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.

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.

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!

Lunch Swimming

I'm just back from another visit to the pool during my lunch hour, and I must say how much I enjoy escaping this prison called work to do something enjoyable for a little bit. I can squeeze in half a mile during my lunch and have been trying to do so on a semi-regular basis. There are two things I find amazing about my short swims:

1. My splits are getting faster! My time today was 21:15 for 800 meters! No negative split today though, with the first 400m in 10:16 and the second 400m in 10:47. But those are faster splits than I had when I started going.

2. I can literally forget about work problems, life issues, aches and pains, etc... When I'm in the water there's NO room for miscellaneous thoughts in my head. Every brain cell is concentrating on NOT DROWNING! Quite the opposite from running, where my thoughts touch on hundreds, if not thousands of topics. It's very refreshing.

Negative Split in the Pool

Today was a first! Got my first negative split in the pool during my lunchtime swim. First 400 meters = 10:53, second 400 meters = 10:47! I'm not sure how it happened. I wasn't trying to do it. Although I've been trying to start more conservatively and finish stronger, I wasn't making it a point to neg split, but it happened. I'll take it! These half mile swims at lunch are finally making me feel like I'm improving.

BIG Swim

I'm still trying to get a handle on all the things I have going on and get back into my blogging routine, but it's still hard. However, I had a HUGE swim yesterday I wanted to note. Rather than hitting the pool for just a half mile at lunch, schedules worked out so I could go after work for a long swim. Something that has been lacking so far this year. I have one 1.25 mile swim under my belt, but nothing else in that range, so I wanted to do at least 1.5 to 2 miles, if not my full Ironman distance.

Cutting to the chase, I felt GREAT yesterday! Everything was working together like a well oiled machine. Still, I wasn't that fast, but I felt fast! My breathing came easy and regular and I didn't need to think about it. My strokes were smooth and even. I was able to maintain a freestyle stroke for the most part and only used the breaststroke when I needed a rest. I didn't dilly dally de-fogging my goggles and just kept going with limited visibility. The only problem I had was some cramping in my toes and feet, something I've always dealt with during longer swims. I don't know why. Maybe it's a lack of foot strength? Whatever the reason, I just eased back on my kicking and was able to work through it. My shoulders were SO tired afterward, I thought I was going to be in for a world of hurt this morning. But fortunately things aren't too bad today.

Getting ready for a nice 20 mile trail run in a little bit. The weather has been OUTSTANDING this week and I want to enjoy as much of it as possible. Happy Easter!

The First Tough Weekend of 2010

I suppose I'm officially back in training now. It certainly feels like it! It hurts. I hurt. Everything hurts, upper body and lower.

I was able to return to the water Saturday afternoon and get some quality time in the pool. After nearly five months on dry land, I didn't know what to expect yesterday. I was hoping for a full mile, but willing to cut it short at a half mile if things were not feeling good. To my great surprise, things felt GREAT! When I finished my second half mile set I still felt good so I added another quarter mile to equal the distance of the Steelhead swim. My splits were: first 1/2 mile - 28:48 / second 1/2 mile - 27:01 (A NEGATIVE SPLIT) / and final .25 mile - 14:54 for a total time of 1:10:44. Not speedy by any stretch, but very decent for me in January.

This morning I met Dan H. in Hinckley at 6 AM to run some hills. We began with two loops of the all-purpose trail around the lake for 6 miles. Time: 55:30. We stayed in the park while it was still dark. That coupled with the fog made for poor visibility and we were not inclined to be hit by any cars.

At 7:00 we decided to hit the roads around the park to measure the Big Loop, a route that circumnavigates the entire Hinckley Reservation. It measured 9.2 miles and took us 1:24 to complete. Talk about hills! The first .75 mile is all uphill! While we got our share of downhills, the uphills seemed to be more numerous.

We finished with one more lap of the all-purpose trail for another 3 miles in 27:40. I was hurting pretty bad by this point. Both my shoulders from swimming and my lower body: feet, ankles, and knees. I don't know what's up with my feet. It's the same pain I was experiencing training for the 24 Hour. As for the knee, it's my right knee now instead of the left. Go figure!

A tough weekend and hopefully worth it in the long run. But for now, time for some recovery!

A Quick Recap of the Week

Somewhat busy this week. Both at work and in training. I'm slammed at work trying to have parts done for 18 prototypes before I go on vacation in two weeks. I'm tapering, but still training hard, as I approach Steelhead next weekend.

At Tuesday's speed work we did 3 X 5:00 with about a three minute recovery. Then it was 1 X 4:00 / 3:00 / 2:00 / and 1:00. With warm-up and cool-down, a total of 8 miles.

Wednesday I hit the pool for 3/4 of a mile. I had only a limited amount of time, so I tried to do some "speed" intervals in the water. They weren't as successful as the one's I run at the track.

Thursday marked my return to the trails. I joined Connie, Roy, and Bob for a nice tour around the Hinckley Reservation. We were out for a little over two hours, so I'm guessing about 12 miles. Having rained all day, the single track trails were very muddy, and I made a mess of my shoes. Unfortunately the rain stopped before our run. We really could have used it to cut the humidity.

Finally, this afternoon, I hit the pool again for a long swim. I went for 1.5 miles in 1:08. My half mile splits were: 23:28 / 22:15 / and 22:12. I felt great during the swim, finding my rhythm quickly and holding it throughout. My splits really show that too. Each half mile interval was quicker than the one before it. I hope I'm ready for the swim at Steelhead!

Meeting Ladd and Chuck in the morning for a long run of 17 miles. Should be a nice morning for it. Rain is moving in, but not until later in the day. It's time for me to start thinking about marathon training again!

Oops, I Did it Again

I just registered for another marathon this year. But wait! This one's a little different. It's a trail marathon. It's also 3 weeks after Columbus. So, that will have me running 3 marathons within an eight week time span. Fun! Fun! Fun! This is the inaugural race and the field is limited to just 300 runners, so it should be a fun/different experience. Oh, did I mention the 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss throughout the course? I didn't? I must have forgotten about that. I'm looking forward to this race come November 8.

In other news, had a decent time at the pool last night. It was pretty crowded when I arrived so I shared a lane with someone else. That really kept me from feeling comfortable and kept my times slow. I swam a mile with the first half in 29:48 and the second half in 27:12. Not great times, but I was happy to swim faster on the second half.

Tuesday night's speed work at the track was great. Somehow I busted out some fast times again. We did 800's and 200's this time. My 800 splits were: 2:57 / 2:54 / 2:57 / and 2:50. I still need to check my old times, but that 2:50 is faster than my fastest split last week by two seconds! My 200 splits were: :36 / :36 / :36 / and :33. I'm going to have to check on that last split and see how it compares to my old track times as well. I don't know where they keep coming from!

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!

Orca Man

Orca Man is what Heather is now calling me whenever I don my brand spanking new wetsuit. It just arrived yesterday and I squeezed into it as soon as I could. I'm glad I fit! It's a little snug, but I think that's how they're supposed to be. I think it's going to take some getting used to. And I haven't even been in the water with it yet. That's on tap for Saturday, the day before Wendy's. I plan on hitting the water at Alum Creek the day before the race to try it out and decide if I want to wear it on race day. I was able to get out of it rather easily, so that would only add a bit of time to my T-1. I'm really curious about how it's going to feel in the water. Because I'm such a slow swimmer, if it can shave some time off my swim, that would compensate for a longer transition. If it shaves off time AND gives me confidence in the water, then the mental advantage outweighs any slowdowns in transition.

I was able to get in the pool last night for the full Steelhead distance, 1.25 miles. That would be 80 lengths in our 25 meter pool. I did it in 1:17, which is of course horrible. But being horrible means I have lots of room to improve. Right? Here are some splits:

First 1/4 mile - 16:19
Second 1/4 mile - 15:56

That would give me a 32:16 for 1/2 mile, which is what the distance is for Wendy's.

Third 1/4 mile - 14:24
Fourth 1/4 mile - 14:38

That would be a 29:02 for the second 1/2 mile. Much better than the first half, but nowhere near the splits that everyone else seems to get.

Final 1/4 mile - 15:46

I could tell I was getting faster. I was messing around with my stroke a little. I felt quicker and more efficient. I wasn't getting out of breath as easily, thereby reducing the amount of rest time at the wall. I'm still getting phlegmy discharge from my lungs, but I don't think there's anything I can do about that. I have to cough it up from time to time because it starts affecting how much air I can breathe in.

We'll be hitting the trails again tonight and I'm looking forward to it. It's always fun to get off the pavement into the quiet of nature to do some running. Thursday nights have become my weekly long runs now that bricks have taken over my weekends. I can't say that I mind too much either.