally a 90 degree angle. I think he was well inside one of the buoys and had to swim back out to get on course. I basically hit him broadside while breathing to the opposite side. We stopped and he said "This sucks!" and I went on my way.

Somewhere around the last turn I passed Liz; she saw me but I didn't see her. Ran into lots more folks from the waves 2 and 3 ahead of me at this point but I didn't think much of it. The swim exit was a set of metal stairs attached to the breakwater leading up to a short run to the transition entrance. They have helpers on the stairs to grab your hand to make sure you don't fall back in. It's a short 50 yard dash under a temporary pedestrian bridge where the grass had turned into one huge mud puddle. Gross! I wanted to keep my cap but it flew out of my hand as I stripped it off. No way was I going to stop and get it! There was a water station just outside transition so I grabbed two cups: one to get the salt water out of my mouth, another to dump over my head to get it out of my hair/face. The timing mat for the swim split is right as you cross into the transition gate. I punched the split button on my watch and saw 25:17. Wow! That was way faster than I had expected and a huge confidence booster. I jogged at a quick pace towards my bike rack while getting the top half of my wetsuit down to my waist.

Race Day!

We had the alarm set for 4:45 on Sunday (just like our Tuesday swim practices!). I woke up to use the restroom at about 4:00 and didn't really get back to sleep but managed not to toss and turn before the alarm went off. It was a good night's sleep as far as I'm concerned. I took a quick shower just to really wake myself up, ate a banana and bagel with peanut butter, grabbed the transition bag and headed downstairs. The night before we had packed our bags using a checklist I had written up with my race plan. I was confident that I had everything and knew where it was. The bike was racked and ready. Nothing more to do but get down there and set up.

We me the team in the lobby at 5:15 and walked down to transition in the dark. There was a line to get body marked at the entrance and we had to wait about 15 minutes to get in. While we were waiting some guy walks past to the line and yells, "Any 45-49 age group men might as well go home now that I'm here!!". What a tool! I should have remembered his number and seen if he could back that talk up at the finish line. Regardless, really class act. There was also this young guy who walked up with a pretty expensive bike asking where bike check in was (it had closed at 8:00 the previous day). One of the race officials came up and said, "Sorry, man, you had to be here yesterday. You can't race". That sucks for him! We reached the front of the line a they wrote our race numbers (I was #4050) on each shoulder and the front of each thigh; our age and any special waves (TNT for us) on the back of our calves. The latter was for anybody who might be chasing you to determine if they should bother passing you or not since you would be in their group.


In transition we laid out our gear in our little plots of land behind our racked bikes. I met the two TNT guys on either side of me and took only about 5:00 getting everything set up. We then mulled about as the sun came up, put on sunscreen, and goofed around to release nervous energy. I double checked my set up again and they started to announce that transition was closing at 7:00 when the first pro wave was set to go off. We went outside to use the port-o-potties and watch the pro men and women's waves enter the water across the bay. Only 17 minutes later the first pro men showed up and we watched them run right by us at the swim exit. Holy crap they were fast! We could also see them come out of transition on the bike (in and out in under a minute which is lightning fast). All of the pros and most serious age groupers just leave there bike shoes clipped in to their bikes and pedal on top of them out of transition, slipping their feet in when they get up to speed. Save 30 seconds or so which is a lot of time if you are competing.

After watching a few more come across we started the 3/4 mile walk over to the swim start beach. I was getting pretty nervous at this point and walked back to the hotel for a minute to grab an extra gel to eat just before the swim. We had plenty of time to burn; the first TNT wave wasn't going off until 9:00. I wasn't entering the water until 9:15. That was tortuous; I just wanted to get in the water and go, go, go! I rejoined the group at the beach and picked up my timing chip. I might have been a good thing since the line earlier in the morning was chaos apparently. Some more walking around by myself then I found the group. Lots of laughing and chatting punctuated by silence and serious faces. Most of us were pretty tense. At about 8:45 I started to get into my wetsuit and applied lots of BodyGlide around my neck and upper arms (BG is basically a non-petroleum lubricant to prevent chafing; the suits can get really bad around the neck and arms if they are sleeveless. I learned this on Friday during our first swim!). I went off to the side of the starting line to swim and warm up for about 5 minutes then back to the group for a couple final photos and to pack away my shirt and flip flops. We cheered on the first 3 TNT waves as they enterd the starting chute: men 35+ at 9:00, women 35+ at 9:05 (Steph's wave), women 34 and under at 9:10 (Liz's wave). Teen went off at 8:50 in her age group. After the 9:10 wave entered the water our final wave got in the chute.

Race Weekend Day 2

On Saturday we had a relatively early wake up (7:00) to head down to the beach for another open water swim. For some reason I didn't feel like putting the wetsuit on again so I just swam in my tri shorts. I felt a lot more confident and had a good swim. The coaches had us do some running starts to simulate race entry in the water; in the race each wave starts in a corral on the beach and runs into the water at the gun. There's some combination of leaping dives you can do to get out to open water faster, but I just ended up doing a belly flop in the shallows. I decided just to run out until the water got up to my thighs and then start swimming. The New York TNT team was there as well. Their coach was like some drill sergeant yelling commands and having them do crazy drills. He seemed a little uptight.

After a brief "lunch" break at 10:30 everybody gathered on the front porch of the hotel for a final bike inspection. It was one last chance to look everything over, get some lube on the chain if necessary, and take your bike out for a final spin to check that everything was in working order (or for some people to learn how to change a tire). We'd done this before the bike drop off and I was sure my bike was is good shape. I'm really glad that the coaches urged us to take a good close look at everything, because I discovered a scrape on the sidewall of my front tire that was deep enough to produce a pin point hole that the tube was just sticking through. There's a better than average chance that I would have at least flatted on a long ride. Even worse I could have hit a pothole or something that would have turned that pin sized hole into an actual tear. We don't carry spare tires, just tubes. That would have ended my day real quick. Anyway, back down to the expo to pick up a new tire. All the bike tents really had were race tires, but I was able to find one that only set me back $32. Hey, at least I had a faster front slick for the race now and got some extra tire changing practice!

After wrangling the tire on and thoroughly checking the tube (as well as a double check of all other important components) we walked down to the transition area to rack our bikes. It opened at noon and we were one of the first people down there. Transition was huge! Being in TNT we also had some of the less desirable rack spots with the longest walks to the entrances and exits. This is really where it first hit me that we were going to race in less than 24 hours. Not when we got our participant wrist bands the day before. Not when we did the open water practice. It was when we put the race numbers on the bikes and parked them on the racks. St. A's has assigned rack spaces so there's no fighting over spots at least. I was in among some other TNT teams that hadn't checked in yet, so my bike was looking a little lonely. We also walked over to the swim start to trace the path we would take from the swim exit to our racks. It was easy enough to find when nobody else was there and we didn't have to worry about getting our wetsuits off!

Some more down time at the hotel and then we went off to the TNT pasta party a couple blocks away at the really nice hotel where some other TNT teams were staying (what's up with that?). There were "Thank You"'s from the TNT staff and a speech by a cancer survivor who was racing. Then Dave Scott, legendary Ironman triathlete and TNT national spokesman, got up for a little pep talk where he informed a group of nervous first time competitors that we would be fine even if we would all "probably finish in the bottom 10% of our age groups tomorrow". Gee, thanks. Apparently this was better than last year when the message was "even though many of you might not finish at all tomorrow". Either he really has no understanding of the audience he's addressing and is using some bizarre reverse psychology to make people believe that it would be a really cool thing if they just finished the race at all or he is an arrogant prick. Your choice. There was some polite applause and we got up to head back to the hotel where the real pep talk by our coaches took place. Back to the room around 10:00 for bed. I didn't have too much trouble falling asleep all things considered.

Race Weekend Day 1

Well, we all made it home safely, and more importantly after having crossed the finish lie! All in all it was an amazing time down in St Petersburg with the TNT crew. The weather was great if a bit hot, especially on race day. We've posted a bunch of pictures of the weekend and the after-party; the first batch is actually our last group practice in Rock Creek.

We left D.C. around 8:30 on Friday morning for the short flight down to Tampa. TNT orchestrated all of the travel plans for us which made it a lot easier to deal with pre-race jitters. Tuesday before the race we dropped our bikes off on Alexandria to be loaded onto a semi truck that was driven down to meet us. This in and of itself is a huge benefit since flying with a bike case doesn't look all that fun (or inexpensive).

After waiting around at the airport for what seemed like a log time we piled into some vans and were driven to our hotel. The lodging was definitely not the high point of our weekend. Billed as a Holiday Inn it is actually an independently operated establishment. The fact that they probably lost their Holiday Inn accreditation should tell you something. On top of that Liz and I got stuck in what is probably the smallest room in the place right next to an ice machine that made noise all night long. They eventually ran out of towels (Towels! At a beach hotel!!). I really didn't want to drink the water from the taps. Location was nice, though ;)

After settling in for a bit we walked over to the bike drop off to get our rides off of the trucks and put the pedals back on. Back to the hotel to stash the bikes (which left almost no space to walk around in our little closet of a room) then down to registration to pick up our packets and wander the vendor expo for awhile. I think everybody picked up a few things here or there (I got an ankle strap for my race chip, Liz picked up a new bright pink Bento Box). It was amazing to see the crazy expensive bikes people were wheeling around. Triathlon is a sport that attracts more than its fair share of people with more money than sense, or at least people for whom looking good at an event is just as important as getting a good time. But, hey, who am I to argue with someone who has the money to blow on a set of $3,000 race wheels that may gain them 1-2 minutes on the bike. I would later pass a couple of these people on $5,000 rides chugging along at 17 MPH on the course.

It was pretty hot by the early afternoon so we went back to the hotel again (we were only about 4 blocks from registration and 6 from the transition area). At 5:00 we all went down to the swim start for a little open water swim practice in our wetsuits. They already had the marker buoys in place, and it was really good to try some open water sighting. We had practiced this in the pool numerous times, but it just isn't the same thing. Swimming in the ocean (I mean swimming, not just playing around in the water) was something new for me. On the first 200 meters or so I was having real trouble getting into a good rhythm breathing. Don't know if it was nerves or the wetsuit or if I just went out too fast. Probably a combination of all three. Better to have it happen no and get my nerves in check than on race morning. I eventually settled down on the siwm back in and found a good stroke with my normal breathing pattern. One other thing I discovered: I guess I tend to take in mouthfuls of water when I swim and swish them around before I exhale. This is a much different experience in the ocean than in the pool! I got used to it after a few minutes, but needed a big swig of water after we got out.

We didn't have anything "official" on the schedule for the evening, so we all went home to shower and then back out to grab some dinner for Teen's birthday. Back in bed by 10:00 or so and slept surprisingly well.

Can't catch a break

The weather this week has been pretty much par for the course: cold, wet, and generally crappy. The 40MPH winds the past couple of days just upped the ante. The forecast for this weekend has it sunny and in the 70s, though. Perfect timing: we finally get good training weather in D.C. and it's a week before we head to Florida. Preliminary race day forecast: mid-80s and sunny. A tad too warm for my tastes, but I'll take it after the winter we've had. My wave will be the very last to start at 9:15 AM, so we'll still be on the run course close to noon and the hot sun could make it rough.

The temps for our last group workout on Saturday may still be in the low 50s in the morning. It's a practice triathlon. Coaches will be setting up a transition area and we'll run through the abbreviated stages: in our wetsuits (dry, but probably cold!), transition to an easy 30-40 minute bike, transition to a short run. It should warm up for the picnic afterwards. We'll be getting our race info including plane tickets (so help me if they are flying us out of Dulles instead of National ...) and our TNT logo triathlon jerseys.

Sunday a few of us are running a local 5K in Alexandria. I'm waffling between actually running the race to beat my previous best from St. Paddy's and just going out for a short easy run. I'll probably choose the latter; we have another 5K two weeks after the race that I won't hesitate to go all out on. No sense in risking an injury trying to push it this close to my first race.

10 more days!

Things are starting to taper

We are beginning to taper for the race starting next week meaning that the workout intensity will be gradually dropping off to almost nothing in the days leading up to the race. It's a time for the body to rest up and store energy for 3 hours of continual racing.

The training is not the only thing that's seeing a reduction. I've lost over 25 pounds since we started this almost 6 months ago. Counting my highest weight from early last fall I'm down almost 30. Looking back I can hardly believe it!

This past week was frustrating. I got called to attend a meeting for work in Seattle on Wednesday which meant a flight out on Tuesday night and then a red eye back on Wednesday night. I was able to get in the swim practice and long run on Tuesday but missed both the bike and run on Wednesday/Thursday. We did go swimming last night. The workout this week was some descending long sets: 20'/15'/10'/5'/2.5' . During each set we were supposed to work on something different: getting a good long glide for the 20', practicing sighting for the 15', etc. I lost track on one of them but in the end I swam a little over 3000 yards. That's by far the longest workout I've done in the water. I'm thinking the swim may end up being my best leg after having struggled so much in the early going!

The weather continues to be a real pain in the ass. Tomorrow we have our last long ride in Prince William Forest down by Quantico. It's supposed to be a really nice route but with more hills than we've seen before. At least it is supposed to be above freezing. We skipped out on last week's Saturday brick because it was frigid and there was snow. Snow! In April! Screw that. We signed up for a spin class at the gym and did about 50 minutes on the bike before class for about 1:40 total. That's short of the goal, but that spin class was hard! We ran the treadmill for 30' to complete the brick. I actually felt really good and was able to push some faster paces, but my hamstring ached the next day and it's still a little tight. I don't think the plane ride helped.

16 days to race day!

Four more weeks to the other Opening Day

The Nats Opening Day at RFK is today (the first actual Opening Day in D.C. since they moved here). As of yesterday just 4 more weeks until the other Opening Day: the race. That's starting to sink in.

Last week was the last of our EZ weeks. Due to a bad schedule I missed both of the bike rides in the middle of the week but was able to get the rest of the workouts in. Tuesday's swim was a number of easy drills and then some more open water simulations. Thursday we did 1950 for an "easy" workout. Those were our hard workouts only a month or so ago. I'm really feeling strong in the water. Yesterday I was able to go for 1800 yards in 30 minutes (that last 50 was an all out sprint, though). Too bad the swim is the shortest event! Saturday's bike was 60' and would have been really easy if we hadn't taken a wrong turn and gone up a big climb by the Mormon Tabernacle. That hurt. Luckily we won't get hills like those in Florida, but I probably will in the other races this summer. Might as well get used to it.

This week is roughly the same intensity as two weeks ago, and then we start to taper:

Monday: 50' bike, 3 x 7' AT (finally got out in the morning and did 3 loops around Haines Point for the intervals)
Tuesday: swim (2600 yards), run 45' with a bunch of intervals
Wednesday: Bike 70'
Thursday: swim (2600 yards again), long run 70'
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Brick - bike 120', run 30', swim
Sunday: 30' swim

I will probably swap out the Tues/Thurs runs since we get done swimming so much earlier on Tuesdays and it's easier to get the run in before work. Short day at work today then off to RFK. I'm going to try and follow Liz's lead and go on the wagon for the next 4 weeks after a beer at the game. Oh, and maybe except for the wine happy hour that Teen is holding tonight. And the bourbon tasting on Friday. Seriously, I should be good after that!

What's that I glimpse on the horizon?

A finish line, perhaps? We're getting mighty close. We leave for Florida in 5 weeks, and this week is the very peak of our training schedule. I already feel beat down and it's only Thurssday! Tuesday morning we did 2 x 20' continuous swims to get us used to sustaining long distances at pace in the water. We've been doing 30' every Sunday for quite a while now, so it wasn't bad. I definitely welcomed the change from the hard intervals of the past two weeks. I'd been having a real problem keeping a good pace since most of our practices are shorter intervals with rest. I tend to go out too hard for the ones where we are supposed to be doing "race pace". This past Sunday was the first swim where I didn't feel the need to do a recovery stroke for a length during the long swim. I just hope my muscle memory can remember that pace in the excitement of race day.

Speaking of long Sunday swims this week we decided to do an 8K St Paddy's Day race as a little warmup! It had been on our calendar for a couple months before I had realized that it was in the middle of our hardest week. Weekends have been cursed so far and it was no different on Sunday. 70s on Wednesday and Thursday, below freezing on Saturday and Sunday. It was about 31 when we lined up at 9:00 for the race. I worked on my pace and didn't push it very hard even at the end. I was looking for some consistency. However, I missed every mile marker on the course so I have no idea what my splits looked like. Finish time was 45:20, good for just over a 9:00/mile pace. I would be thrilled with that pace during the final 10K of the triathlon. Not likely coming off the bike, but my under 60:00 goal should be attainable.

After the long run on Sunday I felt justified to skip one of the Tues/Thurs runs this week. I ran home from swim practice on Tuesday morning, and we are going swimming tonight so I probably won't get another in. I don't feel too guilty about that ...

Saturday is another long brick with a swim thrown in at the end! Of course it will be 70s today and tomorrow then high of like 53 on Saturday. It can't continue like this for much longer. I hope.

What happened to Spring??

Just as I was getting used to training in more hospitable weather ... we get today. Yesterday I'm running on a 60 degree morning, now it's near freezing and raining with the possibility for some snow tonight. That doesn't help the training! We're scheduled for a 2 hour ride/30 minute run brick tomorrow, but I'm thinking it's not going to happen. It'll be the trainer for us. I wish the tournament games started at 8:00 in the morning so there would be something good to watch on TV ...

This week has been good, the current weather notwithstanding. Tuesday we received our triathlon wetsuits at swim practice. I chose the sleeveless version just because I wanted the range of motion. It's amazing how much smoother it makes you feel in the water. I can see how it could help cut a minute or so off of your swim time. Here's hoping! During a couple test laps (they're far too insulating to wear in a warm pool for long) I was able to take one less stroke per length. They just seem to glide better through the water, mostly because they really help to keep your legs from sinking and causing drag. We won't get to use them again until a short open water training swim the day before the race in Florida, but I don't see adjusting to it being a problem. Getting it off of my body during transition maybe another story.

After the 5K last weekend and with an 8K looming this Sunday I wasn't sure how to approach the runs this week. One of the coaches said not to worry about it as long as I wasn't "racing" the races but just using them as extra tempo runs. We're out of the pool and back home around 7:20 on Tuesdays normally which is a lot earlier than the average 8:15 or so after Thursday morning swims. I decided to swap the runs on those days and do the longer 75' run on Tuesday. I concentrated on slowing myself down and really keeping in an easy zone for the entire run. I went a little over 7 miles, and it felt good. Thursday's 40' run included two 6' speed intervals. Even after those extended efforts I was able to keep jogging and recover my heart rate fairly quickly. That is something I really struggled with earlier in the training; I really felt the need to walk after any harder effort. Running continues to improve and I hope there is more to come before the race!

I didn't have time to do the bike on Wednesday so I'll spin easy tonight for an hour, then get up and do 2 hours (ugh) on the trainer and then out for a run. Hopefully it will have warmed up a bit by then. Sunday is the 8K and it will be cold for the race but hopefully not frigid. Then starts the hardest week on the schedule!! I think we're all really looking forward to a break after that.

Improvements

One of the toughest parts about training is the time horizon for seeing improvements. They come a little at a time, are not always linear, and may take months to actually appear, but when they do it's pretty invigorating. When that improvement comes on a run it's downright exciting for me. ANY improvement on the run is cause for a little celebration. I'm having horrible thoughts of doing really well on the swim and bike and then totally tanking on the run.

My first 5K way back on Thanksgiving clocked in at 32:06, good for a 10:22/mile pace. Now that was on a pretty hilly course with the biggest hill coming in the last mile. Yesterday we ran in the Shamrock 5K up in Baltimore. The course has a long downhill for most of the 1st mile then is basically flat. I knew I was going to be faster, but I went in treating it as a tempo run. I wanted to have something left in the tank after the finish. The result? 26:36. 8:55/mile pace. That's one hell of an improvement over 6 months ago. I picked up the pace for the last 1/4 mile but it wasn't a sprint by any means. Whether I can turn something comparable in during the 3rd hour of a triathlon at twice the distance is a completely different story, but my goal of doing the final 10K in under an hour is looking more and more attainable. By the way that's nothing compared to the gains Liz has made. She knocked 12-13 minutes off of her Turkey Trot time!!

We are smack dab in the middle of the toughest 3 training weeks on the schedule. Last week had us hitting new weekly highs on every workout. All I can say is that I'm glad that it looks like Spring really is here for good. Going to be mostly in the 60s this week, but of course there will be rain. The clock change may actually be detrimental since I've been doing most of my long workouts in the morning. After doing well on the 70' run last week I'm looking forward to tackling 75' this week. That will be the longest run on the schedule from now until the race; it's good to see a peak and know you can get past it.

The brick workout on Saturday was tough, but it felt good. 115' bike ride followed by a 25' run. The running hurt, and I didn't get a good sense of my pace on the trail, but I think I was running < 10:00 pace based on the mile markers. The ride was about 30 miles, but we were riding at an easy pace with some occasional sprints. The wind was a bit of a challenge though. I'm still trying to get used to the aerobars, especially trying to eat and drink while in them. I had to make sure the coast was clear before trying that!

At swim practice tomorrow we get our wetsuits. That should be fun! Here's the week:

Monday: 45' bike
Tuesday: swim (2500 yards), 40' run
Wednesday: bike 65'
Thursday: swim (2500 yards), 75' run
Friday: OFF
Saturday: brick workout, 120' bike, 30' run (Guinness makes an excellent recovery drink ;) )
Sunday: 30' continuous swim and we're running the St. Patrick's 8K here in DC. That may affect how next week's schedule shakes out.

Spring has sprung (if only for a day)

It looked for a minute like the cold weather had finally broken on Saturday for our group workout. It was a 60' ride down at Haines Point to better simulate the conditions in St. Petersburg: flat and potentially windy. The "short" loop at Haines Point is a hair over 3 miles, and on a day like Saturday the wind is coming directly up the Potomac giving a nice headwind in one direction and a tailwind in the other. The temps were in the 40s when rode down to meet the group (finally a workout we can ride to!), and reached the low 50s by the end. This was really the first time I was able to try out my aerobars for any extended period of time. They were actually more comfortable than they are on the trainer, but the handling is really squirrelly until you get used to it. I was all over the road at first and made sure I was by myself before trying them. With the wind it actually made a big difference. On the headwind stretch it was much easier to hold pace, and when I switched to the normal bar position I instantly slowed down even though I felt like I was riding with the same effort. One bad side effect: a really sore neck from having to keep my head up. That's not an issue on the trainer! Overall I was pretty pleased with the 20 mile or so ride.

Afterwards the coaches did another hands on tire changing clinic. In the race you are on your own; you'll get disqualified if you receive any help out on the course, so not being able to change a flat would essentially end your day. They're going to pick a few people at random to practice changing tires at every group ride from now on until everybody's done it at least once. I was one of the lucky first victims. I've changed my MTB tires a number of times, but for some reason those skinny road tires scare me. It was a bit of a struggle to seat the tube correctly, but after a couple tries I got it straightened out and it didn't pinch flat like I was worried it would! Also: CO2 inflation cartridges = awesome.

This week we start building again. Tomorrow's swim workout looks challenging, 2400 yards; depending on who shows up in the Level 3 lane I may get my ass kicked. Forecast is back to gloomy cold and snow potential, so the runs might be tough. 70' on Thursday!! Yikes. Not looking forward to yet another "longest I have ever run" run if it's in the 30s again. More trainer sessions tonight and Wednesday. Brick on Saturday is 115' ride/25' run. I really hope it's at least in the upper 40s for that, and it's out in Sterling again. Ugh. Sunday we're running the St Patrick's Day 5K up in Baltimore which should be fun, 3,000 runners possibly. I wonder how many of them will forget to change their clocks and show up an hour early?

Gearing down

This week is another EZ Week. One more build cycle left! Well, OK, 1.5 build cycles. The last one leads right into the taper for race week. EZ Weeks are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand it's nice to get a break and not worry how we are going to fit two long workouts in on certain days. On the other hand we've made so much progress that it's hard to dial it back in. Take today. We were scheduled for a 15' run after swim practice. 15 minutes! I was glad for those workouts 2 months ago, but now it seems like it's not enough. Since I know I can now I feel like I must keep training, go further! The rest is nice, though. I didn't feel that bad being out for only 15' (OK, 17.5').

Swim practice this morning was a bunch of fun drills designed to get us used to the open water and flailing limbs of race day. As we were swimming a 10' set the coaches removed the lane lines. I tell ya, it makes a huge difference. The water turned from nice and calm to really choppy without the baffles to kill waves. It forces you to change your breathing strategy so you don't get a mouthful of water. We also did a mass start with everybody in the water and swam around people positioned in a triangle in the pool as "bouys". It was not easy. I think everybody got kicked a few times.

The brick workout on Saturday sucked. It was still really cold. Even the great new gloves that I got for my birthday didn't do anything. I guess I'm cursed with cold fingers. The new booties we got worked fairly well, but not for the whole ride. We were scheduled for 110', but after 90' I had done two loops and jumped off to run. Running when you can't feel your toes is unpleasant. I don't think this is what training to run off the bike is all about. This Saturday we have a short ride at Hains Point and it should be above freezing at least.

Frozen in

Last week was tough for training for a number of reasons. The effects from the ice/snow storm on Tuesday are still lingering today; we only just got the car out of its parking spot this morning! We didn't swim on Thursday because we couldn't get to the pool; I was able to do about 45 minutes of the long run at lunch on the treadmill. Saturday's 100'/15' brick in Rock Creek was canceled because of the conditions. We went to gym instead and I did 60'/20'. Riding the spin bikes for that long is mentally tough; we tried to get into a 60' organized spin class but it was full (I guess everybody else had the same idea). Sunday was supposed to be a swim, but again the car was stuck behind the ice mound on 17th. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway since Takoma was closed to lap swimming due to a big meet all weekend. There aren't many other pools to go to on Sunday. My workout for that day was the 40 minutes I spent breaking ice and shoveling to clear a path for the car!! Yesterday was supposed to be another bike but we ended up skipping that as well.

This morning we got back on track in the pool. The workout was 2400 yards (the most yet), but it didn't seem that bad simply because there weren't any drill sets. Just straight swimming. The main set was 2 x pyramids:

50 easy/100 build/150 race/200 cruise/150 race/100 build/50 easy

Aside from my shoulder really aching from the delayed shoveling soreness it felt like a good workout. The longer intervals were tough, but I never felt like I was struggling to keep up or to catch my breath. 35' run included a 6' AT ("at threshold") interval meaning an almost maximum effort that can be sustained without totally burning you out. I went out my on my regular Mass. Ave route up towards the Observatory and ended doing that interval on the way up the hill. I've got to find a flatter route! It was hard today given that most of the sidewalks are still complete ice unless they've been shoveled. My whole body feels run down now. Just 4 more workouts until another EZ week.

Commitment issues

We are now (almost) officially half way through the training. Just 10 short weeks until zero hour. Race day! Confidence from training is high, confidence from fundraising is getting there. It's hard to balance life, work, and training not to mention organizing fundraising. To that end I'm hosting a happy hour on 2/15. If you're reading this stop on by! I'm just glad Friday's are our "off" days now. I submitted my recommitment papers today which means that for better or worse this triathlon thing is locked in. It was harder to press "Send" on those documents than I thought it would be.

Despite the weather, or rather in spite of the weather, training pushes onwards. Build week #2 began with the 30' Sunday continuous swim. I was able to get in 1650 yards in just under 30 minutes. That's the 1.5K swim right there! I never would have thought I'd reach that sub-30' milestone, so it felt really good. Monday was a 40' bike (indoors, of course). Tuesday morning swim practice: 2300 yards; 35' minute run with a bunch of hill workouts. These hurt, but obviously I found a good hill. The embassy chauffeur that I ran past 6 times in 12 minutes gave me some weird looks, though. This morning we woke up to actual snow on the ground and another 60' on the trainer (OK, 50' for me because I was running late). Tomorrow is the evil day with another 2350 yards at the pool and then somehow making room for a 60' run and hosting a happy hour. Hopefully things will be melted and dried out in Rock Creek for Saturday morning, but I'm not holding out hope that it will be warm at all.

Easy as 1, 2, 3?

At the beginning of the training program we were supplied with three levels of workouts corresponding to beginner, intermediate, and advanced fitness levels for participants. The idea is that you should pick a program and stick with it. For the swim workouts there is usually 2-300 yards difference between each level; biking around 5-10'; running usually 5', but some of the Level 3 runs are significantly longer. I started out squarely in Level 1 based mostly on the run schedule (where I need the most work). Liz, Steph and I quickly moved to Level 2 in the water since we had started that on our own before Thanksgiving, and now the coach has pushed me into Level 3. Bike? I'm sticking with Level 2 now; an extra 5' on the bike is not as big of a deal as an extra 5' on the run. Running? I tried to do Level 2 for a bit but am very wary of pushing myself too hard too fast; sticking to Level 1 for now. Nothing would derail this whole training thing faster than a running injury. So basically I'm all over the place in each training plan!

I was pumped on Tuesday to jump into the Level 3 workout on a non-EZ week. Well, as pumped as I can be at 5:30 in the morning when the wind chill is below zero outside, which isn't all that much. The workout we were given was listed as 2350 yards (Level 2 was 2000). However, the math didn't add up. Total for the different parts of the workout gave us 1850 for #3 and 1800 for #2. Hmmm. Teen and I had a lane to ourselves and went about with the workout as written. My usual #2 lane was given an extra 100 yd interval by the coach so they ended up doing more than we did. So much for leveling up! It was a good workout, though. I'm really feeling strong in the water. On the 15 second walk out to the car Liz and Steph's exposed wet hair froze solid. Yikes.

Wednesday was a 50' ride (Level 2) on the trainer. Hooray for saved shows on DVR! The trainer is really mind-numbing without any distractions. We had also done a 40' bike on Monday with some hill intervals which I simulated by just shifting into a higher gear. Thursdays are gearing up to be the real killer days from now on, both in the workout itself and the challenge of actually fitting them in. To wit, yesterday was 2000 yards in the pool (Level 3) and a 50' run (Level 1). We got to the pool at 6:00 as normal, but getting back home a little after 8:00 doesn't leave room for the run. I didn't get home until after 7:00 by which time it was dark with wind chills in the low single digits. Ugh. Luckily I'm taking my birthday off today from work (kinda sorta not really) so was able to run for 50' after it had warmed up a little bit. A little bit; it was still damn cold. And I've continued my uncanny ability to come in at an almost exactly 10 minute mile pace for new routes I've never tried before. I guess consistency is something, but I'm not seeing much improvement there yet. I won't be able to do the split workout every week (and sacrifice our off day), so as these long runs start creeping up to 65' and 70' I'll need to figure out a schedule that fits into the work day. It was much easier when these long runs were on Sunday.

Tomorrow is the regular Saturday brick: 90' bike + 15' run. Again it is out in the middle of nowhere (from this D.C. resident's viewpoint). Matt and Andrew are coming down in the late morning so there is no way we'd be able to work out with the group and get back in time. I think we've accumulated enough warm bike gear to have a go at biking the canal trail or down to Hains Point for 90' and be back and dressed in time. We'll see how the birthday dinner goes tonight!

Round two, fight!!

Today marks the beginning of our second main 3-week build cycle. Last week's relative rest and relaxation are behind us. It was a good week overall, as it should have been. The only big challenge I faced was doing the Level 3 swim workout for the first time on Thursday. I got through it without much of a problem; I have more confidence that I'll be able to hang at the back of the Level 3 pack tomorrow if coach Meghan makes me. I also got a new suit that's, um, a bit more streamlined than the one I was using before. I can't say I feel the difference in the water but my lap times have definitely improved. During the 30' swim on Sunday I was able to go 1600 yds, a pretty big increase over 1450 from 2 weeks ago.

Oh, and Teen seems to think I now am harnessing the spirit of the jaguar. Don't ask. Rawr!!

Saturday was a 25' run, and it was cold. Not as bad as the week before, but I'd bought new ski gloves and came prepared. They were a bit too warm, though. I had to take them off half way through. I'm determined to find a happy medium.

This week:

Monday: Bike 40', 6 x 1' hill repeats
Tuesday: Swim practice + 30' run, 6 x 1' repeats
Wednesday: Bike 50' EZ
Thursday: Swim + 55' long run (ugh)
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Brick workout, 90' bike + 15' run
Sunday: Swim

On top of all that? It was about 12 degrees (without wind chill) when I left the house this morning. That makes exercising outside dicey. It also means trying to do the workouts indoors on the trainer (meh) or the treadmill (terrible). I'm hoping it will warm up for Thursday a bit since 55' on a treadmill is like some sort of special personal hell. At least with the trainer at home it's easy to read or watch something interesting on TV. At the gym all you have is your music and whatever crap they have on TV.

Taking the easy way out

After Thursday's swim debacle I was ready for the brick on Saturday morning: 80' ride, 10' run. Unfortunately I wasn't ready for the weather. It was really cold. Not as cold as the week before, but wind chills we still in the low 20s/high teens. I was feeling pretty good going into it dress-wise with 3 layers of long sleeve shirts (one tech shirt, 1 insulated long sleeve jersey, and an insulated windbreaker), two pairs of gloves plus my cycling gloves, two pairs of socks, and long tights. For whatever reason this wasn't enough. We dabbled around in the parking lot getting ready and my fingers started getting numb. Then heading out on the trail my cleat got caught in the pedal and I fell flat on my back (Nice moves!!). About 15 minutes in I really couldn't feel my fingers and actually missed a shift because there was no tactile feedback to tell me how much pressure I was putting on the levers. We stopped and I stripped off my gloves to reveal fingers a startling shade of blue. Tried warming them up but that just felt like some pounding away on each finger with a little ball peen hammer. I actually started feeling nauseous. That was it; long rides aren't worth frostbite. I headed back to the car and the trainer at home. Even when I got back I sat on the couch fully dressed for 15 minutes trying to warm up; I think my core temperature had taken a hit. I got the ride in and then ventured back out for the 10' run, by which time it had warmed up considerably. I'll have to plan better for the next ride. I know one thing; the gloves I have suck. They're the same ones that failed me on the Jolly Fat Man Run. Wind resistant indeed!! Bah.

Saturday was our engagement party at the Brickskeller. A big night at the Brick made for a lazy Sunday on the couch. No swim, no 55' run. It didn't feel good at all to miss a long run (where I really need the help), but it was really the first day of training I've totally missed. And, hey, it segued perfectly into this week which is a patented EZ Week:

Monday: 30' bike
Tuesday: Swim (I don't think we even did 1500 yards) + 30' run
Wednesday: 20' bike
Thursday: Swim (going to try to do the Level 3 workout) + 15' run
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 25' EZ run
Sunday: EZ swim + 40' bike

That sinking feeling

Literally. Sort of. Yesterday morning was our normal 6:00 swim at Takoma following the same workout as Tuesday. Yardage-wise this was our longest yet clocking in at 2000 yds plus warm up and cool down. Tuesday was a good workout; one of the coaches even encouraged me to join the Level 3 group. They swam about 2300 yards in the same time. I don't think I'm nearly ready for that and would probably hold them up. My endurance in the water (and pretty much everywhere else) isn't up to snuff. To wit: Thursday morning's swim. I had every intention of attempting the increased workout first without the added pressure of faster swimmers nipping at my heels and felt like I normally do on Thursdays: tired, groggy, a bit hungry. After a couple warm up laps I knew that it just wasn't meant to be. It was dreadful. I couldn't catch my breath at all and my shoulder ached for some reason. The drills were really tough; I got through them but way slower than normal. My form was shot to hell and I was just thrashing about at the end of the 100s making everything even worse. I ended up completing the Level 2 workout and was just glad to be out of pool. The run was scrapped.

I don't know exactly what happened; it's probably a combination of things. I didn't get much sleep this week, and definitely not enough the night before. I hadn't eaten much that whole week either. The weight is still coming off, but I think I need to step up my intake in order to keep up with the training. My shoulder? Who knows where that came from. I had ridden the bike on the trainer the night before and stayed in my aerobars pretty much the entire time. I think it was just the added stress on some new muscles I was using to support my upper body. That may need some tweaking since I'm not entirely comfortable in them yet.

Today is our day off and I'm taking advantage hoping to rest up for the big workouts on Saturday and Sunday. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't dawn with frost on the ground. At least the ride is in Rock Creek and we could actually bike there and back, but I think we'll just drive down. Busy day tomorrow, especially for Liz!!

Deep freeze

The thing about signing up for triathlon training in the winter months that I was definitely not looking forward to is the cold. The bitter, bitter cold. Saturday was the first of our scheduled brick workouts, 70' bike, 10' run. Forecast for that morning around 8:00: low 20s, winds 20-25 MPH with 40-45 MPH gusts. Wind chill well into the single digits. The workout was in Sterling, roughly 40 minutes away on a good day. So that would mean that between getting the rack and bikes on the car, driving out and back, and generally getting organized and suited up we would be spending 2 hours travel time for a little over an hour of actual workout in freezing temperatures and heavy winds. There's hardcore and then there's just plain not smart. No thanks. I did just fine indoors on the new trainer with a 10' run outside afterwards.

Sunday was another 30' swim. We saw one of the other coaches at the pool and heard that they didn't even do the run after the bike on Saturday (so glad we didn't go!). I concentrated on my stroke mostly, trying to lengthen myself in the pool. I've read that to get faster in the water it's best to minimize the number of strokes you take to swim a length. Makes sense: the more efficient your stroke is the fewer strokes you'll need to take and the faster you will be. The problem is that as I get winded I have to breathe more often. More breathing makes it harder to maintain a good, smooth rhythm since you are essentially interrupting that nice streamlined form every time you turn to take a breath. Well, at least I am. On my best laps I took 17 strokes to get down the pool breathing every 5 strokes. I can't really hold that for more than a lap though. Settling into a breath every 3 strokes gets me into the 19-20 strokes range, but I can sustain that for longer. I mentally split my 30 minutes into 200 yard intervals with the first 25 yards of every interval swimming breaststroke to recover and get my heartrate down a bit. I figured I would be slightly slower than the week before when I did 1400 yards in 30 minutes on straight freestyle, but actually came in at 1450. Point driven home yet again: swimming is all about form.

This week is the heaviest week in our latest build cycle before a "rest" week. We've been promised about 2100 yards in the pool tomorrow morning. As long as it's not tons of catch-up drills and straight kicking I'm OK with that ...

Building

We're into week #2 of a three week build cycle. The training schedule we're following is built around a basic four week, 3/1 periodization timetable. Three "build" weeks in which the workouts get progressively harder/longer followed by a rest week to let the body rest and re-adjust to its newly established baseline. The theory is that after the rest week your body can resume harder training more easily than working straight through. In fact it's supposed to work significantly better than doing a straight linear build without any protracted rest at all. We'll see.

I ended up taking Friday off trying to kick this cold (it was a rough day). By Saturday morning I wasn't sure how things would go, but it was so incredibly nice outside that it would have been a shame to let it go to waste. 65 degree days in January don't come around too often! The workout was our first organized group ride. We met out in Vienna at a bike shop near the W&OD bike trail. The first hour or so was spent in the shop talking about basic bike maintenance, trail etiquette, and pedal technique. The latter was pretty useful. Then we all went out for a 60' ride on the trail. The group rides will be helpful, especially when we start doing bricks, but it's a pain to load up the car with 3 bikes and spend more time driving to the trail than actually on it. This weekend we have to drive even further out. After that they've promised some more rides in DC and MD. I'm just waiting for the rides in Rock Creek where we won't even have to load the car up ...

Sunday was a busy day. We started by heading up to Takoma for a 30 minute swim. Sunday swims aren't following any set routine or drills, just swimming straight for 30'. It really helps to find a comfortable pace. I struggled early in the swim to do that, mostly because I'm still mucking with my breathing. Taking a breath on the left still feels really unnatural. I start out breathing every 4 strokes (same side every time), but then the heart rate gets up and I find myself wanting to breathe sooner. That translates to breathing on the right every other stroke. I'm trying to get into a groove where every 3 strokes, alternating sides, is the norm. I think it's actually affecting my stroke significantly. After a hard swim there are muscles in my left shoulder that are more sore than their partners on the right, probably due to the fact that I'm using a different stroke on the left to raise my body slightly as I turn to breathe on the right. Plus there's a knot around my right shoulder blade from turning my head to that side every time. Anyway, all of that aside, I was able to squeeze out 1400 yards in those 30 minutes. Not bad considering that 1650 is roughly the distance we'll have to hit in the race. My newly chosen swim goal is to get the race distance in under 30'. I think that's definitely attainable.

After getting back from the swim it was a 45' run. I hadn't run nearly that far since the 5 Miler in mid-December. I went roughly 4.5 miles, which is keeping with my 10" mile pace goal. For now. It wasn't easy. We haven't incorporated any speed or interval work into the run workouts yet. I think that comes this week. Hopefully that will start helping my pace. Right now I'm just focusing on hitting the workout times knowing that the speed will have to wait.

Following the run I headed down to Arlington for a short gym training clinic by one of the coaches. It was basically a weight and core training routine with the triathlete in mind. Lots of core work with some targeted weight training involved. We spent a lot of time on modified yoga and pilates-like drills with other isolated stretches and core work on those big rubber training balls. Some of this stuff was no joke and I knew enough to watch and not attempt. I'm going to try to incorporate this into the weekly routine starting next week, going slowly to start. My abs still hurt today.

So, that was Sunday. I was beat and slightly sore on Monday. Luckily it was only a 30' bike session. I'm still doing those at the gym on the stationary bikes, but that will change sometime later this week when we get a new bike trainer. With the winter coming on strong and 2 budding triathletes in the house it will more than pay for itself in training time not lost. I just can't wait for the first time somebody in our building stumbles on one of us spinning furiously away in the basement! It doesn't hurt that we will be training on our own bikes; there is no way I can get the gym bikes to be set up like my own, and you can't use bike shoes on most of them (you can on the spinning bikes, but I don't have the right cleats). Plus I'll finally get to fit and try out my aerobars. They're nothing special, but I hope they'll get me a better position on the bike. That may require another bike fitting, though.

Today was Tuesday, and you know what that means! 4:45 wake up call and in the pool by 5:30. Liz is still feeling the ill effects of being sick, so I encouraged her to sleep in and try to kick this thing instead of making it worse. It was a different workout today. We started with 2 sets of 300 divided into 100/50/100/50 segments. We misunderstood the RI instructions and did the whole 300 in one shot. We were supposed to rest between each set of 100 or 50. Oops!! The 50s were easy pace, the 100s were build intervals on 25 going easy -> moderate -> race pace -> sprint. We had 35 people in the pool this morning, and 6 in our lane alone! That made for some, um, interesting pace problems on the longer intervals. Unless everybody is swimming the same speed people are going to be swimming into each other, or slowed down, or waiting at the end of an interval. Steph said that we had a run scheduled for after the swim, and I thought she was being a liar. But she wasn't. At least for the Level 2 schedule. I've been following Level 1 purely for the running side of things. I'm really starting from scratch there. So, I got suckered into heading back out for 25' run (was supposed to be 30'). We'll see how that goes and determine if I should make that a weekly thing ...