Team Mt. AndDewMe B2B Full Relay!!

Well, here is my recap of the relay.

Miles 1-15: Steady as she goes.  Watts are in range, temperature is great, wind is noticeable yet not strong, Bob is way out of sight and consequently out of mind.

Miles 16-50: Settling into pace as get caught by Felt-Guy, S5 kid, Peter Kotland.  Form a "group" of sorts.  Pace yo-yos a bit.  Two of those guys commit many drafting violations and neither were (ever) penalized.  We catch Mark Carey, S5 kid slams into a cone on interstate and goes down 20 yards in front of me; I narrowly avoid him. Finish up with 421 and turn off into the country.

Miles 51-70: Turn left onto small road and into a headwind for a while.  I go to the front as I seem to be the only one willing to hold a steady pace.  Maybe it's because me and S5 kid (who had caught back up, much to my surprise and relief, I felt incredibly guilty after he crashed for riding onwards; it's not like I was "racing" and I should've stopped to make sure he was ok) were the only ones riding with powermeters, but everyone else was very surge-tastic.  I felt good through this section but it was here where I ran out of calories.  Like an idiot, I had told myself "It's only a 4ish hour ride..." But then I thought to myself: "IT'S A FOUR PLUS HOUR RIDE AT 24ish MPH YOU MORON!!! WTF WERE YOU THINKING?!" Due to the long spacing between aid stations, I didn't grab anything other than water because I wasn't thinking about bonking.  

Miles 71-90: Finally at mile 90 I grabbed something, but it was too late at this point.  I was done.  I had made feeble attempts at sustaining watts and we had basically caught Patrick at this point but he (and everyone else still in the group), Peter and S5 subsequently rode away from me.  The pace had dropped Mark and Felt-Guy.  At mile 90ish aid station I was stopped and grabbing clif bars and pretzels when Felt Guy caught back up to me.  He also then proceeded to ride away from me.

Miles 91-112: The longest 21 miles EVER! The stretch coming back in on the highway was absolutely miserable.  Seriously.  I was glad to be done when transition finally arrived.  I was sad to have performed so (relatively) poorly compared to my expectations (and perceived abilities?) but ultimately this relay was just for run. 

112 miles in ~4:56 

The winning team of studs went 8:14 and change, which is amazing.  I'm happy with our team's performance though because it was composed of three friends who could all have done the race themselves and come in near the top of the field.  Triathletes are versatile.  I dig it.  The end result was 9:20 or so with Behme stoically running a 3:3X.  Having not run much recently, it was pretty darn impressive.  This was the result:

Rev3 SC Recap

I signed up for Rev3 SC a month or so ago, knowing that it would be the start of a tough 4 weeks of racing. I had heard nothing but good things about the Rev3 series and wanted to see for myself what was up with all the hype...

Judging from reports on last year's race, this course would be tough.  Hillier than Augusta (which has the "toughest" bike course I've done yet in a half; admittedly that is not saying much at all) and a hilly run (nothing but ups and downs according to last year's racers).  I knew my training had been going well and saw no reason why I shouldn't be able to have a good race.  I knew going in that in the Pro field this would be an entirely different race.  I expected (but hoped to not be) to race by myself most of the way and I was not off on this thought...

On Saturday morning I drove to the Whitewater Center to meet up with the weekend's crew, Jeff Wise (president of everything at WWC), Chris Smith (doing his 3rd triathlon), and Mike Selle (old but with a courageously epic hairstyle).  As an aside, the WWC is an amazing facility.  Everytime I go there I wonder why I don't go there more often.  Seriously.  On Saturday the weather was absolutely PERFECT in Charlotte so the center had tons of visitors.  There had been a running race that morning, a dog race, and some form of adventure/obstacle race.  There was also some sort of "build your own boat then race it down the competition channel competition.  Someone had made a "boat" out of giant plastic "kegs" painted like PBR cans.  Awesome.  There are now 22 miles of trails for running and mountain biking (and walking).  New obstacle course, new ropes course additions, etc.

The competition channel.  It is fierce.  Especially in a rodeo boat

The "holding pond."  To the left of the picture are the huge pumps that make the whole thing work.

We all loaded our bikes and gear onto Jeff's car and proceeded to become a driving advertisement for the Whitewater Center.  I'm definitely ok with that.

 The drive to the race site was quick and easy (not quite 2.5hrs from the Center) and packet pickup and bike dropoff were also very easy.

Swim start, transition is through the trees on the left

Race night was pretty normal and we all woke up on Sunday morning (mostly) excited to race.  It would be the first half I've done since B2B/Augusta and I hoped that it would be a better race than both of those, since they both sucked.

Swim - 26:42

Can you see me? 

It's hard to describe the way it feels to be lined up next to some of the guys at this race.  It's a very interesting experiment in self-deprecation to be lumped in as part of a group with them.  When I was picking up my timing chip the guy asked what # I was to which I responded "number 14 please'' and his response was "Oh you're one of those fast guys!" I wish.  So to line up next to a former world champion, multiple Ironman winners, many 70.3 wins winners, etc was a bit surreal.  I am in no way at the same (or close) level to those guys.  I mean, somebody's gotta be at the back of the pack, right?!

On that note, I lined up at the back near the swim start and at the sound of the horn ran in and jumped in the water.  It was cold, but didn't feel like the advertised temperature of 67.5 degrees.  The water was churned up quite nicely through the first 100-200m before I lost close contact with the main "pack." I just focused on not going out too hard as I didn't want to induce any anxiety issues this early in a 4.5hr race.  I felt smooth and comfortable and at about halfway I latched onto a guy and ended up swimming most of the swim behind him.  One of us swam quite crookedly though, so that got a bit annoying towards the end.  I typically swim pretty straight, so I'm not pointing the finger at myself...

With about 200-300m to go the lead female caught us (and maybe there was another one) and ended up coming out of the water ahead.  I exited the water and saw the clock reading "26:40" so I was both pleased with that time but a little sad that such a time had resulted in a multiple minute deficit.  The main group of guys was about 3.5 minutes up already.

T1 - 1:34

I was pretty efficient through T1, didn't lose anything meaningful here.

Bike - 2:29:49

I knew this course was hilly, but I completely underestimated what that would do to my time on the bike.  I had a watt goal and so rode at that the whole way.  I came out onto the bike with a couple of the girls and another two guys.  I passed the girls and knew the guys would probably ride away from me up the hills.  'Twas true.  My plan for this ride was simply to hit the watts I'd been given and let the chips fall where they may.  If I ended up rolling up some peeps towards the end who got tired, that'd be cool.  If I didn't, that'd be cool too.  After a while Malaiko Homo caught me and we ended up riding "together" for a while.  The stagger rule was used at this race so it's tough to get any legal draft effect from a fellow racer.  After a while (40 miles or so), this got pretty boring so I decided to drop her.  Actually, I ended up just riding away as I continued to hold watts whereas she fell off.  (also, I realize the semi-ridiculousness of me talking about racing/riding with one of the pro females but you've gotta take the victories where you can!) My only real thoughts on this ride were:

1) Dang, this is kinda tough.
2) This pavement sucks
3) What are all these bumps in the road??
4) Lotta farms out here
5) Watts
6) A little drizzle, how nice!
7) I'm ready to get off this bike
8) What the HELL roads?!
9) That little town was cool
10) There musta been 100 turns on that bike course, and 90 of them were in a 1 mile section. (exaggeration, but the point remains...)

I was a bit surprised by how quickly the dismount line appeared as I guess I was unaware of where I was so I was not very smooth off the bike.

T2 - 1:06

I also got lost going into transition.  The pro's bikes were blocked off by a barrier that "blended" with the transition barrier so I was disoriented and subsequently looked like an idiot.  A bunch of people were lined up against the racks by the pro area so that was kinda cool.

Run - 1:24:06

I headed out on the run feeling fairly good and consequently my first several miles were pretty fast.  There isn't much to say about the run.  It was constantly up or down, sometimes the pavement was a bit rough, and there were a TON of people out on the course.  There was both an olympic race (1 loop of out/back) and a half (2 loops of out/back) going on at the same time so it was very crowded.  The aid stations were very well volunteered and I never had any problems getting what I wanted.  Although, what I really wanted was to be 20 minutes up the road! But you can't always get what you want...

I held pace fairly well from miles 4-9 but slowed a bit the last 5k+.  My legs were getting pretty tired and I felt the nagging closeness of some potential cramping problems and I was just ready to be done.  I crossed the line, DFL for male pros but ahead of the chicks! Yessss...

Eventually, I discovered that 2 age groupers beat me, one by a lot (4:10) and the other by not as much (4:23).  I can't complain.  I raced by myself, they had people around.  These things happen.

Overall - 4:23:16 (16th Pro, 18th OA)

I'm a little sad that my time was slow, but I'm happy at how much I've improved over the past couple of years.  I had a fast swim, good bike (most watts I've held for a half-iron) on a hilly course, and a fast run on a hilly course (actually the fastest run I've had with a full swim/bike/run).  I know that a 2:29 is in no way representative of my abilities as a cyclist, but only time will tell whether or not that's true...

Another bonus to the weekend was despite me being there, I was awarded 3rd place overall in the Inside Out Sports North Carolina Series, behind Matt Wistoff and Doug Van Wie.  Both are stellar athletes and seems like swell dudes, so - despite wanting to be on top (obviously) - I'm content to have placed somewhat close to them.  With that came a sweet check and the knowledge that we'll go head to head again next year.

I have 5 days of light recovery and then it's a 112 mile TT at Beach 2 Battleship Full (relay).  I have no idea whether I'll feel good or not, but I'd like to ride somewhat fast if my legs allow me to do so.  GAME ON!

Race week!

S - 14,400 yards
B - 188.7 miles
R - 47.5 miles
Time - 19.64 hours

Not much to report this week.  I was pretty tired all week and Sunday involved a missed workout and 3-4 hours of sleeping in the afternoon.  It was both awesome and terrible at the same time.  Mixed feelings of guilt and refreshing-ness warred within my poor mind.

Big deal of the week is going to be Rev3 SC, which will be my second attempt at embarrassing myself in a professional field.  The race looks to be very competitive, the weather looks to be chilly, and it will hopefully be a lot of awesome.  I don't really have any expectations other than to do my best.  That may sound cheesy and contrived but it's really true; I have NO idea what to expect from this race.

Am I fast? Yea, sure.  Have I trained more these past two years than most elite AGers and some pros?  Yea, probably.  Do I have a smart coach?  I think so, but he sure can talk yer ear off sometimes.  Is my equipment sufficient? I have the best wetsuit money can buy, one of the most aerodynamic bikes and positions out there, and my running shoes are just as good as anyone else's.  Am I smart? Mixed responses on that one.

Anyway, on paper I should do just fine.  No, I won't win (gasp!).  But I think I can duke it out with some of the back of the top 10-15 guys at the race.  I haven't raced a hilly half ever (Augusta doesn't count) and I haven't raced a half in very close to a year, so it'll be an interesting experience!

Consistency pays the bills

S - 15,100 yards
B - 194.8 miles
R - 47.5 miles

Time - 20.4 hours

This week was both good and bad.  Bad because I was a bad boy and skipped a workout on Saturday (3hr ride), but good because I only ended up missing out in ~2hrs or so of total volume.  This week has marked -mentally at least - the beginning of the end in terms of 2012 training.  It was, in effect, the second to last week of real working out before the three weeks of racing hits.

I'm just about out of anecdotes and stories (that aren't race reports) so I will keep this one short and simple.

Fake or natural; you be the judge...

S - 16,300 yards
B - 255.9 miles
R - 51.8 miles
Time - 23.89 hours

My favorite part of this week, other than doing a lot of GTWD, was my 15 minute change that affected my hydrodynamics, my aerodynamics, my weight, my homeostasis, and my looks.  This one change even costs under 20 bucks! What, you ask, is this amazing remedy to so many issues?  I got a haircut.  Boom.

I probably hadn't gotten a haircut in almost half a year.  To be honest, I'm not really sure when my last haircut was... It had gotten to the point where it looked like this (actually, it was much longer and more bad than that...)

Then, it got longer and even more blond(er?).  People kept asking if I had highlighted my hair but I swore that I had not...just a lot of playing outside and in the pool...

The haircut on Saturday made my afternoon.  It also made my Sunday workouts much easier.  I was cooler, I was more aero, I was lighter, I was faster, I was far better looking... Although not as good looking as Zac Efron :(

This is dedicated to the flip turn

Ahhh...triathletes.  They love so many things about their chosen sport(s).  Many love being a bike geek; buying up all the latest and greatest tech-y gear that costs and arm and a leg and serves no real purpose.  Like that uber-sweet carbon fiber laced bike sock that has meta-compression technologies and creates a perfect union with your tri shoe? Gotta have it.  Ceramic bearings in your bottom bracket? Gotta have 'em.

Triathletes are SO willing to equip themselves with gear to make their lives easier and to make them better cyclists.  The list could go on and on and on and on ad nausea.  Yet, so many are against the flip turn.

What is it about flip turns that make triathletes so scared and pathetic?  Is it because it takes a while to learn? Well, you learned to use clipless pedals on your road bike (making you a better, more efficient cyclist).  You learned to use aero bars (making you a better, more efficient cyclist).  You learned how to use EZ-laces for your race shoes (making you a better, more efficient transition-er and runner).  You learned how to do a flying dismount/mount (making you a better, more efficient transition-er).  You learned, or tried to learn, correct run form (which took a very long time and hopefully made you a better, more efficient runner).  You practiced the high elbow catch (making you a better, more efficient swimmer).  Yet, you refuse to learn the flip turn.

"But there are no flip turns in open water swimming!"

Please.  Come up with something better than that.  This is a pathetic excuse.  There are also no store stops in triathlon racing.  Yet you do it in training.  There's no drafting on the bike in racing.  But you all love to draft in training.  There are no pull buoys in racing, but you certainly are addicted to it like it was cocaine in training.  Gimme something better than that; it holds no water with me.

"What's the point, I'll just be a little bit faster in the pool; there's no translation to racing."

Waitwaitwait.  Did you say: "I'll just be faster in the pool?"  I didn't listen to the rest of that because this is the important part.  So, you'll be faster in the pool.  That SHOULD end the story right there, yet triathletes love to say the rest of that sentence over and over again.  To swim fast in the open water (racing), you (presumably) need to swim fast in training.  Don't use "I don't flip" as an excuse because I beat you by 5s in that 200yd interval.  Learn how to flip turn, keep up with me, and then you'll truly have discovered why swimming with friends is so awesome.

"I get water up my nose."

Exhale when you're upside down, idiot.

"It's taking too long to learn how to do it properly"

The ULTIMATE issue with triathletes is that they have NO patience.  There's always got to be a short cut for something.  Oh, you didn't get faster in the 3 weeks you did masters swimming?  Aww, too bad.  HTFU and do it for a year.  Wow, you didn't improve your FTP by 50% after 3 months of indoor computrainer classes?  Whoaaaaa that's crazy.  You mean those new shoes didn't cut 10s/mile off your half-ironman run time?! Jeez, that's too bad!

Endurance sports are great because they are an exercise in progressive overload, patience, and consistency. Everyone can get to a high level.  Everyone.  That is my strong belief.  It may take some longer than others, but if you have the PATIENCE you can do whatever you want.  The problem with that is the word patience.  It seems like so many triathletes have a 3-4 year life span.  They get to be pretty good, or they get to a point where the next step is going to take a while and then that's it, they're done.  I can think of countless examples of this locally.  Everything worth doing takes time.  I didn't start flip-turning until late 2010.  I was scared, it was tough, I felt like I was dying every time I came up for air off a wall.  I distinctly remember Scott and I doing one of his training swims for Louisville that year at the Aquatic Center (set up LCM).  It was to be a 4000 continuous swim (shoot me).  My goal was simply to swim in his draft as long as possible.  We flip-turned the first 5-10 turns and that was it.  Open turns the rest of the way.  Eventually we both mustered up the courage to truly learn the proper flip turn and we are consequently both better swimmers because of that. It took time, it took feeling very silly (like pushing off after a flip and ending up at the bottom of the pool, or in the adjacent lane, or like a breaching whale), it took committing to sucking at something for a while.

Ultimately, if you're willing to do all the things cyclists do to become a better rider; you're willing to go through all sorts of weird stuff to become a better runner; why not approach swimming the same way? To be good, swim with and like the swimmers, bike with and like the bikers, and run with and like the runners.  Not hard.

The Bank of HTFU

S - 15,000 yards

B - 261 miles
R - 37 miles
Time - 22.43 hours

This week started off with a fabulous day of driving.  The BEST part (yes, the BEST) about driving from NOLA/Gulf Shores to Charlotte is the fact that, through no fault of my own, I alwaysALWAYS lose an hour.  Seriously, what have I ever done to deserve such mistreatment? Unfortunately that fact is incontrovertible and is as certain as gravity.  Well, gravity doesn't exist when I'm running really fast, but that's besides the point.  My Monday consistent almost entirely of driving.  Somebody did indeed have a case of the Mondays.

The week quickly became a nice normal one, however, with my only "recovery" from the race last weekend coming in the form of two runs normally on my schedule which magically disappeared this week!  Unfortunately, this stupendous gift from above (/Brian Stover) did not hold true any more the rest of the week, as real work got started quickly.

Notable workouts include Tuesday's traditional Inside Out Slugfest, in which I did a lot more slugging than festing.  Wednesday had one of the best "track" workouts I've completed all year.  I say "track" because while it is scheduled like a "track workout" would be, I generally do it on the roads.  I have my freedom park loop that I really like and it provides a very honest course.  A track might be faster and a bit more predictable, but I have to get pretty jacked up to do well on one of those.  Sunday's ride was one of (if not THE) toughest rides I've ever seen on my schedule.  If completed properly, it would've contained 2 hours and 40 minutes at 3.7-4.2 watts/kg.  That's a lot of watts/kg.  I had a very good ride, but definitely cracked a little bit towards the end of the third (of four) intervals.

I really wish there was a bonk rock on this route.  I didn't BONK, per se...  I cracked.  I faltered.  I gave in.  I submitted.  I made a deposit of straight cash at the Bank of HTFU but it wasn't enough to prevent my last overdraft.

Enough of this bandying about with words.  This ride was great for my confidence.  At least, the confidence that I can still wring myself dry.  Time to really put the head down and bang out some solid weeks.  As seems to be the norm, when I got my next 2 week schedule today I had to shake my head a little bit at some of the workouts.  It is going to be amazing.  Amazingly debilitating.