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.

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.

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.