2010 Ironman Wisconsin Part 4

An alarm clock going off at 3:30 in the morning when you're deep in sleep is never an easy thing to deal with, but I was instantly awake and alert, my mind already prioritizing what needed to get done, in what order, and by when. First, I hit the bathroom for my first movement of the morning (very important) and a quick shower. Next, I was mixing six bottles worth of Gatorade Endurance (both lemon lime and orange) spiked with Nuun. Since the Nuun likes to take it's time to dissolve in bottled water, Mrs. P and I headed down to get some breakfast. The hotel was opening the kitchen for business at 4:00 AM just for us. I put in an order for scrambled eggs and potatoes (and bacon) and started toasting two slices of bread. I was able to eat a meal very similar to what I would have eaten at home before a long training day. I drank a lot of water the previous day to hydrate and so went easy on the liquids. I had no desire for a full bladder in my wetsuit!

After a few final preparations, including finalizing my special needs bags and waking up Jr., we were off to drop off said bags, inflate my tires, attach nutrition to my bike, and find a spot to chill.

I can't tell if Jr. P is worried about what I'm going to be doing or just still tired. Probably the latter! Here he is waiting while I drop off both my bike and run special needs bags.

I had a lot happen this day. I wouldn't call some of the things happen "mistakes" but rather things I will learn from. The first such "learning opportunity" happened before the swim. The race would like all the athletes to walk down the helix to the swim start. There is a place to deposit your final bag, a dry clothes bag, which will hold whatever you were wearing that morning. I didn't know this. We found a nice spot for the family to sit and watch the swim down on the bike path that runs along the water. It was a nice spot with an unobstructed view. All I had to do was walk down the path to enter the swim start. What I didn't know was that I was now well past the bag drop area. When I asked a volunteer where my bag should go, he pointed upstream of all the athletes coming my way. I thought he was kidding! I slowly made my way up the side

We found a nice spot for the family to watch the swim. Right down on the bike path.

Sunrise approaching over Lake Monona.

Jr. P having the true breakfast of champions while I ponder what will be happening in the water.

Time for some final photos together.

Eventually it was time to don the wetsuit.

Had to have a Captain Peanut Butter Cup pose!

As much as Mrs. P enjoys this photo, I am NOT wishing I had hair. If I did have hair, I would still cut it off. I was applying sunscreen to my head. Somewhere I would probably forget later and the volunteer sunscreen appliers would miss.

Getting closer to 7:00!

Swim cap on and I'm ready to go!

A lot would happen this day, almost all great! The rest I wouldn't exactly call mistakes, but rather learning opportunities. The first of these opportunities happened as I made my way to get into the water. Because I was entering from the water's edge rather than coming down the helix like everyone else, and I had one last bag to drop off, I ended up being well past the bag drop area. I needed to literally squeeze my way upstream of all the other athletes heading down to the water. It took forever and ate up all the time I had given myself to get comfortable in the water. This would hurt me badly. I knew I was losing a ton of time, but there was nothing I could do about it. I began to worry I wouldn't even be in the water by the time the cannon went off.

A look at the Monona Terrace with every space taken to watch the swim.

I did make it into the water before the cannon, but only by about 30 seconds. I turned around to see a ton of people still trying to get into the water. I knew they would be behind me. I was planning on being behind them. I was going to be swam over.

BOOM!
Strong swimmers may not mind the "washing machine" but I sure do. In all my other tri starts I've gone towards the back of my wave. I'm slow and I know it. There's no point for me to get in anyone elses way. There was nothing for me to do this morning though. Just start swimming! I put my face in the water and that's when disaster struck. The water was cold and I had no warm-up. All my anti-drowning instincts kicked in at once in a panic. My throat closed up and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stand to have my face in the water. My form was gone. I had people swimming over parts of me as they passed. I was probably hit and kicked but I don't really remember. I just remember thinking that if I don't get my shit together not only am I not going to finish the day, I won't be finishing the swim.

I began to breaststroke. With my head out of the water at first until I could regain control of my breathing. Eventually lowering my face into the water. I would look around and see three or four swimmers hanging onto a kayak, coughing. I wasn't coughing at least. I hadn't inhaled any water. I could be in worse shape. I made my way a little further, most of the swimmers by now leaving me behind. I remembered where to look for the family and gave a wave to Jr. and Mrs. P. "I have to get going," I told myself. Once I regained my breaststroke form I transitioned into my freestyle. It felt odd and uncomfortable, but manageable.

I would see this group out on the run course working an aid station later.

I'm happy to admit, not only did I NOT pee in my wetsuit, I didn't have the urge to go at all on the swim. I had the same experience at the Great Buckeye Challenge three weeks earlier. Just didn't have to go.

It took me much of the entire first straight of the swim course, nearly half a mile, to regain my composure and get into my form. I could hear swimmers ahead of me mooing as they rounded the first buoy, an IM Wisconsin tradition. I didn't join with them, but rather let out a short matter-of-fact moo as I made my way around the buoy. That helped me relax even more. I was into my normal breathing pattern and I was sighting on every 6th stroke of my left arm. While there were still people around I had to avoid swimming into, the field was thin enough to work with. My next worry was being caught by the faster swimmers as they did their second lap. I was caught, but they were good enough swimmers to navigate around us slow swimmers. And I even did my own bit of passing! That back side of the course seemed to pass much quicker than the way out. I felt like I was moving pretty well, but I was still worried about how much time I lost at the beginning. I was working with VERY narrow margins here. Swim cutoff is 2:20 and my last 1.2 mile open water swim was over an hour.

I swam hard and scared. Not of drowning, but of not making the time cutoff. I was doing what I trained to do and I did NOT want to miss my chance to continue on this journey when it hit dry land. I pulled hard through the water. I kicked, but not too much. I could feel my legs getting tired and I didn't want anything cramping on me. I kept thinking about my family and friends back at home and what they would think if I couldn't even manage to get through the swim. I thought about the sign below, which I saw just before entering the water.

So I just swam. Repetition. Stroke. Sight. It was very much mechanical. All I needed to do was make decisions based upon what I saw when I sighted. And then another "moment" happened. A woman appeared out of nowhere right in front of me. My reaction was to come to a full stop instead of bumping into her. As I did that my left hamstring completely seized on me. It was a full blown muscle cramp in one of the large muscles and it HURT! I had the presence of mind to wave down a fellow in a kayak. He asked if I was alright and I told him it was just a leg cramp. After it passed I tried to swim away, only to have it hit again. I grabbed back onto the boat. Once again I tried to stretch and massage it out. This time I was successful, but it still hurt. I gingerly began swimming again knowing full well I lost another couple minutes dealing with it. Back into swim hard mode, but upper body only. I couldn't risk another cramp in my legs. I pulled even harder through the water than before. I was just swimming scared.

Now, I should mention I had my watch on and I could have checked the time. I could have seen I wasn't as far behind as I feared. In fact, I wasn't behind much at all. I didn't want to know. If I wasn't going to make it, I didn't want the disappointment yet. If I had lots of time, I didn't want to slack off. I wanted to swim scared.

Swimming blind and scared must have worked. My swim time was 1:53:00! That's faster than any split I've done in the pool! And that's ON TOP OF a crappy start and a rest midway through! And here I was worried about not making cutoff!

After going through the wetsuit strippers I spotted Mrs. and Jr. P ahead waiting for me. I tried to mouth my time to her. I was just so relieved to be out of the water and thrilled with my time I wanted to share! Up the helix we now went. Round and round on the concrete in our bare feet. I'm no barefoot runner and it hurt! Once inside transition went smoothly. I had my own personal aid in the changing area. Fortunately for him I didn't need to "get naked," just don my jersey, New Belgium Fat Tire to celebrate being in a state that has Fat Tire, helmet, gloves, glasses, and socks. I carried my shoes on the long jog to get my bike, stopping at the sunscreen appliers for a coating. I ran down transition with another fellow, joking about how much easier it is for us to find our bikes because everyone else was gone already. Before I knew it a volunteer was handing my bike to me and shooing away the yellow jackets who had found my Gatorade filled bottles.

The twisting descent of the other helix was interesting. Round and round we went. Again. Soon I was heading out of town. As Madison is a smaller city, it didn't take long to get out of town either.

What can I say about the bike? It was long! 112 miles is a long way! But we had perfect conditions for it so I tried to enjoy it as much as possible. Another "moment" happened early into the bike. I noticed a sharp creaking noise coming from somewhere. It went on for miles and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then, as I was reaching to grab one of the re-fill bottles from behind my seat, it happened. I pulled on the bottle, but instead of it coming out of it's cage, it tipped my saddle forward. One of the bolts had come loose underneath my saddle. I found a volunteer at an intersection and asked if he would hold my bike for me. I finger tightened the bolt that was loose and pulled an allen wrench from my bag to tighten the other. I don't know if a shake-down ride would have found that problem, but it may have saved me a few minutes on the bike.

Another "moment" on the bike came when I noticed I had a brake pad rubbing against my front rim. "Not again," I probably said out loud. I stopped and took care of that in a matter of seconds, but now some riders I had just passed went right by me.

I was careful on the bike. I know the drafting and blocking rules and I didn't want to break them and risk a time penalty. Time was what I needed this day. Passing was sometimes hard for me as I would have more speed than someone going downhill only to be equal going up the next one. I was very careful.

The climbs coming into Verona on the loops were hard. Not as much the first time through, but definitely the second time. In fact, I saw more than a few people walking their bikes up those hills on the second lap. I rode them. Out of the saddle, yes, but I rode them. The crowd support on those climbs was amazing on the first lap. People lined both sides of the road and made a TON of noise. I heard lots of "GO FAT TIRE!" on those climbs. At one point I passed a group of guys DRINKING Fat Tire and cheering! It was great! Unfortunately most had left by the time I came around again. But that was OK too. It was good to climb in the quiet at that point and not push too hard.

I was drinking and eating all through the bike. I was very diligent in consuming the calories I knew I would need for the run later. Some things, like nutrition, I planned. Others, like getting stung by a bee, you just can't plan for. Somewhere between the big climbs and Verona on the second lap a bee hit me on the side of my face as I was in a full aero tuck descending a hill. It must have gotten hung up long enough by my chin strap to sting me. I brushed it off but the "sting" remained. After feeling around a little I found and removed the stinger. Little bastard! I've never been stung by a bee. Hornets, yes. Wasps, yes. Not bees. I was going to find out if I was alergic to bee stings. And soon! The pain subsided and I had some swelling begin locally, but no adverse reactions.

I had been keeping an eye on the time and doing mental calculations and recalculations since half way through the bike. I knew I would have to keep the pressure up to finish in time. The breeze we had earlier in the day turned into a gusty wind, making it difficult to ride into for miles at a time. Eventually I reached a point on the course where I KNEW I would make it back in before bike cutoff. Another huge relief. All I needed to do was stay upright and avoid any mechanical problems.

Jr. and Mrs. P entertained themselves while I was out on the bike. They had plenty of time! The Capital was open to visitors so they were able to go in and look around.

They also went shopping, stocking us up on Milwaukee Pickles and New Belgium beer!

And I guess Jr. P paid a visit to the Cold Stone Creamery to get his favorite food group!

I returned to the Monona Terrace, made the climb back up the helix, and ended my bike leg with about 20 minutes before the cutoff. All I could think of was that I had it. I'm a runner. Not a swimmer. Not a cyclist. I run. I was going to run. I wouldn't admit it then if I would have been asked, but I knew at that point I had this thing!

Bike to run transition went even faster than T1 except I wasted time in a port-a-potty trying to "go." It wouldn't, so I got up and left. I wanted to run light. I carried a few gels with me and my own Gatorade/Nuun mix in my hand held bottle plus powder to re-mix later. That was all. I ran out of transition in full "hunter" mode. My first mile split? Sub 8! Way too fast! I might be able to bang that kind of time out in a half IM, but this is a different animal. I had to actually slow myself down! Pace, pace, pace!

The run was fun! Crowd support was amazing the entire way! The volunteers at the aid stations were superb! Even though I eventually got a little nauseous, I had a great time. Another "moment" happened early into the run. I developed a slight nose bleed. No big gusher, just a little trickle. I was more worried about someone on the medical staff spotting it and stopping me. I was too close to reaching the finish to be waylaid by a tiny nosebleed.

As you can see by the people behind me, the long day was taking it's toll and running was turning into walking. I wanted to run this marathon, not walk it!

Running down State Street heading out on the first run loop.

Approaching the turn-around on lap one.

A little later, approaching the turn-around for the second time. I was tired by this time and told Mrs. P that it was getting hard. I didn't want her to worry too much.

Finishing the run from this point was tough, but even though I felt bad, I felt better than just about everyone else I saw out there. I was still running. Most were not. I reached a point where I didn't want any more gels or Gatorade, so I would walk through aid stations and get pretzals or chips and cups of water. I'd pop in a chip and take a swig of water and make mush that went down easier. It worked. My stomach didn't have a problem with that and it got me some calories, but more importantly, salt.

That was my formula. I ran aid station to aid station, walked through getting snacks and water. I tried the chicken broth earlier but it was just too strong. They had fruit but I wasn't interested. The Coke ran out but I found one last cup of root beer at one aid station and chugged it down. They handed out glow necklaces but must have run out because I never got one. I just ran on, trying to take it all in.

There was one spot on the course where all the signs everyone's loved ones had made were lined up. I spotted Jr. and Mrs. P's right away and it made me a little emotional, as it does now when I think about it. Just past the signs was a sponsered message board. We would run across a mat and a message would pop up on a large screen. Very motivational. When I was running out there in the dark I thought about a lot of things, like I usually do when I'm running. I won't get into any of them here in detail, but I realized exactly where I was, what I was doing, and what it meant to me. And that made all the training, all the hard times, all the fear and nerves totally worth it.

At Ironman, the crowd grows the later into the night it gets, and there was no shortage of spectators about as I approached the finish line. I spotted Mrs. P immediately because she had hung my Reese's PB Cup shirt on the hand held sign they had made and was waving it so I couldn't miss it!

Crossing that finish line and hearing Mike Reilly (voice of the Ironman) was an event I will never forget and one I would like to happen again! "Daniel DeRosha from Cleveland, Ohio, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" I don't think I felt anything as I crossed that line. If I didn't see a photo of me running across I would swear I floated over!

I was happy to be done, but sad that it was over. I just spent 15+ hours in motion and traveled 146.2 miles, but I couldn't believe it was over already.

Later, in the recovery area, the pizza and lemon lime soda weren't tasting too good. I needed calories, but I wouldn't get any down for a while.

Jr. P displaying my finisher's medal while I finally have success in the bathroom. Who knows, I may have run faster if I wasn't carrying that load around!

I had one dizzy spell when I thought I was about to pass out trying to tie my shoes. All that and tying my shoes takes me out? I guess it happens. We walked back to the hotel where I got into the shower and just stood there. The water felt really good. I smelled and felt sticky all over and that water just felt wonderful. We watched the final finishers on the webcast from the room as I sipped down a chocolate milk. That would be all I would get down that night. I fell asleep fairly easily and must have slept soundly as I don't recall waking up much. Go figure!

Final thoughts coming in Part 5.

46 Days and Counting

I haven't written as much as I thought I would regarding the lead-up to Ironman as others have or that I thought I would. I mean, this is a pretty big deal. In the words of Vice President Biden, "This is a big f***ing deal!"

It's pretty much all that's been occupying my mind lately, I just haven't found the need to go into detail about it here. I wonder why. Could it be I'm not intimidated by the distance? That because of what I've accomplished in training so far I know I can do it? Could it be that I hurt so much during that 24 hour run, and yet still kept pushing onward, that I'm not concerned about hurting in Wisconsin? Could it be that I am worried about what's ahead of me, I've just chosen not to write about it? Honestly, I'm not sure if it's any of those, all of those, or something else entirely.

So let's assess where I'm at in training. I'm not logging as many weekly miles on the bike as I would like, but I'm sticking to the long rides on the weekends. My weekly running mileage has been variable, but strong. My swimming mileage has dwindled somewhat due to the summer hours preventing me from swimming at lunchtime. And I'm not logging any open water time, which bothers me.

This past weekend was 7 weeks out from race day and I had the longest training brick scheduled: a 100 mile ride followed by 8 - 10 miles. I've only ever ridden that long many, MANY years ago, coming a few miles short of a full century. With my knee bothering me on the hills, I didn't know how it would go.

Well let me just say it went very well! I was able to get an early start on Saturday, which was good as Sunday morning turned out to be a windy wet mess, in the hopes I wouldn't be gone all day. I didn't get home until 5:30, but hey, it was a long workout.

Starting out of Buckeye Woods Park, I rode west first, doing a big 50+ mile loop of rolling to hilly roads. This route took me through three counties: Medina, Ashland, and Lorain. I passed three Amish buggies and one large wagon being pulled by two rather large horses. There were also a few Amish children out and about. I wonder what they were thinking when they saw me coming? Crazy! After re-fuelling at the car, I rode the south loop into Wayne County and back. The day was getting hotter and hotter with each passing hour. The only relief was the wind, which though cooling, provided added resistance and made the ride even tougher. There was a storm brewing as I was making my turn to head back and I knew there was nothing I could do to outrun it. I would just have to deal with whatever the weather dealt me. Which in the end was just wind. I was on the very western edge of the developing storm and only received a few drops of rain. The sun was back out just in time for my run.

Which was horribly hot! Possibly one of the hottest runs I've ever done. Right up there with the 2007 Caesar Creek Olympic Duathlon. But at least this time I had plenty of fluids to deal with it. Though unmercifully hot, humid, and buggy, I forced myself to run the 10 miles I had planned. They didn't feel too bad. I could have gone farther, especially if it had been a little cooler. Completing this workout left me with some huge confidence about doing a ride of that length and then running afterward. All the data for the ride and run can be found here (bike) and here (run).

In other Ironman news, after running with Brian from the club last Thursday night on the Hinckley trails, I decided to incorporate some changes. The first of which was to check for hotel rooms in downtown Madison, instead of staying 8 miles out of town. Someone must have been looking out for us because I found a very nice room only 5 blocks from the start and 3 to the finish! That should make everything at least a little easier on race weekend.

One more thing, last night was speedwork night at the track. I've been attending speedwork, but my speed has been something less than what it was last year. Last night felt really good though. The heat was tempered a bit, as well as the humidity. We ran 8 X 800 meter repeats with 400m recovery. My splits were: 3:13 / 3:15 / 3:08 / 3:06 / 3:05 / 2:57 / 3:01 / and 2:59. I felt very strong and am happy to be able to get down to the 3 minute mark and even dip below. I was told by JB to get slow for IM, and that's what I've been doing. But I'm still happy to know there's some speed in there somewhere!

P.S. I need to mention something about that heat on Saturday. It was HOT! By my estimation I drank somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 oz of fluid that day including Gatorade Endurance Formula with NUUN added, Powerbar Ironman Perform, a bottle of Coke, a bottle of cola NUUN, a half bottle of orange ginger NUUN, plus numerous bottles of plain water. It was a hot one!

Another Long Ride

This past Sunday I was out and about on the area rural roads on yet another long ride. I had a scheduled stand-alone 80 mile ride, and that's what I did. I wanted to ride some new roads, so I found a route that ventures south from Medina into Wayne County and back. After unsuccessfully trying to load the route into my Garmin 705, I jotted down turning directions onto two Post-It notes and went on my merry way.

Except for a few sections of freshly "stoned" roads, the ride went very well. The road surface didn't exactly turn from pavement into gravel, but there were enough loose stones to have me sweating. Economic problems or not, that wasn't a good show Medina County.

My knee was the other problem, although it held out until after 30 or 40 miles to really give me problems. I have no idea what's wrong with it. It starts out just fine, then the pain slowly builds, eventually giving me sharp shooting pain while climbing. Trying to climb hills is hard with only one leg.

The route was flat to rolling, which was exactly what I was looking for. I skirted a couple towns but I was mostly rolling through farm fields. After finishing this big southern loop I re-filled my bottles and headed out for my western out-and-back. I saw quite a few cyclists on the road, but they were all going the other direction. Just a nice moderately paced solo ride. In the heat.

It was another hot one Sunday. I hear we peaked at 5:00 in the afternoon, but I could certainly feel it heating up while I was out. Better cycling in it than running though! Complete ride data can be found here.

I've another big day planned for this weekend: a century ride followed by 8 to 10 miles of running. The heat's supposed to hang around and so are scattered storms. Maybe I'll have some rain to cool me off this week.

One Hilly Brick

This past weekend I had a 50/5 mile brick scheduled. After that 85 mile ride the other week I was ready to go a little shorter. But I wanted somewhere new to ride. I came up with the bright idea to park at Hinckley, ride down into the Cuyahoga Valley, and proceed north to the Brecksville Reservation of the Metroparks. Then come back. I didn't know exactly how far that would be, but if it was short I could add some loops around Hinckley. For some reason, I didn't anticipate the hills I would be riding.

They were tough. I began by riding a 3 mile loop around Hinckley Lake to warm up. Then I proceeded up the long climb that is Bellus Rd, turning onto Parker, and eventually turning onto Ledge/Everett Rd which I took all the way down to Riverview in the Valley. That was the easy part of the ride! The climb up Major Rd was tough as was a climb along Riverview north of the ski areas. The big climb up the Valley Parkway in Brecksville really hit me hard but I enjoyed coming back down from the other direction. The climb back up Everett and that huge hill on Ledge had me gasping and my eyes stinging from the sweat dripping into them. And on each and every climb, my right knee hurt. A lot! Like someone was driving a nail into the top of my kneecap every time I tried to really push with it. I was hoping that pain would go away. But it seems to not be doing that. Data for my ride can be found here.

Fortunately my knee is still fine on the run. ??? Your guess is as good as mine. I ran two loops of the all-purpose trail, one in each direction to keep things even. I felt pretty good, even on the uphills. My last mile and a half, though generally downhill, felt really good and I pushed myself to the end of the run as hard as I dared. Run data can be found here.

Now THAT was a Big Training Weekend

The big training began on Friday. We were able to leave at noon for the 4th of July holiday weekend and I headed straight for the pool. It was a little busy and I needed to share a lane for a little while, although it soon cleared out. My goal distance for the day was 2.5 miles. A hair longer than race distance but easier for me to calculate lap-wise. As I forgot my watch, I would be swimming blind as far as my time was concerned. Fortunately I was able to settle into a comfortable rhythm and I just maintained it. As my distance was wrapping up, I decided I felt good enough to swim another half mile. I didn't really need to be anywhere else, so why not? I ended up swimming 5,000 meters, or a 5K, or 3.1 miles, whichever distance you prefer! Time? About 2.5 hours as best I can guess. Slow, but it felt good.

Saturday brought me the longest bike ride I have done in a very long time. Probably since the late '80s or early '90s. I had an 85 mile ride planned and I was determined to do every mile. The only problem was I couldn't decide on the "where" part. Part of me was thinking about heading back to the Valley. Part of me was thinking Emerald Necklace ride. But a third part of me was thinking rural county roads. They would be the most similar to the roads I will be riding on race day. So that's the route I went.

Parking at Buckeye Woods park, I began by riding around the Chippewa Lake area, including both the paved trails. Then it was time to hit the road! I wanted to work my way west of town and had a basic idea of how I wanted to do it. Starting on the Twin Sizzler course I headed west, continuing onto new territory when the course makes it's turn north. That was a mistake. The series of roads I was riding eventually turned into a rough gravel road. Very hard to ride on! So turn around I did, picked up the course again, and tried a different approach. This time I was successful! I managed to find a paved, long, straight road with nothing but farms on it. And hills. I was in Amish country. I even passed a buggy! The ride was very tiring and left me sore, but I was glad to have completed it. For all the data, including a map, visit the link here.

I took Sunday July 4th off as a rest day and resumed my high mileage weekend yesterday with a long trail run around CVNP. It was going to be a hot and humid one and I got about a 2 hour late start. I parked at the Boston Store and would return there to refuel. Multiple loops were the order of the day. I didn't want to get too far from base camp. The first loop took me out on the Brandywine Falls trail. I could feel the heat increasing while out on this first section. For my second loop I was thinking Buckeye Trail possibly all the way up to the horse stables in Brecksville. I trashed that idea when I realized I couldn't carry enough water to make it all the way there. I was able to see both Blue Hen Falls and Buttermilk Falls but turned my run around at Jaite, coming back via the Towpath. My final loop was up Pine Lane. By this time I was very tired and the heat was really getting to me. I was able to complete the trail section in one piece and again returned via the Towpath. All told, 22 miles for the day. Full data can be found here.

So, a huge training weekend, week 10 out from race day, and I'm feeling not bad today. July is the BIG Ironman training month and I'm going to try to hit it hard. I took quite a few photos from yesterday's run and will post them soon. Speedwork at the track tonight is going to be miserable with 92 degrees and high humidity forecast. Thankfully, I can stay in the AC until then.

Another Big Brick

I was able to complete the plans I had made for the weekend. Friday I swam for two miles in the pool. My splits were a little slower, but it had been over two weeks since my last swim. Saturday I managed a 52 mile bike ride all around CVNP followed by a 14 mile run from Lock 29 to Station Rd. and back.

Thoughts on my ride:

I really enjoy riding in the Valley. There are hills if you want them and there are flats if you don't. Most of the road surface is fine for riding, however, the rough spots are REALLY rough. Like, going to MESS YOU UP rough!

Most of the drivers down there are courteous but those who are using the Valley as a cut-through to get somewhere else need to learn I have just as much right to be on the road as they do, and that I have the right-of-way to an auto AT ALL TIMES.

Following a recommendation, I found and rode up one of the hardest hills I've ever tried: Oak Hill. It runs parallel to Riverview between Everett Rd. and Minor Rd. HOLY COW! I made my way up it one pedal stroke at at time in my smallest gear. Had I not had a triple chainring, there was NO WAY I was making it up that hill. And with my shoes locked into my pedals, that would have meant tipping over. Not fun. I look forward to challenging that hill again!

Thoughts on my run:

It was hot and slow going. That's about it. I was tired, but otherwise felt pretty good. I carried plenty of fluids and NUUN tablets to refill with, went through two gels for carbs, and managed to lose my $10.00 emergency cash somewhere along the way. With all the kids who were out riding that day, I hope one of them found it!

A Minor Training Setback

Everything was going so well just a few weeks ago. Then, with one telephone call, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, shifts in importance and priority. Vacations, training, racing, everything was thrown to the wind and left to land where they would.

Without getting into any detail, we had a family medical emergency arise on June 6 that had us cancelling work, school, and a trip to Colorado we'd been planning since January. That's life, I suppose.

The physically hard part for me now is to figure out how to get back into my training. The day before the phone call I completed a rocking bike/run brick in the Cuyahoga Valley. 41 miles touring The Valley with some serious climbs mixed in, followed by 15 miles of running on the Towpath. The day was warm, muggy, buggy, and GREAT!

Then came a week and a half of 0 swimming, biking, or running. I decided enough was enough and planned a long run for the morning of Thursday the 17. I was hoping for 20 to 26 miles but only managed 17. That was all I had. I was hurting and tired. The damp fog I was running in probably wasn't ideal, but the hours I was keeping and the diet I was eating were more so.

Hit the track Tuesday for a 5K in the 90 degree heat and sun. I didn't feel too bad, better than I expected, and finished in 21:40. Definitely great hot weather training!

Hoping to get back into the water this afternoon for a long swim. Something in the range of two miles. I'm also planning another bike/run brick for tomorrow. Maybe this time I will take the run to the trails!

Busy Busy Weekend!

What a great weekend for training! Saturday was a little unpredictable with the hit-or-miss rain showers coming through, but today proved to be wall to wall sunshine just like Dick Goddard predicted.

While some people were running a 100K "fun run" on Saturday, I decided it's time to take the ultra thing down a notch for now so I can focus my training on triathlons. After all, I have a doozie coming up in September. With the scattered rain on Saturday I chose to stay indoors and swim instead. The pool was busy but there wasn't a shortage of lap lanes. We were just sandwiched between the pool party kids on the diving board and the scuba class on the other side of the pool. I wanted a long swim, and that's exactly what I did. 2 miles in 1:35. I'm still not the quickest one in the water, but I'm getting better. My half mile splits were 22:52 / 22:09 / 23:35 / and 26:28. I don't know why that last half mile took so long. I felt really good and thought I was keeping pace with the previous marks.

Today Mrs. P wanted to go for a long bike ride in the morning, so my workout would be later in the day, and would most likely be warm. It was. Sunshine with only a few clouds. 80 degrees plus humidity making it feel even warmer. Today I took the road bike out for the first time since Steelhead last year. Equipped with a shorter stem and a new Adamo saddle, I was also trying out a new fit for the first time. Parking at Buckeye Woods Park I set out on a large loop of rural roads, some of which are part of the Twin Sizzler Bike Races held on the Fourth of July. I completed two 14-ish mile loops for a total of 29.4 miles in 1:50. That's a 15.9 mph average. Not great, but it gives me something to work on.

After stowing the bike in the car and changing gear, I was then off for my run. I was hoping for 10 miles, but it wasn't to be today. 7.1 was the best I could offer before my fluids ran out. This afternoon was just too warm to push too much. It was a great bike/run brick none the less.

Finally, here are some photos from my run along the Reagan Park mountain bike trails this past Thursday evening. Enjoy!

Superbowl Weekend 2010

I remember going for a group run this time last year. There was snow on the ground and we had to run in the street. Well, we were simply dumped on Friday into Saturday this year and there was no running going on for me. 8 to 10 inches by my estimate, lots of blowing and drifting, few people shovelling their sidewalks, and the roads not being cleared very well, and very cold morning temperatures kept me inside. A packed Rec Center kept me from running period.

Indoor cycling was on tap for the weekend. 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. I completed the distance in close to 1:30 each day. Sunday I followed the ride with 40 minutes of strength training to help burn calories before the Superbowl viewing party. It's kind of scary, I'm getting used to riding in the basement!

Good news! I have a plan! A training plan, that is. For Boston! I'm staying with Mr. Higdon and using his Boston Bound Training Program. It has runs scheduled for every day except for Fridays and should allow for some repositioning due to inclement weather this time of year. The new item is scheduled hill training. I will be alternating Tuesdays running repeats on the track and hill repeats. Today I'm supposed to do 4 easy miles with 4 X hills tomorrow. Due to more snow coming in tomorrow, I think I'm going to switch them around, doing my hills tonight in Hinckley, leaving me open to run indoors tomorrow if the weather is bad enough.

Swim, Bike, Run

That's the racing order, so that's the order I practiced them. Just not on the same day!

Friday I hit the pool after work for a planned 1.5 mile swim. I was able to complete the "planned" distance just fine. The "unplanned" part was completing the distance quicker than I expected. My mile split was 50 minutes. 50 minutes! That's the fastest I've ever been able to do in the pool. And it may have been quicker too, because I lost track of laps at some point and erred on the side of caution. My 1.25 mile split was 1:05. That's amazing too. That means I can potentially finish my Steelhead swim in under an hour. How that swim unfolds will be very interesting.

Saturday morning I joined Scott, the father of a boy who played soccer with Bailey for a couple seasons, and his cycling group for some time out on the Twin Sizzler race course. Since we were starting and finishing just down the street from my house, how could I refuse? I'm not sure how, but maybe I should have because we rode in the rain. I wrote about running in the rain last week and how nice it was. Riding in the rain sucks. There's no other way around it. It's cold and it hurts. You can't see where your going and traction and braking ability are reduced. It felt like longer than 31 miles, but it wasn't. I covered that in just under two hours at an average pace of 15.6 mph. I rode most of the time with a fellow named Bob who was taking a brand new Scott road bike out for a spin. He broke it in pretty good too! Although the others were pretty far ahead of us, we did have a great stretch on the way back in to town with a direct tailwind. I think we may have even made up some time. The only thing to do on a wet ride like that is to finish as best as you can, then go change for a run!

Arriving at home completely soaked and covered in road grime, I changed into dry clothes, grabbed my running gear, and headed back out the door. I didn't know how far I was planning, but I had my Fuelbelt and it was full, so I could go pretty far. Or so I thought. The rain, at this point, was now gone, leaving only an incredible mugginess, a wind that wasn't helping cool things off, and an overcast sky that was beginning to break up adding heat from the sun to the mix. To call this run uncomfortable would be an understatement. It was bad. More than a couple times I thought about just going home. But I got the number 10 into my head and decided that would be my goal distance. I made it. It was hard and it took awhile, but I made it. I don't think Heather realized how out of it I was when she got home from the store. Fortunately I was recovered within a couple hours and was able to get to some chores. That 10 mile run took me 1:24, which is slow. Very slow. But at times, it was all I could manage just to keep moving forward. No cramping, just very tired and very hot. The sweat was just gushing down my face and my shirt was as soaked as my cycling jersey was from the rain. My primary concern was getting enough fluids in to prevent heat stroke. That wouldn't have been fun.

So, a tough mental as much as physical workout this weekend, but that was just to prepare me for Sunday. Our Father's Day doings were fun and will be along shortly. Lots of pictures to go through first!

13.1 in a Brick

Man, I need to get caught up again. Just when I thought I had these updates taken care of, a week goes by and I'm behind again. So, here goes.

I'll start off with today. I had a very successful training day. VERY successful! I had another bike/run brick scheduled for this morning. But as opposed to the previous two weeks' events, I had no intention of raising my cycling mileage. The 52 miles I did last week were long enough. I wanted to do a run focused brick. So with that in mind I again rode from Strongsville to Brecksville and back. That's a 30 mile out and back route which is simple and light on traffic. And it has hills. I need to work on hills. And when I say hills, I mean HILLS! I mean, it's not everywhere in Ohio that you can find 600 feet of elevation change. There are some very nice hills located in the Brecksville Reservation of the Metroparks.

I ended up riding 30.6 miles in a little over two hours. That's a 14.9 mph avg. Which isn't good unless you consider I wasn't riding flats today. Some of those hills hurt bad!

Once back at the parking lot, I loaded up the bike, packed my fluids, and set off on my run. I headed towards Berea today for something different. Three miles out and back gave me six, so two more out the other directions would give me an even ten. But I felt good today and decided to go all the way to Rt. 82. By the time I reached the parking lot again I was just into mile 12. But I had told myself that if I reached 12, I would just do laps around the park until I hit the half marathon distance of 13.1. And that's what I did. It took me 1:43 and some change to do it, but I completed my longest run after biking ever. And that's as far as I need to go this year. I felt good pretty much the entire run which was great. I was worried about how I would feel running that far with tired legs. I'm beginning to thing that won't be too much of a problem.

The problem is going to be that swim. And swimming is what I did Friday afternoon. I did the full 1.25 miles of Steelhead in 1:14. That certainly is not good in comparison to good swimmers, but it would have me done with the swim before it gets cut off. I won't be racing other athletes that day, I'll be racing the clock.

Thursday night Ladd and I hit the trails in Hinckley with the regular trail runners for another 15 mile loop. We did a lot more single track trails than normal, which was nice. But we really picked up the pace when we got on the larger gravel paths. That hurt. I was more tired than usual that night. We did the circuit in 2:45 with only minor stops along the way. What a terrific opportunity for a mid-week long run.

That's all for today. I'm still very tired from this morning and will probably hit the hay early tonight. Well wishes to those I know who are currently vacationing in exotic locations such as Hawaii and the Canadian Rockies. We still need to wait till August for our break from real life. But I'm sure it will arrive sooner than we think it will.

Busy Weekend

Lots of things happened this past weekend. I shall put them in list form:

1. Left work Friday and went to the muffler shop to get the car looked at just like I planned.

2. However, unlike I had planned, muffler shop shows me that there's nothing wrong with exhaust system. It's the engine. A re-build or a replacement and I had no intention of dropping more into the Grand Prix than it was worth.

3. Went for a swim after leaving the muffler shop. I took my new Ironman watch with me to get better timing. After a 25o meter warm-up I swam my half mile in 29:18. I know that's a horrible time, but I wasn't feeling comfortable at all in the water. The only thing I could think about was what to do about the car and I was lucky to keep my head above water a couple times.

4. Friday night we went over the neighbor's house for dinner and wine. Maybe a little too much wine. Well not TOO much, but more than was necessary. We did find out about an extraordinary red that slips my mind right now. Food included pizza, a pasta salad, a cheese dip, and key lime pie for dessert.

5. Saturday morning Heather ran in the Runstrong for Livestrong 5K while I played the part of race photographer while keeping Bailey company. This was the first year for this race and was created by an eighth grader from Root Middle School where the race began and ended. It was great weather for a run and it looked like everyone had a good time. Heather set herself a new PR by over a minute!

6. After scouring the Saturday car ads and looking online, we headed out to the local Honda dealership to peruse their wares. We test drove both the Fit and the Civic. They were both decent cars, but the Fit was just a little too small for us, although Bailey liked it because of all the cup holders. We ended up leasing a Civic and may end up going back there in November when the lease on the Jeep is up.

7. I was up early on Sunday to get in another bike/run brick. Parking at Bonnie Park in Strongsville, I headed east this time to the Brecksville Reservation. Lots of hills there and I wanted to get them out of the way early. I'm just not strong on the bike anymore. Those hills made me hurt! The descents were fun though. It was a chilly day and I kept a beanie on under my helmet, two pairs of gloves, and a wind proof running jacket on over a base layer, long sleeve, and jersey. Passing back through Strongsville I headed toward Rocky River, turning around somewhere before the golf courses down there. All told I rode 52.6 miles in three and a half hours. My 14.8 mph average is a little misleading as I was really slow going up some of those long climbs. I tried to take it easy and not hammer and I'm happy with the result.

After the bike it was time to run. I did the same out and back course as last week, but the Garmin gave me a different distance reading. That leads me to believe the trees are interfering a bit. So it looked like 6.6 miles in 51:29 which is a 7:48 per mile pace. Not bad considering the 50 mile ride beforehand. And it was a nearly 4 1/2 hour training session which is ultimately the important part.

8. After refueling and taking a short nap, we were off to see Up. We walked over and it wasn't crowded at all. It was there I learned other showings were offering 3-D screenings. Maybe that's where all the people were? It was a nice little movie. A little sad, OK, maybe a lot sad, but nice. I would recommend it if that means anything.

So a busy weekend. I'm sore and worn out today. I should hit the pool again tonight, but I don't know if I will. I guess I could just go easy and log laps. There are now only 13 days until my first triathlon. I should try to get as much pool time as possible.

2009 Spring Classic Half Marathon

Going into this race I was confident about finishing with a decent time, or possibly a new PR. Saturday dawned dry, as opposed to the rain we had on Friday, but still windy. And at about 34 degrees, the wind chill was back. These weather conditions were less than ideal and had me doubting a PR attempt would be possible. I was pumped to run, just not setting high expectations for myself. Ladd and I were still planning on running together and just letting whatever would happen, happen.

Surprisingly, what happened was both of us had a pretty tremendous runs considering half the course had a headwind and the other half just had a less noticeable headwind. We both PR'd with room to spare. I broke my previous mark from Akron last year by 1 minute and 23 seconds with a time of 1:32:36. With a time like that, one would think I had a decent chance of placing within the top of the age group. I finished 5th in my AG and 14th overall. The 30 - 34 group showed up Saturday! Tough competition! I was lucky enough however, to win a running jacket in a random drawing, so that made my lack of a top 3 finish forgettable.

Bailey and Heather ran the 5K, which started after the half marathon. Ladd and I caught them before they finished and before we turned to begin our second lap. Bailey looked to be having a tough time, but doing better than the other two races he's done this year. Imagine my surprise to find out he finished second in his AG and earned a big trophy for his effort!

It ended up being a nice morning once the sun came out and we all had a chance to warm up. We also had a nice club showing with 9 members on hand. Even with the wind, I think I enjoyed the spring version of this race more than the fall. Fewer people, less congestion, and still a bit warmer.

Sunday I needed to get out for a ride. So I packed up the bike and headed back up to the same park we ran at on Saturday. From there I rode to Rocky River, turning around at the boat docks. It was a nice sunny day, but still breezy at times. And colder up by the lake. I had some numb toes to deal with. I was planning to do an even 40 miles but had to settle for 36 as I picked up a staple in my back tire which eventually gave me a flat. I just put that tube on and that was only the second ride on it. Fortunately I had less than a half mile to walk back to the car. I guess I'll have to be more careful next time.

It's snowing right now. We're supposed to have some accumulation too. Gotta' love spring in Cleveland! Maybe I'll head to the pool tonight. Snow outside makes me want to stay indoors!