Shermbelle's Group Full to the brim (Page 18)

Better throw another challenge out there for us. This week will be a "push yourself" week again. It has been a few weeks since we did this so everyone try to give a little more again this week, Not wanting any injuries but good safe training but give it a little more in one or more areas this week. I am (weather permitting) going to shoot for  a 4 hr ride this week and also try to get in the 13-15 hr of training range.

I am having a really good week on the workout front so far. Had a great swim on Tuesday and yesterday got out for 3:30 on the bike and rode a very hilly route.

I got a COLD OWS in on Thrusday. The hardest part was just putting my face in the cold water (about 62). The wet suit worked fine. I warmed up quickly once I was moving.

I will get more OWS in the next 2 weeks prior to NO 70.3.

I met up with Chris, Steve and Sam out on the trace at lunch. They were doing 12 x 1/4 mile repeats in 1:20 - 1:23 second range with 90 seconds recovery. I got there just a little late and ran the first interval only half way with them. The pace seemed pretty easy - at about 1:30 and only for half way.

The easy never lasts! I was, I guess, comfortable for the first 6 or so repeats. I was able to recover quickly and have some conversation with the guys - chew the fat if you will. Towards the end of the intervals it was taking longer and longer to recover. Sam and Steve were pulling away. Some of the intervals they ran were as low as 1:16 (that is a 5:04 pace!). I was still clocking in at 1:22 - 1:23. It was hard to watch them pull away but I just did not have it in me - but I'm working on it. Them finishing a little ahead also cut into my recovery by a few seconds. A very good workout. My times for the quarter mile repeats were:

01. 1:23
02. 1:20
03. 1:22
04. 1:19
05. 1:21
06. 1:21
07. 1:23
08. 1:22
09. 1:26
10. 1:24
11. 1:21

Back at the gym I did a little strength training - bench press and dips. It is tough getting back into the swing of the lifting. My body was sore and tired all last night. A good sore.

I got a good 1500 yard straight set in swimming at lunch today.

Training suffering but work going well. Drama with daughter right now and no focus for me.

Tammy what are the distances of your races? What is your weakest area? I would focus on that. Remember to finish is to win. You will be doing more on race day for your health than a lot of people are. Be proud of that and move on and train better for the next race?

Friday night it rained cats and dogs all last night. Thunder and lightening. The rains stopped around 6 AM. It was hard to get out of bed but I decided to head out to the race site. We do not get many races that are actually in town. I got to the race site at about 7:15 - there were not many people there but I knew several including the race director. The race was scheduled to start at 9 AM.

Sam, Chris and Steve all showed up shortly. I registered and was the first to set up in transition. I got the best place. The race would be a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and another 2 mile run. I was strategizing with Steve on how hard to go out. Sam had said pretty much to go all out. Steve and I were debating how hard to do the first run so that we did not blow up on the bike. The race got started about 30 minutes late. I did not have a lot of nervous tension like I can sometimes have - I think the tension is mainly anticipating the swim. The air was thick at the start of the race but the rain was gone. There were mud puddles all along the run course.

I did not even try to stay with the front runners - I know better. The leader of the race was Jacob (twenty something fast guy) who just won the Sunfish Duathlon last weekend. He had a big X on his back for Sam to chase - Sam would be on his road bike with aero bars (his Scott Plasma developed a crack and was sent back to the factory). Steve - the guy that I paced off of in my last 5k - the guy that pulled away by about 30 seconds was 20 feet ahead of me. I was watching my heart rate monitor. I did not want to red line during this first run and fade on the bike. I stayed in my HARD EFFORT zone and let the front runners pull just a little ahead of me. I entered the transition area after the 2 mile run at 11:53. Having the best transition spot meant that I could continue to run through the transition and not have to run with my bike much. My transition was okay - a run through the transition, a shoe change, helmet on and run up a short hill with the bike - total 1:02. The bike course was very wet and there were a few sharp turns leaving the subdivision. I got up to speed pretty quick and was pushing hard. Once we got out on the highway it was all up hill. Not steep just hard up hill! I was grinding away and just thinking to my self that at least it is an out and back so I get to ride down the hill. Chris passed me going up the hill and then I passed Steve on the same hill - yes this was a long hill. I was stuck in no man's land. The leaders had pulled away from me and I had pulled away from Steve. Thoughts of missing turns entered my mind. It was a straight out and back on the highway - no chance of missing turns but I thought about it. At one point I had to drop to my lower front crank. I have not had to do this in a while. A little demoralizing but you do what you have to do.

I hit the turn around and I was hurting but feeling good. The down hills came up quickly and I was flying. The chip and seal roads did not help. I do not carry a cyclometer on my race bike but people after the race said that they hit 40 MPH - that seems a little high, but... I continued on to the transition, the roads were much better in the subdivision. I hit the bike dismount line with a bike time of 29:50 - about a 20 MPH average.

My next transision was 52 seconds and I was back on the same 2 mile out and back. I was feeling tired but running pretty good. I just kept my heart rate in my LT zone and cruised. There was one runner about 50 feet in front of me and a guy named James about 20 feet behind. James is in my age group. I just needed to keep him off of me. I just trucked this run out. The run was the same as the first but you ran through transition to the finish line - so maybe another 150 feet. This run time was 13:29 - about a minute slower than the first run.

My total time was 57:07. Sam ended up winning the race and the Jack 'N the Box trophy. I'm not sure but I think I finished around 8th. I was pretty sure that with Sam winning I would be first in my age group but I only placed second. I forgot about Robin - another fast guy in my age group. I'm probably a little faster than Robin on the bike but his run blows me away.

All in all a good first Duathlon.

I got a 40+ bike ride in yesterday and a good swim at lunch today - I'm in taper mode for this weekends New Orleans 70.3!

James good race. Good luck this weekend. I'm hoping to get out of the office by 3 and get a ride in.

Jill, good job on the run. 3 miles is nothing to sneeze at! Sorry to hear about the headaches at work, I can definitely relate to that. Drama always seems to turn up at the worst timing. Hang in there!!

New Orleans 70.3 - T-minus 2 days - full taper mode!

James good luck at the 70.3 race. Like Irwin said, you've trained now it's time to reap the benefits. Know we are thinking about you.

New Orleans 70.3 - SWIM

I woke up at about 4:30AM and started to get ready. There was nervous tension in the air. Checked out of the hotel and drove to the transition site to set up. The roads were already closed and not knowing the area well we kind of meandered around in the dark.

I finally found the long line of cars entering parking lots of the UNO (University of New Orleans) and parked in the residence parking lot. It was probably a half mile from transition. Started walking with my transition pack and then remembered that my wetsuit was in the car.

Walking into transition I literally bumped into someone doing body markings - short and sweet. I got into transition at 6:15AM (it would close at 6:45AM and my swim start was at 7:20AM). The swim start was about a mile and a half away (the walk is further than the swim). They had buses to take you most of the way there but the line for the buses were enormous. The time was 6:35AM and I did not feel that I could wait for the bus - there were lots of people walking. I had not planned for this and I would have to walk bare footed.

The rough asphalt was tearing up my feet so I tried to walk in the grass. Jodie offered me her shoes but I declined. Lots of nerves during the walk. I got to the swim start and got my timing chip. I was putting on my wetsuit as the pros took off at 7:00AM. I lined up in the corral ready to go with about 5 minutes to spare.

My age group (3rd wave of my age group) was called into the water. I waded out and filled my wetsuit with water. I positioned myself towards the back and waited for the horn. The water was shallow and I passed a lot of people by just continuing to walk for maybe 15 yards before swimming. I started swimming and I tried to control my breathing and concentrate on long gliding strokes. It was working. I was feeling good. I'm not sure what happened first - I either started to catch some of the people in front of me or people started to catch me - but I was in the middle of a lot of churn. I got kicked and hit in the face. I tried to regain my composure and keep swimming. I would take a few strokes and then get jostled. I would instinctively look up and by stopping I would be swam over.

My breathing was out of control at this point. I was trying to settle down back into a rhythm and was dying. I looked behind me and saw the second half of my wave converging on me. I had to settle down and get out of the way. I thought about quiting right then and there - it was that rough. I was only 2 buoys into the swim - out of 16. I swam over to one of the kayaks and ask the swim rescue guy that if I grab onto the hull of the craft if I would be disqualified. He said no. I'm not sure what I would have done if he had said that I would be done. Anyway I grabbed the hull of the kayak and caught my breath. He asked me if I was cold and I said that my heart rate was 175 and that I just needed a second to let it drop. After about 30 seconds the guy said that he was not sure how to get me to shore. I said that I did not want to go to shore and just need a couple for seconds. I probably held on for about 2 minutes (but time is kind of funny in those situations). I was better after that. I swam more towards the shoreline where is was less congested. I was still not in a good rhythm. I stopped again on a shoreline point before half way. I could touch the bottom and cleared my goggles.

I continued on with the swim. It was taking forever. Swimming along the shore every time I would stop and sight there was this lady yelling at me - she would say, not in an encouraging way, but rather demanding 'YOU'RE ALMOST THERE - DON'T STOP NOW'. That drill Sargent lady helped.

The rest of the swim was uneventful. Hard but uneventful. I pulled my wetsuit down half way and ran out of the water. There were strippers (I know it's New Orleans but not those kind of strippers) about 50 feet out of the water and I dropped down like a turtle. Short and sweet and I thanked the lady.

The run out of the swim was about a 100 yards up a small hill that was either grassy or carpeted. I ran across the timing mat in 40:20. I was glad to be out of the water.

New Orleans 70.3 - BIKE

Okay - I made it out of the swim. Some of my swim demons surfaced but I battled it out and crossed the timing mat at 40:20. I shut the door on the swim and ran through transition - the swim never entered my mind for the rest of the race.

My bike was in the first quarter of the transition area - bike closest to the bike start / finish. With wetsuit in hand I ran through transition. My feet were a little tender on the asphalt but I really did not notice them. It was a long run to the bike.

Helmet on - sunglasses on - really thin socks on - cycling shoes on. I clip-clopped to the mount line and clipped in (I'm not a flying mount / dismount guy yet). 3:05 in transition. It took me two tries. I had taped about 8 gels to the top tube of my bike and I took one at this point. I ate one every 30 minutes on the bike.

There were lots of bikes in front of me as we started out and I felt like going faster than them. I got up to speed quickly and my heart rate was still higher than I wanted. I tried to keep it low but was not very successful - it was about 162 and I wanted to keep it in the high 150's.

Out along the levee the wind was mild - there was wind but it was manageable. The route had completely closed road and lots of police support. About 20 to 30 minutes into the bike we came upon the first of the bridges. Some were overpasses and one was a draw bridge. I am not a strong climber - I'm and spinner not a masher. So I dropped down into my low crank for the draw bridge. I was not going to try and power up this steep bridge. I shifted a little too soon and lost some momentum but stayed seated and just kept spinning. Down the backside I was flying. I have no idea of the speeds but I was spinning out in my largest gear. Doing the gear math that would put it close to 40 MPH.

The first bottle exchange came up quick. I dumped the contents of my water bottle into my profile aero bottle and grabbed a fresh one. No drama.

The bike continued out into some swampy land along Chef Menteur Highway. It was windy at this point - the wind was blowing from the south west. A tandem bike was flying through the field. I believe that it was physically challenged athlete that was blind. That tandom was making some time!

I looked at my watch and I was an hour into the bike when I crossed the leaders heading back. Not sure who was in the lead but someone near me yelled go Macca. The soft tissue was starting to get a little irritated at this point. The cardio felt fine - the legs felt fine. We turned around on Chef Menteur Highway at about 30k's.

Turning around you could feel the wind. It was tough. I was making pretty good time but knew the wind would be a problem. After just a few miles we made a right turn North onto Highway 11. This took us out way into swamp land out onto a peninsula. There were boats and trailers decent crowd support. When we turned around on Highway 11 the wind took hold. There was another bottle drop at this point. I took a bottle and also managed 2 gels - better safe than sorry.

The wind was in your face and fierce. I am thankful that there was no dust or debris flying about. This stretch into the wall of wind was a little demoralizing. I was wanting to get off the bike. My heart rate had dropped and I was having to remind myself to keep up a good pace. There is definitely a mental aspect to these longer races - I need to work on this.

I turned back onto Chef Menteur Highway and the wind did not let up but I knew I was on my way back. I churned away on the bike and then I turned back North again on Paris Road. There was some relief from the wind and in the home stretch. I think I was passing the 2 hour mark on the bike. I was doing the math in my head and was still thinking that if I could jump off the bike and have a near perfect run than I would be close to my fantasy goal time.

Back along the levee and back up the draw bridge. I again shifted into my lowest gears and spun up the bridges. It was slow and steady but I was passing people. They suffered the wind also.

Lots of people were lined up along the street going back into transition. I was so ready to get off of the bike. My legs were tired but felt fine. My soft tissue areas were cooked. My skin was dry and caked with grim - grim from the lake and grim from me. I stopped and unclipped at the bike dismount line and looked at my watch - 2:42:48 - 20.64 MPH. I was pleased but the effort seemed like it was worth a little more.

I will post the RUN tomorrow -

New Orleans 70.3 - RUN

I jumped off of the bike and ran through transition. It went fine. I put on my bright blue, super light weight cushioned training shoes. I ran in a duathlon in these shoes last weekend and they felt great - super fast. The duathlon was a 2 / 10 /2 so I figured that the running was about a third of a half marathon.

My feet started to hurt jogging in transition. This would be a log run. I ran out of transition and down a grass hill and then onto the concrete. My heart rate was low - a low steady conversational pace - lungs felt fine. My legs were fatigued but they felt good. I knew that at this pace, not even having to pick it up and 'race' the run I could sustain 8 minute miles (or at least low 8 minute miles).

Not even a half mile into this half marathon my feet were killing me. I am a fore-foot / mid-foot runner and the balls of my feet were aching. I saw a guy sitting on the curb and getting something out of his shoe. I thought about it - it seemed like a good idea. Maybe there was a steel plate or something in the my right shoe. I stopped, sat down and took my shoe off. Nothing was in there. I rubbed my foot for a second and adjusted the quick ties. I hopped up and started running again. I was staying with a group of runners and just trying to make time. The first mile marker came up and I was running a near 9 minute mile. These first couple of miles were tough. I slowed to a shuffle at the first water station. I took a gel and drank two cups of water. Right around the 2 mile mark or so we had to run up a short bridge - I walked it - the feet were hurting.

At this point I knew I was going to be out there a while. I was getting passed occasionally and I passed a few (the sick and the hurt). There were a few racers really having trouble with the heat and cramps and the usual. They were keeping on and I was glad that I was not suffering to the extent that they were. I kept my spirits up by hamming it up with the crowds. There were 3 ladies with feather boas cheering on and I spun them up. I was high-fiving any kids on the course. Not your usual high-five but really giving it to them - I was having fun but really hurting between the lines.

I saw a bag-piper in City Park and yelled for them to crank it up! At this point my feet were hurting that I was running in the grass at all opportunities. Out on Elysian Fields there were some ladies cheering up some ripped guy in front of me - saying 'Now there is a real man'. When I passed I told them that they were looking at another real man. I'm not shy - I got my crowd support to say the least.

I was walking all the aid stations. I was eating gels and taking water. It was really just my feet that were saying stop. Elysian Fields felt forever. The mile markers slowly passed by. After about mile 7 I was walking 15 seconds at every mile marker and walking the aid stations.




I was doing the math in my head for my finishing time. Sub 5 hour (super fantasy - not going to happen time) was out the window at the start of the run. Sub 5:15 soon fell out of favor. Sub 5:30 was still possible.




The time between mile marker 11 and mile marker 12 was an eternity. I can not believe how long this mile took. I told myself I was not going to walk any more after mile 11. I ended up taking a couple of quick 15 - 30 second walk breaks. I could not help it. These were the hardest 9 - 10 mimute miles ever.




I saw the runners ahead of me turning right off of Elysian Fields and I knew that was the last push to Jackson Square and the finish. I turned the corner - there would be no stopping now - and the road looked long. My watch read about 5:26 or something close. Just a little further. Someone yelled and said only 800 meters to go - damn, half a mile! There was a lot of celebration right in front of me. Someone was pumping the crowds up - that was not me I was in tunnel vision mode and pushing through to finish this up. I passed the guy celebrating and ran ahead. I saw Jodie at the finish line and gave a fist pump. I crossed the tape at 5:30:21 - and I was very humbled by the race.

SWIM: 40:20(2:07/100m) T1: 3:05 BIKE: 2:42:48(20.64MPH) T2: 2:19 RUN: 2:01:49(9:17/mile)

169 / 101 / 85 - I think that is: swim / bike / run ranking. Age group was 89 / 329.

Well after the race I saw the bottom of my feet - they were all cut up! Next post will be after the race and lessons learned.


Edited by microspawn 2009-04-09 8:08 AM

Crossing the finish line was a relief - not so much of a celebration. Not finishing was never a thought in my mind. I could have gone a little faster, etc. etc. etc...

Lessons learned from this race.


PRE-RACE: I did not really anticipate just how many people were going to be at the start of this race. I should have arrived at transition a little bit earlier. Although the walk to the swim start was only about a mile and a half I really think walking bare foot started me off on the wrong foot (so to speak). Also, the shoes for the run were just plan silly. By selecting 'light and fast' shoes to save a few seconds per mile it cost me tens and twenties of seconds per mile. For these longer races I have to go with a cushioned trainer. I already knew this but was blinded by some artificial time goals - that was a mistake.
SWIM: My swim wave was larger than some of the local triathlons that I have been in - I got very disoriented and claustrophobic being in the middle of the churn. I never thought that I was going to die or drown or anything like that - but my breathing was out of control and I was struggling. Looking at my heart rate for the entire race - it was the highest during the swim - for all of the swim. I know that this no only cost me minutes on the swim but minutes on the bike and minutes on the run. I need to continue to be more confident in the water - not just with swimming but in positioning myself with other racers. This will be one of the toughest to improve on - a few days after the race (or really just a few seconds out of the swim) it is hard to imagine getting that messed up just swimming. I did hear of several racers climbing out of the water in disgust and throwing there goggles off. Knowing what I was feeling that could have been me. I am going to try and do as many races this year to help build that 'swim race' experience.
BIKE: I did pretty good on the bike. I was walking a tight line on keeping the pace up and saving energy for the run. At this point it is hard to tell if I pushed too hard or not hard enough - my run was off and was going to be off regardless. On the back half of the bike - into the wind - my effort dropped. I will work on the mental toughness required to keep the pace up! I have done a lot of bricks this season but none at race pace - In need to throw in a lot of race pace bricks.
RUN: I never got into a groove on the run. My feet were sore before I even left transition. However, even if I was feeling great (and my lungs and legs felt pretty good - but not great) I am still not sure if I would have been able to find that extra gear. When I ran that half marathon in the fall my heart rate was up near LT. This run was low zone 2. I'm just not sure if I could have picked it up and raced the run. I just ran it. Once again I need to have some race paced bricks and work on the mental toughness to deliver in these conditions.
ENJOY THE RACE: I do a pretty good job of this but why not push through the pain, run a fast race and enjoy it the entire time. After all, I am doing this because they are fun. I need to live it up more - my pay check does not depend on my race results - it is okay to have fun.
Things that I did right.

I tested my boundaries successfully. No injuries. I enjoyed the experience. At the time I was not sure if I wanted to continue this long distance racing after this year. A day or two out and I can't wait to test myself again.
Swam in a wetsuit with out problem. Sure I had problems in the swim but it was not because of the wetsuit - if anything the wetsuit gave me confidence. I would probably be more scratched up if I did not have the suit on.
Nutrition or hydration never caused me any problems. I took a gel just about every half hour once I was out of the swim. I taped them to the top tube of my bike and that worked great. I took them prior to the water stations on the run and that worked great. In training I took them every 45 minutes but I think 30 minute is just about right. I drank lots of water during the bike and run. I never had to pee but I also never really felt thirsty. The April heat was not a problem - of course I did not fly into town from some snow covered part of the country. I was also done with the race by 1PM - before the real heat of the day.
Transitions went well. When I saw the size of the transition area I thought that there would be no way to do this fast. I thought 4 minutes a piece would be tough. Well, my bike placement was exceptional and that allowed for me to have both transitions combined come out to less than 6 minutes. I still need to learn to do the flying mount / dismount.
Recovery was much better after this race than even the half marathon that I did in the fall. This race was a much longer duration (4 hours longer) but the intensity was a lot less. Also, I only had one beer at the race finish. I am sure that the beer negatively affects my recovery.
All things considered I learned a lot from this first 1/2 Ironman and I am confident that I can improve on my racing. I'm still excited!

Kristin over at The Lazy Marathoner told me that she over heard a spectator ask the runners what they got for finishing. One of the racers immediately yelled back "SATISFACTION"! Well said.