IMMT Video

This might be the single most awesome product coming out of Ironman.  I was a little miffed after the race that I wasn't able to find my finishers video online.  Thankfully the good folks at finisherpix also did video.   Swim finish, bike start, bike turn around, run start, and finishline.

 

 

It seems like I did a lot of walking for the cameras.  I can assure you all that I did not walk the entire race.  Just transitions.  Thank god there wasn't a camera rolling at the bike dismount.  That would have been embarrassing, dismount was fine.  The walk to the T2 tent was not.

IMMT - Take 2

I realized after posting my last report, that I said much about the venue, the course, and the spectators, and much  much about my actual race.  So I'll start over.

 

1.  So the swim, as mentioned, until getting past the first 3-4 buoys, it was pretty rough.  Very wide starting area, but everyone funneled in towards the buoy line fairly quickly.

 

Should have taken like these three and waited for the smoke to clear.

2.  This is a pretty good question I have to ask myself, why I don't I wait, like these three.  I'm not trying to qualify for anything.  I will finish in the bottom 20% of the swim.  Am I really losing anything by standing on the beach for 30 seconds or a minute?  Easy to say, I would imagine harder to do with the adrenaline of race morning. 

3.  Swim was great, swim a long way out.  Turn, swim a bit.  Turn again, swim a long way back.  Not much to see or focus on.  At IMWI I could here the music at times, here there was nothing.  In reality it was a bit of a bore.

4).  Time was 1:30:21.  Was thrilled to see it.  Not having a watch in the water I had no idea where I would be.  1:39 faster than IMWI in 2009.

5)  First lap of the bike I pushed a bit harder than I should have, but not terribly so.  3:03:08, or 18.3 mph.

6)  The entire second lap I made a really conscious effort not to push at all.  Especially on the hills.  I kept reminding myself of the climb up to Lac Superior at the end, and that little run we were supposed to do. 

7) Second lap time was 3:17:46, or 17 mph.  I did make a stop at special needs and very shortly thereafter, the bathroom, not sure if these were included on the first or second laps.

 

But shut coming down Lac Superior at the end of the first lap.  Arm warmers came off at special needs.

 

 

8) Total bike time was 6:20:54, or 17.6mph.  This was on the fast end of where I thought I would be, and a little more than 11 minutes faster than IMWI.

 

9)  I have not downloaded my power files yet, will be an interesting review.  Was fairly close to my power goal, but didn't do a good job keeping power in check on the hills.  NP was high, AP was low.  Hills.  May do a separate power post.

 

10)  Ended up being really hungry at the end of the bike.  I had my IMWI experience in mind.  And was way over cautious in not taking in excess calories.

 

11)  Had a very hard time walking once I let go of the bike.  This has been pretty common this year, but it goes away pretty quickly.  Walked the entire way to the changing tent from the dismount line, was feeling pretty good at that point.

 

12)  T2 I had a gel and some water.

 

13)  Start of the run greeted me with super intense sharp stomach pains.  I think the gel hitting the empty stomach in T2 was the culprit.

 

14) As a result, I could only run very short distances, I don't think I ever ran more than 1/4 mile straight during the entire marathon. 

 

 

Not sure if first or second loop.

 

 

15)  So I ran/walked, with a plan to eat my way out of the stomach issues.  It for the most part worked and the stomach came around.

 

16)  At the start of the second lap, during one of my run segments, a spectator said something to the effect of "way to battle through it and get your race back".  It was more specific than that, and gave me a distinct impression that she remembered my struggles on the first lap.  Feel good moment.

 

17)  My one time goal for the day was to run a 5 hour marathon.  It didn't happen, but I don't really care.  Ended up at 5:19:06, and my second lap was only 7 minutes off my first lap pace.  27ish minutes faster than IMWI.

 

18)  Not sure if I ever had a real low point in the race.  Was very happy to not let my stomach issues get me down.

 

19) Final time was 13:28:35, besting IMWI by 36:13.

 

 

20)  Was very happy to be done, and to remember to slow down and take in the finish.

 

21)  The race photog took some good photos, and a lot of them, I may actually by the package, until then, I leave you with this:



 

 

 

Tebowing at the finish line.  I'm not a fan, I just thought it would be funny.  Incidentally, it was very difficult to get into that position the morning after the race, and even harder to get back up.

IMMT - Part 1

I was going to put together a typical race report for IMMT, and I even started writing it yesterday in the car.  But honestly I just don't feel like it.  So today it's just going to be a bullet point highlight of my race.  Our WIFI connection at the hotel here in New York also sucks, so pictures will have to wait.

1.  Entire area, whole venue is beautiful.  If they could manage to do this race when the leaves were changing color it would be amazing, although likely pretty dam cold.

2.  First three/four buoys of the swim were brutal as everyone from the wide beach start funneled down nearer the buoy line.  Nothing brutal just lots of incidental contact.

3)  Odd swimming in a lake with incredibly clear water, but you still can't see anything down below.

4)  We were told before the start there were underwater photographers along the swim, can't wait to see those pictures.

5)  Transitions were a debacle.  T1 my race number came off putting on my tri jersery.  Had to take it off repin it, then put it on again.  T2 while putting on my shorts I realized that I had pinned my race number to the back of my shorts.  Then while tieing my shoes I told the volunteer helping me I was done and he could take my transition bag.  I didn't realize that I forgot both my sunglasses and my watch until I was out of the tent.  Ended up running blind in more ways then one.

6)  Pavement on the bike course was near perfect.  No complaints whatsoever.

7)  Putting the worst hills at the end of each loop was brutal, although it did make me pace the second loop much better knowing what I had to climb at the end.

8)  Wish I would have prerode the hills on Chemin Duplessis (the last 20K of each loop) before the race.  We drove it and I didn't think it was that bad.  Wrong.

9) Along those lines, the climb on 117 coming back into La Conception was tough, Not steep, but long consistent grade, more or less into the wind.

10)  This is a bike course where you have to be comfortable going really fast, and really slow for that matter.

11)  The hills on Mont Ryan, described as rolling, I think compare to most of the hills at IMWI.

12)  Wasn't a big fan of the run course.  The village was cool.  The road sections were very hilly, and the trail sections were boring.  The out and back aspect was nice, there were always people going by.

13)  Noticed that there was not a whole lot of support being athletes, bike or run.  Not much in the way of chit chat, way to go, keep going, etc.  Very quiet out there.

14)  The community on the other hand, seemed to be out in full force supporting this event.  I think I heard 3,000+ volunteers.  I hope it continues.

15)  The rain didn't really bother me.  Oddly the light rain on the first loop chilled me worse than the soaker on the second.

16)  I'd recommend this race to anyone thinking of doing it.  Just be ready for the hills.  Think horribly hilly type training rides every week.  And run hills to.  And lose every extra pound possible.

17)  Overall a great experience.  Today we are heading to Cooperstown and the baseball hall of fame.  I've wanted to go here as long as I can remember, could be the highlight of the trip.

18)  If our WIFI connection is any better tonight in Buffalo I'll post some pics.

T-1 week

One week from now the family and I will be well on our way to Canada for Ironman Mont Tremblant on 8/19.  Training is effectively over.  One more week of easier workouts before hitting the road.

Training has not been at all what I had envisioned going in, and will be very happy when sunday night rolls around and this particular journey is over.  I'm certain it will be my last Ironman, regardless of how it plays out.

The training itself isn't that hard.  It's everything else.  And trying to find balance.  Ironman and balance don't seem to fit together.  But I have enjoyed it for the most part, the training.  And I do so like racing.  So I'm certain I will continue to tri, I just don't think I have it in me to do this again anytime soon.

So IM-Mont Tremblant, less than two weeks.  I have some thoughts on goals and times, but honestly, I have no idea how race day will go.

Squatch RR

“I think there may be a squatch in these woods.” – Bobo

Way back in June, I decided last minute to do the Bigfoot Olympic Triathlon in Lake Geneva.  Several reasons, mostly to get more open water experience under me this summer , but it was also the very first triathlon I ever signed up for, and the only other Olympic I’ve ever done.

There is the backdrop. Race plan, swim strong, hammer the bike, survive the run.

A little foreshadowing:  I’ve never felt better start to finish about how a race went down, at any distance.  Everything just came together, good swim, strong bike, great run.

Swim.

Swim is an out and back, one line of buoys.  Swim 750m out, turn around and come back.  Clockwise.  I breath on the left, away from the buoys.  IMMT in clockwise as well, good practice.

Never had a straighter swim.  Period.  Held the buoy line the entire way.  Water was cool but not cold, clear(ish), and relatively calm.  Only issue was the Mad Breaststroker (MB). 

For some reason I couldn’t get away from this guy on the way out.  MB would randomly break into breast stroke, go back to freestyle, then break it out again at contact with any other swimmers.  I lost him at the turn buoy, but up until that point we seemed to be connected by a bungee cord, always coming back together.  I never took any serious contact, but it was still an experience dodging the kicking.

Swam in until my hand hit bottom and felt good.  G gave me a swim split on the way to transition, and although I was not at all happy with my time, I let it go pretty quickly as I was thrilled with how the swim went.

Bike.

Some time before this race I had read a quote I couldn’t quite let go of.  It went something like:

“It’s not how fast you go fast, it’s how fast you go slow.”

So my mantra for the bike was to go slow as fast as physically possible.  In other words, hammer the hills (the slow), then hold a reasonable pace for everything else.  I thought I could get away with this for two reasons:  1)  Unless you are from Illinois and have no perspective, the course is flat.   There are a couple small hills, but nothing steep, and nothing long at all.  2)  The last 5 miles or so are generally with the wind (if there is any), and trend in the downward direction.  This I thought, would allow me some recovery time before running.

And that is what I did, shortly out of transition I put it in the big ring up front and left it there for the duration.  It was fun, hammering the hills, standing on the pedals attempting to keep every ounce of speed, then settling back down to a reasonable rhythm back on the flats.

Nearing the half way point I was beginning to detect some wind, but I couldn’t quite put a finger on where it was coming from.  A couple of flags confirmed that it was indeed in our face, which was great, because it meant a slight tailwind for the second half of the bike.

At this point I was almost giddy, I had been around my goal pace so far, and with the tail wind and downhill nature of the second half, I knew I was on track for a great bike split.  The last 3-4 miles I really dialed it back and took it easy.  I knew within minutes of when I was going to come in, and it was a good 4-minutes faster than I could have predicted, so I figured my best course of action was to relax, catch my breath and prepare for the run.

Run

With this race, the swim and the bike are setup for very fast race times.  The run is set up to take all that back, and maybe more.  Trail run.  Two loops.  Not incredibly hilly, but not flat, and not nice smooth roads.

But I think I may have figured out triathlon running.  I used to come out of T2 head down, running hard, and blow up.  Today, similar to Lake Mills way back on June 1, I came out easy, way easy.  First lap was run almost entirely this way.  Easy up the hills, easier down.  No stopping, no blowing up.  Easy pace.  No watch, no GPS, no pace.  I think this is key for me, nothing to fixate over, pace by feel and nothing else.

Second lap I began to build throughout, pushing the down hills a little more, strong pace on the flats, but still easy up the hills.  Trail was really starting to get to me on the second lap.  Very rooty course, and my ankles were getting very sore.  Everything else was fine.  Finish line still couldn’t come fast enough, and I was thrilled to make it through an entire triathlon run course without walking a single step.

I don’t know that I’ve ever done that before (even in a sprint) so I’m just going to say it again. I made it through an entire triathlon run course without walking a single step.  I still can’t think of an instance where I’ve done it before.  No aid station walking (didn’t take anything), no walking up hills, nothing.

Like was said earlier, it felt really good to have a race come together the way this one did start to finish.

The Stats.

Swim:  33:32 (2:02/100yds)

Bike:  1:07:16 (21.06 mph)

Run:  54:50 (8:50/mile)

Total:  2:40:59

191/511 Overall

30/71 Age group

169/362 Men

Nothing more to say.  I still smile when I think about the race.  I have pictures that I’ll post at some point.  For now this will have to do.

Race Month

June was race month, and it is now over.  I did four tri's in June, a sprint, a half, an olympic, and an Xterra event.  The first two I've already posted race reports for, the olympic and the xterra will see reports coming soon.  Both were good races, finish times within a minute of each other.  Odd.

Training in June was decent, could have run more and swam more, but it was still solid.  July however, is going to suck.  Final build going into IMMT.  I sat down last week and put togther my training schedule for the month.  I get tired just looking at it.  It doesn't help that the weather forecast is 90+ as far as I care to look. 

Four more weeks until taper.  Seven weeks until race day.

I think I can, I think I can.....

Kansas 70.3

Race #2 of June.  To sum up the conditions:

- 30 mph winds, gusting to 36 mph
- 94 degrees, a new record for June 10, in Lawrence, Kansas
- not a cloud in the sky for duration of race
- Water temp. race morning of 76.8 degrees, i.e. non wetsuit swim
- Above mentioned winds put a nice 1-foot plus chop on the water

Fun.

Most of the above was foreseeable well before the race start.  Water temps Friday and Saturday were already above the 76.1 cutoff.  The winds were howling, and it was hot.  As a result, I had no desire to even start this race, didn't feel like swimming in the wetsuit wave (last wave of the race), didn't want to bike in the wind, and certainly didn't want to run under the noon day sun.  I honestly would have been content to just pack it in and go home.  If asked at any point Saturday afternoon I would have put my odds of starting at maybe 25% and the odds of finishing at maybe 10%.  The drive just wasn't there.

The only upside of my shitty attitude, no prerace nerves, I just didn't care.

Swim

Until about 6:30 - 6:45 race morning I wasn't entirely certain what I was going to do.  First decision was wetsuit, no wetsuit.  Without I get to start with my wave at 7:00ish (and later get plucked from the bottom of the lake), with I have to wait until 7:30ish ( and feel like a putz for not being able to swim).  The wind and the waves made it an easy decision.  A calm morning and I may have given it a go sans wetsuit.

Second decision, swim or back to bed.  In my head I honestly didn't know if I'd suit up when the time came or go back to bed.  I think the mental ramifications of pulling out prerace eventually led me to "give it the old college try" and I suited up.

Swim wasn't terrible considering my rude awakening in the water from last week.  Tuesday I did a 1-hour continuous pool swim just for a mental confidence boost, just to prove to myself that I could.  It helped.  I should have done it through a water exercise class, may have prepared me better for the waves/contact.

Couple of gallons of water swallowed, couple of coughing spurts brought on by my trying to suck air through a wave, some unpleasant boat exhaust at times.  I've swam in worse conditions, but not much.  I did discover that my blue tinted goggles are not ideal when you have to breath into the sun.  Ended up swimming most of the first half with my eyes closed.  The out seemed to take forever, once I hit the second turn buoy I mentally felt like I had it licked and could relax a little.  Time was 47:17.  By comparison, my 2009 time was 46:20.  I'll take it.

Bike.

Bring on the winds.  Brutal.  Brutal.  Brutal.  The only good things about starting in the last wave, and being a slow swimmer, it's easy to find your bike and lots of people to pass on the bike course.  Miles 35-38ish absolutely sucked, turned directly into the wind on one of the hilliest sections of the course, took almost 20 minutes to cover those three miles.  Saw several walking their bikes up hills in this section.  I pedaled down a hill on this section at 13 mph.

Ended up with a decent ride, was able to keep the spikes in power to a minimum.  Was able to stay seated and spin up all the hills.  Couple of times I felt myself getting out of the saddle to hammer up a hill before the "what the hell" moment came and I sat back down.  So for that I am happy.

Finished the bike in 3:07:12.  Just over 5 minutes slower than 2009.  Given the conditions (heat/wind), I'm happy with it even though I should be in much better bike shape this year.

Run.

Holy hot batman.  I don't deal well with heat.  Especially if you combine heat with direct sun.  I quickly found out that if I attempted to run more than one or maybe two cones at a time I'd start getting dizzy and/or get a major side stitch.  For the first loop I ran at least part of every mile, even if it was just the last 100-feet to the mile marker.  The second loop found the running much more sparse.  I think two or three short attempts which did not go over well.  At some point (likely very early in the run) finishing upright and healthy became more important than pushing and ending up in the med tent.

Given my mental state prerace, I'm pretty happy just to have finished.  The run was 3:01, total time of 7:01:40.  I've read in various spots that over 400 either DNS or DNF.  I believe it, there was a lot of suffering out there on the run, I was not the only one walking.  Not by a long shot.

Conclusion

Suffice it to say.  I'll doubt I'll ever do this race again.  I love the venue, love the course, race director and volunteers were awesome.  Everything within control of the RD or volunteers was handled perfectly.  Absolutely no complaints.  I came back for a reason, loved it in 2009 as well.  But I just won't risk weather conditions like that again.  I know it can happen anywhere, but Kansas in June, have to expect hot and windy.

Horrible Hilly this Saturday.  100k or 150k of up down repeat on the bike.  Have not decided on the distance yet.  Following weekend I may hit Lake Geneva for the Bigfoot Olympic.  Then Xterra Dairlyland the last weekend in June.  June apparently is race month.

Lake Mills Sprint Tri

Maybe 3-4 weeks ago I decided to sign up for the Lake Mills Sprint Triathlon.  My reason was singular, I have not done an open water swim of any sort since Ironman Wisconsin in 2009.  With Kansas 70.3 looming a week from today, I wanted at least one test run before dropping in for the 1.2 mile swim.

Couldn't be happier with the decision.  Within maybe a 100 yards of the swim start I started to freak out, panic maybe.  Combination of going out to hard, a little contact, coldish water, and a couple of not so clean breaths.  Bobbed a couple times, took a few strokes, bobbed a bit more, and resumed swimming.  Was a little hairy there for a moment,  wasn't sure I was going to be able to recover.

Remainder of the swim was largely uneventful, did swim square into one dude doing the elementary backstroke.  Made it out just shy of 8-minutes for the 1/4 mile swim.

The rest of the race was gravy, wasn't real concerned about anything else today but the swim.  Enjoyed the bike, said hi to most that I passed, thanked the volunteers.  Did have to swear at one rider who out of nowhere decided to do a u-turn right in front of me (after I had already moved left preparing to pass her).  Was a very close call.  Just shy of 48-minutes for the 16 mile bike.

Run was an uneventful out and back on a gravel trail.  No watch, just ran at what felt like a decent pace.  25:23 for the run.

Overall time was 1:25:xx.  Which put me just back of midpack in my age group and just up from the midpoint among the men.

Wife took a bunch of pics, but these are the only two I like:

Floating, just after the bike dismount.





Coming into the finish, maybe another 10-yards.

I really like that second photo, even more so because of the back story.  The dude behind me, #541, passed me maybe 100-150 yards before this point.  On any given day, and especially today, I wouldn't have given it a second thought and just let him go.  But as he went by I happened to look down at his calf and noticed he was in my AG.  So for shits and giggles I decided to sit on his heels and try and take him at the line.

About the point where the women in yellow is standing I picked it up, went to the outside, and ended up holding him off by a second.  I sit here looking at the picture and still laugh, pretty much at myself just for doing it.

So Kansas 1-week from today.  Should be interesting, if the swim doesn't kill me the run just might.  It's supposed to be hot, I don't deal with heat well.  But I like the Kansas 70.3.  Of all the races I've done, this was my favorite venue/course.  Looking forward to getting back.

29/30

I fell one day short on my 30 day April bike challenge.  I don't recall what happened on that particular day, but I'm sure multiple forces were at work to keep me off a bike.  Some notes:

- Rode Wilson (my tri bike)16 times for a total of 382 miles.
- Rode Bel (my mountain bike) 6 times and about 52 miles.
- Rode Blue (the single speed) 7 times for 48 miles.
- Ended up putting Wilson back on the trainer for two days when the weather was particularly shitty.
- On two days my only riding was to the park and back for little league practice, a mile total.

Good biking month, 482 miles.  Good balance.  Love being out on the trails.  Love tooling around town on the SS, especially with the kids.  I may try this again for May.  30 days.  I'm on track so far, but I see many obstacles along the way, including a turkey hunting weekend I'm much looking forward to.

If I could just get running and swimming on track I'd be set.  Schedules, combined with a running funk to end all funks, have conspired to make regular training difficult at best.  Frustrating.

J-Hawk

J-Hawk Early Bird triathlon was this morning.  Small local sprint tri.   500 yard pool swim, 13.7 mile bike, 5k trail run.  Nice short race to start the season, and also my first multisport event in over 2-1/2 years.  To that end, let's look at all the dumbass things we did today:

1)  Lost my timing chip, within 15-minutes and 50 yards of receiving it.

2)  Had to get new chip, and rebodymarked just moments before getting in the pool.

3)  Struggled to get my shoes on coming out of T1, even though I do this nearly every time I ride.

4)  Started running out of T2 with my helmet on.

5)  Put my shirt on backwards coming out of T2.

6)  Found said timing chip in sweatshirt pocket post race.

That out of the way, let's move on to the race.

Swim was largely uneventful.  Three to a lane, seven seconds apart, with me leading it off.  Went out to hard (this will be a recurring theme), then settled into a steady pace.  Eventually got passed by both of my lane mates, but repassed the first one a lap or two later when he grabbed the wall mid lap.  The second one passed me several laps later and I attempted to hang onto her feet the rest of the way in.  Total time was 9:18.  Not exactly what I hoping for, as I know I can go sub 9:00, but perfectly acceptable.

Somewhere mid swim.

Video coming down the last 25.  I knew my hair was long, but I didn't realize quite how long until the very end of this video.  I think the next heat wave will result in all of it coming off.

T1 - Chatted a bit with my lane mates, threw on socks, leg warmers, coat, helmet, glasses and we're off.  Was in the 40's and breezy, this seemed like the bare minimum.  Gloves were in coat pocket.  1:43

Heading out of T1 attempting to get my shoes on.

Bike - Apparently it is possible to go out to hard, even in a sprint.  Prerace I had visions of putting it in the big ring and leaving it there for the entire ride.  That thought ended half way up the first hill.  East winds at 15ish on a primarily north south course.  Couple miles with a good tail wind, couple straight into it, but mostly a steady cross wind.  First ride with the disc cover on the back wheel, didn't notice a difference.   Good overall ride, passed 5 or 6, not passed at all.  With the pool swim and the wave starts, not many people out on the course.  Could have used more rabbits.  42:46, little slower than I wanted.

Coming up the last hill prior to T2.

T2 - Shoes off prior to dismount.  Run to the rack, jacket off, shoes on, shorts on (with race number), shirt in hand, run out.  Turn back, helmet off, resume.  1:02

Putting the shirt back on after fixing my wardrobe malfunction.

Run.  Speaking of rabbits, could have used one here.  Other than one person I passed just out of transition, didn't see another runner for the entire run.  Sucked ass.  Only thing I don't like about this race.  Trails were good, legs were cooked.  Biked too hard, or perhaps just pushed the few hills too much (see above picture).  Ended up walking two short steep sections of the trail.  26:26

Early on in the run, less than a mile in.

Coming into the finish with P hurdling the cones.

Overall time was 1:21:12.  52/196 overall.  9/20 in age group.  Not terribly pleased.  Dream goal was 1:15, really thought I could have broke 1:20.  So be it.  Learned a couple things, had some fun.  Was good to get out racing again.

Jet Pack

As I was getting ready to ride home from work today, I got Tim Wilson's Jet Pack song stuck in my head.  I really didn't feel like riding home, I just wanted my jet pack.  In fact, for the first five or so miles of my ride, all I could repeat was, "Where the fuck is my jet pack?"  I never did find it.



The ride wasn't actually that bad.  My feet are still cold, but otherwise it was pleasant enough.  I'll likely be wanting that jet pack again in the morning when it's time to ride back up.  40ish and into the wind. Joy.

30 Days

In a recent post, Steve linked to the site 30 days of biking.  The premise, ride a bike somewhere, anywhere, every day in April.
I like the concept, and apparently need some sort of motivation to kick start by summer biking.  The bike came off the trainer at the beginner of March and hitting the road was a very rude awakening.  I expected to be rocket ship after a winter of interval torture on the trainer. 

I am not.  Not fast, can't climb like a billy goat, and to top it off, no endurance to speak of.

I did manage 333 miles on the bike in March, but it was highly erratic.  100+ miles a week ago, maybe 50 this week.  The weather played a part in the variance, but that's just an excuse.  Need more regularity.  To my biking.

So 30 days of biking it is.  No joke.  In addition to riding everyday, I'm also going to attempt to ride each of my three bikes every week.  Ironman training can get a little monotonous (trinotonous?), mixing in a mountain bike ride and an SS ride every week should keep it a bit more interesting.

The weather today was again uncooperative, by the time it came around I was no longer in the tri bike ride mood.  So to start off the month I headed out on a 10ish mile ride on Blue, my single speed mountain bike.  It was a nice change of pace, riding on fat tires and gravel trails.  29 days to go.

Doubles

Today I did my first double digit run in a long time.  My last 10+ mile run was the Tyranena Beer Run half marathon back at the beginning of November.  By my calculations that was 139 days ago. 
The time itself isn't that significant.  I've been known to go for very long spurts without running at all.  The difference is, in that time, I've actually ran almost exactly 450 miles, without a single one exceeding 10 miles.  That's a lot of miles, 3+ per day on average.

I have to say I'm probably in the best running shape I've ever been in.  I was able to finish today's run fairly strong, but the legs were definitely tired and there is most certainly some residual soreness.  Time to work on the endurance.

At this point I'm almost certainly bagging the half marathon I had planned for next weekend.  I just don't see much upside.  I'm not really trained for it, and I don't need the disruption in training for a week pre/post race.

I still think I'll run a spring half, but maybe in late April or early May after  I've got a couple more good long runs in the bag.

Shuffle

Shuffling along.  March has been a rough month training wise.  The weather has been great, but schedules have changed, both family and work, and it's just been harder to get things done consistently. 
Saturday was Shamrock Shuffle.  10k with 1,100 of my bestest buds all decked out in green.  Nice day for a race, if you are use to running under full sunshine and in temps of the upper 70's.  I'm not, it's March, in Wisconsin, shouldn't be this warm.

I do have pictures from this run, I'll upload them later, but I have to write this now, while I still have the motivation to do so.

Plan for the race was simple. Easy on the way out, hit the turn around at 25:00 (~8 min/miles), then push on the way back.  After running Bock Run two weeks ago at 7:37/mile I figured this was a pretty conservative plan.

The issues with my plan showed early.  Holding 8:00 miles wasn't happening easily.  The first mile was congested, but after that I just didn't have much go in the legs.  Throw the heat factor in there (I don't run well in heat) and it was rough.  I hit the turn around at 25:49, I'm sure it was past the half way point, but I don't know just how far. 

My plan to put the pedal to the floor on te way back ended up closer to a "hold on for dear life" struggle.  Around the 3.5 mile mark I took my shirt off.  My apologies to any and all that may have been blinded by the glare off my March belly.  But it was warm enough to warrant it, I have not sweat that much in a long long time.

The remaining miles are sort of a blur.  Attempted to keep pace with a tie-dye shirt for the last two plus.  Kept her in my site for the most part, but couldn't exactly keep up.

Crossed the line at 49:38.  8:00/mile pace.  Happy with it.  3:41 faster than my last 10k back on Thanksgiving day. 

199/1102 overall
148/418 men
44/107 age group

I'm rethinking my plan to race often in prep for Ironman.  On one hand, it's nice to have frequent short term goals to work towards, on the other hand, it really screws up the consistent training needed for Ironman.  Post Bock Run my legs were toast for a good two or three days.  I don't feel quite as bad post Shuffle, but last weeks training was definitely compromised, as I didn't want to come into the race on completely trashed legs, and I'm sure it'll be a day or two before all feels normal again.

So the week before, week after compromised.  Not sure it's worth it.  Was going to run a half marathon at the end of the month.  If I had to choose today, it'd definitely be off the table.  We'll see.

PBR

Have not had much to say as of late.  Training has been fairly cut and dry.  Starting to get a little cabin fever.  Need some warm weather.  Need to get the bike out on the road.  Need to start racing, mix things up some.

To that end, ran the Point Bock Run on Saturday.  Fourth time I've done this race in the last 5-years.  PR'd the distance each time.  Of course the first time I ran it was the first time I ever ran 5-miles, so it isn't that much of an accomplishment.

This year I honestly didn't know what to expect.  I've been running quite a bit, but haven't done any speed work at all, no intervals, no tempo runs.  Have just gone out and ran.  Only look at the Garmin to know when it's time to turn around or stop.  No pace concerns, goals, etc.

Enter race day.  It's cold, not terribly so, but colder than it has been, maybe 30 degrees F.  But winds gusting to 18ish mph.  Wade and I spent about an hour in the car prerace watching snow blow off the roof of a building in front of us.  Overcast, no sun, but the course was clear of ice, so no complaints there.

With all that said, I went out with the goal to break my 2010 PR of 39:20, a 7:52 pace.  Go out fast, if I blow up, I blow up.

First mile ended up in the 7:20's.  Little fast, but ok.  Wasn't feeling awful.  I don't recall the time at the second mile, or the turn around, but I do recall passing mile 3 at 23:00 flat, according to the course volunteer stationed there.

Odd thing is, I was able to calculate I had ran the first three at exactly a 7:40 pace.  Normally if I run hard, simple arithmetic completely eludes me.  Apparently I wasn't running hard enough.  I tried to pick it up in the fourth mile, but the legs weren't having anything to do with it.  I passed mile 4 at 30:45, again according to the course volunteer.

Some more quick math told be I had an outside shot of breaking 38 minutes.  Wasn't to be.  Legs just didn't have any more get up and go.  Last mile was again in the 7:20's.

Final time of 38:03, split at the turn around of 19:00.  Not sure why, but not breaking 38 was very disappointing.  Although it was the only even vaguely disappointing aspect of the race.

The stats.

286/1869 overall
242/913 men
37/125 age group

Some other interesting bits:
only 44 women beat me, but I also got beat by:
1  (of 6) 65-69 year old man (by one second), and
10 (of 24) boys 15 years old or less.

If I would have noticed the old dude I most certainly would have attempted to run him down.  But either way, more power too him.  I can only hope to be out there competing in another 25 years.

10K coming up in a couple weeks at the Shamrock Shuffle.  Then the Trailbreaker Half Marathon at the end of the month.  Hopefully a couple of more PR's.  We shall see.

And I'll work on getting a February summary together, and posting on a more regular basis.

9.42 @ 9:42

My run last night.  9.42 miles at an average pace of 9:42 min/mile.  Total coincidence.  Nothing spectacular or noteworthy about the run, with the exception of pace/distance numbers being identical.

It got me to thinking how short of a run I could manage to do this. 

9 miles at 9 min/mile? 
8 miles at 8 min/mile?

I ran the Oshkosh half marathon in 2010 at an 8:42 pace.  So I know I can at least do 8.42 miles at an 8:42 pace.  The fastest I've ever run was 7:52 at the Point Bock Run, also in 2010.  But that was only 5 miles.  No way I could have held that pace for another 2.52 miles.   So the answer lies somewhere in between.  Likely somewhere in the 8.00 - 8.15 range. 

Welcome to the odd musings of a numbers based mind.

Jan Run #'s

Run summary for January.

Total miles:  115.25 (average 9:44/mile)
Total runs: 27 (26 of 31 days)
Shortest run:  2.08 miles
Longest run:  8.32 miles
Slowest run:  2.61 miles @ 10:51/mile
Fastest (non race) run:  7.82 miles @ 9:18/mile

The 115.25 miles is the second most miles I've ever run in a single month.  Falling only 4 miles short of August 2009, the month leading up to IM Wisconsin.

Sunday Six

Six mildly interesting things from my week.

1)  Swim clinic Saturday was very useful.  I apparently can't think and swim at the same time.  When given more than one thing to focus on everything goes to hell.  Regardless, I now have three or four things to work on to improve my stroke.  Focusing on one at a time this should keep me occupied for a good month. 

2)  Still can't flip turn.  If I could figure out the water up the nose thing I might get it, or at least be willing to pursue it further.

3)  Bike tests last week went well.  Both tests brought roughly 20 watt improvements over the previous tests.  My 5 minute power (240 watts) is about where I'd like my 1-hour power to be.  Not sure I can get it there, but going to give it the old college try.  Twenty minute power is at 200 watts.

4)  Took a full day off of swim-bike-run training today.  My first this month.  I did not intend to work out everyday up to this point, it just sort of worked out like this.  

5)  I spent said day off on the mountain bike.  Seven plus hours at Rays Mountain Bike Park in Milwaukee with Patrick.  Lots of fun, nice to pedal a bike and actually have it go somewhere.  Even if it is just round and round inside an old Menards.

6)  Surpassed 100-miles of running for January on Friday night.  At about 106 now with 2 more runs scheduled before the end of the month.  Still liking running.

That's all.  One week down, 29 more until IMMT.

Swimmin'

Swimming has me frustrated.  Earlier in the month I was so frustrated with it I was about to go off on a huge rant about my lack in progress with swimming.  Then I had the realization that I didn't have any right to rant, or to be frustrated for that matter.  I simply haven't done any work that would result in any swim improvement.

So the brainstorming began.  The obvious thing, swim more.  And I intend to do that.  I thought about swim every day for a month, but I just don't see it happening.  But for February I'm thinking it is to be a swim heavy month.  19-20 sessions over the course of the month.

2nd.  Lessons.  I signed up for a swim clinic.  It's only one lesson, this Saturday.  But it is a start, and will hopefully get me started in the right direction.

Finally, intensity and goals.  I'm going to focus at least initially on short hard sets.  Not the entire swim, but at least portions of each swim.  I can swim a 25, with a good wall push, pulling and kicking hard, and only breathing every 4-6 strokes, in about 20-21 seconds. 

First goal, get that down to 19 seconds consistently.  From there I'm going to shoot for the following times at longer intervals:

50 - 45 sec (1:30/100)
100 - 1:40
200 - 3:30 (1:45/100)
500 - 9:00 (1:48/100)

Those are pretty ambitious goals for me.  But it gives me something to shoot for in the near term.  I can't get faster at triathlon distances until I can get faster at the short stuff.

30 wks

Thirty weeks until IM Mont Tremblant.  Seems like it should be time to start training with some focus.  When I did IMWI in 2009 I followed a 30-week plan.  G followed a 30-week plan when she did IMWI last year.  So it only seems right that I have a 30 week plan.

But I don't.  I don't really have any plan to get me to IMMT.  And for now, I'm ok with it. 

Biking, I'm six weeks into Jorge's winter cycling plan over on Beginner Triathlete.  Averaging 4-5 hours a week.  Fairly high intensity.  Next week is test week.  I've been dreading it all week, not quite losing sleep over it, but close.  First, 20 minutes all out is not fun.  The 5 minute all out test isn't so bad, but that 20-minute test, it hurts, for way too long.  Then there are the results. Big improvements?  Great, my following workouts just got that much harder.  Little/no improvement?  What the hell am I doing wrong?  It's almost a no win situation.  I do feel like I'm getting stronger.  We'll know shortly.

10 more weeks on Jorge's plan brings us to the beginning of April.  Prime time to start riding outside.  Not sure where I'll go for my structure at that point.

Running is going along fine.  Up to about 27 miles a week.  Still running 6x a week.  Still doesn't feel like I'm running much at all.  My longest run has been just over 8-miles.  Everything easy.  Winter has been very cooperative until very recently.  Twice this week I've shortened runs due to weather.  Thursday it was snowing and maybe 5 degrees F.  About 2 miles in I could feel snow freezing in the corner of my eyes.  Time to turn around and head back to the office.

This afternoon I was out in a light freezing rain which resulted in icy sidewalks and wet then fogged up glasses.  And it was windy.  So I couldn't see, running on ice, and I had to avoid the wind, cause it still wasn't exactly summer.  The hell with it.

I actually have this run plan/build set up to take me all the way to IMMT, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to keep at it through spring/summer.  This is a fairly quiet time at work, so running 4-5 days a week at lunch is doable.  Come spring who knows.  I'd love to be able to keep at it like this, I just don't know if it will work.

Swimming.  Swimming is coming along slowly.  To sum up my progress, I almost swam a 200 yesterday, but my son apparently can't count and we came up one length short.  That has been my longest interval so far.  1,500 has been my longest session.  Still swimming with the kids, mostly at open swim.

There are lots of good things about swimming with the kids.

1.  I'm swimming harder, pushing myself to keep up.  With P it's an all out effort just to stay next to him, if he's trying.  With Mel, I'll give her 5-yards then try to catch her.  Either way I'm not just lazily swimming along.

2.  Neither one of them likes rest between intervals.  It's open swim, they want to get back to playing.  I pull them in individually for short sets throughout my swim, so the sooner we're done, the sooner they play, and the less rest I get.

3.  I'm learning new things.  Today's lesson was flip turns.  I doubt I'll be doing them anytime soon.  But I tried.  Most efforts left me sitting on the bottom of the pool.  At least the kid's got a good laugh.  Mel is determined to teach my how to butterfly as well.  I can't even dolphin kick well.

4.  And perhaps most importantly, I actually want to go to the pool.  I still have no desire to solo swim.

But I have absolutely no swim plan, I know what kind of volume and sessions I need to build up to.  Just no plan per se.

And there you have it, 30-weeks until IM Mont Tremblant.  Fasten your seat belts, keep your hands in the car at all times, enjoy the ride.

Streak

My 2012 running streak may be over.  I had no intention of running every day, for any period of time, but I have run on each of the first 11 days of 2012.  Starting with the 5-mile New Year's Day Dash and including an 8+ mile outing.  11 runs, 45.5 miles in total.

Yesterday I ran in shorts, it was 50 degrees, sunny, no wind. Today it's supposed to top out around 20 degrees, the wind is whipping, and it's started to snow.  We're looking at maybe 6-inches of the white stuff.  This weather in and of itself wouldn't normally be enough to stop me, but I also have a lunch time obligation
today.  Lunch is when I typically run.

So the streak may end.  I'm ok with it.  I may be out running in Stoughton at 6:00 tonight, but it'll have nothing to do with extending the streak one more day :)

Goals - B

B in this instance would be bragging rights.  It is my full intention during 2012 to unify all the meaningful endurance titles within the household.  And my meaningful, I mean anything that doesn't rely entirely, or significantly, on swimming. 

G and I likely split these titles fairly evenly at this point, but we can't have that any longer.  It's time to put my foot down and show her who wears the pants tri/running shorts in this family.

As far as triathlon goes G holds the sprint and olympic distance triathlon titles at this point.  The sprint title will be mine after J-Hawk in late April, the site of our first triathlon, and a race G has done 3 or 4 times now.  I'll need to go around 1:24.  Should be a cake walk, if the weather cooperates, which it usually does not do.

As for the olympic, a return to Lake Geneva and the Bigfoot Triathlon seems in order.  G and I did this race together in 2008.  She started 10 minutes after me and we popped out of the water right next to each other.  Did I mention I can't swim?  This was my only olympic race, she has done a couple.  I think I'll need to go about 2:52 to take this one down.  Probably be my toughest challenge, given the long swim relative to the rest of the race.  This distance may be removed from the "meaningful" list depending on how I do.

I hold the the half and full Ironman belts already, but just to remove any potential asterisk in the record book, I'll be shooting to beat G's Door County record of 5:48 at Kansas, two weeks before Bigfoot.  The asterisk, in case anyone is  wondering, or reading, is due to the  fact that I finished the 2009 Racine 70.3 in 5:35, but the swim was way short.  My swim time was around 13 minutes faster there than at any other half I've ever done.  So, we'll shoot for 5:48, in 2009 I think I finished Kansas at 6:14.  As for the Iron, I'm no longer concerned about losing that title, but I'll hopefully cement it's legacy at Tremblant anyway.

As for stand alone run events, I'm not entirely sure where we stand on those.  She's been running long before I even thought about toeing a line, so without significant research I don't know the standings.  Therefore, in 2012 I'll plan on running at least one of each common run distance.  I think I have them all included in my race plan for the year, but I'll have to go back and check. 

The big caveat here is the marathon, she's finished two, I've registered for two, started one, finished none.  I'm contemplating one post Ironman, I just don't know that I'll have the motivation to keep training for another couple of months. Maybe 2013, destination type race, Kel?

And there you have it, the B goals, almost completely, totally, partially in jest.  Almost.

Tired

Got up this morning at the crack of stupid for my first morning swim of the season.  Oddly, I was actually looking forward to it since my eldest was to join me.  So like a kid on Christmas morning I woke up at 4:00 and never really got back to sleep before the alarm went off at 5:00.

Woke boy wonder and we were at the pool by 5:30.  I thought I'd need to push him to get moving but he was in and did 50 yards before I even hit the water.  The swim itself was uneventful.  I was getting tired after about 1,000 yards.  At this point in training I don't see any point in pushing once I feel my form falling apart so I called it a morning after 1,100.

I really enjoy swimming with my kids.  They are both excellent swimmers, and being able to share training time with them is pretty exciting.  P and I discussed it last night and agreed to do this twice a week.  We have a slight disagreement between Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Thursday, but either way I'll do whatever it takes to not have to swim alone.  If I can manage this and mix in one or two weekend swims with them or the whole family, the worst part of Ironman training may just turn into the best part.

Other than being completely out of it at the moment, the worst part of the morning was leaving the pool while it was still dark outside.  I am not a morning person.

Goals - A

A, as in arbitrary.  These are the goals I'm setting for 2012 that are completely arbitrary, but if I hit them, I should be on a good track to hit the more meaningful goals I'll lay out in a later post.  Unless otherwise noted, I intend to hit these numbers prior to IMMT in August.

Swim - 100 miles.  Shouldn't be a problem.  In 2009 training for IM-Wisconsin I came up just short of this number, but was happy with how my swim training prepared me for the race.  I see no reason to spend much more time in the pool this go round.

Bike - 5,000 4,000 miles.  I've gone back and forth on this one a lot.  I really really want to say 5,000 miles by IMMT, but I just don't think it's reasonable.  So let's say 4,000 training for IMMT and 5,000 in total for the year.  It's still a stretch, but I need to set at least one goal that will be tough to hit.

Run - 1,000 miles.  This shouldn't be a problem either.  I've started to build a solid base already this winter and intend to continue this into spring.

That's it, three largely meaningless numbers to target, but like I said, hitting these should put in good shape for IMMT and other more meaningful athletic related goals I have for the year.

Average

That is me.  Average.  At least in today's race, among the men.  Finished 92 out of 184.  Little below average in my age group, much better than last year, when I finished dead last in AG.

When I woke up this morning all I could hear was the wind howling.  I knew it was supposed to be windy, but I was really hoping it wouldn't be.  Temps were in the low 30's, 20ish mph winds.  Lovely, but still much better than last year. 

Then to top things off, while still in bed, I hear the snowplow come down the street.  Great.  But it was worse than snow, a nice little layer of ice came down overnight.  Welcome to 2012.

And there is your setting to the 2012 New Years Day Dash.  5-miles of fun and excitement to start your year.

My race number, only interesting because it also happens to be our house number.

I do really need to start taking pictures at these events.  For today that is all you get.

Typical prerace, but within the first 100-200 yards of starting it was clear that this wasn't going to be a fast race, at least for most. It was slippery.  Much of the field immediately went to the grass between the sidewalk and the road.  Myself included.  Problem with this, other than the uneven footing, were the slippery driveways every so often.  Fun. 

I spent a good part of the race in the grass, either off the road, or off the bike path.  The concrete curb and gutter at the edge of the road was often the second best option, but the road was very hit and miss.  Sometimes it was good, then it got real slick without warning.

Other than the obvious difficulties of running under these circumstances, when running in the grass or at the road edge, the course basically became a no passing zone.  Settle in behind the one in front of you, or risk passing and going down on the ice.  I only saw one fall, but my friend Wade went down three times.

All things considered, it was still a good race.  The wind was coming from a direction where we didn't spend a lot of time going directly into it.  Lots of cross wind and the occasional tail wind.  I spent a lot of time taking off a hat, or a glove, or unzipping, or bundling back up for a turn into the wind.  Things you get used to running in Wisconsin in the winter.

Finished in 42:28 with unofficial splits of 8:58, 8:52, 8:17, 8:20, and 8:00.  Happy with my time all things considered, was hoping to run 41 on a dry course.  Registered today for the Point Bock Run in early March.  Another 5-mile run where I set my PR of 39:20 at this distance in 2010.  That PR is definitely going down come March, provided there is no ice.