I swam for the first time since the race last weekend..
Not a real workout; prolly 500 of pulling/paddle, 500 of freestyle and couple of fast/fun 100s on about 1.30.. Felt good, not winded or weak.
Lordy, I'm (torturing myself still) thinking I started waaay too close to the inside last weekend, at least out at Troika I started way wide and had clean water as I got close to the first turn buoy.
Dang. I can't let it go. O.k. on track again.
I'm going to give a running a short whirl tomorrow, everything seems to be in working order.
I have some business to attend to.
I'm recovering pretty well and.. There are some sprints coming up where a few doodes who I want a go at will be racing. :)
So, I need to keep resting just make sure we're well oiled and not too stressed aerobically.
Some time late this next week I may jump on the trainer for some intervals, nothing too long or intense, just waking the legs up type of thing..
Racing sprints..
They are so short, I can afford to go into the red zone on the swim and bike.. I'll use the wheelsets sans a powermeter.. Mentally it might hold me back, may as well race by feel and just go.
There is a race pretty much every weekend from today through the end of September.. I'll just play it "as I feel" because if I feel terrible I just won't race next weekend.
The major question is how snappy my legs are running (racing?) and can they turn a bigger gear on the bike at short-course race pace without shattering.
Three years ago after Full Vineman I couldn't do much right away but I wasn't as fit for that race as I was for this one, I didn't finish last Sunday completely shattered so I'm hoping to turn this fitness to good use if possible.
The rest of the fall is up in the air, one thought is doing Austin 70.3 late Sep, hopefully nabbing a Worlds slot and racing in Clearwater in Nov.. Worlds would be swim/run focused because of the unfortunate situation with too many bikes on the course, a bit like Escape from Alcatraz.
Or.. I could go down to Tempe and race SOMA Half Iron again, one of my all time favorite races, and I suppose while I'm down there sign up for IMAZ?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
'We will never be here again'
The image that inspired me most from the Bejing Games came not from the performances of Phelps or even Usain Bolt.It was the note scrawled on Canadian Svein Tuft's forearm.
"We will never be here again"
It's a reminder to seize the day.
The image stuck with me..
Two days before Ironman Canada I was pretty nervous, somehow in a dream this picture and the phrase came to me.. It had this great calming effect.
I thought that no matter what happened on race day, it is the only Ironman Canada I'll ever race in 2007. For me it meant to race like I would never be in any of those places in that unique way ever again, so I had to race like it was the last time.
Guess what? Turns out Svein didn't write it on his arm.
He tatooed it.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ironman Canada Race Report
I'm back home and feeling tired.
I was going to hold off on writing until I'd cleared my head since I'm feeling pretty mixed about things, but the events are more clear now than they might be in a couple of days if I put this off.
As everyone who has followed the blog for awhile knows, my goal was for a qualifying slot, which I figured was low 10hr/high 9hr; in terms of probabilities I thought I had a good to fair shot at that.
I hadn't really thought about another scenario actually, which is funny that I've had this focus and not considered what another set of outcomes would look like.
It turns out right after my other (and first) Ironman in 2005 (Full Vineman) I'd said, "If I do another IM, I'll be happy with anything in the 10 hour-ish range."
I think when I said that I felt I'd be able to close the book on Ironman racing, after all, the level of commitment to prepare for the way I have (the last 9 months) year in, year out is not sustainable with a proper career path and my family obligations. It is about 10-12 hours a week continuously, that while enjoyable and rewarding meant that I skipped some things that are normally on the calendar.
_____________________________________
At anyrate, I'll cut to the chase:
Swim:
The plan was to swim with uber swimmer Shanno.
We're perma swim workout buddies and I'm a tiny bit faster in the pool, and that said, she *always* seems to put together a great open water swim leg. And she liked the idea of having a strong pace buddy out there.
I've never seen anything like the swim in Canada before.
It was 2300 people starting at once.
As soon as the gun went off I kept Shanno to my right and then got blocked by a wall of people in about 2 min.
Game over.
Honestly, the rest of the swim went like that.
I never had open water, not that I expected much, but every time I got going I'd run into a wall of people who had no intention of letting me by.
(Shannon said she cut to the inside, sat up, waited for me and than had to keep going, she had a great swim and must have managed to get around the slow swimmer bottle neck that I was caught in)
The swim was never hard, because, I hate to say this..
I wasn't really swimming. It was next to impossible with all those people.
I'm feeling pretty dopey about things because instead of just getting up on the front row as usual and swimming hard for the first 50y to get some space I started third row back.
Oh well. Not smart and after all that time in the water training it would be understatement to say that I'm disappointed with that segment of the event.
(I think the race photos of me seeing the clock time may show me mouthing an expletive. Sorry.)
Swim time- 1hr 25min
Goal time- 1hr 10min or better (Shanno did a 1hr 9min !)
Bike-
I thought that I still had a chance at qualifying..
In transition I did the math.. 5.30 bike plus 1.25 swim meant all I had to do was run a low 3hr marathon, only 7min pace. :)
Most folks plod through transition. I sprinted through. The changing tent was a mad house as you would expect with all those people coming from the swim.. Folks changed into a full bike kit for the ride.
Me? I ran straight through in the famous green togs to the bike with gear bag containing just my helmet, shoes and sunglasses.
The first 40 miles heads south on Hwy 97 to Ossooyos (near the border) of the bike were uneventful and there was a headwind as well.
The drafting was unreal.. I'd roll along and pass swaths of people and then a pack of almost twenty would come by containing people I'd passed minutes before.
Not cool... I guess that's how you save your legs for the run, eh?
I won't editorialize too much but folks have to make a decision about that, but really how can you live with a result like that? I can't, I'd rather race with my values guiding me vs. compromising them.
Some folks I know ran out of their minds up there when only a few weeks ago many of them were pretty pedestrian out in Spokane.
(Sour grapes over.. Yeah, I'm a sore loser about this aspect of the event. Damn.)
At any rate, I hit the turn to Richter pass avging 21mph, (which I expected) and knew that speed would be scrubbed off on the climb..
After that first 40 miles the course turns up, and we rode up a 7% gradient on Richter pass which is about 7 miles..
I motored right up under control pushing 230-250w comfortably.
It was nice to see and pass some folks I knew out there and have a little convo as I rolled through..
After Richter are a series of "rollers" meaning long, long descents followed by long climbs that you need to use the descent momentum on to climb..
I wasn't the quickest descending, but I didn't expect that, I did, however ascend quite nicely and I never worried about the folks around me, I was only ever concerned with doing about 5hr 30min to set up the run.
Incidentally, the descents were done at well into the 40mph range and I'm very certain much faster for the folks riding by.
The course from mile 60 to 80 then flattens out and heads to a town called Keremos (spelling?) and then to an area called Cawston that runs through an Indian reservation.
Again, folks said it was a bit windy and slow.. I didn't assess it to be all that bad.
At this point there was steady carnage all around me.. People were sitting straight up and riding awfully slow, but I just kept my head down, rode as fast as I could using the least wattage output..
From mile 80 to mile 100 the course was very slow.. The course gradually approaches a small mountain lake called Yellow Lake, however it is a gradual uphill into wind, not much you can do here. I decided I would just have to ride strong and not worry about my speed too much. I watched power output and tried to select a gear that gave the most speed.
Instead of the usual 22-24mph speed dropped way off here.. I was lucky to push 18mph; I could have done more (but it would have been an incremental change) but I knew that if I'd put it out there too much I might spend my legs before I hit the big climb up to Yellow Lake and didn't want to spend my Chi in one shot.
I finally hit the climb to Yellow Lake some time around mile 95 or so, and power was at around 200-230w.. It's an awfully slow climb in the heat with lots of suffering.
The crowds all around were screaming, nice touch.
It was tough but I still felt good, felt like I'd held something in reserve..
After the climb the course descends the pass and then hits Hwy 97 essentially all the way to town on flats..
At mile 100 I looked at my time: 5hr 11min.. Oh boy.. 5hr flat is where I need to be for 20mph avg.. I checked the avg and it shows 19.8 mph avg.
Expletive.
I rode really, really hard for 6 miles then with the another 5 miles to go I saw the avg creep up to 19.9.. At around two miles left and it crept up to 20.0 mph avg.
I was happy.
I flew to the bike to run transition still believing I had a good shot at ten hours flat.
Bike time- when I looked at my Powertap at the line it said 5hr 35min, 20mph avg (unofficially they have me a tick slower, argh)..
Goal time- Well, I think I actually met the goal.. I really thought I'd do about 5hr 30 or so.. So close enough..
Avg Wattage- 164w
Run-
I internally questioned if the time I was making up over the last 12 miles pushing so hard to ride into the 20mph was going to cost me dearly on the run.
Self-talk: I didn't care. I figured I'd still run low 3hr.
Transition was fast.. I saw folks volunteering that I knew and chatted with them briefly and then I just motored through..
Mile 1- 6.25 felt good..
Miles 2 through 7- 7 min pace.
Self-talk: On track for a 3.10.
After that...
Yeah.. The race got really tough with regard to the weather conditions. The sky grew overcast, the course had hills and it got very windy, meaning it was blowing hard in our faces.
In an Ironman marathon the pace and your nutritional needs are tied together because you've already swam and biked so as a result you've already been working hard for 6 to 7 hours.
I needed to get through the aid stations quickly, I did but all that adds up over the course of the run, minutes you leave out on the course to grab water, gatorade, a pretzel, a grape, a couple of sponges to shove in the jersey.
I remember looking at split at mile 8 and saw 63min.. That meant I was no longer on 3.10 pace, but 3.30 pace.
Well, I thought, I did have a bathroom break early in the race and that's 2min right there!
So you're still well under 8min pace you just have to chunk in this extra time and make adjustments..
O.k. true enough but it was still early..
Mile 10 came at (I think 1hr 15min) and then I felt like I needed something else from the aid stations.
Coca Cola! It worked, the sugar had an immediate effect but I was still running into the wind and the hills slowly..
Hit 13.1 in 1hr 52min.. I hoped to hit it in at least 1hr 45min at worst.
Compared to my only other Ironman I was feeling pretty good, but this is all relative right? :)
I continued to plod until about 15 or 16.. As a matter of fact, I made the decision to stop looking at mile splits and just calculate what I needed to do run a 10hr-something time. The rain started to come down hard and it was windy too.
Anything 10hr would be thrilling to me.
Around 18 miles I decided only eight miles to go, I run that as a daily run in around 8min pace, I can do that no problem..
Man.. I must have had some slow miles between 13 and 20 miles! Because 20 miles came and I felt like lifting the pace and managed to, I wish I had splits, darn.
Honestly, I don't know where it came from but I was able to really motor from 22 miles on.. The guys who I was passing were no longer being passed easily, as a matter of fact over the last two miles when I saw Mark Kendall from Speedshot racing I had a group of doodes on my rear like it was a 5k.
It energized me and really, we were truly flying at about 6 min pace. (Obviously I wish I'd that kind of go from the start to finish!)
Btw, thanks Mark for being really supportive, that was pretty cool.
With a mile to go I thought I might have spent my kick..
Nah, still there, the crowds were thick and the last mile is an out and back on in front of the whole town watching the race. I saw Melissa Lynett who screamed at me.. I stuck my tongue out like a maniac and decided I was going to run the last mile like it was a 10k.
I was going to run everyone down I could.. Yes, even in the finishing chute, I pipped somebody 20meters out. C'est la vie.
Run time: 3hr 47min
Goal time: Low 3hr
Total time: 10hr 55min
Goal time: low 10hr/high 9hr
As point of reference I did my only other Ironman three years ago in 12hr 58min, so a tiny personal best.
_____________________________________
Wait, there's more..
Post-race:
I was a bit wobbly. Was escorted to a chair, ate some soup, pizza, and recovery beverage. Talked to a French doode who I managed to spray with water at mile 60 on the bike by accident and we had a good laugh.
After a shower and a change of clothes, I had steak and potatoes near the finish, as I was walking to the finish line to retrieve my bike I saw Sister Madonna Buder attempting to finish under the 17hr cutoff, she was about a mile from the finish but going slow. She didn't quite make it, but the crowd went berserk anyway..
It was pouring. I walked my bike back to the house and tried to sleep.. It was hard. My head was (is) still filled with a feeling of failing miserably on the swim.
In retrospect with a faster swim and the same bike/run time I was out of contention anyway.
Lots of "what ifs"-- If I had a good swim, would I've been more energized to go with the people I wanted to race against for a slot? Would their direct presence around me on the run inspired me to push harder ?
I dunno... I don't know what I'm doing next quite yet but I'm o.k. and mostly happy that in writing this I've found some silver linings here and there.
I was going to hold off on writing until I'd cleared my head since I'm feeling pretty mixed about things, but the events are more clear now than they might be in a couple of days if I put this off.
As everyone who has followed the blog for awhile knows, my goal was for a qualifying slot, which I figured was low 10hr/high 9hr; in terms of probabilities I thought I had a good to fair shot at that.
I hadn't really thought about another scenario actually, which is funny that I've had this focus and not considered what another set of outcomes would look like.
It turns out right after my other (and first) Ironman in 2005 (Full Vineman) I'd said, "If I do another IM, I'll be happy with anything in the 10 hour-ish range."
I think when I said that I felt I'd be able to close the book on Ironman racing, after all, the level of commitment to prepare for the way I have (the last 9 months) year in, year out is not sustainable with a proper career path and my family obligations. It is about 10-12 hours a week continuously, that while enjoyable and rewarding meant that I skipped some things that are normally on the calendar.
_____________________________________
At anyrate, I'll cut to the chase:
Swim:
The plan was to swim with uber swimmer Shanno.
We're perma swim workout buddies and I'm a tiny bit faster in the pool, and that said, she *always* seems to put together a great open water swim leg. And she liked the idea of having a strong pace buddy out there.
I've never seen anything like the swim in Canada before.
It was 2300 people starting at once.
As soon as the gun went off I kept Shanno to my right and then got blocked by a wall of people in about 2 min.
Game over.
Honestly, the rest of the swim went like that.
I never had open water, not that I expected much, but every time I got going I'd run into a wall of people who had no intention of letting me by.
(Shannon said she cut to the inside, sat up, waited for me and than had to keep going, she had a great swim and must have managed to get around the slow swimmer bottle neck that I was caught in)
The swim was never hard, because, I hate to say this..
I wasn't really swimming. It was next to impossible with all those people.
I'm feeling pretty dopey about things because instead of just getting up on the front row as usual and swimming hard for the first 50y to get some space I started third row back.
Oh well. Not smart and after all that time in the water training it would be understatement to say that I'm disappointed with that segment of the event.
(I think the race photos of me seeing the clock time may show me mouthing an expletive. Sorry.)
Swim time- 1hr 25min
Goal time- 1hr 10min or better (Shanno did a 1hr 9min !)
Bike-
I thought that I still had a chance at qualifying..
In transition I did the math.. 5.30 bike plus 1.25 swim meant all I had to do was run a low 3hr marathon, only 7min pace. :)
Most folks plod through transition. I sprinted through. The changing tent was a mad house as you would expect with all those people coming from the swim.. Folks changed into a full bike kit for the ride.
Me? I ran straight through in the famous green togs to the bike with gear bag containing just my helmet, shoes and sunglasses.
The first 40 miles heads south on Hwy 97 to Ossooyos (near the border) of the bike were uneventful and there was a headwind as well.
The drafting was unreal.. I'd roll along and pass swaths of people and then a pack of almost twenty would come by containing people I'd passed minutes before.
Not cool... I guess that's how you save your legs for the run, eh?
I won't editorialize too much but folks have to make a decision about that, but really how can you live with a result like that? I can't, I'd rather race with my values guiding me vs. compromising them.
Some folks I know ran out of their minds up there when only a few weeks ago many of them were pretty pedestrian out in Spokane.
(Sour grapes over.. Yeah, I'm a sore loser about this aspect of the event. Damn.)
At any rate, I hit the turn to Richter pass avging 21mph, (which I expected) and knew that speed would be scrubbed off on the climb..
After that first 40 miles the course turns up, and we rode up a 7% gradient on Richter pass which is about 7 miles..
I motored right up under control pushing 230-250w comfortably.
It was nice to see and pass some folks I knew out there and have a little convo as I rolled through..
After Richter are a series of "rollers" meaning long, long descents followed by long climbs that you need to use the descent momentum on to climb..
I wasn't the quickest descending, but I didn't expect that, I did, however ascend quite nicely and I never worried about the folks around me, I was only ever concerned with doing about 5hr 30min to set up the run.
Incidentally, the descents were done at well into the 40mph range and I'm very certain much faster for the folks riding by.
The course from mile 60 to 80 then flattens out and heads to a town called Keremos (spelling?) and then to an area called Cawston that runs through an Indian reservation.
Again, folks said it was a bit windy and slow.. I didn't assess it to be all that bad.
At this point there was steady carnage all around me.. People were sitting straight up and riding awfully slow, but I just kept my head down, rode as fast as I could using the least wattage output..
From mile 80 to mile 100 the course was very slow.. The course gradually approaches a small mountain lake called Yellow Lake, however it is a gradual uphill into wind, not much you can do here. I decided I would just have to ride strong and not worry about my speed too much. I watched power output and tried to select a gear that gave the most speed.
Instead of the usual 22-24mph speed dropped way off here.. I was lucky to push 18mph; I could have done more (but it would have been an incremental change) but I knew that if I'd put it out there too much I might spend my legs before I hit the big climb up to Yellow Lake and didn't want to spend my Chi in one shot.
I finally hit the climb to Yellow Lake some time around mile 95 or so, and power was at around 200-230w.. It's an awfully slow climb in the heat with lots of suffering.
The crowds all around were screaming, nice touch.
It was tough but I still felt good, felt like I'd held something in reserve..
After the climb the course descends the pass and then hits Hwy 97 essentially all the way to town on flats..
At mile 100 I looked at my time: 5hr 11min.. Oh boy.. 5hr flat is where I need to be for 20mph avg.. I checked the avg and it shows 19.8 mph avg.
Expletive.
I rode really, really hard for 6 miles then with the another 5 miles to go I saw the avg creep up to 19.9.. At around two miles left and it crept up to 20.0 mph avg.
I was happy.
I flew to the bike to run transition still believing I had a good shot at ten hours flat.
Bike time- when I looked at my Powertap at the line it said 5hr 35min, 20mph avg (unofficially they have me a tick slower, argh)..
Goal time- Well, I think I actually met the goal.. I really thought I'd do about 5hr 30 or so.. So close enough..
Avg Wattage- 164w
Run-
I internally questioned if the time I was making up over the last 12 miles pushing so hard to ride into the 20mph was going to cost me dearly on the run.
Self-talk: I didn't care. I figured I'd still run low 3hr.
Transition was fast.. I saw folks volunteering that I knew and chatted with them briefly and then I just motored through..
Mile 1- 6.25 felt good..
Miles 2 through 7- 7 min pace.
Self-talk: On track for a 3.10.
After that...
Yeah.. The race got really tough with regard to the weather conditions. The sky grew overcast, the course had hills and it got very windy, meaning it was blowing hard in our faces.
In an Ironman marathon the pace and your nutritional needs are tied together because you've already swam and biked so as a result you've already been working hard for 6 to 7 hours.
I needed to get through the aid stations quickly, I did but all that adds up over the course of the run, minutes you leave out on the course to grab water, gatorade, a pretzel, a grape, a couple of sponges to shove in the jersey.
I remember looking at split at mile 8 and saw 63min.. That meant I was no longer on 3.10 pace, but 3.30 pace.
Well, I thought, I did have a bathroom break early in the race and that's 2min right there!
So you're still well under 8min pace you just have to chunk in this extra time and make adjustments..
O.k. true enough but it was still early..
Mile 10 came at (I think 1hr 15min) and then I felt like I needed something else from the aid stations.
Coca Cola! It worked, the sugar had an immediate effect but I was still running into the wind and the hills slowly..
Hit 13.1 in 1hr 52min.. I hoped to hit it in at least 1hr 45min at worst.
Compared to my only other Ironman I was feeling pretty good, but this is all relative right? :)
I continued to plod until about 15 or 16.. As a matter of fact, I made the decision to stop looking at mile splits and just calculate what I needed to do run a 10hr-something time. The rain started to come down hard and it was windy too.
Anything 10hr would be thrilling to me.
Around 18 miles I decided only eight miles to go, I run that as a daily run in around 8min pace, I can do that no problem..
Man.. I must have had some slow miles between 13 and 20 miles! Because 20 miles came and I felt like lifting the pace and managed to, I wish I had splits, darn.
Honestly, I don't know where it came from but I was able to really motor from 22 miles on.. The guys who I was passing were no longer being passed easily, as a matter of fact over the last two miles when I saw Mark Kendall from Speedshot racing I had a group of doodes on my rear like it was a 5k.
It energized me and really, we were truly flying at about 6 min pace. (Obviously I wish I'd that kind of go from the start to finish!)
Btw, thanks Mark for being really supportive, that was pretty cool.
With a mile to go I thought I might have spent my kick..
Nah, still there, the crowds were thick and the last mile is an out and back on in front of the whole town watching the race. I saw Melissa Lynett who screamed at me.. I stuck my tongue out like a maniac and decided I was going to run the last mile like it was a 10k.
I was going to run everyone down I could.. Yes, even in the finishing chute, I pipped somebody 20meters out. C'est la vie.
Run time: 3hr 47min
Goal time: Low 3hr
Total time: 10hr 55min
Goal time: low 10hr/high 9hr
As point of reference I did my only other Ironman three years ago in 12hr 58min, so a tiny personal best.
_____________________________________
Wait, there's more..
Post-race:
I was a bit wobbly. Was escorted to a chair, ate some soup, pizza, and recovery beverage. Talked to a French doode who I managed to spray with water at mile 60 on the bike by accident and we had a good laugh.
After a shower and a change of clothes, I had steak and potatoes near the finish, as I was walking to the finish line to retrieve my bike I saw Sister Madonna Buder attempting to finish under the 17hr cutoff, she was about a mile from the finish but going slow. She didn't quite make it, but the crowd went berserk anyway..
It was pouring. I walked my bike back to the house and tried to sleep.. It was hard. My head was (is) still filled with a feeling of failing miserably on the swim.
In retrospect with a faster swim and the same bike/run time I was out of contention anyway.
Lots of "what ifs"-- If I had a good swim, would I've been more energized to go with the people I wanted to race against for a slot? Would their direct presence around me on the run inspired me to push harder ?
I dunno... I don't know what I'm doing next quite yet but I'm o.k. and mostly happy that in writing this I've found some silver linings here and there.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Week of 8/24
Monday- off
Tuesday-
Bike- 40 min easy ride
Swim- 6x100 IM on 10sec rest (500 pull w/up 300 pull cool down..
Wed-
Bike- 40 min easy on BG
Thurs-
Off Travel day
Friday-
Swim- Easy swim in the lake, about 20-25min
Bike- 50min of riding around town
Saturday-
Run- Short 20min jog to expo area..
Sunday
Swim, Bike, Run- IMC.. (see race report)
Tuesday-
Bike- 40 min easy ride
Swim- 6x100 IM on 10sec rest (500 pull w/up 300 pull cool down..
Wed-
Bike- 40 min easy on BG
Thurs-
Off Travel day
Friday-
Swim- Easy swim in the lake, about 20-25min
Bike- 50min of riding around town
Saturday-
Run- Short 20min jog to expo area..
Sunday
Swim, Bike, Run- IMC.. (see race report)
Thanks for the well wishes !
I'm writing this Friday night from a small coffee shop in Penticton, get this...
Where it's turned into a Kareoke lounge.. And the locals are supa high,
Pretty cool. In a former life I was a crazed Kareoke addict. Ok, prolly still am.. sans all the Jaeger & Redbull shots.
Thanks to everybody who's followed along this year, it's been a great ride..
What next is sorta silly.. I mean, you can't really top this..
Anyhoo, I'll do my best out there, after all it's been since late December that it's been pedal to metal so any other effort than all in won't do.
Weather prediction is high of 86Fand partially cloudy, so good for around here.. It's been a been little breezy here on Friday and the water in Okanagon Lake is as cool as Pine Hollow Resv. (for the Oregon peeps) so about mid 60's F.. (that's a good thing)..
I think post-race there will be some wine tasting in nearby Naramata, that will take care of some of the aches..
I'll get all the pics up next week when I get back to Seattle for sure.
Where it's turned into a Kareoke lounge.. And the locals are supa high,
Pretty cool. In a former life I was a crazed Kareoke addict. Ok, prolly still am.. sans all the Jaeger & Redbull shots.
Thanks to everybody who's followed along this year, it's been a great ride..
What next is sorta silly.. I mean, you can't really top this..
Anyhoo, I'll do my best out there, after all it's been since late December that it's been pedal to metal so any other effort than all in won't do.
Weather prediction is high of 86Fand partially cloudy, so good for around here.. It's been a been little breezy here on Friday and the water in Okanagon Lake is as cool as Pine Hollow Resv. (for the Oregon peeps) so about mid 60's F.. (that's a good thing)..
I think post-race there will be some wine tasting in nearby Naramata, that will take care of some of the aches..
I'll get all the pics up next week when I get back to Seattle for sure.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Mexico (Cozumel) beats Oregon to host a late season Ironman..
Cozumel isn't such a bad place, I mean, I'm sure it's better than the Hulaman x2 course that the doodes at Athletes Lounge submitted.
http://www.ironmancozumel.com/desc_recorridos_ing.html
http://www.ironmancozumel.com/desc_recorridos_ing.html
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
"No you didn't ! " ... Yes, she did.. J Lo disses Phelps..
The apocalypse is upon us. JLo apparently dissed Michael Phelps on her GMA appearance a couple of days ago, and couldn't stop talking about her own training for a triathlon. JLo has also created her own blog for people to follow her progress toward that goal.
I dunno, from Jenny from the block doing a Triathlon..?
I wonder what her best event will be?
(Please add snarky comments below since I'm going to take the high road!)
Here's the story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26272630/#storyContinued
And JLo's Triathlon blog:
http://www.self.com/livingwell/blogs/celebrity/jennifer_lopez/index.html
I dunno, from Jenny from the block doing a Triathlon..?
I wonder what her best event will be?
(Please add snarky comments below since I'm going to take the high road!)
Here's the story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26272630/#storyContinued
And JLo's Triathlon blog:
http://www.self.com/livingwell/blogs/celebrity/jennifer_lopez/index.html
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
For those interested in following me at Ironman Canada next weekend...
You may be wondering how all this works, how to follow my progress throughout the race, whether I acheived my goal, etc.
Here we go:
Day of race (Next Sunday) go to www.ironman.com there will be a splash page, simply click on it and everything should be apparent. There is live streaming coverage as well as an athlete tracker.
As far as my goals go (I've revised time-goals but placing is still about the same), well I won't really know anything until Monday morning.. Regardless of how things go I'll head over to see how far slots rolled down.
(Last year there were seven slots in my age-group and the final slot rolled down to 10:07.. In previous years it rolled to 10:30.. )
It's not something I have any control over, which is why I have to pass as many in my age-group during the marathon as possible.
Finally, some may be wondering what I'm going to do with all my time, focus and energy post-race.
Well regardless of how things shake out I'm going to:
Rest.
Maybe even go camping with my kids Labor Day weekend in somewhere Oregon.
Hike the Grand Canyon.
Here we go:
Day of race (Next Sunday) go to www.ironman.com there will be a splash page, simply click on it and everything should be apparent. There is live streaming coverage as well as an athlete tracker.
As far as my goals go (I've revised time-goals but placing is still about the same), well I won't really know anything until Monday morning.. Regardless of how things go I'll head over to see how far slots rolled down.
(Last year there were seven slots in my age-group and the final slot rolled down to 10:07.. In previous years it rolled to 10:30.. )
It's not something I have any control over, which is why I have to pass as many in my age-group during the marathon as possible.
Finally, some may be wondering what I'm going to do with all my time, focus and energy post-race.
Well regardless of how things shake out I'm going to:
Rest.
Maybe even go camping with my kids Labor Day weekend in somewhere Oregon.
Hike the Grand Canyon.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Week of 8/17
Taper week
Monday- Off
Tuesday-
Bike- 1hr 35min easy, some pulls at 200-270w in aero bars
Swim- Open water swim at Greenlake 50min.. Lost my goggles..
Wed-
Run- 40min. Done as 10min w/up. 20min tempo (below Half Iron pace) 10min cool down
Thurs-
Bike- 60min out to Woodinville/Sim City, some pulls at above race wattage (270+) lower gearing work, lower cadence.
Friday-
Swim- Mainset set at SWCC: 4x200(30sec) & 4x100(20 sec).. Feel for water in this pool was waay off. First 200 2.55, the rest were over 3min and felt off, but that's to be expected swimming in a different pool and having just been in open water a couple days before.. 100s were done at Iironman pace and felt fine.
Run- easy 40min run at dusk in McMinnville country side.. Hip felt good, legs felt fresh.
Saturday
Bike- 1hr 42min (?) haven't download the ride... Out in Yamill wine country near Maysara vineyards.. Rode most flats at IM pace & cadence rode hills mod.. The rest easy, fun ride.
Swim- McMinnville pool, like swimming in rough open water: 500 pull, 3x300 (4.50s) on 30sec, 500 pull
Sunday-
Bike- 2hrs steady out to Coleman.. some stretches aero
Run- Transition run- 30min
Monday- Off
Tuesday-
Bike- 1hr 35min easy, some pulls at 200-270w in aero bars
Swim- Open water swim at Greenlake 50min.. Lost my goggles..
Wed-
Run- 40min. Done as 10min w/up. 20min tempo (below Half Iron pace) 10min cool down
Thurs-
Bike- 60min out to Woodinville/Sim City, some pulls at above race wattage (270+) lower gearing work, lower cadence.
Friday-
Swim- Mainset set at SWCC: 4x200(30sec) & 4x100(20 sec).. Feel for water in this pool was waay off. First 200 2.55, the rest were over 3min and felt off, but that's to be expected swimming in a different pool and having just been in open water a couple days before.. 100s were done at Iironman pace and felt fine.
Run- easy 40min run at dusk in McMinnville country side.. Hip felt good, legs felt fresh.
Saturday
Bike- 1hr 42min (?) haven't download the ride... Out in Yamill wine country near Maysara vineyards.. Rode most flats at IM pace & cadence rode hills mod.. The rest easy, fun ride.
Swim- McMinnville pool, like swimming in rough open water: 500 pull, 3x300 (4.50s) on 30sec, 500 pull
Sunday-
Bike- 2hrs steady out to Coleman.. some stretches aero
Run- Transition run- 30min
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Week of 8/6
Taper week, pulling back volume while inserting some intensity. Five swim sessions, four bike sessions, four run sessions.
Monday-
Swim- Samena swim... Pretty worn out... no real set, though did do 500 of pulling w/paddles, then some 300s w.no clock
Tuesday-
Swim- Swam across Greenlake & back to practice sight work. About a mile of continous swim.
Bike- 25miles w/ECMT Group- legs still tired
Wed-
Bike- 2hour ride mid-day on BG
Run- 53min easy run on trails near Samena
Swim- Easy swim at Samena
Thurs-
Ride- 2hr 15min ride around Lake Samm, then out & back to Bothell.
Run-53min steady run on BG
Friday
Swim- 300 pulling Mainset- 5x200 on 30sec all about 3.07 then 500 pulling
Track- 4x200 L pace- 2.45
Saturday-
Bike- Long ride(?) sort of.. 3hr 30min over hill & dale via Fall City, Tolt to Carnation and back.. Classic Seattle weather, got soaked on the way back.
Sunday
Swim- 500 pulling to start Mainset- 10x100 on 30sec rest. 1.25-28, 500 pulling to finish off.
Run- 1hr 10min steady, middle portion above IM race pace..Felt good, hip is doing fine
Monday-
Swim- Samena swim... Pretty worn out... no real set, though did do 500 of pulling w/paddles, then some 300s w.no clock
Tuesday-
Swim- Swam across Greenlake & back to practice sight work. About a mile of continous swim.
Bike- 25miles w/ECMT Group- legs still tired
Wed-
Bike- 2hour ride mid-day on BG
Run- 53min easy run on trails near Samena
Swim- Easy swim at Samena
Thurs-
Ride- 2hr 15min ride around Lake Samm, then out & back to Bothell.
Run-53min steady run on BG
Friday
Swim- 300 pulling Mainset- 5x200 on 30sec all about 3.07 then 500 pulling
Track- 4x200 L pace- 2.45
Saturday-
Bike- Long ride(?) sort of.. 3hr 30min over hill & dale via Fall City, Tolt to Carnation and back.. Classic Seattle weather, got soaked on the way back.
Sunday
Swim- 500 pulling to start Mainset- 10x100 on 30sec rest. 1.25-28, 500 pulling to finish off.
Run- 1hr 10min steady, middle portion above IM race pace..Felt good, hip is doing fine
Monday, August 11, 2008
In the mean time people still think they need this stuff..
ROI on cowhorn bars, full TT set up and the like are low.. Which is why my TCR TT (old ONCE Team frame) has drops and STI.
(Hey, there is a time and place for it, don't get me wrong- I'll slap that equipment on the old bike when I need to)
I've always advised folks to descend safe and fast, instead listening to all this free speed stuff they hear others mention.. If you're descending in your aero bars slower and/or cowhorns for that matter (and feel less safe) vs. getting low in the drops or in the hoods where is the advantage?
Same deal with shifting on cowhorns. People shift before and after turns, on a technical course unless you are really, really good on a time trial bike that means you "forget" and sit up to shift.
Hills? Those too. Why people insist on time-trial bikes for courses that are extremely hilly is beyond me, and they are set up why forward to boot, which lowers the amount of power they get to the pedals.
Where is the aerodynamic advantage riding a hill?
Well there isn't much of one, especially when the grade kicks up to 4% and more. It's your watts/kg that makes a difference and that is training related.
A year ago I had a discussion with a friend after USAT Nationals about why she descended faster than me. She kept saying it was an aero advantage she had...
She might read this so I'll be kind.
We're the same height (I think), the descents weren't that long for any aero-ness she had to make a difference.
Can we say physics was probably the differentiator?
I'm barely 140lbs soaking wet. :)
Anyhoo, good reads.
I have some upcoming ideas about how I can take the swimming to another level this winter and it has almost nothing to do with technique.
In a nutshell, the greatest gains have to come commitment to and execution of work, the smaller gains can be derived from optimizing equipment, not the other way around.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Brett_Sutton_Interview_Part_1_j452.html
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Brett_Sutton_Interview_Part_2_459.html
(Hey, there is a time and place for it, don't get me wrong- I'll slap that equipment on the old bike when I need to)
I've always advised folks to descend safe and fast, instead listening to all this free speed stuff they hear others mention.. If you're descending in your aero bars slower and/or cowhorns for that matter (and feel less safe) vs. getting low in the drops or in the hoods where is the advantage?
Same deal with shifting on cowhorns. People shift before and after turns, on a technical course unless you are really, really good on a time trial bike that means you "forget" and sit up to shift.
Hills? Those too. Why people insist on time-trial bikes for courses that are extremely hilly is beyond me, and they are set up why forward to boot, which lowers the amount of power they get to the pedals.
Where is the aerodynamic advantage riding a hill?
Well there isn't much of one, especially when the grade kicks up to 4% and more. It's your watts/kg that makes a difference and that is training related.
A year ago I had a discussion with a friend after USAT Nationals about why she descended faster than me. She kept saying it was an aero advantage she had...
She might read this so I'll be kind.
We're the same height (I think), the descents weren't that long for any aero-ness she had to make a difference.
Can we say physics was probably the differentiator?
I'm barely 140lbs soaking wet. :)
Anyhoo, good reads.
I have some upcoming ideas about how I can take the swimming to another level this winter and it has almost nothing to do with technique.
In a nutshell, the greatest gains have to come commitment to and execution of work, the smaller gains can be derived from optimizing equipment, not the other way around.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Brett_Sutton_Interview_Part_1_j452.html
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Brett_Sutton_Interview_Part_2_459.html
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Boy this sounds fun..
Gee, let's spend nearly five hours on a Computrainer. Indoors. In September, in NorCal.
They aren't kidding, it's for a good cause, but man, it seems like a strange time to do the event.
I think I've managed two hours on a trainer, I can't imagine more, I was like a wet mop after that.
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/article/71796/tyler-stewart-s-44759-charity-ride
They aren't kidding, it's for a good cause, but man, it seems like a strange time to do the event.
I think I've managed two hours on a trainer, I can't imagine more, I was like a wet mop after that.
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/article/71796/tyler-stewart-s-44759-charity-ride
Friday, August 8, 2008
What keeps us coming back?
Training is harder than racing.
Anybody who's put themselves through a macro cycle of training for any endurance event will tell you this.
It is incredible to me to simply think about the cumulative load we all deal with daily to come to the start line race morning ready to go.
What is it that keeps us coming back? It's nothing earth-shattering to state that there really is no proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after a marathon, an Ironman or a personal best.
And any endurance athlete will state that unequivocally as well. I reckon there has been a study or two examining post-event depression in trained endurance athletes that supports this too.
Let's face it, after you finish that key event we're looking at circumstances for most that are pretty anti-climatic.
Unless you win the whole tamale, then do a press tour in all likelihood you stumble around the finish area like everyone else, attempt to eat something that won't cause you to pass out and find your bed so you can sleep for 15 hours or so.
Then you go back to work. Ugh.
I was sort of pondering all this "why do we do this business" back in June and ran into some great articles out there that I'll try to link to that articulated things really nicely. At the time, for me, I'd got through a predictably long, rainy, cold and rough winter but looked at the two months in front of me and thought: "This is where the hard work really starts"
I was in Oregon putting the finishing touches on my early season fitness for a race in Boise that next weekend. For me that meant riding my bike for about an hour reasonably hard, testing my equipment and seeing what sort of power numbers I put out.
It was a rainy day in the Willamette Valley, and yet here I was really excited to burn up some lung tissue for about 55 minutes. I got rolling, slowly wound things up to warp speed, felt rain drops steadily beat on my face, watched the power numbers come around and found myself utterly shocked with how much I liked what I was doing.
That day it dawned on me that the rewards are sprinkled throughout the journey mostly in the form of camrederie and bonding with other folks who are on the path; and rewards that come in the form of transcending our past performances in ways that shift our contextual paradigms and finally in the form of zen acceptance of our limitations as well as vision of paths which we might not have seen without having shifted our paradigms.
So there you go, not to be utterly pretentious- but it's mostly about the journey, though I'd be fooling myself if it wasn't also about the results on the journey and the culmination of those efforts. :)
Anybody who's put themselves through a macro cycle of training for any endurance event will tell you this.
It is incredible to me to simply think about the cumulative load we all deal with daily to come to the start line race morning ready to go.
What is it that keeps us coming back? It's nothing earth-shattering to state that there really is no proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after a marathon, an Ironman or a personal best.
And any endurance athlete will state that unequivocally as well. I reckon there has been a study or two examining post-event depression in trained endurance athletes that supports this too.
Let's face it, after you finish that key event we're looking at circumstances for most that are pretty anti-climatic.
Unless you win the whole tamale, then do a press tour in all likelihood you stumble around the finish area like everyone else, attempt to eat something that won't cause you to pass out and find your bed so you can sleep for 15 hours or so.
Then you go back to work. Ugh.
I was sort of pondering all this "why do we do this business" back in June and ran into some great articles out there that I'll try to link to that articulated things really nicely. At the time, for me, I'd got through a predictably long, rainy, cold and rough winter but looked at the two months in front of me and thought: "This is where the hard work really starts"
I was in Oregon putting the finishing touches on my early season fitness for a race in Boise that next weekend. For me that meant riding my bike for about an hour reasonably hard, testing my equipment and seeing what sort of power numbers I put out.
It was a rainy day in the Willamette Valley, and yet here I was really excited to burn up some lung tissue for about 55 minutes. I got rolling, slowly wound things up to warp speed, felt rain drops steadily beat on my face, watched the power numbers come around and found myself utterly shocked with how much I liked what I was doing.
That day it dawned on me that the rewards are sprinkled throughout the journey mostly in the form of camrederie and bonding with other folks who are on the path; and rewards that come in the form of transcending our past performances in ways that shift our contextual paradigms and finally in the form of zen acceptance of our limitations as well as vision of paths which we might not have seen without having shifted our paradigms.
So there you go, not to be utterly pretentious- but it's mostly about the journey, though I'd be fooling myself if it wasn't also about the results on the journey and the culmination of those efforts. :)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Week of 8/3
Swim- 5
Bike- 4
Run- 4
Monday-
Run- 62min at mid-day on BG, nice & easy
Swim- Massive set, IM prep/test- 2x1000. 1min rest between reps.. 16.20/16.30, done at easy, "go all day" pace. A year ago I could not imagine doing this at this speed..
Tuesday-
Run- 62 min at Greenlake, 3 laps, first two easy, last one raised tempo to very fast over last half lap.
Swim- Open water swim at Greenlake. Weather was pretty cruddy, but water was fine, mildly choppy, but plenty warm. Swam to third buoy from shore and back, alternating between hard and mod each buoy.
Wednesday-
Ride- 50 miles, 2hrs 50min around Lk Samm & on BG..
Run- A couple of hours after ride, 1 hour steady to easy on paths.. Hip stiffened up toward end of run surprisingly.
Thurs-
Swim- Mid swim set at Samena..Mainset- 4x200, 3.05-07 w/30 sec rest
Bike- It was raining, no kidding.. I did a steady state set of 200-215w low cadence on the trainer, 60min
Friday-
Bike- 2hrs 5min- the typical out to Bothell, out and back on BG..
Swim- Mainset- 3x300 (4.50's) at Samena..
Saturday-
Run- Nice & Light jog at 5pm through the arboreteum in Spokane.. about 30min
Sunday-
Race (see race report) S, B, R...
Bike- 4
Run- 4
Monday-
Run- 62min at mid-day on BG, nice & easy
Swim- Massive set, IM prep/test- 2x1000. 1min rest between reps.. 16.20/16.30, done at easy, "go all day" pace. A year ago I could not imagine doing this at this speed..
Tuesday-
Run- 62 min at Greenlake, 3 laps, first two easy, last one raised tempo to very fast over last half lap.
Swim- Open water swim at Greenlake. Weather was pretty cruddy, but water was fine, mildly choppy, but plenty warm. Swam to third buoy from shore and back, alternating between hard and mod each buoy.
Wednesday-
Ride- 50 miles, 2hrs 50min around Lk Samm & on BG..
Run- A couple of hours after ride, 1 hour steady to easy on paths.. Hip stiffened up toward end of run surprisingly.
Thurs-
Swim- Mid swim set at Samena..Mainset- 4x200, 3.05-07 w/30 sec rest
Bike- It was raining, no kidding.. I did a steady state set of 200-215w low cadence on the trainer, 60min
Friday-
Bike- 2hrs 5min- the typical out to Bothell, out and back on BG..
Swim- Mainset- 3x300 (4.50's) at Samena..
Saturday-
Run- Nice & Light jog at 5pm through the arboreteum in Spokane.. about 30min
Sunday-
Race (see race report) S, B, R...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Quick update: Troika Half Iron Race Report
Three weeks out from IMC and I had tentatively decided I'd race either an Olympic or a Half Iron this weekend..
The choices were the Troika event or the Mid Summer Olympic in Portland. Last minute I decided Troika made the most sense, drove out there Saturday and was literally the last person to sign-up.
Spokane is usually hot this time of year, or least closely approximates the weather I'll need to deal with in a couple of weeks, plus the over-distance & intensity combo sold me on racing the longer distance.
Let's see, in a nutshell I did well...
I came off a month, (and a really big last couple of weeks) to PR the Half distance by 6min on what I consider "not an easy course" in spite of the reputation of the course being fast place to race..
Most important (to me) was running a 1.25 half marathon very comfortably coming off a bike course that was considerably tougher than Boise (born out in the wattage data). (The official results chunked in two min of transition to my run vs. just adding to transition (argh), but splits show 5.50-6.30 and total time of 1.25 for the run)
I have to be very real about my swim and bike, but I'm still going to approach things as planned in a couple of weeks because it's clear this strategy is what gives me the best chance for success.
No point in boring folks with other details but I am certainly as ready as I can be at this point and I'm feeling positive about putting my best foot forward in a couple of weeks.
The choices were the Troika event or the Mid Summer Olympic in Portland. Last minute I decided Troika made the most sense, drove out there Saturday and was literally the last person to sign-up.
Spokane is usually hot this time of year, or least closely approximates the weather I'll need to deal with in a couple of weeks, plus the over-distance & intensity combo sold me on racing the longer distance.
Let's see, in a nutshell I did well...
I came off a month, (and a really big last couple of weeks) to PR the Half distance by 6min on what I consider "not an easy course" in spite of the reputation of the course being fast place to race..
Most important (to me) was running a 1.25 half marathon very comfortably coming off a bike course that was considerably tougher than Boise (born out in the wattage data). (The official results chunked in two min of transition to my run vs. just adding to transition (argh), but splits show 5.50-6.30 and total time of 1.25 for the run)
I have to be very real about my swim and bike, but I'm still going to approach things as planned in a couple of weeks because it's clear this strategy is what gives me the best chance for success.
No point in boring folks with other details but I am certainly as ready as I can be at this point and I'm feeling positive about putting my best foot forward in a couple of weeks.
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