Race Report: New Years Race

It was a dark and chilly night.  And so began Iron Sherpa's conquest of the first of her 2013 resolutions. 

The New Years Race is the beginning of training for 2013.  After a winter hibernation, Iron Sherpa and I found ourselves out in the middle of downtown Los Angeles at 9 p.m. to run a half-marathon.  We expected to run for 2 to 2.5 hours and hoped that we would warm up during the run.  The temperature was in the 40's that night, which wasn't so bad once you were running.  But before the race and after the race, it felt a bit too cold.

The race course started in downtown, snaked its way up a few hills to Dodger Stadium, where we ran nearly 4 miles in the parking lot.  We enjoyed most of the course, and paused to soak in some of the spetactular skyline views from the parking lot - but at the same time, it felt like we were running laps around the stadium.  However, we were rewarded with a run around the Dodger's outfield, which in my estimation made up for spending too many miles in the parking lot.

To my surprise, there was only one water station with any nutrition - and they only had Gu.  Admittedly, we ran unprepared - I assumed they would have multiple aid stations with nutrition, like Ironman.  However, it appears that for half-marathons, this is the norm.  Iron Sherpa and I both bonked close to the end, but we ran together and pushed each other to finish and did not let the other quit or stop.  During training last year, I learned just how important nutrition and proper calorie consumption is during training and racing.  I also learned how to "read" my body and know in advance when nutrition is required to prevent bonking, so I knew bonk was imminent.  Plus, running by fragrant pizza spots along the route didn't help!

After the run, we were able to finally get some nutrition (chips, bagels and bananas) and then waited for a short bit for a few other friends.  We were sweaty and wind chill just made an otherwise somewhat chilly night into miserably freezing night.

In the end, it was a good educational experience - don't assume what will be at the aid stations, and realize that running at night is very different from running in the mornings.  Not sure I'd do it again, but at least I got some very pretty bling.

Ironman Arizona: The Best Part [Part 2]

Pre-race Sherpa facebook posts are here.  And now we continue with her posts during the race!

Beginning of the swim.  At this point, I've been in the water for 15 minutes already, waiting for the cannon to signal the start of Ironman Arizona.  She's posted up by the swim finish, camera in hand and ready to cheer me on.  And yes, I agree.  She's the best Sherpa ever.



My first Sherpa sighting!



As I get through transition and on the bike, she knows she's got a bit of downtime while I go about making my first loop on the bike course.  She later tells me she noticed my first bike split was rather slow and was a bit worried.  What she didn't know at the time was my fight with the street sign and my flat, both of which are reflected in my slow first bike split.



She's got her timing down, estimating when I would pass through our pre-arranged cheering spot. 



Off to the run!  Two thumbs up on the outside, but my knee was already hurting by this point.  Didn't want to show the pain though.  Guess I covered it up pretty well.



Figure-eight course allowed for lots of places to see Sherpa.  Which meant I knew at those points I needed to look strong and as if nothing was bothering me!  I can tell my coach my knee hurts but Sherpa, I don't want to worry her with such things.  It's already been a long day, and I'm glad she's having fun.

 

Always thinking ahead!  What would I do without her?




Mile 23, I remember you.  At that point, I was telling myself "all you need to do is a 5k run. You've done plenty. You do one (and more) nearly every morning. This is nothing. Let's get 'er done."  And all through this, Sherpa is still running around like a maniac.  Some say I'm crazy for doing an Ironman. I say she's crazy for putting up with me doing an Ironman.



Done! Sherpa was right at the finish line.  I didn't see her, but I heard her yelling and screaming. :)
I did find her a little later as a volunteer led me a few steps away from the finish line (so others can have their moment too).



Even I thought the kiss was salty. :p

  What a day.  As much as I accomplished that day, Sherpa was obviously one busy girl all day too!

Many thanks to Sherpa for all of her support, time, effort and sacrifices.  Many thanks to all of my (and her) friends who commented and liked the posts and otherwise showed endless support on our successful Ironman endeavor!

Ironman Arizona: The Best Part [Part 1]

It's been just over two weeks since I finished Ironman Arizona.  I've had a chance to blog about the experience a bit, talk with a number of people, both who have done Ironman event in the past and family and friends who wanted to know more about my experience.  I also had some time to reflect on the experience - and it was definitely a good experience.

Among the most frequently asked question is "What was the best part?"

Many times the question is asked with the qualifier, "not counting the finish..."  But I don't even think the finish was the best part.  Maybe second best.  Crossing the finish line, rather than a sense of accomplishing a once-in-a-lifetime achievement and feeling on top of the world, I felt more relief.  Relief the race was over, that I did (and can tell people that I did) what I had set out to do.  It was relief that the time, energy, effort, money, and sacrifices was for something.

But the best part?  The best part was walking back to the hotel room after everything was done and having Iron Sherpa tell me about her day.  Running around like a maniac (my words, not hers) to make sure she saw me as often as possible and live facebook-blogging my entire race.  Then getting to the hotel room and her telling me to get on the computer and take a look at all the facebook activity that occurred through the day.

That was the best part of the day.  Take a look.  Below each of Iron Sherpa's facebook post includes a link to my corresponding blog post.  Kinda neat to get insider her head too.

Arrival in Tempe.  So many friends cheering me on from afar!



Thursday before IMAZ.  Biggest decision of the weekend... strip club or zoo?



Friday night before IMAZ, the energy and electricity of Ironman is enveloping us.



Ironman's Eve.  Is she just too cute or what?!  And it's true, I really did/do
appreciate hearing from and seeing posts from so many friends.



Still Ironman's Eve.  This is the post that was visible to me. Sneaky girl, that one!




Our super-early morning, day of Ironman Arizona.  I think she posted this up when I went off to
get body markings.  Not sure which one of the two of us was more nervous about the race...

 Next up... Iron Sherpa's facebook posts during the actual race.

Ironman Arizona: T2 and the Run

I will be posting a mini-series of posts to describe the day of Ironman Arizona.  This is the fifth installment of this series.

Getting into T2, I knew there was a problem.  Though I pushed it a little harder for the third loop of the bike, I felt fine overall... except for my left knee.

The Run.

Target Time: 4:00 to 4:30
X-Factor: Knee pain; running a marathon after the bike ride.
Strategy: Start with ten minute miles.  Walk through each aid station and get hydration and nutrition. 

Result: 5:34
Right off the bat, I knew a ten minute mile would be impossible.  Other than my knee, physically I felt fine.  Mentally, I knew I was almost home and all I had to do at this point was keep moving forward.  The aid stations were spaced more or less a mile apart from each other.  This helped me break the run into small, doable segments.  At each aid station, I would, at a minimum, take a small cup of Perform energy drink, a water and a piece of banana.  Every few miles, I also took in a mini nutrition bar they offered.  As the sun set, the aid stations also offered chicken broth, which is rich in sodium - I started taking the broth instead of the energy drink.  Since not all aid stations had the same food (some also had pretzels, chips, or coke, while some didn't have broth), I always took whatever they offered towards the beginning of the station just in case.  That way, at least I'd have something to drink or eat.

Unfortunately, the knee pain never went away.  I had to grit my teeth and just deal with it for the entire 26.2 miles.  At times, the pain felt a bit lighter and I'd try to pick up the pace.  Mostly though, I dealt with the pain by trying to not bend the knee while doing a light jog.  My legs certainly became sore and stiff during the run, but since I was keeping it pretty easy, I still felt I could have pushed much harder, if not for the knee.

Sunset during IMAZ

With a finishing time of just under fourteen hours, I can't say I'm unhappy with the result.  I finished; I'm an Ironman.  But with a healthy knee, I'm sure I could have done much faster... perhaps next time?

Quick Facts:
Nutrition: At each aid station, take in a minimum of a piece of banana, energy drink and water.  Towards the end, substitute broth for energy drink, also take in mini nutrition bars on occasion.

Ironman Arizona Series:
Result
A Really Really Early Morning
The Swim
T1 and the Bike

Ironman Arizona: T1 and the Bike

I will be posting a mini-series of posts to describe the day of Ironman Arizona.  This is the fourth installment of this series.

Coming out of the swim, I felt pretty fresh. Upon coming out of the water, a wetsuit stripper had me sit on the ground and he pulled the suit right off of me.  I don't think I've ever gotten out of a wetsuit so quickly or with so little effort (on my part, anyway).  Then it was a light jog to grab my T1 bag, which included all my my bike gear.  All of my swim gear would then be placed in the T1 bag and given to the volunteers (and then to be picked up after the race).  Into the changing tent, where I took my time getting into the bike gear, hydrating and eating a bit before setting out.  Volunteers just outside the changing tent slathered me up with sunblock and then it was off to find my bike!

Lonely bike in transition

What transition actually looks like,
with volunteers helping me to my bike.

Once again, helpful volunteers were all over the place to help athletes to their bikes.  Upon seeing me coming into transition, the volunteers yelled ahead to other volunteers to grab my bike (#341).

My T1 time was 13 minutes so I clearly took my time - all a part of the strategy.

Then, it was onto the bike course.

Target Time: 6:00 - 6:30
X-Factor: Cross-winds; carbon/disc wheels
Strategy: Keep the ego in check.  Coach told me to keep my heart rate below 130 bpm.  This means a lot of people would b passing me early on the course.  The plan was to conserve energy since it is a long course, and there is still a marathon to run.  With three loops of the bike course, I would be able to evaluate how I felt after each loop and then decide whether or not to step up the heart rate.  

Result: 6:32

The meeting of the signs as
they make their dastardly plans

Coming out of transition, I felt good.  The bike portion is my favorite part, and I knew that keeping it at 130 bpm meant taking my time and enjoying myself.  However, even after 13 minutes spent in transition, my heart rate walking out of the changing tent was already 145 bpm.  It seemed that a low heart rate would be virtually impossible.  If I couldn't get my heart rate that low while walking, how would I be able to lower my heart rate on the bike?

After settling in on the bike, I tried to regulate my breathing in an attempt to lower my heart rate.  With my Garmin attached to my handle bars, I regularly checked and re-checked my heart rate - but it jumped up and all over the place (at times peaking over 200 bpm, which made me think it was reading more than just my heart rate monitor, since I was taking it pretty easy at that point).  No matter what I did, I couldn't settle my heart down.

Just one mile in (of 112 miles), I was looking down at my Garmin and concentrating on my breathing as I look up to see a "KEEP RIGHT" sign a bit too close in front of me.  The sign was directed at automotive traffic, so athletes were to stay on the left.  For a split second, I probably instinctively tried to go right before realizing I'm supposed to go left.  At any rate, I smacked right into the sign, lost the bike and came tumbling down, sliding across the lane.  

Luckily, no other athletes were immediately behind me and two course volunteers were nearby to help me up and get my bike.  A few scrapes on the knee and back, but otherwise I was okay.  The bike gave me a good scare - I thought my day was already over.  Luckily, it was just a loose chain, twisted seat post and a bent hood.  After man-handling the seat post to straighten it out, I was off again.  That whole episode definitely did not help with the heart rate situation, but I was able to quickly put it behind me as I looked forward to a long ride at an easy pace.
The course zig-zags through the city, then onto Beeline Highway and back, for three loops.  

Once on Beeline Highway, I thought it would be smooth sailing.  The crash was already out of my mind and I was on auto-pilot.  Except I was unusually slow.  Testing on the disc wheels showed I should be able to maintain at least 17mph even at 130bpm.  However, I was doing between 13 and 15 mph instead.  I watched as numerous athletes passed me, seemingly easily.  I continued to keep the ego in check, remembering that after they are all out of steam, I'd still have plenty of gas to go on.  I watched as one particular female athlete in pink and purple, with matching bicycle and sparkling helmet, pass me.

Iron Sherpa posted up along the route
to snap pictures and cheer me on.

Just past mile 13, I pulled over to give my bike another visual inspection - I began wondering if my brakes might be stuck or if there was some other issue with the bike following the accident.  As it turned out, my rear tire was hissing - it was deflating, steadily making me slower.  As soon as I pulled over, course marshals in a pickup stopped to help me.  With their help changing the rear tube, I was back on the road in five minutes (although it felt like 15 minutes).  Now with a fully inflated tube, I was ready to roll.

Although 130 bpm was impossibly low, I was able to maintain a 140 or below bpm for the first loop.  Feeling surprisingly fresh, I decided to kick it up a notch for the second loop.  At the very beginning of the second loop, I passed the sparkly helmeted pink-and-purple girl and never looked back.  This was clear evidence that the race strategy was working.  Throughout the second loop, I began regularly passing other athletes; some who I recognized from the first loop, and a great many anonymous other athletes.  Still sticking with the plan, I tried to not get above 145 bpm.

On long rides and any endurance event, nutrition is critically important.  For Ironman Arizona, I packed 2 powerbars, a Kashi bar, 2 Gu packets and 2 packets of Clif bloks.  A special needs bag I accessed during the second half of my second loop included some more nutrition, although I was happy to eat the mini-bars, gels and snacks at the aid stations too.  Since there is a run afterward, I was warned to eat solid foods early (as running and the long Ironman day may have adverse effects on my gastrointestinal system) and to maintain a 200-250 calorie per hour intake schedule, which I did fairly easily.  One of the benefits of the numerous long rides and runs during training is that I became very in tune with my body, usually able to recognize how much nutrition I will need before I get hungry or tired due to lack of calories.  The 200-250 calories per hour decision was made through trial and error testing during training.

Back to the bike.  By the third loop, I was feeling really great; the flat and the crash were nothing but a distant memory.  I allowed the heart rate to get up to 155 bpm, though I spent most of the last loop in the 140's.  At this late point, I was regularly and quickly passing many athletes.  I was, however, still being passed by a few triathlon bikes.  The strategy worked out perfectly.  I felt strong.

The only problem? My left knee started hurting.  It was a pain I felt before, mostly from long runs.  It was something I hoped would disappear with a bit of ibuprofen, and something I feared would ruin my run.  But we'l save that for next time.

Although I was just shy of my target, I think without the early issues, I would have easily came in within the target times.  But that's all a part of racing!

Pushing onward.  Mile 71, passing on the left.

Quick Facts:
Strategy: The tortoise wins the race.  
Nutrition: More solid foods early on.  Intake of 200-250 calories per hour.

Ironman Arizona Series
Results
A Really Really Early Morning
The Swim

Ironman Arizona: The Swim

I will be posting a mini-series of posts to describe the day of Ironman Arizona.  This is the third installment of this series.

I'm one of the green caps.

The swim is set in the Tempe Town Lake, which is a man-made lake next to the Arizona State University campus and not far from downtown Tempe.  There usually isn't any swimming allowed in the lake, apparently due to run-off and sewage from the city.  This doesn't seem to affect the fishers and boaters in the lake though.  One wonders whether they eat the fish they catch in the lake.

Overheard on Saturday: in the days or weeks prior to Ironman Arizona, "they" pour in ungodly amounts of chemicals to clean up the lake so that the swim can take place.

On Saturday morning, the organizers held a practice swim, which I participated in with my back-up wetsuit.  This way, my primary wetsuit would be nice and dry for race morning.  The practice swim went well, I swam approximately a half mile just to feel the water and its temperature.  I didn't think it was cold; in fact, it is warmer than the ocean water I normally swim in.  I was worried about the shoulder, but it felt pretty good in the water.  Swimming freestyle for a half mile didn't seem to bother the shoulder much at all, though there was still a dull pain.  Nothing that would end my day though.

On to Sunday morning.

Target Time: 1:30, no slower than 1:45 considering the shoulder injury.
X-Factor: The shoulder injury.
Strategy: Bilateral breathing (breathing on both sides, ever third stroke) in order to control my pace.  With unilateral breathing, which I normally do in choppy water and in race situations, I have a tendency to push myself too hard in the beginning and then lose steam towards the end.  With a 2.4 mile swim, losing steam was something I certainly did not want to do.  With a mass start, where everyone gets into the water and treads water for 5 to 10 minutes together, there is usually a lot of punching, grabbing and kicking (most of it unintentional) as all of the swimmers jockey for position.  Knowing my time puts me in the slower half of the group, I wanted to start near the buoys to keep the distance shorter, but probably about two-thirds of the way back to stay out of the way of the fast swimmers.  That would help decrease the chances of getting kicked by other swimmers.

Result: 1:25.
After jumping into the water, I swam to where it appeared to be approximately half way to the front.  As the start time neared, however, more and more swimmers started crowding around me and I began to realize that I had somehow ended up near the front of the crowd.  I slowly backed up to get behind some folks, knowing that I'm likely slower than some of them and didn't want to have an aggressive start.

The mass start seemed like chaos.  Luckily, I gave myself some space in front to start swimming and though I did kick fellow swimmers and also had my legs grabbed, I got off the start fairly smoothly.  For the entire span of the swim, it was difficult to get away from other swimmers.  I only stopped swimming a handful of times, each time due to swim traffic.  As planned, I used bilateral breathing to help pace myself, which worked like a charm.   As I took the last turn around the last red buoy, I kicked it up a notch with unilateral breathing and more kicking.  The unilateral breathing allowed me to pick up my stroke pace while the extra kicking not only picked up some speed too, but more importantly, it gets blood flowing through the legs to prepare for getting back on land (to avoid the dizzy feeling).

Very happy with my time - beat what I thought I would end up with even without the shoulder injury.  Onward, to T1 and the bike!

Quick Facts:
Bilateral Breathing: for most of the swim to control pace.
Strong Swim End: Switch to unilateral breathing for the home stretch, with extra kicking effort.

Ironman Arizona Series
Results
A Really Really Early Morning

Ironman Arizona: A Really Really Early Morning

I will be posting a mini-series of posts to describe the day of Ironman Arizona.  This is the second installment of this series.

Sunday, November 18, 2012.  This will be the day I become an Ironman.  But before we discuss the morning of November 18, we have to discuss the night of November 17.

The foremost thought in my head as I lay down to sleep in the hotel room on Saturday. November 17 was that hopefully I'd be able to put aside any race-day butterflies and get a good night's rest.  I already put in my time training for months for this one day, and now all I can do is get enough rest to perform as well as I can during the race.

During the few days in Arizona, the plan was to try to keep a normal sleeping schedule, but sleeping in so that I would be able to maximize sleep time.  This meant getting to bed at some time between nine and ten o'clock, with an attempt to sleep a bit earlier since the morning of the race would be an extra, extra early morning.  The race cannon would go off at 7am.  Transition would be open from 5am to 6:30am.  I typically try to get to the transition area soon after it is open, so we were planning on getting to transition by 5:15am at the very latest.  Since my bike was already down there and we knew it was approximately 20 minutes to walk there, we had to be out the door by 4:50am - so we planned to be out the door by 4:30am in case we were a bit slow in the morning.

Morning meant waking up with time to clean up, clear the head, change into swim gear (sans wetsuit), eat breakfast (and prepare something to eat while at transition).  So we settled on a 3:45am alarm time.  That was still approximately 7 hours of sleep.

Surprisingly, I slept like a log that night.  Once my head hit the pillow, I was lights out.  As I woke up, the excitement of race day quietly crept up on me.  Iron Sherpa knew exactly what had to be done and worked her way through the morning as if she has rehearsed it.  All foods and equipment were ready to go (we had set some things up the night before as well), and everything was surprisingly stress-free.  Usually I worry about forgetting one item or another for race day.  Yet with Sherpa on my side, I had little to worry about and only tried to soak in the experience and enjoy the day.

We arrived at transition shortly after 5am, as planned.   We turned in my "Special Needs" bags and then just hung out and tried to relax.  Iron Sherpa posted up near the swim exit to be able to snap pictures and see me as I come off the swim portion.  Approximately 45 minutes before the start, I got into the wetsuit.  The professionals' start is a half hour prior to the age groupers, so they got in the water first to start. Then the age groupers jumped in.  And so I got into the water as well.

The water temperature was 64.1 degrees, so booties were legal, but I did not even bring mine.  I did, however, bring and wear the neoprene cap I wore at Alcatraz for a little extra warmth.

Next time... the swim.

Quick Facts:
Early Breakfast (at the hotel room): Smoothie with muscle milk
Breakfast (an hour prior to race start, at transition): peanut butter + banana sandwich and an apple

Ironman Arizona Series
Results

Ironman Arizona: The Results

I will be posting a mini-series of posts to describe the day of Ironman Arizona.  This is the first installment of this series.

A detailed write-up will follow.  For now, I just want to post the results.  These results are the official resuts posted on the Ironman Arizona website.

Rank: 179

Overall Rank: 1632

Swim:	1:25:32
Bike:	6:32:55
Run:	5:34:12
Overall:	13:53:51

After Week 19

A great week! For a number of reasons.

1.  2400m swim completed on Wednesday with some discomfort on the shoulder, but nothing I would classify as pain.  This was followed by a 2 mile swim on Sunday morning in Oceanside (more on the weekend next).

2.  Beautiful weekend in Oceanside, where a few friends, Iron Sherpa and I participated in the Bike the Coast century tour.  I added a few miles to the end of the century ride as a part of training, but was definitely pretty exhausted at the end of the hundred miles.  A strong headwind for the last portion of the ride really didn't help matters either.  And then after that, I went on a 6 mile run which allowed me to run the pier. 

3.  Great long run (17.6 miles) without knee pains.  Pace was a few seconds per mile slower than other long runs, but that may be attributable to the pacing strategy for this run: nine minutes running then one minute walking.  I am expecting to do something similar at Ironman Arizona, since I plan to walk through each aid station.  This strategy works well for me, that minute of rest really helps keep me fresh and breaks up the run into manageable pieces with something to look forward to.

Running isn't so bad anymore.  Still my least favorite of the three disciplines, but I'm enjoying the quiet time the just my thoughts more and more.  There are even days that I look forward to the run.  Only wish there were more quieter, deserted areas to run like in Palm Desert, where all I can hear are my footsteps and breathing - no traffic sounds, no people sounds.  But I suppose we can't have it all.

Bike: 114.67 miles + 40 min on the trainer

Run: 23.83 miles

Swim: 5575 meters (3.46 miles)

Total Time: 14:40 hours

Race Report: Bonelli Park Olympic Distance Triathlon



Bonelli Park Triathlon course: swim in the lake, bike three loops
of the the outer red ring, run one loop of the inner ring.

Local races are nice because there is no extensive travel or lumpy hotel beds.  But unless the race is literally in your backyard, it also means a super-early morning.  Bonelli Park, while local, was still a good half hour drive away. With the season starting off with the Alcatraz Challenge and a good showing in Santa Barbara, this would be my last tune-up race before Ironman Arizona in November. 



The Bonelli Park Olympic Triathlon runs the standard lengths: 1.5km (0.9 miles) swim, 40km (25 miles) bike, and 10km (6.2 miles) run.  Unfortunately, the timing chip the organizers gave me malfunctioned.  It only logged my swim time but failed to log me for the rest of the race.  Usually, the organizers would pull a racer aside to check the timing chip once they notice a malfunction, but I ran by the timing stations without anyone saying anything.  Luckily I had my Garmin logging all of my data, although I may not have switched from one discipline to the next right on the timing mats.  For my purposes, however, the Garmin data would do just fine.



Results via Garmin



To read the Garmin results, each split is a separate portion of the triathlon:

Split 1: swim

Split 2: transition 1

Split 3: bike

Split 4: transition 2

Split 5: run

Closer inspection of the Garmin data shows inaccuracies the end of Split 1/beginning of Split 2 and the run time.  On the race course, after coming out of the water, you come through a gate at the water's edge marking the swim finish.  Actual swim time should be near 36 minutes, with T1 being around 3 minutes - it appears to have taken approximately two minutes to run up from the water's edge to the entrance of the transition area, where the T1 timing actually starts.  This does not affect the total time, just the allocation of time. However, the run time was extended accidentally because I did not turn off the timer on the Garmin until nearly 5 minutes after I had crossed the finish.  This became apparent after looking at the Garmin map, showing exactly where I crossed the line and then hooked a sharp right turn to get out of the way of other finishers (and on to refreshments for myself).

Red dot marks finish. Extended line shows continued (accidental) timing.



So my actual run time should be cut by approximately 5 minutes.  Thus the final results would actually read:

Pretty happy with these results.  The day itself was rather hot - up to 92 degrees, but an otherwise perfect day for a triathlon.  These times are fairly consistent with my Santa Barbara times.

Swim.  Nearly spot-on with the Santa Barbara time, which I was pretty happy with.  I was in the first wave, which included the elite men, so I took it easy entering the water, figuring the ultra-competitive can go ahead and I can avoid some punching and kicking.  Even then, I think adrenaline got the best of me and I probably pushed a bit too much right out of the gate.  Arms/shoulders were a bit tired towards the end, and had a bit of side cramp, which never got too bad and I was able to swim it off.  My left shoulder has been bothering me all week though, which could have added to the tiredness.  The left shoulder I think was tired just from dealing with the road rash, since I've been careful not to touch the rash on anything all week (mostly while sitting position at work - can't use arm rest, and sleeping awkwardly to avoid the road rash area touching anything).  Luckily, my lovely nurse was on hand to help me wrap my arm in gauze and tape for the swim.

T1. Transition times are a little harder to compare than swim times, since the size of transition areas can greatly affect the times.  At Santa Barbara, I hoped to be sub-2 minutes.  A similar time would have been great here.  Even at 3 minutes, the transition time may have been a little slow.  Something to continue working on.

Bike.  Very happy with this time, it averages to just under 19 miles per hour.  The course was fairly hilly, with fast downhills and slow, ever-increasingly-difficult hills to climb.  A faster pace than Santa Barbara, and that course was nothing to sneeze at either, though the wetness of Santa Barbara surely slowed me down a bit.  Familiarity with the course helped as well, having done one loop of the bike course a few weeks ago during a training ride prior to registering for the event.  Always room for improvement, but still my favorite and strongest discipline.

T2. Sub-2 minutes here, very happy.  T2 will always be faster than T1, since there is no stripping of wetsuits, just dropping off the bike and putting on running shoes.  Some of the transition tips I've received over the course of the year has helped with decreasing transition times though, making them not only faster but also stress-free.

Run.  By the time the run started, the sun was blazing hot.  Some of the course was shaded, which felt very nice, but much of it was not.  I don't think anyone passed me during the run, but I passed a number of people.  There was some stiffness coming off of the bike but nothing I was not familiar with.  Easy pace to start, with very short strides to help get the legs loosened up.  As usual, I walked through each of the water stations.  With the heat, I drank only half of the water and dumped the remainder on my head to help cool me off.  Starting Mile 4 I tried to pick up the pace a bit, then again at Mile 5, and sprint for the last 100-200 yards. 

Overall, it was a good day and a very good sign for Ironman Arizona! Training is certainly paying off big dividends!

A final note to congratulate Iron Sherpa/Iron Nurse on completing her first Olympic triathlon!  Hooray!

After Week 14

In 2009, I ran the Nike+ Human Race, 10k run near USC held at midnight, with a group of friends.  At that time, it was the longest run I ever attempted.  I was talked into it the night before, and so I did not train for it in the slightest.  I had only just recently started working out regularly at that time, and running was certainly not a part of my repetoire.  I was in incredible pain following those 6.2 miles - my knees were screaming bloody murder.  At that time, even after completing the run, 6.2 miles seemed like an impossible length.

On Wednesday, I completed a 15 mile run, the longest training run to date.  Since 2009, I've also completed a half-marathon and a full marathon, and a handful of triathlons (of varying distances, with runs as short as 3 miles and as long as 10 miles).

I've come a long way since 2009. I guess when you're running for over two hours with no headphones and start getting tired of thinking "left foot. right foot. left foot. right foot..." over and over again, your mind really wanders.

Also, I learned that you should wash yourself immediately after a swim in the gym's super-chlorinated pool.  Often times, after my evening swim, I am incredibly hungry and all I want to do is throw on some clothes, get home and get my grub on.  Well, a few times of doing exactly that and everyone is asking if I recently dyed my hair since it went from black to light brown.  At least I'm told it looks like an expensive dye job!

Finally went and bought new shoes too. Running store said I need to go a half size up, which may be the reason my pinky toe has been rubbing and getting a super-hard callous at the tip and causing my knee pains too.  That plus the supports on my shoes are a bit worn, I already knew I was overdue for new shoes.  This new pair should last me well through IMAZ.

Bike: 85.42 miles + 60 minutes on trainer
Run: 19.9 miles
Swim: 5716 meters (3.55 miles)

Total Time: 12:20

After Week 13

This past week was a heavy week, even with two skipped work-outs (one trainer ride and one functional strength session).  The idea behind this week's training schedule was to do, in the aggregate, full Ironman lengths of each discipline. 

Although that was the goal, the training schedule has had me swimming farther than a full Ironman length swim (2.4 miles) for some time now.  For the cycling portion, time spent on the trainer would be estimated as 15 mph. That means this week, I rode an estimated 100 miles.  The shortage is due to the skipped session and the actual ride that was scheduled for 80 miles but ended up at 76.67 miles instead.


I like this style of location posters/postcards

There are two items to note for this week in training.  First, little/no knee pains during the runs.  After the long 14 mile run session in week 12, knee pain was an issue I wanted to keep an eye on.  This week saw increased mileage, in the aggregate, and increased frequency, but none of the pain.  Tightness and soreness in the legs which I believe are quite normal, but nothing to worry about.  This was certainly good news.  Maybe my body isn't falling apart from old age just quite yet!

The second item to note was a nice weekend away in beautiful and very hot Palm Springs, a bit of a get-away with my Iron Sherpa.  With weekend temperatures breaking into the triple digits, I knew that all of my training would need to be done early in the morning.  An 80 mile bike ride with a 2 mile run was scheduled for Saturday, and a 10 mile run was scheduled for Sunday.  In each case, I'd be outside for hours, so to mitigate the effect of the heat, the training sessions started as the sun came up.  By the end of each training session, the sun was high and the heat was turned all the way up. 

I think Saturday's course will be similar to the IMAZ bike course - slight uphill on the way out, and then downhill on the way back in.  IMAZ is three loops, on Saturday I did two loops, northbound out of the city, then loop back into the city.  It was nearly noon by the time I finished the ride and jumped into running shoes.  Within a half mile, it was clear that it was just simply too hot to run, but I pushed ahead anyway.  Then a mile in, my feet were burning up from the heat.  No swelling or pain from running - just too much heat!  Figuring that I had a few tenths of a mile pocketed from runs earlier in the week, I called it quits a little early to get out of my shoes and into the shower.

Sunday's run was much better, being able to start when the sun came up and the weather was still bearable.  Just in case I brought along one of my water bottles, which I normally do not do.  Thank goodness I did so this time though - although annoying to carry a sloshing bottle around, I was very happy I did so by the end of the first mile.

I'll be back in Palm Springs in late October for a work retreat, and the bike will be coming along again.

To top off the weekend, I indulged in a nice Chinese foot massage.

Week Thirteen totals:

Bike: 76.67 miles + 95 minutes on trainer
Run: 26.2 miles
Swim: 5200 meters (3.23 miles)

Total Time: 12:20