Sprint Zebraman Race Report

Pics are here.

I hadn't planned on doing a sprint the day before the 1/2 Ironman that I'm doing tomorrow, but early this week I just figured, hey, I've done this before, why not put a sprint the day before? Besides, I am not worried about what pace I do tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't sure whether I was going to try and push it or not. My driveway, the roads and the YMCA parking lot were total ice when I left. When I got out of my car at the Y, I walked maybe 12 feet, slipped and fell. Good thing I had practiced falling yesterday while out skiing, so I did a nice tuck position into the snow! I laughed, got up gingerly (you'd need crampons to walk on the ice normally), got to the salted part of the sidewalk, and was glad that I'd be indoors for a little over an hour.

Since I didn't have anyone to time me and I didn't feel like looking at a clock, I decided the swim would just be 500 yds. I sucked, even though I was trying to push it a little. I didn't warm up or anything--just got in and swam. I've got 4 weeks to put a little pep in my arms. At least the water was nice and cool, which means it should be cool tomorrow morning for the 1/2 Ironman.

I tried to limit my T1 time to 10 minutes, since that is what they give you for the indoor tris. I went a little over because of the clothing I was wearing--I don't normally wear a long top (I just leave my swimsuit top on) or tights for the actual races. No worries, though.

I adjusted the Precor saddle height, hopped on, and right away I could feel my quads not too happy, but mainly because of my iliopsoas, which are a little jazzed from yesterday's weight lifting and also the skiing adventure. No worries--it doesn't matter how I do today. I actually did do some intervals, just to get used to this fucking bike again, since I'll be riding them at least once a week for the next 8 weeks. My plan is to do one bike workout per week on it, because they are not at all geared like a regular bike. Plus it gets my ass used to the wide saddle and not having a fan on me. I sucked on the bike, but not as badly as I thought I would. 4 weeks is plenty enough time until the real races start for me to step up the intensity in my bike workouts, which I've only recently added intensity to in the last 2 weeks.

Just like in the actual races, I gave myself 5 minutes before I began running on the indoor track. A friend of mine, Al, who lives just down the street from me, walked in and we chatted, and I told him what I was up to. He doesn't even flinch when I tell him about my exploits because he knows I'm a little nuts. He did look a bit wide-eyed at seeing me all decked out in zebra stripes!

I tried to take out the run fairly slow, but failed ;) It was nice and cool in the track/basketball court area, and I had some spectators in the form of a bunch of guys playing hoops. I'm guessing it looked a little funny seeing someone running laps wearing all zebra stripes. I felt on the verge of puking the entire time, which meant I was running the correct pace. I ended up running about my 5K pace, which was great, especially since I haven't been too impressed with my running lately! But I guess a bit of a volume spike has helped.

So all in all, I think I'm going to be well-prepared for the indoor triathlon series that begins in 4 weeks. I'm sure my first race will suck, but I typically improve each race, and I always know so many people there that it's always fun to cheer others and be cheered on by them! If nothing else, it will be tons of fun! Plus I have a friend who is doing all 4 races and I will be running about 1:30 after each one (OUCH!), and then we'll go get some foods and relax the rest of the day. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday in winter!

I still need to finish my strength workout today, which should take about 25 minutes, and I may spin on the bike for :30 since I bagged it yesterday, and then I need to get psyched for the 1/2 Zebraman tomorrow!

Woo hoo!!!! I am in zebra heaven!

Yeah, Fucking POWER!!!

Hit this 1:30 bike workout today dead on:

WU: 15' warmup, 3 x spinups. 3x2' (1') Z3. 3' ez.
MS: 3x5' FT (5'). 10' 88-90%, 5' cd, 10x30/30. CD 5'.

I'm using my FT as measured late last summer, so it hurts a bit. But I'm sitting on FT, and when I did the 30/30's, I went well into VO2 territory...

I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY!!!!!

There's just something about being able to work out really hard that puts a huge smile on my face. And this was after I put the hurt to myself this morning with another almost :45 of strength work. All of the cylinders appear to be firing now, despite my back issues.

Speaking of which, I found the most excellent .PDF file all about the iliopsoas. There is something in there for EVERYONE. I highly recommend you read it, especially there are direct references to triathlon. And I'll put a link on my sidebar, since I think this is so important.

Puttin' the Hurt to Myself

With my house remodeling done for now (a frozen pipe crisis in the new upstairs bathroom was averted yesterday) and my house put back together, I'm finding that I am getting myself back to "normal," meaning I am on my training plan.

Last week was a pleasant deviation from my written plan, since all I could do while out of town was run, but that was perfect. The weekend was great, as Shelley was willing to do what I needed to do or figure something out different for herself.

This week I am full on my plan, meaning all the strength work, running, biking, stretching, everything! As I've picked up my hours, I realize my diet needs to change. After I finish what's left in my fridge (or maybe before) of salad fixings, I am done with that shit. My body needs more carbs, so it's time for me to revert to my usual staple of brown rice or couscous with my evening meal. Besides, my body doesn't like digesting all that salad crap, don't ask me why! I've always thought my body was wired to process a lot of protein and very gentle carbs (and beer!).

As I've begun to add intensity to my workouts, too, my level of fatigue has increased, thankfully! Which gets me to sleep earlier and sleeping a bit longer. I'm not quite on my optimum sleep needs, but I figure that will happen soon enough, especially once I stop eating rabbit food at dinner!

My weight is about 2 lbs. up from where I'd like to be, and I feel like a total fatty. That will fix itself automatically as my stress levels go down, less drinking (not that I've been going overboard--but less is more in this case), more strength training, and I'll be good to go. On a positive note, I'm now up to 5 chinups (almost from a dead hang), so I'm pretty confident I'll hit my 10 in about 6 weeks!

That leaves one remaining challenge: the state of my back. This weekend will make 5 weeks since my little act of stupidity. I have nearly full range of motion in terms of twisting, and obviously, I'm able to do all my sports just fine, even getting through a 50-mile running week. I am experiencing no pain while exercising. I am now at the point where I am experiencing discomfort mainly while sitting, and through my own investigation and with confirmation from massage therapists, I am down to my QL (quadratus lumborum) and iliopsoas muscles being the last remaining ones that are still a bit distressed. Listen up peeps--these two muscles are key to triathlon and well, just holding you up, sitting, twisting. They are the workhorses for your back mechanics and hip flexors.

I had some awesome work done on these muscles Monday evening, and am arranging to get some quality massages during the next 2 weeks. These are deep muscles, and while I can do some work on them myself, there's nothing like having someone else put the hurt to me!

I have to say that 5 weeks seems like a long time to me to be dealing with unhappy muscles, but I know how crucial it is to keep the QL and iliopsoas happy, so I am being patient and conservative--although my definition of conservative probably doesn't match to most people's! My real test of the system will be ZebraMan next week, and I'm really excited about it! Ordinarily, I wouldn't take pics of event clothing before the fact, but hey, I got the suit, so here I am. Bonus, spot all the zebra things in the pics!