Iron Brother's Sprint Tri Day 2

Ouch. That is what my body was saying during the second race on day 2. Make that "OUCH!" So the swim seemed better than yesterday and my time was a good 30 seconds faster. I had no major issues on the swim, the water was still a bit choppy but I think it was a little cooler than yesterday so instead of swimming and fretting over how hot aka miserable I was I was able to concentrate on more important things like realizing my muscles weren't enjoying being asked to race again so soon. But that was about the worst of the swim. I was just wishing I'd slept in.

The bike on the other hand was another story. It was way windier today out on the bridge than yesterday especially on the section a couple of miles back into the park. And my legs hurt from the first turn of the pedals out of transition and continued to scream for the entire ride. The only reprieve I allowed them was at the turnarounds. After the first lap I seriously considered getting off my bike and waiting about 25 minutes and going back into transition but I didn't. My heart rate was right where it should have been and aside from the soreness from the day before, I was riding well. With this in mind I pushed the second loop harder and negative split by about 45 seconds and came into T2 in 6th place in my age group.

Out of T2, I really felt my effort on the bike and was sure I was running a lot slower than yesterday. And that may have been the case, but I think I found my stride opening up a bit sooner and clicked my way up from 6th place into 4th in my age group with an overall pace of about 8:20. I'm sort of amazed by that since I had to go to the bathroom again (which took 49 seconds) and because I know my first mile had to be somewhere north of 11 min. I practically walked out of transition.

All in all, I think it was a good solid weekend of training. Both races where within 5 seconds of each other in terms of overall time so I feel I had a solid effort both days.

Iron Brother's Sprint Tri Day 1

Let's just say my preparation for this race consisted of 3 swims and 5 bike rides in the last 3 weeks. This was not intentional. I had a stomach virus that had me off of all training for 10 days. But still, it doesn't bode well for a weekend of 2 back to back sprint tri races.

Let's also say I mis-read the race info about packet pickup and missed it when I got to town on Friday evening by going to the wrong location. I have no excuse for this. I looked at the instructions 3 times and mis-read them each time. I had to call and ask an exception to be able to pick up my packet race morning. This is in an Ironhead race is a big "NO, NO."

Then two minutes before the transition closed I realized I'd left my swim cap in the car and had to sprint back to the parking lot barefoot to get it. Swim cap in hand I then sprint barefoot to the swim start just in time to get into the water with my wave.

In retrospect, I think I was trying to make things hard on myself so that if things did not go well, I'd have a ton of excuses.

I'm not usually this forgetful or negligent. But even acknowledging all this I have to report I had an awesome race. My swim while not fast by any means, really high winds made the water very choppy. But I was able to sight and hold my line very well and have a strong swim in challenging conditions. The last couple of times I've done this race the swim has destroyed me. I've gotten sick at about 100 meters in, I've had problems sighting, I've gotten a mouthful of gasoline, and I've come out of the water completely exhausted barely able to stumble into transition. Like Dory and Finding Nemo, I just kept swimming and then ran into transition and got on the bike.

On the bike I took some time to get my legs under me and drink some fluid. The course is relatively flat with only a couple of very short hills. One is as you leave the park and go out onto a bridge and ride about 4 miles out to the next hill which takes you up to the turnaround. The cross wind wasn't too bad going out to the turn but coming back it was brutal. But to my surprise I was actually riding really strong. I caught and passed a lot of folks in my age group and swim wave and never saw them again. One the way out I was riding with a very high cadence to use my aerobic capacity and warm up my legs. I went into the big ring for about half of my trip back to the park on the way back and then when the winds picked up went back to aerobic, high cadence riding. On my way back out for my second and final loop I went back into the big ring and pushed it a bit but I wasn't suffering at all. I was well under aerobic threshold at about 147 bpm. After the turn I dropped the gearing again but kept the pace high. Even on the way back the highest my heart rate got was 149 and so I was really pleased. My legs weren't burning and there where no signs of cramps so the only issue I would face on the run was the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom.

I got back into transition with about a 54:00 bike split for the 19 mile course and I was really happy with that. I racked the bike and knew there was no way I could wait the entire 5k to wait on the bathroom so I ran off course after about 400m and went to the public bathroom. I split my watch when I went in and came out and it took exactly 1:01. I'm fairly confident my run pace for the first mile was "SLOW". Even without the pit stop. But after the first mile I realized my legs weren't tired no matter how hot it was out on the course (and it was hot, probably about 90 degrees at this point.) Did I mention on my way up to DFW my car thermometer read 113 degrees? It is freaking hot up here even in the morning. Anyway, I started running faster and faster with each passing moment and wound up running about a 25:00 5k complete with bathroom break. I'm happy with that as it is probably my fastest 5k split in a tri since I started racing again 4 years ago. I also wound up finishing 5th in my age group, I think my bike split helped a bit there. So now we'll just see what I have in my tank for tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't forget anything...

IMAZ Race Report And Looking Forward

I'm not really sure what to say about this race. The picture above is pretty representative of my day. I'm not in the picture, but I know how these folks felt. I spent my whole day wondering where the heck I was and what I was doing there. I suppose my finish time of 15:01 could be a source of disappointment. I was shooting for something in the range of 12:30 - 13:30 based on my estimated level of fitness going into the race. But this is triathlon and things happen. And a race is so much more than the sum distance of each of its events. And that is what keeps us going back for more. At least that is what keeps me going back anyway.

What I think I'll take away from this race is the fact that I overcame a whole new level of negative thinking plaguing me throughout the day. I've been doing tri's, running and cycling events for a long time and I don't think I've ever experienced anywhere near the volume and duration of negative thinking going on in my head as I moved through IMAZ.

It started with the swim. I was prepared for the cold water. The water is always cold in IMAZ. What I was not prepared for was not being able to sight or rely on swimmers who could sight in order to move around the course. I'm not lying when I say I only saw about 4 buoy's on the entire course and that I resigned myself pretty early on to just swim from bridge to bridge and back again in my own personal approximation of 2.4 miles.

But I made it out of the water about 12 minutes slower than last year. Seeing that probably started the negative thinking but there were some positive take aways:

1. Less overall fatigue coming out of the water
2. No hamstrings destroyed from swimming with massive cramping like last year
3. I felt stronger in the water and felt like I was moving further per stroke (next year we will focus on swimming in a straight line)

Out on the bike were where my inner demons really began to take hold. It was windy. Really, really windy. And it was cold. And even though I'd just used the bathroom my bladder was full. Again. So aside from the wind, I would need to stop about ever 15 to 20 minutes or so to empty it for the entire first loop of the bike. And when I wasn't going to the bathroom, there was always the wind.

At the end of the first loop, my bladder calmed down and I put in a solid bit of riding, I was catching and passing everyone that I'd been losing time to during the first loop and this was fun. I wasn't tired and even though I wasn't enjoying the wind I didn't seem to be slowing me down too much. Then the water bottle cages behind my seat fell off. This had 2/3 of my nutrition so I went back to pick it up and search for the pieces to put it back together. I found them and rode holding everything to the next aid station where I got a set of hex wrenches from one of the volunteers and put the cages back together.

Somewhere at the beginning of my third loop, I put the seat cages came apart again from a different bolt. This time I was not near an aid station and had to ride for a few miles before I spotted a couple of cyclists watching the race and asked them for the necessary tools, which thankfully they had but it was slow going putting the mount back together this time because some parts were bent. But I was able to rig everything together and get going once again.

Because my nutrition was good and in the right amounts I was feeling stronger and stronger on the ride and I was actually picking up the pace even though at times I was riding through rain, hail and even at one point, a sandstorm. Then at mile 104, I had a flat. Somewhere with all of the trouble with my bottle cages I'd lost my spare and tools so I had to wait for a repair vehicle to assist me. After they changed the tire we were unable to inflate it because I no longer had a valve extender. So I sat for what seemed like for ever until a guy with the exact same wheel set as mine came along and loaned us his.

Tire inflated, I road the last 8 miles into transition and seriously considered quitting. Physically I was fine but psychologically I was spent and frustrated. My time goal was now completely out of reach. I wanted to hand my chip and number to the nearest volunteer and go bath and go to bed. As I sat in the changing tent, for some reason I remembered that my grandfather had never seen me race. For some reason this got me moving with the thought of "Lets just see how this goes..."

One the run I made sure to stay aerobic and take in nutrition and hydrate. I also followed my overall plan of not having any water during the day and drinking only electrolyte drinks. I didn't break any land speed records but I was able to run most of the marathon except for a few time where I had a bit of IT band pain or got some coke. The IT band pain really didn't start up until about mile 25 so at that point I walked a bit to loosen the leg then jogged the last 300 meters or so across the finish. Technically without the mechanicals, I would have finished in range of my goal time but given the day I was having, I'm surprised I kept racing at all. I have lots build on for next season. And I now know that I'm pretty mentally tough. Plus my nutrition was perfect both in execution and nutritional make up. I was never hungry the whole day and I didn't cramp at all. That alone was worth finding out.

Longhorn70.3 Race Report

I'm not sure why I like this picture a friend took of me at Longhorn, but I do. Perhaps because it represents how I felt during the race, clear on my reasons for being there, but just a bit out of focus.

I had quite a bit go right last weekend but I also had some things go wrong. First and foremost what went really right. I really want to thank Chef Dina Knight for assisting me with my race prep, nutrition and post race recovery. For a race where I ate nothing but raw natural food and drank absolutely no water, I must say I'm stunned. When Dina said, "Remember, NO WATER today!" To say I was skeptical would be an understatement. But her reasoning was sound. Water, she said, would throw off the nutrient electrolyte balance in my system and hinder performance. Okay, I was sold. Nothing to do but go out and test that theory in the field during a Half IM. I have to admit, I think it worked.

This was the first race I can remember not having to deal with at least the "threat" of a muscle cramp. I was also not thirsty all day. This isn't to say I didn't drink. On the bike I had coconut water. On the run when I ran out of that, I had gatorade.

My swim felt effortless and I came out of the water about 30 seconds ahead of what I'd done last year. My transition was also faster which I chalked up to being less taxed on the swim. I've been going to a stroke clinic so I'm gonna place the credit for the effortless swim there. Thanks Coach Maurice over at T3!

Heading out of T1 I noticed my I'd dropped my chain. I'm not sure how long I took getting it back on but that and a bathroom break at about mile 20 were the only things that really slowed me down. I had a goal to keep my heart rate aerobic on the bike, so I let most of the steep climbs come to me versus attack them. I kept a steady cadence and managed to cruise through about 5 miles every 14:30 during the first half of the bike. The back half is a bit more challenging coming back into the wind and some gradually climbs but I was still moving at about 15min for every 5 miles while keeping my heart rate around 148.

At the time I thought that was pretty good, but in retrospect I perhaps should have kept my heart rate on the bike at about 145. The second half of the bike was definitely more challenging than the first and around mile 50 I was feeling some fatigue in my legs even though I was maintaining the same pace without too much extra effort.

Out of T2 my legs felt tired but they were turning over and my stride seemed normal. I have to attribute coming off the bike with any turnover at all to the work I've done on my running form with yoga and to Chef Dina's nutrition plan. This has to be the first time I've ever raced with a completely full tummy.

The first half of the 13.1 mile run went "OK" but somewhere around mile eight I really started to struggle and my legs just felt toasted. I was having problems with my left shoe which was causing me to alter my running form. This in turn was punishing my left IT band. I kept stopping to deal with the shoe and finally decided to take it easy on the off road sections and walk a bit on those rather than risk a more serious injury.

After the off road stuff was done on the second loop, I focused on my form and foot placement and jogged the rest of the way in. All in all it was a solid effort. I had a great swim and bike and my nutrition and hydration seemed in line. My aerobic fitness is continuing to progress and I have a load of information to process and take into Arizona and next season.

Race Report Jack's Generic Tri, Austin TX

So yesterday was the annual Jack's Generic Triathlon. I must say this has to be one of the best run big (in terms of the number of participants) little (in terms of distance 500m open water swim, 13.8 mi bike, 3 mi run) around. I think the reason I like Jack's is it reminds me of all the reasons I started doing tri's in the first place - fun, swag, camaraderie, and food. The course is well done, there is ready aid everywhere, and the course is challenging even though it isn't long which means it is as good a race for beginners as it is for seasoned athletes. All of this is probably because this is truly a race done by athletes for athletes and its back to basics formula works.

At any rate, I was using Jack's Generic as sort of a systems/equipment check. I wanted to get back on the the tri bike and see how it felt to fire on all cylinders. And I was using a new tri top and short combo that I bought last year but thought I was still just a bit too big for (everything seems to fit perfectly now ;) ). I was also interested to see if my new diet would have a noticeable impact while my body was experiencing the stresses of racing.

What I can say I noticed right off the bat, when I woke up is I felt really relaxed and all of the body tension from the prior week's training seemed to have dissipated. I really didn't feel the need to stretch or create some blood flow to jump start things which is a completely new sensation for me on race morning.

On my way to the race, at about 5:45 AM, the freeway was completely shut down and all traffic was diverted onto the feeder. This didn't look too good but as luck would have it I made all the right choices and was back on my way in pretty short order. I got to the race site a bit later than I would have liked and most of the rack space in my age group was taken but I was able to squeeze my bike in thanks to a kind soul who made some space for me.

I quickly got my stuff arranged and then went down to try out the water. The water was a touch warm considering all the rain we've had here lately but it was also not as smelly as I've remembered it being in the past. I got a good idea of the layout of the buoys and then got ready for my wave.

As I mentioned earlier, this has to be one of the most relaxed pre race mornings I've ever had. The sense of ease in my body was amazing. In fact if I was going to freak out about something it would have been how much at ease I was feeling. I mean there was a lot to I could find to be nervous about. My running though, happening again was way behind schedule due to the dislocated bone in my foot. And the first 3 week block of speed work on the track hadn't happened at all. Work responsibilities had ruined two weeks of training in the pool and on the bike making it possible to only do the bare minimum of work on a single sport per day. Then of course there is the normal apprehension that closely follows a period like that. And I had recently decided to experiment with my diet even more than normal by taking classes from Raw/Vegan Chef Dina Knight. Lower than normal training volume, recent injury, overtime work obligations, and experimenting with a completely new diet all should have added up to a catastrophic racing failure. So there was a lot to be nervous about, but here I was pre race and I was completely at ease.

The swim was pretty uneventful. I was never at all distressed and I came out of the water pretty much in the middle of my wave. Had I pushed the issue I could have finished sooner but I was working on my stroke mechanics and trying out racing using bilateral breathing for the first time ever. I know, I know... Next offseason, I'll start working on flip turns too.

At any rate, I think I had a fairly speedy transition as a result of not being spent on the swim. But the first mile or so on the bike was a bit sketchy and this is where my first small bit of doubt set in. I was feeling some fatigue in my legs and wondered if perhaps my training for the week was going to catch up with me? I had done a couple of sessions of power intervals and a time trial early on in the week. But after a couple of relaxed breaths, my legs loosened up and I settled into a nice cadence. I checked my heart rate monitor and it read 152 - a bit high but way below aerobic threshold so I decided not to fret. My legs felt great and I just started to feel stronger and stronger. The first miles where a blur and I passed about 8 guys in my age group, most as if they were standing still.

Somewhere between mile four and five, I caught one guy in my age group and we battled back and forth. I realized I was a much better climber than he so, I began to really work the inclines. At this point my heart rate had dropped to about 147 and the distress I'd felt at the beginning of the bike was nothing but a distant memory. So I pushed several climbs in a row and lost my shadow around mile 8.

I was still flying, coming up out of a valley and into the last series of hills before the mad downhill sprint to transition when I felt the instability in my rear wheel. Crap! As I rode past a guy in one of the prior waves, I asked him to check my back tire. Yep, he confirms that it's flat. Basically that ended my race. I wasn't able to change the tire because I was running my racing wheels and hadn't brought a tube with a long enough stem.

A couple of days later, looking over the results I saw that at the time of my flat I was in 3rd place in my age group and about 12 minutes up on time from the prior year. I'm pretty happy with that. I felt I was having a good race. And I was enjoying myself. I think the strategy of paying more attention to my diet and recovery this year is paying off.

Ironman Arizona Race Report

So on the plane to Phoenix, I asked myself a question.

"Why are you going to Arizona?"

Given my complete lack of training for the past month, this seemed like a good question to ask. Between illness and injury my training since Longhorn 70.3 was nonexistent, leaving me feeling unprepared and hugely uncertain. Long runs in the prior 4 weeks, 0. Long bikes in the past 4 weeks, 0. Longest straight swim, 1500. It was as if my season ended in October and I forgot to tell myself. So I wasn't even close to being in top form.

The question hung in my head until about mid-flight.

"Why are you going to Arizona?"

Then an answer came and it surprised me.

"You are going to Arizona to get stronger."

Prior to my race I wasn't sure what that meant but at various points during the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run things were definitely clearer.

For an Ironman newbie like me, the Arizona swim is visually and logistically daunting. The out and back 2.4 mile course followed a gently curving shoreline. In the days before the race I walked across the Scottsdale Street bridge several times and each time I thought, "Dude. That's far." But it wasn't just swimming almost to the edge of the horizon and back that had me worried. Arizona would be my first MASS swim start ever. I don't know how many of you have ever done a swim with 2000 other participants all starting at the same time, but as an Ironman virgin, this was just added another challenge for me to face. Looking at starts from prior years on YouTube, the Arizona swim looked more like a massive death match held in a washing machine than a triathlon. Also Arizona has a "wading" start. You are already in the water when the cannon goes off. The thing about this is you are in the water for a full 15 minutes prior to this. Race morning water temps were about 62 degrees.

I hadn't raced (or trained for that matter) in temps that cold, but opted to go with a silicone cap under my race cap. This turned out to be a good move for me keeping my head comfortable for the whole swim. I lined up in the back determined to stay out of as much of the frenzy as possible and thinking I could have an easier time sighting buoys. The only flaw in this strategy is that it failed to take into account my swimming has actually gotten a bit better. About half way to the turn around, I had caught a good deal of the age groupers and while not quite the melee I'll assume present at the race start I then had to contend with navigating around people while staying on course. On the way back, someone kept slapping at my feet which triggered cramps in both calfs. Later another errant arm would slap my left hamstring causing another cramp there as well. I came out of the water with cramps in both legs but had a solid swim effort where I managed to maintain a solid pace for me the entire way. Even with the cramping in the water I was able to hobble into the changing tent and then get out on the bike.

The bike was a three loop course and unfortunately the cramps from the swim would force me to change my ride plan. While the right leg warmed up after the first turn around on the bike course at about mile 18, the left calf and hamstring stayed tight and sore the entire 112 miles. And for some reason both knees became sore during the bike. My guess is because of the trauma to my hamstrings my quads were overcompensating putting stress on my knees. I kept having to get off the bike at every other aid station to massage my hamstrings and calf and give my knees a break. At this point I decide to look at the bike leg as a 112 bike tour and not stress over it. I managed to cover all 112 miles this way but I figured if I was going to finish the whole race this was a way to give me the best chance at completing the course. From this point on all time goals were forgotten.

Once back in transition from the bike, I was pleasantly surprised to find I could actually run, though I could still feel the twinge in my left calf and hamstring. I ran the first two miles like I was running a 5k, looked at my heart rate and forced myself to slow down and walk through the aid stations. This worked well until about mile 13 when the tightness in my calf grew from the size of a pebble to the size of a fist. I stopped to work it out and ran 5 more miles when my legs just completely gave out. The walk from mile 18 to the finish was long and painful. And I was resolved to walking up to the line but somehow found the strength to trot across.

In retrospect, it all seems surreal. I was strong in places I didn't expect, making decisions that got me through a very, very long day. But I was also patient and surprised when I wasn't strong at all like the second loop of the run where I had no sense of time having been completely out of gas at the end of the first loop. But somehow I managed to run the second loop at a steady pace. In the closing moments, I had to marvel at the fact I was still moving even though the day hadn't played out as I'd planned - shoot my whole year didn't play out as planned - I was there and I actually completed an Ironman. Still processing that one...

I came to Arizona to get stronger.

But the strength I found wasn't at all in the places I expected.

The real strength I found was from all of the energy from everyone I came into contact with throughout the day. I really got a sense that no one does a race like that without some help. Help from family, friends, training partners, doctors, massage therapists, race volunteers (over 3000 for Arizona, almost 1.5 per triathlete - all of whom were absolutely amazing), spectators, and other athletes. And I think that's why I like tri's so much. It is the sense of community I feel when I race or train. No matter what your goals are or why you race, everyone is really pulling for you to meet or exceed them. And that's pretty cool.

Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

The picture to the left probably defined my day at the Austin Longhorn 70.3 race this last Sunday. The right cleat broke right outside T1.

I took a couple of days to think about my experience during the race before writing about it in detail. Long story short I wanted a time about 1:00 to 1:15 (one hour to one hour 15 min) faster than the one I finished with. But in retrospect, I suppose the moral of this race is sometimes we get what we want, and sometimes we get what we need. I needed to feel comfortable swimming in a wetsuit. I needed to test using all liquid nutrition versus a combination of both. And what I really needed was a very long workout.

And, partially because of the cleats I got all of these things. I found out I was actually pretty comfortable swimming in a wetsuit for the first time. I found I'm not suited for using all liquid nutrition and so will go with a combination of solid and liquid nutrition from now on. And I got a very long workout under race-like conditions. Honestly, this was what I'd been telling myself and some friends in the weeks leading up to the race. I just wanted to work on my pacing for my first Ironman.

But, hey I'm human. And I possess that same "curiosity" most athletes have about testing limits and seeing how fast they can go - especially on race day. So when I woke up all thoughts of pacing and long workouts faded. And that's why some prayers are answered and others aren't.

So as I rode to the swim start on the bus, an errant bike pump hit me in my right knee. Within the few minutes it took to go from the parking lot to the swim start my knee was swollen and sore. Needless to say, I had serious reservations about running or cycling at that point. But I knew I could still swim so, I put on my wetsuit and thought perhaps the cold water would bring a bit of the swelling down. It didn't, but it got me in the water.

My swim plan was to take it easy and get used to the wetsuit out to the first turn, then if I felt good I'd open it up a bit. The first turn seemed to take forever to reach, but I was comfortable and my stroke felt good. After the turn I put in a bit more effort and wound up catching some of the folks that had passed me. I would swim with this pack until we all got back to shore.

Out of the water, my knee was still stiff and a bit painful but I decided to see how it felt on the bike before bagging the race. Once on the bike I found I had the added challenge of a broken cleat (hence the picture at the start of this blog) also on the right leg. At this point my first thought was, "Hey I had a great swim, I'm cool with stopping right here." But as I looked at my cleat a very wise and thoughtful race volunteer said, "Hey man, you can ride with one leg." So off I went on a 56 mile bike ride with a swollen knee and a busted cleat - only able to clip in to the pedals with my left leg. While it seemed like a doable thing at the time, I cannot tell you what a real pain in the ass that decision turned out to be - literally. Needless to say low back and piriformis pain would be my constant companions for the next 56 agonizing miles. Things got a little better when I decided to ride less from efficiency and a high cadence and more into strength with larger gearing. This was the only way to keep the right foot from slipping off the platform so often.

The ride is also where I determined I would not be using all liquid nutrition for the Ironman. No matter how much fuel I consumed, I was still hungry. I don't ride well when I'm distracted by a growling stomach. I had about 800 calories on the bike which should have been sufficient, but looking at what was in my solid nutrition versus the liquid nutrition I tried for this event, the difference was pretty clear. It isn't just calories, but what those calories are made up of that matters. Lesson learned.

By the time I reached T2, I was hungry, sore, more fatigued than normal for a 50ish mile ride, and still sporting a swollen knee. The cramps in my left leg started right before mile 1. I surmised this was happening because the leg did most of the work on the bike. But I could have been imagining it. So the run became "run only as far and as fast as you can without cramping". By about mile 7 or so things seemed to have stabilized and I wound up running more and only walking when I went through aid stations.

I must say, I've never done a race quite like that either in distance, format, or in the number of minor challenges I experienced. But I can say, I did have a good time even with all of the stuff that was going on. I was never in any physical distress that was unbearable. And I found really like triathlons no matter what place on the course I find myself in. I got the long day I needed and now know a pace I can sustain for quite a while even on a bum leg or with a broken bike cleat. I'd say that's information worth having, especially if you can enjoy yourself while you gather it. Train well.

Long Horn 70.3 Race Report Prequel

I did this today. I'll write more about my race and post pics tomorrow. Right now I just want to say, the best part of the race for me was the swim. If you know me, then you'll understand exactly the kind of day I had and why I "Almost" called it a day right after getting out of the water. I do want to thank the race organizers and all the volunteers, the course and the support was amazing. Well done. Now I need some sleep.

Race Report - August 2, 2009

This weekend I did Jack's Generic Triathlon in Austin, Tx.  This is one of the best small venue races I can think of.  Okay, so technically you will probably hear tell about the swim that takes place in a "pond" about the size of someone's backyard.  But aside from that, personally I feel Jack's does all of the little things right.  There are a gazillion volunteers who all know what's going on and are ready to help.  The food and drink post race are abundant.  The course is well marked and everything starts on time.  I've done this race twice and it ranks up there as one of my all time favorites.  

So about my race.  Well, first off I feel much better writing this race report than the last one.  But I suppose any race result would have been better than what happened my last time out.  If you haven't read about it and want to see a post about my worst race experience ever, look here.  

Ironically, I wasn't sure race morning I would participate.  I had spent most of my time between the last race and this one trying to figure out what went wrong on my first outing.  To be honest, I got a lot of theories about what could have happened but nothing concrete.  So I was left with a huge sense of uncertainty about my training methods, my body, and at some points my decision to race again in the first place.  Also leading up to this race I didn't feel I had put in adequate training between seeking an array of medical opinions, to just feeling off, and meeting work and social obligations.  Add to this my fear of a repeat episode in the water where there would be nausea, dizziness, and sudden unexplained muscle fatigue, you can understand why I was not overly anxious to race.  

In a way this was just like starting something for the first time again.  I had to just put one foot in front of the other, get out of the house and see what happened.  Because I didn't know what to expect in the water, I babied the swim, and sighted minimally, rounding the course by feel.  About half way through, I knew I was okay and was able to relax.  One positive sign was I was never concerned about where aid was in the water.  As I said in the beginning, if there is a knock on this race, it has to be the "pond" it takes place in.  Because the water area is so small and there are ski ramps in it that funnel swimmers together on the long straight sections, unless you  are a very, very fast swimmer, you really never find clear water.  Basically swimming in this pond feels like one big swimmer's mosh pit.  Aside from that, though my swim was slow it went well and I was comfortable the entire time.

Once on the bike, I got up the first climb right out of transition and then settled in.  This section of the bike is mostly flat or downhill and seemed wind aided.  Again because my swim was not stellar, I had the enjoyable sensation of passing people the entire ride.  My pace, I felt was good but not blistering and I could tell this was because I hadn't been riding as consistently since my last outing.  Though overall I felt better on the bike than I had a few weeks earlier, I didn't have the leg turnover I like and I found myself easing up a bit on the climbs.  I will note, after the first 1/4 of the course, the going got much more difficult.  There are several good long gradual ascents and the wind was either a headwind or frontal crosswind the rest of the way.  So not your standard "flatish" timetrial bike.  

With about 2 miles to go, my bladder started to complain.  Depending on how you look at signals like that you can either be happy you got the urge before the run, or you can wish you got the urge about half way through the run to help you push a little toward the finish.  Unfortunately for me I got mine on the bike and it was a strong one.  I don't like to run uncomfortably for long periods of time because it is distracting so, I transitioned and headed out onto the run course which fortunately passed right in front of the Porta Potties, I ducked in and took care of things and ducked out.  So here's the thing.  That quick stop, somewhere between 30 and 45 seconds by my estimate slowed my run time average by 10 to 15 seconds per mile.  I'd never thought of it that way until I was calculating it out on the run in my head.  But at least now I was comfortable.  Surprisingly it felt really good on the run, I wasn't pushing things but I knew my pace was solid because it felt good and I caught and passed quite a few guys in my age group.  The run course at Jack's Generic is a straight out and back affair.  The going out being a bit tougher due to the gradual climb for a mile and a half.  Coming back of course is a bit easier so my goal was to keep it steady going out and open my stride a bit coming back in.  This seemed to work well and my legs didn't feel bad at all and my heart rate stayed low (relatively speaking) going out and coming back.  I think the highest I saw it was 160, the average was 154.  This was probably the best feedback I think I've gotten this year because that's the lowest heart rate I've ever had in any race.  My pace, adjusted for the pit stop wound up being about a 7:30 mile.  Last year on the same course I ran an 8:00 mile pace with an average HR of 172.  So this was progress.  I crossed the finish line feeling as though I put in a solid effort but like I could have kept going like that all day.  I'm happy with that because the day is coming soon when I'll have to be able to keep that up all day.

I wound up finishing 9th in my AG which had almost 60 guys in it.  This was an improvement from last year where I finished 13 in the AG out of about 35 guys.  So I'll take that.

Race Report - July 12 2009

This isn't a blog I'm looking forward to writing.  It isn't easy facing up to expectations and goals after a lot of hard effort and you miss the mark so completely.   

In the grand scheme of things 10 minutes (this is about how far off I was from my projected time based on my training coming into the race) really isn't a large chunk of time.  It is about as long as it takes to run into a tri store and pick up a couple of GUs and some lace locks.

This weekend I was in the Iron Brother's Super Sprint Tri in Grand Prairie.  Because my season will go into late November this year I started my racing later so, this was my first race of 2009.  The race is short which means I can train normally and get a feel for some of the new equipment and bike adjustments I've made since last year.   

The picture here to the left is probably the best moment I had the entire morning.  From the time I got into the water and started swimming, I just felt off.  Things were manageable until I rounded the first buoy but shortly after that is when things just went from feeling off to being dizzy and nauseous.  I had no idea what was going on.  And I really began to struggle.  Not to the point of panic mind you, but I was incredibly uncomfortable.  Needless to say a simple 400 meter swim became a test of patience and survival.  And given the way I was feeling I was pretty sure, I was done for the day once I reached the boat ramp.

So, after some backstroke, breaststroke, and a chat with one of the guys in a canoe as I treaded water who informed me the water temp was almost 90 degrees (probably not the cause of the nausea, but certainly not helping my situation any) I finally emerged from the water dizzy, probably overheated, but in one piece.  Oh yeah, max heart rate in the swim, 211 (This is not a typo).

I took my time getting to the bike.  In the transition area as I cooled off a little, I took the attitude of "Let's just see how this goes..."  How it went was I suffered.  I've been working on my cycling a lot in the off season and this was one area where I really wanted to see some improvement.  But I still felt like crap so I settled into a gear and a cadence I could stand and just went at it.  The good thing about a crappy swim is you spend all of your time on the bike passing people.  This can make you feel a little better even if you still want to puke.  

After the turn around, things got a little tougher because the slight cross wind became more of a frontal assault.  But I was happy with my effort.  A glance at my heart rate monitor was encouraging, I was spinning a larger gear than I had the year before and my heart rate was 154.  Last year I had an average heart rate on that course of 158 and I was feeling great and it wasn't windy.  I wasn't moving fast, but I wasn't floundering like I had in the water.

Coming into transition, I was fully committed to ending my day with the bike ride,  but somehow found shoes on my feet and WALKED out of transition.  I think I ran about 10 steps before stopping with a cramp under my right arch.  "That's it," I thought.  "I'm having one of the worst races ever and I'm not about to get injured because of my own stupidity."  So I proceeded to walk and would have walked the rest of the run had it not been for a "guardian angel" on the course who ran by me saying "I've been on your feet all race, don't stop now!"  

So I started running with her.  Her pace wasn't uncomfortable so, for the first time all day I wasn't struggling, though I still was dealing with the nausea.  But my foot wasn't cramping and that was a relief.  She was having a hard time with her breathing and began to slow so, I slowed down to stay with her and talked to her about focusing on her footsteps instead of her breathing.  Each time she slowed, I slowed as well.  Finally her husband came and ran with her just before the mile marker and I felt he could run the rest of the way with her.  

I think I went through the 1 mile point at about 10:50 given the walking I'd been doing.  At this point I decided my legs felt great even though the rest of me didn't and if I kept running like that I'd have to run for longer than I wanted so, I let my legs take over.  My second mile was a 6:55.   

Given the day I was having and the expectations I had going into the race, I think I would have rather forgotten the whole thing.  But one of the reasons I race is to learn things about myself I would otherwise not discover such as how I respond when things aren't going my way.  This race was one of those days where I had to come face to face with my expectations and the reality of my capacity at the moment not meeting.  I think this is what allows me to improve not only in a sport I love, but also in other areas of my life.  

The moment of truth came for me not as I crossed the finish line, but when I started writing this blog and I began to realize some of the experiences I was struggling with from my day actually offered me the very information I sought anyway.  As I said, racing for me is a quest for information about who it is I am and what I am capable of even when things don't go as planned.  What I learned as I sat down to write was so small as to almost go totally unnoticed.  Basically what I wanted to know yesterday was if my training was working.  So this is what I found out.  I ran a sub 7 min mile.  I haven't run one of those in a tri since I started doing them again 2 years ago.  And I was sick.  I had a bike split that was 5 sec faster than the year before under much more distressing conditions, both internally and externally.  And my heart rate average was 5 bps lower than last year...  As for the swim, well until the nausea hit I just might have at least equaled last year's time and the water temp that day was no where near 90 degrees.  Oh and even with all the nausea, I never did cover the course or any race volunteers with my pre race meal.  And for that, I'm so very thankful...