Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Hot Days, Shoes, and Mileage

Wow, it's so dang hot here. Avoiding the 95 degree temps with 100% humidity is becoming increasingly difficult. It seems I can't leave early enough to get the miles in that are needed plus finish up before the heat becomes unbearable. I'm pounding water all day right now trying to keep my hydration up. Like most triathletes, I'm a sweater so I'm constantly weighing myself to see how much in fluids I've lost. It's not been pretty.
My latest dilemma has been the collection of sweat that builds up in my shoes. Other than having the smelliest shoes on the planet, it's a bit annoying to slosh around in sweat soaked shoes while running. That, and they are freaking heavy. So, I started looking around at some shoes that might help me out in that area. I'd heard that Zoot's shoes acted as a squeegee to remove sweat and water by pushing it through the sole of the shoe. I've read probably 10 reviews on these shoes and 8 or so we're all complaints. It was either, this shoes is crap, it gave me blisters, this shoe is worthless, it's already breaking down yada yada yada. My further research showed that the shoes are designed for heel strikers and not so much the fore foot strikers like myself. All the padding is in the rear of the shoe. The padding underneath the ball of the foot is very thin. So, this shoe wasn't going to work for me.
I checked out the Newton brand, but it didn't have any type of drainage system for sweat. I might as well have kept my Nike Elites. But all is not lost. I did find the K-Swiss K-ona. It's a 9oz stability shoe made for fore foot strikers and and and! it has holes in the souls for that all important sweat squeegee. YES! I found a killer deal on sidelineapparell.com for the shoes. Everywhere else had the shoes for $90+, but this site had them for $69.99 plus shipping. Not bad. I've yet to run in them so I'll have to give a report later.
As far as training goes, the mileage is up. I did 96 miles on Saturday and a 16 mile run on Sunday. The legs were a little sore, but I was still able to get my interval training in this morning. Optimism is high. Feeling good and strong. Just need to keep staying hydrated and well rest. Speaking of, it's off to bed. The 5:00 am swim comes early.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Alabama Sports Festival Tri

This weekend, the State of Alabama held their annual sports festival here in Birmingham which features sports of every imaginable genre. I decided to compete in the triathlon this year as for the first time in a while it was held within a 20 minute drive of my house. I mean, how can you not right?
It's a Sprint course featuring a 400 yd swim, 12.5 mile bike, and a 5k. Real short stuff. There was a kids race held prior to the adult race that pushed our race back further and further which caused my wave to start around 9:20. I knew the sun was going to play a factor. The heat from the past few days had heated the lake up to near bath water temps.
The race started in 3 waves, 29 and under, all the women, and then the 30 and older crew which included me. I could tell from looking at the buoys that the swim was a little longer than 400 yards. The last buoy had floated off course which made the swim closer to 500 yards. Once my wave started, I decided that I was just going to find my rhythm and stick to it. My swim suffered last week because I never found a rhythm and thus could never catch my breath. This week, I was moving right along. I was first out of the water in my wave which shocked the hell out of me. I'm not a swimmer.
Out on the bike I started pushing the pace. I knew that I had a good chance of winning my AG at this race, but I knew I would need to use my strength to the fullest. About a mile into the ride, this big tall German came stroking by me with such ease. I saw a 39 on his calf and knew I couldn't let him go. I kept him close and tried pull him in. He was quick and efficient, but the hills would be his downfall. We played cat and mouse on the hills and the descents until I was finally able to drop him on the last big climb. I was passed a mile or so later by a guy in his 40's. I knew who it was. He'd beaten me last week. He is a strong cyclists, but I knew I could get him on the run. My only hope was to keep him close. That proved to be difficult. Within a half mile of the turn around the leader came flying by followed not too closely by a few more. I started counting and saw that I was in 9th place without considering the time gap. The only person ahead of me from my wave was the 40 + year old.
The turn around was a simple 180 turn in the road. I slowed down to make the turn, but it wasn't enough. I hit the pavement. Fuuuuuuuudgggggge. But I didn't say "fudge." I didn't hit hard enough to do any damage other than a few scrapes on the bike and my body, so I jumped back on to make up any lost time.
I only caught glimpses of the 40 year old in front of me from there. I was still able to push a decent speed so I wasn't too worried. I was giving it all I had.
I don't know if he faltered on the bike or decided to check his email, but I caught up with the guy I was chasing in transition. I was quick enough to be on his heels on the way out. My goal was to run 6:40's or so, but I could find it. I was still on this guys heels so I knew we were both struggling. I saw the leader before the turn around. He only had a mile to go. Behind him were 6 guys from the first wave. I decided to push it at the turn around and passed the guy I'd been chasing. From there, I knew I had a good chance to improve my position. I chased down 2 more guys who looked rough. The heat was having it's way. I caught up to 3 more guys but never passed them. I didn't have enough time or the legs. I crossed the finish line strong and ready to find some shade.
When the results were posted, I saw myself sitting in third over all. 20 seconds out of 2nd. How about that? Not my fastest race, but I'll take it.
The next thing was to watch my friend Gary cross the finish line for his 4th Triathlon ever. He's come a long way and it was cool to see him finish.
Back to training for the long stuff. Tailwinds.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Alright, I can take a hint. I've learned my lesson


In my 6 years of cycling, I have only ridden without a spare tube three (3) times. Of those three times, I have flatted exactly twice. Last night became the third and hopefully final time that I left home without a spare.

So what is it with this luck. I wouldn't call it Karma. It's not like I thumbed my nose at the cycling gods or pissed on a picture of Lance Armstrong. It was simply a mistake. I'd packed my car the night before too include everything I'd need for the morning workout, everything I'd need to shower and dress for work at the Y, everything I'd need for the work day, and everything I'd need for the afternoon ride (minus my saddlebag of course).

So, with that in mind I can hopefully state that it will never happen again. At least that's what I had to promise my wife when she came to pick me up.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Buster Britton Sprint Tri Race Report


This weekend was the annual local sprint race in Birmingham. I was interested to see how I would do since my training has been so endurance focused rather than speed focused. It's a short race by all accounts. The distances are as such Swim 400, Bike 13, Run 3.1. I missed the race in 08, but my previous PR was in 07 when I finished in 1:09:03. All I wanted to do was beat that. I'd made a poor effort on the run that year so this year, I was going to see what I could do.

I may have mentioned this before, but I love racing by B and C races. There's no pressure. I sleep so much better the night before. I eat what I want, and overall I think I just enjoy them more. Let's see if we can figure out a way to make that happen for my A races.

In between pulling into the parking and picking up my race packet I ran into three people in my age group that weren't previously registered for the race. I knew all three were faster than me with one of them being capable of winning the whole thing. I found out that all three had shown up even though the race was sold out in hopes there would be some cancellations so they could race. Damn the luck. They all got in. Any hopes I had for placing went out the window. Now I could focus on racing without any pressure.

I knew the day before that the weather might play a factor in the day. The forecast called for a terrible thunderstorm north of where we were, but my fingers were crossed. But again, damn the luck. Lightning flashed and the rains came. The race was pushed back a bit, but not for long.

Swim - The swim ended up being a little shorter than 400 yards due to a buoy floating off course. I had seeded myself appropriately, but was disappointed to see a number of people ahead of me that had no business where they were. I'm not a good swimmer by any stretch of the imagination. I had no idea what they were thinking. The five second interval start made this more evident as the high seeds floundered in the water and blocked the route. After making my way around them and over them, I found myself out of rhythm and floundering myself. It may have been the ugliest swim of my life but I was out of the water in 4:50. I was 4 steps behind my buddy Colin who I knew could take me on the run. So I knew the next stage was key.

T1 - In 07, I had a dreadfully slow T1 time of 2:36. There's a short run from the beach and a long transition area that doesn't make things easier. This year, I made it out in 1:43. Colin was out about 10 seconds faster.

Bike - About a quarter mile into the bike, the rains came and did they ever. Having a shield on my aero helmet does not work when it's raining. The lens watered up on the inside so my vi son was limited to being able to see only shapes in front of me. If it had been legal I would have tossed the helmet off. It's an out and back course over some pretty good hills which quickly take you out of the saddle and pumping the peddles. It was frustrating to see that I never could catch my breath on the climbs. I finally caught Colin and did my best to drop him. I needed at least a minute on him to survive on the run. I made the turn around a poured it on. I passed one of the three guys in my age group whom I knew to be faster. He's a gifted athlete, and I knew he could run. I didn't have any real hopes of staying ahead of him. The rain soaked roads and quick turns kept me from pounding it too much which was a bit frustrating. I made it off the bike in a slow 36:25. Not where I wanted to be.

T2 - Short and sweet at :52.

Run - Just a short 5k to the finish. My legs felt good so I gave it a go. Much to my dismay, but as expected I was passed quickly by the guy in my age group. Not too far after him came my buddy Colin. I stuck with him for a while, but couldn't hold his pace. The out and back course in uphill going out and down hill coming back so I knew to save something for the second half kick. I found my stride at the turn around and laid it down. I crossed the finish line with a 20:39 5K and a total time of 1:03:39. A new PR for the course.

As expected in looking the results for my age group, the three guys who showed up that morning and registered for the race finished 1,2, and 3. I was 4th. Curses! I was 30 seconds off 3rd and 37 seconds off 2nd. No worries. As I said, they are gift athletes, good guys, and they deserve it.

Overall, I was very happy with my results. I had a blast and enjoyed trying to be fast for one day. Back to the slow twitch group I go.
Tailwinds...

Monday, June 8, 2009

Weekend at the Lake

Well summer has officially hit Birmingham, AL. While we have flirted with mild temps all spring, the humidity and heat have settled in and it's starting to get nasty. We've really been blessed so far this year with a lot of rain so it looks like their won't be any draught issues this year, but that only means that our humidity levels will stay a bit higher.
This past weekend, I spent some time with my parents up at beautiful lake Guntersville. We "roughed it" in their new camper that looks more like a condo on wheels. Any camper with two lazy boys and a flat screen TV is ok in my book. After a good meal on Friday night and a good nights rest, I was up and at 'em early Saturday morning before the heat became too oppressive. I found a nice rolling country road for my scheduled long run. I was looking forward to running through some empty farm land. It's odd how starting out keeping speed seemed to be impossible. I felt sluggish and weak. At a 9:43 pace I felt like I was trying way to hard. But something always clicks around 1.5 miles and I start to cruise. Ten miles later and I'm having to tell myself to slow down. Around 12 miles I ran back past the campgrounds and dropped my shirt off to cool down. Dad picked up his circa 1987 all steel framed walmart special and rode along beside me. I was still trying to keep my pace between 8:30-9:00 but Dad kept leaving me on the bike. Can't have that now can we? I picked up the pace and averaged around 7:30 for the next two miles. With a 1/2 mile to go, Dad challenged me to pick it up. I dropped the hammer to a 5:40 pace and cruised back in to the camp ground. It's nice to know that I still had good leg strength in the end. Now, if I can only manage that in an actual race.
After a big breakfast and some recovery, we headed out on the boat for a little fishing. I caught a few, but my Dad did all the damage. He's like a fishing voodoo man. It's crazy weird.
Sunday, my schedule called for a 4 hour ride. I typically like to do these ride with buddies, but I was on my own today. The plan was to keep it slow and easy, which was appreciated as I could feel some soreness in the legs from yesterday's run. The only downside of the day was finding out at the end of the ride that I need to start wearing sunscreen. My arms were baked! They still hurt. Due harsh sun last weekend wearing my tri jersey and the sun from this weekend wearing a roadie jersey I have some really odd looking tan lines.
This morning, I scored my longest swim to date at 2.2 miles. I felt like I could have finished those last few hundred yards, but I figured I would save it and not kill myself. I'd had a good weekend of workouts and was satisfied with that.
It's race week finally. There's a small local sprint tri that I will be training through this week. It'll be interesting to see how I do without tapering and with tired legs. Should be fun.
Tailwinds.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Grab Bag Special - Sheesh

Triathlon is expensive. I can almost hear the collective "duh" coming from the readers now. Yeah, everyone has felt the pain of the cash register from having to buy so much gear. Gear for three sports nonetheless that either has to be all carbon, wicking, or trans-fat free. Well, I'd once again lost my swim jammers and I'm tired of ruining tri shorts when swimming a pool with them. So I tried to be smart in my approach to buying my next set of jammers. I tried to be thrifty and save a few buck. So, I tried buying a grab bag pair of Jammers from TYR. Normally, these Jammers can cost upwards of $30. I found these for $19. Big discount right? So what I was expecting was something like this:


But was I got was something like this:





It comes complete with a pair of Ray Ban Sunglasses and a VHS tape of the first season of Miami Vice. I'm going to look so freaking Awesome! Totally.