Miami Beach
Run - 13.1 miles
2 Lipodrene
Tony, first of all is about the best pre-race host imaginable. Not only did he give up his bedroom so I'd have a comfortable place to sleep, he also got me a bunch of bottled water, set 4 alarms, and knocked on the door at 5 a.m. to wake me up. He does triathlons too, so he knew the importnace. Anyway, I made it from his house in Flagami to the beach by about 5:30, had 2 bagles on the drive over, parked by Nikki Beach and took the shuttle over to Jungle Island where the race was starting.
This race was pretty fun. With all the people running it in costumes, and the shorter-distance, it just had an atmosphere of the sort of event that was full of people there for a good time. I figured given that you don't get much more serious than an Ironman, this would be a nice, fun final long run before the not-so-fun one in a week. Since I never dress for Halloween, my costume was "Guy in Black Shorts" and I did not bring the iPod. Nor did I bring any gels.
The emails I'd gotten had made it sound like they had gels at the aid stations, but it became pretty obvious by aid station 1 that they would not be providing anything other than water and Powerade at the aid stations. Good thing I brought a Cliff Bar with me, which I ended up eating half of at about mile 8. I started the race apparently running about a 9 minute mile pace, according to the guy running next to me who didn't shut up. Which I thought felt pretty maintainable, until he stopped and walked. "Break time," he said. Throughout the race I would see him pass me, then I'd pass him and his friend (female) and this went on until just before the turnaround on 48th Street.
The run was far and away the most scenic I've done this entire cycle, going across the MacArthur Causeway. through South Pointe Park and up the boardwalk to 48th Street, where you turn around, rtun back on the boardwalk along the beach, then do a loop of South Pointe Park before ending in front of Nikki Beach. And, fontunately, the sun really didn't come out until right at the end. I took a 3rd Lipodrene at mile 8-ish, and hydrated with 2 Powerades and a wter at every other aid station.
The miles seemed to go by quick, although my pace wan't much faster than usual, and I never felt labored or exhausted or worn out the entire time. Dizzy, a few times, but not once like I wanted to stop. The whole thing felt like it went pretty fast, I even felt like I hit the halfway point early. As it was, I finished in about 2:20, which is right where I thought I'd be. Yeah, I run slow. I know. The countless women 15 years my senior who passed me reminded me of this. But I also ran my pace. Meaning that I was in shape enough to run this and not get winded. Could I push myself more? Yeah, probably. But I think my mentality for these things is set towards Ironman. Like don't dog it, but don't push it too much. You got a long way to go.
And so that was how I ran this race. It was a lot of fun, and I ran exactly how I thought I would. Which is neither discouraging nor particularly motivating. It just lets me know that I know what I can do. And contrary to the Rickenbacker Ride of the day before, this actually felt good. So 2 for 3 on Miami workouts this trip (swim and run good, bike bad). A better percentage than ususal.
I will also note that there were a LOT of attractive girls on this run. Usually at triathlons, the girls look weathered and hard, and while their bodies are typically pretty good they look a little windswept. For some reason half-marathons just attract a different crowd. There was a girl standing next to me at the starting line wearing like a giant British Flag dress thing that was easily the best looking girl I'd seen at any endurance event. And the group of girls dressed as lifeguards who came and sat with me at the after party at Nikki Beach weren't bad either. I think when I get back to Miami, I'm gonna have to start going more of these.
Showing posts with label girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label girls. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
T5 - All Lit Up Again - Swim/Bike (trainer)
Gainesville
Today, I attempted my first early morning workout since what was, quite possibly, the worst workout I've ever had. That workout was pretty emblematic of the entrie last training cycle actually, and it was essentially the same workout as today. So the comparison was interesting. Last time, I went early because, well, I wasn't sleeping. My girlfriend at the time was on a roadtrip with her ex-boyfriend ("he's really skinny and almost completely bald. Really you have nothing to worry about."), and despite the fact that I couldn't do anything about it, it didn't help me sleep at night. And it didn't help my workout either. Not only did I have a very mediocre swim, but when I tried to go out on the bike I was so distracted practicing the arguments I was going to have with her, I swore I had a flat tire I was going so slow. Of course, I did not have a flat. I was just biking like shit, and the cold wind didn't help either.
Moral of the story: If you are the kind of person like me, who gets stressed out about women, do not attempt a feat like an Ironman unless you are A) In a rock-solid relationship (married, engaged, long-term girlfriend, etc.) or B) blissfully single. I am opting for the latter this time around. Seriously, sex is fine, but nothing past that until I cross the finish line in Panama City.
That being said, today's workout was the polar opposite of that one. Really, the best one I've had in a long time. The warmer weather didn't hurt, nor did the ephedra for breakfast. Honestly, though, I don't know how some triathletes do this every day, getting up at 6 AM to workout. Like it was cool as a sort of novelty today, but for chrissakes, my body just doesn't react as well if I'm sweating before noon. Or does it?
Swim:
wu: 400 continuous.
main: 8 x 100 EBEH (each 100 = 25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25 Hard)
2 Lipodrene on empty stomach, then a gel before start
Well, not being one who ever gets up before 11, I forgot that, much like traffic, the gym has a morning rush hour. At GHFC, this is apparently between 6:30 and 8:00 AM. I got there and all 6 lanes had two swimmers. Given my abhorring of circle swimming, I opted to wait until half a lane opened up. 10 mintues, nothing is open, and finally this Patricia-Heaton-at-60-look-alike asks me if I'd like to jump in and Circle swim. Well, I had to be in Miami by 3 and still had a whole workout to go, so, for the second day in a row, I circle swam.
I will say, the circle swimming gets me swimming a lot faster, only because I want to get the fuck out as soon as possible. So maybe this is a good idea, who knows? At any rate, I did the 400 meter warmup faster than I usually do a regular workout, and did the 8 EBEH with little problems. Didn't hurt I had my own lane by the third set either. I love EBEH, because you never swim more than 100 yards at once, and you never have to do more than 25 of them fast. I like swimming, but I don't do sprints.
Bike: 45 minutes on trainer
1 additional Lipodrene, Cliff Bar to settle stomach
The workout today called for 45 minutes of continuous spinning, so I thought what better time to break out the trainer for the first time this cycle than now? Last cycle, I did the trainer a little more than I should have, mostly because it was cold last cycle and I"m not a fan of biking when it's below 75 degrees. The trainer, though, is like a fucking sweatbox on a morning like this when you can feel the air beating you down. It's all the exertion of a bike ride without the cooling breeze. I was Meltzering everywhere within 10 minutes.
I also allowed myself to use the iPod for the first time this cycle. 45 minutes on the trainer with no music is actually a technique they occasionally use at Guantanamo Bay to get information, so I figured this was an acceptable music use. The new headphones are hands down the best speakers I've ever owned (sad, I know) and the music deifinitely helped. I do love my Paramore, and any time I hear "Lit Up" I work about twice as hard.
After the 15 minute warmup in the small ring, I switched over to the big ring and slowed for a minute. Then I said to myself, "You know what? They don't call it the trainer so you can fucking dog it for half an hour. Fucking push it!" And so I did, putting it in the next-to-highest gear for the duration of the workout. And I felt great. Yeah, the 75 mg of ephedra probably didn't hurt, but it was good to feel like I crushed a workout for the first time in a long time.
Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it's the music, or maybe it's not having any girls to worry about, but if I can keep going with workouts like the one I had today, I guarantee a much better result than what happened in Orlando.
Today, I attempted my first early morning workout since what was, quite possibly, the worst workout I've ever had. That workout was pretty emblematic of the entrie last training cycle actually, and it was essentially the same workout as today. So the comparison was interesting. Last time, I went early because, well, I wasn't sleeping. My girlfriend at the time was on a roadtrip with her ex-boyfriend ("he's really skinny and almost completely bald. Really you have nothing to worry about."), and despite the fact that I couldn't do anything about it, it didn't help me sleep at night. And it didn't help my workout either. Not only did I have a very mediocre swim, but when I tried to go out on the bike I was so distracted practicing the arguments I was going to have with her, I swore I had a flat tire I was going so slow. Of course, I did not have a flat. I was just biking like shit, and the cold wind didn't help either.
Moral of the story: If you are the kind of person like me, who gets stressed out about women, do not attempt a feat like an Ironman unless you are A) In a rock-solid relationship (married, engaged, long-term girlfriend, etc.) or B) blissfully single. I am opting for the latter this time around. Seriously, sex is fine, but nothing past that until I cross the finish line in Panama City.
That being said, today's workout was the polar opposite of that one. Really, the best one I've had in a long time. The warmer weather didn't hurt, nor did the ephedra for breakfast. Honestly, though, I don't know how some triathletes do this every day, getting up at 6 AM to workout. Like it was cool as a sort of novelty today, but for chrissakes, my body just doesn't react as well if I'm sweating before noon. Or does it?
Swim:
wu: 400 continuous.
main: 8 x 100 EBEH (each 100 = 25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25 Hard)
2 Lipodrene on empty stomach, then a gel before start
Well, not being one who ever gets up before 11, I forgot that, much like traffic, the gym has a morning rush hour. At GHFC, this is apparently between 6:30 and 8:00 AM. I got there and all 6 lanes had two swimmers. Given my abhorring of circle swimming, I opted to wait until half a lane opened up. 10 mintues, nothing is open, and finally this Patricia-Heaton-at-60-look-alike asks me if I'd like to jump in and Circle swim. Well, I had to be in Miami by 3 and still had a whole workout to go, so, for the second day in a row, I circle swam.
I will say, the circle swimming gets me swimming a lot faster, only because I want to get the fuck out as soon as possible. So maybe this is a good idea, who knows? At any rate, I did the 400 meter warmup faster than I usually do a regular workout, and did the 8 EBEH with little problems. Didn't hurt I had my own lane by the third set either. I love EBEH, because you never swim more than 100 yards at once, and you never have to do more than 25 of them fast. I like swimming, but I don't do sprints.
Bike: 45 minutes on trainer
1 additional Lipodrene, Cliff Bar to settle stomach
The workout today called for 45 minutes of continuous spinning, so I thought what better time to break out the trainer for the first time this cycle than now? Last cycle, I did the trainer a little more than I should have, mostly because it was cold last cycle and I"m not a fan of biking when it's below 75 degrees. The trainer, though, is like a fucking sweatbox on a morning like this when you can feel the air beating you down. It's all the exertion of a bike ride without the cooling breeze. I was Meltzering everywhere within 10 minutes.
I also allowed myself to use the iPod for the first time this cycle. 45 minutes on the trainer with no music is actually a technique they occasionally use at Guantanamo Bay to get information, so I figured this was an acceptable music use. The new headphones are hands down the best speakers I've ever owned (sad, I know) and the music deifinitely helped. I do love my Paramore, and any time I hear "Lit Up" I work about twice as hard.
After the 15 minute warmup in the small ring, I switched over to the big ring and slowed for a minute. Then I said to myself, "You know what? They don't call it the trainer so you can fucking dog it for half an hour. Fucking push it!" And so I did, putting it in the next-to-highest gear for the duration of the workout. And I felt great. Yeah, the 75 mg of ephedra probably didn't hurt, but it was good to feel like I crushed a workout for the first time in a long time.
Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it's the music, or maybe it's not having any girls to worry about, but if I can keep going with workouts like the one I had today, I guarantee a much better result than what happened in Orlando.
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