T80 - Race for The Cure, And My Bag - Run

Central Park, New York

Maureen and her friend Ally have decided to train for a half-marathon together. Very inspiring. And the first step on this road to semi-endurance racing was New York City's Race for the Cure in Central Park. I almost feel bad doing these, because I know to some of the people running it it is a really big deal to run 3.2 miles. For me, it could have basically been a day off, and I didn't feel much of a sense of accomplishment after finishing. But it really puts things in perspective, insofar as what level of fitness you are at when training for an Ironman. I guess the whole thing would have been inspirational if you're the sort of person who has never walked further than from the TV to the fridge, and you felt like you were pushing yourself for a good cause. I, however did not. It was just a fun thing to do on a Sunday morning, and a souvenir T-Shirt. Nonetheless, I joined Team Turtle Power, and found myself waking up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday and taking the subway to Central Park.


To say this was a big race would be an understatement. I believe roughly one-third of New York City was there. I got off the subway and met up with the rest of the team, consisting of Maureen's coworkers Ally and Jordan,, and was almost immediately lost in the throng of people wearing the pink and white race shirts. Then came time to check my bag.

You know, you always have some extra shit at any kind of race, like a wallet, cell phone, shirt to wear home so you dont gross out everyone on the subway. That kinda shit. But so did the other 25,000 people doing this race (not an exaggeration). And there was exactly one bag check, which consisted of some clueless volunteers tossing them all on a pile with some excuse for a claim check attached to it. I felt very secure leaving my wallet, phone, iPod and Lipodrene under the watchful eyes of some kids who couldn't even figure out an organization system. So as I stood behind about 20,000 people, four city blocks from the starting line, I realized the line to get bags might also be four blocks long. And I hate lines.

Run - 60 minutes

2 Lipodrene
No, it did not take me 60 minutes to do a 5K. Christ, I'm not THAT slow. But here's what happened:

As Uma Thurman, Michael Bloomberg, Judge Judy and Stephen Colbert all gave inspirational speeches to kick off the race, I realized that this bag check thing would serve as extra motivation for me to run faster. Every person i pass, after all, is another person I don't have to wait for to find their bag in the endless pile of shit that was the bag check. What I did not know is that the runners were supposed to start before the walkers (which comprised probably 75 percent of the race) and got stuck behind all of them, not moving, looking at the starting line. I finally decided to say to Hell with teamwork and running with the girls, and strided it out on the sidewalk to the starting line.

Took me twelve minutes. Twelve minutes just to START. I jogged past the celebrity-filled starting line to get to the course, whereI just took off. Now again, I do not run fast, but I run faster than most of the people in this race. So I was just straight dodging people through all of Central Park, running in and out of the pink-ribbon marked course. It was kinda like Voodoo People, but I wasn't blindfolded. And every person I passed I tohught "Well, motherfucker, looks lik you'll have to wait for ME to get my bag!" Every person who passed me (like maybe 4), I made a point to pass again because I knew that could be ten minutes of bag-findgin I could save. Impatience works well as motviation.

Despite pushing it, I still only finished in 26 minutes, which is not stellar. I'm going to go ahead and blame al lthe hills in Central Park. But as soon as I was done, all I could think was 'Ok, where's the fucking bag check?" So I jsut kept running. I ran and asked about 5 volunteers, none of whom had any idea. I ran some more until I ended up back on the course with all the walkers, where I ran about another mile until I found one volunteer who told me the bag check was on 72nd street, and gave me directions.

I ran the 3/4 of a mile to the bag check, and the volunteers basically told me to go dig through the pile myseld. I briefly considered trying to find a bag with some good shit in it, but ultimately I was able to find mine in under 5 minutes, at which point I put on my iPod, got back on the course at the 1.5 mile mark, and ran half the damn thing again. Not nearly as motivated this time, and having to run over walkers on the way back. I felt kinda bad, since they were sjut out for a morning constitutional for breast cancer, and I was blowing by them like that guy goign 110 on the freeway. btu whatever. I had some good music on and didn't want to slow down.

Eventually, I made it back to the finish line for a second time, a full hour after I started the race. The training card called for a 70 minute run, but given that I ran faster and with hills (hills covered in horseshit from those fucking handsome carraige things, I might add) I figured this should suffice. I met up with my teammates, who were thrilled they ran the entire length of the course, took some pictures, and got on the subway home.

I wouldn't exactly call this a tuneup race, but it was certainly worth doing. There won't be near than number of celebrities at my Ironaman, nor will it go through a world famous park, nor will I have to dodge 20,000 walkers. But hey, I did somethign for charity and not myself. I almost feel a little bit dirty.

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.

T64 - To Feel Safe Again, Look Over Your Shoulder - Bike, Run

Kona

I spent the morning diving with my friend Robyn from High School who works as a dive instructor out here. The dives were amazing, but both Robyn and her fellow tour guide Kelly were telling me they couldn’t believe I was going to go bike for 2 hours then run for an hour after a full day of diving. In the hot sun. Not because diving is particularly draining physically, but apparently you’re supposed to let yourself cycle off all the nitrogen before working out. Like why you’re not supposed to fly. But who was I to listen to them. It was Kona and I had a bike rented for 24 hours, I’m getting my fucking money’s worth.

Bike – 2 Hours

2 Lipodrene
So I’d had it in my head that biking the Kona course, which for the unaware is the original and official Ironman bike course, used in the race you see on Wide World of Sports. Of course, I wasn’t going to bike the whole thing, I only had 2 hours. But I had likened it to an amateur baseball player getting to play a game at Yankee Stadium. This would be the case if Yankee stadium were filled with Semi Trucks, mopeds, and right turn only lanes that force you to cut across traffic not once but twice about every half mile. This road wasn’t majestic. It was no magical experience. It was fucking Waldo Road with better scenery. Basically, this course was a busy highway with exhaust being blown in your face, with a fierce headwind and endless hills to boot.

I did ok on the ride. I needed to get used to the course, and the Dura Ace componentry on the Cannondale bike I rented was like shifting on silk. So I played around with the gears a lot. But again I had no computer and no aero bars, which made things kinda tough. I had no idea what my speed was, and there was nowhere to get water either. The first hour I spent more or less frustrated by the traffic constantly having to look over my left shoulder to make sure I didn’t end up as a permanent part of the Kona Ironman Bike Course. And I do not look over my right shoulder well, as more than once I have cut off an unsuspecting motorist. This is what led to me getting rear ended in Orlando, and will probably eventually result in a more serious injury. This is why I don’t like biking anywhere that’s not a continuous bike lane. I just can’t look over my shoulder.

The ride was good to familiarize me with the Kona course, but otherwise was very unimpressive. Because of the good componentry, I used the small ring a lot, more than in any other ride I think I’ve ever been on. The endless hills may have contributed to that too. So that was certainly different. But this was not the majestic experience I had expected.

Run – 1 Hour

1 Lipodrene
I had planned to brick this workout, but the Bike shop closed earlier than I thought so I couldn’t leave the bike there while I ran, and Jill had the Jeep, so I had to have her come pick me up and then run at home. For some reason she wasn’t excited to sit around an industrial shopping center while I ran for an hour. She was late getting me, and by the time I got back to the house in Captain Cook, it was 6:45. Uncle Steve’s house in Kona is on a steep, windy road in what looks like a cleaner version of Nicaragua. Just total jungle, a stark contrast to the Lava fields of the bike course. Also, because it’s Kona, and therefore “rustic,” there aren’t any sidewalks. It took my about 5 minutes to realize this run was probably not safe.

I started off running down the hill and approached a sharp curve about every hundred yards. With the IPod on, I couldn’t hear any cars, so I just had to cross the street every time I came up to one, having to constantly look behind me as I ran to make sure no cars were coming in the direction I was running. At one point a small VW Bug cam speeding around a curve and swerving between lanes. I’m not sure if they just wanted to play “Scare the Houle,” but it was quite disconcerting. After 20 minutes of constantly looking back and crossing the street, I decided this was not a safe run. Especially with an iPod on. So despite the return run being completely uphill, I turned the music off.

The run back was actually pretty good as I kept stride all the way up the hill, and made it back up in only a couple of minutes more than it took me to run down. So despite my cutting the run 20 minutes short (it was pitch black by the time I got home, I figured it was better to cut it short and live to train another day) I feel there was some training value there.

But man, 10 hours in the sun takes its toll. I finished dinner in the un-air conditioned house, and felt like I wanted to die. I took a cold towel, put in on top of myself like one might a blanket, and passed out by 8:30. I did however chug about 5 water bottles of ice water, as I knew the next day’s workout would take its toll.