Ayerd{dot}com :: Triathlon

A good day for a run. Went 16 miles in 2:10 — a personal best. I think my only comment is that running more than 15 miles is more an exercise in mental endurance than physical endurance. I mean, sure I was a bit tired afterward but believe I could have kept going if live demons or aliens or something was chasing me (very slowly chasing, but chasing none the less).

I do have to question just how much snot the body keeps in reserve. You'd think that after an hour or so the body's mucus tank would be running a bit low. That wasn't the case and my nose kept leaking the whole time. 'Sup wit dat?

Got a ½ Marathon in today! It was a great day to run. Not too hot, little breezy but not so much that wind was an issue. The course at Tyler State Park was hilly, as always, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of the hills.

Today's race took 2:02. Okay, so, I'm not the fastest man in the world, but we knew that going into the race. I think without the hills, finishing in under 2 hours would have been a snap. Me thinks the 4-hour marathon may be within my grasp.

One thing I did notice was the salt. Like, all over my body after the race. And not in that fun, kinky kind of way. That means I've got to find some decent salt-tablet like things before the weather starts to heat up. It could also explain some the fatigue I get near the end of the Olypmic races. I just didn't notice the salt as I think I have been washing it away when I dump water on myself at the aid stations. When I find a good salt tablet, I'll be sure to share with everyone.

For better or worse, I've finally signed up for the NJ Shore Marathon. For some reason I've got that one scene from "Joe vs the Volcano" stuck in my head:

I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?

Clearly, I was able to sign up for the race, but can I complete the race? Actually, I think I can. My goal time of 4 hours is within my grasp. I keep hearing how after mile 20, it gets tougher... we'll see.

Must finish race! If I can't do one puny little marathon, how the hell will I finish the same distance in Florida?

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°.

A fine week for training. Lots of stuff to record from this week so here goes. After last week's run-swim-bike combo things looked great for another go this weekend. Even better, it was supposed to over 40° all weekend. w00t!

The great weekend weather held up and Saturday was a nify 9-mile run at 6:00. Last week there were only two of us on the early morning trek, but this weekend we were up to five. Can I get a "Hell yea" from the crowd? For sure!

After the run some of the group headed to a tri-clinic to work on overall tri-related stuff while the lovely Angela and I headed to the pool to attempt the 5,000 yead Saturday swim. I'll admit I was a little more tired than I'd like to be but rather than face my own version of CMS — and after goading Angela into the pool in the first place — it was into the pool for some swimming goodness. Things went well. After about 3,000 a request came over to work on flip-turns. So, yea, I stopped swimming! After all, the Marathon is 35 days away but the first Tri of the year is 70-days away. Plenty of time to swim later 'cause it was turn-time!

Sunday was the day of the Bonk. Up at 7:30 for food and prep. At 9:00 it was onto the bike and off to the races. Or, at least off to the town about 20-miles up the river. The ride went smooth and while trying to keep my speed up I worked on drinking plenty of fluids — I have this habit of missing the bottle holder and having to stop to retrieve the bottle from the road side. Next ride, start to work on eating foods. I'm still not sure how you nosh 300+ calories an hour in an Ironman, but I suppose this is why we get to practice.

After the bike came the bonk. I've told myself that after every ride this year I'll run for 30 minutes. Today, I hopped off the bike and started down to the canal. At the 1.5 mile mark I felt good! So good I said the heck with the stopping, lets try for 4-miles. About mile two it happened. The spirit was willing but the body started to make noises along the lines of "didn't we run yesterday?" and "the bike was plenty for you today". With the complaints coming in, I 180-ed and started to head home. I got about half a mile and made a mistake. I stopped running.

When I tried to restart the motor, I had nothing. /sigh. Let me just say that 40°-45° feels good when you're moving. Not so much when you stop. And are sweaty. And happen to be about a mile and half from home. Sucked walking, but don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

I think I would have been okay 'cept for the running yesterday. At least, that is my story and I'm sticking with it.

Next week, I think I'll bike on Saturday. Maybe. I think I've been talked into the Ocean Drive 10-miler and that may be enough running for one weekend.

Last week managed to partake in the Ocean Drive 10-miler. Did the 10 miles as my longish run of the week. The weather sucked—cold (35°), windy and it was raining pretty steady before the start. Took 1:32 to complete the run. Sure, I wasn't going fast by any definition, but I'll take it. I slowed to a walk for the 4 aid station on the run and tried to slurp as much water as I could. Still managed a 9:13 pace.

I also made a mistake during the run. Didn't fuel as well as I could have and failed to hydrate beyond the water stations. The fuel was just a dumb-ass move on my part. How hard is it to remember to jam a Gu (or two) or something in a pocket before starting out? Still I was hoping since the run would only be an hour and a half it wouldn't cost me that much. It really doesn't seem to kill me on two-hour practice runs, but maybe I just don't pay as much attention to that on those type of runs?

So this 10 miles in 1:32 and the Tyler half marathon at 2:02 make me think that 4 hour race will be damn close. I'll take 4:15, but maybe with a little effort 4-hours will be mine?

Oh, the joys of a long run on Sunday morning. With the family out of state and the woman up for a bike ride, a running I went. Down the D&R Canal path to Washington Crossing Bridge, up Washington Crossing-Pennington Road to the top of the hill, back down the hill to bridge, across the bridge to the PA side, down the PA canal path to New Hope, across the New Hope-Lambertville bridge, and home! A nice easy 19-20 miles. The weather was great. Some sun, mostly clouds and 40°.

Well, it should have been nice and easy, but there was this hurricane/flood thing last year that did great evil to the PA canal path. Very lumpy now and also very under construction. Would have been nice if I was trying to XTerra runs or somehow a "under construction" notice was posted somewhere, but that wasn't the case. There was even a fence to jump! Seems they've closed travel on the path at one point, but only from one side. So, when you get to the fence from the other direction it is big surprise.

Still it was a good three hour run and the last really long run before Jersey Shore. All runs from now on are less than two hours. w00t!

Oh yes. I lived. It sucked, but I lived. The noise when down like this. Overnight at a hotel. Up stupid early to get the woman to her 10-miler. At 8:30, in the fairly cold ocean blown air, we started.

I want to say, the first half of the race was a dream. Easy running, not too hot, and feeling good at the 4-hour pace. But, as it was pointed out, ½ a marathon does not a marathon make. At mile 14, started to slow down. And slow down. And slow down some more. By mile 24 it was a walk for one mile. Then, as usual finish strong. Compared to the 8 miles before it, the last 1.2 was repectable.

Here is the blow by blow (from my watch, no chip time yet):

( 1)  9:15
( 2)  8:36     17:51
( 3)  9:24     27:16
( 4)  8:59     36:16
( 5)  8:55     45:11
( 6)  9:06     54:18
( 7)  8:58   1:03:--
( 8)  9:15   1:12:--
( 9)  9:05   1:21:--
(10)  9:23   1:31:--  <-- tank running dry!
(11)  9:35   1:40:--
(12)  9:59   1:50:--
(13) 10:10   2:00:--  <-- 1/2 marathon time of 2:01-ish
(14) 10:45   2:11:-- 
(15) 11:13   2:22:--
(16) 11:09   2:34:--
(17) 11:08   2:45:--
(18) 12:45   2:57:--
(19) 12:36   3:10:--
(20) 12:35   3:23:--
(21) 13:25   3:36:-- <-- boned from here to the end
(22) 13:30   3:49:--
(23) 14:37   4:04:--
(24) 15:35   4:20:--
(25) 18:53   4:39:-- <-- walked a mile, much shame
(26) 12:03   4:51:-- <-- some pride restored
(.2)  1:35   4:52:43

So, as you can see, it was like two races. The first half was great (or at least not shameful). Then it fell apart. Still, no ambulance and now I know to start even slower.

Next marathon time will be in Ironman Florida... and that puppy is going to hurt. At least I have lots of time to train between now and then.

Until then, I am a marathoner! w00t!

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.

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.

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.

Okay, with a few days to think on it: my run really sucked. That irks me to no end. I know it was a combination of bad nutrition at the end of the bike, pushing too hard on the bike, no hat to keep the sun off and stuff like ice in/on my head, and a small part of not having the will to push myself to keep running.

/insert color expletive here

Still plenty of time to try and fix this before Florida. No need to panic. Right? Right!

This week is moving along pretty well. Recovered from the weekend workout and even managed to watch most of the first half of the Iggles getting spanked by the Falcons on Monday night. (sweeeet) Getting a somewhat easy week getting ready for two races this weekend and a slight rest before the final big training month before IM-Florida.

I think my running is slowing starting to get better. 8 miles on Tuesday morning, 5 more today, and then another 8 on tap for Thursday. Surpisingly, my knees haven't exploded like a Pinto and I'm keeping a good pace. Although I do have to admit, the good pace is due more to my running partners than me. They keep a good pace, I stuggle to keep up and not sound too much like a freight train going up hill.

As I write this 52 days to Florida. 5. 2. Not long at all.

I think I've worked out a good plan for that IM marathon. Since my one and only marathon wasn't all that I hoped it could be and I've had problem on the runs in both Half Ironmans (Timberman and Eagleman) this year, I know running the whole time is pretty much out of the questions. Something in a run-walk seems pretty reasonable. 26 ÷ 2 = 13 sets of run walk. Since I kind of hope to run across the finish line, clearly the run needs to be the second mile. So, walk-run repeats should see me through the to the end in probably a better time than if I tried to run/jog/shamble the whole distance.

Seems reasonable to me. What do you think?

The perfect post-work brick. Take 1 hour of hill repeats followed by a generous portion of 1 hour tempo run. Yum-yum!

It was a great day to get out and just be outside. Not to hot, not too cool, not too sunny. Just right. I can only hope for a few more weeks of this.

Tomorrow is long run day. Icky. There are way better ways to spend the afternoon than a 2:30 run. The sad part is running that long no long punishes me physically — don't get me wrong, it is plenty hard, just not crippling — I just don't want to spend the two and a half hours doing it.

I'm glad we're coming in the home stretch. Word of advice: don't spread out the training too much when getting ready for Ironman. I've been working to this point since last December when I started training for the Jersey Shore Marathon. That is about 10 months of work with one more to go. I've not taken more than 2-3 days off from training that whole time. Too long. I just want to stop and sleep in.

Next year in getting ready for IM-CDA I've got it down to 19 weeks. 12 to get ready for a half IM in North Carolina and then 7 weeks after that, Idaho. I think that will be better. Much better.

Yes, I feel happy!. Hopefully that feeling will last. The extended time off helped both the knee and the mind.

Went for a one hour run after work in the (new found) fall humidity. Got around 7 miles on the canal path. A slight tweak as I started up, but once the muscle got warmed up the leg felt fine. No complaints out or back. The first couple step not running were interesting but after a bout of stretching, I felt great!

This morning still no pain. Hell yea.

Note about the trees: fall is really here. Leaves are changing all over the place. I could see the river again almost the whole way. I really need to get a digital camera so I can share some shots of where I run and bike. One of the perks of living in a small town that centers on tourism is that the views are pretty good.

I'm really looking forward to the run where all the leaves just rain down. Last year it was like a scene from Hero. Really looking forward to that run this year.

I found this Running Pace Calculator buried in my bookmarks.

Share and enjoy.

I got my new toy in the mail the other day. The fine folks at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com did a fine job of providing the watch at a reasonable price and super-fast delivery.

Thanksgiving morning I strapped on the parts and headed out the door for an easy run as if I didn't have the technology in effect. This the chart that software produced at the end:

click for full size

The chart shows that at a comfortable 160 beats per minute I can crank out a comfortable pace of 9:30-9:40 (where is this pace on race day?!). Not bad.

Saturday I huffed down the road with the goal to keep the heart rate under control. To help out, I ran with Bretta on her run:

click for full size

Sunday was a little different. I kept the heart rate goal but was running with Karen, Angela, Nora, and Sara. They were running further — Ang and Nora are getting ready for the Disney Marathon — so I jumped in for the last 90 minutes. You can see the red heart rate was fairly consistant, but the pace reflect the traffic running through Princeton, the bathroom break at the 30-minute mark, and the water breaks. I was a pretty good run that left me feel strong!

click for full size

Cool huh?

Ahh, the long run on Sunday. Got to sleep in a little, then it was on with the shoes and off to the canal path for a 2-hour paced run. No rain. No ice. Sunny. Nice day for a run. The canal was a little mushy because the ongoing melting, but plenty firm for running.

Heading out I was a bit overdressed for the cold but I knew when I made the turn-around after an hour the wind would pick up and it would start to get chilly. With ye olde iShuffle in effect the first few miles went by fast.

What do you think about when you run? I kept going over how I'd feel during the transition at White Lake and just kept telling myself, "Run the whole time — no walking!" Since that bit, walking during the run, is the bane of my triathlon I need to keep telling myself that it will be okay. I think I need to stop, but I don't.

The turn around at 1-hour found me at 6.5 miles. Not too bad for me. Not bad at all. As expected the wind kicked up and it got quite breezy. I just kept working the music and watching the heart rate. 150 all the way, baby!

Made it back a little over one minute past 2-hours. That made me smile. Then a cool-down walk the two blocks back to the house and inside for some post-run food and a good stretch. Since with the finish of the run I was now officially in a "recovery" week, it was time to relax. And, by relax I mean help the Loving Wife™ clean the house. Yes, sir! Nothing better. :)

We take a brief break from the IM training to let everyone know (both of you) that Mr. Quinn and I have indeed signed up for the Goofy Challenge.

It will be his first half and full marathon. A serious change from our usual nachos and various adult beverages, but I think we'll be up to it.

The Loving Wife™ is in for the marathon but has decided to pass on "the Goofy". Her loss, I'm sure. :).

Notes: Nancy Toby did this last year (and the Chicken Little 5K for good measure). Be sure to check out her race report and photos (after the page loads, go the bottom and read from the bottom up).

We now return you to your regularly schedule 6-hour bike/45 minute run brick. (Umm, yea, toss in a wee 3K swim before the start of the bike and that is the actual workout for this Saturday. On Sunday, we run!)

Ya, now is the time on Sprockets when we run.

Actually, I've been running in 20-minute spurts for the last week. Then, last Thursday I got the results from my MRI and the report stated, "no evidence of a stress fracture or soft tissue injury."

This is a Good Thing.

Today I went out for a slow paced, 60-minute run. It went very well. Covered just over 6.5 miles! (imagine this run, but only go half way). Hell yea. And, it felt good. No leg pain. A little winded, but that was expected.

I'm very, very stoked.

I've got 10 weeks to get into "fighting" shape... or at least good enough shape to get me through the Goofy Challenge. I'm not looking for land speed records, just a relaxing run with friends and the Loving Wife™.

I've even gone a little nutz and have been thinking about IM-Ken-sucky (/me makes dueling banjos sounds.) even though I've been saying I wouldn't be doing an IM next year. It's hard to a pass up an inaugural event when you have a chance. I've also been to Louisville and it wasn't that bad... time will tell on this one.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes on getting better. The good vibes helped get me moving!