Winter Challenge

Need a goal, otherwise known as "an event".  I've struggled to decide on doing an off-road triathlon in February.  It seems like a different and fun event. It is a 7 mile trail run, 6 miles of paddling on a calm pond and 10 mile off-road bike ride.  I already have a modest mountain bike that seems well suited to the course. I just bought and installed cleated pedals on the bike.  Had off-road shoes for several years that my brother had sent me. Been practicing with this setup at trails near my apartment.  It involves paddling so either a kayak or a canoe will be needed. It is a foreign subject to me so I'm trying to educate myself about it.  I can rent a boat, but feel I should do some practice before the event. So the expense of multiple days of rental may justify buying a boat. Been looking at boats at Sunrift and online for used ones.  Several times a week swimming  at the Y. No more than a mile per session. Doing dumbbell curls, pull-ups and pushups to strengthen the arms. All this exercise should serve as good conditioning (transfer over) to the paddling.  Not much running lately but some. Treadmill runs up to 3 miles. On Christmas day I pushed myself and ran 8 miles in the cold.  So this event I just registered for is out of my comfort zone and that may be good. It is in Springfield SC down south of Columbia. Winter Challenge is the event name. I will be camping there the night before with some others I guess. 

Mid December

So the entire month of November was a washout for exercise as I recovered from a sinus infection. Some exercise but not much.  December 7th I peddled my road bike over Paris Mountain (altamont rd.) over to Furman. As I rode up the mountain I saw many runners on the Paris Mountain road race half marathon. I strongly considered doing the 5k (a flat course) portion of this event but did not even feel fit enough for that. I parked a while at the finish line and saw some finishers, including the Messicks, and chatted with them. Shopped for running shoes in Timmons arena.  Dec 16: Rode about 1.2 hour on the seldom used mountain bike. An hour on wooded trail by apartments. Just got cleated pedals for the bike so I'm getting used to that. Wiped out a few times but only a scrape. Felt good to ride the trail. May go over to Paris Mountain State Park for even bigger trails

Post B2B: invasion of the body snatchers

Post B2B It has been nearly 4 weeks since Beach 2 Battleship ultra distance  triathlon. It has been an even more depressed month than I had  expected. A few days after the event I went for a 10 mile bike ride and felt OK.  The next day I felt a funny feeling in my throat and headed for Minute Clinic at CVS. Prescription for yet more antibiotics filled soon after. Felt terrible for the next week or two. By three weeks I was feeling like I might be getting over the sinus infection (that spread to my lungs). I have done a 22 mile ride a few days ago and I was slow. It felt so  good to be on the bike again plus the day brought temperatures above 70 degrees. I have done so little exercise lately that my fitness has nosedived.   I have began to think of doing a run event in a month or two (or three) so I will have to get back at it. I may choose a new event since my speed will be lower than I'm capable of, just the appeal of a new venue will attract me. What I always want is a faster time. I have not done a 5k event yet so maybe that would be ideal. Been thinking of the whole next year schedule and what weekends I am off work. Miracle hill cycling challenge yet again is possible. Just thinking of it kind of brings me out of this early winter depression.  

B2B percentiles. Look ahead.

B2B percentiles. B2B 2014.  So while my 2013 finish time was the same time (3 seconds faster!) as 2011, my ranking improved a good bit. We were all slower due to lack of tide push. My improvement in the bike and run were the reasons I moved up so well in rankings.  128/500 = top 26% of men full participants. In 2011 186/525 was 35 %tile. So a 9% betterment of ranking.  127 men faster. total of 500  13 women faster, total  200 140. Total faster.       700 141/700 = top 20% of all full  Swim 2011 330/525 = 63%        2013 339/500 = 68% Bike  2011 208/525 = 40%        2013 150/500 = 30% Run   2011 133/525 = 25%        2013  87/500  = 17% —————— For my 45-49 age group men: 16th of 83 or 19 %tile.  If I imagine I was in the 50-54 group I would have been in the top 8. Also, if I was 50 and came in under 11 hours I might have been first in AG.  -------- 2014 goals:  • Swim: Be able to see and sight. If incoming tide: 50 minutes. If no tide add 20 minutes. I know I'm a bad swimmer compared to others. I need to keep working on this.  • T1: 13 minutes. Better prep and practice.  • Bike: No seat or hip pain. Keep warm but layer and shed. Shed shoes pre T2. 5:45 • T2: 9 minutes. Better sock/socks situation. More prep and practice.  • Run: Break 4 hours.  Better endurance. 3:58.  • Overall: 10:55 = Break 11 hours. 

B2B Sunday and review

B2b Sunday Woke up at 9 am Sunday feeling sore but OK. My calves were so tight.  Got out of motel at 10:30 after several trips downstairs and several cups of coffee and packing up.  Headed downtown, but took wrong road and got on I-40 for an embarrassingly long time. Turned around and got to convention center where they were having a brunch and awards ceremony. Great, wonderful breakfast foods. Fancy french toast, scrambled egg "cassarole", bacon, chicken in hollandaise sauce, fruit salad, multilayer vegetable salad, and more. I ate alot.  The winner completed the full in just over 9 hours. Don't know if he is a pro or a guy with a 9-5 job. A guy from Cleveland SC, Reagan Splady, got and age group award. I went up and briefly introduced myself and congratulated him.  Met some ladies from Huntsville Alabama breifly. They were getting up to leave and drive back for 9 hours.  Another lady (of asian descent) at the table was from Geneva, Switzerland. She is an anesthesiologist and did Ironman Texas earlier this year. Truly a worldly athlete.  It ended about 1pm. After that I walked on the Riverwalk. Saw the city of Wilmington Fire boat idling at the city dock. It then powered down river and in the distance I could see it fire it's water cannons. Cool.  Walked down Water street and past craft booths and a guy playing guitar and singing folk music.  Went up to Front street and walked past many bars where people were outside sitting, talking, drinking, and watching football.  It was good to walk easy for something like an hour.  Got back to the truck and at about 2 pm headed to SC. Every time I would get out of vehicle after several hours of sitting I was so stiff.  I am so grateful for the support my family gave me.  Thankful that my truck didn't break down on the trip. that none of my pains became disabling and I was even able to start and finish.  When I committed to doing the event again I had a goal to strive for a 10-1/2 hour finish. After the accident with the dog I was unsure how much time to add assuming that I would heal in time for the swim. I was unable to swim for several weeks leading up to the event die to the open wounds. Training for the bike and run also suffered.  Then Friday when Jeremy announced the tide would not give a push until 8:30 I knew I was going to be alot slower than 2011 in the swim. So about 24 minutes slower. My ranking of 339/525('13) vs 330/500('11) was nearly identical. Better training, technique, vision, and especially tide would have helped. This time I made sure I dressed warm for the bike!  The layering worked well but kept me from being speedier in T1. Maybe a minute faster this year but at almost 15 minutes there is a lot of room to improve.  The pain on the bike slowed me down maybe 20 -30 extra minutes. Siting up all the time and coasting was bad. Perhaps when I lowered the height of my handlebars a good bit after my last tri, I made a mistake that caused the pain. I will need to figure this out. The seat too will need to change.  The constant headwind was against me, but the more aero bike, wheels, helmet etc helped some.  6:02:59 this year vs 6:15:33 was a good improvement, but still not the 5 hours and 30 minutes I wanted. Ranking was 150/500 vs 208/525.  T2 was a different layout than in 2011 so hard to compare. I took about 1-1/2 minutes more than last time, but in 2011 I didn't do a nature break. 11:56 vs 10:17. I ran in my cleated shoes. With the shoe covers I was not able to leave those shoes attached to the bike. Oh I'm thinking of what could have I done differently.  The run course was better without the bridges to cross over. In 2011 I ran it in 4:19  versus 4:07:32 this year. Another good improvement. Ranking was 87/500 vs 133/525. Goal was 3:50.  So overall it was 11:56:04 vs 11:56:07. A huge 3 second improvement!!! Rank 127 of 500 vs 186 of 525 men in 2011.  I think next time I will have a goal just under 11 hours. Wait! Next time? Yes next year even. I will be in a new age group too.  Recovery will be much needed. My lack of sleep and then the event with a burn on thumb will leave me vulnerable to illness.  Won't do much for the next week or two. What? Won't do much for the next week or two? I have to always be training. This will be weird. 

B2B Saturday part 3

B2B Saturday, part 3 Running around the perimeter of the large hall of the center but on a padded path. Grabbed my T2 bag from a volunteer and ran to the mens tent. Off with the helmet and shoes but kept on the arm and leg warmers.  Put on a second thin pair of socks. Put on my race belt. Put on my shoes, grabbed my hat and gloves and ran into the bathroom. Scooped up some Vaseline to prevent chaffing. Went into a stall and did my business. Walked out towards the exit of the building and realized I should be running. Over the timing mat.  I was feeling good to be off the bike and taking it easy, but soon saw my heart rate was like 155 so I needed to maybe slow it down. I was running 8:30 to 9:00 pace so that was good. The crowd of spectators was cheering us on. Because our first names were on out bib number they even called out our name.  Thru the downtown and past the finish line. Along the river on the boardwalk. Across the river at the battleship park a reggae concert was going on. The music was awesome. You could "smell" the concert clear across the river.  Thru the cobbled streets and up the super steep hill onto Front street. Settled into a good pace. Around the lake we ran it seemed like forever. I was feeling good. Grabbed some pretzels at an aid station and some cola. I was craving the cola. One or two ounces in little paper cups.  I passed two ladies tied to each other as they ran. The one lady said to the other they were about to cross over railroad tracks. I tried to figure that out. The next day I would find out the one lady was blind! Turn around at about mile 7 and back toward downtown. I saw a plaque that explained not to feed the alligators. I looked out into the lake for them but didn't see any.  I started running with a guy that was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. He had been to Afghanistan and Egypt recently but was now at Fort Rucker Alabama. We talked about that and racing and all kinds of things. We ran with each other for about a half hour or more til I dropped him around mile 12. Had been doing about a 9:00 pace.  I accidentally headed into the finishing chute and the announcer called my name. I froze and turned back to a small opening for where the full marathoners were supposed to go. The announcer had fun with that and I was a little embarrassed.  I kept eating and running. Mostly gels. But I wanted the Espresso flavor ones only.  The sun was getting low but it was still warm.  I had taken my gloves off at mile 2 or 3 and wondered if I should have left them.  Back around the lake. I headed into a porta-potty at about mile 18 for a few minutes and also an aid station. Started taking electrolye pills and water. Sometimes chicken broth or HEED. Lots more Coke or Pepsi.  Saw a guy with a top that had a CF logo or something on it. CF I thought had something to do with Cystic Fibrosis. Also the night before as I was laying in bed watching the late news there was a piece on B2B athlete that had severe CF and was doing the full race. As I came up on the guy I asked if he was on the news last night and so forth. Turns out he was the one! He is a medical student in Chapel Hill, NC (Duke probably). He was indeed struggling with the CF during the event. I told him I could kind of relate as I had moderate asthma and knew from attacks what it was like to struggle to breath. I wished him luck and passed by. I was getting slower. The two miles that included the bathroom took over 22 minutes. My legs were getting weak but I never stopped to walk. Hit the turn around point which was about 19 miles. It was getting dark and I took my sunglasses off.  The light plants were getting turned on and as I passed by them the fumes were sickening.  My pace was about 10:00 or 10:30. Cramps were starting to give hints so i had to be careful. Mile 24 to 25 took 11:24. The last 1.2 miles I was able to pick up some speed as I ran toward the crowd at the last 1/2 mile. I ran across the timing mat and finishing line at almost the same time as 2 years ago. I was surprised at that. My watch showed like 11:56 but the official clock showed 11:58. I thought it was wrong since I started my watch even before the swim start. But it was a mute point. I was done. I got my medal put around my neck, my timing chip taken off, and made to get some PJ bottoms. Then I walked slowly onward and a guy said "are you all right?". He sat me in a chair. I could not do on my own. Sat there a while then another guy came and they put a silver blanket around me helped me up and walk into the warming tent.  I sat in front of a hot blower for awhile and they kept asking how I was. My calves were tingling like when a limb falls asleep and then you wake it up. I got up and shuffled around in the tent and got some hot chicken broth. Later I went outside and got 2 pieces of pizza and came back in. Feeling better after maybe a half hour. Put my PJ bottoms on and tied my blanket on good and headed for the convention center. My truck key was in my saddle bag.  Got my key and headed to the truck many blocks away. Drove to the center and loaded up my bike, T1 and T2 bags. Off to the hotel I drove. 

B2B Saturday part 2

B2B Saturday, part 2 So into the water I went. The temperature was reported at 71 degrees. There were many swimmers ahead and many behind. All around 700 or so of us. The first taste of saltwater hit the back of my mouth and it was not pleasing. It seemed to burn my throat.  I just swam and occasionally looked for a buoy. Supposed to be several along the way. A large crane in the distance, a large water tower. What should I follow?   I should mention that despite my plans in the summer to get prescription contacts, I didn't. I could not see well. I just sort of went with everyone else. I bet a view of me from the air showed a zig zag pattern.  I had a bandage wrapped around my right thumb over a burn. I had to pinch it to my pointer finger as I swam.  Standup paddle-boarders and kayakers lined the way.  After about 45 minutes of swimming I saw the bright orange triangle shaped buoy.   This is where we would turn left. The straight swim of about 1.5 to 1.8 miles up Banks Channel took me almost an hour before I got to the buoy.  There were now houses on the north side of the channel. My arms were really starting to tire. The tide that usually helps the swimmers in this race was perhaps just now starting to come in. Another 5 or 10 minutes I was turning right and headed toward what I could barely see as the finishing dock. A bright orange flag flew there. I was soon along side large boats tied up. Hoped I would not get a mouth full of gasoline or diesel taste.  Got to the dock and was able to climb up the first ladder of many. People were there to help I guess but that is against the rules. I ran along the dock and up a ramp to the concrete walk. I began removing swim caps and goggles. A guy helped strip my wetsuit off as I lay on my back. Off and running again and into a warm shower tent. This took a minute but got the saltwater off my head. Running again towards the T1 area.  A 400 yard run total with bare feet on asphalt so it was tiptoe running. Many people lined the street cheering us all on.  Crossed over the first timing mat and into transition. 1 hour and 19 minutes.  Headed directly toward my bag and grabbed it. Ran to the mens changing tent and in. Nowhere to move. I went back outside. I used the large hotel towel to dry off my head and tri-suit as best I could.  It was very cold and I struggled to put on a jersey. Then arm warmers, leg warmers, head cover and helmet.  Sat down and dried off my feet and put on socks, bike shoes and full shoe covers. No cold feet for me. Shoved my wetsuit, towel etc into my bag and tied it up. Ran to my bike and decided to put on my rain jacket also for added warmth. Gloves on too. Ran out with bike over timing mat (about 15 minutes in T1) and onto the road. Mounted my bike and started going slow.  It was cold but sunny. Biked a twisting course slowly and then over the metal drawbridge. I began passing riders soon. Started getting into a rhythm. I passed many riders that were better swimmers than me. Up Military Cutoff Road. Police seemed to be at every intersection. Soon we were on I-140. Cyclists on the interstate. We had the fast lane and motorists on the right.  I remember looking at my watch and seeing that 2 hours had gone by and I was surprised how fast it had gone by. Started seeing waterbottles dropped along the road. I continued to pass riders. Must do it in 15 seconds once you enter a zone within 15 feet of them.  At mile 20 I went by a aid station and decided to grab a bottle of HEED, a product from Hammer nutrition. I had my own stuff and really didn't need it yet, but I had an empty water bottle cage so just an impulse.  Northward we went into a headwind. I expected it from the forecast. At about mile 22 there were some railroad tracks. The guy ahead of me crossed over them and a waterbottle flew out of his behind the seat waterbottle cage. As he looked back at it he lost control of his bike and crashed what looked like pretty bad. I crossed the tracks and stopped and grabbed a couple of water bottles and handed them to him. I told him to rest and regain his bearings.  Another guy started helping him. I took off. About 5 miles later he would pass me! The miles went on. It was a four lane divided road for a long ways. Riders ahead and behind as far as you could see. I kept seeing "litter" of pills, GU packets, bottles, CO2 canisters gloves and so on.  Oh yea. My speedometer was not working at all but that didn't really bother me. I was watching the heart rate on my Polar watch and using my perceived exertion level as a guide.  I think at mile 40 or so there was another aid station. I stopped to get some Hammer gels and to volunteer gave me 4. Right before this station I had pulled over on a side road for a nature break.  I saw a guy pass me around this time. I guessed he was a half iron rider and one of the faster ones. His butt said "Duncan - USA". A nationally ranked rider with an official USA rider outfit. He was smoking fast.  Compared to 2 years ago I was feeling warm. Well dressed and no rain. Felt good about that. But my left front hip was already hurting and my area where the saddle contacts my sit bones was hurting. Was going to be a long painful ride.  Finally at about mile 50 we turned west. Soon the middle aid station with my special needs bag and the half way point. Also I hoped the headwind would subside.  Got to the aid station and they yelled my number and got my back very quickly. He pulled out my can and handed it to me.  I can't even remember stopping. After I passed the station I decided to pull over. I drank my chocolate shake. I also took off my rain jacket. I was wet with sweat inside it. I jammed the jacket into my jersey and took off maybe spent 4 minutes there.  Much better that 2011 and they hypothermia shaking.  Mile  60 or 70 or so I pulled over for another nature break. I was feeling good after the chocolate shake but the pain in my hip was worse.  I began to sit up and even stand up and stretch it as I coasted. The saddle sore was painful as well and I tried to shift my weight off the small spot of pain.  At about mile 80 we headed south. I still was passing people but began to be passed by riders I had passed. Every 5 miles I would coast, stand up and stretch my left hip. I would stand and pedal and sit upright too. The aero tuck was hard to stay in. I struggled to ignore the pain and peddle hard and aero. The headwind remained. I was expecting a tailwind by this point, but I was disappointed.  I passed the next few aid stations.  I had started a second Powerbar. Mile 100 went by. Mile 110 went by and I was so ready to be off the bike and start running. We came into Wilmington and climbed over the very large draw bridge and downhill toward the convention center. I saw runners out on the course. The crowd there was large and noisy.  I screeched to a halt at the dismount line and almost fell over. Ran with my bike up the ramp and handed the bike over to a volunteer. Time to run.