Disappointed

That pretty much sums up my feelings of the Florida Half Ironman.  Obligatory stats:
Swim: 40:32  T1: 3:39   Bike : 2:34:18  T2: 1:30  Run : a pathetic 1:50:03 for a total of exactly 5:10:00.
Things just didn't go according to plan and I mentally gave up.  Here's some of the details if you care to read on.

I flew into Orlando Friday afternoon and my friend Orion picked me up.  We were both excited as this was going to be his first half Ironman plus really the longest event he's ever done and farthest he's ever ran.  We got some early dinner and went to bed to start banking some additional sleep.

Saturday, we drove to the race site to register and rack our bikes.  I got some rental race wheels from Race Day Wheels.  They were unorganized so it took quite awhile to get the wheels in place.  I gave them a test spin and they felt nice and fast as compared to my bombproof training wheels with heavy flat proof Amardillo tires.  I also did a small 15 minute run to work out the kinks.  I immediately noticed the heat.  This was not a good sign.  Curse you lame cold DC spring weather.  I also tested out what I was calling our "Pulp Fiction" shower in the parking lot.  Basically, 2 gallon jugs of water, towel and shampoo for post run and race cleanup.

On Sunday, we awoke at 2:45 AM to drive back to Disneyworld.  We arrived in good spirits at 4:15 just in time to catch the first bus to transition.  We proceeded to set up our gear and start what would be many nervous bathroom trips.  It was already 70 degrees which was good so we didn't have to worry about being cold waiting for the non-wetsuit swim.

Before we knew the pro men started and then it was just a matter of time.  Luckily Orion and I were in the same wave.  My plan was to draft off him as much as possible and let him clear a path in the water.  We hoped to come out of the water at the same time so we could wrestle each other all the way through transition for fun.

I had to make a google choice and I chose wrong.  I went with the clear goggles as I thought the sun wouldn't crest over the tree line til late in my wave.  These are my favorite and preferred goggles but I should've went with the tinted ones because the sun was well over the trees.  It wasn't horrible but definitely noticeable.

Swim: The horn sounded and we were off.  I saw Orion for like 10 strokes then he was gone.  My right goggle filled with water immediately but my left was clear.  It was just lake water so not too bad just a little stinging here and there.  I was trying to swim as fast as possible but I didn't feel fast.  My new found technique is crooked.  I swam pretty crooked the entire way so I had to sight a lot more than Canada.  I was trying to use the pack to sight off but there really wasn't a mass of swimmers.  On top of that a bunch of times I'd look and all I would see was a wave of water.  It was strange.  This never happened at Canada.  Every time I sighted I also picked some clean water.  I had a pretty uneventful swim.  Only a couple of bumps here and there.  I finally got to shore winded as I really was pushing pretty hard the entire swim and clicked my watch, 40 something.  OUCH!!  I knew during the swim that 35 was out due to all my sighting but I thought maybe I'd hit 38.  Wrong!  Oh well, I thought to myself this is still faster than 42 last year and I can make up those minutes if the rest of the day goes well.  A post race note is a lot of people have commented that they swam slower than last year and even slower than they expected.  This is leading to the thoughts that course was maybe 100 to 200 meters long.  I don't really buy this until one of the pros also mentions that they thought the course was long.

T1: I was able to motor up into transition pretty good this year as there wasn't much of a crowd.  I could feel my stomach being a little upset but nothing too big to worry about. Most of my bike rack was gone.  Not a good sign but lots of room to maneuver.  I went as fast as I could.  I got my tri jersey on without much effort, helmet, glasses, shoes and I was off.  Similar time to last year but I really wasn't clicking my watch splits accurately.

Bike: The bike started good.  I got clipped in after awhile and was motoring pretty good passing people constantly and also being passed as well.  I started drinking a half gatorade half water concoction to get some calories and some liquid in as the sun was out and it was going to be high 80s for the day.  The best thing about Florida is the bike course.  It's as smooth as glass.  You can really go.  Everything was clicking along but my stomach just wasn't feeling too great.  I kept trying to find the magic to stay hydrated and carbed up without too much stomach distress.  At one point during the ride, I almost puked just because my stomach was feeling great.  It finally went away for a bit but never really felt good.  This seems to be a common theme with my bike segments.  For a lot of the bike course we had a nice tailwind so the miles were clicking off quite fast.  I rode a bunch of 24+ without much effort.  I knew though at some point during the course we would PAY.   The section was the last 15 miles of the course.  Uh-oh.  I managed to use the legal draft of some bigger guys to help conserve energy and keep an okay pace at the end.  I finally looked at my time as we were nearing the end and I knew I'd be pretty damn close to my 2:30 goal.  I wasn't exactly on it but I slowed down at the end to spin out the legs a little and undo the shoes for dismount.  I was pleased and ready to rock the run.

T2:  I was in and out of transition like a bolt of lightening.  This was the first time I didn't have to make a portopottie stop before the run.  Good sign or bad sign not sure.

Run: This where I was going to rock or so I thought.  Boy I was so wrong.  Things went well at the start.  I clicked off a 6:04 first mile which I still think is officially short with little effort.  I hit the trail and rattled off a 6:30 and 6:45 miles.  My last trail mile on the first loop was 6:55.  At this time I was a little worried.  My legs just didn't feel good.  I knew they weren't going to carry me.  Mile 5 was a full pavement mile and I hit it at 6:40 and then it happened.  I got this horrible side stitch.  CRAP!!  I haven't had a side stitch on a run in like forever.  It's been so long I haven't even done side stretches before training runs this entire season.  The last time I had one that felt like this one was in a high school 3k track event.  I ran through that one but pulled my side muscle during it and was in serious pain for over a week.  I had 8 miles to go and side stitch.  I could gut and continue to run or stop and see if I could stretch it out.  I opted to start walking and stretch it out.  I'd stretch and then try running and within a few steps no change.  Repeat for the entire 6th mile.  10:46.  OH GOD, my race is officially over.  This is what ran through my mind along with a bunch of "I suck", "I'm pathetic".  Being an eternal pessimist when things go wrong in races, it's really cataclysmic for me.  The 10:46 basically put a 1:25 out of reach for sure so I knew a top 10 was surely gone with my slower swim and therefore a chance at a Clearwater spot.  In the end, I was happy that most of the top 20 in my age group all ran nice low 1:30s for their run split and all were under 4:30 overall.  Anyway, back to my pathetic run.  So after mile 6 I basically gave up mentally.  I finally got the side stitch under control but my legs liked walking too much so it was hard to get and keep them going.  I'd run to the aid station and take in fluids while walking then start running again after a bit and this continued.  On top of this my actual run pace really wasn't what I consider running.  It was a slow shuffle because this felt the best for my side rather than a full stride.  I continued to curse myself the rest of the entire race and was just glad to be done.  I did run the entire last mile but overall it was just a pathetic performance.  At mile 6 I basically decided since the 1:25 or just a little slower was out of the question that the rest of the race didn't matter.  I maybe could've gutted a sub 5 but it really didn't matter.

The funniest thing was Orion suffered like a dog on the run course because of his bad hamstring.  On top of that he had tons of cramps but kept going no matter what.  He finished and was so happy.  He loved the whole race.  What a guy!  He's a stud.

We picked up our gear and got prepared for dinner at the Wilderness Lodge Whispering Canyon.  I was going to drown my sorrows in bottomless milkshakes and all you can eat ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken.  We both ate a fair amount but were pretty tired.

Some additional notes, I got sunburned which again shows how crappy DC's spring has been this year.  Last year, no sunburn at all.  Also my legs felt fine.  I could walk easily without pain.  This is how bad my run was as I'm more tired after training runs than this race.  Sad!

My week in Florida continues with lots of eating going on.  Last night(Monday), we went to all you can eat pizza.  It was a little training for a pizza challenge  that we might do someday.  Anyway,  I polished off 28 slices of pizza in about an hour.  The slices weren't super big or anything as the pizzas were 12" with 8 slices per.  We think the pizza challenge is doable but will be tough.  Of course, I could barely move and had hoped to do 30 slices but had to stop at 28.  I also ran 5 miles on Monday afternoon and it wasn't too bad except I still had a side ache.

Orion tells me he wants the Florida Half to be a yearly thing and is already thinking about how he can improve next year.  I'm thinking about just not doing anything and becoming a shut-in while he's already planning on training for next year.

I guess when I really look at my run I can't be too upset.  I hadn't been able to put in any running miles from the end of January til mid March.  I had 8 weeks to go from ground zero on running in order to prepare.  Who knows maybe this will allow me to do great things at the Olympic distance event on the 21st of June.  I did not feel my sore knee yesterday after my 5 mile run so that's good.

Almost Here

The Florida Half Ironman is just 2 days away and both Orion and I are excited.  You can follow both us via the athlete tracker link on the Ironman.com webpage.  I'll try to post our race numbers tomorrow.

My bike is all packed and I'm ready to make the "walk" to the Metro station with the bike case.  But $4 for the metro train is cheaper than parking at airport for days...so I walk.

At least I'm fully recovered from the trip to Europe.  I've been going to bed earlier and getting up a little earlier to be ready for that 4am wakeup call on Sunday morning.

So here are my official goals for the race, 35 minute swim(it's going to be a stretch but maybe), 2:30 bike(I think I can do it but it will be close), 1:25 run(This is the main goal for me.  I'm hoping this will get me a top 10 overall run split.).  Overall in the 4 hours and high 30s for the event.  If everything goes perfect and the competition isn't too steep, this time could net me a top 10 finish in my age group.  That would be awesome.  Ideally, if this happens, I might be able to sign up for the Half Ironman championships in Florida later this year.

I posted this YouTube clip on my Facebook but I'll repost just in case.

I figure I'll be taking one of these instead of an ice bath after the event.

Anyway, the blog isn't as up to date as Facebook makes little updates easier.

Olympic Distance

Yep, I'm going to try my first Olympic distance triathlon.  I signed up because I was inspired by a 39:30 10k brick training run after doing an easy 25 mile bike.  I figured what the hell.  It's local and on Father's day in June.  Maybe I could apply all the half ironman training to it and see if I could really go fast on the run.  The brick run I was just cruising to that 39:30 so if I pushed maybe I go 36ish.  We'll see as it will be more for fun than anything since my 1500m swim will be pathetic as compared to fast men in my age group.

But overall my run is really coming along.  I just need to keep any additional injury at bay.  I still have the sore knee but I don't need any new one coming along.  I busted a 5 mile tempo at 6:10s which was good.  The 1:25 for the half run segment at Florida is in sight if it all comes together.

Elena got some new running shoes and is excited to be training again.  We ran an easy 3/4 of a mile on Sunday.  She has pretty good form which is nice.  I think I can get her up to that 5k distance but we'll see.  Maybe at around 8 minute pace who knows...I know she could easily bust a 7:30 mile if she had too right now.  I'm sortof excited to see how fast she can run when she gets older.

It's fun for me because she actually likes running right now.  I have to be careful to make sure she continues to like it.  Of course, we're going to get her into the pool this summer with goal of teaching her how to swim.  On top of that, it's also time for her to learn how to bike without training wheels.  My 7 year old is going to get the full triathlon gambit this summer.  It will be good for her and improve her confidence.

It's finally hot here(90 degrees) as I just finished my first ride of the year where I wasn't cold at the beginning of it.  Of course, now my condo is 80 degrees but no A/C yet...just yet.  I'm holding out as it's suppose to cool down to the 70s by mid week.

With the hotter temperatures, the summer movies start this week with X-Men Wolverine.  Next week is the new Star Trek.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do for the movies this summer as I'm kindof just like sitting at home.  Maybe when I'm down in Florida at O's, we'll catch a couple of movies.  We'll also be doing extreme amounts of eating while I'm down there.   We start with going to the Whispering Canyon right after the race for all you can eat chicken, ribs, and sausage as well as bottomless shakes.  I'm thinking I'll gain 10 lbs while I'm down there.  I'll have to trade off going way off my diet vs. sticking to my diet in order to go fast at that June race.

A side effect of all this nice weather is my allergies are killing me.  The Claratin is holding them back but still my eyes are constantly itching.  Elena has been walking a tight rope of allergy medication and nose bleeds.  Her poor nose gets too dry from the allergy medication and then she has nose bleeds.  She woke up last night with one.  Poor kid, definitely not fun.

Lazy and Rain

It's been pouring all day after a really nice spring weekend.  I bagged my swim workout this morning because I just didn't feel it.  I put in enough calories Sunday afternoon to really need a workout in the pool. My legs are thrashed from the weekend workouts.  I thought about running on the treadmill but figured what's a day of rest gonna hurt as it still hurts just walking right now.

I was in shambles after last week's Wednesday's tempo run.  I figured I had no chance of going fast on the half and was worried that I might be slower than last year's 1:33 split.  Everything mentally changed for me on Friday.  It was 70 degrees so I went for a mild 25 mile ride just to spin the legs.  I got off the bike and immediately hit the road for a brick run of 6.3 miles.  I just wanted to cruise at a nice pace.  I clipped off the first mile in 6:40.  I thought that didn't seem fast more like a pedestrian 7:15 something to me.  I decided to keep cruising and see how it would go.  I got to the same part of the run where I had run the tempo on Wednesday.  I had averaged basically 6:10s for the 3 miles of tempo.  During this run, I was able to rattle off a 5:57, 6:05, 6:07 during that section.  I about lost it on the 5:57.  I haven't seen a middle mile during a workout since 2002.  I'm still shocked.  I finished the roughly 10k course in 39:30 and that's with a 1/2 mile cool down.  I immediately thought maybe I should sign up for a Olympic triathlon.  I suck at the swim but maybe I could drop a sub 36 on the run.  I might have to give one a go this summer.

On Saturday, I pushed my first 4 hour ride of the season.  The weather was great and even got a slight forearm sunburn from being aero for most of the ride.  The arms hadn't seen so much sun all year.  I got home with the thoughts of my Costco lasagna.  I ate 2/3rds of the entire tray.  I probably could've finished but I wouldn't have been able to hit the pavement the following day for my run.

I woke up Sunday for the longest run since doing the PT stuff.  10 miles loomed and my legs were already tired.  The first mile felt like 21 of a marathon.  The legs were just dead.  I guess it will make me mentally tough running 80 minutes with dead legs.  I was glad when the run was over.

I can feel I'm getting stronger on the bike and run.  I actually may have things timed right for a good peak at Florida.  My stretch goal is to qualify for the half ironman championship in Clearwater, FL.  I'd have to have a perfect race and hope it was hot enough to decimate the field.  I would need to make the top 10 for a shot in my age group.  The key is getting my swim at 35 and then being able to finish with a 1:25 half.  Of course it wouldn't be an easy task to drop a 2:30 bike in the middle of that.  I was close on the bike last year while just cruising at an Ironman feel.  The run will be the hard but if things go well I could do it.  The real problem with the run is dodging other participants due to the course being 3 loops.  This is toughest part of that course navigating everyone as you overtake them on the uneven surface of grass/dirt.  I just want to see 6:30s on the watch at as many miles splits as possible.

The swim isn't improving but it isn't getting worse.  I haven't been swimming as much as last year but that's okay.  3 quality workouts each week seems to letting me hold some shape.  I'm not sure it's going to translate to a 35.  I think my experience from last year will help cut some time from last year's 42.  I definitely spent a little too much dodging swimmers and sighting.  I think based on my experience from Canada I will sight a lot less.  In Canada, I think I sighted maybe 3 or 4 times total.  I just used the crowd to guide me around the course.

I can't believe it's almost May though as April has just flown by.  I probably need to change the layout of this blog and change it's title.  If I do qualify for Clearwater, I'll have some purpose for training this summer.  If not I can see a lot of lounging by the pool.  I've also just given myself a new goal for 2012.  I want to run Boston when I'm 40 and possibly do another Ironman at age 40 as well.  Instead of buying a sports car, coloring my hair and buying a bunch of fancy clothes, I'll train for a qualifying marathon and maybe even another Ironman.

Hmmm

Yep, it's been a long time between posts. I just sortof update my facebook status with key workout information rather than putting all the gory workout details in the blog. My life continues to be pretty boring so it's not like I have some great story about going to the bookstore to talk about or even to a Wizards game. Although I had entertained doing a Wizards game just for something different since it's pretty convenient and they are so bad the StubHub tickets are super cheap.

Speaking of StubHub, this service is awesome. I'm sure Elena and I will go to a few National's games courtesy of that service. I will also try to take her to a WNBA game but man the cost of those tickets seems outrageous for the popularity and the seat locations. I tried last year but it was just too expensive. With the slower economy maybe the prices will be cheaper, I will have to keep looking for those games this summer.

And with the economy, I moved my 401k investments back to 75% into the stock market as it's been slowly increasing over the past weeks. Buy low and hopefully sell high when I'm 80 and can actually retire. I wish my 401k would show how much money I've put into the account over the years. I'm wondering if I've actually made money or not. As I think about it, I've probably doubled my investment so that's better than it just sitting in my mattress.

The weather is still cold here. It might get to 50 today. The usual average is 65 and we've only seen like 3 days in the past 2 weeks at that temperature. So sad. This is really hurting my cycling shape. I'm going out today with a bunch of layers for a hard ride so hopefully I don't freeze. The knee is the knee nowadays. I think the PT is helping but it's a super slow process especially now that I'm running a bunch. I did my first real running workout yesterday. I decided to run some tempo. I figure with the limited time I have before the race in May, I'll do one tempo run each week. I started with just a simple 1.75 mile tempo yesterday. It was brutal and I only went 6 minute pace. I still think back to 2001 when it was breeze running 6 minute pace. That's really the last time I've been in awesome shape. Anyway, if I can keep the tempo pace the same but increase the distance I could still have a shot at a 1:25 half. We'll see..

Elena is on spring break this week but luckily the before/after care went full time this week. I wonder how she is liking the no school. I'll have to ask her about it today. Easter is this weekend so I'm not sure what the plans are. I may have to get some eggs and color stuff for this weekend since she's at my house. Maybe I can do an egghunt out in our common area?

Also on the plan for the weekend is a massive Costco run, I'm completely out of food. I have one chicken breast, 5 brats, and 3 boxes of pasta. That's it other than rice for dinner. Luckily, I can eat the same thing every night for days on end and not care. I'm expecting a large Costco bill but overall it's cheaper than just a normal grocery store.

Super Flexible...not so much

After yet another week of PT, I started running last week.  I ran for 3 straight days and 4 miles each.  On Friday, I put the hammer down on a brick run and was able to bust out 6:30s.  I was quite surprised that I still had the leg speed.  Of course, I need that pace for 9 more miles to reach my original Half Ironman run split goal.  I still have time so I might be able to get my endurance back up and get used to the knee pain.

My PT told me I have this hyper flexion or something with my joints.  I guess its not normal for you to be able to bend your fingers back so they look like the letter "C".  Who knew.  She says it makes running easier because I don't have to use as many muscles hence one of the reasons I'm injured to begin with.  All these little unused muscles in my hips, etc. are weak.  I found out Elena also can bend her fingers back easily into a "C".  It must be genetic.

Elena is excited to starting training again.  We'll start to do some running and see about entering her into a summer race or two.  She's 7 so if she wants we'll see how fast she can really go.  There are a few kids races around but mostly just 5ks which is still too long for her age.

I finished her 1st grade musical video.  This is the first production on the Macbook using iMovie.  It turned out okay I just need to get better at holding the video camera.



Elena and I were watching TV this weekend and we kept seeing those weird Audi Q5 commercials.  Anyway, she said she wanted to get that car when she grows up.  Oh great my daughter has Audi tastes.
I told her she'd have to work hard so she could buy that car.

I got 2 more photo speeding tickets on the way to the PT office.  It's so sad because the little photo thing is hidden and fixed.  It just happened to be on this 3 lane street that is totally wide open.  It's also at the bottom of this hill.  Lame all the way around.  Who knows how many more I'll end up getting because they took so long to get to my house that I had at least 4 appointments.  $40 a pop is starting to add up.  I really hate Maryland because I also have to deal with this car insurance thing.  I registered my car last year but didn't transfer over my insurance from Oregon right away so now I have to prove that I had Oregon insurance.  Fricking pain in the ass.  I should've just been lazy and not registered with Maryland at all.  So technically, I'm driving with a suspended tag because they give you only 15 days to respond but if you mail them the documents they need it takes 10 days to process them.  Either way you're screwed.

I found out that I have to go to Europe after all.  I thought I was going to be able to get out of the upcoming trip but no.  I'm stuck going the week of the Half Ironman.  F-ing great.  I get to travel to Europe for 3 days, fly back on Thursday then fly to Florida on Friday.  PERFECT!!  I'm gonna do my best to sleep as much as possible and maybe even in meetings. ;)  It's the taper time so I should be okay but it's just the lack of sleep that might be a problem.  We'll see..

Felony Assault

My quads called the cops to charge me with felony assault after this weekend's cycling.  I absolutely demolished my legs on Saturday's 56 mile ride.  I just kept doing short 5 minute or so intervals the entire time after a warmup.  I could barely make it up my stairs when I got home.  Even more pathetic was my time was just under 3 hours for the ride.  I rode a 2:40 57 mile leg at Florida last year and felt like I went easy.  Ugh...my cycling needs some serious work between now and May 17th.

On Sunday, I went out for just a nice spin session. I ended with 62 miles in 3 and half hours.  The legs were tired but I just took it easy.   The weather is still under 60 here and I sure wish it would get warmer so I could feel comfortable outdoors on the bike.  The best part was my knee felt great on Friday and I was almost tempted to run.  It felt fine on both Saturday and Sunday.

My next PT session is Tuesday.  I'm hopeful that whatever we're doing is helping and maybe I can get back to some 30 minute runs this week.  I looked at my calendar from last year and I was still doing short stuff at this time so maybe I can really have a chance at the run afterall.

The only thing that's ahead of schedule is the swimming.  Can you believe it?!?  My worst event is actually the most improved right now as I'm on mid summer form right now.  I just completed the "Pyramid of Death" this morning for my longest interval workout so far this season.  It was brutal but I kept the pace as fast as I could.  I thought I was going to faint during the last few 50s.  I'm assuming fainting in the pool is probably a bad thing.   Swimming til you puke is probably not a real good one either.  I stumbled out of the pool at the end but I feel better for busting out the tough workout.

Other than working out, I pretty much watched NCAA basketball, movies and DVR TV shows all weekend.  I caught up with 24.  I finished season 2 of Friday Night Lights and season 3 of X-Files.  I watched Death Race and Mummy Dragon Emperor.  Death Race was okay but not too great.  The Mummy was awful.  I can't believe how bad it was compared to the first two.  It didn't get going until the end and then it just was pathetic.  I saw Wanted which wasn't too bad except it also had a lame ending as well.  The cool thing about it was the director.  He's the same guy that directed these weird Russian action-horror movies Night Watch and Day Watch.  The star from those movies had a little bit part in this one.  It was interesting what he was able to do with some budget.

Even with all the TV watching, I was able to get some good sleep.  I'm ready for another week...