Clyde's Triathlon Training

The Plan: Carlsbad Half Marathon

2012-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

The plan is really simple: hang with the 2:00 pace group (with a bit of an acceleration during the last mile if there is anything left in the tank) or blow up spectacularly.

This is right on the edge of what I'm capable of so I truly have no idea what the outcome will be. I'll report back after tomorrow's race.

P.S. If you want to see how I'm doing, click here and enter my bib #, 5167. They'll have at least the halfway split, from the looks of it.

No L.A. Marathon This Year

2012-01-08T13:34:00.001-08:00

The good news is that training for the L.A. Marathon has been going well. I have been doing my morning runs in thirtysomething degree weather, my long runs on the weekend, and even including some interval training in the form of Yasso 800s. My body has responded and, while I'm not convinced I would have made my secret goal time (yes, I know you're not supposed to have a goal time for your first marathon), I do believe I would have completed it. The bad news is that I also have quite a case of plantar fasciitis and last Saturday's planned run of 18 miles pretty much told me that my heels aren't going to let me run a full marathon in March.

Even though hitting my goal time was unlikely, it does give training a bit more focus and adds some speed to my pokey pace. So I was hitting my goal training pace (not race pace) through 12 miles or so when I took a little break. I wasn't too tired but all that running does tend to pound joints and muscles so, like with a century ride, I took a break. My feet were getting sore, though. I started back up again and the rest of me actually felt okay. I was really dropping my pace after a mile so I shut off my Garmin's pace alert and slowed down. My feet (specifically: my heels) were really getting tender and after some walking and running, I finally pulled the plug on the run and walked the few miles back home...which was not fun. The damage had been done and whether I was walking or running on them, my feet hurt. The walk, in addition to providing a nice cool down, gave me some time to think. The entry fee for the marathon goes up on the 16th and I couldn't say for sure that I would be ready for it in March. I knew my legs could get me through it but you're only as strong as your weakest link and, right now, that was my heels. I had to face up to the fact that the rest my feet needed was not compatible with the training mileage I still needed to get me through the marathon. Not this year. I did not want to be one of those people who enters a marathon to walk it. I wanted to run the whole thing (with, perhaps, the occasional stop at a water station).

I can't remember exactly when the plantar fasciitis reared its ugly head but it was sometime in the last year. In some ways it has gotten better (walking around the apartment doesn't always hurt) but in one important way it has gotten worse: long runs. Age, weight, and increased run mileage all conspired against me. Truth be told, I have a bit of an ankle thing hurting me right now, too, so the layoff will do me good.

How does that change 2012 for me? The main goal for the year is still a half iron-distance triathlon in the fall. Maybe I'll add the Santa Clarita Century to my calendar in early April (it really is my hometown ride now). Then there's the very tiny possibility that I will be in such good shape for my fall triathlon that I will run a marathon in November or December. I am not planning on that happening, though. The plan is to do the 2013 L.A. Marathon.

As far as training goes, I still have the Carlsbad Half Marathon in a couple of weeks. I have already entered so no sense in wasting the money. I can make it. After that I will take a week off running, then back into it but my long runs will stay in the 9-12 mile zone for a while. I will also be paying more attention to my weight, which is likely a major factor in the plantar fasciitis. I need to get a scale and make sure the fat is coming off (I put on a few pounds during my summer layoff). I need to be more methodical in my approach to weight loss because being disorganized about it only works for so long and I have passed that point.

Still no swimming until May or June. I just can't deal with swimming right now. :-)

When the Wheels Come Off

2011-11-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday I had scheduled a 14-mile long run, part of my ramping up to a 20-mile long run before the L.A. Marathon in March. I might have gone out a teensy bit too fast the first several miles, but that didn't explain what happened around the halfway point.

I made it halfway and took an unplanned break. This run included both Gatorade (every two miles) and gels (every six miles). I haven't used gels on the run in several months so wanted to get my stomach used to them again. During the break I felt a bit tired but figured it was because of going out too fast. After walking for a few minutes I started heading back. I noticed my pace was slower than it had been but, hey, it's a 14-mile run, right? It didn't take long, though, to realize something was not right. By mile eight I started taking short walking breaks. By mile 11.5, I was walking. I thought I would start running again by mile 12, and I did, but I could tell it wasn't happening, saw my pace on the Garmin, and figured why even run if I felt bad going that slow.

What do I mean by "bad"? I don't mean bonking. I don't mean nauseous. I don't even mean tired. I mean heavy legs, sore feet, and just not feeling like running anymore. I just felt bad. On the bright side, walking the last 2.5 miles meant that I walked the fatigue and soreness out of my legs. I actually didn't feel tired when I finally made it home.

So, I could just plop down and chalk it up to not being my day or I could figure out what went wrong. The previous weekend I ran nine miles like it was nothing. I did the whole thing forefoot striking, too. What could have happened in the past week to make the wheels come off like that? Maybe having nachos as my sole meal the day before was a bad idea? Maybe only doing one morning run (a nice 4-miler on Friday) last week messed up my fitness? Maybe that Friday run was too close to Sunday's run? Maybe using gels for the first time in a while screwed up my body? However, a trip to the bathroom provided me the clue I needed to figure it all out: dehydration. Not during the run but before it. The day before I returned home from a trip to visit family. In an effort to keep from stopping the car every hour for bathroom breaks, I didn't drink as much as I usually do and when we arrived home, I didn't drink water to make up for it. Consequently, I started my run a little dehydrated. Add to that the day was warmer than usual for late November and my usual fluid intake during a run was not enough to make up for it. Dehydration.

So the point of this whole story is that when you have a really bad training session, don't just chalk it up to having a bad day or "one of those things". Try and figure it out to see if you made some mistake so you don't make it again in the future.

Life Is What Happens While You're Busy Making Training Plans

2011-09-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

John Lennon never raced a triathlon but if he had, he might have written the title to this entry. I had a lot of life happen this summer. Divorce (still not finalized--sigh). Moved myself into an apartment. Visitation time with my children rather than seeing them every day. A new girlfriend (and roommate). Figuring out what to do with all my stuff. All that "life" messes up my well-laid plans for racing and training. That and my new outlook on racing in hills. Oh, and my age. Maybe it's all just a matter of getting a fresh perspective on things.

First to affect my training plans was the lack of training. How long did I take off? One month? Two months? I forget. I only did two weeks--four sessions--of swim training before the Hansen Dam Triathlon. The result was that my times were slower in all legs (except T2, a small victory ;-). If I'm not even in shape to decently race a sprint triathlon, then I am not in shape enough to tackle my first marathon in November, as I had planned. And I, of course, can't do a half-iron-distance race in October, either. Or even a shorter triathlon, instead. And if I can't do a half-iron this year, I suppose I should put off a full-iron until the year after next. Stuff like that.

Then there is the issue of recovery. My approach to training has been a bit willy-nilly. Still is, I suppose. However, I have come to the realization that I need to pay more attention to recovery. I will turn 49 in a couple of months and these long runs and rides take a lot out of me. So not only do I need to make sure that I am planning recovery days better, I am going to be more focused in my training. For instance, I want to run the Los Angeles Marathon next March. That will likely be two weeks after my beloved IronBruin Triathlon. What to do? Simple: forget the tri and focus on the marathon. More runs, no swimming, and keep the very long bike rides to a minimum until after the race. After than is the Soma Triathlon in Arizona next October. I may be doing a few events before then (Hansen Dam in August for sure) but the focus is on Soma. If I am going to do my first marathon and half-ironman in the same year, I need to focus on those pretty big goals. My thinking is that life may continue to derail me here and there but focus should help get me back on track.

Rethinking the Bike

2011-07-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a revelation during last weekend's inaugural Gran Fondo Los Angeles. Not that I suck at hills. I already knew that. Well, it had something to do with that. Anyway, I was finally out of the hills and heading east on San Vicente Blvd in the last few miles of the ride. I was waiting at a stoplight when some other guys from the ride pulled up with me and said we should ride back together. Cool! The light turned green and we were off. Even though my legs were trashed from the climbing, meaning I was no good up even the smallest hill, in the flats I was doing okay. I figured I'd stay in front and pull the guys along and I could rotate back when I got tired. I glanced at the Garmin and saw I was doing a respectable 21.something mph. I had to go around a parallel parking-car so I looked back to check the traffic and I saw that those guys were gone. They hadn't just fallen behind, they were nowhere to be seen. Okay, I'm not the fastest guy in the world so how could I drop four guys when my legs were as tired as they were?

That weekend really got me thinking. I'm never going to be good at hills. Let me repeat that: I am never going to be good at hills. The skinniest I could ever hope to get is 170 lbs., which is what I weighed when I was a skinny high school senior. I am not going to get down that far in weight but that's the lowest I figure I could get. If you're a professional cyclist, 170 lbs. is huge and those guys are either sprinters or time triallists and they're pretty terrible at hills (I know it sounds weird to compare myself to pros but consider that they are way stronger than I would be at that weight). No matter how much hill work I do, I am going to get faster and stronger but I will always suck compared to others. Heck, the Gran Fondo had a timed climb, 5 miles with 1650 feet of climbing, and I placed 550 out of 609 people. Suck. But I still had enough power to drop those guys without even trying. Hmm.

What to do? Well, the first thing I did was re-think my planned entry into October's Magic Mountain Man as my debut half-iron-distance triathlon. Lots and lots of tough hills. Why ruin my race time because of something that I know is my weakness (and always will be my weakness)? Off the schedule it went. I found a new, flatter triathlon in the Soma Triathlon. Doing that race, though, meant that I need to pick a new debut marathon since the Two Cities Marathon is only two weeks after Soma. Sorry, Fresno. Some other year. Next I took all the very hilly rides and races (except, maybe, the Solvang Century...someday) from my planned calendar (I plan these things years in advance). Goodbye Death Ride. Goodbye Ironman St. George. All that stuff, gone.

Where to go from here? Remember where I wrote that big cyclists are either sprinters or time triallists? They can also be track cyclists so I want to check out track cycling. There is a beginner clinic at the Encino Velodrome in a few weeks that I might be able to attend (things are pretty hectic right now so that might have to wait a month or two). I also need to find some flatter training routes. I will still hit the hills (you really can't avoid them in Southern California), which will continue to build my strength and improve my descending skills, but I am going to be looking to avoid the really gnarly climbs, like that Cat 1 Piuma Road Climb last weekend. No, I don't need to do those anymore. I can still feel it in my legs a week later!

Then maybe someday I can get a time trial bike.

The First Type of Cyclist

2011-05-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

There are two types of cyclists: those who have crashed and those who are going to crash. -Old Saying

Yesterday I finally became the first type of cyclist. I was at the bottom of Little Tujunga during yesterday's ride and there is a part of the road that water sometimes flows over. I don't know why they don't route the water under the road but there you go. I approached it slowly, probably no more than 10 mph, no turning while I'm in the water, and bam! I went down. No time to get a foot out of the pedals. No rolling. Heck, I didn't even know what was going on until I was almost on the ground. Plus, if you've ever seen a part of the road that has had water flowing over it when it was dry, you know that the road is not smooth. Oh no, it has been worn down so it's nice and rough. Must have hit a patch of algae. I hopped up (don't know how my feet got unclipped) and walked around going "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." I soon realized that I needed to get my bike and whatnot out of the road, so I did that. Noticed that my handlebars were now at a 45° angle to my front wheel. Then kept walking around going "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." Nothing broken, clothes not ripped, leg a tiny bit scratched up, arm a bit ground up. Eww. Grabbed a water bottle and sprayed (sugar) water on my scraped up bits. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

After walking the ouchies off, I took grabbed my multi-tool (you do take a multi-tool with you on your rides, don't you?) and straightened out my handlebars (brake handles, too). As I was putting the tool away, I heard "beep, thunk". I turned around and a motorcycle had done the same thing as me in the same place. Made me feel less stupid. He was okay because he had a leather jacket on, so he picked himself up and went on his merry way. After a few more minutes, I went on my merry way, too (where "merry" meant thirteen miles and way too much climbing).

Lessons learned:

Glad I always ride with a multi-tool.
Glad I put my iPhone in a metal case on rides. It got a little scratched up.
Wearing gloves to protect your hands in a crash is a good idea. My left glove got scraped up good but not my left hand.
If I have time to think in the future, try to rotate a bit so I go down on my back and not my arm. I always wear a base layer under my jersey for just that reason.
Walk around going "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" after getting my bike out of the road. Good thing that isn't a heavily travelled spot.
Maybe I should take a gauze pad or two and some bandage with me. Good thing I wasn't dripping blood.

Life goes on. Today I did my planned nine mile run at my planned pace (under 10:00/mi). I am ready for Fresno in two weeks.

Report: Victory for Victims 10K River Run

2011-04-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Total Time: 54:26
Overall Rank: 145/467
Age Group: 45-49
Age Group Rank: 10/18

Pre-race routine

This is part of my series of long bike on Saturday/run on Sunday training weekends. I had planned to do a 9 mile run today but this race appeared on my radar and it was for a good cause so I decided to do it, instead. So, my pre-race routine started with a 67 mile bike ride on Saturday. While I didn't push it up the hills, I was going pretty good in the flats. Stayed well-hydrated on the ride. Ate well and took a good nap when I got home.

Woke up at 6am Sunday morning. All I had was a glass of Gatorade to get the digestive system moving. Eventually got dressed, got my stuff together, and drove to the race.

Event warmup

Jogged about 1/4 mile ten minutes before the 8:30 start time.

Run

The goal was to come in under 55 minutes, which is an 8:52 pace. I learned from my last half-mary to negative split these races so the plan was to stay just above 8:52 for the first three or four miles. At mile three, if I was feeling good then pick up the pace slightly. At mile four, pick up the pace slightly. At mile five, let loose.

I set my Garmin's slow pace alert for a 9:10 pace and started the race. Dodged a lot of people at the start, of course, but that wasn't so bad. The pace alert worked out great as I could stay within myself but pick things up a bit if it went off. At mile 2.5 I felt a bit of a twinge in my right hamstring. I didn't think it was a cramp and if it was a muscle pull, it was a tiny one. I'd pay attention to it but wouldn't slow down unless it made me. Got to mile three and didn't feel like going faster so I didn't. Got to mile 4 and picked things up a bit and passed a bunch of people. At mile five I got down to business, passing even more people. Not fun but it was manageable. There was no sprint to the finish line this time, as I left it all out on the course.

What would you do differently?

VERY pleased with my race so I wouldn't have changed a thing. I paced myself just right, ran according to plan, and made my goal time. Good job!

Post race

Warm down

Walked around, grabbed some of the freebie food and water. The usual.

What limited your ability to perform faster

The four hour bike ride the day before. :-)

Event comments

I don't do many straight road races but I can see making this one an annual event. It benefits a good cause, it's a great time of the year weather-wise, and it's a nice course.

A Humbling Weekend

2011-03-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like about triathlon is that you get to learn a lot about your body. Another thing is trying to find the right balance between the swim, bike and run and not just in a race but in training, as well. For much of the past year my #1 priority, by far, has been the run and it has paid off. My run speed has moved from pathetic to merely slow, and that's a good thing. I knew that my bike was going to suffer but I didn't know how much...until this weekend.

The Santa Clarita Century is in three weeks so to get ready for it, yesterday I rode what I call The Tour of Three Roads. It's an 80-mile ride on much of the same roads as the century ride so it would be a good barometer of my fitness for that ride. Good thing I did the ride, too, because there is no way I'm ready for the Santa Clarita Century, which is not only longer than The Tour of Three Roads but has a couple thousand more feet of climbing. It's bad enough that my legs were really tired but my butt is out of shape for a ride of that length, too. So, the Santa Clarita Century is out for this year but I have moved it on my calendar to next year.

That was yesterday. Today I had a run scheduled. I was originally planning on doing a 12-mile run but scaled that back to nine nice and easy miles. Things went well until mile four when I started feeling not so good. The next five miles were lots of running and walking. That's okay, though. It was the first time I had done a long run the day after a very long bike ride and doing hard workouts for the first time is always not fun. I learned a lot, though. I learned that I have a lot of training to do to get through the California Classic Weekend in May. For that I had planned to do the full century ride on Saturday before the half-marathon on Sunday. Now I"m wondering whether I should do the metric century instead. I'll see how the next month of workouts go before I make that decision.

So if I'm not ready for a long ride on Saturday followed by a long run on Sunday, I'm obviously not ready for a half-iron distance race, either. Fortunately, I already know that. That race is not happening until October so I have lots of hard training to look forward to before then. But not only do I have to train for those two multi-sport events but I have the Two Cities Marathon in November that I have to train for. That's the balancing act.

So, after learning what kind of shape I'm in this weekend, here's the plan: I need more rides on the bike and longer ones, too. On weekends where I'm not doing my longest long run, I do at least a three hour bike ride on Saturday, followed by at least a nine mile run on Sunday, working up to have that run be thirteen miles or two hours (whichever is shorter) by September. On the weekend of my longest long run, that is done on Saturday with an easy (?) 42 mile ride on Sunday. Oh, and I need to do a lunchtime ride on the hills of Griffith Park at least once a week.

I'll have to start doing long brick runs eventually, too, but I can't think of that until the summer. Oh, and I need to practice long runs in the heat of high noon because that's what I'll be doing in October's race. More on that later.

That should keep me busy for a few months.

Report: IronBruin Triathlon 2011

2011-03-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

Total Time: 1:26:27
Age Group: M 40-49
Age Group Rank: 14/44

Pre-race routine

This is my third time at the IronBruin, my first triathlon. In the last year my focus has been on the run, and it has paid off. Since this is such a hilly course, the question is how much has that focus taken away from my bike? I would expect to be faster just because I'm in better shape and have lost weight but probably not lots faster. I should be lots faster on the run, though. I should be a lot faster on the swim, too, because I pretty much couldn't do any swim training before last year's race.

My pre-race routine was my usual: last meal was a sandwich from Subway at 5 o'clock the evening before and making sure I stayed hydrated (but not over-hyrdrated) during the day. Packed up that night (using a checklist--everybody should do that). Woke up at 4am and had Nutella with banana on toast and a glass of Gatorade. Took a shower, shaved, got dressed, loaded the bike on the car, and left right at 5am, as planned.

Event warmup

Nice weather for that early in the morning in March. I mis-remembered the time T1 opened and got to it later than I should have. I did manage to score a good spot for my bike, though. The swim is a time trial start so even though my wave started at 7am, I knew I wouldn't be in the water for a least ten minutes after that so I waited until 6:55 to get in the warmup pool. Did 3x50 for a warmup, then headed down to the race and got in line. Froze in line for about ten minutes.

Swim

Distance: 400 meters
Time: 7:56

Good swim. Usually on the swim I get excited and breathe every stroke during the race. However, I kept to my breathing plan and swam along at a pretty good pace. Passed three people and was only passed by one so I was seeded just right. Kicked it up a bit more the last 100 meters and especially the last 50. The last guy I passed was in the last 30 meters. I could have just sat behind him to the end but I decided to go for it and passed him with about 5 meters to spare before it was time to get out.

What would you do differently?

To get faster in the swim I'm going to have to train more than once a week. However, my focus is still on the run then the bike, since that's where my biggest time gains can come from. Until I'm more satisfied with those two, the swim is going to suffer. Oh well.

T1

Time: 0:35

Really good T1 (6th fastest overall). This was my first race with my new Specialized TriVent Sport shoes and it is SO nice to finally have triathlon shoes. There is a big downhill first thing on the bike and I held off on getting in my shoes until I reached the bottom. Getting in these shoes was a breeze compared to my cycling shoes. Woo hoo! Oh, it was also my first race with my XLab Super Wing behind my seat and, even though I didn't have cages on it, I was wondering if it would catch my leg as I hopped on the bike (yes, I had practiced getting on and off the bike with it but I still wasn't sure). It didn't.

What would you do differently?

Nothing.

Bike

Distance: 13.5 miles
Time: 49:50

I adore this bike course. It helps that I like downhills, am getting stronger and losing weight, and that I'm getting better at cornering. This was my first race with compact cranks and it was very nice to have finer control of my gears on that big uphill. I was breathing heavy the whole race but not in the red so I thought my pace was just right. My cornering was much better this year. I was passing and catching college students in the corners and in one 90 degree turn I saw that the Garmin kept above 20mph the whole time. This was also the first race where I used race tires (Michelin Pro3) so maybe that had something to do with being so sticky in the corners.

What would you do differently?

I'm actually a bit disappointed that I was just a couple of minutes faster than last year. I think I paced myself up the hills as if this was a longer race. Good for an oly but bad for a sprint. I should have destroyed my legs on the hills. Lesson learned.

T2

Time: 0:57

In the past I have had problems with my shoes occasionally popping out of the pedals in T2 (size 48 shoes and 175 cranks). Because of some suggestions here I decided that once I got off the bike I would carry it to the rack. It was surprisingly easy to do! However, I did forget to undo my helmet while running. Racked the bike, got in my shoes fairly quickly, grabbed my race belt and visor and was off. This pre-buckling the belt and just sliding it over my head is such a time saver!

What would you do differently?

Unbuckle my helmet while running in, even if I am carrying my bike.

Run

Distance: 5 kms
Time: 27:07

Good run for me. Four minutes faster than last year so I guess I've moved up from pathetic to merely slow. ;-) I felt pretty good out of transition and quickly got up to speed. I wasn't dying on the hills and I even passed three people. I was passed by three people so I call that even. I was passed by someone in my age group with a mile left but I didn't think I could keep up with him so I didn't try. I was pretty darned spent by the time I hit the finish line.

Oh, that guy who passed me? I ended up beating him overall by 29 seconds. He was faster than me on the run and bike and we were almost even on the swim. However, I was 2:42 faster than him in transition. Free speed, gang. You're crazy if you don't grab it.

What would you do differently?

When that guy passed me, I should have kept up with him. I don't know if I could have but he would have been a great rabbit and I might have found that I could keep up with him. I'm not convinced I truly know how hard I can push myself.

Post race

Warm down

Walked around the festival area, eating and drinking whatever was available. I gotta say, I may not want to spend money on one but a chocolate Muscle Milk after a race really hits the spot.

No post-race vision weirdness or dizziness. I don't know if that is because this was a sprint or I'm in better shape. I'll find out that the oly I'm planning for June.

Event comments

The post-race stuff was much better than the past two years. Maybe it helped that I was in the first wave but I was able to stuff myself with all the freebies.

All five segments of this race were faster than last year, so I'm pleased with that. The bike should have been faster but I'm learning.

The company doing the timing was pretty lame. Slow with the unsorted results. They've been posted but they're sorted even worse than the past couple of years. They also need a timing mat near the top of the big hill to make sure people do the full four laps on the bike.

One of my favorite races. I'll do it every year I'm able to.

2011 Schedule

2011-02-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

Last night I decided against the L'Étape du California and chose which marathon will be my first, and with that my race/ride schedule for 2011 has been finalized:

Hanford Half-Marathon - February 13, 2011
IronBruin Triathlon - March 6, 2011
Santa Clarita Century - April 2, 2011
California Classic Weekend - May 21 - 22, 2011
LA Tri Series, Championship Event 3 - June 11, 2011
GranFondo Los Angeles - June 26, 2011
Hansen Dam Triathlon - August 21, 2011
Magic Mountain Man Triathlon (Long Course) - October 9, 2011
Two Cities Marathon - November 6, 2011

No Merced Triathlon this year since the Magic Mountain Man (M3) will be right around the same time. I'm not doing the whole L.A. Tri Series this year but the third race is a Olympic distance and it will probably be hot so it will be a good chance to race a longer race and see how much I have improved since last year before M3, which is my big race for the year. Well, that and the marathon. This will be my third year for the IronBruin, Santa Clarita Century, and Hansen Dam. Should be a fun year!

Report: Inaugural Hanford Half-Marathon

2011-02-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

Total Time = 2:02:34
Overall Rank = 73/175
Age Group Rank = 4/7

Pre-race routine

Last meal was lunch the day before. Just water and Gatorade after that. Woke up, eventually got dressed, and drove out to the race.

Event warmup

Did a short run about 20 minutes before start time.

Run

I have really been improving my run the past couple of months so I did some calculations and figured that a good stretch goal was to come in under two hours. I set the pace alarms on my Garmin to 8:00/mile and 9:20/mile so I would stay in the 9:09 neighborhood for the whole race.. I was able to hold this pace somewhat comfortably for the first half of the race. Once I hit mile seven, though, things took a turn. My slow pace alert kept going off and I wasn't able to get back in my target zone without really pushing it. I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain that so I slowed down for the next two miles, hoping that would give me enough rest to pick the pace up again.

Once I did pick the pace up, though, I couldn't hold it in the zone for long. I watched as my average pace dropped to 9:12 and kept getting slower. It was obvious that I wasn't going to go under two hours so I came up with a new goal: to finish the race without dying. I was not feeling good the last miles of this race. Ugh.

Then a funny thing happened: in the last few hundred yards of the race I heard footsteps behind me. Whatever, because I was too tired to care (or so I thought). However, those footsteps finally caught and passed me with 50 yards to go. Really? Oh no you don't! I tracked the runner and with about 20 or 30 yards to go, I accelerated. She matched and we ended up in a full sprint for the finish line! Fun but exhausting. What was I thinking? I did finish ahead of her.

What would you do differently?

First, I should have tried negative splitting the race. Set my pace alarms to, say, 8:15 and 9:45. Then pick it up after seven or eight miles. I'm just not fast enough to hold that pace yet. Next year for sure!

Second, I left my FuelBelt at home. That turned out to be a mistake because the Gatorade on the course was watered down and served in cups that couldn't be folded over (styrofoam or clear plastic). I had to slow down a lot to drink and didn't really get enough. I probably could have used a gel, too.

Warm down

Much walking around. I didn't do this at my last half and I was punished for it with fluid buildup in my lower left leg. I am typing this the day after and, so far, no problems. They gave out an electrolyte drink mix (pour it in the water bottle they gave you) after finishing and it wasn't too bad. What was too bad was that there was no way to tell what it was in case I wanted to buy some later! Too bad for THAT company.

What limited your ability to perform faster?

I'm doubt that having Gatorade and a gel on a FuelBelt would have ended up helping out much. Then again, it may have.

Hey, I finished this race 29 minutes faster than last November's half so I performed plenty fast for me.

Event comments

All my training happens on hilly courses so having a flat one was a treat! Nice small-town race. I look forward to doing it again next year.

Oh, and I just missed out on the podium for my age group but since first place in that group was the overall first place, I have no complaints. :-)

Countdown to Hanford

2011-02-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

I ran thirteen miles for the first time at my first half-marathon last November. It was a gently rolling course and my only goal was to finish without stopping, which I did in a time of 2:31 and change. A lot has happened with my running in the last three months and the Hanford Half Marathon's course is much different than Santa Clarita's:

My recent long training runs are being done at a pace nearly two minutes/mile faster than my training runs in October.
The Hanford course is flat, flat, flat.
My training runs are not, not, not.

These things really get the mind working: What pace do I think I can hold? Remember, it's flat. If I think I can hold that pace, do I think I can go faster?

First my goal was to finish with a time of 2:25. Then it was 2:15. Then it was 2:11.

Now, I'm afraid I won't be happy if I come in over 2:00. Which is nuts, I know. Hey, it's not much of a goal if you know for sure that you can achieve it.

Today I Am A (Slow) Runner

2011-01-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

Triathlon. Swim, bike, run. I swam in high school and before that so becoming a swimmer again was easy. I'm not sure when I became a cyclist but I suppose it was when I rode my first century. Becoming a runner, though, has been a bit more elusive.

Running has not been fun. In the swim you have the water to float on. On the bike you have gears to downshift into. On the run, though, it's nothing but you vs. gravity and, as a big guy (but getting smaller), I have a lot of gravity. Though things have been getting easier in the past month or two I still didn't consider myself a runner. Not even after my first bloody top on a long run. That changed today. Two weekends from now is the Hanford Half Marathon and this coming weekend I had planned a 6 mile run to wind down before the race. I just changed that plan to a 9 mile run because 9 miles has become so easy. It was after I did that that I realized I had finally become a runner. 9 miles? Easy? Really? Yep. Slow (even when I'm going fast) but easy.

The Next Year...Or Two

2011-01-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything in a few months. Stuff has come up. Life, mostly. But I've been training all along and am seeing some good progress lately on the run. And even though we're barely into the new year, I find myself with just over a month to go before my next half-marathon and less than two months before my next triathlon.

So what's the plan for the coming year? To answer that, I have to tell you the plan for the coming two years. The plan is simple, really:

Magic Mountain Man (M3)Half-Ironman-Distance Race this October.
Marathon a month or two after that (I have three to choose from and haven't made up my mind yet).
Ironman Arizona in November 2012.

Simple, right? Just train for a marathon later this year, which will get me ready for the run portion of the M3. Ride the M3 bike course during the year (it's really tough). That will get me through this year.

I can do that. I can get through a half-Ironman. I can even get through a marathon. Just keep training and it will come together. I won't be fast, of course, but my goal isn't to win or even place but to finish respectably. I can do that. An Ironman race, though, is another matter.

The goal for a first Ironman isn't necessarily to finish but to survive. Can I really run a marathon after 112 miles on the bike? All kinds of things can go wrong but the big worry is nutrition. Don't want to crash, either. I know I can reach this year's goals. However, an Ironman is a whole different beastie and a real question mark. That's the goal, though, and to get there I have the 2011 goals as intermediate goals to get me to 2012.

Report: Merced Gateway Triathlon 2010

2010-10-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

Total Time: 2:49:17
Overall Rank: 26/34
Age Group Rank: 2/3

Pre-race routine

Started the day before by staying hydrated. When it was time for my usual 5 o'clock Subway sandwich, I could only finish half of the foot-long.

Then the fun began. See, the night before the race was my high school class's 30-year reunion. I didn't want to eat anything but I did keep up with drinking water. However, I was quite the dancing fool. You only have one 30-year reunion so race be damned, I was going to boogie, and boogie I did.

Naturally, having that good of a time left me wired. Even though we left a bit early, I couldn't settle down and sleep until well after 1 am. At 4:05 I woke up wide-awake and I knew that I wouldn't be getting back to sleep. I made some toast with Nutella and drank a little water. Experience has shown me that I do not want to be over-hydrated going into an oly race lest I have to take a bathroom break during the run.

I sat listening to the rain coming down until it was time to bike to the race, around 7. Got to the venue, got a nice spot in transition, and set up.

Event warmup

They opened the pool up about 15 minutes before start time so I got in and swam 100 meters.

Note that all split times will be approximate as they (STILL) don't use timing chips in this race. Lame, I know. No, I don't know why they're so lame about them.

Swim

I didn't much care for the swim this year. It seemed like the traffic was much worse. Then again, last year I was coming off a shoulder dislocation so maybe I was just lucky that people were passing me but this year I had to do the passing. Anyway, I never felt great during the swim so it was just a matter of getting through it.

What would you do differently?

Get faster.

T1

There was no mount line so once you cleared the racks you hopped on your bike. Everything went like clockwork. Tossed my goggles down (no cap), put gels in my back pocket, glasses, helmet, go! I left everybody I entered transition with behind me, and passed another guy as I was hopping on the bike. There was another guy right in front of me and I used him to pace getting in my shoes. I got up to speed and when I could I would slip my feet into my shoes and get them fastened. As long as I stayed with the guy in front of me (not drafting, of course), I knew I wasn't losing time. Once my shoes were all set, I passed him.

What would you do differently?

Nothing

Bike

I was really happy with the pace I was setting. However, at six or seven miles in I flatted. I wasn't happy but I tried to, as calmly as I could under race conditions, change the flat. I'm not the fastest flat-changer in the world but I am thorough so I did find what caused the flat and got it out of the tire. I'm guessing that I lost five minutes.

I had two goals this race. The first was to beat the friend I came to the race with. He passed me on the side of the road as I was putting my back wheel on. After a few miles I passed him. However, on the way back there is a long, gradual hill. Nothing to get exhausted over but hills are the enemy of a clydesdale so he passed me again. I didn't panic and stuck to my game plan. It took me ten miles but I did re-pass him.

It was sprinkling a bit during the bike so it wasn't too wet but it was damp enough that I couldn't take the few corners on the course as fast as possible.

What would you do differently?

I was thinking about getting some Open Corsa Evo CX race tires but decided not to. I wonder if they would have prevented the flat. Other than that, keep losing weight so I can go up those hills faster.

T2

I was a bit cautious coming into transition because of the wet ground but that would have only cost me a second so no big deal. Everything, including putting the shoes on, went really smoothly here.

What would you do differently?

Nothing.

Run

I decided to take the Garmin with me on the run to help me with my pace. Immediately it told me that I was going out way too fast so I dialed it back to a reasonable pace. I was in or just over my target pace for most of the race but at mile four the wheels started coming off. I think at that point a heart rate monitor would have been helpful. My pace slowed down a lot and I felt really tired. The sun was out by this point but it didn't feel very hot at all. I tried walking tiny bits and that seemed to help. Finally, I decided to shut off the pace alerts and slow way down and that got me through the rest of the run. By the last half-mile I felt better and was able to finish strong-ish.

What would you do differently?

Do more race-distance runs at my goal pace. Especially bricks.

Post race

Warm down

By the time I started walking after the finish line, sweat was just pouring off me. I downed three sports drinks pretty quickly. When I saw white things were getting too white, I recognized that as I sign I was going to get a little light-headed soon so I downed one of my gels and sat down. That passed and things were good. Very tired afterwards.

What limited your ability to perform faster

If I want to get faster in the swim I'm going to need to swim more than two days per week. That's not going to happen anytime soon, though, and I'm okay with that.

I've lost a bunch of weight but I'm still a big guy so any inclines on the bike slow me way down. The weight is coming off so that's getting better.

I'm still slow on the run but way faster than last year. I'm fairly pleased with my performance there. However, I do need to do more 10k runs at more of a race pace than at a slower pace. My lunchtime runs lately have been four miles and that was where I was strongest. After four miles is where things started going bad so I need to up those lunchtime runs to six miles.

Event comments

Timing chips, timing chips, timing chips.

I think the organizers should consider a time trial start for the swim. Up and down each lane, then turn under the lane lines and do the next lane. That would give us 800 yards. It's better than jamming us all in lanes at the same time.

Countdown to Merced

2010-09-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

With my high school class's 30-year reunion happening the night before, obviously the Merced Gateway Triathlon isn't my big "A" race of the season. However, I'm not so elite that I'm hoping to podium in my "A" races so it all comes out in the wash. The weather forecast says it should be perfect racing weather Sunday morning and I'm looking forward to the race.

The Swim

800 meter swim in a 50-meter pool so I don't have to worry about wetsuits, freezing, or overheating. Ideally I'll be swimming at a 1:40/100 yd pace but, really, I'll be swimming at a 1:50/100 yd pace. Prediction: 15:00. Note that last year they didn't have timing chips so I'll be taking the Garmin along on the bike and run and derive my swim and T1 time from that and my overall time.

The Bike

24 miles of flat and rollers on country roads. I recall one significant roller but nothing steep. The race is also draft-legal so I hope I can do some wheel-sucking. Ideally I'd average 20mph but, really, I'd be happy to have a 19mph average. Drafting could really help this, though. Prediction: 1:15.

The Run

Six miles on a pretty flat course through neighborhoods and on a neighborhood jogging trail. Since the run is much flatter than San Dimas I am not going to save my legs so much on the bike. That could be a wise calculation or a disaster. Only one way to find out. Ideally I'd like to do this in under an hour but, really, I'll be happy to hit an hour. Prediction: 1:01.

The Race

Adding those times up plus throwing in two minutes for transitions and we end up with an overall race time prediction of 2:33. My race predictions tend to end up being really optimistic because I always neglect to take into account the cumulative effect of a triathlon so take them with a huge grain of salt...especially since that time would have won second place in my age group last year. I don't think so.

I do have two goals and one wish for the race:

Goal #1: Beat my friend Von. It's his second tri in ten years so this seriously needs to happen.

Goal #2: Beat my friend Lisa to the turnaround on the run. She can pass me after that. This might actually be do-able. I worry that I'll fry myself on the run trying to do it but sometimes you need to do that.

Wish: Come in 30 minutes faster than last year's time of 3:01:22. This one I'm really curious about. I doubt I'll hit that but my time should still be a huge improvement over last year.

It's good to have wishes. It's one of the things that separates us from chimps.

Time To Get Mental

2010-09-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

As the triathlon season winds down and I move closer to my first half-marathon, my weekend long runs are actually getting long. I had my first 10-mile run two weekends ago and my first 11-mile run was last weekend. I am starting to get a small glimpse of the world of long-distance running (half-marathons and longer) and, at my level, how it differs than the usual 10k and 5k runs.

I have decided that I have to do these long runs non-stop. Not for physical reasons. Frankly, if I did break these runs into smaller chunks with short walks in-between, I might even do them faster. No, the reason I need to not stop is because it's becoming clear to me that running for over two hours is quite a mental challenge.

I'm doing these runs nice and slow, in the 12 min/mile neighborhood. When I'm running my lungs aren't on fire and I could easily hold a conversation with someone (not that I actually run with anyone, heaven forbid ;-). My legs, while they're taking quite a pounding, are holding out quite well at these distances (I'm told it's a whole new ballgame at 18-miles, though). So, physically I am holding up well (where "well" is defined as "being a zombie the rest of the day"). My biggest challenge seems to be the voices in my head telling me to stop:

"Do you really need to keep running?"

"Ooh, look. A shady patch under that tree."

"Wouldn't breaking this up into intervals be more effective?"

"Walking sure would feel great about now, don't you think?"

"I think you should stop and stretch your quads."

"You started your run at 9 instead of 7. Nobody would blame you for walking in this heat."

You get the picture. I'm starting to think that all that "talk" on the run is like inclement weather on the bike. See, my belief is that big earthquakes, fires, and floods are about the only reason to not ride your bike in Southern California. Rain? Bah! Put on a rain jacket and learn how to ride in the rain. Cold? Bah! The worst it will get is the upper thirties so throw on some layers and a pair of full-fingered gloves and learn how to suck it up in the cold. It's not just a macho thing, either. Someday there will be a race where it's going to be a bit chilly and, while your competition is putting on arm warmers in T1, you're already a mile ahead of them on the bike (this actually happens). Or you've plunked down good money for a 70.3, only to find out that the weather forecast is for rain but you already know how to handle that.

It's the same thing for running. By pushing myself through the training runs and not walking, I am preparing myself to face much worse out on a race course. Or so I'd like to think. I won't be hitting 18 miles for several more months so we'll see how it goes then.

Merciless Eating

2010-09-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about starting this triathlon stuff in my forties is learning how my body reacts to all this training. When you're a kid, everything works. Five-day-a-week workouts twice a day? Yep, that works if you're 16. Eating everything in sight for dinner? Yep, that works if you're 16. Things are a bit different when you're 47.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that if I train really hard (a hilly century ride, two brick workouts in a day), I can end up with a feeling like a cold is coming on. I have found only one thing makes that go away: what I call "merciless eating". This came up again last week when I felt very tired. The same feeling I had the whole week after my last triathlon and which followed me on our family vacation the week after that. There I was, the week after that and I was still tired. Rest wasn't working (I didn't train the week after the race and only twice the following week) so I figured I would see if merciless eating worked on that. It appears to have done the trick.

What is merciless eating? It's pretty much what it sounds like: you eat a lot. Two breakfasts. A snack. Lunch. Maybe another lunch but at least an afternoon snack. A snack when you get home. Dinner. Dessert. And maybe a snack before going to bed. Don't laugh, it's been working for me. Makes that cold-like feeling go away and it got me un-tired last week. I don't even feel full when I'm doing it, either. Weird.

I would prefer that I just eat the right amount after my workouts but I feel like I'm walking a fine line. On the one hand, sure I want to recover from heavy workouts so I do eat liberally afterwards. On the other hand, though, I don't want to be a pig because I am trying to lose weight, too. Also, you should know that I'm not exactly weighing my broiled chicken breasts and steamed broccoli so I know exactly how many calories I'm taking in. I made fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy last night (steamed squash, too). I'm much better about eating lots when I need to, though, so I don't have many merciless eating days. However, this post-race fatigue thing was something new. I didn't have the cold symptoms at all. It was just fatigue. And the race was just a sprint--it took 74 minutes!

Oh well. Live and learn. That's what makes this sport so interesting.

Hills In The Heat

2010-09-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

I learned a valuable lesson over the weekend. At least I think I did. I don't do steep hills in the heat so well. Cycling in the heat? No problem. I just drink more and the breeze blows the sweat off me which keeps me cool-ish. I can do that for quite a while. Going up steep hills for a few hours when it's over 90 degrees? Not so good. Especially on tired legs. I'm thinking that not having the cooling effect of a breeze is something I'm just not equipped to deal with these days.

The plan was to do two Little Tujunga Loops (if you click on the map you can see the elevation profile):
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.
The first loop would start at 6:30 and go clockwise. At the end of the loop is a 7-Eleven so I'd fuel up, turn around, and do the loop counter-clockwise. I think it's actually a pretty good plan.

On the first loop I took every hill easy. If I felt like I was working my legs at all I dropped down into lower gears until it got easy (or until I reached first). On downhills, I coasted as much as possible. The idea on the first loop was to save my legs for the second loop. Much like in a longer-distance triathlon: save your legs on the bike for the run.

I got to the 7-Eleven and felt tired but good. I bought a Slurpee, Gatorade, a Snickers, and some potato chips, went to a nearby park, and fueled up. By the time I got back on road again it was pretty hot out. I had to stop a few times while going uphill and, finally, after seven miles I had to turn around and call it a day.

So the lesson here is either: long, steep rides need to wait for the winter OR I should have put ice water in my second water bottle instead of Gatorade so I could have poured that over my head. I'm leaning towards the former. I will need to test out that latter theory at some point, though, right? ;-) In any event, I will try this loop-de-loop again in November-ish so I'll know for sure if the plan is a good one or not.

Report: Hansen Dam Triathlon 2010

2010-08-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Total Time: 1:14:14
Overall Rank: 141/424
Age Group: M45-49
Age Group Rank: 13/27

Pre-race routine

My pre-race routine actually started two days before when my family went to a local carnival. Note to self: do not eat carnival food two nights before a race. You feel funky the next day.

The day before I just had this tuna and rice in a bowl dish throughout the day. Makes sure my digestive tract is nice and boring (and that the carnival food is out of the picture, as it were). Had a sandwich from Subway at 5pm and a glass of Ovaltine milk just before I went to bed.

Set the alarm for 4am the night before the race but my body woke up at 3:25 and I knew it wasn't going to let me go back to sleep. Sigh. I did see them putting cones along the course at 3:30, FWIW.

Went right down and had some Nutella on toast and Gatorade. Breakfast of champions! Watched some TV while waiting for things to clear out. Got on my bike a bit after 5 and rode to the venue. Got there well before opening time and, of course, they had already opened transition. While I didn't get a maximum primo spot, I was happy with the spot I did get. It didn't help that the bike in/out was not clearly marked. Still, it was a good spot.

The neatest thing of the morning was walking along the lake to check out the run course before the sun came up. Did you look at the lake and see all those birds flying around, eating bugs? Those weren't birds. They were bats. Lots of them. Cool!

Event warmup

Got in the water about 6:30 to do some swimming. Nice! The sun was coming up and I found that it was going to be right in our eyes when we made our first turn. I got out of the water, traded my clear googles for the smoky ones, and got back in. Swam around maybe 100 yards, and then it was time to get out. I felt tired but I knew (?) that was just sluggishness from taking the last week off.

Swim

Distance: 500 yards (so they say)
Time: 11:51
Age Group Rank: 11/27

I have to say that I am surprised by this time. It is only 11 seconds faster than last year's time and last year's swim was lousy. I'm not convinced the course is the same length as last year's.

We started off down a ramp and into the water. Lots of bunching up because, right away, we had to make a left to go around the first buoy. Still in traffic but nothing bad. This new sighting I've been practicing, where I pop my head straight up, look, then swing it back to the left to continue my stroke, works SO MUCH better than the old way (which was the reverse of that). I was able to sight a lot in traffic while still maintaining my speed. Consequently my sighting was very good. For instance, I actually touched two of the buoys as I rounded them while most were swinging way wide. Then, from buoy #3 to #4, a lot of people were swinging wide (following others) while I was on a straight line.

While I wouldn't characterize this swim as fast, I was happy with my effort. I'm still breathing every stroke (still haven't figured out why) but my sighting was great and I knew that I was towards the front of my wave down the home stretch.

What would you do differently?

Just keep training to get faster.

T1

Time: 0:46

I felt pretty tired coming out of the swim but I pushed through that to get to my bike. Threw the cap and goggles in my backpack, quickly put my glasses and helmet on, grabbed my bike, and I was gone. I entered T1 in 11th. I left in 8th.

I smushed my right shoe, somehow, and had a really hard time getting my foot into it. Fortunately, this is my home course and I know where the uphills and downhills are. I waited for a downhill before I finally worked my right foot into the shoe. In all that time, one person passed me (he was just fast) and I actually passed a couple of people.

Ended up with the fastest T1 in my age group by 14 seconds and the tenth fastest overall. I improved on last year's time by ten seconds, too. Don't let anyone tell you that fast transitions are not free speed. They're wrong.

What would you do differently?

Run faster.

Bike

Distance: 11 miles (officially--really more like 10.17 miles)
Time: 31:12
Age Group Rank: 9/27

The course is actually just over ten miles long, which makes everybody look faster than they are. I was hoping to average 20mph but realistically expected to average 19.8, and that is what I did. Since this is my home course I know exactly where I want to shift, push, and rest. I was pretty tired by the end so looks like I pushed just right, especially since I ended up almost three minutes faster than last year.

I passed people, I was passed. I didn't get chicked (from the following wave) until the run, though, so I was humming along.

What would you do differently?

Keep working on the engine and get faster.

T2

Time: 1:04

T2 actually started on the bike course. On the downhill after getting off the dam, I got one foot out of its shoe. After the turn into the park, I took the other foot out. Both downhills so no speed lost. After that I downshifted to get my legs ready for the run. Stretched, too.

Hopped off my bike, jogged to the rack, helmet and glasses off, shoes on (quicker than usual, too), grabbed my visor and race belt, and was off. The race belt was already connected so I just slipped it over my head, then the visor. I don't know if it made me any faster but at least I didn't have to fuss with trying to close it while running.

Eight seconds faster than last year.

What would you do differently?

I wish I could figure out why my T2 times are so average. T1 I have down but I don't know why my T2 isn't in the same league. Must think...

Run

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 29:19
Age Group Rank: 21/27

Ah, the run. Faster than last year but still my achilles heel. Still, I was fairly happy with it.

I don't remember running around the lake first from last year's run. That and there were a couple of places on the course where we went a bit wider than last year. That leads me to believe that this year's course is closer to three miles than last year's course. That or I just have a bad memory.

I didn't feel great on the course but I knew the training would take over and I'd run well. A 9:46 pace, while not great, is not bad on a trail run after a hard bike. For me, anyway. 2 1/2 minutes faster than last year, too, and, like I said, I think this year's course was longer than last year's.

This year's motto is "I'm not fast but I'm faster." So I'm satisfied with my run. I kept thinking I wasn't running fast enough but when I tried to go faster I started feeling like I was going to ralph so I guess my effort was just right. :-)

What would you do differently?

Be a faster runner.

Warm down

Walked around, ate lots of oranges, drank lots of water. They had these Bonk Breakers to eat (one of the sponsors). I have to say that they weren't bad at all. I can see me taking these on my long bike rides.

They immediately had results on a big screen just past the finish line. While the times were wrong, the placings were right. That was pretty cool.

What limited your ability to perform faster

Just me. I was faster in everything compared to last year so I just need to keep on with my training. It's only my second season of doing these so I'm still a noob.

Event comments

Almost six minutes faster than last year. Gotta be pleased with that. And I finished in the top half of my age group. Such a nice change from my recent placings in longer races.

I felt sluggish and tired the whole race. I was hoping that that was because my effort was greater than last year. Given the times I ended up with I'd like to think that was the case. I sprained my knee a few weeks ago and it didn't bother me at all. That was because I have been resting it. It's hard to balance training for a race and resting a knee. I hope I hit it just right.

The organization of this year's race was SO MUCH better than last year's. Our race packets were complete so no lining up race morning. The bike course had marshalls all over the place so we didn't have to worry about traffic or pedestrians. On top of Hansen Dam the gate was open and it was coned off so we didn't have to dodge pedestrians. Three water stations on the run? You gotta be kidding me (in a good way)? I wished I would have used them, since they had gone to all that effort. They didn't run out of food the whole time. Kudos to the organizers.

It looked like the race wasn't going to happen this year, and they mentioned this morning that they only started working on it seven weeks ago. I do hope they find a way to keep it going. The organizers are already posting on Facebook that they're working on having an Oly next year so I take that to be a good sign.

My Knee Thing

2010-08-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have this weird knee thing going on right now. It started about a week ago behind my right knee. I figured that I somehow had hyperextended my right leg during last Tuesday's ride to work. It wasn't a sharp pain. I didn't feel anything pop when it happened. In fact, I didn't even feel it happen. This dull pain just sort of appeared.

I did swim on Wednesday but skipped Thursday morning's run. However, I did ride to work on Thursday and Friday. Liking active rest, I did make the rides easy ones. The pain was still there on Saturday but it had moved to the outer edge of my knee. It now felt like a bruise (i.e. tender to the touch) but there was no bruise there. I did a five-mile run Saturday morning with no problems. Still wanting to rest it, though, I skipped Sunday's planned bike-run brick workout.

I swam on Monday and today, rode to work yesterday, and will, likely, ride to work tomorrow. We'll see about Friday. This weekend I had planned an easy run on Saturday and and easy bike on Sunday. We'll see. Since I am taking next week off from training for the big race, I am hoping that that will keep me healthy and heal me up.

I suspect this was caused by a change I made to the cleats on my cycling shoes. I rotated them a bit to point my toes out a bit. I did this a few weeks ago and hadn't had any problems. My thinking is that I did something (unclip, etc.) that, because my feet were in a funky angle, caused a little strain. I have un-funked my cleats back to their previous positions and we'll see if that helps me get back on track.

Then again, because the pain has been moving, maybe I have worms in my knee.

Countdown to Hansen Dam

2010-08-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Now that Le Tour is over, I can go back to writing in this thing. I've been training all along but no time to write here.

The Hansen Dam Triathlon is two weeks from today and I'll be as ready as I can be. My training has been building up to a peak this weekend and it looks like I hit it--I'm exhausted. Easy training next week followed by no training (save for an easy bike ride Wednesday morning and some transition practice on Thursday or Friday) and I'll be all set.

The Swim

500 yards in a man-made "lake" (more like a big pond). I did this in 12:02 last year. LAME! Definitely under ten minutes this year. Can I hold a 1:45 (8:45) pace this year? That would be nice but we'll see. I think I'm finally getting comfortable in these race swims and have even been pacing myself pretty well. No wetsuit in this race so I don't have to worry about overheating, too. My workouts have been more productive lately, thanks to the advice of an old friend who is a much better swimmer than me, so I should be quite a bit faster.

T1

I had the fastest T1 in my age group last year and 19th overall: 56.1 seconds. Let's see if I can better that this year.

The Bike

Better shape. Better bike. Last year I did this in 34:04. Can I come in under 30 minutes, which is around 20 mph (the course is really just over ten miles)? I don't know if it's realistic but it's what I'll be shooting for.

T2

Last year I did this in 1:12, which is so-so. I don't know if I can get it under a minute but I'll try. Rack bike, take off helmet and put on shoes, grab the race belt and visor, and go!

Run

Last year I did this in 31:55 which, if you believe the course is three miles, is a 10:38 pace. Problem is, the course isn't three miles. More like 2.5 (I've been running it with a Garmin the past few weeks). That comes out to be a 12:46 pace. Hmm. Maybe I'm cutting the course short somehow. Not by a half mile, though, so, for now, let's just go with that 10:38 pace. I want to do the run at about a 9:10 pace, which should knock at least four minutes off my time, and bring me in around 27:30 if the course is three miles, or 23:00 if the course is 2.5 miles. Hmm, that 23:00 figure looks pretty fast compared to all the results for last year so maybe I am cutting the course short. We'll find out soon enough.

My triathlon slogan for this year (and the next few years, no doubt) is: I'm not fast but I'm faster. So let's add up those times. 10:00 for the swim + 1:00 in T1 + 31:00 on the bike + 1:00 in T2 + 25:00 on the run = 1:08 overall, which would have put me in the top 25 in my age group last year. Possible? I'll just go and do my best.

Oh, I do have one other goal for the race. Towards the end of the run there is a short but steep hill. After that there is a not-so-steep uphill followed by a run alongside the lake and then onto the finish line. My other goal is that once I get to the stop of that steep uphill, nobody passes me. If I do get passed I stick with that person and try to re-pass by the finish line. I didn't like being passed on that last stretch last year so I don't want it to happen this year. I've been practicing on that stretch, too.

Running Towards the Rest of the Season

2010-06-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Four triathlons down, two to go plus a half-marathon in November.

For the rest of the season, and the off-season, my training emphasis is going to be the run. Because of that upcoming half-marathon, of course (my first), but also because it is the weak link in my triathlon (and I cannot emphasize that enough). Time to bump up the training from twice-a-week to four times-a-week. This should get me faster for my triathlon runs and get me to the finish line of the half-mary.

Saturday - The Long Run

Moving my long run from Sunday to Saturday to move it up in priority. Last Saturday I started with a long run of seven miles and I'll be bumping that up 1/2 mile each week until I hit two hours-ish, which will get me around Hansen Dam at the very least.

Monday - VFF Training

Thanks to my REI dividend and a well-timed 20% discount (if you want to know how to do triathlons on a budget, just ask me), I am now the proud owner of a pair of Vibram Five Finger Sprints. Way back during my one season on my high school's cross country team, we did most of our training barefoot. It seemed a bit odd at the time but the other guys were doing it so what the heck. No problems were encountered then. After doing a bit of reading on the subject of barefoot running I thought I'd get back into it. Having recently done a bit of forefoot running in my shoes, though, I know I need to take it slow. Very slow. My first shot at it this past Monday made my calves, predictably, very sore from just one mile of running. I even cancelled my planned Wednesday run because of it. It will get better over time. It is interesting to note, though, that my feet came through just fine.

The run on this day is just to build up this aspect of my running. We'll see where that eventually takes me.

Wednesday - Intervals

After giving my calves two days of rest, it's time for intervals. I usually overdo these by turning them practically into sprints but I want to be smarter this time. I'm still doing reading on intervals and haven't picked an exact workout yet but I suspect it will be something along the lines of 4+ miles (out and back) with a couple of intervals each way plus hard charging up the route's biggish hill.

Thursday - Easy Form

A nice and easy run of 5k to 4mi where I focus on improving my form and increasing my cadence as I work my way up to 180 steps/minute.

Report: L.A. Tri Series #3

2010-06-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Total Time = 3:35:11
Overall Rank = 223/312
Age Group = Clydesdales
Age Group Rank = 14/15

Pre-race routine

Studying my training logs from my last race, I decided that I trained too much before my last race so this time I cut out all training one week out. MUCH better. All the fatigue had left my muscles by the day before the race.

Stayed hydrated and ate small meals the day before, including my usual Subway sub at 6pm.

Woke up at 4am. Ate a Nutella on toast with Gatorade. I had packed up the night before so all that was left to do was Chamois Butt'r my trisuit, get dressed, put the bike on the car, and wait for 5:15, the time to go. Got to the site at just the right time.

Event warmup

Did an easy 1/2 mile-ish jog a little bit before 7 to wake things up. Did a short warm-up swim about 45 minutes later.

Swim

Distance: 1500 meters
Time: 39:23
Pace: 2:24/100 yards
Age Group: 12/15
Overall: 222/312

We started from a wade and it turns out I positioned myself perfectly. When we got swimming I wasn't passing many people and many people weren't passing me. Best I could hope for. The sun was in my eyes so I couldn't see the far buoy so I just followed. After a few hundred yards I took a look around and I was solidly MOP. Cool!

Then I started to feel bad. I couldn't figure out what it was right away. Seasick? Maybe I'm just not cut out for long swims?

I was overheating in my wetsuit. Sigh.

Before the swim I kept hearing people describing the water as the perfect temperature for wetsuits. That should have been my first warning sign. I'm a warm guy and perfect pool water for others is too warm for me. I had actually been wondering how the water temperature was going to be, given that a month had passed since my last race in the lake and THAT seemed like it had the perfect temperature (though, in hindsight, I realize that I was starting to overheat in the last 150 yards of that).

Ugh. I kept pulling off to the side and tugging at the wetsuit neck to get some cool water in the suit. Finally at about 1000 yards I stopped and unzipped the back. I kept the suit on my shoulders because I didn't want to deal with the drag, of course, but I swam with the back unzipped. It helped but not much.

Oddly enough, even with spending about five minutes floating or breaststroking, I had my best placing in my age group on the swim compared to the bike and run. Double sigh.

Did I mention that my wetsuit is sleeveless? I'm a warm guy.

What would you do differently?

No wetsuit or maybe a thinner one.

T1

Time: 02:52

Still feeling bad from overheating during the swim, I walked most of the way into transition. When I got to my bike it was business as usual. I even tried the wetsuit off/helmet on thing. One leg came off great and another got stuck. Oh well. Ran the bike out, did a flying mount, pedaled away, and was in my shoes before I hit the hill. I passed people up to the mount and nobody passed me until we were climbing up the first hill.

What would you do differently?

Run all the way from the swim to my bike instead of walk most of the way.

I really need to get some tri shoes for the bike. I am tired of the tongue getting mushed when I put my foot in and having to fish it back out again. It's starting to really annoy me.

Bike

Distance: 40 km
Time: 1:34:39
Pace: 15.75 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/15
Overall: 201/312

The word of the day here was "spin". I knew the run would be tough so I wanted to spin up hills in lower gears rather than try muscling up them. That made me a bit slower than last month's race on the same course but I knew I'd be better prepared for the run.

On the nutrition side, I wanted to take all of my race nutrition on the bike. I took my first gel after the first hill leveled off, then drank a sugar water/Endurolyte mix every fifteen minutes. When that water ran out, I had a plain water/Endurolyte mix bottle. I took my second gel about ten minutes before the end of the last lap.

What would you do differently?

Same old story: lose weight, get faster on the hills. I'd also throw in get stronger on the run so I don't have to save so much for it.

T2

Time: 02:17

After last month's experience with rubbing, I brought socks this time. I got them on reasonably quickly and had a fairly respectable time here. I decided to take the Garmin with me just to get some feedback. I had no intention of letting it dictate my run, though.

What would you do differently?

Should have just grabbed the Garmin off the bike and put it on while I was running. I don't know what I was thinking.

I saw a neat trick on TV yesterday where Hunter Kemper, I believe, had his race belt already connected and he just slipped the whole thing over his head and down to his waist while running. I wanna try that.

Run

Distance: 10 km
Time: 1:16:00
Pace: 12:14/mile
Age Group: 13/15
Overall: 233/312

Run started off okay. I felt better than last month but I still felt tired. Kept my cadence high and motored along. After a mile I was into a good rhythm. I felt much better on the flats this month than last month. I only walked three steep hills. I wanted to walk more but somehow I talked myself into keeping going, much to my surprise. I ended up doing this run 30 seconds/mile faster than last month. That three minutes saved on the run means that the two minutes slower on the bike netted me a whole minute of faster. Woo hoo (I need all the help I can get ;-)!

Not even a hint of cramps this time so my nutrition plan on the bike seems to have paid off. I also poured water on my head at every water station, which helped keep me cool. By the halfway point I could feel the water coming off my head was warm so I did need the cooling. It was nearly 80 degrees when I finished the race yet, ironically, I only felt too warm in the water.

What would you do differently?

Wish I didn't have to walk any of the hills. Maybe next year.

Post race

Warm down

The last two races I had a bit of a dizzy spell right after the finish so this time I went straight from getting my timing chip taken off to grabbing some oranges and from there, back into transition to grab a gel and some water. It seems to have helped.

What limited your ability to perform faster?

Today's big story was overheating on the swim. I figure that if the water isn't cold enough to take my breath away when I get in up to my neck, it's not cold enough. Maybe I just need to get a thinner suit. DeSoto talks about their suits being good for people who overheat. I need to do some more research.

Event comments

Definitely a challenging course. I'm not planning on doing all three again next year. Right now the plan is to do this Oly-distance race again but maybe I'll do one of the sprints, too.

I do wish they had some Gatorade at the finish line. The oranges really hit the spot, though.

Tick ATOC

2010-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Not only is the Amgen Tour of California coming to town this weekend, it's also Bike to Work Week. I have a need to geek out about this so I will be riding to work on Bike to Work Day this Thursday. Last summer I cycled to work while my son was on summer vacation. I drive him to school each morning so it's not practical for me to cycle to work during the school year but I make special accommodations for this day.

Next up is Friday, Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California. I'll need to pick my son up from school that afternoon, which isn't the usual routine, so if I want to see the tour, I have to make quick work of it. The plan is to drop him off a bit early, then haul ass up to Palmdale (I've taken the day off), cycle up to Mill Creek Summit, which is the first climb of the stage, ahead of the race, and do some spectating with my cowbell and camera. Once the caravan has passed I ride back to Palmdale and my car, drive home, do my long run for the week, pick up Ian, and watch the stage finish live on TV.

Here is Friday's ride:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.
Short but steep. Click on the Trip Details and check out that elevation profile. I'll have about a 1:15 head start. That should be enough.

Saturday is the time trial in downtown Los Angeles. I have volunteered to work that and I just got my assignment email saying that I'm a course marshall, which means I'll be someplace along the route making sure nobody wanders onto the course. I should be able to spend some time at the "Lifestyle Festival" they have there before heading to my spot. Should be a fun day plus I get a free lunch and shirt.

On Sunday, the plan is to ride with the SFVBC to Stage 8, watch the race, then ride the course. We're talking 80 miles with some serious climbs, where I will surely be dropped. At least we're getting a break halfway to watch the race.

Here is Sunday's ride:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.

Should be a fun weekend. I suspect I will be completely wiped out for work on Monday.

Report: L.A. Tri Series, #2 2010

2010-05-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Total Time = 3:02:48
Overall Rank = 219/258
Age Group = Clydesdales
Age Group Rank = 8/10

Pre-race routine

Woke up at 4am. Had Nutella on toast right away. Drank just a little water as I was already well-hydrated. Everything was already packed so I hung out until it was time to get dressed and go. Left at 5:25, which was a ten minutes later than I wanted to leave. Still got to the site in good time. Picked out a great spot in transition. Once I setup my area in transition I found that my Garmin was DOA. D'oh!

Event warmup

I went out for an easy bike ride, which did feel good. However, there was a bit of an incident when I got back into transition. As much as I liked the ride, I think it's better if I don't do one to warm up again. I wanted to do a short run, too, but I ran out of time. In the future, I'll stick to doing just a warm up run. Got on my wetsuit and did a short swim in the lake.

Swim

Distance: 1km
Time: 23:15
Pace: 2:08/100y

Water temperature was perfect for wetsuits. Not too cold, not too warm. I wonder if it's going to be too warm for wetsuits next month.

There were fewer swimmers this month so the start was better set up. I was in the front and since we were spread out on the beach, I was about halfway down from the inside, a good place to start. The race started and I got out fairly well. Instead of having to swim past people, a few people were swimming past me. Maybe I should have started farther out? After about 200 yards I started feeling good. Just like last month, I don't think people were using their heads sighting but were just following everybody else. The course had a first buoy, then we turned slightly to the left. There was a second and a third buoy. The third buoy was what we would make a full left turn on and the second buoy was just on the way. Problem was, the second buoy was in towards the left of a straight line from the first to the third buoy so if you went to the second buoy, you were adding to your swim. That's what most people did. I know because as I got closer to the third buoy, I met up with people who would soon pass me (again).

As we got closer to shore, we met up with one of the sprint-distance waves. Much congestion so the last fifty yards into shore were pretty slow. On the other hand, I did breaststroke in to shore, flexing my feet to work on my calves before getting out of the water. That seemed to have worked because my legs did feel better than last month's race.

What would you do differently?

I was trying to do some heads-down swimming (i.e. not sighting so often) but when I finally sighted I often found that I had drifted off course. I'm going to give up on heads-down swimming and sight more often.

The drifting and the congestion did contribute to my slower-than-expected pace. However, I think the length of the swim was the main reason. Can't do much about that other than keep training.

T1

Time: 2:25

Your basic T1 here. Everything went well here except the slow run in and a dropped a water bottle when putting it on the bike after squirting my feet.

What would you do differently?

Nothing. Well, maybe I should try that taking the helmet off while removing the wetsuit thing. Looks like fun!

Bike

Distance: 40km
Time: 1:32:20
Pace: 16.15mph

Mostly the same course as last month but with an additional hill thrown in and three laps instead of two. Since this race is longer, the plan was to not go as hard so I'd have something left for the run. Looking at my pace, I did a good job of that. I didn't have the Garmin with me so I relied on how I felt for pacing so that worked out well. The second half of the last lap I went one gear lower than usual on the hills so my legs would get ready for the run. Also did some stretching as I got near the end of the course. This helped transitioning to the run.

I wanted to take in all my nutrition on the bike. I had some sugar water w/ electrolytes (it's an experiment), water, and a gel. Sugar water the first hour, water and a gel after that. That all went according to plan. Man, when that sugar water hits you, it's a weird feeling. I need to keep playing with that.

What would you do differently?

Just get stronger on the bike. I pretty much did what I wanted to on the bike. I was slow in the group but it was a good ride for me.

T2

Time: 1:23

Really good T2.

What would you do differently?

Nothing.

Run

Time: 1:03:25
Distance: 8km
Pace: 12:46 min/mile

I felt pretty good starting the run. Good, not great, but I didn't feel horrible, which is how I have felt in my other races this year so the bike-run bricks are working. Hilliest run course I've ever been on, which I wasn't expecting. I had to walk the two steepest hills--there would have been no point trying to run up them. It would have been no faster than walk pace anyway. I felt good on the flats but those hills really did me in. I took my metronome with me to help with my cadence. I wasn't able to keep up with it so after a couple of miles I shut it off.

On my recent training runs I have noticed my feet slip-sliding in the shoes from the sweat coming from warmer days. That peaked today and the result was a spot on my left foot that rubbed raw in the last couple of miles. Oh joy. It didn't slow me down but it was annoying. Next race I'm going to have to bite the bullet and put socks on since I can't go a full 10k like that. If the course was flat there probably wouldn't have been a problem.

So, it was my typical slow run but I think I actually did better than usual on it. There is hope!

What would you do differently?

I felt my left quad edge towards cramping the last couple of miles. I need to take in more electrolytes on the bike and maybe actually drink water on the run course rather than just pour it on my head (which felt really good).

I need to do lots more hill work.

No metronome. I wasn't able to take the Garmin on the run but next race I'm not even going to bother.

Wear socks...or get better-ventilated shoes.

Post race

Warm down

After experiencing light-headedness after the last race I immediately went to town on the oranges and water. The light-headedness did return (along with the light sensitivity) so I found a bench to sit on and it went away after a couple of minutes. I wonder if it's a sugar thing? Maybe I need to have some Gatorade in my bag and go straight from the finish line to the bag and start guzzling. I sure would like to know what's going on.

What limited your ability to perform faster?

Longer distance, slower pace. That's just how it goes. I'll get faster the more I train.

I'd love to use the "I was one of the two oldest Clydesdales, give me a break" excuse but the other 48-year old took second. So much for that. :-)

Event comments

It's funny. The race organizers sent out an email earlier in the week touting the casual nature of the race, including no body marking. However, this time we were bodymarked and our bikes numbered. Why? Apparently some people walked off with bikes they weren't supposed to last race. Nice to see they're addressing the problem.

Oranges and bananas were nice but I wanted to guzzle some Gatorade and all I could find was water. Oh well, I guess I'll have to bring my own.

Challenging course for me but do-able. Next month's full Oly should be interesting.

8th Clydesdale in the swim, bike, and run. I'm Mr. Consistency. It does explain why I didn't see any Clydes passing me.

Countdown to the L.A. Tri Series #2

2010-05-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

All I have left to do is pack, write this, and sleep.

This is the first triathlon I'm going to treat like an actual triathlon. While on the swim, get ready for the bike. While on the bike, get ready for the run. Then have my run benefit from the earlier stuff and from my bike-run bricks in training. I'm also using this as a rehearsal for the full oly triathlon next month.

First off, I'm actually going to do a warm up! I'll stake out my transition spot, then go for an easy small loop of the course (7mi), then an easy 1mi run. This will give me plenty of time to rest, take a gel, get into my swimsuit, and do a swim warm up in the lake. After last race I felt that a warm up would have been helpful. We'll see how it goes.

This race has a 1km swim, which might include a run after a 500m lap. I'm not sure because there aren't any details on the race's website and the course they show for the swim is the same one for the 500m swim last month. Whatever. The plan for the swim is to start middle-front and just swim my race. I'm hoping that by being middle-front instead of my usual towards the back will help me by not having to swim past so many people. It's not that I'm fast (I'm not) but was faster than many of the people in my wave last race. I've been practicing breaststroking a bit so I need to remember to do some of that towards the end of the swim so I can stretch out my calf muscles before I start running from the water. I'm hoping that will keep me from having that calf pain I had at this place in last month's race.

Once I get on the bike I need to get into my shoes sooner than last race because there's a good uphill shortly after leaving T1 and I want to be in my shoes for that. See, I leave my shoes on the bike for my transitions and, usually, I want to get some pedaling done before I get in my shoes so I can do it with a clear head and no wobbling. This time, though, I'm going to have to rely on my transition training to safely get into my shoes before the hill. Once I crest the hill there is a short flat and a great big downhill for me to catch my breath (I'm thinking I should easily reach 45 mph). The bike course is three laps, adding up to 40km, so I'm thinking that my first trip up that hill on the first lap, I will spin up in the saddle while my legs gets used to being on the bike. The next two laps, though, I'll see about getting out of the saddle and hammering up for them (I've been working on that, too). We'll see how I feel. I'll be drinking sugar water (literally--more on that in another post) on the bike the first hour, followed by water and a gel the last 20 minutes. Towards the end of the third lap I need to downshift to spin, stretch, and get my legs ready for the run...better than I did last race.

Get off the bike, take off my helmet and sunglasses, put on my shoes, grab my visor (with metronome attached) and race belt and go. Ah, the 8km run. Last race, my run was horrible. This race I hope to improve! I've done several pure bike-run bricks and I hope they result in a better run. I am totally going to geek out, though, by having the Garmin on my left wrist and the metronome attached to my RoadID on my right wrist. Yes, I'm going to do a race with a metronome keeping track of my cadence. I think I'm going to run without drinking anything. So, keep my 164 cadence through 2.8 miles of the run and then cut loose the last two miles, upping the cadence to as much as 167 if I'm up to it.

Predictions? A conservative 19:00 for the swim, 1:20 for the bike, and 48:00 for the run. Toss in a few minutes for transitions and I'm in the neighborhood of 2:30. The weather looks great so it should be a fun morning. Oh, and Tommy's is test marketing pastrami at a location that's on the way home. Mmmm, pastrami and chili fries after a race...

I've Made a List and I Check It At Least Twice

2010-05-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

How do you know if you have packed everything you need for a triathlon? By having a checklist, of course. You add to it and tweak it as you go but you always use the checklist. Below is mine, which I keep on my iPhone. I may not need everything on it for every race (e.g. I won't need a wetsuit for my August and October races) but better to see something and not need it than need something and it not be packed. The only thing that isn't on this list is my transition bag, which is what everything (but the bike) gets packed in:

Tri suit
Goggles
Bike
Bike shoes
Frame pump
Bike bag
Helmet
Run shoes
Race belt and number
Wristband
Transition towel
Timing chip
USAT card
Shorts & shirt & belt
Gel
Cut Rubber bands
Garmin
Kids scissors
Marker
Tape
iPhone
Keys
Wallet
Race pack
Swim cap
Wetsuit
Water bottle
Bike pump
Sunglasses
Flashlight
Body glide
Jacket
Ear buds
Visor

Brick By Brick

2010-05-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Along with my campaign to become a better runner is my campaign to become a better triathlon runner. What's the difference? Runners just have to run. A triathlon runner has to run after the bike.

To that end, the last two weekends have found me doing dedicated bike-run brick workouts. That's where I ride a 9-mile loop around Hansen Dam, do a reasonably fast transition, and immediately head out on a 2-mile run. Because of the quick transition I do these in my trisuit (triathlons are great for overcoming one's self-consciousness :-).

Last week was the first and it was pretty tough. I took 15 minutes between sets and I could only squeak out a 1-mile run on the second set. This week I took (at least) 30 minutes between sets and made it the whole 2 miles. Times on the run were pretty good, too. The awkwardness of switching from the bike to the run is dissipating with each of these. I'm spinning a higher cadence towards the end of the bike and learning to pace myself. Of course, race day is a totally different animal but I'm trying to be a racy as possible in these workouts so I hope race day is not too different. These workouts are really tiring so, with the next triathlon in two weeks, today's workout is the last brick until after the next race, where I hope to have a better run report than my last race.

My Metronome Arrived Last Week

2010-04-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

I finally realized that I need to learn how to run. I don't know what took me so long. I have cycling books and magazines to help me learn how to cycle. I even have a book on swimming, despite being on swim teams in my youth. I figure since I've been running since I was a wee one, I must know how to run, right?

A few weeks ago I did a hard 5k training run and I just wasn't getting any faster. It didn't make any sense. How could my cycling and swimming be consistently improving and my running continue to suck? The answer I came up with is that it must be technique. So I headed over to Amazon and, after a look of review reviewing, I purchased "The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training" by Ken Mierke because many of its reviews mentioned technique.

One of the first ideas he presents is having a high-cadence run, ideally in the 180 strides-per-minute (spm) range. He strongly recommended that I get a metronome to help me in this quest. I would need to decrease my stride-length so I could move away from being a heel-striker and use the metronome to find out what my current cadence is. From there, I would gradually build up to the 180 range. Fortunately, they make these little electronic metronomes that are perfect for what I need so I bought one on eBay.

I went for my first runs with it over the weekend and what a difference! First, I could comfortably run at 164 spm. I had done a few runs the past few weeks where I decreased my stride length but having a metronome was interesting. It sure does keep you honest in the form department because you can't be turning over that quickly and have bad form for long. I did a five-mile run on Saturday and, only paying attention to cadence and form, turned in my fastest pace on a run over 5k. I wasn't even wiped out afterwards, either. There must be something to this cadence thing. Take a look at a marathon on TV and count out the cadence of the lead pack. They're at least 180 spm. It's something I hadn't noticed before.

Ideally I think I would like to move to more of a forefoot striker. Way back when I was briefly on my high school's cross country team. We ran barefoot for almost all of our workouts and the only way to run barefoot is by landing on your forefoot. We were all fine (and 100 pounds lighter, natch) so there must be something to this forefoot thing. We'll see later but, for now, I am just concentrating on getting the cadence up. I dabbled briefly with forefoot running but it trashed my calves so I will wait until after my June triathlon to play with it some more.

Report: Los Angeles Triathlon Championship Series #1 2010

2010-04-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Total Time = 1h 34m 12s
Overall Rank = 162/245
Age Group = Clydesdales
Age Group Rank = 6/11

Pre-race routine

Had my traditional Subway sandwich the evening before at 6, with some Ovaltine before bed. Woke up at 4am and downed some Nutella on toast. I had packed the night before so all was set to go. Left the house around 5:2t and arrived at a great time. Got a good parking spot and an aisle spot in transition.

Something different this time was I put some chamois cream in my trisuit. On longer courses, this suit (Garneau) caused some discomfort on the bike so, while I wasn't expecting that on this shorter course, I wanted to try out the cream in a race environment (i.e. with a swim).

Event warmup

Got in the water, got used to the temperature (which took faster than it usually does), and did a bit of swimming. Given my calf problem (see below), I wonder if I should start doing some running beforehand.

Swim

Distance = 500 meters
Time = 9:06
Age Group Rank = 7/11

For some reason these OWS really wear me out at the beginning. I think it's the nervous energy of the start of a race plus bumping into people. I really need to get over that. I also need to get over the need to start towards the back of the pack. While I'm not a FOP swimmer, I'm not BOP and I spend too much time passing people during the first hundred yards.

Once I got in the clear, things were okay. It looks like I have tendency to drift to the left so I guess I need to work on swimming with my eyes closed to fix that. Sighting was okay--better than in the past but still needs some work.

One thing that really helped was that I listened to the instructions at the beginning of the race. We were told that the round buoys were what we needed to pay attention to, not the oval ones. During the last leg I was sighting on the round buoy but I noticed that the vast majority of the pack (and by "vast majority" I mean "everybody I could see") was swinging wide around an oval buoy, further off to the right. No lifeguards told me to get back on course and as I was getting out of the water I heard the announcer tell an upcoming wave to use the round buoys (I think I was being used as a positive example). This saved me a bit of time.

I wasn't so happy with my effort (I felt slow and tired) until they posted the results and I saw my time. My timed pace was almost exactly my pace during a practice 500 that I did in a pool earlier in the week. Maybe the course is short but that pace would explain why I was so tired at the end of the swim.

What would I do differently?

I need to place myself more towards the front of the pack to avoid having to pass so many people. I'm handling swimming in traffic just fine (thank you high school water polo!) so I need to work on going out quicker to hang out up front.

T1

Time = 2:32

I was so tired after the swim that I pretty much shuffled up (a hill) into T1. Wetsuit came off fine--only one foot got stuck. Hopped on the bike and went.

One weird thing was that as I was shuffling into T1, I felt a pain in my right calf. Calf pain after the swim? I've felt that pain before and it didn't bode well for the run. I hoped that the bike would warm it up for the run (it did).

What would I do differently?

Run instead of shuffle from the lake. Would have saved some seconds but I just couldn't do it.

Bike

Distance = 24 km
Time = 48:41
Age Group Rank = 8/11

I am so glad I previewed the course last weekend. I knew which hills to get out of the saddle for and which to stay seated. No turns surprised me. My gear changes were great. Despite my relatively low placing, I was very pleased with how I rode.

At the end of the ride I downshifted and spun, as well as standing up to flex my calves, so I could prepare for the run. Seems to have helped my run and the aforementioned calf pain.

I flaked in the fluids department, drinking only once. Didn't matter so much for this race but the coming races in this series will be longer and I'll need to drink on the bike because there will be consequences if I don't.

Chamois cream seems to have worked (i.e. survived the swim). We'll see for sure on the longer course.

What would I do differently?

I'm just not a 20 mph cyclist yet but I am 2 mph faster than last year so maybe next year? I'm sure a TT bike would have helped, too. Just gotta work more on the engine.

T2

Time = 1:20

Not bad. I didn't have really good focus here, so that didn't help. I also need to practice getting my Garmin off the bike--I was kind of a mess doing that. I got into my shoes better than usual, though. I'd like to think it was the Body Glide I put on the shoes that morning.

What would I do differently?

Practice more than getting off the bike for T2. I have that part down. I need to do the "grab the belt and Garmin" thing better.

Run

Distance = 5 km
Time = 32:33
Age Group Rank = 9/11

I just sucked here. The spinning and flexing I did on the bike, as well as my brick training runs, seemed to help me get going--I didn't feel exactly great but I didn't feel as awful as I did at UCLA last month. I did my high-cadence thing that I've been working on but I didn't feel all that good until two miles in. By then I had been so slow that it didn't much matter. Probably my worst (not slowest) run ever.

What would I do differently?

The next two races in this series are in the next two months, with bike legs of 40k. Since I don't need to do so much prep for those bike legs, my focus for the next two months is going to be the run. While I'm not going to get fast, I plan on getting faster.

Post race

Warm down

This was an odd one. I had some oranges, drank some fluids, and walked around. The weird thing was that I was a bit light-headed and my pupils appear to have dilated. I looked around and the whites were glowing white. It was weird because I didn't have to squint, so everything wasn't bright like that, but all the white t-shirts and white cars were intensely white. I'm guessing my pupils were dilated because of the exercise but I can't be sure. The light-headedness did go away after a while and I didn't faint (or feel like I was going to) so I guess all was well. Weird.

What limited my ability to perform faster?

The run (as usual).

Event comments

Nice race. Loved the swim in a lake, since I get seasick in the ocean. Challenging bike course (somebody in the clydesdale group cheated and only did one lap). Nice run course (wish I could have enjoyed it). The volunteers were awesome! Screaming teenaged girls! I felt like one of the Jonas brothers.

Report: Santa Clarita Century 2010

2010-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Time in the Saddle: 7:13:33
Elapsed Time: 8:30
Distance: 100.93 miles

So...many...hills. The event's website describes the course like this: "This is not an easy century. While not the hardest event on the calendar, it is still challenging with one lengthy climb, three shorter, but extended climbs, and several smaller hills." That's an accurate description and it tells me I'm not ready for Breathless Agony yet. ;-)

The plan was to draft as much as possible--shamelessly. In that, I was successful. I can really tell my gains from last year's half-century. I've moved from the back-of-the-pack to the middle-of-the-pack. On hills, too! Even in the last 20 miles I was able to go up hills slowly but faster than some of those around me.

I might have gone out too hard but I think it was just the difficulty of those hills. I asked at the top of Alisa Viejo how steep the climb was. Somebody said that at its steepest it was only 14-16%. Only?

I plan to have compact cranks installed on my bike at the end of this season so we'll see how that helps next year.

Though it got windy in the afternoon, the winds weren't grabbing my wheels on the downhills. Plus I sat up on a lot of them so I wouldn't be going too fast in the winds. That seemed to help. On the big downhill after the course high points I did hunker down. I was sad to see that I only hit 48 mph, though.

Working on my cornering definitely showed in the Mint Canyon part of the course. I didn't need to hit the brakes at all.

What would I do differently?

I made a mistake by not eating so much at the first SAG stop. It didn't affect me right away but it did later. I ate more at the next two SAG stops, though. Next time, eat a lot, including a coke, at every SAG stop.

On a supported ride like this, I think it's best if I leave the Snickers at home and put my gels in the Bento Box so my jersey pockets have more room for clothing layers as they get peeled off.

Forgot sunscreen. Though I did burn, good thing it's only April.

Event comments

Loved the course. From the start under a banner to the tough climbs that just kept coming on after another, to the last mile through neighborhoods, over a bridge, and down into the mall. We even had a police escort out of the city. Okay, I didn't love the climbs as I was doing them...

The expo seemed kinda lame but that will get better in the years to come (this was only the second time they've done the ride).

Lots of helpful volunteers at every water and SAG stop. They even cheered us when we reached the finish line. The volunteers were really great!

I look forward to doing this ride again next year.

Report: IronBruin Triathlon 2010

2010-03-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

Total Time = 1h 33m 25s
Overall Rank = 104/303
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 16/42

Pre-race routine

My routine started the evening before, by finishing a deli sub by 6pm. Then it was time to pack my bag. It was raining really hard, too, so I decided to practice T1 with a rain jacket and gloves thrown in the mix, just in case.

Woke up at 4am on race morning. Had a piece of toast with Nutella right away to get the digestive system moving, since I wouldn't be starting for another four hours. Left for the race site about 5:20. Got there in good time.

Brought my gear into T1 and mostly hung out. No porta potties this year, we needed to trek to Pauley Pavillion, which wasn't a bad thing at all; I'll take well-lit bathrooms anytime. I got the T1 spot I wanted, making getting there early so worth it. The big question was the weather but it soon became clear that the rain was not going to re-appear so I kept the jacket and gloves in the bag.

When it came time to head up to the pool and T1, I noticed a bunch of people taking whole backpacks with them. What's up with that? Goggles, cap, helmet, bike shoes, glasses. Why do people need a whole backpack?

I should mention that in T1 I discovered I had a "wardrobe malfunction". My new trisuit was popping open when I zipped it up. Guess I didn't lose as much weight as I thought I had (it fit when I tried it on a few weeks ago, I swear). I would have to do the race with the suit unzipped. The sad thing is that I had brought my old suit (i.e. the one that fits) just in case something like this happened but by this time it was too late to change. I'm guessing that pictures of me throughout the race aren't going to be so flattering...

Event warmup

I popped upstairs to the family pool for an easy 100 warm up. No bike or run warmup. Why would I? That warmth would all go away waiting on the pool deck for the swim to start.

Swim

Distance = 400 meters
Time = 8:54
Age Group Rank = 15/42

Due to a shoulder dislocation and the closure (until this past Wednesday) of my workout pool, I have had two swim workouts since last September, so I did not have high expectations for the swim. I just hopped in and started swimming. The first hundred felt good. The middle 200 was tiring but I kept a pretty good pace going. The last hundred I decided to pick up the pace. By the time I got out of the pool I was breathing pretty heavily (something that would continue through the end of the race). My time was actually 9% slower than last year so while I am not happy with my performance, I am happy with my level of effort. I pushed harder on this swim than on any previous tri swim.

I must say that whatever the organizers did differently this year compared to last year worked very well. There was absolutely no bunching up at the lane ends. I don't know if it was more time between starts or better attention when seeding or what but the swim was all good.

What would I do differently?

Train more. Heck, how about just "train". Barring another shoulder dislocation and pool closure, I'll be much faster next year.

T1

Time = 00:44

I had gotten a good spot for T1 and the rain gear wasn't necessary so this was going to be fast. I was pretty foggy getting out of the pool but training took over and I got to my bike just fine (cap and goggles were off right after getting out, natch). Glasses, helmet, and unrack the bike. One of the shoes caught on the rack as I rolled the bike forward, so that cost me a second or two. The run out of T1 was muddy because of the rains so some slight slowing there. I was running pretty fast and, thanks to transition practice on Friday, I hopped on the bike very well (passed somebody, too). I pedaled on my shoes until after the first downhill, to allow the fog to clear from my head, which eliminates that T1 weaving.

1st in my AG. Tied for 4th overall. 43% faster than last year and just 4 seconds slower than Kate Major. Woo hoo! I hereby proclaim that I have mastered T1. Only four more disciplines to go. ;-)

What would I do differently?

Pay more attention to rolling the bike out so it doesn't catch the rack.

Bike

Distance = 13.5 miles
Time = 51:42
Age Group Rank = 13/42

After the first descent I got into my shoes just fine. Big difference from last year was that I was passing people left and right. On the downhills. On the flats. On the uphills. Especially on the uphills. I got passed several times but I did the majority of the passing. The plan was simple: go up the hills hard. I'm still not so confident cornering so I need to figure out how to work on that.

My time was 14% faster than last year, so I am pleased. I hit 35mph once on the big downhill. Downhills are where we clydesdales shine. :-)

What would I do differently?

Lose more weight. Keeping training hard on hills.

T2

Time = 01:01

I blew through this pretty quickly. It turns out that I lost a shoe off the bike somewhere in T2 (you might have heard the announcer mention it on the loudspeaker). This is the second time that has happened to me in T2. I really need to figure out how to prevent that.

I got my helmet and glasses off, put my shoes on in pretty good time, grabbed my race belt and got the Garmin off the bike. I put the belt on while running and as I'm about to hit the timing mat I find out that my Garmin isn't attached to its velcro thing (that's how I had it attached to the bike)! I look back and take a few seconds to decide what to do. I decided I'll get it after the race (if it's still there--it was).

A 57% improvement over last year.

What would I do differently?

Need to figure out the problem with my shoe coming off and the Garmin coming off.

Looking through the results, it's clear that there is room for improvement here. I need to do some research to figure out where. There's probably a faster technique for getting shoes on, even though I'm using Lock Laces.

Run

Distance = 5 km
Time = 31:06
Age Group Rank = 31/42

This is the first run leg of a triathlon where I really felt the bike in my legs. I don't know a way around that since the course is so hilly. Oh, I felt awful for the first half. I was still breathing heavy from the bike and my legs felt dead. It didn't help that much of the first two miles of the course is uphill. I planned to have the Garmin with me to help me keep track of my pace but I don't know if I would have been able to run as fast as planned so maybe not having that alarm go off all the time was a good thing.

I was hoping to go under 30 min on this leg. Missing that by just over a minute, feeling as bad as I felt, isn't so bad. 11% faster than last year, which is progress. And my run split wasn't DFL in my age group this year.

What would I do differently?

I clearly need to do more bike/run bricks. I've only done a few and I felt similarly dead on those, too. Nothing long, just whenever I do a short or medium ride I need to run a couple of miles afterwards.

I also need to work on my speed, of course.

Post race

This race hurt. I was SO tired afterwards. I have never raced that hard for that long in my life. I spent a couple of minutes after the race bent over, catching my breath. Then I walked around the post-race area. Muscle Milk was there giving out free samples. The chocolate was a bit much but the vanilla hit the spot. They had lots of cheese pizza so I had me a couple of slices of that.

What limited my ability to perform faster?

The run is still my big weakness. I'm faster than last year but running off the bike this year was a major issue.

Lack of swimming conditioning cost me a couple of minutes, too.

Event comments

The race was much better this year. The swim didn't have the bunching in the ends that last year did. The bike course is awesome. The run course would be fun if I hadn't been in so much pain. The post-race stuff was better than last year, too (thank you Muscle Milk!). I am so doing this race every year.

Countdown to the IronBruin

2010-03-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

It's time to return to the scene of my first-ever triathlon, the IronBruin at UCLA, this Sunday. It's supposed to rain today and there's a 40% chance of it for the race tomorrow so I'll need to be prepared for that. I'm lighter and in much better shape than last year so I will see a big improvement in my time. Still, it's not like I'm expecting to finish on the podium.

The day will start with a 4am alarm, a small snack (Nutella on toast?), and leaving for the race shortly after 5. Packing is done tonight.

Swim

I have had a total of two workouts in the pool since my last triathlon back in October, and in that race I had a very sore shoulder from a minor dislocation. My second workout was just this past Wednesday and I was truly surprised to find myself in pretty good shape. I'm slowish and not ready to swim two miles but I don't have to for Sunday. The course is a 400 yard pool swim, snaking through eight lanes of a 50 meter pool with a time-trial start. It's hard to go fast in a setup like that unless you're in the very front and I am not. Last year's time was 8:09 because of all the crowding at the end of the lanes and I don't imagine this year will be much faster. I am toying with the idea of swimming harder than usual where I can because of all the rest from bunching up I expect to get. We'll see how that goes.

T1

This will be ineresting. I have had a post-it on my desk for the past week where I wrote "Gloves. Jacket. Glasses. Helmet. Bike." If it's raining, I don't want to be going down those hills in just a trisuit and bare hands so I will be bringing gloves and my rain jacket. I'll be practicing putting them on quickly today (nothing new on race day, right?). If it's not raining I just put the swim cap and goggles in the bag, glasses and helmet on, and take the bike out. This past week I did some research and found that the best way to rack your bike in T1 is to back it into the rack and set the front part of the saddle onto the bar. I had been racking my bike nose in but this other way is much faster. No backing the bike out before running with it. You just push it back a little to get it off the rack and then start running with it. I should be really fast here, even if I have to put on gloves and a jacket. The shoes will be clipped into the bike beforehand, of course, but this year's rule for T1 is no putting my feet into the shoes until I've pedaled out the post-swim fogginess from my brain. If that takes a mile, then so be it (but at UCLA it will have to be faster than that because of the hills and the compact course)

Bike

I rode the course again last weekend and was surprised to find that the two big hills weren't so big anymore. They're still there but I'm a much stronger cyclist than last year. In fact, the first big hill doesn't even seem big anymore. Training on my hilly routes has proven to me that the faster I go up hills, the faster my overall time is and it doesn't really matter how tired I am going downhill because going fast up hills makes that much difference. So I am going to hit the hills hard each time I meet them (it's a four-lap circuit around UCLA). I don't know how much faster than last year's 59:55 I should expect to be but I'm hoping it will be at least 9 minutes.

T2

Last year's T2 was a lazy affair because I was nervous about the run. I have no such reservations this year but I do have Lock Laces so I'm looking for this to be at least a minute faster than last year's 2:22. A new wrinkle for this year, though, is that I am going to take the Garmin off the bike and have it with me on the run.

Run

Last year's run was listed as 34:53, which makes me think the 5k course is short (I was that slow). While my run is still slow compared to my competitors, it will be several minutes faster than last year. The plan is to keep at least a 9:40 pace throughout the race, even uphill (I am taking the Garmin with me so I can use the pace alarm). I want to come in under 29:00 here. Should be painful.

Overall

Simply put, I want to be 15 minutes faster than last year's 1:46. Frankly I want to be under 1:30. Even in the rain. With my run much faster than last year and my legs so much stronger uphill on the bike, I believe it is possible. Last year that time would have put me in the top 40% overall and top 10 in my age group. Sure, the run still drags my time down but not as much as last year.

Dialing Down the Run

2010-03-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

The recent review of my exercise plans also led me to cut back my long run to just 10k instead of increasing it each week. My reasoning was that all my races through June are going to have a run no longer than 10k so I should focus more on getting faster at that distance rather than going long. This insight coincided with the realization that I was trashing my calves.

That strainy/crampy thing I wrote about in January had come back and I could tell it was not going away soon. I did some poking around on the net and the cause might be weak and/or tight calves. I like the reasoning behind the weak calves scenario. Basically, the rest of your body is stronger than your calves so your strong legs are dragging your weak calves along for the ride, which causes the calves to complain. Either way, I have started stretching my calves several times a day. I'll save the strengthening for after this weekend. This shouldn't be a problem on the run this weekend, though I am sure I'm going to feel it afterwards.

This also leads me to believe that I need to learn how to run. Don't laugh. I knew how to ride a bike but I still did a lot of reading about cycling and it has helped me a lot. Why not for the run? There are a lot of running books out there, though, so finding one that's just right is taking a while. I want to have my reading done by my June triathlon so I can have a plan in place to train for my half-marathon this November that won't trash my calves for my two remaining triathlons.

I Best Lay Some Plans

2010-02-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Two weeks to go 'til the first triathlon of the season. Four weeks after that is a century ride. Two weeks after that starts a three-race triathlon series, one per month. With all that going on, one has to get training organized. I try to put in my last hard workouts two weeks before a race, with the weekend before being easy that the days leading up to it being very easy. The Thursday before I practice transitions (which means I practice getting into and out of my shoes while on the bike).

With the races and events coming every four weeks or sooner, if I don't get organized then I might not get the hard workouts when I can or miss out on the rest I need. So I spent some time today writing down my workouts through the middle of June. No kidding. I've found that if I have things planned in advance, it's one less thing to worry about.

It's important to be flexible, though. For instance, literally while I was in the middle of writing this I ended up planning on riding the Pasadena Marathon Bike Tour tomorrow morning. It wasn't something I was planning on doing when I woke up this morning but these things happen. It'll be an easy 26 miles and when I get home I might even do the cycling workout I was originally planning on doing. We'll see.

It Fits (I Think)!

2010-02-14T13:04:00.001-08:00

If you've seen pictures of me from my triathlons, you've seen me in my Louis Garneau trisuit. It's what I wore in every triathlon last year, my first season. However, I have a deep, dark secret I have been hiding regarding that trisuit: it is not my first. My first trisuit was a DeSoto Power Skinsuit (MPSK3). It's an XL but when I tried it on...yow! There's snug, there's tight, there's too tight, there's it doesn't fit, and there's I can't get it on. I couldn't get it on. I had to scramble to find something else that would fit and, thankfully, the LG suit did. Today I decided to dig out the DeSoto, tags still on, to see how I've progressed. It fits! Tight, but it fits. I don't know how much weight I've lost in a year but it is enough to go from I can't get it on to tight. The nice thing with it is that the lower half is black, which provides more modesty when getting out of the swim than my all-royal blue LG suit.

In two weeks I will be heading to UCLA to ride the IronBruin course with the new bike to get my shifting nailed down. I think I'll take the DeSoto with me to see how it feels...and to see if the seams can take the punishment ;-).

Head for the Hills

2010-02-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday's rainy ride was supposed to be nice and easy after last week's 111-mile jaunt. Then as I approached "Little Woodley", which is about a 10 or 11% climb, I came up with another plan: go easy except for the hills--those get attacked. Little Woodley is steep but short so I decided to attack it out of the saddle in third or fourth gear (I forget which I ended up using). It wasn't a typical "I have to finish a ride after this hill" attack, either. It was a redline up to the top where the only energy I saved would be enough to get me to the summit. I got there much faster than I ever have before but oh was I tired.

Since it was raining I didn't want to go up "Big Woodley", which is about 12%, so I decide to go up Balboa as fast as I can. Balboa isn't so steep but it is long. As I started out I noticed that I was keeping it above 12mph but I knew it got a bit steeper later. Once I hit that part I tried to keep it above 11mph and I did, for the most part. Every so often I'd drop below 11 but never below 10. I even carried that through to Balboa 2, which is even a bit steeper. Good progress for someone who, not all that long ago, was amazed that I was going up that same hill above 8mph. I'd like to think it's a combination of getting stronger and losing some weight (I haven't stepped on a scale since July).

With the IronBruin Triathlon coming up in just four weeks, and its bike course is anything but flat, my short-term training routine on the bike is now clear: hills...hard. Hard up the hills on my weekend rides. The Griffith Park loop now becomes hard Garbage Truck Hill repeats. None of this just surviving up to the top stuff. I expect my rides until the week before the triathlon to be painful and not fun, which sounds kinda fun.

The Val Verde (Solo) Century

2010-01-31T20:38:00.000-08:00

That was quite a ride.

I started out at my usual 6:30. The high for the day was supposed to be in the mid-sixties which, it turns out, is warmer than I imagined the mid-sixties to be. That meant I was dressed slightly warmer than I should have but it sure felt great for the first few hours when the temperature was still in the 40s. I was zooming along before dawn nice and cozy (except for my freezing face, natch) and when the sun started to hit the hillsides and the steam was rising off the plants, I was still nice and cozy.

Since it promised to be a long, hilly day, I stopped for each of my fuel-ups. Every 45 minutes for a gel and every 2 hours for a Snickers. Sure, it added to the time I would be out but I knew it would be worth it. Do you know what happens to Snickers that have been in a Bento Box for two hours while you're riding around in the 40s at 15-40 mph? That's right, they practically freeze. That first Snickers was kinda tough.

Things were humming along when I got a flat about 1/3 of the way into the ride. I took the tube out and checked the tire so I could remove whatever caused the flat. Nothing there. I checked the tube but I couldn't find the leak. More on this later.

The ride westbound on Highway 126 was fabulous because it was a net descent. Even the hills were great. I knew I'd go back uphill eventually but, while I was on it, it was great.

Then came the turn south to head into Simi Valley (and you always go into a valley by going over mountains). Halfway done and I had mountains to climb. It was a bit deceptive at first, though. Instead of going straight up, the route had me make a right and go for quite a while. I was happy because I thought maybe I would be going the long way around into a pass. No such luck. Once I hit Grimes Canyon it was up, up, up, switchback, and more ups. It wasn't that it was too steep but it came at around 64 miles into the ride which made it so tough (I had to take one break two switchbacks before the top). I met a couple of cyclists at the top and we chatted for a bit before heading down into Simi Valley.

I thought that taking Snickers along would hold off lunch cravings but no such luck. Maybe on a flatter ride but this one was quite hilly and I still had a few more to go so it I found a Subway for a small sandwich, chips, and a coke. Then it was back on the bike, ride, ride, ride. Finally made it home.

The stats: 110.4 miles, 7:34 in the saddle, 10:10 elapsed, 14.6 mph avg., 6687 ft of climbing, 7 gels, 3 Snickers, 1 6" turkey sub meal at Subway, 2.5 bottles of water, 1 taco asada, and 1 flat.

Lessons learned:

The next day I cleaned up my bike and checked on that flat tube. I did find the leak--on the inside wall! Huh? I looked in the rim and the only thing I found in the area of the leak was what looked like a tear in the rim tape, like the spoke had pushed through. I did some research on the net and it turns out there there is rim tape and there is high-pressure rim tape. Let's back up a bit. There is this bicycle tire pressure chart by Michelin which recommends for riders over 180 lbs (that would be me) that tires should be inflated to their maximum pressure, which for the Vittoria Rubinos is 140 psi. It appears that regular rim tape may not be so good at that pressure so I have ordered some Vittoria High Pressure Rim Tape. We'll see how that works out.

Chamois cream rocks! I thought I didn't have a problem with chafing but on long rides I did have a problem with getting sore. Guess what? That was chafing. I had tried some Chamois Butt'r on a previous medium-distance ride with no problems so I was curious how it would work on a long ride. It worked great. None of my previous long-ride soreness at all. I'm going to be using chamois cream on any future ride longer than three hours.

I like taking Snickers along on a long ride.

I'm usually really good about dressing properly for a ride but I didn't nail it this time. I knew the afternoon would be too warm for my proZERO base layer so I wore a proCOOL base layer under a long-sleeved jersey with arm warmers and a jacket plus full tights. It turns out that the mid-sixties was warmer than I thought so if I had to dress for the ride again I would wear a short-sleeved jersey with the arm warmers under the jacket and shorts with leg warmers. The jacket kept me warm enough that I didn't need the long sleeves.

Planning for a Solo Century

2010-01-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

A Century.1, actually. The SFVBC has several rides to choose from each week. This weekend one of the rides is called the Val Verde Century. It's five weeks out from the start of triathlon season so I'm going to do it. The problem is the ride looks pretty hilly and the last time I did a hilly century with the club they dropped me in the hills like a bag of sand. It's not their fault--I'm a big guy who doesn't climb so quickly (though I'm getting better). What I usually do on their rides is start from home at my usual 6:30am, ride to the club's starting point, do the ride, then ride back home, which adds about 14 miles to a ride so I can turn a sub-century ride into a century. Do I really want to do that, or even drive to the club's starting point, and have to ride/drive back if I'm just going to be dropped in 20 or 30 miles? Another thing that got me thinking is that this ride goes into the Santa Clarita Valley on the same route as my Santa Clarita ride. Hmm.

If I'm going to get dropped and end up doing much of the ride by myself anyway, why don't I just do the whole thing by myself?

And that's just what I'm planning to do. Here's the route:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.

There should be plenty of rest-stoppable places along the way to fuel up and refill my bottles. Thanks to a Christmas present from my sister I now have a Bento Box so I'm planning on doing a Chris Horner and bring along some Snickers bars (I haven't been able to find any half-height cans of Coca-Cola ;-). Since I've gotten rid of my Gatorskin tires and replaced them with Vittoria Rubino Pros (which are the ones that originally came with my bike) I haven't had a flat yet so I'm more confident in that department. Eight gels. Money for food. Oh, and this cool little BarMap holder I found at REI to hold my route slip.

It's supposed to be sunny-ish and in the mid-sixties on Saturday. I'll have a 90 minute head start on the bike club so I just need to stay ahead of them for 111 miles. Piece of cake.

Still Wiped Out From the Weekend

2010-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

I am still tired from what should have been an average training weekend. I don't think I paid enough attention to nutrition on Sunday. Easy to understand when the first thing I hear when I get back from my bike ride is, "Daddy, I want breakfast." Lesson learned.

Saturday was an odd run. The plan was a long run of 75 minutes with a goal pace of 11:00/mi, which I did not expect to hit for a few weeks. I get about 2.5mi into the run and this nagging calf strain/cramp/thing that had been with me all week really flared up. I had to stop and rub it and toyed with the idea of walking back home. A few minutes of this, though, and I choose to just tough it out as best I can. I start running, gimpily, and decide it's probably doable to finish the 75 minutes. I turn around after 37.5 minutes, still a bit gimpy but I'll finish. About 2 miles to go I look at the Garmin and notice that my average pace for the whole run is still pretty good. I get to the top of the last hill and I figure out that I might be able to hit my goal pace if I hustle (you think like that when you're running downnhill). Now the race is on. I ended up with an average pace of 10:59, which was under my goal, and 6.87 miles. Odd that it happened while gimpy, though. I figure it's a combination of getting fitter and not previously pushing myself enough (mostly the former).

Another cool thing about my long runs is that each one, from here on out, is the farthest I've ever run.

Sunday was a medium bike ride on my Balboa loop but with a twist. This time I would take a detour towards the end up Lopez Canyon Road. I had read about it and even driven it once but now that the rains had paused it was time to do it. It's a two-lane road that starts off with rollers but with a net incline and then you have a hairpin turn onto the last bit of the climb, which looks pretty gnarly. I wanted to have a picture to post but it turns out that when I put my iPhone in my back jersey pocket, I missed and it sat on the couch during my ride. I'll post a pic in a few weeks. So I am doing the ride not easy but more like medium because I want to save myself for this big climb. I make the turn onto Lopez Cyn and I'm still saving myself on the rollers. By the time I get to the hairpin I am out of the saddle and decide to pull over to get ready for the final push. That's when I discover the missing iPhone. Oh well. I drink some water and dump what's left to lighten the load. I take my beanie off, roll down the arm warmers, unzip the jersey, and remove the sunglasses. Time do go.

That was easy! It turns out that getting to the hairpin was the hard part and after the hairpin was pretty easy. That sure was a lot of wasted anxiety. Next time I tackle it will be from the other way, which is supposed to be a bit steeper (14%).

Woopsie

2010-01-14T21:59:00.000-08:00

Have I really been away for three months? Looks like it. Who knew the off-season would mean off from blogging, too. Without any further delay, let's get back into it.

The biggest story has been my new bike. Back in October I was coming down the last big hill of my 42-mile ride (at 40 mph, natch) when I felt my back wheel rubbing the brakes. I stopped and found what I thought was a broken spoke. Turns out the spoke had pulled a chunk out of the rear wheel. I was pretty happy the wheel didn't do something silly like disintegrate on me during that descent! I took it easy the rest of the way home and all was well. I ended up getting a 2010 Motobecane Grand Sprint. It wasn't my first choice but the real world of my finances intruded on my dream so affordability won out. The Grand Sprint was my second choice, though, so don't get me wrong and think that I'm unhappy. Ultegra derailleurs and shifters, great brakes, carbon stays, and a heckuva lot lighter than my previous 14-speed? Yeah, I'm a happy guy. Oh, and modern gear ratios including an 11-28 cassette. I can now tackle some steep hills that I couldn't go up before and I don't even have compact cranks (yet).

On the running front, I did reach the last of my 2009 goals, which was to run a 5k under 30 minutes. I did that Thanksgiving morning. Now I'm working on getting my long runs longer and faster. I have a vague goal of doing a 10k under 60 minutes by the end of this year. I don't know how do-able that is but I'm keeping it in mind as I train.

I haven't been in a swimming pool since my last triathlon in October. I wanted to give my shoulders a rest and focus on burning some fat on the bike and the run. The problem is, now that I'm ready to go back into the water, my pool is closed and I'm not sure when it's going to re-open. My next tri, the IronBruin in March, is less than two months away so I really hope I can get in a pool soon.

There, all caught up-ish. No more excuses to not post.

Measuring Progress

2009-10-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

I purposely don't have a scale around. If I did I know I'd drive myself crazy by checking it more than I should. I can resist anything but temptation, the saying goes, so I don't have the temptation around. There are other ways to measure progress, though.

This morning's ride was to be an easy one. My go-to ride of 29-miles has a few hills but all nice and easy today. As I approach the long climb up Balboa I see some cyclists heading that way. I'm about halfway up that climb when I hear some more cyclists behind me. Why is it I only see cyclists going my way on easy days? I'm going easy so I can't use the ones in front of me as rabbits and I have to resist the urge to pedal away from the ones behind me (which isn't a sure thing for a clydesdale, let me tell you). I stick to my guns, though, and pedal lazily up Balboa. As I near the top they are right behind me but don't pass. Huh? Then I hear one of the cyclists say to another "Is this (pant) as hard (pant) as it (pant) gets?" The other cyclist told him it was, we crest the hill, and I lose them. Towards the bottom I turn right onto Foothill and look back to see them turning left. I'm pretty sure they were doing my 43-mile ride into Santa Clarita with the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club (I call it "my" ride but I actually got the route from the club). I smiled and thought, "Boy, is that guy in for a life-changing surprise in about 30 seconds," knowing the hill he was about to encounter. That guy could have been me a year ago. First time I tried that hill after the Balboa climb I actually had to stop before I reached the top (not an easy decision to make on a two-lane road with no shoulder). Progress.

Eleven months ago, the first Pasadena Marathon was scheduled to happen. Last November a 26-mile ride was still a big deal for me so I signed up for the bike tour. At packet pickup the day before I saw that they had cycling jerseys for the event on sale. Being geeky I figured I'd buy one (I don't even know if I had any other jerseys at the time). I didn't know about jersey sizing at the time and when I got home and tried it on I was shocked to find out that an XL didn't fit. I recall not even being able to zip it up at the time. Yesterday I laundered my athletic apparel and as I was putting things away I came across that jersey. Out of curiosity I tried it on and not only can I zip it up but it actually fits. Progress.

The Need for Speed

2009-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

I had a profound revelation a couple of weeks ago: I am slow.

To anybody who has been following along or has talked to me about my running, this may not seem like news. Let me explain: I was walking behind some people to the train station and I noticed them walking faster than me so I, for no good reason, decided to walk faster and keep up with them (nobody I knew). However, they still kept pulling away. That's when the lightbulb went on.

I didn't used to be a slow walker. Or a slow runner. Truth be told, I was actually pretty fast. Of course, some of the slowness is due to weight and even age. However, I do remember deciding a number years ago that I didn't need to walk so fast anymore. Sauntering would be a nice change of pace. So I sauntered. Nothing wrong with sauntering, it just isn't fast.

So the revelation is that I am slow because my body hasn't been asked to be fast in quite a while so it has forgotten how to be fast. If I want to go fast, I need to practice going fast. Long runs are nice but they just train me to go far, not fast. With that in mind, I did my first fast workout last week. It was just two miles at lunch but it was faster than usual. There is a nearly straight one-mile out that I can do without having to worry about cars, intersections, or stop signs. I get over there and just start running as fast as I can for a mile. When I get to the end I can rest a few minutes then do it again on the way back. My run was at a pace that is still slow for the rest of the world but it was over a minute/mile faster than my fastest 5k pace.

I am taking this week off after last weekend's tri but I should be back to working out next week. Swimming is going on a longer hiatus because of my shoulder, though.

Report - Merced Gateway Triathlon (Long Course) 2009

2009-10-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

(Here is my race report from over at BT.)

Total Time = 3:01:22
Overall Rank = 32/35
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 6/7

Pre-race routine:

This race was scheduled to start at 8:30 with racks opening up at 7 so I got to sleep in 'til 6am! Woke up, drank some water, hung around 'til 7, then rode my bike to the event (I stayed with friends who live down the road).

Event warmup:

I had slightly dislocated my shoulder two weeks prior to the race but was not able to get in a swim beforehand so the big question was how was I going to swim with a messed up shoulder. The answer was "With some pain and difficulty". They allowed us in the water to warm up and I was really surprised at how much pain shot through my body when I tried to lift my right arm to take a stroke. After the initial shock I kept at it and figured out a way I could hobble through the swim.

Swim

I put myself in one of the slow lanes and started behind everybody else because I knew my shoulder was going to slow me down, and it did. However, after 100 yards I started passing people because they were even slower than me.

For someone with a trashed shoulder, I did okay. My breathing was fine. Doing a full stroke with the left arm and a half stroke with the right arm did get a bit tiring, though. I felt like Nemo with his "lucky fin". Still, I felt good about the swim, all things considered.

When I finished, I couldn't pull myself out of the water because of the shoulder so I had to duck under a couple of lanes to get to a ladder.

What would you do differently?

Not dislocate my shoulder in the weeks prior to the race.

Also, one of my gels came out of my pocket during the swim. Luckily it was the shallow end so it was easy to retrieve. Note to self: put gels in pocket in T1.

T1

Even though it was a longer course than a sprint, I treated T1 as if it were a sprint, if nothing else than for the practice. I was initially a little foggy and I caught myself trying to unrack my bike before getting my helmet on. At that point I told myself to wake up and the fog was gone. I got into my shoes while riding better than at any previous race (last week's practice really helped). I lost two or three seconds to people I was riding with when I mounted my bike because of the shoes but that's okay because those people got out of the pool way before I did.

What would you do differently?

Snap myself out of my post-swim haze as soon as I get to my bike.

Bike

I did okay here. Once the rollers started I fell behind people I was with but that's the life of a clydesdale.

This was a draft-legal race, mainly because they don't have enough people to monitor the course. I didn't think much of this until a guy passed me but stayed in front of me instead of flying away. Not wanting to look a gift draft in the mouth I hung onto him for about a mile. It was good to be Lance and I got some energy back. I passed him and told him that I would take a turn pulling but I don't think he understood and fell behind me. Oh well.

What would you do differently?

My bum was getting sore because that little tri-suit chamois just didn't cut it for the longer distance. Next time I race much more than ten miles I am going to throw some bike shorts with a real chamois over my tri suit.

I think I may have gone out too fast. Need to do practice races and pay attention to pacing.

T2

This would have been a pretty good T2 if I hadn't had to use the restroom. Oh well. That and one of my shoes came off the bike after I dismounted. It popped off as the cranks turned. Don't know what I can do about that in the future.

First time having to get into socks in T2. Six miles is too far for my feet to be sockless for now. The irony is that this was my first race with the Lock Laces, which worked great.

What would you do differently?

Wish I knew of a way to keep from having to use the restroom...other than going on the bike. Sorry but the time savings isn't worth it for me. The course wasn't that long anyway.

I'd like to toughen up my feet so I don't have to put on socks for this distance.

Run

This was to be my longest run of the year. I knew that the trick was going to be not to go out too fast, which I caught myself doing right away. Slow and steady was going to get me through this and it did. At the turnaround they had a water station and I did walk it but it was because I hate drinking from a cup on the run.

At mile five I let myself run a bit faster, not than anybody watching would have noticed but I did. :-) As I turned the last corner I had some friends cheering for me so I went a little bit faster still. That was all I had, though, so I joked to them "Can you tell I'm sprinting?"

During the run, some kid told me I had nice hair. I don't know what that was about but I did thank him.

What would you do differently?

Gotta lose more weight. Gotta work on speed.

Post race

Warm down:

Walked around. I was pretty tired so I didn't even want water right away. When I was ready I attacked the fruit table.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Recovering dislocated shoulder did a number on my swim, of course.

It's the end of my first season so things are going to get better the longer I train. Plus, I was doing sprints all season and this was my first near-Olympic (except for the swim) distance race so the goal was pretty much to finish upright without walking (except for the water station).

Event comments:

Not using timing chips was lame. What were my splits? I don't know, they didn't use timing chips! Jack up the entry fee a couple of bucks next year and spring for the timing chips, gang. Do I really need to buy one of those Ironman watches?

For what it is, a small triathlon in a small city, it was okay. The mass pool swim was kinda lame but it's bearable (the race benefits the JC's water polo team).

After the race they had a raffle, using your race number as the ticket number...while people were still on the course. Yeah, that's smart.

On the plus side, the bike and the run were nice. Also, I got to see a some old friends. Yeah, I'll probably do it next year. I just wish they'd use timing chips.

Countdown to Merced

2009-10-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

Normally I'd write this Friday night but I'll be traveling then so here we go:

Pre-Race

I will be staying with friends about a mile from the race so I get to ride my bike again! This race starts at 8:30 and packet pickup doesn't start until 7 so no riding in the dark this time.

I hope the race turns out better than it's first impression on me because that has been amateur hour. No website so no course description. Packet pickup the morning of the race only. Welcome to the 80's.

My shoulder seems to be healing nicely. I expect to have full range of motion back by race morning, which also means I shouldn't have to take ibuprofen before the race, either. I went for a ride yesterday and a run today; my legs feel great (as they should, given that they've had a week-and-a-half off) so that's good.

The Swim

I sure hope we get some warm-up time so I can see how my shoulder handles swimming. My hunch is that it will start off tender but then warm up as we go. The race flyer mentions wave starts but I don't know how that works in a 50-meter pool. I'll guess 16 minutes for the 800 yard course but, really, I have no idea.

T1

My usual sprint T1 here except, depending on the weather, I may spray some sunscreen on my shoulders before heading out. No socks. I did practice my shoe transitions yesterday so I'm hoping the post-swim haze that I have had the past few races will finally go away.

Bike

20 miles. Supposed to be flat. I'm just going to ride hard. I'll take a water bottle with me and down a gel 30 minutes into the ride.

T2

I know I can't run six miles without socks so I'll spend a little time putting on a pair. I have Lock Laces this time so that should help some. Depending on the weather, another spray of sunscreen.

Run

Do not go out fast. Take it nice and slow at the start or I will blow up towards the end of the run. Sometime after the first mile, as I approach the next water station I will down another gel and walk the water station so I get some water in me. Sorry but I can't get any liquids in me from a cup while running.

I'm downing the gels because I expect my race to take over two hours, so I want to make sure to keep my energy up. Last weekend we had a bit of a heat wave but it looks like we're going to have perfect weather for the race, which is good because I can cycle in the heat but six miles in the heat would have been bad.

The Hug of Doom

2009-09-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I bent down to hug my daughter good night. She's been doing this thing, lately, where she grabs onto me and won't let go until I pry her off (it's good to be the king). This time I felt...something in my shoulder. Not a pop, not a pull. Just something. I figured she'd somehow tweaked my rotator cuff injury a bit, which would have been a shame because it had just become pain-free.

The next morning I was a bit sore. By the afternoon I had to leave work a little early because it had gotten really sore. For the next few days I left work a little early so I could rest my very sore shoulder. Shifting my 5-speed car was not fun. I had to take three Ibuprofen an hour before bedtime to lessen the pain so I could get more than three hours of sleep a night. By the time the weekend rolls around, I decided to totally rest my shoulder so I laid in bed and watched the first season of "Kung Fu" and did very little else.

Things are a little better, but still not great, by Sunday night. Better enough to move my shoulder around a little so I could stretch it a tiny bit. That's when I felt a little pop and knew right away that that made my shoulder feel better. Suddenly I could move my shoulder a bit more, though it was still sore. Near as I can tell, my daughter dislocated my shoulder by grabbing me in a certain way on that Monday night. Not so unreasonable when you consider that I had previously dislocated that same shoulder back in college, so it would be prone to such things (that time in college was also a slight dislocation that hurt a lot).

Needless to say, training for this Sunday's triathlon has been right out since the injury. No swimming, running, or cycling. It turns out you use your shoulder in nearly every kind of movement and if I was going to make it to the triathlon, I had to rest that shoulder. Now that things are looking up, though, I need to get the cobwebs out. First up is an easy loop around Griffith Park on the bike tomorrow. Thursday will see me do my first 2-mile lunchtime run (more on that in another post). Friday, if at all possible, will be an extremely easy day in the pool so I can see what my range of motion is and figure out how to swim if it's still limited.

I've asked my daughter to go easy on me in the future.

Thanks, Lance

2009-09-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

...
Work on a hit movie...check
Pull someone from a burning car...check
Visit New York City...check
Ride with Lance Armstrong...check
...

You know that list of things you've done where you can look back and say, "Yeah, I did that." I guess they're calling them "bucket lists" these days. I can add riding with Lance Armstrong to mine. Perhaps you heard about Lance's ride around Griffith Park last week? Since Griffith Park is only a couple of miles from work, of course I had to go.

It started early last week when Lance tweeted that he was going to be doing a ride while he was in Los Angeles. Cool! Like a good geek I brought my bike to work, along with riding clothes, the next day. Then on Wednesday he set Thursday at 7:30 as the start time.

I got to my work's parking lot by 7 and rode to Griffith Park. There were already a couple of hundred people waiting when I arrived. So we waited. Finally, a few minutes past 7:30, Lance shows up. Five minutes later and we're off (I'm about 17 seconds in, white jersey and blue shorts).

By the time I get onto the road, Lance is already hauling ass quite a ways down the road...and there's still a heck of a hill to go! I do what I can but I don't even see him on that first lap. Starting the second lap I notice a bunch of cyclists on the side of the road. Looks like the idea is that we've been dropped by Lance, now we can get lapped by him, too. I pull off and wait. When I see them coming I hop on and pedal like crazy (but I don't see a lot of people from the roadside getting on their bikes--I guess they're just taking pictures?). I can tell they're getting close by the activity on the side of the road. Pretty soon there is Lance and the guy he's talking to right next to me. I'm pedaling like mad and they're just cruising. I didn't dare look back but if I had I would have seen a grand tour-size peloton swallow me up. I sure didn't feel the drafting helping me but I know it did because I was (almost) keeping up. Until we started hitting that hill, at which point I made a right turn, then a U-turn and headed back to work.

I got dropped then lapped by Lance Armstrong! Cool!

A side-effect of all this is that a friend replied to one of my tweets about going, saying that her hubby rides Griffith Park at lunch. Griffith Park at lunch, why didn't I think of that before!? So yesterday I took my bike into work and did Griffith Park at lunch. Two Trash Truck Hill loops and I was set. Since I can't ride to/from work during the school year (I'm my son's chauffeur), riding Griffith Park on Mondays and Wednesdays will be great. Hey, I'm 675 miles from hitting 3,000 miles for the year so I need the mileage. Another plus is that still I get my hill workouts but I don't have to get up at 5am to do it.

So now I have some more workouts on the schedule and it wouldn't have happened without Lance and his ride. Kooky.

Dramamine & Me vs. The Ocean

2009-09-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's a week before the Malibu Triathlon and I needed to get in an ocean swim before the race. Mostly for practice but...well, it's hard to explain but I just really felt I needed to.

I got up early and headed out to beach (it's about 50 minutes from my house). I got there a bit early so I drove the bike course. Looks like fun! Back to the beach and I get into my wetsuit. Oh, I forgot to mention that I took two "Less Drowsy" Dramamine while on the drive. I had used these for a couple of boat tours on last year's vacation and they seemed to do the trick. I didn't feel like doing cartwheels but I wasn't feeding fishes, either.

It's time to get into the water and I now know what to expect: spending some time getting used to the cold, followed by un-freaking out about he scale of the ocean, then just putting my head down and swimming. After my prep the swim was coming along nicely. Then the nausea came at about the same place it did in my Oxnard race. *Sigh*

I think this was really why I needed to do the swim. My last ocean swim was 400 yards and this was going to be twice the distance. I had to be sure that the Dramamine worked. It didn't. At least I didn't have to push myself through a whole race this time. I simply stopped, gave it a few more tries, and then swam into shore before things got bad.

The bottom line is that I am going to DNS the Malibu Triathlon. I am just not able to handle ocean swims so it is going to be lakes, pools, and rivers from now on. On the plus side, my future in this sport is clearer. For instance, I don't have to worry about racing at Kona to make my life complete.

Fire, Fire, Go Away

2009-09-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

You know the Station Fire in Southern California that you've been hearing about so much in the news? It's a mile or two down the road from me. Can you guess what the largest fire in Southern California history does to the air? Can you guess what that air does to one's training? I have the Malibu Triathlon in less than two weeks and I haven't worked out in ten days. That can't be good.

What is good is that the fires nearby are pretty much out (the rest of it is still raging a bit farther away, though). I am hoping that means the air is going to clear up a bit. The plan now is to swim tomorrow (Thursday), ride my bike to work Friday, ride and bike Saturday, maybe ocean swim and ride in Malibu on Sunday, bike and run Monday, swim Tuesday, easy bike ride Wednesday morning, then rest until the tri. It's not ideal but it's making the best of a bad situation.

Four Is My Limit

2009-08-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was quite the eventful weekend, as far as training goes.

First up was a planned 55-mile ride on Sierra Highway. The night before, I was out at a movie so I got a later start than usual, which usually wouldn't mean much but it would turn out to be a hot day. There is an In-N-Out Burger on the route that I hit right around lunch time, though I am becoming less convinced that consuming a Double-Double on a ride is a good idea. However, within sight of the In-N-Out, my rear tire went flat. I'm not the world's fastest tire changer so I sit on the sidewalk and get down to business. I swap the tube with the spare, reassemble the wheel and put it on the bike, then give the tire the CO2. I hop back on and head to burger heaven but, after a pedal stroke I notice that the rear tire is flat again. Sigh. I get the tube off and see what is probably a pinch flat but I've never seen one so vicious before. I don't want to patch that so I get the original tire and patch that. I put some air into the tube to make sure the patch is holding when I find another hole in the tube. Double sigh. I patch that one, too, it also holds, but I have to use my frame pump because I had only one CO2. Pump, pump, pump and I am back my way to a burger.

I place my order and find that I am way too thirsty. Note to self: don't let me get that thirsty on hot days again. Once done with lunch I rest a bit and drink some more lemonade. I realize that I am really tired, probably a combination of the heat and not drinking enough. That plus my bad luck with tires convinces me that I should cut my ride short and take a more direct route home. It won't make my remaining route short but it will be shorter and not so remote.

I finally get back in the saddle and head home. Tired, tired, hills, hills, and FLAT! Yes, my fourth puncture of the day. I still have one patch left but I decided that four punctures was my limit and call my wife and ask her to pick me up. Saturday night was a family birthday celebration for my son.

Sunday was my day for a long run, 54 minutes. This goes off well, albeit slower than the previous long run. I was still feeling the effects of the day before so that is not surprising. It is also the first run with my new Lock Laces. I end up with a couple of blisters (no socks) but that also is not surprising. I will adjust the laces the nail the shoe fit in the coming weeks and things will be fine. After that was a birthday party for my daughter. When it was all over Sunday night, I was feeling pretty spent, with some residual tightness in my left side from the run.

Or so I thought.

Monday I go to work and still feel that tightness. By that night I realize what is going on: I must have strained some muscles in my back and chest while lifting things for the party. Since it's one of those slow, insidious strains I knew sleeping was going to be difficult because of the pain. I was right. Tuesday I stay home from work, catch up on my TV shows on the DVR, and spend the day uncomfortable in nearly any position. As I tell people, it doesn't hurt all the time--just when I breathe.

I am feeling much better now but I'm pretty sure tonight's sleep will not be high quality. But I need to take it easy during the week (no swimming or cycling to work) because I have a big weekend planned. Ride on Saturday followed by a run, then an ocean swim on Sunday followed by a ride of the Malibu Triathlon bike course. I sure hope things are better by then.

Report: Hansen Dam Triathlon 2009

2009-08-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

Total Time = 1:20:11.1
Overall Rank = 284/562
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 58/82

Pre-race routine:

Woke up, drank some water, and waited for the digestive system to switch on. Then got dressed, put on the backpack I packed the night before, and hopped on my bike. I live about two miles away so I cycled to the race site, which was pretty cool.

Event warmup:

They did allow us into the lake beforehand, which was nice. Swam about 100 yards then waited for my wave to start.

Swim:

Distance: 500 yards
Time: 12:02.4
Age Group: 34/82
Overall: 224/562

This was my first real mass start where I mixed it up with a bunch of people. Having a water polo background, this didn't freak me out but I have to admit I didn't like it very much. Too much time worrying about people when I would rather be worrying about my swim.

After the first buoy things started thinning out a bit so I could spend more time thinking about the swim. I was hoping to pick up the pace after the second buoy but mixing it up in the first hundred yards took a lot out of me and, thanks to my shoulder layoff, I didn't have the fitness to swim faster. Oh well. I can't say I'm very pleased with my swim but I will learn from the experience.

I was pretty pleased with my sighting until I headed back to the ramp. I ended up veering way off course. I got lined back up again but misjudged where I could stand up at the ramp and really sucked at getting out of the water.

What would I do differently?

Don't have a shoulder injury that makes me lose fitness.

Swim almost all the way into shore instead of trying to judge it.

I wish I could swim in that lake a few times a year for practice.

T1:

Time: 56.1

Because my run sucks so much, I need to get speed where I can and one of the easiest places to do that is in transition. This is my place to shine so, even though this wasn't a transitalon, I wanna brag: I had the fastest T1 in my age group, 16th male, and 19th overall.

Though I would like to declare myself Master of T1, I did have a problem getting into my shoes on the bike: I forgot how to do it! I am so not kidding, I was trying to slip my feet into my shoes and instead of grabbing the shoes from the front, I was grabbing them from the back. This is the second race where my brain had a post-swim fog that affected getting into my shoes. Crazy! I am just going to have to keep practicing that over and over and over.

What would I do differently?

Remember how to put my feet into my shoes. Oh, I also forgot to have the Garmin already on so I should turn it on as soon as I rack my bike instead of waiting for later. It's a sprint, the battery will last. Lost a couple of seconds there, like a dummy.

Bike:

Distance: 11 miles
Time: 34:04.8
Age Group: 32/82
Overall: 204/562

This is my home course (literally--my house is on the route). I know the hills, the bumps, where to change gears, and things pretty much went according to plan. See my T1 comments for a small amount of time I lost because of shoes. I knew I was pushing myself because when we got to the Wentworth hill and turn, something I do two or three times a week, I did my usual pop out of the saddle and hustle. This time, though, I had to get back on the saddle just before the top. That's okay, though, because it meant I was pushing.

Things were going well when I got to the top of the dam but then I saw that it wasn't coned off, there were pedestrians on it, and they didn't open that first gate. WTF? This caused a few anxious moments but no disasters. I flew through that small gate because I have done that several times on weekends.

My finest moment was when I was passed by a guy on his aero bars wearing an aero helmet. The plan was to just go hard on the first half of the dam, then upshift and push it on the second half. That's when I passed Mr. Aero and he didn't catch me until the run. Did I mention that I ride an 18-year-old 14-speed road bike?

My next finest moment was my family cheering me when I passed our house. They even wrote notes on the course in chalk.

What would I do differently?

Lose weight, keep training, new bike next year. Going from not riding one year ago to how I did today, I'm very happy.

T2:

Time: 1:12.7

I passed one guy at the dismount line and another guy while I was running to the racks. No Lock Laces this race so I was slowed down by tying my shoes. I think I did a better job of running while putting the race belt on. 35th in my AG so a pretty average T2.

What would I do differently?

Lock Laces.

Run:

Time: 31:55.3
Distance: 3 miles
Age Group: 77/82
Overall: 461/562

My run is simply horrible. I know it and it is reflected in the results. It will get better the more I train (I've only been running since February) and the more weight I take off (230 but going down). For me, I was at a great pace so I am pleased with the run. I had shin problems that I had to work through after the first half but they did go away the last few hundred yards.

Funny (to me) story: towards the end there was a guy who had passed me but was walking before we hit the last hill. Looked like he was saving himself so he would have a strong finish in front of the crowd. Whatever. If I had anything left in the tank I would loved to have outrun him at the finish but I left it all on the course.

And I never stopped to walk.

What would I do differently?

Train more. Lose weight. It takes time but I am making progress (if you think this pace is slow, you should have seen what it was a couple of months ago).

Event comments:

The race organizers had a lot of amateur hour moments. My swim cap wasn't in my registration bag so I had to go back and get one. When I did I saw that by that point they only had shirts for the bags and they had run out of caps in the right color.

The bag was also missing helmet and bike numbers, which meant we had to spend race morning in a line to get them.

Then there was the top of the dam with pedestrians (no cones) and closed gates. Lame and potentially dangerous.

I'd rather not focus on that, though, because the course itself is wonderful. The lake was the perfect temperature. I love the bike course. The run course was a blast. My friend Lisa travelled from the San Joaquin Valley to try the race and she loved it so much she's coming back next year.

Countdown to Hansen Dam

2009-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is, literally, the race I have been training for all year. It was August 17 last year when I took the mountain bike I had been given by a neighbor down the driveway to start riding again. I saw traffic cones on the other side of the street and, when I got back from the ride (probably a whopping ten miles) I searched the net and found out than the cones were there for the Hansen Dam Triathlon. Right then I decided I was going to train for next year's race. Here we are, one year later, and it's time to HTFU.

Swim: The swim is in a man-made lake and the water is warm so no wetsuit. The start is down a somewhat narrow ramp so I expect things to be crowded at the start. My plan is to start near the front and go out fairly hard the first 50 yards so I can get away from the pack. The next 200 yards should be a cruise, and the last 200 yards I hope to pick up the pace. Sighting is going to be an issue just because it takes a bit out of me to do it. Still, I hope to come out towards the front of my age group. If I do the swim in ten minutes, I'll be happy.

T1: No wetsuit, shoes on the bike, no eating or drinking anything, and I want to actually run in T1 rather than just a jog so T1 should be fast.

Bike: This is my home course so I'd love to say that I am going to be lightning fast on the bike but I know I'm not a lightning fast rider yet. Still, I know where to shift, and know where to push, I know where to redline, I know where the bumps are, I know when to get out of the saddle, and I will be riding in front of my house with my children cheering and messages to me written in chalk on the road. I should know the course better than anyone else in the race so no excuses. Let's see if I can go under 30 minutes.

T2: Unfortunately, my Lock Laces arrived this week so I have not had time to break them in. I will be tying my shoes but I'm leaning towards no socks again. Also, I will be running while putting on my race belt, instead of my lame jogging in Oxnard, so this shouldn't be so bad.

Run: The big question here is: socks or no socks. If this was a regular road race there would be no question: no socks. However, this is a trail run and I am thinking that socks are going to help keep small rocks out of my shoes better than no socks. I am leaning towards no socks because T2 will be faster but I still don't know. In any event, the run is only 2.6 miles so I am going to run harder than usual. 25 minutes would be nice but I don't think I am capable of that yet. We'll see.

Taking It Easy Before A Race

2009-08-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's the week before my next triathlon and, after a hard workout weekend, it's time to take it easy. What does that mean, though? Well, what I did before my last tri worked out so well I am going to do it again. Here's the plan:

The Weekend Before: Short but hard workouts, preferably on the course itself. I couldn't go on the course for the last tri but since I live on the course this time, this was easy. I rode two loops around the course on Saturday and praticed getting in and out of my shoes while on the bike, too (you really do need to practice this). I made mental gearing notes and "where to push it" notes. On Sunday I ran the run course...for the most part. I went the wrong direction during one part and may have made a turn or two too early but I got the gist of it. I learned that the course isn't as long as the race organizers say it is, which means I can run just a little bit harder. I also found out that it is a total trail run, which doesn't make all that much difference but it's still good to know. As for the swim, swimming is actually prohibited in the (man-made) lake except for the race so this wasn't an option.

The Weekdays Before: I am still doing my bike commute to/from work on Mondays and Wednesdays but I am taking it easy, easy, easy. If I am going 20 mph, I better be coasting. Keeps things loose and it's fun. On Tuesday I am doing a swim where I am going to simulate my plan for the race to see how it goes (including sighting). No swim on Thursday, though, so plenty of time to recover. Friday is the usual rest day though I will be doing a super easy ride to (coincidentally) the race site to practice more getting in and out of shoes. We're talking three easy miles. Also, starting Thursday I make sure I'm drinking lots of water so that I'm topped off by race day.

The Day Before: Bike maintenance in the morning, which will pretty much consist of cleaning and lubing the chain and making sure that shifting is smooth. Then it's off to packet pick-up. After that I will be hanging around the house, doing grocery shopping and laundry, but mostly hanging around the house. Making sure I'm well-hydrated, keeping the feet up when I can, and watch a movie or two.

When I did this for the last race, the fatigue left my muscles just in time for race day. Let's see if it my bod follows the plan this time.

The Difference Between "Going Hard" and "Pushing It"

2009-08-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

In endurance sports, there is a difference between "going hard", whether it's training or in a race, and "pushing it". I didn't really understand it until after I left high school (and athletics). Looking back, I saw that I went hard plenty. I swam mainly shorter distances so going as hard as you could was easy. But longer distances and training, and even my short time on the cross country team, I saw that I didn't push it. It's not something you can necessarily do in something like an Ironman but sprint and even olympic triathlons are a great place to push it. That's my goal for my next triathlon: pushing it.

Imagine you're in a sprint triathlon. The bike course is ten miles and you're flying. You're passing people. You're pedaling at the right cadence and in the best gear for it. You are going hard and feel great. Tired but great.

Now go faster. That's pushing it.

Now you spin even faster or go up a gear and try to keep the same cadence. You now really feel it in your legs. Not like sprinting, where you know you can't keep it up for long. This is different. This is painful. Doable but it's going to hurt. Not so fun anymore, either. But you can do it.

I had forgotten all about this until recently. I was reflecting on my last triathlon. I was really happy about the bike but I started wondering, "Could I have gone faster if I had pushed it?" This past weekend I did my old faithful 29-mile loop but this time I wanted to push it--just a bit. Not really race pace but harder than usual and not always comfortable hard, either. The result was that I knocked four minutes off of my previous 110-minute PB on that route (and when I rode that I was trying to go fast). I even hit more stoplights than I usually do.

Of course I'm not planning on pushing it on every swim/bike/run workout. However, there are going to be workouts where I need to and the trick will be remembering to push it. And definitely during a race. Definitely on the 16th. At least on the swim and the bike. Just getting through the run at my current pace is all I can handle right now. The run, too, will come along in time. Then I will have to push it in all parts of the triathlon. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Report: Strawberry Fields Triathlon (Sprint) - 2009

2009-07-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

You can read the detailed report with times here.

Pre-Race Routine: Woke up at 3:30am. Had a bowl of cheerios and a glass of orange juice to help the digestive system move along. My wave would not be starting for four hours so this would all be clear of the stomach by then (good thing, too). Everything was packed the night before so it was just a matter of getting dressed, hitting the bathroom, making sure the bike's tires were pumped up, racking the bike, and leaving at 4:30 so I could get to the race site by 5 (when we could start parking).

It was assigned parking in transition so I headed to my spot and set up my little area. Since my bike bag hindered un-racking last race, the bike would hang by its handlebars this time (a wise decision). My water bottle would just be needed for washing off my feet. Put the shoes on the bike and rubber band them up.

Around 6:30 it was time to get into the wetsuits because transition would be closing at 6:40. I tried Bodyglide on my legs to see if that would help getting the suit off. Time to head to the beach.

Warmup: The first wave started at 7:05. I watched that then headed into the ocean to get used to the cold. No run warm up, no bike warm up. All that would have been negated by the 61 degree water, IMHO. Did a little swimming and going under waves. By the time I got out of the water, I was okay with the cold.

Swim: The only way this could have been worse is if I had DNF'd.

I get in the water fine, the water isn't shocking me, and I start to swim. I'm not sighting so well but this is my first real ocean swim so that is to be expected. Then I notice I'm being passed by the rest of my wave. People, I'm a good swimmer. I'm probably faster in a pool than almost everybody else in my wave. Hmm. Then the motion sickness starts.

Before the race I had downed some candied ginger, as that was reported to work. I should have known it wouldn't work on me but you never know unless you try, right? So, I'm getting a bit seasick, which means my swim goes into survival mode: speed is no longer an option, I'm just trying to finish. I was actually swimming fairly well stroke-wise, I was just way slow. Rounding the second buoy and heading for the shore, I'm hating life. I actually heaved up twice on the way in but there was nothing in my stomach (my apologies to the fish for not feeding them). When I finally reached the shore where I could stand up, I saw a wave coming. I had no energy to catch it swimming or resist it standing so my attitude was, "Go ahead and knock me down, I can get back up." It did and I did.

The sad thing was, Dramamine and/or one ocean swim beforehand would likely have landed me on the podium.

T1: T1 started right after the water while on the beach. I was seasick and in no condition to try running in sand so it was a death march to a concrete walkway. Once I got there I did a little jog into transition. I was such a mess that I put my body into auto-pilot and hoped that it knew what to do. When I got into transition, most of my age group was already there. I got out of the wetsuit fairly quickly and squirted the sand off my feet quickly, too. Then it was glasses, helmet, unrack the bike and go. One of my shoes popped out of the pedals (?) so I had to reattach that. My jog with the bike was, as you might imagine, not so speedy, but I got out well before everybody else who was at my rack.

Oh, maybe Bodyglide helps get suits on but I don't think it did a thing to help me get it off.

Bike: I am so freaking pleased with my performance on the bike. I do need to mention, though, that my auto pilot didn't work so well getting into my shoes. I should have engaged my brain sooner. That said, once I was pedaling I was humming along. I was hoping to make it a 20 mph ride, because that sounds cool, but I didn't quite make it. I knew that I wouldn't get to ride a flatter course this year so the plan was to absolutely go for it, giving no thought to the run afterwards.

There was some residual seasickness to deal with but I soon got up to speed. I had the Garmin on the handlebars so I could make sure my gearing was just right. I was getting passed by the fast Olympic guys on their second loop but I was doing most of the passing, and I passed a lot of people.

One thing that amused me was cornering. For the tightest turns we had over a whole car lane to turn, yet people were staying off to the far right the whole time. Me, I looked over my left shoulder, saw that I didn't have anybody coming up, swung wide, and flew into the turns. Blasted by a few people that way.

There were two hills on the whole course and I was very happy with how I flew up them. Heading back into transition I got out of my shoes with plenty of time before the dismount line. I just wish people wouldn't keep telling me to slow down as I approached.

Not bad for a 230 pound guy on an 18-year-old, 14-speed Craigslist special, eh?

T2: This was okay. I didn't get Lock Laces in time to use them in this race so I'll see how they work at Hansen Dam. Other than that, things went well.

Run: The plan was to go out hard so that it hurt. Unfortunately, I could only go so hard before nausea made me back off. That meant I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to but, according to my time, I did hit my current goal pace (yes, I have a lot of room for improvement). My time was about 90 seconds faster than my last tri in March, too, so that's a good thing.

Overall: The conditions in the water were as good as one could hope for in an ocean swim. The bike course was flat with plenty of room (for the most part) to pass, and the run was flat, too. It was a day for speed.

One more thing: the day before the race I stepped on a scale for the first time since December and it looks like I've lost 25 pounds. If I keep up the weight loss, I may not be able to enter as a Clydesdale next year. I could live with that.

You can see other photos from the race here.

Countdown to Oxnard

2009-07-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

No training since Wednesday's commute to/from work, fatigue has left my legs, I'm getting ready to do final maintenance on the bike, and I just need to pack. Things are winding down before I head out to Oxnard for packet pick-up and to (slowly) preview the course before tomorrow's race. Here are my plans:

Swim: My first ocean race and first mass start. First thing to do will be to go out into the ocean well before the start and get covered by the cold water until I get used to it and my breathing returns to normal. Then I'll be ready for the race. As for the start, it depends on how many people are in my wave. On the one hand I don't particularly want to get pummelled by all the bodies but on the other hand I will likely be faster than most of them. I suspect I'll take it easy at the start but then speed it up once I've convinced myself that I'm okay. I'm hoping those years of high school water polo will come in handy.

T1: I practiced getting in and out of my shoes yesterday and that's all still good. I have practiced getting out of my wetsuit so that should not be a problem. The shoes will be on the bike so it's just a matter of getting out of the wetsuit (halfway done as soon as I get out of the water), putting on my helmet, and going. I'll bring my sunglasses but I don't think I'll wear them. Should be fast. I'll have a water bottle handy in case I need to rinse my feet after the beach run.

Bike: The course is supposed to be "pancake flat", which is good news for a clydesdale like me. I will have the Garmin waiting for me on the bike so I can use that to gauge my speed. I'll find a speed that I want to be at and make sure I at least stay above that. Flat and only 7 or 8 turns (including one that's 180 degrees), I'm hoping to keep it somewhere above 20 mph. No holding back for the run.

T2: Make sure I'm out of my shoes well before T2. Then it's rack bike, helmet in backpack, put shoes on (no socks), grab race belt and go (putting belt on as I'm heading towards the exit).

Run: Ideally I'd leave T2 in first place in my division to balance out the run :-). My 5k at UCLA was just under 35 minutes so I do want to shave a few minutes off that. The plan here is just to find a hard pace, stick with it, and leave it all on the course. I won't be taking the Garmin with me from the bike so my pace will be based on pain. Sounds like fun!

Dialed Up

2009-07-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

I went to start this post and noticed that it has been a month since my last one! Ouchie.

The reason I have been absent is that I have upped the volume in my training. Then add in me watching the Tour de France each evening and I just haven't had the time. Now that the volume is coming back down, I can more easily find the time to post. Much to go over so I'll do it like a race.

Swim: Good news and bad news here. The good news is that my training is coming along very nicely. The stroke modifications have imprinted themselves firmly in my brain and I have been swimming without pain. My workouts have been over 1000 yards and I have been doing sets of 200 with the only problem being that I'm not in the shape I was before I took my layoff. That's to be expected, though, so not a problem. This week I want to get in a few fast 50s to feel how that affects my shoulder.

The bad news is today's ocean swim. I got up nice and early and practiced putting my wetsuit on and taking it off. This would be my first swim in a wetsuit so I wanted to make sure I could get in and out of it (it's a Rocket Science sleeveless wetsuit and they put out a great video showing how to do that). I get it on and meet up with the group from the Los Angeles Tri Club (they have a swim at Zuma each weekend), and we go out into the water and swim past the waves then swim back to shore, just to get used to things. The water's cold but the wetsuit is protecting me. I sure know I'm not in a pool anymore but I know I'll get used to it. I wasn't feeling seasick, which I was a bit worried about, so that was good. We get out of the water and walk quite a ways down the beach (1/2 - 1 mile) and go back in the ocean. Swim past the waves and gather the group together, ready to swim back. It is at this point that I have a minor panic attack and decide to bail on the swim...like a complete wuss. I used seasickness as an excuse so I saved a bit of face but still...

On the long walk back I spent time reflecting on what the heck just happened. I think it was a combination of things. First, I have swum in the ocean before but I have never really swum in THE FUCKING OCEAN before. Swimming in calm bays in warm Hawaiian water is nice but it's not swimming in THE FUCKING OCEAN, which is big and bouncy and huge and murky. What I think really set me off, though, was the combination of cold water and a wetsuit. It was my first time in a wetsuit and I was not used to the pressure on my chest and how it affected my breathing. Combine that with cold water, which always takes my breath away, and you have panic about finishing a longer swim than I would have liked. I am out there in the ocean and thoughts of DNS-ing next week's triathlon and quitting altogether are floating around in my head. And I have a long swimming background!

I would like to publicly apologize to all the people I have (privately) made fun of for wussing out of the ocean swim part of a triathlon for whatever reason.

What to do now? Well, I have a week until the tri, and its swim is only 440 yards so my thinking is that if I get used to the wetsuit, the rest should fall into place. That means I am getting up early on Tuesday and Thursday for a morning workout in my wetsuit--like a dork. I really didn't want to do a pool swim in a wetsuit (for the aforementioned dorkiness factor) but my back's against the wall on this one. If I get used to swimming and doing some fast sets in the wetsuit, which I am hoping will simulate the breathlessness from cold water, I should be okay for 440 yards. After that, the club has shorter ocean swims that I'll ease into. They're less convenient to get to but the alternative of continuing freak outs is not an option.

Bike: Now that I don't have to take my son to school in the mornings, I have more flexibility in my schedule. That has resulted in my being able to bike to work twice a week. Part of the commute is a suburban section with lots of stop signs, and I take that easy. However, most of it is on a road with a bike lane and just a few stop lights. This has been going well and I am seeing improvement.

I had upped the volume quite a bit on the bike so that last week's training was my highest training volume since high school. This week is less since I need to recover for next week's tri. Yesterday's ride was just 29 miles in race gears and I flew (except when I had to repair a flat).

Run: I am still doing just once a week here but I am making slow progress. I'm still slow but not as slow as I was a few months ago. I am still alternating a "speed" week with a distance week. The speed is getting speedier and the distance is getting longer (up to just over four miles). The speed goal for this year is to bring my 5k time down under 30 minutes. The distance goal is to reach a 10k. Slow but steady progress is being made towards each.

Race: The Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard next weekend was something I had originally wanted to put on my schedule several months ago but it had conflicted with a family event so I couldn't. A few weeks ago I found out that the conflict was gone so I signed up for it. It's a month before the Hansen Dam Tri and it's a short ocean swim of 440 yards, which will be a good intro to that. The bike course is supposed to be nice and flat, too, which a Clydesdale like me appreciates. I am reducing my training volume so I will be fresh for it. This will be my second tri and my first in a Clydesdale division.

The End: That's about it for now. I hope to not let so much time go between posts but I will probably be sufficiently distracted by the Tour de France that I just don't know.

Teaching An Old Dog New Paddles

2009-06-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today I swam for the first time since April 21. Back then I had to stop because my shoulders were really sore and they were not getting any better. The pain got to be too much and I actually made myself go see a doctor (not an everyday occurrence for me, let me tell you). I went straight to a sports medicine clinic and saw a doctor who, himself, has competed in triathlons (including an Ironman). After an exam it was off to physical therapy for several weeks, then back to the doc, which leads us to me in the pool today.

The physical therapy, while I think it helped in some ways, in other ways it did not. I did get my range of motion back but my shoulders were getting sore from the strain of the therapy and I did not think all of the exercises were helping. After chatting with the doc we decided the lay off the PT, do a few of the exercises at home, and get back in the water with a modified stroke.

What was hurting my shoulders the most was the recovery part of the stroke, where your hand moves out of the water and back up to the front. How odd is it that the thing that caused me pain was the one part of the stroke doing the least amount of work? Basically, the angle my hand was at, together with lifting my arm straight out and to the back was messing things up. I had to avoid that.

Today's swim was all about focusing on technique so I would do just one lap at a time. I started out with form that I had in mind and adjusted it with each lap until I thought I was really onto something. It's not like any freestyle I've ever seen but it's getting me through pain-free, so I will stick with it and see how it goes. What I did was borrow the whole rotation thing from Total Immersion so my shoulder wouldn't be at such a severe angle during the recovery. Also, when I start the recovery I flick my wrist so as my arm is coming up, my palm is not perpendicular to the water's surface but parallel to it. Next, I flex at the elbow so just my forearm is moving (this is where it gets weird), and once that's about at ninety degrees to my upper arm I finally flex at the shoulder and finish the recovery. My hand enters the water not right in front of my head, like I had been doing, but more to the outside. I'm sure it looks a bit odd but, as I mentioned, it seems to be working. It's all designed to not do the things that cause my shoulders pain. If that means it looks odd, I can live with that.

The other bright spot is that I did about 1000 yards and was not the least bit tired, which means my lungs haven't completely left me. My swim will be fine when I start up the triathlons again in two months.

The Ride of a(n Almost) Century

2009-06-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

Eight gels, three bananas, an orange, 6:25 in the saddle, and almost two water bottles later, I finished my first (almost) century ride this past Sunday.

The weather had been weird up until ride day. I had checked the forecast, though, and a good day of 70 degress was predicted for the whole route so I was going to need normal gear--no layers.

First up, after the 7am start, was two loops through Griffith Park. It turns out that this included one pretty good hill, which also meant there was one pretty good descent. Since it was right after the start, though, I didn't appreciate the hills as a warm-up. On the bright side, the second loop was easier than the first.

Then it was off to the L.A. River...on a bike path...with hundreds of other riders. Worse, the century riders met up with the 70-mile riders at about the same time: just before entering the L.A. River bike path. That part could have been better organized.

Rode along the river for a few miles, then it was time to hit the city streets. Not as smooth as the bike path but not as rough as some of the places I ride on weekends. Couple that with the stoplights and I was right at home (though I'm sure a lot of people were not). We passed by Union Station, the Twin Towers, and a bunch of industrial property before re-joining the L.A. River for the rest of the trip down to Long Beach. This was nice because as we got closer to the ocean, the breeze got cooler. It also got stronger so there was a slight headwind but it felt good. I do not recall dripping sweat at all (though I was definitely sweating).

Something that amuses me is "skills" that I pick up on my weekly rides that are not really something I think about as cycling skills but turn out to come in really handy. For my first triathlon it was riding in cold weather. For this century ride it was the bunny hop. Now, granted, I don't get much air but I do get enough to go over wicked potholes and other obstacles on the road. I hopped several times during the ride.

Got to the (almost) halfway point for a rest stop. It was the halfway point for the 70-milers but the century riders would actually go past this stop and loop back to the rest stop before heading back. I did not stop at that rest stop again and just kept going.

Back on the bike path and the very slight incline on the way back was overcome by the tailwind, which surprised me. Things were going well until about mile 62 (I do not think it is a coincidence that my longest ride until that point was 60 miles). My feet had been getting numb but now that was becoming painful. Plus my left foot was getting a somewhat sharp pain in it. I knew a rest stop was coming up shortly and I kept looking for it but, finally, I could not wait any longer and pulled over onto one of the many benches (with bike racks!) dotting the bike path. I sat down, took off my shoes, and rested my tootsies. Sure, I was now being passed by people I had passed earlier but I needed to finish the ride. After some amount of time spent sitting, walking, and rubbing I got back on the bike and my feet were fine for the rest of the ride.

After a bit more riding I was starting to get pretty sore in the saddle so I was very much looking forward to a particular rest stop in a small park. Park means grass. I parked my bike, took off my shoes and helmet, and relaxed under a tree. Ah, that's the stuff. I was feeling like I could take a good nap, which I definitely did not want to do so after a nice rest, it was back on the path.

Got off the path and back in the industrial area. Then a funny thing happened around mile 81: I got my second wind. My legs felt fine and I was pedaling pretty well. I did find, though, that if I thought about being tired I suddenly felt tired so I had to not think about it and just pedal.

While my legs were fine I was getting really sore in the saddle. I stopped at the last rest stop, only five miles, or so, from the finish just so I could give my butt a rest. Then back on for the home stretch. It was at this point that I noticed that my Garmin was saying one thing about mileage and the route map was saying another. It looked like I forgot to turn it back on after one of the rest stops. Sigh.

Getting through those last miles was quite an exercise in determination because I just wanted off that bike. Finally, I got off the path, went over the last, small overpass (which I could do out of the saddle with ease--yay out of the saddle-training) and then I was done. The booths we could wander through were kind of a joke, the "special" jersey turned out to be one for the organization that put on the ride and not for the ride itself. Whatever. I grabbed something to eat (I was not as hungry or thirsty as I thought I would be) and then made my way home.

Nutrition went well. I happened to wake up at 3am on ride morning so I took that opportunity to have a bowl of cereal. On the ride I had gels every 45 minutes, just like in training. At one point I tried taking a gel every 30 minutes but that did not work out so well. It was too much and my stomach had just a slight bit of irritation. I took water with the gels and once or twice extra but I was so well-hydrated and the day so mild that, much to my surprise, I did not even go through my two water bottles. I took two bananas with me and I ate one more at the rest stops, along with an orange or two.

I was disappointed that I goofed up with the Garmin but then a read a post today where somebody else said that they recorded the century as being short, too. In fact, the same amount of short that I recorded (92.5 miles). During the ride I toyed with the idea of riding extra just so the Garmin would show 100 miles but I so wanted off my bike towards the end that that idea was thrown right out the window. That and I thought the problem was with me and that I really was doing 100 miles. On the bright side, I know what resources I need to do a century, in terms of time and nutrition, and that I can do it. Triathlons will be starting up again in two months so I will have to wait until November to do another one. I wonder if it gets easier.

Nice and Easy...Mostly

2009-05-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's the week before my first attempt at a century ride so Saturday's ride was nice and easy. My usual 29-mile loop but easy, easy, easy (except Little Woodley, which you can't do easy because you'll fall over going up a steep hill too slowly). Even went up Balboa in the lowest gear. Interesting to note that the easy pace I was at is the same pace I was at when doing the route for the first few times back in December/January. Ah, progress.

Today's run was planned at a minimum 11:46 pace for 46 minutes. However, I ended up at an 11:15 pace so I shortened it to just a 5.25k (36.5 minutes). Looks like I can pick up the pace or go for distance, but not both.

So...Many...Hills

2009-05-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my second ride with the San Fernando Bicycle Club: the 61-mile version of their "Sierra Highway History" ride (there are also 42- and 74-mile versions). When it was time to go it turned out that there was only one other person heading in my direction (there were two other groups of routes to choose from). I hung with the guy up over Balboa and out of the San Fernando Valley but it was clear that I would not be able to hang on once we got to the first big hill that would drop us into Santa Clarita. I bid the fellow farewell and did my second group ride solo. I can do hills, I just do them slower than most people.

I was humming along nicely when, several miles before the first scheduled rest stop, I was joined by someone (not from the club) who was just out for a ride. We chatted for a bit and he got me moving slightly faster than I normally would have been but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Once we hit some downhills on the way to the stop, he took off (I'm more of a "coast down the hills" kinda guy). I just picked up a Gatorade at the stop, figuring this would be a bad time to experiment with solid foods on a ride, though I did down the banana I took with me. As I was drinking I met someone who was from the club. He explained that he left with a group going on a different route and he didn't realize it for several miles. Since he was clearly faster than me I let him go ahead of me so we could avoid the inevitable dropping of me.

After the break, it was time to pedal some more. I should mention that this was a fairly nice route. Nice views, roads that aren't heavily travelled but are well-paved. I was enjoying myself. At the 40-mile mark I took a left and I made the momentous decision to break with the route slip and eat early rather than ride nine more miles to Carl's Jr. What caused me to make this rash decision? I rode right by an In-N-Out. Who's gonna pass by an In-N-Out at high noon in favor of a Carl's Jr. nine miles away? Not this cyclist.

One Double Double, fries, and a chocolate shake later (note to self: probably should have gotten a lemonade), I felt fueled up. I chatted a bit with some cyclists who arrived while I was eating outside (I spent a lot of time on this trip talking about my Craigslist Special, as I call my bike). I didn't know how long I should wait after a meal to start riding again but I gave myself some time and then got going once more. Twenty miles to go.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. More great views. Part of the ride was going the other way on a part of the Santa Clarita Century route, which I thought was fun. I had to stop and rest up one hill but, on the other hand, I hit over 42 mph at one point and that was with me hitting the brakes because of the gusty winds. Shortly after I hit that I was passed by another cyclist. Too funny.

I was really starting to get tired now. At 50 miles in, which was halfway up the last big hill, I had to take a break. Once I got up that last hill, it was pretty easy getting back (Balboa is much easier southbound than northbound). I did it, though. 60.81 miles and 4:49 of riding (not counting breaks). Today my belts are a half-notch looser.

I would also like to mention that my fueling and hydration plans seemed to hit the mark. I am neither ravenously hungry nor very thirsty, like I have been after other long rides. Gels every 45 minutes (they're 150 cal. gels rather than the usual 100) and water every 30 minutes as well as with each gel. That and the fuel at the rest stops saw me through in good shape. I like to think that I didn't run out of fuel, I ran out of legs. Still, I did make it.

The plan now is to take it easy until the L.A. River Ride in two weeks. Probably no hill workouts until then and just an easy 29-mile ride (emphasis on easy), a run tomorrow and next Sunday and that's it. I wasn't completely recovered from last week's workouts so I want to make sure I am completely rested so I can make that River Ride my first century.

Sum-Sum-Summertime

2009-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Going out for my 5:15 hill workout the other day, I noticed it's pretty bright out that early in the morning. I'm not usually up that early so it's not something I would have noticed before. This has me thinking all kinds of thoughts about summer workouts. The one I think I'm settling on is having Tu-Th hill workouts and cycling to work on Wednesdays. The Wednesday ride could take the place of my Sunday ride on weeks I want to get yardwork done (I am tired of letting it go so much). Expanded daylight and not having to take my son to school gives me more training options. Mmm hmm.

Kick High. Look Funny.

2009-05-19T21:40:00.001-07:00

Has it really been two weeks since my last post? It's been a busy two weeks and I'll post more about it soon.

This past Sunday I went for my 5k run early in the morning. It was the day after a 39-mile ride with a bike club and I had a 29-mile ride planned for right after the run. I used the Garmin's pace-alert feature for the first time while running. Things were going fine until just after 2 miles into the run when I felt my right tibialis flaking out on me. This had not happened for a while. I did not think my form was so great on this run and this soreness kinda confirmed it. I stopped, rubbed it a bit, and after a short rest I started up again but this time I really exaggerated my form. Soon, I kept saying to myself, "Kick high. Look funny." Over and over.

A bit of background: One of my earliest posts discussed a problem I had with my tibialis, which is the muscle by your shins. This is not shin splints. It's a burning feeling like I'm using the muscle too much, then the muscle gives out and I can't lift up my foot anymore. When I started running again this past February, the problem came back right away. After a few more sessions I got really frustrated and scoured the internet in earnest for a solution.

I looked and looked but could not find anything. This led me to the nearly-inescapable conclusion that it was just me. I had to do some thinking. If it was just me then it was something I was doing wrong. Well, if the muscle feels like it's been used to much then maybe, just maybe, I was using it too much. It's thinking like that that got me SAT scores higher than the previous President's (to be fair, they were also higher than Al Gore's).

How to stop using that muscle so much? Think. Well, in the few pictures of me running as an adult, I always looked like I was walking (alas, no pictures of me on the cross country team in high school). Perhaps if I put some spring in my step and kicked my heel up a bit after pushing off I wouldn't have to use the tibialis so much?

I put the plan in action and it did seem to work. In the pictures of me running at my first triathlon I actually looked like I was running instead of walking. However, it made running somewhat less fun because I had to think about form so much. Last Sunday showed me that I'm not out of the woods yet, though. In the future I am going to have to chant my mantra, "Kick high. Look funny." over and over until it becomes second nature. I may think I look funny (in truth I probably look less funny than before when I was shuffling along) but screw it. It's how I'm going to become (somewhat of) a runner again.

Cycling Madera

2009-05-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I traveled to my parents' house in Madera, CA to attend a dinner where my brother would be accepting an award. So, of course, I took my bike. I mean, Madera is in the San Joaquin Valley, which means flat. Lots of flat. Lots of flat in the country with very little in the way of stop signs. I don't get lots of that at home so, of course, I took my bike.

First up on Saturday morning is a trip to Chowchilla. I did some research and found a donut shop near the turnaround point. I woke up to ugly clouds and a chance of rain but the temperature was not cold so I packed the usual and a rain jacket in my jersey pocket and off I went. Routes don't get much simpler than this:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.
In short, ride down Howard Road until you get to Road 16. Make a right and don't stop until you get to Chowchilla. There are good shoulders for almost the whole way and these are country roads that are not heavily travelled, so when cars and semis pass you, they are able to give you plenty of room. I was not able to go as fast as I had hoped (there was an ever-so-slight incline) but I was able to keep my cadence in the 80-range and if that meant I had to do it in a lower gear, so be it. This was my first long, flat ride with few stops so keeping the motor spinning for over an hour straight was something new.

I made it to Chowchilla and Good Time Donuts was just where Google said it would be (gotta love Street View). I ordered a huge apple fritter (didn't finish) with a hot chocolate and sat down for a restful fuel break. After that, back on the bike for the trip home. This time I would be heading down the ever-so-slight decline (about 1 mph faster, it turned out). I did encounter a couple of loose dogs but, thankfully, they just wanted to pace me while barking.

This trip ended up being 46.39 miles and took 2:49:51. 16.2 mph and 79 rpm on the way out, 17.1 mph and 80 rpm on the way back. I can live with that. A good trip, though I was a bit sore in the saddle by the end. The thing with that is, it doesn't get better by the next day.

Because of the soreness (and, frankly, fatigue), I lowered my sights for Sunday (I'll save that ride for my next trip up) and set out on a 32 mile route suggested by my father.

It's possible my father is trying to kill me.

If you're familiar with the area, I took the 145 out to the 41. What should have been a beautiful ride out towards the foothills turned into a white knuckle-fest because the shoulder of the road disappeared. This meant I was riding on or just to the left of the while line of a two-lane, full-speed highway. Wonderful. I got to experience something completely new: riding in the lane as cars coming the other way pass the cars in front of them. Yes, they pull into my lane, and speed towards me. I don't really have time to stare at them because I have to focus on the white line so I stay on it. Do not take the 145 out to the 41. I know people ride out to Millerton Lake, which was just seven miles further from my turnaround point, but I can't imagine they took the route I did. Bad, scary ride.

An interesting observation about fatigue. On Saturday I was able to take a nap between my ride and the dinner. On Sunday I was not able to so I sat like a zombie in my parents' house. I was able to observe my energy level go down, down, down, then slowly come back up a few hours later. I had my usual recovery chocolate milks and a big breakfast after Sunday's ride so I don't know how much more I could have eaten to keep from having an energy crash. I'm thinking that maybe on these rides lasting longer than two hours I need to take a gel every 30 minutes instead of every 45. With the e-Gels I use that comes out to be 300 cal/hour. I will have to experiment with that.

From a Lake Swim to a River Ride

2009-04-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today I had my appointment at a sports medicine clinic for my shoulder. We started off with X-Rays but didn't see anything bad. Apparently I had a pretty good right shoulder injury "a long time ago" but the only one I can remember happened to my left shoulder. At least I think it was my left shoulder. Hmm. Anyway, I am going to do some physical therapy for my shoulders (one block from work--sweet!) and have a follow-up appointment in five weeks. The doctor also recommended that I check out Total Immersion to help me to change my stroke so it doesn't put so much stress on my shoulders. DVD is on the way.

So, with the rest I need to give my shoulders and the change to my stroke, I have decided to skip my planned (but not signed up for) June triathlon and, instead, do the Los Angeles River Ride for either 70 or 100 miles. The nice thing is that I will get to do it with a friend(s), which is a welcome change to my (always) solo rides.

Since I can't swim twice a week, I might as well get in two hill rides a week, right? This morning's was great! I left on time, for a change, so I was able to get in four laps instead of the usual three. Felt really strong, too. I do need to turn the cadence alarm back on, though, because I find myself slacking when I still have the energy to go faster.

My Blackburn Flea front light, the one that was replaced just a few weeks ago, is already showing signs of going bad. What the heck is up with these lights? The rear light is awesome. The front lights, though, have sucked. I am going to call the Blackburn folks tomorrow and see what's going on. I want a working light but I also don't want to lose another two weeks of hill workouts.

Creeping Decrepitude

2009-04-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Let's run down this week's list, shall we?:

On Tuesday, as I was walking on the pool deck and about to get in, I stepped on a bee and it stung me. I was actually surprised by how much it didn't hurt.

After a 300 warm up my right shoulder hurt so much that I had to stop and get out of the pool. I have an appointment at a sports medicine clinic this Tuesday. Since it was a gradual thing I am hoping that rest and some shoulder exercises will fix it up.

This week I have been having a weird, dull pain in my lower back. Last night I could tell it was bordering on being really painful. Also last night I somehow made my left knee sore. Must have twisted it the wrong way but I wasn't really doing anything last night. I any event, this morning's run has been cancelled.

Like I have taught my children, listen to your body. If your body is telling you to not run, listen to it. However, I have a 40-mile ride planned for tomorrow so my body better get with the program by then. ;-)

The Heat Is On

2009-04-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, that was the worst "run" of my life, and I use the term "run" loosely.

Had a great ride on Saturday. The weather is warming up so I got to shed all my layers at the halfway point, even the toe covers. Averaged 15mph on a 40-mile ride (that's with hills and stoplights). Had an okay ride on Sunday. My 29-mile loop but I could tell I was still tired from Saturday. The Woodley hills were no fun. I was passed by a runner going up Little Woodley but I passed some walkers right after that. Amusing.

I had the bright idea to do a 5k run after Sunday's ride. It turns out that that was a stupid idea. Sunday was even warmer than Saturday and I didn't start my run until around 11. It wasn't much of a run. More of a walk, actually. It was possibly the worst run in history.

I learned that I need to do some workouts in heat but they will be done on the bike. I learned that if I am going to bike and run on the same day (not in a race), the run must come first. I learned that I need to take hydration seriously because drinking water in the winter is not the same as drinking water in the summer. I also may need to re-think my not eating before longer rides.

It's days like Sunday that keep me humble about my training progress.

My Recovery Is Complete

2009-04-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

With today's two-hour ride, I pronounce myself cured of last week's cold. It was an easy but not too easy 29-mile ride. Felt good but I ended up taking two naps afterwards. These post-ride naps, while nice, are really trashing my post-workout productivity.

I did a run yesterday. I've decided that I really need to start aiming to run each week. Some weeks I won't be able to but better to miss a weekly run than a bi-weekly run, which is what's happening now. That and I am not making any progress so it's time to try something new.

So now that I'm cured it'll be back to the pool on Tuesday and Thursday. My light came back so I can do my hill workouts Wednesday mornings. Looks like I have sixty eight miles of rides planned for next weekend. Yep, back on track.

It Turns Out That I Was Sick

2009-04-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

I went back into work Tuesday and found that three of my co-workers were sick over the weekend, one with my same symptoms. Looks like I was sick after all so no swim on Tuesday, no hill ride on Wednesday (too bad because I got my light back), probably no swim on Thursday, and a very easy bike ride on Friday (I have it off) and maybe Sunday, too. I don't think a run this weekend is such a smart idea, either. I'm big on giving illness plenty of rest.

I Don't Think I'm Sick

2009-04-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's plan was simple: an easy two hour ride. Except for the two Woodleys, I did take it easy. I was even passed by a guy that normally wouldn't have caught me and, even if he did, I wouldn't have let him get away from me. But it was easy day so I let him go. I came in several minutes slower than usual. Easy day.

I quickly fueled up, showered and shaved, took my daughter to a concert, had some lunch, and came back home. I was pretty tired so I went to take a nap. I woke up some three hours later and I thought I had the flu. Funny thing, though: I had all the aches and fatigue of the flu but none of the other symptoms. No runny nose, coughing, or congestion. Just way tired. I spent much of the remainder of the day/evening in bed reading or sleeping.

I woke up today less tired and a bit less sore and still no other symptoms. Very odd. Perhaps I am fighting off some nasty cold. In any event, no run or bike today, that's for sure. Combine this with my lousy swim workout last Thursday and I am going to re-think what an "easy" swim workout is. I think it involves slow 100-200 yard sets, reduced yardage, and no sprint sets. Easy week in the pool this week.

The Assault on Santa Clarita

2009-03-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

The first time I made the ride into Santa Clarita it took me 3:39. The last time it took me 3:20. This time I wanted to come in under three hours. Not only that but I wanted to do it by taking a slightly shorter route which includes a steep hill up a narrow road that I actually couldn't make the first time I tried. I figured the shorter would be offset by the steeper. No breaks, except to strip off layers, and I would try to power up hills the best I could. Fueling up would happen while riding, every 45 minutes.

I woke up yesterday and it was still pretty cold-ish. Even though the forecast said it would reach 80, I decided to go with the long-sleeved jersey and arm warmers. Felt good as the ride started but I had to drop the arm warmers a half hour into the ride. The jersey was warmer than what I should have brought but it wasn't unbearable. Lesson learned: dress for the warmest it's going to get, add layers if you need to, and just put up with the cold for a little bit.

Because of the sunny weather I did see more cyclists on the road than usual but very few people going my way (and none of them passing me). At one and two hours into the ride I was on pace to come in under three hours. However, the last hour involves two big climbs and they slowed me down considerably. I was pleased that I could get out of the saddle as often as I did and it made the hills more interesting. I knew the roads better than before so I did not have to use the brakes going downhill as much as before (at all, for the most part).

I was pretty toasted by the time I was ready to cross back into the San Fernando Valley. That first steep hill I mentioned is on quite a narrow road and I'm not convinced it's such a smart route to bike. First thing in the morning is one thing, because of the lighter traffic, but it was after 9am and I thought it would be safer (and, to be honest, less brutal) if I skipped the hill and took the slightly longer way around. Looking at the clock it didn't look like I was going to make it back in time but better that than being run over.

Even though I wasn't going to make it back under three hours I still wanted to see how close to it I could get. As I got closer to home, though, I started doing calculations it looked like I actually still had a chance. I'd have to really hustle but I might be able to make it. So hustle I did. Bigger gears, faster turnover, and worry about being tired later. I pulled up in front of the house, stopped the timer, saw that I had made it, and sorta collapsed on my bike for a minute.

I then petted the dogs, went back into the house, and hooked up the Garmin to the iMac and saw a few interesting things. First, the trip came in at 2:59:45. Talk about cutting it close! Second, I hit 42.6 mph on one of the downhills! The last time I did this ride I hit 37.3 mph and I sure didn't plan on going 5 mph faster this time. Wowzers. Another thing I noticed was all the salt around my eyes from the tears as I'm flying downhill. Later I finally broke down and bought some sunglasses for riding.

While this isn't going to be my last ride into Santa Clarita, as I have mentioned before I feel I am ready to try something different so in a few weeks I am going to try rides with the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club. I'm sure it will be a blast.

Switchback

2009-03-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

And no, I don't mean the song by Celldweller (though it does rock mightily). I mean that thing you do going up a hill where you work your way up by going across.

I did my usual 29-mile ride today but also included another assault on "Big Woodley" (I really need to take a picture--next time). I start heading up and I think I'm farther than before but I know I'm not going to make it to the top so I'm thinking about how I want to bail. I turn to the left and go across to see if I really want to bail now or what. At some point I decide to switchback and go back to the right. I quickly find The Secret to Uphill Switchbacks(tm), which I will share with you. First, I'd like to mention that I did try switchbacks last week but they weren't as good as The Secret to Uphill Switchbacks(tm).

Okay, the way switchbacks are usually done is you ride across the hill, angling up slightly so you slowly make your way up. You can even ride straight across one way, then angle up coming back, then ride straight across again, etc. Slower but it works. However, none of that is The Secret to Uphill Switchbacks(tm). The secret is this: as you ride across, when you get near the end angle your bike down so you catch a bit of speed. Use that momentum as you turn up to get up the hill just a bit and even angling up. That's it: head down to go up. Sounds dumb, doesn't it? However, I made such progress and saved so much energy that as I got near the top of the hill I stopped switching back and rode straight up. I still want to ride "Big Woodley" straight up all the way but The Secret to Uphill Switchbacks(tm) will help me as I get stronger.

So I woke up this morning to rainfall, which meant I was going to get soaked. As you might imagine, rains in L.A. are usually not that big of a deal so this was going to be a fun ride. However, as I started the ride the rain had gone. About 2/3 of the way through the ride, though, the rain came back so I pulled over and put my rain jacket on. What fun! By the time I reached home I was completely soaked and didn't think I wanted to do my run in such soggy weather.

I fuel up, warm up, and shower off. Then I made breakfast for my daughter and notice that it's now sunny outside. Crazy spring weather. I decide that I will do a run so after serving breakfast I get my running gear on and head outside. Hey, where did my sun go? Dark clouds were working their way across the sky but I run anyway. A half-mile into the run and the rain starts again. This can only mean one thing: when I finish my run the sun is going to come back out. I get nice and soaked but I do finish my 3.5-mile run without stopping and, yes, when I get in the house the sun comes back out. Today, I was a rain magnet.

Next weekend is my 46-mile ride into Santa Clarita but this time I want to do it in under three hours. Not as easy as it sounds with the reasonably big hills so we'll see.

From One End of the Valley to (Almost) the Other

2009-03-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

Today's ride went from the far east end of the San Fernando Valley to, almost, the far west end for a total of just over 39 miles:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.
Not a bad ride and I kept nice and fueled up. It's funny riding places you've only driven to before.

It occurs to me, though, that I have reached a point where I need to learn more routes to keep things interesting. That's where the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club comes in. Checking their ride calendar I see that their ride into Newhall is shorter than mine and they rate it as intermediate so it looks like I have reached the point where I can hang with them. They have introductory rides the first Saturday of each month, which is perfect because next weekend is my aforementioned ride into Newhall/Santa Clarita so I will be needing a shorter ride the following weekend. They have many interesting rides listed and, while I do not plan to make them all, this could be really helpful for me.

I will be visiting my parents in early May. They live, and I grew up, in the San Joaquin Valley where it is flat, flat, flat. I have plotted a couple of rides to neighboring towns which should make for an interesting weekend. One ride is 40 miles r/t and the other is 48 miles r/t. The plan is to leave early, ride into the town, eat some donuts, then come back to my parents' house for breakfast. I am curious to see how I perform on long, flat rides.

Endurance Nutrition

2009-03-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Been so busy this week. My bike light hasn't come back from Blackburn yet so no hill ride again this week. I'll make up for it on Sunday with another (futile) assault on "Big Woodley" this Sunday.

So last Saturday's ride was okay. The aforementioned "Big Woodley" is the second hill heading north on Woodley Ave., just past Rinaldi. I tried going up it but I didn't get very far. I'll try and get a little farther each week. When I reach the top of that, I'll know it's time to try an assault on the hill on Lopez Canyon. Anyway, after failing that I went hard up Balboa and did quite well. Made me tired for the rest of the day, though.

Later on Saturday I was reading and a bit about fueling up more often on long rides caught my eye. On Sunday I decided to down a gel every 45 minutes instead of every hour and even have one just before the ride, like I have seen recommended for race day. I was feeling pretty tired from the day before but ended up with my second fastest time on that route--and that's with doing one-legged drills. What's up with that? I will be keeping a closer eye on this fueling up stuff in the future. What occurred to me was that I have been thinking of fueling up in terms of my usual "endurance" workouts, which were usually runs of 30-60 minutes. When you do that you can get away with eating nothing during the workout. However, as Alberto Contador's bonk during Paris-Nice demonstrated, riding for two, three, or more hours is not the same thing and I need to put fuel in the tank.

Regarding the one-legged drills, near as I can tell they're both working equally. That was a disappointment...either that or I did them wrong.

Last week's swimming workouts were wonderful. This week I felt a bit more tired but still had decent workouts. I only have two swims a week but I really work myself. I am so tired today. On the bright side, I think my shoulders are getting bigger or maybe it's just fat loss. I am doing 500s as my long swim. I have this mental problem where I don't like distance swimming so even though I could go farther, I am working on the mental side of things by doing these long swims until I can get over my dread. I had actually forgotten about feeling that way in high school. I'm getting better, though. Once I'm done with the 500s I'll probably start breaking the distance into sets of 200 with short rests between just to break up the monotony.

IronBruin Times and Photos

2009-03-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

The times for the IronBruin Triathlon have been posted. They weren't broken out by age group so I did some calculations on my own. Plus, age groupers were broken out separately from collegiates so when I write "overall", I mean the age groupers.

My swim was 8:09, which is over a minute slower than it would be without other bodies in the water. However, it was those bodies that slowed me down. I should be able to get my 400 under six minutes for next year so I will be in a faster group that, ostensibly, won't get in my way as much. I got out of the water in 12th place in my age group.

T1 was my time to shine. I had the 13th fastest T1 overall and I can easily go faster. I left T1 in 6th place in my AG. It was all downhill after that (literally).

I did the bike in 59:55, averaging 13.4 mph which, for a course with a steep, long hill like that, is about right. A lot of people didn't have the bike times posted so I don't know how far down I fell in the AG.

T2 was 2:22, which is pretty bad. However, I purposely wasn't trying to blast through it so I'm okay with that. Next tri, though, will be screaming fast. Speed laces and running while putting on the race belt.

The 5k run was 34:53, which was dead last in my age group. I actually anticipated that and am plenty okay with it. In fact, I think that's my fastest 5k. I can only get faster, right? I ended up with a time of 1:46:35 which was 184/258 overall and about 30/36 in my AG. I can live with that.

The race photos have also been posted and I found three of me:

Do you have the courage to zoom around a college campus for almost two hours in spandex? I think I need to wear a shorter swim suit to do something about those tan lines on my legs. And what's up with my arms in the cycling photo?

Report: IronBruin Triathlon 2009

2009-03-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

My first triathlon was a blast!

Pre-Race

I left the house at 5am and got to UCLA in plenty of time. There wasn't anybody directing people to the right parking lot and the one we were supposed to use had a "Do Not Use" sign in front of it, so it was the blind leading the blind for a while. After I parked I took my backpack up to T2 but left my bike on the car since I didn't need my bike in T2, right? I get there and select a choice spot (3rd rack on the left, right on the aisle). With that out of the way and over two hours until I start the swim, things get a little boring. Something I'm noticing right away, though, is that I've lost enough weight that the shorts I have on over my tri suit are falling off all the time and I didn't bring a belt. I also notice that everyone is bringing their bikes into T2 so they have it handy when it's time to go to the pool. Sounds like a good idea so I get mine. There's still nothing to do until after 7 so I wait around.

About 7:10 I start getting serious about setting up T2 and packing for T1. I strip down to my tri suit and a t-shirt, no shoes, and walk my bike up the hill. On the way up a guy tells me about two people who have already crashed doing the left turn at the bottom of the big hill. Point taken.

The Swim

I get set up in T1. There aren't really any choice spots but I take one that is easy to find. It's a time trial swimming start in order of your number. I do a quick calculation and figure I have plenty of time so I head over to the warm up pool. I do my two 50s and one 100. Do I do another one? Nah, I'll down an energy gel then head over and wait for my turn. It turns out my turn is about 30 seconds after I get in line! Not such a great calculation.

The swim goes well. I get passed by a couple of guys (one of whom I catch later) but I'm the one that's doing most of the passing. Towards the end of the 400 meters the turns start getting crowded but that's okay (all that water polo in high school pays off here). At the end I walk up the steps and jog into transition.

T1

I was expecting to have really heavy legs or something like that when I got out of the pool and started jogging. What I experienced was sort of surreal: I'm swimming then I'm running now I'm going to get on a bike and why is everybody so slow? It was all odd. I'm one of the very few with a tri suit and one of the even fewer who already has his shoes on the bike so my T1 is really fast. Should it be that fast? I'm looking around at how casually people are transitioning. What's up with that? Practice a few times in a parking lot and boom, you're faster in T1. It's like finding free money. My goggles and cap are off, I get to the bike and toss them in my bag. I put my helmet on, put my transition towel in the bag and close it, then grab the bike and I'm off. That's it!

The Bike

I hop on the bike while jogging and get in the first shoe before I have to make a turn to go downhill. At the bottom of the hill I get into the other shoe, just as planned, and I'm good to go. My legs take a little bit to warm up but just before the big hill I'm all set. I get passed while going uphill, which is to be expected, but I'm surprised that I'm passing people going downhill (I peaked at 33.2 mph). Guess all those downhills that have been getting faster and faster have paid off, too. And last week's ride where I practiced getting out of the saddle worked out well, too. On the fourth lap I notice that there are a lot fewer people on the road and I wonder if anybody cuts their ride short and only does three laps. Just a thought.

T2

I forgot to get out of my shoes early but, thankfully, all that practice helped me get out of them in a hurry and I jogged barefoot into T2. I rack my bike and put the race belt on. Unfortunately, I should have pinned my race number on the race belt when it was stretched out on me instead of relaxed because when I put it on it pops when the belt is stretched. Lesson learned. I fiddle with it for a few seconds, take my helmet off, get my shoes on, and take a big breath because the run is the big question mark. I jog out of T2 and get some water from the helpful water girls (I'm surprisingly thirsty by this time).

The Run

I'm a slow runner right now. I'm big and this race is my fourth run of the year (fourth run in two years, actually) so I know I'm going to get passed. A lot. However my goal is not to run fast. My goal is to finish the 5K without walking because my calves seize up. All week they have been feeling worn out from last weekend's ride so I have been really nervous about the run. I practice good form, don't run too fast, suck it in for the photographers :-), and run my race. I am passed, to be sure, but it's not the torrent I was expecting. I reach the halfway point and all is well. I have one mile to go and I decide I can run a little bit faster. Gotta remember to keep my form up. 1K to go and I can run a little bit faster, which is about as fast as I can go at this point in my training. I finish not with a sprint (which I think is lame--if you can sprint at the end then you weren't running hard enough during the rest of the race) but I do finish strong, which I am happy about.

Overall and Lessons Learned

I was pleased with how well-prepared I was. I swam my own race, T1 was awesome, the bike went well, I thought, T2 was okay given my trepidation but will be even better next time, and I ran the whole 5K without stopping. The only way the race could have been better is if I placed in the top three (and well all knew that was not going to happen).

I always have to warm up on the swim. Always, always, always. It really helps.

Someday I'll get tri shoes for the bike but I'm doing great with what I have.

Remember that the end of the bike isn't just a relief, it means I have to get out of my shoes while still riding.

Put my race belt on, then pin my number to it, then take it off and set it up in T2.

Lose more weight to I can go faster up hills.

Lose more weight so I can go faster and train more on the run.

All in all, the event rocked and I can tell by the fatigue that is overtaking me while I write this that I gave it a good shot. I hope I can do it next year.

Photos and times will be available later this week so I will post about them in several days.

#336

2009-03-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

They posted the seeding for Sunday's triathlon and I don't start until 58 minutes after the first competitor. Yes, I'll be starting after other people have finished. The bad news is that the bike course might be a bit crowded. The good news is that since, this is my first tri, I'll be able to learn by watching people doing the swim, transitions, and cycling before I have to go, with plenty of time to warm up for everything.

With the time change the night before the race, it's going to be a bit chilly in the morning. This is making me re-think my decision to not wear a swim cap. I don't need one for swimming but I think I want one for cycling. What? Well, do I really want to be cycling down that first hill at 30mph in possibly forty-something degree weather with wet hair. I'm thinking maybe not.

Still feeling my calves. We'll see.

I'm going to start packing my transition bag tonight, following a checklist I have. I read a suggestion that you do that at least two days before the race so if you notice you've forgotten something you still have a day to pick it up.

Tomorrow is a nice, easy day. Go to a concert downtown with my daughter, then drive to Santa Monica to pick up my packet, then back home. Dinner is an easy one to make so I can relax for that, too. Feet up, read the newly-arrive Triathlete magazine, and rest up.

Countdown to UCLA

2009-03-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I tried a short run to test out running without socks and to run in my tri-suit (hidden behind my regular running clothes because I'm a wuss). Problem was I was still exhausted from my four-hour ride the day before so it was a very short run(/walk). After that I did a quick 10-mile easy ride and practiced transitions. I think I'll do okay.

I'm really worried about my calves because I'm feeling 'em. Maybe a four-hour ride the week before was a stupid idea. I'll know more in a few days.

Today's swim was short and sweet. Warm up, 400 (in 7 minutes, again, even though I'm still tired), 2x50, 100, 2x50 fast, then a cool down. Short but intense with plenty of rest time.

Signups for the Malibu Triathlon started this week. I was hoping to sign up after this weekend but the buzz was that the Classic (i.e. sprint) would sell out in a week and I didn't want to take any chances. They have three Clydesdale divisions! I signed up for the 225+ group. It's possible I could actually drop below that by September but I'm not betting on it.

I have decided that after this weekend I am going to focus more on doing longer rides to get my weight down. 3+ hour rides seem to really work so I'm thinking I can alternate a weekend with two two-hour rides with a weekend of one 3-4-hour ride. How to squeeze in a run every other week? Before the Sunday two-hour ride? Hmm.

Report: Santa Clarita Half Century 2009

2009-02-28T18:03:00.001-08:00

The first Santa Clarita Half Century (they had a full century but with my first triathlon next weekend, doing that would be a bad idea) was a nice and challenging ride. I had looked at the course profile months ago but not recently and had forgotten it. Let me describe it for you: "A". The first 60% is up, the last 40% is down. What the profile doesn't tell you is that there are headwinds during the up. By the time I got to the SAG stop at 25 miles, I was so sick of headwinds and uphills.

Let's back up a bit. The century riders left at 7am but the half century started at 8am. I've never been to a cycling event so everything was going to be new for me. Guess I wasn't keeping track of time because as I was riding over to the restrooms the ride was starting. However, there were a bunch of people in the parking lot who seemed completely unconcerned with leaving at the start time so I was, too. I did my business, downed an energy gel, and headed out on the ride.

I have ridden in Santa Clarita before and I was glad to see that the first several miles would be on that great bike path that parallels Soledad Canyon Rd. Once we reached the end of the path (and by "we" I mean "we riders" because I was solo pretty much the whole ride) we turned onto Soledad Canyon Rd. itself and from here on out it would be all new to me. Here is where the "up" began in earnest. It turns out that this road is what the Amgen Tour of California riders were riding during Stage 7 so I got to see some of Lance's leftover chalk messages on the road. As I describe my riding, I am slower than some and faster than others so I passed and got passed. I did spend some time climbing out of the saddle, which wasn't nearly as tough as it used to be (and is a good rehearsal for UCLA next week). Heading into the first water stop at the 15 mile mark I was riding behind a group of three (that drafting stuff is really cool).

Fuel up, drink up, and I was off again. Some down but mostly up and the headwinds were picking up. I was pretty sick of riding by the time I got to the aforementioned SAG stop. However, they had lots of pretzels, bananas, and oranges, which hit the spot. I didn't think my tummy would like soda and chocolate cookies so I passed on those. I also realized that I should have been fueling up on my schedule rather than waiting for the scheduled stops. Lesson learned. Funny thing at this stop was that I took my shoes and helmet off but I was, literally, the only person who took off either. Maybe it's a point of cyclist pride or something but I thought getting my piggies and noggin cooler were more important. It was also at this time that I looked around and, sure enough, I had the oldest bike around. Funny.

Rest up, fuel up, drink up and it was time to finish this thing. There were a few, teasing downhills and short uphills before the big uphill. It had to have been 2, 2.5 miles of up. At this point I decided I would go into survival mode: granny gear, slow and steady. At the top I fueled up again and headed off. Flat for a bit, the rest of the ride would mainly be downhill. I actually hit 40mph at one point and kept above 30mph for the majority of the rest of the ride. I also got passed while going downhill, which was kinda fun. Sorry, but my bike's stability only goes so far. Plus it was still windy and every so often a big gust would hit and surprise the heck out of me, not to mention knock me around a bit. There was even a more technical portion which, since the course was not closed, I was kind of wimpy on since I didn't want to meet a car coming the other way while I was cutting a corner. All this downhill fun made the misery of the first half worth it.

I finally arrived at the finish, 3:51:21 on the bike and 53.16 miles after I left. I racked my bike, changed shoes, and grabbed some lunch at the deli setup they had and, oh, did it hit the spot. Cold cuts, potato salad, Italian salad, and a cannoli. Yum. After that I wandered the booths that were there then headed home.

All in all, a fun time. Not bad for someone who's only been riding for six months. I have a ways to go until I'm ready for a century but I can definitely see myself doing one.

Lessons learned:

Fuel up on my schedule, not the ride's.

If you even think it's going to be warm, go with a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers instead of a long-sleeved jersey.

On a long ride, save your knees and go to a lower gear. Save grinding up hills for shorter training rides. Your knees will thank you for it during the last half of the ride. At least until you know your knees can handle it on longer rides.

Just because you are wearing a long-sleeved jersey does not mean you should skip the sunscreeen...on your face.

Ring Around UCLA

2009-02-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

After my run this morning (and the less said about that the better) I headed over to UCLA to ride the triathlon course bike route. What fun it's going to be. Once you get out of T1 you have about 30 yards to clip/strap in before you turn into the second half of the route's steepest descent. A slight up, then a short, steep up which gets less steep quickly. Still, you want to redline this hill because once you crest it's downhill and flat for quite a ways. Just when you're getting cocky from all those downhills and fast turns you've been making, a steep uphill shows up. No problem, you can see where it flattens out, right? No, that's just a turn, the hill keeps going and going. Once that crests you go right into the beginning of that steep descent. I predict a lot of passing on the downhills because it's going to freak a bunch of people out, which should make some of those turns pretty interesting. Four laps of this course (I did three today). It's gonna be great.

One note about this morning's run. I am wondering if this cramping (actually exhaustion) of my tibialis is due to poor running technique. I'm slow and heavy right now so I'm not so much running as I am shuffling along. Maybe if I kicked my foot up a bit higher after pushing off I wouldn't need to use my tibialis to lift the front of my foot up so much. I have strong hamstrings so I don't have to worry about those wearing out. Initial results are promising but it looks like I'm going to have to do another run next weekend to know more. I was hoping to avoid a run next week so this may be just a short two-miler.

Almost Nothing New on Race Day

2009-02-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

My tri suit arrived this week and I am happy to report that it fits. I don't look horrible in it but I'm not going to be so pretty on the bike :-). I don't expect to be self-conscious about wearing it at the race and I'm planning on riding in it next weekend but I am so not running or swimming in it before the race. Sorry but that will have to be something new for race day. That and my transition bag and I am done with goodies before the race.

This week's swims were okay. I think I need to have an easy swim workout rather than easy swim weeks. I seem to lose fitness by doing a whole easy week. I was really out of gas at the end of Thursday's swim.

I volunteered at the Amgen Tour of California today. I did my 29-mile ride this morning then headed off to the Rose Bowl. It started off a bit frustrating with all the roads to the Rose Bowl closed. How was I supposed to get to the volunteer parking lot? I finally found a way in and got checked in. Free t-shirt and free lunch! After checking in I had a few hours before I had to go to my post so I walked around the Lifestyle Festival. Lots of bikes and components that I can't afford. $30 for an official ToC cowbell? The ToC jerseys were okay but nothing I had to have so I passed. Watched the race on a jumbotron for a bit before it was time to get ready to move out. I brought my bike so I changed shoes and rode off to my post. I was a Course Marshall and we're supposed to clear any debris and make sure nothing (people, cars, animals) get on the course once it's closed. I was out in the boonies so I didn't expect much to do (and Pasadena is so clean there was no debris to speak of). However, just as the CHP are coming down the road there's some bozo on a mountain bike. I wave him off and the CHP encourage him to get off, too. The breakaway comes in first but I can't take a picture of them because I'm telling two women to get off the road and onto the sidewalk. The peloton arrives a few minutes later but I didn't get any good pictures at that time. After a while the caravan completely passes and we volunteers race down to catch the circuit around the Rose Bowl, which was very cool. I got pretty close, too:

That's tour leader Levi Leipheimer with Lance Armstrong right behind. Sports photography on an iPhone is not a piece of cake. Anyway, it was a fun day. Next year I will either volunteer again or make a run on the course ahead of the pros. We'll see how fit I am in a year.

A Weekend in Transition

2009-02-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

The weekend started with my 45-mile ride from Sylmar into Santa Clarita and back. I wasn't going to try and go faster than my last time on this route but based on my recent rides I figured I end up going a bit faster. I took a couple of fueling/stripping breaks but none due to "I can't make it up that hill" this time. I felt good and came in twenty minutes faster than last time. Next time on this route I will try and go faster since I'm a bit more used to the route. Hit 37mph on one of the downhills. 32mph used to be my freak-out limit so I'm making some kind of weird progress.

On Sunday I went for an easy 10-mile ride to get some of Saturday's ride out of my legs. Before I started my ride, though, I played around with hopping on my bike with the shoes already clipped in to the pedals. I have seen videos of people doing that where the shoes are not secured with rubber bands. I have decided that those people did not have size 13 shoes. I am definitely using rubber bands (which I need to get a good supply of). When I ran out of rubber bands I headed out on my ride without socks (nothing new on race day, right?). On a whim I detoured on top of Hansen Dam to get my first preview of this summer's triathlon route. Nice ride. After I came down off the dam I went into one of the park's parking lots and practiced the rest of my transitions.

The first time I practiced bike transitions I thought that they were really hard and wondered if I had enough time to get competent at them. After I figured out my system, though, I have to say I got pretty good at them. Pedal on the shoes, slip my feet into the shoes and strap in, then pop my feet out of the shoes. If it goes well at UCLA I might even make a video of doing it because the transition videos I've seen aren't very good or detailed enough.

Today I wanted to take advantage of the three-day weekend and get in a run but the weather was pretty miserable. That wouldn't deter me from a bike ride but I'm a bit skittish about my running right now so I waited to see if the weather would get better. It didn't. Then my family and I went out to the movies. When we came out of the theater the weather looked better so I decided to race sundown when we got home. It was just a three-mile run but the calves mostly held up. I did take a planned break halfway but things went well. The front of my calves started getting a bit tight towards the end but not nearly as bad as last weekend. We'll see.

Next weekend is a two-hour ride before I head out to be a Course Marshall at the Amgen Tour of California. On Sunday, after a run, I will head over to UCLA and preview the bike part of the triathlon course.

Swimming Into the Wall

2009-02-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

As with my cycling last month, I have reached a point in swimming where I can't just keep adding yards and swim hard all the time. On today's workout I could tell pretty quickly that I was going to be too tired to finish my planned 650yd long swim so I just did 400. Funny thing, though, is that when I did my sets of 50 my times were consistently 40 seconds. That's not so remarkable (unless you're 11) but just last week I was doing them in 43 seconds and today I wasn't trying to go especially fast. Odd. Even my hundred time was 1:28, which was a couple of seconds faster than last week. Odd. I was running out of gas towards the end so I only did 1400 yards today.

This Thursday I'll do an easy workout and work on those flip turns. That will coincide with my long ride this weekend. After that I will need to figure out how to cycle my swim workouts along with my cycling workouts. That's a good thing, though.

I am starting to get tired of being cold. If I wasn't working out it wouldn't bother me because I'd just bundle up and that would be that. However, swimming in the cold. Swimming in the rain. Riding at 6:30am. Riding at 5:15am (tomorrow). I can hardly wait to be sweating like a pig during my workouts...except for swimming, of course. I whine too much.

Granny Once Removed

2009-02-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

The drizzle was just starting around 6:30 when I headed this out morning on what I thought was going to be a 35-mile ride. The drizzle turned into a soft rain but nothing heavy and it seemed to keep the cars off the road. Today, the rain was my friend. I had sore quads from my run yesterday but, otherwise, I was just fine.

Have I mentioned that I take breaks on my rides? After sixty minutes I pull over and do what I need to do: drink, gel, remove a layer of clothing, etc. An hour is about 15 miles on my routes so I'm going the distance of most of my planned races before I stop so I don't think it's cheating :-). Anyways, it's only a few minutes. It's just the L.A. Triathlon where I think I'll need to fuel up while on the bike (it's a 20-mile ride) so I can work on my mobile nutrition logistics later.

Back to the ride. At my first break I noticed I was right at 15mph, which is good. I rode down Rinaldi and made the turn onto Balboa. Instead of going right into the granny gear for the climb I usually go into granny+1 until it gets too hard and then I downshift into the granny gear. However, this time I didn't downshift. Without any planning and just because I felt good, I went up the whole Balboa incline, including the second, steeper one, in granny+1. This is a huge deal for me and translated into 1-2mph faster up the hill because I was keeping a pretty good cadence the whole time (around 60). After yesterday's depressing run, this brought me back up.

After coming down Balboa and turning onto Foothill I saw numbers on my Garmin that didn't make sense. It turns out that my 35-mile ride was just a 33.75-mile ride. Next time I'm going to need to find a way to make it longer. On the bright side, I did this route almost 20 minutes faster than the last time I rode it. Woo hoo!

Next weekend is my killer 46-mile route into Santa Clarita. Last time I rode it it wiped me out for the whole weekend. This time I'd like to squeeze in a run on Sunday (and maybe an easy 10-mile ride after that to get the junk out of my legs). We'll see.

Depressing First Run

2009-02-07T21:36:00.001-08:00

I was going to do my ride this morning but when I woke up the rain was coming down pretty good. I checked the forecast and it said rain today, partly sunny and a chance of rain on Sunday. I figured I'd do my long ride on Sunday and run during a break in the rain today. A few hours later the rain stopped and it wasn't such a bad day.

I went out for my run and did my usual quick warmup to the stoplight, rest, and start the real run. First time I've ever run with the Garmin and, yes, it feels as stupid as it looks because the thing is so freaking big. I was heading out at a 10:00/mi pace, which is slow but that's what I have to deal with. After about a mile, though, I can feel my left calf starting to seize up--on the front and back. Crap! I make it to the turnaround at the 1.5mi mark and take a break by walking around. Maybe this is happening because it's my first run? Crap! After a few minutes I start up again but another half mile and the front of that left leg starts giving me problems again so I take another break. Crap! I walk and do some rubbing then get going again. I make the mile back home without further incident. Crap!

I download from the Garmin and get to analyzing. I ended up with an 11:17/mi pace, which is awful, of course. The calf thing really has me worried, though. With swimming you're floating in water and on the bike you have the machine but on the run it's just you and gravity--and I have a lot of gravity. I was thinking of doing just one more run before UCLA but now I am thinking of adding one more on the 15th. The slowness does bother me, though my lungs were just fine, but I really don't know about the calf.

After UCLA I can progress slowly on the run while I'm losing weight on the bike. That has been the plan as I head into the summer racing season and it does look like the way to go. I just may have to accept that this season I'm going to do well on the swim, okay on the bike (though I want to do great on the bike at Hansen Dam), and suck on the run. I'll know more in a few months.

My Swim Workouts at the 600 Mark

2009-02-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to record what my swimming workouts are like these days:

2x50 warmup
1x600 (or whatever the long distance du jour is)
4x50 @ 1:15 (I'm coming in at about :42 these days so a bit over :30 rest)
1x100 (coming in around 1:30)
4x50 @ 1:15
1x200
4x50 @ 1:15
1x50 almost sprint (about :38)
1x50 cool down

That's how I get in almost a mile of swimming in under 45 minutes on my lunch break.

Next week I will do 700 yards for the long swim on Tuesday. I'll probably do it on Thursday, too, but I want to spend much of that day working on flip turns. If I have the lungs for them (and that is not guaranteed, believe me) I think they'd be fun to do at UCLA. I nearly did one during my "almost sprint" but my breathing was wrong as I approached the wall so I chickened out. I'll be mindful of the breathing next time.

Countdown

2009-02-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me that I really need to plan my training leading up to my first triathlon. I have my first run this weekend, a second run two weeks after that, a half-century the week before the tri, volunteering at the Tour of California the week before that, I need to practice my transitions, I want to try riding without socks to see what that's like, and I want to ride the UCLA route before the race. Yeah, I need to get organized. I sat down with a calendar and a list of all that I need to do between now and March 8. I think I have it nailed. The big question mark is my running. I'll know more on Sunday!

Last Sunday's ride went better than I thought it would. I noticed that on Saturday's ride I was shifting more confidently than I used to. It's an old bike and the shifters are on the downtube. I was pretty shaky on the bike after I first bought it so shifting was scary. I'm much better now so I decided to do more shifting on Sunday, which seems to have helped me with an almost identical time to Saturday despite tired legs.

I stayed in the saddle up the Woodley hill but tried to power up it rather than just survive. I got about 3/4 the way up before my heart felt like it was going to explode. Progress, progress.

The Crank Sports gels have been working out well. They are a bit on the sweet side, so I wouldn't want to live on them, and I miss the chocolate Gu. However, for the shortish distances I am doing they are just fine and the price sure is right.

It's Getting Better All the Time

2009-01-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

Thursday's swim was great. 1600 yards, including another 500. I was tempted to start doing flip turns again but I think I'll wait another couple of weeks for that. Felt really good.

Today's bike ride was also great. My 29-mile course that I previously did in 2:15 I did in 1:58. The main reason was hills. Well, that and no headwinds but mainly I'm faster up the hills. The hill up Woodley is still a killer but I stayed in the saddle again. Balboa was actually not a long torture session. I really noticed progress today.

After the ride I went to A Snail's Pace and bought some running shoes. This was the first time I've gone to a running store and had someone watch me run. I guess I was pronating a bit so the guy brought out several shoes to work with that and provide me lots of support. The fun thing was that he would ask me to run in this long hallway to check my feet and, even though it was only 15 yards or so, I never got even a little winded. Yes, I know that 5k is longer than 15 yards but it was not that long ago that a run of even that length would have gotten me somewhat winded. Not at all this time. Looks like my plan to build an aerobic base with cycling and swimming is working. I settled on the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8, which was on sale. Wore them out the door and I'll wear them to work on Monday and Wednesday to get used to them. Next Sunday will be my first run.

I saw a site mentioned in one of the BT forums: Wetsuits OnSale.com. I wasn't going to buy a wetsuit this season but I've been thinking that I'm going to want to start doing open-water swims in May or June and I'm not convinced the water is going to be all that warm then. That and the L.A. Triathlon has moved to October and I don't know that the water is going to be all that warm then, either. Anyway, this site has great deals on racing suits (really great deals) so I broke down and bought one; a Rocket Science Real Joe Sleeveless for half off. December and January seem to be quite the month for clearance sales in the triathlon world.

Going for another 29-mile ride tomorrow. Next week I'll do 35 on Saturday then the run on Sunday. That's the plan, at least. Four weeks until the Santa Clarita Half Century. Five weeks until the Iron Bruin Triathlon.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

2009-01-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

My decision to take time off from training was spot on. During today's swim, after a warm up, I swam 500 yards straight and could have gone farther. Excellent! That was quite the confidence-booster since I now know that I can swim as far as I need to this season. I didn't doubt that was going to happen but today's the day when it happened.

Came across the Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I have been looking for a June triathlon. The Redondo Beach Triathlon just seems too short but the Ventura is just right. This one I might even be able to get my family to attend with me, as my in-laws are in the area. Hmm...

Back to the hill training in the morning. The forecast says it should be in the thirties.

Commitment Time

2009-01-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

I finally got tired of talking about events I wanted to do. Time to put my money where my mouth is:

Entered: Santa Clarita Half Century - February 28

I went to enter the Gran Fondo San Diego metric century but they changed it to a 45-mile ride. Meh. I can ride a bit farther and not have to drive so far by doing the Santa Clarita instead.

Entered: UCLA Iron Bruin Triathlon - March 8

Yes, the very next weekend. This will be my first triathlon but I'm treating it as my first brick workout. No Clydesdale division so I'll be an age grouper.

Showers Pass (Overhead)

2009-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

When I went to bed last night, the weather forecast was for clouds but no rain. Saturday's forecast had been like that for a few days. When I woke up to a drizzly morning, the forecast for the day was now 40% chance of rain. No matter as it gave me a chance to try out my Showers Pass Double Century Jacket which, up to now, had just been keeping me warm on cold mornings.

It was just a short, ten-mile ride and the jacket came through just as advertised but while my upper body stayed dry and warm, the rest of me was pretty wet. It only mattered on my feet. However, this is Los Angeles and it doesn't get so cold when it rains.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride in the rain!

Interesting thing happened. On Glenoaks passing the golf course there is a hill that leads up to a stoplight at Osborne. That hill used to wipe me out when I reached the top and I'd have to take a break before making a right at the light because it keeps going up. This time I was taking it easy up the hill and made the right and kept going. However, because of the rain the right shoulder was a torrent of water so I couldn't ride there. This particular stretch of road doesn't even have much of a shoulder plus the drivers around there tend to be jerks so I decided to try and speed through it. To my surprise, I was able to. This tells me two things. One, the hill work is paying off. Two, I need to go faster during my hill workouts because I now know I have it in me.

Overtraining? Moi?

2009-01-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's swim was awful. I couldn't go more than 100 yards at a time before getting exhausted. And for the second night in a row I've waken up at 2:30am for no reason and have had trouble getting back to sleep. I have suspected that I am approaching overtraining and these are the last straws. No hill ride this morning. No swimming tomorrow. Just one ten-mile ride this weekend. Time to plan some cycles in my cycling.

Good Morning Santa Clarita!

2009-01-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

I made it into Santa Clarita Saturday morning. I wasn't sure exactly how long the route I had planned was but I figured it would be at least 40 miles and if it wasn't I have ways of lengthening it. Turns out I needn't have worried. Riding into SC via Sierra Highway is quite hilly but very doable. Things were going well when I thought I might have missed a turn. I did but kept going and came across a great bike path along the Santa Clarita River. Miles of not having to worry about stoplights! On my way back there was one last hill to go back up and after 30-something miles I had to stop part way up and rest/refuel. Next time I'll make it all the way up. I made up for it by having to use the brakes to keep my speed under 32mph on the downhills during the day. I'm getting less freaked out by going fast downhill but I do have my limits. 46 miles for the day. Whew!

The day after last week's long ride I went for a 30-mile ride but that killed me so this time I only went twenty miles. Much better. However, I was still pretty tired so I didn't get some yardwork done that I wanted to. Next weekend I am not even going to attempt a Sunday ride because I really need to get our arena sprayed.

On Saturday's ride I took energy gel breaks every hour, which seemed to sustain me. I did the Gu thing but I was a bit put off to find out that they have caffeine in them. Why would I want to have a diuretic while training in 80+ degrees (we're have a heat wave down here). While searching for alternatives I came across e-Gel by Crank Sports. They have a good deal on a sampler pack so I ordered some. We'll see what happens.

I had to laugh today when Lance Armstrong posted this pic of him riding "70 kms easy" the day before the opening of the Tour Down Under (catch the coverage on Vs., it's actually pretty exciting). I do 74km and I'm wiped out for the whole weekend :-).

I have been looking for a sprint triathlon around June and I stumbled across the Redondo Beach Triathlon on June 14. Hmm.

This Wednesday evening is my first meeting for Tour of California volunteers.

Santa Clarita Another Day and the Road Less Travelled

2009-01-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

I didn't have time to post this until now but last Thursday was my first swim workout in about a month, what with a sore shoulder and the pool closed for maintenance. It was pretty lousy. I could only get in 1200 wind-sucking yards. I suspect another workout or two and I'll be back in business. I'll find out tomorrow.

I started off Saturday's long ride on my usual San Fernando Valley 30 route. The wind started up out of the north just as I turned north, of course. There's a short, steep hill at one point and when I started it I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to stay in the saddle and actually made it (previously I could only keep the bike moving by getting out of the saddle). I made a left instead of a right about 20 miles into it--right after going up Balboa. This new route starts out on a hill that turned out to be the steepest and longest I have tried so far. I got out of the saddle and kept going and going. Finally, about twenty yards from the top, I couldn't keep the bike moving anymore. I wasn't able to clip out fast enough so I reached over and held onto the hill, which was right there. Did I mention that this was a narrow, two-lane road? Yeah, I felt pretty stupid as cars crawled by me. I also learned how difficult it is to clip in uphill. Definitely choosing the alternate route next time I try a trip to Santa Clarita until I know I can take this hill.

I rested up and finally crested the hill. I went another mile or so when a long, not-so-steep hill loomed. I was pretty tired by this point so I stopped my bike, looked at the hill, and decided I didn't have enough to go to Santa Clarita that day. I turned around and headed back but I sorta missed a turn and headed down San Fernando Road instead of Foothill Blvd. I decided to go with it. It was a nice ride--except for the dust storm (I need to find me some sunglasses). Too many stoplights once I got into San Fernando but a nice change of pace. 36 miles when I finished.

I decided Sunday's ride would be three times around the 10-mile loop in front of my house, which meant I could sleep in since I didn't have to worry so much about cars. First loop clockwise, second counter, third clockwise. We're having a bit of a heatwave right now so I could leave most of the cold weather gear home, though I did keep the long sleeves (turns out I could have gone sleeveless). They were nice laps but I was definitely spent by the third one.

What is it with cyclists not saying anything when they pass you. Not a "Hello." Not a "Good morning." Not a "On your left." Not a "You suck, pokey." Nothing. Two guys passed me towards the end and not a peep out of them. Bozos weren't even going all that fast. What's up with that?

Next Saturday I am going to take a more direct route into Santa Clarita, avoiding that first hill, and see what I have left when I come back to decide whether to take a direct route home or not.

The winner, so far, in the taste test department: Gu Energy Gel over Hammer Gel.

Riding In The Dark

2009-01-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I awoke at 5am for my first morning hill workout. The rest of my family is out of town right now so if I got back later than expected, it wouldn't ruin anybody else's morning routine. I found out a few things by riding in darkness:

How do you clip in if you can't see your pedal? Answer: clip out under a street light.

My Garmin's light doesn't stay on so I'm going to need to set the cadence alert.

Those Flea Lights really are bright for their size.

Believe it or not, I was actually stronger on this hill workout than Saturday's workout.

Even though it's cold, being out for only a half hour means the cold doesn't get very far into me...unlike my long rides on the weekend, when the cold reaches in deep.

New Saddle

2009-01-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

Hill work went well yesterday. I managed to go up three times in the limited time I gave myself, which represents the limited time I will have Wednesday mornings. The plan is to increase the cadence each week by two. So, 40 rpm this week, 42 next week, etc. I've been looking around for information on hill training and, other than "do hills", the advice isn't very methodical. I'm going to try this cadence thing and see how it works.

Was feeling like another 40+ mile ride today despite doing my first one just this past Friday...because I'm an idiot. I was taking it nice and easy when the winds kicked up. They kept kicking me all the way up Balboa. Then the saddle started making me sore. Then the fatigue from the previous two days' rides kicked in. As I approached the top of Balboa I decided this wouldn't be my day for another long ride so instead of making a left I made a right and headed home. Maybe two long rides in a weekend isn't such a good idea for me at this stage. Still, it was a 29-mile ride, which means I had a 75 mile (three-day) weekend.

I cannot continue to do three- and four-hour rides with the old saddle that came with my bike:

As you may be able to see, it has seen better days. So, after fueling up, resting, and rinsing, I headed over to Montrose Bike Shop because they have quite a selection of saddles. They're all Specialized, of course, but, still, it's quite a selection. First, I got my butt measured (I'm a 143mm, FYI). Then I chose a Phenom based on the recommendation of the guy helping me. Man oh man do I need that split-down-the-middle design. Came home, swapped saddles, tweaked things a bit to get the fit right (and, in the process, found out that my handlebars were too low) and took it for a quick spin. Seems promising. I will know much more next weekend when I plan to head into Santa Clarita for my long ride.

Also did some basic bike maintenance with my spiffy new toolkit. That Chain Scrubber is pretty nift but it's hard to use without a repair stand. I think I'm making that my next purchase.

40 Miles Is A Long Way (for me)

2009-01-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

Did my first 40+mile ride today:
This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead.

Yeah, I'm pretty tired. It will get better, though. It wasn't that long ago that my whole weekend of riding didn't add up to 40 miles. No spoke problems. Hill work tomorrow. Then maybe another 40 on Sunday. I have to find a route with fewer stoplights. I have one in mind but I have to drive it first.

Came across the Santa Clarita Century. It's the day before the Gran Fondo San Diego so I can't do both (well, I could but I'm not going to). The San Diego ride looks like more fun but I wouldn't have to travel far for the Santa Clarita ride (they have a 50-mile version, which is what I would be doing). Hmm.

Ready for the Weekend (I Hope)

2008-12-31T21:56:00.000-08:00

I decided to get both my wheels re-spoked (I hope that's a word). Not cheap but cheaper than a new bike. I donated blood today so I can't ride tomorrow but I'm all set for Friday. The plan is a long ride Friday, hill workout in daylight on Saturday (before doing them in the dark on Wednesdays), and 34-ish miles on Sunday. If my wheels stay intact, I will be a happy guy.

Oh, I also picked up some tools so now I can actually use my new truing stand.

Happy New Year!

iPhones Don't Work If Nobody Answers

2008-12-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

It was about 40 degrees when I took off at 6:30 this morning for a planned 29-mile ride. I had my new lights and was all bundled up so I was looking forward to this. All was going well until about mile 7 when I went/jumped over a pothole/rut. I heard a "bonk" and my rear wheel, which was already out of true, started really wobbling. I pulled over and not only did I break a spoke, I broke two (though I wonder if the second was already broken). I was hoping I could ride home SLOWLY. Nope.

No problem. I carry my iPhone with me on rides (with a protective case, of course) so I'll just call home and get picked up. Well, it turns out that yesterday's wealth of Wii games overloaded the senses of my son and, though he was awake, he ignored my phone calls. All but the last one. He ignored the 13 messages on the answering machine. He ignored the calls I would make just to ring the phone. Grrr.

Okay, my wife or daughter would have to wake up at some point, right? I'll just play video games between phone calls until one of those two wakes up. So I did. Funny thing about my winter riding gear: it keeps me pretty warm when I'm moving by trapping my heat. Not so much when I'm standing still. Soon the warm glow of my ride started to fade and there I was, in 40-50 degree weather with the wind picking up, and I'm standing there wearing shorts and a windbreaker. For two hours.

By the time I get ahold of my wife the shivers are getting harder and harder to control. She shows up with the van, I toss the bike in the back, and we head home. We were planning on a trip downtown so I had to take a quick shower which, as hot as it was, was surprisingly not very warming. However, a trip into the kitchen for some emergency ramen did help a lot. Note to self: pick up more ramen for post-ride warming.

That's three spokes in three weeks. What am I going to do? I can't really buy sturdy new wheels for my bike because it is so old and I don't want to spend more on wheels than I did for the whole bike. New bike? The bike shops I have gone to have been heavy into Specialized bikes but I wanted another opinion so headed over to Velo Pasadena because they showed a wider selection on their site. I got there and oh my goodness. Big shop and you can actually walk around in it. I got some help and was shown a Felt F55, which is on sale because it is an '08. What to do, what to do...