Oh, no problem...

Naturally, as most of you have followed lately I have had some ups and downs. Concussion followed by lack of training, then a 109 mile cycling event, recover with running 23 miles in two days, then a bit of a relapse mentally and now to top it all off, a marathon this weekend.

It's a life.

It's also the strangest month of training before a marathon I've ever done. The good thing is that deep down, I know I own this distance. I have the base for it. Also I have no pressure and no expectations. I am running with John my training partner and Ironman, and his brother Dan who is also an Ironman who just finished Florida after getting a diagnosis of cancer this year.

John has never 'run' a marathon, though is an Ironman. He got off the bike and left T2 with his massive brain (he's a genius) knowing that if he averaged 17 minute miles he would finish before midnight. And he did. Also with the best attitude during the marathon of anyone else I knew that day.

So we are running the Tucson marathon this weekend. Slooooooooowly. I am the rabbit. My rabbit like pace? About 12:30 per mile. Which for a stand alone mary, is a bit slower than my normal pace, but in perspective, I averaged only modestly faster at IMFL.

Which is why I am really not struggling mentally with this event. The one thing an Ironman does is provide clarity to endurance. When your the slowest swimmer in your group but realize you still beat the IM cut off by fifty minutes, thats okay. When I saw that even with a viral infection in my lungs I still finished the IM bike averaging like 13 mph, I am really not afraid of riding a century as a stand alone event.

I consider running my strongest event, not from speed but from knowledge and base. Yes a sub 4:30 marathon is great and about my normal Z2 training pace. But I did 5:30 at IMFL. But I have also run a 3:29 in the Army.

I look forward to this weekend. Running is fun. Running with Friends...funner.

Forget the straps, wheres my head?

I still have not found any of the three missing Polar HR straps that I was looking for the other day. The good news is that as a formerly sponsored athlete by Polar, I was going through that gear and found a brand new HR strap tucked into one of the watch boxes. Horrah!!!!

Still down three, but now up one. Go figure.

Yesterday started as a good day. Schedule was just one meeting and some follow ups. Had food. Had fluids. By early evening I was driving in a daze, unaware of where I was or how to get home. What happened???

I started to get a headache around mid day, while still in the meeting, pretty much the same debilitating ones I got with my concussion a few weeks back. I started to blink repeatably again. But I then drove to my next appointment and remember finishing that up and leaving about 4:30pm thinking I had to fill up my gas tank.

Next thing I know I have a low gas tank alarm go off and its over an hour later. The headache is worse than ever. But what did I do while I was driving around? I have no clue.

I called Mistress and gave her a heads up. For 20 minutes I drove around looking for an on-ramp to the freeway and ended up driving up to one of my clubs. The distance from where I was at 4:30 and where I ended up at 6:15 is about 8 miles of driving in an area I am normally very familiar with. But based on my gas tank I must have driven around 35 miles.

So I filled up with gas and went into the club and sat down for a while talking to employees. After about an hour, some soda and sugar and lots of advil, I drove home pretty wiped out.

I can only guess that my actions for that time I was driving was much like a sleepwalker. I obviously didn't have any drama to push me out of whatever state I was in, but I certainly didn't have the wherewithal to just pull over or recognize where I was at.

Strange....

Straps

It's a question I have asked myself a hundred times in the last three days.

"How can I lose three Polar heart rate straps?"

How indeed....

Tear the house apart. Check.
Tear the garage apart. Check.
Tear the car apart. Check.

Well, whereever I find a strap(s) it will be the last place I check.

It's Official....two dates in Tempe

Second Ford Ironman Race for Arizona in 2008

TEMPE, AZ - North America Sports is pleased to announce the addition of a second Ford Ironman Arizona Race to their 2008 event schedule. The city of Tempe and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community will again partner with NA Sports to host a Ford Ironman Arizona event on November 23, 2008.

The fall event will become the permanent date for this event going forward to 2009 and beyond. This change has been in the planning stages for some time, some of the reasons for the change include avoiding the gusty winds and hot weather that have challenged athletes in the first three years of the race and scheduling issues with all parties involved.

“Tempe is excited to partner with North America Sports, and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community to make Ironman Triathlon History. Two Ironman Arizona races in one year - 2008 will be an amazing year for our events!” said Travis Dray, Dept. Director of Parks and Rec, for the City of Tempe, and Ford Ironman Arizona finisher.

North America Sports will be holding events on both dates in 2008 to get the fall fixture into the race and community calendars. The event will also allow them to offer the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship qualifying slots, which without this second event would be lost to the athletes on the racing schedule for the 2009 qualifying year. This date will also allow northern athletes, who have found the early date a training challenge, a chance to compete in this great event.

Race Director for both Tempe events, Paul Huddle stated, “The transition of the Ford Ironman Arizona to November is a testament to the commitment of all parties involved to the long term success of the event, in finding it a permanent ‘home’ in the calendar of all involved. Hosting two Ironman events in a year, is a big undertaking, and the enthusiasm of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and the City of Tempe is huge vote of confidence.”

The April 2008 Ford Ironman Arizona event is sold out and general entry for the November 2008 will open, through the race site, www.ironmanarizona.com on Monday November 26th at 9 am PST/ 12 noon ET. It is expected that there will be strong demand for the entry spots to the race and that it will fill quickly. To obtain further information about the event or to volunteer, please go to the race website.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody

I can sincerely say that my life is healthier and more fulfilled with you in my life. Thank you for stopping by and reading about my battle with Common Man Syndrome on a regular basis. I appreciate all your comments and concerns and as most of you know, I try to respond to every comment.

You have made my Thanksgiving Day a day of humble remembrance of so many things but mostly for being with me in this thing called life. I wish I could sit down and eat with every single one of you today, but know that all of you will be in my thoughts as I eat with my family.

Swimmingly

Had a great swim yesterday. I worked off a speed set workout and was quite surprised that the T-Pace that I established almost four months ago (2:06 per 100 yds) is no longer applicable.

While I was consistently swimming 1:53 x 100yds yesterday, I have moved my T-Pace to 2:00 to ensure that I don't rush my strokes. At 2:00 per 100 yds. that puts me at 85 minutes per Iron-swim which is under my 90 minute deadline. With several months to go, I am hoping I can continue to improve and drop time.

Today I celebrate that my fastest 100 yard pool swim is 10% faster than earlier this year. Today I celebrate that I have lowered my T-Pace by 5% for training.

To celebrate I will run 8 miles today. Turns out in ten days I have a marathon to run and haven't run since my head injury two weeks ago. Oops. If everything goes well today then I will run 16 miles on Friday. I have never tapered for a marathon this way and certainly don't recommend it. But I have a big base in my running and this is another supported training run, not mentally a race for me which takes some of the pressure off.

Happy Thanksgiving! I give thanks to all of you who have meant so much to me this year.

Race Report #1 2008: El Tour de Tucson Ride

This first event of the season was not so much a race as a me being a rabbit for a good friend in a 109 mile charity ride. I figured it was a good shakedown for me to start the new season. As it turned out between Mistress catching a cold, supporting friends for the Soma 1/2 Ironman and my concussion, I lost about 250 miles of riding in three weeks and went from being highly prepared to just wanting to keep myself an honest rabbit, finishing one wheel ahead of my friend.

It was to be miserably cold on race morning and as my father, godfather, Doug and myself exited our hotel for a meal the night before the ride and I had two things on my mind; my splitting concussion headache and find a cheap sweatshirt to wear while waiting for the start. (I should have learned from Ironman Florida, be prepared for morning chill with a throwaway top.) I was surprised that just sitting in the back of the vehicle as we drove around that I was being assaulted visually, my eyes still impaired from my latest head injury. We all retired to our room later that night with full bellies and me with a $9 XL green sweatshirt courtesy of Walgreens.

Race morning found Doug and I at the start line 2 hours ahead of time. As a charity ride the waves are set up for projected finish times and when one chute becomes to full they force you back with slower riders. We ended up being seeded right behind the quicker riders boxed out of the faster group ahead.

As we started, I mentally defaulted to riding without draft, after a couple miles I realized I could draft and picked up amazing time and speed, covering the first quarter of the course around 19 mph. Well above our projection.

There are two areas where cyclists must dismount and portage their bike across dry sandy rivers. During the first such carry at mile 8, my speedplay cleat became damaged and it took ten minutes for me to reclip into my pedals. For the remainder of the event it was a constant challenge to take my foot off the bike without wrenching my ankle. Unfortunately this foreshadowed a similar fate to my left cleat during the next portage around 50 miles and then I simply tried to not get off the bike at all.

Doug and I did very well staying together up until the point of the second portage. My only lag with him was when my HR watch showed full memory one hour in and I had to delete some files before restarting, one of the many times I wished my aero bars were attached. He picked up a good draft and I needed to bust out to catch up.

After the second portage rolling hills came into play and I found I could attack them quite well. Doug kept a reasonable pace, as we had been told the hills in the later section were not to be trifled with. He found easy company along the way so we adapted our strategy so that I would time trial the five to seven miles between aid stations and wait for him then repeat. This we continued to do, with me waiting about ten minutes at each station until mile 72 where I again had plenty of time to refill my bottles, empty my bladder and nibble on food until Doug arrived.

We were told at this point with 37 miles left that the course was essentially played out and there would be no more hills. I looked at the watch and then at Doug. I felt really good after 72 miles. Strong. I wanted to beat 7 hours of course time and had less than 90 minutes to do it. We talked, shook hands and parted ways.

Doug had made an interesting point earlier in our ride. People were afraid of speed. They dawdled along at slow speeds and low cadence. Our drafts, while helpful to conserve energy, slowed us down considerably. This is not a race. It is not a time trail from T1 to T2. Its a charity ride with 10,000 cyclists. It blew my mind that they didn't stand on the road and hand out bottles of water. You had to stop at basically a party and the uber-gracious and genial volunteers filled you up by pitchers. There was not energy/calorie drink handed out. A very laid back race. So when I parted ways with Doug with 37 miles left, I really wanted to fly.

And I flew.

The next hour I covered 27 miles. I reached speeds, without drafting, of 31, 32 miles per hour. I hit 36 mph as my fastest speed. It is the greatest hour of cycling (and without aero bars) I have ever had. And I loved every minute of it.

At mile 74, just past our parting, the last group of cyclists entered the course for their 35 mile ride. There were several distances one could ride, 109 miles the longest, 35 the shortest. At this point I was doing around 30 mph and passing people doing half that speed. One cyclist came up to me and asked me about the color of my bib, I didn't get it at the time, but people in the shortest ride had blue bibs and people in my wave had white. All I got from him was that he was impressed I was riding that fast that far into my event.

I would sometimes grab onto a draft line, as my HR was hitting around 181, this allowed me to drop HR and still keep a decent speed. Then I would bust out in a flurry of high cadence and blow past the line.

During one such time that I was moving off the line, around 28 mph. I was passing people and a van was approaching from ahead. A cyclist looked over his shoulder at me and yelled, "car" but I didn't need to slow, I kept my speed high to pass once the van moved by. The cyclist looked back at me again and yelled, "Car...dude your wheels are so loud I thought you were a car!" I smiled and blew by. That was cool.

I ended up being stuck at a couple of lights, the police by now were doing their best to keep traffic stops to a minimum and was resigned that my fantastic hour of cycling was not going to put me under the 7 hour course time. So I slowed down and just tried to keep all the systems running smoothly.

It was difficult to unclip either foot and the wrenching action of my ankle did not allow me to be gentle with my legs. I cramped pretty hard at a couple of the intersections waiting to be waived through.

Another cyclist approached me and said the biggest, most awesome statement I have ever got in endurance racing. He obviously had seen the M-Dot tattoo on my calf and said, "Did you do the Ironman." I replied, "Yeah." His response was, "You're one bad motherfucker...that's a compliment."

I finished the course around 7:15, I didn't delete enough memory from my watch, which kept showing 'Full Memory', so stopped looking at it with 9 miles to go. My bike computer ride time is just over 6 hours. That shows how much time was spent at aid stations hanging out. Doug finished about a half hour later with a big smile and full of pride. He did great. I am so happy he was able to coax me into this ride as my first of the new season. It had been on my radar for years and it did not disappoint.

Several minutes after finishing I definitely felt I could run, but was glad I didn't have to. Instead I had a couple beers, a couple cokes and a medal around a neck; reward for a good day of training.