Quickly Touching Base

Today marks one month since I finished the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run, but I have yet to write anything about it. That will change, in time, when I find enough time to do the whole experience justice. Until then I will just note that my finishing time was 27 hours, 6 minutes, and a handful of seconds.

I should also note that I haven't been doing nothing in these four weeks. I recovered for a week, went on vacation to Bar Harbor, ME for a week, and have raced two 5Ks, one cross country and one road. The cross country race was held at Buckeye High School here in Medina. I finished in 22:43 and was the 2nd male in the Open Division. The road 5K was this past Sunday, also here in Medina. I finished that in 20:40 and was 2nd in my age group. Afterward I ran with a group back into town for nearly 9 more miles.

I've been battling some aches and pains since BR, but they're slowly getting better. NC24 is 2 1/2 weeks away and I'm hoping to be healed and ready to go by then. Time will tell.

And Then There Were Four

Four days, that is. Race day is almost here, tapering is coming along nicely, and I'm ready to just get out there and get this one started. I feel good. Not perfect, but good. No aches or pains save one: a painful area at the front of my left heel nearest the arch. This is a new one and I'm not sure if it's my first case of plantar fasciitis or maybe just a bruise from some hard trails in the recent weeks. It mostly hurts to touch, not while standing, running, or walking. If that's my only problem this weekend, I will be thankful!

It's gotten hot recently too. REALLY hot. And humid. So I've been trying to get in some heat runs. They've not been terribly long, or comfortable, but I've felt decent, and they've given me a chance to nail down my hydration.

I've also found some new shoes in the last two weeks: Hoka One One. They're fairly new to the market and are the anti-minimalist shoe to end all shoes. These things have some cushion! And the comfort! Don't get me started about how comfortable they are! It's like riding in a Cadillac. Not one of the new one's, but one of the old boats from the 70's or 80's. My feet have been the weak point during my super long runs and I'm hoping these shoes will help me solve that problem.

My last run will most likely be tonight, just some easy miles at the track. Then it's just a matter of getting all my gear together and organized. That's a job in itself. So much stuff. I'm glad this is a summer race and I won't have to worry about cold weather. Lots more gear involved with cold weather running. But right now I'm focusing on the heat!

Introducing Margarita

About three and a half weeks ago I made the decision to invest in a triathlon specific racing bike. I had some concerns regarding Bella on my long rides and on speedy descents, and with something as big as Ironman I wanted the appropriate gear. At one month out from race day, it was then or never. I drove up to Bike Authority, the Cleveland area triathlon bike specialty store, on a Thursday night and left a couple hours later with the 2011 model Felt B16. Even though I was keeping him there well past closing time, Doug took his time and made sure everything was fitted to my measurements and working properly before I left.

Even though the B16 is Felt's entry level carbon tri bike, it certainly isn't short on features. Quite the opposite! It's packed with upgrades from Bella, the Giant OCR1 road bike I have been riding since 2006.

A full carbon fiber frame, fork, and seatpost. Stiffer than the aluminum I've been riding, but more shock absorbing too for more comfort on the long rides.

Check out the slick hidden rear brake in the photo below! It's been moved down to the chain stays to hide it from the wind.

No need to run cyclometer wire. I've been riding with a Garmin Edge 705 for a while and it just mounts to the stem. Because it's a GPS unit it reads speed without the use of magnets on the spokes! Plus I get elevation data, heart rate and cadence if I want it, and a mapping of my route when I'm done.

Here is where I did some more investing: hydration. In addition to the Profile Aero Drink bottle that hangs from between the aero bars, I decided to move my other bottles to behind the seat instead of keeping them mounted on the down and seat tubes. Again, I went with carbon fiber since it was available. If I'm going to do it, why not do it right? It makes mounting a bag a little awkward, but I think this will work.

I changed out the stock Felt saddle with the more anatomically comfortable Adamo saddle I've been riding on. It may look funky, but it feels much better in the right places!

With this model year, the B16 comes equipped with Shimano Ultegra derailleurs, an upgrade from the Shimano 105's I've been riding on. They shift very nice!

Internal cable routing makes for a very clean look and gives the wind even less to grab on to.

Another view of my behind-the-saddle area. Two bottle cages on each side frame a mini pump mounted on the very back. I decided to switch from carrying CO2 to a pump just from a simplicity standpoint. A pump is easy to use and if you don't get it right the first time, you can do it again.

I've put about 200 miles on her already, including one half iron tri at The Great Buckeye Challenge. She's amazing to ride and now that I've had some fit tweaks performed, can only get better. I can now fly down hills that would have had Bella shaking to the point it was scary. Getting used to the bar end shifters took a little time, but now that I'm comfortable with their location I don't have to get off the bars as often, making me more aero.

Here's to hoping we make the bike cut-off Sunday by hours and not minutes!

Paula Deen Would be Proud of Me

I'll be taking plenty of "Butt'r" with me to Madison: Chamois Butt'r! I must first admit, I've never used it, but it's gotta' help. Right? Things were getting a little chafed on my last long ride and I'm hoping to prevent that from reoccurring. Plus the packets are small enough for me to stash in my special needs bags.

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Hey, I'm 5 days out. I'm allowed to worry about the small things now!

T-6 Days

It's getting closer... 26 pages of information for the athlete. I took the bike in for a final tune-up on Saturday and began hearing about what happened at IM Louisville last weekend. 98 degrees and 90% humidity + people not wanting to drink the PowerBar brand fluid led to a water shortage at the 80 and 90 mile aid stations on the bike. From what I've read, that event now holds the record for the most DNF's in an Ironman event. Lots more things to think about now. I hope we'll be hot, but not THAT hot!

What Happened to August?

I mean, I remember seeing it on my calenders every day. And I know I was busy doing all kinds of things. I just don't seem to see any mention here of the month taking place save for the previous post with my mileage totals.

I think I burnt out, is what happened. July was a great training month and I had hopes of continuing that through August as well. I did OK, but not what I was hoping for. I lost interest in both training volume and in recording my efforts. I kept to my big training days on the weekend just fine, but the days in between I would find myself either unmotivated to get out the door, or just wanting to relax at home. I think I've done enough training to get me to the finish line. Unfortunately just getting to the finish line isn't what I had in mind a year ago when I registered for this thing.

I had some good training sessions last month including:

-5 Speedwork sessions
-Swims of 1.2, 1.25, 2.0, and 2.5 miles
-Long rides of 54, 88 and 116 miles (the 116 being a one-way ride to C-bus)
-Long runs of half marathon length
-Running in the heat
-Running while tired
-2 brick workouts
-1 half iron training triathlon (more on that in a separate post)
-and 4 rides on my new Felt tri bike (more on that in a separate post)

I hope they will be enough. I know I'm starting to self-doubt a bit now that race day is 10 days away, but I didn't stick with my training schedule very well.

The other day I came across a quote, possibly used by another blogger, and I don't recall to whom it is attributed, but whenever I start self-doubting my preparedness I try to think of it and it helps a little: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you wished you had, or the army you might have had." (Or something like that) Now, I don't equate competing in a sporting event to be anything remotely similar to what our nation's soldiers are doing for us in our name, but it makes sense to me, right now, in my situation.

I'm ready for the swim. I won't be setting any speed records, but I am capable of beating the cut-off. Ditto for the bike. With the new ride I'm more confident, comfortable, and faster than before. Although I haven't been training the run as much as I would like, I'm hoping all the early season mileage and ultras will help me finish in decent shape.

A Little Bit of Confidence

After last night's track workout, I've found just a little bit of confidence that I might be able to finish in under 3:15:59. For the past few weeks I have felt sluggish and tired when running. The speed sessions have been OK, but trying to run at race pace out on the road has been tough. Maybe because I've been out doing that alone and on the track I've had company, people to keep my pace honest and to push me. The problem is, there is only a handful of people I run with who push me.

Pete, whom I haven't seen since February, was just finishing last night when I arrived. It turns out he had knee surgery over the summer and is just getting back into running again. Maybe I can actually keep up with him now! Bob was there, but he was just doing some easy laps, still recovering from the NC 24 and possibly preparing for another 24 hour run in Iowa. And then there was Rachel, who has probably pushed me harder than just about anyone else. She's incredibly fast and it's about all I can do to keep up with her sometimes.

We ran 3 X 1 mile repeats at marathon race pace last night. After some of our workouts, it felt incredibly easy and I couldn't believe just how fast we were really going. Each mile was under 7:15, which is our target pace for Sunday. Rachel and I are going to run together in Columbus, lining up with the 3:10 pace group. She only needs a 3:40 to qualify for Boston, but she can go much faster than that, as witnessed by her 1/2 marathon PR of 1:28! I need a 3:15, but the extra cushion might be a good idea. We can at least keep each other motivated and although I like going it alone, having a friendly face with you along the way makes things just a tiny bit easier.

Four Days and Some Hours To Go

It's hard to believe that yet another Columbus Marathon is nearly upon me. It seems like it has come around again so quickly, yet I know there have been many days of hard workouts and long runs in between this year and last. I'm now under five days until race day. I'm tapering. I'm caught up with things at work. I'm bustling with unused energy! I'm trying my best to stick with the taper plans I have on paper. It's hard though. I'd really love to go out and hit some trails, but those are off limits until after race day. I'm tiring of the pavement and would really like to go off road again. I must be satisfied with biding my time.

With some extra time on my hands this week, I've been pouring over the race website, making sure I know exactly what to expect this weekend. I've received my hotel confirmation and I know the hours of the race expo on Saturday. There are a few people heading down from the area, but I don't expect to run into many of them. We already have a list of places we need to stop at while in the Columbus metro area. There's a bakery Mrs. P saw on TV that she wants to stop at. And Jr. P needs to stop at the new LEGO Store as well. All I want is to pick up my number and chip, check into the hotel, and get some Plank's Pizza for dinner. Pepperoni and bratwurst, of course! And a solid night's sleep would be great too.

I'll be able to get some track time in tonight and burn off some excess energy. But I'll need to keep it within reason, just 200's and 400's. This is going to be one of those long weeks. I can tell. Oh well, at least the X-Box is fixed and we can distract ourselves with some Guitar Hero and Rock Band jams at night.

I'll leave you with a photo of Mrs. P and her mom finishing the half marathon last year. The image was one of just a few that have been featured on the race's website for the last year. I'm sure they will be replaced shortly after this weekend, so enjoy! And never mind that it looks like her mom is blind. She's not!