A Look back at Soma & Look Ahead to November

Soma Half IM 10/28 - Temp AZ
I wanted to right up this summary ASAP while the day and my feelings about it where fresh in my head. This turned into my key race for the year after IM CDA didn't go as I had hoped. The last 3 1/2 months of training have been focused on this race. Like I've said, I had big hopes going into it, but I think I was also realistic. Having done more races this year then in any other year I have a pretty good idea of what I can do on a good day. So... I guess what I was really hoping for was a "good day".
We arrived in AZ on Thursday evening. We wrestled our two bike cases, wheel case and luggage to the rental car. The mini van was the only option since we had so much crap. Friday I did an hour ride on some long straight sections of road out in rural Chandler east of Phx. It still amazes me how flat it is there. In the afternoon I did a 20 min run. That was when I started realizing that the heat may be a factor on Sunday. My HR on this run was high. It was about 92 degrees. Earlier in the week the weather channel had been predicting ~89 as the high on race day. Friday the prediction was up to 97. This would tie the record for that date.
Saturday we did one last run, only 15 mins. Then we went to watch my twin nephews' soccer game. It was a great way to take my mind off the race. After the game one last ride to make sure the bikes were dialed in. We then loaded the van and headed to the race site. We checked in the bikes tested the water and grabbed some lunch. We decided not to do the pre-race swim in the lake. It is more of a big ditch then a lake and it is as clear as mud. Unfortunately none of the local pool's schedules worked out for us ether.
Sunday morning came quick. Up at 3:30 for breakfast. We loaded up the van and got to the race by 4:40. We setup out transition stuff, loaded up on sun block, and chatted with some folks around us. The time went by fast, all of sudden it was time to wetsuit up! There was a "Quarter Man" Going off before the half, so we headed to the swim to watch the start. I was in the first wave of the half, so I jumped in the water to warm up at about 7. With only 30-34 men and pro's in my wave it made for a mellow start. Most of the swim I felt like I was alone. The water temp was a perfect 70 degrees. The water was so murky though I couldn't see my watch to check my HR. To exit the swim there were volunteers grabbing you by the arms and lifting you up onto a platform. They had to have been tired after that... On to the bike, the course was 3 loops around Tempe. It was a really fun course since you went through the downtown area so much. There were a lot of tight turns and turn arounds though that did hurt the avg pace a bit. But the long straight aways that we did have were north to south. This provided a direct head wind one way and a good tail wind coming back. Going out I was slowed to ~22 mph. Coming back though I was using less effort to go ~28 mph. My HR and avg for each lap was very consistent. The last 10 miles I could start to feel the heat. Once into T2 running with my bike I realized how hot it really was.
Out of T2 into the run My heart and lungs thought I was running a 6:30 pace. But my legs were only moving at maybe an 8 min pace? Hard to say since they had NO mile markers on the run. This is my biggest beef about the race. Right away I was passed by 3 people. My legs wanted to go with them but my HR was mid zone 5. So I forced myself to back off to the point I felt like I was barely running. This was my lowest point in the race, miles 0 to ~ 4 as a number of others passed me. I went through everything from disappointment, anger, and at one point almost dropping out. About mile 4.5 I saw someone ahead walking as I approached I realized it was someone that had passed me at the run start. This picked me up. I started to tell myself that it's not me, it's really F'ing hot out here. Maybe I'm not doing so bad. Soon after that I passed another person that went out too fast. Now I had hope. This continued for the rest of the run. I focused on hydration and nutrition through each aid station and continually increased my effort. As I started the second lap there were tons of folks just starting the run. This really helped me. I couldn't believe how many people were walking. By the last 2 miles my HR was in zone 6 (~185) and I was going for it. The last half mile was the toughest physically. I started to feel like I was hyperventilating. I crossed the finish line and had to immediately site down to catch my breath. I have never pushed myself like that before. The volunteers were awesome, some lady was scooping ice water out of the large bucket that they had coke in and she was pouring it over my head as I sat there. Once I caught my breath I was good. I ate a PB&J and went to watch for Jen. She kicked ass! She started in the last wave, so by the time she was running it was ~96 and getting hotter. She toughed it out and finished strong. I am SOOO proud of her and how strong she has become.
On Monday morning I was up early even after 2 18 oz margaritas. I sat in Jen's sister's back yard with my legs in their pool watching the sun rise and drinking my coffee. Up to this point I had been disappointed with my race. But reflecting on the experience the next day I realized the positives. My bike split was right were I had hoped. The swim was what I expected based on current training. On the run I think I found a new level of self awareness which is big for me. This is probably the one thing I've noticed most in the really strong athlete's that I've met in the last year. The ability to really understand what you're feeling and why. Once you have this awareness I think you are able to know when you can push and when you need to hold back or drop out completely. Being able to separate the mental limiters from the physical one's maybe one of the biggest barriers in long distance racing for me. This weekend I feel like I made a small step toward lowering this barrier. I'm even more hungry now for next season. With two Ironmans and a bunch of other events I hope to make more strides in not only my physical development, but mental as well.
November:
This will be my first attempt at an "Off Season" since I started doing Triathlon in 2004. I am really looking forward to it. I hope to get in some fun local running events, some mountain biking, and maybe a cross race or two. I also owe Murphy (our yellow lab) some serious attention. Thanksgiving will be in Vegas this year. My other favorite endurance sport - Blackjack! Also mixed in the month is another step toward middle age (my b-day). Every year I look forward to it a little less. I don't mind getting older, I just don't want to get "old".

Out of Hidding

Well I've been refraining from posting anything this past week because I knew it would be whinny and bitchy. One week ago today after a wet & windy run I started to feel like I was getting sick. The next day it was a full blown head cold. I was a little dissapointed but figured it would pass quickly as they usually do. No luck. After taking a lot of time off I wasn't feeling any better yesterday. So I decided to go to the doctor (first time in many years) and see if it was a sinus infection. Turns out it is not, just a very aggressive head cold that needs to run it's course. I went for a run last night and felt ok. My HR is still a little higher then it should be, but it was ok.

Soma: We fly on Thursday to AZ and the race is Sunday. During the last week I missed most of my workouts, however I did manage a 1.5 hr ride on the trainer Saturday morning followed by a 20 min t-run on the treadmill at the gym. It wiped me out for the rest of the weekend, but I am happy I did something. Not sure how much missing the last week will impact me on race day. I'm sure I've lost some fitness though. My bigger concern at this point is getting back to 100% before the race so I my HR returns to normal and I can race as well as my current fitness will allow. Forecast right now is for sunny and a high of 89. That should put it at ~80 degrees during the run.

Two weeks ago I had hopes of breaking 4.5 hrs and maybe even placing in my age group. Now I just want to feel good and race the best I can. So I guess the cold has taken some self induced pressure off, but I am really fighting back the frustration. I know it could be a lot worse. Hopefully I wasn't too whinny in this update. Just a couple days ago I was moping around the house driving Jennifer crazy. Last night I officially declared that "I'm no longer sick". We'll see if a positive attitude speeds up recovery.

Back on track

Not sure what was up last week with my training. I have to assume I was on the verge of catching the sinus infection Jen had. That's the only explanation I can really come up with for why I felt crummy all week and felt so bad in the half marathon. As a comparison I ran 17 miles yesterday and the last 13 miles of it I was only 1 min slower then I was in the race. The big difference was heart rate. In the race my avg was 171, yesterday it was 154. That's a big difference for only 1 minute. Oh well, I would much rather have that issue on a training run then in Soma next week. Hopefully I got it out of my system. My swims were down this week. I had a tough workout on Thursday with 1800 yrds of paddles out of 3700 yrds. Afterward I had some shoulder pain that was a little concerning. I decided to skip my Friday workout to let it heal. I swam today and it's good to go now. This week's summary:

Total time: 16:39
Bike: 139 miles
Run: 46.5 miles
Swim: 7100 yrds

As I drove to work this morning in the rain I was bummed that the nice weather is over. At least until we get to AZ next week (forecast is Sunny and 90). This weekend was perfect. 70 mile ride Saturday near Estacada and Boring with some good climbs and great company! Immediately following was the 5+ mile run with 600 ft of climbing (including 300+ stairs). Needless to say I was down for the count when I got home. Nothing better then laying on the floor in the sun half asleep listening to football on a Saturday afternoon. Sunday after the run and breakfast we watched Garren race his first Cat A cross race. This was also a scouting mission for me to observe the proper method to mount and dismount. The only issue is the cat A guys make it look way too easy. They are good to watch for the technique, but I think I need to watch the Cat C guys too so I can see that not everyone is so smooth. I don't want to be the only bumbling fool out there who can't get his foot out of his cleat fast enough and bails into a barrier. Or worse yet, times the mount wrong racks is doo-dads on the back of the seat. As you can probably tell, I am a little stressed about this whole cross thing. But I'm going to try it!! I just hate trying new sports when there are spectators around, because I know when I see someone fall down I laugh.

Victoria Half Marathon Summary

I love Canada! Both trips up there this year have been really fun. This adventure started Friday after work. We drove to Seattle leaving much later then planned. I stated to Jen as we started the trip that I was going to speed until we ether got a ticket or reached the hotel. Fortunately we made it to the hotel with no ticket, but made it there in 2 hrs and 45 mins with a gas stop. I love the GTI!! We stayed in a cool hotel on the water front called the Edgewater. We had a good meal with Rob & Erin then headed to bed. We had to get up bright and early to catch the Clipper to Victoria. The boat ride was fun and went by quick. We got to Victoria in the late morning and checked into another kick ass hotel called the Oswego. This place was a small boutique hotel 1 block from the start line. It was brand new and was the size of a 1 bedroom apartment. We bummed around Victoria and hit packet pickup. Finished with lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Always a safe pre-race meal. It is sure nice to only do the half marathon, and to only do it as a training run. Makes for a stress free trip.
The race started at 7:30 so we didn't have to get up too early. Especially with it only being a block away. We met up with Rob & Erin at the start. They were doing the full which didn't start until 8:30. Also met up with Chris V who was also using this as a training run for a Half Marathon in CA the following weekend. There were just over 4k people at the start, not too big. Weather was perfect. I felt crappy, not sure why. HR was high, stomach ache, side cramps, ect. Never really felt good. I thought I was going to honk (throw up) multiple times. Got through it though. I was happy to be done. It helped to run with Chris. Went back to the room, took a shower, ate breakfast and watched football. Jen finished a short time later. We headed back to the finish line about the time we expected the Perkins to finish. The rain was pouring down now. Tough finish to the marathon. They both came in just over 3 hours looking strong. After the race we went to the awards ceremony to see Erin get her 3rd place AG award then grabbed some beers and lunch. We headed back to Seattle on the evening Clipper and stayed in one more hotel. Another cool one. This was called "W". Very hip and dark. The lobby was like a night club. The room was cool though. Slept in Monday and drove home. A very good trip all the way around!

Last week Summary

Last week was the biggest week I've had since CDA Ironman. Here's the stats:
Swim - 12900 yds
Bike - 151 miles
Run - 48 miles
Time: 19hrs 45min

Many of the workouts this week had some sort of interval/speed work. So all things considered I feel pretty good today. The other highlight of last week was how my workout schedule lined up with some of the other Ironheads. I was able to do 5 of my workouts with others. This really helps to mix it up a little and running/riding with so many fast people I find I push myself more then I probably would if I was alone. But, I never feel the pressure to push beyond my limits. It's a great environment to train in and I'm very lucky to be a part of it.

Follow on to the Peach Of Century Ride on the single speed:
I was doing some math in my head the other day when thinking back on the Century ride. There is a guy the works at Intel named John that did RAAM (http://www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/2007/RAAM.html) on a single speed. Some of you know the story and may know him. What he did is incredible. After riding only 100 miles I am even more blown away at what he did. He rode over 3000 miles on his single speed, so that would be similar to doing the Century ride that I did 30 times non-stop. Not to mention he did a lot more total average climbing on his route. I can't imagine the mental toughness and strong will to finish he must have in addition to his physical strength. I hope I can do something in my lifetime that few have done or even want to do just to do it. Not sure what that is yet, but I'll hopefully come up with something :)