MiM in Rearview Mirror

The first triathlon of the season is in the rear view mirror and it's time to analyze. I really do feel good about it all the way around. I'm happy with the effort, I'm happy with the time and I'm happy with the objectives of staying relaxed, hydrating well and finishing strong.

O.K., about the times. As a refresher from the previous post I wanted to complete the swim in sub-25, the bike in 1:15 and the run in sub-55. "Two out of three ain't bad", isn't that what they say? The swim was 27:50, bike - 1:05:10 and run - 53:42.

PRE-RACE

We (Trey, Bird and I) got to the venue in plenty of time. I think it was around 5:45 A.M. for a 7:50 start. We had to pick up our race packets, finish our coffee, get body marked, put on our sun screen, put more air pressure in our tires, take our bikes to the transition area and make sure all of our stuff was set up perfectly. It was also important to visit the porta-john, recheck the air pressure in our tires, double check to make sure everything was set up perfectly in our transition area, make sure our numbers were affixed to our bikes, helmets and race belts correctly, revisit the porta-john and recheck the air pressure in our tires. Visit the porta-john. Recheck the air pressure in our tires.

There was a professional category at this race and it was cool because Chris McCormack was there. McCormack finished 2nd at the Ironman World Championships in Kona this past year. He's a stud! The pros went off at 7:30 and they went off every 10 seconds. The amateurs started at 7:50 and went every 3 seconds starting with 101. My number was 1281 so by the time they got to me it was 8:53....that's a long time to wait around in a wetsuit....get's kind of hot. The cool part about it though, was that it allowed me to watch the pros finish the swim and transition to the bike. A true learning experience especially when their swim to bike transition is about 47 seconds....mine was 2:27. I need to trim some fat off of that in the future for sure.

SWIM

By the time 8:53 A.M. rolled around I was absolutely ready to take the plunge. Even though the water temperature was a cool 74 degrees it felt good after standing around in my wetsuit for more than an hour waiting to start. I do like the staggered start versus the mass start for the simple reason there's not as much chaos in the water. You're slapping water and not as many arms, legs, heads and elbows.

The swim course formed a triangle and they used just about every wet inch of the small lake to complete the course. Buoys were on the left initially to help us avoid a dock that stretched out into the lake. Past the dock all buoys were then on the right the rest of the way home.

The importance of proper sighting and swimming straight can't be minimized. Although never in the military I did too much Army swimming (left, right, left, right). It not only adds distance to your swim but naturally time as well.

After the first hectic 4 or 5 minutes I settled into a decent rhythm...that is until I looked up and realized I was off course, then I kick myself, frantically changed directions and picked up my pace until I was back on course. Then I got into a decent rhythm again. All in all I felt comfortable with the swim and exited the water in 27:50.

T1

As soon as I climbed to my feet in the water I began T1 by stripping my goggles and swim cap off and reaching for the rip cord at the back of my wet suit and unzipping it. Passing the timing device I grabbed a cup of water at the aid station and started jogging to my bike in the transition area while stripping the wetsuit over my shoulders and to my waist. Unfortunately there weren't any wetsuit strippers at this event so everyone was on his own. After grappling with my wetsuit trying to get it over the Philbrick heel I velcroed on my bike shoes, pushed on my shades, strapped on my helmet, squeezed down a GU, pulled my bike off the rack and headed for the transition exit. A 2:27 T1 needs to be cut down. In the future I'll take the GU and drink at the beginning of the bike and not during the transition.

BIKE

Once on the bike you can settle down after the transition and get into a good cadence. It took me about 3/4 minutes to make that adjustment and find a good pace. I felt really strong and confident once on the bike and began passing people. My cadence stayed in the 92 - 94 range for most of the bike. It was a flat course with a few gradual inclines and no major hills. All in all I was pleased with a 1:05:10 and 22.6 MPH average on the bike. That was 10 minutes faster than my goal going in. I think I can get better coming out of and into the transition area.

T2

Having unvelcroed my shoes while still clipped in near the end of the bike I pulled my feet out of the shoes as I came to a stop at the line going into the transition area. Being at the other end of the area it was a long run to my spot. Once there I put my back wheel into the slot sat down and reached for my socks...one of which was underneath my wetsuit and therefore was totally soaked. I slipped my shoes on, traded my helmet for a hat, sucked down another GU, chased it with some GU2O and strapped on my race belt with the number 1281 in front. Again, I need to improve on the 2:37 it took my during this transition and I think I can by simply taking in my GU and drink while exiting the transition area and carrying my race belt with me and putting it on while running.

RUN

While my running has improved I really wasn't sure what to expect. My legs really cramped up coming off the bike at the half in Houston last October. Fortunately that didn't happen this time...granted it wasn't as long a bike this time and it wasn't as hot. But I have been working on my running as well as doing at least one brick a week during training to get my legs used to running coming off the bike.

The run course had some pretty good rolling hills to it and was an out and back. Fortunately there was some shade intermittently. I took in liquids at every aid station which were situated at miles 1/5, 2/4 and mile 3. They had water and Gatorade at every station. I drank the Gatorade and poured the water over my head.

I caught up with a guy from Marion, Arkansas at the turn around and ran with him the rest of the way home. That always helps pass the time and it gives you incentive to keep going. One of my goals during this run was to not walk except through the aid stations. I was successful with that and didn't even walk through every station. I ran through the first two and walked through the last 4.

My goal for the 10K run was a sub-55. My time was 53:42 and I finished strong and felt like I could've gone further.......but glad I didn't have to! My next goal at this distance is to finish sub-50. I do have some work to do.

OVERALL

My overall time: 2:31:37. I was very happy with that time finishing 61 out of 126 in my age group and 374th out of approximately 900+ male racers.

FIRST TRI....THEN SUCCEED

MiM is this Sunday. Birdman, Trey and myself are making the journey to Memphis Saturday night for our first tri of the season. It's an olympic distance event (my first tri of that distance) and it's a good first test. I'm looking forward to it, I'm excited and not as anxious as I was for the first tri of my life last June. I still have a few butterflys which I'm sure will mulitply as the week goes by....which is O.K. because a few butterflys are good and they help jump start the adrenaline.

No predictions but ideally I'd like to complete the swim in sub-25m, the bike in 1:15, and the run in sub-55m. Add in 3m or so for each transition and there you have it. My true goal is to be relaxed, stay focused, hydrate well and finish strong. Of course, updates to follow.

NOT A GOOD BLOGGER

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Triscoop - Triathlon News & Reviews General Coffee Talk
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I'm Age Grouper of the Week!
bryancdMemberPosts: 454Location: Fountain Hills, ArizonaJoined: 29.06.06
Posted on 04-30-2007 18:38
..at IronmanTalk.com!Thanks to James, jdub. He nominated me and Bevin and John at Ironman Talk picked me! Their podcast, Ironman Talk, was one of the very first triathlon podcasts I started listening to back last year and I have taken away more useable information from thier show on Ironman racing than any other triathlon news source. For those who have never heard it, here's a link:http://www.ironmantalk.com/Podcast.html
Bryan-Be the person your dog thinks you are!

The above excerpt was taken from a triathlete website I frequent...TriScoop.com.

Now for the reason for the post. As you can tell from the huge gaps in time between posts I'm not the most diligent blogger. And it's taken me a while to figure out why. I can be oppinionated and I do have things to say occasionally. But the reason for my infrequent entries has to do with the basic premise of a blog.....which is the reason I included the above example. A blog is really a bunch of entries about me, myself and I. Come on, sing a few bars..."It's all about me". For the most part I try to divert attention away from me. It's uncomfortable to me for all eyes to be on me. I just realized I need to clarify something....the above excerpt is not about me....but while I'm on the above excerpt I'll go into detail about it. This dude Bryancd, "loves me some me". He's forever on this website talking about him. Now, from what he says and writes, he's a pretty solid triathlete. He's had good results in a very short period of time. He qualified for Kona this year as an age-grouper as a result of his finish at Ironman Arizona. But, really, let others talk about you rather you talkin' about yourself. That's when you know you've really arrived. But, to each his own, I guess.

I'm still going to jot down entries on this blog. I like the outlet it provides. And sometimes they're going to be about me and what's going on in my life. For example, right now, I'm trainin' my brains out for Ironman Wisconsin (please don't peak too soon!). But for the most part they're going to be observations, what's going on in the lives of the people in my life (which in a way is about me) and a few rants and raves.

Now for something random...I still can't believe the Minnesota Vikings drafted Adrian Peterson! I've grown accustomed to things like that not happening to a Viking fan. I'm a lifelong Sooner fan and a lifelong Viking fan. For my favorite player on the Sooners to be drafted by my favorite team in the NFL....well now, that's just like rollin' a yahtzee on the first roll. What? Now the Celtics are going to get the first pick in the NBA draft?

AND SO IT BEGINS

25 weeks from 3/18/07 will be 9/9/07....Ironman Wisconsin. "And so it begins" means training begins in earnest today. Don't get me wrong, training started a long time ago. The line of when it actually started is a little arbitrary. I've been swimming, biking and running all winter. In everything I've ever read about competing in an Ironman distance race is that you have to train before you can train. So, up until now I've been training to be able to train. Most of my efforts thus far have been base training. I've been building a bigger engine....not necessarily creating more power in that engine yet, but creating more capacity.

What starts today, as opposed to last week, is my 24-week Ironman distance training plan. I know I said there's 25 weeks until the big day. I'm building in some space in case I get sick or need a day or two here or there when I won't be able to train. More than likely I didn't build in enough days.

Am I ready? For the race? Heck no! Am I ready to starting training for the race? I am. I've been planning for this and thinking about and preparing for it for quite some time. I have a dedicated training plan, a log, a new bike (still need a few minor bells and whistles for the bike), I feel very healthy and I'm eager. As Irony would have it, with all this eagerness my training plan has Monday as a rest day.

My first week of training includes 5750 meters in the pool, 4:35 on the bike and 2:35 pounding the pavement......I'll do more than that in one day on 9/9/07!

HELLO WORLD

There are many things I love about this time of year. I've found that as I get older I do love the change of seasons. Yes, I even like the end of Daylight Savings Time. It took a long time for that one to take effect though. Springtime is my favorite which leads into summer. Among the things I love about this time of year are: Daylight Savings time, warmer temperatures, baseball, golf, green grass, wearing shorts, cooking food on the grill, colors everywhere. The world wakes up in the spring. Unlike humans, when the world wakes up it looks beautiful. It doesn't worry about bad hair or breath or crust in the corner of the eyes.

One of my very favorite things is the bloom of the Bradford Pear as seen in the picture above. I think the white blooms are just beautiful. You do have to enjoy them in a hurry though because the blooms don't hang around long. In about a week the white is gone replaced with the leaves of green. Hello world.

NEW RIDE

Christmas comes again this Tuesday! Well, OK, truthfully, Christmas doesn't come again this Tuesday but the next best thing does....the FedEx man. He'll bring with him my new Roo. I've upgraded to a dedicated Tri bike, the Quintana Roo Tequilo. I'm certain this is going to make me Normann Stadler-fast. Stadler won the 2006 Ironman world championships with a record setting bike split of 4:18:something. He rode 112-miles in 4-hours 18-minutes and change! Ridiculous! You've probably been stuck behind someone in their car driving in the fast lane who's head you couldn't see over the back of the seat driving at a pace slower than 4:18:something for 112-miles. Drives you crazy doesn't it? Why don't they just get over? I'm sure Normann Stadler wondered the same thing during his Sunday ride in Kona. Now I'm sure I'll be thinking the same thing on my new QR! Seriously, I'm kidding...........seriously!

I do wonder about all this equipment stuff, though. Does an upgrade really make you faster, better, more efficient? I used to be an avid golfer. I played with blades my entire life. Still do when I get a chance to play. There's nothing like the feeling of a well hit shot struck with a blade. You know instantly that it's going to be good. My question is was it the club or the swing? You know that comment "it's not rocket science"? That can be thrown out with yesterday's coffee grinds because when it comes to sports and the equipment we use to play them it has become rocket science. Look at the technology used to build the better driver these days. It's truly amazing filled with a lot of rocket-science terminology promising to deliver a driving average of 350 yards (give or take 100 or so....usually take, right?). I've never had the latest, greatest technology on the market when it came to golf clubs. Heck, I was reluctant to give up on the wooden driver and probably wouldn't have except the day I won a long driving contest using my wooden driver and the prize was a Big Bertha. Side note: I've always questioned that. Why would the prize for winning a long driving contest be a new driver....wouldn't they assume you were happy with the driver you had and maybe give you a golf bag, putter, 10 dozen golf balls or something other than a driver? Oh well, I'm kind of glad they did because it was getting embarrassing being the last surviving golfer using a wooden driver. It was akin to being the last known member wearing a "Members Only" jacket! The point is this, you still have to have the swing that will place the club head in just the right spot when it makes contact with the ball that will put the ball on the desired trajectory. All the technology in the world will not move your muscles to make that happen.

Back to the technological, geometrical upgrade with my new bike. Is it going to make me stronger, faster, more efficient? Time will tell. It is a dedicated tri bike rather than my current road bike fixed with aero bars. So there is different geometry at work providing a more aerodynamic position on the bike. It does have the latest, greatest technology........this is beginning to sound familiar. That technology still isn't going to make my muscles move any differently to make me stronger, faster, more efficient. Oh, what do I care, the FedEx man is coming Tuesday!

CLIP TIP

Short and sweet today.

If the person who cuts your hair doesn't charge extra to trim your eyebrows and he asks you if you want yours trimmed, you might want to go ahead and take him up on the offer because he certainly didn't ask you to get more money out of you....wink, wink.