... Life is short but sweet for certain.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Hiatus
Since the Ironman race, I haven’t been doing much of anything surrounding tri training. My bike is feeling neglected with the tires nearly flat, my running shoes are lonely and desperately awaiting the return of the sweaty summer foot funk, and my swimsuit is thoroughly dehydrated and begging for a return to the water. My gym clothes on the other hand have been having fun, as I’ve been hitting the weights over the past 2 months trying to build up my legs, core, back, triceps and shoulders. I can proudly say I have a six-pack stomach now; it’s just too bad there’s a considerable layer of fat hiding it!
This week marked the slow return to the big three. I started running again, and am building the habit of getting my lazy ass out of bed at dawn for those runs. It’s tough, but I’ve managed 3 days so far this week with a goal of at least 4 days dedicated to an early rise during the work week. The runs have been short; only 2 miles or so. In the past I would jump right into 5 mile runs, and would burn out and lose focus. Hopefully resisting the urge to run further will fuel the desire to slowly build to higher mileage with less burn out. I will say the dedication to building leg strength is paying off a little, as I’m feeling stronger and have better rhythm in my strides. My pace is around a 10:00 mile, and I’m holding back trying to be conservative. With that said, I’m really looking for my race pace to increase this year, and hope to average an 8:00 mile come the fall race season.
Next up is working in the return to the pool. With temps soaring above 110, nothing is more refreshing than a cold swim in the summer heat. Besides that, I’ll have the opportunity to balance out my kick ass farmer tan! I really need to improve on my swim. Even though I exited the water in 1:41 for Ironman (which was a personal best for me with any swim), I feel I lost a lot of energy in doing so. I know my form sucks, and I tend to pull heavily with my right. My gym holds a masters swim class during the week, so hopefully I’ll be able to benefit from that and learn a few things.
As for the bike, let me just say biking in the heat really sucks. I’m leaning towards the cycling (spin) class route for the next two months, and maybe getting back to basics on the trainer. Outside cycling will be very limited, unless we get a break in the heat. Early Sunday morning rides will be my outdoor ride of choice, and with these temps those will be limited to 4 hours maximum at best.
So here we are. In the past 2 months, I’ve managed to make my fat ass even fatter, plowed through a few good books, buried myself in work, caught up on my favorite television (all of which is over now), took in a few movies (The Incredible Hulk review will come shortly), made a strong return to cooking at home, made an even stronger return to the allure of eating out, just about finished the back yard (it’s only been 4 years), and ignored my blog. Not bad, eh? Well, that’s all about to change.
This week marked the slow return to the big three. I started running again, and am building the habit of getting my lazy ass out of bed at dawn for those runs. It’s tough, but I’ve managed 3 days so far this week with a goal of at least 4 days dedicated to an early rise during the work week. The runs have been short; only 2 miles or so. In the past I would jump right into 5 mile runs, and would burn out and lose focus. Hopefully resisting the urge to run further will fuel the desire to slowly build to higher mileage with less burn out. I will say the dedication to building leg strength is paying off a little, as I’m feeling stronger and have better rhythm in my strides. My pace is around a 10:00 mile, and I’m holding back trying to be conservative. With that said, I’m really looking for my race pace to increase this year, and hope to average an 8:00 mile come the fall race season.
Next up is working in the return to the pool. With temps soaring above 110, nothing is more refreshing than a cold swim in the summer heat. Besides that, I’ll have the opportunity to balance out my kick ass farmer tan! I really need to improve on my swim. Even though I exited the water in 1:41 for Ironman (which was a personal best for me with any swim), I feel I lost a lot of energy in doing so. I know my form sucks, and I tend to pull heavily with my right. My gym holds a masters swim class during the week, so hopefully I’ll be able to benefit from that and learn a few things.
As for the bike, let me just say biking in the heat really sucks. I’m leaning towards the cycling (spin) class route for the next two months, and maybe getting back to basics on the trainer. Outside cycling will be very limited, unless we get a break in the heat. Early Sunday morning rides will be my outdoor ride of choice, and with these temps those will be limited to 4 hours maximum at best.
So here we are. In the past 2 months, I’ve managed to make my fat ass even fatter, plowed through a few good books, buried myself in work, caught up on my favorite television (all of which is over now), took in a few movies (The Incredible Hulk review will come shortly), made a strong return to cooking at home, made an even stronger return to the allure of eating out, just about finished the back yard (it’s only been 4 years), and ignored my blog. Not bad, eh? Well, that’s all about to change.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Moving Forward
Now that nearly 3 weeks has past since the race, I’ve had some time to reflect on what it was that I did wrong, what went right and what I couldn’t control. During that time I had some reservations regarding ever attempting an Ironman race again. Truth be told, I’m still struggling with the idea, for I’m normally impulsive and my instinct tells me to jump back in without hesitation, yet here I sit so I can make a correct and calculated decision. Since I can’t sign up for IMAZ until after the November race (which I’m not racing), I have some time to really convince myself I’m making the right decision to jump back in.
For now, my slate is clean until the fall and cooler weather. Up until that point, my fat ass is going back into the gym with a mission. It’s time to go back to basics, shed some weight, build some much needed leg and core strength and work to get my 194 pound frame down to a more manageable size. As I’ve so painfully found out this year, that kind of weight is just way too much to carry around in endurance sports (for me).
With that said, it’s 4:00 and I’ve been sitting in front of this monitor all day. It’s time for a change.
For now, my slate is clean until the fall and cooler weather. Up until that point, my fat ass is going back into the gym with a mission. It’s time to go back to basics, shed some weight, build some much needed leg and core strength and work to get my 194 pound frame down to a more manageable size. As I’ve so painfully found out this year, that kind of weight is just way too much to carry around in endurance sports (for me).
With that said, it’s 4:00 and I’ve been sitting in front of this monitor all day. It’s time for a change.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ironman Arizona - DNF
Hey Gang,
For any of you who were tracking the race Sunday, you probably know the outcome as I did not finish.
The conditions were brutal out there and I've never seen so many people dropping out of a race before (although this was my first Ironman, and only my second 'official' triathlon).
The temps peaked in the mid-90's (maybe hotter in the desert portions, or so it felt), and throw in some insane winds, and you've got problems. The problem with my ride, and the bike I'm on, is I can't get aero enough so I'm like a sail when I fight wind. At times I was going 8mph spinning at 90rpm, so that'll drain you quick with the heat and wind. In contrast, I was hitting speeds of 30mph when riding with the wind, so you can see what those conditions are capable of.
Most of the people I knew racing dropped out before the run. The medical tents were overflowing, and it was just a colossal mess. I truly feel, if I could have cut through the wind more efficiently, I would have finished the race. I felt fine coming off the bike after 75 miles, but I missed the 3rd loop cutoff by about 10 minutes. My nutrition plan was dead on. I wasn't dehydrated. My HR was right in zones 2 and 3 for most of the ride (except out of transition I was pushing 160 from the excitement of it all). I had to stop for a few minutes about 20 miles into the ride as I blew a flat (1 of 2), but I was able to get my HR down from the swim at that point so it was a good thing.
The swim went really well, as I came out of the water at 1 hour and 41 minutes over 2.5 miles. I was able to improve my pace by 10 seconds per 100 meters (roughly 2:33 per 100) compared to my last triathlon of 2:44 per 100 meters. That's a big improvement as the Ironman distance is 3862 meters, whereas the Olympic distance is 1500 meters (for my non-tri readers, if any). So I felt really strong on the swim.
My stats on the bike for the last triathlon averaged 17.5 mph, which is what I wanted to hit on the Ironman, but alas the conditions were too brutal and it took its toll.
So in short, the November 2008 race is sold out, but I can compete in the Nov 2009 race if I so choose. I'm not sure if I want to at this point, but I'll take a couple of days to think it over. For now, I'll stick to 1/2 Ironman distance races and Olympic triathlons, and after Nov 2008 I'll see if I want to sign up for some more hurtin'.
Thanks for all your support leading up to the race. Maybe we'll do it again in '09.
I'll write up an official race report soon, but just wanted to throw out an update for anyone reading...
-Mike
For any of you who were tracking the race Sunday, you probably know the outcome as I did not finish.
The conditions were brutal out there and I've never seen so many people dropping out of a race before (although this was my first Ironman, and only my second 'official' triathlon).
The temps peaked in the mid-90's (maybe hotter in the desert portions, or so it felt), and throw in some insane winds, and you've got problems. The problem with my ride, and the bike I'm on, is I can't get aero enough so I'm like a sail when I fight wind. At times I was going 8mph spinning at 90rpm, so that'll drain you quick with the heat and wind. In contrast, I was hitting speeds of 30mph when riding with the wind, so you can see what those conditions are capable of.
Most of the people I knew racing dropped out before the run. The medical tents were overflowing, and it was just a colossal mess. I truly feel, if I could have cut through the wind more efficiently, I would have finished the race. I felt fine coming off the bike after 75 miles, but I missed the 3rd loop cutoff by about 10 minutes. My nutrition plan was dead on. I wasn't dehydrated. My HR was right in zones 2 and 3 for most of the ride (except out of transition I was pushing 160 from the excitement of it all). I had to stop for a few minutes about 20 miles into the ride as I blew a flat (1 of 2), but I was able to get my HR down from the swim at that point so it was a good thing.
The swim went really well, as I came out of the water at 1 hour and 41 minutes over 2.5 miles. I was able to improve my pace by 10 seconds per 100 meters (roughly 2:33 per 100) compared to my last triathlon of 2:44 per 100 meters. That's a big improvement as the Ironman distance is 3862 meters, whereas the Olympic distance is 1500 meters (for my non-tri readers, if any). So I felt really strong on the swim.
My stats on the bike for the last triathlon averaged 17.5 mph, which is what I wanted to hit on the Ironman, but alas the conditions were too brutal and it took its toll.
So in short, the November 2008 race is sold out, but I can compete in the Nov 2009 race if I so choose. I'm not sure if I want to at this point, but I'll take a couple of days to think it over. For now, I'll stick to 1/2 Ironman distance races and Olympic triathlons, and after Nov 2008 I'll see if I want to sign up for some more hurtin'.
Thanks for all your support leading up to the race. Maybe we'll do it again in '09.
I'll write up an official race report soon, but just wanted to throw out an update for anyone reading...
-Mike
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
T Minus 3...
Hey Gang,
Well, here we are, and it all comes down to this. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a wee bit nervous about Sunday, but then again it's only my second triathlon (I like to dive in head first, but this time it may be into a shallow pool). There's nothing more I can do now than to focus, listen to my body, clear my head and enjoy the day. The training could have always been better, the hours could have been longer, the focus could have been sharper, but alas here we are. It will be hot, it will be long (that's what she said!! - I couldn't resist), but at the end of the day, if I'm still on my two feet, I will be an Ironman.
So, for those looking to spectate via the web, here's a breakdown of what I think my day will look like, and how to track.
Head on over to this link - http://ironman.com/ironmanlive
My bib number is 690.
The race starts at 7:00am
If all goes well, I plan on the following:
· Exiting the water anywhere from 8:30-9:00
· Transition to the bike approx 15 min or less
· 7 hours or less on the bike (depending on the wind), expecting to reach transition by 4:00
· Transition to the run approx 15 min or less
· The run is anyone’s guess… Worst case scenario (rather than collapsing) is walking the entire run which would put me in at around 11:00 or sooner
· Realistically I’m looking at sub-6 hour marathon, and I’d expect to cross the finish anywhere from 9:30-10:30
· My goal is to finish under 15 hours if at all possible (a sub-14 would be a great race)
If you’re up for the finish, there’s usually a live video feed from the finish line of the race you can link to, so you may be able to see me cross.
Keep your fingers crossed for cooler calmer weather (currently 97 forecasted for race day)!!
And with that, there's no looking back. The engines are a 'go' for launch.
T-minus 3 Days.
Well, here we are, and it all comes down to this. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a wee bit nervous about Sunday, but then again it's only my second triathlon (I like to dive in head first, but this time it may be into a shallow pool). There's nothing more I can do now than to focus, listen to my body, clear my head and enjoy the day. The training could have always been better, the hours could have been longer, the focus could have been sharper, but alas here we are. It will be hot, it will be long (that's what she said!! - I couldn't resist), but at the end of the day, if I'm still on my two feet, I will be an Ironman.
So, for those looking to spectate via the web, here's a breakdown of what I think my day will look like, and how to track.
Head on over to this link - http://ironman.com/ironmanlive
My bib number is 690.
The race starts at 7:00am
If all goes well, I plan on the following:
· Exiting the water anywhere from 8:30-9:00
· Transition to the bike approx 15 min or less
· 7 hours or less on the bike (depending on the wind), expecting to reach transition by 4:00
· Transition to the run approx 15 min or less
· The run is anyone’s guess… Worst case scenario (rather than collapsing) is walking the entire run which would put me in at around 11:00 or sooner
· Realistically I’m looking at sub-6 hour marathon, and I’d expect to cross the finish anywhere from 9:30-10:30
· My goal is to finish under 15 hours if at all possible (a sub-14 would be a great race)
If you’re up for the finish, there’s usually a live video feed from the finish line of the race you can link to, so you may be able to see me cross.
Keep your fingers crossed for cooler calmer weather (currently 97 forecasted for race day)!!
And with that, there's no looking back. The engines are a 'go' for launch.
T-minus 3 Days.
Monday, April 07, 2008
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