Review and Preview

Last weekend I headed down to Rochester with the boys for a training weekend. I was able to unload the kids onto my sister (thanks Liss!!) while I headed out for my longest weekend yet - 4.5 hrs on Saturday and 3+ on Sunday. Plus, the Rochester area isn't exactly flat.
The forecast all week leading into the weekend called for rain so I was pretty prepared mentally for a wet workout and by the time Saturday rolled around was actually, dare I say, looking forward to it! Mother Nature didn't let me down either. About 5 minutes after I jumped on my bike for my 3.5 hr ride it started drizzling. Nothing major, but enough to make me pay attention more than normal. Fine, I thought, I can handle this. At that point I was actually more concerned about the wind. It was a crosswind coming from the SSW and a majority of my route was E to W and back with a loop in the middle. I got to wondering if I'd rather have a crosswind the whole time, either direction or would it be better to have a headwind and then a tailwind? I think the headwind/tailwind scenario is a better one.
Well, the first 2 hours went well and I was holding my own. The wind was more of an issue than the rain, that just made things wet. At that 2 hr mark things got interesting though. As luck would have it, I was at the farthest point away from where I parked, out in BFE, and all I can see coming towards me is a wall of gray! For the next 15 minutes I pedaled in my granny gear (on flat roads!) straight into a blowing downpour, or it would actually be more appropriate to call it a diagonalpour. With the wind, the rain felt like pins and needles hitting my arms and legs. It brought back memories of when we'd get caught in the rain waterskiing and trying to make it back to the dock.
I did think about stopping, but didn't really have any place to pull off to. I could've just layed in the ditch and let the storm pass, but then I thought this is why I wanted to ride in the rain, to see if I could, what it was like, get used to it in case race day has crappy weather. So, I rode on. Not my best decision, but I won't tease you and make you think anything happened. I got through it, but 20/20 hindsight says I probably should've stopped and waited it out.
That storm lasted about 15 minutes, it rained off and on for another 20ish minutes after that and then for my last 45ish minutes on the bike the sun slowly made it's way out and it cleared up. Just in time to get warm and humid for my run! Yippee!
Remember that crosswind I was talking about during the first part of my ride? Well, it decided to turn into a headwind on my way back. Yup, it switched directions and made this bike workout one I won't forget anytime soon.
So, I get done biking (my longest ride ever, personal best distance and duration!), clean up/dry off and head out on my run. By now, the sun is out and heating things up, just another less-than-ideal workout condition. I would've preferred it stayed overcast. Running after biking is always a strange feeling, odd sensation - the legs don't feel like they're working, but somehow you're moving forward. The whole 50 minute run I didn't feel like I was holding a very good pace, but once I got done I was more than pleased that I held an 8:15 pace for 6 miles! If I were a bettin' man, I would've thought they were more like 9:15s. Good thing I didn't put money on that.
Sunday's workout was even more interesting. I signed up for the Rochester Triathlon on June 19th so I wanted to run/ride the course to get a little familiar with it. I ran first this time and it was pretty uneventful. The course is nice in that I can break it up into little segments and just move from one segment to the next. There are a couple of interesting "off road" portions that I'll make sure to mention in any post race survey, but that's for another day.
The ride was brutal. Sunday was even windier than Saturday and it just made the hills seem even steeper. With the course layout, it was a tailwind first which only meant a headwind coming back. I'd much prefer the opposite order! Add on top of this hard workout some nutritional mistakes I have since learned from (eat more!) and it made for a very long, slow ride! With the wind as strong as it was, there were actually times I was slowing down while going downhill!!
I finally got back to my car about 20 minutes later than what it normally takes me to cover that distance (40k) and said good riddance to Rochester until the 19th! I like to think I persevered and powered through Saturday, but the elements dominated me on Sunday.
I've had a good training week since - some long swims, a nice BRick on Tuesday with a 30 mile ride and 6 mile run right after (@ 7:45s!) and another 8 miler at sub 8's tonight. This is all leading into what I hope will be a fun and worthwhile Memorial Weekend.
I'm heading down to Madison to ride and run the course with Tim and Karl, 2 other IMers this year. I'm using it as more of a learning weekend than hardcore training. I just want to see what the bike route is like, experience the hills I keep hearing about, and get a lay of the land for the run route. There is a 30-40% chance of wetness, but after last weekend I'm more concerned about that because we're camping in tents, not because of the rides or runs we'll do!
Check back next week and I'll let you know how my first foray into the belly of beast went!

CC Gaffes

I was biking on my trainer the other morning and had the t.v. on, but muted, while I was listening to music on the radio. Closed Captioning is kinda funny to read, especially with live television. Here are a couple funnier goofs that were typed out:

N-double A-C-P (wouldn't it have been faster to just type AA, and w/o the dashes?)
Crap apple tree (not sure I want to eat that fruit!)

Gave me a brief chuckle during an otherwise monotonous workout.

The Fish That Got Away

So for a couple of weeks in April (maybe even dating back to late March?) I was doing most of my swimming in the evenings in New Hope. I soon noticed that around the same time, 7:00ish, on Mondays, Wednesdays (and 1 Friday when I was there) the same female would show up and also swim. Could tell she was possibly training for something or at least it was a serious workout (for her), not just casually swimming. She wasn’t the fastest, but knew what she was doing. I never really saw her without my goggles on, without her swim cap on, we never swam in lanes next to each other and never started/finished at the same time. It was hard to pinpoint her age, especially cuz she had a cap and goggles on. Anyhoo, the last time we were both there she did happen to end her workout first and get out of the pool and take off her cap. As (not-so-good) luck would have it I was at the other end of the pool, but had time to “rest” at the wall and flip my goggles up. From what I could tell she was in the right demographic ballpark and I liked what I saw. I’ll admit, the past couple of weeks I’ve purposely delayed some of my swims to happen in the evenings in hopes of seeing her again. I didn’t purposely do that yesterday by oversleeping, but I wasn’t all that disappointed when I realized what day it was and that maybe she would be there. Unfortunately, she wasn’t, and I haven’t seen her in 3-4 weeks now. I’m thinking I probably won’t again, especially with my training schedule getting longer I’ll need to be more diligent about getting there in the mornings.
So, it begs the question, how does one successfully go about asking someone out when you're at a health club? Too often, too many people, men & women, are in the club and you know they're there just see and be seen and it's quite pathetic at times. I've always had the mindset I'm going to the gym to workout, not hookup, and I'm going to assume most others have the same approach so I'm going to respect that. When someone does come around that catches my eye, am I then supposed to wait outside until they get done and stalk them to their car so I'm not a hypocrite? Kidding (sort of).

This biking thing is getting better! Had my longest, and dare I say it, best, ride yesterday. I headed out to meet the twins, Karlene and Nicole, on the Liberty Tri course, a local 1/2 iron distance tri. The bike loop consists of a 28 mile route you do 2x. The first loop I kind of rode with them. Being a little stronger than them I was able to pull ahead on some segments, but then I'd stop and wait at each turn. The second loop I rode straight through, it was planned that way, and held a nice steady pace. Did I mention it was windy? Oh yeah, it was windy! Mostly a crosswind which I seriously had to adjust for and some wide open roads with a headwind that literally kept me from speeding up while going downhill. No lie. This course wasn't flat either, a lot of rolling hills with a couple of climbs I had to bust out the granny gear (for you non-bikers, the granny gear is the easiest gear). So, with the wind and the hills, being able to hold an 18 mph average over 50 miles, I'm pretty happy with that!

And because I just didn't get enough hills yesterday, I did more repeats on the ski hill by my office today for a short 45 minute ride! I'm going to own Bush Lake Rd by the time this training season is done. You're gonne be mine, Bitch!

Lessons Learned?

So a couple of days ago I was thinking back to my 1/2 marathon last weekend, going through it mile by mile, and a smile started forming and then it got bigger...and bigger... I made the realization that that race was now the owner of my best finish ever! By finish, I don't mean crossing the finish line or my time. I mean the last couple of miles of any race I've done with significant distance. Over the last 2ish miles I only got passed once! I did most of the passing! In most of my previous marathons and longer tris I usually hit "the wall", be it from going out too fast, poor nutrition, poor training, take your pick. This time around I started slow, kept a nice even pace throughout, (properly trained heading into it!) and I was the one passing people at the end! The 1 guy who did pass me I recognized from a few miles back. He was running with his wife back then and I could tell he was holding back so I wasn't too disappointed he got me back. Over those final 2 miles I just kept telling myself to stay relaxed and just get that next person in front of me...and then the next person...and then the next. I just kept getting 'em, what a great feeling! I want to end every race like that!
The pendulum has swung to running as being my strong suit/favorite right now. Early in the season it was probably biking, then running creeped up there, then I had a breakthrough in swimming so I felt that was where I was gaining the most benefit, but now I feel like it's running again. Funny how it can change in just a matter of a couple of workouts. I had a good training run on Sunday and another one today. Sunday's ended up being shorter than what the training schedule called for, but I got started late and was meeting a training partner to go for a ride immediately after so I didn't want to keep her waiting just so I could finish my run. I headed out on an out-n-back route to make sure I'd be back in time (vs a route that's a loop, harder to gauge how long it might take). Once done with the run, I didn't immediately know how far I had gone until I got home later and mapped it out online, but was curious because it felt fast-ish. Granted, my HR was a little higher than what a training run calls for, but not too far out of bounds, maybe 5-7% higher than it should've been. It turned out I did a 7:45/mile pace for that run and it didn't feel like I was working all that hard! Woot woot!!
The ride immediately after that run was interesting, to say the least! It started sprinkling, but since we were both there we still headed out, thought it would be good to get some training done in adverse conditions. Never gonna know what race day weather will be like so get prepared for anything! Sprinkles turned into a drizzle (or is it the other way around?) which turned into a steady rain (but not a downpour).
We came to an intersection and had to cross some railroad tracks. Now, if there's 1 thing you want to do when on your bike and your faced with RR tracks in the road that is to cross them at as much of a 90 degree angle as possible. Unfortunately, these tracks cut through the road at an angle and throw on top of that being slippery from the rain and you guessed it, someone fell. No, it wasn't me, but my partner did. Her front tire slipped into the groove between the track and the road and down she went.
Granted, we weren't cruising along at 20 mph and it came out of nowhere, but she still fell and absorbed the bounce with the side of her body. Before you ask "well, why didn't she just put her foot down?" it's not that easy. When you're wearing bike shoes and clipped into your pedals, the hardest thing to do is get unclipped once you know you're heading down.
Bike crashes are kinda surreal and strange to see happen. I've witnessed 2 now - CC had a doozy of a crash 3 years ago careening out of control on a downhill, swearing the whole way and now this fall, I hesitate to call it a crash. I was riding behind Nic and had just got done crossing the tracks when I saw her bike basically stop and then she started tipping over to the right. I had to quick turn to avoid her, but remember thinking "Huh, she's gonna fall. Look at that. There she goes." And she never said a word. Fortunately, there wasn't any blood, we don't think she broke anything (although her wrist is still sore a couple of days later) and her bike is still functioning as it should. Just makes me hope that if I ever crash, it's into a lake or better yet, a big pile of down pillows!

So, About This Biking Thing...

disclaimer: I really did start this the next day after my previous post! However, I'm just getting back to finishing it up now, on 5/8. In the future, I won't make any bold statements about when I'll be posting, I don't want to disappoint all you faithful readers. All 2 of you are still out there, right?

Biking is fickle. One can put in approx. 1,400 miles in 4 months, but not go anywhere. That's literally and figuratively how I've felt with my biking. Literally, because most of that has been done locked into my trainer. So while I'm getting saddle time and my ass is making a new BFF, I've been stuck in one spot looking at the same scenery (unless I've been prepared enough and stopped by a Redbox to pick up a new movie). Figuratively, because all that time in the basement spinning, spinning and more spinning I thought it would translate into Lance Armstrong-like comparisons once the rubber met the road this Spring. (not literally, but you know what I mean)

I was excited to finally get the bike outside and see/feel what all the trainer rides have done for me. I felt like I was getting stronger, was able to pedal harder for longer, used higher gears (or is it lower, i.e. harder?) and actually noticed more muscle mass in my legs. It didn't quite translate into all that once a real ride came about. My first ride I thought I'd just keep fairly simple, just get used to actually moving forward, clipping in and out of the pedals again and needing to actually pay attention to my surroundings. It was a fairly uneventful ride, but once I got done I could feel the difference in my legs between an indoor trainer ride and a real ride outside. I'm not sure I could've run a 5k at that point and here I am training to run a full marathon in the IM after just 112 miles on the bike?! This first ride was pretty flat, just getting outside miles, so it was a little disconcerting to have weak legs at the end.
Issue #2 came on ride #2. The hard thing, at least for me, with a trainer is it's hard to simulate hills. Maybe I'm not torquing enough tension onto the roller? I thought I had some pretty good workouts on the trainer, but once I got outside and actually rode up some hills I realized there's no substitution for the real thing! I went on this ride with Tim, another Ironman-wanna-be-in-training. He's younger, in better shape than I am, but still being a competitor on the inside, I thought we were fairly equivalent in our biking abilities. The route he choose had some moderate, at best, climbs. I don't know if I just attacked the hills wrong, was in the wrong gear starting out or just plain wasn't ready for my workout, but it felt like I was struggling with every single incline! Tim and I would be riding along side by side (when car traffic allowed), but as soon as a hill came along I quickly resumed my rear position, and not by choice. I realized after this ride that I need to work on hills, I need to focus on the quality of the ride (make sure hills are part of the route) and not just quantity (time). Anyone can ride on roads that are like pancakes as long as their ass can withstand it, but I'll need to be able to deal with non-pancakes.

So, that's a brief recap of my first couple of rides outdoors a couple of weeks back. I'm happy to report now that I'm not feeling quite so down about the biking thing. I've had a couple of decent rides since then, another one with Tim that had some moderate-to-hard climbs that I did better with (he still dropped me going up), and a couple of workouts that I just did hill repeats on (rode up and came right back down only to ride right back up again! Yes, on purpose). I think it'll come, just gotta give it more time.

Another #s update: I didn't blog about my weight in March because I didn't lose any. Didn't gain, but didn't lose either, a little disappointing. April saw things drop a little again so that's good - dropped 4 more lbs so I'm currently sitting around 176, down 17 after 4 months.

April (is for Fools)

It's a new month so I guess that means it's time for my monthly post. Oops again.

April was a good training month. Felt like I had a breakthrough in the pool and became more efficient with my stroke; finally was able to get the bike outside a couple of times, but not nearly enough (thanks Ma Nature); and my running has gotten, dare I say it, speedy (for my standards anyway).

April #s: 497.6 miles
Swim: 30,750 yds, 17.5 miles
Bike: 395.5 miles, 22 hrs 40 minutes
Run: 84.6 miles, 13 hrs

Cumulative #s thru April: 1,757.7 miles (yikes!)
Swim: 109,175 yds, 62 miles
Bike: 1,397.5 miles, 78 hrs 20 minutes
Run: 298.2 miles, 45 hrs 25 minutes

Opened my "racing" season yesterday with the Lake Minnetonka 1/2 marathon. This was my first time doing this race, and despite it's main sponsor (Wells Fargo), it fit good into my schedule and a good chance to gauge how my training has been. After looking at the course profile I knew it wasn't going to be the flattest course, but it wasn't killer hilly either, just a lot of rolling type hills. I went into the race with somewhat high expectations. A lot of my training runs leading up to this event were feeling pretty good and at a pretty decent pace, 8:00-8:30/mile. My PR for this distance was 1:51 (8:30 pace) set 4 years ago and I was hoping to PR this time around. Race morning brought with it chilly temps in the 30s and 20+ mph headwinds so there was actually a windchill factor too (did I fail to mention this was MAY?!)!!

I started out with CC, who had already done 4 miles previously so she could get in her 17 total needed. The first mile was on the slower side @ 11:00, but most of that was due to normal race congestion and bottlenecks at many of the corners. After that it was my plan to speed up and race the event and shoot for a 1:45-1:50 finish so I started increase my SPMs (strides per minute) and weaved through the crowds. I settled into a comfortable pace and just ran my race.

At mile 5, after taking out that first mile anomaly, I figured out I was running 8 minute miles. Mile 8 came along and was still holding steady right at 8s, mile 10 same thing and I knew I was going to do it. If I had know the course a little better I may have kicked it in a little more, but I was pretty happy I was able to maintain a comfortable, consistent speed. The final 3 miles breezed by and I hit my time goal, crossing in 1:48, a new PR for 13.1 miles!!

This race, but more importantly the results, have proven the training is working. Who knows, maybe some more PRs will fall yet this year! Now, I just need to make sure I keep at it and don't stagnate. My running is getting there, swimming feels better, biking though...rethinking my first 4 months of this discipline. That'll be tomorrow night's subject (yes, I'll blog 2 days in a row!).