A Spectacularly Brilliant Idea!

Ziploc bag.  Swimming.  I am not sure how this did not occur to me earlier.  I previously had an issue with writing down notes for each swim session for all of the different sets and exercises that were scheduled.  For a while, each swim session was relatively short and the number of different sets were somewhat limited and I brought in a piece of note paper with my instructions.  Within one or two laps, the paper would be soaking wet and ink would be bleeding everywhere.  This worked for a while since I was able to remember and memorize what sets and exercises were scheduled, and even the wet ink gave me enough clues to jog my memory.  Now, however, with longer sets, more variety of sets and longer swim sessions, remembering or attempting to memorize all of my instructions became damn near impossible. 

 

Then the light bulb moment.  Use my sandwich bags, put my notes in one, and voila - waterproof notes!  No problems remembering sets and timing, no issues with wet, bleeding ink.  I never go swimming without my ziploc bag!  Now, if only I can be so good about remembering my Garmin...

 

Brilliant!

Race Report: Santa Barbara Triathlon

On Saturday, August 25, I participated in the Santa Barbara Triathlon - consisting of a one mile swim, 34 mile bike ride and 10 mile run.  I raced the Alcatraz Challenge earlier in the year, but this was my first triathlon for 2012 and a true "tune-up" for the Ironman Arizona.  The weekend consisted of a late evening drive on Friday night to Santa Barbara, with a stay at a hotel approximately 5 miles from the transition area.  At first, I contemplated just riding the bike over the the race site, but thought better of it later. 

My initial goals:
-   Top half of age group
-   40 minute swim
-   135 minute bike
-   95 minute run
-   270 minute (4.5 hours) total time.  This time would place me in the bottom half of the 2011 results, so I knew I would need to push it and beat the time goals to reach my overall position goal.

Race Day: Saturday morning was quite wet - though not raining, there was a heavy mist and damp road conditions.  Participants were warned over and over about a steep and dangerous downhill and to take it easy on that slope.  Breakfast consisted of safe foods: a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Swim: 33:56.  Faster than I expected by six minutes.  Not to shabby.  I'm pretty happy with this result.  At this pace, I would finish IMAZ swim in 1 hour 26 minutes, well before the cut-off time.  The swim was a fairly straightforward course; swim out and make a turn around a buoy, then swim to additional buoys marking a u-turn, and finally a left turn around the final buoy leading you up to the beach.  It took a few minutes for me to find my rhythm, especially in the choppy water conditions, but I've swam through choppier conditions in Long Beach (and surfed in stormier conditions also) so it didn't faze me much.  That, plus the swimmer traffic I had to deal with.  Being a middle-of-the-pack swimmer at best (though more likely the back-of-the-middle-of-the-pack swimmer), I usually (and recommend others to) wait on the beach for an extra few seconds to let the ultra-competitive and fast swimmers in my wave to start first, in order to avoid getting kicked and swam over.  Probably in part because of the race adrenaline and in part because I was just anxious to get started, I ran into the water with the entire group. 

Using unilateral breathing for most of the swim, breathing every other stroke to the side facing land.  It looks like I did a better job of swimming straight on the way back than during the first portion of the swim.

T1: 2:07.  Fairly quick, I was hoping for a sub-2 minute transition, but this was pretty close.


Bike: 1:49:07.  Beat my goal by just over fifteen minutes and put up a respectable 18.6 mph average.  This was my strongest portion of the triathlon, and judging by the results posted, compared to other participants, a stronger cyclist than swimmer or runner (no surprise there).  The bike portion had three challenging hills, especially the third one, and ended with a nice downhill portion which allowed me to rest my legs in anticipation of the run.  I took downhill portion relatively easy, generally not pedaling at all in part to save my legs but also in part because of damp conditions.

Apparently we were cycling in underground tunnels.



Cervelo P3, oh how I covet thee.

I must admit, I'm a bit envious of all those participants on true triathlon bikes.  Those suckers are so fast on the flats.  I battled with the same few individuals throughout the bike portion; there were definitely people faster than us and many who we passed, but the few of us seemed to be evenly matched.  I would see those same handful of people pass me on the flats on their triathlon bikes, but then catch up to those same people on the climbs.

One of the other goals of this triathlon was to stay in the aero position for as long as possible.  I was able to stay in the aero position fairly comfortably for extended periods of time, with exceptions of the downhills (which I tried to take easy), some of the tight turns (a bit sketchy at times), and portions of the climbs (this I need to work on).

T2: 2:50.  Had to take a tinkle break, which made my T2 times a bit longer.   I wore a one-piece tri-suit, which made the pee break a little bit more work than I anticipated.  Need to work on peeing while swimming.  This triathlon was the first time using the one-piece tri-suit.  I liked it but need to decide whether I will continue using the one-piece or go back to two-piece.  Luckily, at Ironman, they provide a changing tent so you can change your entire outfit.  That means I'll be riding in actual cycling gear and running in actual running gear - no tri suit needed.

Run: 1:22:56.  Beat my goal time by 12 minutes!  Oops, forgot the Garmin on the bike.  But this translates to an average of 8:18 minutes per mile.  Pretty good for me!  The run itself was all uphill for the initial 5 miles, and then a return on the same route.  I pushed myself on the run, legs felt relatively fresh.  In fact, I'd say my legs felt fresher in this triathlon than any other triathlon to date, which is saying quite a lot since this is the longest triathlon I've done.  Around mile 2.5 or so, my left quad started to tighten up a little bit, but I kept a mental check on it and kept my strides quick and short.  The tightness went away and I just kept pushing up the hill.  The return trip wasn't so bad, although the last mile seemed like the longest mile ever, surely in part due to the anticipation of just being done!

All told, it may have been a good thing that I forgot the Garmin on the bike, since there were no numbers telling me how well or how poorly I was doing and I had to go solely by perceived exertion instead.  This allowed me to push myself pretty hard and still keep a good pace through all ten miles of the run. 

Post-Race:  Great to have a long triathlon under my belt this year.  Transitions went pretty smoothly and this was a great tune-up leading up to Ironman Arizona.  In October I plan on doing an Olympic length triathlon, the Bonelli Park Triathlon.  Very happy with the results, with overall placement in my age group just above the halfway point, at 27th out of 59 finishers.  Overall time was a significant 40 minutes faster than I originally anticipated.

For nutrition, I had a packet of Gu at immediately out of T1, then another one at about mile 3 or 4 of the run, but I think I probably should have taken some solid food too. I had half a mini-Clif builders bar at the beginning of the run and didn't eat the other half until 8.5 miles (probably should've eaten it earlier).  This is pretty light on calorie intake and I'll be increasing intake for training/racing.  The end of the run definitely became a little more difficult due to tiredness but I was so far into the run already that I knew any nutrition wouldn't make a difference until I was done already.

Admittedly, I think my goals were on the conservative side, in part because I had not done a full triathlon this year.  Bonelli Park will see more aggressive goals, based on the results here and in training.

This was the first race I've done without friends participating as well, though I had a support crew with me.  A big thanks to my support crew for being out there, cheering me on and having a ready supply of happy snacks and an extra water bottle at the finish!

Sunday: Sunday was another early early morning to get ready to play cheerleader as the support crew did the sprint triathlon. Once again happy to report goals were achieved and the triathlon bug is taking another victim!

Following the triathlon and lunch at a local joint, the drive back home was a bit long due to traffic.  After arriving at home and cleaning up a little, I went to take a nap at 4:30pm, figuring it's perfect timing for a pre-dinner nap.  Then I woke up at 7:30am Monday morning just in time to get ready for work. It was a nap of epic proportions and a new personal record!

Looking Ahead:  A few things I need to keep in mind and work on leading up to Bonelli Park and Ironman Arizona:

-  transition work: running start onto the bicycle out of T1; feet out of shoes while still on the bicycle leading into T2.

-  work on maintaining the aero position during climbs.

-  remember the Garmin.

-  continue working on race-day (and training) nutrition.

Alcatraz Challenge.  Santa Barbara Triathlon.  Bonelli Park Triathlon.  Ironman Arizona!

After Week Nine

Week Nine was another taper week, as the end of Week Nine included the Santa Barbara Triathlon.  No big surprises or breakthroughs this week, though doing a strong 12 mile run (Monday) surely helps me mentally as much as it does physically.  There is a lot to catch up on though.  Week Nine included my second swim time trial, which provides benchmarks and is a progress report on how I am doing.  Week Eight had included both a swim and run time trial but had to be canceled due to being sick.  The run time trial was rescheduled for Week Ten.

Overall this was a good week - strong training sessions and a good result in the triathlon.  More on the time trial progress and the race recap later!

Week Nine totals:

Bike: 34.00 miles + 80 min on the trainer
Run: 27.35 miles
Swim: 4917 meters

Total Time: 9:55

Calm, Cool & Collected.

Tomorrow will be my first triathlon of the season.  Originally, I had one scheduled in March but that one was canceled due to inclement weather (and I was so busy at work I didn't even make the trip anyway).  Then I had the Alcatraz Challenge, though that event is only a swim/run, it felt like a good warm-up.  Nice to be back in a race atmosphere and having to go through transition.

This time, I feel better prepared, having spent more time training, even working specifically on transition techniques. Hopefully I will be calm, cool and collected on race morning and able to remember those tips when setting up my transition spot.

Tomorrow will be a one mile swim, followed by a 34 mile bike ride, and finishing up with a 10 mile run.

Based on my training, I am expecting a swim time of approximately 40 minutes, a cycling time of approximately 135 minutes, and a run of approximately 95 minutes.  Four and a half hours total (excluding transitions).  But looking at the 2011 results, that kind of time would put me well into the bottom half of my age group.  My estimated times may be a bit off, since I don't know the course - I've reviewed the course maps but that only tells me so much.  It looks like many of the participants are strong runners, completing the 10 miles in just over one hour.

During my 10 mile training run, I clocked an average pace of 9:06 minutes per mile.  Granted, those 10 miles were not done at race pace or at any steady pace (it was broken in to 2-mile sets to be done at varying intensities), but it does seem like a 10 mile run in an hour after the swim and bike would be a bit aggressive for me at this time.

Looks like I'll have to make up most of my time during the cycling leg of the triathlon and keeping my transition times to between one and two minutes.  It'll be a challenge for sure.  Well, let's see how I do...

 

Double Duty Cap

Here's a tidbit I nearly forgot.  Back in San Francisco, when I did the Alcatraz Challenge, we had to board a ferry that would take us to our swim start.  We jumped off the ferry and into the bay to start the swim. 

This meant we were not supposed to bring anything onto the ferry that we were not going to take with us on our swim, unless we were going to throw it away.  Between loading the ferry, getting to the start location and unloading all of the swimmers, we expected be on the ferry for an hour.  That meant in your wetsuit holding any snacks, your goggles, race cap and anything else you might want.  For me, that also meant my trusty Garmin, neoprene cap and extra latex cap. 

Why the extra latex cap and the neoprene cap?  I was told to wear an extra latex cap for a little bit of extra warmth under the neoprene cap, which helps keep the head warm.  On top of the neorpene cap goes your race cap, which is a latex cap. 

With so many pieces of gear to carry, I was afraid of dropping something or plain forgetting it. Until the brilliant idea of using my neoprene cap as a basket popped into my head, much like the proverbial lightbulb moment!  Using the chin strap as a handle, my new neoprene cap pulled double duty as a cap and as a basket, holding all of my gear plus gummi bears.

Hooray, gear!

After Week Eight

Week Seven was a great week.  Week eight? Not so much.

At the beginning of the week, I got a sore throat.  Didn't think much of it and hoped that it would just pass quickly.  Unfortunately, it did not.  An easy run on Tuesday with a sore throat, cut back and skipped my strength training that day.  Then WHAM woke up the next morning with a full-blown cold.  Snotty nose, foggy head, sore throat. That morning was scheduled to have a run test to be able to better track my progress.  Definitely was not going to happen.  The week was more or less a complete loss.  Thursday was another off-day, and Friday I finally felt better enough to try to get training again, with my scheduled swim (which was also supposed to be a test).  But I still had a significant amount of mucus in my chest and for some reason swimming gave me a headache too, so the workout became just an easy set - notwithstanding the hacking coughing fits and the headache, it certainly felt good to be back in the water again.

Saturday and Sunday saw normal work-outs again, with Saturday being a long ride and Sunday a meeting with the coach for technique work on the swim and run, followed by a very instructive tutorial on transitions.  Lots of little things that add up quickly!

Let's hope Week Nine will be back to normal.  I have the Santa Barbara triathlon coming up on August 25th, so this week will be a taper week in preparation for the race.

Week Eight totals:
Bike: 39.33 miles
Run: 8.84 miles
Swim: 1500 meters

Total Time: 5:30

Proof of a Good Week

The result of Week Seven.  Air dry pretty much all of the athletic wear.  It was a good week! Followed by a huuuuuge laundry day.

More Protection!

As mentioned previously, sunscreen is something I always carry and use.  I don't need Momma telling me I'm getting too dark (which even with sunscreen, she most undoubtedly will anyway).  Training for triathlons means a lot of time in the sun.  So does summer time in California.  But that's not the only kind of protection I carry these days.  

As I mentioned earlier, when donning on my wetsuit, I often get some chafing at the base of my neck.  I've found that Bodyglide Anti-Chafe Balm works wonders in that department.  I slather it all over my neck.  Rolls right on like deodorant.  With the Bodyglide, chafing is not really an issue anymore.  It's a remarkable product!

After Week Seven

Week Seven was a bike-intensive week, with lots of time spent on the trainer and time spent on the road on both Saturday and Sunday.  It's still my favorite leg of the triathlon, so you'll hear no complaints here. 

Sadly I must report a missed swim workout on Friday.  The gym was uncharacteristically full and the lap pool was stupid busy in the normally dead quiet late afternoon.  I wonder if the heat wave we have been experiencing may have contributed to the extra people in the gym.  The heat wave gave us nearly triple digit temperatures.  It certainly made it difficult to find the drive to get the work-outs in during the weekends.  Thankfully temperatures during the early weekday mornings are still bearable. 


Not this Malibu...

To escape the heat, I took a trip to Malibu for Sunday's long ride.  The extra drive was well worth it, even with all of the traffic. Plus, the ride was scenic and there's a number of hills just off of Pacific Coast Highway for some great climbing.  There will definitely be a return trip if the heat continues.  The original plan had been to climb Angeles Crest Highway or ride the hilly Glenodra Mountain Road - but the heat squashed both those ideas.

With a three hour bike ride, nutrition was also a factor to deal with.  I already have a good idea of when I need the extra boost from Gu, and added one of my Kashi bars to the mix today.  The Gu was taken just past the 1:20, at the bottom of the hill climb.  Half of the Kashi bar was eaten at the top of the hill (approximately a half hour later) then the other half was eaten another 15 minutes or so later at a gas station on PCH, where an extra water stop was necessary. 

It may be time to consider buying another bottle cage so I can carry two water bottles at the same time. Since I haven't found my second Camelbak Chill bottle, it's probably also time to buy a second one of those as well.

Week Seven totals:

Bike: 40.9 miles and 135 minutes on the trainer

Run: 26.6 miles

Swim: 3707 meters

Total Time: 13:00

Rollin'

After using a foam roller briefly at my brother's house, I was amazed at how great such a basic piece of foam feels.  I quickly decided that I must have one! So naturally I went and got one.  Thank goodness for Amazon.

Good for a quick massage of the back or legs. Plus you can use it for push-ups and sit-ups to make them harder.  Definitely worth the few bucks!

And check out this manual (PDF) on how to use the roller corretly (which I have yet to read)  (link last accessed August 8, 2012).

Eating Fake Food

There's an easy rule of thumb that one should generally live by for healthy eating.

If your grandmother would not recognize something as food, then do not eat it.

That means skip the processed foods, fad cleanses and diets, and eat natural.  Lots of fruits, vegetables and meat.  Just simple, real food.  I recall the example provided when I first heard this rule of thumb was something called Go-Gurt - basically yogurt on the go.  Yogurt is surely something grandmothers will recognize, but Go-Gurt is probably more artificial gooey substance than it is yogurt.  The official go-gurt site is down so perhaps they don't make it anymore?

But then again, sometimes I'm lazy and I don't have time to make a meal.  Frozen dumplings often do the trick.  But what about nutrition on the go?  I've posted about Gu Energy Gel, which looks an awful like Go-Gurt.  Gu is my go-to nutrition supplement during a long work-out.  Gu gels come with me to all of my races and are usually taken during transition.

For pre- and post-workout, if I know I am not going to eat for a while or if there just isn't enough time for a full meal and I just need something to get me through another few hours, I like Kashi Go Lean Crunchy  Bars for lighter fare and Clif Bar Energy Bars for something a little denser.

Of course all of that being said, I've known a few friends make home-made clif bars which are certainly healthier.  Real food will always be better than these pre-packaged bars, but they're good enough for me!

     

August 8 Update: Apparently Go-Gurt is still being made.  Just saw a coupon for it in the latest Costco mailer! Impeccable timing.

After Week Six

Back on it.  After two weeks of recovery, one for the Alcatraz Challenge and the next for the dragon boat tournament, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Since no training occurred during the dragon boat tournament, I did not have Monday as a rest day.  Instead, the tournament days (last Saturday and Sunday) were my rest days.

Both weeks four and five saw five hours each of training, which is relatively light.  Stacked on not quite double the distances but nearly double the time.  The total time and distances will not correspond exactly because the individual sport totals do not include time spent in the gym doing strength training but the total time does.

Much of this week's training regimen was dictated by heart rate. For example, Wednesday's trainer ride was a 60-minute ride, you can see three high intensity reps (zone 4) with lower intensity (zone 1) recovery periods in between.  This keeps the stationary bike rides interesting.  Well, that and the ability to listen to This American Life.   

Week Six totals:

Bike: 32.5 miles and 60 minutes on the trainer

Run: 15.21 miles

Swim: 5200 meters

Total Time: 10:75

After Week Five



Dragon boats ready for racing

Week Five was another light training week due to a dragon boat race weekend again which took up both Saturday and Sunday and left me exhausted.

Actual bike rides have been reserved for the weekends, with weekday cycling limited to the trainer. This sadly meant a whole week without any real cycling, though plenty of time was spent on the trainer.

Next week should be a harder week, without any racing to break up the training schedule anymore.  Even with the dragon boat tournament, I expect my body to feel refreshed and ready to pound out more mileage.

Week Five totals:

Bike:  135 minutes on the trainer
Run: 9.23 miles
Swim: 3000 meters

Total Time: 5:00

Amazing Things Happen When You Train Hard (new Personal Record?)

Yes, it is true. Amazing things happen.  You may experience the runner's high.  You'll likely find yourself getting faster and feeling stronger. 

This week started innocously.  On Tuesday, I had a run and swim scheduled.  I usually get my run done first thing in the morning, when it is still relatively cool outside.  Then it's off to work.  If it's a slow day, I try get get my swim done before lunch since the gym is pretty quiet in the mornings.  After lunch, the gym gets busier, especially the swimming pool.  Around 4:00 pm or perhaps just before then, the pool empties again and doesn't get busy until after 5:00 pm.  So if I'm not in the pool in the morning, I usually wait until 4:00 pm or 4:30 pm to hit the gym.  Swim workouts have lengthened up to 2000 meters which takes a bit of time to complete.  At times I'll get into the pool with one other person but by the time I'm done, the lanes are all full and there's people waiting.

So back to Tuesday.  I ran in the morning, easy run for a total of just over 4 miles - but still a very sweaty run.  I'm talking shirt drenched, skin glistening in the sun type of sweat.  In those thirty some odd minutes, a visible tan line on my shoulders already appeared (wearing a sleeveless shirt), which gives some idea of how sunny it was.

Then in the afternoon I did a 2000 yard swim.  It doesn't seem as long when you break it into less intimidating sets.  Not that the swim wasn't tiring.  But it certainly felt pretty great.

For some reason, after I shower at the gym, I still smell like chlorine.  Perhaps it's weak body wash provided by the gym.  In any case, not only did I [one] shower in the morning after my run, I also [two] showered at the gym after my swim.  Then before climbing in bed, I [three] showered once more to clean off the residual chlorine.  Yes, that's right - my investment is paying massive dividends and I believe I hit a new PR (personal record) on Tuesday with three showers in one single day! Amazing, yes, I know!  Is four possible? I'm not sure, but who knows what the training will hold for me in the future!