BIKE – 112 miles
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
I had remembered my training ride on this course, and how I’d sort of nuked my village on it by going to hard at the beginning. Similarly, every piece of advice I read on biking this course told me to avoid the temptation to fly on the bike early, so I decided to pace it a little.
By this, of course, I mean passing pretty much everyone I saw in the first 22 miles. I didn’t have the wind at my back like I did on the training ride, so I was doing a reasonable 22-24. But the funnest part was passing all these people on $5000 bikes with ease. I didn’t feel like I was pushing it either, like my quads felt fine. I was also encouraged that there wasn’t much of a tailwind, meaning I wouldn’t suffer on the way back like I had a month before. Then I hit the turn at mile 22.
The wind was blowing hard in my face, so much so that after about 5 miles, my back started to kill me. This is what happens to me in wind since it requires me to pedal so hard. Well, I went from cruising at 22 to struggling to get up to 20. I spent a good amount of time going about 14-16, as I knew this course was too long to expend too much energy fighting the wind. It didn’t help matters that my bike is not nearly as aerodynamic as the aforementioned $5000 bikes, and neither am I. I don’t have an aero helmet, and my shoulders are pretty fucking wide. Like a road grader going into the wind. Really not fun.
To make matters worse, all those people I’d passed had decided to form draft packs to combat the wind. Is that illegal in Ironman competition? Of course it is. And I wasn’t about to do It either, since I do have some integrity (I also don’t really know how to draft, but even if I did I wouldn’t. I don’t like cheating). But as struggled to combat the relentless wind, hundreds of people were passing me in scores of mini pelotons. I just kept looking over at them and thinking “You drafting, cheating fucks. How dare you.”
A little before mile 50, which marked the end of the windy section, we got access to our “Special Needs Bags,” which was basically a bag with any shit you might want halfway through the bike that you couldn’t pack. I threw in some Oreos, some gels, a Clif bar, and of course lots of Lipodrene and Advil and Salt tabs. I had been keeping to my one Lipodrene every 25 miles plan, even struggling to open the Ziploc bag while riding. But I took this opportunity to get out of the saddle for a minute and relax my back. It needed it. I was probably there a little over a minute before I pressed on.
About a mile later, we turned back south onto 231. But this time, there was no brutal headwind. Not only that, but it was a lot cooler than it had been a month earlier, and we got water every ten miles. It’s amazing the difference not being dehydrated makes on a ride like this. I was able to drop into aero on this stretch and do a solid 20-22 until the turn onto the real Camp Flowers Road. No dirt for me this time.
While I knew I was biking well, I also knew that the drafting cheating fucks were far enough ahead of me that I probably wasn’t going to catch them. Going back West II had the wind at my back,, and was able to go a solid 21-24 for most of that stretch, until the 7-mile down and back on perhaps the bumpiest road in Bay County. At the end, there was an aid station where I stopped to relieve myself, and again stretch out my back. It came at about mile 75, which seemed like a good time to take a break and another Lipodrene. So I used the bathroom, took my pill and had the rest of my Oreos, and pressed on for the final 38 miles. Just a trip down Hawthorne and back.
I kept expecting to slow down, but I just didn’t. We hit one stretch of about 18 miles from mile 82-100 that was not only closed off, but repaved like the week before. And a tailwind. It was like riding on silk. Just amazing biking, and I don’t think I dropped below 22 the whole time. Though I was happy to get to mile 100, I was sad to see that road go. But as I was on it, I realized that I had it. Like the 5+ hours I’d been on the bike had flown, I’d gone faster than I thought I would, and I was almost 2/3 done with the Ironman. I started to get a little sad, actually. Like this day was what my entire life had been about for the past six months, and it was almost over. I was happy with my performance, but I had under an hour left on the bike, then just a run to suffer through and then what? When I started thinking this, it was the only time I really slowed on that section. Then I told myself I could think about that shit at the finish line.
So I hit the Front Beach road, which is like the last 7 miles, and of course the wind is just brutal. I wasn’t overly concerned as I knew I was gonna average over 19 for the ride, so I just fought it a little and did about 16-18 on the way back. Then, at about mile 108, I got the worst gas pains of my life. Like it felt like a giant bubble was about to explode in my intestines. And it was funny, since Klueber had just asked me about the acceptability of shitting one’s pants during the bike section. I had decided I didn’t want to do that, and just gritted it out, promising myself I could demolish a toilet in transition when I got there. Of course, by the time I rolled up to the dismount line, the gas was gone. My dad and Trevor took some pictures as I got off the bike, I waved at them, and slapped Professor Limon, who works in my department, a high five as I went back into transition. Made the bike in 5:55, again slightly faster than expected. I was pleased.
T2 – Bike to Run – 8:45
Now that I was familiar with the layout of the transition, I found my way much easier. Of course, I was also a little more tired. So this time, I just walked it. Sat down, put on my black shirt. Took my time putting my stuff away. I think the volunteers in there were a bit confused, since this kid started laying out my gear for me. I was like “Thanks, but I got it.” He helped me out anyway, which was nice. I had a Vitamin water, took two more Lipodrene, a couple Advil, a gel and a salt tabs, and headed out for the run. I was right at 7:30 when I got onto the course. Breaking 13 hours was definitely an attainable goal.
Showing posts with label advil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advil. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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.
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 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.
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.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
T87 - The Difference Between 90 and 100 is a lot more than 10 Miles - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
After four days off and a skipped fast on Yom Kippur (figured it wasn't a good idea to not eat the entire day before an important training ride. One year. I think God will understand) I felt ready to rock and roll for my first 100-mile bike ride. Ever. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, but not really hot, and my body felt good. I didn't sleep particularly well but other than that I felt well-prepared. And I needed a good ride to try and reverse the trend of bad workouts.
Bike - 5.5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
I started out on this ride like gangbusters. Just flew down 2nd, then down Waldo, and hit the trailhead in under 7 milutes (a record). Then continued my speed down Hawthorne, hitting Nigbridge in 25 flat and getting to the end of the trail in 55:02. Remembering that this was taking me about 1:03 in the beginning, I felt this was a major stride. Just missed breaking 55 minutes, and averaged 19.9 on the first trip. I was a little worried abount nuking the village here, but in my experience you are generally just as tired at the end of a long ride like this whether you go hard the first 20 miles or pace it. So I went hard.
I took another salt tab and headed back up. I realized then that I had had a bit of a tailwind, and that may have accounted for my record trip. But whatever. I made it back up at 1:40, and my average speed was still 18.9, despite the wind. Here I took 2more Advil and another salt tab, and headed back down. I tought I'd have another great trip given the tailwind, but I noticed it had died down, and only made it to the halfway point at 2:40, meaning it was about 12 minutes slower than my first trip. I was losing speed fast.
On the way back on trip 2, I found myself gettng tired. Not my legs, or even my back so much, but just general fatigue. My back had been hurting from about the 1:15 mark, and despite flooding my body with Advil, I found myself having to take brief, 30-second breaks about every half hour if I was not stopping already. I'm not sure how this is going to work raceday, but it's one of those things that I get mentally fatigued and start going like 15 for a while. Then I'll stop and be able to hit 20 again. Anyway, this last trip I kept slowing down, and having to tell myself "You're better than this" repeatedly to get my speed back up. At the 3:30 mark I took a short break, and felt like taking a nap. It was then I realized I had 2 more hours left. Well, nobody said this was gonna be easy.
Turned around to make my third trip, taking my last 2 Advil and another Lipodrene. I now didn't feel like I needed to take a nap, but getting over 19 was tough. It didn't help that like an idiot I cruised right by the only water fountain for about 20 miles, leaving me with about a bottles worth for that entire stretch. So I think dehyydration my have played a part here too.
I had nothing left on any sort of incline, and was only able to hit 20-22 on declines. I think I averaged about 17 on this last trip, which isn't terrible, but is slower than I want to do. And it was one of those rides where I reeally felt done about an hour and 15 minutes before it was over. But, you perservere. I think that's what the Ironman is about, just keeping it moving when you feel like you're done. And I realized today how hard that is really going to be.
The 90 mile rides had been challenging, but not exhausting. This one had me wanting to stop 2 hours before it was over, which is a big mental obstacle. I talked to Trevor via IM about it last night, and he said I probably need to do at least 2 more to be ready for the big race. I am going to Panama City next Tuesday to do the course, then I think there's a Gainesville Century ride the next weekend. Much as I'm dreading it, I know it's something I have to do to have a good Ironman. Such is life.
I ended up back home at 5:29, having done 98.9 miles. So no, not quite a century, and yes, another mile wouldn't have killed me. But there's plenty of time for that. If you do the math, I averaged just under 18, which had been my goal. So I came just short of my goals today, but had some bright spots. Not a bad first century (almost) ride, but I'm definitely looking to improve on the next ones.
The ride also left my perennium incredibly sore, to the point I couldn't really sit down. Later in the evening I looked at it in the mirror and found I had gotten my first ever hemhorroid. Thanks Ironman! I don't see this hindering training much, but it does make me feel old. But really, after that much time on a bike, I figure it's more like a battle scar. I'm sure that's what fat-ass bus drivers say too. Anyway, hopefully it doesn't hinder training, but I'll keep you posted. The forearm, however, is fine now. Full aero a lot of the ride.
Run - 20 minutes (treadmill)
I got home and had my last gel (I'd done gels every 45 on the bike, with Cliff Bars at 2:15 and 3:50 or so. Still felt fatigued, so I may need to bring more food on my next century ride). Went upstairs, had a Powerade, answered a couple of texts, and went down to the gym at Jefferson. I put the treadmill on 6.2, faster than I usually do for post-ride runs, and it actually felt pretty good. I mean, I kept looking at the time, but the speed felt comfortable. Now, am I going to be able to keep that up for 26 miles? Hell the fuck no, I won't. But the fact that this wasn't completely laborious gave me a little glimmer of pride after an otherwise-difficult workout. That's it for Week 6. 5 weeks of training to go in 39 days. I'm staying in Gainesville until the Miami Beach Half Marathon to just train hard and get myself ready. Home stretch, and it will pay off.
After four days off and a skipped fast on Yom Kippur (figured it wasn't a good idea to not eat the entire day before an important training ride. One year. I think God will understand) I felt ready to rock and roll for my first 100-mile bike ride. Ever. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, but not really hot, and my body felt good. I didn't sleep particularly well but other than that I felt well-prepared. And I needed a good ride to try and reverse the trend of bad workouts.
Bike - 5.5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
I started out on this ride like gangbusters. Just flew down 2nd, then down Waldo, and hit the trailhead in under 7 milutes (a record). Then continued my speed down Hawthorne, hitting Nigbridge in 25 flat and getting to the end of the trail in 55:02. Remembering that this was taking me about 1:03 in the beginning, I felt this was a major stride. Just missed breaking 55 minutes, and averaged 19.9 on the first trip. I was a little worried abount nuking the village here, but in my experience you are generally just as tired at the end of a long ride like this whether you go hard the first 20 miles or pace it. So I went hard.
I took another salt tab and headed back up. I realized then that I had had a bit of a tailwind, and that may have accounted for my record trip. But whatever. I made it back up at 1:40, and my average speed was still 18.9, despite the wind. Here I took 2more Advil and another salt tab, and headed back down. I tought I'd have another great trip given the tailwind, but I noticed it had died down, and only made it to the halfway point at 2:40, meaning it was about 12 minutes slower than my first trip. I was losing speed fast.
On the way back on trip 2, I found myself gettng tired. Not my legs, or even my back so much, but just general fatigue. My back had been hurting from about the 1:15 mark, and despite flooding my body with Advil, I found myself having to take brief, 30-second breaks about every half hour if I was not stopping already. I'm not sure how this is going to work raceday, but it's one of those things that I get mentally fatigued and start going like 15 for a while. Then I'll stop and be able to hit 20 again. Anyway, this last trip I kept slowing down, and having to tell myself "You're better than this" repeatedly to get my speed back up. At the 3:30 mark I took a short break, and felt like taking a nap. It was then I realized I had 2 more hours left. Well, nobody said this was gonna be easy.
Turned around to make my third trip, taking my last 2 Advil and another Lipodrene. I now didn't feel like I needed to take a nap, but getting over 19 was tough. It didn't help that like an idiot I cruised right by the only water fountain for about 20 miles, leaving me with about a bottles worth for that entire stretch. So I think dehyydration my have played a part here too.
I had nothing left on any sort of incline, and was only able to hit 20-22 on declines. I think I averaged about 17 on this last trip, which isn't terrible, but is slower than I want to do. And it was one of those rides where I reeally felt done about an hour and 15 minutes before it was over. But, you perservere. I think that's what the Ironman is about, just keeping it moving when you feel like you're done. And I realized today how hard that is really going to be.
The 90 mile rides had been challenging, but not exhausting. This one had me wanting to stop 2 hours before it was over, which is a big mental obstacle. I talked to Trevor via IM about it last night, and he said I probably need to do at least 2 more to be ready for the big race. I am going to Panama City next Tuesday to do the course, then I think there's a Gainesville Century ride the next weekend. Much as I'm dreading it, I know it's something I have to do to have a good Ironman. Such is life.
I ended up back home at 5:29, having done 98.9 miles. So no, not quite a century, and yes, another mile wouldn't have killed me. But there's plenty of time for that. If you do the math, I averaged just under 18, which had been my goal. So I came just short of my goals today, but had some bright spots. Not a bad first century (almost) ride, but I'm definitely looking to improve on the next ones.
The ride also left my perennium incredibly sore, to the point I couldn't really sit down. Later in the evening I looked at it in the mirror and found I had gotten my first ever hemhorroid. Thanks Ironman! I don't see this hindering training much, but it does make me feel old. But really, after that much time on a bike, I figure it's more like a battle scar. I'm sure that's what fat-ass bus drivers say too. Anyway, hopefully it doesn't hinder training, but I'll keep you posted. The forearm, however, is fine now. Full aero a lot of the ride.
Run - 20 minutes (treadmill)
I got home and had my last gel (I'd done gels every 45 on the bike, with Cliff Bars at 2:15 and 3:50 or so. Still felt fatigued, so I may need to bring more food on my next century ride). Went upstairs, had a Powerade, answered a couple of texts, and went down to the gym at Jefferson. I put the treadmill on 6.2, faster than I usually do for post-ride runs, and it actually felt pretty good. I mean, I kept looking at the time, but the speed felt comfortable. Now, am I going to be able to keep that up for 26 miles? Hell the fuck no, I won't. But the fact that this wasn't completely laborious gave me a little glimmer of pride after an otherwise-difficult workout. That's it for Week 6. 5 weeks of training to go in 39 days. I'm staying in Gainesville until the Miami Beach Half Marathon to just train hard and get myself ready. Home stretch, and it will pay off.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
T82 - The Problem With Miami Workouts- Swim, Run
Miami
I went down to Miami for the UM - Georgia Tech football game which was, hands down, he most fun I've had a sporting event in a long time. Definitely an experience worth the five hour drive. That being said, the 3-hour tailgate followed by the 3 hour game followed by a night out at the Tavern led me to feeling a little on the dehydrated and awful side when I woke up Friday morning. I took some Advil and drank some Vitamin Water, and by the time I decided to hit the beach at 2:30 I thought I felt alright. But Miami workouts, they're rarely that good.
Swim - 40 minutes (out of 75 assigned) Open Water
2 Lipodrene
Since I was going to be a place with ample opportunity for open water swimming, I decided to switch around the workout order this week and do this open water swim first. Made sense. So I went over to Key Biscayne with Lindsay, Lauren and Nat, who were nice enough to watch my stuff while I went to train in Biscayne Bay. It was a pleasant Friday, so they got a nice beach day, while I got in my open water swimming.
The problem with swimming off Crandon Park is that the water is so damn shallow. It's great for going to the beach with your family, shitty for open water training. Like I'd go for about 100 years or so, and then all of a sudden I'm grabbing sand on every downstroke, It didn't help that the scab on my right forarm was burning or that my shoulders were still feeling jammed from the accident three days prior. So the strokes were tough, I was constantly having to get up and walk to deeper water, and the water was fucking hot.
Eventually, I got out to water that was deep enough to swim pretty far. The training card called for me to practice sighting, which I did none of, constantly ending up swimming in towards shore because that is where the current was going. I fought the current pretty well for most of the swim, until I hit the end of the park. The end of the park was about a mile from where we set up on the beach, and I thought it would make a good turnaround. But as soon as I decided to turn it around, I started to feel like yacking. Not like on the bike, where it lasts a few minutes and goes away. I mean I seriously felt like sitting down and ralphing for a while.
Sadly, I was out way too deep to do so, so I swam in towards shore to a spot that was shallow and tried to puke. Almost did it, but not quite, so I just sat there hoping it was just the Lipodrene hitting my stomach and that it would wear off. I started feeling better, but as soon as I started swimming again, I wanted to yack. I'm not sure if it was the saltwater or the motion of the waves (the current wasn't bad, but it was definitely knocking me around)or the hangover or the fact that the water was hotter than the air, but I was not feeling up for the rest of the swim. So after a few more attempts, I decided this was now officially counterproductive and swam in to shore and walked the just-under-a-mile back to the towels.
As it was I ended up doing about 1.2 miles, I think. Which isn't bad. but was just over half what the workout called for. I ended up swimming for about 40 minutes, which again is a decent training value, but I wish I'd have done more. Really, the alcohol and lack of sleep in Miami make for some shitty workouts here. Like I'm just trying to get them in instead of focusing on the training value.
Run - 60 Minutes
I was out of gels, and didn't really feel like having a Cliff bar before running, so all I was working off was the Tropi Chop Max I'd had for lunch. Which was enough. Lindsay was nice enough to give me her 3 mile run route in Coral Gables. Which of course completely confused me. I had done a run by their house last time I was down in August, just for fun, and remember not being able to see which street was which because of the fucked up Gables street signs on the ground. I also remember them living in a numbered section where the numbers turned to names, making it doubly confusing.
So I hit the road with no iPod and no nutrition or supplementation, and spent most of my time trying to figure out which street was which so I didn't get lost. In other words, I couldn't really focus on going fast, just on knowing where I was going. And I hate doing runs where I don't really know how far I have to go or have any landmarks, because all you can think is "Where am I? How far have I gone? How much time have I been out here?" And, honestly, I wasn't feeling my best anyway.
The first lap of this course I felt like I ran ok, aside from having to stop a lot to look at street signs and figure out where I was. The second lap was pure apathy. Just getting it over with so I could hurry up and get to Happy Hour. Yeah, I know i said I had to prioritize training. And it's easy to do in Gainesville because I'm not seeing people I don't see every day. And it wasn't so hard in New York because I scheduled it in, and visited people around that schedule. But in Miami, I guess it's tough. I not only have a lot of people I want to see there, but a lot of old habits that I'm used to insofar as going out.
So that all being said, I think I'm going to only have one more Miami trip before the Ironman. Probably for a half-marathon in October. I just can't stay disciplined enough when I'm down there, are I also end up spending too much money, even when I barely go out. Sad, but then again I'm moving back in December. After the Ironman, and plenty of time to slip back into old habits then.
I went down to Miami for the UM - Georgia Tech football game which was, hands down, he most fun I've had a sporting event in a long time. Definitely an experience worth the five hour drive. That being said, the 3-hour tailgate followed by the 3 hour game followed by a night out at the Tavern led me to feeling a little on the dehydrated and awful side when I woke up Friday morning. I took some Advil and drank some Vitamin Water, and by the time I decided to hit the beach at 2:30 I thought I felt alright. But Miami workouts, they're rarely that good.
Swim - 40 minutes (out of 75 assigned) Open Water
2 Lipodrene
Since I was going to be a place with ample opportunity for open water swimming, I decided to switch around the workout order this week and do this open water swim first. Made sense. So I went over to Key Biscayne with Lindsay, Lauren and Nat, who were nice enough to watch my stuff while I went to train in Biscayne Bay. It was a pleasant Friday, so they got a nice beach day, while I got in my open water swimming.
The problem with swimming off Crandon Park is that the water is so damn shallow. It's great for going to the beach with your family, shitty for open water training. Like I'd go for about 100 years or so, and then all of a sudden I'm grabbing sand on every downstroke, It didn't help that the scab on my right forarm was burning or that my shoulders were still feeling jammed from the accident three days prior. So the strokes were tough, I was constantly having to get up and walk to deeper water, and the water was fucking hot.
Eventually, I got out to water that was deep enough to swim pretty far. The training card called for me to practice sighting, which I did none of, constantly ending up swimming in towards shore because that is where the current was going. I fought the current pretty well for most of the swim, until I hit the end of the park. The end of the park was about a mile from where we set up on the beach, and I thought it would make a good turnaround. But as soon as I decided to turn it around, I started to feel like yacking. Not like on the bike, where it lasts a few minutes and goes away. I mean I seriously felt like sitting down and ralphing for a while.
Sadly, I was out way too deep to do so, so I swam in towards shore to a spot that was shallow and tried to puke. Almost did it, but not quite, so I just sat there hoping it was just the Lipodrene hitting my stomach and that it would wear off. I started feeling better, but as soon as I started swimming again, I wanted to yack. I'm not sure if it was the saltwater or the motion of the waves (the current wasn't bad, but it was definitely knocking me around)or the hangover or the fact that the water was hotter than the air, but I was not feeling up for the rest of the swim. So after a few more attempts, I decided this was now officially counterproductive and swam in to shore and walked the just-under-a-mile back to the towels.
As it was I ended up doing about 1.2 miles, I think. Which isn't bad. but was just over half what the workout called for. I ended up swimming for about 40 minutes, which again is a decent training value, but I wish I'd have done more. Really, the alcohol and lack of sleep in Miami make for some shitty workouts here. Like I'm just trying to get them in instead of focusing on the training value.
Run - 60 Minutes
I was out of gels, and didn't really feel like having a Cliff bar before running, so all I was working off was the Tropi Chop Max I'd had for lunch. Which was enough. Lindsay was nice enough to give me her 3 mile run route in Coral Gables. Which of course completely confused me. I had done a run by their house last time I was down in August, just for fun, and remember not being able to see which street was which because of the fucked up Gables street signs on the ground. I also remember them living in a numbered section where the numbers turned to names, making it doubly confusing.
So I hit the road with no iPod and no nutrition or supplementation, and spent most of my time trying to figure out which street was which so I didn't get lost. In other words, I couldn't really focus on going fast, just on knowing where I was going. And I hate doing runs where I don't really know how far I have to go or have any landmarks, because all you can think is "Where am I? How far have I gone? How much time have I been out here?" And, honestly, I wasn't feeling my best anyway.
The first lap of this course I felt like I ran ok, aside from having to stop a lot to look at street signs and figure out where I was. The second lap was pure apathy. Just getting it over with so I could hurry up and get to Happy Hour. Yeah, I know i said I had to prioritize training. And it's easy to do in Gainesville because I'm not seeing people I don't see every day. And it wasn't so hard in New York because I scheduled it in, and visited people around that schedule. But in Miami, I guess it's tough. I not only have a lot of people I want to see there, but a lot of old habits that I'm used to insofar as going out.
So that all being said, I think I'm going to only have one more Miami trip before the Ironman. Probably for a half-marathon in October. I just can't stay disciplined enough when I'm down there, are I also end up spending too much money, even when I barely go out. Sad, but then again I'm moving back in December. After the Ironman, and plenty of time to slip back into old habits then.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
T81 - CRASH - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
I'm not liking these shorter days. I woke up at about noon on Tuesday and realized that in order to get in this 5 hour bike ride before it got dark, I had to leave by 2. Which was cool. Gave me a chance to watch Maury before I left. But still, I would have liked another hour or so to get mentally prepared.
Bike - 5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
Today was to be a ride that went almost 3 times down Hawthorne and back. I am very encouraged by the fact that every time I do this trail, I am setting a new record in the time it takes me to get to the end. Today it was 56:10 for the first trip down, averaging almost 19. And I wasn't even that tired. I was low on gels, so I took a gel at 45 minutes and 90 minutes, then a bar at 2:15, which I think worked well. I seem to lose about .2 of a mile per hour off my average each trip, which I'm not thrilled about but I figure it's better to go hard that first 2 hours, because I think I'd end up doing 18 or so either way by the last trip down. Point is, I had a record first trip today and that was good. Took a salt tab at the turn around, then another 2 Advil at the end of trip 1.
Trip 2 also went nicely. Made it down in under an hour still, would have been 58 if you factored in the extra time from my house to the trailhead. Took a 3rd Lipodrene at the 2:30 mark, figuring that was about all the booster I'd need for the remainder of the ride. Finished the second trip at about 3:40, which I felt was a pretty solid time for 71 miles. Turned around for trip 3 and popped my last 2 Advil and a salt tab. Gels were working well. Body was feeling ok. my low back went in and out of pain, which I'll chalk up to Advil wearing off and kicking in. My shoulders also started to feel a little sore from all the time in Aero.
Anyway, I turned it around at the 4:17 mark, and wouldn't you know it it started to rain. Which I'm usually ok with, save for the filth it adds to my bike. Well I was trying to push the fast spots so I could end up averaging over 18 (my goal was 18 average, 90 miles for the ride)and this may not have been the best idea. I hit the final big curve (marked by a sign that reads "Big Curve") at about 22-23, and began to apply my brakes where I usually do. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten that brakes do not work as well in the rain as they do when it's dry. Next thing I know I'm skidding around the curve at about 18, slamming my right side into the ground, and watching my bike fly over my head. I just said there thinking "Fuck, this hurts," and looking at my various new body parts that lacked skin. My right forearm got the worst of it, pretty much skinning the entire thing from my elbow half way down.
I did make a point to keep my head up to avoid another concussion. So I got up pretty quickly, dusted myself off, and re-did the chain to get ready to move. Then I noticed my handlebars were pretty much at a 45 degree angle to the frame. Yeah, definitely fucked my shit up. I bent them back to about a 10 degree angle, and biked the final 4 miles home like that. Which put a lot of stress on my left shoulder, which was already sore since it never leaves the handlebars. Sadly, I was not able to get into aero for any of the last part of the ride, and ended up averaging 18 and doing 91 miles in just over 5 hours. Would have been 18.1 or 18.2, but the last 4 miles were a lot slower than I would have liked. A lopsided, fucked up bike doesn't help. I got home covered in filth and blood, leaving a nice blood stain on my door, and necessitating a shower before I hit the treadmill.
Run - 30 minutes (treadmill)
I showered off, had my last gel, and hit the treadmill. The exposed flesh burned like a motherfucker in the shower, and I knew the sweat wasn't going to be any better. So I put a wristband over as much of my raw right forearm as I could, and hit the Jefferson 2nd Treadmill (thought some of the sorority girls down there might have been a little grossed out by a giant bleeding arm running next to them too). After the 91 mile ride, I felt a speed of 6 would suffice for today. And it was hard. Not brutally hard, but it was definitely a strain to keep that speed up for the whole half hour. I did it. Didn't like it, but I did it. I seriously hope I can at least start at this speed for a while during the Ironman. I know I'm not setting any records in my marathon, but I'd like to finish in a respectable time.
I'm relatively certain I'm not injured from the crash, and it wouldn't be a training cycle without at least one accident. Hopefully this is the only one, but you never know. Maybe the fatigue had something to do with it. but for now, I'm going to blame it on the rain.
I'm not liking these shorter days. I woke up at about noon on Tuesday and realized that in order to get in this 5 hour bike ride before it got dark, I had to leave by 2. Which was cool. Gave me a chance to watch Maury before I left. But still, I would have liked another hour or so to get mentally prepared.
Bike - 5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
Today was to be a ride that went almost 3 times down Hawthorne and back. I am very encouraged by the fact that every time I do this trail, I am setting a new record in the time it takes me to get to the end. Today it was 56:10 for the first trip down, averaging almost 19. And I wasn't even that tired. I was low on gels, so I took a gel at 45 minutes and 90 minutes, then a bar at 2:15, which I think worked well. I seem to lose about .2 of a mile per hour off my average each trip, which I'm not thrilled about but I figure it's better to go hard that first 2 hours, because I think I'd end up doing 18 or so either way by the last trip down. Point is, I had a record first trip today and that was good. Took a salt tab at the turn around, then another 2 Advil at the end of trip 1.
Trip 2 also went nicely. Made it down in under an hour still, would have been 58 if you factored in the extra time from my house to the trailhead. Took a 3rd Lipodrene at the 2:30 mark, figuring that was about all the booster I'd need for the remainder of the ride. Finished the second trip at about 3:40, which I felt was a pretty solid time for 71 miles. Turned around for trip 3 and popped my last 2 Advil and a salt tab. Gels were working well. Body was feeling ok. my low back went in and out of pain, which I'll chalk up to Advil wearing off and kicking in. My shoulders also started to feel a little sore from all the time in Aero.
Anyway, I turned it around at the 4:17 mark, and wouldn't you know it it started to rain. Which I'm usually ok with, save for the filth it adds to my bike. Well I was trying to push the fast spots so I could end up averaging over 18 (my goal was 18 average, 90 miles for the ride)and this may not have been the best idea. I hit the final big curve (marked by a sign that reads "Big Curve") at about 22-23, and began to apply my brakes where I usually do. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten that brakes do not work as well in the rain as they do when it's dry. Next thing I know I'm skidding around the curve at about 18, slamming my right side into the ground, and watching my bike fly over my head. I just said there thinking "Fuck, this hurts," and looking at my various new body parts that lacked skin. My right forearm got the worst of it, pretty much skinning the entire thing from my elbow half way down.
I did make a point to keep my head up to avoid another concussion. So I got up pretty quickly, dusted myself off, and re-did the chain to get ready to move. Then I noticed my handlebars were pretty much at a 45 degree angle to the frame. Yeah, definitely fucked my shit up. I bent them back to about a 10 degree angle, and biked the final 4 miles home like that. Which put a lot of stress on my left shoulder, which was already sore since it never leaves the handlebars. Sadly, I was not able to get into aero for any of the last part of the ride, and ended up averaging 18 and doing 91 miles in just over 5 hours. Would have been 18.1 or 18.2, but the last 4 miles were a lot slower than I would have liked. A lopsided, fucked up bike doesn't help. I got home covered in filth and blood, leaving a nice blood stain on my door, and necessitating a shower before I hit the treadmill.
Run - 30 minutes (treadmill)
I showered off, had my last gel, and hit the treadmill. The exposed flesh burned like a motherfucker in the shower, and I knew the sweat wasn't going to be any better. So I put a wristband over as much of my raw right forearm as I could, and hit the Jefferson 2nd Treadmill (thought some of the sorority girls down there might have been a little grossed out by a giant bleeding arm running next to them too). After the 91 mile ride, I felt a speed of 6 would suffice for today. And it was hard. Not brutally hard, but it was definitely a strain to keep that speed up for the whole half hour. I did it. Didn't like it, but I did it. I seriously hope I can at least start at this speed for a while during the Ironman. I know I'm not setting any records in my marathon, but I'd like to finish in a respectable time.
I'm relatively certain I'm not injured from the crash, and it wouldn't be a training cycle without at least one accident. Hopefully this is the only one, but you never know. Maybe the fatigue had something to do with it. but for now, I'm going to blame it on the rain.
Monday, September 7, 2009
T76 - Putting the "Labor" in "Labor Day"- Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
It was Labor Day. And I figured what better way to spend Labor Day than working out for 5+ hours. But today wasn't so much a workout as a true training day. Like everything I did today was direct preparation for the Ironman. And it felt good.
Bike - 4.5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
I went into the longest bike ride I'd ever done not dreading it, but wanting to do well. The goal was to average 18, which I'd struggled to do on shorter rides early in training, but figured was a reasonable goal for today. And lacking any originality when it comes to bike rides, I opted for 2+ laps of Hawthorne as my course.
The first trip down and back went well, making it to the end in 57:10 (a new record, I think) and back to the trailhead at 1:47. Meaning I took about as long to get back as I did to get down since the trailhead is 7 minutes from my house. My low back was starting to hurt at 1:30, even with having taken the Advil, which I do not find encouraging. But knowing I only had 3 more Advil for 3 more hours, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to hold off. I thought it might, but that did not stop me from taking the last three at this turnaround.
It took about half an hour to work, but it made me feel a lot better. Though on the second trip I found it difficult to keep my speed at 21 or so as I had the first time, I was still encouraged that I was hitting 21 to 23 in a lot of spots on the way back. I made it to the end of the train for the second time at 2:44., still under and hour, but considerably slower. I took my next two Lipodrene at this point and another salt tab. Filled my bottles as well, but I went through them both before I even got all the way back, and had to fill up agian right before the final incline. I ended up going up the final big hill in the hammock at sub-10, as I knew my legs were shot.
I've kind of decided to play to my strengths on these long bikes. I know I can fly through straightaways, and I am going to use them to make up times I am going to lose on inclines. For some reason I feel like if I fight through the inclines, my legs are going to be shot and my flat times will suffer. Plus, I don't want to shoot my legs out when I have to go 112 miles then run a marathon. It was this philosophy that led me to ride down to the Alachua Lake Lookout on my third trip down instead of going to the hammock. I hadn't been to the lookout since like my 3rd or 4th ride ever when I lacked the coordination to make the turn onto the long trail. At any rate, I did that, went up the less-steep half of the hill, turned around at the top and headed back. I ended up getting back to Jefferson at about 4:20, having gone just under 80 miles. I had wanted to do a full 80, so I biked up to 12th and turned around in the roundabout, making it home at just over 81 miles in 4:25. Yes, I cheated myself out of 5 minutes, but I did end up averaging about 18.3. So I felt good.
I also felt like, ok, if you put a gun to my head and said "Do Hawthorne and Back one more time" I could have. that distance would have been just over the Ironman course. Not so sure about running a marathon after, but in 2 months I'll be there.
I do think I kind of underestimated myself today, though, and that's why I got back early. I didn't think I'd go as fast at the start, and also figured my last trip down would be much worse. So I'll try and set my goals a little higher next time, as at the very worst it will lead to my not cutting myself short.
Nutrition wise, I took a gel every 45, as prescribed, and opted for the Cliff Bar at 2:10. A little early, but I was fucking starving by that point. I think 1 cliff bar was enough for a ride like this, and by the beginning of the last lap my stomach felt like shit. I seriously wanted to vomit about an hour after taking Lipodrene 3 and 4. But, you know, a lot of things are going to hurt on race day. I'll just add my stomach to the list.
Run - 30 Minutes (Treadmill)
I had some Powerade and headed down to the treadmills here at the gym at Jefferson 2nd. I have decided that for my brick runs for the next few weeks, I am going to start utilizing the treadmill to give myself a faster muscle memory when it comes to strides. I know had I run on the road I would have just chopped it out for 30 minutes because I was so sore, but the hope here is to train my legs to go at 6 mph after a long ride so I can go at that pace at the Ironman. At least to start out. My last 3 bricked runs have all sucked, so I needed to figure out how to make those better.
Treadmills are easy, as was this run. I just trotted along watching the Cincinnati-Rutgers game, and enjoying the AC and bevvy of ethnic looking girls who came in after I started. Ended up going 3 miles in 30 minutes, a pace I hope I can keep on race day.
All in all, a tough training day to be sure. But I have at least 3 more like this, plus the race. The feeling of exhaustion is good, but I may actually be able to get to bed early tonight.
It was Labor Day. And I figured what better way to spend Labor Day than working out for 5+ hours. But today wasn't so much a workout as a true training day. Like everything I did today was direct preparation for the Ironman. And it felt good.
Bike - 4.5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
I went into the longest bike ride I'd ever done not dreading it, but wanting to do well. The goal was to average 18, which I'd struggled to do on shorter rides early in training, but figured was a reasonable goal for today. And lacking any originality when it comes to bike rides, I opted for 2+ laps of Hawthorne as my course.
The first trip down and back went well, making it to the end in 57:10 (a new record, I think) and back to the trailhead at 1:47. Meaning I took about as long to get back as I did to get down since the trailhead is 7 minutes from my house. My low back was starting to hurt at 1:30, even with having taken the Advil, which I do not find encouraging. But knowing I only had 3 more Advil for 3 more hours, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to hold off. I thought it might, but that did not stop me from taking the last three at this turnaround.
It took about half an hour to work, but it made me feel a lot better. Though on the second trip I found it difficult to keep my speed at 21 or so as I had the first time, I was still encouraged that I was hitting 21 to 23 in a lot of spots on the way back. I made it to the end of the train for the second time at 2:44., still under and hour, but considerably slower. I took my next two Lipodrene at this point and another salt tab. Filled my bottles as well, but I went through them both before I even got all the way back, and had to fill up agian right before the final incline. I ended up going up the final big hill in the hammock at sub-10, as I knew my legs were shot.
I've kind of decided to play to my strengths on these long bikes. I know I can fly through straightaways, and I am going to use them to make up times I am going to lose on inclines. For some reason I feel like if I fight through the inclines, my legs are going to be shot and my flat times will suffer. Plus, I don't want to shoot my legs out when I have to go 112 miles then run a marathon. It was this philosophy that led me to ride down to the Alachua Lake Lookout on my third trip down instead of going to the hammock. I hadn't been to the lookout since like my 3rd or 4th ride ever when I lacked the coordination to make the turn onto the long trail. At any rate, I did that, went up the less-steep half of the hill, turned around at the top and headed back. I ended up getting back to Jefferson at about 4:20, having gone just under 80 miles. I had wanted to do a full 80, so I biked up to 12th and turned around in the roundabout, making it home at just over 81 miles in 4:25. Yes, I cheated myself out of 5 minutes, but I did end up averaging about 18.3. So I felt good.
I also felt like, ok, if you put a gun to my head and said "Do Hawthorne and Back one more time" I could have. that distance would have been just over the Ironman course. Not so sure about running a marathon after, but in 2 months I'll be there.
I do think I kind of underestimated myself today, though, and that's why I got back early. I didn't think I'd go as fast at the start, and also figured my last trip down would be much worse. So I'll try and set my goals a little higher next time, as at the very worst it will lead to my not cutting myself short.
Nutrition wise, I took a gel every 45, as prescribed, and opted for the Cliff Bar at 2:10. A little early, but I was fucking starving by that point. I think 1 cliff bar was enough for a ride like this, and by the beginning of the last lap my stomach felt like shit. I seriously wanted to vomit about an hour after taking Lipodrene 3 and 4. But, you know, a lot of things are going to hurt on race day. I'll just add my stomach to the list.
Run - 30 Minutes (Treadmill)
I had some Powerade and headed down to the treadmills here at the gym at Jefferson 2nd. I have decided that for my brick runs for the next few weeks, I am going to start utilizing the treadmill to give myself a faster muscle memory when it comes to strides. I know had I run on the road I would have just chopped it out for 30 minutes because I was so sore, but the hope here is to train my legs to go at 6 mph after a long ride so I can go at that pace at the Ironman. At least to start out. My last 3 bricked runs have all sucked, so I needed to figure out how to make those better.
Treadmills are easy, as was this run. I just trotted along watching the Cincinnati-Rutgers game, and enjoying the AC and bevvy of ethnic looking girls who came in after I started. Ended up going 3 miles in 30 minutes, a pace I hope I can keep on race day.
All in all, a tough training day to be sure. But I have at least 3 more like this, plus the race. The feeling of exhaustion is good, but I may actually be able to get to bed early tonight.
Monday, August 31, 2009
T71 - Hammerhead Olympic Triathlon - Swim/Bike/Run
Camp Blanding, Florida
The training card called for a 15K run to finish off recovery week, but since this race was close to home, and, let’s be honest, probably a lot tougher than a 15k, I figured it would be a sufficient substitute. It was my first race since the abysmal Half-Iron in Orlando back in May. Three months without a race is a little long, I think. This was to be my first tuneup race for the Ironman, and I’d hoped to give in a personal best showing. Especially since training has definitely upped my speeds. In the swim and bike at least.
This had all been my intention. But sometimes in life we make some choices that derail us from out goals. After my phenomenal workouts Friday, I decided to celebrate by going to a party over at my friend Kirks. I figured I’d slowly drink some beers, leave by 2, take Saturday off to recover. Well, a few beers turned into large amounts of beer, jungle juice, and then – my personal favorite – straight vodka out of a plastic cup. Long story short, I drank way more than I should, and did some things I probably shouldn’t have. The accompanying hangover and stress allowed me to sleep all of about 3 hours Friday night. Which, for those who are familiar, is the most important night before a Sunday race. I spent the next day stressed out and nursing a hangover, and even though I went to bed at 8:30 for the 4:30 wake up, I only ended up sleeping about another 3.5 hours.
Point is, I didn’t get much sleep. But the 8th season of South Park, pretty good shit. I drove up to Camp Blanding Sunday morning hoping that my improved conditioning could make up for the lack of rest my body had gotten. I took 3 Sudafed on the way, just in case.
Swim - .9 miles – 30:41
2 Lipodrene
I was once again in the last wave, as is customary in the Fat Boy Division (they call it Clydesdale, but we all know). After my encouraging time trial, I decided that I would line up near the front and try to actually compete in this part of the race. The open water swim starts are always a cluster fuck, but since I’d decided I actually wanted to try and get ahead here. I didn’t mind. It was kinda fun pulling and kicking people as I went past them, and pretty soon I found myself with no one I could see in front of me except the green-capped ladies from the wave before. There may have been some other guys way out ahead or off to my side, but otherwise it looked good.
The outdoor goggles helped a lot, and though my sighting still needs improvement, I kept pretty far left so I wasn’t having to swim back to the buoys. At about the end of the backstretch, which is about 500 meters to go, this blue cap (that was the cap assigned to my wave and, consequently, my division)passed me on the inside of the buoy, and inched ahead of me. Usually I would just let this go, but fuck it, no, not this time. The guy was swimming at a pretty solid pace, and I had to really push it to keep up with him. I even got in front of him a few times, and we stayed pretty even all the way to the finish. I was proud of myself for actually pushing the swim and going fast, and learning to breathe enough to have the oxygen to do it. The guy ended up finishing the swim just ahead of me, as this is probably a result of my still not being competitive enough to give it the extra push at the end like he did. But I mean, I think he crossed the swim finish 5 seconds ahead of me, so I’m not too broken up about it.
T1 – 4:42
Bike - 24.9 miles – 1:13:37
1 Lipodrene, 3 Advil, Salt Tablet, gel
Transitions today were slow. I’m going to go ahead and say they were probably the only area that were slowed by my lack of sleep, but my brain was just not all there. Whatever, I got my shit on and hit the bike course determined to continue my solid performance from the swim. And the first mile, it looked as if that may not be the case. I couldn’t get up over 18, and while I wanted to blame a lack of warmup, I also realized this might be where my unrested muscles might not respond how I’d hoped. Now, the bike course at Blanding had a few pretty good sized hills, and by the time I finished climbing the first one (at mile 2, I might add) I was doing about 15. Things were not looking good.
But a funny thing happens when I hit the flats. Trevor told me during our last ride that on the flats I could pretty much keep up with anyone, and I repeated this to myself as I got down in aero and passed bike after bike after bike. I was going a solid 25 through most of the flats, and even ended up muscling up some hills at around 18-19. But not all of them. This course was a lot like Hawthorne in that it had some inclines and inclines that looked like flats, so much so that you’d be going down one on the way to the turnaround going 27, thinking you were the shit, only to be slowed to 16 on the way back. I didn’t feel a headwind, so I’m blaming optical illusions. I took a gel at the 45 minute mark, figuring a Cliff Bar would probably slow me down. I did notice though that I lose time on tight turnarounds like this one where I have to unclip because I feel like I’ll fall over, and when taking a drink or eating. These are things which require coordination, I suppose, and really my bike speed is not due to that at all. Not sure if this is something that will get worked out before the Ironman, but really, I’m not terrible concerned.
At any rate, I was only passed by two people on the bike, both of whom were going well over 25 and had bikes that cost more than a new Saturn. So I didn’t feel too bad. I passed a lot more than 2 people, and was averaging 20 right up until the last 5 miles, where the subtle inclines and wind got to me. And by this I mean I was doing about 17 until I hit the final few straightaways , where I ended up doing about 21-22. I looked at my computer at the end and my average speed was 19.8, which, if you do the math means I would have had to have finished in a lot more time than this. Later I looked, the course was only 24 miles. But whatever. I’ll just call it a confidence booster.
T2 – 3:17
Run -6.4 miles 1:09:02
1 Salt Tab, 1 Gel
Again, transition was slow, as I sat on my ass to put on my shoes and took my time getting on my running shoes and having another gel. I also downed another Vitamin Water and hit the road.
Well, I have come to realize that though I have learned to push it and be competitive when swimming and biking, running I just do not give a fuck. Maybe it’s because I’ve been miserable on so many runs over my life, but I just make no effort to run fast at all. The only people I passed on the run were either walking or puking, and I lost count of how many people passed me. Mostly thin, older women working off their child birth weight, I would guess. And then some older guys I had passed on the bike. Justin once told me watching me on the bike and run was like night and day, and today I fulyl understood it. I held to my 10-minute mile pace, even knowing I only had to run 6. The course had a couple of serious hills, which was not cool, but it was not impossible.
I took a gel at the 4-mile mark, and drank water at every aid station, although I only stopped to allow myself to drink the whole cup without spilling. I never felt tired or overheated or sore at all on the run. Maybe it was the Advil, or the adrenaline from all the supplements, but this was just like a nice late-morning jog. I thought about pushing it like I had on the other 2 events, and just couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why this is, but I think my focus during the last 8 weeks is going to be pushing the run a little. I’m not sure why, though, given that the run on the Ironman is more about survival than speed. But maybe I can make it a goal for my next tuneup race.
Final Time – 3:00:57 – 1st in Division (Clydesdale Under 39)
All in all, I was happy with how this race went. Shit, I mean I won my division, even though it only had five people. My events I felt strongest in, I did strongly, and I totally blew the run. I’m not a good runner. Weighing as much as I do will do that. So I guess today I just focused on doing what I do well really well, and saying fuck it to the rest. My final time was not a great improvement over the Escape t o Miami last fall, but my bike and swim splits were. Aside from someone inadvertently taking my right bike shoe, the event was pretty good. I’ll have to get new shoes and cleats before Tuesday, so we’ll see how that goes. But a satisfying tuneup to be sure. Just kinda scary to think it takes 4 of these to make an Ironman.
The training card called for a 15K run to finish off recovery week, but since this race was close to home, and, let’s be honest, probably a lot tougher than a 15k, I figured it would be a sufficient substitute. It was my first race since the abysmal Half-Iron in Orlando back in May. Three months without a race is a little long, I think. This was to be my first tuneup race for the Ironman, and I’d hoped to give in a personal best showing. Especially since training has definitely upped my speeds. In the swim and bike at least.
This had all been my intention. But sometimes in life we make some choices that derail us from out goals. After my phenomenal workouts Friday, I decided to celebrate by going to a party over at my friend Kirks. I figured I’d slowly drink some beers, leave by 2, take Saturday off to recover. Well, a few beers turned into large amounts of beer, jungle juice, and then – my personal favorite – straight vodka out of a plastic cup. Long story short, I drank way more than I should, and did some things I probably shouldn’t have. The accompanying hangover and stress allowed me to sleep all of about 3 hours Friday night. Which, for those who are familiar, is the most important night before a Sunday race. I spent the next day stressed out and nursing a hangover, and even though I went to bed at 8:30 for the 4:30 wake up, I only ended up sleeping about another 3.5 hours.
Point is, I didn’t get much sleep. But the 8th season of South Park, pretty good shit. I drove up to Camp Blanding Sunday morning hoping that my improved conditioning could make up for the lack of rest my body had gotten. I took 3 Sudafed on the way, just in case.
Swim - .9 miles – 30:41
2 Lipodrene
I was once again in the last wave, as is customary in the Fat Boy Division (they call it Clydesdale, but we all know). After my encouraging time trial, I decided that I would line up near the front and try to actually compete in this part of the race. The open water swim starts are always a cluster fuck, but since I’d decided I actually wanted to try and get ahead here. I didn’t mind. It was kinda fun pulling and kicking people as I went past them, and pretty soon I found myself with no one I could see in front of me except the green-capped ladies from the wave before. There may have been some other guys way out ahead or off to my side, but otherwise it looked good.
The outdoor goggles helped a lot, and though my sighting still needs improvement, I kept pretty far left so I wasn’t having to swim back to the buoys. At about the end of the backstretch, which is about 500 meters to go, this blue cap (that was the cap assigned to my wave and, consequently, my division)passed me on the inside of the buoy, and inched ahead of me. Usually I would just let this go, but fuck it, no, not this time. The guy was swimming at a pretty solid pace, and I had to really push it to keep up with him. I even got in front of him a few times, and we stayed pretty even all the way to the finish. I was proud of myself for actually pushing the swim and going fast, and learning to breathe enough to have the oxygen to do it. The guy ended up finishing the swim just ahead of me, as this is probably a result of my still not being competitive enough to give it the extra push at the end like he did. But I mean, I think he crossed the swim finish 5 seconds ahead of me, so I’m not too broken up about it.
T1 – 4:42
Bike - 24.9 miles – 1:13:37
1 Lipodrene, 3 Advil, Salt Tablet, gel
Transitions today were slow. I’m going to go ahead and say they were probably the only area that were slowed by my lack of sleep, but my brain was just not all there. Whatever, I got my shit on and hit the bike course determined to continue my solid performance from the swim. And the first mile, it looked as if that may not be the case. I couldn’t get up over 18, and while I wanted to blame a lack of warmup, I also realized this might be where my unrested muscles might not respond how I’d hoped. Now, the bike course at Blanding had a few pretty good sized hills, and by the time I finished climbing the first one (at mile 2, I might add) I was doing about 15. Things were not looking good.
But a funny thing happens when I hit the flats. Trevor told me during our last ride that on the flats I could pretty much keep up with anyone, and I repeated this to myself as I got down in aero and passed bike after bike after bike. I was going a solid 25 through most of the flats, and even ended up muscling up some hills at around 18-19. But not all of them. This course was a lot like Hawthorne in that it had some inclines and inclines that looked like flats, so much so that you’d be going down one on the way to the turnaround going 27, thinking you were the shit, only to be slowed to 16 on the way back. I didn’t feel a headwind, so I’m blaming optical illusions. I took a gel at the 45 minute mark, figuring a Cliff Bar would probably slow me down. I did notice though that I lose time on tight turnarounds like this one where I have to unclip because I feel like I’ll fall over, and when taking a drink or eating. These are things which require coordination, I suppose, and really my bike speed is not due to that at all. Not sure if this is something that will get worked out before the Ironman, but really, I’m not terrible concerned.
At any rate, I was only passed by two people on the bike, both of whom were going well over 25 and had bikes that cost more than a new Saturn. So I didn’t feel too bad. I passed a lot more than 2 people, and was averaging 20 right up until the last 5 miles, where the subtle inclines and wind got to me. And by this I mean I was doing about 17 until I hit the final few straightaways , where I ended up doing about 21-22. I looked at my computer at the end and my average speed was 19.8, which, if you do the math means I would have had to have finished in a lot more time than this. Later I looked, the course was only 24 miles. But whatever. I’ll just call it a confidence booster.
T2 – 3:17
Run -6.4 miles 1:09:02
1 Salt Tab, 1 Gel
Again, transition was slow, as I sat on my ass to put on my shoes and took my time getting on my running shoes and having another gel. I also downed another Vitamin Water and hit the road.
Well, I have come to realize that though I have learned to push it and be competitive when swimming and biking, running I just do not give a fuck. Maybe it’s because I’ve been miserable on so many runs over my life, but I just make no effort to run fast at all. The only people I passed on the run were either walking or puking, and I lost count of how many people passed me. Mostly thin, older women working off their child birth weight, I would guess. And then some older guys I had passed on the bike. Justin once told me watching me on the bike and run was like night and day, and today I fulyl understood it. I held to my 10-minute mile pace, even knowing I only had to run 6. The course had a couple of serious hills, which was not cool, but it was not impossible.
I took a gel at the 4-mile mark, and drank water at every aid station, although I only stopped to allow myself to drink the whole cup without spilling. I never felt tired or overheated or sore at all on the run. Maybe it was the Advil, or the adrenaline from all the supplements, but this was just like a nice late-morning jog. I thought about pushing it like I had on the other 2 events, and just couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why this is, but I think my focus during the last 8 weeks is going to be pushing the run a little. I’m not sure why, though, given that the run on the Ironman is more about survival than speed. But maybe I can make it a goal for my next tuneup race.
Final Time – 3:00:57 – 1st in Division (Clydesdale Under 39)
All in all, I was happy with how this race went. Shit, I mean I won my division, even though it only had five people. My events I felt strongest in, I did strongly, and I totally blew the run. I’m not a good runner. Weighing as much as I do will do that. So I guess today I just focused on doing what I do well really well, and saying fuck it to the rest. My final time was not a great improvement over the Escape t o Miami last fall, but my bike and swim splits were. Aside from someone inadvertently taking my right bike shoe, the event was pretty good. I’ll have to get new shoes and cleats before Tuesday, so we’ll see how that goes. But a satisfying tuneup to be sure. Just kinda scary to think it takes 4 of these to make an Ironman.
Monday, August 24, 2009
T65 - The Unrelenting Hills Of Kona - Bike
Kona
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
Monday, July 13, 2009
T35 - Uphill, Both Ways - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
I made the mistake of not eating much more than a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bagel with peanut butter last night after the long swim. I've realized that when I know I have a long workout like this one the next day, I really need to make a point of eating something substantial. Even if I'm too lazy to cook, go get some pasta or a pizza or something. Taking in 1000 calories after a 3000 meter swim and before a 50 mile bike isn't gonna cut it.
Bike: 3 Hours
2 Lipodrene
This was my longest bike since the awful, awful Orlando half, and only my 4th ride this long of 2009. This is more indicative of how bad that last training cycle was than anything else, but the point is that this was my longest ride of the Ironman Training Program to date. I took along 2 gels and a Cliff bar, and was militant with myself about taking them all at 45 minute intervals. I did that one nicely.
What I did not do nicely is ride fast. Like I hit Hawthorne and couldn't really get up much past 19. I thought I'd just use this as a ride to get used to being out on the road for long periods of time, and thought I'd just cruise and get used to it. but 19 became 18 became 17, and a lot of times I found myself biking like I was on an incline when the terrain looked pretty flat. Like I'd be rolling along at 18 or 19, then all of a sudden I couldn't go past 15. Putting forth the same effort, but just couldn't go any faster. It literally felt like I was constantly going uphill. I'm starting to think maybe the trail has some optical illusions like that, where there's a grade but it looks flat. What else explains it?
It was hot, so I think that was part of why my legs weren't as powerful as they sometimes are. I also was, as I said before, not going on a ton of food. The ride just went slow today, and I'm not sure why. I stopped at about the 1:50 mark for a couple of minutes just to get my motivation back, and the 3 advil I took at the 1 hour mark kept the back pain at bay from about 1:30 to 2:40. So that's going to be a key ingredient on a lot of future long bikes. And there are a lot in the future.
The only bright spot here is that this ride reminded me of a lot of shorter rides I'd has last cycle. Like no power, hard to get going fast, and lost motivation. The difference here is that this was a long, long ride and it was hot out. then it was temperate and the rides were short. I credit a clearer mind this time around, I really do, and it only goes to underscore my points about minimizing life distractions when you're training for an event like this.
Run: 30 Minutes
The Lipodrene had more or less worn off, but I saw no point in taking another one when I'd be done as soon as it kicked in. I had one more gel and had a nice shuffle down to the stadium and back. All I could think was "Fuck. I gotta do this like 8 more times after a bike ride that's twice as long? Good thing I have 14 more weeks." The run actually wasn't too painful and I could definitely have gone longer. But looking at a 90 minute swim tomorrow, I saw no need for that.
I made the mistake of not eating much more than a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bagel with peanut butter last night after the long swim. I've realized that when I know I have a long workout like this one the next day, I really need to make a point of eating something substantial. Even if I'm too lazy to cook, go get some pasta or a pizza or something. Taking in 1000 calories after a 3000 meter swim and before a 50 mile bike isn't gonna cut it.
Bike: 3 Hours
2 Lipodrene
This was my longest bike since the awful, awful Orlando half, and only my 4th ride this long of 2009. This is more indicative of how bad that last training cycle was than anything else, but the point is that this was my longest ride of the Ironman Training Program to date. I took along 2 gels and a Cliff bar, and was militant with myself about taking them all at 45 minute intervals. I did that one nicely.
What I did not do nicely is ride fast. Like I hit Hawthorne and couldn't really get up much past 19. I thought I'd just use this as a ride to get used to being out on the road for long periods of time, and thought I'd just cruise and get used to it. but 19 became 18 became 17, and a lot of times I found myself biking like I was on an incline when the terrain looked pretty flat. Like I'd be rolling along at 18 or 19, then all of a sudden I couldn't go past 15. Putting forth the same effort, but just couldn't go any faster. It literally felt like I was constantly going uphill. I'm starting to think maybe the trail has some optical illusions like that, where there's a grade but it looks flat. What else explains it?
It was hot, so I think that was part of why my legs weren't as powerful as they sometimes are. I also was, as I said before, not going on a ton of food. The ride just went slow today, and I'm not sure why. I stopped at about the 1:50 mark for a couple of minutes just to get my motivation back, and the 3 advil I took at the 1 hour mark kept the back pain at bay from about 1:30 to 2:40. So that's going to be a key ingredient on a lot of future long bikes. And there are a lot in the future.
The only bright spot here is that this ride reminded me of a lot of shorter rides I'd has last cycle. Like no power, hard to get going fast, and lost motivation. The difference here is that this was a long, long ride and it was hot out. then it was temperate and the rides were short. I credit a clearer mind this time around, I really do, and it only goes to underscore my points about minimizing life distractions when you're training for an event like this.
Run: 30 Minutes
The Lipodrene had more or less worn off, but I saw no point in taking another one when I'd be done as soon as it kicked in. I had one more gel and had a nice shuffle down to the stadium and back. All I could think was "Fuck. I gotta do this like 8 more times after a bike ride that's twice as long? Good thing I have 14 more weeks." The run actually wasn't too painful and I could definitely have gone longer. But looking at a 90 minute swim tomorrow, I saw no need for that.
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