End of Season - 1/2 Silverman & Other Stories

hmmmm - where to start? here we go.........

First of all training for the 1/2 Silverman was pretty much of a chore after finishing so well at Mission Bay Triathlon (a couple of youngsters about 1/2 my age passed me in the last mile on the run). Soooo - It was almost like - what the heck am i doing training for a race in November after starting the season in April with Ironman 70.3 California (where i completely bombed). so getting back to the training i didn't touch my brand spanking new Guru tree frog green super duper triathlon bike after Mission Bay - why - because i didn't have any fricken' time due to work load, middle school homework, and the famous Begg Haunted House party.

Okay - so i go to Las Vegas for a couple of days in the middle of October for work (seriously it was almost all work) and I must have picked up the cold bug from there because about 5 days later I came down with this nasty crappy cold that turned into a sinus infection.. I ran a bunch on the treadmill after paying $20 a day to join the fancy gym at Caeser's. so enough about Vegas and back to training

My so-called training consisted of the following:
Swim: I drove over to the 25 yard pool in Chula Vista filled with Blue Hairs (Seniors) in a very suspect neighborhood about 3 miles from my jobsite at Sharp Chula Vista Hospital - it's only $3 for 1 to 2 hours of hard ass swimming. plus 30 to 40 minutes every now and then at our 25 meter club pool
Bike: total turbo for 3 to 4 weeks - sweat city in my garage - that's it - no road cycling
Run: 4am - hard ass workouts from Dave Scott and quality 90 minutes on the weekends - the longest i ran was 14.5 miles for a 13.1 mile race, oh well what the heck

Now (almost back) to the race: ... after the Begg Haunted House party the week before and i got totally sick the next two days - no workout for 3 days then bombarded the workouts as much as possible while coughing up flem and crap for 4 days, finally felt somewhat the night before the race (left my Zoots on Southwest unfortunately)

Okay now to the race: actually the day before first but very quickly - what should have taken 2 hours to do with the race registration and transition bags and bike drop off and all that stuff ended up taking 4.5 hours because we weren't prepared and we didn't follow directions and on and on... total lack of focus

race day: woke up well but with total neck pain from the extremely puffy pillow at the condo - still hacking and coughing and sneezing so i took a DayQuill which apparently was not a good choice (more on that at the end) - load up our stuff and head on over to the race start which is this fancy resort on the way to Lake Mead - 

what is different about the Silverman is that try and follow the Ironman race with the swim to bike bags, transition tents, bike to run bags, and such.... kind of neat but logistically a pain as i am used to everything being in one spot for the whole race 

back to the race: it turns out that the race announcers are friends that i haven't seen in 15 years and they call my name over the PA and we meet up for a while - that was cool - so we get into the water finally at 8:10 and mill around for 20 minutes with 800 other loonies in a man made lake that's a bit murky and cold and weird... Oh by the way did i mention that Mark McCormack (Macca) is racing - yep the Hawaii Ironman winner decided to do the race at the last moment - 

gun goes off and 800 tri geeks play a water polo match for the first 200 yards and then it spreads out a bit on the out and back course - so eventually i tuck in behind Macca and a relay swimmer but i can tell my heart rate is poppin' and i'm swimming close to anearobic for 1.2 miles - i finally back off towards the end of the swim as i'm pushing it way to hard - end up getting out i think in 4th or 5th and make my way to the transition tent then onto my Green Guru and then up this silly ass trail pushing the bike to the road - totally bizarre transition area but the race organizers did a fantastic job with what they had - if it had been raining it would have been a muddy mess

onto the bike: my new bike, the Green Guru Gusher, is frickin' Awesome! it propels forward like you wouldn't believe - so i'm heading out onto the rollers out by Lake Mead and a couple of crappy things occur - my straw isn't long enough on my front water bottle and it isn't wide enough to drink out of (i forgot the standard straw so i borrowed the one from my son's fancy cup thing that he got from the Rainforest Cafe in Vegas) and when i gear down into my 53x11 it continually pops and skips every other pedal stroke! Oh well deal with it and keep going - so i eventually find myself in 2nd place behind Macca for about 30 miles when a couple of other pros finally pass me before we start onto the bike trail for 15 miles of hell. i bonked on the bike at mile 45! completely and utterly out of fuel in the body so i switched to spinning on working on those wonderful fat reserves. so - off the bike i'm thinking this is it - i'm done..... but wait a minute i'm still in 4 or 5 place and can probably at least get top 5 in my age group even by walking the whole run....

run - jog - walk - run - jog - walk - etc from mile 2 - 7 , not much else to say - it was mostly uphill  - through major intersections - tried to look good but man it wasn't there - but wait a minute i'm thinking as i go through the turnaround .... if it was uphill to get here then i can free fall on the downhill, so - that is exactly what it did for about 5 miles - Note: funny thing - as i was hammering downhill the police dude at the intersection says to me " ....you really like those downhills don't you...." because he is the one that saw me sucking wind and coughing up flemme on the uphill. okay - so i get to the last mile in a delirious and drunken manner - almost run into a parking structure - almost ran into a fence - made it across the finish line with a run time of 1:48 which is amazing as i averaged 9 min miles for the first 7 miles.

Actually i wasn't quite done - okay now i'm done - i finished 11th overall and 1st in my age group by over 10 minutes (i found this out after an hour in the med tent where i was taken in a wheelchair by my wife - quite strange as i don't recollect it at all). 

Post race reality - i finally ran after a week off - It's been a great Triathlon year!




   

Muskoka 70.3 Story

This is the email post that I sent to my coach:

Mr. Dave Scott:   You are very perceptive about my run. I was on track for about a 1:32 or 1:33 but blew up spectacularly at 15k – went up this tiny little steep hill on the trail and wham-o…. just lost it.   Took some salt tablets and around 4k later recovered and ran out of my mind the last 3k.

So here is the synopsis:

1.      Before the race: perfect – no delays in the air, had a buddy with me that drove to Muskoka, relaxed, compexed, easy loose massage, ate smart and well, hydrated, bike went together great, wrote down my plan for nutrition for the whole day, weather is great, people are great, everything is going according to plan, relaxed the whole day before the race with my feet up after a 30 minute ride and 7 minute run that morning, even my workout preparation the week before went very well.

2.      Race Day:

·         Put all my stuff out for the bike and run (at least I thought I had – more on that in a moment), weather was cool and slightly rainy and overcast – perfect, went to the workout room and did 6 min of easy rowing, 6 min of easy running on treadmill, 5 min of spinning of recumbent bike, good easy sweat and went back to room to get wetsuit.

·         Swim: very easy – warmup for 10 min doing slight sprint and backstroke,   gun goes off and I sprint at the start but didn’t need to, focused on making the straightest line possible but had to swim around tons of people after being the 4^th wave, didn’t stress at all on the swim – actually could have swam harder but didn’t need to . … got out and ran up the 300meter hill to the bike…anaerobic after running in that damn 10mm wetsuit…. Will strip it off next time before running…but it is what it is….

·         Bike: transition to the bike went very well, no trouble getting into my shoes at the beginning, relaxed but my heart rate was pumping from the run up the hill, my heart rate stayed quite high in the 150 – 160 during the first 8k going through the hills…. Interesting as I’ve never watched my heart rate in a race before….. got into a rhythm on the bike that was absolutely fantastic….. kept my heart rate between 136 and 144 which worked very well….. really throttled it back during the first 45k but wasn’t going slow…. Always bombed the downhills to take me up the other side as easily as possible….. I noticed that the folks ahead of me would work it hard over the top but then go easy and coast on the other side and I would go by them like they were standing still,…. I took the other approach and geared down up the hill and ½ way over which set me up very well. Rolled into the T area feeling like I had only ridden about a 40k which was very nice.

Nutrition on the bike: perfect:   started drinking around 10k – drank ¼ bottle every 10k of my special mixture – took 2 electrolyte pills every 20k – took a gel at 10k / 50k / 90k -  ate a Bonk Breaker bar at 45k.  took ¼ bottle of water at 30k and ¼ bottle of Gatorade at 67k. didn’t really like the orange Gatorade at all – will stick with my 3 bottles of special mixture to get me through

·         Run: rolled to stop very nice and ran to the T area without the usual heaviness and lactic acid feeling that I usually do – transition went very well – I was relaxed and focused – a bit of tightening up on my lower quads at the connectors at the knees, hamstrings were doing fine but I could tell a bit of uneasiness – I actually think that I might need 3 electrolyte pills every 20k on the bike,….back to the run – so I start off on the rolling part and feel absolutely fantastic – I think I was running 6:30s right out of the T area and felt that way all up through 7k as I was passing people, I was actually leading the two younger age group waves that had started 5 minutes ahead of me in the swim,…. so from 7k through 10.5k it is rollers stepping up and that was where I start feeling the bonking sensation creeping up on my so I relaxed trying to focus up the hills.  (Note to Self:  I had completely abandoned my nutrition plan that I had set up for the run the night before as I forgot to take my own special gels and forgot the Power Bar Gel bytes right in the back of my jersey – also forgot to take a small bottle of my special formula along with me – Very Stupid!!!!),    so from 7k to the turnaround at 10.75k I really focused on staying relaxed and smooth but it was getting difficult….. so hit the turnaround knowing in the back of my head that I really don’t feel so stupendous any longer, ran the downhills for the next 3.5k really well and maintained momentum up the little rises….then at 14k this guy catches me and I hammer it out with him for 1k when he passes by me going up the f…ing hill and the wheels came off, took 2 electrolyte tablets at 16k and literally stumbled like a drunken idiot for the next 2.5k I bonked so hard,… this whole time since 7k I was drinking bits of water and taking those disgusting Powergels (absolutely awful!) and almost throwing up, once again I used my momentum for the downhills and walked about 3 uphills, at 19k I finally told myself (out loud) to get my butt in gear and not waste all the money I spent to come this whole way for a race. I had no idea I had such a lead so I was still running for my life (or at least 1^st place in my age group)…. Ended up at the end of the race totally expended.. spent 19 minutes in the med tent but recovered very fast…. I was 90% satisfied as walked out to get my finisher’s medal, shirt, and cap (bling! Bling)

·         Awards: fantastic awards and presentation (and lots of people)!  Got up on the da podium and looked like a stud (at least in my own mind)…. the guys in my age group looked old though!

·         Final Synopsis: Pre Race – great, Swim – great (except going around all the people), Bike – 98% great (mechanical issue with getting in my 53 x 11 as I had to slam it in), Run – 65% good, 20% okay, 15% bad – 1. Why didn’t I follow my pre-race nutrition plan, 2. Why didn’t I throttle back the first 7k when I was feeling good as my coach, Mr. Dave Scott ( who knows what he is talking about) told me to do and then I didn’t follow it, and 3. Why didn’t I wear my heart rate monitor on the run when it obviously paid dividends on the bike? These 3 things are easily fixed which I will do at the ½ Silverman!

All in All I give this race a 90% success factor (B+) however truly a confidence builder that I CAN run well off the bike in a ½ Ironman… my confidence had taken a beating from California and Lubbock 70.3. … also I’m very much aware that I really need a true unobjective measurement tool (heart rate or power monitor in lieu of my own internal guidance) during these races to throttle or boost me…..

So….. for the future:

This week – rest and recover with easy swims and spins and maybe a run or two – keep up on my supplements….

Next couple of weeks – get back into my regular routine of workouts with spin sessions, Transition sessions, get some Master’s swim workouts in, Sept 19^th – 1^st part of October.

Next racing: Oct 3^rd in Mission Bay Sprint (Flat Fast Course), and/or Oct 10^th in Orange County Olympic Distance (Hilly and Challenging Course): not sure I will be able to do both? Mission Bay is very important for my sponsors: Breakaway and Compex, OC is important because the course is like ½ of Silverman and it gives me a very nice setup for ½ Silverman.  Not sure right now.

Conference in Las Vegas from Oct 17^th – 20^th, going to try and get to the Silverman run course if I can. Will have to find a Master’s swim and maybe a Spin Class near Caesar’s Palace

Then 10 – 12 days of solid training leading up to ½ Silverman? Kick some butt in Vegas!

Alex

Lake Hodges Run - good thing

From an email I sent to Felipe and TriBandit:

"Just thought I’d share this with you two instead of the world. I started out with the intent of running 16 miles down to Lake Hodges and East along the San Dieguito River Trail to Bandy Canyon and turn around at 8 miles. So that’s kind of what I did however not knowing that when you turn East to go to Bandy Canyon the trail becomes single track and rises up very sharply into switchbacks which according to the terrain makes sense. Some guy in an Ellsworth jersey hammered past me (riding a mountain bike) going up the switchbacks. So… I turn around at what I thought was 8miles and ran back the same way all the way to home. So – okay I ran strong the whole time – not necessarily fast but strong – I get home and download the Garmin and lo and behold I ran 18.1 miles at an average of 7:45 with the first 13 miles at 7:25 pace.


So – I’m ready for Muskoka now – I now have the confidence of running 13.1. miles off the bike plus the weather is supposed to be topping out at 60F!! wonder what 30degrees cooler will do for my race?

That’s it – think I’ll put this diatribe as my first Blog. (one note: took an hour nap on Mitchy's bed with two dogs by my side!)


Alex