I'm back, kinda

Last Sunday I raced the Eastside Kona sprint in Baytown TX. This is the first sprint I have done in 3 years. I choose to do this one because it had a open water swim and all the distances were a little longer then normal. This would also be a great opportunity for me to shack the dust of and see where I need to tighten up. So I and 4 other Sugar Cycles teammates rolled out to the race at 5:20am.

We arrived and went through the normal sign-in, number marking, transition set-up and wait for your heat to start. It is just like fly on a plane; you hurry up and get there early and prep for the event then just sit there till it is your turn to board. Being the last heat, it did come quicker then I thought. So the 35 racers enter the lake at the sound of the gun and began the swim. I started toward the back of the group allowing everyone to spread out. The first problem I found out was I have a lot of trouble breathing out of my right side, and the buoys where on the right side for sighting. So every so many yards I would look to the right and see I was slightly off course. So I would correct my direction and repeat this for the entire swim. And with ¾ of the swim done someone decides to hit me in the face knocking my goggles off. I had brought myself right behind the leading swimmers. But with having to reinstall my goggles and re “center” myself I dropped some spots. I came out of the swim 17th, just about in the middle. I thought it wasn’t to bad for my first open water tri and first tri back in 3 years. On to the bike, YES!





I leave T1 in 8-place with a time of one minute flat, making up 9 spots. I decide to run out of transition with my cycling shoes on instead of clipped into the pedals. I haven’t really practiced this in a LONG time and now’s not the time to start. I settle into the bike and drink a little to get some energy back in me. It is a 17 mile bike with half of it straight into mild to strong headwind. I just start putting targets on peoples back and gobble the up. On the way out into the head wind I ranged from 19.5mph to 21mph, with not one person passing me. When other where recovering or taking it easy on two of the overpasses, I would use this chance to attack. I reached the reached the turn around and was loving the tailwinds. My speed quickly jumped to 30mph and I maxed out my gears, 53 x 11 baby! I continued to pass a lot of other riders, even stronger riders with fast equipment then myself. I started to think this pace was to fast, but I keep looking at my power numbers and was well under my VO2 for that distance. I quickly came to the transition and ready for the run, CRAP!

I get off the bike in 5th place, and roll through transition in 50 sec. I am feeling really good about this tri after placing 2nd on the bike, just .5mph slower then 1st place. But the run is my weakest discipline out of the three. And it very quickly starts to show, with an 8 minute mile. I make one of the biggest mistakes as well. I am running in brand new shoes with no socks. I know, don’t say it, I pay for it. With in one mile I have HUGE blisters on both of my arches and my run slows to a 10min pace. That is terrible for a 4 mile sprint. I never stop running and suffer the entire time. I end up placing 20th in the run and drop from 5th overall to 17th because of the run.

Over all it was a great event and I learned a lot about what I need to tighten up for. The rest of the Sugar Cycles Factory Team placed 2nd or won their age group or the over all event. And I went home with two very painful blisters. Next up I am doing another sprint in Sugar Land TX. I will be doing the open water swim in the relay.

Finding my Drive

After four solid weeks of training, things are starting to come together and flow very well. The only road bumps I have been struggling with, is the RUN. The track workouts are hard but I complete them to the fullest and feel great afterward. It has been the long steady runs that are really tearing me down. No matter if it is a 1 or 2.5 hour run, they all seem to set me back a bit. How am I going to keep this up?

I used to run track in high school, back in the 90’s, but only short sprints. I also played competitive tennis in high school as well. Both sports with a lot of running involved, I would run several miles a day, but pieced together with all small sprints. But nothing with any real distance behind it. Since I have been married, coming up on ten years, and decided to stick with cycling as my sport of choose. Running has not even been apart of my life in any way shape or form. I would always joke that the only thing that would get me running are the cops. And since I am a model citizen, I have never had to pick the pace up.

The next thing I have going for me is EXTREMLY flat feet and a curved lower spine. Both make my but tics and hamstrings very tight. I have to stretch several times a day to maintain my flexibility in those reigns. I really work on my core and lower back strength, but anyone will tell you that it is the last workout you want to do on a regular basis. These two things bring a lot of pain to my joints when pounding out the miles, all the way from the ankles, knees to the hips. So this involves me taking many preventive measures, from KT tape, custom insoles to buying several pairs of Super Feet.

So, tired of running and suffering by myself, I asked someone to join me. Kelly at work is the Sugar Cycles tri team captain and a ex marine (or once a marine always a marine, I don’t know). Kelly and I made plans to run in the morning before the park got to humid and crowded. I guess we have to wake up a lot earlier then 8am on Sunday to beat both of those. We planned to run an easy 1 hour at heart rate 1 to 2. Right off the bat my joints started killing me, I pushed through it on the first mile and it started to get a little better. My cardio the entire run was great, cycling has really built my lungs up.

When we completed 1 loop which is 3 miles I was ready to quite. But my plan back fired on me inviting someone, Kelly made me keep going. The entire time she would talk to me, coaching me on my stride. She told me things that helped her to focus on getting the workout done, songs to sing to yourself to help your pacing. Kelly runs with a Garmin 310XT forerunner, which helped out in a large way. It gave me goals and the info I needed to keep the pace where I need to be. I have already order one for myself and can’t wait to start tracking my data. Kelly was a huge help that Sunday and while I wanted to kill her during the run, after I got home and showered. I was the happiest I had been with any of my runs to date.

I really need to find what drives me on the run. Setting attainable goals, singing that song (in my head of course), tracking data and improving on it. This is nothing new to me, I think I have been wrapped up in cycling for so long and I have shut every thing else out. That I am really starting from square one with swimming and running. I have the fitness, now it is just dialing in that technique on both of them. And with friends like Kelly it should start getting a lot closer to happening.

What I saw on my run to through Houston, TX

Freshly cut grass / sidewalks / busy intersection with 3 Starbucks across from each other / circuit board to something / beer cans, a lot of beer cans, and all Light beer too / dead bird / bayou / dog park / yap-per dog that does not like me / skate park / dirt trail, my knees love you / my feet not dragging the ground any more / people in cars pointing at me like I have a third arm growing out of my forehead as they drive by at 50+mph / cyclist I know but wouldn’t wave back at me because I’m not in my spandex, helmet and bug glasses / urban wimpy kids that look like they want to rob me, which right now they probably could, but they think I can run faster then this / downtown skyscrapers / Minute Maid Ballpark / turnaround point / shinny floating spots / more guys who look like they want to rub me / a rolled up sidewalk, its there / cool old homes that I wish I owned and had unlimited funds to restore them / a block of sports bars all having crawfish boils / floating hamburgers / Sunday brunch crowd leaving the restaurants / my apartments off in the distance / other runners who look down their noise at me / my feet starting to drag again / my block / OOOOOOOOOO, THANK YOU ITS OVER!!!!

The Bike 2.0

Here it is, the Specialized S-Work Transition. And like I said before, it has remained fairly OEM with a couple of "upgrades". The biggest change would be the Rotor Agilis crankset. I have really liked using these cranks, being stiff and light weight. I have put a lot of miles on this set when they were on my road bike. Matched with the Rotor rings, which help get rid of my dead spot in my pedal stroke. The rings can be added to almost all cranksets and are adjustable up to 5 positions. Depending on your bike fit and focus of ridding.

Added to the crankset is my powermeter. I couldn't imagine ridding a TT bike without power numbers sitting in front of my face. I choose the Quarq power meter for the price and easy interface with my headunit, the Garmin Edge 500. Quarg allows you to change your own battery as well, which is big for me. Triathletes put long miles on their equipment and for me to get to Kona and have something fail. Then I would be without power, and if I had to send the cranks back to the home office to have the batteries changed out. That normally takes 2 weeks to complete. I have really tired to balance speed with reliability in my equipment chooses for the Ironman.

For training and short races I am rolling on the Roval carbon star clincher wheels. These Rovals' are some of the most aero wheel out there today. They provide a smooth ride due to the carbon hoop and cut through the head and cross winds with ease. This is because of the star hub, which allows the spokes to track straight down to the hub flange. When up to speed these wheels just feel like there is nothing there. I haven't decided on race wheels yet. Will post as soon as I have made my choose.