Some Random Thoughts

About 7 weeks from Ironman #2.  I think I'm officially in the dog days of the training.  I just want the event to be here.  The weight is still coming off too.  I was 222 lbs on IMKY day last August and this week I hit 214.  I can't imagine I'll see a 1 for the first number but I guess it's possible?  That makes a total weight loss of 65 pounds lbs from my peak.

To keep me motivated, I tend to watch inspirational videos, movies and documentaries.  The latest is:

I first met Todd Crandell at the Motor City tri in 2011.  I had no idea he was such an ultra-endurance beast.  If I recall we talked for a good long while about Ironman Louisville.  Just shows how low-key Todd is with respect to his achievements.  The documentary follows Todd's attempt at UltraMan Canada.  Whereas an Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run, UltraMan is over 3 days and is made up of a 6.2 mile swim, something like 260 miles of biking and a DOUBLE marathon.  A good watch if you get a chance.  If you're local, I also have a copy of the DVD if you'd like to borrow it and pass it along.

I was recently featured on a friend's blog.  I first met Jessie through a mutual friend and she's plunged headfirst into the tri movement locally.  She was already an experienced marathoner but now she's into biking and swimming too. The post about me can be found here: http://blogs.courier-journal.com/accidentalathlete/2012/07/05/triathlons-can-transform-lives/

Finally, I really don't know how it happened but apparently I've agreed to do Ironman Couer d'Alene in Idaho in 2014.  I promise there wasn't any alcohol involved!

Not much else to report.  The training is going well.  I'm up to about 80 mile rides, 10 mile runs and 3000 meter swims.  Shouldn't have any issue with the full distance, just a question of how much faster I can be this time.

Ironman Muncie 70.3 (Ok, 37.2) Report

Headed up on Friday but had to take a detour to Oxford, Ohio in order to see the final game at Sarah's hockey camp.  Ken drove over from Muncie to watch as well and then we were going to head back over to the event.  But as we sat down to watch some hockey, our phones began to go crazy.  At the first race briefing (there were several choices) the race director tells us that due to extreme heat, the event will now be a 1 mile swim; 30 mile bike; and a 10K run for a total of 37.2 miles instead of 70.3.  Temperatures were expected to be the hottest in the history of the city with a heat index of up to 114F/46C.

At first, I was a little upset, but as I thought about it more, the key was going to be the volunteers and the ability to safely get athletes in distress the medical care they needed.  Expecting a volunteer, especially those who are younger or older to hang out in those temperatures for eight hours seems unreasonable.  And if enough athletes had problems, would there be enough medical personnel and/or EMS vehicles available?  So in the end, I'm comfortable with the decision.

However,  the attitude of the organizers in the face of the decision was terrible.  They offered us a $125 discount off four 70.3 events later this year.  But all of them are hundreds of miles away so the discount is basically a bill for more money.  Why not simply offer us that discount off Muncie 2013?  When a person asked this at the briefing I attended, the speaker actually laughed and said something like, "ask Ironman."  Not the kind of customer service we expect for the money we pay for official IM events.

On to the event itself.  The water temp was 89 or so from reports I read.  This made for a hot, slow swim.  I also had an issue with my tri top.  Since I've lost some weight, my top seemed to be acting a bit like a parachute.  I could feel it taking on water so I'm certain this had something to do with my absolutely pitiful swim time.  The worst I expected for a 1 mile swim was about 40 minutes but officially it was 49:24.  That's at about 1 minute slower per 100 meters than my normal.  Just a bad day? The heat? The water temp? Who knows.

The run to transition was very long, much longer than I expected so much of my T1 time was getting from the beach to my bike.  Total: 5:09.

My goal for the bike was to average 20 mph.  This would give me my best bike split ever, pace wise, in an event.  The course was mostly flat but with some rolling hills at times.  We also had some wind in places.  I personally felt the heat of the day start to come on about halfway through the bike.  Bike split:  1:28:33 or 20.33 mph.  Very pleased.

My bike was rather far away from the T2 entrance so a 2:34.  Part of that was stopping for a bit of sunscreen off my bike.  Worth it to spend a few seconds being safe.

I knew the run was going to be rough.  The best I could do was slow down, try to stay cool and hydrated.  So I did some walking at times, used a lot of sponges in my tri top, etc.  They had aid stations every 1/2 mile so we had plenty of aid.  One aid station did run out of ice and some of the volunteers (and athletes) were looking pretty rough so I think the short race call was right in the end.  One funny moment toward the end of the run was the "squishing" sound as all of us had soaked shoes from all the ice in our kits, water over our heads and so on.   Run total:  1:13:11 or 11:48/mile.

Grand total:  3:38:51.

For a normal Olympic, the bike would have been about 5 miles shorter and the swim 100 meters shorter.  At 20 mph, the extra 5 miles of biking would have been 15 minutes.  The extra 100 meters of swimming would have been 3 minutes. That would have given me 3:20.  Well off my Olympic PR but respectable in the heat.  I survived and was certainly a good hard day as I point toward my next Ironman on September 9.

We did get medals too:

 Yeah, it says 70.3 but I'll take it :)

Ironman Muncie 70.3 Preview

On Saturday, I tackle my second half Ironman:  1.2 mile swim; 56 mile bike; 13.1 mile run. 

I've been feeling really good during training.  As I lead up to my second Ironman in September, my swims are up to 2500 meters, rides at 80 miles, and runs up to 10 miles.  So there's no real fear of not finishing.  The big issue is going to be how fast I can go in some very hot conditions. I've seen forecast highs from the low 90s F (33 C) up to 100 F (37 C). 

So here it goes with some goals.

The swim is in a reservoir, so shouldn't see any current.  My last event had a 1500 meter swim, which I did in about 31 minutes.  Adjusting for the lack of current and very warm water, I'm hoping for a 45 minute swim.

Since it won't be wetsuit legal, T1 should be pretty speedy so I'm shooting for 3 minutes at most.

The bike is flat for the most part.  With predicted light winds, I think I can average 17 mph.  Maybe a bit higher but I can't afford to kill myself in the heat.  That would give me a 3:18 bike split.

T2 should be quick, as I'm mostly changing shoes, so shooting for 2 minutes.

The big test will be the "run."  My goal is 2.5 hours, which translates to 11:27/mile.  I say "run" because with the expected heat, I can guarantee lots of walk breaks to survive.  So is 11:27 doable? I'm going to say yes but we shall see.

Putting it all together, that gives me 6:38 so my initial goal of sub-7 hours seems entirely manageable. 

Full event report to follow on Saturday or Sunday.

Motor City Tri Report

Yesterday was my favorite tri:  the Motor City Tri put on by 3 Disciplines racing, a company owned by my high school pal Kenny.  It's held on Bell Isle, in Detroit, my hometown.  It was also my pal Ken's first time doing this tri. 

The distances and my times from last year:

1500 meter swim: 32:25.
T1:  2:10.
23.8 mile bike:  1:14:17.
T2:  1:20.
6.2 mile run:  1:07:43 (last year was an odd distance, 6.6). 

My goal was to go sub-3 hours with a specific goal of 2:47.

The wetsuit legal swim is about 500 meters upstream/nearly calm, then 750 downstream, finishing up with 250 with almost no current.  The first 500 always seems hard because you can't wait to get to the downstream part where it feels like you're flying.  I finished up the swim in 31:27, shaving nearly a minute off last year and a new PB for the distance.  Very happy.

A decent run to T1 and since there are no wetsuit strippers, you're on your own in getting it off.  I came into transition with my wetsuit at my waist and stripped off the rest with some struggle.  T1 total:  2:06, almost exactly the same as last year.

The bike is 4 almost flat laps around the island but this year was a little harder due to some wind and much warmer temperatures compared to last year.  I was also having bike computer issues so even though I knew I was pushing, I had no idea fast I was really going.  The goal was 20 mph.  Ended up finishing this leg is 1:12:03 or a 19.6 average.  More than 2 minutes faster than last year.

T2 was basically ripping off my helmet and bike shoes and putting on my visor and running shoes.  It's a rather large area so some of the time is wasted getting to your gear and then exiting transition:  1:23 this year, the same as last year.

The run was a new but still flat course this year.  I guess I did push rather hard on the bike as my run ended up being 1:07:30 or a 10:52/mile pace.  Also did this without knowing my exact pace but that's no excuse, really.

Grand total was 2:52:20, smashing the 3 hour mark and about 5 minutes above my pre-event goal. 

There's always next year, right?

Motor City Tri Preview

This Sunday is one of my favorite events, the Motor City Tri in Detroit, my hometown.  It's run by one of my middle and high school buddies, Kenny, who is one of the reasons I'm where I am today with regards to my fitness.  It was Kenny who encouraged me to "give it a tri" 3 years ago and come try this event.  I started with the sprint distance but since I've moved up to the Olympic distance:  1.5km swim, 23.8 mile bike, and a 10 km run.  The bike is slightly short compared to a normal Olympic but the island where it's held lends itself to the odd distance.

The race takes place on Belle Isle on the Formula 1/IndyCar track so it's flat and fast.  The only issue could be heat as it's supposed to be warm but with us starting at 8:00 am and finishing by 11:00, hopefully it won't be an issue.

My personal best in this race is 3:01 so my goal is to beat that.  For the specific legs, here are my goals:

Swim 32 minutes
T1      2 minutes
Bike   1 hour 11 minutes
T2      2 minutes
Run    1 hour

That would make a total of 2:47 which makes beating 3:01 entirely possible. 

Back on Sunday or Monday with a full race report.

Tri-Fest Olympic Event Report

Heading into the event, my goal was to break 3 hours.  However, I also knew that the course was going to be harsh.  Luckily the weather was nice and cool so the main adversary was going to be the hills.

Going in, my goal was to beat these times: 32 minute swim; 1:28 bike (or 17 mph); 1 hour run.  That would put me at sub-3 hours and leave a little room for transitions. 

The swim was in Taylorsville Lake in my sleeveless wetsuit.  Swim went well, with the only odd part being some minor swells toward the end.  Not sure if the wind kicked up for a few minutes or a bigger boat went near us but definitely odd.  I guess this is part of open water swimming but not used to it locally in our normally flat water.  Ended up with a 33:37.5 swim.

Transition went well, with the hardest part being the removal of the wetsuit.  Luckily, we had help from a wetsuit "stripper" who helped us get out of them.  T1:  2:16.8.  This doesn't seem fast, but in my last wetsuit race, in Detroit, my T1 time was over 5 minutes!

On to my bike.  The first quarter mile or so is completely heinous.  The grade is so steep coming out of the boat ramp area that at times I was under 5 mph and nearly fell over I was going so slow.  At least you knew you got to descend it later.  The course was as hilly as advertised but at least the climbs were nice steady ones instead of slow steep, holy cow, I want to die climbs.  Ended up with a 1:30:44 or 16.4 mph.  Not quite the 17 I wanted but the hills....  I also was having a touch of stomach upset, which was made evident with a trip to the bathroom after the event.

T2 was 1:24.9, right on target. Although I'd like to get this closer to 1 minute in the future for shorter events.

The run was again hilly but uneventful.  Averaged 10:49, which I'll take on a hilly course. I indeed beat an hour but the run was a touch short.  Only 5.52 miles instead of the advertised 6.2.  Total was 59:53.4.

Grand total was 3:07:56.6, which given the course and other factors, I'll take.  In lieu of a normal medal, here is what we received:

Different but nice.  They were made by a member of my local tri club.

Next event is in the middle of June. Another Olympic but this time on a super flat course.  3 hours is definitely in the cards! 

Back to the Ironman training this week.  Next update when I have something interesting to say!

It's Event Week

Had a pretty good week of training last week.  The post-marathon massage I had on Sunday helped immensely and luckily the twisted knee also cleared up pretty quickly.  The massage therapist also brought up an interesting question:  do I take any joint supplements, such as glucosamine?  I hadn't really thought about it but I'm not getting any younger and I am indeed putting a pretty good pounding on my body so there was no harm in at least investigating the idea.  I found these at Costco.  They were also on sale, only $12, and that covers a bit more than 6 months. 

The event this week is an Olympic tri.  That's a 1500 meters swim (.9 miles); a 40 km bike (24.6 miles); and a 10 km run (6.2 miles).  My goal for these is to break 3 hours.  Might be tough as the course is pretty hilly and the event starts at 10:00 am, which could mean some heat.

Race report coming on Saturday!