Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Weekly Workout Totals 07/03/2006-07/09/2006: Awesome Week!
I am not sure if this past week was the best week ever, but it was close. We have been having the most beautiful, delightful weather in Chicagoland--70's and low 80's, rain every few days (some now wouldn't hurt), had a day off work and a great ride to show for it, and raced a sprint today, with my dad in attendance!
The race today was 400m/15 mile/5K. I did this race 6 (!) years ago, and back then it was my second triathlon. I was 43 years old, and I came in 3rd in my age group at a time of 1:34.20. Today, it was my 52nd triathlon, I raced 49 years old, came in 2nd in my age group, and my time was 1:21.49. I'd say there has been some experience and improvement! I was hoping for 1st place today, but it was not to be. My run could have been better. Since they didn't quote our actual times when handing out the awards, I don't know by what margin I came in 2nd, but I'll report once I have the numbers.
My Dad came to watch me race today. This is the first time ever he's seen me race. Since the venue wasn't too far from his house, I thought I'd ask him to come and watch if he wanted to. He was a trooper, and got there at 6AM (we started time trial fashion at 6:30), and we had a few minutes to chat. He watched me set up my bike and tried to estimate how long it would take me to be on it once I had finished swimming. He estimated 5'. I told him, "It better not be more than 2'!" He also thought he could lollygag while I was riding, until I told him it shouldn't take me more than 45'.
The race has 2 transition areas that are about 2.3 miles apart. When I went to drop off my run shoes and hat, I just followed other cars with bikes. I saw people leaving running stuff in this parking lot, so that's where I left my stuff. I was laughing because for all I knew it could be some other race! But then I drove back to the start.
The swim is in a 50-meter outdoor pool. The water was unusually warm, which was odd considering it really hasn't been that hot here in weeks. The water temperature felt like about 82. One guy actually wore a wetsuit! Of course, at this race, anything goes. It is the most low-tech race I've ever done. There is no chip timing. They don't give you a swim cap. There are no "triathlon" bike racks. There is no goody bag. They give you a bib number and write your number on your arms and legs. That's it, although we did get a T-shirt at the end. There were plenty of bikes set up in the first transition (and also the second; there's a duathlon that runs concurrently with the triathlon) that were just laying on the ground. Luckily, I got a spot in the ACTUAL BIKE RACKS. Too bad I forgot my lock!
My Dad found me and we had a hug and a kiss. A guy I know from years ago flagged me down. Once, before a super sprint, he commented on how I had had a rotten swim the previous year. I would never comment to someone about a past race mishap right before they were about to start! For this reason, I have always thought the man was an asshole. But he isn't, and I have forgiven. He was doing the duathlon today and hoped to collect hardware by being in a sparse age group (50-54). Turns out he took 4th, and I think I would have beat him in the duathlon. I guess his karma has been restored.
We lined up for the swim and did the usual chatter about "Don't swim over me, please!" I ran into someone else I know, Jason. He was just 2 numbers ahead of me. I commented that he looked really good and had he lost weight? He had. I'm sure he appreciated that comment. I have pretty good "body memory" about people, and am always happy to tell someone that I've noticed improvements. Sometimes I wish it worked the other way, too, and I hope people who know me would do the same. If I ever show up at a race with a fat ass or you can't see my abs (OK, for the next 10 years), PLEASE GIVE ME SHIT!
The girl right behind me (I was #83 and she was #84) passed me after about 150 meters, and I thought good for her. But I didn't think she was swimming that smoothly, so as it turns out I repassed her at about 300 meters. Ah, the benefits of super endurance! I passed several people who were most likely incorrectly seeded, and there were some excellent fades, and my Dad confirmed this later on. He goes, "They take off like a bat out of hell and then they slow down and can't breathe!" Even my 80-year old Dad could teach some of these people a thing or two!
I just did my usual relaxed swim. Since we had to go under the lane ropes every 50 meters, it was a bit of a cluster fuck when 2 or more swimmers would hit the wall at the same time. So my swim time wasn't stellar, but I didn't care. Today was all about the bike!
I climbed out of the pool and ran to my bike, said "Hi" to Dad, put stuff on my head, my number belt and finally my socks and shoes. Mr. Former Asshole had commented to me earlier that he didn't think someone with my experience would wear socks. I told him, "It takes like 2 seconds to put them on is all." Which is about what it took, but I didn't time myself. I was off on my bike in 1:30, under the 2:00 that I had told my Dad.
The bike course has gazillions of turns on it, and I mostly didn't brake. There was some wind, too. I was passed by 1 woman and maybe 2 men was all. I felt like I was riding strong. I could feel a little residual Ironman fatigue, but I was a happy camper on my bike. I had my disk wheel on, and every so often I would sing "Disco Inferno" to myself. That always gets me going! The course was really well-marked, and there were volunteers at every single turn or police officers which made everything go smoothly. Surprisingly, I wasn't in the big chainring the entire time, but I can only remember one time when I let myself coast momentarily to collect myself and take a sip of Gatorade.
When I got to T2, there was my Dad! He says to me, "#83 has returned." I laughed, and said, "In fine form, I think." I'd had a good ride. I had told Dad to not be in the way in the transition area, and he did a great job. I racked my bike and took stuff off and was out of there in 46", so not too bad.
My legs felt fine when I began the run. I didn't want to immediately stop, so that was a good thing. My turnover felt fine. But when I hit Mile 1 my watch said 9:19. I thought I can't be running that slow. And Mile 2 said 10:38, and I was like WTF??? But Mile 3 was cut short, and so I guess all the mile markers were off. Some guy that had finished fast had run back out on the course and let me know when there was 1/4 mile to go. I was so happy, as I didn't really feel like I'd suffered at all on the run. Last mile 6:30. Yeah, right! At any rate, my total 5K time was 26:27. I can go faster than that, but it was fine for today.
My Dad wasn't at the finish, and I thought maybe he didn't know how fast I would be. But I wandered back to T2, and there he was. We spent a few minutes watching what I figured were duathletes riding back in to start their 2nd run. There were bikes everywhere on the ground! I helped a couple of guys with their transitions--again, this is a low-tech race, so that's not a problem (they weren't that fast, so it wasn't like someone else would be losing an award).
I was so proud that my Dad had made it over there. He said I had looked good all day, to which I said, "Imagine doing this for 14 hours." He couldn't fathom it. We went over to the finish area and watched people coming in. Of course, I had to scream for them. It is still always so cool to see people finishing these things in however long it takes them. They are way ahead of everyone who is sitting on their duffs at home!
I wanted to hang out for awards, so I let my Dad go, and thanked him profusely for coming to watch. I don't care if he ever sees me race again, I am happy he did it once. I think spectators should get awards, too. I mean we are out there having tons of fun.
Did I say the weather was gorgeous again? It was maybe 74. It was very humid when I first woke up this morning, but the humidity dissipated by race start, and I couldn't ask for better conditions. While waiting for the triathlon awards to start (they did the duathlon awards first), I got in some stretching, drank more water, and sat in the shade. I was bummed they didn't have all the times for the triathlon, and a tad bummed when I heard my name called for 2nd place. But then I thought, what the hell, it's not like I taper for these things (I ran :35 and biked 1:50 yesterday), and I am the oldest in my age group. Look out 50-54! I believe I'm racing 50-54 in 2 weeks at the Spirit of Racine 1/2 Ironman, and I hope I can have a good showing there, weather permitting.
Now I will retire with a beer and the Sunday newspaper and a little World Cup, and later I'm grilling a bunch of meat. Does a summer day get any better than this? I don't think so.
Here's the week that was. Notice I have added total mileage for all 3 sports. It makes me laugh! I put more total miles on myself in a year than I do on my car!
Weekly Totals 07/03/2006-07/09/2006
Swim: 8915 yards (5.06 miles) in 3.12 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1091 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 141.52 miles in 7.53 hours; 43% of weekly workout time; approx. 3579 calories burned
Run: Approx. 34.09 miles in 5.23 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 2792 calories burned
Strength: 1.57 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 393 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 180.67 miles in 17.45 hours; approx. 7855 calories burned
Sleep: 8.43 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.37 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/09/2006
Swim: 355685 yards (201.86 miles) in 125.4 hours
Bike: Approx. 3901.75 miles in 224.2 hours
Run: Approx. 1203.32 miles in 189.42 hours
Strength: 61.75 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5306.93 miles in 600.77 hours; approx. 267228 calories burned
Stretching: 66.62 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/09/2006
Swim: 8272 yards (4.69 miles) in 2.92 hours
Bike: Approx. 90.74 miles in 5.21 hours
Run: Approx. 27.98 miles in 4.41 hours
Strength: 1.44 hours
All Sports: Approx. 123.42 miles in 13.97 hours
Sleep: 8.48 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.02 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Completed a solid week of training with good volume.
- Had a decent showing at the sprint race.
Goals for Next Week:
- Do whatever my coach tells me to do. Yes, I am back on his training. I know I was doing pretty well at it myself, but now that I've laid out the rest of my season, I will defer to his expertise.
- Work on my knee issue. My right knee is hurting intermittently going down stairs, and I know why--from the road running. I need to work diligently on some trigger points to keep this a minor issue and get rid of it totally. I guess 3 marathons in 8 months can do that to an old lady!
- Do a decent swim at the 2-mile open water swim this coming Saturday. It's in a beautiful, clear lake, and if the weather is decent, I should have no excuses for swimming poorly.
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