Crutchblog

Untitled by sccrutch at Garmin Connect - Details

2010-10-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

2nd "Long Run" of 16 week program leading up to Houston Marathon

Untitled by sccrutch at Garmin Connect - Details

Lessons Learned at IMCDA

2008-07-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

I've had nearly two weeks to mentally review my Ironman training, and the event itself, and here are a few random yet consistent thoughts I keep coming up with.....

1. First and foremost....I'm "in", meaning, I'm addicted. Some people ask me "so, what will you do now that you've checked this off your list?" I tell them I don't have a "list". This wasn't a stand-alone goal. It's more like a lifestyle now. Sure, I've got my real job, family, and everything that is associated with job and family will of course be first and foremost. But I'm fortunate that my wife and boys are enthusiastic and supportive of my "hobby". My experience at Coeur d'Alene only served to reinforce my........dare I say............passion........for the sport.

2. So, if I'm going to keep doing this, I want to get better, right? To do that, we need more focused and structured training. I am very happy with the level of endurance I was able to accomplish over the past year. I finished an Ironman on my feet, with a smile on my face and a little bit of a bounce in my step. The past two weeks I've felt great, have taken a couple of light to moderate rides and some short runs of varying intervals. Now I've adopted an Olympic distance training schedule from Triathlon Magazine's "Essential Week-by-Week Guide". This time around, I plan on following the variable intensities of the workouts, as opposed to my recent experience of focusing primarily on long sessions at a moderate intensity.

3. Swim. Yes, swim. Swim more. Swim better. Swim in different water. OK, so I didn't really "learn" this, as I knew it all along, but IMCDA certainly served to reinforce the need to continue to build on swimming. No, I'll never be one of those dudes in the lead pack flailing away like there's no tomorrow. But I certainly don't need to be in the back 1/4 of the pack either, lumbering along for half an hour before I decide to actually swim. So, I'll continue to seek advice, help, coaching, etc., and will remind myself that swimming is just like cycling and running.....your performance is based on your level of training.

4. STICK TO YOUR NUTRITION PLAN!!!! Lord have mercy. I'm smart enough to know this. After all of the work I put into developing a plan, experimenting, and becoming totally satisfied with my Hammer Nutrition-based plan, I ditched it at the start of the marathon! I guess I was suffering from some sort of stealth exhaustion-induced brain failure. Sort of like what mountain climbers experience at extreme altitudes. In any event, don't let Raceday me out-think training period me.

5. I've got a great group of friends and family. Outside of my wedding and the birth of my children, I don't think I've ever received so many well-wishes for anything I've ever done in my life. And not just the disinterested "hope you do well" type stuff. Honest to goodness interest and intrigue from friends, family and even casual acquaitences. And even from highly-accomplished triathletes.....the kind of folks who would have been showered, changed, munching on pizza and drinking a beer by the time I crossed the finish line.

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.

Ironman CDA - Done!!!!

2008-06-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

As I was enjoying my first "non-workout" Saturday morning in what seems like, well, forever, it occurred to me that somewhere, someone who maybe accidentally read this Blog on occasion would wonder......"gee, did that dude ever even make it to Coeur d'Alene?"

The answer is yes, I did make, and I did finish. No, it wasn't anything spectacular from a performance standpoint (13:49:59 -- broken down in the report below). But make no mistake, the entire event, from the moment we arrived in CDA until the time we left was absolutely one of the top 1% of experiences in my life.

Accommodations:

I traveled with my wife and 2 boys (10 and 11) so we made a family vacation out of it, and rented a cabin on Lake Hayden, fewer than 10 miles north of the town of Coeur d'Alene. It was perfect. We had easy access to everything we needed and everywhere we needed to go, and we were able to cook and enjoy most meals at the cabin.

Pre-Race Thurs & Fri

We more or less committed ourselves to enjoying the town and the festival atmosphere that Ironman. We did some light hiking on the trails, milled around Ironman Village, and generally had fun. I did take a dip in the 55 degree water Thursday morning, in some vain attempt to "get used to it". After 45 minutes of practice swimming, I couldn't feel my hands or face, so thought it may be a good idea to get out of the water.

On Friday, we let the boys go para-sailing, which was an incredible experience for them, and we later rented a ski boat, although due to the water temp, it turned into a "tour boat", as nobody wanted to ski.

Saturday

By now, the nerves had returned, and pretty much the entire day was dedicated to getting ready for the race. I put in a 20 minute light run, then hopped on my bike and rode about 15 miles, winding my way to Ironman Village. NAS does the most outstanding job of setting up for these events. I was absolutely blown away by the organization, and the helpfulness and availability of the team of volunteers. So, with Swim-to-Bike and Bike-to-Run bags packed, we headed to the Village.

I spent about an hour getting my bags and bike placed, and familiarizing myself with the Transition area. I walked through it a couple of times, on the outside chance that I'd recognize some of it the next morning .

Once everything was in place, we pretty much browsed around some of the vendor tents, did some shopping at the NAS Ironman store, and then went back to the cabin for an early meal and some downtime. I spent most of that downtime packing my "Special Needs" bags, and checking (and re-checking) my swim gear.

Raceday!

After tossing and turning all night, I actually logged about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep Saturday night. Woke up about 4:30 with a huge knot in my stomach, and tried to relieve it with a Cliff Bar and a cup of coffee. It sort of helped.

My cousin, Kathleen (two-time IMAZ veteran, and up in CDA to volunteer and sign up for '09) graciously drove me the short 10 minutes into town, gave me a quick hug, and sent me on my way. I got into the Transition area about 5:45, and spent the next hour moving around, adding a couple of things to my transition bags, dropping off my Special Needs Bags, and putting on my wetsuit. The next thing I know, I've wandered to the beach with the masses, and we are about 10 minutes away from 7AM. They announce that the water temp is 59 degrees, and somehow this makes me happy? Gee, only about 10 degrees COLDER than Barton Springs! A virtual hot tub!

SWIM:

I'm standing there minding my own business, when BOOM, the cannon goes off. No countdown (some kid did sing the National Anthem), just the cannon. You ever see one of those Nature Channel videos where hundreds of penguins dive in the water at the same time? That's the last thought I had before running into the water.

30 minutes of pure, unmitigated stark raving terror. Hell is not a network of fiery caves, it is cold water with 2,000 people churning, kicking, paddling, swatting, gasping, floating, sinking, gargling, spitting.......well, you get the picture. This is a two-loop course, each loop 1.2 miles. 8 buoys out, one buoy across, 10 buoys back (I know, didn't make sense to me either).

I was hoping to get to the first turnaround buoy in about 20 minutes. It took me 40! Holy crap! I'm done. Not even gonna make it out of the water. I panicked. Poor Joe (the trainer who tried his best to teach me how to swim). After giving me all that advice, I'm out here dog-paddling!

Wait a second.......Joe taught me how to swim. That's right! I know how to swim! Well start doing it dumbass! OK. So I did. Made the trip back to the beach in about 20 minutes, and knocked out the second loop in less than an hour, for a total swim time of about 1:30.

I get out of the water, relieved, and looking forward to the Bike.

Transition 1

Most people spend about 6-8 minutes between the swim and bike (the elites spend about 3-4), but I must have taken a nap or something. 11+ minutes. Anyway, off I was on my favorite leg...the bike ride!

Bike:

The bike course is a 2 loop course, and while challenging, it was actually the highlight of my day. It was really fun. The first 20 miles or so are sort of a warm-up ride along Lake CDA, back into town, then north out of town. Once you wind your way through Hayden Lake Country Club, and make a couple of turns, and BOOM, you're staring at the hills.

But, what goes up must come down, and there were some generous descents. However, some of the descents involved winding roads and blind turns, so some technical skill was needed. In any event, the first loop flew by, as I averaged something like 17.8 before stopping to take my first bathroom break at around mile 60, thinking I may have to wait in line if I held out until the Special Needs stop at Mile 64. So I stopped there just long enough to grab a PB&J out of my Bike SN bag, and was off to complete Loop 2.

Well, as fun as Loop 1 was, Loop 2 was almost, but not quite as enjoyable. I'm pretty sure one or two of those hills grew a little. There is a point where you go from unstriped road to newly painted, striped road, and that is the introduction to a three-tiered stair-step hill that never seems to end. It was big time tough the second time around.

After exiting the hills, it is a mostly down-slope ride back into town, but there was a pretty stiff south wind by that time of the afternoon that required a little more work to move through that I would have preferred. In any event, my total average for the 112 miles was 16.6. Again, I was hoping to come in around 17.0, but I was generally happy with where I was in the race and how I felt at the time.

Transition 2

Once again, a certain amount of lolly-gagging must have occurred, because I spent just over 6 minutes in T2. A portion of that, however, was spent going to the bathroom.

First true mistake of the day: So at this point, I've been at it for over 8 hours. Funny thing, the brain apparently doesn't function at full capacity after that period of time. Case in point: despite becoming a borderline junkie when it comes to Hammer Nutrition's endurance product "Perpetuem", and despite properly consuming 2 separate "3 hour bottle" of the stuff on the bike course, and despite having a "2 hour bottle" in my T2 bag, ready to go, just add water, I, in my infinite wisdom, convinced myself, "aw hell, I've only got the run left, I don't need this stuff! Too heavy to lug around!"

Second mistake of the day: Not only that, but I had also stuffed a small flask filled with Hammer Gel - Espresso in my back pocket. Plenty of gel for most of the run. Well, the first mile is a short out-and-back on a sidewalk along the lake. During the "back" portion, I didn't like the way it was bouncing around, so I threw it away!!!!!

So there I am, running a freaking MARATHON without either of my tried-and-true nutritional aids! At the time, I thought "Boy, I'm a genius! Look how I'm cruising". In fact, I was running pretty good to the next turnaround (right at 6.5 miles or so) that I decided to dial it back on the next leg, so I'd have something left for the last half.

I hit the 13 mile turnaround feeling pretty good, grabbed a light pullover out of my Special Needs Bag, stopped for a brief second to chat with the family, and headed out, by this time about 12 miles from the finish. I trot through the remainder of downtown, I guess still spurred by the crowd, then..........BAM! Nothing in the tank. Complete and utter shut-down. WTF??? I've got over 10 miles to go! I decide that I'll run 5 min and walk 2. Couldn't keep it going for 5 minutes.

After much debate with myself, the best I could come up with was walk the uphills and run the downhills. Actually, I didn't come up with that......I overheard someone else say it. Regardless. This is what I did. Well, I was also not too picky on what I considered an "uphill".....basically, if it wasn't down, it was up!

It was somewhere around here that I also "did the math", and realized that a sub 13:30 finish was impossible, but that sub 14:00 was pretty much "in the bag". So I decided not to "kill myself" and cruised on in, soaking up and enjoying the incredible course and atmosphere (besides, its not like I had some "kick" deep down in there anyway!)

My family was right near the finish corral, spurring me on, and I did, in fact, have a quarter-mile kick in me, and I finished with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face! My cousin, (remember her? The two-time IMAZ vet Kathleen, who was in town to watch me and several of her friends and who signed up to be a race volunteer) "caught" me at the finish line. My wife and boys promptly found me and the post-race celebration began.

Well, "celebration" is a bit of a stretch. A couple of pieces of pizza; got my bike over to the TriBike Transport check-in; picked up my transition and special needs bags, and we were headed back to the cabin. I ate some left-over pasta from the night before (extra salt!) which hit the spot, a warm bath then shower, and just as I was about to grab a beer, I hit the bed and fell fast asleep.

We spent the next day milling around CDA as the Village was being broken down, then drove to the small town of Harrison on the other side of the lake, for a light and easy mountain bike ride on a flat paved trail --- therapy for the legs. Then cleaned up, had a nice dinner on Sherman Ave. in CDA, (multiple beers!), and settled in for one of the best night's sleep I'd had in weeks.

A final word about the towns of Coeur d'Alene and Hayden, and the volunteers who worked the event......If you want an analogy, think of most triathlons, marathons or half-marathons as 3-Star hotels.....you know, nice, comfortable, clean, but you've got to carry your own bags, no room service, etc., etc. Then think of Ironman CDA as a 5-Star + world-class hotel. From the moment we hit town, through and including Raceday, until the time that we left, we were treated as VIP's by just about every single person we came in contact with.

My first Ironman will always be my most memorable, and the location, people and support of my family and friends made it a truly special event.

Houston Marathon - Race Report

2008-01-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hello again. Yes, I'm still out here, but figured that endless "training reports" would be just a little on the boring side. So, here is an actual "race report". Woohoo!

The Chevron Houston Marathon starting gun sounded at 7:00 AM yesterday (Sunday, January 13) to clear skies, 44 degree temp, and a 10-15mph north wind, and a record 17,000 runners (apprx. 7,000 full, 10,000 half).

I won't bore everyone with the details, but this was my second marathon, and my finish time was a mere 1 min. 26 sec. better than my first go around. Yesterday, I got a 3:56:47, and in Austin last year, I got a 3:58:22. So, different cities, extremely different courses (Houston mostly flat, Austin pretty darn hilly), and very similar weather, but the same result. I guess for all practical purposes, I'm a 4 hour marathoner.

Looking at my unofficial splits, I do seem to have run Houston much more consistently...starting out at about 8:50/mile, with only a slight fade that kicked in around mile 19 or so. In Austin, I logged several early miles at 8:35, only to be faced with about 4 10:00 miles later in the course, before having to really give it a kick to finish under 4 hours.

I ran Houston with a friend, and that made the race much more enjoyable. In a way, I'm glad I ran my first marathon "solo", because I felt like I was able to absorb the event and personalize it a little. Conversely, having a running partner run stride for stride was very beneficial. I began cramping up at about mile 22, and the obligation to finish with him, without holding him back, is what kept me going.

DEHYDRATION PROBLEM:

I didn't realize it at the time, but the right hamstring cramp I was able to ward off in mile 22 was actually the first sign that I was on my way to becoming severely dehydrated. Almost immediately after finishing, I began experiencing a massive headache, and I had absolutely no appetite whatsoever. This is alarming for me, because the post-race cheeseburger is always my salvation!

My ever-supportive wife drove me home, and I slept the entire hour in the car. When we got home, I went straight to the couch, where she basically force-fed me some chicken broth and and water. I went straight to bed, and it wasn't until about 6:00 AM this morning that I actually felt better. Since then, I have rebounded, regained the appetite, and feel pretty much 100%.....except for the typically sore quads.

This is where I need some help from you guys. My IMCDA discussion group has already given me some advice on hydration/electrolyte strategy, but I can use all the help I can get. At the time, I felt like I followed a pretty good plan....no alcohol the week before the event; increased water/fluid intake the days before; good amount of water/Gatorade immediately before race; water and/or Gatorade at every stop, plus a pack of Sport Beans every 45 minutes or so.

So far, it appears as though I should look into into electrolyte supplement in addition to water/sports drink. I need to work out a formula, based on my 6' 3" 190 lb. frame, and heavy (though not profusely) sweating.

I guess part of the problem is that I (stupidly) tend to worry about this more in the summer, when I'm sweating buckets, but not on days like yesterday, where the sweat dries so fast, the only think left on your face is a layer of salt.

Now it is time to recover, and get ready for Austin in February 17. My plan there is to run it as sort of an "Ironman Simulation", which means I won't be trying to set a PR, and won't even care about 4 hours. Try to get myself familiar with a even, steady pace that I'll be able to handle at Coeur d'Alene.

Then, blissfully, I'll be back into full-time cross-training.

At Last! A Race Report! The Austin Triathlon (Olympic)

2007-09-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

The inaugural Austin Triathlon was held yesterday, September 3rd in the heart of Austin, Texas, and from the perspective of this middle-of-the-pack Age Grouper, it was a resounding success. Austin is home to some excellent triathlon specific shops, and one of them, Jack & Adams, ( http://www.jackandadams.com/ ) was the title host of the event. Of course, quality local shops translate into numerous quality triathletes. And there were plenty. Probably the deepest field I have ever seen in my very brief "career".

Upwards of 1,000 registrants signed up for the Olympic Distance event (1500M/40K/10K), and the organization, from expo to bike check to pre-race, race and post race was first rate.

A quick word about my "performance". The swim was a loop swim in Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake). Let's see, how to described my performance? One word. I suck at swimming. So that's four words. You get the point.

My swim conditioning was fine. It wasn't that I got overly winded. It is my technique that needs to be overhauled. If I had worn a GPS, I bet I probably covered 2,000 meters of water by the time you count all the zig zags and corrections. By the time I was able to self-correct and swim in a somewhat straight line, I was at the last buoy before the final turn marker. I think I need (a) a swim coach and (b) much more time in open water vs. pool.

Total Swim time = 37 minutes (about 2 1/2 minutes per 100M).

We had to cover some pretty good distance from the swim exit to the bike rack, but it was probably beneficial to get my legs back under me. Although T1 went smoothly, I still burned 5 minutes, primarily because I made it all the way to the exit area without my blankety-blank helmet! So I had to lay my bike down and sprint back and get it.

The 3-loop bike course was a delight. Just enough uphill to be a challenge, but not debilitating, and some excellent, long steady descents at 33+ mph. There were three "hairpin" turns, so there was some slowing and turning, but all in all, I was very pleased with my bike ride, although in retrospect I feel like I probably could have squeezed a little more out of it. Regardless, I was enjoying the ride so much, I was a little sad when it ended.

Bike average 20.0 mph on the dot.

T2 was a little faster than T1, but still I lolly gagged around for 4 minutes. Gotta work on that.

Crossed the mat for the run and made a prompt stop at the Porta Can to let out some of the fluids I had been sucking down. It was VERY muggy. That was 20 seconds that I didn't mind wasting.

The run was a mostly flat 2-loop run through a very fan-friendly route, with ample water/Accelerade at every mile. Being the plodder that I am, I was pleased with my pace. Didn't set any land-speed records, but kept my usual 8:45/mile pace without overly pushing myself.

Run Time = around 54 minutes (8:45 pace).

FINISH = 60 / 100 in the M40-44 agee group. (Remember, I said it was a deep field!!!!)

Lessons learned:

If I've got an Ironman in me, I've got some serious work to do. But with as little experience as I have, I seem to learn a ton with each event. The three things that come to mind immediately are:

1. More open water swim workouts;
2. Add at least one intense speed wokout per week during run training; and
3. Don't take Bike for granted; Work to maintain staus quo.

With the Houston Marathon coming up in mid-January, I'll get an opportunity to work on #2 immediately. And although I've scouted out a perfect location for #1, it is going to take some serious dedication to actually do it. So that's where I count on you guys for help/moral support. I truly love riding the bike, so #3 shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for reading and hope everyone had a great summer season.

Sometimes, you have to say "what the **** "

2007-07-24T07:31:00.001-07:00

So Risky Business may not have been Oscar-worthy, and the young Tom Cruise may have turned into a world-class flake, but the movie did leave us with something much more memorable than Joel dancing around in his tighty-whities..........the above quote was hammered home throughout the flick by the antagonist friend, Miles, and finally accepted by our tragic hero, Joel. And it was applicable to me this morning.

So there I was yesterday evening, standing on my back patio, noticing something strange. It wasn't hot. It wasn't humid. The gentle breeze was left-to-right -- a North wind? Heck, it was almost cool. Well, that may be a stretch, but you know what I mean.

Thoughts of a 25 mile morning ride started forming in my head......naturally, I first went through all the reasons to not do it.....none of my group can make it; have to wait until about 6:30 for enough light if I'm alone; With proper cool-down/stretching/shower I won't be able to make it to the office until about 9:00, blah, blah, blah.

So, after taking all of that into consideration, I said to myself, sometimes, you have to say "what the f***."

What an outstanding ride. Not necessarily from a performance standpoint. Yeah, I hammered out a half dozen sprint intervals, and ramped it up to about 26mph in one final near passout dash (that was a damn fast dog!)....but the best part was the, dare I say "crisp air", light-to-no traffic, curious cows, near collision with with a Snowy Egret (big white "cowbird"). And, yes, I made it into the office at a reasonable time, and was able to hit the ground running, so to speak.

As I completed the rural loop portion of the ride, and approached the city limits, the morning hustle-bustle was in full swing. As I navigated my way home, I began thinking how cool it would be to make this a regular part of my week. All I need is a clip-on light so I can get a little bit earlier start, and maybe keep pressuring the guys in my riding group to join in.

Then again, by next week, we'll probably have 88 degree / 90% humidity steam-bath conditions by 7:00 AM. Regardless, I definitely made the right decision this morning. Mornings like this in late July do not come around all that often. Remember, folks, sometimes you have to just hit the "pause button" on everything else that is goin on around you. Sometimes, you have to say "what the f***!"

Later.

A Great Ride. A TOUGH (meaning I struggled) Run

2007-07-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Even though the training calendar (for the 9/03 Austin Tri - see my "upcoming events") called for a "70 minute" ride workout this weekend, couple of riding buddies and I decided to take advantage of the lack of rain, and non-scorching temperature, and put in a 45 mile loop (the route is posted in the left column of the blog - although we started from our neighborhood, which added 5 miles). We had a great time. We mixed in some "social riding" while cruising at about 18, took several miles at 20+, and did about 3 sprint intervals at each persons' max/near passout stage.

Then at mile 40, we hung out at Starbucks for about 30 minutes, solved several problems, then leisurely pedaled home. Really enjoyed both the workout aspect of the ride, but more importantly, being on the road with some of our group for the first time in several weeks.....heck, since the MS150 in April.

Then today came, and I still had to get my run in . The calendar calls for "55 minutes". Well, with my wife and boys out of town, I naturally slept in. By the time I finished my "pre-run" breakfast, and read through the paper, the morning clouds had given way to unrelenting sunshine, and 90+ temp, with relative humidity pushing 80%. Typical Southeast Texas in late July.

And typical for boneheaded runners who wait until 10:30 AM to get their run in. I gave passing thought to going to the gym and hitting the treadmill.....but that didn't sound all that wonderful, plus, my dog would never forgive me. Not to mention that it is certain to be this hot, or hotter in Austin on 9/3. So I downloaded a couple of new songs for the playlist, and hit the road.

I typically drop the dog off after a 1 1/2 mile loop around the neighborhood, and she was ready to be dropped off today. Felt pretty good at that point. Sucked down some water, and got back on the road. Was running pretty good until the 3.89 mile (yes, I have a GPS) mark. Took a little walk break there and grabbed some water from my Amphipod water belt, but never could ramp it back up.

Maybe it was the ride the day before. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was just "one of those days." But, here came those thoughts again......."how the heck am I going to perform well in Austin if I can't even run a lousy stand-alone 10K without struggling?" "How the hell did I ever run a marathon for crying out loud?" Complete an Ironman? HAH!"......and so on and so on.

Then, I calmed down, reminded myself that training runs are always harder than the event itself. The Marathon was the culmination of a dedicated 18 week plan, and I always struggled on the long runs over 15 miles. But on race day, I performed better than I expected.

I continued talking to myself (remember, family is out of town, and the dog and I have run out of things to talk about): Relax, dude. You'll be ready for Austin, and when the time comes, you'll be ready for Couer d'Alene. This is July 2007. CDA is in June 2008. The real "training" doesn't even begin for months. These next few months are for maintaining a base while having fun. That's why you rode with friends on Saturday, as opposed to hammering out 70 minutes on a "training ride".

Don't forget that. Oh yeah, and also don't forget that anyone with an ounce of a brain cell will begin all summertime runs in Texas before 8:00 AM.

Have a great week everyone.

103 wet, flat, hot, lonely miles.......

2007-07-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

.......whew. 103 miles is a long way. On a non-tri specific road bike. Not drafting or riding with anyone. Especially when there are thunderstorms during the first hour, and a 93 degree steambath for the remainder.

And the flatness. Good lord......endless stretches of flat farm roads begin to look like gentle inclines after about 40 miles.

Strange thoughts invade the mind after 60 miles. The last song I heard before getting out of the car? Pink's "U and U'r Hand"........hey, wait a second.........I get it........."....just you and your hand tonight...." Clever. Why the hell am I thinking of the meaning of the lyrics of a song by someone named Pink.......and doesn't she actually spell her name "P!nk"....what the hell is that all about.....

80 miles is obviously the "someone lit my ass on fire" point.

Riding endless flat roads sucks. I need rolling hills. The benefit of the descent far outweighs the price of the ascent, IMO.

Discouragingly slow. Stopped too often. 6 hours and 25 minutes to ride 103 miles. Not great. Not good. Heck, downright tortise-like.

Blood stained jersey in the chest area (can't bring myself to type "nipple") that I didn't notice until after the ride was kind of cool.

Must. Train. Harder.

The double meat Belt Buster at Dairy Queen (for those outside the jursidiction of Dairy Queen, that's a double meat and cheese burger) following the ride was beyond outstanding.

More later.

Are kayaks legal in triathlons?

2007-07-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

The Austin Triathlon (1500M/40K/10K) is still 6 weeks away (Sept. 3), but with all of the rain that hit Central Texas the last couple of weeks, here is what usually serene Town Lake (site of the swim) looked like earlier this week:

Town Lake is actually a section of the Colorado River that runs through downtown Austin, and the river is controlled by as series of dams, so I presume that we will see significant subsidence....but until then, I'll just hope that the make it a down-current point to point swim!

We've had excellent (although HOT) weather here in Southeast Texas all week, and I've been able to get out an run and ride some of my old routes for the first time in about a month. And after getting in two Pilates classes and 4 physical therapy sessions, the back is as near 100% as it can be for a 40 year old supposed triathlete. Thursday was the highpoint so far with my first brick workout of this summer, which consisted of a brutal 6:00 AM Spin Class followed by a surprisingly comfortable (weather-wise) 3.5 mile run. Despite being indoors for the Spin and the relatively cool.........well, not scorching.......I still sweated buckets. I've got to get a better handle on hydration. I did a pretty good job in that department training for the Austin Marathon, but that was during the winter.

Maybe I need to search the triathlon blogosphere for recommended electrolyte supplements. Anyone?

So this should be a big weekend. My schedule calls for a 5.5 mile run Saturday, and a 30 mile ride, but there is a 100 mile ride west of Houston (called the Katy Flatlands) that I've been itching to do, so I'll probably make it over there for that early Sunday morning.

Although it is not a race, I am hoping that the ride will give me some insight as to where I am as a cyclist. I am going to try to ride it "alone" (that is, avoid drafting) and minimize stops, and see what my overall time is for the 100 miles. But I'm damn sure not going to hop off and start running afterwards. I'm not near ready for that yet.

Hope everyone has a weekend full of running, biking and swimming, or, if you're taking the weekend "off", by all means enjoy that too.

Later.

Ode to Pilates

2007-07-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you Joseph Pilates......and to the good folks at my gym. Being the 40 year old non-endurance athlete than I am, it isn't surprising that over the past several weeks, my lower back has gone from "occasionally stiff" to "constantly sore" to the "Holy Crap What Was That?!?" on Saturday night, when I reached for a CD on a shelf at the beach house.

First, the obligatory weekend report......The weather was beautiful, but the deluge of rain that occurred through Friday afternoon really altered the beach terrain, and resulted in a couple of very interesting and challenging couple of 4 mile runs. The several inches of rain that collected in the dunes caused several washouts, about a 1/2 mile apart. Each was about 3 feet deep, and all had deep running water in them. Moreover, the wet sand and seaweed created a very unstable run surface......and of course there was the persistent 15 mph wind.

During each run, I had visions of the "steeple chase" run where runners are hurdling barricades and running through water. Because of the conditions, I am going to take the liberty of adding 20% to each run due to the added difficulty......not that anyone is counting, but I'm doing it anyway.

Now to the back......when I reached for that CD, I froze and winced so bad, that my 9 year old proclaimed to all his friends he was playing hide-and-seek with that "Daddy threw out his back!!!" Actually it wasn't crippling, but it was a warning sign.

I went to the doctor this morning for an X-ray, and the unofficial diagnosis is that I am a little out of whack.......nothing serious, but it needs attention in the form of therapy, etc.

So I got to thinking, with the family out of town, and nothing to do tonight, maybe I would stop in the Pilates Class at my gym this evening. All I can say is why the hell haven't I done this before? I am sure I'm not telling anyone something they don't already know, but just in case, trust me on this guys.......the Pilates program was invented for folks like us. I am going to commit to making at least one class per week, and will also incorporate many of the things I learned into my post run/bike stretching routine.

Check it out if you haven't. You don't know what you are missing. Assuming the benefits I feel after a single class aren't a fluke, you'll be glad you did.

Off to the Beach....Have a Great Weekend

2007-07-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

[radar image delted]

Well, there appears to be a small hole in the clouds right above our place a the beach. You can't see it very well, but we are just above the "GLS" on the Texas coast. Believe it or not, this is the least amount of rain we've seen on the radar in quite some time.

Looking forward to a Beach Run each of the next mornings. Every one of my workouts this week has been indoors, and I'm ready for some fresh air! Hope everyone has a safe and active weekend. Talk to you next week.

Scott C.

A Soggy July 4th........

2007-07-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

Its raining in Southeast Texas this morning. That has pretty much been the story all summer, and it has caused the bike to stay in the garage. We had planned a 50 mile loop ride through the county roads west of town this morning, but I just don't want to have to mess with (a) the wet roads and (b) the bike maintenance that would be required afterward.

My next event is the Labor Day Austin Triathlon, which is a 1500M Swim/40K Bike/10K Run. Because of our wet summer, and partly because I am more comfortable on the bike than in the water or on the hoof, I am in danger of taking the bike for granted, so I really need to get some miles under my belt.

In that vain, yesterday I borrowed a bicycle trainer from one of my partners, who is a big cyclist, but absolutely loathes the idea of stationary training. I probably won't enjoy it much either, but I guess it is a necessary evil as it will be the only option for logging miles more often than not. That and my Thursday AM Spin class that has become a "can't miss" feature of my weekly routine thanks to the outstanding instructor.

Hmmmmm, I did get a good short run in on Monday, and a quality Spin class yesterday......and my training schedule does say that today is a "rest" day..........so maybe I'll just lay low today. I hope that you find better weather wherever you are and that you are able to have an active, fun and safe 4th of July. I'll let y'all know how the maiden voyage on the trainer turns out. Hey, at least I won't have to dodge stray dogs!

Hello out there..........

2007-07-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

OK, here it goes. The very uncerimonious launch of my very own little blog. I thought I would create my own little bit of space here to occassionally post an update on my progress toward Coeur d'Alene 2008.

For the 99% of you that have no clue what or where Coeur d'Alene is, it is a lake community in Idaho (about 50 miles East of Spokane, Wa.) that hosts one of the 6 official Ironman Triathlon competitions conducted in the continental United States, and being the "wannabe" that I am, I signed up for it. June 22, 2008. What the heck, I've got the better part of a year to get ready.

So the purpose of this blog (not much unlike my decision to try and do an Ironman) is selfish. I figure if I commit myself to posting info about my workouts, etc. on a blog, then I'll be more vigilant about keeping up with the workout regimen that will be required if I am going to pull this off. After all, I'd hate to let down the literal ones (I almost said "dozens", but didn't want to be presumptuous) of you that are reading these entries. So take heart.....you are my inspiration!

Well, that's enough useless information for one post. Thanks for checking in.

Scott