Well the numbers are posted, as in race numbers. The number to be watching on October 11th is.... #1121. Yep that's my number. Not sure I have enough arm for all those numbers to be stamped on. Not sure exactly how they do the number assignments within age groups but I think they might do it by qualifying time if so I think come in with around the 40th fastest time in my age group. If things go well on the island I'll be looking for a much higher finish in my age group but to honest it will be a successful trip if I finish but I expect much more from myself.
Just a few more days of long, hard training this weekend then the taper begins (right coach....I get a taper for this race....right). The bike has been tuned (it needed it badly), underwear has been selected for the underwear run, there is stuff strewn all over my house that needs to be packed and under the airline bag weight limit and getting things wrapped up at work so I can focus on racing and having fun.
This week has been good; good swims and a great hard tempo run the other night. Normally I'm pretty cooked after the negative side of my tempo run and the day after. This week I felt great (after nearly 5 miles at 6:25 pace) with the run totaling nearly 12 miles all at sub 7:00 pace. I've had two good trainer workouts as the rain has returned to the NW and I'm really feeling ready and excited to race and enjoy the experience.
I appreciate all the well wishes that everyone has been sending me it's really been a big boost and it really helps. I'm hoping to make all of my supporters proud on the 11th.
I'm hoping to getting a few posts made from Kona with lots of pictures hopefully.
I've posted a full race report under the "Racing" link. In summary it was hot and hilly. There was some good and some bad in the day.
I finished 22nd oveall and 3rd in my age group finishing in 4:56:55. I had an amazing swim, a solid honest bike ride and a meltdown on the run with intestinal cramps slowing me considerably.
You can read the complete report by clicking on the "Racing" link. 4 weeks till Kona we're down to the final hard training days and taper.
I posted a race report yesterday under the Race Reports but the splits wheren't available yet. Here they are:
Swim - 10:32 (31st OA)
T1 (including 300m run) - 2:16 (16th OA)
Bike - 30:23 (5th OA)
T2 - :31 (15th OA)
Run - 14:48 (9th OA)
Total 58:31 (4th OA/2nd AG).
I realized that the guy that finished 3rd just one place ahead of me finished in the same spot in the last sprint I did (1.5 years ago) and passed me at the same spot on the run and beat me by about the same amount of time.
In any event it was a good race considering I don't race sprints. Another week with lots of intensity upcoming and the difficult Grand Columbian Half Iron on Saturday. Looking forward to it. Would love to pull off a top 10 at this race as I've gone from 50th two years ago, to 26th last year (injuried) so this year I hope to have a solid race but will be racing without any taper and it's more about getting my head right and getting used to putting the hydration and nutrition plan in play. There was no hydration or nutrition plan at the race yesterday. I took one sip of water on the bike and that was it.
The last few weeks were a littel rough in the training department. Not feeling particularly good on the run or fast in the pool. I had a really solid bike ride up in Penticton so I'm feeling pretty good on the bike.
What I'm happiest about right now is my run fitness. I think it's taken to now to shake out the Ironman race from my body completely. In the past two weeks I've had some solid run workouts.
This weekend I had a solid 1:45 run this weekend and had a solid long negative split tempo run last night. Basically a short warm-up then 32:30 at a omfortable tempo (7:00/m) then run the same distance covered in the first tempo faster. In the case of last night that was in 30:13 or 6:31/m pace, then a quick cool down. Total last night was 12 miles in 1:22:30 or 6:52/m pace. If you're doing the math that is just under 1:30 for the half marathon. The best part was I really didn't feel like I was stressing myself much at all last night and the entire run was relatively comfortable which I haven't felt in few months. I'm feeling good about my running right now which is critically important heading into the Kona. I've got a few more big training weeks before the taper (can't believe I'm even talking taper, it's almost here).
I've got races the next two weekends so these should be a good little indicators of where I'm at, but no taper for these races. This weekend is the Escape from the Rock (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 2.5 mile run) which I'll hardly get warmed up for and it will be over. Next weekend is my return to the Grand Columbian Half Ironman. It'll be my third trip to this race and I'm hoping for a top 10 finish (first attempt I was 50th, last year I was 27th). It's a brutally tough bike and although the run is flat it's on a gravel trail so it's not exactly easy footing but it should be a good effort.
Hoping for a couple more good solid workouts this week and I'll be posting race recaps after the races.
Well I survived the 6 1/2 hour trip to Penticton (including a nice long chat with Helen the nice Canadian Border Control lady), 3 days of sleeping on the ground, a long wet night of cheering on the 2008 IMC participants and a 6 hour drive home. It was a great weekend and I did register for the 2009 IMC.
I arrived late on Friday evening and managed to find my camp site at Lake Skaha Tent and Trailer Park. Chatted with Pete (Reid), Clint (Lien), Ian (Dewars) and a few their friends before setting up my tent and hitting the ground (hay would have been much better). The park looked more like a refugee camp with tents piled into camp sites and we ended up with some crashers in our site, they were eventually dispatched.
Things got going early at Camp Skaha with people rousing to head to swim, get food, get some bike rides in. I spoke with Shawn on Friday evening and chatted about riding the course. I headed out about 7:30 am without breakfast towards Osoyoos along Lake Skaha. It's a great intro to a bike course as almost completley flat (feels amost downhill) which may be a problem if you push too hard because at Osoyoos you immediately begin the stair step climb for 7 miles up Richter Pass. Richter Pass has some pretty solid grades broken up by flat and downhill sections. At the top of Richter Pass I dropped into the aero bars and rolled down to the bottom of Richter having to dodge two large bovine that were standing in the middle of the highway...Doh!! The next section is "rolling" all the way to Keremoes this section has the potential to be really fast as well. I was averaging well in excess of 20.5 mph through this part of the ride (and I wasn't exactly flying up Richter). At Keremoes you head back to Penticton (there is an out and back section that I didn't ride but it's right at Keremoes but I suppose this could be a leg zapper as it's more of the rollers). The next section is gently rolling hills before you start the climb up to Yellow Lake in earnest. Just as I approached the climb a bee hit me right above my glasses and the stinger impacted into my brow....Ouch!! I stopped and tried to make sure the stinger wasn't still in there man it hurt and I hadn't had glasses on it would have been right in my eye. I'm not blaming the next part of the ride on the sting but it didn't help I'm sure. I bonked and bonked hard on the climb up to Yellow Lake. As I hit the lake I started to recover and the road here is sketchy with no shoulder and it's a pretty busy highway. The descent is a flyer. As I hit the bottom of the 3A and swung back onto Hwy 97 for the final few miles back to Penticton I was ripping along at 30+ mph riding a serious tailwind. I was glad to be back at camp and quickly changed into my run clothes for a quick 25 minute t-run out on the run course along Lake Skaha. This is not an easy run course there are some "rollers" on the run and it can be windy on the way out of town. That was it for workouts for the weekend for me.
I spent the afternoon chatting around camp and then headed out to a dinner hosted by Specialized. It was a great evening. Chatting about racing, training, what's been going on in our lives and enjoying a great dinner at Theo's. We hit our sleeping bags early as Sunday would be a long day. I got a late start in the morning and rolled down to the start on my bike and arrived just in time to see the age groupers get sent off. I spent two hours watching the riders head out on the course before making my way to cheer on the last swimmers (several didn't make the cutoff).
After some food I headed out to take pics of riders coming back into town after about an hour I headed over and set up camp at the 35K mark of the run in front of Camp Skaha. From here I could watch the runners head out at approximately 7K and come back at 35K. It was great to be there to cheer on the athletes but it was exhausting. About 4:30 the rain started falling and falling hard. Our group consolidated here to cheer on some of later athletes and we finally had to go get food at about 11pm. As we were headed back to the campsite we saw the last runner heading into town with about 5K to go unfortunately they weren't going to make the offical cutoff.
In the end, Bryan Rhodes and Belinda Granger won the mens and womens race respectively. It was a fast day overall with lots of fast times not unexpected being an end of season race with cool tempeatures, pack riding early on the bike and a nice tailwind to sweep riders back into town. Rumors were rampant about the peletons on the bike from Penticton to Osoyoos most likely a result of the big pro fields tha kept the referees busy for the first couple hours of the bike leg and probably contributed to the pack riding.
After a very wet night on the ground we rallied for breakfast and I headed over to sign up for IMC 2009. This is the only Ironman that I plan to race in 2009 but you know, never say never. I'm looking forward to it and would recommend a trip up to Penticton for IMC 2009 or just a nice vacation. Here's a link to IMC 2008 pictures.
I'm into my final hard training weeks, I've got a sprint tri in two weeks and the Grand Columbian Half Iron in 3 weeks so we'll see what my fitness looks like at that point. Less than 7 weeks until Kona.
Ok so my vacation isn't what most people would think of when they think taking time off from work. For the past 10 years I've been spending a week in the Columbia River Gorge (just east of Hood River, Oregon). It started off as guys week windsurfing, golf, drinking and adventures. As the years have gone by the dynamic of the week has changed but the focus of the week hasn't, windsurf as much as possible.
We've moved the week around over the years from June to August and August is always a risky month for wind since it can get hot and heat kills the wind. Most of the winds are generated by the cool coastal air rushing up the Columbia River Gorge towards the heat of eastern Washington and Oregon (you think of the NW as all gree and trees, visit the eastern parts of these states and you'll get an amazing suprise).
The week started off well enough with moderate tempeatures in the mid 80's and the wind was kicking up. Nothing epic but windy enough to spend some time blasting up and down and across the river. The first few days were spent riding and running in the morning and windsurfing in the afternoon.
As the week wore on into Tuesday things got hot both on the coast and really hot out east. Tempeatures crept up into the triple digits topping out at 107 degrees yesterday with not a wisp of wind. My week transitioned from that of windurfing getaway to Kona camp. My focus this week was the bike with a few runs thrown in for good measure but mostly it was about the bike.
It ended up being a good week with some great rides and exploring some new ride routes some of which I really loved and others I could skip in the future. As I end the week I definitely feel strong on the bike. I was spinning the hills and had tons of power late in the rides so I think all the sweating will pay off in October. Here's the fun facts from the week.
- 420 miles (5 rides in 7 days)
- Average Speed 18.8 mph
- 25,000 feet of ascending
- High temp for a ride 107 degrees (low temp was 68 degrees at 6am)
- 4 flats
- 800 oz of hydration (water, G2O, Coke, Red Bull).
- Ran over 1 chipmunk (he seemed to be fine)
- Got chased by 4 dogs and a flock of wild turkeys
- Had a run in with two vultures and saw 3 packs of coyotes
- New nickname at the AM/PM in The Dalles, Oregon – “Crazy Biker Guy”
In addition to the riding there was lots of napping and late night watching the Olympics (oh...and lots of eating).
Here are some pictures from the Gorge.
View from the deck of the rental house. One of only a handful of waterfront homes.
Laydown jibe 360.
View west at the sunset over the gorge walls.
One of my favorite roads in the Gorge. Hwy 35.
This picture was taken last year but is shows what a windy day in the gorge looks like. That mist is called liquid smoke, when the wind is so strong it literally picks water at the top of the waves and swells and just turning it to mist. Gusts were around 60 mph.
My vacation has turned into a pretty intensive training camp. The first few days were a good mix of workouts and windsurfing but the heat has been turned on and the wind has dried up.
Last weekend and the first part of the week had temps in the mid 80's and it has slowly increased into the triple digits with the high tomorrow expected to be 107 degrees. Despite all of the heat the training has been great with a focus on the bike.
So far this trip (since Sunday I've logged 320 miles on the bike and with one more ride scheduled for tomorrow I'm going to top 420 miles. I've also logged 35 miles since last Saturday with another long run scheduled for Sunday.
Saturday through Monday was either runs or rides followed by some solid windsurfing sessions. As the tempeatures began to heat up the wind dropped off and the focus became the training.
Tuesday I tried a new route from Lyle to Goldendale up highway 142 (and back). The route climbs very gradually for the first 12 miles along the Klickitat river. Before finally climbing up a steeper grade for 4 miles up to the plateau where the road rolled up and down through wheat farms for the final 12 miles or so. The ride was beautiful but the road was rough and tough on the body. On the way back to Lyle I was fighting a serious headwind roaring up the canyon and just wished that I could get done. It was maybe the hardest 72 miles I've ever ridden (hard on the body).
Wednesday was a good run in the heat of the day. A negative split cruise but not too fast as the temps were in the upper 90's.
Yesterday was supposed to be the big day of the week but with temps forecasted in the low 100's. I didn't swim I just got out on the bike before it got really hot. I explored another new route east of The Dalles on a road called fifteen Mile Road. It was a great ride out this canyon the road wound it's way past farms and scrub brush. I turned around at 15 miles although the road continued to go on for who knows how far. I was tempted to keep going but was running low on water and though that around each corner would be just a little sign of civilization but not place to refill my bottles and knew I had 20 miles to the nearest refill. The wildest part of this ride was all of the coyotes I saw. I saw probably 20 including a pack of about six. Pretty unusual to see them out in the heat of the day. I also had a run in with a ground squirrel, well actually I ran over the ground squirrel. Thankfully I wasn't going too fast otherwise it could been ugly for me. I don't the the squirrel was any the worse for wear.
I finished off the day with a short one hour run up the Rowena Grade and back about 3 miles up at a steady 7-8% grade. Of course this was in the hottest part of the day. My frozen water bottles were turned into hot water by the end of the run.
Today was my "off" day but given the forecasted high of 105 degrees I hit the river for a standup paddle board adventure, I did a 90 minute trip from our house in Rowena to the mouth of the Klickitat river and up the river a ways and back, it's a pretty cool way to see the river.
Two more fairly big days with another long run tomorrow and a 2 hour run on Sunday. I plan to hit it early.
Hope to post some pictures and possibly some video at the end of the week.
I was doing some thinking this morning. I know....crazy. I was thinking about the choices I had made yesterday in particular one decision. The choice to ride.
Here's the thing when you've got a full time job that you spend 40, 50 or 60 hours a week at, finding time and motivation some days to workout is tough. I don't know if would be different if working out was my job but I suppose it would be. In the end after a busy day in the office I had planned to ride from work to get my 2.5 hour ride in. As the day was coming to a close I looked east and it looked questionable (i.e. - wet and stormy) we get this this time of year in Seattle when it gets warm. I decided to drive home and ride Mercer Island which is a shorter ride but the weather in the foothills wouldn't drift that far west.
After driving home I went to get my kit on and I found myself really not motivated to ride. I didn't feel like I had much energy, my body had been sore lately, my hip and back acting up and just didn't want to go. I walked from my bedroom to the kitchen and back several times and finally I said "you need to go".
I put on my kit and grabbed the water bottles and headed out the door, right smack into the evening commute. It's not really that bad but the first 2 miles are basically waiting at traffic lights with the commute lemmings. The first 6 miles of this ride has a lot of short steep hills and I was amazed at how good my legs felt, I was just spinning up these hills.
My coach had prescribed just time in the saddle. The Mercer Island ride is a great little 20 mile out and back on the island (total ride is 36 miles). The first half of the ride I just kept the bike in the small ring and spun. At the turn I decided to push a bit the way back I loaded the bike into the big ring and got into a great cadence, my legs felt full of power.
I love this section of the ride because it twists and turns and the speed limit is 25 miles an hour. Many times a car (on Mercer Island it's usually a Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and the occassional Ferrarri) will come up behind you waiting for a spot to pass and then you hit one of the twisty turny sections and you're putting a gap on the car, they eventually will catch you and pass you but it's still great. I was holding near 30 mph and just under 300 watts for this entire section. I spun the hilly section the rest of the way home and and felt great.
This morning I felt great, I mean great. My body wasn't sore, my hip and back didn't hurt and I felt motivated to workout. This is what led me to think about the choice to ride I had made. Now let's be clear, the ride yesterday wasn't a tipping point but it's just one example of how our choices affect us. The choice to have a regular latte or non-fat, the choice to let a car merge in front of you in traffic, the choice to say please and thankyou, the choice to do your daily stretches and the choice to swim, ride or run. The choices we make affect our lives in ways we aren't even aware of and I believe it's like a bank account for your physical, mental, emotional well being. Will I think about every choice I make no we make too many of them each day but I think I'm a little more aware of how they affect my and others lives.
Next week I'm on vacation and am really looking forward to the the training I'll be doing. I've been scouting new rides on the map in and around the Columbia Gorge so I'm looking forward to exploring those rides. I already know one choice I will be making assuming the wind blows, that is the choice to windsurf (hopefully it won't come back to haunt me). Look for updates from the The Gorge.
Just like the scene in JAWS where Chief Brody sees the shark for the first time backs into the cabin of the rickety boat and mutters "We're going to need a bigger boat", I muttered similiar words last night as I was half way through my one hour trainer session, although it was a reference to the need for more towels to absorb the sweat pouring off my body. I didn't take a picture but I should have and will next time, although I don't know that it would tell the story.
I had a one hour trainer session scheduled for last night. It was a tough workout but not criminally insane mind you. 8 X 4 min hard big chain ring (I was holding 230-250 watts) for each interval with 1 minute recovery. However I decided to do this workout to try and simulate a little bit of the heat that we'd experience in Kona. Now I didn't crank the heat up, and it wasn't particularly warm out, actually it was raining and relatively cool by even Seattle summer standards in the low 60's. The trick was I didn't turn on the fan. I usually have a fan which I place in front of the trainer blowing air towards me and I stay relatively comfortable.
Last night 15 minutes into the workout I had the constant dripping from my forehead onto my bars and the floor. This usually happens towards the end of an hour workout. 30 minutes in and things were gettting downright slippery and the sweat wasn't dripping by literally flowing off my nose, hat, forehead, and elbows. I had several small towels to cover my bars but these were done, soaked!!
The only saving grace was that I was so distracted by the sweat that I didn't notice the pain and suffering of the hard efforts. Next time I'm bringing out the beach towels.
I'm starting to ramp up the training again in preparation for Kona and things have been a little rocky. Work and fun summer stuff have been getting in the way, or distracting me and the weather has turned on us. I think all those SoCal transplants are pretty worried that summer was exactly 3 weeks long this year in Seattle.
I will say I have had some really good swim workouts of late which has been great for my confidence in the water. My bike rides have been strong but nothing really long yet, those will come. I'm headed out on vacation the week after next to Oregon and I expect to put in some big miles on the bike.
My run has been the toughest part of late. My hip and lower back have been acting up again, it's not a hip or lower back problem that's just where the problem manifests itself. I'm doing all of my stretches and exercises and I'm hoping it all gets better over the next couple of weeks. Running consistently will help as well, I frankly haven't been runnin much. The worst part is that I'm just not feeling all that fast. I did weekly negative split tempo last night (in the pouring rain) and it was good but not steller. 10 minute warm-up, 25 minutes out (7:05/mile pace), then back over the same distance I had just done the 25 minutes in. I came back in 23:50 (6:45/mile pace). Not steller when you consider I raced a half marathon in May with lots of hills and averaged 6:32/mile and have done this workout with negative tempo sub 6:20.
My coach though it would be a good idea to jump in a shorter running race so Saturday I'm going to be racing in the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10K. Oh my god.....I haven't raced in a 10K in years. This might just be the thing I need to shake the legs out and get my run back on the right track....or.....blow up at mile 1 after posting a 5:30 mile.
Anyhow I'm off to ride out the foothills this evening with a buddy from the office. I think I'll be doing all the pulling today.
Here's a little video for any of you who are thinking about doing an Ironman and are worried about the swim There apparently is a training program to get you ready for the Ironman swim -
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM
Enjoy and train hard.
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