I'm sick! Thanks to my great students who have given me this rotten cold. Ugg. I dare say the 15k race I was going to run in the morning will not come to be, sadly. Nor will I train much at all. I am taking this weekend off to rest apparently and I guess it comes at a good time. I just gave my first exam today in my classes and now have almost 160 to grade.
Ok, now for the real stuff. My race went ok. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't bad either. I know that I have tons of room for improvement, so that's good. I would hate to go out and win everything the first time :) (Yeah right!)
Anyway, the distance wasn't an issue. I felt good about that, but the course was challenging. It started early. The alarm went off and I sprang into action around 4:30. By 5:15, Irfan and I were walking to transition in the dark. I laid everything out in the exact order I had mentally prepared the night before. Everything would be ready for me when I came out of the water.
Having things just as I wanted, it was time to trek down to the ferry boats where I would be kidnapped and dropped off on Escape Island in the middle of Biscayne Bay. It was dark as we pushed off the dock aboard a local pirate ship and into the bay. As we neared the island I noticed the song they were playing went something like this, "Jump! Go ahead and jump!" Coincidence, I think not. We were preparing to jump off the boat and swim to the island. A song or two later was "I'll send an S.O.S. to the world I hope that someone gets my...". Yes, they were clever and most around me were oblivious to the irony.
It was time and so I donned my bright pink swim cap with my blue goggles and plunged into the water. It was warm, almost roasty. I swam the 100 or so yards to the island and there I sat waiting and waiting to begin my escape. The swim was suppose to start at 7:30, but 7:30 came and went. It wasn't until somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30 before we finally headed out into the open water.
The swim was a mass start and there were approximately 1000 athletes registered. We had room though to spread out and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had heard or imagined. I had read to breath every stroke in the beginning of an open water swim until your breathing slows and you are comfortable. That was good advice. I occasionally switched sides, but found that breathing on my right wasn't working too well. The chop was right in my face, the sun was beating down on me and my goggles seemed to constantly leak after breathing to the right, so I stayed mostly with the left. I lifted my head every now and again to look ahead and to see my route through the other swimmers. During this time we were swimming mostly against the current and it was hard with the choppiness and so forth. In general I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I was thinking about how easy it would have been for anyone to drown out there, including myself.
At last I rounded the buoy and it was time to head back towards shore. After making the turn I was almost alone for the remaining 700+ yards of the swim. I took the side route out of the main stream of the people and got comfortable and took more strokes between my breaths until finally I was in so much pain. My top had rubbed against my neck to the point of removing the top layer or 2 of skin and it sucked. I began trying to breathe on my right more and only occasionally switched back to my painful left side. The swim seemed long, but I had finally found my rhythm and was feeling good, aside from the chaffing on my neck.
I headed out of the water and into transition. I stopped for a cup of water to rinse that saltiness out of my mouth. Ukk! I hate the taste of salt water! I had left a gu packet open standing in my shoe ready for me to slurp down. It was great. I have discovered my favorite energy gel is CarbBoom apple cinnamon or strawberry kiwi. They both are almost as good as candy! I attempted to be quick in the transition, but I'm slow. This is one of the areas I need to work really hard on.
At last I was off onto my bike :) The road was bumpy and the wind intense which was sometimes good (ie when it was a tail wind) and other times hell. I started off though feeling really good. I felt strong and knew I could have a good day. When I rounded the corner and headed for the first bridge the wind seemed to stop me dead in my tracks. Ok, I didn't stop, but the ride suddenly got really hard. I approached the bridge which is a little smaller than the one I bike over regularly. I got off my seat and peddled to the top passing many others (my local bridge climbing had paid off). As I rounded the top, I got low and cursed the wind for being so strong. There was another bridge a little smaller and then we were beach side with a crosswind. It wasn't bad. For the most part I was holding 18+mph. The turn around came and soon a long uphill entrance to climb back onto I-195W. Now the wind was at my back. I was loving it. After heading down the first bridge I was holding 25+ and then as I passed a few more people going up the second bridge I was flying. With the wind at my back and heading down the bridge, I hit 37 mph! I held tight and enjoyed the speed. Finally it was time to peddle again. I made the turn onto the last road, went about 1-2 miles, turned around, continued past the water stop and headed out for my second lap.
Heading into the wind sucked just as bad, wait it was worse, the second time around. It drizzled off and on which was nice to keep us cool, but made you keenly aware that a few more drops would make the roads slick and that would be nasty. There was already a wreck. I didn't see it happen, but I noticed the two guys not moving off the pavement afterwards. I also saw a few people walking their bikes back, probably problems with their chain. There were also the usual flats. Luckily I escaped with no harm.
I jumped off my bike and took way too long in transition again. I was right on time though. If I had a good run then I could beat the 3 hour mark. I had another gu (I also had taken one on the bike), changed shoes, put on my visor and eventually was off and running, but with much pain. I tried to regulate my breathing, but it didn't seem to help. I thought something was going to fall out of me. At least it felt like someone was going to pull it out of me, whatever "it" was. I kept a steady pace for the first 2 miles, but finally I couldn't hold it. I began walking off and on. I tried to do 5-1 (run 5 minutes, walk 1). After a couple of reps I decided to do 4-1. I felt horrible and was SO hot.
The aid stations made me mad. Either the water OR the gatorade was cold, never both! I always took a cup of each, but by the end I wished I had taken 2 of each. In addition to my pain, the run course wasn't all that easy either. After heading out of transition and down the street a couple of blocks, we headed up over another very long bridge. We were running directly into the wind. On the way back I was so tired, it didn't matter where the wind was, I was walking a lot. After climbing the bridge again, I made the commitment to run the rest of the way. I picked it up and finished strong in 3 hours 12 minutes and 41 seconds, but the run pace was slower than my slow marathon pace.
It wasn't a great race, but it was a good experience and overall, I'm happy with my time. On my next race, I'll try for a flat fast course and push to break that 3 hour mark I so desperately want.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Down but hopefully not out
Life is hard, but I knew that. It just seems increasingly difficult these days. Work is very demanding and my training is suffering as well as my mental well being. I'm busy working until near or past midnight many nights and then trying to get up and go for another day only to do it all over again and I'm not dealing well with it. I'm exhausted constantly and depressed that my training is so poor.
I've had a few days where I just wanted to say to hell with it all and quit and find a new something. I don't mind the teaching, but the prep work is what I hate. It takes me forever. Just like with running, I'm slow at it and it's miserable. I'm not sure if I'm eating enough and I know that I could improve what I am eating but everything takes so much time and effort that I would almost rather not eat than have to deal with it.
I feel weak these days, some physical, but I think that's just from lack of sleep, but mentally as well. I'm sure that's also from lack of sleep, but it's harder for me to deal with. Physically, I just cut back on my training. Mentally, I get depressed for not training hard enough, long enough, fast enough, often enough...
I've always set goals, but perhaps mine for now are too high and I'm putting too much pressure on myself to achieve them too quickly. And when I'm not having a good training session I find it difficult to keep going and often times, like today, I cut it short. This leads to me feeling weak and I hate it. Most of the time I stick it out, but increasingly I've not. I have debated on getting a coach. I know I could really use one right now and I've got a really good reference. I've been told that the benefits are well worth it, but for some reason I hesitate. I feel like it's a big step and right now I'm not sure that I'm ready for that step, although maybe that's what I need.
I'm getting tired of the exact same training routines. I could change things up, but I'm not sure how much is enough and what is too much. I want to improve and I know I have some limitations, but I know there's an efficient way to train to push out those limitations. I just don't know if a getting a coach would help with that right now or if I need to get a better training routine first.
On the other hand, there are a few bright spots. I met a really great person at the bike shop who has participated in triahtlons since the early 80s. We had dinner with the bike shop crew last Friday and talked about triathlons and training. He's out of town right now, unfortunately, but he's going to be a great resource. He seemed excited about being able to pass on his wealth of knowledge to me. He began laying out some running drills and said he would write me up some swim workouts that incorporate intervals. I know these things will be extremely helpful and I'm excited about getting started on them, but I'm not sure when he'll be able to get them worked out for me.
To help me set new/reasonable running goals, I think I'm going to go run a road race this weekend in Orlando. I'm looking at a 15k. It's been quite a while since I've done a road race and I think that it will help me see where I stand. I just hope I have a good race. Even though I want to use this race to set goals, I also have goals for this race and I hope I'm not disappointed if I fall short. I know it's not suppose to work this way, but this is fortunately/unfortunately how I work and who I am.
I set goals and worked like hell to achieve them and then am disappointed when I fall short.
I'll have a race report from Escape 2 Miami soon. I'll say this though, the course was tough.
I've had a few days where I just wanted to say to hell with it all and quit and find a new something. I don't mind the teaching, but the prep work is what I hate. It takes me forever. Just like with running, I'm slow at it and it's miserable. I'm not sure if I'm eating enough and I know that I could improve what I am eating but everything takes so much time and effort that I would almost rather not eat than have to deal with it.
I feel weak these days, some physical, but I think that's just from lack of sleep, but mentally as well. I'm sure that's also from lack of sleep, but it's harder for me to deal with. Physically, I just cut back on my training. Mentally, I get depressed for not training hard enough, long enough, fast enough, often enough...
I've always set goals, but perhaps mine for now are too high and I'm putting too much pressure on myself to achieve them too quickly. And when I'm not having a good training session I find it difficult to keep going and often times, like today, I cut it short. This leads to me feeling weak and I hate it. Most of the time I stick it out, but increasingly I've not. I have debated on getting a coach. I know I could really use one right now and I've got a really good reference. I've been told that the benefits are well worth it, but for some reason I hesitate. I feel like it's a big step and right now I'm not sure that I'm ready for that step, although maybe that's what I need.
I'm getting tired of the exact same training routines. I could change things up, but I'm not sure how much is enough and what is too much. I want to improve and I know I have some limitations, but I know there's an efficient way to train to push out those limitations. I just don't know if a getting a coach would help with that right now or if I need to get a better training routine first.
On the other hand, there are a few bright spots. I met a really great person at the bike shop who has participated in triahtlons since the early 80s. We had dinner with the bike shop crew last Friday and talked about triathlons and training. He's out of town right now, unfortunately, but he's going to be a great resource. He seemed excited about being able to pass on his wealth of knowledge to me. He began laying out some running drills and said he would write me up some swim workouts that incorporate intervals. I know these things will be extremely helpful and I'm excited about getting started on them, but I'm not sure when he'll be able to get them worked out for me.
To help me set new/reasonable running goals, I think I'm going to go run a road race this weekend in Orlando. I'm looking at a 15k. It's been quite a while since I've done a road race and I think that it will help me see where I stand. I just hope I have a good race. Even though I want to use this race to set goals, I also have goals for this race and I hope I'm not disappointed if I fall short. I know it's not suppose to work this way, but this is fortunately/unfortunately how I work and who I am.
I set goals and worked like hell to achieve them and then am disappointed when I fall short.
I'll have a race report from Escape 2 Miami soon. I'll say this though, the course was tough.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Take Two!
TWO whole minutes off my previous best 5 mile time! I ran 5 miles at a 9:04 pace the other day. It was hot and so I figure that when the weather cools off a little I'll be running sub 9 pace (that's my hope anyway). The long bikes are paying off too by increasing my lactic threshold.
Also recently I did a quick time trial of 1000 yard swim. The goal was to finish in less than 19 minutes. I SMASHED it finishing in 16:30. This time trial was to 1) set a benchmark early in my training for me to measure my progress against and 2) to determine if speed and endurance should be my primary focus or technique. The result: technique. Now that I can swim 1000 yards in under 19 minutes, I should focus on my efficiency more according to Joe Friel's book "Going Long".
Coming up this weekend is my first Olympic Triathlon. It will be in Miami and is modeled after Escape from Alcatraz. Instead, it's Escape back to Miami. There's a ferry that takes you out to an island where you wait for your swim to start. Then you swim back to shore 0.7 miles, jump on your bike for 24.9 miles and run 6.2 miles. I'm really excited about the race, but not looking forward to trying to be ready to teach first thing Monday morning since the race is on Sunday 4 hours away. I'll have to stay really focused all week to get my work done so I can play hard this weekend.
Also recently I did a quick time trial of 1000 yard swim. The goal was to finish in less than 19 minutes. I SMASHED it finishing in 16:30. This time trial was to 1) set a benchmark early in my training for me to measure my progress against and 2) to determine if speed and endurance should be my primary focus or technique. The result: technique. Now that I can swim 1000 yards in under 19 minutes, I should focus on my efficiency more according to Joe Friel's book "Going Long".
Coming up this weekend is my first Olympic Triathlon. It will be in Miami and is modeled after Escape from Alcatraz. Instead, it's Escape back to Miami. There's a ferry that takes you out to an island where you wait for your swim to start. Then you swim back to shore 0.7 miles, jump on your bike for 24.9 miles and run 6.2 miles. I'm really excited about the race, but not looking forward to trying to be ready to teach first thing Monday morning since the race is on Sunday 4 hours away. I'll have to stay really focused all week to get my work done so I can play hard this weekend.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A Passion to Go Long!
The workouts I enjoy most are not the short runs or quick swims; I enjoy the ones that push me to get stronger, mentally and physically. I am driven to go long and I love it! This past week I biked for almost 3 hours and then ran 3 miles. It felt great!
Last week I learned a very important lesson. Ok, I learned many important lessons. The first, being fit to your bike is not a luxury but rather a necessity! Nutrition is not optional; workouts are 10x better if you eat right before, during and after. Mental endurance is key for improvement. You must be able to stay focused and push yourself even when you are tired and want to stop. I know there will be times during the Ironman when I will want to stop, but I will never question why I am there or what I am doing. Mentally my will is strong and not finishing a race never crosses my mind. The real question is how long will it take if I keep walking. So I will have a plan to run again. During the swim there's not much option about stopping and the same is true on the bike. Besides, if you put the time in on the bike, you will finish the bike. It's the marathon at the end of 114.4 miles that you have to worry about. I can always walk, but that's one heck of a walk :) I plan on running most of it to finish it faster.
The bike fit that Steve at Plan B did for me on Friday night was awesome! He's fantastic! He moved my seat forward and down and lowered my handle bars to make me more comfortable and more efficient and it all paid off. There's quite a science to it and he was busy measuring angles, pointing lasers to check alignment and so forth. Anyway, on my usual Saturday ride everyone noticed the difference. I received several compliments on how much better I looked on the bike and how much more power I now have. And, on the sprint back from the lighthouse, I wasn't even huffing and puffing like last week. It was great!
Last week I learned a very important lesson. Ok, I learned many important lessons. The first, being fit to your bike is not a luxury but rather a necessity! Nutrition is not optional; workouts are 10x better if you eat right before, during and after. Mental endurance is key for improvement. You must be able to stay focused and push yourself even when you are tired and want to stop. I know there will be times during the Ironman when I will want to stop, but I will never question why I am there or what I am doing. Mentally my will is strong and not finishing a race never crosses my mind. The real question is how long will it take if I keep walking. So I will have a plan to run again. During the swim there's not much option about stopping and the same is true on the bike. Besides, if you put the time in on the bike, you will finish the bike. It's the marathon at the end of 114.4 miles that you have to worry about. I can always walk, but that's one heck of a walk :) I plan on running most of it to finish it faster.
The bike fit that Steve at Plan B did for me on Friday night was awesome! He's fantastic! He moved my seat forward and down and lowered my handle bars to make me more comfortable and more efficient and it all paid off. There's quite a science to it and he was busy measuring angles, pointing lasers to check alignment and so forth. Anyway, on my usual Saturday ride everyone noticed the difference. I received several compliments on how much better I looked on the bike and how much more power I now have. And, on the sprint back from the lighthouse, I wasn't even huffing and puffing like last week. It was great!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Teaching and Training
These 2 things (teaching and training) are difficult to manage at the same time. Teaching is taking more out of me than I could have ever imagined. It takes me forever to make lectures, therefore, training time is much harder to come by than I would like. Overall though, my classes are off to a good start. I have 4 sections of Physics I for Engineers with a total of around 160 students. I'm on my feet for 5 hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday teaching, but my schedule is good.
I've been told that after the first 2-3 weeks my body will adjust to the new demands and I'll be much less tired. During this time though, I'm also increasing my training time. I did manage to squeeze in between 8 & 9 hours this week, but I also had Monday off. My goal was 10 hours. Next week I think it's 11 hours. I'm going to have a better plan this week though to work in the training.
This week I've just been exhausted, but I've pushed on and am seeing great things. On Friday night I finally went for a 5 mile run. I finished in 47:23, a new best for me in training. It was especially good because I was so tired and didn't really want to run. Then on Saturday morning, I met my group at Plan B and set out for a nice ride.
The ride was good, and I chatted with a few people I had met previously. Anyway, on the way back from the lighthouse (our turn-around point) the group usually picks up the pace and everyone more-or-less gets divided. Not this week. Mark, a young guy, told me to get up there on someone's wheel and draft. He knew from last week that this was not my strongest area, but I did as he said and found a wheel and rode it. We were hauling and I managed to stay with the lead pack ALL the way. We managed between 25 & 28 mph! It was crazy and I was exhausted, but it was really good for me to get that push to hang in there and see what I could do.
Then at the bridge, I usually go straight while the others head back to the shop. On Saturday as I headed straight I had 2 others come to get in some extra miles with me. Then finally it was just John and me. We had biked an additional hour and 10 minutes. At last I had my time in. We parted ways and I came home, 44.5 miles after I started. This is so far the farthest and longest (2 hours 23 min) that I have biked.
It was a fantastic training day for several reasons. I climbed the bridge well (not dropping under 15 mph) and it was noticed by Steve, our fearless leader :) I also am making friends with very experienced bikers who are taking the time to help me improve. I'm hoping to train with them through the winter months and come out really strong in the spring. These guys easily bike 25+ mph and most cover about 250 miles per week! They live on their bike, so there should be plenty of opportunities for me to find a training buddy that can really push me.
Now if I can just find some people that will help improve my running, I'd be set. For now though, I have elected Pinal as my personal running coach. She sets my goals with me and then I try my best to execute them. And since she wants to improve her times as well, she's done quite a bit of research on how to do that. Now she's passing it on to me since I'm really strapped for time these days.
Speaking of which, it's time to hit the bed. Sleep is such a precious commodity these days. I need all I can get! Good Night!
I've been told that after the first 2-3 weeks my body will adjust to the new demands and I'll be much less tired. During this time though, I'm also increasing my training time. I did manage to squeeze in between 8 & 9 hours this week, but I also had Monday off. My goal was 10 hours. Next week I think it's 11 hours. I'm going to have a better plan this week though to work in the training.
This week I've just been exhausted, but I've pushed on and am seeing great things. On Friday night I finally went for a 5 mile run. I finished in 47:23, a new best for me in training. It was especially good because I was so tired and didn't really want to run. Then on Saturday morning, I met my group at Plan B and set out for a nice ride.
The ride was good, and I chatted with a few people I had met previously. Anyway, on the way back from the lighthouse (our turn-around point) the group usually picks up the pace and everyone more-or-less gets divided. Not this week. Mark, a young guy, told me to get up there on someone's wheel and draft. He knew from last week that this was not my strongest area, but I did as he said and found a wheel and rode it. We were hauling and I managed to stay with the lead pack ALL the way. We managed between 25 & 28 mph! It was crazy and I was exhausted, but it was really good for me to get that push to hang in there and see what I could do.
Then at the bridge, I usually go straight while the others head back to the shop. On Saturday as I headed straight I had 2 others come to get in some extra miles with me. Then finally it was just John and me. We had biked an additional hour and 10 minutes. At last I had my time in. We parted ways and I came home, 44.5 miles after I started. This is so far the farthest and longest (2 hours 23 min) that I have biked.
It was a fantastic training day for several reasons. I climbed the bridge well (not dropping under 15 mph) and it was noticed by Steve, our fearless leader :) I also am making friends with very experienced bikers who are taking the time to help me improve. I'm hoping to train with them through the winter months and come out really strong in the spring. These guys easily bike 25+ mph and most cover about 250 miles per week! They live on their bike, so there should be plenty of opportunities for me to find a training buddy that can really push me.
Now if I can just find some people that will help improve my running, I'd be set. For now though, I have elected Pinal as my personal running coach. She sets my goals with me and then I try my best to execute them. And since she wants to improve her times as well, she's done quite a bit of research on how to do that. Now she's passing it on to me since I'm really strapped for time these days.
Speaking of which, it's time to hit the bed. Sleep is such a precious commodity these days. I need all I can get! Good Night!
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