Finally got back on my bike yesterday. First real ride since the triathlon and moving to the new house. I enjoyed it immensely. I only did about 10 miles, but I remembered again why I was getting up at 4:00 in the morning for a large part of the summer. Its fun!
I had thoughts of doing early morning rides up Blue Diamond Road to Charleston and then either taking Charleston to Blue Diamond or staying on Blue Diamond to Mountain Springs, until I rode out to Charleston yesterday in the daylight. The speed limit on Blue Diamond very quickly increases to 65 mph and there is a decent shoulder, but I don't think I trust the early morning drivers on that road. Too many in a hurry and not paying as much attention as they should. No, for my early morning rides, I'll be sticking to the approximately one mile loop through the neighborhood I mapped as well yesterday.
Weekends, when I can ride in daylight, are going to be for attacking the climb up to Blue Diamond or to Mountain Springs. I know Mountain Springs will be a challenge as its close to a 2600 ft elevation change from the house. Blue Diamond is only about a quarter of that. I look forward to the challenge of it, not to mention the downhill ride back home! :-)
One other thing I noticed is how desolate it is heading out in that direction. Ours is basically the last real subdivision on Blue Diamond. Once you are past Fort Apache, there are a few scattered houses, but not much else. this certainly allows the wind to blow with very little obstruction, not to mention some channeling down the canyons. It will be interesting to see how much the wind will be blowing here in the fall and into the spring next year.
I'm now planning on getting up at 4:00 at least twice a week and riding before work, just for the sheer joy of doing it!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Now What?
Now that I’ve reached my goal which pushed me to train for the last 6 months – completing the Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon, what do I do?
Leading up to the triathlon, I had a goal, a sense of urgency that got me out there and training. I was counting down the time until I had to perform and it helped to motivate me – getting me up at 4:00 in the morning to ride and walk. Now that it’s over, I’m finding some of the urgency is lacking. Add to that the unknown of the new area since we’ve moved over the weekend and my motivation is almost nil. Sure I still want to ride, still want to walk, still want to lose weight, but the urgency is gone.
I had planned on taking the week following the triathlon off anyway so it’s not that I wasn’t planning on taking a break, I’m just finding it harder to convince myself to get up and ride in the morning. I read Elizabeth Waterstraat’s column today on No Excuses (read it here) and I have to decide to remove the mental excuses and get back at it. I still have a very long ways to go to get anywhere near healthy. Sure I finished the triathlon and that is a great achievement, but there is so much more to be done.
I need to learn to swim properly, I need to work on actually being able to run, I need to work on my riding so that I can conquer the climbs without stopping to rest. I would love to be able to handle a decent century ride without being the slowest person out there. These are all things I have to work on and it’s time to start.
Part of what I need to do is to look at myself critically and decide which area to address first. I know I can work on the running, but from many of the articles I’ve read it would be a good idea to shed some more of this weight before I do that so as to help avoid injury. The convenience of a close pool was something I took for granted now that I don’t have one. I should have spent more time in the water leading up to the event than I did. This is something I’ll need to work out logistically speaking so I am going to delay it for a bit as well.
That actually leaves my favorite activity, riding. Maybe the other reasons are just excuses for me to stay with the bike rather than swimming or running, but right now I’ll let them stand. My goal for the next month is to ride at least 3 times a week. I need to identify a fairly safe route near the new house to accomplish this. If nothing else I do have Saturday and Sunday when I can ride in the daylight hours, and now that I’m living near Blue Diamond and For Apache, riding towards or even to Pahrump seems like a very doable goal.
So, now what? – Get riding, that’s what!
Leading up to the triathlon, I had a goal, a sense of urgency that got me out there and training. I was counting down the time until I had to perform and it helped to motivate me – getting me up at 4:00 in the morning to ride and walk. Now that it’s over, I’m finding some of the urgency is lacking. Add to that the unknown of the new area since we’ve moved over the weekend and my motivation is almost nil. Sure I still want to ride, still want to walk, still want to lose weight, but the urgency is gone.
I had planned on taking the week following the triathlon off anyway so it’s not that I wasn’t planning on taking a break, I’m just finding it harder to convince myself to get up and ride in the morning. I read Elizabeth Waterstraat’s column today on No Excuses (read it here) and I have to decide to remove the mental excuses and get back at it. I still have a very long ways to go to get anywhere near healthy. Sure I finished the triathlon and that is a great achievement, but there is so much more to be done.
I need to learn to swim properly, I need to work on actually being able to run, I need to work on my riding so that I can conquer the climbs without stopping to rest. I would love to be able to handle a decent century ride without being the slowest person out there. These are all things I have to work on and it’s time to start.
Part of what I need to do is to look at myself critically and decide which area to address first. I know I can work on the running, but from many of the articles I’ve read it would be a good idea to shed some more of this weight before I do that so as to help avoid injury. The convenience of a close pool was something I took for granted now that I don’t have one. I should have spent more time in the water leading up to the event than I did. This is something I’ll need to work out logistically speaking so I am going to delay it for a bit as well.
That actually leaves my favorite activity, riding. Maybe the other reasons are just excuses for me to stay with the bike rather than swimming or running, but right now I’ll let them stand. My goal for the next month is to ride at least 3 times a week. I need to identify a fairly safe route near the new house to accomplish this. If nothing else I do have Saturday and Sunday when I can ride in the daylight hours, and now that I’m living near Blue Diamond and For Apache, riding towards or even to Pahrump seems like a very doable goal.
So, now what? – Get riding, that’s what!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
I DID IT!!!
I finished my first triathlon! It took me 3:30:39 according to the official timing, but I made it!
Now for the race report. This should be interesting as its my first race and therefore my first report.
I had planned on going to bed early on Friday evening to be well rested for the event on Saturday. My plan was to get up about 5:00 and head off to Boulder City. Well, I didn’t get to bed until midnight and was up by 4:30. I was nervous and excited and sleep just didn’t seem to be an option at this point. So I got up and got dressed and triple checked that I had everything ready.
Camelbak – Check!
Jersey – Check!
GUU – Check!
Towel – Check!
Shoes and Socks – Check!
Race numbers – Check!
Swim Goggles – Check!
Swim Cap – Check!
I had dropped off my hat, another GUU and some Powerade for T2 the day before at packet pick-up.
I figured I was ready to go. I just needed to throw my bike in the van and head out. Ok, one more trip to the bathroom before heading out.
As it was I got to Boulder Beach at Lake Mead at 5:35, just 5 minutes after transition opened. I knew I still had a few details to attend to. I had to mount my race number on my bike, affix my bib number to my jersey and make sure my tires were properly inflated. I accomplished all of these tasks and them took everything over to the transition area.
It was a very long and narrow transition area as it extended up the boat launch ramp for a good 150 yards. I was number 873 so I was over half way up the transition area. Once I found the correct rack, I racked my bike, set out my shoes, towel and Camelbak in preparation for the transition from the swim.
It was now 6:02 and I wasn’t scheduled to hit the water until 7:35.
I walked back to the van and decided I should have something to eat before the race. In the goodie bag from packet pickup was a Cliff Bar and some all natural chocolate granola. I ate about half the granola and the cliff bar but decided I definitely didn’t want to eat too much before the race.
While I was waiting they took the official water temperature and announced that it was 66 degrees. That was a significant change as the temperature the week before had been 78 degrees. It was interesting how many cell phone conversations I heard shortly after the announcement with athletes trying to get people to bring them their wetsuits. No wet suit for me. I knew how cold the water was as I had taken a practice swim just 2 days ago in this very water. I had thought it a little cool, but didn’t realize it was that cool!
My parents drove all the way from Michigan to support me in the race. My brother and his wife flew in the night before as well. I was waiting for all of them plus my wife and daughter to arrive to cheer me on. It was getting close to 7:00 which was the starting time for the long course athletes. I headed down towards the water to watch the start.
At 7:00 the race was on with the long course men heading out on their swim. At 7:05 the long course women started their race. Now it was only 30 minutes to go and it was going to be my turn. I was in the second wave for the sprint distance, the first wave being the men 39 & under.
Michele, Ilana, Mom, Dad, Bryon and Debbie arrived and I was glad to see they made it. There I was in my tri shorts, crocs, a Tigger t-shirt and my swim cap. Quite the fashion Icon.
The wind kicked up a bit and everyone else was cold, but I wasn’t feeling it. I have to believe it was the adrenaline flowing as I was just a bit nervous. Not nearly as nervous as I thought I was going to be though.
It was getting close to time and I thought one more trip to the porta potty was in order just to make sure. As I was waiting in line there was a mini crisis as several of them ran out of toilet paper. I was fortunate enough to find one with a limited supply left on the roll.
It was now almost 7:30 and the first wave of men was in the water preparing for the start. I knew I needed to start heading that way as my turn was next.
As the starter told the first wave to go, I started heading out into the water. The starting area was horrible. The bottom was uneven with rocks up to 8 or 10 inches in diameter hiding under one to two feet of soft muck and silt. It was almost impossible to walk out to a swimming depth. Most people got out to about 2 feet of water and sort of crawled or pulled themselves along with their hands until it got deep enough to swim.
As we waited they gave us our instructions – swim out to the first green buoy make a left swim over to the last orange buoy and then head back into shore. I stayed in the back of the field and a bit to the outside not wanting to get in anyone else’s way. I knew I wasn’t going to be fast and didn’t want to cause anyone else grief.
And then the countdown 5…4…3…2…1…GO!
There was a great thrashing and splashing and the swim was on. I started with a nice and easy freestyle for about 6 or 7 strokes and then popped me head out of the water as I still had no coordination when it came to breathing and swimming. I decided that no matter what I was doing I was going to keep moving forward. Weather it was a modified breast stroke, a back stroke, or swimming the freestyle with my head out of the water, I was just going to keep moving. I noticed that there were others near me in the water taking their time, resting not swimming nearly as fast as most so I took heart from the fact.
As I was concentrating on my own race I was a little surprised to hear the next wave start behind me. It was the Sprint distance women under 40. This meant I was already 5 minutes into my swim. I was pleasantly surprised that I appeared to be about halfway to the green buoy when they started. The first strong swimmers from the women reached me in short order and most of them were by me by the time the last of the Sprint distance waves started. There was a good deal of traffic around the buoy as I made the first turn and I made sure to swim out away from the buoy so as not to impede anyone else with my slow pace.
I was actually enjoying the swim. It wasn’t nearly as chaotic in the water as I had feared or heard, I think largely due to my choice of starting position and line around the course. Sure, there were a few times when I bumped into people or they bumped into me, but it wasn’t the free for all I’d read about.
I did notice a few people needing to stop and rest by holding onto the support kayaks and a couple of the kayakers asked if I was OK. I assured them I was and kept my slow pace forward.
I started looking ahead and noticing that I was getting closer to shore and it seemed like it was faster than it should have been. Then I could see and feel the bottom and I tried walking in through the very rocky and mucky shallows.
I almost fell a few times, but them I was out and on shore and there were people cheering for me and congratulating me on finishing the swim. I realized I hadn’t done as bad as I had feared I would because the Olympic distance swimmers hadn’t stated yet. I worked hard on the swim but wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be. That’s a good thing with what was yet to come. My official time for the swim was 27:01. This was the fastest I’d ever swum this distance.
I moved up the transition area to find my bike and was surprised to note that mine was the only one left on that rack section. Apparently everyone else around me had already transitioned and was riding along. I took my time drying off my feet and putting on my shoes and socks, putting on my jersey and my Camelbak and making sure everything was ready to go. I put my towel, goggles and swim cap into the gear bag provided by the organizers and started to leave.
I had forgotten to pull the drinking tube out of the elastic on the front of my Camelbak and so I started struggling trying to get it without taking it off. A woman coming along behind me saw me and stopped to help me with it. She commented that it wasn’t like her time mattered, but she embodied what I started to really notice during the bike and especially on the run – the vast majority of triathletes are really nice people!
I finally got everything sorted out, ate a packet of GUU and headed up the hill walking my bike until the exit from T1. My transition time was 9:54 for T1.
I rode along lakeshore drive on the way to the turn around. Following the maps on the website the week before I figured the turnaround for the Sprint distance should be just after the entrance road to the Alfred Merrit Smith Water Treatment Facility. In fact they had us turn around at the top of the hill before that. I had a feeling this meant there was a change in the course. I had actually passed 2 women on this opening stretch of the bike leg.
It was pleasant going back down the short hill from the turnaround. There were lots of people on the course. As I headed towards the toll booth some of the other distance athletes started passing me. I was really quite amazed at how supportive and encouraging most of them were. Almost every person who passed me, and there were many, gave me at least a good job, or looking good or you can do it. It really did help me through the race.
As I cleared the toll booth and headed for the dreaded 8% climb up to US 93, I noticed there was a woman just ahead of me that we had been trading positions back and forth. At this point she was ahead of me as I had stopped for a quick breather and another GUU.
There was a volunteer in the road at the entrance to the trailhead for the Historic Railroad Trail. The Volunteer stopped traffic and had her go across the street into the trailhead to pick up the trail from this point. I was both relieved and annoyed.
I was relieved because that meant that we were able to avoid the 8% grade for a much more gentle one, but annoyed because I had written to the organizers questioning the accuracy fo the published race maps and was assured that the published maps were correct. They apparently weren’t, as we were picking up the trail much sooner than the map showed. This was a slightly longer route than up the side of US 93 and therefore why the turnaround was sooner than expected.
There were 3 women whom I more or less kept pace with the entire way up the trail from Lakeshore drive until Nevada Way.
I walked my bike up the trail from the underpass to the parking lot at the trailhead where we picked up Nevada Way. Ihad tried riding up it the week before and realized there was just no way I was going to make it. I used this as an opportunity for another GUU and to take a little breather. I then remounted and rode out onto Nevada way.
Heading up the last big hill was very tough. I had to stop several times on the way to catch my breath and again was amazed at how encouraging all of the other athletes were. As they rode by me they kept encouraging me. They didn’t know me but they really wanted to see me succeed. I refused to walk my bike up the hill and the women I had been pacing walked away from me as I stopped to rest going up the hill.
I did it, though. I rode all the way up the hill! There were a number of spectators near the top who were very encouraging as well.
Once I crested the hill there was a short downhill run into the second transition. Here I am coasting down the hill.
Family and friends were there to cheer me on. It felt great.
My time for the Bike was 1:58:20. The week before, it took me 2:20 for a slightly longer route, so I did very well.
I walked my bike into the transition and looked for my bag with my hat, another GUU and some Powerade I had staged the day before. I know it had been on the left side of transition but the numbers on the racks weren’t right. They had apparently rearranged things overnight and my spot was now on the right.
Once I found it and racked the bike, I took off my helmet and gloves, ate a GUU, took a long drink from the Powerade, put on my hat and was off to conquer the run.
One of the women I had been chasing up the hill was leaving transition just in front of me. I had thought I could pace her along the run as I did on the bike, but she had more run in her than I had in me. In fact I had no run at all. I literally walked the whole run course.
As I left the transition area there were my wife, daughter, parents, brother and sister in law cheering me on to the left and there was Mary who had urged me to do this on the right supporting me.
It was on the run that it really hit home how supportive and nice triathletes really are as a group. If I heard great job once, I heard it 200 times on the run portion of the race. There were high fives. There was encouragement. One of the runners even said I was his inspiration as he ran by. There was no way I wasn’t going to finish this with so much good will and support.
I have to admit the run certainly seemed longer and harder that I thought it would be. The course wasn’t quite as flat as it seemed on the maps. I had though the elevation change was under 100 feet when in reality it was about 100 METERS with the largest uphill on the way to the finish line.
With the course being an out and back, I saw the women I had been pacing on the bike after they made the turn around on the run. We gave each other encouragement and support. I know they all finished as they were ahead of me.
As I turned the corner and headed into the final stretch of the run, there were many many people clapping and cheering and yelling their encouragement. I neared the finish line and saw all my supporters cheering me on. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking and actually tripped on the timing mat on the road.
Down I went just 20 yards from the finish line. I wasn’t hurt physically except for a bit of road rash on my knee and shoulder. It was my pride that was hurt. I figure it gave everyone something to talk about. In fact, it was just as the announcer mentioned my name that I tripped, so everyone knew who I was.
I picked myself up, put my hat back on and headed towards the finish.
2 of the volunteers from the finish came out to encourage me and tried to get me to run it in, but there was really nothing left in the tank at that point. I did make it across the line. My walk is timed at 55:25, but I think that might also include the second transition as there isn’t a separate time for that.
I did it! I completed the triathlon. Everyone came running over and was hugging me and congratulating me. It was an awesome accomplishment.
My finishing time, as I said before, was 3:30:39.
I do have to say this was the first time in my life I had competed in this type of an activity, let alone exert myself for this amount of time.
I am a triathlete.
Now for the race report. This should be interesting as its my first race and therefore my first report.
I had planned on going to bed early on Friday evening to be well rested for the event on Saturday. My plan was to get up about 5:00 and head off to Boulder City. Well, I didn’t get to bed until midnight and was up by 4:30. I was nervous and excited and sleep just didn’t seem to be an option at this point. So I got up and got dressed and triple checked that I had everything ready.
Camelbak – Check!
Jersey – Check!
GUU – Check!
Towel – Check!
Shoes and Socks – Check!
Race numbers – Check!
Swim Goggles – Check!
Swim Cap – Check!
I had dropped off my hat, another GUU and some Powerade for T2 the day before at packet pick-up.
I figured I was ready to go. I just needed to throw my bike in the van and head out. Ok, one more trip to the bathroom before heading out.
As it was I got to Boulder Beach at Lake Mead at 5:35, just 5 minutes after transition opened. I knew I still had a few details to attend to. I had to mount my race number on my bike, affix my bib number to my jersey and make sure my tires were properly inflated. I accomplished all of these tasks and them took everything over to the transition area.
It was a very long and narrow transition area as it extended up the boat launch ramp for a good 150 yards. I was number 873 so I was over half way up the transition area. Once I found the correct rack, I racked my bike, set out my shoes, towel and Camelbak in preparation for the transition from the swim.
It was now 6:02 and I wasn’t scheduled to hit the water until 7:35.
I walked back to the van and decided I should have something to eat before the race. In the goodie bag from packet pickup was a Cliff Bar and some all natural chocolate granola. I ate about half the granola and the cliff bar but decided I definitely didn’t want to eat too much before the race.
While I was waiting they took the official water temperature and announced that it was 66 degrees. That was a significant change as the temperature the week before had been 78 degrees. It was interesting how many cell phone conversations I heard shortly after the announcement with athletes trying to get people to bring them their wetsuits. No wet suit for me. I knew how cold the water was as I had taken a practice swim just 2 days ago in this very water. I had thought it a little cool, but didn’t realize it was that cool!
My parents drove all the way from Michigan to support me in the race. My brother and his wife flew in the night before as well. I was waiting for all of them plus my wife and daughter to arrive to cheer me on. It was getting close to 7:00 which was the starting time for the long course athletes. I headed down towards the water to watch the start.
At 7:00 the race was on with the long course men heading out on their swim. At 7:05 the long course women started their race. Now it was only 30 minutes to go and it was going to be my turn. I was in the second wave for the sprint distance, the first wave being the men 39 & under.Michele, Ilana, Mom, Dad, Bryon and Debbie arrived and I was glad to see they made it. There I was in my tri shorts, crocs, a Tigger t-shirt and my swim cap. Quite the fashion Icon.
The wind kicked up a bit and everyone else was cold, but I wasn’t feeling it. I have to believe it was the adrenaline flowing as I was just a bit nervous. Not nearly as nervous as I thought I was going to be though.It was getting close to time and I thought one more trip to the porta potty was in order just to make sure. As I was waiting in line there was a mini crisis as several of them ran out of toilet paper. I was fortunate enough to find one with a limited supply left on the roll.
It was now almost 7:30 and the first wave of men was in the water preparing for the start. I knew I needed to start heading that way as my turn was next.
As the starter told the first wave to go, I started heading out into the water. The starting area was horrible. The bottom was uneven with rocks up to 8 or 10 inches in diameter hiding under one to two feet of soft muck and silt. It was almost impossible to walk out to a swimming depth. Most people got out to about 2 feet of water and sort of crawled or pulled themselves along with their hands until it got deep enough to swim.
As we waited they gave us our instructions – swim out to the first green buoy make a left swim over to the last orange buoy and then head back into shore. I stayed in the back of the field and a bit to the outside not wanting to get in anyone else’s way. I knew I wasn’t going to be fast and didn’t want to cause anyone else grief.
And then the countdown 5…4…3…2…1…GO!
There was a great thrashing and splashing and the swim was on. I started with a nice and easy freestyle for about 6 or 7 strokes and then popped me head out of the water as I still had no coordination when it came to breathing and swimming. I decided that no matter what I was doing I was going to keep moving forward. Weather it was a modified breast stroke, a back stroke, or swimming the freestyle with my head out of the water, I was just going to keep moving. I noticed that there were others near me in the water taking their time, resting not swimming nearly as fast as most so I took heart from the fact.
As I was concentrating on my own race I was a little surprised to hear the next wave start behind me. It was the Sprint distance women under 40. This meant I was already 5 minutes into my swim. I was pleasantly surprised that I appeared to be about halfway to the green buoy when they started. The first strong swimmers from the women reached me in short order and most of them were by me by the time the last of the Sprint distance waves started. There was a good deal of traffic around the buoy as I made the first turn and I made sure to swim out away from the buoy so as not to impede anyone else with my slow pace.
I was actually enjoying the swim. It wasn’t nearly as chaotic in the water as I had feared or heard, I think largely due to my choice of starting position and line around the course. Sure, there were a few times when I bumped into people or they bumped into me, but it wasn’t the free for all I’d read about.
I did notice a few people needing to stop and rest by holding onto the support kayaks and a couple of the kayakers asked if I was OK. I assured them I was and kept my slow pace forward.
I started looking ahead and noticing that I was getting closer to shore and it seemed like it was faster than it should have been. Then I could see and feel the bottom and I tried walking in through the very rocky and mucky shallows.
I almost fell a few times, but them I was out and on shore and there were people cheering for me and congratulating me on finishing the swim. I realized I hadn’t done as bad as I had feared I would because the Olympic distance swimmers hadn’t stated yet. I worked hard on the swim but wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be. That’s a good thing with what was yet to come. My official time for the swim was 27:01. This was the fastest I’d ever swum this distance.I moved up the transition area to find my bike and was surprised to note that mine was the only one left on that rack section. Apparently everyone else around me had already transitioned and was riding along. I took my time drying off my feet and putting on my shoes and socks, putting on my jersey and my Camelbak and making sure everything was ready to go. I put my towel, goggles and swim cap into the gear bag provided by the organizers and started to leave.
I had forgotten to pull the drinking tube out of the elastic on the front of my Camelbak and so I started struggling trying to get it without taking it off. A woman coming along behind me saw me and stopped to help me with it. She commented that it wasn’t like her time mattered, but she embodied what I started to really notice during the bike and especially on the run – the vast majority of triathletes are really nice people!
I finally got everything sorted out, ate a packet of GUU and headed up the hill walking my bike until the exit from T1. My transition time was 9:54 for T1.
The bike course tend to be challenging right from the start as there is a pretty good uphill from the beach to Lakeshore Drive. I had ridden this myself just the week before so I was prepared for it this time. I had the bike in a low gear and was determined not to stop before the road. I made it onto the road without stopping and with some Support from my family as they drove by on their way up to T2 and the finish line. Here I am at the turn from the boat ramp road onto Lakeshore Drive.
I rode along lakeshore drive on the way to the turn around. Following the maps on the website the week before I figured the turnaround for the Sprint distance should be just after the entrance road to the Alfred Merrit Smith Water Treatment Facility. In fact they had us turn around at the top of the hill before that. I had a feeling this meant there was a change in the course. I had actually passed 2 women on this opening stretch of the bike leg.
It was pleasant going back down the short hill from the turnaround. There were lots of people on the course. As I headed towards the toll booth some of the other distance athletes started passing me. I was really quite amazed at how supportive and encouraging most of them were. Almost every person who passed me, and there were many, gave me at least a good job, or looking good or you can do it. It really did help me through the race.
As I cleared the toll booth and headed for the dreaded 8% climb up to US 93, I noticed there was a woman just ahead of me that we had been trading positions back and forth. At this point she was ahead of me as I had stopped for a quick breather and another GUU.
There was a volunteer in the road at the entrance to the trailhead for the Historic Railroad Trail. The Volunteer stopped traffic and had her go across the street into the trailhead to pick up the trail from this point. I was both relieved and annoyed.
I was relieved because that meant that we were able to avoid the 8% grade for a much more gentle one, but annoyed because I had written to the organizers questioning the accuracy fo the published race maps and was assured that the published maps were correct. They apparently weren’t, as we were picking up the trail much sooner than the map showed. This was a slightly longer route than up the side of US 93 and therefore why the turnaround was sooner than expected.
There were 3 women whom I more or less kept pace with the entire way up the trail from Lakeshore drive until Nevada Way.
I walked my bike up the trail from the underpass to the parking lot at the trailhead where we picked up Nevada Way. Ihad tried riding up it the week before and realized there was just no way I was going to make it. I used this as an opportunity for another GUU and to take a little breather. I then remounted and rode out onto Nevada way.
Heading up the last big hill was very tough. I had to stop several times on the way to catch my breath and again was amazed at how encouraging all of the other athletes were. As they rode by me they kept encouraging me. They didn’t know me but they really wanted to see me succeed. I refused to walk my bike up the hill and the women I had been pacing walked away from me as I stopped to rest going up the hill.
I did it, though. I rode all the way up the hill! There were a number of spectators near the top who were very encouraging as well.
Once I crested the hill there was a short downhill run into the second transition. Here I am coasting down the hill.
Family and friends were there to cheer me on. It felt great.My time for the Bike was 1:58:20. The week before, it took me 2:20 for a slightly longer route, so I did very well.
I walked my bike into the transition and looked for my bag with my hat, another GUU and some Powerade I had staged the day before. I know it had been on the left side of transition but the numbers on the racks weren’t right. They had apparently rearranged things overnight and my spot was now on the right.
Once I found it and racked the bike, I took off my helmet and gloves, ate a GUU, took a long drink from the Powerade, put on my hat and was off to conquer the run.
One of the women I had been chasing up the hill was leaving transition just in front of me. I had thought I could pace her along the run as I did on the bike, but she had more run in her than I had in me. In fact I had no run at all. I literally walked the whole run course.As I left the transition area there were my wife, daughter, parents, brother and sister in law cheering me on to the left and there was Mary who had urged me to do this on the right supporting me.
It was on the run that it really hit home how supportive and nice triathletes really are as a group. If I heard great job once, I heard it 200 times on the run portion of the race. There were high fives. There was encouragement. One of the runners even said I was his inspiration as he ran by. There was no way I wasn’t going to finish this with so much good will and support.
I have to admit the run certainly seemed longer and harder that I thought it would be. The course wasn’t quite as flat as it seemed on the maps. I had though the elevation change was under 100 feet when in reality it was about 100 METERS with the largest uphill on the way to the finish line.
With the course being an out and back, I saw the women I had been pacing on the bike after they made the turn around on the run. We gave each other encouragement and support. I know they all finished as they were ahead of me.
As I turned the corner and headed into the final stretch of the run, there were many many people clapping and cheering and yelling their encouragement. I neared the finish line and saw all my supporters cheering me on. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking and actually tripped on the timing mat on the road.
Down I went just 20 yards from the finish line. I wasn’t hurt physically except for a bit of road rash on my knee and shoulder. It was my pride that was hurt. I figure it gave everyone something to talk about. In fact, it was just as the announcer mentioned my name that I tripped, so everyone knew who I was.
I picked myself up, put my hat back on and headed towards the finish.
2 of the volunteers from the finish came out to encourage me and tried to get me to run it in, but there was really nothing left in the tank at that point. I did make it across the line. My walk is timed at 55:25, but I think that might also include the second transition as there isn’t a separate time for that.
I did it! I completed the triathlon. Everyone came running over and was hugging me and congratulating me. It was an awesome accomplishment.
My finishing time, as I said before, was 3:30:39.
I do have to say this was the first time in my life I had competed in this type of an activity, let alone exert myself for this amount of time.
I am a triathlete.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Getting Nervous
OK, its time to admit it, I'm starting to get excited and nervous about Saturday. In just 3 days I am going to put myself out there and let everyone see what I can do. This is a very new experience for me. I have never competed in sports. I was never on the football or baseball teams. I never did anything like track and field. I never put myself and my abilities on display for others to see and, yes, to judge.
I think that is the one thing that truly scares me the most is that I am allowing others to judge me based upon my performance on these specific tasks alone. I want to believe that most people won't be judging me harshly, that they will give me credit for the attempt (and completion), but there is that little part of my brain that says that may not be entirely true. That is the part I have to conquer and put aside. I know what I am doing and why I am doing it.
I know I am not going to be the fastest by a long shot. I know that its going to be a struggle to finish the entire event at all, let alone in any kind of competitive time. Would I love to be faster and actually be competitive - maybe. I'm just not sure that winning this event would be worth the increased level of training and anxiety and commitment it would take to get there.
For me, now, the triumph will be to finish the event and not quit along the way. If I can do it with out being DFL - so much the better, but even if I am DFL I know that I will have accomplished something that others have not and I will be proud of that accomplishment.
I think that is the one thing that truly scares me the most is that I am allowing others to judge me based upon my performance on these specific tasks alone. I want to believe that most people won't be judging me harshly, that they will give me credit for the attempt (and completion), but there is that little part of my brain that says that may not be entirely true. That is the part I have to conquer and put aside. I know what I am doing and why I am doing it.
I know I am not going to be the fastest by a long shot. I know that its going to be a struggle to finish the entire event at all, let alone in any kind of competitive time. Would I love to be faster and actually be competitive - maybe. I'm just not sure that winning this event would be worth the increased level of training and anxiety and commitment it would take to get there.
For me, now, the triumph will be to finish the event and not quit along the way. If I can do it with out being DFL - so much the better, but even if I am DFL I know that I will have accomplished something that others have not and I will be proud of that accomplishment.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Preparation
There is training and there is preparation. Training is something you do to improve and gain skills. Prepapration is getting ready. Until now most of what I have been doing is training. I have been working to gain skills and improve riding the bike, walking longer distances, swimming. Now, though, its crunch time and time to prepare for the actual event.
To try and prepare and know exactly what I am getting myself into I have been doing several things:
I have been reviewing the event materials to know what the course is, where I need to be and when, not to mention any requirements I need to fulfill (like having my ID at packet pickup on Friday to prove its really me!).
I have been reading blogs and forums written by first time triathletes as well as seasoned veterans to glean as much information as possible as to what I will be experiencing.
I have attempted (and will do it again) riding the actual bike course to know what torture I face.
I have picked up a Camelbak and new bike gloves to stay hydrated and hopefully alleviate some of the pain and numbness I get in my hands when riding more than a few miles.
I picked up some shotbloks and GUU to try and see how my system tolerates them and if they actually help my energy level over a long workout.
As you can imagine, many of these preparations are flowing from the reading and discussing I've been doing about completing my first triathlon. While I believe all of this preparation will help on race day, its truly crunch time and I am beginning to feel nervous and excited. I am beginning to second guess myself and wonder if I can truly complete this monumental task. I have underestimated the difficulty of tasks in the past and I hope to not do this here. I would rather think this will be harder than it turns out to be, but I'm not holding my breath. Its the invincible optimist in me that is saying "don't worry about it, you'll be fine!" I just need that to be relayed to the rest of my being and make it come true.
As more preparation/training I am planning a brick workout tomorrow with a 12 mile ride and 3 mile walk. This will be a flat course, but it will still be good to have the experience under my belt. I am also planning on biking the actual course on Sunday and this time I have researched the entire route and will make it to the top.
All of my training and preparation will be tested in a mere 9 days time and frankly I'm getting just a little scared. I figure that's a good thing!
To try and prepare and know exactly what I am getting myself into I have been doing several things:
I have been reviewing the event materials to know what the course is, where I need to be and when, not to mention any requirements I need to fulfill (like having my ID at packet pickup on Friday to prove its really me!).
I have been reading blogs and forums written by first time triathletes as well as seasoned veterans to glean as much information as possible as to what I will be experiencing.
I have attempted (and will do it again) riding the actual bike course to know what torture I face.
I have picked up a Camelbak and new bike gloves to stay hydrated and hopefully alleviate some of the pain and numbness I get in my hands when riding more than a few miles.
I picked up some shotbloks and GUU to try and see how my system tolerates them and if they actually help my energy level over a long workout.
As you can imagine, many of these preparations are flowing from the reading and discussing I've been doing about completing my first triathlon. While I believe all of this preparation will help on race day, its truly crunch time and I am beginning to feel nervous and excited. I am beginning to second guess myself and wonder if I can truly complete this monumental task. I have underestimated the difficulty of tasks in the past and I hope to not do this here. I would rather think this will be harder than it turns out to be, but I'm not holding my breath. Its the invincible optimist in me that is saying "don't worry about it, you'll be fine!" I just need that to be relayed to the rest of my being and make it come true.
As more preparation/training I am planning a brick workout tomorrow with a 12 mile ride and 3 mile walk. This will be a flat course, but it will still be good to have the experience under my belt. I am also planning on biking the actual course on Sunday and this time I have researched the entire route and will make it to the top.
All of my training and preparation will be tested in a mere 9 days time and frankly I'm getting just a little scared. I figure that's a good thing!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Resilience
Resilience (noun) speedy recovery from problems; the ability to spring back quickly into shape after being bent, stretched or deformed.
Its interesting. I’ve been reading various articles and blogs on a variety of topics - from triathlons and training to childbirth to Detroit's current economic woes, and there is one word that seems to be coming up more than any other and that word is resilience.
Resilience is what is needed to recover from a tough work out and improve your body.
Resilience is what it takes to bounce back from a miscue or misstep and continue on in a race.
Resilience is what a mother displays when she is able to start caring for a newborn after having just gone through childbirth.
Resilience is what has made and is remaking Detroit.
Resilience. A fairly simple word but its overall meaning and what it allows us to achieve are monumental.
Resilience. I hope I have it as I'm going to need it on October 23rd.
Its interesting. I’ve been reading various articles and blogs on a variety of topics - from triathlons and training to childbirth to Detroit's current economic woes, and there is one word that seems to be coming up more than any other and that word is resilience.
Resilience is what is needed to recover from a tough work out and improve your body.
Resilience is what it takes to bounce back from a miscue or misstep and continue on in a race.
Resilience is what a mother displays when she is able to start caring for a newborn after having just gone through childbirth.
Resilience is what has made and is remaking Detroit.
Resilience. A fairly simple word but its overall meaning and what it allows us to achieve are monumental.
Resilience. I hope I have it as I'm going to need it on October 23rd.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
TESTING
Its time to test myself. The Pumkinman triathlon is 4 weeks away and I have to be able to gauge, if remotely, if I think I can do this. My goal is simple, to complete the entire distance. For this, my first race, time really doesn't matter. So my thought is that I could run my own trio of events, all on the same day, more or less back to back, to see how I do. I figure with 4 weeks I can really try to address any issues I see coming from this test. Here are my thoughts the day before:
I have planned out exactly what I am going to do. I am going to drive to the Whitney Ranch Aquatic Center (approximately 10 minutes from home depending on the timing of the lights) and swim my 800 yards (32 laps). Immediately following that I would drive back home and transition to the bike. This is where some planning still needed to be done as I'm unsure as to whether or not I should wear my tri shorts in the pool (they recommend against training with them in the pool as the chemicals can have a detrimental effect on the fabric). My initial thought was to go ahead and wear them anyway, but that was subject to change.
On the bike I am going to follow my 6.15 mile loop through the neighborhood and beyond. I would do this twice to reach my required distance of about 12.3 miles. Tracking my time on this and the next part should be easy with my Garmin as long as I hit the right buttons. The second loop of this course takes me back to T1 which is also T2 (my house).
I would immediately take off my riding gear (helmet and gloves), put on my hat and start the run. This would be 3 laps around the one mile route in my neighborhood. I would stop my time when I finished the third lap back at the house. My thinking is that while this is basically a much easier course than the pumpkinman, it should begin to give me an idea what I need to work on over the next 4 weeks.
Now I hesitate to put this into writing because I am laying expectations for a specific outcome and making myself accountable for those expectations. Simple because I need to objectively see how I am doing and if I am progressing, I am going to put times to what I think I can do in these events. These are very rough estimates based upon individual event performance and not combining any of the events.
My estimation is to complete the swim in 32 minutes.It should then take 15 minutes to transition back to the house and get on my bike. My two loops around the longer course whould be completed in about 65 minutes. Give me a one minute transition back at the house and the run will be about 55 minutes. All together then I am looking at a total of 168 minutes or 2 hours and 48 minutes.
I am padding the times of the individual events from my best times I have completed them. If I matched those times, I would shave 9 minutes off the total giving me 2 hours and 39 minutes including 16 minutes in transition. Of course I currently don't expect to accomplish that because of the fatigue factor which is why I have padded the times. Tomorrow will tell...
Friday Morning
OK, for those who don't like to wait, I did complete all 3 events as planned in 2 hours and 56 minutes including my transitions. If I remove the long transitions, the times are 30:30 for the swim, 54:35 for the bike and 56:29 for the run(walk) for a total time of 2:21:34. As can be seen the transitions were longer than normal for a variety of reasons.
I hit the water at 6:44 am and swam my 32 laps of the pool. I was feeling pretty good about my pace and stamina. Of course then a real swimmer jumped into the next lane and was completing 2 lengths for every one of mine. This showed my how much work I really do need with my swimming technique. I was out of the water and headed to the locker room at 7:14.
It took longer than anticipated to get home, get changed and get on my bike. I had thought the transition would be 15 minutes, but was in truth 28 minutes. As I got rolling on the bike I realized that there were a lot of people out and about just before 8:00 on a Friday morning. Individuals heading to work, kids heading to school. There was certainly a lot more traffic than I was used to when I did my 4:00 am rides. I made a conscious effort to ride strong, but not overly fast when I started the bike remembering the biggest part of the test was to come. Overall the bike felt good. I thought I had kept a decent pace and wasn't killing myself. I had taken the time to put a PowerAde Zero in my water bottle and was grateful for that as I did the ride. Completing the 2 laps - about 12.3 miles in 54:35 was good since the last ride I did for this route was in 57 minutes.
I then rolled into the garage and readied for the run. this was to be a 30 second transition but turned into about 7 minutes. I stopped to get some fluids in me as well as took time to watch the grandkids before heading out. Even though I didn't get enough fluids, what I did get was vital. The first lap went well, but the second became very hard. My back started getting tight about 1.2 miles in, At the 2 mile mark I was just losing all energy and it was getting very difficult to keep going. I realized that I need to pay much more attention to both hydration and nutrition before and during an event. My lap times showed that I was in fact fading fast. Lap 1 - 17:05, lap 2 - 18:00 and lap 3 - 21:23. I did finish. It took 56:29, but I did finish.
I'm very glad I decided I needed to do this as it did give me a glimpse of what I'm going to be going through during the Pumpkinman. Sure I didn't do near the climbing on the bike that I will be doing on that day. This has given me things to look at and train for that I hadn't really comprehended. Having done the 3 stages of my personal triathlon individually, I really had in my mind the thought that it should be a piece of cake to do all 3. Sure I realized that it would be harder, but I didn't realize how hard. I know that I need more training on climbing and on the run and on proper nutrition so that I can be successful on race day.
I have planned out exactly what I am going to do. I am going to drive to the Whitney Ranch Aquatic Center (approximately 10 minutes from home depending on the timing of the lights) and swim my 800 yards (32 laps). Immediately following that I would drive back home and transition to the bike. This is where some planning still needed to be done as I'm unsure as to whether or not I should wear my tri shorts in the pool (they recommend against training with them in the pool as the chemicals can have a detrimental effect on the fabric). My initial thought was to go ahead and wear them anyway, but that was subject to change.
On the bike I am going to follow my 6.15 mile loop through the neighborhood and beyond. I would do this twice to reach my required distance of about 12.3 miles. Tracking my time on this and the next part should be easy with my Garmin as long as I hit the right buttons. The second loop of this course takes me back to T1 which is also T2 (my house).
I would immediately take off my riding gear (helmet and gloves), put on my hat and start the run. This would be 3 laps around the one mile route in my neighborhood. I would stop my time when I finished the third lap back at the house. My thinking is that while this is basically a much easier course than the pumpkinman, it should begin to give me an idea what I need to work on over the next 4 weeks.
Now I hesitate to put this into writing because I am laying expectations for a specific outcome and making myself accountable for those expectations. Simple because I need to objectively see how I am doing and if I am progressing, I am going to put times to what I think I can do in these events. These are very rough estimates based upon individual event performance and not combining any of the events.
My estimation is to complete the swim in 32 minutes.It should then take 15 minutes to transition back to the house and get on my bike. My two loops around the longer course whould be completed in about 65 minutes. Give me a one minute transition back at the house and the run will be about 55 minutes. All together then I am looking at a total of 168 minutes or 2 hours and 48 minutes.
I am padding the times of the individual events from my best times I have completed them. If I matched those times, I would shave 9 minutes off the total giving me 2 hours and 39 minutes including 16 minutes in transition. Of course I currently don't expect to accomplish that because of the fatigue factor which is why I have padded the times. Tomorrow will tell...
Friday Morning
OK, for those who don't like to wait, I did complete all 3 events as planned in 2 hours and 56 minutes including my transitions. If I remove the long transitions, the times are 30:30 for the swim, 54:35 for the bike and 56:29 for the run(walk) for a total time of 2:21:34. As can be seen the transitions were longer than normal for a variety of reasons.
I hit the water at 6:44 am and swam my 32 laps of the pool. I was feeling pretty good about my pace and stamina. Of course then a real swimmer jumped into the next lane and was completing 2 lengths for every one of mine. This showed my how much work I really do need with my swimming technique. I was out of the water and headed to the locker room at 7:14.
It took longer than anticipated to get home, get changed and get on my bike. I had thought the transition would be 15 minutes, but was in truth 28 minutes. As I got rolling on the bike I realized that there were a lot of people out and about just before 8:00 on a Friday morning. Individuals heading to work, kids heading to school. There was certainly a lot more traffic than I was used to when I did my 4:00 am rides. I made a conscious effort to ride strong, but not overly fast when I started the bike remembering the biggest part of the test was to come. Overall the bike felt good. I thought I had kept a decent pace and wasn't killing myself. I had taken the time to put a PowerAde Zero in my water bottle and was grateful for that as I did the ride. Completing the 2 laps - about 12.3 miles in 54:35 was good since the last ride I did for this route was in 57 minutes.
I then rolled into the garage and readied for the run. this was to be a 30 second transition but turned into about 7 minutes. I stopped to get some fluids in me as well as took time to watch the grandkids before heading out. Even though I didn't get enough fluids, what I did get was vital. The first lap went well, but the second became very hard. My back started getting tight about 1.2 miles in, At the 2 mile mark I was just losing all energy and it was getting very difficult to keep going. I realized that I need to pay much more attention to both hydration and nutrition before and during an event. My lap times showed that I was in fact fading fast. Lap 1 - 17:05, lap 2 - 18:00 and lap 3 - 21:23. I did finish. It took 56:29, but I did finish.
I'm very glad I decided I needed to do this as it did give me a glimpse of what I'm going to be going through during the Pumpkinman. Sure I didn't do near the climbing on the bike that I will be doing on that day. This has given me things to look at and train for that I hadn't really comprehended. Having done the 3 stages of my personal triathlon individually, I really had in my mind the thought that it should be a piece of cake to do all 3. Sure I realized that it would be harder, but I didn't realize how hard. I know that I need more training on climbing and on the run and on proper nutrition so that I can be successful on race day.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Technology
Technology is a wonderful thing as long as we don't become totally dependant on it. A great example is my new Garmin Forerunner 305. Its a GPS tracking training tool which also comes with a heart rate monitor. What I am basically using it for right now is to track how far I've gone and how long it took and where my route took me. The advantage to this is I can therefore concentrate on the actual event (riding/walking) and not worry about having to figure out my pace or distance or time.
This is all great! Of course there is always the human element involved. I have to be outside and not moving when I turn it on so it can acquire the satellite signals. I have to hit the correct button(s) to start or stop the time or to mark the end of a lap. Its not a good idea, for example, to hit the stop button at the end of a lap instead of a lap button. This completely ignores the rest of the ride/walk and then no longer accomplishes the functions for which its used.
It is also unadvised to turn the unit on, just prior to getting on your bicycle and starting to ride, thinking it will only be a few seconds for the signal acquisition. This can take upwards of 3 minutes especially while moving! Again this then negates the unit’s usefulness in tracking distance, time and route.
Once the human element is performing the functions as designed, the unit is great, though! I've used it on my ride around Long Lake in Hale, Michigan, Riding from My brother's house along the bike trail to Lake Erie and back in Flat Rock, Michigan as well as to map my short loop through the neighborhood by my house and my new longer loop along Boulder Highway, Tropicana and Broadbent. (Click on the links to view the maps).
I am already thinking of many more exciting places/routes I want to ride to see how the unit performs. For example riding the Railroad Tunnels trail from the trail head all the way to the Hoover Dam visitors Center would be interesting. I wonder how it would handle going through the tunnels. I guess there is only one way to find out!
One thing this technology has shown me is exactly how I am doing in terms of riding and walking/jogging. I certainly can't call it running by any stretch of the imagination when I only do it in short intervals and the speed is very slow. The positive with the technology is that there is no fudge factor. It shows me exactly where I'm at and what I'm doing which is very encouraging as it also shows the progress being made. Too bad its not totally waterproof or I'd wear it while swimming. Of course that would be a very boring map with 32+ lengths of the pool all one on top of the other.
So, technology is wonderful as long as one learns how to use it and then pay attention to the results!
This is all great! Of course there is always the human element involved. I have to be outside and not moving when I turn it on so it can acquire the satellite signals. I have to hit the correct button(s) to start or stop the time or to mark the end of a lap. Its not a good idea, for example, to hit the stop button at the end of a lap instead of a lap button. This completely ignores the rest of the ride/walk and then no longer accomplishes the functions for which its used.
It is also unadvised to turn the unit on, just prior to getting on your bicycle and starting to ride, thinking it will only be a few seconds for the signal acquisition. This can take upwards of 3 minutes especially while moving! Again this then negates the unit’s usefulness in tracking distance, time and route.
Once the human element is performing the functions as designed, the unit is great, though! I've used it on my ride around Long Lake in Hale, Michigan, Riding from My brother's house along the bike trail to Lake Erie and back in Flat Rock, Michigan as well as to map my short loop through the neighborhood by my house and my new longer loop along Boulder Highway, Tropicana and Broadbent. (Click on the links to view the maps).
I am already thinking of many more exciting places/routes I want to ride to see how the unit performs. For example riding the Railroad Tunnels trail from the trail head all the way to the Hoover Dam visitors Center would be interesting. I wonder how it would handle going through the tunnels. I guess there is only one way to find out!
One thing this technology has shown me is exactly how I am doing in terms of riding and walking/jogging. I certainly can't call it running by any stretch of the imagination when I only do it in short intervals and the speed is very slow. The positive with the technology is that there is no fudge factor. It shows me exactly where I'm at and what I'm doing which is very encouraging as it also shows the progress being made. Too bad its not totally waterproof or I'd wear it while swimming. Of course that would be a very boring map with 32+ lengths of the pool all one on top of the other.
So, technology is wonderful as long as one learns how to use it and then pay attention to the results!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Swim
The alarm on my phone went off at 4:45. I didn’t need it as I was already up, but that’s an entirely different story. Today was the day I had decided to retry the distance for the swim for the Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon, coming up in less than 9 weeks. The swim is only .75 Km which is 750 Meters which is about 820 yards. Since I now know that the pool at the Whitney Ranch Aquatic Complex is 25 yards long, that translates to doing 33 lengths of the pool to go the distance.
I wasn’t in a hurry to get going. I took my time making sure I had everything I needed to shower and head straight to work after my swim. Its great that the pool opens at 5:00 on weekdays so that I can get my swim in in the morning. By the time I double checked that I had everything and made it out the door, the clock said 5:00.
It’s a short 3.1 mile drive to the center and for some reason I actually made all 4 of the lights with perfect timing – not having to stop at all. I grabbed my bag and headed into the building. The parking lot had 5 or 6 vehicles and it was still very dark outside.
I checked in at the desk and the person stationed there marked off 2 spots on my punch card. I have to say the use of the pools and the recreation facility next door are true bargains. I went into the locker room and put my bag, with my clothes in locker 430 and deposited my quarter and took out the key, knowing my belongings were secure.
I then walked out through the doors to the actual pool area and say that there were 7 people in the pool. 4 older individuals in the shallower end of the main pool and 3 swimmers in lanes farther down towards the deep end. I headed towards the deep end intending to simulate the environment of the open water swim as closely as possible by selecting a lane with a depth preventing me from standing on the bottom. I found a lane at the 6’6” mark, and put my towel and glasses on the chair near the open door, looking out towards the activity pool. I took off my watch and started the timer.
Knowing the timer was running I wasted no time. I turned towards the water, took the 3 steps to the edge and dove in. The water was plenty warm and no shock to my system. It welcomed me and I came up and started swimming towards the far end. It felt good to be in the water. I tried not to swim too fast and get winded. One thing I know is that I have terrible technique when it comes to swimming. I am not coordinated enough to do 3 things at once. I did my version of freestyle down the pool, trying to work on exhaling into the water and turning with my strokes to take in a breath.
As I said I am not coordinated and I have to consciously think about what I’m doing with my breathing as I’m moving through the water. As such I tend to forget to kick as well. I can usually manage 2 of the 3 required actions for swimming, but not all 3 at once. I can stroke and breathe (sort of) or I can stroke and kick with my head sown in the water. Its all 3 – stroke, kick and breathe that I have trouble with.
When I got to the far end of the pool I taped the wall and turned. I made it a point to not push off the wall nor hang on the wall at all in order to feel like I was in the middle of a lake. I swam back to the other end and had completed 2 lengths of the pool. I took a quick rest (only 5 seconds or so) and turned to swim to the other end of the pool. I continued struggle with my rhythm and coordination and I’m sure it was not a pretty sight! I was quickly getting winded as I wasn’t breathing properly and I know my water position was horrible with my feet dragging very low behind me in the water.
One thing I did discover is that I was much faster and felt better swimming on my back. It eliminated having to concentrate so much on my breathing and actually allowed me to catch my breath while making progress because I could kick and stroke at the same time. Of the 825 yard I did, I would say that at least 200 were done on my back. I got to the 16th length of the pool and I know I was actually significantly better than my last attempt (where I thought the 16 lengths were 800 not 400 yards) and I kept going. My rests were getting longer and I was spending more time swimming on my back, but I was determined to finish the needed distance.
20, 24, 28…I kept swimming. As I took my quick rest breaks, I noticed the sky was getting lighter out the windows. I continued until I hit the magic number of 32. I knew I just needed one more length of the pool. Determined to finish strong I turned and swam for the other end, putting my head down and actually kicking some. Of course this didn’t last long as I ran out of breath and had to go back to my horrible heads up style as I gasped for air. I did make it to the other end in a decent amount of time. I touched and then moved towards the ladder 3 lanes away. The others who had been swimming in those lanes had finished and gotten out during my swim.
I climbed up the ladder feeling the weight return to my body. That is one reason that I think I like swimming so much – I feel lighter movement is easier in many ways. I walked over to the chair with my towel, picked up my watch and pushed the stop button on the timer. I wondered how I had done and I struggled to focus on the numbers on its face: 42:25.
I had completed the required distance in just over 42 minutes. I was tired. My muscles had definitely felt the swim, but the majority of the effort had been done with my arms and not my legs. I realized that my legs felt almost nothing from the swim as I had used them so little during it.
I considered this a very successful swim. Sure I found out exactly how terrible of a swimmer I am technically speaking, I was pretty slow for the distance when looking at the times from the last Pumpkinman, and my eyes were really burning, but I had actually improved over my last effort. I had done the 400 yards in about 24 minutes. Realizing now that it was half the distance and if I double it I get 48 minutes for the required 800 yards. I had beat that time by over 5 minutes. It also gives me a true baseline for where my swimming skills are so I can measure my progress as I swim more and more.
Feeling pretty good I took my towel and glasses and headed into the locker room to get showered and dressed for work. I approached the locker and went to take the key out of the little insdie pocket of my suit that was supposed to keep it safe. I pulled the pocket out and there was no key in it. Thinking I might have mistaken where I put it, I checked the other 2 pockets on the outside of the suit to no avail. I no longer had the key to locker 430 and all of my clothes, phone, keys, etc were locked inside.
I went back out to the pool area and mentioned to the lifeguard that I was going to look for the key to my locker as I had lost it in the pool. He recommended I go talk to his boss who had a master key for all of the lockers. I tracked him down and explained the situation. He said he had to head over to the rec center next door where the master set of keys were and would be back in a few minutes. Not wanting to waste any time, I decided to head toward the lane I had been swimming in to see if I could see the key. I wondered aloud to the lifeguard if the key would float seeing as it had the orange plastic at one end. He said he didn’t know. As he was walking to the station at the far end of the pool (they were rotating positions as they tend to do every 15 minutes or so) he looked down and found a key on the floor.
Apparently my key hadn’t fallen out in the water, but when I was out of the water and walking over to the chair. I hadn’t noticed and no one else had walked through there since. Fortunately a potential disaster was avoided. I was also able to intercept the manager before he left the building as he was assisting an elderly lady into the pool before he left.
I then showered, dressed and was on my way to work by 6:20. The sun had just come up and it was a beautiful morning.
All in all it was a great swim with several lessons learned:
1) I need to really work on my swim technique
2) I can swim the required distance in a reasonable (for me) amount of time
3) Never trust the inner pocket
4) Goggles – I NEED GOGGLES
The last is due to the fact that my eyes have been bothering me for most of the day having swum without them this morning.
I wasn’t in a hurry to get going. I took my time making sure I had everything I needed to shower and head straight to work after my swim. Its great that the pool opens at 5:00 on weekdays so that I can get my swim in in the morning. By the time I double checked that I had everything and made it out the door, the clock said 5:00.
It’s a short 3.1 mile drive to the center and for some reason I actually made all 4 of the lights with perfect timing – not having to stop at all. I grabbed my bag and headed into the building. The parking lot had 5 or 6 vehicles and it was still very dark outside.
I checked in at the desk and the person stationed there marked off 2 spots on my punch card. I have to say the use of the pools and the recreation facility next door are true bargains. I went into the locker room and put my bag, with my clothes in locker 430 and deposited my quarter and took out the key, knowing my belongings were secure.
I then walked out through the doors to the actual pool area and say that there were 7 people in the pool. 4 older individuals in the shallower end of the main pool and 3 swimmers in lanes farther down towards the deep end. I headed towards the deep end intending to simulate the environment of the open water swim as closely as possible by selecting a lane with a depth preventing me from standing on the bottom. I found a lane at the 6’6” mark, and put my towel and glasses on the chair near the open door, looking out towards the activity pool. I took off my watch and started the timer.
Knowing the timer was running I wasted no time. I turned towards the water, took the 3 steps to the edge and dove in. The water was plenty warm and no shock to my system. It welcomed me and I came up and started swimming towards the far end. It felt good to be in the water. I tried not to swim too fast and get winded. One thing I know is that I have terrible technique when it comes to swimming. I am not coordinated enough to do 3 things at once. I did my version of freestyle down the pool, trying to work on exhaling into the water and turning with my strokes to take in a breath.
As I said I am not coordinated and I have to consciously think about what I’m doing with my breathing as I’m moving through the water. As such I tend to forget to kick as well. I can usually manage 2 of the 3 required actions for swimming, but not all 3 at once. I can stroke and breathe (sort of) or I can stroke and kick with my head sown in the water. Its all 3 – stroke, kick and breathe that I have trouble with.
When I got to the far end of the pool I taped the wall and turned. I made it a point to not push off the wall nor hang on the wall at all in order to feel like I was in the middle of a lake. I swam back to the other end and had completed 2 lengths of the pool. I took a quick rest (only 5 seconds or so) and turned to swim to the other end of the pool. I continued struggle with my rhythm and coordination and I’m sure it was not a pretty sight! I was quickly getting winded as I wasn’t breathing properly and I know my water position was horrible with my feet dragging very low behind me in the water.
One thing I did discover is that I was much faster and felt better swimming on my back. It eliminated having to concentrate so much on my breathing and actually allowed me to catch my breath while making progress because I could kick and stroke at the same time. Of the 825 yard I did, I would say that at least 200 were done on my back. I got to the 16th length of the pool and I know I was actually significantly better than my last attempt (where I thought the 16 lengths were 800 not 400 yards) and I kept going. My rests were getting longer and I was spending more time swimming on my back, but I was determined to finish the needed distance.
20, 24, 28…I kept swimming. As I took my quick rest breaks, I noticed the sky was getting lighter out the windows. I continued until I hit the magic number of 32. I knew I just needed one more length of the pool. Determined to finish strong I turned and swam for the other end, putting my head down and actually kicking some. Of course this didn’t last long as I ran out of breath and had to go back to my horrible heads up style as I gasped for air. I did make it to the other end in a decent amount of time. I touched and then moved towards the ladder 3 lanes away. The others who had been swimming in those lanes had finished and gotten out during my swim.
I climbed up the ladder feeling the weight return to my body. That is one reason that I think I like swimming so much – I feel lighter movement is easier in many ways. I walked over to the chair with my towel, picked up my watch and pushed the stop button on the timer. I wondered how I had done and I struggled to focus on the numbers on its face: 42:25.
I had completed the required distance in just over 42 minutes. I was tired. My muscles had definitely felt the swim, but the majority of the effort had been done with my arms and not my legs. I realized that my legs felt almost nothing from the swim as I had used them so little during it.
I considered this a very successful swim. Sure I found out exactly how terrible of a swimmer I am technically speaking, I was pretty slow for the distance when looking at the times from the last Pumpkinman, and my eyes were really burning, but I had actually improved over my last effort. I had done the 400 yards in about 24 minutes. Realizing now that it was half the distance and if I double it I get 48 minutes for the required 800 yards. I had beat that time by over 5 minutes. It also gives me a true baseline for where my swimming skills are so I can measure my progress as I swim more and more.
Feeling pretty good I took my towel and glasses and headed into the locker room to get showered and dressed for work. I approached the locker and went to take the key out of the little insdie pocket of my suit that was supposed to keep it safe. I pulled the pocket out and there was no key in it. Thinking I might have mistaken where I put it, I checked the other 2 pockets on the outside of the suit to no avail. I no longer had the key to locker 430 and all of my clothes, phone, keys, etc were locked inside.
I went back out to the pool area and mentioned to the lifeguard that I was going to look for the key to my locker as I had lost it in the pool. He recommended I go talk to his boss who had a master key for all of the lockers. I tracked him down and explained the situation. He said he had to head over to the rec center next door where the master set of keys were and would be back in a few minutes. Not wanting to waste any time, I decided to head toward the lane I had been swimming in to see if I could see the key. I wondered aloud to the lifeguard if the key would float seeing as it had the orange plastic at one end. He said he didn’t know. As he was walking to the station at the far end of the pool (they were rotating positions as they tend to do every 15 minutes or so) he looked down and found a key on the floor.
Apparently my key hadn’t fallen out in the water, but when I was out of the water and walking over to the chair. I hadn’t noticed and no one else had walked through there since. Fortunately a potential disaster was avoided. I was also able to intercept the manager before he left the building as he was assisting an elderly lady into the pool before he left.
I then showered, dressed and was on my way to work by 6:20. The sun had just come up and it was a beautiful morning.
All in all it was a great swim with several lessons learned:
1) I need to really work on my swim technique
2) I can swim the required distance in a reasonable (for me) amount of time
3) Never trust the inner pocket
4) Goggles – I NEED GOGGLES
The last is due to the fact that my eyes have been bothering me for most of the day having swum without them this morning.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Climbing
I finally got a taste of some climbing on my bike. It was both harder and easier than I expected. It was harder in that I ended up in my granny gear much sooner and for much longer than I had hoped ofr. It was easier in that having the granny gear to use didn’t absolutely kill my legs. I was thinking that after the ride I would be absolutely worn out, but that wasn’t the case. Sure I was tired and my legs were a little sore (and my “saddle area” even more sore) but I wasn’t the basket case I had feared I would be.
The ride itself ended up being an out and back of about 12.6 miles. I had created an event on Facebook hoping to attract several people to the ride. It ended up being just Mary and I, but that’s OK. I realized quickly after we started that I was much slower than she was and I know that would also have been the case with anyone else who might have joined us. I do thank you Mary for your patience and encouragement to make it to the top of the hill.
We started just about right at 6:00 and the sun came up shortly thereafter. The first part of the trail was along the old railroad line to the boulder dam so it was gentle curves and an easy slope heading up hill. I stated a bit fast and soon paid for the quick start when some of the steeper grades arrived. About 2 miles into the ride was a short downhill section with some wicked, tight turns. Had to be hard on the brakes, but it was fun. That’s when gravity stopped being my nemesis and was briefly my friend. Of course just after the short downhill the climb really started.
The downhill took us from the old railroad path to the drainage along US 93. The next few miles followed the drainage path uphill along the road. It was nice and paved, but there was actually a little water in a stretch and it wasn’t nearly as smooth as I would have thought. Whether from the water eroding it slightly, or maybe it was designed this way to disrupt the rushing water, there were like ripples in the concrete. It was through here that my granny gear became my only gear.
We stopped for a momentary rest and to get a drink a few times on the way up. I needed to catch my breath and get feeling back into my hands. Seems the bar across my palms without gloves isn’t a good idea since I tend to lean on them so much. It was a lot of work, but we eventually made it to the River Mountains/Historic Railroad trailhead and then up to the Bootleg Canyon trailhead. Just after this, making the turn up the hill I was feeling it. I voiced my opinion that I was about done. Mary encouraged me and said we were close to the top and it would be a shame to turn back now. I agreed and I put my head down and just keep my legs pumping, turning the crank. We passed several cyclists heading down and I couldn’t wait.
I once again caught up to Mary who was waiting by a bench at the top and she informed me that we had made it within 50 yards or so of the top. Silly me thinking it was going to be a lot of work on the way back suggested we turn around and head down. Obviously it was the doubt and the hill talking as I only pedaled on one short stretch the whole way back to the car. What had taken an hour and 20 minutes on the way up, took only 23 minutes on the way down. Looking back on it after the fact, I realized that I could have gone on and made it all the way to the Railroad pass casino as I had originally planned. You know what they say about hindsight being 20/20!
I truly expected to be hurting from the relatively long climb. It was by far the longest, hardest climb I had ever done. Surprisingly I wasn’t. Not Saturday evening. Not Sunday. Not even this morning when I got up and rode. I do have to say my climb on Saturday has given me a new appreciation for the flats. I even managed to ride my fastest average this morning - completing 10 miles in 42:27 which equates to 14.17 mph.
My plan is to complete the ride I had mapped out at least 4 times between now and Pumpkinman. Every other Saturday you’ll find me at 6:00 in the morning, getting on my bike and heading up the hill from the trailhead near the visitor center. As they say – the only way to get better at climbing is to climb, so that’s what I’m planning on doing.
The ride itself ended up being an out and back of about 12.6 miles. I had created an event on Facebook hoping to attract several people to the ride. It ended up being just Mary and I, but that’s OK. I realized quickly after we started that I was much slower than she was and I know that would also have been the case with anyone else who might have joined us. I do thank you Mary for your patience and encouragement to make it to the top of the hill.
We started just about right at 6:00 and the sun came up shortly thereafter. The first part of the trail was along the old railroad line to the boulder dam so it was gentle curves and an easy slope heading up hill. I stated a bit fast and soon paid for the quick start when some of the steeper grades arrived. About 2 miles into the ride was a short downhill section with some wicked, tight turns. Had to be hard on the brakes, but it was fun. That’s when gravity stopped being my nemesis and was briefly my friend. Of course just after the short downhill the climb really started.
The downhill took us from the old railroad path to the drainage along US 93. The next few miles followed the drainage path uphill along the road. It was nice and paved, but there was actually a little water in a stretch and it wasn’t nearly as smooth as I would have thought. Whether from the water eroding it slightly, or maybe it was designed this way to disrupt the rushing water, there were like ripples in the concrete. It was through here that my granny gear became my only gear.
We stopped for a momentary rest and to get a drink a few times on the way up. I needed to catch my breath and get feeling back into my hands. Seems the bar across my palms without gloves isn’t a good idea since I tend to lean on them so much. It was a lot of work, but we eventually made it to the River Mountains/Historic Railroad trailhead and then up to the Bootleg Canyon trailhead. Just after this, making the turn up the hill I was feeling it. I voiced my opinion that I was about done. Mary encouraged me and said we were close to the top and it would be a shame to turn back now. I agreed and I put my head down and just keep my legs pumping, turning the crank. We passed several cyclists heading down and I couldn’t wait.
I once again caught up to Mary who was waiting by a bench at the top and she informed me that we had made it within 50 yards or so of the top. Silly me thinking it was going to be a lot of work on the way back suggested we turn around and head down. Obviously it was the doubt and the hill talking as I only pedaled on one short stretch the whole way back to the car. What had taken an hour and 20 minutes on the way up, took only 23 minutes on the way down. Looking back on it after the fact, I realized that I could have gone on and made it all the way to the Railroad pass casino as I had originally planned. You know what they say about hindsight being 20/20!
I truly expected to be hurting from the relatively long climb. It was by far the longest, hardest climb I had ever done. Surprisingly I wasn’t. Not Saturday evening. Not Sunday. Not even this morning when I got up and rode. I do have to say my climb on Saturday has given me a new appreciation for the flats. I even managed to ride my fastest average this morning - completing 10 miles in 42:27 which equates to 14.17 mph.
My plan is to complete the ride I had mapped out at least 4 times between now and Pumpkinman. Every other Saturday you’ll find me at 6:00 in the morning, getting on my bike and heading up the hill from the trailhead near the visitor center. As they say – the only way to get better at climbing is to climb, so that’s what I’m planning on doing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)