Leader of the Back

2009-06-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

A good training day – Pooh Lake 2009 Race Report

Short version:
Weather was perfect… high 60’s & light cloud cover with only a whisper of wind.
Unintentionally PR’d by >4 minutes!!
Overall 2:18:46, 70 of 444 overall, 15 of 53 in AG

Long version:
With Ironman CdA in one week, PARTICIPATION was the word of the day for me for the Blue Lake Oly tri June 14. I was participating so that my tri-club, Ironheads, could field full teams in the Masters & Mixed Masters divisions of the NW Team Competition (requiring 5 competitors per team). Given that, I really didn’t have any goals going into this race except to NOT race it, pace myself and NOT get hurt. I picked up Tom around 6:30 and we headed out to Blue Lake, kibitzing about the pros & cons of Blue Lakes past.

We signed in, set up our transition areas, and basically took a leisurely approach to the start as our 40+ wave is always 20+ minutes behind the actual start of the race. We ran into Seth, talked trash with Brad and basically lolli-gagged around until finally putting on our wetsuits and heading down to the beach. It was then we spotted an obvious bandit lining up to swim with her juniors in purple caps, but the perfect morning had us in a forgiving mood, so we ignored her and filed into the water for the swim start.

When the gun went off, I just found my pace and didn’t hurry anything. I rounded the first turn and found some feet to follow in a nice easy rhythm. I focused on nice long strokes, easy breathing and turned the last buoy for home. Nothing interesting, so exited the water in 27:02, good for 149th place swim split… not bad and 40 seconds faster than when I PR’d at this venue last August. Hmmm… cool!

T1 went well and I got out on the bike. This year, to help train for IM CdA I talked my wife into letting me by a PowerTap power meter (ok, two actually, a training wheel and a race day rig) to hopefully improve my cycling pacing. Yeah, I’ve been known to bike too hard and then struggle in the run. Seriously, it’s happened. So, I monitored my watts and heart rate to an acceptable level of exertion without racing. The funny thing was, I seemed to be passing a bunch of people. I just figured it was due to my old man status and late wave. Then I caught up to an Ironheads teammate at the second turnaround and figured I’d been over-cooking it again. I dialed it back a few watts and then realized, wow!, I have a little tailwind for the trip back to T2. This is cool! About 1 mile out from T2, I lost my patience for a moment and passed a couple of guys who had been yo-yoing each other for miles. I just couldn’t take watching them anymore and rode past definitively arriving pretty fresh at T2. At this point, I hadn’t tracked my time on the bike at all and it wasn’t until later that I found out I rode a 1:01:15… my bike PR on this course by over 2 minutes and good enough for the 33rd fastest split of the day. While this sounds good, I felt very bittersweet about it. I’ve harbored a secret desire to ride this course in under 1 hour and it seems this might have been my chance. Oh well. Maybe at Midsummer?

I made a decent transition in T2 and got out on the run where I pretty quickly fell into what felt like a steady pace. I didn’t have heart rate, so judged my exertion by talking to the volunteers. If I could have a quick convo, I wasn’t pushing too hard. I passed some people and got passed by plenty of runners… some who even had those magic 40-44 numbers on their legs. Somehow, I stayed focused on my pace and didn’t get enticed to misguidedly compete. When I passed the 5 mile marker, I looked at my watch for the first time and realized I would break the 2:20 barrier if I was running an 8 minute mile. Weird. My PR set here last August was 2:23. I just didn’t feel like I was pushing it. So, I cruised in and hit the tape. Run split of 46:35, which I’m sure is my best run here ever, good for 144th split.

Overall, I wasn’t sure what to make of this race, except that it was a perfect day for racing. Cool, calm and a light cloud cover. The wind that was there helped where we needed help. I suppose when you take the pressure of performance off, you really can do some interesting things. I was very pleased with my run, but the bike pacing was also a surprise. It was fun to race with Brad, Tom, Seth and even just for a swim, Linda. All in all, it was a good training day and I felt ready to CdA.

My personal race day photog!

2008-08-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hulaman ½ Race Report - Or Waves, Trains & Aerobar-mobiles (ok, sort of)

The short version: Despite warm, muggy weather and legs that felt like lead, I somehow pulled myself together for a narrow PR in the ½ Ironman distance.

Stats:
Swim 38:03
T1 2:21
Bike 2:43:48 (20.5 mph average)
T2 3:05
Run 1:59:35
Total 5:26:52, good for 22nd overall out of 77 and 3rd in my AG

The longer version:
At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution to try to get a personal record (PR) at every distance of triathlon I raced. I didn’t make this resolution public because the closer I got to race season, the more meager my training seemed to become. However, I’ve been running more and perhaps a little smarter than in the past and somehow, I have actually been able to realize my resolution.

In the ½ Ironman distance, I did get a PR this year at Pacific Crest, but given that race actually has a 57.8 mile bike, it didn’t equate to a purely time-based PR. On an alternate course, I actually had a PR of 5:31. So for Hulaman, my goal was to break 5:30 and additionally, expunge the memories of last year’s race that resulted in my one and only DNF.

Unfortunately, it seemed that conditions were conspiring against me. A pre-race ride on the bike course revealed that the road crews had dumped ‘chip seal’ on 4 sections of the course totaling roughly (get it?) 10 miles. Luckily, these got mostly cleaned up in the week prior to the race, but still caused some careful corners on descents and at intersections. Additionally, the 3 days prior to the race were all over or right at 100 degrees and stifling. Race morning actually dawned cloudy, but that only added a suffocating humidity to the day that most Oregonians don’t deal with very well.

My #1 support staff, manager, and wife, Holly, graciously drove a group of us out to the lake including Tom “Betty Ford” Kiessling, Steven Livermore and the sponsoring group’s bike mechanic, Todd. It’s good to have a relationship with a bike mechanic, as you never know what might happen in a race (foreshadowing). When I asked Todd if he needed a ride back from the lake, he told me he’d be riding back in the sag wagon.

After a quick T1 set-up, we set out on a 2 loop swim in the calm, but murky waters of Hagg Lake. Betty wears a wetsuit with distinctive green highlights and all through the first lap, I could make out Tom just off my left elbow. Upon completing the first lap, the wind at Hagg mysteriously picked up and the whole second lap of the swim became a bobbing, sputtering thrash-fest. I could see the Sheriff’s boat and thought he must be cutting cookies just outside the swim area, but all the on-lookers declared it was the wind. Man I wanted to yell at someone. At least I was hydrated!

I finished the swim and quickly got out of transition and onto the challenging, rolling bike course around Hagg Lake. On my second loop around the lake, I hit the rough pavement just outside the transition area while in my aero bars. As I’m usually a competent bike handler, I thought this wasn’t a big deal until the shock of the bump made my right aero bar completely twist and loosen in the mount. I couldn’t put weight on the aero bar, so I ended up riding sitting up. With my bar end shifters, changing gears also became a challenge… which is not a good thing on the rolling hills around this course. My now fragile ‘race-brain’ went into defeatist mode as I imagined riding the rest of the 45 miles with no aero positioning and troublesome shifting. Luckily, just 6 miles later, I spotted the previously mentioned sag wagon (unfortunately, they were aiding an Ironheads teammate, David Embree, whose front derailleur cable had come loose). Todd was just finishing up and was Johnny on the spot with a 5 mm allen wrench to tighten my bars and send me on my way. Trouble averted!! I quickly set off hoping to keep Mr. Embree in my sights, knowing he would quickly set a good pace. Unfortunately, my legs simply felt dead, heavy, snap-less and as we ascended Clapshaw hill, David pulled away. At least we were entering the flat section of the course where a rider can settle into a tempo and recover… oh, unless you just happen to get stopped by a freight train. I made the left-hander onto Roy Road and there was Mr. Embree and another rider stopped at a railroad crossing with a train moving slowly from left to right. After approximately 3 minutes and a gathering group of riders that now numbered about 10, the final car passed and we set off again. At this point I pushed a bit to try to get back into a rhythm. It didn’t work and with 10 miles to go in the bike leg, I felt myself quitting. I eased into T2 having made he decision that I was again going to DNF Hulaman. It was muggy and I felt like crap. Why run a ½ marathon?

In T2 Holly and both the kids were cheering for me. Holly said I was ahead of the schedule I had given her, which I couldn’t figure out. So I put on my running shoes and walked over to tell her I was done. As I carefully explained I just didn’t have the mental fortitude to continue, Scott Benjamin, a fellow Ironhead shouted from behind Holly “Hey! This is a race! Get moving!” Being the generally obedient and malleable personality that I am, I obeyed, jogging out of T2 and onto the run course. Now, the run course mile markers were mysteriously missing, so I never really knew how fast I was running. However, it was easy to note that any water and sweat on my kit wasn’t evaporating and it felt almost like I was swimming through the air. I was able to cruise pretty steady on the flats and only slow down a bit during the aid stations and short uphills through the corporate park. Surprisingly, I turned onto Evergreen the second time with a 15 minute buffer to meet my sub 5:30 time goal. Since I grew up on Evergreen, I knew exactly how far it was to the final turn into Hillsboro stadium, so I picked it up a bit and thought, “I’m golden, I’m kicking A$$ on this race!” Of course, at the turn, I realized I had to reverse the big loop around the stadium and for the next 5+ minutes, a slew of explicatives ranged through my mind at having forgotten I had to run this circuit.

In the end, I finished in 5:26:52, a PR by almost 5 minutes… and that’s not subtracting train waiting time. I had a best ever ½ marathon in a triathlon, finally breaking that nasty 2 hour barrier by the narrowest of margins. Despite all my negativity, I ended the day on a massively positive note. Huge thanks to Ironheads teammates for the positive support… like the well-timed support from Bill and Jen on the run, Steve at mile 11 of the run and especially Scott yelling at me in T2. I got to race with friends like Tom and Steven and when I crossed the finish, my whole family was there handing out the medals and water bottles, which is simply a great sight at the end of a tough day. The moral for the day… sometimes the body comes through, even when the mind isn’t willing. It was a great lesson for my upcoming Ironman that I need to work on my mental training just as I’ve worked on my running and not let little bumps, loose bars or trains keep me from beating myself.

2008-08-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Blue Lake Mid-Summer Olympic - Race Report

Short version: I PARTICIPATED in the Blue Lake Midsummer Olympic tri because I thought I might be able to get a personal record (PR). My previous best was something like 2:27 and I negotiated time to race even though it was my wife’s birthday given I could deliver the gift of a 2:23 Olympic PR. Thanks to a late surge in my competitive juices, mission accomplished!

Swim: 27:44 (69/183) 48 seconds faster than June 2008
T1: 2:09
Bike: 1:03:46 (27/183 and ~23 mph average) 15 seconds faster than June 2008
T2: 1:33
Run: 47:48 (63/183 or 7:43/mile pace) 3:12 faster than June 2008
Total: 2:23:01 (40 of 183, 7th in AG) 4:39 faster than June 2008

Longer version: I can do some truly idiotic things when it comes to my preparations for race day. To start this season, I harbored a secret desire to set a PR at every distance I raced in triathlon from sprint through Ironman. Obviously, some PR’s are definitely easier targets than others and frankly, I didn’t know if I could break my ‘calculated’ PR at the Olympic distance. I figured that aiming for this midsummer race would provide ample time to tighten up my ‘skillz’. Unfortunately, it also provided ample time to do something stupid… namely, unplanned speed work just 3 days prior to the race.

A friend of mine convinced me to take my kids to an ‘all-comers’ track meet on Thursday night and before I could say ‘Shizzle’, I was sprinting the corner as part of a 4 x 100 relay team. We did win the blue ribbon, but it’s been a LONG time since I ran as hard as I could for 100 meters. Add to that a pacing run to help a kid to a 1 mile PR and an 800 meter live coaching run and my hamstrings were tighter than violin strings. I tried stretching, hot/smelly stuff and some easy spinning, but when race morning dawned, my hammies were still feeling taut.

As I positioned my bike in transition, I said hello to many of my Ironheads teammates and then realized my race wasn’t going to start for 90 minutes. So, I did a little warm-up jog and tried to keep myself busy and doing anything to loosen my legs. The cloud cover stayed in place making it a cooler morning than I had anticipated. When I finally entered the water, I decided to start my watch when the starter gave us the 1 minute warning, that way I could start the swim with both hands rather than fumbling with my buttons. Of course, I had difficulty right out of the gate. I got behind a zig-zagger and struggled to get around him. First I tried left, then right, then left again. Each time he would zig or zag in front of my just in time to get my follow-through right in the middle of his back. I finally just stopped and let him go. Eventually, I got my own rhythm and by the first corner, felt good enough to push it. I swam at about 80-85% for the rest of the swim and felt good coming out of the water. Of course, at that point, I looked at my watch and thought, “Crap, I lost time!” Yes, this is the point where I forgot I started my watch a minute early. Nothing like some negative motivation!

I hustled through T1 pretty quickly, deeply appreciating the supportive Ironheads like Varney and Benjamin yelling encouragement. I quickly got into the bike frame of mind and set a steady tempo. I spotted Darren Smith on the outbound run in the sprint and gave him a yell. I’m not sure what came out of my mouth, but I hope it sounded positive. After the first turnaround, I was passing a lot of people on Marine Drive westbound when I attempted a difficult nasal surgery on the bike. I leaned forward to drink from my aero bottle just as I hit a pothole and nearly got the plastic straw right up the nose. Yikes! Just shows you need to always pay attention and be looking ahead on the bike. No blood no foul as they say, but it hurt. Good thing the cool morning kept both my feet AND my nose numb. I started to notice the slight head/cross wind more as I neared the last turnaround and couldn’t distinguish if the music I heard was my aero helmet whistling or my hamstrings thrumming with each revolution. I was relieved when my speed easily jumped back up on the eastbound return and the slight tailwind allowed me to ease just a bit. I got passed by one cyclist on the day and couldn’t be disappointed since the guy was simply smoking.

My cyclocross dismount didn’t buy me enough time in transition to stay clear of the fast-flying Taylor Bethel, an Ironheads teammate in his first Olympic distance. Before I could even get out of the park, I watched Taylor bound away taking 1 stride for every 3 of mine. I decided to once again keep my mile splits, hoping it would provide some good motivation. So as I’m hitting my watch, another guy with a 40-something number on his leg passed me. He didn’t pull away real fast, so I made it my goal not to lose him. This is where the competitive juices kind of kicked in. I was able to keep my rabbit/rival within 100 feet or so by maintaining my splits between 7:25-7:40 pace. At the turnaround, I decided to try a surge. I’ve never actually surged before, so it was an unusual feeling. I did pass my rabbit and clocked a 7:15 mile 4 and surprisingly, still felt pretty dang good (despite the music playing on my hammies and still numb feet). I kept up the pace and maintained 7:40 & 7:35 splits coming home for a PR run split in an Olympic distance triathlon.

Just after the finish line, I remembered the one minute buffer and realized my final time was 2:23:01 against my 2:23 goal. I can live with 1 second. So I achieved my goal and set a PR (and my wife couldn’t be more excited about her birthday gift… riiigght), but now I feel even more confident that I can achieve a sub 2:20 next year. Huge thanks to all the Ironheads cheering and racing on Sunday. It truly makes the day more fun. Now on to Hulaman!

2008-07-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Pacific Crest 1/12 Ironman Race Report

The very short version:

It was @#$%!! Hot, though not as hot as 2003.
Swim 36:58
T1 2:34
Bike 2:50:29
T2 2:18
Run 2:04:37
Total of 5:36:56 good for 95 of 420 and 12 of 46

This was good for a PR on this, the REAL Pac Crest ½ Ironman course!!

Longer version:
As many of you know, I am NOT a runner and I’ve never played one on TV. However, this year, I ran the Newport Marathon at the absolute manipulation of friends and believed it would be good for training my notoriously weak running prior to taking on Ironman Florida in the fall. This means that I’ve done very little cycling and have been in the pool fewer than 8 times in prep for Pac Crest this year. Given these great preparations, I decided early on that this year would simply be a training day, where I would work on pacing and staying steady. The only remote goal was to run a ½ marathon that would be in the top half of the times recorded by the field. Once I had looked at the weather forecast, I decided that my new goal was to make sure I drank enough that I had to stop to relieve myself on the run.

On race morning, as I was riding the bus out to the start with my friend Dave Blair (who has also started every Pac Crest with me since 2001) I remarked that I wasn’t feeling the usual adrenaline. I literally almost fell asleep on the bus. At T1, I set up and LOVED the newly paved transition area. I had no expectations in the swim except the hope to swim under 40 minutes. I saw a bunch of friends and Ironheads teammates before the race and wished everyone well and reminded them (like they needed it) to drink up in the heat. On the boat ramp, I ran into a lady I went to high school with and we laughed that this is where we run into each other. Well, soon enough, I was off in the swim. Things were feeling good, so after the first buoy, I picked it up a bit. The water seemed less smooth, yet somehow, I still had the sensation of swimming downhill. I just felt fine. Weird! As I came out of the water, my high school classmate yelled at me. We were leaving the water at the same time and we had been swimming side-by-side over the last several hundred yards. Swim time, a surprising 36:58, good for 179 of 420, good for top half.

On the bike, I drank a gulp electrolytes too quickly and paid with an immediate stomach cramp. My legs instantly felt dead and I considered, for just a moment, returning to T1 and packing it in. I rode for a couple of miles with my stomach in a fist (or so it felt) and finally, as I turned out of the lake road, it loosened up. I finally got my heart rate under control and started to find my rhythm. I caught my friend Dave soon and was surprised that I passed him so quickly as my HR was a steady 145. We had agreed to take it easy on the flats and downhills this year and attack the climbs. So, when I was yo-yo’ing with a couple guys, I finally just let them go. On the climbs, I focused on really spinning my legs and keeping a higher cadence. Sooner than I imagined, I crested the top and was headed downhill. The winds from the east prevented any real speed at the beginning, but once on the super smooth new tarmac on South Century, I was quickly topping 40 and passing a few people. I soft-pedaled the downhill for the most part, but still managed to pass quite a few, ahem, less stout competitors. Gravity is kind to those of us with a higher BMI. When I made the final turn toward Sunriver I realized I was going to have a decent bike time, but resisted the strong urge to ‘push it’. Cruised home to T2 in 2:50:29, good for 79 of 420. Wow! A bike PR on this course!

Now, since it was hot, I did take some time in T2 to spray on sunscreen and take some enduralytes and IB. Once out on the run course I decided I would try to keep my mile splits. Again, I usually don’t do this, but given I’ve sort of been working on my running, thought it might be helpful. I ran the first two miles at 8:50 and 8:45 pace. For me, that was awesome! I tried to keep it up, but around miles 6-8, I slowed markedly. With the heat, I chose to walk the aid stations and was dumping ice into the rear pocket of my singlet. This made a nice mariachi shaker sound as I ran (shuffled) through the miles. After mile 8 I tried picking it up and did run mile 9 in 9:05, but paid for it a bit on the next couple of miles. I stayed upright and only had one small bout of near-cramping when I decelerated too fast coming into the aid station at mile 11. My calves threatened a cramp, but I was able to quickly stretch them and start running again. Steven passed me right before mile 12 and, as usual, was running fluid and easy. I wish I could do that. Oh well, I saw a lady who has passed me in my earlier difficult miles and picked her off and then ran on the shoulder of a guy I thought might be in my age group. He picked it up for the last mile and I stayed with him, but couldn’t pass him. Coming down the last 200 hundred yards the cheers were awesome and I saw Ironheads teammates Heather and Kendra cheering me on. I couldn’t believe that I had finished under 5:40 in that heat. Run total, 2:04:37, a PR by almost 6 minutes and good for 135 of 420. This is the FIRST time I’ve been in the top half of the field for a run split in this race, so I was ecstatic.

To say this race result was a total surprise would be an understatement. This is by FAR my highest ever placing relative the field and a personal record on this, the REAL Pac Crest course. I guess there is something to training your weakness and I’ll keep on running.

2008-06-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Negative Split… Your Life!

In the world of running, cycling, swimming, etc. we have terminology called a ‘negative split’. It’s when a racer runs the second half or end of a race faster than they ran the first half. The other day, while I was doddling along on just another slow run, I was contemplating a statement that one of my Ironheads teammates, super fast master David Ciaverella, made on his blog (http://try3sports.blogspot.com/). Dave asked if at 43, he could continue to get faster and keep setting PR’s. While it’s a fact that old-man time simply won’t let us continue to get faster as we age, we don’t necessarily have to slow down. That’s when I decided it would be cool to ‘negative split’ my life. No, I don’t really want to age faster in the second half, but I don’t want all my activities, high value experiences and fun to be memories from high school and college. Of course, this brings up a major question… how does one ‘negative split’ their life? What are the ingredients? I would love to hear your opinions, but first, let me also offer some of my own ideas.

One of the first things I thought of is that we can’t stop setting goals. I think many people set goals when they are young or they're making big life and career changes. But even small goals can be huge in terms of the benefit they give life. Some simple ones I’ve thought are setting a goal to learn something new, like a language or playing an instrument or cooking a new meal. I set a goal for myself to read more of the classics… and not for any self improvement, but just for enjoyment. Your goals can be about anything, but a lot of satisfaction can result from taking on new challenges and meeting them. Remember the golden rules about setting goals: start small, make it a stretch, but realistic, and set a time to meet it. As you get older, these goals should change to reflect your new stages of life and how you can maximize your experiences.

Another simple thing I’ve been trying to do is finding joy in the success of my friends, family and others.. Now, I have a huge family (and growing) and I value them immensely. It’s been REALLY rewarding to watch as some of my nieces and nephews took on some similar challenges in fitness that I have been undertaking for years. I’m almost more invested in their success, as measured less by time and more by their enjoyment, than in my own ‘racing’. As you get older and more experienced, pass along and share your knowledge, whatever it is. With the internet, we sometimes forget that our personal experiences, and not just the information, can add value. Helping other people develop their passions is powerful and the relationships will last a lifetime.

So these are just a couple of simple thoughts. Especially for those of us who are amateur athletes. How do you stay passionate as you get older (and probably slower). Shoot me your ideas on how to ‘Negative Split’ you life.

2008-06-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Blue Lake Race Report _ June 15, 2008

Short Version:

I’ve only been really training for running so far this year, but somehow pulled off a decent race (for me).

Swim: 28:32 (slow, but not embarrassing)
T1: 2:12 (blazing fast)
Bike: 1:04:01 (2nd best bike ever for me at Poo)
T2: 1:55 (needed socks for the run because my feet were numb)
Run: 51:00 (less disappointing than it sounds)
Total: 2:27:40, good for 116 out of 436

Long Version:
As many of you know, I’ve really only been training my run this year. I ran the Newport marathon 2 weeks ago in an attempt to build my usually weak run base well in advance of my focus race, Ironman Florida in the fall. So, that means I have been in the pool all of 5 times in prep for Blue Lake and really haven’t put the hours in on my bike that has me setting any records. My lack of training was reinforced by a bout with “Food bourn illness” this week (not, food poisoning) limiting me to a very short radius to the nearest bathroom and leaving me feeling rather depleted by the time the antibiotics kicked in Friday afternoon. This left me totally goal-less. What could I possibly expect?

I made a date with Betty (Tom) to pick him up Sunday morning in the effing-150 and rideshare to Blue Lake. We got there and went through the usual ritual of registering, setting up transition, and glad-handing with all the usual familiar faces like Seth, some of my Ironheads teammates, etc. Good to see so many familiar faces including Dave Campbell, the elite triathlete who handed out the awards at the Newport Marathon (“Get the whey! Go for the whey!”).

Right before entering the water, Tom uttered some useful quotables about “Not being able to get it up” and the “tightness in my crotch”. Luckily, this was all said in relation to his wetsuit, which with a little help, we did manage to get the inconveniently located back zippers up and velcroed in place. I also figured out my only goal, I would, for the first time, capture my mile splits on the run and shoot for averaging a 7:45/mile pace. Of note is the fact that the water in Blue Lake was a bit colder (~65 degrees) and the cloud cover kept the coolness of the morning intact.

Soon, Tom and I were floating in the water with our wave waiting for the gun. I asked one of my fellow Ironheads teammates, Scott Benjamin, what he was planning to swim. “25 or 26” he answered. I thought, hmmm, maybe I can ride his feet to a better time. When the gun went off, I realized that was a pipe dream. I quickly lost Scott’s feet, but when I breathed left, I saw Tom’s green sleeves right next to me. This was the theme of the swim. I’d lose them for a few minutes, and then turn a buoy and see Tom’s green sleeves. I’m betting we weren’t separated by more than a few yards the whole swim and we exited together (with me being slightly more aggressive on the ramp) in 28:32 and 28:33 respectively. I had been giving Tom my opinion on the best wetsuit stripping techniques before the race and in T1, I executed it to perfection, getting in and out in 2:12. I decided to leave my cycling shoes in my pedals due to the long grassy run to the mount area and this worked pretty well, until I tried to pull my shoes on while riding. Oh well!

When I did my cyclocross style mount of my bike, I quickly hit the button on my HRM. Of course, my heart rate came right up, but I got the unfortunate 0.0 on my bike speed. I had forgotten a basic, when you remove the front wheel, check the sensor. So, I decided to ride by heart rate and settled in at 155 bpm… and 0.0 mph. I passed a lot of people and felt pretty good so settled in and focused on drinking my electrolytes. I missed seeing Tom at the turnarounds, but felt like I was moving through the groups pretty good. As I passed the archery range coming back into the park I was surprised to see I was still under 1:05 on my ride time. My ride totaled 1:04:01 (22.87 mph), my second fastest ride at Blue Lake. As I execute another cool, cyclocross style dismount, I realized I couldn’t feel my feet. They were totally numb from cold, so I took the time in transition to pull on socks and set off on the run, hitting my watch to start my split. T2 = 1:55, not bad.

I felt OK running out of the park and even passed a few people. I tried to pick-up my cadence to get the legs loose. As I left the park and hit the bike trail, the race leaders were just coming back in and I saw a bunch of my Ironheads teammates just killing it. Even though I’m not fast, it was great because we were yelling to each other and one of the guys, Bill Thompson was so pumped the high five nearly dislocated my shoulder (of course, Bill was flying, so big mo was in his favor). I got to mile 1 with a 7:50… not bad and not far off. As I went up the only minor incline of the run at 1.5 miles, my quads began screaming and trying their best to seize up. I grabbed a water (probably should have been Gatorade) and just tried to keep up my cadence. I tried changing up my stride a bit, lengthening it to let my quads relax and it worked for a while. I missed the mile 2 marker, but when I reached the turnaround and the mile 3 marker, my split was 15:08 (7:34 pace) and I was pumped. I had actually sped up… me, the Fatrunner… on the run I sped up!! Yeah, this run training was finally paying off!! Mile 4 split was a little slower at 7:43, but still just where I wanted it. Then ½ a mile later, that crappy little incline hit me on the way home and my quads were DONE. And I mean DONE! As I grabbed a Gatorade from the teenage volunteer, she commented, “You thighs are really muscular.”, but instead of appreciating the comment, all I could force our was, “That’s because their cramping” through gritted teeth. The slight downhill did nothing to loosen my legs and the death march was on. Mile 5 split, 8:38. Mile 6 + the .2 slowed to 9:40 average pace and a weirdly disappointing, yet not 51:00 run split. Disappointing because I really felt like I was holding my goal well for 4 miles, yet not disappointing considering that the illness combined with the chilly bike ride make the cramps more probable.

Overall, I performed okay given my lack of training. It gives me some hope for my races in August (not Pac Crest, but that’s going to be a long training day for fun, not speed). Tom finished just 30 seconds back, so those great transition times helped! The race was fun and I appreciated having teammates yell support, that’s always cool.

2007-09-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

A New Multisport To Try - Cyclocross

GROIN!

I’m sure that sends a tingle down the boys’ spines. It seems like a relatively innocuous word, but for men, it conjures a certain response usually associated with pain and a shiver. I’m sure we’ve all known men who have injured theirs. Luckily, mine is just really tight after Sunday’s initiation into the world of cyclocross.

Before the race, I was extremely nervous. I had watched videos of the proper techniques (courtesy of velonews.com), but only really practiced once at the dismounts and re-mounts. On that day (Friday), I ate dirt twice and had a nice bruise to show for it. Having run (but never ridden) some of the ‘Cross Crusade’ courses in the past, my warm-up circuits at the Hood River course left me even MORE nervous. Sure, there were barriers (a total of 4 dismounts with 6 barriers), some tight turns, and two sections of dusty single-track. But what REALLY had me scared was the 20+ feet of fist sized rocks at the bottom of a steep slope and the barrier right in front of a gravelly, double-switchback run-down complete with creek-side remount (note, don’t look over your shoulder at the racers behind you when attempting a creek-side remount). This was a reasonably technical course and I was ready to settle into a lounge chair and pick-up a cowbell. However, my carpool partner, Eric “The Bruise” White (see veloagogo blog link at the right), would hear none of my bleating and herded me to the line.

I raced Masters C and started at the back. I started at a very reasonable speed and just focused on my technique at the barriers and realized if I really slowed, then power-pedaled through the rocks, my back wheel didn’t fish-tail alarmingly like in my trial circuits. By lap 3 I had totally lost my carpool partner (he got stuck behind a mtn biker on the single-track) and started picking off the riders in my group and straight ‘C’ riders who had gone out before us. I was picking up speed over the barriers and made it a point to pass people on the run-ups. I did make one mistake on the single-track, attempting to carry too much speed through a right-hander and paid by sliding out on the pine needles. Luckily, it was a very soft landing. On lap 4 I heard an erroneous bell and so upon completing my 5th lap, pulled off the course. After 15 seconds or so, I realized the race was still going on, so jumped back in and re-passed 4 or 5 riders and found myself time-trialing the final lap alone to the finish.

I finished 19 of 37 riders in Masters C and didn’t break any bones. An awesome day! After the car ride home, I realized I should have stretched, you guessed it, my groin a little more (and that is not some hidden innuendo) before doing all those dismounts and flying remounts. I also rammed my right calf with a pedal on an aggressive dismount, so now my right leg is painful top to bottom. Overall, it was great fun and I’ll be back out there, groin willing, to give it another shot. Just stretch first.

2007-09-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hulamantri 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Some folks don’t like country music, but I’ve always been impressed with how the lyrics can boil down emotions and feelings to fit almost any situation. Thus, I’ve used some country music lyrics to express my feelings about my most recent race, the Hulamantri ½ Ironman.

For the ultra-short version, here’s the summary: “Did I shave my legs for this?” – Deanna Carter
Overall – I worried that this first year event would not be well organized and the pouring rain pre-race was stress-inducing
Swim – went well, 41:52 included swim and T1
Bike – broken chain resulted in my first DNF in 22 years of racing
Run – did a loop for fun and to run with friends, sometimes it is nice to just be a spectator
Post-race: Great food, great band, no rain made it awesome.

Longer version:
“And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even.” – Kenny Rogers
As I’m sure we’re all aware, there is a cardinal rule in endurance sports that you only use on race day what has been proven out in training. I usually follow this rule, although over the years, I’ve sometimes ‘gambled’ a bit… like the new bike saddle 2 weeks before Ironman USA or the brand new tri-shorts before Pacific Crest. Well, this year, I took the gambling a little too far. I upgraded the drive train on my race bike and in the process, decided new aero handlebars and a more aero fork were easy additions. I didn’t count on the difficulty of the internal cable routing and how that impacts shifting quality. Not like you really have to shift much doing 2 loops around Hagg Lake (please read with sarcasm).

“It was raining, the day my mom got out of prison.” – Dave Alan Coe
Race morning didn’t exactly dawn bright, but by gum it sure was early. The 7:00 AM start time meant a 4:00 AM alarm and the first thing I noticed was the sound of the rain. It was pouring! I considered dumping the race, but then realized I had committed to a friend to carpool out to the lake and provide some water bottle holders for his bike. So, we drove my truck out to the lake and luckily, by the start time, we were standing in only a minor drizzle.

“Life ain’t always beautiful, sometimes it’s just plain hard.” – Gary Allan
The swim went surprisingly well, despite the fact that I’ve gotten in the pool 3 times in the last month. My recent laser vision correction gave me a good reason to skip the swimming up until the last week before the race. The swim felt really hard, especially since I got passed VERY early on by the fastest female and relay swimmers who started just 3 minutes behind us. Considering my total lack of prep, my combo swim/T1 time wasn’t too bad.

“I will let you down. I will make you hurt.” – Johnny Cash
The bike leg was a relatively challenging route, with 1 ¾ loops around Hagg Lake and it’s delightful rollers, then another 15+ miles of rollers culminating in a short, but steep climb over Clapshaw Hill. The remaining 15 miles followed on relatively flat roads to the Hillsboro stadium. On my first lap around Hagg, my bike was shifting pretty rough, so I turned off the SIS and went into ‘friction’ mode. Some of you old folks may remember the days before bike shifters just ‘clicked’ conveniently into the next gear. Well, I was riding old school. When I forced the bike into the highest gear going down the hill out of the lake, the chain met too much friction on the front derailleur and promptly exploded. My race was over for the day.
“I don’t know why they say grown men don’t cry.” – Tim McGraw

Luckily, my truck came down the road not 10 minutes later, on its return trip to T2, so I dumped my bike in the back and headed for the coffee shop. Arriving at T2, I noted the last cyclist I had passed before exiting the race had moved up to 12th place overall. Dang, I had been doing well. So, I waited for my friend George to come through T2 and ran the first loop of the run with him. He wasn’t having a great day, so the help was appreciated. I ran with a couple more folks who I had met in T1, so playing the super fan passed the time until the post-race feed was on. The food was good and when the band played a hip-hop version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, I knew I would be back next year… with a proven bike to ride. I would definitely recommend this for a nice, local, late season multi-sport test and expect that next year, the field will be larger and I’ll have no chance to arrive in T2 in the top 20.

“She’s the queen of my double wide trailer with the polyester curtains and the redwood deck.” – Sammy Kershaw
I really don’t have anything to go with this quote, but just thought I’d include it for fun.

2007-08-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

Please Revive Cycling Etiquette!

Because I'm an old man (over 40), I'm a little grumpy sometimes. Like when everything I see is really blurry becase the eye surgeon forgot to mention it will take me 3 weeks, not 3 days to recover from laser surgery (dang that PRK!). But what really gets my goat are uneducated or just plain rude cyclist who don't practice proper etiquette on the road. Now I'm not talkign about the nice waves from passing riders. Sometimes it's not possible to remove your hands from the bars while riding (though subbing a head nod is appreciated). I"m talking about people like I met last Saturday.

After riding to meet my running group for a few miles in the park, I decided to kill an hour doing an out and back on a popular section of roadway that runs along the Columbia River. There's a pretty wide bike lane and lots of good sights as you are between the river and the hills separating Portland from the westside suburbs. So as I'm riding the connecting roads to this main thoroughfare, I see a couple of guys heading the wrong way on a one-way street. "That's not too smart," I thought to myself. Nothing like doubling the speed until impact. After hitting the main line, I realized these same two guys were in front of me, obviously having used the one-way as a short cut. I surmised this by deducing that I was going faster than they were based on the rate at which I gained and caught up to them. After following for about 20 second, I looked back to make sure it was clear, said "On your left," to let them know I intended to pass. Both were riding to the far left side of the bike lane, no big deal as that's where there's usually less rubble. However, neither moved a hair to give me room to pass. Instead, I had to 'take the lane' to get around them. After passing them, they proceed to sneak up and suck my wheel without announcing their presence or asking. Now, I knew they were there, but I had my own ride to do. But as I said, I was just killing an hour until meeting the group at the coffee shop, so upon turning around, I had hoped for some nod, greeting or perhaps even a "Thanks for the pull." Instead, I got nothing. Not even the nod.

I'm all in for everyone getting the religiion and getting out on their bike. I'd love it if there were just a few less cars to battle with while I ride and more cyclists to enjoy the scenery with. But if you're going to ride, try to demonstrate some manners. Help build the community, not divide it. Let's re-establish some etiquette out there on the roads and make an emjoyable activity that much more fun.

2006-11-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

In the beginning...

Everyone has a story of how they got started competing (or in my case, 'participating') in triathlon. For me, it was the basic challenge from a friend. A great friend all through high school, Steve threw down the gauntlet. One of the old USTS Bud Light races was held here in Portland, or more accurately, outside Forest Grove at Hagg Lake. Steve did the race in 1985 and after his initial foray, decided I needed to get involved as well. Despite never having competed in anything like swimming, cycling or running, I figured I couldn't possibly suck at all three, so why not?

Now, when you're 19 you have a feeling of physical invicibility... or at least, I did. I was working construction jobs during the day, staying up late at night with my friends, and then putting in another Mtn. Dew fueled workday starting early the next morning. So my preparation for races in the early days left quite a bit to be desired. Toeing the line at the "Oregon State Championship Triathlon" at Cottage Grove resoervoir in August 1985, I had never even attempted an open water swim and my longest run had been 4 miles. I rode a Ross touring bike with the old, Detto Pietro cycling shoes with wooden soles. I nailed the cleats to the shoes myself. Aero helmet? Yeah right, it was difficult to find an ANSI certified model then. In the huge field of about 170 competitors, there were probably less than 20 women. I did fine in the swim, passed a few people on the bike and got going on the out and back run course. I got a strong message that my (non) training regimen needed to change when then coach of the Portland Trailblazers, 60+ year old Jack Ramsey, passed me at mile 5. I struggled across the finish, but made it. Despite the pain and the reality check of getting passed by a man 40 years my senior, I really felt I had accomplished something. And that feeling gave birth to the addicition. How did it happen for you?

2006-10-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Well, here goes. My first attempt at blogging. I wouldn't normally do this, but figured the chance for cathartic introspection in a public forum couldn't be ignored any longer.

The intent of this blog is to comment on the state of multisport endurance events, the gear and technology utilized, and poke fun at myself and other participants in the process. Besides, everyone's blogging these days, aren't they?

So, here's a little about me as blog #1. I've been participating in triathlon and other multisport events since 1985, when a friend talked me into doing one of the old Bud Light Triahtlon series races held here in the Portland, Oregon area. I had never swum in the open water, didn't own a bike, and am genetically indisposed when it comes to the run. However, I figured I couldn't absolutely suck at all three events and took up the challenge. Besides, if I did all that working out, I could drink all the Mountain Dew I wanted, right? Yes, balance in all things. I do races of every length from sprints up to Ironman distance, and even got the chance to do Ironman Hawaii in 2003 (no, I didn't qualify, I got in the hard way, through the lottery and creative writing... more on the 'lottery' for Ironman later). Over the 20+ years I've participated, notice I didn't say 'competed', I've seen plenty of changes. I nailed the cleats to the wooden bottoms of my first cycling shoes, for example. In my real life, I work for a high tech company and enjoy the merging of sports, fitness and technology. Well, that's probably enough for today, as my chamois is starting to bunch up and that's bad.

Until next time, stay balanced and eat a piece of chocolate cake.

-The Tri-Oldie