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.

T62 - Regression Analysis - Bike

Gainesville

Bike: 120 minutes with long tempo work
wu: 15 minutes RPE 3 working to 4 by end
main: 90 minutes at RPE 5-7 steady mix of aero and non
cd: 15 minutes at RPE 2-3.

2 Lipodrene
I again include the speed instructions here to demonstrate that I did not follow them at all. In fact, I didn't follow much of anything at all. I got on the bike today and immediately knew it was going to be a bad ride. It may have been because my computer was now registering a speed of 8.2 when I headed down 2nd to Hawthorne. Now I know I'm not exactly Greg LeMonde here, but I do not bike 8.2 on a flat surface in my sleep. This computer malfunctioning continued throughout the ride as I would frequently look down and see speed like 9.5, 11.1, 5.6. Again, I was dogging it today, but I was not dead. I just fucking love when I pay people to fix something and they don't fix it. Unbelievable.

The point is, today's bike was a waste. I mean by the 1:30 mark all I was thinking is "When is this shit fucking done?" I thought maybe I'd turn it around at halfway, as I was going over 21 for a while after that. But soon my enthusiasm waned, and my speed did as well. I took 2 gels on the ride, so it wasn't nutrition. It wasn't hot (even rained a little) and despite my not making it to the end of Hawthorne I was never thirsty. I just straight up didn't bring it today. Averaged 16.9 over 2 hours. Actually, 2:06 as I dogged it just as bad on the way back.

I would like to chlalk this up to not being fully recovered form Saturday's grueling trainer session. My legs were sore the whole time. And I think this is the main cause. I also had turkey for lunch, and that tryptophan may have been a factor. Yeah, right. No, I was just flat out demotivated today. I started getting stressed about money at about the one hour mark, and I am usually pretty good at blocking the rest of the world out on the bike. But all that negativity didn't really make me ride any harder. And much as I hate to think it was a factor, I had sex the past couple of nights. I only note this because looking back I was crushing workouts for the whole week and a half I wasn't doing it, and when I am again the last two have been average and terrible. I don't know why it would be a factor. The exertion isn't very long, and it's not like I'm not taking care of things when I'm not getting any. This Hawaii trip, assuming I don't get any, should be a good indicator.

But I also realized 2 long bike days in a row is NOT a good idea for training, Form here on in when I have 2 long bikes scheduled in consecutive days, I will put a rest day in between, since I'll have about 14 to play with from September on. I think the lack of recovery time made today's workout useless at best, and I'd care not to repeat this. Alright, next ride is in Kona. This should be pretty fucking awesome.

T49 - The Escape From Campus Lodge - Run/Bike/Swim Brick

Gainesville

Today's workout called for what amounted to a reverse Olympic Distance triathlon. And thinking the only way to get these transitions in quick was to base the workout out of somewhere that had a 25-yard pool and a good bike course, I figured I'd see if my friend Justin (who live at Campus Lodge, which has both) wanted to train with me. Justin is one of my former students who I'd actually trained with prior to that who did last year's Florida Ironman. He's a good person to train with because he's a tall, lean fucker who runs a lot better than me. But I bike better than him. So we can push each other to a point. He was not too thrilled to be starting at 9 a.m., but I knew doing the run any later would be even more miserable than it already was. Because this was in essence an reverse Olympic Distance Triathlon, I thought I'd give it a cute name. And given every city seems to like to have a race that involves an "Escape," hence the title of today's "race."

Run - 60 minutes

2 Lipodrene

The run wasn't too bad, going from Campus Lodge on Williston out the back way up to the Planet Smoothie on 34th where he works then up Old Archer Road a couple of miles. No shade to speak of really, but because it was pre-10 a.m., it wasn't too punishing. I ran with Justin about 3/4 of the way to turn around before he got out in front, and the heat was definitely slowing me down a bit. We stopped at the Planet Smoothie on the way back and grabbed a quick Powerade out of the soda machine, as I took the opportunity to use the bathroom and have a gel.

The run was tough, but it didn't feel too labored. I was happy about that, but the sun definitely started kicking my ass. Started getting a real bad headache toward the end, and was wishing I'd brought along some Advil. It's hard to stay hydrated on a run like that since there's not exactly aid stations handing you water. I felt strong about the run, but the mild dehydration would not help my bike.


Bike - 90 Minutes

My car, where my bike was, was by this time in the middle of a blistering hot parking lot. So I got no relief from the sun. Changed over while Justin got his bike out of his apartment, and we headed out towards 441 to bike to Micanopy. 441 was the site of many a terrible ride last cycle, which I blamed on a lot of things. The one thing I forgot to blame those terrible rides on was wind. Hawthorne really doesn't have much wind to speak of this time of year. Not the case on 441. Not only that, but it has this washboard shit on the left side of the shoulder to keep cars from drifting into you. Nice for life-saving, I suppose, not so fun when you're in aero and don't see it and end up riding over a series of inch-deep slits in the road.

Anyway, I hit one of said washboards, and what do you know but my fucking computer goes out again. And, really ,with wind and heat, I was like "Fuck. this." The thing came in and out throughout the rest of the ride, but was more or less useless. I had to depend on Justin to tell me when we got to 45 minutes to turn around. The way down, because I had no way of knowing how far I had to go or when I'd be done, was highly unpleasant. Top that off with not a hint of shade and a continually-warming sun, and the first 45 was straight up shitty save for a little Aero race we had going through the "streets" of Micanopy. Justin stated asking me why I would pull harder than he would, but then when it was my turn to draft I would fall back. I had no idea, other than "I'm just getting lazy." Which is not a solid answer.

We turned it around (I had a gel here as well.) and it was like a whole new ride. I think mentally knowing how far I had to go made a huge difference, and the ice water from the Micanopy Country store didn't hurt either (I do need to remember to bring cash on all street rides, though). My speedometer came on intermittently and it was usually between 20-23. So that felt good. But man, the heat was just unrelenting. The air felt like steam the whole ride, and at one point when we hit Alligator Alley, Justin even remarked that it had all of a sudden just gotten much worse. Really, one of the hottest training days I can ever remember

I'm not sure if I'll ride 441 much more after this, I'm really not a fan. Especially with all the fucking cars. But even with the improved speed we got back in the same time it took us to get down there. Which makes me wonder. I think that included our water stop, though, so who knows. Point is, I'm taking the bike in tomorrow before I leave for Miami to get this computer unfucked once and for all. I can't have another ride get ruined by that.

Swim - 30 Minutes

Justin had warned me this swim was gonna suck. And suck it did for about the first 11 laps, but then I got into a groove and my shoulders weren't sore and I just kind of glided along, True, it was harder to push it having just been brutalized by the sun for 2 and a half hours, but when we did a time check at 25 laps it was only 25:44. So I did 4 more laps and got in 1450 in 30 minutes, which is certainly a solid improvement. The swim was even hot, though, as the water would get warmed evey time the sun peeked thourgh the clouds. That outdoor swimming was fun in Sac, not so fun here. But the swim wasn't bad, and while this wasn't my BEST workout, given the heat and the technical glitches, I't wasn't my worst.

I have to say, though, I've been disappointed with my workouts this week. I had hoped to really crush this reverse tri, and instead just had a workout I'd call "not bad." I think last week and even into Monday I got a little too into the old lifestyle of just drinking whenever and then training when I was sober, and that's just not gonna fly for this. I really need to realize that more than a couple of drink endeavors have to be few and far between now. Ice Luge this weekend being one of them, but still.

I also got a late-night text from a lady friend last night who came over at 1. We were done with things by 2, giving me a solid 6 hours of sleep, but I still have to wonder if the sex made me lose my edge a little bit. She was still in my room when I got home, and I was able to go again. I'm not sure if that means I didn't train hard enough, or I just really don't mind cramping muscles and exhaustion when it comes to sex. Probably, a little of both.

T39 - Aaron Klueber is a Dead Man - Run/Swim

Gainesville

So I was supposed to go to Daytona tonight and meet up with Klueber and his sister up in Flagler Beach. Of course, anything involving Aaron Klueber is a 50/50 proposition at BEST, but I figured his 2 AM text telling me I didn't even like Volusia County Lockup meant he was good to go. So I set my alarm for 7 a.m. to get this run in before it got hot, so I could do the swim in the afternoon then drive over and meet him. Well, given my sleep schedule I drank 3 beers to put myself to sleep around 12:30, when Klueber's text woke me up at 2, and I didn't get back to sleep till 5. Alarm went off at 7, meaning I got a whopping 3 and a half hours of sleep before having myself a Cliff bar for breakfast, STRETCHING and warming up on the elliptical for the longest run of the training cycle.


Run: 120 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
After the elliptical warmup I took 2-32. oz. bottles of Gatorade and a water bottle to my car to set it up as my de feacto aid station. Started out on the campus look, using the iPod (a long run in the heat without music? Wasn't sure how that was gonna go. But this was its first use in a while)and felt pretty strong until I got to the long hill on 2nd Ave. Running up hill with no shade, even at 9:45 a.m. is tough in Florida in July. I was chopping steps probably the last half, not real happy with my performance there. I even stopped for a second in front of the stadium because my run was getting so choppy. I looked like an old man running, really. But once I hit the flatland out by midtown I kept my stride pretty well. That back part of campus has some decent shade too, and I switched the music up for the last 2 trips from Jefferson to Stadium and back (I don't do 2 loops)which I think helped break the monotony. Also was rigorous about gel intake, which I could tell mad a difference when I started getting hungry.

But as I was running in the heat, my shoes soaked with sweat by the end of the first hour, I thought "Klueber flakes on this one, I'm gonna kill him. This is a run that could have easily been done 1t 5 p.m. when its about 10 degrees cooler and I have shade. But whatever, Daytona will be fun.

So I get home, check my phone, and no word from Klueber. Then, about 20 minutes later, I get a text from him and I knew what it was before I even opened it. Claiming his sister flaked this time. There's no point in ever calling Aaron Klueber out on a BS excuse for flaking because once in a while they're actually true, and even when they're not calling him out won't change anything, so why waste one's energy? So that was that. I made myself some ground beef and white rice and settled into a nice big lunch before the afternoon swim.

I had a lady visitor come over for a couple of hours after lunch, and let me tell you fucking after a 13-mile run and before a long swim may not be the best idea. But, as I realized when I was able to have sex right after the Orlando Half, I always have energy for sex. Its like always having room for Jell-O. And of course, this girl likes it real rough and aggressive, so I couldn't even half-ass it. This was one of the few times that as soon as I was done, both times, I really couldn't move. Like I just laid there drenched in sweat, my arms borderline cramping up, like, shit, I'm done. I did make sure to drink a lot of water, though, as I knew I had the long swim coming up. but, really, with this girl it was almost a third workout for the day. No wonder I was so fucking hungry all night.

Turns out though, sex not as detrimental to working out as once thought...


S: speed day
wu: 350 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 10 x 200 EBEH (each 200 = 50Easy, 50Build, 50Easy, 50 Hard)

2 Lipodrene
So after my visitor left, I went to the mall and bought some protein powder and new socks. Combined with the Lipodrene I bought online and the race I registered for in August, I spent about $300 Friday on Triathlon-related stuff. I hit the pool about 4:40 with a throbbing headache. Despite the water and Gatorade I had drank, the morning and day's activities had pretty badly dehydrated me. And these 200 meter EBEH were a little daunting.

I donned my new goggles (see, only took me a week to get them) and immediately realized they were too small. Or maybe my old ones were just too loose, who knows. But tight goggles when you have a throbbing headache, not good. I realized I'd have to take these at an easier pace than the 100 EBEHs, so I tried to go easy, but not leg-dragging easy, then a slight build, then a solid effort on the hard but not an all-out sprint. While I won't say this swim was crushed by any stretch, it was a solid effort. Especially given the workouts I'd had before it. And my headache went away by set 6 or 7, which I found interesting. And it was gone pretty much the rest of the day. I'm definitely going to need to ramp up the effort on furute workouts like this, but then again I don't know that I'll have many swims like this aftr a 12-13 mile run.

Went out and drank pretty heavily afterward. We'll see how this affects the Saturday workout.

T33 - Rest is Good! - Swim/Run

Gainesville

I opted to take my first non-scheduled rest day on Friday. I have about 20 extra days in this cycle, most of which will likely be used for travel in Hawaii and the East Coast Road Trip, but Friday I was just done. Again, I chose to prioritize sex over training and after the long brick I had Thursday then thought an hour of fucking on every surface in my apartment (and the balcony) would be a good idea. Which it was, but it left me thoroughly dehydrated and more or less wiped out until 2 p.m. the next day. Point being, all night sex marathons are fun, but aren't very conducive to doign a long workout the next day. So I got to Friday night and was like "You know, doing anything tonight would just be a bad training day. I'm going to take tonight off and go back to it Saturday." And I did. I took 3 Tylenol PM and was asleep by 12:30. Didn't wake up until about noon.

Swim: speed day--tough!
wu: 300 continuous- (alternate 25 swim, 25 kick)
main: 20 x 75 hold constant pace for each-so judge pace in the first few,
RPE 5


2 Lipodrene
This was a workout that went a lot better than I thought. The warmup was a bit short for the workout that it was, since my shoulders were getting sore around 75 number 3. But I kept the solid pace like it says, and pushed it to keep it up. I was very proud of myself for keeping the harder pace, although I did not go balls out. I have learned that there is a ground between all out and half-assed, and that's where I need to do sprints. I still lack the capacity to do sprints for that long, but these feltt good. I remember 9 and 12 being a bit slow, but otherwise, a solid swim. Very pleased with the effort.

Run: 100 minute long run combined with tempo effort.
75minutes at RPE3, last 25 minutes at RPE5

1 Lipodrene
I took about 3 hours in between and had a turkey sandwich from Jimmy Johns. I usually do workouts like this on the treadmill, since it involves increased speed, but I figured, nah, lets keep pushing it today. Sooooo glad I took that rest day. I did the campus loop without music, which I"m starting to get used to. The loop was a good pace, but still slower than the hour I aimed for it to be. Then I ran down to just before the law school, and strided it out at a faster pace pretty consistently on the way back. Like every time I felt myself slowing, I consciously picked up the pace, and was able to hold it. I took a gel with me and had it at around the 45 minute mark, then took another on the return trip after the campus loop. I never used it though. This run felt great and I really think taking that day off was key. I can't be afraid to do this in the future. But I also need to start prioritizing a little better. After July, when the Cosmo article and the project are done, I think training is going to go into another gear.

T32 - Yeah, That Was a Dumb Idea - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville

Wednesday was a nice off day. I took a long nap once I got home and then decided to go out Wednesday night. Typically I don't do this, but this girl had been texting me the whole week I was gone about all the things she wanted to do once I got back, so I figured what better way to end an off day? Bad decision.

Bike: 2 hours

I ended up meeting up with this girl Wednesday night, but it had been a while since I had dealt with a group of females under 21, and forgot that such groups operate by groupthink. Therefore a 1 a.m. trip to a frat house was the decided upon activity for them, despite the series of texts I had received that day implying a different ending to the night. Oh well, such is life in a college town. Anyway, I would not really have been so irritated had I not used time that could have been spent working or sleeping to go out. Similarly, I had about a pitcher of beer, which while ineffective insofar as getting me drunk, I definitely felt in my legs when I got on the bike. I felt like an idiot for going out, and vowed to start re prioritizing.

The first hour of the bike was very easy, I didn't push it since that's what the training card suggested. I did manage to get to nigbridge in 28 and 30, not a horrible time. But I only made it 17.4 miles the first half. The way back, though, it was like my legs woke up and I averaged about 18.5 on the return trip. I think the night out required a longer warmup than usual for my legs, and therefore I didn't really get going until the way back. I was happy with the last hour on the bike, and the ride seemed really short. I took gels at the :45 and 1:30 marks, and that seemed to work well. I also made the whole ride on only 2 bottles, probabl a function of it being late in the day. Still, nice to see I don't have to do the whole train on a 2 hour ride if I time it right.

Run: 1 Hour

1 Lipodrene
I figured I wouldn't need to take another gel since I'd had so many and the run was only an hour. This was not a bright idea. Not only did I decide to run without music (a good and necessary decision given my headphones don't work)but I decided to run the campus loop, which given that I was going to be running slower than normal since this was a brick, ensured overtime on the workout. Sure enough, I found myself about 20 minutes into the loop going "Yeah, no way I make this in under 1:15. Oh well, better to go a little too far. They don't call it Ironman training because it's easy." I briefly considered just running out half an hour and back, but that wouldn't be in the spirit of this training cycle. So I did the whole loop, although by the time I hit the Publix on 34th I was starving and cursing myself for not bringing a gel along. Finished in just under 1:15 (about 1:12, unscientifically) but the lesson here is on bricks, do the gels every 45 minutes no matter how you feel at the time. your workout will thank you.

And of course, I decided to go out yet again.....

T23 - Drafting Strangers - Bike

Gainesville

So I had an odd last night. I went and met this girl over at her house, and my boy shows up about an hour later with a bunch of people. They all start drinking, as do I, we play a little Ring of Fire, and I got to bed around 5. Everyone else stays up, my host coming into bed, drunk and demanding, around 6 or 7 (or both, I was a little drunk and a lot tired) but everyone else stayed up drinking. All night. Without coke. I have no idea how people stay up drinking until 10 a.m. without drugs, but somehow they managed. 10 a.m. and both me and this girl get calls on our phones from my friend. We ignore it, and ten minutes later, he calls us again. I figured it must be something important, so she answers. Turns out the guy he was riding out to breakfast with crashed into a tree right in front of Haile Village (ah, memories...)and he needed a ride home. I was hungover, tired, and fucked out and still had to drag my ass out of bed at 10:15 to go get him. I demanded brunch at Sisters' as my incentive for going out there. I was the only one who ate, and I paid, but damn, I think those waffles gave me the energy I needed for the workout.

Bike: 90 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
Given the heat and my exhaustion from the night before, I figured this workout would be quite sub-par. The first half was not fantastic, aside from making it to nigbridge in 26 and 30, but the headwind slowed me down until I turned around. I have a gel, and start to head back.

Maybe 4 miles into the return trip I pass this guy who looked about 40, also on a sport bike. I'm going about 19 or 20, and all of a sudden I hear this voice behind me after I pass him. No idea what it said, but I look back and this fucker is right on my ass. Uh, excuse me bro, but why the fuck are you drafting behind me? I don't even fucking know you! What the fuck makes you think I wanna make your workout easier for you?! But, you know, I don't say things like that unless it involves someone putting mayonnaise on a sandwich or taking too long to make a burrito, so I just decided to try and go so fast he couldn't keep up. I took it up to about 23 and the fucker was still there. Kept it up at 23.5 and seriously started to fell some labored breathing. I really didn't want this old fuck to pass me. Fortunately after about 3 miles he could no longer keep up and I let up a little.

I thought this burst of speed would wear my legs out, but fortunately I found myself still able to have a pretty solid ride back, no slower than usual. What this showed me is that I can probably push my bike rides harder than I have been. I just need some stranger to come and draft for no reason. Maybe he did me a favor, who knows. Trevor told me what he did is actually perfectly acceptable among cyclists. Of course, so is pissing yourself on the bike. So we'll see how long it is before I"m doing either.

T17 - Releasing the Glitch - Bike

Gainesville

I've had this fucking song in my head. For like 4 days now. It's called "Panic Switch" by the Silversun Pickups, a band I had been subjected to a great length by my ex and had never really had an opinion about. Until I heard this song on the radio the other day. It's a great song, but even after reading the lyrics twice, I have absolutely no fucking clue what it's about, or even what any of the lyrics mean. The chorus has a line that says something like "Will you fall in line, or release the glitch," and for the entire bike ride today, I had the bridge and chorus of this song in my head. And though I'm still not sure what exactly "releasing the glitch" entails, if there was a glitch in my riding, I released it today.

Bike - 2 Hours

2 Lipodrene
It was hot as fuck today. I mean by the time I hit the road word on the TV was that it was 99 degrees with humidity around 80%. So I packed an extra water bottle. Well, as I may have mentioned all of my rides in 2009 have been complete shit with a few exceptions, and even the good ones this cycle were merely improvements over what I'd been doing in the Spring. I have no idea why, in the Fall and last Summer I was crushing rides, but as I've discussed earlier I think the cold and some other circumstances just hampered my biking abilities. Not today.

I think the heat was the first thing that motivated me. It was nice and hot and there was no breeze. I had even stretched out a little beforehand and had taken 48 hours off. So on the way to Hawthorne, where I usually take it slow, I was averaging about 23. And this didn't really let up much the whole way down Hawthorne, as I kept singing the same ten bars of this "Panic Switch" song, out loud at some points (the guys at Nigbridge gave me some very funny looks)and made it to the end of Hawthorne in 56:30. That's a full 7 minutes faster than the last time I did this ride. I just kept telling myself to release the glitch. Even though I had no fucking idea what that meant.

I had a gel, refilled all my bottles, and took a leak before heading back. I was able to keep that pace up until about halfway back when the heat finally got to my legs and lower back and I found myself doing 13 on a small incline. I took a brief break, then continued on, going strong but not averaging over 20 as I had been. I had some difficulties with inclines on the way back, doing a solid 9 up the final hill in the hammock. Despite this, though, my average speed was still 18.5, easily the best solo ride of 2009. Whatever it was that had been glitching me so far this year, it has officially been released. Perhaps the fact that this song comes from a band I associate with someone, and that whole experience was something I think adversely affected my last training cycle, and now that I really am moving on and my training is getting better maybe that's really what releasing the glitch means. Or maybe I'm looking a little too far into a pretty nonsensical song lyric. I don't know.

This is not to say all rides are going to be this good, but I am consistently improving on each one. The warm weather definitely helps, maybe the stretching helps. Maybe singing Silversun Pickups helps. Although I don't think I can do that for 6 hours during the Ironman. Who knows.

I had an overnight guest last night too, and despite being up with her until 5, and then up again before 11, I still had an outstanding ride. My only point here is that I'm starting to think sex in and of itself does not hamper workouts, but rather the alcohol and occasional stress that goes along with it. Shit, maybe it's even getting to be like the old days of lifting where it motivates me. No matter what the reason, I'm very happy about today's ride. I feel like I'm back. The glitch has been released, and I'm ready to start really riding when Base 1 starts a week from Monday.

T14 - Speed Still Kills - Swim

Gainesville

So I might have mentioned I went out last night. Again, I figured I'd go out for a few drinks, and even if I closed down the bar have no more then 4 over a few hours. This is one advantage of 2 a.m. closings. Well, this might have worked had I gone home after closing. But once again I started thinking with the wrong part of my body, and once again ended up staying up until 5 a.m., barely sleeping, and going home around 9 to do an interview. I justified this decision by saying "Well, tomorrow is a short swim day, so even if I'm hungover and barely sleep, who cares?"

When I got home I tried to justify it to Trevor and he says to me "Dude, training isn't gonna influence all your decisions. You know you're not gonna be doin' that." He's right. I think even had I had like a 3-hour bike to do today, I would have ended up doing what I did. The training just keeps me from seeking it out. But if I"m four drinks in and an opportunity presents itself, I'm not sure I'm not gonna take it. We shall see how this goes in the future.

Swim:
warmup: 250 easy
5 x 50, odds are 100%, evens recovery. 10sec rest between
main: 4 x 400,

2 Lipodrene
Did a night swim again tonight, which I think is going to be my M.O. for most of this cycle. The warmup wasn't bad until I got to the sprints. Seriously, fast just seems to kick my ass. Even these 3, 50-meter sprints had me not going as fast as I had previously during my first 2 sets of 400s. I'm going to keep trying to do sprints when they are called for for the next month. But if I find my longer-distance portions of the workouts suffering because sprints are involved, I may start altering the workouts. My hope is I get better at fast swimming, but today the speed killed me.

But still, I don't know that three short sprints were enough to do that. Maybe the 4 hours of sleep and drinking until 5 a.m. and rough sex were what did it. I don't know. I just know the scratches and welt marks hurt like hell in the shower, and I'm glad I'm not hitting the pool again for another 2 days. Tomorrow is a long bike and I am detoxed and spending the night alone. Things are looking good for tomorrow's 2-hour ride.

T10 - Nonsex not nearly draining as sex-sex - Bike

Gainesville

I'm gonna channel White Dade here for a minute.....there's a reason I don't mess with Latin girls. Seriosuly. I'm up around 1:15 Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I get a text from that girl who'd stayed over a couple weeks ago, asking if she could come over. I figure, shit, it's 1:15, she's obviously been out all night, and she's asking me to come over. This can only mean one thing. But, you know, I'm trying to consider training here, so before responding I had to think how this would work.

She'll get here around 1:45. Figure 15 minutes of small talk and maybe a drink, then we'll start hooking up by 2. Fucking by 2:30. Asleep by 3. That leaves a solid 8 hours of sleep before I had to get up to interview this guy for my final project. No problem. So I tell her to come on over.

Well, the girl gets here and in the course of the 15 minutes of conversation, it comes out that she's Cuban. Ok, I figure, she's fairly Americanized so I can tolerate it. Although this time I did notice her noticeably-Cuban ass and stomach. But whatever, she was cute and nice enough. So we get to hooking up and this girl doesn't even want to take her top off. Apparently she takes sex a little more seriously than I do, and for the second time wouldn't go much past second base. And spent the night. Well, not having gotten off, and having gotten my adrenaline going during the middle-school makeout session, I didn't fall asleep until about 4:30. The whole time I was thinking "I could be getting valuable rest right now. thank you for wasting my time."

I woke up again at 8. She left at 9, once again making out, and once again stopping before pants came off. Seriously, I don't think ANYONE has ever stayed over twice without fucking. Not even my last girlfriend, where I can only remember one time that happened. And few with any girlfriends before that. This is what I get for messing with a Latin chick. Catholic guilt and overprotective fathers and whatnot. No more, I knew my "Whites Only" policy was there for a reason. And I doubt I'll be hearing from her again.

The good news, though, is that I learned nonsex, despite the lost sleep, is not nearly as bad for your workouts as regular sex.

Bike - 2 hours
2 Lipodrene

This was definitely the best bike I've had so far this training cycle. Hit 20 on most of the straightaways, stayed in aero as much as I could, and ended up averaging 17.9. Which, while not blazing or even up to my standards of past cycles, is the best I've had in a while on a solo training ride. Especially with the hills and streets and whatnot involved in the Hawthorne ride. So I guess losing some sleep isn't so bad, and nonsex is not so exerting. The girl still wasted my time, but at least she did me the favor of letting me conserve energy.

My low back still was ready to stop at the 1 hour mark, which is not good. I stopped at the halfway point for about 30 seconds to turn around, have a gel, and refill water (went a little longer than 2 hours to get to the end of Hawthorne where there's water fountains), but had to take a break again at about 1:23. Felt good after that, and was mulling another stop at Waldo when I got a flat at about 1:52. And despite my almost being out of water, and it being uncomfortably humid while I changed the tire, I felt a lot better after that 10 minute break and went hard the whole way home. The Cliff bar I had while changing the tire didn't hurt either.

All in all, the main issue with the bike is getting my low back to a point where I can bike for more than an hour without wanting to stop. I can maintain a fairly good speed, but pedaling hard drains my back, and I'm not sure how to condiiton it better. Improved posture is not an option.

Also, my knee continues to be extremely sore all the time, and even felt tight on the ride. Like it was swollen or something. Training is definitely going a lot better this time around, but I need to get this knee healed up or this Ironman is not going to go well.

T6 - The Party Must Go on Hold - Run (sort of)

Miami

Run - 90 Minutes

So I spent the weekend in Miami, drinking until 5 AM Friday night, waking up at 11, then drinking again Saturday night only to wake up at 9 for this run. And I had partied pretty steadily through the last 2 training cycles, so I figured no problem, right?

Yeah, notsomuch. The combined 16 hours of sleep over the previous 3 nights plus massive amounts of alcohol and some pre-run sex thrown in didn't exactly make for a stellar workout. I'm not sure which was the biggest contributor, but this was both the first time I'd drank and had sex since this training cycle started. The drinking will definitely be the easier one to cut out.

At any rate, I knew it was going to be a bad run when I got up and found my shoelaces had been eaten by my friend Jimmy's dogs two nights earlier when I left my gym bad unzipped when I was staying at his house. It got even better when I found my awesome new $40 headphones had also been breakfast for his cocker spaniels, forcing me to buy a set of cheap Memorex ones at a Walgreen's in South Beach, which had sound quality on par with a 30-year old AM radio. My new host was nice enough to lend me some shoelaces, but the support pad in the right shoe had also been dogfood, so needless to say the run was off to a bad start.

I parked on 1st and Collins and started out, planning to go up to 25th street and back on the hard pack sand along South Beach. My knee was still bothering me, so I figured this would be a good way to do the long run for this week. While I was not hungover, I was definitely tired and lackadaisical after about the first mile. The Lipodrene was not kicking in and actually making me rather ill, since I had opted to do Lipodrene for breakfast again. I made it up to 25, turned around, and half-ass shuffled it all the way back. Sad ass run, if you wanna call it that.


SO THE PARTY MUST GO ON HOLD....
No motivation, no fire, no nothing. You know why? Because drinking and fucking and Ironman training do not mix. I realized today that doing an Ironman is not simply saying "Hey, I'm gonna do longer workouts now. No biggie." It's not Matt the 21-year-old frat boy going to the gym and sweating off his Vodka Red Bulls and ecstasy from the night before. It's fucking serious shit, and a full life commitment.

I'm not saying I'm going to quit drinking until November 7. That would be near impossible. I'm also not saying I'm going to celibate for the next 5 months. That would just be stupid. But the partying needs to be cut back, and perhaps saved for special occasions.

What I realized is that in every decision I make between now and Panama City, my first consideration needs to be "How is this going to affect training?" Like most guys, my first consideration in every decision up to this point had been "Is this going to get me laid?" But as of now, that needs to change. As of now, before I decide to go out drinking, or go home with someone, or invite someone over, I need to consider whether or not it will adversely affect my commitment to the Ironaman. It may well succeed where so many girlfriends have failed.

I also need to prioritize sleep and eat good meals at night. The burger and fries I had at the Midtown Sports Bar last night does not qualify as a good meal. Again, I'm not turning into a salad eater. That's just not me. But I will make sure dinners and whatnot are substantial if I have a long workout the next day. I'll also be ordering some vitamins this week.

Today, I learned that the Ironman is no fucking joke. It's a life commitment, not just a time commitment. I'm glad I learned this on a relatively-short run in week 20, because now I know that this has to take top priority for the next 5 months. I've partied enough, or at least enough for a while. It's time to do something different. Then, once it's over, if I still want to, the party will rage again.