There are 2 really great things about having gone to do SOMA. First of all meeting with all of the bloggers was more fun than can adequately be described but I'm sure you are all getting the picture by now. Second of all I am DONE with triathlon for many, many months. This is a good thing. Also - I sort of came to terms with some stuff as a result of this race and that's good, too.
Swim - I was in wave 3 and, as always, was nervous about this swim. It was a water start which I prefer because it gives me a chance to get in the water and pee in my wet suit get used to the water. I think I figured out in this race that I need to use the time to swim 100 yards or so because I had my second minor anxiety attack in the water. I was stunned. If there is one thing I seem to like it is crazy swimming and I had just done an SF Bay swim and here I was in 70 degree water in a full body water wing thinking I just couldn't do it. Later in the day I figured it out. In any case I did the normal "breast stroke to get things under control" thing and the "swim way off course to add some distance" thing and eventually was out of the water - yay!
Swim stats - 29:17 for 2:56/100 meters (thank you anxiety). Overall place 438
T1 - 2:33 which was great considering how far I had to run to get to my bike and then get it out of there. Of course the swim time probably includes the wetsuit stripping time but I'm not sure. Anyhow I'm glad I figured out that sitting down to put my bike shoes on works much better for me than standing up and wobbling around.
Bike - I was a little nervous about my bike because when we unpacked it the brake cable had come undone and we didn't know how to fix it so I had to take it to the bike tech tent and have them do it. Also, I had trouble finding the marks on the seat post and had the seat up too high and had to adjust by feel. Then I had to test drive it in my jeans and flip flops because we had to drop the bikes on Saturday and I was not dressed to test. This was not ideal. The good news is that on race day while setting up in transition I finally found the mark and fixed the seat height.
My bike performed flawlessly and I felt strong. I even managed to drop a few people on the ride but sadly, they were not in my age group - they were younger. That was good but not good enough as we will soon find out.
The course was this crazy loopy thing with a lot of u-turns and crowding. The Half people were doing 3 loops and the Quarterman people were doing 1 and 1/2. As I came back by the finish I got totally confused about which way to go and started going in. Someone yelled "One and Half loops!!???" and I yelled "NO!" so she said "go back out and follow the signs for the quarterman". Okay fine.
Now the pre-race newsletter said they had changed the course and it would be 25 miles instead of 28. I rode and rode and rode and as my bike computer turned to 25 miles and I was nowhere near the finish I was sure I had gone the wrong way (which would be quite impossible on this course) or missed a sign and I was worried. Very worried. I probably rode for 3 miles just being worried before I realized there was nothing to be done but keep going and oh, by the way "SPEED UP!" This was where a woman in Tribe kit with "45" on her leg passed me but I had passed her long ago and I was not happy. I started to let her get away and then I thought "not a chance", got up on the pedals, called, "ON YOUR LEFT" and dropped her like last week's gossip. That felt good. Finally I could hear the finish line and decided everything would be fine. Here are my bike splits (click for a bigger view if you care).
I felt like i was working hard and doing well and, according to Garmin I was going 15.8 mps avg and according to my bike computer I was going 16.6 mph avg but according to SOMA - not so much:
Bike Stats:
1:52:42 15.5 mph avg 542 overall (losing ground by 104 racers. No news there).
T2 - 3:28 which seemed okay since it was a long run to my spot and I got a little fumbly with the helmet and hat and all that.
Run - Hot, Hot, so freakin' hot. I guess I was only the high 80s by then but running on white concrete in the blazing sun is not fun. Not fun at all. I started out doing exactly what I had intended to do - run the run and walk the water stations. I was good for the first couple miles but then I started to overheat. I don't think I took an unauthorized, intra water stop walk break until at least mile 4 but there was this shady part going under a bridge and I just had to walk it. And that set the stage for more walk breaks. I pretty much lost it on the run although it never got worse than a jog/walk 30 seconds on/30 seconds off sort of deal toward the end. What really did me in was being passed early on by a woman with a 53 on her leg who was running at a good clip. I never saw her again. And then, at about mile 5.5 a very, very thin woman with a 51 on her calf ran by me. I was sure she would tank soon enough so I kept her in sights for a while but then she got away from me. If only I had known in that moment that I beat her at the Tri for Real it might have helped. Then again, I was really, really hot and there isn't a lot that will get me moving fast in the heat so maybe I would have just sat down and had a good cry instead. Hard to say.
Finally I was close to the end and I was very happy about that and I ran... and ran... and ran... because it was along distance from 'almost done' to the finishers chute. When I got there, there were Momo and Stronger cheering me in and that was the most fun ever. I've never had friends at the finish line cheering me in like that and I'm guessing I'll see my best finisher pics ever because I was smiling like a loon!
Run Stats: 1:24:33 12:55/mile (ugh!) 527 overall so I picked up 15 spots from people who hate the heat more than I do. Here are my run splits
Total time 03:52:31 9/9 in my division 512 Overall.
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07:42:20 TOTAL TIME This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. Recently I've gotten thousands of emails asking me about my training regime. More specifically when do I training and when do I not train? Actually I have to be completely honest here and state for the record that I did get one email about six months ago asking me this or that about training....or perhaps was it the house training of my dog? Unfortunately we'll never know because somehow I managed to lose the email. But as you may suspect I'm not one to let facts, questions, or even rumors get in the way of doling out my vast plethora of sage advice thus I will do my best to answer this long forgotten question: When do I training and when do I not train? When it comes to training I have the simple to remember Everyman Golden 2NF rule. You way be wondering what "2NF" stands for...at least I hope you are because that's how I keep you reading and not clicking over to your favorite online gambling, porn, or chat room/forum web site. No I'm sorry I didn't mean that. I meant your favorite news, work, or research web site. If you are still with me here's what "2NF" stands for. And since I'm all about choice, I'll give you two possible definitions and choose the one you like best. 1) 2 Negative Factors 2) 2 No F@#%ing Way! We'll, thanks for stopping by and I hope that my sage advise has been of some help to you. OK, sorry about that, I won't tease you anymore. Please don't leave as the rest of the story is really good...you'll see. Let me explain.... The Golden Everyman 2NF Training rule is what I use to determine if I should go out and train on any given day. Here's how it works. Let's start with running as that is the way many of us got into endurance sports. Picture yourself well rested on a perfect day. The sun is shinning, it is about 70 degrees with light fluffy clouds in the sky, no wind, and no traffic and you have nothing else to do but go for a lovely run on the perfect running path, around the perfect lake, running with young people with perfect bodies, followed by a perfect and peaceful nap. That would pretty much be the perfect training run.Now lets add some common negative factors to that run. I'll start with three to keep this simple, but we'll add a few more as you get the hang of this. The Three negative factors (NF's) are: 1) Dark 2) Cold 3) Rain So the Everyman 2NF Golden Training rule states that I will go for my training run as long as only two out of these three negative factors are in play. In other words, I will go for that run if it is cold and dark, or I'll go for that run if it is raining and cold, but NOT if it is cold, dark, and raining. The simple idea is that if the negative factors exceed 2 or more, I'll just not do that workout. Now that you have the basic concept here are some other factors that could negatively impact training: nagging injury fatigue wind gear issues such as only having the wrong shoes time (as in not having sufficient time for the workout) sickness pain hunger/nutrition mud hills mental stamina heat new training route allergies hangover I'm sure that you can add your own negative factors to this list. So why the 2NF rule? Because I have found that all too frequently when I break this rule, instead of making me stronger, the workout makes me weaker. What I mean by this is that by breaking the rule I tend to do more harm than good to my overall fitness and stamina. The most common way this happens is that I get injured. For instance, the last time I went running in the dark, cold, and rain I slipped and fell on a huge rock and twisted my ankle. I would have been in much better shape if I had just stayed in bed instead of going for the freezing early morning run. This is especially true when I get a bit stupid and try to train trough a nagging injury. If I combine the nagging injury like my (Pf) Plantar Fasciitis with a hilly, and hot run, I can promise you the next week I'll be exclusively in the pool because I won't be able to run. As many of us type "A" endurance athletes have either become addicted to training, or can not stand the thought of not getting in that training day, this rule serves as a common sense tool to actually get fitter and faster. But I digress, the second most common way that breaking this rule impacts my training is that I get sick. If I'm fatigued and I go for a cold and wet run, chances are that I'll be looking down the double barrel of a nasty cold and flu within 48 hours. The great thing about the Everyman Golden 2NF rule is that it also works for the bike and the swim. You just need to add and subtract a few of the negative factors and you have a training rule that you can live by on your bike and in the pool. As an example, you can add negative factors such as "questionable water quality" or "unknown masters coaching" for the pool workout and "incorrect bike fit," dangerous traffic" and "crazy riding partner" to the bike ride. I'm sure if you think about it you can come up with your own negative factors. Now for me I have set the bar pretty high with the Golden 2NF rule. For a newbie, I would suggest that you don't exceed the Everyman Golden 1NF rule...at least not until you get to better know the limits of your body.For instance, you don't need to go on a training ride or run in the cold with a "crazy training buddy" who will run or bike you into the ground. That may be a huge ego boost for him or her, but it does absolutely nothing what-so-ever for you when you can't walk the next day because your knees are screaming in pain. So the next time you are not sure if a training workout is worth doing, the Everyman Golden 1NF or 2NF rule is all yours. Oh yes...you may have two other questions: 1) You may be wondering why I call is the Everyman "Golden" 2NF rule? Because do unto your body, as your would have it do unto you. Or in other words, the way you treat a training workout is the same way it will treat your body. 2) You may be wondering about why NF can also stand for No F@#%ing Way! Because when I tripped and fell on that rock in the cold, wet, and dark, I swore that "No F@#%ing Way!" would I ever violate my own Golden 2NF rule ever again. That is how long it has been since I started this journey for a healthier lifestyle. October 25, 2005 was a Tuesday and I had watched The Biggest Loser the night before, season 2 (it used to be on Monday Nights). I did not watch a single episode of season 1 because I just thought it was a show making fun of Fat people, and I was a Fat person. But friends told me I should really watch it as it was very motivating and they enjoyed it. And they knew I was a TV type of guy. We are safe. Thank you so much for your concern. We've been very fortunate. And the worst of it seems to be over. At least, the fires aren't spreading as rapidly. We live in an area close to the coast that is just far enough away to be out of danger. Well folks, I broke the first rule of triathlon - "never, ever, take your bike to the shop the week before a race". Rule two - "see rule number one". Long story short, the day before the race was a stressful one of the shop opening late, no call to explain extra work needed, and a simple chain replacement turned into cables and drilling out broken/corroded gimble-thingies - instead of leaving at 10am for Clermont, we left at 3pm. I do not know the guy or his training methods but at first you got to be wondering what is the message, we as a reading public supposed to get after you read news reports such as, Click HERE to listen now. Do you want to swim faster. Mike Ricci the head coach of D3 Multisport. can make it happen. Mike has been coaching winning triathletes for most of his life. He is both USA Cycling and USAT certified. He help his athletes get the most out of their available training time. He does not believe in "junk" mileage or useless workouts. Instead, he utilizes the most current research and training techniques and combine them with race proven strategies to create the best possible training programs for his athletes. “Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years - |
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