How I *didn't* manage a 4.30 x 70.3 or did I?

I've been stewing the last few days trying to figure how I only managed a 4.41 down in Tempe at the Soma Half Ironman since I was sure I was on track for a mid 4.30-something.

Swim was an issue, first 1k was ok (17min) next Kilometer my back and shoulder wasn't happy.

At any rate I was just thinking about the swim time after looking at my pics today and it suddenly dawned on me where the time went...

So it was 38minutes when I got back to the stairs where we jumped in the water but I used a wetsuit stripper and that was a mess as usual, I really should have skipped it but I was out of it and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The timing mat was just before I ran into T1 to grab my bike a good ten meters after the wetsuit strippers, so my official swim didn't "end" until I ran across that mat..

That's where all the time went !!!!!!!!!!!

ARRRRGH.

I should have known better then to use one of the volunteers, idiocy on my part !

Now I have to stew until next season !

At anyrate now I know I did a 4.37 which is what I thought I'd done..

Validation.. The swim will come down more as will the other stuff.. Yes, I was due for this as I've been in 4.30 shape for sometime, was it a "good time for me"?

Technically "no" because I've been in great shape and had good form for quite some time.

In a sense the 4.41 is fine with me.. Other folks will look at it and just underestimate me, which I like as I just fly stealth before and during the race.

Here's the little race report I threw together the day of the race when I got into Flagstaff.

_________________________________

I hate to make excuses but since the accident I really haven't been swimming *great* plus have had to do Naproxen for the pain and usually faded pretty badly in longer workouts, so I knew that was an issue and might be a problem today..

I figured I'd make up for it on the bike run.

Anyway after the turnaround buoy at 1k I was tired even though I had clear water.. (If only Lake Stevens had been free and clear, I was swim fit then..) Today, well, I was decently fit, but my upper and lower back felt like it was unhitched from my bum and upper back.. It felt weak..

Next time !

Bike is really no faster then Boise, Troika or Black Diamond (I've ridden all three in races or training) in fact, avg'd 230w here today to do "officially" 2hr 28min so about what I'd have to do anywhere else really, or at least equivalent bike courses.

It had so many turns and 90 degree turn abouts that it scrubbed off all of your speed, it was 3 loops.. at least it was closed to traffic.

Run went well.. I went beserk in the first mile and ran 5.45.. oops.. When I came in off the bike clock read 3.12 so figured all I had to do was run under 1hr 30min..

First Half of the run I was on track to do right around 1.20, although, I was shooting for under that and thought it was possible.

Wound up going 1.27.01 w/pee break.. was darn hot too, got up to nearly 100, so second loop of run was rough.

Oh well..

I shouldn't have been greedy for a *huge* pr and just done Black Diamond in late September..

But, before the accident with the dog I thought if I didn't completely screw up the swim, biked a low 2.20 (only one guy got under that in 2.19 today.. everyone else in the mix was 2.22-2.30.) I could do a 4.20..

Turns out 6th in AG.

Could not have said it better myself

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."

. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."
Scott Martin

Thoughts on next season...

Well, as the end of yet another long season rolls around I'm faced with the same questions I had in front of me ten years ago when I was 27/28 and had run a gazillon miles/hours in a several year quest to lower my PRs.

Mixed feelings is the way to sum things up. As much as like the sport I'm not sure how to sustain the lifestyle at the highest level I can sustain *and* have a healthy social life plus a productive, meaningful professional life.

It's not about having run out of challenges.

There are many, many more and plenty of un-met challenges, but like my go at competitive running, I started feeling I'd nothing left to prove to myself.

Is that the case now with Triathlon? I don't know. end of season fatigue and hard training days have a funny way of making a person question the amount of hours they'll to put forth the next season..

Diminishing returns: Well, I've been at this point for awhile and now it's even more apparent that to get to the next level as a swimmer I need to swim another 10k yards a week *consistently* above and beyond the 12-15k I managed at the height of the season.

Can I do that? Yes, I can physically.

Do I want to? Harder question to answer.

What does it net me?

If not this approach, then what?

New challenges.

XC Ski marathon(s). I need to do one.. I think I'm going to get my bum kicked but that is ok.

Mountain Bike marathons.. I'm still interested in TransRockies solo.. That would still require a ton of cycling.

Fun stuff?

Would love to just ride new places with cool people. Not sure what that looks like but all the solo training is tough, be nice to have friends who are competent enough to ride 30-40mi no big whoop.

Is there another approach to the sport that allows me to stay competitive, enjoy the training and have more balance? I think so.. that means more like 3-4x swim/bike and run as much as I like..

Amp it as a long-course race approaches and not worry about it. Will it get me results? Who knows, I might have to try and see. :)

Who the heck knows about the 2010 schedule !

Back and shoulder healing...

It's been two weeks now.. Slowly but surely I can move my arms in natural movements without yelping.

The yelping of course is mildly embarrassing since I manage to move my arms and/or twist my back funny at least two-three times a day, it happens in the store, or getting of the car. You get the idea.

Someone recently mentioned to me that I should let the whole dog accident thing go.. Are you kidding me?

The owner endangered not only my life but another person's life that day. Everything we have, all that we are could have been gone, or our bodies could have been wrecked beyond healing.

No, there is no high road or low road and someone has to be responsible.

I'm glad I'm ok, but tonight I had a sub par swim and let's face it, my fitness is fine but my range of motion is limited. It's not my fault, and I doing all that I can every day to get my range of motion back.

Anyhoo, I'm not angry, that won't help me heal. I'd rather have a positive state of mind.

I have some impulse buying issues..

Good Grief..

Somebody save me from me..

I bought a bike that doesn't really fit and now I get to sell it.

Idiotic. It's as if I thrive on creating problems for myself to solve.. Guess somebody is going to get a bunch of bike parts cheap.

Lest anyone think Kona is a cake walk..

Yup folks, it's not..

From my friend Ben Bigglestone's FB update feed

Ben Bigglestone the wind on the queen k weird today, fierce about 20 miles into the course and dead against. MPH and Watts for the 5 miles into the wind and on the return 19.9/227, 15.5/243, 16.7/227, 14.4/239, 13.4/217 and the return 35.7/97, 33/162, 30.5/147, 25.8/185, 27.3/170

Ben is an exceptionally strong cyclist and swimmer and obviously a good runner since he picked up the slot in a 70.3.

As you can see it takes alot of power to move around on that island..I still don't get folks back here who make random assumptions about getting there...The big watts aren't impressive when you're a *big* person, the w/kg factor is still average, though the w/Cd gets people excicted...

Ben is not a big guy and likely has a threshold closer to the pedal mashers around the area, plus he's small so Cd is really in his favor.

Major Reality check, eh? He's super strong and motors decently into the wind. Imagine you aren't at that level.

It's a major lesson for me to see this and really consider retooling fit this off-season to maximize power to Cd.

Disaster Week

Well, of course, coming off a bike wreck, what else would I expect?

More. I guess I got it, because you know, when bad crud comes downs in goes down in buckets.

Today I'd planned on riding an hour on the trainer and fiddling w/the TT bike fit. To do that I swapped pedals from the old bike to the new. Got basically dialed in and heard, "click" from the left pedal.

Ok... and, cleat won't engage pedal. I take it off the bike and tension seems gone from the entry/release mechanism. Pretty sure it can't be fixed..

Perhaps I was due for a "rest week" and this was how it shook out?

Normally I have something mildly philosophical to say, but it is a simple case of much being out of one's control. Kinda of shocking that health and desire to be healthy is in many ways are linked to "fate" and chance.

When I've dealt with this in the past it's always a strong reminder to keep with it, that's every training day is an important and not insignificant because you just don't know when something out of one's control is going to intervene.

The upside? I guess the stroke is not gone, and I'm not feeling out of shape..

I just don't want this last race of the season to slip away, I need one more shot at that racing thrill.