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.

Freedom Run 10K Race Report

• Distance: 10K (6.2 Miles)
• Time: 47 min 46 sec
  
• Place: 10 out of 34 in age group; 50 out of 205 men; 58 out of 367 overall
  
• Weather: Mostly sunny, 5 mph winds, temp around 80 degrees, 80% humidity

I arrived at the race site about 45 minutes before the start to pick up my race number, timing chip, and warm up a little bit. As everyone was lining up at the start I noticed the guy standing next to me was getting ready to run the race barefoot. Barefoot running has started to be talked about recently in the running community as a more natural way to run that actually results in less injuries than using shoes. I've found the discussions interesting and took this opportunity to ask him several questions before the race started. Once the race began I was curious to see how he was running. The barefoot gait appears to be a lot shorter almost like small stutter steps. His pace was surprisingly fast and ended up pulling away from the pace I was running. Maybe at some point in the future I might give it a try just to see how it feels. Anyway, the first mile point arrived and I checked my time. I was running slightly faster than I should have but it wasn't fast enough to cause me problems later in the race. As each mile ticked off my mile pace was starting to slow slightly which was more in line with where I thought it would be. With about a mile left I started to pick up the pace and see who I could catch before the end. There was one guy who was running about the same speed as me so I paced off of him until we got within a few hundred yards of the finish. With 100 yards to go I made my move and began to pass him. Once a step or two in front, he didn't seem to put up much of a counter move so I set my sights on the next guy in front of me who was running much slower. I kicked it into the last gear I had and crossed the finish line in front of both of them. It felt fairly muggy during the race and I did sweat a lot, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. My time was about what I expected even though I'm a little disappointed I couldn't give my 10K record a challenge.

Freedom Run 10K Preview

This race is part of the Fun Fourth festivities that are scheduled in downtown Greensboro as part of the July 4th celebration, and one that I have done several times in the past. It usually has a pretty good turnout and a history of being very hot and humid. The course has several rolling hills and one or two bigger hills, so it's anything but flat. My running times recently have not been as fast as they should be so I don't expect to break any records, but I should have a decent showing. I think if my times were better right now I would be more excited about the possibility of setting a new personal record for a 10K, but instead I anticipate being a minute or two off of my record and enduring brutal humidity.

Tidewater Triathlon Race Report

• Distance: 1500 Meter Swim, 21 Mile Bike, 6.2 Mile Run
• Time: 2 hr 28 min 35 sec overall; 31:44 Swim, 4:08 T1, 1:01:59 Bike, 1:13 T2, 49:33 Run
• Place: 15 out of 29 in age group, 91 out of 193 men, 103 out of 271 overall
• Weather: Mostly sunny, 5-10 mph winds, air temps in the upper 70's, water temp of 75 degrees

As the sun was coming up I could tell it was going to be a hot and sunny day. It wasn't supposed to get extremely hot until later in the day, but the humidity was still pretty bad. I was able to get my wetsuit on and warm up a little bit before the start. The waves and salt water taste were about what I expected, and there was no sign of any jellyfish. I was assigned to start in the first of three groups and I positioned myself on the right side of the main field. The temperature of the water was never a factor for me and my breathing felt comfortable except for the occasional wave of water in my mouth. Once I got beyond the breakers I realized I hadn't taken the cross current into consideration. Just my luck the current was moving from left to right which meant I had to keep adjusting my line to stay headed toward the first turn buoy. The back portion of the course which ran parallel to the shore went by fairly quickly due to current, and the final section back to shore had a lot of seaweed that kept getting caught in my fingers and goggles. Once on the beach we had to jog about 100 yards back to the start line to begin our second loop. The second lap felt almost identical to the first with the exception of the congestion. I thought that everyone would be spread out by the second loop, but I was bumping into more people or they were bumping into me more than the start of the race. As I approached the shore and was able to walk out of the water, I started to remove my wetsuit top. While pulling my arm out of the sleeve I inadvertently broke the watchband and the watch remained in the sleeve. I fished it out and began trying to put the pin of the band back together as I walked to the transition area. In hindsight I should have just pocketed the watch immediately and got on the bike as quickly as I could, but my over-analytical nature wanted to fix the watch so I would be able to constantly calculate my pace for the rest of the race. I spent at least two extra minutes in transition trying to put the band back together with no success. At this point I was frustrated and mad at myself for wasting so much time so I put the watch in my jersey pocket, grabbed my bike, and started toward the bike course. I guess I took my frustration out on the course because I was passing people one right after the other for almost the first 5 miles. I don't ever recall passing that many people on the bike in a race before. The course was flat and I was wearing my new aero helmet for the first time, but I just felt a lot faster than I normally do in a race. After completing the first loop and starting the second I knew where to expect the pot holes and breaks in the payment. There were more on the course than I thought there would be and some were pretty jarring. I averaged over 20 mph on the bike so I was happy with that. The run course was mostly in the sun and the section along the boardwalk was quite windy. About halfway through the second loop I could tell that I was starting to tire a little bit. I ran with the watch in my hand for the entire run course so I could keep an eye on my pace. Carrying it in my hand was less of a hassle than I though it would be and I was kicking myself for wasting as much time as I did in the first transition. I was able to break the 2.5 hour mark and I beat my best olympic distance time from two years ago by more than ten minutes, so I can't complain too much.