Climbing

Went riding with Kebby today. Just did 20 miles but it was after a slowish 90 miler on Saturday, so the legs were a little dead. She wanted to do some climbing, so we headed over toward the Elfin Forest. She had found some climb called double peaks or something like that.

It started off ok with about a 3/4 mile 7% grade. Then she hopped over to the turn lane and I thought she was turning around . But noooo! Rather, we made the turn on to the real climb. It may have been about half a mile but whoa nelly. What a ride. Average grade probably around 10% with spots up to 16%. Thought I was going to stain my shorts from the effort!

Glad to get it done. Rare to get a good workout on a Monday.

Karma

Somewhat decent week of training. Managed to get workouts in six of the seven days and increased the distance on my long run and ride. Speaking of rides, had a lot of fun yesterday on the bike. Headed out early for a 70 miler that started off a little cold. Around 8:00 a.m. the sun began to climb and a beautiful day started to shape up. Seemed like everyone I saw either waved or said hello.

I've got a planned stop at a gas station that is about 20 miles out. When I pulled in, I saw a guy pulling his bike out of his truck. He waved as I pulled in and bought some water. When I was coming out of the gas station door, he asked if I had some sunscreen. Unfortunately, I didn't and we talked about how sunny a day it was going to be. Just then, a woman walked over from the gas pumps and gave us a tube. She said she was a cyclist too and knew what it was like to ride in the sun. That was so freakin nice! And that was the theme for 90% of the rest of the ride. Smiles and waves all around.

One notable exception happened when I was almost home. I turned onto a somewhat deserted section of road and saw a cyclist ahead of me by about a quarter of a mile. I was slowly catching him even though it wasn't intentional. He looked back and saw me and picked up the pace. I wasn't racing him and I'm not that fast anyway. Even if I was...who really cares? In any event, he kept looking back and for the next mile or so. Then a light turned red and he had to stop. As expected, he had to look back one more time to see how much he had "beaten" me by. But...oh...guess who forgot to unclip??? Yep! Bam! Face plant from a standstill!! He quickly picked himself up and made point not to look my way. I know it's not polite to laugh at other people's misfortunes but wow...was that Karma or what?

Ok..it's on

I'm going to do it. Do what? You ask. I'm going to do Ironman Hawaii. What the hell are you talking about? I'm going to do the race. I still don't understand? Ok...let me step back and provide some context. I'm a very average triathlete. I triangulated on this opinion by (1) having my V02 max tested..."the coach called me a "buckhead betty", (2) getting constantly smashed by my wife and her business partner Steph during training and (3) racing four Ironman races over the past three years and having a PR of only 12 hours and 19 minutes. But, right or wrong, I managed to get a slot to the Hawaii Ironman through a program called the Executive Challenge....twice. The first was at IMCDA and the second was last year at Ironman Arizona. While most people would jump at the chance to go to Kona, I was having doubts. First was the question about actually deserving to go (I don't and know one can convince me otherwise) and the second was the fact that I kinda suck in the heat. Actually, I really suck. When I did Kona the first time, I finished over ten pounds lighter and almost deaf. Now, second time around, I know not only how hard the race can be due to the conditions, I also know how much training I need to do to complete the event without ending up in the medical tent. But after several months of reflection, I have not only come to terms with having a slot (I didn't make the rules and a boycott won't change anything) and...I think I'm ready to make a commitment to the training. So, with that as background...I'm going to do the race. Training log and navel gazing ruminations to follow.

Not the brightest idea

The day started off well enough. Dragged myself out of bed and got a short recovery spin in the garage. When I got home from work later in the day, I got dressed for a workout that is supposed to go like this: (1) one mile run to the gym, (2) abs and weights, (3) hill repeats & (4) one mile run home. The hill repeats hurt but when I get home, I generally feel good about the day.

Unfortunately, when I got home today, I changed the process and had a workout that looked something like this: (1) eat fried chicken that was found in the refrigerator, (2) run to gym, (3) start abs, (4, 5, 6) fight urge to puke, try hills, stop and walk home in disgust.

Ouch

Got in a decent long run today. Finished with 16 miles but as with last week, I had to break it down into smaller sections to make it manageable. Did three 4.8 mile loops and finished up the last mile and change on the treadmill. The crazy part was when I got down to less than a mile, I reset the treadmill so that it showed zero miles. Somehow, it seemed easier to do the first 8/10th of one mile than the last 8/10th of 16 miles. Was hating life toward the end but glad to have finished. 26.2 miles...got to be kidding.

Head for the hills

Good ride with Brit today. We got up fairly early and rode the Great Western. It was a good change of pace with climbing on the front side and a relatively easy decent to the car. Ride distance was only 42 miles but the hills made it worthwhile.

Brit and I are going to coordinate our training schedule and I hope that we can ride together at least a couple of times per month. Hopefully, I'll be able to hang with him since he seems to gain fitness very quickly and is pretty gifted athletically.

Rest or Rationalization?

Got up in time for my 6:00 a.m. spin class but didn't quite make it out the door. Talked myself into calling it a recovery morning and climbed back in bed. Then the guilt monster started up and I couldn't sleep. Great. Just great. Finally went to the garage and got an easy 30 minute computrainer ride in.

Run and done

Finally got my but up and put the running shoes on. My 8:30 a.m. run actually took place around 2:00 pm but at least it's done. Managed to get in 15 miles. Had to break it up into three segments. Did five miles, came home drank some water, ran another five, came home gassed up again and finished up with five more. I couldn't come to terms with 15 but three sets of five was somewhat ok. Funny how mental this sport can be. Had the same thing going on during the ride yesterday. Broke it down into little sections and managed to survive.

Thinking that half the battle is getting my mind/attitude right.

May try to get a ride in the mountains done next week. Kebby and Steph knocked off a 90 mile monster today that would do wonders for my confidence (or it might just crush me...who knows).

Go time

August 1st. Good a time as any to start keeping a log of my Ironman Arizona training. Kebby, Steph and Jen are out riding and I should be getting ready for my run. Funny how updating my blog about training seems more important than actually doing the training right now. Fortunately, I'm going to have to get out and exercise so that I actually have something to write about.

I believe the keys to having a good race in November are going to be:

- consistent training

- good nutrition

- staying healthy

Obviously bad luck can hit anyone but I think I generally know what to do. Got to get up every day and at least start the workout. Have to be smart about listening to my body. Walk away when the carrot cake starts whispering in that seductive voice. And finally, stretch/roll every day.

Managed to get in 86 miles on the bike yesterday, so the guilt monster is acting up too much yet.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Apologies to John, Paul, George and Ringo but I'm changing that to "I get by with a Lot of Help from my friends".

Back from Kona and have started to put the experience into perspective. Will write up a race report later but in short, the race was hot, humid and (at least for me) hard. Heat and humidity have never made for great race conditions and Saturday, they were present in abundance. I tried to stay on top of my salt tabs but by the time the bike was done, I was too. Almost. I made it through about mile eight on the run before I was experiencing full body cramps. I knew I was in big trouble when I tried to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and my bicep cramped. Chills followed and I was ready to call it a day. Fortunately, I saw my friend Scott and he walked with me for a couple of miles. I started to feel a bit better and even found a way to shuffle run. At my next low point, I once again had an angel land on my shoulder as Stephanie arrived on a bike and delivered tums and a dry shirt. That did it and I knew I'd finish.

As I mentioned, full race report later. But until then...thanks Friends!

Noggin Design

Just finished an 18 mile run that was more uncomfortable than I'd have liked. I ran in the afternoon, so the temperature was warmer than usual, probably around 75. Consequently, I perspired like the proverbial pig. Tried to stay on top of my fluids by hitting the water fountains on a regular basis but I couldn't help but wonder if the hair on my head (which is getting a bit long) was hindering my cooling a bit.

Now I'm pondering a buzz cut. A lot of the pros keep their mop short and it even looks pretty good on a few of them. No one can argue that Crowie is a good looking guy and he's just got a bunch of stubble on top. My mission for the next couple of days is to (1) find out if short hair provides any meaningful cooling benefit and (2) discern the shape of the noggin. If the head is fairly uniform and round...who know, we may have a hair cutting party.

Trying to get motivated for a swim now and will be up early to hit Palomar with Steph and Brit tomorrow.

Tick Tock

So, the clock keeps ticking toward Kona. Roughly three more potential big weeks of training to go. Funny how clear things get this close in to a race. No dips in motivation, no questioning why I need to watch what I eat, stretching and rolling find their way into my day. Just wish it was possible to bottle that kind of enthusiasm and take sips during the winter when working out takes a back seat to bread pudding!

Decent workouts over the long weekend with a six hour ride on Saturday and a 15 mile run on Sunday. Monday was recovery with just a quick weight room session.

Rode with Steph on Saturday for almost four and a half of the six hours. She's just a week off her 10 hr 40 minute finish in Louisville and seems to almost completely recovered. Kebby's coming along as well but I still catch a peek of her going down stairs sideways from time to time.

Thinking about trying to pull a group together for a ride in Borrego Springs at the end of the month. Conditions there should be very similar to Hawaii and Arizona for folks doing IMAZ. Will check out vrbo houses and see what I find.

Long time no post

A little slow on the posting recently. No real excuses. Training has been going well and I'm still relatively uninjured. Still marveling at the results that Kebby and Steph put up in Louisville. Both went under 11 hours and Kebby managed to grab a slot to Kona.

It goes to show you what a good couple of months can do for a person. At Oceanside, Kebby was coming off of knee surgery and Steph was doing her second half. Now just a couple of months later, they're both in a different league!

Plan tomorrow calls for five hours on the bike. I bought a red bull to help me get up and make it an early start!

Hot Hot Hot

Spent the weekend in Borrego Springs this weekend with Kebby. Great training location. Lots of empty roads with wide shoulders and heat a plenty. Got in four hours of riding Saturday with a core workout and light swim. Eight miles on the hot pavement sunday.

Recovery

Fairly light weekend planned. I'm feeling a little beat up with a sore left knee and left hip. I suspect I've been favoring my left side a bit even though I can't tell that I'm uneven. Probably makes sense to do some treadmill running in front of a mirror and stay aware of my balance.

Steph and Brit are off to Vineman this weekend. We're looking forward to following them on-line. I suspect we'll see them both post great times.

The Plan

So I made my payment to multisports and now have my plan. I had one for IMCDA too but probably only followed it half the time. The other half of the time I ad-libbed and did what I felt like or what felt right.

I'm going to try and be a little more disciplined this time. The one exception may be a few of my swim workouts. We've started swimming in the canal behind the house and I love the variety. It's open water and we can go for about 3/4 of a mile before we have to turn around. For some reason it is much easier mentally to swim for an hour in the canal than it is to do the same distance in the pool.

Workout plan for tomorrow calls for a turbo-trainer session which is nice since that's what we've been doing every Tuesday anyway. Kebby, Steph and I will be in the pain cave first thing in the morning. As an added bonus, we've brought in a couple of heaters and humidifiers to simulate race conditions.

Hammer time or pillow time?

Had a strong week of training....I think. Kebby left on Saturday and I got in a three hour ride after dropping her off. Ran and lifted on Sunday. Followed the normal routine with a swim on Monday and Wednesday and a good bike session in the pain cave on Tuesday.

Steph joined me on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so those sessions were particularly intense. Thanks to my many hours training with Kebby, I felt right at home as Steph swam away from me on Wednesday and dropped me on the hills Thursday. Nope. No concerns at all. I've seen this movie before. Start together and end together but that's about all the "together" you get out of the "training together" with those two. It's cool though to see how much Steph has improved over the last six months. She absolutely ripped the hills on the ride.

Now the reason I said it has been a good week of training "I think" has nothing to do with the intensity of frequency of workouts. Rather it has to do with a note from my new bff - Heather. I signed up again for the multisports.com program for Hawaii last Friday. The first time I signed up, I received the password and my training plan almost immediately. This time it took a couple of days, so I sent a note saying that I needed the password and wanted to get training again.

I got the password but also received a very stern note from Heather saying that I shouldn't be working out at all for at least two weeks after IMCDA and shouldn't start training with any intensity again for three to four weeks! Wow. I'm sure she knows what she talking about but I think I feel fine. My question now, is do I really know how to read my body? How are you supposed to feel when you can train hard and when should you hold back? Obviously I don't know but my mission now is to figure it out.

Runnin legs

Starting to feel normal again on the run. Did a fairly easy four mile run up canon street this afternoon. Coming down actually felt worse than going up.

Whew!

Ended up getting in a nice ride today with five repeats up the tide pool hills. Came within a bugs but of having a catastrophic fall though. I rode over to Cabrillo and began the repeats. The legs felt great and I was having a great time. Unfortunately, things got pretty hairy on the third descent. I was zipping back down the hill when my rear tire popped. I heard it blow and started to slow down when the brakes locked and I began to skid. My rear wheel began to fishtail and for a moment, I thought I was going over the side. Luckily I was able to use the front brake and I popped a foot out and literally dragged it on the ground when I got slow enough to do so.

After checking my shorts, I crossed the road and found a flat spot where I could set up and make the change. After I pulled the wheel off, I saw where the tire had been worn flat when the rear brakes grabbed. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I went ahead and put in the new tube and inflated. The pressure held for all of two seconds and that tube blew out through the hole in the tire. It was then that I became keenly aware that everyone I knew to call was gone, so I began the long walk home.

After about ten minutes a cyclist stopped and asked if I needed help. I told him about the tire and said that I would just walk home. Lucky for me, this guy was not only kind enough to stop but he was experienced as well. He said to try putting a dollar bill between the tube and the tire and seeing if that would work. Lo and behold it did! Never caught the guys name but if you're reading this...THANK YOU! If not, rest assured, I'm sending good karma vibes your way. I made it home on my patched up tire and proceeded to grab a bite to eat, put on a new tire and turn around and head back out. Got in another two repeats and called it a day. All in all, it was four hours from start to finish with probably three hours actually in the saddle.

Words that don't make sense

Well...I'm officially starting my training for Hawaii. Never thought I'd say (or write) those words. After a fair amount of debating over the "legitimacy" of the slot, I have come to terms with it. Wrote the big check yesterday and am gearing up for hill repeats today.