Thursday, October 25, 2007

Back to running

I went running yesterday morning. I did the 3.1 mile loop around my neighborhood. It was nice. I didn't go out super easy but I didn't go out hard and strong either. Just a comfortable medium pace. I have no clue what my time was because my HRM came in the mail yesterday. It was a good run. Nothing hurt but my breathing was off a bit because it was around 55* when I started the run. Oh, yes, I'm so happy that the heat has broken and we now have some chilly temperatures in the morning. I like the lows around 55-60 with a high around 75-80 and this entire week is suppose to be like that. I'm probably going to be outside all weekend working in the yard and it'll be beautiful! I'm also going swimming tonight.

New Balance mileage: 192.5 miles
Nike mileage: 180.5 miles

Monday, October 22, 2007

I'm back on the wagon

I'm just checking in here to let myself know that I'm back on the wagon. I'm going to start working out again which I'm actually looking forward to again. My weigh in this morning was 191 which I'm quite surprised. After IMFL, I gained 10 pounds in a week. After the Longhorn Tri, I only gained 4 pounds. Not bad.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Season Recap

Well, it's been 2 weeks since the cap to my tri season. I should've posted a season recap sooner, but I've enjoyed being a normal person. And what does that entail? Being fat, lazy, and bored. The only working out that I've done in the last 3 weeks is a 2 hour hike, some yoga, and a 3 mile run. I've been watching a lot of TV, a decent amount of beer, and eating a good amount of junk food. I'm about to get back to working out though. I miss it. I won't be doing 10-12 workouts a week, but I'll still be doing stuff. I'm also going to take it a lot more relaxed for awhile as well. I'm a little burned out. I worked in the yard today and I miss doing stuff like that.

Oh, back to my season. My goal this season was to run injury free. As of right now, I've been running injury free for 10 months now. My season has been a success! I didn't really make that much progress in gaining running speed but that's OK. I've also had some unexpected outcomes from this season. I've actually been competitive. I've had two 3rd place finishes, two 4th place finishes and a 6th place finish. This is from sprint distance races all the way up to a half Ironman 2 weeks ago. My swimming has stagnated but I'm going to work on that over the winter. My biking has been strong as usual and here's the weird thing. I haven't been working on it. As I mentioned, my running has improved slightly. I've had some set backs this year. I just haven't been that mentally focused or motivated this year. I got through it though. It hasn't been that bad because I'm actually have had a bit of a social life this year. I'm going to try to keep that up next year as well.

So, I guess that's it. Not much else to say. Nothing spectacular in my opinion, but I'm happy with it overall.

New Balance mileage: 189.5 miles
Nike mileage: 180.5 miles

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Longhorn Tri Race Report

I have been excited about this race since last year when they announced the Texas Tri Series. This would be the first half Ironman within an hour of Austin that I remember. Also, Keith Jordan is the race director and I hear that he puts on great races. This would be a great cap to my season as well. So, my season was planned last year and this was the last race. I was really looking forward to the end of this season as well. I was just ready to sleep in and drink beer.

Prerace

The weather was hot lately. The highs were around 92-95 and the lows were around 73 or so for the last month straight. It wasn't a wet suit legal swim by any means. I heard that the water temp actually went up by 4 degrees over the last week. I picked up my packet on Saturday and checked out the schwag. There was a lot of decent stuff and as usual for Keith's races, there was a nice tech long sleeve shirt in the bag instead of a plain Jane cotton shirt. I'm willing to pay $10 more for a race entry to get a tech fabric instead of a cotton shirt. The bike course changed so I went and drove it to make sure that I knew what the new parts were like. That night, I went to the Olive Garden and had their bottomless bowl of pasta. I could only eat 2 of them. I came home, had a beer, and went to bed pretty early.

I got about 7 hours of sleep that night so that was pretty nice. I got up and ate my usual big breakfast. I left the house nearly on time. I had most of the stuff packed up the night before so I just put on my tri suit, my sweatshirt, and my iPod and left. Unfortunately, I left a little too late and got there kinda late. There is only 1 way into the park with a lot of people trying to get in. I waited about 25 minutes getting into the park. This left me in a hurried state to get ready which I don't like to be in before a race. I felt like I had a lot to do and I kinda did. I did get all of my stuff set up and then headed into the water. I did about 150yds warm up and was ready to go.

The Swim - 35:41

The swim was in Decker Lake so the water wasn't that nice. There's a power plant on it so the temp is usually somewhat warm. This causes a lot of hydrila to grow which we had to fight through in the first 100yds or so. The first few hundred yards were a washing machine and then it eased up a bit after that. The course was laid out so that you could sight off the power plant. Then next leg of the course was a little weird because I think that leg wasn't straight. I first started off and then I eventually had to sight off a tall power line tower thing.

I drafted a bit on this swim. I tend to start off slow and then when I want to draft, there aren't any faster people around me. That means that I swim in a lot of open water. It sucks. I also had to go through a lot of other people from the previous waves. I took the last turn in and just swam for it. Nothing special happened except that I'm sure a volunteer from Texas Iron grabbed my ass when I was getting out of the water. Oh, I think this is a good time to mention that I had no clue what my swim time was. Or my bike time, my run time, or my heart rate. I raced completely naked since my HRM battery died about 2 months ago and I haven't had a bike computer on Sophia the Cervelo since IMFL last year. This race was done completely by perceived effort. Back to the swim, I think the swim times were a little slow because there was quite a jog to get to the T area. My pace was 1:51/100m which isn't that great, but it's much better than what I did at Austin Tri. I also felt very comfortable breathing which was a problem at the Austin Tri. I did get a bit of chafing on my neck from where my tri top was rubbing on my neck because I was breathing on my right side about 95% of the time. I was 68th overall on the swim and 5th in my AG.

T1 - 1:33

As usual, my T1 time kicks ass. I came into T1, put a Rice Krispy treat in my back pocket, sunglasses, helmet, unracked my bike and I was off. Here's the thing because I took my time a bit as well. I stopped and chatted for about 2 seconds with people around me. I also though about how to get my bike off the rack. I racked it by the seat but the bottles in my bottle cage were in the way. I just tilted the bike a lot, got it out, and was on my way. I also think I've figured out how to run with the bike while holding onto it by the saddle instead of the stem. I had the fastest T1 time of my age group by 10 seconds, too. Oh, I actually ran when I could coming out of the water and heading to the dismount line.

The Bike - 2:31:22

I fucking rocked the bike. I preroad the course about 4 times and that really helped out. I knew which hills to power up, which ones to take easy, which corners to take fast, which corners to take slow, and a bunch of other stuff. It was juts great knowing what was coming up as well. This is the first time that I really knew a bike course going into it and it really paid off. I normally don't use race wheels but I borrowed some ZIPP 808's from Austin Tri Cyclist. Of all the wheels that I've ridden, I think they are by far my favorite. I just felt super fast on them, even more so than a disc wheel in the back.

As usual, my lower left bike starting killing me about an hour into the bike. My hip flexors later started acting up as well, but I was able to get through it. There was only 1 person that passed me on the bike. I passed some people and they passed me later and there were a few that passed me but I passed them back. Like I said, only 1 person passed me on the bike. My nutrition on the bike was spot on as well. I drank at least 4 bottles of fluid as well as my single Rice Krispy treat, Nuun, and Thermolytes. I also want to mention that the course was well marked and well supported. I saw a bunch of Mavic support vehicles as well. They were patrolling the entire course. The only thing that I would add would be a sign about 1 mile before each aid station so I had time to switch bottles and stuff. I also said thanks to as many volunteers and sheriffs as possible. The weather started out cloudy but then the sun came out and it warmed up quite a bit. Not cool. I still rocked the bike with a time of 2:31:22. I was 3rd in my AG and 14th overall. Totally kicked ass and I'm very happy with it. I also felt like I could've gone a bit faster but I'll save them for 2 years from now.

T2 - 1:36

My T2 sucked as usual. The reason why is that I had to sit down and actually pull 7 burrs out of my feet. I knew there were burrs from setting up in the morning, but I missed all of them in T1. Man, I hate burrs and I had to pull another 2-3 out of my socks on the run. Oh, I forgot to mention this. I used a bento box on the bike and it worked well mostly. I had all of my nutrition in the BB for both the run and the bike before the race started. Then, about the last 2 miles on the bike, I started taking stuff out of the BB and putting it in my pockets of my tri shorts. I put in SportSlick, Thermolytes, and eGels as well. I felt like it did save me time since I was loading up my pockets while still moving forward. T2 had me putting on my socks, grabbing my hat, race belt, another eGel (I don't know why I needed this one), and a bottle of fluid. That entire sock thing slows me down and I need to figure out a way to hurry my ass up. I run through T2 so it isn't that. Well, it's not going to get fixed in the next week. 14th fastest T2 in my AG.

The Run - 1:59:57

I heard this run course was a kick in the nuts. I really think that it was a kick in the nuts, a punch in the kidneys, and then dirt with burrs kicked into my face. I started off a bit slow for the first few hundred yards while I was getting situated. I had some chafing under my arms from the bike and the swim so I reached for my small tube of SportSlick. It was gone. That really sucks because I hate chafing. Also, it had gotten hot. A lot of the run course was on asphalt with no shade and that wasn't pleasant. I felt horrible for the first 2 miles and then I started feeling a bit better. I kept up with my usual plan of 1 cup of water in my mouth and 1 cup of water on my head/down my shorts at every aid station. I took my first eGel at about Mile 3 and it didn't sit that well with me. I didn't puke, but I had to really think about my nutrition. I decided to risk bonking and had only 1 more eGel for the rest of the course. I had some Gatorade which helped and I also had some chips which my stomach didn't like either. I still took Thermolytes as well to keep up with my electrolytes. I was already seeing people puking and walking at this point in the race. It was around Mile 3! This was going to be a long day for a lot of people, but I wasn't going to let the heat beat me.

All the aid stations had great volunteers. I said thanks a lot but I felt horrible. I was also approaching the worst part of the course. Part of the course goes off into grass and trails which I don't like. I have bad knees and they dislocated very easily. Any kind of rough terrain will increase that. The offroad portion also had The Hill from Hell. This is the worst hill on the bike course where you also run up it, too. It's just a bitch of a hill. Actually, the entire course is hilly. It's constant up and down and you couldn't get in a good rhythm at all. This is much different than Buffalo Springs which this race is compared to a lot. At BSLT, there are 3 big ascents and 3 big descents but the rest of the course is flat. This run course is much more of a bitch.

I started out on the 2nd loop of the run and there were a lot of others starting their first loop. They were already walking up the hills and had that look in their eye that it was going to be a long day. I get moving though. I walked some of the hills but for the most part, I was still moving my feet in some horrible imitation of a run. I just stuck to my plan and get moving. Nothing special to really mention besides the heat, other people melting, and the great support on the run course. There was something like 8 aid stations per loop. I had another eGel at Mile 8 or so and that was my last one. My stomach was done with them. I started feel somewhat bad around Mile 9 as well. I had only 4 to go and I could do it. My biggest thing was to not fall apart in the last mile and a half like I did at BSLT last year. So, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until I crossed the finish line which I was very happy to do.

I was the 34th person across the line. I was 27th overall and finished 3rd in my AG. My run time was 1:59:57 and I had the 96th fastest run split overall and the 11th fastest in my AG. I'm actually really happy with that. I had a pace of 9:09min/mile but it was a slow day for most people. My pace wasn't that far off considering the training runs that I've been doing over the summer of similar distances and similar temps.

The Finale

I went to the med tent and had some ice put on me. My arms started tingling about Mile 9 and then it spread. Also, I was getting headaches on the run and the only thing to make it go away was the ice cold water on my head but it worked every time. I basically did the same thing in the med tent because that is why they are there and it wouldn't really hurt. I was also out of it mentally a bit. Once I started feeling better, I got some food, some beer, and talked to some friends.

The race is very well run. Lots of supplies, lots of aid stations, cool shirt, cool medal, etc. The coolest thing that others haven't thought of is what do you do when you are done with the race? You need to turn in your chip. You have to balance on one foot while someone takes it off your ankle. They made this kind of contraption where you put your put on this bar while a volunteer takes off your ankle strap. Also, they have a metal bar at about chest level to put your arms to balance yourself. It's a very good idea and was one of those "Why didn't I think of it?" moments. There were signs marking all the turns on the bike and there were mile markers on the run course. It was just a great race and I don't have that much to suggest for improvements. Good job, Keith!

New Balance mileage: 186.5 miles
Nike mileage: 180.5 miles

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Another Update

Yeah, it's been awhile since I've posted an update. I'm getting lazy and I'm ready for the season to be over. I actually have to look at my training program to see what I've done. It doesn't really matter because the only thing that I really worry about tracking is my running.

Last week was an easy ride on Monday. I was suppose to do 2 hrs but I can't stand being inside without intervals so I only did an hour. Tuesday was a swim and then a run in the evening. I can't remember the run anymore but I think it was a trackish workout. Let's just say that it was 6 miles in the Nikes. Wednesday was an unintentional rest day. Thursday was a brick workout and it was a good, hour long LT workout. 4 miles in the New Balance. Friday was a swim in the morning. The rest of the weekend was a rest weekend because I went to me 10 year high school reunion. That was actually a lot of fun.

This past week was a taper week. Monday was a rest day. Tuesday was a track workout with some shorter, faster sprints. I can't remember what Wednesday was. I think it was another unintentional rest day. Thursday was a 30 minute swim with some faster 100yds. Later that day was another brick workout. Friday was a rest day. Today are some tune up workouts and that tomorrow is the Longhorn Tri.

New Balance mileage: 173 miles
Nike mileage: 180.5 miles
 

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