Hulaman Half Iron Man

This was the inaugural race for the Hulaman half IM. It was a strange course, a point to point bike ride and a two lap run. The swim was at Hagg lake. Once out of the water you rode to the Hillsboro stadium. Then you ran two loops around Shute road and Ronler Acres.
I was up early, about 4:30. Had to stop at the stadium to set up my run gear. Then off to Hagg Lake to set up my bike and get in the water. It was raining pretty hard all morning. It started to let up just as we got to the lake. Jen was dropping me and she was headed back to run the half marathon. After getting everything setup I headed to the water to start warming up. The trek from the water to the transition area was long and steep. You had to run up the boat ramp and across a asphalt parking lot with lots of little rocks.
Once everyone was in the water I realized how small this race was. Only 59 men total. That was ok, less congestion on the course I guess. The air horn went off and away we went. The swim was 1.2 miles and went by pretty fast. There was no wind, so the water was smooth, and pretty warm. Got in a groove about 300 meters in and cruised. Found some feet in front of me to draft on for a while, but the guy was all over the place. I found I was using more energy to keep track of him then it was worth, so I broke off and paced myself. I was out of the water in about 32 mins. then it took me another 3 mins to get to my bike and out on the road.
Once on the bike the rain started up again. I had flash backs to my wreck at Beaver Freezer, so every corner was taken with care. I quickly started catching the "swimmers" of the race, and by the end of the first lap around the lake I had passed 4 of them. After the first lap you start a 2nd lap, but then exit the lake and head toward Hillsboro. On the second lap this guy on a road bike passed me. He would stand and crank up the hills every time we would hit one. Scott and recommended that I sit and pace myself up these hills early and focus on keeping my HR in zone 3 (150 - 160) otherwise I would crap out by the end of the ride. I did this and on every flat and down hill I would catch the guy, but then on every hill he would pass me back. This went on until about mile 26 when we hit some long flat sections. This is when having a TT bike and a disk wheel pays off. I was able to put my head down and crank away. Avg speed on the flats was ~ 23 -24 mph with my HR in check. It felt great. Being such a small point to point race though I had no idea how many people were in front of me. At mile 33 just before the big climb I passed another guy. He must have been a fast swimmer to get this far in front. Once up over the Clapshaw hill road I couldn't see anyone in front of me so I figured I was leading. At about mile 45 I passed a guy on the side of the road fixing a flat. He also had a disk and one of those long pointy TT helmets. He looked fast. I was very lucky he had a flat as I probably wouldn't have caught him. Mile 50 came and I passed a volunteer who yelled to me that I was in the lead by about 2 mins. I had a feeling since I hadn't seen anyone in so long, but I wasn't sure until now. This was great, I had never lead anything. How cool would that be to hold on and actually win a half IM!! I came into T2 feeling great. As I racked my bike I heard the announcer say "Our 2nd place male has just come in. He's about 5 min back from first place". First I pissed that I wasn't leading! Then I was pissed that I was 5 mins back!! I quickly put on m shoes and got out of there to see if I could catch him. As I was leaving T2 I looked back and saw the road bike guy just coming into transition. I was a little worried because he looked like a little runner guy.

Mile 1 of the run came quickly, too quickly. I was trying to pace myself to stay over 7:10 per mile for the first 3 miles. I didn't want to go out too fast. Time check at mile 1 and I was 7:06. Not bad, HR was right at 160, so I was ok. Just then my worries were confirmed. Here comes road bike guy. I may as well have been standing there spectating. He flew by me. I was mad at first, but quickly realized that this guy was much faster then me, not much I can do about that right now. Mile 2 time check, 6:56. HR still about 160, but running harder because I had just gotten passed. I slowed a bit to try to stay in control for one more mile before picking it up. The course was good, long flat straight sections really allowed for getting into a groove. Took a shot of GU every mile at the aid station with some water. First time doing this, worked great. After mile 5 I picked it up to Zone 4 HR (160-165). Pace stayed about the same, 7:12. Stayed here until mile 8. At this point Scott said to picked it up as much as I can. I let my HR rise to 170 and held on. Miles 9 to 13 were all under 7:00 min pace. I was able to hold off the guy behind me (he ended up 4 mins back) and I put about a 1 min 20 sec into the guy that beat me off the bike. So I ended up 3rd over all and first in the 30-34 age group. I felt better once I found out that the road bike guy caught the leader and ended up winning by 2 mins. He ran a 1hr 28min half marathon, pretty darn fast compared to my 1:33. Overall it was a great race though. My nutrition was spot on. My pacing on the bike and the run was very good as well. This has me excited about IM AZ. I think I may be making progress on the nutrition front. This is the biggest thing holding me back at this point. Next big race is the Soma Half IM in AZ on Oct 28th...

3rd week of August re-cap

Busy week this last week, but "fun" busy. It all started with last Saturday. A 5k running race in Tualatin with Rob & Erin followed by a 2 hour ride out to Canby and back. The race was fun, but really hard. Who would have thought 3.1 miles could seem so long. Set a new personal best of 18:25, 30 seconds faster then my fastest race at this distance. Also the first race I've ever averaged a sub 6 min pace (5:54). The ride was good, I rode the single speed. It was fun trying to keep up with everyone else, especially on the hills! After the ride we headed south to Anna's (my niece) 2nd b-day party!She had a piñata, which I ended up breaking open all over the front yard. I kick ass at piñata breaking! After too many cup cakes and some root beer we headed home.

Sunday was a long run at Forest Park with Aleck, the Perkins' and Chris. Aleck and I turned around at 7 miles to get in 14. Felt really good, avg'd a 7:40 pace. Still sore from the 5k. After the run I got home and laid down for a few minutes, that turned into an hour and a half nap. It was goood! Nothing like a Sunday afternoon nap. Then a short easy bike ride in the rain. I was heading out to Hillsboro to watch the Blue Angels, but they didn't fly because of the rain.
Tuesday night was dinner at the Lucky Lab with the Iron Heads after a 90 min ride and an hour run at lunch, and a 3200 yrd morning swim. Wednesday was a big day! I picked up my new road bike from Cyclpath. It's sweet, but not too fancy! It's a Scott Speedster: http://www.scottusa.com/product.php?UID=9816. Should work well for group rides and winter training. Looking forward to riding it. Now I need to get my old road bike and my Mt. bike on Craigslist ASAP. Jen's new bike should be in next week and we are out of room. Her bike is the same as mine though, not looking forward to matching (Go Team Thompson!).
Starting to rest up now for the race on Sunday. Weather is looking questionable, but it's only rain I guess. You gotta love Oregon...

A real life lesson on nutrition

The last week has been a huge eye opener for me on how much general nutrition effects your quality of life. Sure I know the basics about a healthy diet, but to see how quickly changes can happen is amazing. A little history: A couple weeks ago I watched my Boxer cousins (Bobbie & Dylan). They are fortunate enough to get homemade meals each day. A took a couple meals for me to get it down to a routine. Once I knew how to make the meals it took no time at all. That same weekend we had to take Murph to the vet for a follow up on an ear infection he has been fighting for a long time. It comes and goes. After discussing Murph's diet and weight with the doc we decided to start making Murph's meals as well. We also did some research and ordered a couple books about animal nutrition. Interesting stuff. They go into detail about what pet food is made of. Not good, things like beaks, eyes, heads, road kill, ect... Sooo now for dinner he gets chicken, carrots and a little organic kibble for nutrients that may not be in the other items. Breakfast is also a little kibble and 1 raw egg, a handful of blueberries, and a serving of plain oatmeal. It's been a week now and the changes in his coat and skin are amazing. He has always shed A LOT year round. While he is still shedding, the amount of hair coming off is significantly less. He used to scratch all the time, rarely does anymore. His skin is not nearly as dry as it used to be. His ear infection is gone as well. It makes since that he should be eating more meats and veggies since he is a carnivore, but I've always had it in my head that dogs eat dog food. The cats are next. hopefully it solves some of their issues as well.

OBRA TT Champs & Count Down to Hula-man

Less then two weeks to go until the first annual Hula-man half IM. This should be a fun race since it basically covers all of the areas I train on year round. Swim in Hagg Lake, ride to Hillsboro, and run around Intel. Normally this might seem boring since I cover the same ground all the time. But in the race I'll be suffering most of the day so I won't really notice my surroundings. But it will be nice to know which corners I need to brake on and which I can take at full speed. My training seems to be coming along well after Coeur A'delene. I did a 40K Time Trial bike race in Corvallis this last Sunday with no taper leading up to it. It was warm and sunny, but windy. It was an out and back on a flat stretch of smooth road. Tail wind on the way out made for a fast ride (between 27 and 31 mph for most of the first 12 miles). On the way back though...ouch... major head wind. I was lucky to hold 23 to 24 mph. The last 4 miles were tough. My HR was near max and my legs were dead. I managed to take first in my category (4/5) out of 20. Barely escaping Garren who was only a few seconds behind. Average speed was just over 25.5 mph I think, total time was 58:09. This was a good confidence builder going into the half IM. After the race I came home and ran 12 miles at a steady pace (8:00 min pace) with my HR below 150. I felt much stronger Sunday then I did a week ago at Blue Lake.
This week is more tempo pace type workouts (zone 3 HR, about 150 to 155 bpm). Should be about 18 hours total for the week. Should be a good week to fit it all in, not too many commitments. Then towards the end of next week I will start to taper for the race. The bigger plan is to structure my training so that my fitness is peaking for the Soma half IM in AZ on October 28th. So there will be some more big weeks coming up. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having a coach!!

Blue Lake Sprint - Always the Brides Maid...

Blue lake Sprint last Sunday, July 29th. Went into the race with high hopes of a top 5 finish (secretly wanted to win it). This was one of my goals for the year. The best I have ever done on this course was 17th with a time of 1:10. It was not the Tri NW qualifier this year so I figured the competition wouldn't be as tough as previous years, so I had to associate a time goal as well (sub 1:07).
Swim:
Went out hard to the first buoy. Made the turn and noticed a set of feet in front of me. I stayed as close as I could and held on. My pace felt right on and felt I was working to keep up. Worked out pretty well. PR'd the swim by almost a minute.
Bike:
Once on the bike I cranked as hard as could until I got up on to Marine drive. Once on the road I settled in put my head down. My HR seemed on the high side today. Probably still recovery from the damn hill repeats at the Perkin's! Passed 4 people before getting the 205 bridge. After passing the last person I couldn't see anyone else in front of me. For about 2 mins I though for sure I was leading the wave. Just as the turn around came into sight I noticed someone rounding it. Crap! Apparently I wasn't leading. As the guy passed heading back I started to do the calculations. I was really going to have to push to catch this guy. I rounded the cone to head back and put my head down and cranked as hard as I could. With a little tail wind pushing me I was able to keep it over 26 mph all the way back with HR over 180 all the way. As I swung my leg over to dismount I feel the wobbling. I knew it was going to be a tough run. AS I was running into T2 Aleck (the leader) was running out. T2 was pretty quick for me and out I went.
Run:
HR was really high now (and you thought 180 was high) about 183. I could see him in front of me for the entire run but he never got any closer. After mile 2 I realized I wasn't going to catch him as I was running as fast I could and not making up any ground. I finished 2nd overall by 25 seconds. Looking back there was nothing I feel I could have differently. I lost it in the swim and ran out of road to make it up. I'm happy with second but definitely not satisfied! Back to the pool! After the race I chatted with Aleck briefly, turns out he is also training with Scott McMillan. That made me feel a little better. Met my goal of top five, had the fastest bike split and went sub 1:07 (1:06:48). Not a bad day overall.