Lavaman 2012

We arrived into Kona Saturday afternoon. Originally the flight was supposed to arrive at 11:40AM. The airline changed the flight to depart 3 hours later. This made the afternoon very busy. First we stopped at Bike Works (I highly recommend them for service or if you need to pick up some gear.) and assembled the bikes. After 30 minutes of sweating, we headed north to the Hilton Waikola to pick up our race packets. We made it there before they closed with 1 minute to spare. Back to Kona to pick up our bikes. I realized that I did not pack my nutrition, so I picked up 3 packets of Gu Brew Blueberry Pomegranate (Ben swore this was the best stuff ever, so now was the perfect opportunity to try it.).

Race morning, we were up before 4AM and pulled into the race site by 5. This gave us a parking spot close to transition, less than 100 yards away. We set up our areas and then went back to the minivan to chill. As we were sitting there, they announced the race will be wetsuit legal. I never even thought that was an option. Oh well. Then they announced the swim warm-up would close 25 minutes before the start. I put on my XTERRA SPEEDSUIT and headed over for a short 10 minute dip. While I was swimming, I saw a turtle under water looking up at me. I saw him in the same spot both ways. It was pretty cool. Maybe good luck!

Pre-race with XTERRA Speedsuit

SWIM - 22:10
I am always amazed at how many people start at an all out sprint. I end up passing most of them in 200 meters.I saw another turtle. It was tempting to stop, but I had to finish the race first. I decided to try and breathe less for this race because that is how I swim my laps in the pool. It seemed to work as I came out of the water feeling good.

Transition 1 - 1:32
I ran up to transition jumped through the kiddie pools that were set-up to clean the feet and headed to my LYNSKEY. I overshot it by one row. I quickly turned around and ran to my area. As I was taking my speedsuit off I noticed a button popped off my race belt. I ran over and grabbed it so I wouldn't lose it. I put on my OAKLEY's & new RUDY PROJECT WINGSPAN. 


BIKE - 1:02.38 (23.8mph)
Since I forgot my nutrition, it was going to be an experiment to see how my body was going to hold up. It took me several miles to get into a groove. The miles seemed to go slowly. I saw Chris McCormack (Also known as Macca. He is a World Champion and one of the greatest triathletes ever.) going the other way. He threw me a hang loose and it sent me a burst of energy. I rode stronger and started passing several people the rest of the way. Thanks Macca!!!

Transition 2 - 0:46
I jumped of my bike and quickly ran back thru transition. I put on my NEWTONS, grabbed my visor and water bottle full of Gu Brew.

RUN - 41:08 6:38 per/mile
We start the run on lava rocks, very unstable. I hear footsteps behind me. I focused on my breathing and slowly start to pull away. It was hot out there. I see a few guys up the road and I slowly start to pass them as the run progresses. After 3 miles there are only 4 people within sight. I pass 2 within a half mile. I catch the other 2 at mile 4, right before the run turns to more lava rock and sand. It was narrow, so I patiently sit behind both guys as we are zig zagging our way through the last 2 miles. I pass one of the guys at the aid station (benefit of running with your own bottle). He tucks in behind me as I am right behind the other guy. After 5.5 miles I decide to pick up the pace to see if I can pass the last guy and break them both. No guts no glory. I pass the last guy and hear both of them right behind me. I continue to push as we are getting closer to the finish. The last 100 meters is in thick sand, ugh. I created enough of a gap and get to the line 4 and 7 seconds before the other 2 guys.

This is one of the most challenging run courses I have done for and Olympic Triathlon. I tried something different for nutrition and it seemed to work. I didn't have any cramping and didn't need any salt tabs. I finished up 5th in my age group and 16th overall out of almost 1200 racers. I was even lucky enough to have Macca stand with me for a picture. It was a good day.

Macca and me

Tuscon Training Camp

Last week I spent time in Tuscon, Arizona. The weather started out warmer in the first few days 70-90 degree highs. It changed quickly to a high in the low 60s and lots of wind. I managed to get in 23.5 hours of training (23,300 yards of swimming, 12 hours of cycling, and 37.4 miles of running).

I biked a little too hard Sunday and ran really hard Monday morning. It took me a few days to recover from those efforts. On Friday, I had a strong 5100 yard swim Friday morning. After 2 hours of downtime, we climbed Mt. Lemmon (25 miles 5200+ feet of vertical climbing). It took me a little over 2.5 hours. The hardest part of the climb was trying to figure out what clothing to wear. One minute super cold in a head wind and the next minute warm with a tailwind. After 17 miles, the temperature dropped below 40. At that point, I put on a vest, arm and leg warmers. It was my longest climb on the bike ever beating my previous by 16 miles.

I met several talented athletes, who were fun to be around. I saw a jackalope (bigger than my dogs, but no horns), an eagle eating a rabbit on a cactus, and a hawk fly into the living room window. It was a good experience. Thanks Mark.

Craziness

On Monday I decided to try the crossfit challenge from last week, 7 minutes of burpees (squat down, jump back to plank, push up w/chest and hips touching the ground, jump to hands, jump 6 inches off the ground). My did 82, so my goal was 83. I did 80. I started too conservatively. I did 35 in the first half and 45 in the second.

I got on the trainer Tuesday and had the best workout ever on the trainer. My average watts with warm-up, intervals, and cool down was 20 watts higher and more than double the duration then the race. The workout didn't require too much effort. Craziness!?!

Busy, busy

Time has flown by. I can't beleive it's been 3 weeks since my last post. Nothing too exciting going on in the last few weeks.

I raced my first indoor triathlon yesterday at the downtown Tacoma YMCA. The race was a 15 minute swim, 30 minute trainer ride, and a 2.22 mile run. I felt pretty good on the swim until about 800 meters. My legs started to turn into bricks. It was a 20 meter pool and they only counted down and back, so I finished with 1080 meters. I rested on the wall until the bullhorn sounded. Bike time started immediately. Actual bike time was less than 30 minutes because transition was included. I don't know what kind of trainers they were using, but I do know they were not accurate. It told me I averaged 19.9mph for the entire ride. I generated less power on Ironman races and went faster. Once time was called, I quickly transitioned to my running shoes and headed out the door. The run was flat for the first 400 meters, turned left and went up a solid 6%+ grade, left for 400m onto a slight downhill, left sharp downhill for 50 meters, left for 400m slightly up, right sharp downhill for 50m, then back to the start to loop around and repeat. I heard foot steps behind me in the first 100 meters. They slowly faded away once I took the first uphill. I settled into a good pace and continued to pull away from my chasers.

I ended up 5th with the fastest run split.

bull riding and a coyote

I biked a little, swam a little more, and ran even more. The sun came out Wednesday afternoon and stuck around for the week. I rode a mechanical bull for the first time. I cannot imagine riding a real bull. I don't know how long I stayed on, but it seemed like an eternity. I definitely would recommend wearing gloves.

I wasn't sure if Kona wanted to run yesterday afternoon. I let her run off leash earlier than normal, until I saw a coyote 100 meters ahead. I put Kona back on leash. I started running in that direction. The coyote ran into the woods when I was within 25 meters. He wasn't very skinny, so I assumed he has been eating well. I looked back as we passed the area and nothing in sight. I am sure he was watching us. (o--o)

I was rooting for the Patriots in the Superbowl yesterday. It was a close game. There were a couple of good commercials. My favorite was with a Great Dane and Doritos.

water gun

I did not sleep well Wednesday night. It seemed like there was someone standing outside my window with a water gun. UGH!!! After work and a short nap, I got on the trainer for several anaerobic repeats. I felt pretty good. I lost the fan on the last one. The puppy knocked it down and I did not want to stop the workout, so I suffered in sweat.

I had a good workout on the bike Thursday. Lots of short anaerobic intervals with short rest. I lost the fan on the the last one because the puppy knocked the chair down.

Friday morning I felt good in the pool. My pulling speed is slowly starting to come back. I with 3.6k. After work I took the dogs for a short easy run. It was sunny and chilly. I dropped the dogs off and finished up with 15 minutes of plyo. I had to use the rails on the stairs to get back inside.

I swam 2000 meters Saturday morning. It was a short workout with a little intensity sprinkled in. Once I got home, I jumped on the trainer for almost 2 hours. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

The rain rolled in the wee hours of Sunday morning. My legs were sore from Friday's plyo. I ran early, so I could make it to work on time. I had a few intervals at 10k pace. I finished with almost 11 miles. After work, I swam an easy 2k.

It was a good week.

snow is almost gone

Monday I jumped in the pool for 3k of swimming. I didn't feel great, but somehow managed to swim faster as the workout progressed. After a work and a short nap, I took the dogs out for an easy 3+ mile run. The roads were mostly dry as most of the snow has melted.

After work Tuesday I took the dogs out for a short 35 minute run. I hoped to stay dry. I ended up getting soaked in the last few minutes. I chilled for a couple hours then hopped on the bike for a 45 minute ride. I did several 1 minute repeats with short rest. My legs were numb at the end.

I swam 3600 meters Wednesday morning. The main set was 3x (4x100 on 1:30 + 100 easy on 2:05). I felt fine cardio-wise. My legs were quite the opposite, heavy like lead weights. I finished up with some pulling and a cool down. After work I took the dogs out for some speed training. Kona did all of the intervals with me. Indy did most of the intervals. Fina may have only done half. She knows where my turn-around points are so she just waits in the distance. No reason to run any further than necessary. Smart dog. I totally lucked out with the weather, partly sunny.