Ayerd{dot}com :: Triathlon

It is always a sad time of the year to try and buy goggles around these parts. For whatever reason the local sports whore-shops (Dick's, Sports Authority, I'm looking at you) seem to think that people only swim in the summer. For that reason they seem to have zero in the swim goggle department as soon as the weather drops below 50° — you know, about when you need new goggles because you've lost or broken or just warn out the pair you've been using for the last few months.

Anyway, today I tried (and somewhat succeeded) in scoring a pair or two. Yea me! Ye olde favorites — the Speedo Pro Anti-Fog. Possibly one of the best goggle types ever made. Comfy enough to wear for an hour or two during the working yet functional enough to power through the open-water swims without filling with salt water. You just need to be careful the straps aren't too tight else racoon eyes are sure to follow any extended wearing. I scored the last two pairs at the store just to carry me through the winter.

I'm like a God damned Boy Scout.

If you're looking for another nifty goggle, check out the Nike Remora II Goggle as they are super-comfy. I think I like these more than the Speedo's above but, alas, the store didn't have them in stock. Perhaps the next online order...

Started out pretty good for a Saturday. Up at 5:00 so I could make it to the gym parking lot by 6:00 for a run. Karen and I ran for 1:20 -- not sure how far we got, 9-10 miles or so. It was colder than I'd like for a run but didn't really notice until the end when I pulled the headband off and saw the ice/frost all over it.

After the run it was off to the pool for the JAM (Jersey Area Masters) workout. Had to miss some of it to talk with the coach about team stuff, but I did manage to get in around 3,500 of the 5,000 in the workout. Since I got an extra swim in on Thurday I think I'll let the extra 1,500 go.

For the swim I used a pair of new TYR goggles -- the Aqua Shift™ Rockets. While they are for "racing", the are plenty comfortable for the daily workout. The only problem I had was getting them off inbetween sets. It was hard to get a grip in lens to pull it away from my eye. Since I didn't even notice them on my face in the water, I guess they were just tight enough. After one practice, so far, so good. As I wear them more, I'll keep you updated on their performace.

Overall, it was good Saturday.

Sunday was the bike day. Late start for a ride -- 11:30 -- but at least it allowed the temperature to eek into the 40° range. No cold toes for me! Zipped along for 2 hours thru some slightly more than moderate hills in the Sourlands. I think the final total was only in the 25-26 mile range. This ride wasn't about distance, it was about getting my ass used to hitting that bike seat for 4-5 hours.

I did get a chance to try an electrolyte replacement drink on the bike. Using this stuff called Perpetuem. They claim it has a "mellow-orange 'Dreamsicle' flavor" and it sort of does. Wasn't the best. I think it would be better if was just "orange" flavor, but maybe there is a reason the vanilla needs to be there? The taste was a tad too sweet, but practically nothing in terms of an after-taste. Thanks the Gods for small favors. The most important part is that it works! While it wasn't the hardest workout I've ever done on a bike, slurping down a bottle with 2-scoups in 16-oz of water left me feeling pretty good. We'll see how it goes as I use the product on some harder ride as the temperature creeps up past 50°.

Ahh, the joys of a indoor swim meet! This weekend was the TCNJ Frenzy meet at...TCNJ! It was a fine day for swimming. I'm not sure when official results will be posted online but here is what I took away from the meet:

500 Freestyle: 6:05:21! The electronic timer ate it during my swim and I don't know if the watch timer grabbed splits, but that 6:05 works out to around 1:13s. Not too shabby. I was swimming next to Steve who set a very good pace and had just edged me out last meet. This time I was a little smarter and held back a tad on that first 100. In fact, I was in 3rd place until the last 75. At that point, I dropped it into the next gear. I'm always telling people to finish strong.... and I did! Passed Steve and other guy to win my heat by 5-6 seconds. Got to be happy with that. Next stop: 6:00.

100 Freestyle: 59.38! Hell yea! First time swimming the 100 in about 18 years. I was very happy to get in just under a minute. That time included a huge breath off the wall before the final 25. I'll try to not do that (or swim the 500 + 32.47 50 Back in the MR relay) before swimming the next 100.

200 Freestyle: 2:15.30! Man, was my tank empty for this one. The first 50 was on pace at 30 seconds. By the 100 mark I was at 1:05. 150 pushed me to 1:45, but in this meet we finish strong. That last 50 brought me to 2:15! It is all about the finish. I'll take it. At the OCY meet my goggle blew off on the start and I limped in to a 2:24. Yuk. This was much better.

Clearly, I need to pick up that 500 pace a smidge to get to my 6-minute goal. Over the longer hall I think I'm close to my goal of completing the 2.4 Iron-swim in under an hour. (In case you missed it the goal is a 12-hour Ironman: 1 hour swim, 6 bike, 5 for the marathon.) Bring on the open water this summer! I am very ready for it.

Found some photos from last year's September Splash 2-mile Swim (Click image to embiggen):

Look at that elbow! Ummmmm, rotation in the water!

Umm... where was the bouy? Actually, I'm heading towards it as we got ready to swim the loop again.

Not a bad time for the 2-mile (42:57). Good enough for second in my age group. Could have been first but I didn't realize the dude drafting the whole race and then who passed me in the last few hundred yards was in my group. You can see by the results, he jumped out of the water about 30 seconds before me. Next time I'll know better.

Here are the numbers for my 2005 Columbia Triahtlon:

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the sub 3-hour time. The cold I had all week continuted to work it's magic on race day. My stomach was a nightmare and we won't even talk about my nose was up to. Still, the day was beautiful: sunny and cool from a slight breeze.

The swim was pretty good. The lake is fresh water and a little on the cold side when you first jump in. The kind of cold that takes your breath away the first couple of times you stick your face in. I missed my goal time of 21-ish minutes, and actually went almost 1 full minute slower than last year. The problem was that when the guy said "go" I was in the the process of working towards the outter edge of the pack. I got boned, dead center near the front. The fools around me decided become a wall with all the normal kicking and extra arms you expect in the middle of a swim pack. It took a while to work around them. I also had problems once I hit the back-end of the wave that started before us. It was a pretty good time and I think if I had been swimming strong the last two weeks instead of other stuff, it would have been better.

T1 sucked ass. I not sure exactly what went wrong but 5 minutes is too long. Maybe I had more problems with the wetsuit than I realized? Maybe I was trying to run in the clip-shoes? Maybe, it was just a bad day for transitions.

The bike was nice. The new hotness made it happen and I felt fairly good on the bike. Telling moment for me was when I was going down hill at around 35 mph and dudes were passing me. Sup wit dat? But, yo, it was a good ride. Killed last year's time by almost 10 minutes and 2 mph. My bike computer claims a top speed of 38.1 — Sweet. I think I could have done better with my liquid and nutrition on the bike but my stomach wasn't going to allow that. It was a pretty unhappy beastie out there with me.

Look at that cumulative place 361! Nice. I will now lobby the race director to stop all future events at this point and simply call it a day!

Hopping off the bike into T2 wasn't all it could be either. My stomach was really rolling by then and I needed to really take a leak. Dumped the bike and headed to the port-a-potty for a wiz. I think that cost me a minute or two.

The run wasn't too bad by my standards. Way better than last year's, but still pretty slow compared to most people. I was hoping for less than an hour and was fairly close (even counting the bathroom break). Stupid stomach was doing me wrong and was plenty uncomfortable for the first 4 or so miles. Right near the end it started to come to terms with the idea it wasn't going to make me stop and we got into a groove. At least I finished strong!

Overall, not unhappy. See all those "better than last year" references above and you know I cannot complain too much. Without the cold (and flood and car problems) the two weeks before the race it would have been better, but hey, that is why we get to race again next year.

Next up Eagleman. I can't wait for a race with no hills. I'll take my chances with the wind. And, the damn cold better be done soon so I can get back to some real training. I miss the pool.

Bike, bike, bike. Swim, swim, swim. That is what went down over the long weekend. The weather was wonderful! Sunny. Warm. Breezy. Loved it!

Saturday was a big ride. Really didn't feel riding at the start but rationalized the pain/shame/agony of not finishing my Ironman would be a zillion times worse than any joy I would feel at slacking. Went 57 miles in a combination of mostly rolling hills with big up-hills over the last 15 miles. Started out around 7:00 AM with a group of 6 other folks. Average speed for our little group was 16.8 mph with a big downhill speed 36.3 at some point in the 3:23 hours. After the ride was a 15 minute run just to get the legs moving. Yes, the mood did improve as the ride wore on.

Sunday was a recovery ride of 24 miles. Met Angela at the gym. We took an easy ride into Princeton and then over to ETS to view the prison-esque environment (Yes, that address is correct). After the 1:45 ride it was into the pool for an easy 2,500 yards.

Monday was a dedicated swim day. Cranked out 5,000 yards in just under 2 hours. Felt pretty good but was clearly getting near the end of my limits for the weekend.

I do know I kept thinking out that entry on Tri-Geek Dreams by Tri-Geek Kahuna about being special:

We are special. Statistics show we are among .007363 percent of the American population who can complete a triathlon. It's a nice feeling, isn't it? The Tri-Geek Kahuna feels especially satisfied on Sunday night, when his body is worn out from a weekend's worth of workouts. He doesn't want to admit it, but the dark part of his heart wants to say to the other 99.93848% of the American population: "Hey, I'm better than you. I just rode 30 miles, ran 10 more and swam 3,000 yards and what the hell did you do? Put on a few more pounds and worked on bettering your chances for a heart attack?"

He's right you know.

As a warm-up to Eagleman, I took a stab at the Belleplain Triathlon this past Sunday. The main goal was to focus on the transition after the nightmare transitions at Columbia. The results this time were much better and it looked like this:

The tri was held at scenic "Lake Nummy" in Woodbine, NJ. Nice park. The water was a little dark, like a somewhat strong tea but otherwise clear. Since I was there for the transitions I went with the wet suit even though the water was warm enough to go without. I started at the back of the pack hoping for an easy swim. Once we got started though it wasn't long until I had worked my way to the front... even at the easy pace.

Out of the water and a quick run to the transition area. Did much better here than at Columbia. Suit was off in a jiffy, on with the socks, shoes, and helmet. Clipped the number on and I was off clopping down the road toward where I could mount the bike.

The bike ride was nice and relaxing. I started out pretty quick and caught up with the guy who left the transition just before me. As soon as I passed him I recalled this was a "C" race and I should hold back so as not to kill the legs. After that I settled into a comfortable 19-20 mph pace for the 15 miles. It was a great day to ride.

T2 was a small problem. The woman who had racked next to me was in her first triathlon and I think her T1 didn't go as smoothly as possible. Water was all over my shoes, towel, and just about every flat surface I could use to chance into the shoes. I had also forgotten to untie the running shoes before the race started and wasted some time undoing the knots. Still, it was a good transition.

Started out on the run and about 5 minutes in realized I had lots of little rocks in the shoes. Wet socks are like magnets for those things. Since it wasn't a big run for me I jumped over to the side, chatted with some spectators and cleaned out the shoes and socks. Once that was complete I took off again on the run. At mile 1, I stopped again to take a leak. When nature calls who am I to deny what needs to be done. The rest of the run was slow, but by my standards practically blazing! 9:30 miles. Hot damn!

The best part is I felt like I could have kept that pace up a lot longer. I was definitely getting stronger as the miles ticked by. Bring on that 1/2 marathon.

This was a great tri on a great day. Well worth getting up stupid early and driving for two hours. I think/hope/pray I've worked out the transition demons and learned to check everything twice before starting out on the course.

Last week I enrolled in the Martin School of Triathlon™ to help me get ready for Florida. Basically, Chris is going to help me focus a bit more on what I need to do to improve my bike and run and finish the big race in less than 17 hours. Cool, huh?

As part of that, this week is a taper week heading into Eagleman. Today was a short-ish swim and a 45 minute tempo run. The swim was nice – 200s and 100s agree with me. The run as a bit of challange. Seems summer remembered that June was it's month to get started and over the weekend we went from 70° days to 90° days. Today it was a humid 88° when I started out for the run. Let me tell you up front, running isn't as much fun in the heat. Never the less, it was good run.

As part of this I've also made some changes to my weekly workout record. I've moved from an HTML format to an Excel format — actually an Open Office file saved as Excal for the non-believers. Added new columns for "Willingness to Work Out", "Muscle soreness", and sleep.

Good: 130 days to Ironman Florida. Bad: 2nd Florida shark attack in two days. Worse: 2nd victim taken to Panama City Hospital. That's about 2 mintues from Panama City Beach... where I need to swim 2.4 miles in 130 days.

Sure there is a better chance of getting whacked on, say a 5-hour bike ride (like the one scheduled for this Sunday) and there has never been a triathlete-shark related attack but if people panic or 3/4 more people get noshed you know those race directors will think about doing away with the swim.

I can't do a run-bike-run Ironman. I just can't. At least I now have something new to worry about. It was getting a bit stale always freaking out about the run after the 112 mile bike. Perhaps this will be refreshing change?

Got in a nice, long swim this morning: 6,000 yards. I just wanted to add that, wow, 500-400-300-200-100 sets on a 1:20 pace dull the mind. It was harder to keep track of what lap I was on than keep the pace up.

Speaking of long distance swims, this Saturday is the Atlantic City Aquatic Club 5K Bridge to Bridge Swim. It should be a great day for a long swim... two swims actually. Yes, I'm planning on doing the 5K and the 1.3 mile swims. I'll be real close to the 90-minute 5K cut off to make the 1.3 mile, but should cruise in with a few minutes to spare.

I Google'ed a great view of the course. The two bridges are to the left and right of that fork looking thing at the center of the map. You can zoom in pretty close. If you're familiar with the area, a little to the north (scroll right 3-4 times) is Brigantine and you get a good look at the course for Brigantine Triathlon that is coming up in August.

I've also been inspired by the Kahuna and his awesome race photos to sign up for the Alcatraz: Swim or Die aquathon next year. Going to be a challange to get to CA next June, but hell yea I'm going to try.

Dig it, the workout schedule said, "...take advantage of the holiday weekend to cram in more..." By more, I think the idea was more bike miles, and that I shouldn't "feel obligated to do it!" Well, I got the "more" part down, didn't do too bad on the biking part, and failed on the "don't feel obligated" part. 1.5 out of 3 isn't too bad.

Overall, it went well.

Recovery week over. Much rest was taken and numerous stages of le Tour were watched. May the Gods smile on the engin-nerd who created the idea for TiVo. Alas, back to the weekly grind.

I did skip out on the Swim for the Dolphins & the Spring Lake swim over the weekend. The weather looked if-fy at the time we needed to head to the shore. The races were held, but we missed out. Perhaps next year. Next big open-water swim will probably be the September Splash — 2-mile open water swim. Only took 40 minutes last year, hoping to get under 40 this year.

The week has started off okay. Rest Monday morning, then a 5,000 yard after work swim. 1,500s are boring and the hardest part is not losing count. There were some breaks talking to Bruce who is getting ready for Lake Placid this weekend. He is going to rock that course, but I don't envy him for having to race with those hills up in Lake Placid. I'll take Florida, thank you very much. Also ran into Veronique who I've not seen in a while... and now I know why. Congrats to her and Joe.

On tap for today was a 140 minute run and another swim. With the weather settling in to the 3Hs of summer. (For those of you not familiar with the east coast in the summer time: Hazy, Hot, and Humid.) After the 90-minute run on Saturday what literally drained me of both energy and fluids I thought to myself, "self, run in the morning!" Yea, that was the tickets...

Okay, so getting up at 4:15 in the morning to run for 140 mintues sucks. It was still humid — weather man was claiming near 90% — but without the sun — which didn't show up until about 40 minutes into the run — it was cooler. Lots of deer out on hill side in the morning.

So, now that I've lived through the run all I need to do is make it untill 5:00 when I can drive to the pool and get in the 4,000 yard technique swim. Ummmmmm, drills. I think it is going to plenty hard to stay awake around 2:00PM.

As requested (sorta) by the Commodore, I'm going to post a bit more about my taper for IM Florida. (Commodore, I sent out a copy of my taper plan, if you didn't get it, let me know!)

Today was a solid, paced swim:

2 x 200 Choice :10
   3 x 100:15 kick 1-3
12 x 50 on :60
   4-25 Fist/25 Fr
   4-DPS(dist per stroke)
   4-25 Fr fast/25 Fr
100 Choice EZ :20

Main set:
3 x 100 Fr on 1:30
    150 Fr on 2:35
    200 Fr on 3:00
    150 Fr on 2:10
    100 Fr on 1:30
    All solid aerobic pace!
500 Free w/fins aero :30
6 x 50 kick on :60

200 Cool down

Swim felt pretty good and I got between 10 and 15 seconds rest after every 100/150/200 in the pyramid. Let me add a note about my taper. I'm a fairly strong swimmer. Not the best by any means, but solid. I also have terrible time running. It makes my knees hurt. With that in mind I'm pushing some of the aerobic stuff over to the pool. If you're a stronger runner, you'd probably see a little less swimming and a tad more running.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still getting the miles in but I'm also trying to baby the bendy parts so they don't explode on the IM marathon. We'll see how this works out and if it doesn't, for IM-CDA I'll spend a little less time in the pool and a bit more time on the road.

The question has also crossed my mind: How do you know you're ready for an Ironman? I keep waiting for that magical day when I wake up and say, "I could finish an Ironman today!" I don't think it is going to work like that, but I hope it does.

Hopefully, that feel good day will be November 5th.

Sadly, what I think is going to happen is this: terrible, gut wrenching anxiety until I walk across the timing mat and onto the beach for the start of the race. Then calm. It will be more of a "today you race" rather than a "let's race today."

Either one will be fine with me as long as at the end of 140.6 miles I end up with (1) no ambulance, (2) a smile, and (3) a finisher's medal. That is all I can hope for.

With the very warm water temps that showed up in the Gulf over the summer via the hurricane maps, I was a little concerned that wetsuits would become verboten for the race. I'm thinking it will be close, but should be okay.

Just so you can play along with the home version of my worries and fears, here is a link to the NDBC info for the PCB station. Remember the magic temperature is 78°, but that is awful warm to be wearing a wetsuit for 2.4 miles.

It was a lonely 4,000 yards in the pool last night. That is another problem with the late season Ironman: everyone else is done, moved onto marathons, or just taking time off. Last night, I had the pool to myself. Just me and the lifeguard. While I struggled with trying not to loose count during the sets, she struggled to stay awake. At least it only took an hour. I'll say that for intervals they may be dull and repetitive, but they go quickly.

4000 aero
   2 x 200 Ch :10
       4 x 50 :15 kick 1-4
   12 x 50 on :50
       4 –drill
       4 –build
       4 -25 fast/25 medium

   Main set:
   2 x 400 Fr on 6:00
       300 Fr on 4:30
       200 Fr on 2:45
       100 Fr on 1:20
       All solid aerobic pace!
   6 x 50 kick on :60

   300 Cool down

Translation

That workout should read like this:

4,000 yards: Aerobic swim
 
  2 x 200 Choice with :10 rest
       4 x 50 kick build 1-4 
           (each 50 faster than the one before) 
           :15 rest after each 50
   12 x 50 on :50
       4 –drill 
          (50 catch-up, 
           50 finger-tip drag
           50 focus on distance-per-stroke,
           50 fist drill)
          (hint: this drill is technically called 
           'fisting', so don't search for 
           it at work!)
       4 –build
          (each 50 faster than the last,
           last 50 at 80%)
       4 -25 fast/25 medium
          (25 sprint, swim normal pace back)

   Main set:
   2 x 400 Free on 6:00
       300 Free on 4:30
       200 Free on 2:45
       100 Free on 1:20
       All solid aerobic pace!
       (between :10 and :15 rest at end of each distance)
   6 x 50 kick on :60 seconds

   300 Cool down

The drill terminology and why to do those drill may be voodoo at first. Maybe this will help:

• The 'catch-up' drill is to teach you to swim in the front quadrant.
• 'finger-tip drag' helps get your elbows up and works on body rotation.
• 'distance-per-stroke' is pretty straight forward, speed is not the goal; long, easy strokes are. FINISH the stoke with your hand by your thigh, then recover.
• When working on the 'fist', you really do swim with your hands balled up. The goal is to feel how the water flows over your forearms during the stroke. When you just wind-mill through the water, only your hands grab the H2O, fisting will allow you to focus more on arm position which in turn will help put your hands in the best position to give you the most efficient pull.

The rest of the workout is fairly pedestrian. Any questions, just let me know.

Yesterday was the final long swim before IMF. 4,400 yards. Felt really good.

500 warm up
300 kick
--
3 x 1000
    1 - pull, increase intensity every 250
    2 - swim, steady pace
    3 - swim with fins and paddles
100 choice
3 x 100 1-3 on the 1:30
--
200 cool down

The 1000 pull went well. The steady swim was pretty quick as the easy pace I set out with got each 100 in on the 1:25. Sure, I felt like a little foolish stopping in mid flip turn at the end of each 100 to look at my watch but it worked. While I understand what the fin/paddle swim is supposed to accomplish, all it seems to do is mess up my timing for the turn.

For the last set of 3 x 100s did a 1:25, 1:20, and a 1:15. Probably could have gone faster the 1000s took a bit more out of me than I thought.

Looking for a Master's program in your area? Try the USMS web site. Once you've found a program in your area, contact the coach. You can usually try the pool/team out once or twice to make sure it is a good fit for you. Bonus: Once you have your USMS card you can score easy bling at the open water championships.

10 days to go and I'm a little concerned about the lack of running over the last few days of the taper. I suppose my knees need the rest , but as that is the part of the race that is creeping me out I'm perhaps more concerned than I need to be about it.