May was a BUSY month that saw my first sprint distance tri, two different sets of shoes, the beginning of core strengthening, jumping rope, a ride up Humboldt, and the “official” start of IMAZ 2012 training. With no swimming events on the horizon, I dialed back my days in the pool to once a week. The Wednesday morning Masters swim, with Frank Sole, at the Village, is exactly what I need right now. Not a ton of yards, but enough sprints, and a whole lot of focus on technique. I’m proficient enough in the pool that I can get into race shape in just a few weeks (for a sprint or an Olympic). A half IM swim would take me closer to a 4 or 6 week build up. Not including the tri, I only swam 4 days, rode 9 days, ran 13 days, and had 5 core sessions. Can you tell that my coaches want me to get a better run base and get my core in shape?!? With that being said, here are the numbers:
May 2010 TOTALS:
SWIM = 13700 yards
BIKE = 477.25 (All tri)
RUN = 69.9 Miles
GYM/STRENGTH = 0
May 2012 TOTALS:
SWIM = 15927 yards (+2227 yards)
BIKE = 342.41 (-134.84 miles) (290.28 tri & 52.13 road)
RUN = 54.57 Miles (-15.33 miles)
GYM/STRENGTH = 5 times (+5)
OVERALL 2010 SEASON (Dec 2009 – May 2010)
SWIM = 117350 yards
BIKE = 2699.75 miles (1660 tri & 1039.75 road)
RUN = 274.6 miles
GYM/STRENGTH = 14 times
OVERALL 2012 SEASON (Dec 2011 – May 2012)
SWIM = 119191 yards (+1841 yards)
BIKE = 1670.32 miles (-1029.43 miles) (1236.69 tri & 466.63 road)
RUN = 88.59 miles (-186.01 miles)
GYM/STRENGTH = 17 times (+3 times)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
New, New Shoes!
On Sunday, May 14th, I went back to the store where I bought my Mizunos to return them. When I asked if they sold the Brooks Pure Flow, the sales guy took me right over to a rack called, “Lightweight Running” and grabbed a black and blue pair off the shelf. My first impression of the black (with blue trim) model was mediocre at best. I really thought that the neon green ones Carlos had me try out were pretty snazzy. I told him that I needed a size 12, but asked if they had any other color combinations. He said that he’d look for the 12, but definitely didn’t have any other colors. Bummer, but at this point, my main concern was getting a pair of shoes that fit great and allowed me to run well, not necessarily the color. After a few minutes, the dude comes back out and tells me that they don’t have any in my size at all, so he leads me over to the in-store computer that has access to their website. He tells me that I would have more color options if I ordered it from their main warehouse too. The first pair to pop up on the screen was a super cool orange and grey that mirrored our team colors. “I’ll take those!” I said. After he informed me that those were women’s, my enthusiasm took another hit. After he finally pulled up the men’s models, I told him that I’d take those sweet neon yellow ones after all. He clicks on them only to find out that they don’t have any either. Wow, another blow. The next best color was neon blue, so I settled for those. He took down the necessary info and walked me over to the register to complete the process with a nice young lady behind the counter. After processing my return, we focused on my new neon blue Pure Flow purchase. She entered everything correctly and got it all set up for purchase when she informed me that they were back ordered until June 1st. Well, that wasn’t going to work as I needed ‘em now. BOOM! Yet another blow!!! Ultimately, I had to settle for the original black with blue trimmed model that I originally saw. After she rung me up, I realized that these shoes were about $40 cheaper than the Mizunos, so my enthusiasm shot back up pretty quickly.
They finally arrived at my house just 3 short days later. I quickly put ‘em on and headed to the YMCA for a treadmill workout. After a 30 min run, I was cautiously optimistic. I say cautious because I was also optimistic about those Nikes Lunar Elites too. At any rate, they felt light, fast, and didn’t give me any kind of problems. Granted, it was only 30 minutes, but still. Since then, I’ve put four more runs in for a total of almost 23 miles. I’ve been on the black top, the sidewalk, and on trails too. I’m happy to report that the shoes have performed great thus far. Brooks website says that they weigh in at a scant 8.7oz (again, I have no idea what size shoe that weight is for).
The color is growing on me, but I really need to get some black socks as my white ones just aren't cutting it with these:
They finally arrived at my house just 3 short days later. I quickly put ‘em on and headed to the YMCA for a treadmill workout. After a 30 min run, I was cautiously optimistic. I say cautious because I was also optimistic about those Nikes Lunar Elites too. At any rate, they felt light, fast, and didn’t give me any kind of problems. Granted, it was only 30 minutes, but still. Since then, I’ve put four more runs in for a total of almost 23 miles. I’ve been on the black top, the sidewalk, and on trails too. I’m happy to report that the shoes have performed great thus far. Brooks website says that they weigh in at a scant 8.7oz (again, I have no idea what size shoe that weight is for).
The color is growing on me, but I really need to get some black socks as my white ones just aren't cutting it with these:
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A Ride Up Humboldt
I hadn’t been to the top of Humboldt Mountain in about 4 years, so when James said he wanted to go, I quickly agreed. Yesterday’s core workout left my legs and glutes a bit sore, but I wasn’t going to pass up on this ride. It’s a very challenging, and interesting, ride in that there are about 16 miles (8 there and 8 back) of a washboard dirt road that needs to be covered before getting to the base of the climb. The peak of Humbolt sits at around 5200 feet and has a fire lookout out tower and an aviation radar that we call, “The Golf Ball.” We started our journey at about 5:00AM from about 1900 feet. Kyle was riding his usual carbon fiber Fuji road bike, I was riding my old aluminum Klein road bike, and James decided to take his Gary Fisher 29er for a spin. After about an hour of riding on black top through Cave Creek and Seven Springs, we came to where the dirt road began. It’s a fairly well packed road, but it has tons of washout, washboards, and rocks. Aside from these obstacles, another nuisance is that if you don’t stay seated during some of the climbs, your back tire will spin out.
Theres our destination!
Pavement, meet Dirt. Dirt, meet Pavement:
Almost there! You can now clearly see the "Golf Ball" at the top:
After about 8 miles, we finally arrived at the base. The road up is paved, but has numerous pot holes, sink holes, cracks, and plenty of debris. You know you’re in for a treat when the climb STARTS out in the easiest gear and you’ve got about 4 or 5 miles to go. I quickly realized that there was a small issue with my back derailleur when I tried to get into that easiest gear, but it kept slipping back down to the next easiest. The only thing I could do was to throw my shifter (this bike uses SRAM Force) as far left as I could and then actually hold it there. It was definitely awkward, but I did what I had to do. My Garmin says that my speed was staying between 4.5 mph and 8 and that the gradient was between 8% and 25%. Once at the top, you are greeted by that fire lookout, the Golf Ball, and beautiful views of Horseshoe Lake and the surrounding valley. We snapped some pics, refueled, and enjoyed the moment before heading back down. Since James was on his 29er, he was absolutely FLYING down the mountain (he said that his Garmin showed a top speed of 42). Keep in mind what I told you about the condition of this road, it’s an accident waiting to happen at those speeds! Fortunately he made it down safely. I can’t say the same for my rear blinky light. It must have been one of the many bunny hops I did over pot holes that unclipped it from the saddle bag and shatter on the road. I didn’t know anything about it until Kyle met us at the bottom with both pieces in his hand. Overall, this is a GREAT ride, but one that I can feel satisfied doing once every year or so. Here is the link:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/178155140
The fire lookout and the Golf Ball up close:
We made it:
Theres our destination!
Pavement, meet Dirt. Dirt, meet Pavement:
Almost there! You can now clearly see the "Golf Ball" at the top:
After about 8 miles, we finally arrived at the base. The road up is paved, but has numerous pot holes, sink holes, cracks, and plenty of debris. You know you’re in for a treat when the climb STARTS out in the easiest gear and you’ve got about 4 or 5 miles to go. I quickly realized that there was a small issue with my back derailleur when I tried to get into that easiest gear, but it kept slipping back down to the next easiest. The only thing I could do was to throw my shifter (this bike uses SRAM Force) as far left as I could and then actually hold it there. It was definitely awkward, but I did what I had to do. My Garmin says that my speed was staying between 4.5 mph and 8 and that the gradient was between 8% and 25%. Once at the top, you are greeted by that fire lookout, the Golf Ball, and beautiful views of Horseshoe Lake and the surrounding valley. We snapped some pics, refueled, and enjoyed the moment before heading back down. Since James was on his 29er, he was absolutely FLYING down the mountain (he said that his Garmin showed a top speed of 42). Keep in mind what I told you about the condition of this road, it’s an accident waiting to happen at those speeds! Fortunately he made it down safely. I can’t say the same for my rear blinky light. It must have been one of the many bunny hops I did over pot holes that unclipped it from the saddle bag and shatter on the road. I didn’t know anything about it until Kyle met us at the bottom with both pieces in his hand. Overall, this is a GREAT ride, but one that I can feel satisfied doing once every year or so. Here is the link:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/178155140
The fire lookout and the Golf Ball up close:
We made it:
Friday, May 11, 2012
Core Workout & New Shoes?
Today, James and I headed up to Anthem, AZ to go over our core strengthening workout from Carlos Mendoza and Sue Meno (Both are Kona qualifers). Once there, they had us run up and down the block a few times to check out our running form. Every trip back towards them, I noticed that they were kind of pointing or gesturing at me while leaning into each other to talk. Once they said they saw enough, Carlos asked me how I liked my shoes. I told him that they were comfy, but they were also brand new. I went onto explain that I really haven’t had them on too many runs, so I couldn’t comment too much about them. He then asked me if they were heavy. I said that they were, but the only way I knew they were was from the online reviews I read. Everybody indicated that one of the major negatives was its weight. The Mizuno website indicates that they are 12.6oz (they don’t indicate what size that’s for though). My Adidas Supernova Glide 3s were around 12.3oz and those Nike’s that were too big came in around 10oz. Anyway, back to Carlos and my Mizunos….He told me that he wanted me to try on a pair of his shoes because it looked like the heel of mine was getting in the way when I was striking. He went on to say that my form looks pretty good, but I the big heel was actually making me more of a heel striker even though I wasn’t. He disappeared inside and came out with some neon green shoes and told me to lace ‘em up. We got back out in the street and I took off. Not ten strides in, I could hear Carlos yell, “OH YEAH!” It only took two round trips before he stopped me and told me that the shoes made a world of difference in my strike. He turned around and yelled to Sue, “Hey, you should see how much better he looks with these shoes.” Well, I guess my shoe saga continues! Fortunately, the store I bought the Mizunos from has a 90 day no ask return policy.
On to the core workout. We were there for probably a good 2 hours going over a variety of different strengthening exercises that make us isolate core muscles. Up until this day, I thought that core meant abs and lower back only. Core actually refers to abs, lower back, legs, and glutes. Of the approximately 12 different exercises we went over, I was able to do about 5 of them without any kind of form break or without failing. Exercises like “Jumps With Band & Controlled Landing” and “Shoulder March on the Ball” were just two that gave me fits. After we covered everything, I asked Carlos what the name of those shoes were so that I could go get a pair. They were Brooks Pure Flow. A light weight shoe with a negative heel to toe drop that could be used for training or racing. Perfect. As we were getting into the car, I told James that my quads were already starting to feel the workout and that our planned ride to Humbolt Mountain tomorrow could be in jeopardy.
Here is what our coaches kindly refer to as, "The Pain Cave." It's in Carlos' third car garage bay. That's Sue Meno over at the computer looking over our next exercise:
On to the core workout. We were there for probably a good 2 hours going over a variety of different strengthening exercises that make us isolate core muscles. Up until this day, I thought that core meant abs and lower back only. Core actually refers to abs, lower back, legs, and glutes. Of the approximately 12 different exercises we went over, I was able to do about 5 of them without any kind of form break or without failing. Exercises like “Jumps With Band & Controlled Landing” and “Shoulder March on the Ball” were just two that gave me fits. After we covered everything, I asked Carlos what the name of those shoes were so that I could go get a pair. They were Brooks Pure Flow. A light weight shoe with a negative heel to toe drop that could be used for training or racing. Perfect. As we were getting into the car, I told James that my quads were already starting to feel the workout and that our planned ride to Humbolt Mountain tomorrow could be in jeopardy.
Here is what our coaches kindly refer to as, "The Pain Cave." It's in Carlos' third car garage bay. That's Sue Meno over at the computer looking over our next exercise:
Monday, May 7, 2012
New Shoes, A New Jump Rope, and DAY ONE!
As I was heading over to the transition area to get my bike and head home on Saturday, I ran into Carlos just as he finished. I congratulated him on a great Olympic performance (1st AG/9th OA) before we turned the discussion on me and my performance. Since this isn’t really earth shattering, I’ll try to keep it brief. He indicated that he wanted me to start running every day for 20-30 minutes. No pace, just 20-30 min. We talked a bit more and I voiced my concerns about my running ability and just “getting out there” for 20-30 min per day. He agreed and said that I should start jumping rope (300x) every day and lace ‘em up 3x per week. “We’ll talk next week”, he said, but “Your IM training starts now!” So there you have it folks, IM training came about a month earlier than expected. With this in mind, I desperately needed new running shoes as well as a jump rope!
First order of business was to knock back that 30 min run before work. I laced up my old Adidas Supernova Glide 3s and headed out. End result? Try 2.98 miles.
If you go back to my November 2011 entry, I had this to say about a new pair of Nike’s that I just bought:
“Their first true test was a 9 mile “fun run” on Monday. They felt great. Maybe it was the placebo effect, but they felt sooooo much lighter too. On Sunday, November 6th, I finished what was my absolute finest running performance EVER….an 18 miler with a 9:08 pace. The best part was that the run was mostly on trails too! I also accomplished a goal of mine, to cover 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. I was able to do it in 1:56.”
I actually bought these shoes on 10/28/2011 and after this performance, I really thought that I’d hit the jackpot. I was LOVIN’ the new kicks! That was until almost exactly a month later when I experienced that terrible knee issue on 11/22/2011. PT couldn’t figure out the pain. Knee specialist couldn’t peg it. X-rays were negative. You know, it was definitely the shoes. I always had a suspicion that they might be too big, but the “expert” sized me up and said they fit fine. It wasn’t until today that I learned a little bit more. I went back to the same store in search of my next running shoe (Hey, I know what you are saying. Why would I go back after what happened? I chalked it up to a bad experience and me not being more vocal and/or informed). After I tugged on the salesman’s ear with the entire history of my search for shoes, we got back on the treadmill and did another analysis. I was curious to know why, in the past, one store recommended a stability shoe and another recommended a neutral shoe. After the video analysis, he indicated that my left foot looked great, but my right foot needed some stability. The end result? I was a “tweenier” where either shoe could potentially work. The problem was, if I chose a stability shoe (like my last Nike’s) that gave too much stability to my left foot, I could see potential problems (i.e. knee issues). He recommended going back to neutral. After trying on a pair of different Nikes, a pair of Asics, and a pair of Mizunos, I was absolutely sold on the Mizuno Wave Creation 13s. These were the #1 recommendation of the salesman too, but I definitely gave each a fair shot regardless of what he said. At any rate, here they are:
After purchasing my new wheels, I went across the street to pick up my new jump rope. I had no idea that there were so many to choose from. They have plastic ones, rubber ones, weighted one, ones with computers in the handle to count calories and skips, and leather ones. When I told James that I was to start jumping rope every day, he told me that their house has gone through several of them and indicated that the best one for the money was the leather one. Sounded good to me. It was a bit pricier than I anticipated, but what the heck.
So, there you have it. Another long winded blog entry about nothing in particular (shoes and jump rope). The most important thing, however, is that this is day one!
First order of business was to knock back that 30 min run before work. I laced up my old Adidas Supernova Glide 3s and headed out. End result? Try 2.98 miles.
If you go back to my November 2011 entry, I had this to say about a new pair of Nike’s that I just bought:
“Their first true test was a 9 mile “fun run” on Monday. They felt great. Maybe it was the placebo effect, but they felt sooooo much lighter too. On Sunday, November 6th, I finished what was my absolute finest running performance EVER….an 18 miler with a 9:08 pace. The best part was that the run was mostly on trails too! I also accomplished a goal of mine, to cover 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. I was able to do it in 1:56.”
I actually bought these shoes on 10/28/2011 and after this performance, I really thought that I’d hit the jackpot. I was LOVIN’ the new kicks! That was until almost exactly a month later when I experienced that terrible knee issue on 11/22/2011. PT couldn’t figure out the pain. Knee specialist couldn’t peg it. X-rays were negative. You know, it was definitely the shoes. I always had a suspicion that they might be too big, but the “expert” sized me up and said they fit fine. It wasn’t until today that I learned a little bit more. I went back to the same store in search of my next running shoe (Hey, I know what you are saying. Why would I go back after what happened? I chalked it up to a bad experience and me not being more vocal and/or informed). After I tugged on the salesman’s ear with the entire history of my search for shoes, we got back on the treadmill and did another analysis. I was curious to know why, in the past, one store recommended a stability shoe and another recommended a neutral shoe. After the video analysis, he indicated that my left foot looked great, but my right foot needed some stability. The end result? I was a “tweenier” where either shoe could potentially work. The problem was, if I chose a stability shoe (like my last Nike’s) that gave too much stability to my left foot, I could see potential problems (i.e. knee issues). He recommended going back to neutral. After trying on a pair of different Nikes, a pair of Asics, and a pair of Mizunos, I was absolutely sold on the Mizuno Wave Creation 13s. These were the #1 recommendation of the salesman too, but I definitely gave each a fair shot regardless of what he said. At any rate, here they are:
After purchasing my new wheels, I went across the street to pick up my new jump rope. I had no idea that there were so many to choose from. They have plastic ones, rubber ones, weighted one, ones with computers in the handle to count calories and skips, and leather ones. When I told James that I was to start jumping rope every day, he told me that their house has gone through several of them and indicated that the best one for the money was the leather one. Sounded good to me. It was a bit pricier than I anticipated, but what the heck.
So, there you have it. Another long winded blog entry about nothing in particular (shoes and jump rope). The most important thing, however, is that this is day one!
Rio Salado Sprint Tri Race Report
If you’re ready for a ridiculously longwinded, rambling, incoherent, race report of a sprint triathlon, then by all means, continue on!
I knew that the Rio Salado Triathlon was being held on Saturday, May 4th, but wasn’t going to race in it for several different reasons. One of them was that I haven’t really been running at all and another was the overall layoff I took in exercising since the Marquee ½ IM relay on April 15th. Between the two events, I had 3 or 4 swimming sessions with no real training strategy involved, 56 easy miles of riding (not counting those two beach cruiser days in Florida), a 3 mile run on the beach, a 5k on the treadmill, and an elliptical session. It wasn’t until 3 days before the race, that I was asked if James and I were doing another relay. Since the event was giving out double points for its team competition, and since our club won it last year, ONE really wanted to repeat. I really wanted to help out, but it was a little late to coordinate a team. As a result, I made the decision to help the club and enter the sprint (750M swim, 20K bike, 5K run). So, on the very last day possible, I corralled the family and we made a trip down to Tempe so that I could register. On Friday, while at work, I started to look at last year’s results while formulating some time goals for myself. Here is what I ultimately came up with:
• SWIM – 10:30
• T1 – 2:00
• BIKE – 32:00
• T2 – 2:00
• RUN – 26:30
• TOTAL – 1:13:00
This is the same lake (Tempe Town) that I swam in for my 2010 Ironman and for last month’s Marquee relay, so I was fairly familiar with the water and the location of the buoys. Even though I had so much time off from the pool, I figured that it was “only” 750 meters (about 820 yards) and that I could knock it out fairly quickly. The bike course had roughly 17 turns with 3 of them being hairpin, so I was a bit more conservative with my time here. As for the run, well, we all know that my running skills have been (and continue to be) subpar, but I felt that an 8:30 pace would be do-able.
Race day! As I sit here typing this, I’m still reflecting on the day and what exactly went wrong and am conflicted between what is a “good” result or “bad” in my mind. Before I break it down, here are the results:
• SWIM – 12:40 (18/147 finishers ~ 4/28 in AG)
• T1 – 1:41
• BIKE – 33:46 (27/147 finishers ~ 3/28 in AG)
• T2 – 1:25
• RUN – 28:17 (26/28 in AG )
• TOTAL – 1:17:52 (49/147 finishers ~ 7/28 in AG)
OK, here is how it went down:
SWIM – There was about a 30 min delay while a traffic issue was being taken care of out on the bike course. The entire time, I tried to stay loose and warm by stretching my arms and shoulders. While the event was wetsuit legal (water temp was 76), I didn’t feel that I would benefit from one in such a short distance. Finally, it was time to get in and I was the first person down the steps to take the plunge. The water was extremely refreshing (temperature wise ~ not so much in quality!) and perfect for racing. I quickly made my way to the start buoys and took my spot at the front. I motioned to fellow ONE teammate, and extremely strong swimmer, Garey Bryant, to line up to the right of me so that we could feed off of each other’s intensity. We immediately became surrounded by other white caps trying to creep up to the front. I don’t remember if it was a horn, gun, or a simple, “Go!” but in a flash, we were off. Again, my typical MO at the swim start is to go out as fast as possible before settling into a rhythm. The problem this time around, however, was that this was my first sprint and I wasn’t sure where to settle in (or if I even needed to!). At any rate, I noticed that there was an unusual number of swimmers matching me stroke for stroke. I figured that they’d start peeling off one by one as the meters ticked away, but I was wrong. About ¾ of the way to the first turn buoy, I picked my head up to sight and noticed that I was heading more towards the shore (uh, I needed to be heading parallel to slightly AWAY!) I then noticed that Garey was now on my left!….least HE knew where he was going. I had to spend precious energy to get back on track and close the small gap that opened up between me and the leaders. I’m on my way back now and I start to realize that, while I’m breathing every two strokes, I’m not getting in oxygen. Well, not as much as I’d like anyway. My heart rate sky rocketed, my shoulders and arms became weak, and the lead group was pulling further away. The worst part was when a felt somebody touch my toes and then subsequently passed me. Brutal. For the first time I can remember, I just wanted the swim to be over. A measly 750 meter swim at that. I crawl my way around the last buoy and limp back to the stairs. Finally, I was heading towards T1.
First in doesn't necessarily mean 1st out...not today anyway.
T1 was pretty uneventful, but after checking out seasoned tri veteran and fellow ONE teammate Eric Svans’ T1 area earlier and how neat/clean it was, I was a bit embarrassed. I had what seemingly was a ton of gear laid out and ready for me when I arrived. FWIW, Eric was the 2nd overall amateur. I put my tri top on, followed by my glasses, helmet, and then shoes. I was out on the bike course 1:41 seconds later.
I figured that I would have a chance to recover from my swim while on the bike. I’d keep the pace fast, yet comfortable. Wait, this was a sprint, right? No need to be comfortable as it’s all out all the time, right? That being said, I kept it just at a level where my HR wouldn’t spill over into the red. I quickly realized that I still hadn’t calmed down/recovered from the swim, so I had to be careful. It’s pretty tough to find a groove on this course because of the many turns. As soon as you got aero and settled in, it was time to grab the horns, sit up, and turn around. At this point, I wasn’t really thirsty, but I made two futile attempts to put down some EFS. Not wanting to get too much liquid in my stomach before the run, those two attempts were but small sips only.
Out on the bike:
T2 took me 1:25 to run to my rack, change shoes, exchange helmet for hat, put on my number belt, and head out. Is this fast? Is it slow? I don’t know, but I suppose I could shave a few seconds here and there by utilizing various different items and/or strategies.
Immediately after exiting T2, and starting the run, I realized that my legs were extremely heavy. I started to get those “twinges” in my quads that indicate a cramp may be coming on, but I kept going. About .6 miles in, my hammy started acting up (a sensation I’ve never felt before) and my quads started cramping. I had to bring my 7:30 pace down to a walk on 3 different occasions before I could go on. When I was able to continue, I couldn’t go over a 9:00 – 9:30 pace unless I wanted more cramps. Really? Survival mode on a sprint tri?!?! Walking on a 5K? How embarrassing. Ultimately, I labored across the finish line to no fanfare and only two accomplished goals (of about 5 I had in mind). 1) Finish my first sprint and gain valuable race knowledge and 2) Earn double points for ONE Multisport.
Just before the cramps set in:
OK, I’ve pretty much figured out what went wrong and I have to admit, it’s absolutely embarrassing:
1. The only pre-race nutrition I had consisted of the following
a.110 calories, 200mg sodium, 27g carbohydrates, 10g sugars, 50mg caffeine
(A tangerine PowerBar gel).
2. I consumed exactly NO liquid of any kind in the previous 12 hours before I raced.
3. The only thing I had during the race were those two small sips of EFS and a few
splashes of water from the various aid stations on the course.
So, there you have it. I COMPLETELY underestimated the sprint distance triathlon. No food, or liquids, for at least 12 hours prior to racing? I figured that it was “only” a sprint and that I’d be done in just over an hour (OK, maybe 1:12, but still!). Every leg was a “warm-up distance” when broken down and done separately, so how much fuel did I really need?
Me: Hey, Sprint Tri, I’m coming for you tomorrow, are you ready?
ST: Hell yes, I am! You think you have what it takes?
Me: No doubt about it! The short swim will see me out of the water 1st, the quick 12 mile bike will see me hold my own, and the short run won’t allow too many people to pass me. I’m on your podium for sure.
ST: Yeah, I’ve seen your type before, you think you can waltz in here and step up on
my podium because I’m “Just a sprint!” Just a quick workout and an easy medal,
right? Let me ask you, have you ever raced the sprint distance before?
Me: Nope.
ST: Hmm, OK. How about nutrition, you ready to go? Topped off?
Me: Seriously ST? You’re just over an hour long! My training swims have 750 meter warm-ups, I used to ride hour long crits with more miles and intensity than this distance, and
the 5K? Well, I’ll get through that just fine.
ST: OK, stud, we’ll see.
Me: ST, you there?
ST: Yeah, I’m here. Didn’t go as planned, did it.
Me: No, no it didn’t.
ST: Did you have fun?
Me: Yes
ST: Did you learn something today?
Me: Sure did.
ST: You planning on coming back?
Me: You better believe I am
ST: I’ll be waiting
I knew that the Rio Salado Triathlon was being held on Saturday, May 4th, but wasn’t going to race in it for several different reasons. One of them was that I haven’t really been running at all and another was the overall layoff I took in exercising since the Marquee ½ IM relay on April 15th. Between the two events, I had 3 or 4 swimming sessions with no real training strategy involved, 56 easy miles of riding (not counting those two beach cruiser days in Florida), a 3 mile run on the beach, a 5k on the treadmill, and an elliptical session. It wasn’t until 3 days before the race, that I was asked if James and I were doing another relay. Since the event was giving out double points for its team competition, and since our club won it last year, ONE really wanted to repeat. I really wanted to help out, but it was a little late to coordinate a team. As a result, I made the decision to help the club and enter the sprint (750M swim, 20K bike, 5K run). So, on the very last day possible, I corralled the family and we made a trip down to Tempe so that I could register. On Friday, while at work, I started to look at last year’s results while formulating some time goals for myself. Here is what I ultimately came up with:
• SWIM – 10:30
• T1 – 2:00
• BIKE – 32:00
• T2 – 2:00
• RUN – 26:30
• TOTAL – 1:13:00
This is the same lake (Tempe Town) that I swam in for my 2010 Ironman and for last month’s Marquee relay, so I was fairly familiar with the water and the location of the buoys. Even though I had so much time off from the pool, I figured that it was “only” 750 meters (about 820 yards) and that I could knock it out fairly quickly. The bike course had roughly 17 turns with 3 of them being hairpin, so I was a bit more conservative with my time here. As for the run, well, we all know that my running skills have been (and continue to be) subpar, but I felt that an 8:30 pace would be do-able.
Race day! As I sit here typing this, I’m still reflecting on the day and what exactly went wrong and am conflicted between what is a “good” result or “bad” in my mind. Before I break it down, here are the results:
• SWIM – 12:40 (18/147 finishers ~ 4/28 in AG)
• T1 – 1:41
• BIKE – 33:46 (27/147 finishers ~ 3/28 in AG)
• T2 – 1:25
• RUN – 28:17 (26/28 in AG )
• TOTAL – 1:17:52 (49/147 finishers ~ 7/28 in AG)
OK, here is how it went down:
SWIM – There was about a 30 min delay while a traffic issue was being taken care of out on the bike course. The entire time, I tried to stay loose and warm by stretching my arms and shoulders. While the event was wetsuit legal (water temp was 76), I didn’t feel that I would benefit from one in such a short distance. Finally, it was time to get in and I was the first person down the steps to take the plunge. The water was extremely refreshing (temperature wise ~ not so much in quality!) and perfect for racing. I quickly made my way to the start buoys and took my spot at the front. I motioned to fellow ONE teammate, and extremely strong swimmer, Garey Bryant, to line up to the right of me so that we could feed off of each other’s intensity. We immediately became surrounded by other white caps trying to creep up to the front. I don’t remember if it was a horn, gun, or a simple, “Go!” but in a flash, we were off. Again, my typical MO at the swim start is to go out as fast as possible before settling into a rhythm. The problem this time around, however, was that this was my first sprint and I wasn’t sure where to settle in (or if I even needed to!). At any rate, I noticed that there was an unusual number of swimmers matching me stroke for stroke. I figured that they’d start peeling off one by one as the meters ticked away, but I was wrong. About ¾ of the way to the first turn buoy, I picked my head up to sight and noticed that I was heading more towards the shore (uh, I needed to be heading parallel to slightly AWAY!) I then noticed that Garey was now on my left!….least HE knew where he was going. I had to spend precious energy to get back on track and close the small gap that opened up between me and the leaders. I’m on my way back now and I start to realize that, while I’m breathing every two strokes, I’m not getting in oxygen. Well, not as much as I’d like anyway. My heart rate sky rocketed, my shoulders and arms became weak, and the lead group was pulling further away. The worst part was when a felt somebody touch my toes and then subsequently passed me. Brutal. For the first time I can remember, I just wanted the swim to be over. A measly 750 meter swim at that. I crawl my way around the last buoy and limp back to the stairs. Finally, I was heading towards T1.
First in doesn't necessarily mean 1st out...not today anyway.
T1 was pretty uneventful, but after checking out seasoned tri veteran and fellow ONE teammate Eric Svans’ T1 area earlier and how neat/clean it was, I was a bit embarrassed. I had what seemingly was a ton of gear laid out and ready for me when I arrived. FWIW, Eric was the 2nd overall amateur. I put my tri top on, followed by my glasses, helmet, and then shoes. I was out on the bike course 1:41 seconds later.
I figured that I would have a chance to recover from my swim while on the bike. I’d keep the pace fast, yet comfortable. Wait, this was a sprint, right? No need to be comfortable as it’s all out all the time, right? That being said, I kept it just at a level where my HR wouldn’t spill over into the red. I quickly realized that I still hadn’t calmed down/recovered from the swim, so I had to be careful. It’s pretty tough to find a groove on this course because of the many turns. As soon as you got aero and settled in, it was time to grab the horns, sit up, and turn around. At this point, I wasn’t really thirsty, but I made two futile attempts to put down some EFS. Not wanting to get too much liquid in my stomach before the run, those two attempts were but small sips only.
Out on the bike:
T2 took me 1:25 to run to my rack, change shoes, exchange helmet for hat, put on my number belt, and head out. Is this fast? Is it slow? I don’t know, but I suppose I could shave a few seconds here and there by utilizing various different items and/or strategies.
Immediately after exiting T2, and starting the run, I realized that my legs were extremely heavy. I started to get those “twinges” in my quads that indicate a cramp may be coming on, but I kept going. About .6 miles in, my hammy started acting up (a sensation I’ve never felt before) and my quads started cramping. I had to bring my 7:30 pace down to a walk on 3 different occasions before I could go on. When I was able to continue, I couldn’t go over a 9:00 – 9:30 pace unless I wanted more cramps. Really? Survival mode on a sprint tri?!?! Walking on a 5K? How embarrassing. Ultimately, I labored across the finish line to no fanfare and only two accomplished goals (of about 5 I had in mind). 1) Finish my first sprint and gain valuable race knowledge and 2) Earn double points for ONE Multisport.
Just before the cramps set in:
OK, I’ve pretty much figured out what went wrong and I have to admit, it’s absolutely embarrassing:
1. The only pre-race nutrition I had consisted of the following
a.110 calories, 200mg sodium, 27g carbohydrates, 10g sugars, 50mg caffeine
(A tangerine PowerBar gel).
2. I consumed exactly NO liquid of any kind in the previous 12 hours before I raced.
3. The only thing I had during the race were those two small sips of EFS and a few
splashes of water from the various aid stations on the course.
So, there you have it. I COMPLETELY underestimated the sprint distance triathlon. No food, or liquids, for at least 12 hours prior to racing? I figured that it was “only” a sprint and that I’d be done in just over an hour (OK, maybe 1:12, but still!). Every leg was a “warm-up distance” when broken down and done separately, so how much fuel did I really need?
Me: Hey, Sprint Tri, I’m coming for you tomorrow, are you ready?
ST: Hell yes, I am! You think you have what it takes?
Me: No doubt about it! The short swim will see me out of the water 1st, the quick 12 mile bike will see me hold my own, and the short run won’t allow too many people to pass me. I’m on your podium for sure.
ST: Yeah, I’ve seen your type before, you think you can waltz in here and step up on
my podium because I’m “Just a sprint!” Just a quick workout and an easy medal,
right? Let me ask you, have you ever raced the sprint distance before?
Me: Nope.
ST: Hmm, OK. How about nutrition, you ready to go? Topped off?
Me: Seriously ST? You’re just over an hour long! My training swims have 750 meter warm-ups, I used to ride hour long crits with more miles and intensity than this distance, and
the 5K? Well, I’ll get through that just fine.
ST: OK, stud, we’ll see.
Me: ST, you there?
ST: Yeah, I’m here. Didn’t go as planned, did it.
Me: No, no it didn’t.
ST: Did you have fun?
Me: Yes
ST: Did you learn something today?
Me: Sure did.
ST: You planning on coming back?
Me: You better believe I am
ST: I’ll be waiting
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