why (ironman training so far)

Why (are you doing an ironman)? With true interest or questioning my sanity, I always find myself a bit dumbfounded by the question. Images from my childhood rush through my mind, the many times that I stood in front of my parents after doing something (bad) posed with the same question -- why. Oh I just wanted to see how electricity works. It’s just a small fire. It’s so amazing that the radio can pull music from the air. Don’t you want to see what’s inside? With an ironman, isn’t it obvious? It’s for the sexy body of course. I don’t get why everyone wouldn’t do it.

Although with only three weeks left I question my own sanity trying to attempt it. If you've been following, I’ve crashed a couple of times right at the beginning of the year, which put my bike racing season in the rough (Senior Open was just here in Sahalee). I pushed through it and made my basic race goals. Though, it wasn’t a stellar year. With roughly 10 weeks after bike racing, I switched over to triathlon training. Well I felt like a fish out of water, a three legged cheetah, a featherless peacock -- you get the idea. I felt awkward ramping up in the run and especially the swim (where I wanted to be a fish in water). Then I got sick for a week and a half. I restarted again. Two and half weeks of solid training and threw down my best half-iron distance race at 5:09 and podium at the same time. It was a practice race so I can work out the kinks. Well I had a lot of kinks to work out. By the end of the race both of my feet were raw and bloody and severe chafing in other places. It took me at least a week to heal enough to train again in any of the events. That puts me at the here and now and why I still question my chances of finishing. I can’t run.

I’ve always had problems with my knees and any down time from running resets me to step one. I start off with three, then seven, then eleven miles (yes, I only run Fibonacci numbers), which takes a week or more to ramp up for each of these stages. Usually after a short hiatus from training I can still ramp-up quickly, but this time my knees are failing me. So with only two weeks of training and three before the race, I still am struggling with the run with a lot of knee pain. Can I get through this in the next couple of weeks? Sadly, beyond the risk of not being able to complete my first ironman, I know for a fact that a three-legged cheetah would still be faster than me.

So with only a few weeks left to go, I ask myself why? The answer is because I can (and I want a sexy body).

the return (mutual of enumclaw stage race)

Enumclaw I’ve come to believe means rain and cold in the native language of the first bike racers, but for 15 years folks continue to come back to this well ran race. After crashing a couple of years ago here during the criterium on a wet course where half the field crashed out, I’m finally back. The threat of rain loomed all day the first day, but only forced it’s presence on the field starting with the men’s cat 3 crit.

This was my last planned bike race of the year. It was probably the most fun I had in a race. Although, waking up on the second day of the race, the sky unleashed its anger -- cold and wet. The goal was to complete the hilly race. With a group of guys who came off the back we worked together to make that goal possible. It felt good, even with frozen fingers and extreme shakes afterwards.

MoE was one of SCCA/Starbucks team race and we were 20 strong with some great results. Below is a video montage of the first day and the start of the cat 3 criterium.

stays the same (wenatchee omnium)

Wenatchee is an epic hill race and every year I look forward to the road race. It has a twelve mile climb and a descent that reminds me of the ones in the Pyrenees during the Tour. If you are one of the lucky (or unlucky) few you get to do it multiple times. This year the course was changed and the hill climb was shortened by half, leaving the hardest part of the climb to be done multiple times. The more things change, the more it stays the same. Some fun suffering. It was awesome.

As promised, some cat 3 crit action, where Wes timed it perfect for a top ten finish.

to sprint or not to sprint (tour de dung 2010/sequim one)

As we were getting lined up for the masters race start, rain crested the mountains behind us looking to chase us down during the race. Although it sprinkled a few drops to keep us cool during the hard efforts--it kept dry. As the day progressed, the wind got a bit stronger, making the crosswinds amazing to navigate.

Unlikely last week, where I beat myself the day before with a TT and a long run, this week I had a day off before this race. No excuses not to be a bit more competitive. The race was very interesting as we had to go neutral for another race field for part of the 3rd and 4th loop, which meant it was going to be mass sprint finish. I had decided not to sprint as we enter the last turn into the final 1k as people were already acting crazy trying to get position. With 200m left to go, I had a whole lane to myself as no one wanted to get into the wind, which was extremely blustery. So I decided to accelerate and made good ground which was surprising. So in the end, I decided to sprint for the fun of it. :)

SCCA/Starbucks team had a huge day racing with a podium dominating day. See the photos and interview in the video below.

no sleep, no flight (ice breaker tt 2010)

What can I say? Great team showing for the first two races of the year--flashing the green, black, and white. Often just a blur as there are so many strong folks on the team.

It’s been a rough start for me. I swear I saw a turtle pass me at Ice Breaker. I’ve been messing with my fit after getting a new seat post (78/80 degree), I’ve slept no more than 4hrs before each race, and tried to minimize riding my TT bike (outside) to twice in the last 6 months. Although, I like making things as hard as I can, I think I’ve been beaten this time.

For Ice Breaker, I remembered to start the Garmin 500 (forgot to do that in Frost Bite) and I have the data. I might regret that, as my AP was only 216. That's what I normally do for a 4 hr ride. Wow, that’s terrible. The last time I did a 20 minute test on this course, I did 270 AP. Well, I guess there’s always next time.

On the bright side, the team has been great! Check out the video, a photo montage and a video of Bart hammering off the line. Warning: middle age man undressing.

it's not the shoes (hardware upgrade)

I remember the Mars Blackmon commercial about "it's not the shoes" that made Michael Jordon great. But we still all wanted the shoes in the hopes that they would make us great. Getting my bike gear ready for this racing season reminded me of those old commercials and I hope the upgrades to the gear will make me better. It's certainly a motivator to workout harder.

Oh I can’t wait to test out the Wheelbuilder aero disc covers this weekend at the first TT of the season. Bring it on!!!

another bruising day of training (second crash of the year)

Biking is a dangerous sport, but when you add anxious drivers, rain, and wet railroad tracks it's makes for my second crash of the year.  This is not a trend I want to continue.  Surprising no drivers even bother asking me if I was OK after I went down.  They all just drove on after forcing me off the road.

I need to figure out what I'm going to do about my bike, which suffered more damage this time around, so I can get back on the road.

You can hear me talk about it in my video blog.