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Saturday Morning Ride

There are still some triathletes out there taking advantage of the dry later summer we have been having. I appreciate these few people because it gives me someone to ride with. However, I have to be honest and say that this is the first group ride I have been on in 2 years... Maybe more.

The setting... Fairwood parking lot at 6:30 am, temperature 42 degrees. Though the sun was not quite up yet, it was clear and calm.

Sam was waiting for me (weird huh) and checking his wheel when I arrived. His front brake was rubbing but we were able to fix that quickly with Sam's 1000 piece tool kit from his jacked up Honda CRV. We took off and headed north on 395. The cool air only took a few minutes to make your face go numb, but after that it seemed to go fine... kind of like the swim will do tomorrow too. We hit the first few hills a little hard to waken up the legs... And awake they were. We eventually made it Deer Park where we turned east and headed for Hwy 2. On the way there we saw and abandoned full size Dodge pick up that was wrapped around a tree with law enforcement on the scene. The driver was not there, and probably fled the scene when he hit the tree late last night. Sam said that he thought the truck looked like one of his friends because of the rainbow sticker in the back window that read 'diversity.'

We eventually made it to the Greenbluff loop where I got a call from Gregg and Scott who finally got out of bed and would eventually join us in about an hour. Sam and I continued hitting all the hills on the Greenbluff loop until we finally joined up with Gregg and Scott. I did not recognize Scott at first because he did not have his helmet on. He said that he was a really good cyclist and did not need one. He said he only wears one if he thinks he might crash. He did have a fleece hat on though that made him look tough. I was feeling a little out numbered by the red bikes, but I think my carbon weave sent out a neutral message. They say red bikes go fast, so I was a little nervous.

We headed south on Argonne and hit the major climb where O' Sam a Bin Ladin pulled a 9/11 sneak attack on us and danced up the hill until we no longer saw him. We eventually caught him at the light at the top and descended down the other side where we saw him doing donuts in the intersection. Here's the video of O' Sam a Bin Ladin:



Sam decided he had enough riding with us cupcakes, and headed west on Upriver Drive.

Scott, Gregg and I headed east and went to Plants Ferry to fill up on some water... or at least I did. We rested for a few minutes exchanging muffin recipes and our favorite fall color combinations. We then contined east until Scott came up with an excuse to turn around. We needed to get back in time for his son's soccer game at Farwell. So we picked up the pace.

We exchanged the lead quite a few times and Gregg and I battled to see who would get to ride behind one of Scott's quads. Scott actually has to ride on the white line because he needs the shoulder for his other thigh.

We were making good time thanks to some hard efforts by Gregg and Scott. We turned north on Freya and started up a short climb by Esmerelda Golf course. Scott did not shift at all and got out of the saddle and grinded up the hill. I held on for dear life and started to see stars at the top... they were stars and balloons for a garage sale in a few bloks... but I was tired. We were still grouped up and out of nowhere Gregg goes flying by us at about 35 MPH. He turned to look at us as he passed to give a smile, but he did not want to lose the draft of the URM truck he was in the draft of. Fortunately we caught him at a stop sign and were able to get all back together. We were able to get Scott to his game with 3 minutes to spare thanks to some strong headwind pulls from those guys.

Gregg and I contunied to Gregg's house which took us up a hill that I have climbed a 1000 times near Wandermere that I used to live on top of. It brought back some old memories when I as a yound cyclist and would have to climb that hill in a 42x21 which was plenty. Now I found myself in a 39x25 working hard. I thought I was in good shape? Ah, youth.

Gregg refueled me with some Gatorade and PowerBars and I needed to head off for another hour by myself. I hit some tough hills but managed to make it home where I took my Recover-Ease and then had a small bite to eat... 1 bowl of oatmeal, a bagel, a pbj sandwhich, and a yogurt. Ya know, just something to get in the tummy. I ended up being out on the road for about 6+ hours, but I think I rode about 5:15. Good ride with great people who found it to be fun to ride together as a group. I cannot wait until we can all be at these rides with our Tri-Fusion clothing. It will look pretty dang cool.

Thanks to Sam, Scott, and Gregg who all made the ride happen. We all rode different distances today, literally, but were all able to at one time ride as a club. Pretty nice. Maybe next time other wil join. But make sure to eat your Wheaties, cause these work horses don't go easy.

Delta-E and Energ Ease... A 'one two punch'

I just got back from a little 3 hour ride that was a bit windy, but the sun was out and the temp. was nice. It was the first endurance ride I have gone on since Canada. I have done a few recovery rides on the trainer, but nothing to crazy. I wasn't really looking forward to this ride because it would be my first day out in the saddle again and the legs would probably be a little soft. But you got to get going again sometime. The days 'off' are over now. Black Diamond 1/2 IM is in 2 weeks, and Kona is in 6 weeks.

As I was getting ready to go, I decided to take some new products that I have been wanting to use in training and racing since they became available through a very generous sponsorship. One is called Delta-E, and the other is Energ-Ease (from the makers of Recover-Ease which has been an amazing product). Recover-Ease is the tiltle sponsor of the team I have raced for this year and they have been very supportive throughout the year providing many athletes with samples to try. And some of you have tried A LOT. The Delta-E is a bit more of a stimulant and the Energ-Ease is more designed to reduce cortisol exposure and increase testosterone exposure which means that Energ-Ease can help you maintain an “anabolic state” during exercise – keeping you from going catabolic and breaking down vital tissues. Ya, I wish I could come up with that of the top of my head, but that's what they say. It's the red and yellow bottle on the right of the Recover-Ease.So I took off and watched my heart rate (HR) pretty closely to see how recovered I was. It seemed like it was being responsive so I kept a pretty steady tempo. About 1.5 hours into the ride I was still feeling pretty good so I kept pushing it a little more. For the 2nd 1/2 of the ride my avg. HR was higher than what I race IMs at, yet I was feeling great and my power output was looking good too. I really couldn't believe it. I kept drinking and eating at my normal interval (even tough I should have increased it since my intensity was elevated). So in the last 30 minutes my effort was even greater and I was still feeling great. When I got back my avg. speed was high (not really an indicator of anything), my HR was a bit higher than normal, and my power output was great. I know a little bit of this has to do with me being well rested, but I don't think I have ever had a long endurance ride like this where I maintained such a high HR and still felt great at the end.

Though I need to do a lot more testing with each of these products, but with my initial experience, I think I might have found an EPO substitute. Athletes would normally not share this type of information with other athletes, but you still have to train folks, and you have to train right for any supplement to its maximum effects.

You can order both of these products on line, and if you do, let me know before you do because I might be able to get you some samples of each of them to try before you spend money on an 'unknown.'

I hope all you rides have been good ones. I know my next ride will not be as brilliant, but if it goes 1/2 as well as this one, it will be a good one.

Should I Race?

I think I did about as well as I could with the fitness I had going into the race. My focus was on the run in Canada. If I did a 1:30 swim, a 6:00 bike, and a 3:30 run, I still would have been happy. Again, the focus was the run. But then I would have had more to work on from that race. Now it's about elevating everything. Though it sounds harder, knowing how to race that distance is bigger than the fitness to race that distance in my opinion. I know that I can still race it smarter and faster, but I feel like I am at about 85-90% understanding based on my current fitness level.

I know a lot of people who have the fitness to do a 10 hr IM their first time, but they don't know how to race it... they don't know their body or how it responds to that kind of stress. So they end up going hours slower and feel like they failed. Most of these people focus on one major race a year as well... the IM race they signed up for. I don’t want to sound like I am being critical of these people because there are a lot of extenuating circumstances that are often involved. But just because I drive my car around a track 10,000 times, really fast, does that mean that I will do well in a Nascar event? Does anyone do well in their first 'big' event they do? With that said, I feel that as an athlete trying to improve yourself, you need to race.

Racing is so different from training. Trainng data is great to have, but to improve your racing you need race data to assess and make changes from. There is no way you can push yourself in training as hard as you do in a 1/2 IM or IM. Certain foods/hydration may work in training, but your body may not accept them in race conditions with nerves as well as the increase in intensity. I don't think a lot of people understand this. I want a race to become habitual in terms of what the general outline of it looks like. I.E. start, transitions, congestion, aid stations, etc. I want to be able to focus on myself in a race, not a bunch of new stimulation that distracts me from my race. The only way transitions get faster is by doing them in a race, for them to become second nature. Yes, you need to practice them, but they are a bit different in a race. I want it so that when your helmet strap is screwed up, you can deal with it, not freak out and watch people leave transition before you and figure your race is over. Also, the only way you get better at getting your needs met in aid stations is by experiencing them in a race with many other people around. Just an opinion from what I have seen and experienced. I definitely do not have it figured out, but I have made a lot of mistakes and have learned from most of the mistakes that I am aware of.

In 1997 and 1998 I raced short stuff and a lot of the pacing and nutrition did not play as big a role. I was pretty successful, but as I ventured into IM distance, I look at what I knew of myself in 2003, and what I know now about training, nutrition, and racing now... yikes. Obviously more now because of the feedback I have received from training, and more importantly, racing. I think one of the biggest things that was pointed out was at Ralph’s 1/2 IM this year when I could not figure out why my HR was dropping towards the end of the bike, yet my perceived exertion was still the same or even harder. After some consulting with some amazing professionals, I determined that I was low on fluids or food. That helped me adjust my food/hydration interval a bit and worked great at Wildflower. I have been able to use that advice in other races too like Lake Stevens when I was behind in hydration going into the run (because of the crappy aid stations) and it took about 30 minutes to recover from being slightly dehydrated on the bike. My second lap of the run at Lake Stevens 70.3 was faster. I experienced something similar at IM Canada. On the run I noticed at about mile 10 my HR dropping. I knew from prior racing that I was behind in something. So at the next aid station I took in a gel, grabbed a couple more for extras, grabbed a couple waters, and took it all in. Shortly after, I saw my HR responding. That was nice to see. At that point I knew I need to increase my food/hydration to accommodate the heat and effort. I did not want that to negatively impact my performance. As long as I was taking in gels, water, Gatorade, and occasional banana, I figured my stomach would be able to handle it all. I would have NEVER figured this out if I wasn't testing myself in races. I would have just had a crummy IM Canada and wondered why. Then, like most people, I would have assumed I just needed to train more. What a waste of time. Kind of like having a flat tire on your car, and then getting a new engine. I saw a lot of people out there on the run that looked really good in the first 10 miles, and then they fell apart. You feel like helping them, but like a drunk person, probably no the best time to be giving them advice. They just want to hear that the finish is getting closer. It’s the same thing in the pool. You see people busting their ass, but doing all the wrong things. But it’s their battle, not mine. Those are the people who ‘have it all figured out’ and just can’t figure out why they are not getting faster. They think they just need to train more… keep training, you will eventually run out of time in a day.

Unfortunately these great people quit the sport because they get so frustrated. It's too bad because at one time they really loved the sport. I don't claim that I have this mystery solved, because I know I don't. I get a lot of feedback from a lot of different sources. Through it all I feel like I'm narrowing my mistakes. But I still am making them, and those are the ones that I am aware of. What about the ones that I am not? Yikes, I have a lot of work to do....

Back From Ironman Canada

Gosh, where do I start? I'll just give you a race day report.

I was up at 5:15 am, which I have to say is not all that early for an IM race. Jessi, Kathi, Kevin, and Emma were soon to follow with brighter eyes than me. I think they were more excited than I was at this point. It was a typical pre race morning with my typical breakfast, hydration, supplements, etc. Not too much stress at all. Our hotel was about 1k away from the start so I decided to walk.

I showed up to the race site about 1 hour before. As most of you know, that is pretty darn close to the race start from what I normally do... 2 hours. I have to say that I was not a huge fan of the race set up in terms layout. It was very difficult to get into transition, bodymarking, special needs bags, etc. The bathrooms were crazy. One line was about 30+ minutes long. I decided to walk 5 minutes so I did not have o wait at all. This is pretty much how it all went. It was finally time to get my wetsuit on and get going. I was still in the changing tent with about 15 minutes before the race. Again, most of you know this is how slow I typically move race morning. I wasn't worried at all, even though I did not know the layout of the swim start. I wondered down to the water with about 5 minutes to go. I went to where I could swim the shortest straight line and walked up to the front line. I stood there for a few minutes looking around me to see if I could find someone that looked like they would be explosive off the start. I was also looking for Sam Picicci, but I could not find him either. They gave us the 1 minute warning so I started my watch... then the cannon sounded. We were off. I have to say that it was the easiest start to an IM swim that I have done. It was kind of a water start, but you were still standing. It slowed down the 'rush' into the water quite a bit. So congestion was pretty limited.

I came out of the water 55th including the pros... which is my best 'placed' swim by far. I went into T1 knowing what to do, and left pretty quickly as well. I think I passed a few guys there as well.

As I headed out on the bike and my primary goal was to ease up the effort on the bike so I could have a better run... or as I have told people before, have my best IM run ever. It seemed like things were going well. The 1st 40 miles are pretty flat, and I was going well. Richter Pass felt great and I was feeling super. But I was having trouble getting my HR down for a bit so I decided to simply 'slow down'. So I did. Some people passed me, but I kept reminding myself that I wanted to have a good run, and if a 6hr bike was in the cards, that's the way it was going to be. I eventually found myslef in no mans land and just kept a steady pace. When I got to the next major climbs (Yellow Lake) my heart rate was very receptive to my effort, which is a good thing. The last 30 minutes or so is mostly downhill so I was able to recover a bit from th harder efforts required by Yellow Lake.

I had a good T2, and headed out on the run. My heart rate seemed a little high from the start, but I really did not feel like I was pushing myself at all, so I maintained that effort after trying to get it a bit lower. I passed a few people on the run on the way to the turn around, and a few people passed me as well. But 13.1 miles is only 1/2 the run... it's always harder the second 1/2. I was making time on some people that I frequently race against who are great athletes, so I knew I was going fine. But was I working too hard? On the way back would I fall apart? Well, on the way back I passed most of the guys who passed me on the way out. They were falling apart. I was taking in tons of water, ice, gels, sponges, whatever I could grab in the aid stations. It seemd to work okay, but there was more uphill on the way back. As I was nearing the 23 miule mark, Kevin told me that the next guy in my division was 1:40 ahead. That would be tough to close in that limited amount of time, not to mention I was tired. But I knew there was a guy behind me that was closing. It took him until the 25 mile to make his pass... but he was in a different division. But I was coming up on another guy in my division at the 25 mile mark as well. Crap! Do I make the pass now and run the risk of him staying with me? Do I slow down and pass later and run the risk of someone else passing me in the time? I decided to surge pass him and push myslef as hard as I could for the next 1.2 miles. For those that do not know the course, the last 1.2 miles is an 'out and back,' so the people in front of you can see how far ahead they are and you can see anyone coming behind. After the turnaround, I saw that the guy I passed was long gone, but there was another guy surging. He was about 10-15 seconds behind. It was time to see how those 800m intervals would pay off. I cranked it up and it was all or nothin'. I wasn't sure if I would make it to the finish at this pace, but it really did not matter. I would either hold him off, or not. But if he was going to pass me, he was going to puke doing so. Because of this high intensity effort (about a 6:15 min mile) I ended up passing another guy with about 15 meters to go... crazy. That is why I look so amazed in my finish shot. I just could not believe it.

It was my best finish time and my best swim, bike, and run splits as well. I ended up running faster on the 2nd 1/2 of the marathon than I did going out. Can't say that I do that too often. I simply had a plan and executed it pretty well. I would have to give myself an 85% on race plan execution, and a 100% on my marathon execution. It just went well.

I was finally able to stand on the stage and get an award at an IM event. Pretty amazing feeling, but not as great as crossing that line at the end... not matter what place you came in.

The spectator support up at IM Canada was amazing. I was impressed that there were people cheering for the entire 112 mile bike loop. But I have to say that I think that IM Cda, here in our own backyard, is a better run event. IM Cda is just so much easier to get around, get to athletes after the race and before the race. IM Canada made it quite difficult. We wnted to stay and watch the last finishers finish at midnight, but it was just a pain to get to where you needed to go at the finish... oh well, our loss.

I have to throw a huge thank you to Kevin, Kathi, Jessi, and Emma for their support throughout the ENTIRE race. They were told that it was impossible to to see athletes on the bike course and run course. And if you attempted to, you would not be able to get back in time to see them finish. Kathi and Jessi actually went out on the course 2 days before to see where they could get and do a little research. They went on a 4 hour ride that turned into a 5 our ride filled with stories of people telling them that, 'It couldn't be done.' They decided that these locals did not know how to watch an Ironman race and they would see to it that it 'could' be done. And done it was. I saw them for the ENTIRE bike course. From the first couple of miles, to the last few miles. They would cheer as I went by (with Emma and her cowbell) and then they would hopscotch up ahead and to do it all over again. It was pretty amazing to see and so encouraging as well. They were able to do the same thing on the run too. Obviously things move a little slower on the run, but getting to where you want to go is tough to do. I know it was a lot of work for them and a long day standing on pavement in the sun, but I know that their encouragement and cheering really helped me get to where I needed to be.

There is so much to the IM Canada story, that is just too long to write, so if you are interested in where we stayed, the swim, bike, run course, layout, where we ate, the closest Starbucks (only one in Penticton that just arrived 2 years ago) what to do and not do, etc., let me know. For he first time being up there, I think we did a pretty good job getting higs all dialed in... especially where we stayed.

Foot fetish...

Since so many of you are 'bragging' about your foot accomplishments, I thought I would throw mine in the mix as well. My second toe on both feet is slightly longer than my big toe (some call it the smart toe, but it never helped in school) which creates some problems when getting shoes sized right. So I normally have a large callus on both feet. And when that finally lets go, I start over with blisters. However, I think I had a fold in my sock at Troika and the 1/2 marathon created a couple blisters that look tough. Then on my 18 mile run last week, things only got worse. Oh well. It makes it tough to wear flip flops (though I am still fond of the old term 'Thong') when your feet look like some STD... not that I have ever seen or had one. Ahh, the life of a triathlete.

Medical Lake Swim

That is Kevin and me, and Kathi is the one swimming. Jessi is on the shore in the light blue suit. Paisley is in the black suit running after Emma who was going to do a cannon ball.

This morning was the first (hopefully of many to come) of the Sunday Starbucks Swims. Jessi, Emma, Kathi, Kevin, and Paisley all met at the Starbucks at 5 mile at 8:00 (Bests arrived at 8:30, but they are always late :) ) and drank a little coffee and then headed out to Medical Lake for an open water swim. The water temp. was perfect for wetsuits and not too cold either. We all swam at least 1.5 miles. It was a hoot to all be out there and enjoy a lake where you don't have to worry about anything but the other swimmers in your group. Boats are not allowed on this lake and it's a pretty big lake too. So I hope we will be able to make many more visits to this venue. I hope others will be able to join us in the future. I'm sure people had 'good' reasons like not wanting to get wet and all, but maybe next time.

Next One...

Okay, so it's been a bit since my last post. Not much has happened really in terms of triathlon. Did a couple of 1/2 IMs (Lake Stevens 70.3 and Troika). They were both pretty fun and tough. Of course the heat was a factor in both races, as it always has been for me in any endurance event. It's normally the hottest day of the year. I don't know if that is a good thing, but somehow I have been able to finish.

This weekend I, along with Jessi, Emma, and Kathi Best, will be heading up to Ironman Canada in Penticton BC. I have never raced this one before, and I am looking forward to it. I can't say that my training has been 100%. I have this looming event in late October that just seems soooo far out. So I have been taking it a little easier this summer after IM Cda. After I secured a slot to Kona, I felt a lot of pressure for IM Canada gone. So, I have to figure out what I am going to do up there. First would be to finish. Always easier said than done. But I would like to go a little easier in the swim and the bike this time and have a faster run. The last 3 IMs that I have done have VERY similar marathon times. In 2004 the two I did were 4 seconds apart. This year in IM Cda, it was about 30 seconds slower. I should be able to have a better run if I come off the bike a little better and start running easier miles from the start. You always feel like you are doing that until about mile 15, that's when the mile times seem to start falling apart.

Last week we sold our boat. It was hard to see it go, but we just were no using it. Even when we would go up to Diamond, we would end up going out on the boat with John. It's hard to believe that we used to put 200+ hours on it each year. This year, 4. Those boats are meant to be driven. When they are not, you start to have problems. We have had a lot of great memories on that boat. We got it when Jessi and I first got married. It was something that we both loved to share together. We made a lot of new friends too because of a common love for watersports. It's not to say that we won't get another... just not this year.

So, since we don't have a boat to haul, no need for a big rig. So we sold the Excursiona and bought a Subaru Outback wagon. Mark will tell you it was so we could be like him. Regardless, I love it, and it's fun to drive.

We will be heading up to Canada in the Subaru Outback. Not too sure if we will be taking the trailer or not. We might get one of those roof boxes... who knows. It's quite a bit smaller than the Excursion, but it's pretty fun to drive.

We recently had a garage sale too. Boy did we unload some stuff. Just about all of our watersports gear, and a lot more odds and ends we do not want to store. Nice to start to get rid of that suff that has been being hauled from house to house. I'm sure we will regret it and have to go and buy it again... oh well.

That's about it from here. I really will attempt to do a better job keeping things updated. Maybe more on training and racing. But there has not been too much training lately. Canada will be a great test.