So I took lunch at the YMCA around the corner from the office and swam 2000 yards. I have swam 2000 yards in a single workout before but today I didn't stop at all. I didn't warm-up or anything. I just jumped in and started swimming. It's mostly boring but I can really tell that my upper body is getting stronger. I focused on good even strong pulls with each stroke. The tiles on the body seemed to fly by and it seemed that the overhead flags were almost always coming by.
I really need to learn how to do flip turns. I think that they would make my workouts go faster and I would look like i knew what the heck I was doing.
Monday, June 16, 2008
17 WEEKS Till BALTIMORE
I ran 6 miles this morning. I felt really strong and ran much faster than I should have. Last week wasn't so great. I am switching over to morning runs and I had a really hard time getting up. I am not going to quit waking up early. I know that when I make getting up at 4:45am a habit my training will show it.
I really have been feeling much stronger. All over stronger not just my legs. I guess all of this swimming and biking is starting to pay off. I swam 2000 yards yesterday and don't even feel it today. My legs feel recovered after a couple of hours.
I still have a little belly fat around the middle that just will not go away. I am bring my food to work now and I am really focusing on cutting my fat intake. Between that and 70 miles a week, plus swimming and biking, if I don't loose it this summer then I don't know what I will do.
I really have been feeling much stronger. All over stronger not just my legs. I guess all of this swimming and biking is starting to pay off. I swam 2000 yards yesterday and don't even feel it today. My legs feel recovered after a couple of hours.
I still have a little belly fat around the middle that just will not go away. I am bring my food to work now and I am really focusing on cutting my fat intake. Between that and 70 miles a week, plus swimming and biking, if I don't loose it this summer then I don't know what I will do.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Completed First Triathlon
Let's get this straight - I am a runner. I grew up swimming but never competitively. I surfed in the Ocean and swam at the pool but I never, ever swam laps. Around Christmas of '07 for some crazy resaon I decided that I was going to compete in triathlons. I couldn't swim more than 50 yards without a break and didn't own a bike. The goal was to race an early summer sprint.
After buying a bike, and teaching myself to swim laps I attempted my first Tri on June 1st, 2008. What follows is my account of that race.
PRE-RACE - The alarm clock went off at 4:00am. I hit snooze once. I don't care if this was my first tri or not, 4:00am is too early for law abiding citizens and yes I hit snooze. I had packed the car the night before so all I had to do was eat and leave. I made a bowl of real oatmeal, not that instant crap that my kids eat, but real like grandma used to make oatmeal. I sprinkled some brown sugar, walnuts, and honey on top. After a couple cups of coffee and a trip to the bathroom I was off.
It's about a 45 minute drive from my house to the Naval Base. I was sipping coffee and gatorade, (No not mixed together, that's just gross, but from two different bottles.) I had planned to stop at WAWA to buy a bannana nut muffin, but I was too excited and just drove to the base. I live on the Peninsula and had to drive across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel to reach Norfolk so I would have a good view of the conditions of the Bay. Yesterday the race site was whitecapping with 2 foot waves. As my car exited the tunnel I saw..............flat, calm water. Thank you Lord!
The directions to the base were perfect and I breezed through the gate check in. I followed a car in front of my with a bike on the back so I assumed they were heading the right way. The transition area, finishing area, and parking area was on a giant helicopter tarmac right on the shore of the Bay. I was able to park about 100 yards from the transition area. This was perfect! I unloaded my bike and headed over to the transition area to check in my bike. I was so early it wasn't even open yet and I had to wait about 5 minutes until 6:00 to rack my bike. When the area opened I was the third one in on my row and I got to pick a premium end of row spot. It pays to get there early.
Now what. It's 6:03 and the race doesn't start for 2 hours. What am I going to do? I went to the car and listened to the radio, I walked around and made sure that I knew where the transition exits were. I got my chip, ate a powerbar, and looked around.
SWIM - I got my wetsuit on right before they closed the transition area. It was getting warm and I didn't want to be in that hot thing any longer than I had to be. My wave 35-39 year old males was the 4th wave to start. There was a giant concrete boat ramp, maybe 100 feet wide, that we all walked down. This was an open water start so they had us wade into the water and swim out until we were all grouped up. We treaded water for a couple of minutes and off I went. There were about 60 guys in my wave and they went off like gangbusters. I stayed calm and smooth and started my stroke. I knew the swim was my weakness and my goal was to finish the swim with a respectful time and not drown. If I came out of the water without a lifeguards assistance I would be a winner. The turn buoys were spaced about 300 yards apart and that is a long way. The water was calm so that helped. My sighting was poor and the whole race was a series of arcs. I probably swam an extra 200 yards with all of the zig zagging I was doing. (Note to self, fastest way to pick up time, swim straight) I never got kicked or kicked anybody. I did flip over on my back about three times and rest for about 20 seconds. I knew that the fastest and most economical way for me to get out of the water was to swim an easy, but strong freestyle. I kept my mind focused on what I was doing and stayed pretty calm. The wetsuit helped a lot but my time was much slower than I hoped. I exited the water after 1K in 27:20, 52 out of 58th. At least I exited the water.
After buying a bike, and teaching myself to swim laps I attempted my first Tri on June 1st, 2008. What follows is my account of that race.
PRE-RACE - The alarm clock went off at 4:00am. I hit snooze once. I don't care if this was my first tri or not, 4:00am is too early for law abiding citizens and yes I hit snooze. I had packed the car the night before so all I had to do was eat and leave. I made a bowl of real oatmeal, not that instant crap that my kids eat, but real like grandma used to make oatmeal. I sprinkled some brown sugar, walnuts, and honey on top. After a couple cups of coffee and a trip to the bathroom I was off.
It's about a 45 minute drive from my house to the Naval Base. I was sipping coffee and gatorade, (No not mixed together, that's just gross, but from two different bottles.) I had planned to stop at WAWA to buy a bannana nut muffin, but I was too excited and just drove to the base. I live on the Peninsula and had to drive across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel to reach Norfolk so I would have a good view of the conditions of the Bay. Yesterday the race site was whitecapping with 2 foot waves. As my car exited the tunnel I saw..............flat, calm water. Thank you Lord!
The directions to the base were perfect and I breezed through the gate check in. I followed a car in front of my with a bike on the back so I assumed they were heading the right way. The transition area, finishing area, and parking area was on a giant helicopter tarmac right on the shore of the Bay. I was able to park about 100 yards from the transition area. This was perfect! I unloaded my bike and headed over to the transition area to check in my bike. I was so early it wasn't even open yet and I had to wait about 5 minutes until 6:00 to rack my bike. When the area opened I was the third one in on my row and I got to pick a premium end of row spot. It pays to get there early.
Now what. It's 6:03 and the race doesn't start for 2 hours. What am I going to do? I went to the car and listened to the radio, I walked around and made sure that I knew where the transition exits were. I got my chip, ate a powerbar, and looked around.
SWIM - I got my wetsuit on right before they closed the transition area. It was getting warm and I didn't want to be in that hot thing any longer than I had to be. My wave 35-39 year old males was the 4th wave to start. There was a giant concrete boat ramp, maybe 100 feet wide, that we all walked down. This was an open water start so they had us wade into the water and swim out until we were all grouped up. We treaded water for a couple of minutes and off I went. There were about 60 guys in my wave and they went off like gangbusters. I stayed calm and smooth and started my stroke. I knew the swim was my weakness and my goal was to finish the swim with a respectful time and not drown. If I came out of the water without a lifeguards assistance I would be a winner. The turn buoys were spaced about 300 yards apart and that is a long way. The water was calm so that helped. My sighting was poor and the whole race was a series of arcs. I probably swam an extra 200 yards with all of the zig zagging I was doing. (Note to self, fastest way to pick up time, swim straight) I never got kicked or kicked anybody. I did flip over on my back about three times and rest for about 20 seconds. I knew that the fastest and most economical way for me to get out of the water was to swim an easy, but strong freestyle. I kept my mind focused on what I was doing and stayed pretty calm. The wetsuit helped a lot but my time was much slower than I hoped. I exited the water after 1K in 27:20, 52 out of 58th. At least I exited the water.
I'm walking so my heart won't explode in my chest!
T1 - This transistion went well. No problem getting the wetsuit off. I had a water bottle and rinsed my mouth out. I was actually really taking my time because I was lightheaded from the swim and my heart rate was pretty high. Since I was on the end my kids were right there and were able to talk to me throughout the transition, that was really cool. My wife and family are really supportive so this really helped. I think it's important to teach my kids how to compete and I want them to see me try as hard as I can. They always ask why I don't win the races that I enter. I tell them that I win just by entering and finishing. My 8 year old son is starting to get what I mean.
BIKE - I ran through the chip mat and hoped on the bike. I had a little trouble getting my shoes on and I had to reach down twice to get the tongue pulled out. I started peadling and tried to get my cadence up. It was taking a lot more effort than normal to get to my standard 90 plus rpm's. After about a mile I realized that it wasn't me, it was my front tire! My front tire was really low, not where I was riding on the rim but it was close. I didn't have a repair kit on my bike and I wasn't gonna quit, so I put my head down and just pedaled. After a few gear changes I just knew it was going to be hard work, but I kept going. About mile 9 I decided that I needed to get some Gatorade in me, so I slowed down a bit and really worked on getting some Gatorade down.
I was never so happy to see that last turn into the transition area. I slowed down and swung my right leg over the pedals like a pro. The bike was really hard to handle with the flat front tire and I almost lost control, but I dismounted and ran across the timing mat.
T2 - I had a really fast transition here. But I noticed something that really upset me. Most of the bikes in my age group were already racked. That's what happens when you suck on the swim and have a flat tire on the bike. I slipped my shoes on and said "HI" to my kids and off to the run.
RUN- The legs were a little stiff, but started to loosen up a bit. I looked at my Garmin and it said I was running right at 7:00 pace. What? 7:00 minute pace. No way. I kept pushing for the first mile and realized that the bike had screwed up the Garmin's averaging and it wasn't giving me an accurate reading. OH well. Everything was going pretty good but it was really getting hot. I noticed that my heartrate was getting really high, like over 170 and I knew I was in trouble. I walked through the water stop to try to get my heart rate down but it didn't really help. I slowed my pace down to around 8:20 and decide to just cruise in and call this thing over.
RESULTS-
- SWIM Time 27:20 RATE 2.2mph Rank 52/56
- T1 Time 2:31
- BIKE Time 44:36 RATE 16.7mph Rank 50/56
- T2 Time 1:07
- RUN Time 26:13 RATE 8:27 Rank 33/56
- Total Time 1:41 Rank 48/56
Conclusion: I guess I should just be happy that I finished but I was really destroyed by my results. It comes down to this, Triathletes don't play. They are serious about their sport and they show up to race. Running races has so many people that just show up to finish. I would really like to do so more tri's but I will definitely swim a lot more and will pay my dues on the bike. The race was really well organized and I did have a good time.
BEST OF ALL...........NOW I CAN CALL MYSELF A TRIATHLETE!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Great OWS Today!
Yorktown Beach with Coleman BridgeSo a friend of mine didn't have to work today so we decided to try another open water swim this morning. This time the water was calm and the conditions were perfect. We changed into our wetsuits and got our googles on. I waded into the water and let the 64 degree salt water run down my back. After a moment I was getting warm and I took a breath and pulled my head below the water. THERE WE GO! After a second I dove under the swimming area ropes and start my swim.
Starting PointI focused on steady strong strokes. I focused on my breathing and heart rate and I was going great. I am a left side breather so the near shore was on the wrong side so every dozen strokes I would look up to see where I was going. I found that I was pulling to the left, probably beacuse that was the side I was breathing on. After a few minutes I had reached the pier and knew I was halfway done. My buddy was ahead of me, he was swimming much straighter, so he was waiting for me. He said hey you can stand up here, so we took a few minutes to rest and then we started back.
The Pier Marks the Halfway Point
On the way back the shore was on my breathing side so I was able to keep a check on where I was much better than during the first half. I also noticed that the current was behind me and I was really moving now. This was pretty cool. I stayed with a slow and strong stroke and my breathing was really good. Everyonce and a while I would start thinking about the water and start freaking out but I would start focusing on my stroke again.
When I ducked under the swim area rope, I saw that my wife and 2 1/2 year old daughter were playing on the beach watching me swim. It was pretty cool coming out of the water with my wetsuit on and googles. I felt like a real triathlete!
I had a really good time and think that I could get into this open water swimming thing this summer. It's so different than swimming laps. It's outside, there's the beach, and it's cool actually getting somewhere because your swimming. I mean you are moving, traveling, it's really cool.
My first race is Sunday and I'm really excited. Hopefully the water will be calm, but if it's not I know I can cover the distance if I stay strong and steady.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Mindless Taper Babble
Well I am resting for a couple of days to get ready for my race this weekend. http://www.breezypointtri.com I have determined that I like training better than racing. The whole tapering thing just blows, especially for a marathon. Two days without working out and I feel like a slovenly pig. Why do I feel like I am getting fat over night?
So, I really like eating and I think that is one of the reasons that I enjoy endurance sports; guiltfree eating. There is nothing like the feeling of being hungry because you actually worked up an appetite and food always tastes so much better when you worked hard for eat.
Tomorrow, I'm going to swim and maybe run 5 miles just to get ready. This will probably be the last swim before Sunday, well maybe another open water swim Friday morning. I'm going to run 5 miles Thursday and Friday and take all day Saturday off. Then Monday I can start training everyday again, yeah.
So, I really like eating and I think that is one of the reasons that I enjoy endurance sports; guiltfree eating. There is nothing like the feeling of being hungry because you actually worked up an appetite and food always tastes so much better when you worked hard for eat.
Tomorrow, I'm going to swim and maybe run 5 miles just to get ready. This will probably be the last swim before Sunday, well maybe another open water swim Friday morning. I'm going to run 5 miles Thursday and Friday and take all day Saturday off. Then Monday I can start training everyday again, yeah.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
First Open Water Swim
I got a call from my group that they were going to head down to Yorktown Beach and swim about 1200 yds open water. Perfect! My first OW Tri is next weekend so this will be great practice. I grabbed my bag and my wetsuit and got ready to go. The wife and kids were going to meet me and I was excited. This will be my first time in the water with my wetsuit and my first open water swim without a surf board.
We got to the beach around 10:20 and watited for the whole group to show up. The plan was to swim outside of the beach goers swim area. We were going to go 400 yards down and then turn around and come back. We would do this a couple of times.
I put on my new Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit. It was tight but the girl a the store swore that it was just right. The water temperature was 64 degrees and man was it cold. We waded out into the water and then it was time to start.
Well the waves were bigger in the water than I had expected, around 18 inches tall. I faced down and started swimming and then I couldn't breathe. Between the wetsuit, the cold water and the waves I just couldn't get my breath. I tried again and it didn't work. I started swimming breast stroke with my head out of the water. I tried freestyle again. One stroke, breath, OMG I gonna die. I rolled onto my side and started sidestroke. A couple of guys yelled at me and I said that I was ok I was going to cut the whole thing short. I tried freestyle without putting my head in the water. Ok that's too exhausting. I gave up and headed in towards the beach.
After a few moments on the beach, I regained my composure and tried again closer to the shore. I finally was able to get about 15 strokes together before having to stand up, but this sure isn't swimming in a pool.
So I was completely humbled but not broken. I am determined to get this OWS thing down. I'll be heading down to the beach every day this week to try to get comfortable with the swim. At least I know what to work on.
We got to the beach around 10:20 and watited for the whole group to show up. The plan was to swim outside of the beach goers swim area. We were going to go 400 yards down and then turn around and come back. We would do this a couple of times.
I put on my new Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit. It was tight but the girl a the store swore that it was just right. The water temperature was 64 degrees and man was it cold. We waded out into the water and then it was time to start.
Well the waves were bigger in the water than I had expected, around 18 inches tall. I faced down and started swimming and then I couldn't breathe. Between the wetsuit, the cold water and the waves I just couldn't get my breath. I tried again and it didn't work. I started swimming breast stroke with my head out of the water. I tried freestyle again. One stroke, breath, OMG I gonna die. I rolled onto my side and started sidestroke. A couple of guys yelled at me and I said that I was ok I was going to cut the whole thing short. I tried freestyle without putting my head in the water. Ok that's too exhausting. I gave up and headed in towards the beach.
After a few moments on the beach, I regained my composure and tried again closer to the shore. I finally was able to get about 15 strokes together before having to stand up, but this sure isn't swimming in a pool.
So I was completely humbled but not broken. I am determined to get this OWS thing down. I'll be heading down to the beach every day this week to try to get comfortable with the swim. At least I know what to work on.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Fueling the Furnace
I had a pretty decent week of training last week. Recap:
Monday - 2000 meter swim, 2.5 mile run
Tuesday - 15 mile run
Wednesday - 1200 meter swim, 5 mile run
Thursday - 11 mile run
Friday - Hard day of outside yard work
Saturday - 12 hours of outside yard work
Sunday - 9.5 mile run, 1000 meter swim
The yard work days really screwed me up. I had planned on running both days but ran out of time and energy. I'm not sure if it was the sun or the work but Sunday was awful. I was so tired I didn't know what to do. I tried eating but that wasn't it. Finally after swimming Sunday I just rested on the couch.
When I woke up Monday I was so tired I was delirious.
Monday - 2000 meter swim, 2.5 mile run
Tuesday - 15 mile run
Wednesday - 1200 meter swim, 5 mile run
Thursday - 11 mile run
Friday - Hard day of outside yard work
Saturday - 12 hours of outside yard work
Sunday - 9.5 mile run, 1000 meter swim
The yard work days really screwed me up. I had planned on running both days but ran out of time and energy. I'm not sure if it was the sun or the work but Sunday was awful. I was so tired I didn't know what to do. I tried eating but that wasn't it. Finally after swimming Sunday I just rested on the couch.
When I woke up Monday I was so tired I was delirious.
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