Run with Eric:
road

I've posted some photos from some recent rides.

Starting the climb up San Elijo Road in San Marcos, CA.

This next pic was taken while descending Champagne Road/Old 395, just east of I-15 in east San Diego County. I was going about 35 mph. Not that smart..I was trying to get the speed reading on the Garmin and the road ahead in the shot... didn't work out though.

At the base of the climb up Old Castle Road near Valley Center, CA which is inland north county San Diego.

Yesterday, I wrapped a nice 4 week training block. I only have training log data since 2005 but I am pretty sure that it is the biggest 4 weeks of training I've done since I started triathlon. That's even counting back in 1997-1998 when I did two Ironman races. I was not a big volume guy then (and am not now), so for me this is somewhat uncharted territory.

some stats:
swim - 14,650m, 4:20
bike - 523 miles, 29:01
run - 155 miles, 19:22
total time - 52:43 (13:10 avg. per week)

The good news is that I feel pretty fresh. There have been a few workouts where I feel flat and tired, but those are typically followed by sessions where things are firing on all cylinders and I feel very strong. I'm way ahead of where I was last year at this stage so I'm excited about that.

There is lots of work yet to be done, but I'm allowing myself to dream a little bit.

Do you think, after such sports-related injuries as tennis elbow, runner's knee and PlayStation thumb making their way into medical parlance, we will soon be talking about people suffering from selectors' headache?

If so, Geoff Miller and his cohorts must have been fighting over the Paracetamol yesterday, when they met to decide upon a final 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia (here it is, by the way). They probably weren't helped by the utterly insane run chase undertaken by Peter Trego and Somerset. Even though the 13-man squad can be changed for future matches, it can't have been an easy decision.

It can't have been easy, for example, to leave Steve Harmison out of the side. He bowled superbly for the England Lions in Australia's warm-up game, hurrying the batsmen with his pace and bounce and exposing some real flaws in the famously unorthodox technique of opener Phillip Hughes, dismissing him twice for seven and eight respectively. He bowled brilliantly, just as we all knew he could, but in the effective shootout between Harmison and Durham team mate Graham Onions, who also bowled well, Onions got the nod.

Ricky Ponting spoke out against Harmison's omission, but perhaps oversold him a touch. "He bowls at over 90mph," said Ponting, "and with his height, it's a pretty handy package." The thing is, though, Harmison doesn't bowl at over 90mph - not any more. And when he's not at his best, he's at risk of looking tame.

The 13-man squad is, as Aggers has smartly noticed, a balanced one, with flexibility allowing different selections depending on the conditions. If it's overcast, Onions will take the ball alongside Broad, Flintoff and Jimmy Anderson, with Graeme Swann likely to be the lone spinner, but given Sophia Gardens' - sorry, the Swalec Stadium's - aptitude for spin, it's likely that England will field two spinners, and in the thankful absence of the not-yet-ready Adil Rashid, they will be Swann and Panesar.

The question, of course, is whether Panesar has the nouse to spin out Australia's batsmen. He hasn't developed as well as we would have hoped in the last couple of years, and still sends down stock delivery after stock delivery, like some sort of gravy salesman. Until he learns the importance of variation, he's not going to pose the sort of threat he should.

Australia have a much bigger problem. Their only specialist spinner, Nathan Hauritz, has been very out of touch, and it looks increasingly possible they won't even pick him for the Swalec Stadium Test.

This is surely unthinkable.

The pitch won't just take spin - it will positively demand it. It's no coincidence Glamorgan were fined two points for a "poor" pitch that took too much turn (which naturally didn't help the controversy over the pitch's selection for the first Test). Quite simply, Australia need a specialist spinner, and Hauritz is the only one they have. Michael Clarke and Marcus North are both good quality part-time spinners, but they won't be bowling to take wickets, and I certainly can't see them taking five-fors.

They have to pick Hauritz despite his downturn in form. That's all they can do. Australia's dearth of spinners is good news for England though, especially with the rejuvenated Swann - who, by the way, I have been backing for an international call-up for at least ten years - being the leading Test wicket taker this year. It's enough to make you think Glamorgan's spinfest was picked for reasons other than money.

Maybe not.

Howl - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club [2005]

Where the hell did this come from?

After two albums with good singles but on the whole worthy of the description 'not bad', a pretty decent but by no means special rock band suddenly delved deep into their hearts, found their inner blues, which I don't think anyone thought existed in them, and pulled out a bloody stunner of a record. As I said: where the hell did this come from?

The title says it all. Howl is raw to the core. It's a cry of justice, injustice and misery. It's, well, a howl.

I'm born and weary but life's just begun
And I've run from the reasons and roamed to the gun
They say I'm the killer and thy will be done
And the doors won't be open when I finally become
And I've seen the battle and I've seen the war
And the life out here is the life I've been sold

It could be said there's a lack of invested feeling in observant third-person ballads such as Restless Sinner - though I don't agree; it's a brilliant song with wonderful guitar work - but that never hurt Dylan, and if it's personal emotion you want, look no further than Fault Line. With copious amounts of harmonica, that most underrated of instruments, and a refrain of "Racing with the rising tide to my father's door", it's really quite moving.

But it's not all one-paced: Shuffle Your Feet, all handclaps and bottleneck guitar, and Ain't No Easy Way, one of the few indie singles of late to feature an instrumental mouth organ chorus, raise the tempo and are both absolute stompers in their own right. They provide a perfectly judged antidote to the bittersweet laments of the rest of the album's noose-fearing gospel.

It is, quite literally given their previous guitar anthem dreams, an incredible modern blues album.

And yet no one else seems to think so. From the universally acclaimed Since I Left You yesterday to the largely deplored Howl today, it's a bit of a fall. But I don't care.

This is gem of an album. What a shame that as soon as they could, BRMC went back to their old rocky road. But at least we are left with this - Howl.

No Spotify link because Spotify doesn't have this album. It's all on YouTube, though - give it a listen.

If you're married and trying to pursue this crazy sport of triathlon, you better have a supportive spouse. And that hold doubly true if you have kids.

Some things that I've learned, through trial and error mostly. A lesser woman would have changed the locks on me, but fortunately for me, my wife, Kelly, cuts me way more slack than I deserve.

Here we go:

1. Spectating at a race is nearly as tiring as actually competing in it. I've been on the other side of the ropes, as it were, on a number of occasions. As an athlete, your mind is occupied with your race, trying to get yourself prepared for a good performance. As a spectator, 50% of your mental energy is spent trying to send good vibes to your loved one, 25% is spent thinking how much you'd rather be in bed and the rest on where you can get some friggin' coffee. A coffee stand near the transition area would clean up!! Ok, so once you get the race area, you stand around, chat with other supporters a bit. And wait. And wait. And wait. And trying to figure out the exact moment when your athlete is going to flash by. How long did she think the swim would take? She started at 6:47 and 30 seconds, a 20 minute swim means she should go by at roughly 7:07 and oh crap, there she goes! Damn it, I didn't have the camera ready!

2. Spectating at a race while simultaneously watching two young kids is HARDER than racing. Seriously. The kids and I watched Kelly compete at the Danskin race at Disneyland recently. Between getting the kids packed up in a stroller while they are still completely asleep, making sure they have food and drink for the day, managing to get them both to go to the bathroom in a porta potty at the same time without disaster (can't leave one alone outside, ya know), prevent them from running out in front of speeding cyclists on the bike course, and calming them down after one of them drops a sippy cup in a lagoon. I was DYING for Kelly to finish just so I could get some help!! And that was a 2 hour race. How she does it for a 5+ hour event like a half-ironman, I honestly have no idea.

3. On a related note, no matter how exhausted you are when you cross the finish line, you better be ready to take over with the kids when you're done. Like I mentioned before, your finish line is your spouse's finish line as well. She (or he) is Finished taking care of the kids. Time to take off the race number and strap on the baby carrier. No complaining about how tired you are... get it?

4. Say goodbye to race expos. Yes, they are full of cool stuff to buy. We all have to procure those last minute items that every triathlete needs like Gu flasks, Co2 cartridges and Lacelocks. Do yourself a favor. Buy that stuff in advance. Get your race number and get out of there. Your spouse and your kids have no desire to be there... and are spending a whole day watching you tomorrow. Don't make 'em waste their day watching you pick out a new race number belt.

4. Race day is all about you, the athlete. And justifiably so, you've trained hard for your event, so come race morning, you deserve the ability to focus, prepare and enjoy your race experience. But, see #3 above. Once you're done, you're done. Save the talk about your next event for a few days down the road... the last thing your spouse wants to hear is more talk about your next heavy training block and another race.

5. So, do something fun for the family the day after, the week after, even the month after your big event. If you do Oceanside 70.3, take the kids to Legoland on Monday (Your legs will appreciate the walking). After Vineman, hit up the wineries and drink some old grape juice. After IM Hawaii, relax on the beach for a few days afterwards and let your spouse indulge in a spa day while you hang with the kids. Let the training and triathlon talk disappear for a while.

There is more to life than triathlon after all. Right?

Two Indian child actors who helped the film Slumdog Millionaire to its Oscar success have been relocated from slums to new houses in Mumbai.

Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali, who played the youngest versions of characters Salim and Latika in the film, had been living in the same slums as they were before being discovered by casting agents. Ismail's family home was recently demolished, forcing him to live under a tarpaulin on a busy road.

It has been suggested by critics that the move, paid for by the Mumbai government, represents a publicity-grabbing political manoeuvre months ahead of India’s general election, but Amarjit Singh Manhas, chairman of a Mumbai housing association, has said, "Since the children have made the nation proud, they must be given free houses."

My opinion? Yes, it is a publicity stunt. But who bloody cares, eh?

I was gutted to hear yesterday that erstwhile Britpop survivors (until now) Supergrass have decided to call it a day after 17 years. Busy as I was, it almost consumed my day - I listened to I Should Coco on the walk home from work and remembered how good a debut it was, and would have written this blog last night except I was PLUG a bit PLUG busy writing PLUG this one first.

There's not really much for me to say, either, except that their departure from the scene is a great shame. It's true their star faded a while back - most people I've spoken to thought they'd split years ago - but they kept making good music that was, above all, great fun. Even their deliberately downbeat Road To Rouen had a wonderful sense of mischief about it. Indeed, though they released a considerably happier album a few years later, Road To Rouen was really their finale. It even ended with a song called Fin.

But it was good to know they were still around. And now they're not. All we can do is listen to their lasting classic, In It For The Money - surely the best name for a follow-up album ever, not to mention its opening song and chorus - and remember the good times.

I was going to put a Spotify playlist on here for anyone unacquainted with Gaz, Mick and Danny's (what names) particular brand of joyful guitar pop, but my friend's theory that a greatest hits collection is the best introduction works better for Supergrass than it does most bands. Supergrass Is 10 is an ace party album, if nothing else (and even if it does only have tracks from the first four of their six albums).

Supergrass Is 10: The Best of 94-04

Give it a go. And if you've heard it all before, psht - stick it on shuffle and remember the good times. If you don't like it, well, fine. But fewer bands created such a sense of fun as Supergrass, and for me, that's something music needs on occasion.

Anyway, times change and with a fond, lingering memory, we - fine, I - should move on. Ironically, perhaps, Supergrass put it best themselves way back in 1995, when they closed their debut album with these words:

Thanks to everyone for everything you've done
But now it's time to go
You know it's hard
We've had some fun
But now the moment's come
It's time to go

Who could ask for more?
Who could ask for more?

A couple years ago, someone handed me a copy of the The Paleo Diet for Athletes, by Dr. Loren Cordain & Joe Friel. In the book's pages, the authors claimed that eating a diet closer to what our Paleolithic ancestors ate has amazing benefits. A diet that eliminates grains, dairy products and legumes and replaces them with an increased intake of animal proteins and healthy fats, along with plenty of vegetables and fruit results in improved body composition, more energy, superior athletic performance, reduced illness and reduction in the risk factors for the modern long-term illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

Ever the cynic, after reading the book, I set it aside as another fad diet (Adkins, Zone, Hollywood, South Beach) that promised incredible results, yet failed to deliver. But several times over the last several months, I had conversations with friends and fellow athletes who embarked on this way of eating and reported results quite similar to what Dr. Cordain and Mr. Friel claimed. I began to do some research, discovering that Paleo and similar eating philosophies (Primal, PaNu) seems to have nearly universally positive results for those willing to embrace the change. Maybe there was something to this after all.

On March 1, I began my own Paleo journey, adhering to the following principles.

What I stopped eating (or ate a LOT less of)

Month 1:

• No grains (including breads and other baked goods, pasta, cereal, granola, oats, quinoa and rice)
• Minimal dairy (occassionally using some butter for cooking and a small amounts of cheeses like feta or in salads). No milk, no yogurt, no cream. Of course, no ice cream. Ouch.
• No legumes (including all beans, peanuts and soy products).
• Starchy carbohydrates: potatoes
• Refined sugar products: soft drinks (including things like packaged iced teas... ever read the nutrition label of an Arizona Iced Tea?), candy.

• Still no grains, except for the occasional cheat meal.
• Minimal dairy, but now have added full fat organic whole milk as an indulgence (maybe a glass a week) and whole cream in my coffee.
• Dramatically reduced legumes: I try to avoid peanuts, soy... will have some black beans on occasion.
• Starchy carbs (sweet potatoes, parsnips) only immediately before or after hard exercise sessions. I am still avoiding potatoes.

• Fundamentally, Paleo or Primal eating is about "real" food. Unprocessed, as close to the source as you can get. If it's a packaged food, the fewer ingredients the better. But ideally, this style of eating minimizes consumption of foods that come in boxes, cans or jars.
• Meat: beef, chicken, fish, pork. A quick aside about meat. It is pretty well-documented that there is wide variation in quality when it somes to the meat available at the grocery store. Most "factory" cows and chickens are fed a non-optimal diet of grains and soy. When possible, we purchase pasture-raised, organic or wild meat. In the case of beef, we acquired a 1/2 steer from a local supplier, so all our beef at home is grass-fed. We buy the best chicken available at the local groceries, but due to cost and availability this isn't always pastured or organic. Same goes with the fish; wild when possible, but sometimes we eat farm-raised.
• Eggs: Organic or pasture-raised when possible... but again, sometimes we are limited by what is on hand at the local Wal-mart or Kroger.
• Vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, various squashes, onions, mixed greens, leafy greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard), bell peppers... the list goes on. You get the idea, lots of veggies.
• Fruit: berries, mandarin oranges, apples, bananas.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds (and almond butter, milk), pecans, macadamia.

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs and fruit (apples, bananas) and on the weekend, bacon.
• Lunch: Big salad with greens, colorful veggies and chicken, tuna, beef and turkey. Basic oil and vinegar dressing or homemade vinaigrette.
• Dinner: Steak, chicken, fish, some cooked veggies and a green salad.
• Snacks: a handful of nuts, some trail mix, celery or apples with almond butter, baby carrots, sliced red bell peppers with some hummus. Will have a protein shake (with almond milk and some fruit) after a big workout.

• Daily calories: 1876
• I was somewhat surprised by how low this was. For reference, my Basal Metabolic Rate (daily calories burned at rest) is 1986.
• Carbs (g): 139 29.64% of total
• Here, Mark Sisson of MarksDailyApple.com talks about an ideal range of 50-100g per day for weight loss and 100-150g for maintenance, plus roughly 100g for each hour of training.
• Fat (g): 94.5 45.3% of total
• Nothing remarkable here... certainly more than the 44-78g range recommended by the Mayo Clinic, but not surprising considering all the nuts, avocado, healthy oils, and of course, a good amount of animal fat.
• Protein (g): 117.3 25.01% of total
• Way more than the FDA's 56g Recommended Daily Allowance (RDI), but quite close to the.7-1.0g per lb of lean body weight guideline recommended by many fitness trainers for those looking to increase lean muscle mass.
• Fiber (g): 24.69
• Depending on where you look, most experts recommend a fiber intake between 20-35g per day. I ended up well within this range... despite no grains. Amazing to think vegetables have fiber. Whooda thunk?

On April 1st, I upped the intensity of my training somewhat added in some longer cycling sessions, while continuing my strength training as well. Total volume came in just under 65 minutes avg per day (72% cycling/rowing/running, 28% strength training)

Weight change.
March 1: 209.6.
April 1: 193.6
May 1: 189.0

Very dramatic weight loss the first two weeks (about 12 lbs), since then it has slowed to about 1 lb per week.

Performance and strength gains are evident. A few data points:

One set standard pushup max:
March 1: 43, May 2: 78
TRX Low Row/Atomic Pushups (aka 40/40 challenge):
March 1: 18 pushups/26 low rows; April 29: 40 pushups/41 low rows

There was some initial impact on my endurance the first two weeks... my energy level crashed after about 20 minutes into any extended cardio workout. But this subsided and my energy levels and endurance improved and exceeded previous levels after this transition period. In fact, I set a new indoor rowing half marathon personal best on March 27 and my strength on my bike is improving every day.

Overall impressions on changing to this way of eating:

I'm not going to lie. The first couple of weeks, I was craving bread, rice and pasta... it was such a cornerstone of my meals that it seemed strange to have a meal without some starchy carb in it. But, now I am used to it and am perfectly satisfied with a plate full of veggies with some protein, whether its in the form of a big salad, or some cooked veggies and a nice portion of roasted chicken or steak.

Benefits:

• Improved body composition: I am losing body fat consistently, and thanks to a consistent exercise routine, building lean body mass and improving strength. What else can I ask for?
• Energy levels: More consistent throughout the day. No post-meal "food comas". No energy crash in the afternoon.
• Sleep: Generally improved, once I'm out, I am out until about 8-9 hours later.
• More consistant hunger patterns: I am rarely "starving". I eat three times per day... moderately sized meals, but I rarely find myself super hungry like before.

• Eating while out or traveling: paleo/low carb options can be hard to come by while eating out or on the road, particularly for breakfast. I am getting used to special ordering.
• Food preparation time: So many of the quick foods available are grain based, so it can be inconvenient to cook every meal. Grabbing a pizza on the way home from the kid's softball practice is no longer in the cards. Or if we do, I have to make my own meal while they eat pizza. Which begs the question, are my kids eating paleo? Yes and no, but that's the subject of another post.
• Cost: Protein is expensive. Carbs are cheap. Enough said.

People don't talk about it much, but you've been there. A injury puts you on the sideline for a few days, maybe longer. Those days turn into a week or two. Maybe three. And the discipline that you apply to your workout regimen also applies to your nutrition. But, when the workout regimen goes south so does the diet and the time off from injury not only results in lost fitness, but a few (more than a few?) extra pounds that makes the road to recovery that much longer.

Last week on a run, I pulled up lame with a strained calf muscle. I felt it starting to hurt about 3 miles into the session and at exactly 3.86 miles (gotta love my Garmin), a sharp pain and I was limping back to car. Fortunately it was only a mile walk back to the car.

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not frustrated. I am hugely frustrated. This is my third significant, activity-limiting injury, in the last 12 months. Getting old(er) sucks. Last spring, it was achilles tendonitis that had me abandon running for 8 months. In November, I strained a back muscle during an overly vigorous sprint effort on the Concept2. And now this.

For the twenty minute walk back to the car and most of the remaining day, I pondered what to do and how I could preserve the fitness gains I've made over the winter. Running is out for at least a couple weeks. Cycling too. Maybe rowing after a few days since there it's not weight-bearing. Ramp up my strength work. But how do I avoid the dreaded injury-related weight gain.

The Paleo diet had intrigued me for some time. Put simply, it focuses on lean meat, fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. No dairy. No grains. Granted, I am still learning what is "allowed" and what isn't, so I'm sure I'm eating some things that aren't strictly on the program. And I refuse to cook myself totally separate meals, so there will be some compromises as I prepare meals that both my family and I can eat.

So, on March 1, I decided to give it a try. It is the perfect time as it is never good to drastically change eating habits during a heavy training cycle and my current activity level is low due to the injury. I'm not going to journal every day, but thought I would share the first few days to provide a sense of how it's going.

Tuesday, March 1, Day 1 - Weight 209.6

Breakfast - coffee w/sugar (drinking it black is something I need to work up to), scrambled eggs, sliced apples
Lunch - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Snack - handful of almonds
Dinner - sauteed chicken thighs (in olive oil), steamed broccoli, green salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. The rest of the family had brown rice which I skipped.
Snack - 2 oranges

No exercise today. Feel pretty normal, actually. A little hungry at night, but not too bad.

Wednesday, March 2, Day 2 - Weight 204.8 (seriously)

Breakfast - Coffee w/sugar, apples with peanut butter (peanuts are not strictly Paleo, but I haven't had a chance to buy almond butter).
Snack - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Lunch - mixed green and spinach salad with sliced deli turkey, ham and homemade vinaigrette dressing
Snack - Muscle Milk protein drink
Dinner - Sauteed chicken breast (in olive oil), green peas, pinto beans (opps, not Paleo). Kids had rice as well.

Did an morning 10K (40:49) on the rowing machine. Felt more tired than usual, but that could be due to the fact that I haven't done an aerobic exercise in a week. Evening strength workout. Pushups, core plus 30 min of 30:30 circuits on TRX. Energy a little low today, but surprisingly no hunger pangs.

Another update in a few days.

As you can see from the image to the left (taken in my front yard), winter has hit like a hammer here in West Virginia. The first week of December has been marked with near-record lows, single digit windchill and copious amounts of the fluffy white stuff falling from the sky.

My kids aren't complaining, we had the first two snow days of the year already. More to come I am certain.
What that means from a fitness perspective is lots of time will be spent on my indoor rower, my bike trainer and working out on the TRX and in the gym. The only difference is the addition of a space heater in my garage... the low temps mean that it's only getting into the 30's in my workout space. It is kind of strange putting on layers to workout indoors.
Progress on Project 640 has hit a speed bump. I slipped on the ice on the steps of our patio a couple weeks ago, managing to land squarely on the rear part of my ribs, right where my ribs meet my spine on the left side. The resulting bruise and muscle strain has kept me off my Concept2, but I've been trying to compensate by adding in some tough workouts on the bike trainer. I am optimistic that I will back to where I was within a week or so. A while back on Twitter, I broadcast my intention to get over the million meter threshold for the season my year-end. As of this morning, I am at 853K, so that is still within reach, if I can manage just shy of 10K a day. Not easy, but doable. More on that to come.
Aside from my rowing goals, things are starting to percolate for next year... a couple events have caught my eye, the Cheat Mountain Challenge in August, a 105-mile ride with 10,000 feet of climbing including a climb up to Snowshoe Resort. The route has numerous 11-15% pitches. Tough to say the least. Another is a 100-mile mountain bike ride, the Mountain State 100 in May. As for running or triathlons, I'm holding off until the first of the year to see how my Achilles is doing. But the competitive itch is starting... I need to find a way to scratch it.

I love to run.

It's the one thing that I can do on a (nearly) daily basis that keeps me sane, fit and most importantly, allows me to eat whatever the hell I want. Within reason, of course. If you call eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream within reason. Ice cream, peanut butter and pretzels - sheer freakin' genius.

My right achilles has been angry with me for nearly two years. Sore, especially in the mornings and lately it's gotten worse. I've pushed through it, limping through my workouts... trying to pretend that it would get better on its own. Smart, eh? I've even done quite a bit of racing on it... smarter still. Yeah sure, I took a month or two off last year, but I didn't get any treatment. No expert advice. Just rest. And a month after I started up again, the pain was back.

This time is different. I'm taking time off and getting treatment and it's already feeling better. Electrostim and ultrasound, active release, massage and kinesio tape. I'm throwing everything at it. Fingers crossed, by mid-July, I'll be back on the road.

In the meantime, pass me some ice cream.

The truth about long-distance triathlon (or any endurance sport, for that matter) is that you can't fake fitness. Sure, if you are reasonably fit and have some raw talent, you can go fast at a shorter distance. But a half-ironman is too long to fake it, no matter who you are.
So, I started the race with a solid base of swim training, some good work done on the bike, but nowhere near the consistency I would have liked to have in my run training. Life, sickness, the occasional little injury... it happens.
Based on the above, my race pretty panned out exactly how I thought it would.
Swim - 27:41. My best split in a half-ironman by about 30 seconds and my first time under 28 min. My swim training fell off a bit over the last month, so if I can keep up the frequency that I had over the winter, I am sure I can get down in the 26's. The swim itself was uneventful, aside from getting once kicked in the stomach and again in the mouth when I swam over some slower swimmers (hey, it happens). The stomach kick actually hurt, I had to flip over and do a few strokes of backstroke to catch my breath.
Got into transition, did the switch into my bike gear and was off. I still need to work on my transition speed. 3:58... geez, you'd think I stopped for a cup of coffee while I was in there.
Bike - 2:36:42 (21.44mph). About a minute slower than last year... but about what I expected. The three climbs stung a bit more than I remembered, but I felt very good on the flatter sections. My recent bike changes (new Adamo Road saddle) and switch to S-bend aero bar extensions worked out great... rock solid in the aerobars for everything but the steepest part of the climbs when I got out of the saddle. Which is more than I can say for a lot of guys I saw on super-blinged out Cervelo's, Trek TTX's and various other super-bikes with deep Zipp wheels with aero helmets, sitting up with their hands on their bar ends on the flats. Seriously, just buy a damn road bike. The conditions were the windiest that I've seen the four years I've competed here, there were a few sketchy sections. Some of the other athletes running super-deep front wheels were getting blown around quite a bit. Even with a (relatively) shallow 50mm front wheel, a rear disc, and weighing 190lbs I was holding on for a dear life on Deadman's Curve (this is a speed-limited descent where an athlete died in 2000 when the race was a full Ironman). However the wind was a quartering tail wind on the run back into transition, which made the last 10 miles a lot of fun.
Off the bike and into transition. 1:48 then off onto the run course
Run - 1:34:16 (7:11/mile). Felt pretty good coming out of transition, but I was cautiously optimistic. 6:50's the first few miles. Just tried to stay relaxed. Water and gatorade at every aid station. Added Coke to the menu at Mile 7. Based on my overall lack of mileage, I had a feeling that I might run (excuse the pun) into trouble around mile 9 or 10. That's exactly what happened. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Regardless, I stopped to work out a cramp at around Mile 8.5, walked though the aid station at mile 10, drank two cups of Coke and got back on my way. The 6:50's became 7:30's... managed to hold it together and even put on a little surge to pass two guys on the final stretch.
Overall time: 4:44:25, a whopping 34th in my AG... damn I'm glad to be aging up next year.
For those who care about this stuff... here's my nutrition plan for the race... which despite my poor finish, was pretty on target. Good nutrition can't give you fitness that isn't there..
pre-race brekkie2 cups of coffee2 slice of wheat toast, pb and jellysipped on water bottle all morningimmediately before swim - 1 GU
bike2 bottles with 2 scoops of First Endurance EFS + 1 scoop of CarboPro (roughly 300 cals each)1 bottle of water9 Thermolyte salt tablets (5 at 1 hr mark, 4 at 2 hr mark)2 GU's
rungatorade and water at every aid station, Coke starting at mile 7. 3 more Thermolytes at mile 4