100 Days To Go

There are now 100 days left before the start of my first Ironman triathlon and I feel like there is still a lot of work to be done. My training volume has started to pick back up again, and based on the latest reports of the oil spill it's looking more promising that Panama City Beach, FL will not be affected when the race starts in November. I lost my motivation to train a few weeks ago when the oil forecast looked like a worst-case scenario, but the dramatic improvements have renewed my drive to continue. With the countdown dropping below 100 days to go, there is a slight sense of urgency to train more than I should, but I know I need to be realistic with my goals so I don't cause myself any injuries.

Mission Man Triathlon Race Report

• Distance: 750 Meter Swim, 15 Mile Bike, 3.1 Mile Run
• Time: 1 hr 28 min 40 sec overall; 18:41 Swim, 1:31 T1, 43:38 Bike, 0:40 T2, 24:12 Run
• Place: 11 out of 35 in age group, 70 out of 248 men, 87 out of 373 overall
• Weather: Sunny, 6-8 mph winds, air temps in the mid 80's, heat index in the mid 90's, water temp of 89 degrees

I surprised myself a little bit in this race. I was able to beat my previous best time in this race by almost two minutes even though the heat index was in the 90's. If someone had told me before the race that I would be able to do that, I wouldn't have believed them. I went down to the water to warm up prior to the start and found out the water was almost 90 degrees. It actually was a nice change of pace from the previous cold water swims I did earlier in the year because the cold water always takes me longer to get my breathing controlled. I was scheduled to start in the second wave and was able to keep a pretty good line headed toward the first turn buoy. It wasn't until I turned toward the third buoy that the sun became a factor in my line of sight. Overall, I felt like my swim pace was comfortable and I expected my time to be pretty good. When I got out of the water the time on my watch was at least a minute slower than I felt the pace would be, but it could have been due to the course being slightly longer than it was suppose to be. My first transition was fairly fast since I didn't have to deal with a wetsuit. Once out on the bike course the first thing I noticed was that most of the roads had been paved since the last time I did this race two years ago. It definitely felt a lot smoother than I remember. About a third of the way through the course I could see up ahead there were several cars that were behind a group of slower riders, and the lead car didn't seem interested in going around them even with no cars coming from the other direction. There was one other cyclist just in front of me that was going the same pace as me. When we approached the group of cars it was obvious that we would have to slow down if we chose to wait for the cars to pass the slower riders. Instead of coasting behind these cars at 15 mph waiting for something to clear, I decided I was going around them. Right about that same time the other cyclist that was in front of me apparently decided the same thing, so we started to pass all five cars on their left hand side. The guy in front of me went wide left into the other lane while I decided to hug the middle line and pass the cars within arms length. Since there were no cars coming in the other direction and the cars in our lane saw what we were doing and moved over to the right a little bit, we were able to pass the whole group of cars and slow riders relatively quickly. The rest of the ride back to transition went well, and I could tell my bike time was looking pretty good. At this point I felt like I had a chance to break the 1 hour 30 minute mark if I could get back to transition and start the run by the 1 hour 5 minute mark. I was able to start the run at 1 hour 4 minutes so the only question I had then was whether the heat would affect my run pace too much. I was checking my watch constantly on the course but I wasn't able to get a feel for how fast I was going because they didn't have each mile marked. I finished the first lap of the run in about 12 and a half minutes so I knew I had to keep up a similar pace on the final lap if I was going to go sub 1:30:00. There were a lot of people on their first lap while I was doing my second, so the trail portion of the course was getting very crowded. I had to weave in and out of people to keep my pace up and I could tell the heat was starting to take its toll on me. I continued to keep an eye on my watch and as I got closer to the finish line I could tell that a sub 1:30:00 time was in my future. I crossed the line and couldn't believe I was able to complete the race in that time. I fully expected four or five minutes slower than I did based on my lower training volume recently. This race really helped me in the motivation department and I'm looking forward to the increased training ahead.

Mission Man Triathlon Preview

The Mission Man Triathlon located north of Burlington NC is a special race for me because it was the first triathlon I ever did. Looking back I'm amazed that I selected this race as my first because it's an open water swim and you are not allowed wetsuits - a combination that normally makes an inexperienced triathlete very nervous. In my case I was so inexperienced that I probably didn't know I was supposed to be nervous. This race will usually have several hundred participants with a nice mixture of beginners and experienced triathletes. The swim portion of this race will be done in a wave start format based on the age group categories, and the lake water is usually very warm.....think bath water. The one loop bike course has some rolling hills but nothing too difficult, and the two loop run course is a combination of paved road and wooded trail that has a short incline at the end of each loop. At this point it doesn't appear there will be any rain in the forecast, but it's suppose to be extremely hot with a high temperature approaching 100 degrees. Hopefully the worst of the heat won't be until mid afternoon when the race will already be over. I'd like to think that I have a chance of beating my best time for this race, but my lower training volume recently makes me think that I'll be lucky if I come close to that time.

Confessions of a Triathlete "In Training"

In the interest of full disclosure I have not been training nearly as much as I should be. I've been able to keep up with my schedule as it relates to my long bike rides and most of my long runs, but my shorter "maintenance" workouts have been non-existent and it has been weeks since I've gotten in the water to swim. Ever since the news of the oil spill in the gulf affecting Panama City Beach, I have not been able to motivate myself to train for a race that, at this point, I'm not sure is going to take place. The race company has said they are looking into possible contingency plans but have not gone into any details. One of the options that has been rumored was to cancel the swim portion and only have the bike and run. I would rather they cancel the race entirely than have it without the swim. I signed up to do the full ironman distance, and the idea of completing a race that doesn't include the swim would make me feel like it was an incomplete accomplishment. After spending the last few weeks feeling that my training efforts are a potential waste of time, I've decided to suck it up and continue on with the training. There are 18 weeks left before the race is supposed to start, and I need to stay focused and continue to follow my training schedule as much as possible if I'm going to be ready.