Hammer and Nails

This was the name of the group of Portland Velo's race team that almost killed me with the speed they rode today.  It was brutal.  I should've known when Todd said it wouldn't be too bad.  They were doing easily 25mph on the flat sections with jumps.  I was sucking wheel the best I knew how just stay in contact.  I had already put in 2 hours of riding just to get to the start of the ride.  Luckily, I knew something might be up so I took it easy getting out there.

We were cruising at 25ish when the first climb started.  It was a road I've never been up before but I had been down before.  The road is so steep that the time I went down I hit 50 easily.   I had been getting some dirty looks from the peleton because of my time trial bike before the climb.  On the climb I was able to pick my through most of the peleton but couldn't read Todd and one other guy.  I was wishing I had drank more of my water as the 4 full water bottles were killing me.

After the climb we regrouped and I got a compliment from one of the guys saying he's never seen anyone on a time trial bike climb like that.  Ahh...it was good to fit in and no one was giving me any dirty looks the rest of the painful ride.  We stopped to get water and my Polar speedometer stopped so I wasn't able to get an accurate average for that section.

I ended with 100 miles total and I figured about a total ride time of 5:30.  I'm guessing for the Portland Velo section it was easily 22ish or higher average speed.  Those guys were just animals.  There was one big guy who was climbing that big hill in the drops.  He didn't stand once.  Amazing...

1 month 12 days..

Klineline

So I experienced this little lake/reservoir for the first time last night.  I got to try out the screaming fast wetsuit in real open water.  Of course I didn't put enough body glide on my neck and have this massive chafe mark.  It's from my shoulder material/collar rubbing.  I know that I will just body glide my entire neck.  I don't have any tinted goggles as I gave them to Orion as part of his welcome to triathlon training package so I was having trouble sighting right into the setting sun.  We swam about 30 plus minutes and my shoulders felt fine in the wetsuit so that was good.  I also was able to take the wetsuit off pretty quick by myself so that was good practice.  I figured out that I will take the top part of my wetsuit off first before removing my goggles/cap because I shot my goggles about 30 feet when pulling my arms out.

The biking has been going great down here.  I destroyed my old flat loop on Wednesday.  I pulled the whole way and just put in some good tempo the entire way.  We'll see how the hills go today but I'm sure they will hurt me.

My hamstring feels pretty good and I almost felt like going for an easy 2 mile test run yesterday but I held off.  If it continues to improve, I'll run easy 2 miles on Monday as the start of getting back.  I figure a couple of 2 miles days, then I'll start running 4 miles a day and after a week I'll just put in miles.  I won't do a tempo run until probably 3 weeks to go and just put in a "mini" base period.

It looks like my fellow IMC PFer is coming out to Virginia for a couple of weeks.  He'll be fairly close and plans to come up to my place for a weekend for some training fun.  I'll take him out on a good ride and hopefully get some swimming advice as he's one of the super fast swimmers I met last year.

The weather is nice out here.  No humidity.  It's almost too dry as I keep waking up in the middle of the night with dry mouth.  My skins all dry, it's crazy.  Everyone was saying it was hot on Wednesday but it felt pleasant to me.  I forgot to bring a sweatshirt, pullover or jacket which sucks in the mornings here.  It gets cold.  I just didn't think of it because its rarely below 70 degrees in DC these days.

I ate with some co-workers at the Original House of Pancakes and it was so good.  I love that place and definitely miss it being out on the east coast. We're having afternoon snack at work which will be great as I'll eat up for the big ride tomorrow.

1 month 13 days...

Ahh Oregon

drivers are the slowest in the world.  I was zipping in and out of cars on I205 last night but I was only going 70.  Pathetic!  I made it with the flight only being about 10 minutes late.  There a bazillion kids on the flight which was weird considering it was coming from DC.  I know it's summer but who takes 8 year olds and under to DC or who takes them across the Atlantic which is the only reason anyone would connect in DC.

I'm trying frantically to sell my Mentor stock options shares this morning but having no luck getting a hold of a broker.  I have a few that are expiring next year which right now happen to be above water.  I'm dumping them while I'm here so I can easily fax all the paperwork.

My bike made it without much issue except for the oversize cost.  Ouch..not sure how heavy it was in the box but this time I got a Thule box as a rental and it's super nice as compared to the Trico.

My hamstring felt painful all cramped on the flight but this morning it felt pretty good getting out of bed.  I'm hopeful that by next week it will be totally healed and I'll be able to resume my training.

1 month 15 days....

Olympic Trials

I've catching a bit of the Track & Field trials and even more of the swimming trials.  It's always amazing watching the distance track events.  They are moving so fast but look so relaxed that is until the last lap when they drop the hammer.  Webb was in the wrong position and failed to make the Olympics.  I'm not sure but it seems he always gags at the big events.  I watched the swimming trials hoping to catch some actual stroke technique.  The first event I watched the 400m free they were showing underwater shots which was really helpful.  The whole rest of the events they didn't show anymore underwaters shots at all.  LAME!!  It's just amazing at how fast they go.  Their arm turnover rate is fast yet they're pulling tons of water each time.  It's was awesome watching 41 year old Dara Torres make the trials by winning both the 50m and 100m freestyle events.  Just goes to show you it's more technique than the rest.  Not that you don't need a big engine but it's got to be easily more than 50% technique.  A similar thing was when Edwin Moses in the 400m hurdles.  Again more technique than engine can really beat a bigger engine and crappy technique.

The hamstring is on the mend.  Ice and more ice with some stretching.  I think I'm going to wait a full two weeks before hitting the road again.  This was the amount of time I rested my strained calf muscle last year.  The only concern is the hamstring is a bigger muscle but I don't think I trashed it as bad as my calf.  This will give me 5 full weeks with 2 weeks of taper.  The only plus to this whole thing is running happens to be my strongest triathlon discipline.  I'm definitely cutting it close but I'm hopeful the various long runs up to this point.

Finally, I'm flying to Oregon tonight for a week at the office.  I'll be bringing my bike which should be fun.  It will be great to do some of the old courses on the fancy new time trial bike.  This requires me to bring the bike.  With all the new airline baggage rules, I'm going to get worked by United.  It's going to cost $100 each way for the bike.  I'm just hoping my actual luggage is going to get me an additional $15 fee.  I tried to stuff all my crap into my carry-on bag.  It really didn't fit well so I went to the checked bag.  As long as the bag is less than 50 lbs I'll be okay.  I'm also bringing my nutrition powder with me.  It's a gallon zip-loc bag of white powder.  I'll be taking that in my triathlon backpack on the plane along with my bike saddle/seat post, bike helmet and cycling shoes.  It's not gel or liquid so I should be fine.

1 month 16 days...

Tweak = pain = strain

My luck stinks for running.  My foot feels fine but my hamstring is toast.  It was a little tight when I started on my long run this morning but at that the 5 minute mark it went...I walked back home disgusted.  I can't believe it 300 measly meters between me and that stupid hamstring strain on Thursday.  I'm going to rest it until at least Wednesday if not Thursday.  I got 7 weeks of training left.  I need to get that damn start line healthy.

This will mean my run is going to be less than stellar.  I'll have to rely on pure guts during the marathon as I just won't have enough training in the bank.  My bike is really coming along and my swim is getting there.  If things really came together well at the Ironman, I could make a run at a low 10 hour mark but now I'm just worried about actually finished the marathon.  If my hamstring doesn't get healthy that could be a serious stretch.

If I get it healthy in the next 4 days, I'm going to cut out all hard workouts til August.  I'll just build up my base again and try to put some tempo work on top during the last 2 weeks of real training in August.  Maybe my luck will turn around and it will come together for a perfect peak come the 24th of August.  We'll see...

1 month 19 days...

Happy 4th!

Hopefully everyone is having a great start to a 3 day weekend.  I have Elena this weekend so having today off helped me get in a massive swim and ride but let's talk a little about yesterday.

It was god awful hot yesterday but not humid.  I went for an easy swim and then around lunch time I decided to hit the run.  My extensor tendon on the top of my foot has been feeling better each day so this is great news for the run.  I decided to just pick up the pace each mile and finish all out.  This was going quite well and my foot was feeling fine.  I was in the midst of the last 200 meters of the run going really hard when I tweaked my hamstring.  Just a little twinge but just my luck.  I just can't get my run going at all although I'm not the best at following good run advice.  I'm definitely pushing the boundary of getting in some quality runs without getting injured. I just keep failing on the injured part.  I iced it but it was tender the rest of the day.

I woke up this morning at 5am to work on my pre-race breakfast and swim-bike transition nutrition.  Both of those areas failed for me at the Half Ironman so I wanted to switch it up a little.  I had a Clif Bar and some instant oatmeal for breakfast.  I checked the temperature and radar before I was going to head to the pool to start the day.  It showed a decent rainstorm about 5 minutes away.  Damn...I'm going to have to wait before I hit the pool because I really don't want to bike in the rain.  Overall this was probably a good thing because I got to the pool just before 7AM which is the actual Ironman start time.

I hit the water and proceeded to swim.  The plan was to swim 80 minutes then hop out, drive over to the park and get out on the bike for a good hard 5 hours.  I felt slow but really didn't have an idea of my splits.  This is good because during the actual Ironman I'll have to push myself without knowing how fast I'm going.  I struggled here and there during the time but finished the last 100 right on the money of 80 minutes.  I got out and started sipping water to settle the stomach.  My stomach felt good with the Clif Bar and oatmeal.

I got on my bike and still drank water for the first 30 minutes.  My legs felt dead on the bike though.  I really felt the last 2 weeks of hard bike workouts.  I wasn't planning my usual hills because they are by the Congressional Golf Course which is hosting a PGA Tour event this weekend.  It would crazy with cars out there so I went a more flat route.  Overall this was a good choice because my legs were just dead feeling.

I got almost to the halfway point of the bike when it started to sprinkle again so I turned around early and proceeded back.  I knew I'd be short mileage and time but that's okay.  I've gotten decent bike miles.  I decided just to push extra hard with what I had to make up for the short ride.

Nutrition everything went really well on the bike so I think I've honed that down for sure now.  I ended up with 4:45 minutes on the bike for just under 95 miles.  Not too bad considering I felt I'd be extra slow.  I just recorded my swim information and I ended up with 4300 yards in 80 minutes.  This is just barely over the Ironman swim distance.  That was my goal time as well when I first started this adventure.  I can't believe I'm actually able to swim that far at that pace without drowning.  Sweet! I'm totally stoked.  I was a little faster at the end than the previous 75 minute swim so I'm getting just a little stronger.

Now I just need to put all the 3 distances together on the 24th of August and hopefully become an Ironman.  The marathon is still going to be super tough but its where I have the most experience.

1 month 20 days...

Lost

No not the TV show, which I had watched religiously until this season when it got so lame that I just couldn't stand it.  I have all the shows from the entire season sitting on my DVR but it's just so painful to watch.  I guess I just got tired of all the jerking around the show did.  It was a new concept the first season and then the 2nd season was awesome with some of the answers being revealed.  Season 3 almost did me in trying to watch it especially when Charlie died.  That was pathetic.  All he had to do was open the door and the main chamber would've started flooding so both them could swim out.  I still don't get that one.  I tried to watch the start of season 4 but it was just pissing me off too much.  Oh well, if I get real bored this summer I'll go through the DVR and watch them.

Back to what was lost, my swim technique.  It's so weird because I don't think "I'm tired" which is why I've been swimming so slow lately I think I screwed up my form.  I had that awesome swim 3 weeks ago where I went the fastest ever for an hour.  I was rocking some nice technique during that swim but now I can't remember that stroke.  I don't remember the exact motion.  I'm sure with that technique combined with the wetsuit I could average 1:35 per 100yds for Ironman swim and that gets me into the sub 70 minute group.  There wouldn't be as much crowding and I'd be able to get out of the water and not have as much bike congestion.

As Dora from Finding Nemo would say, "Just keep swimmin...swimmin".

The running has been so-so.  My ankle tendon no longer hurts but now the foot tendon is a little sore.  Ice and even more ice.  I have the quad pain I get when I haven't been running very much.  I'm running every other day so if I put in a couple of hards run here and there I should be able to keep my speed up.  I've abandoned an idea for pace during the Ironman marathon.  I'm thinking I'll just go real easy for the first 13 miles, settle in up until 18 and then it's just willpower against the sore legs for those last 8 miles.  I'm still confident and feel I could run down some fast cyclists during the run.

I was relieved as I was taking Elena to school today that the weather report was going to very little humidity.  This humidity definitely gets old.  Everything stays soaked the entire workout even the fancy wicking fabrics don't really work.  At least I won't have to carry my extra water bottles in my cycling jersey after receiving a key part for my saddle water bottle cages.  During the packing of my bike after Florida, I lost this bracket for my rear water bottle cages.  I've putting 2 extra bottles in my jersey pockets to survive my long rides.  I posted on Slowtwitch asking to buy that part.  What a great community of triathlon folks are on there because I got a response from someone saying they'd just give me the part.  The only problem is the USPS shredded the envelope it was in.  I got the envelope devoid of the part and the envelope was demolished.  So I posted again and again another awesome triathlete sent me the part for free.  They did a great job of taping it inside the envelope so it actually made it.  I installed it so I'm set for my long Independence day ride.

1 month 22 days...