Race Report - Memphis in May

Dottie and I travelled to Tunica Mississippi this weekend to compete in the old new Memphis in May Triathlon. The race was moved to Tunica from Millington TN this year. All I can say is that you don’t realize the logistics involved in competing in most triathlons until you find a race that basically eliminates 90% of the work. The organizers and host hotel took the logistical worries out of the picture. It was easy to focus on the reason we travelled there….to race.  We stayed at the Harrah’s event center in Tunica MS.  Within 100 yards of our hotel room was the swim start, the transition area, the finish line and most importantly, the food tent.

Here are the details…

Swim

The swim start at this race was in the TT format.  Instead of sending off the swimmers in waves, one swimmer left every 5 seconds. It makes for a less hectic swim start because there’s no getting pummeled by 50 other guys trying to get to the same spot you are. But, as you’ll read later, there is a downside to it.

The lake was shallow. If you needed to, you could stand up on every part of the course. It was shallow, but not swampy. It smelled and tasted clean…the water was just cloudy. You couldn’t see your hand stretched out in front of you as you swam.

We were allowed to warm-up so I got in a much needed 10 minute swim prior to getting in line. It helps me tremendously to be able to wake up the swim muscles and get the blood flowing. I finished my warm-up and walked over the start line and within 5 minutes I was next in line to be sent off.

I felt great from the start. The stroke was long and strong right from the beginning. I was able to keep it right on the edge of a strong effort and working too hard so the stroke goes to hell in a hand bag. The work I spent this winter with the findingfreestyle group, showed itself today. I was pleased.

This course was by far the easiest one I’ve ever had to navigate. I was never off course. The markers were as follows.. An easily identifiable break in a tree line about 600 yards from the start. A huge green turn bouy about 20 yards from the first turn. A four story hotel. A narrow channel followed by another four story hotel. The hardest sighting point was the finish line. There weren’t any banners or flags flying…just an orange buoy at the water line.

Time: 23:44 / 4^th out of 44 in my age group

I don’t usually mention my transitions in these race reports. I’m going to break from that tradition and just say that it’s a REALLY STOOOPID idea to try and put on your Garmin 310xt in T1…I’m too cheap to buy the quick release gadget they have and it cost me at least 15 seconds trying to get the thing strapped to my wrist and buckled up…I’ll be shopping at the Garmin website this week.

Bike:

This was my first race done with a power meter. I’ve been training with one this winter and spring but never used it in a race situation. I didn’t have any watt numbers in mind to try and hold.  The plan was to ride as hard as possible and just look at/analyze the numbers post-race. That was a good plan but I kinda adjusted on the fly.

After the Garmin debacle mentioned earlier, I got on the bike and took off. I felt ok from the start, not great, just ok. Tunica is located on the Mississippi Delta. The bike course was as pancake flat. Even though I wasn’t feeling all that great, I was still holding 23mph…(in the pouring rain).  I took my first peak at Garmin about five minutes in and it was reading 240 watts…way lower than I expected but it was what it was. I didn’t feel like I should go any harder. As the race went on, I felt stronger and stronger. The first half was into a steady breeze and what normally would have felt like 20mph, was 22mph. That was a good sign so peeked at Garmin..it was reading about 260 watts….much better. My legs really came good about 15 miles into the race. The wind was directly at my right side and I was holding 25mph and 270 watts. Even better. As the race turned north back to the finish and with the wind, the mph’s were at about 30 and the watts were still reading 270. I was well in control at 270 + watts. If I was racing without the power meter, I probably would have pushed harder. But the combination of the mph and watt #’s caused me to go conservative…..not a good thing during an Olympic distance triathlon. Next race, I’m going to target 280+ watts and see what happens. Overall, I thought the bike was great and the power meter training completed this winter was evidenced by my finish time and mph’s..both personal bests on an Olympic Course.

Nutrition:  10oz of Power Bar Perform

Time: 59:03 / 25.02 mph  (I think the course may have been short but I was still much faster than last year) / 271 watt average /4^th out of 44 in my age group.

Run:

Did I mention the course was flat? Not a hill in sight. Even though the course and the day were made for a PR, (cool, cloudy and rainy) it wasn’t too be. I left transition feeling not too bad. Not great, but not bad. I was able to quickly get into what I thought was a good, sustainable pace. Unfortunately, it was about 10 seconds per mile slower than where I thought I would be. I was still wearing my Garmin and it was showing my pace as about 6:30 sec per mile. I was hoping to be running 6:20’s. Mentally, I didn’t have it in me to push any harder at that point in the race. At that point, I wasn’t sure if I was smart or just plain weak.

As the run went on, I felt like I got into a groove and my stride smoothed out but unfortunately my pace slowed to about 6:35. I made a deal with myself that I would push it hard at the turnaround and see where it took me. I figured I could at least drop the pace to the low 6:20’s. Again, it wasn’t to be. I picked it up and my pace dropped to the high 6:20’s. There wasn’t anything left. I finished the last 1.75 miles with a 6:25 pace. As I finished, I thought this was the first race where I felt like my run let me down. I didn’t know it then, but that premonition almost came true and cost me the race.

Nutrition: Two Gu’s and about 4 mouthfuls of water

Run time: 43:30 / pace 6:30 per mile / 3rd out of 44 in my age group (Course was long..6:65 miles instead of 6.2)

Closing thoughts: I’m not a fan of Time Trial starts. Because your competitors either start in front of you or behind you, it’s hard to judge where you stand in the race. There’s no excuse for not racing as hard as you can, but I would rather race my fellow 50-54 year old males than a clock.  The guy that finished behind me was only 17 seconds back. He was running me down and I didn’t know it. I wonder how I would have responded the last couple of miles if I had known he was closing. I thought I was running as hard as I could, but you never know.

The race went as well as I’d hoped it could. The finish result met my expectations. The swim met my expectations. The Bike exceeded my expectations and the run disappointed.  Three out four ain’t bad. The goal was to qualify for the 5150 national championship at the HyVee race in September. Check.

Overall time: 02:08:57 / 1^st place, M50-54

I’d also like to mention that Dottie and I had the pleasure of spending some time this weekend with fellow BretcherMultisport athletes,  Andrew and Suzanne Person. What a great couple. Funny, smart and great triathletes..it was a real treat for us. (It’s just too bad Andrew isn’t a fan of Mount Rushmore).

GTWD

It's about this time of year that I begin to feel a lag in the motivational arena....I've spent the last two months feeding off last seasons results and the excitement of putting together the plan for next year. But  February and March are too far out to begin the push for this summer's races. So nothing to get real excited about...I just need to GTWD. Get The Work Done over the next 8 weeks and wait for the weather to break.

Here's a bonus motivational quote I saw this on the Endurance Corner website....

"If you desire the result then you need to be willing to outwork your competition until they leave the playing field." ......Gordo Byrne.

I desire the result

I Never tire of Watching this Video

This Old Cub Leaves Us

I woke up Friday morning to the news that Ron Santo, former Chicago Cub third baseman and current Cub radio analyst had passed away.

It hit me hard. Out of the blue hard.

He didn't know it, but he touched my life in a bunch of ways.

• He looked like and was about the same age as my dad when he passed away. Every time I saw Ron Santo, I saw my dad.
• He was a prolific fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Our son Chis is a Type I diabetic and hopefully, someday will benefit from his work.
• I've been a Cubs fan forever...good old #10 was one of my favorite players. He was part of the legendary Cubs infield of Santo, Kessinger, Beckert and Banks.
• He was the Cubs radio analyst. His passion for the Cubs came through with every groan or "oh no". I loved listening to him with Pat Hughes, the Cubs play by play announcer.
• He was a Type I diabetic and had been since his late teens. He suffered through the typical problems associated with the disease. In the hundreds of hours of Cubs broadcasts and many interviews, I never heard him complain. He wasn't a "woe is me" guy.

I'll miss him.



Honesty is always the best policy....

Well, another season is behind me. I’ve had about three weeks to sort out 2010 and examine my motivations for 2011. One of the thoughts that have been running through my head lately is why I do what I do? Why do I spend the time and money on triathlon?


After about a ten year lay-off, I restarted training on Thanksgiving Day 2004. Even then, my primary goal was to see how fast I could go in a Triathlon. Over the years, nothing has changed. That is still my number on goal in the sport. Is that a healthy motivation.. I’m not sure.

Here’s my attempt to sort out why I do what I do. It is what it is.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I don’t do the sport to maintain a healthy lifestyle, although that’s one of the advantages, it’s not what gets me out the door. I do Triathlon to try and crush the dreams my fellow M50-54 competitors in races.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I like the way Triathlon has changed my body.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I’m probably addicted to working out. If I miss a scheduled workout, I’m crabby. After a good workout, it feels like I’ve just consumed 20oz of Coke Classic…the elated feeling from the rush of caffeine…probably not unlike what a Heroin addict feels like after injecting himself.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I love the competition of a good race and I base my satisfaction on where I placed and who I beat.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I’d talk about my training and racing all day, every day, if I could. Thankfully, Dottie doesn’t let me get away with that.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, my goal is to be the number one ranked triathlete in the country.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I probably don’t have the genetics/skills to be the number one ranked triathlete in the country.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, when I finally realize my competitive ceiling, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Will I refocus my energies on a single sport? Will I quit?

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I don’t think I’ve pushed myself to my physical limits in a race yet. I don’t think I’ve ever “left it all on the course”. I want to, I just don’t think I’ve got whatever it is that will let me do it. I need to figure that out.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I race scared.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I haven’t figured out the recognition thing yet. I like the recognition that comes from winning. I don’t like to beat my own drum.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I did not do a good job coaching myself. Until this year, I was in charge. I used input from a variety of sources, but I was the one who decided what to do, when to do it and how hard to do it. In 2010, I gave up the job to Daniel Bretscher, a pro Triathlete from Greencastle IN. I’m still not 100% sure why, but I was faster this year and never really felt the fatigue I had in previous years. He worked wonders.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I still really, really like the training, the racing, the technology and the people involved with Triathlon.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, I’ve over achieved in the marriage game. If it wasn’t for Dot, I’m not kidding when I say this, I’m sure I would have self-destructed long ago. She is the rudder on the USS Gierut and has kept this ship on course.

Goals for next year. Swim faster. Ride faster. Run faster

If you’re being totally honest with yourself, you’re asking yourself why did I just waste 5 minutes reading this…

Ron

2010 Des Moines Marathon - "soul crushing, demoralizing pain"

2:58:44

For a variety of reasons, I decided to finish my 2010 season with a marathon. 

1. I haven't raced in one in 26 years. My last one was a DNF at the 1984 Chicago marathon.

2. I was intrigued by the distance and I realized that if I was ever going to do an Ironman, I probably should have some idea of what to expect.

3. I seemed to have a pretty good run at USAT Nationals.

4. To quote my coach, Daniel Bretcher, I was probably going to experience.."soul crushing, demoralizing pain". Awesome.

 I'd been toying with the idea of running a marathon but didn't want to mess up my tri season so I didn't commit to running the race until the ride home from Tuscaloosa on October 26th. The late start left me with two whole weeks of increased mileage and a taper week. 

I challenge you to find a three week marathon training plan...

During the two week build I ran 58 and 54 miles and finished it off with a 40 mile final taper week. My longest run was 19 miles on Tuesday of the the first week. 

Mentally, I was into it for the first 10-12 days. 

On Wednesday of last week, I showed signs of cracking. I left the house with my bathing suit and towel headed to my masters swim workout. About a half mile from home, I did a u-turn and headed to Dairy Queen to replace the swim workout with a Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard...Not a good sign.


Over the next 10 days, it didn't get much better. I hit all the workout mileage and intensity numbers but I did not do well with my diet. Oh well..it was gonna be what it was gonna be.  The lead up to my longest running race in 25 years was going to marginalized by my Dairy Queen and donut cravings.


I also spent the final two weeks trying to figure out how I was going to run the race..run even splits for the race, negative split the race (second half faster) or positive split (run the first half faster to have a little time in the bank in case you slow down. I can honestly say that I didn't know how I was going to run the race until the morning of..I decided to try to negative split the race.  The first half was very hilly and I figured to try and run controlled through them and then pick it up the last quarter of the race.


Race Report:
For Saturday's dinner, Dottie and I hooked up with Don Hoben and his wife Peggy. Don is a friend from work and lives in Louisville KY. They are 25 states into their quest to run a half-marathon in all 50 states.  Both finished on Sunday and can now check off Iowa. Very impressive.


From a weather standpoint, race day in Des Moines was absolutely perfect. Sunny, temps in the high 40's and very little wind. No excuses here.


The race started at 8:00 am. Dottie and I stayed in the host hotel which was on the start line. We were still in our room at 7:30 watching CNN. A one minute commute to the start..that's the way to go. No transitions.. No wetsuits or goggles...no bike. The prep for this race was almost non-existent.


I did a little jog to warm-up, gave Dot a kiss and wished her luck in her race and found the three hour pace group. Ten minutes later, the gun went off and so were we.


For the first three miles both the marathon and half marathon runners were together. At that point, my engine was sputtering.  We went out a little fast (6:35-40) but it felt like closer to 6:10-15. I wasn't running smooth or easy and twenty minutes into the race, I figured that the three hour goal I had set for myself was out the door. I just hung in there on the hopes that things would smooth out and I'd soon be hitting on at least 3 of my 4 cylinder engine.  At this point in the race, there were probably 12 guys in our little 3 hour pace group. I was surprised there wasn't a lot of conversation or nervous chatter. It seemed like everyone had their game faces on and were just running.


As the race went on, I started to feel better. We entered the hilly part of the course and after one or two hills, the increased effort to climb them seemed to clear out the pipes and my stride and breathing smoothed out.  I was hanging off the back of our group and never had any trouble making up distance around corners or coming out of the aid stations.  The group was still intact through nine miles and we were already picking up folks who went out faster and couldn't hold their pace. We were averaging 6:50 - 55 minutes per miles through this hilly section and I was in no trouble at all


As the race went on, we hit more and more hills and the group started to thin out. The typical "culling" scenario had a guy start to labor up a hill and you could hear his breathing get ragged. He'd barely hang on and then once we crested the top, he'd gain some momentum to get with the group again. At the next hill, you could hear and feel the guy trying to hang on to the pace but it wasn't meant to be..."snap" goes the rubber band and he was off the back.  I tried to guess who would be next to be spit out the back but was never right. As the group went through 13 miles, I started to feel it. Just a little fatigue in the legs and a little pain in my quads. Nothing to be alarmed at. I was still hanging and running smooth. It did cross my mind that we had 13 more miles to go and I had never run this hard for longer than 13 mile... I was definitely in uncharted territory. I took my first shot of goo around this time and there was a definite lift from the calories and caffeine.


As the race went on, the group seemed to stabilize and everyone who couldn't hang was gone by 14 miles. At that point, the race had really strung out. We were running smooth and the crowd was encouraging us as we went by. We stood out because of our pace and the fact that we were running as a pack.  It was a very cool sensation. Even though there wasn't any conversation, I definitely felt an energy level coming from the group. We were cruising.


At this point in the race, the course started its downhill run to the flat, last 10 miles or so.. I've always heard that it's not the uphill running that kills your legs, but the downhill sections. That has been confirmed. We hit a section of the course that was downhill for about a mile. I started to feel pain in my quads. At first I thought I was cramping and was worried that I was going to have to eventually stop and stretch them out. But as the miles went on, the sensation went from a cramping sensation to just outright pain. They hurt, but I was relieved as I knew that my quads wouldn't seize up and finish my race.  


The course flattened out about mile 15 and the pack was still together. We were not being passed and we were passing a couple of runners every mile or so. We were like PacMen; chewing up runners that had over-cooked themselves. There was only one guy who we picked up that was able hang with us for more that a couple hundred yards. He slid into the group and ran with us till about mile 22 or so. From mile 15 to mile 20 I could feel myself slowly begin to degrade. The pain in my quads was getting worse and it was getting harder to maintain the 6:50 pace that we needed to be at. I was still able to run with the group but it was no longer easy. We went through 20 miles and at that point I let myself believe that I had a shot at breaking three hours. I'd done thousands (well, probably hundreds) of six mile runs and knew how much I needed left in the tank to finish. I though I had what I needed.


Miles 20 - 23 were long ones. The group was still together and we were holding 6:50's but I was continuing to have to work a little harder to stay with them. It was definitely doable but not comfortable. At we got closer to the finish, I was becoming more and more confident in my ability to finish the race under 3 hours. My average pace for the race was 6:48 and it wasn't' going up.


At mile 23, I decided to leave the group and push the pace. It was a "game time" decision. I never set mile 23 as my go time. It just felt right. It didn't feel good, it felt right. Two guys had left the group a half mile sooner and they had put about 100 yards on us. I set my sights on them and began to push the pace. My breathing started to get labored and my form began to fall apart but I had moved the pace to about 6:35-40. I went through mile 23 holding the increased pace but my quads were going into a full scale revolt. I went by the two guys who left early at about mile 24. At this point, outside of an accident or complete implosion, I knew I was going to finish under three hours. As I went through mile 25 I could feel my stride shorten and my pace begin to fall off. I could tell it was the slowest I was running all day. My quads were absolutely shot at this point..I've never felt physical pain like that exercising before.  It wasn't the "soul crushing, demoralizing pain" Daniel warned me about so I just kept plugging. I passed one guy at about mile 25.5 and made the turn to the finish line. The crowd really gave me a shot of adrenaline and I was able to finish with a smile on my face.


The smile lasted until the guy who was taking of my chip asked me to stop for a sec. The quads went into full shutdown mode and are still as I write this about 30 hours post finish.


Final time: 2:58:44
Overall place 32nd out of about 1635
Division place: 1st M50-54
Nutrition: A mouthful of water at each aid station and five Gu packs(one every other mile from 13 - 23)


My final thoughts on the race center around my preparation..I guess there's a lot to be said for months of consistent mileage versus lots of long runs. (I've averaged 38 miles a week to this point)  My quads probably wouldn't agree with that but I was able maintain a consistent pace for 25 out of 26.2 miles. Also the fact that the last 10 days of my prep for this race were not good. I was not able to control my diet and I'm sure I gained some weight. I was unsure of how that would affect my race and I'm sure it did, but not as much as I thought it would. I guess I gave myself a margin of error from all the running miles I've logged over the past year.


Thanks for reading this. I'll try to be more regular with my future postings...Over the next couple of weeks, I'll try and summarize my 2010 season.

USAT National Age Group Championships 2010

On Saturday, I competed in the 2010 version of the USAT National Championships...

Here's the accompanying race report.

Background:
I was really looking forward to this race. I've never competed at a national meet and wanted to see how I would stack up against the best 50-54 year old athletes in the country.

This was my third "A" race this season. Memphis in May and Boise 70.3 in June were the first two. I had a build phase and taper for each of the first two. Needless to say, I wasn't sure how my body would respond to the third go round. Those worries were unfounded. It seemed to handle it just fine. I had three of my four biggest volume weeks of the year (20+ hours of training) in this final build and a two week reduction in volume and taper period.

Pre-race:
Dottie and I traveled down to Tuscaloosa Alabama with Daniela Williams, a friend and awesome triathlete in the 30-34 age group. The ride down was uneventful and ended with dinner at a great BBQ joint close to the hotel. Please note, this is the last time in this report you'll see the word "uneventful".

We woke up early and drove to the race venue to take care of our prerace workouts and course recon. As I was loading the bikes up afterward, I placed my aero helmet on bumper and reminded myself to not forget to pick it up and put it in the car...well, as you've already surmised, that didn't happen. We got back to the hotel and crap...no aero helmet. I went back and retraced our steps but it was gone..my guess is if you check the Tuscaloosa Craigslist today, it'll be there.

So, we went to Plan B....the race expo would surely have at least one brand on sale...nope. Nothing. On to Plan C..check out the local bike shops and pick one up....nope. There wasn't one for sale in the entire city.. The guys at the shop said I was the second person that day to come in an try to buy an aero helmet...the first guy ended up driving over an hour away to Birmingham Alabama. I wasn't driving to Birmingham so we went to Plan D...D for Duct Tape. I bought the cheapest helmet I could find and a roll of duct tape..here is the result. It's ugly...the helmet that is...and it was hotter than hell wearing it but the I 'think" it was faster than a typical helmet...Here's the end result.



Duct Tape Man.....Pathetic

Race Day:
We arrived on site early and went through the usual prerace prep and set up. The first glitch had to do with the race officials not letting me bring my trainer into the transition area. We weren't able to take the bikes out and get in a warm-up so I brought my trainer in take care of that....even though it was mentioned in the pre-race webinar we could, they wouldn't let us...no worries though. No one else was warming up either. At this time, I notice my hear rate monitor wasn't working...shit. I use heart rate to monitor my effort and as a whip to make sure I'm working as hard as I can. This race was going to be run with zero technology and exclusively by feel. I've read that a "low arousal" rate is important when racing..I kept that in mind and just went about my business and knew that I'd be fine

Swim:
The swim course was in the Black Warrior river. It was not wet suit legal and the current that plagued the event last year was not in play this year. My swim this year has been up and down. I hoped today it would be up. I needed to have a good one so I wouldn't have to dig myself out of too big a hole. At a race of this caliber, everyone can bike and run so the chances of me coming out of the water back in pack and doing well were slim. Thankfully, I felt pretty strong today. I was really focused on my stroke and felt like I was moving through the water pretty well. It was as good as I could do with my present stroke
Division place: 8th
Time: 25:44

Bike:
The bike course was a two loop affair with two substantial hills on each loop. It was tough but fair. Even though it didn't suite my riding style and strengths, I liked it. Because of my present wt of 160, I'm not a good climber but the descents were awesome. I hit 42mph on one of them.

I never felt smooth on the ride. I just felt average today. I'm not sure why....I just wasn't sharp. Because of no heart rate monitor, I couldn't really quantify how much work I was doing. I was just riding as hard as I could. On the first lap I yo-yoed back and forth with a guy in my age group. He'd dance by me going up the hills and then I'd fly by him on the descents. I wasn't working at my limit that early in the race,  so I kinda figured that I'd put him behind me eventually. That happened about 3/4's of the way through the first lap and I never saw him again. Apparently, I passed another guy somewhere on the course but I never saw him. Today was the first time I left T1 with my shoes clipped in. I had them suspended by rubber bands and was able to slip my feet in after the mount line. I practice it over the last couple of weeks and it worked great. My transition time was one of the better ones today...

Bike nutrition: 20oz Gatorade
Division place: 5th
Bike time and pace: 1:03:54/23.7mph

Run:
The run course was one loop with two pretty tough hills. I've had some pretty good training runs over the last month and was pretty confident that I'd do well. That turned out to be true. As I left T2, I felt heavy and the snap wasn't there..yet. As the race went on, I felt stronger and stronger. I'm pretty sure my last mile was the fastest. It was my best 10K run off a bike ever. That is exciting to see as I've been running for years and didn't think I'd ever PR again. On of my triathlon goals was to run a sub 40 10K and today it happened.



Run nutriton: two Powergels and a half cup of water at each aid station..probably about 16 oz total.
Division place: 2
Run Time and pace: 39:37/6:23


Post-race:
Overall Division place: 2
Overall Race time: 2:10:30


First things first...  I need to do a shout out to my wife....Dottie has been my biggest supporter and I would not be where I'm at without her support and love. I am blessed to have her as my partner. In the marriage arena, I have truly "overachieved".

I'd grade today's race at an 8 out of 10.
I swam to my capabilities.
I biked below my capabilities.
I transitioned to my capabilities.
I exceeded my capabilities on the run.

I was happy with today’s results and one of these days I'm going to have a complete race..today was close, but not quite. I'm sure the jiggered aero helmet and not having  heart rate #'s cost me some time on the bike.


As I look at my results and assess what my strengths and weaknesses are, this is what I see.
• My swim absolutely is holding me back from being a complete athlete. I will never be able to truly excel at this sport until I can consistently come out of the water in the first group. I'm not sure what I'll do this winter to improve, but I have to do something.

• I need to continue to work hard on the bike. I've gained ground this past year and with the addition of a power meter this winter, I think I'll be able to continue to improve.

• I love to run. I'll continue to do what I've been doing and hopefully stay injury free.

Thanks for reading this……It's been a great year of results...2011 will be fun