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It's 97 here in redwood city

I am Ironman

I raced an Ironman today and completed the distance. Without any permanent damage I believe.

At 16:03 Im a pretty slow Ironman. Really I made a lot of newbie mistake.. damn I could have don e it much faster.

• First off I switched flavors on my sports drink. No big deal yo might think, but I think this new flavor upset my stomach and I didn't figure it out until halfway through the ride. This caused me to under eat making me slower.
• On the run I didn't clean my water bottle, so it had something else in it with my sports drink. I just dmped it out and figured there would be little residue.. stupid me I think this also bother my stomach
• Worst of all I overdrank. Too much water. I stopped at every bathroom on the bike course. By the time I got to the run I was rushing to the bathrooms because I couldn't hold it back. I drank my usual amount.. why was it too much? This killed my run. I tried just sipping and realy reducing what I drank.. no real help. The only thing that worked was that I finally stopped drinking altogether.

More on the Alcatraz swim

Here is a map of my swim from Alcatraz: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fbbs.keyhole.com%2Fubb%2Fdownload.php%3FNumber%3D1184825&t=k&om=1&ie=UTF8&z=14

I have to say the swim was a lot of fun. It's a real privilege to be able to do something like this. You jump off the boat in a rush, trying not to jump on top of someone and then try to get away from the boat as quickly as possible. It is a bit crowded and hectic at the start with people swimming over you. After a while you relax and it's just you and the currents and the cold water.

People swim at crazy angles, if you look at my gps track closely you can see that it wiggles a lot. I tried to keep the Sutro TV towers at 1 O'Clock or so as I neared shore. This worked OK, but often I would sigh take a few strokes and then look up to see the towers at 11 O'Clock. The waves and current tended to turn me around some. Sometimes another swimmer comes next to you and rather than swimming over them you have to speed up/slow down/change angles.

At Some point I realized I was moving to the right edge of the swim course so I started swimming directly toward the towers. This landed me in a perfect position on the beach.

The GPS did not get as many data points as it could have. It kept on flipping underneath me as I swam. I stopped a couple times to put it on my back but it eventually went back under me so what can you do?

I did this swim with a wetsuit. Next time I think I'll try without one.

My brother interviewed on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90889674

2 weeks till ironman

well I'm only 2 weeks away now. I haven't held together well... During training I injured my shoulder/neck, my low back, my toe, and now my latest dehabilition: bum knees.

Clearly the bum knees are related to my new bike.. At first I had a little bit of pain when riding, then I had a lot of pain and my ride distances started coming down. Right now it's a challenge to do an easy spin for an hour.

So even though I planned on doing Escape from Alcatraz this weekend I will only do the swim so that my knees have time to rest. I've been told by people in the know that I will still be able to do the IM, but I need to take things easy.

Oh well the swim for alcatraz should be fun.

Build and Destory

In the build phase of IM training. distances are increasing. Today I went for an 18 mile run and was pleased that I could hold a 8:15 pace for most of it. Around mile 13 the infit I was drinking became so bubbly I couldn't drink it anymore. I refilled (duh! with more infit.. I thought that stuff was water) Quickly I couldn't drink it, by mile 14 I was cramped up so hard from dehydration I had to take many walk breaks. Mile 15 I finally got more water, but the damage was done. I had lost the guys I was running with and couldn't return to form until Mile 17 or so.

Yesterday I went out for a 105 mile ride. I started in San Gregorio, and rode to pescadero. In pescadero I realised I had dropped my hat, so I went back over the hills to San Gregorio looking for it. No Luck. Then I rode back to pescadero and on to Santa Cruz. Leaving Pescadero a motorcyclist says to me "I gotta hand it to you, you really know how to ride". I'm still not sure if it was a genuine compliment or if he was being sarcastic. The area I was in was flat and straight and I was in tri position riding along at 20mph, so I don't think I did anything to deserve comment. A truck had just passed me, so maybe it was something related to that. I asked him for directions to Santa Cruz and he said "You sure you want to do that? It's a long way". I said that I'll be fine, but later I cursed myself for not heading his warning.

The wind was with me in some points. I hardly had to pedal to be at 20+ mph. but it was not continuous.

Just outside of Santa Cruz I got a flat. damn it. I changed it but couldn't find the source of the problem. I decided to go into Santa Cruz, find a bike shop and get a new tube. While there I got a couple slices of pizza from next door, then headed back.

Oh My God, what was I thinking! the wind against me was so fierce I could barely keep moving forward. It was a struggle to go 10mph. I had forgotten how bad this was! A quick look at the clock told me it was 5:30 and I had a little under 40 miles or so left to ride. I might not be back at my car until 9pm! damn what was I thinking? I've got no lights on this thing and I'm riding in farmland. Even on steep downhills I can't go faster than 15mph because of the wind. This is the stupidest thing I've done in quite a while. I'm terrified I will not get back before nightfall, when I will not even be able to see the road in front of me, let alone cars be able to see me.

I struggle against the wind for a while.. it's futile.. I knew it would be. I can get up to 13mph or so but that's with me working very hard in the tri position. 6pm, 6:30. Now I can no longer see the sun it's too foggy. I have no idea when sunset will be. 7pm, 7:30 and I notice my speed is back up. Apparently the bad wind is not continuous on the way back either. I made it back to the car with about 10 minutes or so to spare before nightfall. I need to start these rides earlier.

Chico Wildflower Century

I had a really great day riding the ChicoVelo Wildflower Century ride. My 2nd year and it reminded me why it was my favorite ride last year.
The first climb warmed me up, the second buttered me up, and the third, well the third took a lot out of me. After that third climb it was entirely flat.

The second descent as we came out of paradise had a long straight second at a -6% grade. When the grade picked up to -8%, I got up to 50MPH . It felt very rewarding after that long climb.

I loved my new Soloist. On my previous bike when I hit sharp turns with lots of speed I noticed the bike would often understeer, then i'd have to brake some or really throw the bike down to make the turn. Attempting to brake while turning is just a recipe for disaster so mostly I tried to brake before the turn in the straightaway. For continuous S turns I was SOL.
Yesterday on my I noticed it did not understeer. I imagined a line I wanted the bike to take and I just went where I wanted it to like magic. At first I didn't notice I was braking as usual. But one time I carried too much speed into the turn, "Ut-OH" i thought... but the bike just did the turn the same as if it were going half the speed it really was. "Hmm" I thought and I let it rip into the next turn... perfect..

I spent a lot more money on this bike than the last one. yeah it's 3 lbs lighter, wonderful. But the ability to turn correctly is priceless.

I was not in the aerobars for the whole 100 miles, but I made myself sit in them as long as I could which was a long time. I feel confident I can use this bike at wildflower.

Only one issue. The thing has been squeeking all week. The LBS said it was because I had old cheap pedals. I took the pedals off and it still made the squeeking sound. Well it's probably nothing. I rode on it. at mile 50 I notice a mechanic supporting the race and he takes a look at it. 'Thats not safe!" hs says. Apparently my crank is coming off and my bottom bracket is sliding out. he tightens it. on my way but the squeeking starts quickly. At the next stop I have another mechanic look at it. He says it's too tight now, lubes everything up and says it's Ok to ride on but I should have my LBS look at it.

Salty

This pic is from the oceanside 70.3 I did a few weeks ago. I'm encrusted with salt from head to toe. I was even saltier than what this image shows. Although i slow the whole way through on the run I hit a wall i never got through. I ended up walking half of it. I now know that wall to be an electrolyte problem. It can be easily fixed by popping another salt pill. For Oceanside I used my usual salt intake of about 350mg sodium/hour. I really needed much more, witness my legs. I think I was drinking more water than before and that was the problem.

Also I did my 1st rides on the new bike today. It whistles when I go fast. At first I thought it was music playing in the distance, but no it was me. I was comfortable for a while in the aerobars. going up hills was harder than on my bike, and I really notice that I've lost some powerful gears and easy gears too.

The Soloist has landed

Weighing in at 19.2 lbs, I'm unworthy of this machine.

actually the bike is a bit lighter than that, but I've put Aero bars on it so that adds some.

The scary thing about is that I had to lose my granny gear, so my easiest gear is now about 50% harder to turn than the easiest gear I had on my old bike.

I did get fitted so even though it's a road bike I'll be able to ride in as much of a triathlon position as I'm capable of right now. Unlike a real tri bike I can use it at alcatraz.

My 1st ride will be on the trainer tomorrow to shake it down.

Hot Ski Guide/Instructors.

Taking it easy after my stupid race. It's 11:43 and really I should have gone to bed at 10. I have no intention of following my silly schedule or waking up on time.. I'm going to stay up all night tonight because I have good books that need to be read.

Today, I got in my 2nd day of skiing for the season. Still trying to remember how to ski. I bought 4 tickets to Squaw at the start of the season, I finally used one of them.

I managed to leave SF a little bit after 6, pretty much no traffic going up I80 so staying at speed limit + or - 5 mph I got up there maybe 9:30. I listened to the Harry Potter audio book on the way up.. which works great.

The demo center at gold coast worked well, I probably tried 4 different skis, Nordica Jet Fuel, Nordica Hellcat, Rossignol (some big bandit freeride ski), Volkl AC40. The Hellcat and AC40's were most memorable. Last time I tried skis the Mantra stood out (except for the ankle pain it caused)

At one point I was chatting with a stranger on the lift. Talking about trying out skis, she says she likes her current skis and had demoed them 14 days before buying. I said it must have cost a lot,
"Nah, it's free for cute chicks" she says. Then we're talking about if I'm skiing tomorrow and mumbles something that I didn't catch that ended with an opportunity to ski with hot girls. I must have mis heard her... Nope I didn't mishear her. she's a self described "hot ski instructor/guide" if I want one, and hands me card with picture to prove it. LOL. Who doesn't need a hot ski guide/instructor? She says there are other girls in her company if I wanted someone else.

Actually I do usually get a few ski lessons per year.. not so much this year since I've only been up once before this. She gave me a couple free tips on the run.. "although it was a very controlled run, I was sliding a lot. Be more aggressive, try to feel entire foot from toe to heel" then she went off to film some jumps off cliffs.

I thought it was the funniest thing of the day.

In San Diego

got up around 3:30 am and finished packing for my 7am flight. Virgin America is interesting.. they show TV, videos etc while in flight.

Hurt my neck trying to read on the flight. Happens all the time, really I need to do more to fix it. I left my cell phone at the rental car place and didn't realise it until I was 40 minutes away. So I drove back and got it eating up 1:30 of chill time.

I put on my wetsuit and swam in the ocean for about 8 minutes.. I couldn't make myself stay in longer. Swimming with ocean waves is interesting. It's not like swimming in the bay even with rough waves. Mostly in the bay waves mean vertical motion. At the beach I had to keep an eye on the waves to avoid getting water shoved into my mouth. Also the big waves tended to turn me side to side as well as up and down. I can't say I liked it.

I spent way too much time on my feet at the expo. My legs felt tired. I bought some of those fancy compression socks, met people from slotwitch, saw Heather Fuhr and other pros, and picked my bike up from Tri Bike Transport. At 6:30 I have dinner with some GGTC people.

Oh I should have mentioned it first but I skinned my big toe on Wednesday. I've covered it with liquid bandage but every step in my running shoes hurts! I'm hoping the endorphins kick in and make me forget the pain during the run... I fully expect my foot to be a bloody mess by the end of the day. I plan on ignoring it.

2008-03-28 Tapering

So I'm tapering for my next race, Ironman California 70.3. It'll be my first race of the year.

We start in oceanside California. 1.2 mile open water swim in a harbor on the ocean. 56 miles on the bike, 13.2 mile run. I have no idea how I'll do. Last race I placed 122 out of142 in my age groups so I was very much back of pack. I think I beat my previous rank by a solid margin.


I've shipped my bike down to Oceanside. I'll soon ship myself down there. Looking forward to seeing San Diego but the water is expected to be cold.

2008-03-23

1:15 run in Golden Gate park. I saw a couple lakes I had not noticed before. Golden Gate park is a wonderful place to run.

2008-03-22

1 hour, 24 minutes on Canada Rd.

Took the day off from work, but my new camera was shipped there.. so I had to go in to pick it up. Afterwards I drove over to Canada Rd and ran 1:24. It was a very easy pace out, I picked it up coming back but my shoulder started hurting and I went back to an easy pace. I'm really bummed that my running isn't very strong this year. Other people who've known me say my running is stronger now than ever.. but I don't see any evidance. Easy runs are pretty hard for me and hard runs are non-existant.

Jumper

Saw Jumper last night with Eileen. Jumper is an OK movie, no major complaints.. but it felt very manufactured, like your typical big budget movie.
Afterwards we ate at the Thirsty Bear.. Fish cheeks and fried potatoes, yum.

Before the movie I was exhausted from my bike ride. I showed up late for the GGTC ride, so maybe I pushed a little harder than usual to catch them. Joehleen, Alan, and some other caught up to me and passed me, I followed them on for about half of the ride, then I headed back pretty much the way I came. I only needed a 2 1/2 hour ride and I think they were going for 60 miles. I followed it up with a short run and saw Rob as I was heading back in. Ate a little bit showered and headed over Eileens. I was completely zapped of energy... was it that I ridding too hard? At the movie I got popcorn and a a hot dog and wolfed them both down in about 5 minutes... I guess I was hungr. no wonder I didn't have enough energy, I hadn't eaten enough.