We basically went over race goals, both time and placement and he thought the idea of me concentrating on shorter distance races was a good idea. In my coaching package, I get to train in thier cycling training center which consists of being set up on a trainer  to do various types of 1 hour intense workouts. During these workouts, I’ll have my power wattage, heart rate, speed, cadence, etc all measured for every workout. I will do this twice a week with other people next to me which I hope will involve some racing!

The road to Kona probably looks something like this

He also thinks I should race some of the local time trials in Philadelphia on the weekends. This would be a new experience for me as I’ve never raced in that format before. I will get my workouts either daily or weekly. I forgot. Either way, he knows where I want to go, how ambitious I am, but he doesn’t want me to aim too high this year, but to just “improve.”

We spoke about what races I planned to do for 2010. Besides the Death Valley Marathon in February, and the Philly Triathlon in late June, I haven’t signed up for anything. I would like to do a Olympic triathlon per month, and maybe do three half-irons over the course of the year. I WOULD HAVE liked to culminate my season by doing 70.3 Miami but I found out last night it’s already sold out 10 months prior to the race! My family has never seen me race, and since they live in West Palm Beach, I’ll try to look for other races in the area. My main thing is limiting how much I want to pay for expensive races this year. Ironman UK was insanely expensive with flights, hotels, rent-a-car, and so forth. I would like to do a official 70.3 this year, but it’s not that imperative to me.

When it came to higher intensity workouts, the polar  foot-pod just wasn’t accurate. The main problem with Polar’s inertia based technology is  it calibrates based on  pace which you originally calibrate it. In other words, I walked around the track 4 times to calibrate it, but when I run with it, the accuracy is off because the stride difference between each step is so much larger (see River Run Race report). Add the fact that my heart rate strap stopped working, I just felt it was time for a change. Now, I don’t want to trash the company (not like my opinion matters anyway); the 625x lasted me 4 years without a problem. But being that I’m OCD on accuracy of distance and time, I felt the GPS unit was best. But which unit?

Polar 625x - Thanks for the memories

I had been researching the Garmin 305 forerunner for some time; listening to advice on various websites. I wasn’t sure if I’d go with the 310x or the 305 at first. The 310x is a machine in and of itself. You can even swim with it and track distances — while in the water (which is pretty darn cool). But do I really need all that? Triathletes in general are over compulsive in their gizmos and their data collection, but I’ve gotten to the point where I know what I want and what I need (see previous post on that too).

The main issue between the 310x and 305 was the battery life, and price. The 310x has a battery life of 20 hours or so. The 305 has a battery life of 10 hours. That’s not even enough to get you through an Ironman! At least not now yet. The 310x went for $369 while the 305 went for $150. Additionally, considering I will only be doing nothing longer than half IM this year, I felt that when I do get back to IM distance, I’ll have a Power Tap by that time; so I decided on the 305.  When I go get back to full IM racing, the strategy will be:  no watch on the swim, Power tap computer on the bike, and use the Garmin on the run. While I’d like to have an over all clock, I’m not really that worried about it.

Garmin 305 Forerunner - I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship

Yes, with the Polar, I never had to worry about battery life, but I think the trade off for proper distance recording, pacing, etc., is well worth it.

That’s a good question. What is “good”? Is finishing with a time of 2 hours 41 minutes good? Well considering the last Olympic distance race time was 2:57; then yes, that’s really good. Is having a PR (personal best) 10k run by over 6 minutes good? I think most people would say so.

However, is finishing 100 out of 186 good. Probably not. However, the race was good for me for other reasons.

*****

Swimming in the Schuylkill is an experience in itself. At the starting line, everyone self-seated themselves but the current was so strong we were all on top of each other before the starting gun went off. I think volunteering the day before really gave me insight on the swim course. Right before you exit the water, there is a swim turnaround in which you have to swim upstream for maybe 100 meters.  During the sprint race in which I volunteered, I noticed you had to angle yourself past the exit in order to arrive at the exit without swimming the extra distance…or not to swim into the bank of the river. In the sprint race, there were many weak swimmers who were getting pulled away from the swim exit or they had to get pulled into the swim exit by an escort kayak.

Philadelphia Insurance Medal

Transition 1 has been getting lately. I used extra amounts of body glide to get the suit off which I think helped. My suit didn’t get caught on my ankles as usual, I had my shoes already strapped in my pedals and I was off pretty fast. I even had my first successful running and mounting bike start.

The bike course was a 2-loop course that is pretty flat with rolling hills. I hadn’t really ridden that intense for that duration since my training has mostly been longer distance. But I looked at it as interval training and thoughts of saving something for the run was pretty much non-existent. I concentrated on keeping a high cadence but with the intention on going harder the second time loop. The first lap felt great, but the second lap became pretty congested as the later swim waves began to exit the water. Many times, I and others had to yell “LEFT!!!” in order just to move forward. I even heard reports that there were a few crashes and pile ups. I think organizers did their best with making it safe, but when these distances there are many novices and charity riders. That being the case, there is always going to be a safety issue

Transition 2 was pretty fast as the day before I practiced mounting and dismounting and my new triathlon specific Zoot shoes were easy to slip into. I was in and out in 2 minutes.

As I mentioned before, the last time I did an Olympic race, I ran the 10k in 57 or so minutes. I don’t remember as it was in Japan years ago. I didn’t have my running pace attachment so I couldn’t tell how fast I was going, but I timed the first mile marker which had me at around 8:10 min. I ran the 6.1 miles pretty hard for me anyway but smaller, quicker runners still passed me anyway. One of these days, I’ll be come a fast runner I swear. The run course was pancake flat. Over all I ran a 52.46. One thing that annoyed me on the run course was the jerk of an athlete that yelled at a volunteer because they didn’t have a GU gel at that station. He wasn’t a professional, just an average guy just like you and me. I really think there should be penalty for jerks.

****

So the question remains: Is 2:41 good? People have asked me this week if I was happy with my performance. I still don’t have an answer. I’m not disappointed that’s for sure. Thinking back on it now, here’s what I got out of it:

1. I got out of my comfort zone. I prefer the long distance paced stuff, rather than the quick stuff. I have been primarily running 14, 16, 18 miles so the high paced 6.1 mile was sort of a shock to the system.

2. I incorporated the lessons from Daytona my swim (even though there was a current). The best part about it was that I think I let go of my mental safety barrier when I’m out there in the open water. I just pretended I was in a pool which made extremely more relaxed and confident going into Ironman UK.

3. I ran in my new lightweight Zoot racing shoes for the first time! I absolutely love these shoes as my T2 transition was super fast.

4. I hosted a professional athlete in my home that was super nice and gave me lots of advice on racing and training.

5. I spoke with a former Olympic Medalist (who use to ride with Lance) who has a training center here and speaking with him about my goals, says he has a lot to offer me.

The race was local, and it was fun. I day I volunteered I saw I saw a lot of good things out there I saw people get out of THEIR comfort zones. I saw overweight people taking control of their lives and deciding to be fit. My Ironman distance might be that person’s sprint distance. As someone who was formally obese, I really enjoy seeing things like this. I think that is why I like the triathlon community as much as I do. It is very supportive, and encouraging.

So was my race good? I still don’t quite have an answer.

First things first, I have to thank Cory and Mike from Couchsurfing.com who let me crash at their place. Mike did the sprint race and came in an impressive 20th place overall and 3rd in his age group! I think Mike will do quite well when he decides to move up to longer distances.

Unlike my last race where I was flustered by arriving in the 15 minutes before the transition closed. CGI sporting events required check-in the day before. Having someplace to stay really made the trip much more enjoyable and relaxed. Mike and I had a great pasta dinner and watched Invincible and cut out early for a 4AM wake up.

SWIM

The swim actually went pretty well considering all things. I seeded myself in the back of the floating start still not confident after my JerseyMan performance. At the sound of the horn I got the normal depressing feeling that occurs when you see everyone pull away from you but I was fortunate enough to settle in the slow pack. Again, I was designated silver caps which weren’t that easy to sight from. Lucky, there was a guy in front of me who had some pasty white arms which did the trick.:-)

On a sympathy note, I felt bad while I was swimming as I passed a girl in the last sprint wave who was panicking and crying as people started to pass her. It had to be her first time race. She was wailing around and it took a concentrated effort to get around her.I saw some officials on paddle boats racing towards here.

I navigated the course rather well. I did get too close on the last buoy where my arm got tangled but overall I came out of the water pretty satisfied. I felt relaxed and felt I went out at the right pace. When I swim, time just seems to pass by so slow so you never know how fast or slow I”m going.

42:51

BIKE

I should have had a road bike.

The course was absolutely unforgiving. There was only maybe 5 percent of the course where getting into the aero-position was actually beneficial; and those we mostly on going down hills. Up, down, up down. There were parts of the race where I was going only 2 miles an hour up hills then 60 kph a second later.

I was doing some research on bike pacing before the race. The plan was to go less than race pace perceived effort on the first loop and then take it harder the 2nd lap. This would allow me pass the people who were going out too hard and set myself up well on run. As expected, people passed me and I expected this but I knew I would pass them later. I don’t really mind 40 year old men passing me. I don’t really mind 55 year old women passing me. It’s fine really. It didn’t matter. The course was so brutal that there wasn’t many opportunities to “take it easy”. It just took it’s toll on me, especially as a heavier rider. At one point climbing a hill, I got out of the saddle to climb and my inner thigh almost “caved in”. It’s difficult to describe, the best way to explain it would be that my inner thigh decided not to flex. It was weird and I felt that all the way through the run.  I should have had a road bike. For me at least, the geomatry of the bike would have made the climbs a little more tolerable. You live and learn.

BlackBear Medal

These hills taught me lesson however: I need a different cassette than what I currently have. I have the typical 12-25 cassette but I noticed some athletes really spinning on the hills much more than the poor souls who were grinding it out (i.e. me). Perhaps one with a 29 sprocket. I personally saw two chains break while climbing some of these hills. There was a point where I was thinking, “You know, I could totally just jump off my bike and just push it up this hill…no one would know. And if they did, they would totally understand.” I didn’t do it, but if someone else did, I would totally have understood.

It didn’t help that my bike computer broke on the first lap when my water bottle apparently was fastened and emptied my HEED all over it. It started to function again after the second lap. I wish I could have compared my first lap to the second lap. When I was coming in, looking at my elapsed watch, I thought I was coming in at around 3:10, so after the race, I was a bit surprised my the time I posted.

3:40:21

RUN

I’ll have to admit. I didn’t like the run course at all. It was pretty much an Xterra type of course that included trails, rocks, gravel, dirt, grass, with a little bit of pavement. For me at least, it was hard to gather a rhythm from the get go. That’s not an excuse, just a new experience that was awkward. To say I blew up on the run would be an understatement.

I met a nice guy on the race course and we ran for a good 5 miles together. I believe he was one of the four black athletes out of the over 1000 there (Yes, I do count.) He dropped me in the last mile, so I finished 3rd out of the 4 other black triathlets.

2:24:56

Struck a pose at the finish line

Summary

So, what did I learn?

1. I need a different cassette. I think with my weight and the hills in IronmanUK, it would be the smart thing to do.
2. Doing two Half IM’s in a 3 week period was the dumbest thing possible…but good racing experience.
3. I need to lose weight. Dragging my fat ass up those hills on the bike was no fun at all. I’ll be blogging on this very soon.

Overall, I wasn’t happy with my time. But May has been a learning process. I’ve gained respect for the 70.3 distance as it takes much more time to recover than I thought. See, when your first triathlon is a 3km swim, 155km bike, and 24.2 mile run, it’s difficult to put everything else into perspective regarding race pace, speed, nutrition; the whole gambit. I raced these races with an Ironman distance mentality and perhaps this is a mistake. With 2 months to go to IMUK, I will put an emphasis on my diet, increasing my ride distances, swimming technique, and core strength.

Overall time: 6:53:39

This is how I feel right about now

I’ve officially run myself into the ground. Friday’s run was tough. Much harder than last week, but that was expected. Probably wasn’t good that I pushed it a little hard around mile 8 of 2-hour run (in the blazing heat no less).

Saturday, my goal was to do 2-hours of high intensity cycling on the trainer: ladders, supersets, race simulations, etc. It was beautiful outside, but I didn’t want any junk miles, so I decided to concentrate on some intense training indoors. The session was supposed to last 2 hours…but lasted about 45 minutes.

I guess I should have seen this coming. Immediately into the first few intervals, my legs were burning. They felt very heavy; evidence by not being able to get my cadence over 90rpms. So I’m there, in my living room, collapsed over my aero bars. I just know my heart rate is over 180+ beats per minute. I look down on my watch and it reads 147.

“147? WTF?! How is this possible”?

If I’m in my aerobic zone then why does it feel so hard? I went on for 40 more minutes and called it a day. I simply had enough. I hopped off my bike and Googled “Can’t get my heart rate up”.  Diagnosis: overtraining. I’m “heart tired” as they say.

Considering how I felt on Friday, and the hill training I’ve been did early in the week; the 1-hour tempo runs; running stairs; and ultimately, not taking enough time off from JerseyMan…it all makes since. Taking from Coach Joe Friel’s blog, symptoms of overtraining are:

+ Fatigue which doesn’t go away with 48 hours of low workload or even time off from training. The legs feel tired or there is general body weariness that lingers even after taking it easy for two days.

+ Little control of emotions – evidence of anger, feeling sorry for yourself, moodiness, depression, grumpiness. In short, you are hard to live with. A spouse or roommate may be the first to recognize this.

+ Performance declines. For example, you are slower at a given heart rate, or for any given speed, heart rate is higher than usual.

+ Self-confidence declines. This may be the best marker, but it’s hard to assess. One way to do it may be in the athlete trying to visualize accomplishing a very high workout or race goal. If it seems out of reach and farfetched, self-confidence may be low.

After reading these symptoms, it’s all coming full circle:

This week I had of such a heated argument with a friend of the most trivial thing. I simply lashed out and I don’t even know where it came from.

While it is comforting to come to a conclusion for the way I’ve been feeling, I’m a little worried about the next two months of training before Ironman UK.

After BlackBear this weekend, I’ll take a week off. From that point, I have only 7 weeks left. I have a race on one of those weekends (albeit it’s only an Olympic distance). After that race it will be month to Ironman UK. I also have to fly home to Florida for a weekend. Basically, I have only 3 weekends left for long bike rides

According to Mark Allen, the perfect taper beings a month in from race day.  I’m not sure if I’ll be ready but it almost feels as if while summer is beginning, it’s almost ending as well. Sub 13 hours is the goal. I feel my run will be ready, but there are still lingering doubts about a 1:10-1:15 swim time (which could possibly be answered soon).

With the lack of time till August 2^nd, my personal family commitments, improperly scheduled races, recovery time, are starting to get to me, but I least now I can formulate a plan of action. If I’ve learned anything from this season so far, is that you shouldn’t schedule 2 half Ironmans in a 3 week period.  Just plain stupid.

“Hey man, you’re going the wrong way.”

“Huh? I am?”

“Yea, the race is over there…that way”

As a looked around watching the second heat swim by, I put my head down and looked to get back in the race. What seemed like an eternity, another race official stopped me:

“Hey man! You are cutting the race course”

“What?”

“You have to go on back that way….”

*******

The whole day started late. I woke up late. Dana and I departed for Clinton, NJ late. We arrived at the race course around 6:45 with the transition area closing at 7:00am. The transition proctor let me get my stuff ready but by 7:30 I still hadn’t stretched or even put on my wetsuit. When I did put on my wetsuit, it felt tight. I felt really constricted in the shoulders but no time to worry about it as I had to get to the beach to check in the swim start.

*******

I almost quit. I swear.

The burly man stood there at the edge of his boat looking down on me with complete sympathy. I can tell he felt bad for me; in the way a mother would look at her small child after they fell and bumped their little knee.

“OK”

I exhaled and I started to swim towards the buoy where I finally got in line with other swimmers. By this time, pink caps were passing me (that would be the 3^rd wave). I found a green cap and stayed on his heels the entire time. To make the situation worse, I felt sharp cramps in both of my calves near the end.

What I had hoped would be a 35 minute to 38 minute swim, turned out to be much worse because of a strategy blunder. Not sure of my fitness, I started on the outside toavoid being swam over at the start.

Lesson learned: Don’t start on the outside lane. Stay in the middle and let people pull you. If people pass you, kick you, deal with it.

SWIM TIME: 50: 47

I was pretty upset getting out of the water. I was extremely tired, my right shoulder felt very tight by being constricted by my wetsuit. I was mostly trying to settle down at the transition by going slowly. I got my banana’s, my gels, and I was off. My bike computer broke about 0.5 miles into the race, so I was going off perceived effort.

The goal was to do the bike leg in 3 hours or less. Considering the surprising grades of the hills, the broken computer, and doing predominantly base training; I felt pretty good with my time.

BIKE TIME: 3:16. 30 (17.3mph/27.8kph)

Leaving the bike I felt good. I didn’t grind it out on the hills and was playing it smart by leaving some in the tank for the run.

RUN TIME: 2:17.50 (10:32/mile)

Jerseyman Medal