Monday, August 31, 2009

A great week of training.

Monday, I swam strong on 8x400. I felt good and was able to descend.

Tuesday, I had a good bike workout followed by a short run.

Wednesday, I had another great swim. It was a lot of 200's. I finished up with a few fast 100's. I had a good run. It took a few miles to get warmed up.

Thursday was back to the mid/upper 80's. I had a great ride averaging over 22mph for the workout of 2 hours. The run was not fun. I have to keep up on the salt intake.

Friday, yet another great swim. Lots of fast 100's.

Saturday, I started the ride in the rain. After 30 minutes, we stopped at Forza for a hot chocolate. After an hour of relaxing, we decided to get back out there. Luckily, there was no more rain. The roads were wet for awhile. My legs were covered in dirt. I averaged 22.3mph for 92.5 miles. My riding partner was keeping the pace strong for the most of the ride. That is until about mile 79. We were climbing the last hill out of Lacey. I was half way up the hill and looked back and saw him in the distance. He bonked hard. I've been there, it's not a good feeling. I waited for him after the crest. After that I made sure not to ride too far, to make sure he would make it to Forza for a recharge. He was good to go for the last 10miles. I had a strong 20 minute run afterward.

Sunday, I ran just under 17 miles. My legs were tired from the bike on Saturday. It took me 5 miles to get into a nice pace. I averaged 6:55 for the next 10 miles. I ran with no socks and no blister issues whatsoever.

What a great week of training!!! Especially since I had a nagging cough all week. I am amazed that I was able to train at a high level and not get sicker.

It finally caught up with me this morning on my swim. My main set was 6x600. I wanted to be faster. My body was refusing. I swam 5000m. I have a short easy run later.

11 weeks to go and game on!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Pics from the last few races

Lee & I chillin after the 70.3
Finishing 70.3









Lots of bike pics

Exit 70.3 swim

Yep, this is what the start of 70.3 looked like

Torchlight - very humid

Seafair Finish

Seafair bike

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Recovering after the half

I was amazed at my soreness after the race. I was sore thru Thursday. I had a few easy to moderate workouts thru the week. As the week was ending I starting to get a slight cold. I backed off on Friday's swim and was fine for the weekend.

Yesterday I had a really strong bike going til about mile 40. Lee and I were averaging just under 23mph. All of a sudden I hear a noise behind me. Lee is butt surfing on the pavement. I slowed traffic down, so he wouldn't be roadkill. I picked up his bike and he walked to the side. I asked him what happened. He was in shock, so the response was incoherent. Have you ever seen what happens when skin meets chip seal at 25+mph? It is totally gnarly!!! He hit both elbows, knees, shoulders, hip, hands, and ankle. He sacrificed his body for the bike. He is now an official member of the SYB (Save Your Bike) Club. I am the president and a member. The worst part of his bike was the end of his aerobar chipped off. Kurt fixed Bi33y's bike, so I think he will have a fix.

I asked if he wanted me to call Karen. He is a tough guy, so the answer was no. We rode easy for the next 13 miles. After 6 miles, I think the adrenaline was wearing off. I called Karen. She met us in Lacey/Yelm. He will be out of commission for a few days. I was there almost a year ago when I decided to see what happens when you touch the wheel in front of you.

I got a text from Lee this morning, "I iz hurtin." Wait til tomorrow.

I got in a nice run. It took longer than normal to get into my pace. I figure my body is still recovering, so no big deal. I cut it short at 11 miles. Fina did much better today. The last long run we did, I thought I broke her.

Next week I will get back to the grind. 13 weeks til I rip it up at Arizona!!!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Lake Stevens 70.3

I had great workouts yesterday. Right before we left Murphy's Law was in full effect. I could not pump up my tires because my valve extenders somehow closed the stems. We had a good drive up. Karen held us up, so we missed the 1200 mandatory briefing. We waited around til 1pm for a whopping 45 min talk on things we already knew. There were some funny parts, but overall I didn't think it was necessary. Especially since they explain the rules and then give a packet with contradictory information. We ate lunch at a good Thai place, I would recommend. The rest of the evening we chilled at the hotel (which was also at a good location) and set up our race gear. They had karaoke right next to our window until 9. Lucky me!!!

RACE DAY
I didn't sleep well. I woke up 10-15 times and went to the bathroom just about each time. I woke up 2 minutes before the scheduled 430am wake up. Just like I do everyday of the week. I need a new job. :-)

I had breakfast, filled my bottles, and was ready to roll. Sleeping beauties (Lee & Karen who slept like they were on vacation) took a little longer because they were so well rested.

We got to transition around 530 and set up our bikes. I went out for a quick run hoping to use a port-a-potty on the run course. It was zip tied. What luck. Luckily the world is my ...

They delayed the start by 10 minutes because of the fog.

SWIM
This was my first time in the Xterra Vortex. I now know how much I appreciate the Vendetta I have. The suit was very stiff. My wave 35-39 started 11 minutes after the pro males. This is one of the straightest swims you will ever have. There is a rope in the water that is used for rowing. The only problem with the rope is everyone would swim there. I felt okay on the swim. There was a nuisance behind me, who would touch my toes periodically. Can we guess who? Hint: Crowieto. My slow swim was 30:59, HORRIBLE!!!

BIKE
I was out of T1 in 1:15 and out on the course. I wanted to build the first loop and work the second loop. Lee caught up to me around mile 10. We rode together for most of the first loop. I decided to let him ride away. I knew I could ride with him, but my didn't want my run to suffer. Near the end of the ride I thought I saw Lee messing with his bike half way up the hill. Was it a hallucination? No. He decided to let me catch up, so he got the chain stuck. A few incidents with cars and cyclist riding too far to the left. 2:34.50

RUN
I was out of T2 in 1:07. Same strategy build the first loop and push the second. I had no idea where Lee was until I took my first turn and saw him in the distance. I knew I would catch him with in the first mile. The first couple miles are at a slight incline and then you have a decline/flat for the a mile or so. The next couple miles are rollers. I decided not to run with socks. It actually worked for the most part. I felt a blister forming the last few miles. I carried socks just in case (Thanks Karen for the suggestion). It is better to not need and have then need and not have. 1:30.31.

I missed my goals for the race (29:15, 2:35, 1:30=4:37.00) I went 4:38.41. I did the math and figured 4:36 would put me on the podium, not even close. Third was 4:29. I ended up 7th in my age group and 41st overall.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Lake Stevens Race Week

The week is winding down.

I had a good run on Sunday. I did several mile repeats focusing on the pace I want to run at the race. I had blister problems for a couple other runs last week. I felt a nerve run up thru my body. The blister popped. I cut my workout down, but not enough.

I had a nice easy swim on Monday.

I picked up my bike on Tuesday and took the day off from workouts.

On Wednesday, I had a crappy swim workout in the morning followed by a good bike on the trainer later in the afternoon. I started on a new vitamin regiment. Never take vitamins close to bed. I slept horribly!

Yesterday I had a much better swim. I biked in the afternoon. The winds were stronger than normal. There was more of a head wind going out and a tail wind coming back. I felt very good on the bike. It is amazing how fast the weather changes. It was partly sunny when I finished my ride. On my drive home, it turned into torrential rain/lightning/thunder. Crazy!!!

I have another relaxing day today.

Tomorrow I have a few short workouts and then head up to Everett.

My goal 29:15, 2:35.00 (Hilly bike course), 1:30.00=4:37.00

My predictions:
Karen 28:30, 3:00.00, 1:48.30=5:20.00
Lee will out swim&bike me. He is faster than last year on the run, so under 4:45.00. How much under???

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Pre Lake Stevens Training Week

TUESDAY
I rode 2 loops of a 30mile hilly route. My goal was to work the hills and put more effort into the second loop. My pace was 0.4mph faster on the second loop. I ran off the bike. I am settling into a strong pace. My pace drops about 10 seconds per mile. Perfect pacing for Lake Stevens.

I sent my wetsuit to Xterra for repairs. They sent me a rental just in case there is a delay with my wetsuit.

WEDNESDAY
I didn't get to swim at 5am because of a work conflict, so I swam at 830am. I haven't done too much fast swimming in a 25meter pool, so I didn't know how fast I would be. The main set was 6x400. Odds swim and evens broken 100's on a short rest send-off. The first broken set, I started fast and faded. The second set I started slower and really couldn't go any faster. The last set, I started a little faster and was able to descend all of them.

Later in the day, I went out and ran 9 miles. My legs felt a little tired from the bike ride on the previous day. I ran two 2 mile repeats with a mile ez between. The first 2 miler felt fast and was ok. The second felt a little faster and was actually a lot faster. I started getting a blister on my left foot a few miles into my into the workout. I really need to figure out a solution for the blister.

THURSDAY
I had a solid workout on the bike. I haven't rode in wind like this since the winter/spring. I didn't run off the bike because the blister was a little painful.

FRIDAY
I had a really strong sprint workout in the pool. I swam with a dentist, who is in amazing swim shape ( I hope I can swim as fast as him at his age). I was able to stay just ahead of him on the 125's and most of the fast 75's.

SATURDAY
The winds shifted from last weekend. There was head wind for the first half of the ride and more of a tail wind the second half. Lee and I decided to leave the group right after the gate. There was even a little trash talking from a superstar (he is going to Worlds). I heard a lot of excuses. I believe actions speak louder than words. Needless to say, the two of us averaged over 22mph for over 70 miles.

At one point during the ride, I felt like I was putting a lot of effort in and getting little in return. Lee noticed my tire was rubbing on my frame. If you ever want to make it hard to ride try it. It sucks! I adjusted my set screw and felt like someone had taken the parachute off my back.

I dropped my bike off for a tune-up in preparation for race day.
Not a bad week of training: 12,500m swimming, 176 miles of cycling, and 12 miles of running. I will run 13-14 tomorrow.

Only 7 days to go until Lake Stevens.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Finally, back to ironman training

It has definitely been a recovery week.

SUNDAY
I went for nice and easy 30miler. I wanted to flush my legs from racing the day before. I found out my wetsuit had a nice size hole in the front. The real question is, "Was it like that racing?".

MONDAY
I had a good swim in an indoor 25 meter pool. I really wish they would get a retractable roof. My body feels run down. I have a slight cold.

TUESDAY
The cold gets worse, so I take a rare day off.

WEDNESDAY
I ran easy for 34 minutes in the morning. During lunch, I swam outdoor in the 50meter pool. I felt pretty good.

I lost power at 8:50PM. I filled the bath tub with 2 inches of water. I must have fallen asleep because it was dark when I woke up. I had to sleep in front of the screen door. I felt bad for poor Fina. She was panting most of the night. A couple of times I didn't hear anything, so I had to check for breathing. She is one tough cookie. I can't imagine trying to survive in the heat with a wool sweater on. UGH!!!

THURSDAY
The cold is starting to get a little better. I ride a little over 40 miles and a quick transition run. The run was great. I was surprised to run so well in the heat.

FRIDAY
I had a great swim in the morning. I did one of my favorite sets. 50x50 odds ez, evens fast. The key is maintaining speed throughout the entire set.

SATURDAY
Today was my first 100 miler. I felt really good for most of the ride until a 2-3 mile section of gravel near Bucoda. They are preparing to repave, so the road it trashed. I hope they will have it fixed in a couple of weeks. I got in a good transition run. I was super tired for the rest of the day.

SUNDAY
The good - the run felt so easy. I ran 17 miles in 2 hours. The bad - I thought I broke Fina. I have never seen her run so far behind me. I am not sure if it was the heat or the blistering pace. She was more tired than normal. It is nice to see that she does have a slow motion gear every once in awhile.

MONDAY
I swam this morning. I felt a little tired when I started. It obviously had to do with the long training weekend. I was glad to have a long warm-up. Once i got into the set, I settle into a good pace and finished strong. 4100meters.

I am looking forward to Lake Stevens, so I can begin focusing on my A race. I'll be 15 weeks out from Arizona at that point.