Throwin' a brick

Yesterday I did a brick workout, and I've concluded the following: my biking sucks ass. It sucked ass last year too, but I didn't really work all that hard last year, so I had pretty low expectations. This past winter was the first time I really made any kind of effort with off-season training. It's the first winter I even used the word "training" to describe what I was doing. I have shown some improvement in swimming and running. At the aquathon in San Diego I swam my longest event yet, at 1000m. My pace ended up being 2:05/100m -- this is not going to win me any medals, but it's about a 10% improvement over my longest swim last year, which was 750m and a 2:19/100m pace (I had a 2:09/100m pace in a 375m race, but that's pretty damn short, so I'm not really counting it). As for running, I took 3 minutes off my 5k time and almost 6 minutes off my 10k time -- also somewhere around a 10% improvement. Again, my paces are not setting world records, but I'm very happy that the work is paying off in the form of lower times and faster paces. And then there is the bike. I stink. STINK. How much do I stink? People drive by me in their cars and say, "What is that smell? Oh, that guy is riding his bike. Wow, he stinks." I didn't realize the magnitude of the stinkbomb I was laying until I rode outside a few times. Now, I haven't had any races on the bike yet so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I'm just not feeling like I've made any improvement at all. In an effort to make myself feel better, I wondered if I should have taken more recovery time from the half marathon on Sunday. I had my usual Monday off, but was back to two workouts on Tuesday. Seems like a flimsy excuse, though. Last night, it seemed like the slightest breeze or the smallest hill made my speed plummet. And I remember the exact same thing happening last year. Safe to say I'm at a bit of a low point right now, and suddenly I'm not looking forward to Victoria's Duathlon this Monday. I think that any goals I have made as far as bike splits or overall race times for this summer will have to be adjusted. I don't even want to think about the 70.3 in September. Bad times.

Half-marathon race report

Well, it's over. My first half marathon has come and gone. Mother's day every year is the Forest City Road Races here in lovely London. It's actually quite the well-organized day, and there is something for everyone with a 2.5k, 5k, 10k, and both half and full marathons all taking place. Race time was 8:00 this morning, so for me that meant waking up at 5:30 -- there's only about 15 minutes of travel time to get there, but I wanted enough time to get a bunch of calories into me before the start of the race. So up at 5:30, and about 10 minutes later I was busy eating. It was supposed to be around 10 degrees (about 50F for any of my American friends who might read this), so I had already made the call to wear a t-shirt and shorts. I tend to get quite warm during races, so I thought I might be able to take advantage of the cool weather. Because it was relatively cool, I also decided to ditch the Fuel Belt I've been training with. I figured with aid stations about every 3k, I'd be fine. I ended up having no problem with drinking... except, of course, for the whole spilling half of it on my shirt thing every time I tried to take a drink. Bad times. But, by the final aid station I had it mastered. Only took almost the whole race. I had estimated (more like hoped) for a time of 1:55:00. When my 10k time of 51:35 was plugged into the Runworks calculator based on Daniel's formula, it gave me an estimated time of 1:54:22, so I had rounded it up to the next minute in an attempt at figuring out what pace I should run. My original goal was to be under 2 hours. I broke the race down into four separate 5k "races," plus a 1.1k charge to the finish. As it turns out, my ability to keep a pace seems to suck a little. At the 5k, 10, and 15k marks, I was under my pace by a couple of minutes. I kept thinking I should be slowing down, that I wouldn't have anything left for the final few km... and I was right! From the 16k mark to just before km #19 we began a long trek up a hill into the wind, and suddenly I didn't have to worry about slowing down anymore. In fact, I slowed down so much I thought I was in danger of missing my 2 hour mark. Not the end of the world, to be sure, but when you set a goal for yourself in an unknown situation, it's very nice to come through in the end. I was experiencing pain in my left knee at this point, too, and I could tell I was limping to compensate. Things were momentarily grim. Just after the 19k mark (and my successful drinking at the final aid station) the course joined up with the final 2k of the 10k race, which had started one hour after the half-mary. So suddenly the road was packed with runners. Pain decreasing... pace increasing... time to go! I managed to pick it up for the final km and passed a bunch of people, and crossed the line with a chip time of 1:56:47, for a pace of about 5:32/km (about 8:54/mile). I was one minute, 47 seconds off my estimated time, but I'm not disappointed at all. Overall a good day, and I'm happy to finally have a half marathon under my belt. Here's what I learned:

• With enough Bodyglide, even you can have regular, un-sore nipples after the race!
• I don't need as much water/sports drink when it's cooler (makes sense, I guess).
• Wind and hills really have a negative effect on me late in a long race.
• My pacing needs work... I have to learn to slow down early to go faster late.
• Although I'm improving, I need to continue to practice keeping my shoulders relaxed during a run. I think this really helps in the long haul.

Next up -- Victoria's Duathlon (4k, 25k, 4k) on May 19. Looking forward to beating last year's time by more than just a little.

San Diego rocks

Well, the San Diego trip is over and I'm back at work... which sucks, obviously. The vacation was great, though, and I have to say that if I ever had to move to the U.S. and I was given a choice, southern California would rank pretty high on my list. On Sunday the 27th I took part in race #1 of the Playa del Run aquathlon series... 1000m swim followed by a 5k run. Before the start, we all stood on the beach and had a moment of silence for David Martin, who was tragically killed by a shark attack in the area two days before. Some people got a little emotional, including me... I can't imagine what it was like for those who were swimming with him at the time and pulled him from the water in an attempt to save his life. During pre-race instructions, the race director announced that anyone was welcome to come up and say a few words about Dave (obviously I didn't know him, but people around me called him Dave, and it feels right. It's not meant to be disrespectful). No one opted to speak at the microphone, but during the moment of silence someone called out, "You're with us right now, Dave!"... and well... let's just say that suddenly it got a little dusty in my immediate area, causing my eyes to water a little. Shit, I'm getting emotional right now just thinking about it. That's one (of the many) reasons I love the world of triathlon... it's like we have our own little community, yet it spreads across countries and continents, and there's always room for more. And when we lose someone who shared our love for the sport, we all feel the loss - whether we personally knew them or not. As for the race... I've never run immediately after swimming before, and I was more tired than I thought I'd be. My original plan was to swim as hard as I could, then just kind of hang on for the run. I wanted to get a good idea of whether or not my swimming had improved over the winter. Here's what I learned:

• For a heterosexual male, I can get pretty emotional.
• I'm still a slow swimmer, although I have made improvements (this swim was 2:05/100m... previous best was 2:19/100m in a 750m race).
• With a wetsuit swim that long, Bodyglide should be your good friend... I didn't use enough on my armpit area and my neck. This made for some painful moments during the run.
• I'm still a little intimidated at the start of the swim... again, better than last year, but improvement needed. I think it has to do with knowing I'm a mid-pack swimmer at best, and I don't want to impede the progress of anyone else.
• Cold water (it was in the low 60's, while the air temp was mid 80's) really seems to take my breath away.
• It's not fun to swallow salt water.

Other than the race, I took it relatively easy during the week... two runs and one swim (it's tough to get up at 6:00am when you're on vacation!). The area we stayed at was very jogger-friendly, with plenty of sidewalks and pathways.

Next race is this weekend... the Mother's day half-marathon in my town. First time racing that distance and right now the long-range forecast calls for rain that day... should be interesting, to say the least.