Vacation in Asheville, NC -- Ups and Downs

Well, I just got back in Tally from my vacation, and I think I need a vacation from my vacation to rest and recover and be ready for work tomorrow.  So here is how it all went down:

Wed -- Wake up and do ab ripper x.  Ok, on schedule.  Drive to Atlanta.  Gas the car up, drink some Dos Equis Amber, drop Sissy off at the NKOTBSB concert and then drive to all3sports for some retail therapy.  Got a 310xt, foodpod for it, the new K-Swiss waterproof shoes, and some other odds and ends.  The bill hurt, don't ask.  Then went to the mall/Barnes&Noble and chilled till 10PM.  Went back to Philips Arena to pick Sissy up.  Did I mention that Sissy's phone had died and I couldn't reach her?  Well, I parked and hung out for about a hour till she came out.  No biggie.  You can ask her what she thought of the concert b/c it went in one ear and out the other.  Drove just outside Atlanta and got a room for the night.

Thurs -- Wake up.  No exercise in AM.  Drive to Greenville, SC and visit Carolina Triathlon. 

I didn't buy anything.  The Sizzler got a sports bra.  Drove through Brevard so Sissy could see her mom's grave (we made it to the grave but took the non-scenic route by mistake).  Ate lunch at the soda shop, and had a chocolate milkshake.  Brevard is pretty cool. 

Made it to Asheville and parked downtown and looked around.  Downtown Asheville is pretty cool.  Trendy, hippy, cool.  Man I could get into so much trouble there.  Not many hotels though, and the only ones there are min $250/night.  We tried to get a room but they were booked (we needed 3 nights).  Took a break to eat Mexican (fish and chips not as good as the Filling Station here in Tally). 

So from about 2-9:30 PM, we looked for a hotel room w/o any luck. I literally drove the entire perimeter of the city.  I kept asking what was going on and the only response I rec'd was "This is just how Asheville is from early summer till the leaves fall."  Damn.  Note to self -- reserve rooms earlly.  My only goals for a room were: (1) not a shit-hole hotel; and (2) all three nights in the same room.  Finally found a room at 9:30 -- Comfort Suites. King bed and a whirlpool tub in the room for $116 a night.  Outdoor pool, free access to a 24hr gym next door.  Bike shop next door that sells Cervelo tri bikes.  Mall next door.  Sweet.  Too tired to exercise today.

Fri.  Wake up at 6, gear up and eat a quick breakfeast.  Plan is to do a 2-3 hour ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway (1.5 miles away -- sweet).  I check the droid, and it say no rain. I get 50 yards from the hotel and... rain.  #$%^$$%^^&%$%^&&!!!!!  My phone slipped out of my hand and fell and broke.  So I turned around and went back to the hotel.  We ended up going to Starbucks, Liberty Cycles, and Biltmore Estate.  The Biltmore was awesome, lots of new stuff other than the mansion. 

Filed an insurance claim for a new phone and I won't get it till Monday, so no droid for rest of vacation.

Sat.  Did what I meant to do Friday and rode 2 hours on BRP.  Incredible.  First 2 miles were straight up, non-stop hill.  I went through 3 tunnels.  Downhill was scary as hell.  I learned that a 20 minute climb translated into a 5 minute descent (distance, 2 miles).  Did not make it near as far as I thought I would.  Mountain miles are a looooot different than Florida miles. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95278214  Once I get done for IMFL, I definately want to start doing some mountain riding -- do some centuries up there.  We then went back to Greenville, SC for Sissy's aunt's bday.  After that, went by Sissy's mom's grave again, then went to visit Sissy's -- well, sister or niece, take your pick depending on how strictly you want to ahere to the law.  Met Jena and her fiance, Scott.  They were cool.  We drank beer and ate wings.

Sun.  I woke up and decided to have a try at Stand-Up Paddleboarding.  Found a place 10 min away and off we went.  Took a 1.5 hr lession for $45.  AWESOME!!  I have got to get a stand-up paddleboard.  Way, way, way cooler than a canoe or kayak.  And a soooolid core workout.  Finished up and had lunch with Sissy's sister and then drove backroad to Brevard, then Highlands, then south to Atlanta.  On the way I stopped at a gas station and found some interesting bottled water.

Outside atlanta, the storms hit (the storms that were were hearing emergency alerts).  High winds, enough to cause the car to swerve, lightning, hail the size of my thumb, rain so bad I could barely see anything.  Storm lasted from north of atlanta perimeter to south of atlanta perimeter.  Damn.  We stopped for the night so we could watch the season premiere of True Blood.  A note about Hilton Garden Inn sleep # beds -- the suck.  Stiff as a board on every setting.  No exercise at all.

Mon -- woke up and drove back to Tally.  Picked up the dogs from Robin Hood Kennel.  I may do a easy spin or gentl run tonight.  May take Sally (my German Shorthair Pointer) with me on the run, b/c she it getting heavy and can't even jump in the back of my truck anymore.  Must take after her daddy.

Will post pics as I put them on my computer and if I can pull out of the sd card from my dead droid.

And so it begins (again)... the road to Ironman Florida

So yes, it has been awhile since my last post.  This week -- the week of June 13 -- is the first week of my official training cycle for Ironman Florida.  I have pretty much slacked off in the 5 weeks since Gulf Coast.  I deliberately wanted to have a mini off-season to rest and let my body recover (especially considering the sprained ankle I suffered the week before Gulf Cost).  Of course, since you also know how I roll -- I ate some tasty food as well.  Gained a few pounds, sitting between 200-203.

I won't be doing daily/weekly updates as I did for Gulf Coast.  It was fun, but so time consuming and became a bit of a hassle to sit down and write so much.  So, I will continue to post but will not have as many specifics of my workouts, etc.  Just updates, thoughts, feelings, etc.

So the biggest change since Gulf Coast is that I finally stepped up and got a coach.  I have been going back and forth since last year, whether I should get a coach, and if so -- who?  One in Tally, one in another city, one over the internet, or just copy a generic training plan that other friends have used.  I fretted over this for months, back and forth.  Talked to various people who used different coaches/plans.  I knew my deadline for getting a coach was last week and I just about waited until the last second.  Probably imposed a lot of unnecessary stress on myself, but I really tend to analyze important issues from all angle before committing to something..  Ultimately, I decided to go with Revolutions: Triathlon Coaching.  They are here in town, have a bunch of experience, personable, coaching a lot of people for IMFL, I've known/used them for a while, reasonable rates, etc.  I have one main coach, but all four coaches are available and routinely work/chat with me.  So that is really cool.  This is my first week with them, and I am happy with the workouts/coaching so far.

Also -- Friday PM I was finally able to get my new bike frameset -- 2011 Felt B2 Pro with a Bayonett 2 fork.  Decked out in full ultegra.    Now I just have to come up with a name for her... Your Hotness, Decimator, Hateful Bitch?  Gotta think about that....  Taking her our in the am for a 2.5 hr ride. Will let you know how she does.

Ok, her name is Hateful Bitch.  Rides like a dream, smooth as silk, fast, very responsive, very stiff.  30% stiffer than my B12.  How stiff is that you ask?  Well, in going over a bump (which was no problem on the B12), that 30% caused my bar grips (which are normallly a little lose when wet) to completely twist around and cause my grip on the bar grips to disengage (i.e., I crashed).  Sacrificed my body to protect Hateful Bitch.  Now the stem is loose, and it being a Bayonett 2 front end, I had to take it back to the shop to be fixed.  I was going to have to tweak the fit anyway, but damnit-to-hell.

And that's not even showing my scraped up right knee (literally scraped up on all sides), and huge bruise on my left quad.  Oh well, I guess any crash you can walk away from (and in which case your frame is ok)....  move along here nothing to see...

I've been doing some calculations during my first week of training -- really focusing on weighing myself before and after exercise (and keeping track of how much I drink).  I have approximated the following ounces per hour that I sweat:  swim (32 oz), bike (30 oz), run (40oz).  Obviously it will depend on heat, humidity, effort, etc., but I've gotta say those numbers are higher than what I thought they would be.  I am going to have to keep this in mind and figure out what I need to do to stay hydrated and not go over 3% weight loss (otherwise performance suffers and bad things happen). 

Factoring that out over 11 hours at Ironman Florida is a shitload of sweat. (swim 1:15, bike 5:30, run 4:15 = 40 oz lost swimming, 166 oz lost biking, 170 oz lost running = total est sweat lost 376 oz (i.e., 23.4 pounds).  That is about 11% of my total body weight lost. 

At about 7%, one would normally collapse, at 10% one would go into a coma, and 11% -- die.  So I have to drink, but can't really go over 28-30 oz an hour (again, bad things would happen). 

So I drink 24 oz/hr (i.e., a bottle), over 11 hours puts me at 264 ounces.  Subtract not really drinkin on the swim, and probably not drinking 24 ounces/hr on the run, and I will guesstimate I will actually drink 225 oz (i.e., 14 pounds), which is 7% body weight loss -- which brings me to the verge of collapse.  Well now, this should be interesting....

Obviously I'm not a math major, and these numbers are very rough.  Nor am I factoring in solid/gels, or other bodily processes of eliminating... substances... but definately something I have to continuously ponder upon over the next few months.

Gulf Coast 70.3 Race Report

This race has been a bit of a xxx for me.  I have been planning on doing Gulf Coast as a primer of sorts since watching IMFL last year.  Of course things do not always go a planned.  Had to scratch the Tallahassee Marathon due to injured achilled tendon preventing any training.  I originally scratched Gulf Coast b/c I didn't think I could get my run training in either.  Then I had a chance to do the bike leg relay of Gulf Coast and was ok with that.  Then that fell apart.  Then I decided to just race Gulf Coast and see how the run went (i.e., not hurt myself so I can't train for IMFL).  Then, the week before Gulf Coast I sprained my ankle so I scratch myself again.  Eat like shit (pizza, chips, ice cream, beer, etc.), don't train all week... my spring season is over until I start training for IMFL in mid-June.  Then Gulf Coast tell me on Wed that I can't get a refund or deferral... assholes... but -- my ankle starts to stabilize/recover some.  It is still sprained, but I decided to at least get some of my $235 or whatever back and do the swim and see how the bike goes, or something like that.....  well enough of the "and then," let me tell you how it went down....

Friday -- leave work at noon, go home change clothese, eat lunch, etc., hit the road to PCB.  Stop by at Blountstown Drugs on the way over and visit the pharmacist -- my good friend Jon Plummer.  If you are the in the area, stop by and say "hi."  If Jon isn't in, the other pharmacist is Sandy and she is my cousin-in-law, so say hi to her as well.  Also, Jon's wife Johanna runs the rest of the store so say hi and browse around.  They have a lot of really cool things in their store.  They even have a Facebook page.  This is what Jon looks like when he is not working:

So... Jon takes one look at my foot and tells me not to bike, and that I shouldn't even swim.  I agree my foot looks like shit, but I am at least swimming.  So after shooting the breeze with Plum, I get back on the road to Panama City Beach. 

Ok, I know PCB is in "flux" with new luxury buildings slowly taking over... but there is still a lot of shit-holiness about PCB.  Like the Boardwalk (at least the "hotel" part of it, which goes for $130 a night -- 2 nights tax tag and title are about $300).  The only good things I have to say about such is that the rooms are 50 yards from transition and right in front of the swim.  You can't beat the location.  However, that also means you can't park on site (have to park in a dirt lot about a 1/4 mile down the road-that-is-constantly-under-construction and have do deal with the crowds.  So choose your poision.  I am glad I learned this now, b/c I probably won't stay there for IMFL.  I have reservations at the hotel right now, but will seriously look to getting another place with rooms a little nicer.  Disclaimer -- I am not a beach guy -- red hair and fair skin so I prefer the shade.  So if you won't spend a minute in the hotel... maybe you wanna think about it.  There are just too many better quality, lower priced, less crowded hotels on the beach for my taste.

So anyway, the expo was cool, lots of things, but a bit overpriced.  Still neat though.  Packet pick up was really strange.  You had to go to a board, id your race number, go to a lady guarding an entrance, identify your race number, give her your id and USTA # (she didn't compare any of that against anything), and she put a red dot on the back of your hand.  No red dot = no entry.  Then you go to a table of ladies and give them your race number, id, and usat #.  They give you a form to sign.  So you go to another table where you can sit down and fill out the form.  Then go to another table and stand in line to get your race packet.  The packets were ready, so as you show up, they put it together for you (more on that later).  Write your number on your swim cap.  Then tell you to go to another line for chip-timer pick up.  Then  you can leave and browse the expo some more.  Saw this bad boy at the expo.  If looks could kill.....

Anyway, saw lots of Tallahassee friends there.  I was hoping to run into one of my twitter/facebook friends, Mary Eggers, but somehow managed to bum around and never track her down.  If you have read any of my previous posts, she trains with Turbo Curbeau, who I met and shot the breeze with while waiting in line to sign up for IMFL.

So after that I took my bike to check-in.  I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to do the bike portion -- just swim and quit -- by then, but decided to check my bike in just in case.  I didn't even air the tires up and hooked the seat under the bike rack as opposed to placing my bottle rack over the bike rack (i.e., this is a pain in the ass to remove during a race this way, but more secure).

Afterwards, I decided to skip the pasta dinner.  Didn't want to eat conference center food the night before a race.  Well, since I really wasn't racing, I drove around and settled on Publix -- chicken strips, corn, tater logs, red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, bbq chips and honey mustard pretzel nibblets.  And a 12 back of bud select.  mmmm....  All I can say is if you are gonna be a bear, be a grizzly.

Wake up at 5AM Sat.  No rush, even though transition closes at 6 and the race starts at 6:05 or so.  Fart around, eat a energy bar, drink some gatorade, etc.  I decided to pack a transition bag just in case -- bike shoes, helmet, run shoes, foot towel, sunscreen.  That's it.  Go get body marked and enter transition around 5:35 or so.. as you can tell I was jittery from the caffeine withdrawl....

Then mess around for a minute or so and set up my transition area.  This is when you can really tell that I really didn't expect to race at all.  No fluff -- nothing but the necessary stuff.

After that, there was not much else to do but visit with friends and then watch the race start before getting suited up..

So finally, two waves before the team relay wave (the very last wave), M35-39 gets the go.  I was nervous about the swim for three reasons: (1) sprained ankle; (2) eating like crap all week; and (3) haven't done anything at all athletic since I sprained my ankle the previous Saturday.  So I decided to be the last guy in the water and just take it easy.  One thing I was not prepared for was the swells.  The water was clear, kinda warm (I was getting hot the last half of the swim), and not choppy at all.  But the swells were making me a little seasick and making it tricky to breathe.  But I just swam, one buoy, (remember to focus on stroke), next buoy, etc., remember to kick lets (hmmm... ankle feels ok)etc., etc., geez, when do I turn, buoy, etc.  Finally hit the first turn buoy.  Half a mile in 16 min.  Ok, I can live with that.  .2 mile to the next turn buoy and then back to the beach.  This was the part when some of the guys in the wave behind us started catching up.  No worries, let them through.  Don't try to hang on, a week off and you shouldn't push that hard.  Even though my ankle felt ok, I had to remind myself that I hadn't trained, hadn't eaten properly, and my body had been fighting to recover from a sprained anke.  So I was nowhere near where I would have been if I hadn't sprained my ankle.

The .5 back sucked ass.  I was hot, overheated, etc.  Everytime I thought I was getting close to the last buoy, another one would appear on the horizon.  All you could see what the hotels slowly getting closer.

I will say that the water and sandy bottoms were really neat.  You could see the floor, look at stingrays, etc.  No sharks, happily, althogh we did swim through a few schools of baitfish.

Finally, finally got out of the water.  My watch said 39 minutes and change.  Slowly limped my way up the beach, into T1.  Took my time in the showers they had set up.  Even stripped off my wetsuit on the bench by the shower, and went back into the shower to get some more fresh water over me and my wetsuit.  Then limp into the bike.  Here is when I mention that after I left transition set-up for the last time, some of the people I visited with encouraged me to give the bike a try if my ankle felt ok during the swim.  So, as I entered T1, I thought... why not give the bike a shot?

So I moseyed over to my bike.  Sat down.  Slowly put on compression socks.  Visited with other triathletes..., slowly put on shoes, slowly walked over to exit T1, and got on the bike.  This is when I realized I might have some trouble.  For example, I so expected not to bike that I didn't have any water, gatorade, gels, etc., -- nothing at all with me or on the bike.  So if the first aid station was 20 miles out, it was going to be a looooooong 20 miles.  Also, I didn't even bring my garmin or other hr monitor into transition.  All I had was my cateye and my wristwatch, which I completely forgot about. 

The first 5 miles I literally spun very, very easy.  Probably averaged 17-18 mph, sitting up, hr probably didn't break 100.  To my suprise, there was an aid station at 5 miles.  So I loaded up on gatorade, water and cliff shots.  That helped out a lot, b/c my mouth was still salty from the sea water.  During this time, I was getting passed by other bikers.  I didn't pass anybody.  Didn't care though as I was just happy to be riding. 

It wasn't until mile 9-10 that I actually came up on another cyclist.  I was still spinning easy, no desire to push things.  Then I passed the cyclist.... "click." Right in front of him was another cyclist... "click," then "whoomp."  All systems go, and my body knew what to do.  While I complain about not training and not eating the week leading up to GC, I had the previous 17 weeks of solid bike training in my system.  So go I went.  I pushed it up to right below the point where my ankle felt uncomfortable.  Tried not to work my ankle/calves any, just keep foot straight/flat and use my quads as much as possible.  Went from 17-18 to 23-24mpg.  Nice.  Started pasing people like I was on a rocket ship. 

One thing that suprised me was the amoung of people on their bike swerving all over the road.  I gave up shouting "on the left" at them b/c more often than not they looked left and swerved my way.  Just decided to blow by them w/o warning.  The rest of the leg out was fine. 

First left turn was really neat.  Aid stations on both sides of the road, and lots of bikers.  The adrenaline really kicked in.  Dump old gatorade, pour remaining water over me, throw out trash from cliff shots, grab new gatorade, new water, new cliff, and hammer down.  Roads were rough, but there were lots of riders heading the other was past me.  I milked my excitement a little too much, b/c after we turned around and headed back down the road, I went hit the headwind and immediately went anerobic (well, gasping for beath so I guesstimate accordingly).  Had to focus on spinning, less power, stay low and breathe to get my hr under control.  The rest of the ride was pretty much the same, fighting headwind and trying to keep my mpg from slipping to far under 20.

About mile 35 my ankle started getting a little tired.  By mile 40, a little more tired. My mile 45 it was pretty tired and I was just focused on making it back to T2.  I wasn't in pain, but could tell that my ankle was getting a little stressed.  After what seemed like an eternity (the last 10 miles always to do me), I hit front beach road -- 5 miles back.  By then I was struggling. 

Breathing shallow, sick of gatorade.  Neither regions sore b/c I didn't really use any bodyglide or anything b/c I was not expecteting to ride bike.  Pouring all the water I had over me to stay cool, when I heard a voice in the car beside me.  I wasn't sure who it was, looked over and saw a silver Porsche -- Plummer, who else!  He had been planning on coming over to watch the race, but missed the swim.  Originally, I was planning on quitting at T1 and meeting up with him.  Since I didn't quit at T1, I had been wondering what he had done.  He realized I hadn't quit, and went and ran some errands and then saw me on the bike.  It was good to hear some encouragement from a good friend.  Even slowed down so he could take a picture of me.

I couldn't decide whether to give a thumbs up, or the thumb/circle ok sign below the waist, so this is what I wound up doing.  And yes, the handles on the side are mine, but the junk in the back is cliff bars, etc., that I was hoarding.  Anyway, come into T2, I realized that I could not slip my foot out of my shoe (swelling and all), so I was going to have to unclip.  Decided to unclip my left (i.e., sprained) ankle first, twist... nothing, twist a little harder... nothing.  Twist hard -- HOLY SHIT THAT HURTS!!!!  You can't see b/c I am wearing sunglasses, by my eyes were squinched closed.  You can even see the used cliff shot wrappers under my left leg shorts.

Walk across the line and tell the first volunteer that I was quitting and to take my chip, and head over to the medical tent to ice my ankle.  Plum found me there and sneaked in to give me some company.  Afterwards, we had some fun:

Fried grouper, french fries, hush puppies, beer, coldstone, mmm... mmm... goood.  Afterward, Plum dropped me off and headed back to Blountstown and I went to check out my time.

If you can't read that small, it says:

Swim (1.2 miles) 39:53 (61 out of 76 in my age group) (2:03 per 100 m; 1:53 per 100y, so slow)
T1 11:08 (75 out of 76 in my age group, but what fun it was to shoot the breeze)
Bike (56 miles) 2:49:05, 19.9 mph avg, 36 of 75 in my age group).
Total, minus the run 3:40:05

So, I will take it, sprained anke and all.  For reference August 70.3 was 28:10 swim (downstream river), and bike was 2:39:31 (average 21.1).  So since this was an ocean swim, and I didn't start pushing until mile 10 on the bike.... I am very happy with my limited performance.

Next up -- 6 weeks off until I start training for IMFL.  In the meantime -- rehab ankle, eat very little and lose as much weight as possible before training starts.  So, in the meantime if you see me with ANYTHING unhealthy in my hand, smack me in the back of my head and call me fatass!

Week 18 -- Gulf Coast -- off and on

I have been planning, preparing, training, visualizing this week since January 3.  Everything was on track and according to plan until this last Saturday when I sprained my ankle.  In the weeks leading up to now, I was 50/50 whether I would do Gulf Coast 70.3.  Had a bad case of achilles tendonitis since November, and it finally went away (at least to a manageable part) in late Feb.  I knew that I could not train for the run like I needed to to truly compete, but was planning on using Gulf Coast as a training session - race speed in the water and bike, then play the run by ear.

After the sprained ankle, I have had to accept the fact that I really can't do Gulf Coast.  Sure I would love to give it a shot -- try the swim and bike, not run at all -- but I am simply too worried about risking further injury to my ankle and messing my my true "A" race this year -- IMFL.  That cannot happen.  I was planning on starting my training for IMFL in mid-late May, and really need to focus on rehab in between now and then to get my ankle ready for the volume it is about to encounter.

Now, if Gulf Coast were truly my "A" race, there is no doubt I would race it.  Would worry about my ankle afterward.  Anyway, I have been pouting since Sat.  Depressed, angry, grumpy, irritable, etc.  That means eating comfort food -- ice cream, chips, ice cream, pizza, chips, beer, tacos, etc.  Sleeping in late, not exercising.  Afraid to step on the scale.  Need to just tape my pie-hole shut and starve myself for a few weeks to loose a bunch of weight before I start training for IMFL.

This freaking sucks.  I hate being injured.

So today -- Wed -- I decided to go swim at Trousdale and see how my ankle felt.  Wake up, get coffee, etc., drive to Trousdale and.... FWC trainees in the pool again.  WTF!!!!  Ok, let's see.  Public city pool.  Half the lanes are already taken up by ATAC, so us public swimmers are already limted.  Now add FWC trainees into the mix, and the "public" can only use about 20% of the "public" pool.  I CALL BULLSHIT!  I have no problem with FWC using the pool to train, but come-on, use some freaking sense Tallahassee.  Don't schedule FWC and ATAC at the same time.  Doing so screws over your citizens.  And put those trainess in one lane only -- don't spread them out over multiple lanes.  All they are doing is treading water.  So City of Tallahassee, I'm watching you.  Fix this shit now.  Don't make me call you out at a city meeting.

Wed am -- I finally heard back from Gulf Coast -- they won't offer me a refund or defer me to next year... so, I am back on for Gulf Coast.  I have been eating like shit this week and doing no exercise, so I guess I am fully rested and full of some level of energy.  Gonna swim, see how the bike goes, and not run at all.  Rest my ankle if I can.

Been wearing compression socks all week, hoping that helps get rid of the swelling.  I have more mobility in my ankle, but know that I am still a long way from recovery.

Nothing to report for the rest of the week.  I will post update for Gulf Cost in my next race report.  Peace out.

Gulf Coast Blues -- Sprained Ankle

Well, one week from today, I was planning on competing in Gulf Coast 70.3 triathlon in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Just starting my taper.  Today, I was going to race in a 10k trail run, tomorrow do a 55 mile bike ride to the beach, maybe swim in the water some.  Well, 10 minutes into my race this morning....

I had was running with a couple of girls, and had just passed a guy.  Glanced back to see if the two girls were still with me and...Boohyah!!!!   Rolled my left ankle and heard pop, pop, pop, pop, etc.  Brought my right foot around asap and recovered so I didn't fall.  The girl closest to me said "Nice recovery," and I wished it had been that simple, but I knew the damage had already been done.

Immediately stopped running. Oh wow, that smarts...  ok, that hurts... really hurts.  No use in finishing this race, call it quits and limp back and work on rehab.

Wait a minute, that means I can't do Gulf Coast 70.3 next weekend.  Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit....  To be honest, in between the pain of spraining my ankle and pain of knowing I just scratched myself from Gulf Coast, I seriously had to fight back tears a couple of times.  Wish I could say it was pain from the ankle, but I know it for missing Gulf Coast more than anything else

I have sprained both ankles pretty badly before, and know excatly what I have in store.  As soon as I can stablilize the initial swelling (RICE), I can start working on rehab.  That will really be the painful part.  Breaking up all that scar tissue is really gonna suck.  Time for a little S&M.

I had to to limp over a mile back to the truck.  Lots of people asked if I was ok, and I appreciate their concern.  By the time I got to the truck, my ankle was swole up something fierce.  So I hobbled back home and have been laying on the couch the rest of the day.  So I have cancelled my hotel and e-mailed the race director to see if I can get a refund or deferral.

The rest of the day sucked donkey balls.  I ate comfort food.  Ice cream.  More ice cream, chocolates, chips.  Yum.  Clydesdale division, here I come.  Damn.

I could barely even wiggle my toes Sat, but started working on moving them as much as I could.  Finally by Sat night I could move my foot up and down a fraction.  Sunday am was much better.  I have continuously been working on moving my foot around.  Put on a compression sock and walked around some and ran errands with the sizzler.  Lying here on the couch now watching tv, working on moving the foot arounds.  Rest, ice, elevate, compression.  take a break from ice and compression, then repeat..  Eating more food.

Week 17 -- Last week before taper for Gulf Cost 70.3

It is 7:16 Monday morning, and I'm off to a rough start.  I did set my alarm clock for 5:00 to swim, but somehow the volume was too low so I didn't hear it to wake up.  Slacker!  I really was looking forward to swimming this am, it would have been a great recovery workout.  Weighed myself on the scale -- 197.0.  Damn you, easter dinner!  I knew that was going to happen.

So it is Monday afternoon, and I just signed up for Gulf Coast.  Can't back out now.  I also made hotel reservations for Ironman Florida.  So I have now registered and made hotel reservations for Gulf Cost 70.3, Ironman Augusta 70.3, and Ironman Florida.  The only pending races left are that I signed up for a Jax sprint series and need to get hotel reservations for that as well.  Will play that by ear though, b/c IMFL training comes first.  Oh yeah, I did an easy 45 min on the trainer/tri bike.

Tue am -- 45 min easy on the trainer.  PM  5 mile easy trail run -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81827307.

Wed -- went to bed late last night (again).  slept poorly.  woke up this am wondering why sissy set the alarm clock so early.  I turned it off for her, then realized I set the alarm clock so I could swim.  damn....  Good news is that I am down to 195.0.  Man, it's been a while. 

Didn't even set the coffee timer last night.  brew coffee.  can't even measure a tablespoon of coffee grounds.  can't wake up...  shot of gatoraid to get me going, then off to Trousdale.  Double-damn, FWC trainees are in the pool taking up at least 4 of the "public" lanes.  Fuck this.  Off to Myers park.  It doesn't open till 6, but I will wait a few minutes in the parking lot.  Get to Myers park, nobody but me there.... no staff.  Wait till 6, still no staff... Double-fuck this.  I'm going home and back to bed. 

On the way home, I decide to swing by Trousdale and see if FWC trainess are done.  Yes!  Ok, hit the pool.  Find an empty lane, and "Thumper" tries to get out of his "crowded" lane and share this one with me.  I don't even look at him.  Luckily he goes to another lane.  Guy drives me crazy with his atomic bomb splash-kicks.  So my swim -- sucked.  Don't know what it is, but I am literally depleted.  Way beyond simply being tired (and grinding out a set), but my body is saying stop this now.  So after my warm-up and a few laps of my first set, I call it a day at 20 minutes.  Trying to learn to listen to my body -- to distinguish between "tired" and "stop."

So I am supposed to ride my bike this pm, and will probably pack it in the truck -- but I seriously question whether I will do so.  If I feel like this, I am just going to rest and go to bed early tonight.  Update -- rode the trainer for an hour Wed night, then went to bed at 9PM.  Man, I really needed that.

Thurs -- Alarm clock went off at 5, and I reset it for 6.  Good call.  Woke up and weighed myself -- 194.0!  Insanity AM, bear as usual.  For some reason I was whipped today -- my body and brain were exhauseted.  I was sucking ass before lunch, made myself go to Siam Sushi for some chicken pad thai for lunch (and a small bag of cherry nibblets twizzlers).  stuffed most of the pm, but finally came around and started feeling better around 4 or 4:30.  So I decided to try an easy 4miles at Tom Brown after work.  Turned out ok, but my legs started cramping a bit at the end. Also -- kinda neat, there was about a 6 foot gator sunning himself right when you leave cadillac trail and hit the lake.  He was literally just off the shore on a small exposed sandbar.  Would have taken pix if I had brought my phone.   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/82204892 I don't think it was loss of electrolytes as much as it was sore tendons and sore bone/joint in my right food.  I need to take it easy if I want to do Gulf Coast 70.3 next weekend. 

So afterward I had my gatoraid recovery drink, then came home and had a bowl of campbell's chicken noodle soup.  That is becoming my go to dinner if I eat a bigger lunch during the day.  I think I mentioned this previously, but I am trying to eat about 200 calories every couple of hours throughout the entire day.  Probably a little on the low side, but giving it a shot. 

Oh yeah, powerbar perform drink is half off at trisports.com, and I think gnc.  I am going to check gnc tomorrow at lunch and if so get some.  If not order a bunch from trisports.  I actually like that stuff.

This weekend, I think I am going to go to Blountstown Sunday morning and hook up with a buddy and ride bikes down to Mexico Beach.  It is about 55 miles.  Hitch a ride with him and his wife on the way back.  Should be one good last training ride before Gulf Coast.  Maybe I will send my running shoes down with his wife and run a few miles once I get there.

Friday -- so I woke up on time -- 5AM, and went to Trousdale.  No FWC, no crowds.  Did my "Workouts in a Binder, Swim Workouts For Triathletes" Endurance 10 Set A workout -- 3k meters in 1:02, pretty much still on target.  First long swim since last wed. 

Since about the week before Red Hills I have not had many weeks where I had multiple long swims, and this week is no different.  I am kind of glad Gulf Coast is right around the corner, because I will use that to hit the "reset" button, if you will.  Take it easy and maybe cross train for a few weeks, then jump into training for IMFL.

Re training for IMFL, I really want to get a coach, but want to make sure I can afford it before I commit.  I am still waiting to see how much damage the Florida Legislature and Governor do to state employees this session.  There are talks of a three pronged attack -- 5-10% pay cut, pay into retirement accounts 5-10%, and pay more for health insurance and state caps insureance coverage at 5k.  I could live with any one of these, but all three -- hell no.  I would have to leave state employment.  The one that freaks me out the most is insurance.  I have a nasty little history with malignant melanoma, and I have no doubt this history will repeat itself... probably numerous times. 

Hell, state health insurance pretty much singularly saved my life.  If I did not have it, I would not have scheduled a yearly routine checkup with my doc (I know this b/c when in private practice I didn't see my doc one time), and he would not have caught the melanoma in time before it hit my lymph nodes, and I would not have been immediately put in to see Dr. Cognetta and had immediate surgery with Dr. Rosenberg.  I am alive today because of the excellent health coverage provided to state employees.  And the Florida Legislatuer and Governor want to take that away.  Hell, that is one of the reasons people work for the state -- low pay in exchange for good insurance, retirement, and annual/sick leave.  It is called a trade-off.

Beach Blast I Olympic Race Report -- Updated w/Pics

For those of you who just want to know how I did -- here goes:

19/82 Overall
3/6 Age Group
Swim -- 13 OA, 2 AG 19:55  Avg 1:19 100/m, 1:12 100/y
T1 -- 1:15   (25 seconds faster than last year)
Bike -- 13 OA, 1 AG 1:07:17  Avg speed 22.3, hr 165, cadence 91 (1:54 faster than last year)
T2 -- 0:51   (20 seconds faster than last year)
Run -- 40 OA, 6AG   53:02 174 Average hr. (2:02 faster than last year)
Total -- 2:22:18

If you want the full details, keep on reading....

Left work at 3:30 Friday (running 30 minutes behind schedule), and made my way to Mexico Beach.  Sissy didn't want to come -- she was worried about leaving the dogs overnight and about the "unknown explosion" in El Governor earlier in the week.  So I was riding solo.  Drove directly to the race site for packet pick up and found out it didn't open for another 30 minutes.  Note to self -- next time I don't have to leave work until 4PM.  So I went to El Gov and checked into the hotel.

Went back to the race site, waited a minute or so to get my packet.  Two guys in front of me, the guy wanted to pick up the packet for his girlfriend.  No soup for you.  Then the guy in front of me -- they don't have him listed.  He swears signing up.  Race director is called over, she checks another chart and... wait for it... he did in fact sign up... for Beach Blast II in September.  Then he asks how he did that?  The race director just looked at him, then said... well, you clicked the wrong link when you signed up.  Dumbass.

So I get my packet, figure I will be missing something, but nope -- have everything.  Head over to Mango Marley's for dinner.  Figure I will skip the Florabama chicken this year and go with a club, sweet potato fries, with a side of 5 honey bbq buffalo wings.  Probably a little too unhealthy, but damn, it tasted good.  Get back to the hotel, watch the sunset, walk on the beach, get back and shave for the race, etc....

Wake up at 4:30.  Damn, I forgot to bring my Gatoraid Pro 1 bar.  Vanilla crisp Powerbar and a Gatoraid drink will have to do.  Arrive at race site, body marking, and grab my gear and head to transition.

One thing you gotta know about Beach Blast is that transition is in a softball field... at the beach (read -- sand spurs).  One of the many challenges is figuring out whether to leave flip flops between the beach and field, or find a route through the field that does not have sand spurs.  Likewise, you have to figure out if you want your bike racked near the entrance or exit to transition.  I chose the far exit (right by where bikes go out).  I also passed on flip flops and decided to go barefoot from the beach to the bike.  This increases the risk of sand spurs, so I had to walk my intended path a few times to looks for sand spur patches.  Good to go.

In the meantime, I had racked my bike in the first row, far rack, bike facing left (the other bikes around me were facing right).  There was one bike between mine and the end (it was facing the other way).  I had placed my backpack along one leg on the end of the bike rack, when the guy who owns the bike walks up and says "Hey there are six bikes on this rack, we need to space out some."  I looked at him, and said "go ahead."  And he is in my age-group.  So he spends the rest of his warm-up spreading out a beach towel on at the end of the bike rack and placing all his stuff out on the towel.  So much shit he looked like a total noob.  He even put his bike pump right up against my backpack.  What a douche-bag.

Saw a bunch of people with Gulf Winds gear on, so that was nice.  10 minute warm-up jog, then time to put on the wetsuit.  I remembered to bring some public grocery bags and decided to try a trick I learned at Red Hills first-timers camp.  Put the bags on over your hands and feet, and they slide right into the wetsuit.  Holy cow -- that works really, really well.

Water felt great at warm-up.  Water was pretty flat, with some slight swells.  Buoys were not too far out -- had the nagging suspicion it wouldn't be quite 1500, but not gonna complain.  As usual for Beach Blast, before the race starts, all the swimmers start drifting along the beach to the left (i.e,. upcurrent).  This year, the race director called us out and made us come back.  I was looking around and realized there was not many people on the far right.  Also realized there was not much of a left/right current.  So I made a game-time decision to park myself to the far right.  I have heard that this can work pretty well so I decided to find out.

Well, it worked out just fine.  I didn't have any company until I hit the first buoy.  I could see a big crowd to the left, but just swam right by everybody.  The swells were a little strange on the first leg, but manageable.  As with Red Hills, I pretty much used my old stroke for awhile until I started gasping for beath, realized my mistake, and then transitioned into my new stroke.  It felt slower, but did  agood job of lowering my heart rate.

First loop, something new -- we had to swim through two buoys at the turn.  I think they did this to get people off the beach.  Well, fine with me.  Do second leg, no problem.  As you can see, my swim time was good and I came out 2nd in my age group.  I swam at a good clip, so was happy. 

Transition -- no sand spurs.

Bike -- this was the interesting part.  My plan was to just hammer the whole time -- really put myself outside of my comfort zone and see what I could do.  And see how it affected my run.  I kinda did that, but not as much as expected.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81035465  Here is how it went down.  I was alone coming out of T1, crusing down 98 along the beach before turning on overstreet.  I didn't put my garmin on during transition, so it was slung around one of my aero bars, so I couldn't really see my hr or cadence. 

Once I turned on Overstreet, I was chicked twice.  Damnit.  Oh well, I let them go.  Then a funny thing happened... I caught them.  They were constantly passing each other and I wound up in the mix.  Turns out none of us could drop the others.  When we were pacelining (i.e., following each other at a legal distance), we were able to recover our hr and then felt like we were going too slow, so kept passing the leader.  After awhile, we came up on a guy, I was at the back and the two girls were up front.  The guy jumped on behind the girls and started drafting.  Literally drafting.  So the girls started drafting each other as well.  I just followed at the back of the bus -- and kept it legal distance.  Kicker is the group in front of me were so big that I was at a legal distance yet getting a huge aero benefit.  My hr dropped 8-10 beats and we even got faster.  The group caught up with 3 other guys, and they jumped in, so we had a pack of 6 people, with me trailing along behind at a legal distance.  We were making good time.  The turnaround was at 12.5 miles, and we didn't see the leader until mile 10.  Didn't see the next rider for a loong time. Then, there were three guys in close company, but not drafting.  So the group I was trainling was tied for 4th, and I was in say, 10th place. 

It was fun watching the group try to manage the turnaround.  I was hoping they would fall over, but they didn't.  On the way back, we saw riders coming the other way (still heading to the turnaround).  They were glaring at the pack.  I could literally see their heads/helmets turn and glare at the group.  I just looked at them and shrugged.  I was legal, couldn't help the group. 

Anyway, as the ride progressed I came to the conclusion that I needed to bust this pack up.  I mean, I am not a strong runner and didn't trust my ability to hang with the group on the run.  So with about 10 miles left in the ride, I dropped the hammer and blew by the peleton like they were sitting still.  Hoped that they would break up chasing after me.  I think it worked some, but I never looked back, just hammered away.  On the bridge going over one of the girls, "gator-girl" I called her, passed me climbing the bridge.  On the downhill, I passed her and didn't see her for the rest of the bike.  I think maybe she was drafting behind me.  One of the fun things about Beach Blast is that it is 4 races in one, sprint/oly tri, and sprint/oly du.  The sprint and oly bike course is mostly the same (sprint turns around sooner).  So on the way back, the oly riders join up with the sprint riders.  So you have a little motivation to keep speed up to the very end.  I enjoy seeing the sprint riders up ahead of me and chasing after them.  I like to call out words of encouragement as I pass them.  And I like to blow by them.

I wish I knew the identity of the riders, b/c it would be neat to see if I put any time on them in the ride.  One good thing about the ride... my ride was 1st in my age group.  So i was 2nd in the swim, and 1st in the bike...  well, the run was a different story (as expected). 

T2 went by quickly as ususal.  Got out on the run and I could tell it was going to be a long day.  I think I went out a little hard, so I tried to do the same as red hills - -just relax and let the run come to me.  However, that is kind of hard to do because... as I mentioned earlier... it is 4 races in one.  So all the sprint racers who only have to run a 5k, rather than 10k, haul ass past me.  It sucks to watch them blow by me.  Anyway, my run went as follows:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81035452  I didn't have the juice to push so I just focused on keeping moving.  And unlike Red Hills, I stopped and walked ever water station.  Sip or two of heed, hammer gel, and 2 cups of water over my head and shoulders.  The race goes through a neighborhood, then back to 98, then jumps off and parallels a side-road to 98 for a long time.  Good news is plenty of water.  Bad news is no shade and no breeze.  Just you and the pavement.

As is common with my runs, I did not pass any olympic runners.  But all the oly racers I passed or where ahead of on the bike, passed me on the run.  Maybe 15 or so people passed me -- the group I was riding behind, and some others.  Matt Scaringe, another GWTC member in my age group, passed me on the way out.  The other guy in my age group -- turns out to be said douche-bag, passed me with about 1.5 miles to the finish.  It sucked that he passed me, but we shared a mutual acknowledgement of respect, and all hard-feelings were laid to rest.

The last water stop was the turn-around for the sprint racers, so I was finally able to pass some runners for a change.  It felt great.  My spirits and momentum really pick up.  I call out words of encouragement to the other runners, and feel an obligation to run strong... sortof to show them that they too can pick it up.  Toward the finish, a guy and girl were wondering how much farther, I told them 1/2 mile, and pointed out that they turn at the white sign and have about 200 m to go.  And speaking of that, we were close so it was time to lay it all out and go.  Picked it up the last half-mile or so to the finish.  Nobody was around me at the finish, so i was happy about that b/c I don't think I could have sprinted (but was running strong).

All in all I was happy with my race.  I went into it with no tapering at all, and deliberately wanted to push hard on the swim and bike to make my run a stress test of sorts.  Mission accompished in that regard.  I knew I was not really ready to race a 10k, and would suck anyway, so I wanted to see how I would respond to the run going into it spent.  Looking at my splits and hr was interesting, times got slower and hr went higher.  If I am going to do long distance racing, I am going to have to get my hr to stay lower -- that means  more running and lose more weight.  (In that regard, I have been at 195.6 for several days now -- a victory of sorts -- and this Sun am after the race -- 195.6!)  After Red Hills, I gained 3 lbs. so I am happy.

Looking back at it:

Swim -- I need to stay focused on my technique.  Probably 1/2 the race was with my old stroke -- using arms to pull too much rather than use hips as leverage -- and the remainder with my newer stroke.  It was a stroke of genius to stay to the far inside off the start.  That probably shaved minutes off my time.

Bike -- I suprised myself with being able to push at 168-170 hr, 90 cadence and hold that pace.  Gives me a huge boost of confidence.  While I enjoyed following the peleton, and it did keep my hr lower, I need to forget about that kind of stuff for these shorter races.  I have the ability to hammer, and need to do so.  I hate to say it, but right now my strengths are the swim and bike, and I need to take full advantage of that.

Run -- I need to lose weight and run more.  Simple enough.  Focus on running with glutes/hammies.  The race did give me some confidence about grinding out miles in the sun, which I desperately need to have.  I wilt in the sun, but I think that goes back to the first sentence in this paragraph.

Today -- Sunday -- I am a touch sore (more than Red Hills), but not bad at all.  Feels like I had a good workout yesterday.  So I know my body is getting stronger.  I am so much stronger -- physically and mentally -- than last year.  I know I can push my body, and my body will respond.  Love that feeling, and what a boost of confidence.  I can't wait until I get to where I want to be, 175-180, and see how I do then.

Next up -- either Gulf Coast 70.3 or North Florirda Olympic Triathlon.  As of right now, I plan on doing Gulf Coast.  I know my run will suck and that I am not ready for a 1/2 marathon, especially in the sun/heat of Panama City Beach.  I risk injury, and that concerns me.  But more importantly, I feel like I passed my litmus test for Beach Blast Olympic and need to do Gulf Coast as a measuring stick for Ironman Augusta 70.3 in September and Ironman Florida in November.  My plan is to do the swim and bike within race parameters for a 70.3, and then feel the run out.  I am not going to push the run; rather, just want to finish the run.  Hell I will walk the run if need to.  If I start feeling an injury coming on -- I will just DNF myself. 

So there you go.  Another race report in the books.  Like I said - if I find pix of myself for BB, I will edit this and include them.