Tuesday FAIL. No success

What goes up, must come back down.

My up from this past weekend crashed, and it crashed HARD.

My run this morning was anything but great, in fact it was pretty "crappy.". So enough said about that! Attempted 9 miles (averaging a 9:15 pace.....yeesh it felt like I was running through molasses), got to exactly 6 miles and had to "stop." So enough said about that!

Went to the pool right after work. Things were going pretty well after hitting a couple 1:26's on a 100 interval. Then I ran out of gas and started to get the shakes. Yep! BONK!

I am going to write today off as a "blah" day.

Monday FAIL!...no, I mean success

If you aren't a facebook friend of mine, then you didn't read my morning rant. It's a good one:

The pool was closed this morning due to a fire (is that ironic?). So I had the option of using the small pool, which is 20 yards (looks shorter...) and there is an old guy in there in a man-thong swimming. No thanks! So I go home mumbling curse words under my breath and check the mail.

What is in the mail? JURY SUMMONS!

The welcome message is like a big "F-U!" and they know it.

Dear Juror, You have been selected to serve as a juror in _____ County. It is our distinct pleasure to welcome you to service and we hope you will find the experience greatly satisfying and richly rewarding.

YOU. HAVE. GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. ME.


Well things turned around by mid morning when I learned that I can postpone the jury duty to a date of my convenience! Good! Cuz if I was there longer than 2 weeks, bye bye well deserved Disney Vacation! Gonna try for a time after the NYC Marathon.

Things looked even better at lunch when I was able to get away for a 16.5 miler on the bike. This was supposed to be a recovery ride, so I took it easy, and still held an 18mph average. SCORE!
Now my 9 mile run tomorrow AM will be the teller of how well I am "recovered".

Success continued into the evening when they reopened the pool. I have been struggling with getting in the swimming since Rhode Island 3 weeks ago. I have no idea, I just have not been able to go! You know when you have been so inconsistent with something and then you realize how much time you have left until the big event and then PANIC! starts to set in? That was me this morning.

I had a "solid" swim tonight and put up some numbers that calmed my fears. I wasn't blazing fast like I was leading up to Rhode Island, but my times are way faster than this time last year. Phew!

I did:
500 WU
5 x 100, went 1:30 or less for each
6 x 200, alternating between slow and fast. The fast all came out @ 3:00 flat for a 1:30 pace.
3 x 100 CD

This swim basically saved the season (mentally)!.....if I can say that. I was FREAKING OUT! that I was losing my swim before my A++++++ race of the season, Timberman.

The ENTIRE point of this season (and I have to constantly remind myself this) is to seek revenge on Timberman.

I have the bike down.

I have the run down.

The swim is coming back.

And the taper tantrums have started!!!!!

.....just bear with me these last 2.5 weeks, ok? :)

Timberman Course Preview; Yeah, um, the race should have been held this past weekend!!!! DANGIT!

So when its 62 degrees and raining, my body likes to go fast.

When its 75 degrees, sunny, with ZERO % humidity, my body likes to go fast.

When its 100% humidity and 80+ degrees, my body wilts on the run, and I don't go fast.

Today was the 75 degrees, sunny, with ZERO % humidity brand of weather.

My body went fast.

I am up in NH previewing the Timberman course. I think this is the 4th time I have done the course (the third and previous time was the race from last year). Today I went a 2:43:00 on the bike, hit the turnaround @ 1:19:00 on the dot and positive split the bike by 4 mins (this course is a net downhill on the way out, and a net uphill on the way back). Held 200 watt average (BAM!!!). Last year during the race I went a 2:49:47 and held 170 watts. 7 min improvement? I will take that!

I was convinced that I nuked my legs on the bike (as usual). So I threw on the run shoes and started running. My body went. Did a 10K in 48:15 for a 7:47 pace. Where the F did that come from!!! I was on pace for a freaking low 1:4X:00 half marathon! I stopped @ 10K because I was feeling multiple blisters coming on. Glad I stopped when I did! Gonna save those blisters for race day in 3 weeks. In comparison, I ran a 2:23:xx last year during the run....yeah, let's not talk about it ;)

In other words, why wasn't the race today! DANGIT!!!!! I woulda had the race of my life!!!! I am seriously bawling my eyes out right now! (not really....)

I know, in 3 weeks we could have the same weather, but its not that. I just paced myself to the best bike ride of my entire life to have the fastest half marathon of my life. How am I going to repeat that! Its like go put together a 10,000 piece puzzle right now, tear it back apart, rinse and repeat it. Seems overwhelming, right?

Ok, enough whining!

Positive spin: My fitness is in a GREAT place right now. I still have 3 weeks to increase it even further with one more long ride next weekend followed by either another 10K (geez, I guess these brick workouts are good after all?!?!?) or a long run the next day with 2 weeks to keep going.

So today was good all around. My bike split was 7 mins faster than last year's race time. The run I don't even need to talk about. My run is finally coming back around. AND! I know what it is due to: Besides a season full of 80+ mile months, I finally hit the 100 mile in a month milestone. After today's 10K, I will wind up with ~101 miles for July.

But I think the bigger thing is the amount of work that I have put into the bike this summer. Every long ride that I have done has been of a half Ironman distance and has been done at my half ironman intensity and wattage, while practicing and refining my half ironman nutrition and hydration. I got it all figured out!

I used Nuun for the first time on the bike and run. They are a little fizzy, but other than that are good? There was nothing negative about them, so if anything they are harmless. Did they contribute to my awesome bike and run today? No idea. Had it been the usual swampy fumidity out there and I did the same result on the bike and run, then I would say most likely the Nuun worked, but I will have to wait for those conditions before I can determine that. For now, they are IN for training.

So for Timberman, I know the course. I know how I f-ed up last year and I have fixed those mistakes. I can stay in the aero position for 56 miles straight now and I know how to drink and eat appropriately.

PLEASE let these next 3 weeks go well! PLEASE! I have "it" right now and I don't wanna lose it!

Finally, a loud SHOUT OUT! to Kevin @ IronmanByThirty! He dropped a 5:29:21 @ Ironman Steelhead 70.3 this past weekend, besting his time from last year by a whopping 40 mins!!! Way to go Kevin! That is a HUGE improvement in a year's time! Absolutely phenomenal! Drop by his blog and give him a shoulder rub of Aloe. He needs it! ;).....you will understand what I mean!

Remember what used to be exciting, has become "Meh"?

Remember the first time you ran your first 5K without having to stop and how much of a victory that used to be? Now you can't remember the last time you ran a 5K because you now only run a minimum of 5 miles.

Remember your first sprint triathlon that had the epic 3 month build up that you would talk about constantly and your friends would roll their eyes if you brought up that subject again? Now a sprint has become a short training day and doesn't satisfy your appetite.

Remember your first Olympic distance and you dreaded that .9 mile swim, didn't mind the bike, but was scared shitless of the 10K run that felt like the distance of a marathon and you went so conservatively so as to not blow up? Now you can race an Olympic harder than a sprint!

Remember your first Half Ironman and you thought that you were not going to make the swim cutoff of 1:15? Remember you drove your family and friends to point of them exiling you to a deserted island so they could shut you up from the constant FREAKOUTS!!! You thought the HIM was the do all/end all distance because the Ironman was totally reserved for those superfreak athletes. Now the HIM is just a long day out there, but totally doable and now you can race it with some effort!

This is how I feel a year later reattempting my very first HIM, Timberman. Has a year already flown by? I remember this time last year having so many doubts and freakouts. Why? Oh, right, that fear of the unknown.

Now that I have 3 more (4 total) Half Ironman races under my belt, my fear of going back to Timberman is zilch. I know the course, I know what I am capable of, and I know what I did wrong last year and @ Rhode Island this year. Don't Go Too hard on the bike, and eat enough food. I solved the food issues, its just the pacing on the bike that is the problem. Fortunately with new tested zones the other weekend, that is taken care of as well.

The other problem is that I can't seem to put all three disciplines of a triathlon together at this distance. I usually nail 2 out of 3 in varying orders, but that third just sinks my day. Hoping to go 3 for 3 in a few weeks!

Oh, and if you think I was a mess last year leading up to Timberman, just wait till the lead up and taper for Lake Placid next year! I might need to be commited! ;)

Have a good weekend everybody and good luck to those racing! I am heading up to NH to tackle the Timberman bike and run courses. Gonna try out some Nuun on the bike to see if I notice a difference on the run. This bike ride will be done @ HIM intensity and will be the final barometer for how my bike split will be on race day. 3 weeks to go! Yeesh! So expect a detailed report on Monday.

Lake Placid, Day 3

On Monday the plan was for race signup and to get another swim in and run the run course. Got 2/3 of that done, but also solved a BIG future issue, so I am gonna go for a 3/3 with an unfortunate 4th for the day.

Race Signup Debacle
Mandy @ Caratunk Girl got in line at 7:15 and promptly texted me to "get my ass over here" STAT. Thank you Mandy for getting there early! I am SUCH a jerk for showing up late. My bad!!!! She said people were grumpy in line. I sprinted over there with my swim stuff and smoothly buttered my way into line. We actually formed a group of 5 of us and chatted for the next 4 hours!!!! in line. It was cool as these other folks were really nice and we all shared our experiences. One guy has done the race 6 times so it was good to pepper him with Q's.

Apparently the phone lines went down and that is why the long wait, but some officials kept going up and down the line saying you volunteers all have first dibs and DONT WORRY you WILL get registered for 2011. So we all chilled and waited patiently.

We triathletes are the easiest people to talk to. REALLY!

After Mandy and I registered, Kristin @ TheLazyMarathoner walked by. I FINALLY met you Kristin! She rocked out a 13:3o the day before!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! You are a rockstar!!! You HAVE to go visit her blog and see what she dealt with last season with injury and how well she has recovered for this race. Last year @ Ironman Wisconsin, she walked, YES! walked the marathon IN A BOOT! She will repeating that race in 7 weeks injury free this time. Watch out Wisconsin! Somebody is gonna do some serious payback!

Hungry = Botched Swim
So after 4 hours of waiting, my preswim fuel was spent and I was bonking. The swim was out. No worries, I already did it and I sun burned the back of my next while spectating in the sun, so I didn't think the wetsuit rubbing on a sunburn for 35-40 mins was such a good idea.

Ran the Run Course
So I scarfed down some food, took a 2 hour nap, and got out onto the run course around about the same time I expect to hit the run course next year, which is around 3PM. I LOVE this run course. It is mostly flat, but there are a few hills in there to make it honest. Like the swim and bike courses, this run course is a 2 looper, so I did only 13.1 in 1:57:xx. This was a great endurance run. It was hot and sunny, but DRY!!! Oh my god I can't remember the last time I ran in dry weather. I have seriously run in soupy humid weather every day since, well, I can't remember!

At the turn to River road, you go right past the Olympic Ski Jump hill. WOW! The jumps are like 80 stories high!!! Those ski jumpers have some serious Kahunas for going down those things and flying way up in the air. I was getting acrophobia from the ground by just looking up to the top of those things!!! So that was pretty inspiring....

Right before mile 11 you hit the steepest and biggest hill of the course. I can only imagine how hard it must be going up that sucker not only the first time, but also the 2nd time at mile 24. Hats off to all of you Ironman finishers! You make hard look easy!

A-hole in the gas station
I finished the 13.1 and was on a total High. AND I was parched. So I found a gas station right across from the Athlete's Village, and bought 2 bottles of water. Some other attendant in there (who was NO athlete by his physic) did the elbows on the counter/probably hairy buttcrack display-lean-in with this:
Him: So (long pause)
Me: (oh god.....)
Him: Let me get something straight here
Me: Ok?
Him: How long did you wait in line this morning to register?
Me: 4 hours.
Him: So you waited in a line for 4 hours to signup for a race? to spend $600 to go out there to kill yoursel.......
Me: (cuts him off). YUP!!!!
And I walked straight out of there. I didn't give a shit about the stuff he and his neanderthal buddies probably joked about behind my back. The guilt was on them! Don't they realize this week(end) is the biggest revenue producer for that little town and for them?!?!

I was both angry about how naive this guy was, but I was also BEAMING with pride. That is right. The stupid shit that we do and the $$$ that we spend to do exactly that: Go out there and KILL ourselves for what? WHO CARES FOR WHAT!!!! There is that little (but probably BIG) unexplainable thing inside each and everyone of ourselves that makes us "tick." Signing up and doing this race is currently what makes me "tick."

House Rental
I am not going to lie to you. The $600 it costs to do this race is the cheap part of doing the race. Unless you live right in town, get ready to shell out some $$$ for accommodations and food for a week, because that is how long you will want to stay up here, especially if this is your first Ironman. I am turning this thing into a religious experience!

Like I mentioned above, this is the #1 money maker week(end) for this town. They invoke minimum night stays and jack up nightly rates. It's simple economics 101: Supply and demand! I did the math, and for the amount of people that I want to come up to watch, its waaaaaaay cheaper to rent a house for 7 nights than doing hotels close to town for 7 nights, even 4 nights! And then you have to think about the cost of food and convenience of food.

I am not gonna lie again. I am a princess when it comes to eating my diet, especially around a big "A" race. The food here in town is good, but good in terms of wanna shit your pants during a marathon? I need my basic athlete diet to avoid the above. So having a house with a kitchen solves that problem, and brings the cost down and convenience UP.

Geebus, I have been rambling! Back on point! So after the run and run-in with the a-hole, I hit up two rental agencies and reserved a nice big house right off the run and bike course within a mile of town. SCORE! Housing problem solved 364 days in advance! You don't understand the relief of that! And based on size and cost, its gonna be about $50 per person per night WITH space and beds and multiple bathrooms. BAM!

Everybody on Monday was wandering around town wearing their blue Finishers T-Shirts. And! They were doing the Ironman waddle. You could easily tell who did the race the day before by the way they walked. They couldn't bend their knees and had very short strides!

I look forward to that being me wearing the T-shirt and doing the Ironman waddle in a year's time!

It won't be 2011, It will be 20IIRONMAN!

Before I post about my 3rd day up in Lake Placid, I first want to post this.

So there are going to be a LOT of us first time Ironman bloggers next year.

Here is the roll call:
I am doing Lake Placid
Kevin @ IronmanByThirty is going for Wisconsin
Mandy @ Caratunk Girl is Lake Placid Bound
Jason @ Tech-Tri is also Lake Placid Bound
Derek @ DR: TRI'ing 4 Iron is joining the Lake Placid Bound crew
Emily @ Sweat Once a Day is ALSO joining the Lake Placid bound crew
Mary @ IronMatron is coming back for round #2 of Lake Placid and for her third Ironman.
Jeff @ DangleTheCarrot is going for the inaugral Ironman Texas. How can he not?!? He lives 45 mins away! SO jealous, Jeff!!!....but NOT jealous of the heat/humidity you guys have ;)
Maria @ 2010 Brings Racine is going for Redman!
Alexa @ Just Keep Swimming is the veteran going double for her 2nd and 3rd Ironman @ Coure d'Laine AND Wisconsin. Tests results are still pending on whether or not she is robot or human ;) She just dropped a 12:18:xx @ Lake Placid last weekend!

Anybody else joining the fun? I'll add you to the list.

Geebus talk about being able to share many future "first time" experiences over the course of next year between us all. Trust me, I am going to be a sponge absorbing all of your mistakes and successes you make along the way! So don't feel ashamed to post them as well as your successes. I will be right there with you posting about the "suckage" and future bonks.

To 201IRONMAN!

Lake Placid, Day 2

If you can't tell, I had been really busy up there in Lake Placid and I haven't forgotten about all of you fellow rockstar bloggers! I plan on catching up with each and every one of you. So please be patient! I wanna know who PR'ed this past weekend! Your successes inspire me to try harder!

So Sunday was my 2nd full day in Lake Placid, AND it was race day. Talk about C-R-A-Z-Y.

Volunteer Walkthrough
Up @ 5:30AM, scarfed down some food, but it was hard to eat because I was so nervous for all of the athletes! ha!

Got my volunteer T-Shirt and security wristband and went to the Men's Transition Tent. The volunteer captain there got us all oriented with what we were to do and that was it. I had just enough time to get to the swim start to see it go off.

WOW! 3000 athletes all at once taking off. Talk about inspiring. The swim start area went from a bunch of folks treading water to a sudden washing machine. Water was flying everywhere! I couldn't wait around too long because the pro's had a 10 min head start on the masses so I had to get back and get ready for the onslaught.

Volunteering
When the first pro came in, we didn't know what to do cuz he ran in, stopped, dropped his transition bag and wetsuit, picked up his helmet and went for it. So someone put his dropped stuff in his bag and that was that. I was like, "Hey! This will be easy!" WRONG

People slowly filtered in and it was manageable. Quickly it became overwhelming and you just could do what you could do to help folks get stuff out of their bag and get stuff into their bag for them.

I discovered there were a few different "types" of transitioners.
The pros: STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY! They know what they are doing, so let them. Just clean up after them.
The top age groupers: They were just like the pros, but some were a bit demanding asking you to do everything for them. Some just wanted to be left be, but clean up after them.
The self sufficienters: They have everything in order, and just let them be.
The I-Need-Helpers: They need their hands held! Seriously!
The Take-My-Timers: They don't need help, they just want to be left be, but they take their take. They say that "transition won't make or break my race".
The Spreaders: They spread all of their stuff across 5 different chairs with everything in order. Stay out of their way!

Nobody was rude and everybody was grateful in the tent for our help. We mostly just either bagged and tossed their bag into "the pile" or waited for them to bag and then we tossed.

Some folks came in around the 2+ hour mark and we were looking @ our watches getting worried cuz they looked like they were going to need all the time they could get!!! We later learned that only two folks missed the bike cutoff @ 5:30PM.

Spectating
We were done sticking the bags back in everyone's spots by 9:45 and I was done, so I got a bite to eat and waiting for the pros to start coming through on the bike. I staked out a nice spot right at the 56 mile marker.

The pros are FAST! and make it look like they are just starting the bike. Actually, everybody looked that way! I thought to myself, "Usually this is when you get off your bike and run a half marathon......they are going for another loop......BADASS!!!"

It is amazing how after only 3 seasons of triathlon you recognize a LOT of people, whether it be from other races or from the blog world. I seem to have races with the same random people over and over again, and I saw them again at this one. I have NO IDEA who these people are, I just keep seeing them!

I did see Alexa @ Just Keep Swimming finish her first loop and she looked to be in perfect condition ready to rock another loop.

Nap
My battery was starting to wear down after most of the field finished the first loop and things quieted down in town. But I hung in there! Mandy and I started to stake out different run locations to get the best view of the runners coming out.

Eventually the pro men started and they came out like bullets! Geebbus did they just bike 112 hilly miles? Didn't look like it!

After this I was dying. I went back to my hotel and crashed for a solid 2 hours. How lame is that?!?! I mean, folks are out there going full steam for 12 hours and I can't volunteer for 3 and spectate and eat ice cream for 3 and last a whole day. haha!

Coach Meetup
Around 6 I met up with my prospective coach for next year. Its a GO! January 1st will be my start date so I am still on my own through Timberman and the Marathon, which was the plan all along.

Basically the coach said, "I have 15 athletes out there today and they range from 20 hours a week down to 8 hours a week, and I make sure that I maximize their limited time to get into Ironman shape."

In other words, its gonna be simple training load (intensity x volume = load). I could do the same amount of hours that I am doing now and do an Ironman. Its just that 12 hours a week will be a LOT more intense than if I do 20 hours a week where that will be more volume than intensity.

The other groundbreaking thing that he mentioned was that physiologically your body between the 6 and 9 hour mark throws a switch and things "change." Your body starts acting differently due to the stress. I had NO idea about this because I have only been out in the trenches for 5:55:xx. So some long 6 or 7 hour bike rides will be in order next year followed by a *gasp* brick run of 30-45 mins meant to see if my nutrition was appropriate on the bike.

Night
Met up with some friends for some pizza while it started to get dark. They are athletic trainers and physical therapists and they know I have never seen an Ironman in person before so they said, "Jon, notice a difference between the men and women now at the 14 hour mark? Notice that the women are looking a LOT better than the men?"

I was like ooooookaaaayyyyyy, but sure enough, they were right! The women looked SO much stronger than the men! They said it was due to the fact that women have more fat reserves than men but also the hormone estrogen masks the fatigue and pain allows women to go longer albeit not as fast. They also said that if a man and woman have the same 10K time, that the woman will spank the man on a longer distance, such as the marathon due to the above mentioned.

Interesting stuff!

I again was fading and called it a night. Congrats to all of you finishers!