STP 2011....correction S2P

The one and only, Seattle to Portland ride.  This event is the penultimate bucket list items for many many folks in the Pacific Northwest.  There's even people that travel from all over the nation to attend.  Here's some stats from their site:

Who rode in 2011?

• 9,999 other riders
• Oldest rider: 85
• 18% first-time riders
• 100 safety and medical riders
• 30 Ride Referees
• 228 riders who have participated in 10+ STPs
• One rider who has ridden them all: Jerry Baker!
• In 2011, riders came from 42 states plus Canada (Alberta, B.C. & Ontario) and England.

Unfortunately the stats they provide don't show how many folks opted for either a two day (100 miles each) or a one day (200 miles).  Since this was my first go at it, and I'm convicted not to participate in anything that will take place during worship hours on Sundays, I opted for the one day. Also, I rode along without paying for the event.  I know it may seem wrong at first, but here's my logic:

1. I don't want any of the food they're providing, I'm packing my own the entire way. Plus, the products I use work really well, so why go with something that isn't proven? 200 miles is a lot of work, I'd hate for something to go wrong and upset the whole ride.
2. I'm broke. The fitness funds in the budget have been turned upside down, and I really wanted to get this particular ride under my belt at some point. (see next point)
3. My companies convention has always fallen on the same weekend as the event, except for this year...
4. I'm not completely convinced that the organizing body of the event is high on my list of favorites. 
5. I don't need anything that they're providing along the way, there's plenty of facilities all the way there.

So here's the tenants that I agreed in order to ride the event without paying the registration fee:

1. No using any food or water at the rest stops. Gotta find my own way.
2. No using the restroom facilities they provide. Gotta find my own means.
3. No enjoying the starting line or finishing line festivities. It's their party, not mine.
4. Find my own way home. 

All that said, it would be simple enough to do this quick 200 miler (double century).  Also, I was still not convinced that it was an ok thing to do without paying... But... 202 miles with almost 2,000 feet of climbing, sounds like fun. 

First the nutrition plan

Sustained Energy by Hammer Nutrition

I really like Sustained Energy, and planned on 2.5 scoops per hour for no more than 12 hours.  If it went beyond that I would be in trouble, or have to stop at a mini-mart to get food.  That being said I know that I went through nearly $45 in product during the ride.  Also, I've yet to figure out a method to keep the bottles from spoiling when mixing more than 2 hours.  It's a great concept to stretch out the time needed between rest breaks, but haven't been able to break the 2 hour barrier...yet.  Perhaps I'll have better luck with the other nutrition source, Perpetuem by Hammer.

Nuun Tablets

Electrolytes without the calories.  Nuun would be my mandatory electrolytes during the ride, 1 bottle per hour.  I had enough for 14 hours.  Very simple, very easy choice.  I love the product!

Everything on the ride was great.  Most every time some friends would stop for a rest break, I would simply "catch up" with them later on the ride.  Or if I did head into the break area, there was no sampling of the goodies, enjoying the fellowship of other folks suffering (camaraderie is a big deal here), or even using the can.  In fact weeks later I would get a compliment from a new friend about sticking with my own rules.

It all seemed logical, and straightforward.  Until I got to Portland.

Once in Portland I got a flat.  No surprise as later I found out that someone had tacked the course, who does that???!!!! (Oh wait I know someone who would do that... yes they have just as pleasant a personality as you'd imagine).

The thing with this flat was that I didn't want to stop to change the tube.  So I aired it up, and kept rolling.  Took 15 minutes to leak out but I was only just a couple miles out from the finish so I thought.  So I stopped and aired up, 10 minutes to flat, air, 7 minutes, air, 5 minutes, air, 4 minutes, air, at this point I saw lots of people on the side with a huge number of flats in Portland, strange... (tacked course) 3 minutes, air.... ARGGG!

Finally I rolled past (not through) the finish line to meet up with my sister and the rest of the group I'd ridden with for the last 200 or so miles.  It was great to be done, but especially great to not deal with that flat anymore.

After missing the last train to Seattle, and finding only an overpriced (although quite comfy) hotel room nearby, and missing Church the next day.  Also, I had a terrible chafing issue that is quite indescribable.  All that and I finally learned a little lesson.

Even though I can justify, and fully support myself on a ride like that, and make great time doing it.  ALWAYS PAY TO PLAY.  I thank God for teaching me a little lesson about what is right, and what's not.  Fortunately for me, those kinds of lessons only need to be taught once.

For 2012 already a fellow co-worker wants to do the ride in one day, and I'm kinda hoping that she forgets about it, as there are so many great rides in July!  Although, I do really want to do it again sometime, but this time pay and enjoy.

Green River Marathon

So being as how I'm a cyclist, I once did not own a bike.  Back then, I owned a pair of shoes that didn't have a metal lug stuck to the bottom.  They also were somewhat flexible to absorb impact, and they even.... had laces!

So I used to be a runner.  In fact the 400 meter sprint was my event in High School. I was pretty good, but not excellent or anything.  I just really liked it.  It was the distance that made it too short for 'real' distance runner, or cross country guys.  It was also the distance that made it just long enough to cause the sprinters to puke from lack of oxygen, and total body rejection.  IE: perfect for me. (yes I used to sprint the 200m, so the puking bit actually happened a couple times)

That being said I also have always wanted to run a marathon, but considered it out of reach, until one day a buddy and I were out training on the trail for his upcoming 26.2 miler (marathon distance).  We were chit chatting and running 13 miles, which flew by!  In fact I broke the 8:00/mile barrier in that easy training run, and a new perspective was born.  I fell back in love with the sport.

Now there's no way that I just up and accidentally became a good reasonable runner after a 14 year break from High School track.  It was the direct fault of group cycling classes and the interest in triathlon that caused this phenomenon. Heart Rate Training and lots of intervals in Campy's cycling class primarily, as well as a general interest in all things fitness, and health related.

So to skip ahead.

I had heard about a marathon that was in the area, and was .... FREE!  Even better, the event was typically attended by smaller crowds, and also up until this year (the 13th year in existence) has been a Boston qualifier.  That's just a bit of amazing.  Free event, Boston qualifier, and "run among friends".  Registered.

Training
Jump ahead a few months.  I've been training consitently with my running.  Following an online marathon training plan to the T.  However, I haven't given up group cycling, and continue to do the classes on Monday and Fridays.  Then do a short, short, middle, and long run during the week.  On the short run's I'd typically do some speed work, or hills, or even stair run at the beach. The long runs eventually got up to 11 miles.  Everything was going great, then it happened, I had an injury. 

Looking back, I can see what went wrong.  I had been training too hard and had an overuse injury. Achilles Tendonitis to be exact, in both heels, but right heel primarily.  Reason being, I feel like a strong pretty aggressive cyclist.  This has contributed to some really heavy interval training as much as I can during the week, and some really fun long rides on the weekends that can be pretty intense as well.  When I started running, I was keeping the same determination and intensity that has served me well in cycling. Also, I refused to stop the cycling, so was doing both usually resulting in 6-7 day training weeks. 

Only problem is that in running, you must contend with impact forces on lots of different soft tissue, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and bone that aren't nearly as utilized during cycling.  Also, during cycling it's much easier to get your heart rate up into 'the zone' than it is during running.  Primarily because of the lack of impact or concern about what damage is being done to the joints and surfaces hitting the pavement.  You see where this is going?

Take aggressive cyclist, put him in running shoes, without any experience in long runs, and you end up with over inflated goals.  Such as my sub 8:00 marathon time, for the first run.  Which may be possible if I had scaled the mileage more carefully, and not done hill/speed work every week sometimes twice a week.

Loss of drive
After the injury, I got ... sad.  Not depressed really, as there's way too much to be thankful for and enjoy.  Every day I get up and thank God for what he's given me, my family, another day health, and coffee...  But having an injury was a bit of a wake up call, that I'm human, and not an invincible machine like in the teenage years.  Machines can be programmed.  Humans need coaxing.  My body needed to be coaxed along, and silly setbacks like tendonitis sometimes pop up.

During this time I had to decide what would happen in my life when I get injured. Like truly injured enough to set back training for a couple months.  Unlike a stupid mistake I made with a foam roller ending up in trochanteric bursitis that only took a couple weeks to heal.  This tendonitis kept coming back, and back, wouldn't heal, and had me truly freaked out.  So what to do?

Prayer, contemplation, and cross-training.  My perspective shifted, and I realized that you can let an injury derail everything, or you can adapt.  Perhaps I was meant to learn some lessons, and needed to focus on some swim training, and cycling instead.  Thank you, this was useful.

The Deciding Run
Not the marathon, but a week before that I had gone running with my sister in law in Entiat, WA. I'm very excited that she is interested in running, and wanted to be an encouragement to her fitness endeavors, but was very nervous about the ankle.  It had been about 8 weeks since my last run, so being nervous was still quite useful to protect re-injury, but I knew she would be keeping a slower pace. So we ran 3 miles along the highway one weekend, about 30 minutes.  It felt... great.  So the next day I ran another 50 minutes.  It felt... great! 

During those runs, I was very diligently checking to see if there was any pain, asking the Lord whether this was ok. Trying to listen to what my body was saying. Then I decided that even though I hadn't trained past 11 miles, and that was months ago, I would go ahead and attempt the Green River Marathon. Besides if anything cropped up with the ankles, I could always stop.

The Marathon
So 1 week later, it was time to do it.  I had gone out the night before and inadvertently run a bit too far, 5 miles.  Found some great trails near the house to train on, and wanted to just check out the park entrance, although I couldn't resist a quick jaunt on the trails too. Turns out I picked up a cold, and was battling a headache and sore throat from then on.

The next day my wife brought me down to the race start along with our 2 daughters, and my wave was due to go out at 8:30am.  The weather was forcast to be amazing.  Our first day breaking 70 degrees in 9 months, and I was going to be out running my first marathon.  Perfect, as long as the sunscreen is applied evenly (it wasn't and I've got funny sunburns now on my back and chest now).

The gathering crowd of 180 or so folks weren't really even nervous with excitement, it was more of a bunch of friends hanging out.  Some were warming up and stretching, most were just chit chatting.  We saw a rabbit hop out of the bushes.  So of course I call out "hey everyone look, it's your rabbit, get ready!".  Some even got the sense of humor, and reference to pace setters in track and field events commonly called "rabbits".  Or they were just being kind to the weird new guy, not really sure which. 

Then we were off, I kissed the kids and wife, and jogged past the start line.  Most everyone was keeping about a 9-10:00 /mile pace for the first 2 miles.  This was a fun way to check out folks jerseys, chat about the weather, and imagine who I would be seeing for the next 24.2 miles.  Turns out I did see a couple folks that would continually reappear all event long.  One fella I think named John, and another woman named Elaine.  They were very friendly, and gave me bits of encouragement or at least tried to, which alone was encouraging.

Mile 3-13
These miles went by pretty quickly.  I was focused on keeping my form relaxed, but proper.  Focused on a light footfall, and minimizing stress to the Achilles tendon.  Thinking about nutrition plans, and upset for forgetting my Nuun tabs in the car.

These miles were kept at a 9:45-10:00 pace.  Not great pace for me, but this was a last minute decision to run, and I wanted to prove the ankles, and the strength training that I'd been doing.

To be frank, this distance was actually quite comfortable, and I didn't walk at all or even really have that hard of a time. Nutrition plan was working, but I forgot the Nuun, so had some Gatorade... oops.

Nutrition Plan
This is a part of events that I'm surprised how few people give consideration. Although, it is quite understandable, as every sports suppliment and hydration company out there claims to have the the perfect answer. Also, many companies don't give any hint that the wrong combination of things can lead to literally EXPLOSIVE consequences.

So either you barf, or you bonk.  OR YOU PUT THOUGHT INTO IT.

My plan was to somehow get electrolytes by way of Nuun tabs dissolved in water... that I'd left in the car.  Along with Hammer Perpetuem solids, and Hammer Espresso gel that's got 50mg of caffeine per dose. 

The Plan:

• 1 hour -Nuun, as much as I could drink comfortably while running (much trickier than while on the bike)
• 2 hours -Perpetuem solid. 150 calories including protein, but takes some chewing and liquid to eat.
• As Needed -Hammer Gels. These take fluids too, but the caffeine really works well for me.

 Note, there's no mention of Gatorade anywhere in the nutrition plan?  Simple explanation, is simple sugars.  I don't like to mix my uses when I don't have to.  Traditionally on the bike, I can opt to seperate my electrolytes from my complex carbohydrates/protein mix. Nuun having no carbs or calories was simply flavored electrolyte water, and that's great. Gatorade contains simple sugars that 'don't play well with others'... if you get my drift.

Mile 13-16
One funny memory along this stage was the need to pee.  I had been running along, and we passed many many metal utility poles.  In fact there were elevated high voltage lines all along the route at this stage.  If those things do produce radiation, I'm screwed.  But if they don't, they're simply another entertaining thing to look at along the route.  Also, they give the opportunity for cover, so that I can answer the call of nature.  The challenge was that there was just not enough cover so that I can disappear entirely into the woods to take care of business.

But finally we ran down into a small copse of trees taller than 6 feet, so that I can feel separated by a wall of vegetation from the rest of my buddies on the route.  I had just begun, when sure enough another guy had the same idea, and ran past me commenting on "good idea bro!".

Awhile later I got to an aid station, and the wife and kids were again cheering me on.  I love my family. But, I knew that I had just run a really casual pace from what my training had been prior to injury so I started into a 'bad head trip'.  This was from a combination of not pushing as hard as I had wanted to, being forced to consume Gatorade (ok not forced, but knew I needed carbs some how), and the legs were starting to complain louder.  Did I mention I had a cold.... you get the idea.

So there's my wonderful family cheering on daddy.  I ask "how many miles is this?" to which the wife tells me, I had just passed mile 13.  "Oh man, I thought I was at 18!", I think to myself as I run past, getting some more Gatorade.  On the way out I think that if I'd just passed mile 13 then I'm screwed.  The pace I had been keeping, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold, even though it was much slower than I'd hoped for.  Also, that means that I would get in with a 6 hour marathon, well beyond what I thought was the cut-off mark for the run. 

As the wife and kids are passing, I wave them down and call it quits.

They were all surprised to see me jump in the passenger seat.  I give a quick explanation why I couldn't continue, and grabbed the cell phone to look at the map and gps.  We were right next to an onramp for the the highway, so the wife headed out.  As I looked at the gps I realized that I was actually at mile 16, only 10 left!  Also, I could see all my new friends I'd made running away as we drove along the route as it paralleled the highway. 

That's when I decided, 13 miles (or 16 miles as the case was) was not enough.  I needed to finish the event.  Hey, it's only 10 more miles, I've done that before.  I can do that again!  So I made the wife and kids go back to where they picked me up, so I could start up again.

Looking back, I realized this was actually a really great lesson for the kiddos.  Hopefully, they see the struggle that daddy was going through with my willpower.  I had given up.  But ended up determined to finish.  I really hope that will be useful for their own battles someday.

So after a short reprieve of maybe 10 minutes, I was back out on the pavement.  Sweaty, salty, sunburnt, and sore.  Little did I realize that a huge new battle was ahead.

Mile 16-26.2
Miles 16-20 seemed to pass pretty quick, even though it was really hard physically to get going again after putting the feet up and calling it quits.  The adrenaline of being 'back in the game' was enough to keep my pushing through the next 4 miles.

Once I hit mile 20, I was much more careful (as was my wife) to give very accurate account of the mileage.  Not to mention I had made another friend who jogged with a loose fitting camelback, and gps reciever.  In fact he was carrying alot of gear for that 26 mile run. I just kept wanting to tell him to tighten his backpack, just watching him run with it made me chafe.

Also, there's a fun battle that begins at the 20 mile mark, so I'd heard.  That's when your mind really starts to trash talk, and throw fits. Sure enough, that's when I started run/walking.  It started out with a short walk, no more than 30 seconds at a time.  Gradually the ratio of run to walk would start to change during the rest of the run.

We made our way through some business parks, past the Starfire Seattle Sounders soccer training event, and over a myriad of bridges.  Many times the bridges would go over Green River, or one of the smaller streams.  I couldn't help but think of the Green River Murders from years gone past.  Of course seeing a flat bottom police boat doing drills in the river didn't help, and I wondered about what it would have been like for my uncle who was a diver that helped recover remains.  Hey, like I said bad head trip.

Beside for the somewhat morbid meanderings of my mind, I really did actually enjoy the view of the river, and even though it was murky brown from all the sedimentary runoff from the nearby streams (brown river, not green), it looked awefully inviting to jump in whether green or brown. It was hot out, I was running in the sun, and my legs were begging from some cooling off. 

No.  No relief from another few more miles.

Eventually the run took us up into the Alki area.  This part of the marathon was packed with people.  Folks on skateboards, couples walking, some middle eastern couple was arguing loudly and it felt like a total drain of energy.  So I picked up the pace a bit.  We passed a whole bunch of cut grass, and stinky flower hedges so I picked up the pace in there too not wanting to be stuck surrounded by my newly discovered allergens.  The sun continued to really beat down.  I found shade wherever I could, and was thankful on occasion to be passing under the freeway in the city. Even though there wasn't much wind, and it smelled profusely of trash, but I was glad for the shade. 

Finally, we emerged on a long straightaway next to the beach.  All I could think about is "60 seconds run, 60 seconds walk".  My buddies had passed, when the guy named John (?) came up from behind.  He gave me a couple words of encouragement, as I must have looked pretty exhausted by then.  Or perhaps, he's just a nice guy.  We ran together, and I revealed that this was my first marathon.  "Excellent man, you're doing great.  This is my 17th!"  That was really neat, and I'm thankful for his enthusiasm.  He was battling some kind of injury early on in the event as well.  So I didn't feel so bad if this was his 17th, and we would be finishing together, suddenly things were ok.

This energy, and encouragement took me all the way to the finish line.  Along the way I passed obnoxious teenagers, an annoying group of asian tourists standing right in the path, and a dude making a delivery to Chinese restaraunt that nearly ran me over in his delivery van.  "Can't they see I'm running here? Not to mention, I was just barely able to keep going?"  Again with the bad head trip. There were just folks out on a sunny Saturday doing their thing.

The finish line finally came along, and I passed at 5 hours 20 minutes.  That time in my opinion would be terrible for me.  Maybe not terrible for others, but for me I felt disappointed.  In fact when they asked my time at the finish line (remember casual event), I almost didn't want to give it to them.

It would have been a terrible time if it were not for:

1. This was a last minute decision to run
2. Nearly no training time running (at least the previous mileage was too long ago to count)
3. Did I mention I was sick?

So 5:20, indeed was not bad at all, with all things considered.  Also, it's a PR, hooray! In fact a PR that is sure to be beat at the very least in next years Green River Marathon...or perhaps even this Fall.

Central Governor, or just poor planning?

What perfect timing for the Scientists at Science of Sport blog to post this! 

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/03/central-governor-and-athletes-clock.html

After yesterday trying to figure out my pacing, and noting how I had begun the run at 7:15-7:30 mile splits, to finish at 8:30-9:00 splits.  Very interesting decline in my running performance, for a relatively stable HR, stayed at 150 pretty much the entire time, which gives me quite a bit of upward potential if needed.  10 miles is not a tremendous distance for me, as last year while much less fit and weighing in at around 10lbs heavier, I had run 13 miles with average pace of 7:45 with a buddy.  He was preparing for a marathon, and I was just out for some hang out run time.

Yesterday my pacing stayed quite stable up until around mile 5 where I started to have some pain in the right knee and hit the only decent sized rain drops of the whole run.  This was around 40 min into the trip.  So using the theory that Dr. Ross Tucker presents, I could have encountered the "Governor" they describe.  1. I had an injury developing in the knee, 2. nutritionally I needed some fuel.  Two distinct "Homeostats" where firing.  It was really quite wild to feel like I was exerting the same effort (verified by the HR monitor as well), but to notice the splits slowing down.  

Disappointing, but realized that at least 1 "Homeostat" was my own fault, nutrition.  That is something that I remember vowing to learn lessons from in the past on a bike.  But this was to be a short 1:30 or so, didn't need fueling for that... oops.  Gel always on hand from now on.

More than likely, I would have still run into a "Governor" in the form of the knee pain, and possible exacerbated injury.  Gladly I did slow down, and pretty sure it would have taken a tremendous effort to keep the original pacing from miles 7-10.

What is interesting is I wonder if the "Governor" can be adjusted to be more accurate based on practical experience with the given sport.  For example, the more frequently you ride your bicycle, the better the unconscious has to adapt it's anticipated load (nutrition, heat, oxygen).  Also, with training some of the delivery methods will adapt to higher stress loads.  Such as increased capillary beds for type 1 muscle tissue, and more efficient fat glycolysis for nutrition, or even increased hemoglobin and lung utilization to compensate for lower oxygen transport (see sherpas for huge adaptations!)

Nutrition I'll take as poor planning on my part, but I don't think had nearly as big of an affect on the run speed.  A protective response to minimize damage to tissue around the knee, that is pretty convincing.  Thank you Ross Tucker at The Science of Sport for the research.  It's truly intriguing.

Hmm, I'm posting this rambling email in my blog. I hope it may be useful to some sports scientist somewhere, and that would be excellent to see more research on this topic. 

What to know when shopping for “a Garmin” for Christmas

So you're planning on buying a Garmin for someone special? So is one of my relatives.  So here's the info she needs to make a smart purchase. Thought it might be handy for someone else too....

Equipment / Vocabulary:

• Chest strap: What actually measures your HR, goes on your… chest.  Yes, complicated.
• Cadence Sensor: Straps to the bike, and is used to measure the pedal cadence.  Handy.
• Foot Pod: Ties to the laces of your shoe and used by runners to track steps per minute. Handy.
• ANT+ Stick: Small USB device that wirelessly transmits data to your computer via the monitor device, to data crunch like a true geek.  Essential (for me anyway).
• Monitor Watch: Not actually called a monitor watch.  Just called ‘the watch’.  Although they come in more variety then just a watch, also come as a bike computer...
• Monitor Bike Computer: Not actually called Monitor Bike Computer.  Displays all your standard bike data like speed, distance, max speed, average speed.  But also displays any specialty info by model. 
• The word ‘Forerunner’: Means designed for runners or triathletes (who do ride bikes too btw!)
• The word ‘Edge’: Means designed for cyclists, not so useful for multisport, useless for runners.

Models:
Garmin Forerunner 50: This is the HR monitor I have, found it on craigslist for $35. Not GPS enabled, which is ok if you have a smart phone or other GPS technology to track things for you. Includes: Chest strap, watch, ANT+ stick

Garmin Forerunner 305: Intermediate Step. Great watch style GPS HR monitor that’s been around for awhile.  Industry benchmark years back for GPS tracking of running workouts mostly.  Some folks do use them for cycling as well as triathlon.  Best part is since it’s been around for awhile people are ‘upgrading’ so you can find them for cheap online. Includes: Chest strap, Watch, Charger, and USB cord to sync to computer. Here's a great post about the 305 and it's future as a supported product line: Garmin 305 future

Garmin Edge 500: Great GPS bike computer that pure cyclists use.  It's a handy way to get powermeter data as well as HR, but it’s also a bike computer, so displays the speed, distance, time, max speed, etc.  This is my next upgrade for the bike. $250 new.  Will ‘talk to’ other Garmin devices, like the HR strap

Garmin Forerunner 310XT: Same thing as the Garmin 305, but can capture powermeter data, includes running pace on the go, apparently more accurate than GPS pace.  This is my ultimate set up.  It will include all the data I want, while also keeping everything in one package.  Albeit a fairly pricey package with fancy wrapping, and giant poofy bow on top.


Garmin Nuvi series: Disregard, it’s a car gps, and is totally being outclassed by freebie cell phone apps. Not what you want.


My Plan:

1. Purchase cheap Garmin 50 with ANT capability. This will let me get data to crunch on the computer. Includes HR strap and ANT+ stick. -DONE
2. Use cell phone for GPS tracking.  Include in the data crunching/training.-DONE
3. Purchase Foot Pod for running training ($50).  Will work with Garmin 50.
4. Purchase Edge 500 ($250) along with Cycleops Powertap power meter ($1800).  I’m anticipating pricing coming down in 2011 as there’s all kinds of new technology coming out that people will want to upgrade to.  So watching the classifieds for these items in the distant future.
5. After all that then consider upgrading the HR monitor to a Garmin Forerunner 310XT.  But that’s just mostly for geekly satisfaction

Treadmill Love

 First off, I'm feeling waaaaay better.  Strength is definitely back, and I can finally get back into the rhythm of off-season training (haha, off-season is annoying).  Tuesdays and Thursdays are resistance days.  I'm doing sets of 15 reps on all the major muscle-groups, including legs.  It's a bit humbling to say the least, but I really don't feel too bad while putting on my 40 lbs on the bench press.  The goal is not to get big and bulky (like it was in the past), but to develop that slow-twitch lean muscle strength.  Endurance baby!  But it sure does seem a bit opposite to my old type of lifting.



Believe it or not, I love running on the treadmill.  I know it's a bit like a hamster in a wheel. 

But it's fun to go and go and not worry about cars, dogs, water, tunes, or anything else.  It's bad, I like zoning out and having my Nuun right there, plus not feeling guilty while I listen to tunes.

Today I went in for a resistance set, being it's Thursday and all.  Decided to warm up on the treadmill with a quick run, maybe 10 minutes to get the Heartrate (HR) up.  Instead of a light job, as I was warming up I started to really get into it.  After the first 5 minutes the HR was up to 140s so the body had already shifted gears (metabolically speaking).  Dropped the pace down to 6:45 and pumped the music.  Checked cadence, and was at 96 steps/min.  After another couple minutes it was time to drop the pace even further. 

Ideally I'd like to get down to sub 6 minute pace for short course events (5k & 10k), and sub 7 minute pace for marathon distances (13.5 & 26.2).  So I dropped down to 6 minute mile pace on the treadmill and just listened to what the body was telling me.  Some minor pain here, and adjustments to my armswing...Kept on pumping away at 96 steps/min cadence.  HR started to rise and leveled off at low 170s, perfect.  Just need to work on efficiency, and I should be able to keep that pace for 3.1 miles (5k) pretty soon.  A running clinic would be a great way to firm up some good habits, work on new ones, and remove my bad habits in form.  Also, speed-work at the local track would be useful too. 

I'll have to hit the track at the local highschool on the weekends more often.  It's no treadmill, but it'll do I guess.

Ok, I get it

So they say that if you are sick then you should be careful while cycling.
Ok, I get it.

Useful visual, if it's above your neck, it's ok. If it's at or below the neck, don't do it.
Ok, I get it.


I started feeling some scratchy throat on late weds.  By Friday's spin class I decided that it was important to be there to support a couple other folks who are just getting into it... again.  Also, I'd just 'burn' the bug out of my system like in the past.  The entire time on the bike, I felt fine just a little weaker than normal.  During that big summit song, I pedaled all the way up to 80% of what is 'normal'.  Felt the heartrate go up (no monitor on purpose today, it tends to drive me hard sometimes), and then backed off after 45 seconds or so.  As soon as the summit was done I sat up, and nearly lost my breakfast all over the cycling studio floor.

Whoa! After that, I just took it real easy as the surprise nausea was not a happy surprise. Spinning lightly of course is very hard when you're used to pushing every ounce out of your body during spin class.  Training hard is what it's all about in my mind.  Taper periods before a race, and recovery rides are the only exceptions to that rule.  Taper the effort level down, to be able to perform well on race day.  Keep the intensity low after a hard ride, to improve recovery.

Well I learned one more thing: The flu virus don't mess around.  It will kick you in the stomach, and leave you on the toilet all night (16 times anyway).


Ok, I get it.

Kirkland Triathlon -Race Report -Part 2 of 2

Swim starts to the right of the dock.  

Swim (25:11)

Elite folks take off, probably about 12 of them, smooth toward the first orange buoy off yonder.  Then the announcer tells us to go ahead and get ready.  I clamber over the slippery rocks up to the front left side.  I'm on the inside of the buoys and know that I should head even farther left as our folks will most likely run me over if I don't stay away from the pack of 60+ swimmers.  So I wait.  It's too late to turn back, and I wouldn't have turned back even if given the chance.  Having thought out this whole dilemma of 'not being able to swim' and the fact that this particular sprint tri has a 1/2 mile swim as opposed to most that are only 1/4 mile.  I determine that I'm just going to go at my own pace and do the best I can at the swim.  The real time to get serious will be the bike and run.

So the announcer yells GO!

...You may be wondering what I did with that wedding band that was very likely going to be lost into the abyss if left on my finger.  Well left with no pockets, no way to get ahold of the family, and no time left.  I remembered an article I had read about someone losing his goggles in the melee of an ironman.  He had recognized that under the swim cap is the safest place for many things, as you never hear about a swim cap getting kicked off someone's head!  So I quickly stuff the wedding band under the cap up on the very top of my head.  I'm sure if anyone was paying attention they would have thought it was a pretty funny sight!...

As I begin my freestyle crawl stroke in Lake Washington for the 2010 Kirkland Sprint Trathlon, the form feels smooth.  I breathe bilaterally every 3 strokes, and am actually enjoying the sight of seaweed passing by below.  Then I'm done.  Tapped out of breathe.  All of maybe 100 yards in I flip over onto my back, never again to catch my breath enough to make a solid go of the freestyle stroke again.  ARG!  Ok, so realizing that skulling on my back is extremely slow and also taxes the legs too much, I flip over to a side stroke on the left side.  At this point I'm beginning to run short on my bag of tricks for swimming.  In the pool the only thing I practiced was freestyle and skulling on my back.  So this is actually a fallback from childhood, next stop would be doggy paddle or a pair of water wings.

As I round the first buoy (of 5) I'm feeling totally spent in the water.  There's a nice straight line of 4 buoys to go around and I'm wishing it was over already.  So it was time to battle the mental demons already!  Ok.  So I begin to do a reality check.  "Where are you right now?"  In the water talking to myself and barely staying afloat... at the Kirkland Triathlon... "What have you been training for this whole time?" This Triathlon, the bike and run legs. "What is something nice to focus on?" [thanking God for things, edited out].  Ok mental is done, now to thing about the physical.  Since I'm either doing the side stroke on the left side, or a sloppy backstroke, I'm beginning to feel some fatigue in the right hip area, and my left kneecap.  So I swap to right sidestroke.  The only problem is the the right side is completely inefficient and I may as well be on my back.

So round and round I go swapping between strokes, seeing all my fellow red caps go past... but not ALL of them!

Towards the end I don't even have the mind to flip over and freestyle in.  "Why bother" I think at the time, just try to relax and enjoy this... (note the guy in front of me slipping on a rock, I'm about to trip over)

T1  (3:11)


Exuberant to be getting onto dry land, I stand as quickly as possible and slip slide my way up to shore.  Up past the crowds, oh and I hear cowbell coming as I climb out!  My wife and kiddos are there, and so are the mom-in-law and dad-in-law.  Big smile never left my face from that moment on.  If only I could bottle that for the ENTIRE swim.

Since I had just practiced T1 at home I begin by unzipping the wetsuit immediately pulling the arms out, and run toward the pre-memorized position of the bike rack in transition.  To my relief the wedding band is still there safe and sound under the latex swim cap.  Both cap and goggle come off with one swipe.  I drop the ring cap and goggles in my duffle bag zippered pouch, and rip off the wetsuit at the same time.  Dry a foot, put on sock and cycling shoe, dry another foot put on other cycling shoe. Put on race belt, ooops.  Forgot to put on jersey first.  Move the belt, and ripppp, race number falls off the belt.  Reattach number and learn lesson (don't snug the number up to the belt, leave some slack in the little elastic bands that hold the number in place.

Glasses, Helmet, grab the bike and go.  Buckle helmet on the way to mounting area.  Hop on the bike and roll!  On the way out, I rip the gel off and stuff it in the jersey pocket next to my Bike MS handkerchief.

Bike (37:53)


One other person is immediately in front of me, and one behind. The Hammer Espresso Gel tasted GREAT, and washed down with Bannana Nuun, hit the spot. The one in front is not in my age group (age is marked on our right calves) but he's got more expensive gear than I do, so he's marked.  He's wearing a fancy time trial helmet, and has aerobars on his carbon fiber frame.  I'm old school steel frame (of course) and spent around $430 less on my helmet.  So he must pay for having nicer gear, not jealousy, just a whole lot of fun!  He falls away in the first mile or so of flats.

My secret weapon is the massive amounts of hills that Campy and I have done between training for Davis, and just a couple weeks prior doing some Cougar Mountain hill repeats.  That was an incredible workout with multiple double digit gradients!  So my strategy is to match speed or just a little bit heavy in the flats, with very heavy pumping on the hills.  I will stay seated as long as the heartrate will allow, and my speed remains high.  Once the speed drops or the heartrate gets out of control, it's time to stand and muscle through.

The first few hills in Kirkland fly by.  There's one fellow with tatoos on both arms that I begin to play cat and mouse with, and will for the rest of the ride.  He's not in the age group either, but was a lot of fun to race against.  Note: I saw him later after the race, really nice guy.  I'm sure we'll be running into each other at events alot. Yet another Tri friend made.

Even though the race briefing was to be careful on the wet roads, I've done this ride many many times for training and feel very confident.  So as we rip on down and over the bridge across 405, I begin to really feel the legs light up (in a good way).  Speed picks up and for most sections I'm able to keep it between 22 and 23 mph.  Downhills are WAY faster, and climbs are still very aggressive.  HR remains pretty much pegged between 170-173 the entire time.  Looking back, I could have gone lactic (175+) a few more times and shaved some time off the split.  I nurse the gel one more time and wash it down with Nuun, deciding to save the last shot for post race, or perhaps T2 if needed before the run.

Finally we arrive at the goods, the hill going up past Lake Washington Technical College on NE 132nd is the toughest climb of the day.  100+ feet of climbing in 1 mile.  I opt to stay seated to conserve energy then unleash once it starts to get really steep.  Unfortunately, I misjudge when that is and remain seated for a bit too long.  So when I finally do pop up into a standing climb my HR is a bit high and it's hard to get a good tempo.  Regardless many folks fall back, and I once again realize that smile is still there from earlier in the event.

Up to the top, then bomb down the backside of NE 70th back towards our finish.  In this section I clock in at just under 40 mph.  Which on dry roads is no problem at all (with no traffic).  However it is wet and rainy so I  tap the brakes here and there on the sharper corners, as well as give a safe distance between painted lines and tar stripes (aka road snakes).  I hover in the left wheel lane as this seems the safest place to ride, and there's only 1 person in front of me.  So far 1 person has passed me the entire time, and he is nowhere to be seen.  As we come down past Houghton market, I eyeball the Starbucks (of course), but don't have time to enjoy the aroma of fresh coffee.  The entire road is plastered with warning signs about the race, there's Police officers at most every uncontrolled intersection, probably 6-8 officers total.  Then there's volunteers on the less busy residential side streets.

Regardless of all the warnings, as we whip through town at roughly 38 mph on wet roads sure enough 2 pedestrians are in the crosswalk, look right at us coming, and one of the two tries to make a brake for it across (an older heavy set woman).  I don't even bother hitting the brakes as I know that if I did at that speed it could be messy, and my stopping distance is welllll beyond the crosswalk.  So just whip out the Campy horn. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!"  The pedestrian get's the point and scurries a bit faster through the crosswalk, ducking her head.  What was she thinking?  That could have been seriously catastrophic for both of us!

The rest of the ride goes smooth, and I barrel along the flat portions, passing the fellow in front of me... before coming to the bike finish.  Dismount and run in.  Again the family and friends cheering!  Again, huge smile.

T2 (1:55)


This time I run quickly back to the rack, again using the lampost as a guide to find my spot (handy tip from something I read earlier in the year).  I strip the helmet and glasses, as well as jersey, swap shoes, and am off. I make the last minute decision to bring the gel, so end up stuffing it in the back of my shorts.

Run (20:50)


By the time the bike was put back on the rack my knees were already starting to groan.  I think the cold from the water and wind as well as the constant side stroke on one side has done it's damage.  Although I'm achy, there's no serious pain anywhere.  So out the gate, and up the first hill we run.

...I remember that the course description points out that the hills for the bike portion are moderate-heavy.  But it also says "mostly flat" run.  It's interesting because I wouldn't describe it as mostly flat at all.  As compared to the Tolt-Pipeline, which is a great area to train for running, it's flat.  As compared to all the hills on the swim, it was pretty intense!...


By this point it was time to make a game changing decision.  Do I go easier on the run than I had hoped in order to save a potential injury to the knees and my complaining hip, or do I go flatout and see how far training has taken me.  It actually did take a minute for me to weigh this one out, and I chose to push through the pain. This is the last big race of the year, and if I did get injured I'd have plenty of time to rest and recuperate before some November plans.

As we run away, I'm seeing more of my age group folks falling away.  It's amazing as I hear the run is the great equalizer for many athletes.  We can be moderately out of shape and still really move during the swim and bike.  But when it comes to running, the lighter you are, it makes a huge difference.  But as they say it also depends on the motor!

So I set my cadence at 92 and run, run, run.  Doing alot of training on the treadmill has paid off bigtime as I know exactly what 90 cadence feels like and my upper body is much more relaxed.  It will be fun to take this running technique out on marathon distances to see how it holds up.

On the way up, I see a buddy and cheer him on, and look for other folks that I know. By the time the first water station arrives, I'm ready!  Even though I've been drinking plenty on the bike, I down almost the entire cup of water at our nearly halfway mark.  Then push hard as we get back to mostly downhills. The downhills scared me.  Being that the knees were already achy, tired, and cold I was very concerned about all the downhill pounding that they may get.  So for the first couple minutes I took it easy to see if there was any pain.  Since nothing showed up, I opened the throttle and started to sprint the last mile and a half.  Lonnnnng strides, same cadence.  This is the effecient way to do it, as Joe Friel describes.  Also, whenever you get to see the elite runners from Kenya go, they almost always have huge strides with the same cadence 92-96 per minute.  So I open up the stride, and every so often look over my shoulder.

As I head back to the finish, I'm encouraging and yelling to all the runners heading UP the hill.  "Go for it!" "You can do it!" "This is the last of it, go!".  Of course inadvertently I'm really pumping myself up with enthusiasm and energy!  I'll have to remember that trick for later, longer distances.

Round the corner into Carrillon point, and there's a friend shouting, there's the family cowbelling, and it's time to finish.  Sprint as soon as I can see the finish line....



Results:

Here's the placement for my agegroup (30-34)
Bike: 8th of 64
Run: 8th of 64
Swim: 59th of 64!

Goal: Top 10 in bike and run for age group, done.

Now to put on some water wings and hit the pool!