Monday, August 29, 2011

A Funk of Major Proportions!

The Triathlon Gods are against me!   What have I got to do to get my training back on track?

So after last weeks "high stress" days of long work hours and preparing for Hurricane Irene (which, thankfully, spared our property at the coast - we dodged a bullet!) I was very keen to get back into a training rhythm and see whether some rest had done me some good.......    apparently not!

I went for scheduled short easy run this morning (only 30 mins) and it felt like running in concrete - I just had nothing in the tank.   Not only that, but something "tweaked" on the outside of my left ankle at one point.  I stopped and shook it out; walked for a minute and then resumed without feeling it any more.  However....   this afternoon I feel it twinge every time I start to walk after having sat for a while.  I'm hoping it is nothing...
I was also scheduled for a 3,000 yard swim session today.  Our local (outdoor) pool is now only opening at 4 pm weekdays as the season starts to wind down.   It has been a beautiful day here, so I was actually looking forward to it.  I duly got myself ready to leave (the pool is only about five minutes away) and was headed to my car when out of nowhere... KA-BOOM!  An enormous clap of thunder, followed by several more.   I beat a hasty retreat to check the local radar and, sure enough, a huge dark red storm was taking aim at our house.  Three hours later, as I type this, thunder is still crashing and lightning flashing - no swimming for me!  The storm was actually pretty epic, including some pretty large hail.  While most was pea sized, there were a few significantly bigger ice chunks - perhaps even quarter sized. 


Everything was going so well and suddenly it's all going "pear shaped"!  Add in some less than stellar sleep patterns recently and all of the travel coming up in the comiing weeks and I'm not feeling all that optimistic!

This is getting out of control and very frustrating!  Time to HTFU and get back on the horse (ankle allowing!)

I've Fallen and I can't Get Up!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Just Because....

It has been a pretty stressful week....

Worrying about what Hurricane Irene will do to our property on the Outer Banks
Crazy busy and long hours at work
Two heavily "over scheduled" daughters on their first full week back at school
Generally keeping house and home together

....and, not being able to keep up with the training schedule prescribed by The Puppeteer!

For the first time ever this week I had to call "no mas" and ask Stacey if I could take a short break.  Of course she was completely cool about it (and it may actually have helped her as the poor thing is going in for foot surgery today!) but for a while I was kind of mad at myself.

Once I settled down a bit I realised that it's not a disaster and that it may actually be good to give my legs a rest for a while, but there must be some truth in that thing about endorphin addiction, because this morning I could stand it no longer and had to get out for a short run.

It was actually nice to get out there "just because" with no prescribed distance or pace or intervals.   Just run...     I did wear my Garmin, but I turned it upside down on my wrist and didn't look at it once.  I did a little under four miles at a pretty slow pace, but I don't care.   I waved to a couple of neighbors; listened to the birds singing; ran on grass as much as I could and chased a couple of squirrels.  

It's amazing what slowing down, smelling a few roses and taking even a short run can do for you.   Life really isn't so very bad....  

Just Because...

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

A Perfect Storm (and no, it's not Irene!)

Ugh!   A very frustrating week so far with respect to my training schedule....    work seems to be getting in the way of life!

Of course I shouldn't complain - I'm gainfully employed and it's an exciting time for our company, but I seem to have hit a "perfect storm" this week and am having to put in some very long hours, including early morning and late night conference calls with Europe and Asia.   The net result?   My training has fallen apart and I have had to declare "no mas" and ask The Puppeteer for a pass this week.  First time this has happened and I'm frustrated!  Outer Banks Tri is coming-up in early September but I'm just going to have to accept that I'll be going in "sub optimal" (that is, of course, if there are any Outer Banks left after Hurricane Irene does her things - another source of stress as we have property down there!).

Things aren't going to get any easier between now and the end of September as I have work travel plans scheduled for, wait for it....

New Jersey (twice)
Massachusetts (twice)
Virginia
Southern California
South Korea
UK

during that period!   The only positive that I can take out of it is that tri season will be over for me after the Outer Banks event and I will be moving to a run focus in preparation for the OBX Half Marathon in November and at least running straightforward when you are "on the road" compared to bike and swim!

Go away Irene!



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Yikes!

I went for a six mile run this morning and am pretty sure that my heart rate jumped quite a bit at just under two miles when I (almost literally) ran into this guy lying in the middle of the road.....

SSsssssssssstart runing!

Yes, a BIG copperhead!   Just as a disclaimer, this isn't the actual snake I came across - the picture is downloaded from the internet - but it's a pretty good representation of the size.   I've seen quite a few smaller copperheads since I have lived here in central NC, but this is the first time I have come across a big one.  I would guess that it was pushing three feet and pretty wide.

Gave me quite a start!   I gave it a wide berth and kept running - it was a bit disconcerting when it turned its head to watch me go by!  When I looked back it was still lying in the road - I hope no one ran it over - a magnificent animal!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Cruisin' with The Snitch

The Snitch and family have been visiting us on the Outer Banks and The Puppeteer had us scheduled for a long ride together.  We decided to head south from Nags Head to Oregon Inlet before deciding whether to take on the traffic on the Bonner Bridge and heading further south onto Hatteras Island.

One of the few "hills" on the Outer Banks....
Traffic was light and we cruised down to Oregon Inlet averaging 20 mph plus with a slight north westerly tail wind.

The Snitch at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center
After stopping for a quick drink we decided to "go for it" and head further south over the bridge.   Traffic remained light and our primary obstacles were a few dead seagulls and, for some strange reason, numerous baseball caps at the side of the road!   The bridge is a couple of miles long and we enjoyed a spectacular view from the top.
If you squnint you can see The Snitch!
The wind continued to be slightly at our backs and we decided to make it a 50 miler and continue down the Cape Hatteras National Seashore across Pea Island and as far as Rodanthe (of Richard Gere movie fame) before turning for home. 

Wide open roads....

Tried to use my phone to snap a picture of The Snitch behind me as we were riding.   First attempt wasn't too accurate.....
Nice sky though.....
Ahhh, that's better......

.....and one from behind just to prove that The Snitch did "pull" occasionally   :-)  .....


Once in Rodanthe we stopped for a drink at a gas station  before heading north again.



Holy Cow!    What a difference on the return leg!   The wind had strengthened and shifted so that it was coming from roughly due north - right into our faces!    After comfortably cruising south we now had to really work coming home again and were struggling to hold 14 mph at times.   The smoke from the Stumpy Point fire didn't help but we eventually made the return crossing of the bridge and pushed our way back to Nags Head.  Another 50 miler in the books!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Race Report - Lake Logan Triathlon

Lake Logan is nestled in the mountains in the Pisgah National Forest (near Canton, NC and about 20 miles west of Asheville) and is the site of an annual "multisport festival" that features an International distance race on Saturday and sprint triathlon on Sunday.

Last weekend I was signed-up for the sprint event on the Sunday morning, so after my open water swim clinic on Saturday (see previous post) I headed west on I40 towards the mountains.  The long ride was pretty uneventful until I reached Asheville, when the heavens opened for a while!


I headed to Waynesville, where I was to stay the night and meet up with The Snitch and family for dinner (the Snitch had raced the International Tri that morning and, as usual, done so extremely well, finishing second in her age group).  The Waynesville Inn  http://www.thewaynesvilleinn.com/  is a small golf resort that offered special rates for the multisport weekend and so was the chosen location for the Saturday night stay.    After checking-in and finding everyone else, we enjoyed sitting outside to eat dinner (ribs!) on a beautiful Saturday evening while entertaining ourselves by critiquing the tattoos sported by the bridesmaids and guests at a wedding that was taking place!

After an early night and equally early alarm call I headed out in the dark to the race site.  I had called in to drive the bike course on the way to the hotel the previous evening, so I had no problem finding the right place.

This race was about as short as they come for a sprint triathlon:   a 500M open water swim in...  you guessed it....  Lake Logan; a 20K bike course that basically weaves up the valley and back down again and a 5K run that is also "out and back" going uphill first and then returning.

After picking-ip my timing chip and going to body marking (number 77 this time) I set-up my transition area and took my bike for a spin once it was light enough for later arriving triathletes to see me on the road.   This was followed by a short warm-up run and some time spent checking out the swim start and finish areas.


Swim course.   Start was off the jetty on the left, then out and back on a rectangular course, finishing under the road bridge in a small river to the right of where this picture was taken from.

Transition area starting to fill-up

Swim:    13:38.  Age group rank:  5th

Far from perfect, but I can feel some improvement.   I was in the third start wave (all men 40 plus - silver caps) and positioned myself "middle and outside".  The water temp. was 73 degrees F and, therefore, wetsuit legal.  In common with most others I opted to wear mine, but the water really didn't feel all that cold.  I probably made a few seconds by wearing it and then lost them again taking it off again in T1 - probably net neutral.   Once the gun went off I found some good water and a nice freestyle stroke on the outward leg.   I drafted on someone's right hip for a while before passing him and making the first turn.  I kept the freestyle going for the short second leg before rounding the giant orange buoy to return for home.   So far, so good.  On the way back towards the bridge I felt my freestyle getting sloppy and alternated breast stroke and freestyle.   The finish required "hauling out" onto a wooden platform and a relatively long run to the timing mat and transition area.  There were two guys on the platform assisting everyone with getting out of the water.  Normally under USAT rules all outside assistance is banned, so I asked the guys if it was legal before he helped yank me out!

Overall by no means fast, but "better" than some recent efforts.

T1.   01:15

No problems in the first transition.  Wetsuit came off easily.  Opted to put socks on after rubbing my heels at the Triangle Tri.  There was another relatively long run with the bike to the mounting point, but again, no problems.  Shoes were left clipped to pedals and I had no issues with running or mounting.

Bike:  45:22   Age group rank: 5th.

Interesting meadering course alongside the lake and then up the valley and back on two roughly parallel roads.  A little more "bike handling" required than in some races, which made it fun.   Despite the fact that it was, on average, uphill on the way out and down hill on the way back, there were some hills in both directions that required good attention to gearing.   I feel that I did good job of staying down on the aerobars to reduce drag and handling the hills.  Despite having driven the course before, there was one particular hill on the return leg that seemed to surprise everyone and required some good effort!  At this point I passed two guys who had "slipped their chains" - presumably because they had been riding "in the big ring" and had to make hasty and clumsy changes to tackle the hill.

Overall I would rank my bike leg as "good".   I feel that I put in a solid effort, but again lost some significant time against the fastest guys in my age group.

T2:    Again uneventful.

Run:   28:45.    Age group rank:   6th.

Ugh!   This wasn't great.   I should be in the 24 minute range, but my legs just didn't seem to have it.   Worked very hard to keep a high run cadence and felt pretty good cardiovascularly, but just couldn't seem to get moving.  This was a strange race as I hardly overtook or was overtaken by anyone.  A few of the top lady finishers passed me and, with about half a mile to go, a guy in my age group blew past me.  I tried to chase him, but there was no way - he was fast! (I was puzzled at how someone that speedy could have been behind me after the swim and bike).

At the end of the Triangle Tri I was absolutely spent, but this time I felt relatively fresh cardiovascularly but just had nothing in my legs - strange.

Overall:   01:29:40.    Age group rank:  6th (that darned run!)
                                 Overall rank:  42nd

Not particularly pleased with this, but a good learning experience.   Again roughly equally good/bad (depending on how you want to look at it) in all disciplines vs. my competition and, as usual, several guys in the 50-54 age group smoked it and finished with very high overall placing.    Interestingly my time would have placed me ~6th in every male age group except 20-24, which I would have placed first in!

Looking kind of geeky in my new Triangle Multisport kit.....

Looking kind of grumpy after the race!



Friday, August 12, 2011

Open Water Clinic - Omens and Portents......

Last Saturday morning I was booked to attend an open water swim clinic hosted by Marty and Bri Gaal of One Step Beyond Coaching  http://www.osbmultisport.com/.

The clinic was to be held at Jordan Lake (just SW of Raleigh) and scheduled to start at 08:15 am.   I set my alarm early as I intended to travel directly from the clinic to the mountains of North Carolina for the Lake Logan Sprint Triathlon which I was racing the following day and I needed to make sure that I had all my gear; the bike on the car and so on.

As it turns out there was absolutely no need to set the alarm as I was woken with a start at around 05:00 am by an enormous crash of thunder.  It was still pretty dark out but I was soon looking out of the window at rain coming down in Biblical proportions and enjoying a huge light show.....



Given my well documented struggles with my swim recently I wondered whether this was on omen?   Were the Mud Gods of Jordan Lake sending a message?  I certainly didn't fancy going swimming in a lake with millions of volts pulsing through the air! 

A quick check of the Doppler radar showed that an enormous storm was passing over Wake County, but it looked as if it should have moved through by the time the clinic was due to start, so I had a good breakfast and packed the car before heading out for the clinic.

As I was driving down highway 540 the rain was coming down in sheets and traffic was reduced to, perhaps, 20 mph.   There were vehicles all over the shoulder and central median which had slid off the road including, rather disturbingly, an emergency services SUV that was on its side!   This didn't look good at all!

Thankfully, by the time I reached the Ebenezer Church Recreation Area entrance to Jordan Lake things had calmed down considerably.   I quickly found Marty and Bri and enjoyed a chat while waiting for my fellow students to arrive.  There were only five of us and we were soon setting-up our chairs for the opening lecture.  Plans were soon derailed, however, as apparently we set-up right on top of a wasp nest and we were soon being buzzed by yellow jackets - surely another bad sign?  

Get away from our house!

After moving out of the way of the wasps, we had the opening lecture.  Marty provided all sorts of tips and insight into the nuances of open water swimming, including starts, finishes, turns, drafting and so on.   

Marty in full flow
It was now time to head down to the beach where the practical swim work usually takes place.   I was feeling pretty good now.  The rain had stopped; there was no sign of lightning; the wasps were abating and the clinic was rolling along....    but wait!    What's this?.......


The whole beach and the trees behind were absolutely covered in, quite literally, hundreds of turkey vultures!  Living in the Piedmont of North Carolina you quickly grow accustomed to groups of "turkey buzzards", as the locals call them, but I have never seen a huge congregation like this before. Surely they must be feeding on the rotting remains of the last group to try swimming in Jordan Lake?    Actually no, they were just drying off after the storm, but we decided not to bother them and moved a little further up the shore.   The vultures were actually very cool, but cooler still was a beautiful bald eagle that was also sitting in the trees watching our every move while drying off.

What are you guys doing at my lake?

From here on there were no more omens or portents and I very much enjoyed the clinic.   As there were only five of us we got more "wet time" than usual and some nice individual attention from Marty and Bri.  The sun even came out!   I won't bore you with the details of the lessons and drills, but I picked-up some great tips that I will be trying to put into practice over the coming months.



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Lake Logan Tri This Weekend.....

.....and I'm going to rock it!

Will be making the long drive up to Canton, NC (in the mountains, west of Asheville) after my open water swim clinic on Saturday.  Lake Logan sprint event is on Sunday morning.  Looks like a nice spot!


Hundreds of people participated in the Lake Logan International Triathlon at the Lake Logan Episcopal Center in Canton early Saturday morning. The race, which is set at an international distance, started with a 1,500 meter swim in Lake Logan followed by a 40K bike race and ended with a 10K run. 8/7/10 - Erin Brethauer (ebrethau@citizen-times.com)
Hundreds of people participated in the Lake Logan International Triathlon at the Lake Logan Episcopal Center in Canton early Saturday morning. The race, which is set at an international distance, started with a 1,500 meter swim in Lake Logan followed by a 40K bike race and ended with a 10K run. 8/7/10 - Erin Brethauer (ebrethau@citizen-times.com)