Saturday, October 31, 2009

T105 - The Miami Beach Half-Marathon - Run

Miami Beach

Run - 13.1 miles



2 Lipodrene
Tony, first of all is about the best pre-race host imaginable. Not only did he give up his bedroom so I'd have a comfortable place to sleep, he also got me a bunch of bottled water, set 4 alarms, and knocked on the door at 5 a.m. to wake me up. He does triathlons too, so he knew the importnace. Anyway, I made it from his house in Flagami to the beach by about 5:30, had 2 bagles on the drive over, parked by Nikki Beach and took the shuttle over to Jungle Island where the race was starting.

This race was pretty fun. With all the people running it in costumes, and the shorter-distance, it just had an atmosphere of the sort of event that was full of people there for a good time. I figured given that you don't get much more serious than an Ironman, this would be a nice, fun final long run before the not-so-fun one in a week. Since I never dress for Halloween, my costume was "Guy in Black Shorts" and I did not bring the iPod. Nor did I bring any gels.

The emails I'd gotten had made it sound like they had gels at the aid stations, but it became pretty obvious by aid station 1 that they would not be providing anything other than water and Powerade at the aid stations. Good thing I brought a Cliff Bar with me, which I ended up eating half of at about mile 8. I started the race apparently running about a 9 minute mile pace, according to the guy running next to me who didn't shut up. Which I thought felt pretty maintainable, until he stopped and walked. "Break time," he said. Throughout the race I would see him pass me, then I'd pass him and his friend (female) and this went on until just before the turnaround on 48th Street.

The run was far and away the most scenic I've done this entire cycle, going across the MacArthur Causeway. through South Pointe Park and up the boardwalk to 48th Street, where you turn around, rtun back on the boardwalk along the beach, then do a loop of South Pointe Park before ending in front of Nikki Beach. And, fontunately, the sun really didn't come out until right at the end. I took a 3rd Lipodrene at mile 8-ish, and hydrated with 2 Powerades and a wter at every other aid station.

The miles seemed to go by quick, although my pace wan't much faster than usual, and I never felt labored or exhausted or worn out the entire time. Dizzy, a few times, but not once like I wanted to stop. The whole thing felt like it went pretty fast, I even felt like I hit the halfway point early. As it was, I finished in about 2:20, which is right where I thought I'd be. Yeah, I run slow. I know. The countless women 15 years my senior who passed me reminded me of this. But I also ran my pace. Meaning that I was in shape enough to run this and not get winded. Could I push myself more? Yeah, probably. But I think my mentality for these things is set towards Ironman. Like don't dog it, but don't push it too much. You got a long way to go.

And so that was how I ran this race. It was a lot of fun, and I ran exactly how I thought I would. Which is neither discouraging nor particularly motivating. It just lets me know that I know what I can do. And contrary to the Rickenbacker Ride of the day before, this actually felt good. So 2 for 3 on Miami workouts this trip (swim and run good, bike bad). A better percentage than ususal.

I will also note that there were a LOT of attractive girls on this run. Usually at triathlons, the girls look weathered and hard, and while their bodies are typically pretty good they look a little windswept. For some reason half-marathons just attract a different crowd. There was a girl standing next to me at the starting line wearing like a giant British Flag dress thing that was easily the best looking girl I'd seen at any endurance event. And the group of girls dressed as lifeguards who came and sat with me at the after party at Nikki Beach weren't bad either. I think when I get back to Miami, I'm gonna have to start going more of these.

T104 - Half Ironman Weekend, Part One - Swim/Bike Brick

Miami

I realized that between Friday's workout and Saturday's half-marathon, I'd be basically doing a Half Ironman over two days a week before the big race. But it's over 2 days. So I think I'll be ok. I stayed up in Miramar Thursday night, and had to be up early as Klueber had to meet with his CIA rep or whatever it is he does, at like 7:30. So I drove down to Key Biscayne and parked my car at Bill Baggs park for the open water swim and bike brick. I thought this would be a good race simulation, even if it was a bit short.

Swim: 75 minutes - open water if possible.
Continuous swim. 1st 200m at RPE 9-10, then settle into race pace


2 Lipodrene
The training card actually only called for 45 minutes today. But the thing is, I don't wear a watch. So I looked at the clock on my car when I left to go to the water and it was 8:57, figuring I probably got in the water around 9. I got out in Biscayne Bay and just got into my stroke groove and was like "Shit, I can do this all night." I was actually swimming into the current, although the waves were still battering me from my right side. Because I breathe to the left, this was not such a big deal on the way out. So I get to a bend in the beach and see the first condo past the park isn't that far and decide to swim to it. Those condos look a lot closer from the water than they really are, let me tell you. I started swimming completely with the current, into shore, and it took a loooong time. But whatever. I got to the beach, stood up, pissed in the water, and headed back.

Now on the way back I had the current at my back, which I figured would make for a faster return trip. But what I didn't account for was the waves splashing into my face every other breath, as well as the waves knocking me around while I swam. There was some decent chop out Friday morning, even that early. Also, sighting became a problem. I kept looking up to sight myself to the lighthouse in the park (where I started my swim) and all I kept seeing was ocean. Like I kept swimming out into the bay instead of staying on the shoreline. Eventually I decided to hug the shoreline, and about 300 yards before the lighthouse all I could do was grab sand. Too fucking shallow. So I just got out and walked it. Got back to my car and it was 10:37. Accounting for time spent walking and getting my shit together, I figured the swim was around 75 minutes. Might have been longer, who knows, but it definitely made the bike a lot more rushed.

Bike - 3 Hours

2 Lipodrene
I had biked the Rickenbacker probably 25 or 30 times in the summer of 2008 when I was training for my first half-Ironman. So I felt like I knew the course well. It's very flat, and very windy, but I felt like since I knew it and I was stronger I'd do well. Well, I thought wrong. I'm not sure if it was me still feeling ill, or me being tired from lack of sleep, or the swim kicking my ass, but I got on the bike, did 19 for about 2 miles, then could not get much over 16 for a long time. Like I just wanted to put the energy into going faster but for some reason just couldn't. Didn't want to go fast. A couple of times I got up near 20 and just held back, and I don't know why. Maybe it was mental pacing myself, knowing I have the half-marathon Saturday morning. But that won't fly come Ironman day.

Basically, I did the first trip around the Rickenbacker and to Virginia Key in 1:19. That's distance of about 21 miles, BTW. Essentially, a shitty ride. A really shitty ride. Just could not get anything going at all, and a little distressing after the good Century ride and strong trainer session. Even when I hit the few sharp turns on this ride, which I usually navigated ok a year ago when I was a worse biker, I just stopped, unclipped, and turned because I didn't have the energy to try and navigate them. It was a very strange ride to say the least.

The second trip wasn't so bad. I got up to 18 heading out and kept that speed, going a little faster on the road out to Jimbo’s and obviously slowing at Mount Miami. But as I turned around to head back Tony, the guy who cuts my hair and the friend I was staying with that night (he's straight, don't get any fucking ideas) texted me to see when was the soonest I could come in. My appointment was at 4, but he really wanted to take the rest of the day off, and since he was letting me stay at his place before the half-marathon I figured I do him a favor. I got back to my car at 2:40, and decided to call it a day. Yes, I cheated myself out of 20 minutes of a really shitty bike ride (averaged about 16, a record low for anything, ever)and that time was instead taken up by increased time swimming in open salt water. Probably something I needed more practice in anyway.


The swim felt good, though it was mentally tough. But man, did that bike suck., I'm not sure why I had nothing for it, I've done swim/bike bricks before, and done races where that certainly did not happen. I'll chalk it up to a shitty day. And fortunately I have one more ride of significance before the race to get my confidence back up.

Friday, October 30, 2009

T103 - Tapering with Trainer Trance - Bike (Trainer), Swim

Gainesville

After three days off, I began my last tapering week before Race Week. Tapering is where you actually decrease your training hours, although the way I'm going it I still have some long workouts, just more days off. I'm not sure if this is the best method, but I've found my motivation on the shorter ones to be lacking, so I try and create a situation where I can maximize the training value.

Bike: 60 minutes (Trainer)
wu: 10 minute RPE3
main: 40 minutes RPE 7
cd: 10 minutes RPE 3


2 Lipodrene
I opted for the trainer since I did this workout on Wednesday, and Wednesdays don't leave much room for me to train before dark unless I want to wake up super early. And that wasn't happening. And given that this was a tapering week and I had 2 other bike rides scheduled (including a long swim/bike brick) I thought this would be a good time to use the trainer. It is still hot as fuck in Gainesville, and more humid that some parts of the summer. So this evening session on the patio was still especially sweaty.

I used the iPod and after the initial 10 minutes spend the better part of the 40-minute interval in aero with my eyes closed trying to get into the trainer trace. the trainer trance is pretty awesome because you really don't even feel your legs working at all, but you still go a lot harder than you would if you were looking up. I broke the trance several times, but the middle 40 felt strong. I still had some problems with saddle sores or hemorrhoids or whatever they are, and found myself shifting a lot every time I stood up in the saddle. but at the end I ended up averaging 18.8 for the hour. And even though Trevor says that's a meaningless stat, I really have nothing else to go by. One of my faster trainer sessions and despite the sweatiness and monotonousness, it was a good workout.

Swim
main: 200, 2x100, 200, 2 x 100, 200,
long intervals at RPE4, short at RPE 7-8


2 Lipodrene
I actualyl went pretty much straight from the trainer to my car and headed over to GHFC. I really should have looked up the warmup before I left, because the first 200 felt a little labored and my lats felt really sore. In addition, it was getting late and as such I started feeling dizzy and overheated. I have noticed that those symptoms really aren't too bad until about 7 or 8 at night, so I'm trying to avoid training that late the rest of the cycle. And fortunately, the race starts early.

Anyway, I wouldn't say I exactly crushed this swim, and I felt short of breath a LOT. the water also felt expecially cool, meaning I was getting that overheated feeling again. I took long breaks betwen sets and managed to get the workout done in the manner prescribed. But I did not feel good during most of it. I am learning how to manage whatever this weird illness is, and working out earlier seems to be a good solution.

I then proceeded to miss Thursday's workout, meaning I have 3 hard workouts in 3 days in Miami. And as we all know, Miami workouts tend to suck. Hopefully, I can reverse that trend in my last real week of training.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

T102 - Santa Fe Century Ride - Bike

Gainesville

I am not a fan of group rides. But this weekend the Gainesville Cycling Club offers a couple of Century Rides that fit in perfectly with my training schedule. I chose this one because it had pizza afterward and was formerly sponsored by a Saturn dealer, and I felt like the challenge was the same as the next day’s Horse Farm 100. If that doesn’t sound North Florida enough for you.

Bike – 100 miles

2 Lipodrene
2 Advil
1 Endurolyte


The race started out a bit slow for my taste, with the pack of probably 300-400 riders all mobbed together. And since I don’t stop and start well, or really ride slow very well either, this was a bit frustrating. I found myself weaving in and out of people for the first 5 miles, not unlike the Komen Race for the Cure in New York. Except we were on bikes this time. By about mile 8 or 9 it has spread out enough that my only issue with crowds was the occasional large group going by me, and knowing when it was safe top re-enter the middle of the road. I tried to avoid drafting as much as possible, but didn’t mind at all if people did it off me. I’m really unfamiliar with the ethics and guidelines of group riding, so I just kind of went with the flow. I just didn’t want to make it too easy on myself either.

About mile 18 or so I had to piss like crazy. But knew it was at least 20 minutes to the next Rest Stop. It was raining lightly and I thought to myself “You know, Trevor has told me how a lot of people just piss while they’re on the bike and let it fly behind them There’s nobody behind me, and it’s raining anyway. Fuck it.” And so I found a downhill where I could just relax everything and let it rip. Rather disgusting, and my shoes and socks started feeling a little warm and wet, but within ten minutes I’d completely forgotten about it, and was like “Awesome. I just pissed myself on the bike.” It’s like an endurance athlete initiation, I think.

The first 25 miles felt really good, as I pulled into the first aid station at about 1:18 averaging about 19. The Rest Stops on this ride were incredible. Like they had M&Ms and whole packs of Oreos and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. It was like an elementary school lunch spread with water coolers at every 25-mile stop. I put my bike down, filled my Zephyrhills bottles (I am practicing with these as I’m planning on exchanging both bottles during the Ironman) and had about 4 Oreos and an Orange before heading back out.

1 Lipodrene
1 Advil
1 Endurolyte


Miles 25-50 were not as impressive. I once again found myself struggling to get up past 19, even though the wind was negligible on this gloomy Saturday afternoon. There was a lot of elevation gain, I think, over this 25 miles, and I got passed by a couple of groups I had no prayer of catching. And I wasn’t trying to draft, so I just had to let them go. It was at about the 2 hour mark that I felt that burst of speed and energy start to slip, and I realized I am a good cyclist for the first 2 hours of a long ride, then seem to fall off. “That’s the last I’ll see of 20,” I thought to myself, and resigned myself to a 6 hour ride. I hit the second rest stop at about 2:48, my average speed slowing to close to about 17.8. I had kinda hoped to break 18 today, but whatever. I had to finish the race.

1 Lipodrene
1 Endurolyte

My back wasn’t hurting so I skipped the Advil. Well’ once again I wasn’t feeling incredible coming out of the rest stop, but I noticed about a mile into this third leg that this was pretty flat and straight. SO I got back down into aero and a funny thing happened: I started going a solid 21-22. For a while. I mean I kept the speed up pretty much through the whole 25 miles of this section, save for one part where I went up to 25 to pass a guy. He drafted behind me, then offered to pull adding “I can pull if you want, but I can’t pull that fast.” Awesome. That was all I needed.

At that point I got back in aero, kicked it up a gear, and did a solid 25-27 for about 10 minutes. I still have no idea how I did that, and was wondering to myself at the time “”How are you doing this?” but then I realized that I’ve probably been able to do this all along. I just need something with no wind and no elevation to slow my momentum. For the first time, I raised the average speed of my ride a good .5 mps over the third 25 miles of a Century, and felt strong doing it. Yeah, that 4th Lipodrene may have had something to do with it. But who cares. I’ll do a pill every 25 miles on the Ironman if that’s what it takes. I got to Rest Stop 3 at the 77 mile marker at just over 4 hours, averaging about 18.6 Go hard enough and I’d be done in an hour and change.

1 Lipodrene,
1 Advil
1 Endurolyte


I will add here I was not using slat tabs but rather the Endurolytes sample I got with my race packet. Anyway, I was all jazzed up to crush the final 25 miles, when I strangely found myself once again unable to go over 15 consistently. I spent about the first 3-4 miles thinking “Fuck, this sucks. I guess I nuked my village going 27 up those hills.” Then I tried something: I shifted into a harder gear and used only a smaller amount of energy, and immediately found myself going 18. I got into Aero and was back over 20 for a good part of the ride.

When I got to the 441 crossing I had to unclip and stop, which was fine except for the fact that my left cleat came off save for one screw. As in the fucking cleat was hanging off the shoe so not only could I not clip in, but the fucking thing was scraping against the bike frame for the entire last 8 miles. Impressive, I was still able to go about 18-20 the last 8 miles and ended up averaging 18.4 for the ride. Funny how I haven’t averaged over 17 on any short rides in a while, but was able to turn in a pretty decent ride today.

Maybe I just have a better mentality on these longer rides. Like I know they mean something so I put in stronger effort. Either way, my 2 best workouts of the week were the 4000 meter swim and this 100 mile bike. And while ideally they’d all be good workouts, if you have to have 2 that stand out, those are the ones you want. I definitely got my bike confidence back today. My back barely hurt on this ride. My saddle sores didn’t bother me. And I had my fastest average speed on a ride over 50 miles. Can’t complain too much. And couldn’t ask for a better final Century ride before the Ironman. Except maybe for my shoe breaking.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

T101 - The Yack and Rally - Swim

Gainesville

For Aaron Klueber...

I have this friend who likes to yack ("yack" is slang for vomiting, for the unaware). It is usually brought on by alcohol consumption, but this guy will generally empty the contents of his stomach into the nearest appropriate receptacle and/or sidewalk after drink 4 or 5. Sometimes multiple times in a night. But the guy never quits. He just yacks, picks his beer back up, and keeps drinking. And it's that kind of dedication that motivated me to fight through an otherwise uncomfortable swim on Friday.

Swim: speed day
wu: 3 x 200 - swim, kick, pull
main: 16 x 50 odds RPE 4, evens RPE 8-9


2 Lipodrene
This warmup was unpleasantly long. Especially for a day of sprints. Nonetheless, it felt fine (slow kicking, but that really is low on my list of things to improve at this point) until I got to the third lap of the "pull" section. It was at that point that I felt like my stomach had grown a garbage disposal blade and it was banging against my intestines. I somehow managed to make it through the last lap, and then just hightailed it into the locker room and let it rip into the toilet. And I get REAL loud when I'm yacking, like it sounds like someone is dying. I was just glad nobody stopped in asking if I was ok. I just stood over the bowl in my jammer spitting and yacking for about 2 or 3 minutes, gave myself a few minutes of sitting down by the pool to recover, then got right back at it. Yack and rally. It's the only way to go.

I did the 50s as one at race pace and one sprinting. This worked fairly well as the first set was a little shaky given the yacking, but after that I settled in to a solid pace. I did let up a few times on the last quarter lap of the sprints, maybe on some of the middle sets. Those were sprints where I'd give myself a nice long breather in between and then do pretty well on the next 2 or 3 sets of 50s. And as I got further along in the training day, the intervals got shorter. So the last sprints felt better than the first few. Again, maybe I just needed a sprint warmup, or, better still, needed to get further away from the yacking.

Either way I motivated myself with the yack and rally. Turning in a pretty solid swim after emptying my stomach in the GHFC bathroom is pretty fucking awesome. And maybe that was this illness' final exit from my body. I felt ok the rest of the day, which was good considering I had the Century ride on Saturday. Because the training card called for a 3 hour ride Saturday, I opted to give my legs a rest Friday and tack the 90 minute ride onto Saturday's workout, then add about another hour. Basically what I"m saying is I saw no point in tiring out my legs the day before a Centruy ride, and felt the 90 minutes of energy would be better spent elsewhere.

Friday, October 23, 2009

T100 - This is Just How It's Gonna Feel - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville

Bike: 60 minutes at RPE 4-5

2 Lipodrene
Still not feeling well. But given my lackluster bike performance on my previous couple of rides on 441, I thought this would be a good opportunity for a little confindence builder on Hawthorne. The goal was to make it to the 30 minute turnaround from that first strong ride I did with Trevor, and I figured I had enough in me to do that and the long run. Didn't quite happen.

I won't say this ride was bad, but when it took me over 8 minutes to make it to the trailhead I knew I wasn't setting any records Thursday. Again, I was able to get into aero and I didn't feel particularly bad, but places where I had been doing about 21-22 a few weeks ago I was now doing about 20. Every spot was about a solid 1.5 mph slower than I'd been doing. Didn't even make it to nigbridge in 28 (I had been doing sub-25 my last rides) and fell well short of the turnaround when I turned around.

I thought maybe this was a case of having some sort of headwind, or maybe one of those times I just needed a warmup. And while I did make in it back 30 seconds faster than I'd made it down (pretty good considering the return incline on Hawthorne) my average speed somehow went down. Yeah, my computer is once again jacked up. So I will be taking it in. But despite that, this ride was better than the last couple, but still disappointing to basically have regressed back to where I was in June.

Run - 2 Hours

1 Lipodrene
I read in the Ironman athlete's guide that they will be providing chocolate chip cookies at the aid stations on the run. I believe they did this at the Half in Orlando too, but I was always skeptical to take them for fear of getting a sideache. But this, friends, is why we train. So I bought a box of the CVS Decadence cookies and put them in the Saturn Aid Station for the run. I even had one right before I started and felt fine. I think the motivation chocolate chip cookies may play a major role in my making my way through the marathon.

Run started out feeling good, but by about the 3 mile mark I again was feeling light headed and dizzy. I thought I was slowing down, but actually found myself ahead in the music on the iPod (and I've started to freeze the buttons on it in the hopes of keeping it from freezing up, so I don't skip any songs), so I guess I wasn't going any slower than before. But I just felt soooo lethargic and tired. And dizzy. And a few times just wanting to take a nap.

I got through the run fine, and did it in abut my usual time. Or so I could tell. I had cookies both times I stopped at the Saturn Aid Station, and they were delicious. And didn't hurt my stomach nearly as much as the Gatorade did.

Because I've never pushed my run much, it really hasn't bothered me. Like I never hurt that much, I just get used to a constant dull pain from about mile 5 on. And the difference for me between 13-18 miles isn't a whole lot. 18-26, though, I'm thinking might. Point is, because I go slow and steady, I think I can keep it up longer even feeling like I have. So I have come to accept that dizzy and short of breath and tired is how I may well feel through the entire Ironman. It'll suck, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna cost me some time. And while that is disappointing, I've now felt like this for almost a month and really see no imminent signs of improvment. Just gotta play the hand you're deal, I suppose.

A friend, who I passed on my run, texted me later that night and I told her about how I'd been feeling like shit. She mentioned a lot of her friends had been coming down with mild cases of mono. Great. That's just what I need. But, it's not going to stop me either. Slow me down, sure, but not stop me. And hey, I'm training with that feeling. So come race day, dizziness and lethergy will just be a part of it I'm used to.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

T99 - Relapse - Bike, Swim

Gainesville

Bike: 120 minutes with hills. Solid effort ranging from RPE 3 to RPE 7


2 Lipodrene
441 and I have never been friends when it comes to the bike. I can honestly remember exactly one ride I've had on it that felt good, and I was hopped up on all kinds of Sudaed that day. Tuesday, I opted against the Sudafed, but still felt this was the course I needed to be biking to prepare for the wind on on the Ironman.

Heading down, I was not flying through Alligator Alley as I had been on my last trip, so I decided I would do a solid one hour down and another back. Simple enough. I felt a good combination of headwind and tailwind, meaning that the resistance should be about the same both ways. Even looked like a bit of a crosswind going through Payne's Prairie.

The fucking computer was still acting weird, registering speeds like 10 and 15 when I clearly knew I was going faster. I didn't so much mind, but it was a little disappointing when I saw my average speed on the way down was about 16, and I knew full well I was going faster. But this was only one factor that led to a very sbu-par ride.

It was close to the end of the day, meaning I was getting this ride in as late as possible, and didn't really want to be out there. I have also noticed my effort on short workouts has also diminished, because the long ones seem so much more relevant. I mean, if you're not going to put in any effort, why even bother training? It was sad, really. I also was feeling light headed and dizzy and sluggish again. I thought I'd given my body enough rest, but it appears that that didn't do the trick. I just have no motivation to kick it into high gear (no pun intended) and it showed on the way back.

I'm not sure if it's the realization that I'm going to have to not fight the wind super hard on the Ironman that has led to this, but when the wind kicked up in some spots I just flat out didn't give a shit. I just up-shifted and let it slow me down. then I'd look at my speedometer and see "10" (which was wrong) and not know exactly how much I"d slowed, and cared even less. Just a lackluster effort altogether, and what's worse was it didn't even bother me. This is a bad sign. I've now come to hate being on the bike, where until maybe a month ago I loved it. It's starting to feel like last cycle, and I don't like it one bit. But my body is just not responding and because the only way I can go faster is if my body can do it (as in I don't really push myself much. I need to start responding but I'm just lethargic all the time on bike rides. All I can do is hope I start getting back into it in the next few weeks.

Swim: race-specific
main: 3 x 750,
1 is RPE 3, 2 is RPE9 for first 100 then RPE5, 3 is RPE 5


2 Lipodrene
I figured maybe more stimulants would help make for a better swim. Now I"m starting to think this bottle of Lipodrene is just an ephedra-free knockoff that the ephedra outlet scammed me on. I'm really feeling nothing. Anyway, I headed out to GHFC after about half an hour at home. The first 750 was a little tough, as my lats were still a little sore form the previous evening's 2x2000. Understandable. So my first 750 took about 17 minutes, much slower than the night before, but again I wasn't overly concerned. The second one went well, but I still felt short of breath and found myself dogging it a few times. It wasn't the soreness, but more the tiredness. Again, bad sign.

Strangely, the third one went well and I did it in 15 minutes, which while slower than I'd like to be doing a 750 was still right on my race pace. I got out of the water and was immediately dizzy and wanted to sit down. I sort of dazed through the locker room, slugged to my car, and drove home.

This sickness isn't going away. I've come to realize that it has caused training to regress, and the more I think about it, the worse training gets. I don't know why I feel slower and less motivated now than I did a month ago. Maybe it's the fatigue of training. Maybe it's the cooler weather. Maybe it's whatever this is that makes me dizzy and short of breath all the time (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome would be cool just cuz it was on Golden Girls). But it seems here to stay. Now I have to deal with it.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

T98 - Hope in a Sea of Chlorine - Swim

Gainesville

There was a girl I used to date who was always asking me, like most women do, what I was thinking. But this one had a particular interest in what I thought about during long training sessions with no music.

"Well, on swims," I told her, "I think about girls I've slept with, in order, to keep track of laps. Like lap one is my college girlfriend who was my first, and so on.."

"Really?!" she smiled, "So do you think about me?"

"I'll be balls deep in Ironman training before I get to you," I told her. Not sure she liked that response. This girl was #81, so today's 4000 meter swim would be as close as I would ever get to her getting a lap. Of course, I don't really employ that method anymore, so the point is moot. But it takes a swim where you do the same distance as the Ironman race to get that far in my sexual history. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Swim - 2x2000

2 Sudafed
2 Lipodrene
I had been feeling a little sniffley and drwosy, so I took some Sudafed to clear that up maybe an hour or so before the swim, then knocked back a couple Lipodrene before heading to the GHFC pool. I didn't even bother with a warmup, as it was already about 9 p.m. and I knew I was going to be in the pool for a while. So I hit the water strong and found myself keeping a nice form with a good push for a while. Stroke felt good, glide felt good. Everything felt good. I looked up around lap 12 of the first set and saw I had done 12 laps in 10 minutes, pretty much the reverse of how it had been up until this cycle. I was pleased.

The first set went well, and I managed to get through the whole thing at a fairly even pace and finished it in 38 minutes. So looks like I went real strong the first 500 meters or so, then settled into a good race pace. Which is probably exactly what I'll need to do during the race. I took a gel and some water after the first 40 laps, but my break was probably less than a minute. I feel like this is a good simulation for the "break" between laps on the course, since you have to get out of the water and start again. I didn't feel like running around the GHFC pool deck either. That mighta looked weird.

The second 40 laps also felt strong, and I never felt myself really let up at all. About lap 20 I started to feel a small cramp in my hamstring when I pushed off the wall, and by lap 25 I started to feel cramps in my lats and forearms. Not so much I had to stop, but definitely enough that I felt it. I'm not sure if salt tabs will help this, but I am mildly concerned since if I cramp up 1000 yards from shore during the race, I'm pretty fucked. Throw in a wetsuit that makes you sweat more, and I gotta definitely figure out how to mitigate this in the next couple of weeks.

But the swim felt strong the whole time, and I ended up finishing in 80 minutes, including my break. This is right where I wanted to be, and it was nice to have a training day where I actaully met a goal and felt strong for once.

I used my outdoor goggles, since I need to get used to having those on for long periods of time. They left deep caverns on my eye sockets, making me look about 10 years more weathered than I am. And about lap 60 I really started wanting to take them off. But otherwise they worked great. I also was wondering if I can put a gel in my wetsuit to take at the halfway point on the race. I'll definitely have to look into that once the wetsuit comes in the mail. But the main thing I thought as I got out of the pool, feeling a little tired but still energized was, "Ok, pal. You ready to go and get on that bike?"

Monday, October 19, 2009

T97 - Easing Back In - Bike, Swim

Gainesville

With the long swim coming up Monday, I wanted to get a training day in before jumping right back in to Iron-distance training days. The Recovery week has a short bike and short swim scheduled for one of the days, so that looked like the perfect day to transition from rest into the final phase of real training. I felt better Sunday. Not 100 percent, but a lot better. And the weather has cooled off. A lot. So I actually had to bust out the long spandex.

Bike - 90 minutes

2 Lipodrene
As I said before, it was fucking cold Sunday. Maybe 70 degrees, which meant this was the first time I'd have to train in cold all cycle. And, after seeing the brutality of the wind on the PCB course, I decided that my rides from here on out need to be windy. I fucking hate wind, but what am I accomplishing by avoiding it during training? So I opted to head down 441 to Cafe Risque, my favorite 90-minute ride.

I knew I was in for some shit when I found myself doing a blissful 24 through Alligator Alley, and not really dropping below 22 the whole ride down to the Cafe. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed the tailwind but at the same time, I knew that trip back was going to suck. Made it to the parking lot (pulled in the same time as one of the dancers. I hope she's into spandex) at 41:20, and figured if I made it back in under 90 minutes, good for me for going so fast.

Yeah, notsomuch.

The wind on the way back was brutal, and my speedometer, once again, decided to be sporadic. Like I would be going 17, then 12, then 7, then 19. It felt like 19 in most of those spots, but I'm starting to get massively frustrated at my computer doing this shit after every time I clean the bike (which I did before the PCB ride) and this time it didn't help my speed at all. The wind was tough, and cold, and I fought it with little effort. I've realized this is going to have to be my strategy on the Ironman course, as I can't just fight it hard the whole time. If it slows my speed, it slows my speed, but I need to finish and killing my legs to maintain 18 in a headwind is not going to help that.

I made it back in 1:33, taking me almost 7 minutes longer to get back than get down. My average speed ended up at 16.8, not exactly blazing. Yeah, the wind kicks my ass. But this is why I'm training in it. Hopefully I can improve it a little before the race. But thus far avoiding wind I think has been my major misstep in training.

Swim - 4x300 (300 easy, 300 kick, 300 easy, 300 kick)

1 Lipodrene
I wasn't feeling super energetic after the bike, but I had planned to separate the workouts anyway. I ended up passing out for about half an hour, then headed out to GHFC at about 7:30. The swim felt good, and I think mentally I'll be able to do the 2x2000. My muscles felt ok, but the long kick sessions were not fun. I think I even said out loud at one point "This is fucking ridiculous!" 12 laps of kick?! I mean, ok, I did it and it's a good training value, but while my swim times have gotten better, my kickboard times have not and as such I spent 2/3 of the time on that. But I felt ok in the pool, and when I got out. Agian, didn't crush the swim but it was good for a first day back.

All in all, a decent first day back, but I need to get back into that ultra-distance mode. Monday's swim will be telling, as will the Century ride Saturday. I have a lot of dual workout days this week as well, which will be tough to fit in given my scheudle. Seriously, no idea how anyone with a real life does this stuff.

Friday, October 16, 2009

T96 - Listeneing to my Body, For Once - Run

Gainesville

So I am officially sick. I'm admitting it. Something is definitely wrong here as I've started to feel myself getting winded going from my bedroom into the kitchen. Not exactly what one should feel like 4 weeks before an Ironman, yeah? And while I'm definitely not one to puss out on a workout, I have also been asking a lot from my body these past 4 months. And for the most part it's given it to me. So now I feel like my body is asking something of me: Some significant rest time before the final three weeks. So I am giving that to it in exchange for an all out effort for the rest of this cycle.

I came to this realization during my run on Tuesday. Was supposed to be a nice little 90-minute trot to keep myself in shape. But it was not what I had hoped.

Run: 90 minutes. Remember when 90 minutes was the hard long run?!

2 Lipodrene
This was the quote from the training card. And yes, I do remember that. Sadly, Tuesday's run felt more like some shit from before I ever ran more than three miles. I did the usual Campus Loop Plus Stadium trip for this, and during the loop, I just felt like I was plodding the whole time. Like I was able to go, but my body just wouldn't respond to do anything faster than what felt like a slow plod. Judging by where I was in the music on the iPod, I was only about 45 second to a minute slower by the time I got to the turn up the hill on 2nd Ave., and only about 2 minutes slower for the whole loop. Not a good sign, but not as awful as I'd thought. But the whole loop I just would try and go a little faster, and my body wouldn't respond. It just didn't have the energy.

The stadium trip wasn't a whole lop better, as the trip out felt labored until I got to the flat ground in front of campus. By the end I was chopping steps and begging for the end. I was just dizzy and tired the whole time, and every time I had to stop for a light or whatever I seriously considered just stopping altogether. I did not, but this lack of energy is very concerning.

As I struggled upstairs, feeling just tired and sluggish after the run, I realized I need some rest. Like this is recovery week, and while I'm a fan of active recovery, my body needs more rest than that right now. I'm going to use my last 2 extra days this week, and skip a workout or two to get myself beck to where I need to be. Saddle sores gone. Energy back. I think continuing to push it during a week with no significant workouts will be counter productive in this state. My immune system can handle it. I may opt to do one or two workouts this weekend, depending on how I'm feeling. But if I feel dizzy or overheated during the day, I'm taking the day off.

Next Monday it's back to training with a 2x2000 swim. From there it's balls out to a century ride on Saturday, then another week of maintenance until tapering on race week. I just hope I haven't peaked too early, and this illness, or whatever it is, has subsided by race day.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

T95 - Signs that Something's Wrong - Swim, Run (aborted)

Gainesville

I was feeling a little dizzy Monday night before I headed to GHFC. It was a short swim and hour run, and I figured I'd knock both out late-night since I actually had to work all day. Again, I have no fucking idea how people with real jobs do this. Anyway, I was feeling a lot like I was the night before I went to Seattle, which is to say short of breath, dizzy and overheated. I also knew that I'd done a 3 hour run feleing much the same way a week ago, so even if this run wasn't spectacular, I was determined to get it in.

Swim: recovery swim
5 x 200 (50 Easy, 50 Build, 50 Easy, 50Hard)


2 Lipodrene
I knew something was off when I got in the water and it felt like a pleasant cool wave coming over my body. The GHFC never feels like that. A chilly cesspool, maybe, but never that refreshing kinda cold. I was mentally a little out of it, and ended up doing a 400 meter EBEH for the first set before recalibrating the math in my head and realizing I only had to do one lap of each instead of two. That was sign two that I was not doing well. Sign three came when I felt short of breath during the easy laps, and was dogging some short sections of them. Not much, as I don't really allow myself to do that much, but that kind of mental let-up is not something I've experienced in the pool in months.

The sets went ok, but it was not my strongest swim ever. I took long intervals in between to get my breath back, but couldn't shake the heavy-chested feeling I had. This is not cool. I finished the swim, changed over, grabbed my gel and my water and headed to the treadmill.

Run - Aborted

I got on the treadmill and programmed it as I always did. As it started to speed up, I felt my body being unable to keep up with even a 6.0 speed, and quickly brought it down to a walk in the hopes of getting in a good warmup. But as I walked, I realized I couldn't even breathe right walking. I was just tired and dizzy. I could have kept walking for an hour, but what's the fucking point of that. Better to save my energy and try to knock it out the next day.

But this is not a good sign. I have less than 4 weeks to go, and I can't rest too much going in. That being said, I understand the only way to shake this kind of illness is to rest. I honestly have no idea what to do. Hopefully this will go away on it's own, but every time I think, ok, that's over (like after the bike ride in Panama City) I have a workout like this where I keep feeling like I'm gonna pass out. Eating helps. I don't know. Hopefully I can use this week to rest up and finish up strong the rest of October.

T94 - Saddle Sores Gettin Serious - Run, Bike

Gainesville

I took Saturday off. I figured I rated a day off after a 112-mile bike ride. That and it was actually a scheduled day off as I began my last recovery week. As I've started to do for RWs, I opted to do a mechanical workout today, 45 minutes on the treadmill and an hour and 15 on the bike trainer.

Run - 45 minutes (treadmill)

2 Lipodrene
My legs felt surprisingly good after the rigorous ride on Friday, so I set the treadmilll to 6.8, which is about an 8:40 pace. Faster than I'm sure I'll do in the race, but good to get my legs used to running. The treadmills at Jefferson are loose, so for someone my size running at a decent clip, the belts tend to stick a lot when I step down on them. There is not only one treadmill I can use there.

As it was, I ran well through it, feeling a little bit labored but keeping the pace well. I started to fade a little towards the end, but I chalk this up more to that mental feeling of being near the end than anything else. I did use the iPod here, as again, its a treadmill run.

Bike - 75 Minutes, Trainer

2 Lipodrene
I took a nice long break between workouts, maybe 3 hours or so. I set up the trainer around 7, and it was already dark outside. And it is starting to cool off a little (for Florida anyway, Probably only 80 when I started)so it was not the perpetual sweatbox that it can be.

What it was was extremely painful. Those long rides leave you with some hemorrhoids or saddle sores or something nasty on your perineum, that just sends waves of soreness up your groin every time you drop into aero. I was able to keep aero for about the first 15 minutes, but had to sit up periodically after that. I didn't really look much at the speed, as Trevor told me that's a pretty useless statistic. But I felt like I pedaled pretty strong, and even closed my eyes and just went for some extender periods.

Let me tell you, biking on the trainer in aero with your eyes closed is intense. It's like you really feel nothing but you and the bike, and if you have the right kind of music on you get in an almost trance-like state. I was able to do this 3 or 4 times for about 5 minutes each, just pedaling hard the whole time. Sadly, eyes-closed biking on the open road, not a good idea. But that's why sometimes the trainer is fun. Anyway, I almost got in an interval workout this way. The only reason I stopped was because the saddle sores were killing me and when the initial adrenaline rush wore off I could feel them.

So I'm opting to take as much time between bike sessions as possible this week to let this heal up. That pain is not excruciating, but if I can minimize it I will. Your ass gets to a certain level of conditioning, but like everything else once you start doing 100 miles-plus, it's a whole new level of toughness. So I'll use this recovery week for what it was meant for: revcovery.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

T93 - Exercising the Ghosts of Panama City - Bike/Run Brick

Panama City Beach

Trevor, and many others, have told me it's a good idea to go and bike your Ironman course before you do it. So I took off Thursday afternoon for Panama City Beach, about 4.5 hours from home, to do the bike ride on Friday. The last time I was in Panama City, it was when I went to sign up for last year's race. And I have a lot of significant memories associated with that trip. I don't talk much about my last girlfriend here, because though about 5 people read this, it is still not the forum for that. But that trip was when we went form just fucking to more than just fucking. And nice as those memories are, that is not something I need to be concerning myself with when I'm there for the race.

So while the overwhelming primary purpose of the trip was to ride the course, I also wanted to be able to get all the nostalgia out of the way now. To look at the beach by the finish line and the Mellow Mushroom on the run course and the Origin at Seahaven and the Wal Mart and remember how it had been last year. And then get that out of my head and create some new memories. The first of which was one of the physically hardest days of my life.

Bike - 112 Miles

2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab

Note I put mileage today instead of just time. Becasue this was a set course. I drove the course the night before to get it down, marking the mileage on a piece of paper from turn to turn, then laminating and taping the directions to my aero bars, so I knew where I was going, and how far I had to go. I parked at the Boardwalk Beach resort, right at where transition would be, and headed off.

The first miles are on the beachfront, which is very pretty. I did nicely there with the bike lane and crosswind. Then I turned north and just flew. Yeah, I knew there was some tailwind, but it didn't look like much. So I was going a solid 24-25 for about 19 miles, even maintaining a speed over 30 for about half a mile on a downhill and straightaway. Yeah, that was fun. I stopped at a Shell station to buy some more water, as it was probably about 87 degrees outside, and found I had forgotten my phone and cash. Only time I've ever done that is on the most important ride I ever do. fortunately, the gas station people are very nice in the panhandle and let me fill my bottles in the bathroom for free.

Do I turned East onto Hwy 20 for a 28 miles stretch, which featured a water stop at mile 33. There were seom rolling hills from miles 38-45, which I took well. I had a crosswind, so it wasn't much of a factor, and by the time I hit the turn from 20 to Hwy. 231 South, I was averaging 20 over the first 50 miles. I was very encouraged. Then I turned south.

So that wind, it feels a lot harder when you're going the other way. I got some water at the Hardees at the 51-mile mark, knowing there was no more water for almost 40 miles. This was not fun. First, the wind started kicking my ass as I headed south, struggling to get over 18. When I finally got to the end of it, I turned onto a road that looked like packed dirt. It was not. It was almost sand. And that shit is hard to bike in. Like I almost ate it about 6 times, and could not get over 12 on the dirt. This only lasted about 3/4 of a mile, but I was not happy.I later found out I turned early, and the real course is paved. Thank fuck.

The next stretch of the ride was ok, and I headed up to the one turnaround on the course at about mile 73. At this point, I was almost out of water, and had 16 miles to go to the next water break.. I was also starting to fade. I stopped the bike at the turnaround, and just took a break. I needed the rest to get up to the next water stop.

It didn't get much better. I didn't have to fight a whole lot of wind, but I just kept going slower and slower. I'm not sure if I nuked the village on those first 50 miles, but I was going in the same gears, putting forth the same effort, and not getting over 18. At all. I was dying all the way to mile 87, where there was a Gulf Power and Electric office in the middle of nowhere, where they let me use the water fountain. Nicest power company ever.

I got to mile 92, and felt like I was about done. I stopped leaned my bike on a fence, and sat on a tree stump. This was gut check time. I had 20 miles to go and really felt like I had nothing left. But I took a gel, had a little water, and just decided to grind out this last hour and a half. Yes, at the speed I was going, that's what it was going to be.

Well, the wind got frustrating, but never more than when I hit the turn at mile 100 and the giant bridge that greets you there. That north-blowing wind is just brutal, and I struggled to get over 15 that whole stretch, It just seemed to go on forever. I hit the beach road with 7 miles to go, and that wind only let up when a condo blocked it. I have never been more grateful for Florida's rampant overdevelopment. I even biked by the Origin at Seahaven and looked up at the balcony where I had eaten breakfast naked the year before. I gave it a little smile, then went back into aero and actualyl managed to push out at about 18 for the rest of the ride.

As it was, I made it back in 6:28 of road time, averaging about 17.2 for the ride. Not stellar. Especially when you consider my water breaks and stoplights and everything else borught my total time to around 7 hours. So my goal of breaking 13 hours may not be as legit as I had though. On a course this long, I can't fight the wind too much, because I need those legs for the next 50 miles of biking and that marathon thing at the end. Energy must be conserved. I may just not be as fast as I'd hoped.

I took gels at chows 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. Cliff Bars at 3 and 6. I didn't finish the third. I only took 2 lipodrene and 6 Advil, probably not enough. Also went thorugh 4 salt tabs. Didn't come close to cramping, even with the lack of water, so I guess that was enough.

Run - 30 minutes

I put my bike away, put on some shorts, and headed out for a brief half hour run. I did not look particualrly good, but I felt ok. I took maybe 5 minutes between the bike and the run, though I'm gonna guess my transition will be longer. My legs felt ok, different muscles I guess. And I ran back up to the Beach Road, then back down to Mellow Mushroom. I remembered seeing all those miserable people running the marathon as I ate pizza and watched the UF/UGA game last year. Again, gave it a small smile, turned around and ran back to my car. My legs started to feel the tinyest bit sore at the end, but I know that marathon is going to be ten times longer.

So all in all, an ok trip. I didn't do as well on the bike as I'd hoped, but then again it was my first ever ride of that length. I'll know it better next time and hopefully improve. There will also be more water. The run was short, not much to say there. When it was done I finished my 3 slices of leftover Mellow Mushroom, downed a Powerade and a litre of Diet 7-Up, and got in the car. I drove back and when I arrived in Gainesville, I realized if I'd kepy running, I'd have just been getting done then. That's a long day.

But I did what I set out to do. I even saw my Cosmo article for the first time at Wal Mart. The ride was so tough, that has replaced most of my associations with the city. Mellow Mushroom was my pre-ride dinner and my 2nd turnaround on the Run. Seahaven is the 5-mile to go mark on the bike. The beach by the finish line, is, well, the finish line. So as not-awesome as the bike ride was, I still feel like this trip was definitely a success.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

T92 - If You Feel Light-Headed or Dizzy...SACK UP AND KEEP GOING - Swim, Run

Gainesville

S: race-specific
wu: 6 x 75, last 25 in each is backstroke.
main: 3 x 700, 1 is RPE 3, 2 is RPE4, 3 is RPE 5


2 Lipodrene
I made my return to the GHFC pool after nearly a week off Wednesday. Not for any particular reason, just only 2 swim seesions in this training week. Which has been longer than expected. I started out the warmup and was immediately concerned. I was stopping short of the wall and felt very lethargic. Like didn't even want to finish the sets of 75, and coasting into the wall. But that's why they call it a warmup, I told myself. The last 75 went ok, and the sets were satisfactory.

I say satisfactory because I knew I wasn't swimming as fast as I had previously. Even without a watch, I could just tell. My chest felt heavy, like I was never getting enough air, and I even felt dizzy in parts of set 2. I have gained about 4 pounds, which I blame on the extra rest days. This also happened last year when training for the Miami Man, when I got a little gut starting around October. I'm not so worried about that, but even though this swim went ok, and my form felt good and I felt some power and glide, it just didn't feel as fast as it had. In the water, you don't feel it as much as you do on land. But this feeling of lack of oxygen and lethargy became much more apparent later on.

Run - 3 hours

2 Lipodrene
1 Salt Tab
I did something I've rarely done and did a long, multi-workout day on a work day. My schedule allowed for it, so after teaching I set out on my almost-18-mile run. I used the iPod, and again, I just felt like I was going slow. I felt heavy. Yes, I've gained some wieght, but not enough that I really felt like it was slowing me down. The funny thing is, I was getting to the same spots on the run that I usually do in this running mix, so apparently I was not really going much slower at all. But I FELT like I was.

My gel fell out of my pocket when doing the first campus loop, which pissed me off as I felt super-hungry the last 2 miles back to my Saturn Aid Station in the Jefferson garage. I did the loop in about 1:16, which did end up being a little slower than usual. I feverishly downed a gel and a Gatorade when I got there, then did the 45 minute run for my second session, which is about 4.5 miles. As I headed out, I started feeling light headed. Almost like my teeth wanted to start chattering, and then really sleepy. I figured if I passed out, it would be a funny story. But I did not feel good.

The feeling came and went throughout the second leg, and by the time I got back I was ready for my last gel and another lipodrene. 2 more stadium-and-backs and I was done. But as I headed out again, I felt like I needed a nap. Maybe ths flu has had a little more effect than I thought. But I figured, hey, on race day you probably wont be sick. But you will be a LOT more fatigued. So this is how you're gonna feel for about 18 miles. Get used to it. And so I did.

The rest of the run wasn't fun, and the dizziness and light-headedness continued throughout the workout. Every time I had to stop, I knew that if I stopped for more than a minute I was going to stop alotgether. It allowed me to feel all the body aches and other things I don't when I'm still running. So I just kept lumbering away as long as I had to.

I ended up doing 18 miles in three hours and 20 minutes. Which is slow. But like the bike the day before, I had a route planned out. If I did it faster, good for me. If I did it slower, well, that's bonus training. I think in the next month I am going to do some more treadmill work, and I will also start including cookies and oranges at my aid station, to see how my stomach handles those. The Ironman offers them, and I'm wondering if they will help fuel the machine better. Maybe fight a little fatigue.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

T91 - Improvment can Throw you Off - Bike

Gainesville

I had to get my oil changed Tuesday, and for whatever reason every single shop in Gainesville takes 2 hours to do it. Even Jiffy Lube. So I figured that window would be a perfect amount of time to get in a bike ride while I waited. I took my car to a shop by my old apartment in Duck Pond so, for old times sike, I decided to bike up Waldo Road to Waldo and back. That used to take me about 2 hours from my old apartment, so I figured it would be close enough.

Bike - 2 hours, easy spinning RPE 3

2 Lipodrene
I immediately remembered why I never bike Waldo anymore. It's not so much the constant parade of semis once you hit the highway, but the street crossings at the begining. Waldo has this nice greenway bike lane park thing (usually populated by Gainesville's finest meth addicts and homeless) but when it crossees a road, it almost always includes at least one 90-degree turn. And despite all my time on the bike, I still can't do those. So I'd have to either slow down to an almost-stop, or stop completely, unclip, and start up again when I got to the straightaway. I even off-roaded a bit to avoid one turn. Basically, the course sucks.

But I did find myself going a lot faster than I used to. I was going probably 22 the whole way up, a fact that forced me to lok over at the plants on the side of the road and see I had a pretty nice tailwind. I'm not a fan of tailwinds on the way out either. Because I had to be back to the shop before it closed at 6, I had to bike by real time instead of road time, especially on Waldo where theres a lot of lights and stopping you don't want to do. Anyway, I left at 3:38 so I figured I'd give meself an extra 8 minutes to get back, accounting for the wind, so I'd turn around at 4:34.

Problem was, it doesn't take me an hour to get to Waldo anymore. I rolled up to the Hardee's at the junction to U.S. 301 at about 4:22. Well, there's no bike lane on 301, and i'ts a pretty crowded road, so I opted to turn around. Had a gel, and headed back, pruposefully going 25 through the area where I got my school zone speeding ticket. Sadly, there was no school zone today.

The wind on the way back was not fun, and even though I didn't feel tired, I felt achy and fatigued. Like my shoulders got sore immediately, and my hips were aching for some reason. I even felt a little dizzy and tired and found myself standing up at about the 55 minute mark (in the saddle, I didn't stop). I'm hoping this is just residual sickness, but who knows. I fought the wind ok, I guess, but my average speed dropped from 19.2 on the way out to 17.9 by the time I finished. I seem to be coming up just short of all my goals lately. I finished in 1:42 minutes of real time, which included stopping at the turnaorund and the endless parade of lights on Waldo. So the increased return time didn't concern me a whole lot. And for whatever reason once I've biked my planned course for the day, I don't extend it. If I got it done too fast, oh well. I have plenty that take longer than expected too.

What did conern me was the fact that I felt tired on a pretty short bike ride. I'm not sure if I've just lost my enthusiasm for short, non-intense rides like this one, or if I still feel sick. But I'm not sure how this bodes for Panama City this weekend. I gotta do 112 miles on Friday, that's no fucking joke. And the fact that I felt realy ytired and lathargic after the ride is not a good sign. This is a new thing, and maybe it is just part of the virus still lingering. But I need it to go away and go away fast.

Monday, October 5, 2009

T90 - Feelin' Sluggish - Swim/Bike, Run

Gainesville

Swim - 30 minutes continuous

2 Lipodrene
As this was a swim/bike brick day, I opted to head down to Campus Lodge and train with Justin. It always makes for good bike rides, and they have a nice outdoor pool there that;s perfect for training days like this. I woke up about 11, on maybe 8 hours sleep (not enough after my cross-country odyssey to Seattle)and was a little lethargic in getting over there.

I still made it early, and Justin didn't join me in the pool until I was about 5 minutes into the swim. Lacking a watch, I just went for 30 laps, figuring I do about a lap a minute. I'm not sure if the pool there is exactly 25 meters though. It's close, but it feels about one stroke short. Anyway, I was able to keep my regular, good pace, but my breathing felt labored. Like I had a weight in my chest. This may be ok for a 1500 meter swim, but is not promising for longer ones. I think this may be a remnant of the "flu," such as it was. But even though the swim went fine, I wasn't overly thrilled with how it felt.

Bike - 90 Minutes

I'm not a fan of drafting, but I thought today I'd let Justin ride out so I could go balls out the 45 minutes back. Well, Justin hadn't been cycling sine our last workout a month or so ago, and was understandably a little slow. I didn't mind, as I wasn't exactly dying to push it going out on 441 with all the fucking wind. But we averaged about 17 on the trip down to Cafe Risque and the Country store on 441. (Our usual turnaround). Granted, there was a serious headwind, and I definitely felt it when I took over the front at the road to Cafe Risque. Justin enjoyed the increased speed, and I led the rest of the way.

I took gels 15 minutes and one hour in, despite not having a lot of time left. I just do it to keep in practice, ya know?

We hit the Country Store at about 43 minutes, so I thought we'd end up making it back at about 1:24-ish. Short, but not horribly short. Well, as it was we had a nice tailwind, and despite my shoulders being insanely jammed and not being able to drop into aero for very long, we still made it back in about 1:17. So I cheated it by 13 minutes. I'm not going to get too upset over that, but not something I need to make a habit of. Justin also pointed out that doing 112 miles in 6 hours or less is going to require a lot of aero time. I just hope my shoulders get conditioned like the rest of my body over the next month.

Run - 45 minutes

1 Lipodrene
I took about 2 hours in between these workouts, as the training card suggested. This was another day where I was just realyl fitting this workout in between other things. Well, getting it all in before I went up to Jacksonville for the Silversun Pickups Concert. So I got on the road, and just felt heavy. I can tell I've gained a few pounds the past few weeks, since my workouts are less frequent. But sans iPod and in regular gym shorts I just felt sluggish and heavy. I kind of lumbered the run at my usual pace. Which always feels like it's good until I look at myself in a window or someone passes me and I realize I look like a heavy guy just kinds shuffling. Whatever. I wasn't laboring on the run, and made it through well. But there wasn't much of a spark.

My concerns here are two today: First, I think I may have some residual after effects from whatever sickness I had. Which I am going to just have to deal with and thank God it wasn't worse. But I've never been good at pushing it when I'm really not feeling it. And I think it's too late for that kind of attitude adjustment. Second, I really need to take advantage of days when I have nothing scheduled. Workouts where I have to fit it in around anything else just are never as good. Period. So aside from ym training trip to Panama City this week, I am staying home as much as possible on my off days. I need to have these workouts count.

T89 - Remembering Why I Hate Seattle - Run

Seattle, WA

My aunt died on Wednesday. Sad, but expected. Anyway, I had to fly Thursday night to Seattle for the funeral. Driving from the airport to my mom's house past downtown and all the nice scenery, I thought to myself "You know, Seattle is a pretty cool city. I don't know why I used to bitch about it so much." That was before I set out for my 9-mile run the morning before the funeral.

Run - 90 Minutes


2 Lipodrene
I have exactly one running route in Seattle, and I'm glad I got to use it as part of this training cycle. Green Lake is a public park where the entire city decides to go every time the sun dares to come out in this city. It's 3 miles around, making for a nice loop if you can park your car in the main lot. Friday morning it was 50 degrees and overcast. So obviously, pakring was ample.

I took my iPod and set out on lap one (I used to do only one lap, sometimes walking when I was younger. I thought it was laborious. So this was a fun perspective). The weather didn't seem too bad. Brisk, but, ya know, not unbearable. But, about 2 miles in, the rain started. And the thing about Seattle vs. Florida is that once the rain starts, it typically doesn't let up until late-May. So despite feeling pretty strong on the run, I was perpetually slowed by the perpetual drizzle.

It got harder and softer as I ran, but it was constant. Several times I found myself just yelling "Fuck this place!" to nooone in particular, and wanted to stop the other morning runners (and dog walkers) at Green Lake and ask them why, exactly, they wre out on a morning like this. Are you ALL training for an Ironman, becasue that's really the only reason I could see. Then I wanted to ask them how the fuck they lived here, with weather like this 10 months out of the year. Yeah, definitely realized why I left and am never moving back.

I stopped after every loop, not because I was tired, but more because I wanted to dry off my iPod. I wasn't even that thirsty, as you lose a lot less fluid running in 50 degree miserableness than in 90 degree sunshine. At one point I turned the iPod around to face my so it didn't get as wet. But it still got a lot of moisture. I took one gel at the 45 minute mark. But god damn, the fucking rain.

Also got to try out the second half of the Ironman Final Training Mix, and learned that some songs I thought would be great for running in fact sucked. And somehow the iPod managed to make it 90 minutes in a Seattle Downpour, but can't last over 2 hours in "dry" condidiions normally. Whatever. Only another month with the thing and I need to wean myself off it anyway.

But most of all, it was cool to breeze throguh 3 laps around Green Lake in 88 minutes (including stops to dry the iPod and drink), a course that once upon a time had one lap looking daunting. I love measuring progress like that. Despite the rain, I felt this was a solid run. But I also forgot how much my knees hurt when I run in the cold. Worse than getting kicked in the balls, seriously. And there's nothing you can do. Yet another reason never to live North of I-10. And yet again how I don't understand how anybody in a cold weather city can train for something like this.

Friday, October 2, 2009

T88 - H1N1, You Better Come Stronger than That - Swim

Gainesville

I had planned to do the long swim Wednesday night. But as I was teaching my last class I started to feel really overheated and dizzy. And by the time I walked home all I could do was get in bed and stay there. I spent the night tossing and turning and cooling myself off, and praying that I did not have the flu. Because I can't afford to get sick. Not now. It wasn't unlikely that I had it, but I also knew that my immune system managed to keep my from getting sick almost all the time.

So I took some Tylenol PM and fell asleep about 1 a.m. I woke up probably 5 times over the next nine hours, each time feeling my bed completely soaked in cold sweat. Like the whole fucking thing. I have no idea how I sweat that much, but I did. I got up each time and drank water to replace the fluids, and by the time I woke up, I felt 100%. I felt better than 100% actually. I felt better than I had in a few weeks. Apparently the virus had gotten into my system, but my immune system managed to kick its ass out all night long, leaving it a beaten mass of sweat on the sheets, as impotnent and useless as the activity stains it was blending into. And so I decided to go swimming before flying to Seattle.

S: long day
wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull, 200swim
main: 1900 ladder. Do a set of 300, then 275,...



2 Lipodrene
I'm not gonna lie. As pumped as I was about my immune system's convincing victory over What Might Have Been H1N1 But Probably Wasn't, during the warmup I felt like my lats were going to die. I guess dehydration and body aching from flu symptoms will do that. And the kicks didn't feel a lot better. But by the time I got to the main set, I was just coasting along. Every set felt short, although I did note I was going slightly slower than normal on the first 2 sets. I picked up the normal pace by the 250 set, and was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing: Focusing on getting my strokes turned over faster, and keeping my form good. I'm using that swim move that Justin recommended for my right arm, as I think I'm just now really figuring out how to get the most out of it.

I took a gel after the set of 225, and continued on with a fantastic swim. Really, felt better than I had in a while. The only thing I notcied was that my quad cramped up when I got out of the pool, not something that usually happens after a swim. But if that's the only lingering effect from a night of sweating through my bed, I'll take it. I'm sure the rest helped, but maybe in addition to the virus I sweated out some toxins that had been holding my muscles back. Who knows? All I know is that my immune system kicks fucking ass, and that I am definitely ready to tackle this last month of training head on.

Flew accross the country immediately afterward, and was still wired when I got to Seattle. Its amazing the energy and motivaiton a great workout, and demolishing a flu in one night, can give you.