Monster Tri "One"

This morning, I participated in my second Monster Sprint Triathlon of 2009. Monster Tri "One" (in Keller) was actually the weekend following Monster Tri "Two" (in Denton). I had a pretty good race today though not quite a PR - more on that later. I completed the 300 meter pool swim at the Keller ISD Natatorium's 50-meter lanes, "12 mile" bike (12.5 miles per GPS), and 5K run in 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 43 seconds for 11th out of 42 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 42nd out of 541 total finishers overall. With over 600 participants, turnout for this race continues to grow (last year, there were just over 500 entrants) even with the addition of the Denton event. Apparently, the recession has not damped triathlon event interest in the DFW metroplex.

Jack was 5th in our age group with a 1:06:25, and Lee captured 15th place with a time of 1:05 flat and grabbed 2nd place in his age group. My friend Eddie from spin class finished 4th in his age group as well. My splits:

• Swim: 5:46 (1:47/100yd pace)
• T1: 1:30
• Bike: 35:22 (20.4 mph average, 21.2 mph per GPS)
• T2: 1:11
• Run: 24:56 (8:03/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:08:43

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1805631&pubID=3

As I alluded to earlier, this is actually 27 seconds slower than last year. I would have guessed that my run would have been my weakness, but it was actually my bike time that was slower - by over a minute! My T2 was also a little slower - I think the reason for that was because my costume today (a "Hugh Heffner" robe) took a little longer to put on than last year's caveman outfit. Oh, well - the sacrifices one must make for art :-).

Last year's splits for comparison:

• Swim: 5:51 (1:47/100yd pace)
• T1: 1:34
• Bike: 34:12 (21.1 mph average)
• T2: 1:00
• Run: 25:40 (8:17/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:08:16

The weather seemed to be about par for this race. Cool - a little chilly at the start of the bike when wet from the swim, but perfect for the run.

Lee actually beat me into transition - surprising since I live so close to the venue - and greeted me as I entered the bike racks. After we set up our bike & gear and grabbed out timing chips, we headed out for a short warm-up run.

Back inside the Keller Nat ... and more waiting. We watched the LONG line for chip-pickup. So glad we got there early. By some miracle, the race didn't start TOO late - only 10-15 minutes after the scheduled 7:30 AM.

My bib number was "454", but since the first swimmer into the water was actually "325", I only had about 100 people in front of me for the pool. The swim was uneventful and my time was decent - I probably could have shaved a few seconds off of the 5:46, but I hit some traffic about two-thirds of the way through as well as at the ladder for the pool exit.

T1 was pretty smooth. I was slower than everyone else on my rack, taking in an AccelGel and putting on socks, but that's just how I roll. Mounted my bike fairly smoothly upon exiting the transition area and headed down Bear Creek Parkway to start the bike leg.

I felt a little tired on the hills, though my (GPS) speed was still about the same as last weekend. There was a little bit more discourteousness/cluelessness from fellow racers today with regards to blocking ("On Your Left, guys!") but that honestly didn't mess me up. I did do a spin class yesterday and ran 3 miles yesterday, but I can't really use that as an excuse when comparing with last year because a year ago I did 15K worth of running at the Four Seasons Cool Run event the day before Monster Tri 2008!

As I finished the bike leg, I got a cheer from my friend and fellow Keller Running Club member, Melissa. I had a small mishap at bike dismount - couldn't unclip my left shoe out of the pedal (I really need to take a look at that pedal/cleat) - so in the end I had to just pop my foot out of my bike shoe, dismount, and run through the transition area with one bike-shoe and one sock-foot. Fun stuff. :-P

Aside from being "left-shoeless", I had a fairly smooth T2. As mentioned earlier, the robe costume is a little more involved than the caveman outfit. It was hard to get my arms into the sleeves and tying up the "belt" took a few extra seconds, too. I grabbed a gel and snapped on my race belt and headed out on the run course.

I had neglected to take a SaltStick before the bike and about a 1/8 mile into the run, I started to get some small cramps in my calves. Uh-oh ... Luckily, they disappeared after another 1/8 of a mile and I turned onto the Keller running trails. Since the course is part of the normal Keller Running Club route, I can pretty much run these trails in my sleep. The run went fairly smoothly. I didn't think I was having a very good run - every time I looked at my Garmin, my pace was listed at 8:10/mi or so - but it wasn't terrible either.

My costume wasn't too unwieldy, but it kept slipping off my shoulders. It was also a little warm - I wasn't wearing any top at all during the bike and its 21+ MPH speed - and now I had on an extra layer while going slower and at a higher heart rate! Hmm, something to think about for next year ...

Speaking of costumes, my "side goal" for the last few Monster Triathlons has been to be the first person to cross the finish line in a costume. There was a "referee" who had a 1/8 mile lead on me at the start of the run. We were pretty evenly matched; we were nearly to the turn-around until I finally passed her. After making the U-turn, I saw an "Elvis" and a "Wonder Woman" but they were 1/8 and 1/4 mile behind me, respectively, so I thought I was okay as long as I could keep a steady pace. However, as I neared the Mile 3 marker, I heard a volunteer/fan shout out "Way to go, Wonder Woman". Uh-oh, I guess my cushion is gone. I kicked it up a notch for the final sprint through the grass, around the corner and to the finish line - finishing only a few seconds ahead of her. Actually, Kristina (Wonder Woman's alter-ego) started the swim & race about 45-50 seconds after me and bested my chip time by 52 seconds (and took third place overall female)! Oh well, I guess I was still the first costumed finisher by clock time. :-P

All-in-all, a great race and a nice end to the 2009 triathlon season. Okay, now it's time to get serious about White Rock!

Monster Tri "Two"

My legs were definitely a little tired from yesterday's century ride, but I still finished strongly in the inaugural Dallas Athlete's Monster Tri "Two" at the Denton Natatorium this morning. I still find it weird that Monster Tri "Two" is a week before Monster Tri "One" (this coming Sunday in Keller), but I suppose the latter is the original race.

I can't believe that it's been six months since I last did a sprint-distance triathlon. Between doing the Olympic distance for Texas Man, PlayTri, and Disco (and of course the PrairieMan 70.3) - and skipping the TWU Power Sprint (I never liked that pool swim and Dallas Athlete's charged $20 more than Ironhead did!), Old College Tri (also too expensive) and Take On The Heat (Las Vegas vacation) - I missed out on doing the shorter events. Anyway, maybe the time away was a good thing, because I had a blast at this race and a great performance to boot!

I completed the 250 yd swim, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run course in 1:19:52, which netted me 6th place out of 25 in my age group and 24th out of 289 overall. This is one of my best performances ever - top 10% - and to think I did it only 24 hours after a hard 100-mile bike ride - needless to say, I am ecstatic! Here are my splits:

• Swim: 4:52
• T1: 1:26
• Bike: 46:51 (20.5 MPH, 12th fastest bike split!) - 21.1 MPH for 16.5 miles per GPS
• T2: 1:15
• Run: 25:30 (8:14/mi pace) - 8:13/mi for 3.1 miles per GPS
• TOTAL: 1:19:52

Full results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1804210&pubID=3

Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16600918 (bike) & http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16600936 (run)

The swim went relatively smoothly, though the 10 x 25-yds set-up made passing difficult. I did pass three people (and got passed by two as well) in the swim including the young woman who went immediately before me; however, she must not have appreciated that because on the final lap she swam up beside me and basically crowded me against the pool wall. Not cool! (I see from the results that she got first place in her age group so maybe there is a competitive streak trumping sportsmanship ... ). Anyway, I finished the final lap and hopped out of the pool a lot more gracefully that I would have expected and sprinted out the open doorway to the transition area.

T1 was okay. I got to the race site relatively late so I had a bad rack position and had to run in my bike shoes the maximum distance to Bike Out. However, despite the cool morning weather I opted not to put on a tri-top so my swim-to-bike transition was pretty fast except for my normal AccelGel & water break.

The bike leg was great. The course was an out-and-back from the Denton Nat with a turn-around at the Aubrey Middle School. There were definitely some hills along the way (~400 ft of elevation change over 16.5 miles) and my still-tired legs were complaining during the climbs. Here is the elevation profile:

However, FM-428 (Sherman Rd) had a very nice road surface - a huge contrast from 70+ miles of chip-seal the day before - and that got me motivated to get some speed. In fact, between getting warmed-up on the bike and the fact that the climbs were more gradual on the return leg, I was actually faster during the second half of the bike (21.5 vs. 20.8 MPH). Speed and other stats below (I ended "Lap 1" as I entered the Aubrey Middle School parking lot for the turn-around):

T2 was very smooth. I had no problems putting on my caveman/Tarzan costume and made it out of there quickly.

My run was not my best, but still pretty good. We had nearly perfect running weather. I'm sure that if I hadn't done such a long bike ride the day before that I could have gotten closer (or perhaps beaten - one can dream :-) my tri-5K goal pace of 8:00/mi. Here is my run speed (blue) and heart rate (red) charts:

The heart rate looks a little funky. I'm thinking those spikes are in accurate. Probably a bad connection between the strap and my chest during the run.

The drop in speed at Mile 0.4 is because I had to stop to redo my timing chip strap which was falling off (bad initial Velcro job on my part, I suppose). The slowdown at Mile 3.0 was a near-collision with the runner in front of me - he was circling around the cone (and me) for his second lap of the run course, while I was making a "hard right" to head to the finish line. Luckily, no serious incident occurred.

Following that I sped up again for the final push (though the hill up to the parking lot did slow me down a little) and crossed the finish line. My streak (2 for 2) of being the first finisher of those wearing costumes is intact! (though a girl in a Twister outfit was probably only a few minutes behind me :-)

With the standard disclaimers ("Hindsight is 20-20"; "If 'if's and 'but's were beer and nuts, oh what a party we'd have!"), I think that if I hadn't ridden yesterday, I probably could have shaved 90 seconds off my time (say a minute on the bike and 30 seconds on the run) which would have gotten me 4th place in my age group and 17th overall. Oh well, no biggie, though - 4th is still not award-worthy, and since this is my first time (okay, everyone's first time) doing this race/course, it is automatically a PR. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to a repeat/better performance at "Monster Tri One" this coming Sunday - a familiar course (will be my fifth time doing it) right in my backyard in Keller.

Race Review: The bike and run courses (the small mishap with the "second loop turn-around" notwithstanding) were great. The pool swim was a little annoying with the 25yd "short lanes", but manageable and over before you knew it. Overall, I definitely would do this race again.

Kiwanis Crazy Kicker 2009

Woo-hoo, another century-ride under my belt. My last organized bike tour of 2009 was also my longest. I finished the 100-mile route at the 6th Annual Kiwanis Crazy Kicker this morning in Mineral Wells, TX. It was a tough ride with lots of hills (3,245 ft of elevation change) and not-the-best road conditions. I was fortunate to be able to ride with Angela and her friend Phillip for most of the ride - it would have been pretty lonely without the company.

The ride started off okay - though the cannon blast from two years ago was absent. The road on Rt 180 was very smooth - as was Rt 337 and its Three Amigos - so the first 14 miles of the ride went by pretty quickly despite the hills. However, upon turning onto Rt 254, the chip-seal started. I hoped it wouldn't last, but alas pretty much the entire middle of the route (nearly 70 miles) was chip-seal and about half of it was VERY rough. So it made for a long (jarring, vibrating, tiring) ride - in addition to the overall distance.

However, even with the chip-seal, Angela, Phillip and I kept a pretty fast 18.5 MPH average speed through the first 60 miles. In fact, coming down one of the hills, I hit a new max speed - 39.7 MPH!

We stopped at the Mile 65 rest stop for cookies & pickles (and the porta-potty) before heading for Cherry Pie Hill. I'm definitely in better biking shape than when I tackled Cherry Pie in 2007. While it was still tough (nearly 400 ft of climbing) in about 1.25 miles, I was able to do it seated this year. (In fact, I think I did just about the entire ride without needing to get out of the saddle.) And while my speed did drop to 6 MPH at it's slowest, I averaged around 8-10 MPH for the bulk of the climb.

Unfortunately, I got a flat tire at Mile 75 and it took about 20 minutes to fix (and check the tire for embedded nail/glass - there was none to be found, so it either fell out, or the chip-seal just took its toll on my tire). This was my first flat during a race/tour this year - oops, I just jinxed it - so it may be time to put on the new Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tires that I have sitting in my pile of "backup gear."

After the flat "adventure", we rode another 10 miles to the final rest stop to collect our breath and legs before the final 14 miles and hitting the Three Amigos in reverse - although only the final two Amigos are steep climbs when approaching from the north. In fact, in some ways, the "Reverse Second Amigo" is tougher than Cherry Pie Hill in that it lasts for 1.5 miles and starts at Mile 91. On the other hand, at least it was not on chip-seal (just before the turn onto Rt 337 after the last rest stop, there is a sign that reads "Smooth Road Ahead ... Ahh!" - truer words have not been written) so that made it a little easier.

After those hills, there was just a few more miles on Hwy 180 before the return to West City Park. It was a little tricky crossing the traffic with Jello-wy legs, but I made it. Upon turning into the park I noticed that my GPS read 99.5 miles so I made an extra-wide loop around the park to make it an even 100.

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16491257

Ride Review:

• Course: 3/5 - fast blacktop on Highways 180 and 337; other roads had chip-seal galore - much of it "fresh"; course was fairly well-marked and there weren't too many turns (and none on small/non-obvious roads); roads were fairly straight; minimal traffic control but traffic was not too bad; great routes if you like/want hill challenges
• Rest Stops: 3/5 - very limited selection - some fruit, homemade cookies, and water/Gatorade - nothing to write home about. Stops were well-marked with signs alerting that they were "1/2 or 1 mile ahead"
• Logistics: 3/5 - no issues with race day packet pick-up - packet was pretty weak but the long-sleeve T-shirt was nice; only $20 for pre-registration; minimal porta-potties at the start/finish, but lines weren't too long; adequate parking at West City Park for the number of participants (approx 300 this year)
• Overall: 3/5 - a pretty bare-bones ride, but I will definitely do it again for the challenging course to make for a good "end of season" ride; hopefully, by next year some of that chip-seal will have worn-down a bit and this grade will improve!

Heels & Hills & Him Half-Marathon

A lot of my tri friends were out doing the PlayTri Stonebridge race this morning but since I'm training for December's White Rock Marathon, I need to get my running miles in.

So this morning, I ran in the Heels & Hills & Him Half-Marathon in Las Colinas (Irving, TX). The mostly out-and-back course showcased the City of Irving's Campion Trail system. I know these trails fairly well - having done training runs with Derek, Jarrod, and Matt in the past (but not in at least 18 months) and rollerblading on them as well ~10 years ago when I lived closer to the area.

Despite being a warm day, I ran a pretty good race and completed the half-marathon in 1:54:09. I must have started my watch about 20 seconds early because I had the time at 1:54:31. I ran with Kim ("recovering" after running 40 miles yesterday - training for the Palo Duro Trail 50 Miler) for the first 3 or 4 miles and she noted the discrepancy in our Mile 1 split.

My official pace was 8:43/mi. However, even with the aforementioned "early start", I only recorded the course at 12.99 miles. So using the GPS distance and the official finish time, my pace was 8:47/mi. This is a little faster than last week's Tour Des Fleurs 20K for an extra half-mile distance and in warmer weather. So that is pretty encouraging. Some things working in my favor today were a flat course and quite a bit of shade from the trees on the trails.

I finished 57th out of 580 half-marathon finishers and 6th out of 24 in my age group. I completed the first 6.5 miles in about 56 minutes and the remaining 6.5 in about 58, so my pace slowed down by a little in the second half of the race - mostly because I walked more (e.g., almost 2 minutes at the final water stop around Mile 11.5). I had done 2 1/2 hours of spin classes on Saturday, so my legs got tired and I was definitely running out of gas by the end.

As I said earlier, the course was nice, shaded and flat and there were some cute signs every few miles encouraging us on. A couple that I remember: "I like to run, it makes me smile, I think I'll run another mile" and "Running is a mental sport ... we are all insane".

Today's stats:


My heart rate was fairly high due to the pushing of the pace (thanks, Kim!) and the warm weather. After the fifth mile, my average went down only when I walked at the water stops. Speaking of the water stops, we probably could have used one or two more (that would have been hit twice on the out-and-back). There were a couple of water fountains on the trails, but those are not very convenient when on the go.

I was able to catch up to Kim again around Mile 7.5 and we ran together for another 1/2 mile or so before I had to drop the pace. There was an extra loop (around a playground in the La Villita community) and an out-and-back (near the Irving Police Station) on the return trip. I think that it would have been better for me mentally to have done those "side excursions" on the way out, but I guess the runners would have been too bunched up earlier in the race.

Overall, I had a great run today and enjoyed the chance to race at my old training route. It was very nice to see that the Campion Trails (PDF, 13.8 MB) now extend into Sam Houston Trail Park and Valley Ranch. I'll have to come back some time to do more running/riding/rollerblading on them!

Race results: http://heelsandhills.com/Events/Race_Results.html

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/14500476

Ironman Swim #5

Took the day off yesterday. Getting over a cold/cough and I just wasn't "feeling it" yesterday. It felt weird to skip the Thursday lunchtime spin class, but at least the sushi buffet I had in its stead was muy bien. :-)

Maybe that rest day recharged my batteries. I did a long swim today after work and completed 4,000 yards in 1:15:23. This the fifth time that I've swum this distance, and this is a PR time by a lot (previous best was 1:24:22) - but it's really not a fair comparison since I was wearing my aerodynamic (or is it "aquadyamic") ClubSwim compression jammers instead of my baggy swim trunks. Nonetheless, it was a really solid swim session. Here are my 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:07
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:18.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:21
• 4th 500 yds: 9:29
• 5th 500 yds: 9:35.5
• 6th 500 yds: 9:36
• 7th 500 yds: 9:38
• 8th 500 yds: 9:18 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle)

My pace definitely slowed down a little bit as the laps wore on, but overall a good swim and no breaks at all! At least the first part of a Full Ironman should be doable. :-)

Double-Race Saturday, Recovery Workout Sunday

Saturday morning:

Completed the 20K race at Tour Des Fleurs in 1:49:24. This works out to be an 8:49/mi pace for the 12.4 mile distance. I finished 338th out of 1182 finishers, 231 out of 555 men and 53rd out of 111 in my age group. My first 10K was in 54:40 (8:49/mi pace, 359th place) and my second 10K was in 54:43 (8:50/mi pace, 310th place). So I am very happy to have kept my pace mostly constant for the entire run.

My splits/data - obviously, I missed a couple of the mile markers :-P:

Speed chart - the drops in speed are walk-breaks at the water stops:

Heart-rate chart - the drops in HR coincide with the aforementioned walk-breaks at the water stops, but it looks like the final two breaks were too short to make much of a dent!:

The weather was not too hot, but still felt muggy and humid. Although not a PR (my time was 3 minutes slower than last year), I thought I did pretty well. Especially since overall, I have not been running as quickly this year vs. last year and the fact that I had my Half-Ironman race just 6 days ago. Something is quite interesting is the difference between my average heart rate this year (161 bpm) versus last year (172 bpm). I think the walk-breaks definitely helped keep it down and yet my speed didn't drop too much.

Was nice to see lots of friends before and after the event. Melissa and I carpooled from Keller - save the planet (and save some gas) and met with some of her Luke's training team before the race. I also met up with Derek and ran into Chris & Kara before the start. After finishing, I saw Kim and Eva at the finish line area and we walked up to the "party-zone" and I grabbed pizza, bagels, and some breakfast burritos. We met up with some RVG members and compared results and snapped a few photos before heading back to the parking area at Winfrey Point.

Race results: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3891

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13586343

Saturday evening:

The Community Storehouse Run In The Dark is a local charity run that occurs at night. The 5K event didn't start until 8:00 PM. Luckily, the streets of the route were well-lit. As far as I know there were no darkness-related injuries.

Before the 5K, there was a 1-Mile Fun Run, which I did with my 6 year old. Actually, according to my Garmin Forerunner 305, it was about 1.3 miles - and she completed the entire thing!

The starting area of the 5K was a little cramped and crowded. Because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the time, by the time I made it to the start line, I had two choices - just jump in at the front of the pack or go all the way to the back behind the strollers, etc. So I chose the former because it was easier ... and thus I started off way too fast (7:16 for the first mile) - swept up by the speedy front-runners.

The route had a fairly steep hill up Bear Creek Parkway between Mile 1.15 & 1.45 so that slowed the pace for me (8:13 for the second mile). About 2 1/2 miles in, I got some encouragement from John from my spin class - his wife, Cassie, and daughter were running the 5K as well.

I finished up the remainder of the course and crossed the finish line in 25:22 for 116th place out of 946 overall and 20th out of 82 for men 30-39. Not too bad considering I had done a 20K just 12 hours prior.

Officially, my pace was 8:11/mi. However, my Garmin showed the course as 3.25 miles long - which calculates to a 7:48/mi pace. I'm going to with that ... since my ego is bruised thinking that I can't keep an 8:00/mi pace for a 5K. :-P

Race results: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2009/RunintheDark965/DarkMenu.htm

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13618057

So between the two races and the Fun Run, I ran 16.5 miles (17+ if you believe the Garmin) today. Logging the distance in my Dallas White Rock Marathon training log. :-)

Sunday:

No more running - gotta give my knees & shins a rest. So the workout of the day was a 2,500 yd swim followed by 1:15 of spin class. I completed the swim in 48:09, which is a pretty good time considering the hard efforts of yesterday (and the long swim on Friday). Here are the 500 yd splits for the swim:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:23 (started off fast, probably too fast)
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:30
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:48.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:04 (the fast start is definitely catching up to me)
• Final 500 yds: 9:23.5 (alternating breast-stroke/free-style)

I was able to speed up for that last set, but I paid for it. After getting out of the pool, I needed about 5 minutes to fully recover.

The spin class afterward was a solid effort. Our instructor, Michelle, is a cyclist (has done the MS-150 a couple times) and triathlete as well - and is planning to do the Monster Triathlon at the Keller Natatorium in October. Always nice to meet fellow racers.

As for the class itself, I avoided coming out of the saddle (so as to not put too much weight on my legs), so my heart-rate only averaged 146 bpm for the 75 minute session (usually when I do standing climbs, my heart-rate goes up quickly). However, it was still a great class and the spinning really helped get the blood flowing to my legs and should speed recovery.

Whew, that was quite a weekend. I think I'll take a well-deserved rest day tomorrow!

New 3,000 Yard Swim PR

Sweet, I just got back from a 3,000 yard swim at lunch-time today. Not only is it the first time that I have done this distance in a while (my 8:00 AM Saturday morning "long" swims usually top out at around 2,500 yards because the 9:00 aquaerobics class participants start gathering and giving me "the eye" at 8:50 or so), but I also set a new PR for this training distance! Total time of 1 hour, 1 minute, and 31 seconds (about 20 seconds faster than my previous record from almost exactly a year ago).

My 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:29 (warming up)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:16
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:12
• 4th 500 yds: 10:27.5 (getting a little tired)
• 5th 500 yds: 10:23 (picking it back up)
• 6th 500 yds: 9:44 (pushed hard right to the end)

For that last set, I alternated between 25-yard lengths of breast-stroke (for recovery) and then of fast free-style (the push). With the extra breaths and use of different muscle groups during the breast-stroke laps, I was definitely able to go MUCH faster for my free-style swimming.

I probably should have be resting today since I have 15.5 miles of running tomorrow - the Tour Des Fleurs 20K in the morning and then the Run In The Dark 5K in the evening. Oh well, the swim as a good cross-training workout so no regrets!

Ironhead PrairieMan 2009

Oh yeah! I have finished my third Long Course (Half-Ironman distance) triathlon! I completed a rainy and soggy (but FUN!) Ironhead PrairieMan "56.3" on Sunday in 5:01:24. (The bike course was re-routed and shortened to 42 miles due to flooding on some of the roads. It's been raining here for four straight days.) I finished 12th out of 28 in the men's 35-39 age group, 59th out of 134 male finishers, and 62nd out of 170 finishers overall. Needless to say, I am ecstatic about my performance.

Here are my splits:

• Swim: 43:20 (48th place)
• T1: 3:12
• Bike: 2:03:36 - 20.4 MPH (25th place)
• T2: 1:07
• Run: 2:10:07 - 9:56/mi pace (96th place)
• TOTAL: 5:01:24

Full results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1796401&pubID=3

Garmin Connect info - bike (3 loops on Lake Ridge Parkway): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13238704

Garmin Connect info - run (out-and-back course): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13238709

From the Garmin Forerunner 305 info, it appears that the distances were longer than advertised. I had the bike course at 42.97 miles (20.9 MPH average speed per GPS) and the run course at 13.37 miles (9:43/mi pace per GPS). Fellow finishers also commented that they thought the swim was a little long too.

Random thoughts:

Pre-Race: Loading up my car the night before, driving to Lynn Creek Park in the rain, setting up my gear in a downpour ... I was seriously questioning my sanity. Luckily, I had brought along an extra trashbag - a staple of winter running pre-race wear - couldn't believe that I was actually using one in the summer! My cardboard bike number had already eroded away (along with everyone else's) and there was no body marking. Except for the race belt & bib - no numbers today.

I ran into Steve, who was doing his first tri ever, Sabrina & Tim, and Tara in transition ... and Melissa at the pre-race meeting. Nice to see familiar faces. On a day like today, fan support is pretty much limited to fellow racers and the great race volunteers. The "sprinters" started 30 minutes before the Long Course so Melissa and I huddled under Sabrina's umbrella to try to stay dry (well, drier) before our start at approximately 8:00 AM.

Swim: Not too bad. The water of Joe Pool Lake was in the low 80s and actually felt much warmer than the air temperature! There was a little chop in the water, not sure if it was because of the rain or the boats out there. Regarding the boats, I really wish they could stay further away so their wake wouldn't affect the swim course. Also, the motor fumes were horrible - between that smell and the chop, I was getting nauseated. Ideally all boats near the swim course would only have exhaust-free electric motors!

T1: Wasn't feeling the greatest after the swim so I pretty much just walked from the lake to the transition area. I actually missed my rack and had to backtrack 2 or 3 aisles to get to my bike. Helmet, glasses, wet socks, wet bike shoes ... the trash bag I had set over them helped a little bit, but on a day like today it's pretty much a lost cause.

Bike: Not as tough as I thought it was going to be. Though, you know how you're supposed to spit in your swimming goggles to keep them from fogging up ... I should have done that to my cycling glasses! I must have wiped my glasses lenses at least 10 times during the 42-mile 3-loop bike course. Not the safest thing to do when riding at 21+ MPH down in aero and in rain.

Actually, the most treacherous part of the course was occasionally having to move from the right lane to the left lane to avoid large pools of water collecting on the side of the road. The changing of lanes itself wasn't too bad, but Lake Ridge Parkway like many suburban concrete roads had "turtles" on the white lane markings. Those bumps might not seem to bad in a car, but when going over them on a road bike, there's a possibility of catching some air and there is definitely some jarring of the hands.

Because of the cooler weather I didn't drink very much - just going through about 20 oz of water from my AeroDrink. I had grabbed a Gatorade at the aide station but ended up not needing it at all - I guess I will count that as a race souvenir. Because of the danger of the ride, I didn't eat much either - just one AccelGel about an hour into the ride. Hopefully, my lack of nutrition won't hurt me ...

T2: Uneventful. I had already resigned myself to soggy running shoes and was not "disappointed". Ditched my helmet and glasses, switched shoes, and grabbed my hat and I was off.

Run: Having done the F1 Duathlon earlier this year, I was familiar with the course (PrairieMan run = F1's 2-mile run + 11-mile bike) which is always a nice feeling. The rain felt great, but the puddles on the road were annoying. Luckily, those were mostly just at the beginning 1.5 and (since it was an out-and-back course) final 1.5 miles. The road on the dam (being elevated) was fairly dry. I started at a steady 9:30-10:00/mi pace and my heart rate was in the mid to high 150s, which is pretty good for me.

I had two AccelGels with me - I took the first one at the 0.5 mile water stop and the second at the Mile 7 aid station. It was around Mile 3 that I realized that I had forgotten to put on (well, actually, forgotten to even set out in transition) my PattStraps - they were sitting safe and sound in a closed Ziplock bag in my tri-bag. D'oh! (Luckily, as I write this Monday night, I appear to have escaped any IT Band issues - phew).

There was a short, but fairly steep hill to get to the turnaround at Mile 6.63, but after that I think I actually accelerated on the return. At around Mile 7.5 I saw Melissa (at her Mile 5.5) and she shouted "Don't let me catch you!" - I think that may have helped me for the final 5 and half miles as well . Yep, the stats confirm this: 1:05:39 for the first 6.63 miles, and 1:04:28 for the final 6.74 miles. Woo-hoo, negative splits! (Thanks, Melissa :-)

After another water and walk break at the Mile 10 aide station at the base of the dam, I knew I was getting close. I ran past the lot where I had parked my car and once again waved at the one hardy fan standing under an umbrella and cheering as loudly as she could (I saw her going out and coming back in on the bike, and going out on the run as well - 5+ hours standing in the rain - wow!) Aside from her, the only cheering section on the run course were passing fellow athletes on the out-and-back and the great aid station volunteers.

A final loop at the eastern park of the park road and there I saw it, the finish line. Oops, nope, have to do the final loop down by the water - only about another 1/4 mile, but that was a little deflating. Oh well, just a little bit more running and then a charge up the hill from the water to the finish. Done!

Nobody at the finish line except the volunteers to collect the timing chip and hand me my finisher's shirt and mug. No finish line photo - the photographer had long since left - and the only other people were fellow Long Course triathletes sitting under a canopy eating pizza and drinking Gatorade & Vitamin Water. But that's okay. Today was the kind of race (and kind of weather) that is just for the athletes. And it was great. Out of the three half-Ironman distance races that I've done, this one was the most enjoyable despite the lack of festivity and fanfare.

In fact, the ONLY regret that I have about the race is that the bike course had to be shortened. Unfortunately, I still have not done a true 70.3 distance. At last year's Lone Star Half (completed in 5:59:01), the bike and run courses were 55.09 miles and 12.55 miles respectively per GPS. And then at Ironman Longhorn 70.3 (5:46:32), the bike and run were pretty much spot-on (55.94 and 13.03), but the swim about 500 meters short - there is no way I can do 1.2 miles in 33:45. I figured if we had done another loop (~13.5 miles) on Lake Ridge Parkway, even at a more conservative 19 MPH pace, that would have added about 43 minutes to my time ... for a 5:44 total time ... definitely would be a PR and at a true (even slightly longish) 70.3 mile distance to boot. Oh well, there's always next year - right?

Post-Race: Water, water, everywhere. As I detached my AeroDrink, I was initially surprised by how much "remaining" water I had to dump out of it - "gee, I thought I drank more than that on the bike?!?" ... seconds later I realized that it had collected "a wee bit" of rain during my 2+ hours on the run and time spent for post-race refreshments. Ditto for my super-heavy backpack, it was only when I got home that was reminded that the water-proof lining of my tri-bag was in serious decline (note to self: order a new one) and discovered that my towel and spare clothes had absorbed 10+ pounds of water.

The morning/night after, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that my body bounced back pretty well - my knees (no IT band issues), feet (no Body Glide and wet shoes & socks and yet no blisters - what are the odds?) and legs in general survived pretty much unscathed. The only sore parts are my shoulders (I gotta keep my upper body loose on the run!) and back (not enough long bike rides!), and they should be good to go in another day or two.

Okay, so when's the next one? :-)

Half-Iron Weekend

My plan for this weekend is to do (close to) a half-Ironman triathlon, but over two days ...

Saturday, August 8: Day 1 of "Half-Iron Weekend" completed! I survived a 2,500 yd swim (in 47:05 ... then the 9:00 AM water aerobics class kicked me out of the pool) + 2.5 hours of spin (avg hr 153 bpm) ... Time for lunch - man, I'm hungry!

Swim splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:17.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:20.5
• 3nd 500 yds: 9:29
  
• 4th 500 yds: 9:34
• 5th 500 yds: 9:24

Bike stats (15 min before class, Class #1, 15 min intermission, Class #2 - split into two halves):

Bike heart rate (click to enlarge):

Saturday, August 8: Day 2 of "Half-Iron Weekend" is now done. An 11.17 mile run in 1:56:45 (10:26/mi pace) ... Wow, if 11 miles is this tough at 8:30 AM, how am I going to survive 13.1 at around 11:30 AM for the actual tri?

Stats/Splits table below (click to enlarge). I (tried to) hit the "lap" button on my Garmin Forerunner 305 whenever I started/stopped my walk-breaks - you can see that I took many of them (and several were 5+ minutes in length) after the first five miles (Lap 4 and on):

Speed graph, again you can see that my average speed dropped significantly, :

Heart Rate. The depressing thing to note is how high and quickly it went up, even after the many and lengthy walk breaks. A combination of the heat and my lack of run conditioning.

Elevation profile (no notes, just included for completeness):

Looks like I'll need to do a lot more running training in the next month. Otherwise, it is going to be a tough run on September 13th ...

A Run and A Swim

Sunday: Since I didn't do a brick run after yesterday's Goatneck ride (well, to be honest, I'd be doing the long run today even if the brick had materialized), I had a goal of running 10 miles around my neighborhoood this morning. I thought this would be doable as the temperature this morning was "only" 81 degrees.

Ummm, yeah, it turns out that 81 degrees is not as cool as it would seem (especially when there is substantial humidity involved). I ended up doing 9.65 miles in 97 minutes (for a 10:02/mi pace). By the end, I was too tired to run around the block for an even 10. Exhaustion trumps OCD!

Still it was a (near-)victory of sorts. I hadn't completed a double-digit run since the Cowtown Half, and I was glad to run even longer than last Saturday's Too Hot To Handle (even if it was only by a quarter of a mile) since this was just a training session. My goal is to work my way up to 12-14 miles over the next month. I'm sure I can do the miles with consistent training; the trick will be staying injury-free during the ramp-up!

Monday: Normally, today would be a rest day following long bike and run over the weekend. However, instead I did a (slow and hard-fought) 2,500 yd lunchtime swim. Splits: 10:22, 10:35, 10:48, 10:58, 11:17. Yep, those sets got really slow and painful. But no rest for the weary - 48 days 'til the PrairieMan Half ... Yikes!

In other news, I've officially lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks. I want to lose about 6-8 more before the Half. I don't really "need" to lose the weight, but I just don't want to be carrying around extra ballast for 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 on the run!

The Goatneck 2009

Finished 69.5 hot and hilly (~2,900 feet of elevation change) miles at the 2009 Tour de Goatneck in 3:36:10. Overall, it was a good ride.

I was crusing with a 20.3 mph average speed through Mile 47, which was my first rest stop (stopped about 5 minutes). Of course there were some hills after that as well as a headwind, which dropped my average, but a 19.3 mph for the whole 69.5 miles is pretty good for me.

After crossing the finish line, I got back to my car and stared at my running shoes for about a minute ... brick run DENIED. Had my recovery drink (Endurox R4 - chocolate), took a shower, and then ate some pretzels & peanut butter, bananas and watermelon instead. :-)

Here are the stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305:

"Lap 5" was the Mile-47 rest stop. "Lap 3" and "Lap 6" were slow because there was a lot of climbing during those stretches.

Goatneck elevation chart: Big (up)hills during Miles 33-39 & 50-60. :-P

Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9729497

Ride Review:

Course: 4/5 - road conditions were pretty good - little bit of chip-seal in the middle of route was the only downside; hilly, challenging course; good traffic control in the busy areas (and overall there wasn't much traffic at all)

Rest Stops: 4/5 - I only stopped at the 47-Mile rest stop (which had a luau party/rock and roll theme) so this is not a complete evaluation, but there were decent refreshments (pop-tarts & cereal in addition to fruit) and water & Gatorade (well-mixed, not watered down) at that one.

Logistics: 4/5 - easy online registration; reasonable entry fee; decent parking at Cleburne High School (good considering that there were over 2,400 riders); nice T-shirt (electric blue again, though!) and water bottle; no post-race meal, but at least there was some snacks (the aforementioned pretzels & PB with bananas, watermelon, and oranges)

Overall: 4/5 - will definitely do again; good, challenging course with excellent ride support

Kicking It Up a Notch

I feel pretty good after my back-to-back events from the weekend. Even my legs feel pretty good - surprising, since 15.5 miles is more than I have run in quite a while (even that 15K felt like a really long run).

Anyway, as I look at the date of the PrairieMan Half-Ironman Tri (September 13) circled on my calendar (okay, so I don't actually own any paper calendars - it's "virtual/digital" circle :-), I definitely feel a little anxiety.

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital. -Joe Paterno

Okay, so I'd better prepare and kick my training up a notch. Especially for the swim and run.

Tuesday: 60 minute spin class (avg hr 149 bpm) + 500 yd swim in 10:16. Okay, so not much of a "kick-up" today ...

Wednesday: Another Wednesday duathlon at LA Fitness - 3mi run (24:14), 60min spin, 2.5mi run (21:29). Last week: 2mi run, 45min spin, 2mi run ... PROGRESS! I was pleasantly surprised that even for my post-spin run that I could keep a sub-8:30/mi pace on the treadmill and my heart rate stayed around 150-155 bpm. On the downside, I was planning to do 3 miles for that second (brick) run but just couldn't finish the last half-mile even after cranking down the speed. Will look to improve next week.

Thursday: Another 60 minute spin class (avg hr 152 bpm) + 1,000 yd swim in 21:16 (10:44, 10:32). Double of my normal post-spin distance. Yay!

Friday: Instead of my usual day off, I did a lunchtime run of 2.16 miles (that 8 laps around a local park while my daughter played in the playground in the middle) in the 1:00 PM Texas sun. I was running for 17:37 ... however, I took a shade/water break after every 2 laps, so the total time was nearly 29 minutes. I'm too lazy to do the math right now, but I know that's a slow overall pace and not a very long distance. But still, it's better than nothing.

Okay, time to get ready for bed. I'm going to tackle the 69-mile route at The Goatneck tomorrow morning!

Disco Tri 2009

Completed the Olympic-distance course - a 1,500 yard open-water swim, a 23 mile bike leg, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run - at my second Disco Triathlon. My time was nearly 6 minutes slower than last year (which was my PR for the Disco/Texas-Man course) - finishing the course in 2:34:38 (vs. 2:28:49 in 2008), but I'm still quite pleased with my performance.

I finished 20th out of 40 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 103rd out of 273 overall. Here are my splits:

• Swim: 26:57 (111th place)
• T1: 2:56
• Bike: 1:03:56 - 21.6 MPH (23rd place) - 21.9 MPH for 23.3 miles per GPS
• T2: 1:20
• Run: 59:32 - 9:37/mi pace (157th place) - 9:40/mi for 6.16 miles per GPS
• TOTAL: 2:34:38

Full Results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1773386&pubID=3
Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9184530 (bike) & http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9184584 (run)

For comparison, here are my splits from last year's PR:

• Swim: 26:53 (133rd place out of 277)
• T1: 2:12
• Bike: 1:03:38 - 21.7 MPH (54th place)
• T2: 1:10
• Run: 54:59 - 8:52/mi pace (151st place)
• TOTAL: 2:28:49

As you can see, the difference was mainly because of a much slower run pace this year - along with slower transitions (mainly T1). It's also interesting that my bike time was slightly slower than last year, yet I improved to the top 10% vs. top 20%. Maybe the bike course was a little long this year, the road conditions worsened or the overall field was weaker.

The swim went smoothly. I really want to get the new swim-proof Garmin Forerunner 310XT GPS watch so I can see exactly how close the distance is to the advertised 1,500 meters. I just need to keep improving and do more long swims in preparation for the Ironhead PrairieMan 70.3 in September.

T1 was non-eventful - a little slower than I would have liked, but I took extra time to down a SaltStick and AccelGel before taking off on my bike.

Very solid bike ride. I'm very happy with placing 23rd overall - though I still would like to cross the 22 MPH threshold one of these days. I definitely felt stronger today than back at May's TexasMan race. As I was loading up my bike the night before I noticed that my rear tire was quite low and probably had a slow leak. So even after reinflating it before heading to the race, I had the Bicycles Plus crew take a look at it in the morning and replace the tube just in case. I think it was worth it!

In contrast, today's run wasn't my best. Running the 15K yesterday definitely had some detrimental effects on my legs. However, in addition, I just plain haven't been running enough in my training. In fact, the 15.5 miles that I ran over this weekend is the most running I've done in a 27 hour period (or less) in quite a while. Oh well, this is a good jump start to get my running up to snuff before PrairieMan.

Crossing the finish line, I met up with Lee, who had finished about 10 minutes before me, and Jenn who had finished her sprint race an hour earlier (thanks for waiting for us!). Lee crushed the race - especially the run (10th overall with a 6:47/mi pace) and took 37th place overall and 4th in his age group. And to think he could have been even faster if he hadn't do the 15K with me yesterday - hmmm.

Jenn shaved 6 minutes off her time in the Texas Man sprint race. Jenna did her first open-water swim tri (success in Lake Ray Roberts) and continued with a solid bike and run. Charlie also did the sprint and finished 48th. And last but not least, this was the first Olympic tri for Serena and her friend Roxanne; they finished strongly and were all smiles after the finish ... simply awesome!

Too Hot To Handle 2009

Well, I still need to work on my running, but I think I did pretty well at this morning's Too Hot To Handle 15K. My official finish time of 1:23:26 (8:58/mi) – was two minutes slower than 2008's THTH race. However, last year, the last 5K was torturous and I took almost 30 minutes to finish the final 3.1 miles. This year, I held back for most of the running since I have the Disco Tri tomorow and I ended up having a pretty smooth race even though the time was slower.

I ended up at 56th out of 107 in my age group and 403rd out of 1272 total 15K finishers. Here are my official split times/places:

• 5K: 27:47.88, 396th place
• 10K: 27:21.51, 358th
• 15K/Finish: 28:15.83, 461st

So a fairly consistent pace, especially considering that the final 5K contain the two uphill stretches of the course (see elevation in Garmin Connect). Here are my GPS stats (click to enlarge) with lap splits at each mile and 5K marker. Looks like the course was about 0.1 miles long for my run.

My average heart rate is still higher than what I'd like but at least it was under 170 bpm. Race day weather was not bad for July (got a break from the heat of a recent string of triple-digit temperatures).

Afterwards, I met up with Lee (42nd overall with a 1:04:19 - 3rd place in his age group despite "holding back") and Kim and Eva who had strong showings while also saving up for their midnight 25K at El Scorcho.

Full results at: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2009/TooHotToHandle950/TooHotMenu.htm

Garmin Connect map/data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9104216

Disco Taper Week

Monday: Problem: I'm torn between wanting to run (to get better at it and maybe do it outdoors to get some climate training) and not wanting to run (so my legs/knees wouldn't get sore/injured). Solution: 30 minutes on the home elliptical trainer.

Tuesday: 1 hour of spin class (152 bpm avg hr) + 1,000 yard swim (10:25, 10:30). Feeling pretty good.

Wednesday: A "Lunchtime Du" - 2-mi run, 45-min spin, 2-mi run. The runs were pretty fast (averaging sub-8:00/mi pace for both). Too bad I can't do that pace in the heat. :-P

Stats below:

First run - started slowly and gradually increased speed - 0.25 mi at 6.0 mph, 0.25 mi at 6.7 mph, 0.5 mi at 7.5 mph, 0.5 mi mph at 8.0 mph, and 0.5 mi at 8.55 mph. Spin class was quick and tougher than the 45-min duration and 151 bpm avg heart rate seems to indicate. Second run was at a constant 7.5 mph (8:00/mi) pace.

This should be my last hard workout before the weekend races - will taper and rest starting tomorrow. Also picked up my Disco Tri packet today. Bib #701 - hope that is my lucky number.

Thursday: 50 mins of spin (150 bpm avg hr) and then 500 yard swim (10:17). The spin class was probably a little more energetic than I'd planned, but overall I don't feel like I'm overdoing it.

Tomorrow will be a full rest day and I'm looking forward to it!

Disco Pre-Tri

Good workout this morning and got to meet up with some fellow racers.

Swim: Two open water swims: 9:49 + 13:27.4. I'm guessing I did about 1,200 meters total. Good practice.

Bike: Rode the sprint course - did the portion on E Lone Oak Rd that was outside of the park twice for a total distance of 31.38 miles in 1:36 (19.6 mph average speed) and an average heart rate of 149 bpm.

MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8616960 (forgot to stop my watch right away so the time is a bit long)

Run: 3.68 miles in 40:22 (10:58/mi pace). More of a walk/jog than a fast brick run, but at least I got some miles in. Really feeling the effects of nearly 100 miles of cycling in the last 24 hours. My average heart rate was 155 bpm even with all the walk breaks and water stops. Oh well ...

MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8616961

Peach Pedal 2009

Another good Peach Pedal Bike Rally in Weatherford, TX after skipping it last year. Seriously overestimated how long it would take to drive to Weatherford and complete on-site registration - ended up waiting about an hour before the start. New starting area (much improved - good parking at Weatherford High School) and course (no longer goes through downtown Weatherford) from 2007. Executive Summary: 3,065 ft of elevation change; one major wrong turn; 95+ degrees at the end - one tough ride.

With the "extra credit mileage", the 100K became 64.68 miles. I crossed the finish line in 3:33:07 for a 18.2 mph average speed. Up until the Mile 35 rest stop, I was averaging 20 mph (35.2 miles in 1:43); however, this is a little inflated since the course was downhill overall to this point. After 8 minutes at that rest stop to refill my water bottles, I headed back out and was still close to a 19 mph average speed by the time I reached the Mile 53 rest stop.

Still feeling good, I decided to forego that rest stop and just finish up the ride. That was not wise as the hills started almost immediately afterward. The last 10 miles were quite painful and the rising temperatures didn't help. Many riders resting at the side of the road under shade between hills.

With a few miles to go, Lee (who had a flat tire and fallen back - I totally didn't see him) caught up to and passed me as I plodded along at around 15 mph (or below). Seeing him gave me a little burst of energy and I finished up the ride.

MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8608951

Ride Review:

• Course: 3.5/5 - good hilly course (different from 2007), but quite a bit of chip seal on the roads; needed better markings (the signage was pretty good - except for the one that our lead group missed - but the painted arrows on the road were too light and hard to see)
• Rest Stops: 2/5 - I only stopped at one stop and it just had water (from a hose), gatorade, and some bananas. Maybe the other ones were better ...
• Logistics: 3/5 - easy online registration, reasonable entry fee, nice T-shirt, free pass to the Parker County Peach Festival (although I did not use), post-race showers available, supposedly there were going to be post-ride tacos from Rosa's Tortilla Factory, but they had already run out when Lee and I finished and 30-minutes later, there was still no additional batches. And aside from the tacos, no other post-ride refreshments other than warm water, bananas and some disappointingly bad (not ripe) peaches
• Overall: 3/5 - a popular ride for the course, I'll do it again and hope that the post-ride food materializes

I Hate the Stairmaster

Didn't wake up early enough this morning for a run so I headed to the gym at lunch time instead.

Why is it that the Stairmaster never gets easier? 20 minutes on that torture device then a 3.5 mile treadmill tempo run in 28:29 (8:08/mi pace). Almost a minute and a half faster than Wednesday's effort for the same distance (albeit after a 20-minute stair session vs. 60 minutes of spin class).

Three quarter miles at 6.0, 6.3, and 6.7 mph respectively.  Then, 0.75 miles at 7.1 mph (around an 8:30/mi pace) - heart rate still at a respectable 156 bpm.  The next mile was at 7.5 mph (8:00/mi).  Finally, half-mile segments at 8 & 8.5 mph (7:30/mi & 7:03/mi paces) to finish the run. 

Back From Break

Wednesday, May 20: My last hard workout before vacation. I will be taking it easy over an extended Memorial Day weekend as my brother, his wife and my niece and nephew are coming to town for a visit. Today's workout: 110 minutes of spin (148 bpm) followed by 1,000 yd swim in 19:31 (9:52, 9:31)

Sunday, May 24: My ONLY workout during the 5-day holiday/vacation - a 5.91 mile morning neighbor run in 57:24. Very slow (that's a 9:43/mi pace - there are many walk-breaks), but at least I broke my "lazy streak"!

Tuesday, May 26: 1 hour spin class (150 bpm) + 500 yd swim in 10:23

Wednesday, May 27: First a 1 hour spin class (150 bpm). Then a 3-mile treadmill brick run in 27:03 (9:01/mi, 154 bpm).  I started at 6 MPH and slowly worked my way up to about 7.5 MPH.


Thursday, May 28: 45 min solo spin session (149 bpm) followed by 45 min spin class (157 bpm). Afterwards, a 500 yd swim in 10:34 - a little slower than Tuesday, but can you blame me after that nice long (albeit indoor) bike ride.

Saturday, May 30: Morning workout: 1,500yd swim (in tri-shorts) in 29:05 (set times: 9:40, 9:46, 9:39) followed by 2hr,40min on the spin bike (24 minutes before class then back-to-back classes with 16 minutes in between).  A solid session and I kept up the intensity (154 bpm overall average heart rate) the entire time.


Sunday, May 31: Another Sunday morning run. This time - 7.16 miles in 1:07:09 - 9:23/mi pace at an average heart rate of 157 bpm. Quite a bit faster pace than last week's effort even though the route was 1.25 miles longer. Progress!

Monday, June 1: Skipped the lunchtime workout. My daughter graduated from Kindergarten at 1:00 PM. :-)

The rest of this week is almost a clone of last week.

Tuesday, June 2: 1 hour spin class (144 bpm), 500 yd swim (freestyle) in 10:04 (no tri shorts - so this is pretty fast) followed by another 500 yd of breast stroke (hadn't planned to go this far - just kept following Don - so no timing for the second set)

Wednesday, June 3: First a 1 hour spin class (147 bpm). Then a 3.5-mile treadmill brick run in 29:58 (8:34/mi, 154 bpm). I can't believe that I cut my pace that much as compared to last week while keeping the same average heart rate and going an extra half-mile. Yay!


As you can see, a key improvement was being able to hold a sub-8:30/mi pace at 156 bpm (see Lap 4) this run while that same heart rate was nearly 9:00/mi (see last Wednesday's Lap 3).  Hopefully, this is a trend and not just a fluke.

Thursday, June 4: 50 min spin class (146 bpm) followed 500 yd swim in 9:19 (tri-shorts) and other 250 yd that were (again) untimed (hit STOP instead of LAP on my watch so no stats)

So that's it ... catching up on a long list of old workouts.  Not sure why my heart rate during this week's spin classes was lower than normal.  Well, actually I do know, I felt tired. :-P  Will try to do a little better next week.

Tomorrow, I plan to do a morning run (I guess I had better get to bed now!) and then on Saturday, I'll be doing the 100K route at the 2009 Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride.

Texas Man Taper??

I should be tapering for this coming Sunday's Texas Man Olympic-distance Tri, but instead I seem to have been building up steam the last couple of weeks instead. I guess it feels good to have some "normal" workouts - i.e., having my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS and heart rate data available again (after breaking during the MS-150) and a healing/improving finger (I was finally able to go in the pool after getting the stitches out).

Anyway, here are the workouts from the last week and a half:

Tue, May 5: First training session after two rest days following the "MS-72."  A 2-mile run followed by a 1-hour spin class.  No stats due to my broken watch, but it was a good workout.

Wed, May 6: 60-minute spin and a 500 yd swim. First time in the pool since the Caveman Tri - got my stitches out yesterday.  11:10 - my slowest swim pace for this distance in quite some time.  Oh well, if this is my (re)starting point in the pool, I'll take it.  Post-swim: my wounded fingers are a little sore from rubbing against each other - I may need to bandage them up.

Thu, May 7: 1-hour spin class and 1.5 mile brick run on the treadmill.  Nothing special, just chugging along. 

Fri, May 8: Woo-hoo! I got my replacement "newly overhauled" Garmin Forerunner 305!  Only took $79 and about a week of waiting.  Looking forward to testing it out tomorrow.

Sat, May 9: 6-mile treadmill run in 51:54. Tried to concentrate on base training and keep my heart rate under 150 bpm. I was somewhat successful for the first two miles, but it kept steadily creeping upwards. I increased my pace by 0:30/mi at the 4.5, 5, and 5.5 mile marks - and was running at a 7:30/mi pace at the end. 

Followed my run with 2.25 hours of spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm). Actually, my heart rate was averaging 157 bpm for the first hour or so, but by the 1:45 mark, my right foot started hurting.  I usually don't wear my running shoes for spin class - and this is the reason.  Lesson (re)learned.

Sun, May 10: Texas Man Pre-Tri - about 1,000 yards of open water swim practice (yay, my wetsuit still fits) followed by a 10-mile bike - a well-deserved easy day, I suppose, after yesterday's killer session :-)

Mon, May 11: 6.5-mile treadmill base training run in 55:35. I was able to keep a 150-153 bpm average heart rate for the first 3 miles at my approximately 9:00/mi pace. Unfortunately, at that point, it started to creep up.  But I definitely see improvement versus Saturday's run - with my average heart rate about 3 bpm lower through five miles while running at the same or even slightly faster pace than that of two days ago.

Tue, May 12: 55-minute spin (avg hr = 148 bpm ... must have been tired from yesterday's run) and then 500 yd swim in 10:27. Much better swim pace that last week.

Wed, May 13: 60-minute spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm) and then a 2-mi treadmill run in 18:21 (4 x half-miles at increasing pace: 10:00/mi, 9:30/mi, 9:00/mi, 8:30/mi). The run felt tough even with the overall slower pace, but it was still good to get it in.

Thu, May 14: 70 minutes of spin. My average heart rate for the bike was only 143 bpm.  I tried to push harder - and I think cardio-wise I could have done more - but my legs were just very tired from four days in a row of running and cycling.  After spin class, a 500-yard swim in 9:27.  A lot faster than the last two swims - definitely feeling better and more comfortable in the pool, however to be fair, I also was wearing fast/aerodynamic tri-shorts (and that also helped my speed).

Fri, May 15 (plan): Early morning 3-4 mile run. I need to do some runs outside instead of just on the treadmill (where it's perfectly flat with no humidity and a mild temperatures! :-P)

Sat, May 16 (plan): One more (easy) swim - going to try for 1,500 yards - and then take it easy for the rest of the day.

Sun, May 17: Race Day!!!