Training Week In Review : Week 23 (Heat, Humidity, and Hills)

This week was the toughest weekend training so far both in distance on the bike and temperatures on the entire weekend. I also am now feeling the compound effects of the past months of training, and the longer miles logged over the past couple of weeks. I'm staying positive and remaining focused on the goal: 35 days from now.

Lots of miles, Even More Heat

The long bike workout this week was a new distance milestone for me. Our plan was to ride the 31mi. loop three times and then add on 2 more miles at the end to hit the distance goal (which matched up perfectly with my time goal for the day) I was also excited to test out my new tires as I have finally worn out a set. We started out at 7am as the weather for the day was going to get hot really fast. The first loop started at 76° and felt pretty comfortable for late August. I wanted to focus on keeping the pace and effort level the same for each lap so my riding buddy for the day, Reiko, kept track of each lap while I recorded the total ride stats.

New tire for my

We were joined at the start by a couple of other riders, one of which is a multiple Ironman finisher who constantly shared his wisdom and tips during the first 17 miles. I was more than happy to listen and knew that his experience could help me along on my journey as well. I'm always grateful for those that share their knowledge and it speaks volumes about the type of people that have a passion for this sport. While we all at one point or another are competing against each other, that doesn't mean that we don't support each other along our journey and help out where we can. The remainder of the first loop passed quickly and we stopped back at the parking lot to refill our bottles.

We began the second lap with the temperatures rising to 85°. This lap felt really good. I got into a rhythm quick and this lap felt almost effortless (with the exception of a couple of hills). We stopped again at the cars and refilled bottles one last time before heading out on the third and final lap. By now the sun was beating down and it was 92°. The other condition that changed for the worse was the wind. We felt no wind on the first two laps, but it was a pretty strong headwind this time out. I noticed that I was drinking a bit more than I had on the past two loops and continued to do so to combat the heat. After a couple of quick back and forth trips on the main road,  my Garmin read 95mi and we were done for the day. I took stock of my hydration and realized I had gone through six 24oz. bottles of Infinit Nutrtition. I was glad I was conscious enough to drink more than normal because it was 97° by the time we finished. My legs actually felt pretty good. I have no doubts now that I will complete the bike portion of the race and still have some juice in my legs to take on the run. (as long as I pace myself) Garmin bike track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/572018514

More Heat, Humidity, and Lots of Hills

I changed up my Sunday training run with a half marathon in downtown Atlanta. The Hotlanta Half Marathon, in its inaugural year, lived up to its name. The race started at 7:30am and it was already 81° at the sound of the starting gun. I wasn't 100% sure of my strategy for pacing, but I knew I was going to walk for 30-45 seconds every other aid station (roughly every 2 miles). I met up before the race with a fellow North GA Tri Club member and we chatted for a bit about our training and expectations for the day. It's really cool meeting complete strangers and knowing that you have a common interest that allows you to become friends almost immediately. I started out with my run training partner at a solid 9:00/mi pace but soon found myself running a little faster by the time I passed the mile 1 marker. I felt very good considering I had ridden 95mi the day before. The first 4 miles passed pretty quickly and only contained 1 hill that made us slow down a little. By this time I was already drenched with sweat from the high humidity. We entered the beltway stretch of the run course and this section was great. It was flat and shaded so I know we definitely stepped up the pace again for the next 2 miles.

We could feel the temperatures rising as we returned to the street and headed into Piedmont Park. We made good time through the park until we approached the hill the climbed up out of the park and back onto the main roads. This hill was no joke. It was just before mile 8 and was fairly steep. We made it to the top of the hill and took our scheduled walk break at the aid station before leaving the park behind and continuing along the route towards the finish line.

The next 4 miles was almost all uphill with every climb seeming to last longer than the previous one. I left my running partner around mile 8.5 and continued to push up the hills. I was wondering when my legs would start to feel these repeated climbs and that question was answered just after mile 10. I reacted differently this time than I have in past races. I shifted my focus to the buildings and runners around me and something interesting happened. I stopped feeling the fatigue in my legs and started realizing that I was a mere 5K from the finish line. This change in my focus allowed me to keep the pace steady and I rolled through the aid station at mile 11 grabbing a couple of quick sips of water before pressing on. I reached the mile 12 aid station (which was really more like 12.45 mi), downed a cup of Nuun hydration drink, and picked up the pace. There was a spectator at the top of a slight rise that cheered us on and told us that there was a long downhill stretch followed by a left turn towards the finish line. I knew I was close so I bolted downhill and made the left turn towards the finish line. I was a bit discouraged at what I saw when I made the turn as I did see the finish line about .25 miles ahead.
The discouraging part was that it was at the top of a fairly steep hill. I decided that didn't matter, told my legs to shut up, and pushed harder. I passed a couple of people climbing the hill and crossed the finish line with a time of 1:52:09. That was about 7-8 minutes ahead of the time I thought I would finish so I was nothing but pleased with the results.

We enjoyed a post-race breakfast at the OK Cafe where I ate a ridiculous amount of buttermilk pancakes topped with apples and pecans, and then went home to rest/recover for the rest of the day. Garmin run track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/572828861

I have one more big week of training and then it's into tapering for the race. I've really enjoyed the journey so far, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready for race day to get here. Only 5 weeks to go!

Weekly Totals: Swim - 5000m • Bike - 135.65mi • Run - 24.15mi

Training Week In Review: Week 22 (Feeling Flat & Holy Elevation Gain, Batman!)

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

I had the opportunity for another open water swim at Red Top Mountain this week and wanted to go for a full hour and see where my speed/endurance were and how close I could get to the 2.4 miles I will be required to swim in September. The result: 2.4mi in 1:00:44! I was blown away at how good I felt after the swim and when I combine this with a river current and potentially a wetsuit I should be very happy with my swim time. Garmin swim track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/563722843

The Long Bike - A Little Flat, A Lot Of Confidence

I will admit that I feel very fortunate to live close enough to my Ironman race site so I can practice on the actual race course. I can't imagine not being able to train on the course for a race of this distance, and I know these training sessions on course will pay off on race day. I made the short drive up on Saturday to meet up with a group that was riding one loop of the course from transition. Most of them had done the Chattanooga Open Water Swimmers Club 2.4mi swim before hand, but I passed on this as I can't spend $60 just to practice swim. I was also pumped to wear my new North GA Tri Club kit and see how comfortable it was on distance events. It was amazingly comfortable! The shorts felt so good (almost as good as my regular bib shorts) and I had no rubs or chaffing so this is definitely the kit I'll wear on race day. We headed out at 10:15am and this was my first chance to ride the course all the way from transition. The stretch from Ross' Landing to the part of the course I've ridden before doesn't have much to report on. It's not hilly. It has more railroad tracks. It has potholes. That's about it. We were moving at a decent pace in our group of 12 and quickly split into 2 groups when we turned onto Hwy 193. The group I was in was doing one loop and the other group that was taking a slower pace was doing the full 2 loop course. I got stuck behind a couple of slower riders, but had started to make my way back to the main pack I was riding with that included my friends Reiko and Michael.

I was about a tenth of a mile back when I started having to pedal much harder and a very slight incline. I looked down and confirmed my suspicions. At mile 16 my front tire was flat. I pulled over at the next side street and began to change it. I always carry stuff to fix a flat, but I am not very fast at the process as I've only had to change one tube this year (back in March). I was very fortunate as there were so many triathletes out training with on course support from several clubs that an SUV pulled over and the driver, John from Multisport Ministries, offered to let me use his pump so I didn't have to use my CO2 cartridges to inflate the new tube. After a slow, lengthy process of changing my tire I was back on the road determined to make up some time and with some luck catch up to my riding buddies at one of the SAG stops. It was hard getting back into a rhythm after begin stopped for 5-7 minutes, but after a few miles I was back to pushing at normal pace. I passed a few groups and before I knew it I was at the first climb before Hog Jowl Road. I noticed a big difference after making this turn since I was down in aero position for these rolling hills this time. I was able to gain enough speed on the downhills that I didn't have to do hardly any shifting to make it up the hills on the other side. This made this section of the course much more enjoyable. My speed through this section increased but my effort felt the same as my other rides so I know that I'm in much better riding shape compared to my last ride on the course in July.

I approached the SAG stop just past the intersection of Hog Jowl Rd and Hwy 136 and was happy to hear cheers from my group as they had stopped to wait for me to catch up. Luckily they hadn't been waiting too long and were kind enough to let me refill my bottles and grab a quick snack before we hopped back on our bikes for the final 28mi of our ride. We all stuck together pretty well through the end of the ride, but we all noticed the increased wind and heat towards the end of the ride. We got back to our cars and then prepped to go out and run part of the course to complete our training brick for the day. My legs felt great and I no longer have any doubts about the bike portion of the race. We averaged 17.1 mph and I know if I take it a little easier on race day my legs should be in a great place to perform steadily on the run. Garmin bike track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/567008261

The North Side Run Loop - I Thought I Had Run Hills Before...

We started from transition area and made our way to Veterans Memorial Bridge. We had decided to run the north side loop first and then, depending how we felt, run a little on the river walk. I'm glad we took this route as I haven't run any of the north side before and had heard stories about the hills. I tend to not to rely too much on others' impressions/definitions of hills because it is so subjective person by person. We crossed the bridge and curved to the right slightly to face Barton Ave for the first time. I'm not going to lie, it was intimidating just looking at it. You could see the top of the hill, but the incline you had to climb for the .5 mi to get there looked daunting. We took our pace easy and made our way up the first climb. Once we reached the top I was surprised at how good I felt especially considering that it was now 92° and there was limited shade on the route. That feeling didn't last. We continued down Barton, forked off onto Hixson Pike which was mostly flat (or at least not nearly as much of an uphill) and turned left onto Riverview Rd. Here we found some shade... and more hills. There is a short, steep climb up the backside of this loop that brings you parallel to the country club and golf course. This stretch is beautiful. It overlooks the river on the left and is very flat or downhill for about .8 mile. We then turned left back onto Barton for what I think is the worst climb on the course. It climbs up very steep, levels out, and then climbs up steeply again over a total of .5 mi. The only relief when you reach the top of this hill is that you now can enjoy almost 3/4 mi of downhill before you reach the Walnut Street Bridge. This is a long climb, but it's not very steep and should be packed with people cheering on race day to get you through your first lap and motivate you to push on your 2nd lap all the way through to the finish line. I now know that I need to run hills. More hills. Steeper hills. I used to worry about the bike portion, but that is in the rearview mirror now. My worry has shifted onto the run course and the roughly 9mi total section of hills that we will encounter on race day. I know I will be ready come race day, and am very glad that I got the chance to run this section ahead of time.
Garmin run track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/567008290


Weekly totals: Swim - 7500m • Bike - 91.8mi • Run - 17.8mi

Race Report: Tri the Parks - Richard B Russell

This was my final tune-up race before tackling my biggest challenge to date: Ironman Chattanooga. I had no real expectations as far as time goals. My purpose for this race was to cross the finish line feeling like I had lots of gas left in the tank, stay in my heart rate zones, and with any luck earn a PR.

Those goals seemed almost impossible considering the obstacles we had to overcome just to get to the race. Here's how it all went down...

Day Before the Race

My day started with my normal pre-race breakfast of pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon and coffee at Ihop with my biggest supporter, my wife. It was nice to sleep in and rest my legs for a change and even though this was Olympic Distance race I knew I would feel better in the race if I felt rested before the start. I spent the remainder of the morning cleaning the car, cleaning my bike, and checking and re-checking my transition bag to make sure I had everything I needed for race day. I took a short nap and ate my bagels, drank my orange pineapple juice, and enjoyed some much needed relaxation until it was time to leave. About 30 minutes before I was headed out to pick up my buddy to go to the race, my phone lit up with a severe storm message: There was a tornado warning in our area. I looked outside in time to see the sky was black and then the rain came pouring down like it hadn't rained in years. I naturally assumed this was my fault for having thoroughly cleaned my bike, but I can't control the weather so I headed out to pick up my friend. It continued to pour the entire way over to his place and after quick tour of his new digs we loaded his bike onto my car and were ready to hit the road. Enter obstacle #1. My car wouldn't start. At all.

No problem you say? Just take a different car. Enter obstacle #2. My buddy drives a BMW convertible that can only hold 1 bike with the top down. It's still dumping an entire lake's worth of rain on us so that's not a viable option. Long story short (too late) we ended up borrowing an SUV with a roof rack. Now it's time for obstacle #3. Since we had to work out a new car situation we were now leaving at 4:30pm. Just in time for rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon. It was worse than we could have imagined. We got stuck behind a few wrecks through spaghetti junction and didn't move much at all until we got onto I-85 N. We made it Perimeter Mall at 7:00pm (normally 45 minute drive took 2.5 hours) and decided to stop and grab some dinner at Olive Garden. I had a delicious Baked Parmesan Shrimp dish with Ziti Pasta, a couple of bread sticks, and some salad. We ate pretty quick as we still had a couple of hours to drive to reach our hotel. We arrived in Elberton at 9:45pm and I was just glad to be out of the car and looking forward to getting some sleep. That was the plan until 3am when someone's car alarm went off right outside our window and didn't stop for 3-4 minutes. That was plenty of time for me to completely wake up. I went back to sleep, finally, around 4:30 and got in a solid 30 minutes (sarcasm) of sleep before my alarm sounded at 5am.

Race Day

My racing buddies David (left) and Dickie (right).

After reflecting on everything that happened on the day before the race I was determined to take a positive approach. I decided that since everything went wrong the day before the race, everything on race day would be flawless. It turns out that this time my game plan would work out. We got the race site at 6:25 and quickly breezed through check-in. I got my transition area setup and ran through transitions in my head before walking down to the lake for a quick warm up swim to get focused for the task ahead. The weather was perfect. Overcast, but not raining with a water temperature of 84°.

The Swim

I had planned to keep a slower, but still steady pace throughout the swim. The horn sounded and we were off. This was a 2 loop swim and the first loop passed much faster than I expected. Before I knew it I had made the turn around the final buoy and was headed back to shore. I felt good enough to speed up a little bit as I neared the shore and that ended up earning me a new best time on the swim at this race. I popped up out of the water, trotted up the hill and across the parking lot into T1. Swim time: 29:42.

The Bike

T1 went smooth and fast with a time of 1:17 and I was off on the bike. I was surprised at how much of the bike course I remembered. I knew the first 10 miles were pretty fast with exception of one large hill just off the main road out of the park, so I decided that I was going to put my new found skill of mastering the aero bars to good use. I would say I spent 90% of the ride on my bars and felt like I was cruising along at a pretty decent pace with not a huge effort to maintain it. I decided I wasn't going to look at anything but heart rate on the bike or run since that was my focus for the day. This proved to be nice on the bike especially since It removed all pressure to aim for a target pace and allowed me to just enjoy the ride. I noticed that there were mile markers every 2 miles on the bike course and committed to taking in some Infinit drink at each mile marker. This would mean I would drink more often than normal, but since I haven't been drinking enough on my longer rides I knew this would be good practice. It proved to be great as I felt more fueled and energized throughout the bike. I coasted the last short stretch downhill to the dismount line and felt better than I ever have off the bike on an Olympic distance race going into T2. Bike time: 1:15:36 (18.0 mph average)

The Run

T2 was lightning fast for me at just :53 seconds and I was off on the run. I was more determined to perform well during this leg of the race as this is one area that I have struggled with the past 2 times I've raced here. I knew instantly that I was going to be strong throughout the run this time as I felt great and my legs weren't tired in the least. I took it slow on the first .46 miles as this section was on a trail and all uphill. I reached the top of the climb and hit the pavement feeling good. I grabbed a water at the first aid station and took a few sips as I kept running. I dumped the rest over my head to make sure to stay cool. I reached the turnaround on the first lap and was maintaining a great pace. Better yet, my heart rate was in Zone 2 right where it should be. I passed my other friend, David, as he was headed to the turnaround and knew that he was about 4 minutes behind me. This is where my competitive streak made it's first appearance. I knew that his swim wave started 3 minutes behind mine and I've never finished with a better time than him. I was determined to finish ahead of him and make up for missing that goal by :45 seconds the year before. So I  picked up the pace a little bit for the next mile until I finished the first lap. I grabbed another water at the start of lap 2 and walked for about 25-30 seconds. My only walk during the entire run. I turned onto the trail to start my second time climbing the half mile and knew that if I was going to have a good second lap I'd have to pace myself through this climb. I passed a couple of people on the uphill battle and offered words of encouragement as I knew how valuable they can be. I came out of the woods and once again, felt better than expected. I remained steady for the next mile and around mile 4.75 I saw David again. I think I had widened the gap by about :45 seconds, but I wasn't taking any chances. I saw the mile 5 sign ahead and knew that I had tons of gas left in the tank so I took off, increasing my pace with every step. I made the last turn where there were a group of volunteers cheering racers on and gave it one more push through the final .3 miles to the finish line. I knew that I was making good time but was completely surprised to see the time at the finish line read 2:37:09! I had to check my Garmin to see if I saw the time correctly. Once I confirmed that it was, I felt proud to know that I not only felt great even after the race was over, but that I had PR'd at this race by 15 minutes! I also managed to finish ahead of my friend by almost 4 minutes. My run time was only 1:37 off my best 10K time. Run: 49:45 (8:09/mi average)

Overall I had a blast and this race was a huge confidence boost as I head into the final training weeks for Ironman Chattanooga. Congratulations to everyone who raced this past weekend and I hope you all learned something from your experiences like I did from mine.

(Side note: We got back to my buddy's house, and my car started.... go figure)

Into the Introspection: Race Week Is Here Again!

Taper Week? What's That?

As I head into my last tune-up race before Ironman Chattanooga, I have mixed feelings. The past 2 weeks of increased training combined with spending my work days in our warehouse (this is our busiest season of the year and I'm pitching in at the warehouse instead of my normal "desk job") has definitely taken it's toll on my body. Every morning as I prepare to train, my legs are tired before I even begin. On the plus side, I've been sleeping amazingly well each night due to exhaustion.

Normally I would be tapering this week to prepare for my Olympic distance triathlon in Elberton, GA on Saturday, but since this is no where near being classified as my "A" race I'm treating it as just another training day. That being said, I got in a solid 45 minute open water swim at Red Top Mountain on Monday for some last minute sighting practice. Tuesday held a solid speedwork session on the bike indoors. The next 2 days were back to back runs with Thursday including a short indoor bike workout first to complete a brick workout.

Thankfully Friday is a rest day and I will be more than happy to follow those plans. I get the day off work and will start the morning off with my traditional breakfast at Ihop with my beautiful (and through this whole process, extremely patient) wife before loading up the car and heading to the race site with a couple of my buddies.

Goals for Race Day

My goals for the race are very simple. Maintain the same splits as last year when I did this race, but improve the run. I've had a habit in this race of letting my mind tell me I'm tired and need to walk well before I should. The goal is to pace myself better at the start of the run so I can maintain a faster pace and finish stronger. I know I'm in much better shape than I have ever been so I'm excited to see if my mind can be as strong as my body has become.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. Stay safe. Stay strong.

Training Week In Review: Week 21 (Fear Takes A Backseat)

This week I'm not going to focus on the run or swim. This week it has all been about the bike. This week was a tougher one at work as I helped out pulling orders for our stores and website customers rather than sitting at my desk. This meant that each day drained me of energy more than  normal and by Friday I was just worn down. I ended up skipping my planned Friday swim and opted for sleeping in and letting my body recover a bit before the long weekend of training. This proved to be a wise choice as I woke up Saturday morning feeling much more relaxed and ready to tackle the challenge ahead.

A quick pit stop at a bike friendly gas station.

Entering Unknown Territory

The weekend bike training sessions are getting longer week after week and with each new session comes a feeling of accomplishment when I end up back in the parking lot having reached a new milestone on my bike. There was more than one reason to feel proud this week, but more on that later. Once again, adding more miles didn't translate to my legs feeling more fatigue which is a comforting sign as I know I'll need to pedal through almost 40 miles more on the bike course in Chattanooga. I was afraid that we would be rained out as the forecast all week had called for 60% chance of thunderstorms. The weathermen got this weekend completely wrong as the weather was cool in the morning, and full of sunshine and blue skies throughout the afternoon. I think that even if it were raining I would still have gone out and rode long as we are now less than 60 days away from race day and missing a long bike or run workout is simply not an option. It felt like an easy ride overall which showed as our pace was a little slower at 16.4 mph, but with a couple of quick stops for bathrooms and water refills the day passed quickly. We did have to dodge a new animal at one point: chickens. Yep, if there's one consistent element of riding from the Bud Plant it's that you will always see lots of animals. Only recently have they decided to become interactive with riders, which is fine with me as long as they don't become too curious as cause wrecks.

Fear Took A Backseat

I know that for most of you triathletes out there, the concept of getting into aero position on your bike was a quick, simple transition that was free of nervousness and fear. That just wasn't me. I've wanted to get down on my clip on aero bars for the past 2 months but every time I'm out riding and start to test the waters by slowly getting into that position, I'm instantly overwhelmed with fear of wrecking as it felt incredibly unstable as I shifted my weight from the handlebars onto just one of the aero bars. I kept trying each week to get into that position and never made it completely down onto the bars. Until now. I had a break through on my ride Saturday as we were around the 40 mile mark of our 75 mile ride. Fear took a backseat as I forced myself to get completely down on the bars on a straight stretch of road. It held a steady incline which made it easier for me to pedal slowly and get used to how it felt to be in this "new" position. The result: it felt great. I felt completely stable, it instantly became easier to pedal and I was able to keep up with my riding buddy much easier. Over the remaining 35 miles of the ride I spent a lot of time in the aero position and felt more confident each time I got into and out of my new riding position. By the end of the ride it felt like I'd been doing this for a long time and was almost second nature. I'm amazed at the difference it makes when riding and can't wait to take this new style onto Chattanooga's course.

Weekly Totals: Swim - 3,000m • Bike - 116.06mi • Run - 19.81mi