tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58869310012600525952024-03-05T02:50:37.241-06:00My Road to IronmanChicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-28172325810224309562013-11-06T17:52:00.001-06:002013-11-06T17:52:56.986-06:00Ironman Florida 2013 – 11:53:28<div class="MsoNormal">
(Check back for updates with pictures)</div>
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<br /></div>
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My goal for this race was to have a good day and a strong run. IMWI 2011 was awful for me, and after
suffering through flat tires and nutrition problems I wanted a better day this
time. So, my definition of success wasn’t
tied to a particular time or split but more to a feeling, which is odd for data
driven Mike. I think it worked out
pretty well for me though. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Swim<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Time: 1:10:49<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pace: 1:50/100m<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The swim was a mass start to Van Halen’s ‘Panama.’ At the cannon almost 3000 people ran into
the ocean, and almost immediately the ocean hit back. Three foot breakers pushed us back towards
the shore. The swim was tight, where I
had seeded myself. It was a very
congested push to the first bouy, with a lot of contact. My goggles were kicked a few times, my ankle
got grabbed once. I really had to fight
for every inch until the first turn. The
first turns was very congested so I dove under some other athletes hanging onto
the buoy and sighted the next buoy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The course was two loops in the ocean, with a brief beach
run in between. When I got to the shore
the first time I saw that I was at about 35 minutes, which was great. Better than expected. Luckily the second loop was less
stressful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In general, I just kept reminding myself that it was a long
day, and to not be in a hurry. I just
got the swim done, and I was out in about 1:10. My ‘best day’ prediction was 1:12 so I was
really happy with the result. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>T1 12:46<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The T1 run was pretty long, but not as bad as the IMWI helix
run. Things went to plan, I didn’t run
but I just moved ‘purposefully’ through transition. I noticed that for some reason my left heel
was hurting, but I couldn’t really do much about that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Bike<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Time: 5:21:19<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pace: 20.91 mph<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The bike was also pretty congested. There was a combination of deliberate and
involuntary drafting going on for most of the bike. I kept my distance the best I could, but
there wasn’t really anywhere to go.
Every time I’d back off to eat/drink I’d get passed by pace lines that I’d
have to again repass. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There was a NW wind, at less than 10 mph that created a
minor headwind on the way out, and a minor tailwind on the way back. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
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For the most part I just tried to put my head down and do
work. That said, being in your own
head for 5 hours is just a long time. It’s
hard to focus that long. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Just like cedar point 70.3 I had problems either with my
power meter or my effort level again.
My quarq said I was riding about 20-40W under goal. My RPE said I was working hard enough. My speed indicated I was holding right
around 21 mph. So, I road mostly by
effort. This is a big problem I need to
solve though. It might be that there is
something wrong with my electronics, or my calibration process. It could also be that I’m so mental about
the run that I’m afraid to push the bike even a little, and that’s giving my
RPE a bit of a false read. A third option
is that in a race there is always a pack to avoid, nutrition to eat, aid
stations to go through, and turns to negotiate, and maybe I’m just not good at
holding power while doing those things.
Whatever the cause, I was happy with my pace and if I left some on the
table so be it.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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At about mile 70 I hit a real mental low point, and I
started singing songs from ‘The Little Mermaid’ to myself. I remember passing this girl singing and
getting a funny look. I shot back, ‘come
on, you know the words.’ I’m just about
positive I heard her singing behind me! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I saw Lana and Tam on the bike around mile 90, just when it
seemed like it would never end. I hit
the century mark at 4:46 and I was jazzed about that. My fastest century by 14 minutes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My ‘best day’ goal for the bike was around 5:10 and my ‘average
day’ goal was 5:30. So, 5:21 was really
right where I should have been. It also
lined me up for going sub 12 hours if I could run a 5 hour marathon, which would
be really neat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>T2 8:27<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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So, T2 was thankfully much shorter than T1. I did what I needed to do, but still didn't
run in transition. I knew I’d get plenty
of running soon enough. The volunteer
helper I had was in such a hurry he took my T2 bag away before I got to put my
shoes back in it, or get my sunblock out.
So, I’m sitting there in T2, with bike shoes in hand and run shoes
on. I yell to him ‘Dude, I still have
my bike shoes.’ He says something like ‘sorry,
it’s been a long day.’ Yeah, funny, me
too… <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Run<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Time: 5:00:07<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pace: 11:27/mile<o:p></o:p></div>
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I noticed that every time I put my left leg down my heel
would hurt. Same place I noticed in
T1. Not much I could really do about
it, but it was there and painful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I ran by heart rate, trying to stay in zone 2, for the first
few miles. That was working out really well at
first. But, then, my heart rate dropped
to between 90 and 100 bpm after the first few miles. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t something I had experienced in
training however, and had no idea how to fix it. So, I just did my best to ignore it and run
the marathon on feeling.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At mile 5 I noticed the 18 mile mark on the run course, for
the second loop, and made a mental note.
That’s where the race starts, mile 18.
That’s where I’m going to have to really work for it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Somewhere on the first loop I ran into Mirinda Carfrae, on
her second loop. As she ran by I sped up
just a bit and was like ‘hey, you’re Mirinda Carfrae.’ I guess it’s sorta stupid to tell famous
people who they are, because, well, they know.
Anyway, I was like ‘ok, I’m gonna let you go ahead, you got this.’ And so I let her go, since she was leisurely
jogging my 5k pace. That was cool
though, we’re totally running buddies now.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For the first 13 miles, the sun was pretty hot and it was
sort of humid. Those conditions are not
great for me to run in. I did my best
running between aid stations and walking/recovering my HR as I drank between
aid stations. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Every mile I’d take a self-assessment of my condition. How was I feeling? In general I was less hydrated than I wanted
to be. My pace was ok, but not what I
was hoping for, but being a terrible runner isn’t exactly news worthy. From my first few splits, it looks like I had
a shot at that sub 12. Energy level
was ok, all things considered. Stomach
was going between good and bad, back and forth.
I wasn’t cramping at all. Things were all green across the board, given
where I was.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At mile 13 I had a minor asthma problem and hit my inhaler. I thought I’d walk for a bit and see if I
could recover, but it didn’t get any better.
I used my inhaler again, but it still really didn’t improve. So, at that point I just decided to run
again. Running didn’t really make it
worse, so I kept back on my plan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I hit mile 18 I had a massive side stitch. Self-fulfilling prophecy I suppose. I don’t normally have issues with side
stiches, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I
walked again for a bit, it eventually went away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At mile 22 I looked down at my watch and realized that if I
pushed I could still hit the 5 hour mark on the run, somehow, after all that
walking. Admittedly I was a little
bummed that I had a shot at sub 12 after this deep into the marathon, because
it meant some hurt was coming. So, I made
my mind up to do it. At mile 23 I
stopped walking the aid stations and just ran.
It’s funny, I was pushing so hard I felt like I was running 7 minute
miles. In reality, it was more like 10
minute miles. I saw Lana right before I
crossed, but couldn’t really do much more than try to smile. I crossed the finish right a few second over
5 hours, and for some reason had it in my head that I had finished in over 12
hours. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A volunteer immediately grabbed me and took me to medical because
I was clearly smoked. I sat down, drank
some chocolate milk and got my head back together. While I was in medical I heard someone say ‘these
guys are right at 12 hours’ so, I looked down at my watch and realized I had
finished in under 12 hours as well. I
met a worried Lana outside of medical and made my way back to our condo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Post-Race Thoughts<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I really had a great day.
Because of the awfulness that was IMWI 2011, in some ways it feels like
my first ironman. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course I usually want more, and today was no
exception. I would have liked, given all
the training I put in, for my run split to be closer than an hour off my open
marathon. I did the best I could with
what I had though, and it was pretty good result. My ‘best day’ prediction was 4:30, so I guess
in the back of my mind I think there’s another 30 minutes in there somewhere,
but that’s about as deep as my genetic well goes I’m afraid. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Our Panama City Beach
‘Vacation’<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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After IMWI I think I laid in bed for two days. This time I was much better prepared in
general, and I hurt a lot less the next day.
I was sore, but it wasn’t awful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That painful heel I mentioned was the worst of it. I had a big puncture wound on my left
heel. My best guess is that I stepped on
a sharp bit of shell on the beach as I was heading to T1. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I got up at about 6am to go with Lana so she could register
for 2014. We had to get there two hours
before registration opened, to secure a spot.
With WTC, it seems the 4<sup>th</sup> discipline is standing in line.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My legs were of course really sore, but that was to be
expected. We joined some friends on the
beach for drinks and that certainly took the edge off. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two days out I felt way better. Most of the pain was gone. I was experiencing some episodes where I’d
go from ‘fine’ to ‘I’m going to kill someone if I don’t get some food’ in a
matter of seconds, so I gave myself a pass to eat pretty well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The highlight of our dining experiences in PCB was ‘Buddy’s
Seafood Market’ where we went in, picked some fresh seafood, and they steamed
it while we waited. I ate about a pound
of fresh shrimp and some scallops, along with potatoes and corn. It was really delicious. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We also ate at ‘The Boathouse’ with some friends. It was great as well. I had grilled local grouper with a bottle of Beaujolais. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Thanks</b></div>
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I have many people to thank for this big epic day, and the training to lead up to it. </div>
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<br /></div>
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First and foremost, thank you Lana for getting me to the starting line safe, healthy, and sane. And for keeping the house together while I trained. And for all your love and support. I really can't thank you enough love.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thank you friends and coworkers, for supporting me in doing this and talking about it non stop for the last 12 months.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thank you trisharks and fellow Epic Endurance team members for your support and well wishes on facebook! You guys are an inspiring bunch.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And last but not least thank you to Laura Wheatley for pushing me further than I would have pushed myself. </div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-71547845349142992892013-09-11T14:28:00.003-05:002013-09-11T14:28:36.804-05:00Cedar Point 70.3 - 05:29:01.830<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a stomach flu related
DNS at Cedar Point last year, and a terrible DNF at the half distance this
year, I really wanted Cedar Point to go right.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://iron-path.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-statistics-and-half-ironman-going.html" target="_blank">Please be sure to read this post on how I revamped my nutrition for a cramp free (but still very colorful) experience.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lana had to work until
Friday evening, so we drove half way from Illinois to Ohio Friday night and we
stopped at South Bend Indiana, in this awful hotel. It was right on Notre Dames campus, and
there were groups of drunk hockey players out playing bags in the parking lot
until 3 in the morning. The next
morning they had ‘breakfast’ that both of us were pretty afraid of, but since
there was no microwave in the room we made do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We made it to Ohio and got a
quick swim in, then registered. After
registration I was shaking down my bike when I discovered my front wheel was
flat. I fixed it and noticed the wheel
was once again leaking from the valve.
I changed the valve extender, and my problem was fixed so I checked my
bike in. To say I was on edge would be a massive understatement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That night we made dinner in
our room, as extra food poisoning prevention. Unfortunately Lana said her
stomach was already upset. I walked down
the beach to check my bike one last time that night. The tire was holding… I set the alarm for 4am and went to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That night, at about 2 am,
Lana was sick. It seemed very similar to
what I had the year before. After the
tire stress, and then this, I had really had my fill of this race. Two years in a row…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I thought about it, but I
knew Lana would want me to race. She
went back to bed. I felt terrible for
her. When I got dressed that morning I
had a problem with the zipper on my new jersey. I’d only worn it once before, so Lana
suggested I take her bike jersey with, just in case…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Swim</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Time</b> </span>35:19<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Distance</b> 1.2M<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Rate</b> 2:00/100<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>AG Place</b> </span>13 / 75</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The lake swim was moved to the bay this year,
because a 25ish mph wind was creating some rip currents in the lake that made
swimming too dangerous, according to the coast guard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was a TT start, and I had to wait forever (it
felt) to swim. The swim was at least
half a mile from T1. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My swim went really well. I had a new wetsuit I was looking forward to
wearing (Tyr Hurricane Cat 5). My only
complaint, and it happens a lot in triathlon swims, is that the distance just </span>doesn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> add up. My GPS reported 1.33
miles instead of 1.2. That’s the
difference between a 1:33/100 swim and a 2:00/100 swim. Admittedly, I could have sighted poorly or
my watch could have been off, but I rarely swim as slow as 2:00/100, even on a
cool down lap, and I doubt very much that a 2:00/100 pace would have gotten me
13 in my AG. So, I choose to believe I
swam the 1.3 miles</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">. :)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>T1:</b> 09:35</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Note previous comment about long long run to T1.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bike</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Time</b> 2:36:07<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Distance</b> 56 Miles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Speed</b> 21.53<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>AG Place</b> 16 / 75</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, the good news is I had air pressure in my
tire!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conditions were pretty bad. It was very windy and misting rain, enough
to make the cornering slow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the first 10 minutes I started working at
my goal watts. My RPE was way too high though,
like time trial high. But I was still missing
my numbers by about 5W. I looked down
and noted I was averaging about 23 Mph.
Nope, too hard. Something’s wrong
with the quarq maybe. I was questioning
everything, trying to figure out if I should push it, back down, or something
else. What’s the plan? I spun the pedals backwards a few times to
try to zero the quarq out. Still,
things aren’t feeling right, and I seriously doubt my electronics. Then I remember that I calibrated the quarq when
it was in the rev3 rack. Maybe
that? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Then comes a wave of doubt.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Have I already blown it?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Did I go too hard chasing that number to run
later?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">In the end, I made the call to
flip to my plan B screen, which has heart rate but not power on it, and rode by
RPE and heart rate.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By mile 56, I was ready to get off the bike, and
my average pace was right in line with what I did at route 66, on a worse day. So, even if I </span>wasn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> hitting my numbers, I
was going hard enough for today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last ten miles of the bike were with a wicked
cross wind coming from over the beach.
It was like being sand blasted. I
was holding on for dear life, and sand was everywhere. Up my nose, in my mouth, everywhere. I was happy to be done, but unsure about the
run. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>T2</b>: 04:13</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right off the bike into T2 I noticed the zipper
had broken on my new jersey. Seriously? Luckily I had Lana’s
bike jersey at her request earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I took my time in T2, changing into dry socks, plan B for wet weather on the bike. I glanced down at my HRM and saw that the sock
change brought me down into zone 1, so I figured I’d go out and run a few miles
at low zone 2 and see what stuck, I was wanting to be careful at this point. Thinking about Lana sick in bed, I </span>didn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> want to drive all the way out here for another DNF, so a conservative approach
was warranted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Run<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Time</b> 2:03:48<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Distance</b> 13.1 Miles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Pace </b>9:31<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>AG Place</b> 25 / 75</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the first few miles ticked by, I was pretty
pleased to see I was sitting right around 9 minute pace, at the lowish end of
zone 2 heart rate. Combined with quick
aid station walks, I was averaging about 9:20.
Not speedy, but I knew at even that pace I was lined up for a huge
PR. I was running really well, and
decided to stay at that conservative pace.
(Yes Laura, your run training is working!!!) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At about mile 5 I picked it up into upper zone 2,
but I was really staying at about the same pace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Around mile 10, I finally let myself hit zone
3. Running back into the park the last
two miles, I was running directly into the wind and I was very glad I was as
fresh as I was. I was right at
threshold, running a 10 minute mile.
Once we finally turned, I was all out, trying not to barf, and running
to the finish. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And finally, having executed every plan B in my race plan, thinking about my poor wife with the
same stomach bug I had last year, my jacked up quarq, and the flats the day before, I turned
down the finish chute to smile for my finish line picture, in my purple woman’s
bike jersey, relieved to cross the finish and happy that an anvil </span>didn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> fall
from the sky to bonk me on the head.
Good grief, what a r</span></span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;">ace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-9241132630811086772013-09-11T12:54:00.004-05:002013-09-11T14:34:19.982-05:00On Statistics and Half Ironman: Going from a DNF to a 15 minute PR at the half distance<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Flash back to last year, I got a stomach bug and <a href="http://iron-path.blogspot.com/2012/09/rev-3-cedar-point-race-report-that.html" target="_blank">DNS’s CedarPoint</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, this July, The Route 66 HIM happened. I had a ‘just ok’ swim, but I started to
feel bad with about 10 miles left on the bike.
The run was awful. I cramped the
whole way, and both calves finally locked up around mile 11, sending me face
first into the dirt and qualifying me for a free ambulance ride. Game Over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was seriously considering that my efforts at the 70.3
distance were somehow <s>cursed</s> statistically improbable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But, just the same, Cedar
Point 2013 was on my calendar, and I wanted a bit of redemption. So, how do you come back from your first DNF? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To paraphrase Seth, I think first you have to acknowledge that, if you do this triathlon thing long enough, you'll DNF. It's almost certain. So, it happens. How do you get back up?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For me I'd first have to not cramp up and fall
over...but I just </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">didn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> have time to really dig into that. </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> got a new job, and I’m training for
Ironman, there just </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">wasn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> time. So,
the bigger problem was time management. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Time Management<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My two ‘biggest’ rocks outside of family life were work and
Ironman training. These two time
commitments were about 60-70 hours a week, combined. Additionally, I was spending another 1-2
hours a week figuring out which workouts I should be doing, and how I should be
training. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, when I heard that longtime friend, exercise physiologist,
PhD student, and super triathlete athlete <a href="http://epicendurance.co/blog/" target="_blank">Laura Wheatley</a> was starting a coaching
business it seemed like a good idea to solicit her help. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I've worked with a
lot of coaches in the past. Most of them
want to talk about what an ‘art’ coaching is, and I’ll concede that it somewhat
is. Few will answer my questions when I
ask why. Fewer still have good reasons
when they do answer those questions. And while I’m not an exercise physiologist, I’m a scientist just the
same and scientific process doesn't change. Said another way, I’m an evidence based, research based, pessimistic
math guy that won’t do something because that’s what your n~=50 coaching
experience says works. I’m always going
to ask hard questions and expect proof, and Laura is one of the few people that
have answered those questions in a reasonable way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, I have a coach.
Poof, 2-3 hours free per week, more confidence that I’m doing the right
kind of work, and a lot of experience I can call on as needed. I can focus on the work, and not the
planning. Additionally, my run has been bad for a long time, and I needed a new approach to make it less bad. Stick to your core
competencies, as the business guys say.
But first things first, I now had the opportunity to invest those hours on fixing my
cramping issue, hopefully for good…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>On Fixing Cramping<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No one really knows why cramping happens in a specific
instance. Lots of things can cause
it. It’s a multifactorial problem. It could be overexertion, glycogen depletion,
inadequate hydration, an electrolyte problem, or something yet undiscovered, and
there are decent arguments around each.
It’s something </span>I've<span style="font-family: inherit;"> struggled
with in the past, but usually only after a race or towards the end. A DNF based on cramping was a whole new
thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">So, I had a complicated multifactorial problem and about 4 weeks to
solve it. The way I wanted to solve the
problem was to manipulate each individual factor and evaluate. But, that wasn't going to work. 1.
There wasn't time. 2. How do I know that two factors aren't dependent
on one another, or both on a third? 3. I
lacked a testing methodology, because the issues I experienced in racing I wasn't experiencing in training, for various reasons of which probably only some were
known or guessed at.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I was really left in a situation where the only reasonable
option was a shotgun approach. Or, to
quote Ripley from "Aliens," ‘<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">I</span></span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"> say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only
way to be sure.</span>’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So, I’d have to be ok
with not knowing why. I could build any
number of models, related to why I was cramping. But that’s the thing about models. My hero statistician is George E.P. Box
(What? Everyone has a hero </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">statistician</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">,
right?). He says “</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Since all models are wrong the scientist cannot
obtain a "correct" one by excessive elaboration. On the contrary
following William of Occam he should seek an economical description of natural
phenomena. Just as the ability to devise simple but evocative models is the
signature of the great scientist so overelaboration and overparameterization is
often the mark of mediocrity.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">George also says ‘All models
are wrong, some are useful’ or something like that…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I think George would have
been down with Ripley. And I had to be
ok with not knowing ‘why’. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>So, I overhauled my entire nutrition plan</b>. This time I hired yet another expert, friend
and <a href="http://www.pathperformance.com/id4.html" target="_blank">Coach Kevin McCarthy</a>, to review my nutrition from the Route 66 half and
make recommendations. Kevin was the
first to see me after the Route 66 half, and he probably had a better gauge of
my physical and mental state than I did. Laura was of course doing the same thing,
giving me great and practical advice on nutrition. She
was also making some changes to my training that I felt would help quite a
bit. I also did an exhaustive amount of
research on my own. Lastly, I talked to
almost every experienced age grouper I trusted, including many of my fellow
Trisharks. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once I had a lot of recommendations from
many sources, I consolidated them very, very deliberately, and with great
rigor, into what would become my nutrition plan version 2.0. This is an approach I’m very comfortable with
as a data scientist. This is a proxy
for a statistical technique <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensemble_learning" target="_blank">called ensemble learning</a>. If you need to develop some rules, or
generalized learning and you can’t dig deep on the why, because a problem is
too complex or you lack time, ensemble learning is where it’s at. Said simply, you use the ‘vote’ of an
ensemble of learners to obtain better predictive performance than you could
from a single constituent learner. (If
you’re a statistician reading this, also consider that the decisions of the
trees in my little live action roleplay version of a random forest was, from
talking to me and their own personal experience, subject to bootstrap aggregation
and perhaps boosting as well. :P )</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And then I tested, and tested again, on long training days,
to make sure it would work, or at least do no harm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is not to say that the concept of ‘phone a friend’ is
especially clever in our sport. It’s
not. But, there is a trap us age
groupers sometimes fall into. There is
danger is in reading one paper, speaking to a respected friend or coach, or
even reading one pro’s nutrition plan…and
then doing what they do. My solution to
cramping was using formal methodology to avoid this trap, simple as that.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>So, how’d it work?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At Cedar Point this
year, despite a continued string of misfortune (race report to follow), I
managed a 15 minute PR at the half distance.
More importantly, I did it without a single cramp, at approximately the
same effort level I had previously raced at.
I’ll never really know what went wrong at Route 66, and that does bug me
on some level, but truth be told I’d never be 100% certain, even if I had an
infinite number of identical races in which I could isolate and manipulate
variables. The real world is never the
lab.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Perhaps even more
importantly, I stopped trying to ‘do it all’ myself and gained a team, which as
a busy part time long course age group athlete, is really invaluable. If you only get to race a few times a year
you don’t have much opportunity to experiment in race conditions or train sub
optimally. </span><span style="background-color: #fcfae7;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Big thanks to Laura, Kevin, and all the local athletes I spoke to, that got me this far. Also thanks to all the professional and age group athletes writing blogs like this one, you can be certain I've data mined you all. :)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-14144986966802997952013-08-15T14:39:00.005-05:002013-08-15T14:39:49.541-05:00Dairyland Dare 8/13/2013 <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometime last winter Lana and I were thinking ‘you know, we
need some more glassware.’ Well, rather
than doing what a normal person would do, and
buy some, we decided that if we both completed the three triple crown
rides, we’d take home a combined total of 6 commemorative pint glasses. That clearly seemed like the smarter
choice. So, off we went to sign up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every year Spree Touring puts on the Wisconsin Triple Crown,
which is a series of three very difficult bike rides. If you can complete all three you get a cool
Triple Crown Jersey. This year Lana and
I had worked all three into our schedule.
I rode the 100K with Lana for the first two, Arcadia’s Brute and The
Kickapoo Kicker. The plan was to cap
off the series with the 200K Dairyland Dare route.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, that was the plan.
Ride 126 miles, and climb almost 11000 feet. The terrain is such that the ride would take
me about 8-9 hours to do. Here’s what
happened.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Race Day -1<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been so busy lately, that details have been falling
through the cracks. I finally got around to cleaning my bike and
checking it over on the Friday we were supposed to leave. As I was going over it I noticed a bulge in
the carbon on my handlebars. I took a
deeper look, and sure enough, they were damaged. I’m not sure how, or what happened, but they
needed to be replaced so I had an emergency to deal with. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily, Bloomington Cycle and Fitness was able to save me
(yet again) and had a very nice set of s-works shallow drop carbon bars. Unfortunately those bars had to be
installed. So, I spent a few hours
racing around getting that done before we left. Nothing new on race day, right? Oops.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the haste of switching out my bars, I forgot to reattach
my garmin mount, and I had to attach my bike computer with electrical tape.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t sleep well at all that night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Race Day<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We woke up about 5 am, and I had coffee and a PB&Honey
on white bread. My goal was to practice
ironman style nutrition all day, so that included my normal pre-race breakfast. I’d also be aggressively hydrating, taking
salt, and eating cliff bloks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once we got to the start, I realized I forgot my phone and had to bike back to the hotel (we couldn't get the car out), but that was cool, I like a nice long warm up before I do a 200K bike ride anyway. That's 4 bonus miles, bringing my daily total to 130 btw...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Mile 0 - 60</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first few hours were pretty uneventful. I was averaging about 16 mph with the climbs
and targeting .68 IF. My NP was up near
80% most of the time, in an effort to keep my cadence in at least the 60s on
the big climbs. The climbs were
frequent rollers most of the time, with a fairly steep 20% climb. At about mile 30, Lana caught up with me and
we rode together until about mile 58. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Miles 60-87</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hills got just a bit worse, but in general Dairyland
Dare was the easiest of the three rides.
Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still plenty hard. We ended up on some bike path on this
portion of the course and that wasn’t so fun.
It was soft, slippery, and a little dangerous. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also of note was the absence of Roberts Road. From 2010, I learned about this massively steep
climb, at about mile 90, that was something like 22%. It was gone this time. I wasn’t sad about that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the mile 87 aid station I snagged a PB&J, I had been
eating bloks for about 6 hours at this point...and I could have kept doing it,
but PB&J just looked way better.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Mile 87 – 107 (The Dark Times)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This part of the course was a bit surreal. I swear I was the only cyclist on the
road. It was quiet, lonely, surreal,
and, well, hilly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started coming up
with some theories that I decided I was testing, including:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Wisconsinites are really sadists that lure us here to
suffer on their hills, put numbers on our backs, and race us for sport. Bonus points for their ‘miles until beer’
signs. (Thus far I haven’t disproven
this theory, and am of the opinion that it’s true.)</li>
<li>Riding a bike is fun, but riding a bike for this many hours
is kind of stupid.</li>
<li>Am I lost? I’m not
sure…I’d ask that cow, but, well, I don’t speak cow.</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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<b>Mile 107 to the End</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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At the mile 107 aid station I lingered a bit. I tend to do a bit of a self-assessment, and
I felt like I was doing good. Let’s
see: Body? Butt sore, back sore, hands sore, legs…doing
ok. Shiney. Energy…meh, well, I just
rode a bike 107 miles, felt worse.
Hydration? Still peeing at
reasonable intervals. Food? Never want to see another cliff blok, other
than that, pretty good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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All in all, I was a bit shocked. The last time I did the DD 200K I’d have
ranked it as a 10/10 in difficulty.
This time through, I’m holding steady at about 7/10. Feeling good, just keeping my head in the
game.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, then some of the hardest climbs hit. There were a few 12-15% grades that just
went FOREVER at about mile 118 I think?
I was riding with a few other guys, but they were holding me back and
making things take longer, so I decided to just go and drop them. They were very nice, but I was just ready to
be off the bike. At about mile 120 I
was on a flat into town, and I decided I might as well get this over with so I
got down into the drops and pushed at about .85 until the finish. Someone caught my wheel and I pulled him all
the way back home, which I’ll admit felt pretty good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the end, my moving time was about 8.5 hours. Not stellar, but not at all bad for a heavy
guy, untapered, on a very hard course. I
finished strong and, honestly, could have ridden another 100k, but I was plenty
glad I didn’t have to. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Post race was at the Lands’ End corporate offices. It was a really awesome post-race event. I got
a shower, a massage, some beer by capital city brewery, and some post-race
food. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The next day we ran 6 very very slow miles and checked out “The
House On The Rock” which was, the best I can tell, an interesting collection of
junk in the middle of nowhere, assembled to separate tourists and their money,
but to be honest it was totally worth it, definitely a must see place.<o:p></o:p></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-51956622990504103842012-12-20T20:45:00.001-06:002012-12-23T11:29:07.044-06:00Turks and Caicos<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lana and I were planning our season early last year and we decided that a vacation was in order for us in 2012, after the dust settled from a year of racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year was a whirlwind of ironman, house buying, moving, training, racing, Lana’s first half ironman, and even a big marathon PR for the both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were more than ready to get away and slow down a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our adventure began last Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made our way to St. Louis at around noon, and arrived at about 3 pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ‘surprised’ Lana by taking her to the St Louis City Museum, where we first met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, I surprised her again with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, a delicious salad bar type chain that we both like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, the next morning, passports in hand we left for the <a href="http://www.windsongresort.com/" target="_blank">Windsong</a> hotel in Providenciales (Provo to the locals) Turks and Caicos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Monday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a long day of travel, we touched down in Provo and were promptly greeted by a line to clear immigration and then another for customs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once through, we met Liege (pronounced Lee Gee) who shuffled us off to our hotel, and would become our taxi driver for most of the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a few heart attacks caused by being driven down the British side of the road, we made it to our hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then we waited at the front desk to check in…and we had our first run in with Island time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first I thought it was just bad service, but in reality it’s culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things just happen in their own time on Provo, and no one is in a big hurry to do anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found the ocean and went for a quick swim, had dinner in our hotel, and went for a walk on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beaches in Provo, particularly grace bay, were the draw for our trip and they didn’t disappoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The night sky was clear and amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a persistent cool eastern wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sand was so white that you could see it at night, and the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore were just always present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to bed pretty early that night, exhausted from a day of travel.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tuesday morning Lana and I started the day off with a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that we had breakfast at the hotel and walked down to the beach to snorkel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We discovered that our hotel was right on a reef, maybe 100 ft from shore, called<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147399-d150359-Reviews-Princess_Alexandra_National_Park-Providenciales_Turks_and_Caicos.html" target="_blank">Princess Alexandra National Park</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was seriously the coolest place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In just a few minutes we were snorkeling and swimming in what seemed to me to be the biggest saltwater aquarium I’d ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I held Lana’s hand as we flippered our way through the ocean and saw the entire cast of finding nemo, a sea turtle, huge parrotfish you could hear chomping on the reef under the water, and a barracuda that Lana was sure was staring her down and considering eating her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana noticed that she was being followed by an entire school of yellow finned fish, and then realized, because of her yellow flippers, she had become the lead fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After snorkeling we got a shower and walked down the beach to find <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147399-d1379120-Reviews-Somewhere_Cafe_and_Lounge-Providenciales_Turks_and_Caicos.html" target="_blank">somewhere</a> to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Somewhere was pretty good, it was an interesting blend of Tex/Mex and Carribean with lots of fresh fish!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That afternoon we went Kayaking and swimming (have you noticed I can’t sit still?) and then ,after a trip to the grocery store, went to <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147399-d2454769-Reviews-Sailing_Paradise-Providenciales_Turks_and_Caicos.html" target="_blank">Sailing Paradise</a> for dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sailing Paradise was some of the best food we had on the Island.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lana and I split a platter of curried goat, jerk chicken, jerk pork, fish, fried plantains, and rice and peas.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We washed it down with rum punch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’d describe it as a small local place, in a non touristy neighborhood, set up to cater to tourists as well as locals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had a free shuttle, which was very nice, since it was about a 20 minute trip by car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We finished the day, again, with a walk along the beach, taking in the beauty of our surroundings, and enjoying each other’s company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wednesday<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wednesday we got up a little earlier and ran a bit further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The island gets hot as the sun gets high, so ideally the running should be done by about an hour after sunrise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were careful to bring water because we weren’t heat acclimated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After breakfast we did some more swimming, and then traveled down the beach to have a picnic lunch on a secluded beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only turkey and cheese, but on an empty beach, thousands of miles away from life, with only my wife and the ocean, it was the best turkey and cheese ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we checked out bikes from the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took the bikes downtown and did some shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got a rum cake, some <a href="http://www.bambarrarum.com/" target="_blank">local rum</a> (which is delicious and not exported ). </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I took Lana to a local jewelry store and bought her a <a href="http://www.marahlago.com/" target="_blank">Larimar</a> necklace for our second anniversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once we made it back we relaxed a bit in the hot tub, and had this evil tropical drink that was a mixture of pineapple juice, rum, rum, rum, and had a floater of Bacardi 151 on top, just in case we didn’t hit our rum quotient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, we were on island time too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That night we went to <a href="http://www.pointgrace.com/facilities-spa/restaurant/" target="_blank">Grace’s Cottage</a>, which was a beautiful outdoor restaurant that was a little bit fancy for us, but was really the perfect place to celebrate being married to Lana for two years now.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thursday<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thursday morning we went on a </span><a href="http://www.caicosdreamtours.com/native_cruise.html" style="font-family: Calibri;" target="_blank">tour with a local tour company</a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They picked us up around 8am, right at the beach in front of our hotel and we took off with two guides and 6 other visitors on a 30ft’ catamaran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At 8:30 in the morning, the guides starting giving us rum punch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently I looked like a guy with an overly healthy liver, and I did my best to put an end to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First we took off for the barrier reef, a reef that protects the islands from the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The snorkeling there was great, even better than near our hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reef was so wide it extended as far as I could see in about every direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After about 30 minutes snorkeling, the tour company took us to the south side of Provo, near another small island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next up, we were diving for Conch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jumped in and immediately felt the current pushing me back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to swim quite hard to make any progress forward, and after some significant effort I got about 10 feet in front of the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After just a little help from a tour guide, I found my first Conch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a big shell, covered in grass, that looked sorta like a chia pet, which is exactly what the tour guide said it would look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dove, grabbed it, swam back to the boat, and then did another hard swim interval to get back in front to find another one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The tour took us to an island where we they showed us how to crack and clean the conch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A ‘trained’ stingray was waiting just off the shore for the spare bits of conch left over as the concj was prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the tour guides worked on our lunch, we were free to explore the island a bit more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found an old net of some type, strung up hammock style, that I certainly enjoyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also found quite a few large iguana’s living there.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lunch was served, which consisted of Conch Salad (Conch, bell pepper, tomato, habanero, and lemon/lime juice kind of like ceviche), Doritos, and more rum punch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guide did warn us about the punch ‘jus remember the more you be drinkin the more you be sinkin.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I was done swimming for the day though, but, I was wrong<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we went snorkeling one last time, and saw a lion fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we dove for sand dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time we got back to shore, getting off the boat was just a little difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The coolest part of the trip was our new souvenir Conch shell, the previous home of our lunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Later that night we went to “Shark Bite” for dinner, which was a local burger kind of place where we had Conch Fritters, Jerk Chicken, and Rice and Peas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By Friday we had really done about everything we wanted to do, and spent most of the day relaxing on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did some swimming, fish watching, and kayaking because I sort of suck at sitting still and doing nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For lunch that day we had Liege take us to “<a href="http://daconchshack.com/Conch_Shack/Home.html" target="_blank">Da Conch Shack</a>” which was pretty amazing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We split some conch fritters! I had curried conch, plantain fries, rice, and more rum punch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana had blackened grouper tacos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was probably the best food on the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That night we walked down to the beach and watched the last sunset of our trip, both a little sad it was almost over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For our last night, Lana and I went to <a href="http://mangoreef.com/" target="_blank">Mango Reef.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was right on the water, in the open air, and really beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a great last night on the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had great sushi, it was really amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I had Dominican Paella with grilled lobster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana had grilled pecan crusted fish that was really good as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saturday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We woke up Saturday, got one last run in, one last swim in the ocean, and then headed back home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was nice to be home, but what an amazing adventure we had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so glad I got to experience all those things, and I’m even more glad I got to share them with my wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be sure, we’d rather be at home than anywhere else, but sometimes a little adventure is called for and Lana and I are pretty good at finding it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2Turks and Caicos Islands21.694025 -71.79792800000001320.7490125 -73.088821500000009 22.6390375 -70.507034500000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-80373008581450313652012-11-03T10:58:00.000-05:002012-12-19T11:00:22.899-06:00Indianapolis Monumental Marathon 2012 3:58:32.4<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What Came Before…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The story of this race starts in January of 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After not really being able to budge my running fitness for an entire year, I decided to try a mileage based approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked my up to between 40-50 miles a week in the winter and tried to hold it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My biking suffered, I didn’t swim, and my running got just a very little bit better, but mostly I was flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When we ran St. Pats in March of 2012 I had loads of base, but I paced myself for a slight PR and totally blew up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was really frustrated; running is just the sport I don’t really get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a mediumish season of doing half ironman distance I decided to hire Mike Ricci from D3 Multisports to coach me and things started turning around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My proving ground would be the Indy Monumental Marathon, and my goal was a sub 4 hour run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before meeting Mike, I’d either get slow mile based approaches, like above, or I’d get so much speed work, so hard, I’d just blow up and be wiped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mike really helped me balance the “work” with the “easy” and set me on a path that allowed me to improve quite a bit in the 8 weeks or so that I had between my last Tri and my Marathon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately for me, I injured my right calf in July when I got a severe cramp on a hot day, and that injury was brought center stage with my new found speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With about three weeks left, when it was time to taper, I was really hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t run without pain and cramping in my right calf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With massage, stretching, and foam rolling, I ran through it and made it to taper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope was that it would heal as I rested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I’d be flat on race day, but it was what I had to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But then it got worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two days before the run I was doing an easy 2 miler and my calf cramped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hobbled home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was it; I wasn’t going to be able to run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My second DNS of the year…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Defeated, I loaded up the car for Indy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana was healthy and planning a great run and I wasn’t going to miss that at least.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The night before the race, I made the decision that I would run until I couldn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pain free, and it was a well-supported race with plenty of medical folks, so why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also had a dedicated ‘pace’ team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seth and Logan were going to be running with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Logan was taking the first 6 miles, and Seth would be doing the last 20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The plan was a negative split, starting at about 9:30, and finishing around 8:50/<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Logan Miles<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first 6 miles, I took it pretty easy peasy as planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana took off and was way ahead of me, gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About one mile in Logan and I both jumped as Mark ran up behind us and grabbed my ass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went on to pace his wife to a PR half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Logan was disturbingly cheery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was talking about how great the race was going to be, how my injured calf was going to hold out…the whole deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My guess is that Seth slipped him some SSRIs in his morning coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The run was going well, my calf was holding out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs were heavy, and the pace was harder than it should have been, but that’s what three weeks of over tapering/resting will do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Seth Miles<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At mile 6 Seth jumped in and relieved Logan of his duties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things were pretty easy and uneventful, for at least the first 15 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs were still heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seth talked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And talked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And talked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Starting at about mile 18 things started getting a little more serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My calf was starting to cramp just a little, and I’d feel occasional shots of ‘electricity’ through my leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made it a point to relax the best I could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seth suggested I work to not fire that muscle and just run around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My negative split wasn’t really happening, but I was still on target to finish sub 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At about mile 20, Seth started telling me a story about floating in the water in this lake, and how it was kind of this surreal experience, comparing it to a scene in Battlestar Galactica where Baltar was experiencing something similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then he was talking about the movie Gattaca, where inferior Vincent triumps over the genetically perfect Anton because of desire and passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two hours after the race, that thought was extremely inspiring, however 22 miles in I mostly thought Seth talked to much…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At mile 26, finish line in sight, I couldn’t hold off the injury any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that was it, it held together just long enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My right calf cramped completely, just a few feet from the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put my foot down, and put my weight on it, forcing my calf to release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hurt alot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seth was visibly ready to push me over the finish, and I stumbled over the line just a few minutes ahead of 4 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the way back to the hotel I almost fell over in the grass of the capital as my calf just totally gave out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It locked up and wouldn’t release and I was in a lot of pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was getting rained on, and was starting to shiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time that day I was getting sort of scared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 10 minutes on my back, thankfully it released and I made it back to the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Celebration<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The best part of any big race is the celebration afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one of the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went out to a Brazilian steak house, ate EVERYTHING, and drank an awesome bottle of Malbec.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there was ice cream, and more drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a great time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next morning we woke up and I registered for IMFL 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we went to a Colts game for the afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It took me around 2 weeks to run again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, it took about 6 more weeks of being very patient with the calf to finally clear that injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-88988361739721822022012-09-24T15:37:00.002-05:002012-09-24T15:37:29.407-05:00Rev 3 Cedar Point – The Race Report That Didn’t Happen<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So here it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cedar Point was my A race for the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goal of this year was to build on the bike, and build on the run, so that I could get some revenge on my 140.6 performance at IMWI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Plan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Swim - I worked hard in the pool this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suffered a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I swam so hard that I spent as much time gasping for breath at the gutter as I did swimming I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I improved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My best guess is I’d have gone around 33 minutes in a wet suit, give or take a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bike – My 20K TTs have always been strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year I really worked to spread that fast out over 56 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My best 56 miles was done in 2:38 in training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was two months before Cedar Point, and I was sharp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a clear day, on a very flat cedar point course, with agreeable wind and a taper, I was optimistically expecting 2:23. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power numbers were working out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Run – My run still really wasn’t where I wanted it, but with some help I have been able to improve my comfort at the marathon pace speeds tremendously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran a 2:09 on a hilly course, a month before, but my coach and I believed I had 1:55 in me on race day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, That’s 33 minutes + 143 minutes + 115 minutes + 10 minutes for transition = Right at 5 hours, give or take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That would have been a phenomenal time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day before the race we did the normal pre-race stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stood in lots of lines, got my bike set up, did some 10 minute shake down workouts, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we got some food at the Outback Steakhouse in Sandusky and went to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I jumped up out of bed around 4am, ran to the bathroom, and threw up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My brain went into triage mode “Maybe it was just nerves, I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be ok… that’s stupid, you don’t get that nervous…ok, first thing is you need to get your prerace breakfast in you so you’re ready to race in three hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PB&Banana sandwich time!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I was nauseated at the thought of eating, and found myself in the bathroom throwing up again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was getting sick over and over, and I knew that was it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My race was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told Lana, and posted something on facebook so people wouldn’t be watching for my splits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I went back to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next 24 hours were a blur of vomiting, watching myth buster reruns, and sleeping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 2pm I trudged through transition to pick up my bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part I hurt too bad to be sad I wasn’t racing, but when I saw folks out on the run course my heart was broken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day, I was mostly back to normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I woke up wanting food, which was a good sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I ate, the feeling of loss really came over me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so fit, would I have really broken 5 hours?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never will know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remembered back to a day a few months ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked all day with Lana to stain our deck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I went out and did a long run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then I finished staining the deck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so tired I was dead on my feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were so many days like that, were I had sacrificed sleep, comfort, and sanity to build for my race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt really cheated; I worked really hard, but didn’t have anything tangible to show for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then something great came out of it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, just kidding, not really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no happy turn of events to report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still feel cheated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still don’t have anything to show for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may or may not have broken 5 hours, and I may or may not ever be in that place again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll never really know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can really do though is move on and focus on the next race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-49116456828046994412012-09-23T08:23:00.000-05:002012-12-19T08:24:34.641-06:00Tri-The-Illini - 01:10:55.8<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>2<sup>nd</sup> Place AG<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>16<sup>th</sup> Overall<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After not racing cedar point, I wanted one last triathlon for the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I jumped into Tri-The-Illini, which is one of my favorite local sprints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was heavily prepping for the Indianapolis Marathon, and my body was tired, so this was a B race at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last mile of the 5k would be my 52<sup>nd</sup> mile run this week, which was a big step up from my normal 35-40.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Race morning was cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lining up on the cold concrete pool deck was brutal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Swim<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">300M</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">6:14.9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2:05/100M<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This swim wasn’t my best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a snake pool swim, and whenever I do those I always get screwed up in the lane lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My GPS data showed about 1:40/100 moving pace, but all my screwing around really cost me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, no big.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>T1<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">52.7 seconds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not a bad T1 for me…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Bike<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">14.5 Miles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">38:43.4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">22.4 Mph<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, my biggest goal for this race was to try to keep the bike in check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically a triathlete will ride a sprint at about 92-98% FTP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My coach felt that my bike was so strong relative to my running that it was what was keeping me from running closer to my 5k pace in sprints, so he wanted me to hold way back, towards the 90-92% range instead of my normal 95%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a little nervous I’d be giving up to much, but, I was willing to take the chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately about 2 miles in, my power meter went out and I was flying by RPE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t now, but I’m guessing based on my pace, that I maybe slowed down just a little bit too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to say though, as the second half of the bike combined a steady head wind with a false flat and made it really hard to judge effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>T2<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">01:23.7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My feet were so cold I had a hard time getting my shoes on fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Run<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">5K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">23:41.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">7:38/mi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For about the first 400m I just couldn’t get my feet under me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was running about 8:30, giving up a ton of ground, and getting discouraged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then I just sort of relaxed into it <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and got my effort up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did a good job negative splitting the course, and actually finished the last 400 at about 6:40/mi , or around 20sec/mile faster than my 5k pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, I was about 30 seconds per mile slower than my open 5k PR, which is pretty darn good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, lesson learned, until I can get my bike and run more in line, I have to slow down a bit on the bike to run faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-26700804746764982032012-08-12T15:05:00.000-05:002012-09-24T15:06:19.986-05:00Race Report: Dells Rev3 70.3<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, I’ve made it to my first real race of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one hand, I was really happy to be racing a 70.3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other, I knew this wasn’t the course for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bike was hilly enough that it would use my weight against me, and kill my bike strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The run was hilly enough to be dangerous to my weak hamstrings and overall poor running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was going to be a tough day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I was running better than I had been in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My bike was strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And most importantly, I knew I was out to enjoy the day because the course took the pressure off of a PR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was really excited for Lana though, this was her first 70.3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She sure did pick a hard one!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, on with the race report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Swim<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Time </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>35:38<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Distance</b> 1.2 Miles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Pace</b> 1:51/100m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The swim was at Tommy Bartlet’s Water Show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was probably the coolest swim venue I’ve gotten to swim in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember being 7 years old, watching the water show with my parents on vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was pretty cool to be swimming in that same spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a TT start, which is odd, but it was run well and things went off great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I metered my effort by breathing, and I think I left way too much on the table in the swim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished feeling like I put out a pretty leisurely effort, and I was shocked and surprised by my time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There was a long uphill run, on asphalt, up to T1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That part wasn’t so much fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bike<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Time </b>3:00:45<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Distance </b>56 Miles<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Pace </b>18.58 Mph<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had ridden the course, so I knew the bike was gonna be tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I targeted .8 IF and felt great at that power level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was averaging about 21 mph until the 3 big climbs hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then things got slow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to hold my power even, but just getting up the hills and making forward progress meant riding at 100% IF a lot of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a climber’s course, which favored the very lite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That isn’t me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the second climb, Seth flew by me looking especially strong and I’m pretty sure saying something like “weeeee, this is fun!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, so, maybe that wasn’t what he said exactly, but I sure did wish I was built to climb!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I operated in 15 minute intervals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every 15 minutes I’d do my best to hold .8 IF, eat a ¼ of a poptart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drink, and reset the clock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana and I were recently watching Battlestar Galactica, and I was reminded of an episode we had recently watched where the cyclons attacked every 33 minutes, and so for days, the fleet lived 33 minutes at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every 15 minutes I’d “reset the jump clock” and go again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked really well, and was a great strategy I’d use again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the big climbs, my pace picked up again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d have averaged 21 mph, if I could have just removed those stupid hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’ll stick to courses that work for me a little more next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was feeling just a little weak towards the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I could have used some more calories overall, but it was a good ride in a bad place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Run<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Time </b>2:09:12<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Distance </b>13.1<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Pace </b>9:51/mi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Out on the run I felt pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew it was hilly, I knew I was a weak runner, I wasn’t expecting much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I held back on the first 5 miles, and kept it fairly easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw Emily (aka Captain Blood) right out of T2 .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the athlete meeting the day before, we were warned NOT to swear at volunteers, and there was Emily in a volunteer shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppressed the urge and kept jogging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">About 5 miles in I picked it up a little bit, and turned the effort up to about a 7/10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw Seth again, and he was going really hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then came the hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were rough, and the downhills were worse than the ups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hamstring issue flared back up again, and I was just hoping to avoid injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked a few of the hills, and I knew it would kill my pace, but there was just nothing I could do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw Lana, about 3 miles behind me, after the turn around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was looking tired but strong, and I was really relieved to see her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both always worry about each other when we’re racing at the same time, and I was glad to know she got off the bike without any mechanicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">About 10 miles in I tried to turn it up again, but it wasn’t happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pretty much done, and I just held my pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rolled into the finish feeling like I had raced, but with just a little in the tank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My push was limited, because the PR was off the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I had a great time, and had a good race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was saving that PR for cedar point in a few weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Post-Race<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Post-race, Rev had Brats and potato salad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very “Wisconsin” and pretty tasty I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ate A LOT of potato salad, which is a bad idea in general, but it was pretty tasty that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later on I watched Lana finish and we walked over to recover our bikes before joining Lana’s parents for pizza, and pancakes the next morning!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-34671869164503410582012-07-31T13:35:00.004-05:002012-07-31T13:35:57.284-05:00Evergreen Triathlon – Sprint - 1:39:31.1<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall Place 7/150</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">AG Place 2/11</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Normally I do the Olympic distance event at Evergreen, but not this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This race report starts about a month prior to the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the week in San Jose on business, away from my bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The combination of bad eating, abnormally high run mileage (compensating for the bad eating), and hilly topography resulted in a hamstring strain of some type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had a weak hamstring on my right side for a long time, and that became a big problem after that week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At first I did what every runner with pain would do, I ignored it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I started bombing some runs, and seeing my run pace drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t ignore it anymore, I was hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I took some time off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I stretched, strengthened, and rehabbed the best I could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as the Evergreen Olympic got closer, I realized I was in no shape to run a hard 10k.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Luckily the race director let me move my entry down to the sprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The evergreen sprint is an interesting event in that it keeps the 40k bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hadn’t done a 40k all year, but in general I’m pretty strong on the bike, so I wasn’t incredibly worried, and who knows, because of the smaller race size I might even be competitive in my AG, which I’m certainly not in the evergreen Oly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On race morning I got to the event, got setup, and started my warm up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went into the race somewhat recovered, but mostly not tapered, haven’t really only taken about 3 days easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I got on the bike that morning, my hamstring immediately started complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was doing better, but maybe not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Swim - 10:29 / 600m / 1:55/100</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The swim was a little long, based on my GPS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also swam it very conservatively, having over done it just a bit at the Trishark sprint tri a month before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall I think it went well, however I left a ton on the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a 600m swim though, that’s just a few seconds, so no big.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>T1 - 1:21.1</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My T1 went pretty well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not fast at transitions, but I’m much improved this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Bike – 1:01:20.4 / 24.8 / 24.31 </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My bike went pretty well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I struggled a bit with the flying mount this time around, having maybe gotten just a little cocky about how well it went last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I struggled just a little keeping my head in the game on the bike as there wasn’t really anyone to race on the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sprint started after all the Olympic groups, so I was able to use a lot of folks to slingshot down the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt just a little guilty using the pass zone of slower folks to accelerate me, but it’s all part of the game on the bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even got a “thumbs up” from a draft marshal while I was doing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I got passed by local athletes Kevin McCarthy and Mick Hannah, each on a turn, later in the race, and had to work to pass them both back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both made it very clear that my bike is all speed and no finesse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s something I’m going to seriously work on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still skiddish in corners after a crash in 2010, and a general lack of experience, but enough is enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m probably losing a minute on my 40k cornering like an old woman in a Cadillac.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The hamstring started whining with about 5 miles left, and I backed off just a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to the split I was around 24.3, but there’s no way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the course was a bit short this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The winds were good though, so who knows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>T2 – 1:29.3</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My T2 didn’t go so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My transition spot was pretty much on the other side of transition from bike in, and I unclipped wearing my bike shoes to run my bike through T2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That cost me a ridiculous amount of time, it was a really long run in cleats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If I were going to focus on this short course stuff, I’d learn how to take my shoes off on the bike and run barefoot…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m not a short course athlete, so I’m not going to stress about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Run - 24:59.8 / 3.1 / 8:02/mi</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My run went pretty well, considering the hamstring thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t really start bugging me until I started racing someone else in my AG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the last mile it really started threating to cramp up, when I was descending a small hill, so I shortened my stride and cruised home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end it held me a back a little but I still had a pretty decent run.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Afterwards</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Post-race I found out I did well enough for 2<sup>nd</sup> place in my AG, which I’ll happily take on a good day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being that it happened on a short course race while injured, that’s a bonus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lana got 5<sup>th</sup> in her AG in the Oly as well, with much more fierce competition!</span></div>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-64177217909844014972012-07-16T12:22:00.000-05:002012-07-23T12:24:26.628-05:0024!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my favorite parts of summer is attending the local time trial on Tuesday nights, referred to locally as TNTT or ‘Tuesday Night Time Trial,’ run by local cycling folk hero (and beer aficionado) Mick Hannah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a 20K loop on country roads, complete with a few rollers, Illinois wind, and lots of rough chip/seal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s usually a somewhat low key event, and my schedule keeps me from getting out there as much as I’d like, but I always have a good time when I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ever since last year, I’ve had a big goal at TNTT…to break an average speed of 24 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve come really close, so many times!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve hit 23.7, 23.9, but I just couldn’t seem to flip it over to 24.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last winter, I was tempted to sleep in a lot, but breaking 24 at TNTT got me out of bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d get up early, early in the morning every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday and jump on the trainer with that goal in mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suffered through over 1,500 minutes riding at threshold intensity over the winter, trying to push myself to hit that magic number.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few Tuesdays ago, I finally got to make an attempt at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wind was finally dying down from the spring, and was blowing at about 8mph in a direction that would help more than hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My bike FTP was at new heights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to a recent running injury I was taper and very fresh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was ‘the’ Tuesday of the summer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I really wanted 24.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was great to have a goal, because my season this year has lacked so much direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part I’ve felt like I was floating… What do you do, after you do an Ironman?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it was time to hurt, I haven’t really had a good answer, and I’ve raced somewhat poorly because of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, I was determined to hit that number, and as I slowly rode the course warming up, I put together my race plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I practiced the lines I’d corner with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought about winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most importantly, I prepared myself mentally for the push to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I rolled up to the line, second from the back to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breathing deeply, I waited anxiously for the ‘Go!’ and had my mind on 24 mph the entire time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first part of the course rolls a bit, there is a stop sign, and there were some winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turning on to ‘2250’ the long straight away, about 3 miles in, it was just starting to hurt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As with my half marathon earlier this year, I looked for the line, the place where I had to choose to perform, or be mediocre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was already there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did what I could to relax into the effort, control my breathing, and focus my mind on happier things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My average speed read 23.7 Mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My watts were on goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lana encouraged me to keep a mental catalog of happy thoughts, to pull out when things got hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was quickly digging through that catalog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turned out, this was a powerful strategy to keep pushing in this type of very hard effort, and one that I’ll certainly use again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">About 7 miles in, I really starting struggling to hold my goal watts, however my speed was now approaching 25 Mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew though, that if I didn’t stay on the gas, it wouldn’t work out as I had just turned into the wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mind went to that catalog of positive thoughts, and I kept pushing, using those good memories as my very own ‘Patronus Charm’ and bleeding off just a few watts as my legs worked towards failure. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I hit 12.2 I went all in, and I crossed the line at 12.4 totally done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My average speed was 24.4 mph by the timers, and I had accomplished the one thing that got me out of bed on those cold winter mornings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And there it was…24.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mission accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what’s next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sub 30… That’s my next goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to ride a 20K is less than 30 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>24.86 Mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-46354162620494156092012-07-02T08:04:00.002-05:002012-07-02T08:06:35.805-05:00Race Report: Trishark Classic 2012 1:12:11.3 (1:15:55.7)<br />
<h2>
<b>Tri-Shark Classic Triathlon 1:12:11.3</b></h2>
<br />
Note: Since this is my fourth year doing Tri-Shark, I've put last years results in parenthesis for comparison.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Age Group Place: 10/53 (8/31)</span><br />
Overall: (76)<br />
<br />
Trishark #4, the open to the 2012 tri season for me.<br />
<br />
<b>Swim</b><br />
<br />
Distance: 600y<br />
Time: 10:46.4 (13:18.3)<br />
100y: 1:48 (2:13)<br />
<br />
I had a great swim this year. I made the sprint with the fishes in my AG and hung on. Maybe I went a little to hard, I was still feeling the swim on the bike, which I've never experienced before. <br />
<br />
<b>T1</b><br />
<br />
I spent alot of time trying to improve my T1, and I think it worked for the most part. Basic flow was:<br />
-Wetsuit off half way on the run, all the way at the rack<br />
-Glasses (under helmet straps<br />
-Helmet<br />
-Bike shoes clipped in and banded on<br />
<br />
Note, I was a 9ish seconds faster last year, but I didn't swim with a wetsuit last year.<br />
<br />
Time: 01:41.8 (1:32.9)<br />
<br />
<b>Bike</b><br />
<br />
My bike split was exactly the same as last year. I really underachieved here. I think I payed a little for how hard I went on the swim, but also I was missing some of the push I needed to actually race. I knew I was a long way from the podium and my bike ride was more of a pity party than a TT. I ended up pulling off a power number closer to a 40K TT than a 20K.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Time: 33:28.6 (33:28)</span><br />
Distance: 13 Miles<br />
MPH: 23.3 (22.3)<br />
<br />
<b>T2</b><br />
<br />
My T2 is much improved this year. I'm still 20 or so seconds off from "good" but I'm 30 second from where I was... Short course transitions have never been my thing, but I'm working at it in hopes to take a few more minutes off the long course.<br />
<br />
Time: 01:20.6 (1:54:.0)<br />
<br />
<b>Run</b><br />
<br />
I definately underachieved on the run. Same excuses as the bike. Not a fitness thing, it's my head, not my body. I had 23's in me, I just didn't have a reason.<br />
<br />
Time: 24:53.9 (25:42.5)<br />
Pace: 8:02 (8:17)Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-44016176513121651962012-06-01T13:35:00.004-05:002012-06-01T13:37:24.088-05:00Something Unplanned is Going To Happen<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my 4th year doing Triathlons.
Some people would consider me an experienced triathlete, but believe me I'm still very new. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do know a thing or two about racing though.
Tomorrow, I'm racing The Trishark classic for the 4th year in a row, and here is what I know. In 4 years of racing, every race has had an obstacle to overcome. It might have been crazy heat, wind, snow, rain, a mechanical issue, or eating the wrong thing, but every race has a story. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And so, going into my 4th race I know better than say "this is the race where everything goes according to plan." Instead I'll be saying "In triathlon, anything can happen. I'll react, roll with it, and keep going. No matter what the race brings, there will be a great party afterwards and I'll be better for the experience." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So, my advice as a "grizzled veteran" to someone doing their first race tomorrow is this. Something unplanned will happen tomorrow, but you'll be prepared. You'll deal with it, and no matter what happens there will be a great party and a new story to tell in the end.</span>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-36709961216497582622012-05-23T09:43:00.001-05:002012-05-24T13:21:41.154-05:00PeriodizationThis is the first, in maybe several, articles on the science behind training, as I understand it. I think alot of coaches and athletes get periodization wrong, and make it too hard. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. So, lets take a shot at making this a bit easier.<br />
<br />
<strong>Disclaimer</strong><br />
I'm<strong> not </strong>an exercise physiologist, or a coach, or even an especially fast athlete. I read alot and I'm an engineer/researcher (computer science) so I do have an analytical mind but that's my only real qualification.<br />
<br />
<strong>Quick Terminology</strong><br />
In this article I'm going to be talking alot about Endurance, Threshold/FTP and VO2max. While defining those three terms could and has filled a book, here's the cliff notes:<br />
<br />
<strong>Endurance </strong>- Your ability to ride for a really long time<br />
<br />
<strong>Threshold/FTP</strong> - FTP is functional threshold power. Threshold refers to Lactate Threshold. In both cases this refers to the fastest you can go for a "relatively long time." In running this is 10k pace, in cycling it's roughly a 1 hour, all out time trial.<br />
<br />
<strong>VO2max</strong> - Really what I'm talking about when I say VO2max is your velocity at VO2 max, or vVO2max. This is your pace when you're consuming oxygen as quickly as you possibly can. <br />
<br />
Working at all three of these intensities is beneficial. Which are most important depends on your goal races, and your limiters. <br />
<br />
<strong>What is Periodizaiton</strong><br />
Periodizaiton is the practice of progressing your yearly training so that you're in peak shape for your most important race or races. The concept was invented by Tudor Bompa, as a way to vary the training stress placed on olympic athletes. Basically, the concept was to not do the same thing every day, of every month, of every year. Joe Friel applied it to triathlon, and built some specific recommendations for base, build, and peak mesocycles. <br />
<br />
It all gets really complicated though, and not incredibly practical for the average age group athlete. So, I'm going to deconstruct it a bit and tell you what I think.<br />
<br />
<strong>Periodization Deconstructed</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Rule 1: Training Should Go From General to Specific</strong><br />
I'm going to make two assumptions here:<br />
1. Variation in training is good. <br />
2. Your body adapts to the specific stressors you put on it:<br />
-If you want to ride fast, you have to train to ride fast. <br />
-If you want to ride for a long time, you have to train to ride for a long time. <br />
<br />
Based on these assumptions, your training should be very general in the beginning of your season, addressing improving all areas of fitness. As your race nears, your training should more resemble your race. <br />
<br />
<strong>Rule 2: Keep It Real</strong><br />
<br />
If you're an age grouper, like I am, this is my one caveat. You've gotta work inside your box. Example: I'd benefit from training my bike endurance during the winter. I'd be a better cyclist if I got in a 3-4 hour ride at least once per week in February. <br />
<br />
But I don't. That's stupid. I'm not going to ride the trainer, or in -20 degree weather with 30 mph winds, in the middle of winter. So, I let my endurnace go a little. Optimal? No. Real? Yep.<br />
<br />
<strong>Rule 4:</strong> All Blocks Should Include SOME VO2max, Theshold, and Endurance work. The quantity of each is determined by the previous rules and how far away your races are. <br />
<br />
That's really it. Periodization means adjusting the "mix" of threshold, endurance, and VO2max work in different quantities, based on where you are in the season.<br />
<br />
<strong>A Periodization Example</strong><br />
<br />
Based on my current best understanding, this is how I would (and do) peridoize training:<br />
<br />
Mike finished an Ironman last year in September and took Oct/Nov/Dec easy. It's January and he's ready to start training. His plan is to do several half ironman races in 2012, with the key races being in Sept of 2012. So, this is how I'd build his cycling year. <br />
<br />
<strong>Block 0 (Survive Winter) 8-12 Weeks</strong><br />
Mike is stuck indoors in the winter. He's willing to rid the trainer for 60-90 minutes before he becomes homocidal. So, we'll do the best we can with that situation by writing lots of intervals to break up the monotony. Those intervals will target mostly FTP power, but also VO2. We'll throw in some sufferfest videos for variety.<br />
<br />
<strong>Block 1 (Get Endurance Back) 6 Weeks</strong><br />
Mike is finally able to get outside, but where he lives the wind sucks. So, we'll work in some longer rides to build back the endurance Mike lost, but we'll train by hours, not miles, because plenty of his time will be spent riding 7 mph into a 30 mph headwind. <br />
<br />
At the end of May, Mike field tested at 3.4 W/Kg FTP, up from 3.2 last season, which is a nice gain. Mike's 3 minute power looks like 4 W/Kg, which, is going to limit further FTP development, so that's a limiter.<br />
<br />
<strong>Block 2 (General Race Prep) 4-6 Weeks</strong><br />
So, now the weather is nice, Mike has his durability back, and he has some short triathlons in his future. In this general block, Mike is going to do workouts to address VO2max power, FTP power, and Endurance. He's going to focus in on VO2max power, because he knows that's his weakest point. <br />
<br />
<strong>Block 3 (Race Build) 4-6 Weeks</strong><br />
Hopefully, Mike has made some improvements to VO2max power at this point. He will have field tested again. <strong><u>As his race gets closer his training will start looking more like his racing</u>.</strong> He will continue to do a little work in this area, and a little FTP work, but the focus will shift to getting ready to race the fitness he has. He will start doing more workouts with race pace interval added. <br />
<br />
<strong>Block 4 (Peak) 4-6 Weeks including taper</strong><br />
<br />
At this point, Mike is going to field test one last time and use this information to set his power zones for racing. The vast majority of the work in this block will be based on race pace efforts, with a <strong>SMALL</strong> amount of VO2 and FTP still mixed in. One other note, when doing race pace work, is to break it up. It's really easy to do so much race prep, that you leave your race on the training course. Don't do that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Summary</strong><br />
<br />
So, my take on periodization isn't the same as the other stuff you might read. Some coaches recommend only low intensity work during certain phases, for example. Others recommend only high intensity. I'm preaching the middle road. <br />
<br />
So, said simply...<br />
<ul>
<li>Training Should Go From General to Specific</li>
<li>Keep it Simple</li>
<li>Do what you can and want to do, and don't burn yourself out if this is a hobby</li>
<li>All phases should contain VO2max, Threshold, and Endurance components, in varying quantities, based on how far away your races are.</li>
</ul>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-34758731183276249472012-04-29T09:32:00.001-05:002012-05-04T07:26:58.130-05:002012 Illinois Half Marathon - 1:45:11<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0.19in;">This
is going to be a crazy race report, it's more about my life than my
race. It will be a complicated read, and it tells a story 6 weeks
long, but I'm telling the story this way because racing and life are
so often just perfect analogs of one another for us crazy few
endurance athletes.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pre
Race</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lana
and I woke up at 4:30, in a Red Roof Inn in Champaign, after running
a 5k the night before. Completing both the 5k and the half netted us
a special award, so we duffed the run the previous night.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Breakfast
was peanut butter and honey on white bread. Then off to the races.
It was stormy morning, and the temp was in the high 40s. The wind
was about 20 mph SSE. The rain cleared before the 7am start. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
met my friend Mark and a coworker of his before the start. He was
planning on pacing his friend to a 1:44:xx finish. My PR for the
half was last year's race where I ran 1:46:34. I knew that if I had
a PR in me for today, it would be small and hard fought, and my plan
was to stick behind Mark as long as I could and see what happens at
mile 10. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The
national anthem was sung, we smashed up to the front of our corral,
and we were off. After the first mile, my legs already hurt, but I
was still conversational. A long winter of aerobic base training my
run seemed to have left me with a big aerobic engine and a body
unaccustomed running hard. This was going to hurt. Races are, and have always been where I fight against
myself. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4
Weeks Prior, Wednesday</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">“I'm
very sorry, but you have a leak in your aortic valve my friend.” A
few weeks prior my low heart rate earned me a trip to visit a
cardiologist. Then there was a 24 hour halter, a stress test, and
echo, and a few EKGs. It was all a big joke. I exercise, I have
awesome lipid levels, my resting heart rate is in the low 30s, I'm as
fit as people get. But then it wasn't a joke anymore. I had a
leak...in my heart. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">“That's
not good” was the only response I could muster. My new
cardiologist gave me the gist of it. It's mild to moderate, whatever
that means. Maybe I've always had it, or maybe it happened recently.
Maybe it will never get worse, or maybe it will. Maybe I'll need
open heart surgery someday. Maybe I'll need a valve replacement that
comes from a dead person, or one from another place in my heart...but
maybe it would be a mechanical valve that would require me to live
the rest of my life on blood thinners. Increased risk of bleeding.
The end of my days on a racing and competing. Maybe. Or maybe
nothing. Or maybe nothing until I'm 80. Where do you go from there?
</span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
I went wasn't a great place. Worst case scenario. Plan for the
worst. Identify the weakest link. Mitigate risk. But that didn't
work here. The cold analystics that I apply to engineering computer
systems maybe applies to a population of cardiac patients, but not a
single person. I'm the single point of failure, the non redundant
node. Nothing I could do. Where do you go from there? Where I
went was to the lobby. I texted Lana. I had fought so hard to get my life back, to come back from where I was to be here. And now this. I sat down and cried. I was
totally overwhelmed.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile
2</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
stuck by Mark. My legs warmed up a little bit and I felt a little
better. I never had that “wow, this is easy” taper feeling
though. I didn't want to think about how bad it was going to get
when the suck found me. For now I just tried to live in the moment.
I'd worry about mile 2, mile 13 was a lifetime away. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><b>4
Weeks Prior, Thursday </b></span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
didn't even want to get out of bed. I went between panicked,
resolved to fight, ready to quit, and back again as I analyzed my new
condition. I learned about it, thought about it, and tried to wrap
my head and my emotions around the situation. But I did get up.
That morning at 5am I did a 2x15 minute bike ride at 95% Threshold.
When it got hard I quit. I can count the times I've walked away from
a workout on one hand. This was one of them. I was afraid my heart
would quit. I'd need to monitor my blood pressure daily now. It was
sky high suddenly. I was a ball of stress. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile
4</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">My
lungs were starting to work a little harder, my legs were feeling
better. I was still in this. I choked down a gu and picked up a few
cups of water as we turned into a head wind. Mark was dropping the
pace just a little bit, doing a great job leading us towards a 1:44
goal. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3 Weeks Ago</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Every
morning I wake up, stand in front of the mirror, and brush my teeth.
When I do, I'm reminded of my previous life. The 400 pound me is
gone now, but not forgotten. I'm reminded of that person every time
I look in the mirror and see the 20 pounds of loose skin hanging from
body. I carry it with me every day as a reminder. I had something new to carry with me now.<b></b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
spoke to a few other cardiologists, and I got some better news. Alot
of the time, the thing I had doesn't get any worse, maybe it will
never get worse for me. When it does get worse, it's usually when
people are alot older than I am. I was maybe reaching acceptance,
maybe, but I had something new to carry around. I'd need to avoid salt, and take medicine to keep my blood pressure super humanly low. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile
7</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
still kept hanging on. It still wasn't easy. I was purposely
keeping my blood sugar higher than normal to take the edge off. My
legs were starting to fail. Before the suck had really found me, I
was in a place where I could no longer will my legs to turn over at
the speed required to stick the pace. Frustrating, but I dug deeper.
The line was 10 miles. I had to make it to mile 10, then I could
gut out the last 5k. Even if I couldn't drop my pace, Mark had
banked us enough time that I could PR. If I could just hold on a
little longer.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2
Weeks Ago</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Friend,
uber endurance runner, and cardiologist Dennis tried to ease my mind
about the situation. After talking to him I was reassured. Alot of
the time it just doesn't get any worse. Nothing is for sure in life,
but if the news is that I might need heart surgery when I'm
70...well, who can't say that? </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes
it degrades really quickly, but I'm not sometimes. This is probably
something I did to myself with uncontrolled high blood pressure, when
I was 400 pounds, doing my best to commit suicide by food. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">It's
a hard lesson to learn. There are things you can do to yourself that
can't be undone by an older wiser you. It's an obvious lesson, I
suppose. Life is hard, but success for me has always been measured
more by “showing up every day” and less about winning the big
race. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My
mind went to a quote I just saw in a friend's email signature:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Let
me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine
and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how
tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there
permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as
life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can
get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving
forward. That's how winning is done!”</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -Rocky
Balboa</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile
10</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
made it, Mark was still in sight, but I was falling off the back. He
was dropping to the 7:30s I guessed, and I couldn't follow. I
surged, tried to catch up, and then fell back and recovered into a
sustainable pace. If I could hold on, I could PR. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile
11</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
suck finally found me. The seconds ticked by, everything hurt, and
my goal became to get to mile 12 at my current pace. My brain
disassociated with the physical stuff. A PR was still possible. I
couldn't will my legs any faster, so I just focused on trying to be
as economical as possible.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">There
may be a day I can't do this anymore. My heart valve might give out.
Or maybe it will be my knee, that was supposed to never work well
again, but it does. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My
mind went to something else I heard, this time not from Rocky but
from Aragorn, in “The Return of the King.”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I
see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day
may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of
wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down!
But it is not this day! </i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There
may be a day when I can't do this anymore, but that day isn't this
day. Finally I was able to let the suffering in, let it wash over
me, and welcome its familiarity. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
I got faster.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mile 12-13.1</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I saw Seth and Ryan (who ran the half in 74 minutes...wow) running a cool down around mile 13. I was in my groove and rushing to the finish. I had just enough to kick a little bit on the .1. I crossed the line in 1:47 gun time, a PR for sure. I walked a bit to cool down but I was a real mess. There was no way I could have run another step. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Finish</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It's
no secret I'm not much of a runner. A 1:45 half is nothing special
to be sure, as far as 30-34M goes at least, but today I did pretty good.<b> </b>(And
in the words of Billy Madison “It was hard for me, so back off!”)<b>
</b>I put it all on the table,
there was nothing else left.<b> </b>I
finished running my 5k pace, in complete agony, but smiling, proud of
where I was able to take myself. I crossed the line in 1:45:11 chip
time, 666<sup>th</sup>
out of 6756. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Splits</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1
– 8:11</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
– 8:01</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3
– 7:56</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4
– 7:56</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5
– 7:51</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6
– 7:39</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7
– 7:59</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8
– 7:44</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9
– 7:46</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10
– 7:59</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11
– 7:56</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12
- 8:08</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13
– 7:53</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0.19in;">13.1
– 7:22</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
Next Day</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I
regained consciousness at about 6:30. I moved my legs and pain was
reintroduced into the vocabulary of my mind. Ouch. William was
moving down stairs. I was hungry and there was a bowl of oatmeal
with my name on it. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was
my beautiful wife laying next to me. Yesterday I fought against
myself and won. I was up for an easy Sunday morning. I can't help
but feel very lucky. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A
few days ago I told <a href="http://runningonginnis.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Curt from “Running on Guinness”</a> that
sometimes it's like having two different lives, coming from where he and I were to where I am now. That's true, but also, getting from there to here
has involved so many struggles and hard fought victories, of which a screwed up heart valve is
just the newest. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“my
life has been extraordinary<br />blessed
and cursed and won<br />time
heals but i'm forever broken<br />by
and by the way...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>i
know that i am meant for this world”</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Muzzel,
Smashing Pumpkins</span></span></div>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-15720887821411657952012-04-23T09:53:00.000-05:002012-04-23T09:53:17.096-05:00Getting Away for the Weekend - Rev3 Dells PreviewWow, it's been forever since I've blogged!<br />
<br />
There's alot going on, and there have been some new pretty big challenges for me of late. More on that later. For now, this is about the awesome weekend Lana and I had last weekend.<br />
<br />
It had been a while, and we've been pretty beat up, so Lana and I decided to get away for the weekend. And this was a perfect weekend to go try out the Rev3 Dells course. <br />
<br />
We loaded up the car Saturday Morning after breakfast and drove up. After stopping for lunch, and getting to the hotel, we got on our bikes around 2. We changed in the hotel public bathroom in the lobby, which meant I got to parade around the lobby as spandex man! Good times...<br />
<br />
I covered the <a href="http://iron-path.blogspot.com/2012/04/rev3-dells-703-bike-course-preview.html" target="_blank">bike course here</a>, if you're interested.<br />
<br />
After the bike we cleaned up and went over to a restaurant called the "House of Embers" which was pretty good. The food was cooked very well. Lana had steak, I had salmon, both were pretty much perfect. They limited things like free refills on drinks and charged extra for alot of the sides though, which I suppose was supposed to be "upscale" but came across to me as cheap. Also, the plating was a little wierd. My salmon was a big plate with a piece of salmon and .3 carrots. It looked a little empty. Lana's main was a steak, covered in a demi-glace. No vegetation, potato on a seperate plate. It was odd. Anyway, enough iron-chef, the food was good.<br />
<br />
That night we went to the hotel bar to get a drink...<b>because you can't buy a bottle of wine in the dells after 9pm</b>. That place was a treat. I asked to see their wine list. Here it is, from memory:<br />
<br />
<b>White</b><br />
Riesling<br />
Sauvignon Blanc<br />
Pinot Grigio<br />
Chardonnay<br />
<br />
<b>Red</b><br />
Cabernet<br />
Merlot<br />
Pinot Noir<br />
Shiraz<br />
<br />
Descriptive huh? I thought so too...but hey, I'm on vacation. I'll play along. So, I order a glass of mystery Pinot Noir. I got Pinot Grigio. Ok, maybe I didn't say the right thing, and hey, I like Pinot Grigio, so whatever. Round 2. This time, I'm determined to get a red! So, I ordered Cabernet. The bartender ALMOST poured me a flipping Chardonnay. This time I stopped him before he could charge me $5.00 a glass for that over oaked crap, and asked again for Cabernet. Finally, the juice was red. <br />
<br />
Folks, I'm starting to think Wisconsin has it out for me. The last time I was here I woke up with the flu and had to do an ironman. This time, I show up, ride 56 miles of crappy hills, and then find out all the wine in this place is white! Uncool Wisconsin, uncool. <br />
<br />
Ok, so anyway, the next morning Lana and I ran the run course. I wrote up an <a href="http://iron-path.blogspot.com/2012/04/rev3-dells-703-run-course-preview.html" target="_blank">overview of that here</a>. <br />
<br />
After that, we hit up Paul Bunyon's which is an all-you-can-eat kind of breakfast place. I remember going there when I was 7, and so does my mom, so it's been there virtually forever... You know, the food was good. And all-I-could-eat was ALOT after this weekend. I seriously chowed down, and it was great.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzmQVAsooI8kxTkRETkhGFJ23e30Y9dDILpfTO5QG3FEbkOV0db3CuGinuQo1BnfbSx5RQqPkYW7P5thufvaDRXTl2tIbHtYyirTAdf48x6GbCLyI1aXT19E4dLxlUSeJoDHDD_KAbeP-/s1600/IMG_0170-cropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzmQVAsooI8kxTkRETkhGFJ23e30Y9dDILpfTO5QG3FEbkOV0db3CuGinuQo1BnfbSx5RQqPkYW7P5thufvaDRXTl2tIbHtYyirTAdf48x6GbCLyI1aXT19E4dLxlUSeJoDHDD_KAbeP-/s320/IMG_0170-cropped.png" width="206" /></a></div>
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<br />
Sitting there after putting in two hard days, chowing on pancakes and coffee made it really feel like a normal summer, which is very welcome. <br />
<br />
After that I took Lana to Pearson's Indian Trading Post and shopped around for a bit. I remember it being a huge, vast collection of junk, souvenirs, and knick knacks, so I figured it would be a good opportunity for Lana to do the shopping thing. After training all weekend, I think I owed her some girl time. :) Around 2pm we pulled out, got home, and did shopping/chores. Back to the grind! <br />
<br />
It was an awesome weekend away though, we had a great time and I'm excited to see Lana race this first half. There's lots of promise for this race season!<br />
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<br />Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-50104780937679924712012-04-23T09:20:00.003-05:002012-04-23T09:20:17.899-05:00Rev3 Dells 70.3 Run Course PreviewSo, I figured I should follow up my bike course preview with a preview of the run course. This one is short and sweet compared to the bike. Here's the low down...<br />
<br />
<b>Overall Impressions</b><br />
The run course is...you guessed it...hilly. <br />
<br />
<b>Details</b><br />
Out of T1 you're mostly in the city until you hit County Hwy A at about mile 1.62 <br />
<br />
County Hwy A starts a long long uphill section at probably 4% - 6% grade? The course is mostly an out and back run, so you get to run back down again later.<br />
<br />
12/23 The course turns back on to 12/23 at around 2.5 It's a downhill to 13.<br />
<br />
At US 13, which is the main road over the river and into the downtown dells area. It's mostly a gradual uphill after the bridge<br />
<br />
At about 4.5 miles your through downtown and, after a brief reprieve there is a short ascent, and then a descent until around mile 6. <br />
<br />
We only wanted 10 miles so we didn't scope out the out-back on vine to mile 8, we turned at mile 5. For the rest, imagine everything I just said, except backwards. :) <br />
<br />
It's a pretty straight forward, but not easy, run course and I imagine it will be pretty cool running through downtown on race day. <br />
<br />
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<br />Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-92013884553306228882012-04-23T08:50:00.000-05:002012-04-23T09:59:39.339-05:00Rev3 Dells 70.3 Bike Course PreviewLana and I were able to "get away" for the weekend and did an impromptu course ride of the Rev3 Dells 70.3 race. After seeing the course online, it looked pretty legit, so I was really curious to see what it had in store.<br />
<br />
I'll recap the weekend in another post, and keep this to "just the facts" on the course.<br />
<br />
<b>Overall Impression</b><br />
Pretty hard. Probably a 7/10 on difficulty. Somewhere between IMOO and Dairlyand Dare. The hills are harder than IMOO, but the overall course is only half the distance. The course lacked the steepness (and length) of Dairyland Dare, but had climbs that were longer overall. <br />
<br />
For the most part the asphalt is in great shape. There are some roads where that isn't the case (bluff rd, tower rd).<br />
<br />
The climbs on the course are no joke, especially for us flat landers and heavier cyclists/non climbers (I'm a member of both of those clubs). I went around 2:45 in Steelhead two years ago I think on 78% FTP. I'm estimating my bike split on this course would be between 3:00 and 3:15 at 80% FTP (which may be too big of a chunk) even after having improved my FTP by 52W over those two years.<br />
<br />
One other note on power...pay no attention to mine below. I was in scouting mode, drafting 90% of the time, climbing stupid hard the other 10%. Don't use me as a pacing example please, or if you're in my age group, do this exactly. :) <br />
<br />
<b>Gear Selection</b><br />
I'm putting this section in to help people choose how they setup their bikes for the course:<br />
<br />
Lana rides a 650 with a standard crank, typically paired with an 11x25 and is a strong cyclist. For this course I switched her 11x25 to an 11x28, and she was appropriately geared, only having to exceed FTP a few times on the big climbs to continue to make forward progress.<br />
<br />
I ride a big person bike (700) with a compact, typically paired with an 11x25, and I'm also a strong cyclist. I was lazy and kept my 11x25. I was under geared, and had to ride the big climbs at 120% in places to make forward progress, which would have hurt my run. I'd ride a bigger climbing gear at the race. <br />
<br />
<b> Details:</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>0-15.7 -</b> Lots of rollers as you leave the dells and head towards Baraboo. Like IMOO, this is a course where you need to play chess with the hills and shift appropriately to maintain momentum.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>15.7-16.8 - </b>This is the first real climb, into Devil's Lake State Park. It's just under a mile, and the grade varies between 5% and 8% with occasional spikes into the 10% range. The descent is clear, straight, and nontechnical. <br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>16.8-23.0 </b>For the most part we're back to rollers here. County Road DL is a treat after the first climb.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>23.0-25.0 </b>The course turns from DL to Bluff road and there's a golf course on your right. This signals the start to the hardest of the three major climbs. There are a few brief reprieves, but for the most part this is a 2 mile climb. The course goes from 880ish feet to 1500ish feet, and most of the time you're at between 8 and 12%. It's very long and somewhat steep.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>25.0-28.5 </b>For most of this section you're descending, but the descents are technical and include lots of blind corners. A roadie might do well on this section, but this triathlete is going to take this area slow and avoid being dead. I forget the name now, but there is a hill on the IMOO course where there are lots of hay bails stacked. It's like that, but worse. It's mentally tough too, because you know you're losing momentum being careful. I expect some carnage here on race day. <br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>28.5 to 33.0 </b>Rollers.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>33.0 </b>Beich road marks the start to the last of three big climbs. It's short by comparison to the other two, at only a mile long. It's also the steepest by just a tad. There is a section where we were grinding at 12% for quite a while. <br />
<br />
The descent on this climb is also somewhat technical, or perhaps we were just mentally fried at this point. Not knowing the topography of this route, my spirits were a little low at this point. I was thinking "good lord, this is going to take forever on race day!" <br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>35.0 </b>After the descent you quickly find yourself on County W and then Highway 33 (36.5ish). This is, in my opinion,<b> the flattest spot in all of Wisconsin!</b> Honestly, flat isn't even correct because it's slightly downhill until mile 43. We were able to spin fast, put our heads down, and make up some time here while recovering our legs from the big climbs.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>43.0 and 53.0 </b>mark some steep short climbs, but for the most part you're home free. <br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="500px" src="http://ridewithgps.com/trips/607661/embed" width="100%"></iframe>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-89866505009257833102012-02-14T02:00:00.000-06:002012-02-14T12:02:57.512-06:00The Girl I Tell My Secrets To"Just write about whatever your heart desires" That was the creative writing assignment that lead to my short, brilliant career as a poet. During that time I wrote about 20 individual pieces of poetry, four of which were published by my school's creative writing publication. That's 20%, which ain't bad folks. Mr Meyers, my teacher for creative writing, was asking me to engage upon a flight of fancy, a not necessarily practical idea. But, while my soul may have been that of a poet, my mind was still that of an engineer...and so I wrote about what my heart truely did desire.<br />
<br />
I wrote about finding my place, in the entrophy of the world. Significance, meaning, and the lack of any, were always common themes. The bigness of the world I lived in effected me more then than now, now that my apathy has grown as big. It seemed that my writing really appealed to the angst ridden teens reviewing our school's creative writing, or perhaps it just sounded a lot like the Pearl Jam CDs they were listening too while they worked, and I received a lot of accolades for my writing. My most overlooked work though, was a short poem titled "The Girl I Tell My Secrets To."<br />
<br />
In that poem, I described a fictional girl. Someone that was as unsure about the bigness of the world as I was. Someone that struggled the same ways I did. Someone that understood me. Someone, I expected I would never meet.<br />
<br />
Not so long ago, I was telling my best friend "I don't think it's possible to find someone that can be your mate, understand you completely, and be your best friend." My reasoning was simple. It was too much to ask of any single person, and my experience with women indicated exactly that. I had given up on it all. I had hardened myself to the hopelessness, and removed the possibility, resigning myself to being alone, or at least something like that. Giving up. <br />
<br />
But then, when things were at their darkest, there she was, smiling at me from under an airplane, the girl I tell my secrets to... The most beautiful woman that has ever graced a pair of gray sketchers introduced herself to me, and there was no question my life would never be the same. I remember the first time I met her face to face, she was standing in front of a wall, and written behind her was a favorite quote from Keroauc, "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to
live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same
time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn,
burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders
across the stars." I'm nothing if not dense, but the writing was quite literally on the wall, and there was no question in my mind that my world was different.<br />
<br />
We're beyond compatable. Inevitably when we go out to eat at a restaurant, I always wish I ordered what she did. Neither one of us can pick up after ourselves. We're both triathletes, pretty good cyclists, and pretty average runners. Neither of us like tomatoes, but we both like tomato sauce. But, more important than tomatoes or watts, for the first time ever I can be me with her. I can let my guard down, I can show weakness, I can need help, and I can celebrate victories with her. <br />
<br />
My life, as Billy Corgan wrote, "has been been extraordinary, blessed and cursed and won." I never, in that blessed, cursed, and won mess, expected to find her. In fact I didn't think it was possible that a person like this could even exist. But she does... The Girl I Tell My Secrets To. Somehow I met her, and I married her. I count myself beyond fortunate for that.Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-27035609517659692802012-01-30T13:07:00.000-06:002012-01-30T13:07:17.148-06:00What I got for Christmas...<style>
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I had a really great holiday season this year, and I’m
really thankful for all the great stuff I got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, I can’t really think of a holiday season that topped this
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Although, the one where I got
Voltron was right up there…)</div>
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Probably the biggest gift was the house that Lana and I
bought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a day, not so long
ago, when I had to give up just about everything material I had ever worked
for, and start over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to say
that experience has provided me with some transcendence over material
possessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That wouldn’t be the truth
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m certainly less dependent on,
and in some ways distrustful of material goods, but the fact is, having a place
in the world that is all mine feels pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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On Christmas Eve-Eve I made Christmas dinner for Lana and
William.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a fire in the
fireplace, Christmas music playing, we opened some presents, and it was really
good and all sorts of Norman Rockwell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An opportunity for us to all be together was another great gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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On Christmas Eve I took William to my mom’s house for Christmas
dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lana was at work, taking care of
the sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was having some awful
stomach cramps that had actually started the night before, which wasn’t so
great, and I guess made me one of the sick... When I got to Mom’s we ended up
going to see a Doctor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the doctor
was reviewing my vitals he questioned my resting heart rate, which was in the
mid 40s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before I could answer, mom
jumped in and told the doctor “he’s an athlete.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom was pretty proud of me, it was cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my mind was drawn back to thoughts of
this other guy I knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was in the
same coaching group as me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was an
athlete, like but much better than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was healthy, successful at work, and had a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died 26 miles into a PR marathon this
summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later that night after the
doctor decided I probably wasn’t dying I sat around the table with William and
my family and just enjoyed their stories and soaked it in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was thankful for the moments I have, knowing
that none of us are invincible and that a Kona or Boston slot doesn’t promise
health and longevity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
guarantees, and none of us are invincible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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On New Year’s Eve we had some friends over to our new
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cooked some stuff that turned
out kinda “meh.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ate too much, drank
a little wine, and had a great time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
next morning, New Year’s Day, we met up early for a 12 mile run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balance is a wonderful gift I’m just really
learning to understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I’m now 12 weeks into the off-season, and it’s been
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really love the centuries and long long
runs that in season training brings, and those things will be there again, but
it’s nice to have the opportunity to focus on some other stuff for a change. I’ve
been able to refocus on what I want out of the next few years of Triathlon, and
the next few years of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-77061098047960433552012-01-18T20:26:00.000-06:002012-01-18T20:26:52.847-06:00Is Your Treadmil Lying To You? Treadmil Accuracy and CalibrationTis the season when the ice gets the best of us, and we move some of those runs indoors. We are lucky enough to have a treadmill in the basement OF OUR NEW HOUSE this year! That's good. But...when I run on it, it seems a little fast... Easy paces aren't so easy. That's bad. But is the computer lying to me? Or am I big pansy? Honestly, I don't know. Either is possible, of course. But luckily for you, dear reader, I'm not just another<strike> pretty face</strike> dumb jock. I'm also an engineer, and this is the kind of problem we live for! As I write this, I have a notebook full of data, ready to be evaluated. So is my treadmill accurate? Let's find out. Is your treadmill accurate? Here's how to tell...<br />
<br />
So, we need determine speed. That's distance covered / time (except in the case of the kessel run, but we won't talk about that). We will be figuring out how far the belt went in a given time. <br />
<br />
Step 1. Determine how long your treadmills belt is. The best way to do this is to tape some string onto the belt, and then push the belt around once, until the string is taught around the outside of the belt. And then...measure the string. My belt was 128" long.<br />
<br />
Step 2. Put some type of easily seen mark on the belt. Turn on your treadmill and set it at your normal run pace. Then grab your iPhone. <br />
<br />
Step 3. Start your stop iPhone's Stop Watch as soon as the mark passes the bottom of the deck, then count 30 (seemed like a good number) passes of the mark on the bottom of the treadmill. Do this three times. You should get similar results all three times. <br />
<br />
My results:<br />
30 Revs @ 6 Mph<br />
Trial 1: 35.6 sec<br />
Trial 2: 35.5 sec<br />
Trial 3: 35.5 sec<br />
Average: 35.5 seconds<br />
<br />
You're free to stop right there, but I wanted to make sure the Treadmill didn't vary at higher or lower speeds, so I tested at 8 mph and 4 mph as well. <br />
<br />
30 Revs @ 8 Mph<br />
Trial 1: 27.3 sec<br />
Trial 2: 26.7 sec<br />
Trial 3: 26.6 sec<br />
Average: seconds 26.8 sec<br />
<br />
The belt count got more challenging at 8 mph, and that's about as fast as I run, so, good enough.<br />
<br />
I also did 1 trial at 4 mph. I got bored...<br />
<br />
10 Revs @ 4 Mph<br />
1. 16.2 sec <br />
<br />
Step 4. So, now we can compute. Lets start with 6 Mph.<br />
<br />
So, the belt revolved 30 times and it's 128 inches long. That means it moved:<br />
<br />
30*128 = 3840 inches. (Yes, we should be using the metric system, yes imperal measure is assinine, but I run in minutes/mile so if you don't like it...get your own blog.)<br />
<br />
<br />
If we cover 3840 inches in 35.6 seconds, how many inches will we cover in 3600 seconds (1 hour)? Enter algebra 1. <br />
<br />
(3840 inch/35.6sec) = (x inches / 3600 sec) Cross multiply and divide and we get...<br />
<br />
388314.61 inches = 32359.55 feet (/5280 feet/mile)= 6.12 Miles. But, wait...the treadmill was set at 6 Mph. Houston, we have a problem. <br />
<br />
<br />Checking 8 Mph we get:<br />
<br />
(3840 inch/26.8sec) = (x inches / 3600 sec) = 506373.63 inches = 7.99 Mph. I think we can call that 8. <br />
<br />
Checking 4 Mph we get:<br />
<br />
(1280 inch/16.2 sec) = (x inches / 3600 sec) =4.48 Mph. <br />
<br />
Seeing the trend here? It appears the that treadmill is pretty much right on (and maybe a little slow) at top end speeds but at the low end, it's quite a bit faster. In my easy pace zone, it appears to be about 10 sec/mile fast. <br />
<br />
So now what? I dunno. I think I'll run a few more trials to be sure and then call the manufacturer. I can certainly just adjust my paces...but I'd prefer it if the computer's output = reality. Story of my life. Anyway, I guess stay tuned for part 2?<br />
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<br />Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-52128180240016315352011-11-23T08:47:00.001-06:002011-11-23T09:31:12.404-06:00An Ode to 2x20Winter Bike Training... It's a love/hate thing for me. <br />
<br />
Riding the trainer sucks. It's boring beyond words and more painful than that. At least the way I do it. <br />
<br />
That said, the winter is when I get fast. While most folks are base building, or recovering, or doing some candy ass group bike workout or whatever...I'm getting faster. <br />
<br />
But getting faster hurts. Sometimes it hurts alot. My winter bike training sessions rarely go over 75 minutes. That's my trainer insanity threshold. But every time I ride it's all about racking up as many minutes as possible at threshold power. It starts slow, 8ish minute repeats in zone 4, but by the end of the winter I'll be doing the equivilent to 3 20K TTs a week of zone 4 work, mixed in with LOTS of zone 3. Riding at zone 2 doesn't exist in my winter bike training. I have all summer to put endurance on top of my threshold training, and in reality it takes about 6 weeks to get it back.<br />
<br />
This is my second year of training this way. I'm a big fan of the results. The trick is in the doing. The worst part of the entire process is power testing. My preferred power test is 2x20@100% on 2'. I go all out, and then use the normalized power of the 42 minute range as my new 100%. I test every 6 weeks. <br />
<br />
For me, that 2x20 workout starts about a week before my butt hits the saddle. I start dreading it. I know it's coming. I'll start loading with my normal suppliments, and stop eating with any calorie deficit. The worrying starts. "What if I lost a bunch of fitness in those few months of rest I took?" "Will my FTP bounce back?" "How much work am I going to have to do, to improve again this year?" I try to start rationalizing with myself. It doesn't hurt that bad really...and it's only 40 minutes. <br />
<br />
Then there is acceptance. The day comes. I resign myself to the pain. One last shot of caffeine, a few puffs from the inhaler, a long warm up, and then the test. <br />
<br />
The first 10 minutes aren't so bad. I target what I think my FTP is. By then I've totally burnt out my anerobic ability to create power. The second 10 creep by. <br />
<br />
Making it past the first 20 is the easy part. Two minutes easy, I try to catch my breath, and brace myself for the second 20 minute interval. <br />
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The second 20 minutes isn't targeted. I don't have a magic number to shoot for. I pedal as hard as I can. That's it. It's just all out, 100%. The litmus test is "can I pedal any harder?" If the answer is yes, I do. My breathing is completely ragged. I'm probably struggling not to vomit, and my pain compensation strategies are all in play. I'm probably thinking "This is the most painful thing I can imagine, but hey, at least I'm not running..." <br />
<br />
By the last 5 minutes, if I paced well I'm ready to really drive myself to the edge and leave everything out there. If I didn't pace well, it's even harder to push because my power output is dropping and the suffering is worse. <br />
<br />
And then it's over. I can stop. I try to walk, and usually can't, so I sit down on the bottom step to my basement and take a few minutes to recover. I immediately feel it in my legs, I'll be trashed for a few days. <br />
<br />
It's an impossibly hard workout. The gains are also as impossible to describe. Last year I gained almost 40W of FTP, which worked out to about 1.5 mph. But there's more than that. Acquiring the mental toughness needed to really suffer, put your head down, and then reach down inside yourself and suffer just a little more is invaluable. Learning how to "disengage the safety mechanisms" the mind puts on the body has been a real key to my improvement as an athlete, and firmly confirms (for me) Dr. Noakes central governor theory, that says fitness is as much in the head as the legs. <br />
<br />
So, I'm a fan of the results...but 2x20 all out is still a workout that scares me. I have a healthy respect for the demands it places on me, and I certainly don't look forward to it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-38188562013732189632011-11-22T12:43:00.001-06:002011-11-22T12:47:07.737-06:00High Milage RunningI've recently decided to give higher volume running a shot this winter. I've dropped out the intensity and I'm working to slowly, steadily increase volume. Most of this comes from reading Lydiard and some of the other running greats, but some comes from having done an intensity based program last year, and not really getting anywhere with it. <br />
<br />
Anyway, this came up in a forum post on letsrun.com. I got a chuckle out of it. <br />
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<tr><td><b class="BaseFont"></b><span class="SmallFont"><br /></span></td><td align="right"> <span style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="http://www.letsrun.com/forum/post.php?board=1&reply=4324025"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span></a></span></td></tr>
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<span id="intelliTXT"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
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If you spend most of your time running, you don't have time to have any fun or do anything else that might affect your running</blockquote>
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<br />Yeah, that feels about right. I can't even finish reading the book I was reading (on running) because I've been too busy running. :) Oh well. </div>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-63766642967900988192011-11-15T19:52:00.001-06:002011-11-23T08:24:56.956-06:00Recovery Drinks: Why, What, and How?<b>Why </b><br />
So, recently I've had an opportunity to work with a sports nutritionist. She had a few tips for me on how to optimize my nutrition.<br />
<br />
One of the questions I went to her with was something like "So, when I'm training I get seriously, no screwing around, ravenously tear-the-doors-off-the-fridge hungry and stay that way all day...how do I fix that?"<br />
<br />
After analyzing my normal food logs, she asked me about my recovery protocol. My response was something like "Well, for a big 4 hour bike I'll usually hit up a smoothie or a bar, but for the 1 hour runs I just take a shower and get breakfast."<br />
<br />
The nutritionist really keyed in on this. She suggested that missing out on those recovery calories might be firing off some wierd signal to devour everything in sight. It sounded really odd. I'm a calories in/calories out kind of guy and besides I want those workout calories for fun food later on...<br />
<br />
But here's the thing. The next day I got about 180 or so calories in immeidately post work out and guess what? I didn't have to remove any fridge doors. It worked. Did I feel more recovered or less sore or anything? No, not really in a noticable way, but hey I wasn't starving the rest of the day. I can't explain why it works, and the nutritionist really couldn't either, at least in the peer reviewed "prove it and cite your sources" kinda way I operate, but it does...for me at least. For me, recovery drinks are now the difference between being very uncomfortable all day as a calorie restricted athlete, and not. <br />
<br />
<br />
Okay, so I need a recovery drink immediately after a workout. I can do that. <br />
<br />
<b>What</b><br />
So, recovery nutrition is important for me, and you might be thinking it is for you too, if you've read this far. So, what should you drink?<br />
<br />
First of all, why should it be a drink? As a long time dieter I know that one of the golden rules of dieting is to not drink your calories. So, why would you want to drink calories? The answer is you want to get those carbohydrates into your blood stream as soon as humanly possible. Liquid is ideal. Solid is ok too of course.<br />
<br />
Ok, so you want to drink a liquid. Other than water, what should it have it in. Well, mostly carbohydrate. After exercise you're very insulin sensitive, which means that CHO will be whisked away quickly into cells that need it. A little protein helps increase the rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis. <br />
<br />
<b>How</b><br />
<br />
Well, if you know anything about me you know I'm anti "food with labels." I like real, unprocessed food, as much as possible.<br />
<br />
So, what is minimally processed, has carbohydrate and protein, and doesn't leave you with a glass full of "wow, I wish this was something that tasted good."<br />
<br />
Well, I'm a big fan of smoothies with banana, whey protein, and cocoa powder with some BCAAs and glutamine thrown in. But...that's alot of work for a tuesday morning run before work. That's great sometimes, but it's not fast.<br />
<br />
So then you have chocolate milk. Chocolate Milk is goodness, and if you buy it in the small aseptic containers that don't have to be refrigerated it's a little more convenient if you're at the gym. It tastes good. It doesn't have Glutamine in it, which I do kind of like for recovery. Also, it's not exactly minimally processed. Look at the ingredient label on most of the premixed stuff. It's extensive to say the least, and there is bad news in there for the HFCSaphobes amongst us as well.<br />
<br />
That leads me to <a href="http://www.livefluid.com/products/recovery" target="_blank">Fluid Recovery Drink</a>. I'm a big fan. In fact I'm a big enough fan of their ingredient list, or rather their lack of one. I made a HUGE spreadsheet of all the recovery drinks out there, and compared/contrasted. There are a few decent drinks out there in the market, but in my opinion Fluid is the best. Here's why I think that:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Like any recovery drink mix, they're uber convenient post workout</li>
<li>The chocolate flavor tastes awesome because it has...get this...real chocolate in it!</li>
<li>The price / serving is very reasonable</li>
<li>There is nothing herbal or otherwise weird in it, so my pharmacist wife won't chase me around the house asking me how I really know that cactus bark and monkey tears are safe to ingest (<b>It's totally happened</b>).</li>
</ul>
In fact, here is the ingredient list for Chocolate Fluid Recovery Drink:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Fructose, Whey Protein Isolate, L-Glutamine, Natural Cocoa, Chocolate Natural Flavor, Sodium Citrate, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Ascorbic Acid, Soy lecithin, Potassium Chloride.</blockquote>
<br />
A broad spectrum of sugars, protein, L-Glutamine, flavoring, electrolytes, Vitamin C, and a thickener/emulsifier. That's it. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Full Disclosure/Fine Print: Fluid did offer me a sponsorship this season so of course that creates some bias, but I approached them because I liked their product. </i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
So anyway, I'll get off my soap box now, but if you're finding yourself ravenously hungry, low on energy, and generally feeling kinda crappy all day long while training hard, especially if you're running a (reasonable) calorie deficit give a recovery drink a shot.<br />
<br />
Here's my advice, executive summary style:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Drink your recovery drink while you're still sweaty, but don't sit on the couch while you do it, that's just gross.</li>
<li>Shoot for some carbs and protein, and try adding in some L-Gluatmine.</li>
<li>Drink real food first, but when you're on the go give <a href="http://www.livefluid.com/products/recovery" target="_blank">Fluid Recovery Drink </a>a shot!</li>
</ol>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886931001260052595.post-975037135177814062011-11-14T08:09:00.001-06:002011-11-14T08:10:01.903-06:00The RaceThis is a pretty amazing video...check it out!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cM5A1K6TxxM" width="560"></iframe>Chicago Portrait Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16016990254792878875noreply@blogger.com2