Monday, October 31, 2011

B2B race report and other musings

I finished the 2011 triathlon racing season with the Beach 2 Battleship half-iron triathlon on October 29th.  It was windy.  It was cold.  It was hard.

Of the fifteen half-ironman distance events I've done (just counted on athlinks.com, they are only missing pre-1999 events) , this was tied for hardest/ toughest conditions to deal with.  The other one that makes the grade is Gulf Coast in 2003, it was 100+ degrees and humid, which is also difficult.

A windy bike is not so much of a big deal if you have been putting in a lot of time and effort on the bike.  It is a different story when your bike fitness is not as deep, and you are hoping to leverage your years of experience to finesse and finagle a decent split and average bike speed.  I had a couple solid weeks in the 150-175 bike mile range, but most of them were closer to 100 and there were a couple in the 50 miles only.   That's what worked for me though.

The course is set up in such a way that our first 37 miles were all headwind or head-crosswind.  And the wind was blowing my friends, not like a cool breeze across your forehead but more like a rip the book from your arms and carry it down the street along with all sorts of other debris and tumbleweeds sort of breeze.  Like a f**^ you for not training enough to ride into this wind and not feel beat up afterwards, sort of wind.  Like a gonna take your time goals and pee on them with my misty wet rain and wind, wind.  You get the picture?  It was blowing hard, my friends.  Literally and figuratively.

So let me back up a second and talk about the weekend and the swim. We had a bunch of training buddies, friends and a few of our OSB athletes racing so it was a grand old time. We rented a house and stayed with a few of them.  Had a nice group dinner on Friday where we shared wisdom (yes, pee on the bike and pee in your wetsuit, just don't pee on my wetsuit).  Bri was a super trooper and put up with my crankiness for one final race since I am done for a while.  Just kidding, I never quit, just get slow and fat from time to time.  I am going to start calling Bri, Saint Bri, in homage to Hurricane Bob and his lady-saint wife. 

Race morning: Big breakfast!  3 eggs + cheese and toast.  Me likey big breakfast, need solid foods for long day.  Get stuff to bike, drop stuff at bike. Weather tolerable, 55 degrees but we can see and feel that the wind is howling and the air is misty.  Note to self, howling wind is hard to ride into. 

Go back to chill at house.  Put on swim stuff.  Walk to swim start.  Oil up.  Loosen up a few minutes while they get wave 1 ready (we are in wave 2).  Then line up and start!  YYARRGHH!

I swam the channel a couple of weeks ago with Without Limits Coach Kristen Smith, so had some good recon info in my head.  The current was ripping which was great, but it was foggy which made sighting really tough.  I managed to swim mostly the correct direction, and once we hit the big triangle turn buoy the fog was not as bad, making sighting easier.  I swam hard but was not killing it since we (the royal We since you are now part of my story) had the rest of the race to get through.

Our swim time was really good, and managed to be the only half-iron swimmer with a swim split under 20 minutes.  That sounds great until you take a look at the full racers and see several guys under 40 minutes. :)  I would like to tell you I have been working hard in the pool, but that is not true.  I have been swimming about 6,000 yards a week.  I am one of these people that generally swims faster than equally skilled pool swimmers in open water, and then another level faster than that in open salt water, for reasons that can only be attributed to stroke mechanics, sighting, and buoyancy issues.  Check out our open water clinics or Powerstroke technique clinics if you want to learn more about that. :P Swim time 19:53, fastest swim split.

The bike.  I spent a few minutes in T1 getting all my stuff on.  Then I fought the wind.  And fought.  And fought.  The wind was throwing punches, but I just punched back. Some of my punches were girly-man and ineffectual, but overall they got the job done.

I had passed all but two people from the first wave on the swim, and rode by a couple hundred of the full Iron racers.  Once we split off at mile 37, it was lonely ride time, but thankfully there was a solid tailwind on the way back.  One young guy (Patrick Farrell I think) zipped by me at mile fifty.  Other than riding through some hunting grounds around mile 40 (a bit surreal to see several guys in camouflage with shotguns on their shoulders), it was a lonely ride.  Bike time 2:34.10, 10th fastest split.

Onto the run.  Back was tight.  Slowly loosened up.  Ran well for the first half, gave a kiss to Saint Bri at mile 3.5.  Tried to enjoy the sights.  Two guys ran by me on the way to the turnaround.  6.5 mile split was 45:05, great pace for me.  The run has been my best training this year - got back under 19 minutes in the 5k and some solid tempo long runs.

Miles seven and eight were also fine.  Got to see many familiar faces running towards me.  Then we hit a long straightaway into the wind.  Pace slowed, back tightened up again, felt slightly nauseous from the discomfort.  Kept trucking.  Had miles nine, ten, eleven at 8 minute/mile pace.  Kept the turnover up but the stride was short.  Then we ran over the bridge (slowly) and had the wind at our back.  So that was nice.

There is a long bridge at about mile 12, I just survived that one.  In the final .2 miles we wound through the Battleship parking lot.  The tide was high and due to the rain, there was some flooding in the finishing area.  So after covering 70.2 miles, we had to run through two deep puddles, filling our shoes and warm socks with water.  We struggled to keep running fast, but our back locked up and we used our arms to muscle to the finish, hunched over and grimacing.  It was humbling and painful.  But we crossed the line and Saint Bri was there to greet us with a hug and a smile and a word of concern.  

"Are you ok???"

"Blauarghhh puddle grumble back bllaaah."

Run split 1:36.44, 30th fastest split. Overall 4:37.52, 13th overall, 2nd masters.

So, what next?  Little man is sure to change the racing and training landscape.  We have no specific racing goals for the next couple of years.  General plan is to keep up with a couple Masters swim meets, a few 5/10ks, and a handful of local triathlons next season.  I am really just going to stick with staying fit and healthy and have fun, while Saint Bri makes up for lost time on the racing circuit.  I will follow something like our hour-twenty training plan next year.

And have fun. Always have some fun.

The end.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Occupy Wall Street translated

“You may fool all the people some of the time, 
you can even fool some of the people all of the time, 
but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” 
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America

"We our the 99% percent."

We have witnessed 10 years of stagnant wages for the middle and lower economic classes while total compensation for executives and CEOs has continued to accelerate.  We have witnessed the continued and growing disparity in government employee compensation and private sector compensation. We are aware that the removal of barriers between investment banks and traditional banks allows and encourages moral hazard to consume our financial sector.  We are witness to the alliance between financial institutions and our federal government, at the cost of the ordinary taxpayer.  We cannot understand how millions of US citizens have lost their homes while Wall Street continues to pay out extraordinary bonuses, and no individuals have been sent to jail despite clear evidence of fraudulent practices at multiple levels and in multiple institutions.

"We want jobs!'

Somehow Washington DC, the center of our federal bureaucracy, has become the most properous city in the nation, while the rest of America goes up in flames.  Washington jobd don't create more jobs, they suck off the figurative teat of federally issued debt, which is born on the back of the rest of the country.  We have no new job creation for the last ten years but an additional seven million available workers.  The 'real' unemployment rate is closer to 16% then 9%. 

"Make peace, not war!"

We are ten years deep into two wars, which cost billions of dollars each day, not to mention the human cost in misery and suffering, and have little if anything to show for it.  We cannot afford to police the world and all its multiple transgressions.  Bring home the troops and let's focus on making us better rather than them worse.

"America, wake up!"

OK, he has me stumped.  Perhaps it is a rhetorical statement, since it does appear that the rabble are coming to grips with the existence of a system that favors the haves at the expense of the have-nots. Maybe he is trying to say that most of our federal politicians are charlatans and liars, making promises they can't keep.  Or maybe he inherited 100,000 shares of Starbucks and is happy to see that the stock has fully rebounded, and only wants to encourage other angry youths to keep on drinking the dark bean, man, because those dividends are all he ever plans to earn.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Next up: beach ride! Beer fest!

Tomorrow morning, friend and fellow tri-coach Alysia Lovgren and I are going to ride from Cary to Wilmington.  The route is just about 137 miles.  I have done this ride twice in the past, it is mostly flat and typically has a prevailing tailwind, although we're going to be going against the wind for the first part of tomorrow.  Alysia is preparing for Ironman Arizona, while I am just an overachiever looking to do a long ride prior to the B2B half.  No, I am not super prepared for the distance, but yes, I will complete in nonetheless.  :0)

We'll finish in downtown Wilmington, where Bri will meet us with running shoes for Alysia and clean clothes for me.  The rest of the weekend will be spent hanging out with the rest of our friends and either going to the Lighthouse Beer Festival, or the day spa on Saturday (guess which one I am going to), and then chilling at the beach on Sunday.  Hopefully there is some surf going on so I can get one last session in before winter settles in here in NC.

Training for B2B half has been going well and I feel good about the race.  I broke down and replaced by old cycling shoes, which were essentially falling apart.  I also bought some new lightweight trainers for the race.  These sort of purchases should scare you if you are a competitor of mine.  Evil laugh.

Last weekend I was forced to attend the Durham Beer Festival.  It took a lot of arm twisting.   Here are pictures:

 Trying to be artistic but I'm not so here is a picture of a random lady

 Still trying to be artistic but TOTAL FAIL

 The BeerFest Gang: Adam, Jimmy, Kelly, Alex
Also Known as the Sheetz Pig Out Gang after Beerfest

 Stay thirsty, my friends.

 Duff Man was in the house, beer cans not pictured.

 Cool random picture

 Who is more interesting than the most interesting man in the world?

We had a good time!

If you have just realized that I went to a Beerfest last weekend, and am going to another next weekend, you get a gold star!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

random survey #17 results

1. You visit this blog because:
 answered question17
 
skipped question
0
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
Regular reader but don't know you
11.8%2
Stumbled in randomly
5.9%1
Friend or family
76.5%13
Work for the government
5.9%1
We used to date 0.0%0
DownloadCreate Chart2. Regarding the housing crisis:
 answered question14
 
skipped question
3
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
We have been evicted / lost the house 0.0%0
I am a renter (aka a smart person)
28.6%4
We have lost home equity / are underwater but still making payments on time
57.1%8
We have missed job opportunities due to mortgage serfdom
14.3%2
I live at home with mom and dad 0.0%0
DownloadCreate Chart3. Has the Great Recession affected your family income?
 answered question17
 
skipped question
0
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
Yes, I/we are unemployed/underemployed
5.9%1
We are on foodstamps 0.0%0
No, our industry is rocking
11.8%2
About the same as before
64.7%11
Things have improved in our line of work - income is up
11.8%2
I am a student so does not apply
5.9%1
DownloadCreate Chart4. Regarding triathlon/endurance sports:
 answered question15
 
skipped question
2
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
I am debating hiring One Step Beyond for coaching services
20.0%3
I am going to hire One Step Beyond for coaching services
6.7%1
I have already hired One Step Beyond for coaching services
53.3%8
I work for another coaching service and hope to learn from you, great master
6.7%1
I don't want a coach because I'm a bad listener with poor attitude
13.3%2
DownloadCreate Chart5. In 2012 I expect the economy will:
 answered question17
 
skipped question
0
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
Get better in the US with less unemployment & higher income 0.0%0
Continue to stagnate with low wage growth and slow job growth
41.2%7
China will unload their bonds, driving up US interest rates
5.9%1
Europe debt crisis will come to fruition, driving down global markets and inducing more contraction
17.6%3
I can't balance my checkbook, what do I care about the macroeconomic environment, dude.
5.9%1
Other (please specify)
Show Responses
29.4%5
DownloadCreate Chart6. In 2012 my goal race is a
 answered question17
 
skipped question
0
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
sprint triathlon
5.9%1
olympic distance triathlon
17.6%3
half-IM (70.3) triathlon
23.5%4
full-IM (Ironman) triathlon
23.5%4
Marathon
5.9%1
Half-marathon
5.9%1
Shorter swim or run event
17.6%3
DownloadCreate Chart7. You, the reader, are a (pick the best one)
 answered question17
 
skipped question
0
 Response
Percent
Response
Count
Triathlon industry rep 0.0%0
Triathlon racer
70.6%12
Friend of family of a triathlete
11.8%2
Random non-triathlete 0.0%0
Deranged stranger
17.6%3
Macro-economist 0.0%0
Government Zombie-worker 0.0%0

Comments?
moving where the dough is
10/4/2011 7:07 AMView Responses
Tacos!
10/3/2011 10:59 PMView Responses
If Congress passes the $#&@! jobs bill, then the overall outlook will improve. I will also be ready to laugh at any presidential candidate's (not the incumbent) response to a question about the Europe debt crisis.
10/3/2011 10:00 PMView Responses
zombies will take over
10/3/2011 9:44 PMView Responses
keep me reading websites like E! news and BRIgaal.com so i can avoid hearing about it.
10/3/2011 3:49 PMView Responses