Been awhile ....

Ummmmm, yeah. These updates have been few and far between, so here's the short attention span version of the race season so far:

St. Anthony's 2:40:16; Swim was a little rougher this year than last and I dropped 2.5 minutes off of that time despite being in better swim shape, but maybe the adrenaline was really pumping in 2007 as it was my first race! Ride was 3.5 minutes faster than last year and I felt a lot better coming off of the bike. Run started out great, but I hit the wall at mile 4. Struggled home to a 56:xx 10K (which is not that bad by my standards), but feel I could have knocked a couple minutes off of that. The slow recovery from the half marathon really put a big dent in my run ability. One of my goals this year was to break 2:40:00 in an olympic. My next and probably last chance will be at Annapolis.

Columbia Tri: 2:53:19; I was treating this as a training day for Mooseman and didn't plan on hammering it at all. The starting line announcer had to lie about the water temperature to get us all in, but since it was around 55 degrees I don't blame him. Holy crap, that was cold! It did make for a personal best sub-25:00 swim though; I really wanted to be out of that water. Columbia bike course is really challenging with all of the hills, and I lost 6.5 minutes to a flat in the first 4 miles or so. Averaged 18 MPH even with that little hiccup and on that course I'm was happy with it. The run at Columbiz is the real challenge. There are 5-6 seriously steep hills with equally punishing downhills on the other side. I kept my HR in a fairly comfortable zone, walking the hills where necessary to keep from overdoing it. Still came out with a sub-58:00 10K which actually surprised me a bit. Sign up for this race next year is next week (!!!!), but I don't know if I'll do it again. It will depend on which half I might be interested in.

Mooseman Half Ironman: 6:21:27; I was hoping to go (and think I'm capable of going) under 6:00:00 so my time will speak for itself. Swim was right around where I wanted it at 34:06, but I think 33:00 is doable. I had some wetsuit issues in the first couple hundred meters and had to flip on my back to adjust the closure 2-3 times. The water was super clear (and cold at 60 degrees), but it was a good swim.

The bike course was rolling with a couple short, steep hills and some gradual climbs. The road conditions were pretty horrendous, though. I had practiced my nutrition strategy ahead of time, but it kind of fell apart during the first loop and I had some stomach cramps. I got things sorted out by the second loop, but by then it was too late. Neck and shoulder problems made staying aero a chore in the last 10 miles. I had made a tiny (tiny, I swear!) adjustment to my bar position about a month out from the race and hadn't had too many issues, but the combination of probably a slightly stretched out position and a death grip on the bars going over some really rough pavement just made things tense up. (I've since returned the bars to a more relaxed position and haven't had any issues. Lesson learned, but a bit too late!). Rolled in at 3:06:00 (goal was sub-3:00:00), so that wasn't too bad. I think I dropped 8-9 minutes on the second lap compared to the first.

The run is where that little nutrition issue reared it's incredibly ugly head. I had more than 1/3 of my concentrated InfiniT solution left in the bottle when I racked my bike, which included the electrolytes I needed. Oh, and did I mention that despite the 60 degree water it was approaching 95 and humid that day? Yeah, and I was sweating like mad. About 1/4 mile into the run both of my quads cramped up and refused to unlock. I then locked up a hamstring trying to stretch out a quad! Eventually things got moving and shuffled to a 9:1x first mile; that was the closest I was to seeing a 9:00 mile the rest of the day. I got down some salt tabs at the first aid station, but the lack of calories from the bike just left my legs with nothing and the heat was killing me. The next 2+ hours were spent shuffling along and then walking ... often. There were two wicked hills on the two loop course. I was thinking I could realistically go 2:15:00 on the run but came in at 2:36:41. Ouch. Literally. I can't blame the heat and nutrition mistakes entirely, though. Maybe (just maybe ;) ) the fact that my long runs leading up to this race after the March half mary were 6, 6, and 7 miles. And two of those were 10Ks at the end of olympic races. Undertrained = me on the run. I also probably pushed the bike too hard knowing that I would need to make up time there. A decent run would have put me under 6 hours, but it wasn't to be, and I had a fantastic time up in New Hampshire. That's what first 1/2 Ironmans are for, right? To live and learn. Despite some disappointment it leeft me wanting for more. We'll have to pick out a race for next season and actually train better for it. Probably something later on in the summer, though.

General Smallwood Sprint: 1:34:08; This was a fun race to do just before heading down to the beach for the 4th of July. Probably my best overall finish so far: 25/140 out of all men and 4th in my age group. I'd like to say that I was close to a podium finish, but I was a full 3 minutes out of 3rd! It still was nice to see that result. If only I could run well. I dropped my chain on the bike twice (even after adjusting things); once in the middle of a steep hill. Wasn't fun to get going again after that. The bike wiped me out more than I thought it would (again, probably pushed too hard). There were some not so nice hills at the very beginning of the run course that sapped a lot of energy. Oh, and the swim was full of weeds that stole my Garmin watch strap right off of my wrist!! Of course the first time I decide to wear it in the swim instead of putting it on in transition a freaking plant steals it!

Coming up next:

New Jersey State Sprint: this weekend 7/27
North East Sprint: 8/17 (yes, after the half I'm taking advantage of sprints for a little bit ...)
Annapolis Olympic: 9/7 (different course than last year, but probably an easier run)
Savageman Olympic: 9/21 (possibly, not signed up yet; it's at Deep Creek, should be a beautiful but tough course. The Half is tempting ... for next year)
Ragnar Relay: 9/26-27. This is going to be awesome: 183 mile, 12 person relay from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. Team DCDD is going to rock it!

Then some time off, but maybe a fall half marathon? Let's not go there just yet!

12 more days

We're just shy of two weeks away from race day on 4/27! It's been a bit of a rocky road for me since March. First, the good news (for me at least): a 1:55:26 at my first half marathon. That was about 5 minutes faster than my goal pace. I paid dearly for it with a bout of tendonitis in my right ankle that has kept me almost completely off of running since then. I'm hoping to get a couple 30 minute runs in before we head down to St. Anthony's. It should make things interesting on race day, to say the least, but hopefully not too painful.

In other injury news I somehow strained/partially dislocated my left side sternoclavicular joint in what my ortho described as a very freakish occurrence. I did it pushing off of the wall while swimming and felt it pop. Yes, that was pushing off of the wall with my feet, hands outstretched over my head. Guess it just rotated the wrong way. Doctor says I have some "instability" issues with my shoulders that could have contributed. That kept me out of the pool for a few weeks, but I'm back to swimming with no pain and haven't lost much in the way of swim fitness that I can tell. I'm hoping that taking 4 weeks off from running goes as well, but I'm not holding out hope.

The swim waves were announced and I'm pretty relieved to be the first non-pro group into the water at 7:05. Last year we were the last wave (9:10). Instead of passing a bunch of people on the bike this year I'll be the one getting passed. Those that don't catch me on the bike will probably do it on the run. Being done before 10:00 will sure beat being out on the run course in the heat close to noon, and I'll get to watch everybody else come in. My goal this year was to break 2:40 (I did 2:36:xx at Annapolis, but that bike was maybe a mile short. I'm not counting it in my book!). Even after my injuries I think it's still possible depending on how my bike goes and if I can keep a halfway decent pace on the run.

15 day forecast says it looks like a great day to race!!

Training through the "holidays"

The good thing about having an early February birthday is that comes at a time just when the post-Holidays doldrums would really set in. It's also a good excuse to blow off some training for a weekend of fun. Well, "good" is all relative here. I just view it as some extra built-in recovery days ...

Tri training has been going well, and the build towards the half marathon has gone about as well as I could have imagined. I hit almost 11 miles on my long run two weeks ago and plan to nudge that towards 12 this weekend. I'm aiming to top out at a 2 hour run before starting the taper in time for St. Patrick's weekend. This won't get me to race distance, but it'll be close enough!

We've actually had some nice training weekends for a change this year. Our first brick on Saturday started out above freezing (well, minus the wind chill at least) which was nice. I don't think we'll be as lucky this weekend. My struggle with minor frostbite in my fingers continues whenever the thermometer drops below freezing. I'm convinced I'm just cursed with poor circulation in those particular extremities. I had to abort a ride a couple weeks ago to let them thaw out, but I'm done messing around and picked up a pair of these. If technical backcountry gloves rated to 5 F can't do the trick I'm going to give up or get some of those hand warmer things. Think warm thoughts for me ...

... and a Happy New Year

Now that the holidays are behind us it's time to get down to brass tacks. Training really begins in earnest with the resumption of group workouts. With both Christmas and New Year's Day falling on a Tuesday we haven't had any group swims in almost 3 weeks and a break from Saturdays as well. I still managed to get 2 swims in almost every week, a handful of quality runs (some weeks better than others), and even one outdoor ride on the new bike. I like!

The Celtic Solstice 5 Miler was great aside from the bitter cold. I knocked nearly 7 minutes off of my time from last year and felt I even had a little left in the tank. What a difference 12 months makes. Slowing down on my long runs apparently really works! I'm adding an extra long run to the schedule on Sundays as prep for the half marathon starting this week. Since we are scheduled for 45' tomorrow it may not be as long as I hoped. Once we start the long rides on Saturdays doing the long run on Sundays should be a bit easier.

On the downside it's freaking cold again. Ugh. And I see last year's pattern repeating itself: forecast for Monday and Tuesday in the mid-60's. By the weekend for our first group ride? Back in the 30's with a chance of snow. I'd gladly trade freezing temps mid-week for some milder weather on the weekend, but wouldn't anybody?

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!!