Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Make that really slow feet
Man the run fitness is just not there now. A good 60 to 90 seconds more per mile for the same effort compared to a couple of summers ago. Increased bike volume is nice but it is no substitute for running.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Did not know there were two models of TYR Nest Pro goggles
Bought a pair of Nest Pro a few years ago and liked them a lot. Never leaked. Leakage had been a real roadblock problem for me. After a few years of wear and tear I wanted new ones but never saw them in the store. Thought they had been discontinued. Happened into a store outside my normal area and saw them on the rack. Grabbed a pair. They leaked the first time I tried them. Baffled, I was. Until I tried to anti-fog treat them and put them down to dry next to each other. Hmm. Not the same. To the internet! Turns out there are two kinds. Nest Pro (above) and Nest Pro Nano (below), with nano of course indicating a smaller model. For kids and those with narrow faces. Which is apparently me.
True story.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Nothing like a race to change your priorities.
Have been scouring the triathlete sites and blogs in the last week instead of watching TV. Suddenly thinking about doing a lot more races, not just the occasional milestone. Surviving that long swim really opened up the options since it made most all sprints look very easy in comparison.
Monday, May 9, 2011
So much for working up to an Olympic gradually
Did the Angels Camp Triathlon this weekend. It was billed as a sprint with a 1000 yard (.63 mile) swim, 16 mile bike, 4 mile run. Foreshadowing!
What we got was a 1500 yard (at least) swim, 13.6 mile bike and 4 mile run. My GPS showed .98 miles (1650 yards) on the swim but as you will see below I did a little extra because I cannot swim straight.
Was I even ready for a sprint? Last year I commuted to work on my bicycle and my bike fitness really improved. Since I was getting in a workout every day on the bike, with about 500 feet of climb, swimming and running got short shrift. My knees appreciated the lack of running. After the new year I stopped commuting, and the workout calendar became a mix of Sunday bike rides and occasional weekday swims. It was a rainy winter and spring and trail running just got left out.
Once I signed up for this tri the swim workouts got a bit longer and I got in a few runs. They were a bit labored. There was also one trip to a local lake to make sure the new wetsuit (my first) was OK. It worked fine and I comfortably put in 1000 meters and thought I was prepared.
Just about every time I've signed up for a morning race (runs mostly, but there was the one other tri), any attempt to eat breakfast just made my stomach upset, often until well into the race itself hours later. Anything solid would sit there like a brick. To collect one more data point, the raceday plan here was to eat nothing before the race. Liquids only. At the beginning of the race I felt fine, and never had any stomach issues. So that part was a success.
Just about every useful nutrient in my bloodstream at the start of the race was hanging around from the previous night's carbo load.
The beer was helpful in getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Registration opened at 7 and the race was scheduled to start at 8:30.
After sleeping through 'til about 3am and then dozing on and off 'til 6:30 it was time to load the truck and head for the park. Setting up went quickly. Turnout was light. All the rack spaces were pretty well located for quick transitions.
Here's one of the lifeguards towing the marker buoy out onto the course. We all looked at him from the top of the boat ramp and though he left it kind of far out, which was funny because it drifted even farther away after that.
There were only 2 porta potties to support the whole event. The frappucino in a can was a definite no then. That left plain water before the race.
The swim began after a short meeting with the race director. There were only 66 entries, so it was a mass start, everyone at once, which meant my plan to acclimate in the water during someone else's wave start didn't work out too well. The water was cold (guessing 60-62 degrees) and it took a couple hundred yards before I could put my face in the water and not have a violent involuntary reaction. That made it hard to breathe out with control. I never really had comfortable form the whole way because of this, but settled in after 400 yards or so and made steady progress.
You can see from my GPS track that I have a mean hook (hint: to the left) when I don't have a handy painted lane line to follow, and should continue to work on form and sighting.
Upon wading out of the water onto the boat ramp I removed my GPS from its hiding place in my swim cap and saw .98 miles and 40+ minutes. Well all right then. Olympic swim accomplished. Now I know I can do that. Speaking of the boat ramp. You climb back up this to get to the transition area. 12%-15% is recommended pitch for boat ramps. Who knew?
You left your flip flops at the bottom right?
Into transition there were maybe 5 people behind me still finishing the swim. After a none too fast transition (walk up ramp, step out of wetsuit, put on shirt, shades, helmet, gloves, socks, and road bike shoes that you have to ratchet tight). Walked the bike 10 feet into the mount area and jumped on and hit my best part of the race. Caught a few people on the first hill. One of them had a derailleur issue and actually fell over. The other was struggling and stopped to curse a bit. From there it was seeing people up the road and catching them and picking them off. The course had some rollers and one steady climb that peaked around 10%. Total elevation was not much to an Oakland Hills regular.
In graph form:
Not much to say about the bike except I tried to keep my cadence up, push the biggest gear I could with my heart rate not getting above 170 for more than the occasional moment, like attacking the tops of hills since there would be a short recovery down the other side. This worked out pretty well. Looking back and factoring in final results, I probably passed 25 people on the bike.
Bike course track:
The plan had been to rest on the last downhill bit into transition so I'd be charged for the run, but it wasn't very downhill and I had just passed someone, so, not so much.
Transition was pretty small. Everyone had a good spot.
After parking the bike I ditched the helmet and gloves, pulled my shoes off and went to pull on the running shoes. My right foot would only go halfway into the shoe and then it bottomed out. After about 3 tries I remembered where that missing clif bar was. Shook it out of the shoe, pulled it on and started lumbering away.
My calves were really tight and my heart rate jumped up whenever I tried to open up my stride and it just felt like I had no power at all. This was probably the downside to the no-food plan. Slow jog to the finish it is. The course went straight up the flank of a hill on an access road (10%) to a contour path that was narrow and nicely scenic.
Here's the full GPS data graph with elevation, speed, heart rate, cadence etc.
In the first loop of the run I caught up to one woman at about mile 1, got passed by another at about mile 3, and then in the last downhill quarter mile emptied the tank and maxed out my heart rate trying to catch one last person. For the last 50 yards this was about a 6:00 mile pace and I got 'em at the line by one second. Another 10 seconds later the urge to puke rapidly came and went.
That last position? Picking that one up came at the expense of the first place woman in the 60-69 age group. A mighty swimmer, she. Notice was just served to me that I don't have much room to let my own fitness slip in the next 20 years. One second out of 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Finishing position was 7 out of 12 men 40-49, 26th male out of 38, 34th overall out of 66. Not bad considering that the swim was long and the bike was short, and I'm a marginal swimmer and prefer the bike.
An even bigger lie than the swim distance? The BBQ. Let me say that directly. The BBQ was a lie! Cold overcooked burgers. Warm watery beans. Ketchup was very popular on this day. The Coke was a magic beverage after a hard effort though. If there had been cups with ice I might have ascended to the next plane of existence on the spot.
So yeah, it was challenging. That is sort of the point. For safety and liability sake, if I were the race promoter I would probably try and make sure the part of the event were people could drown was not 50% longer than advertised. And the tough guys who came without wetsuits expecting the advertised 65-70 degree water were in for a rude surprise. I thought I heard one person near me at the very beginning say he was turning back, but there's no way to tell from the results if someone started but did not finish.
You can tell I had a good time because a race report was up the same day (beginnertriathlete.com) and this one with pictures and GPS screen grabs is up the next day.
Next goals? More sprints. Would not rule out an olympic this year as long as it is wetsuit legal. Would like to keep getting closer to workable nutrition, and have some better run results. An ocean swim might be interesting as well. Warm ocean would be more interesting still.
Official results:
http://onyourmarkevents.com/results.asp?id=2435
What we got was a 1500 yard (at least) swim, 13.6 mile bike and 4 mile run. My GPS showed .98 miles (1650 yards) on the swim but as you will see below I did a little extra because I cannot swim straight.
Was I even ready for a sprint? Last year I commuted to work on my bicycle and my bike fitness really improved. Since I was getting in a workout every day on the bike, with about 500 feet of climb, swimming and running got short shrift. My knees appreciated the lack of running. After the new year I stopped commuting, and the workout calendar became a mix of Sunday bike rides and occasional weekday swims. It was a rainy winter and spring and trail running just got left out.
Once I signed up for this tri the swim workouts got a bit longer and I got in a few runs. They were a bit labored. There was also one trip to a local lake to make sure the new wetsuit (my first) was OK. It worked fine and I comfortably put in 1000 meters and thought I was prepared.
Just about every time I've signed up for a morning race (runs mostly, but there was the one other tri), any attempt to eat breakfast just made my stomach upset, often until well into the race itself hours later. Anything solid would sit there like a brick. To collect one more data point, the raceday plan here was to eat nothing before the race. Liquids only. At the beginning of the race I felt fine, and never had any stomach issues. So that part was a success.
Just about every useful nutrient in my bloodstream at the start of the race was hanging around from the previous night's carbo load.
The beer was helpful in getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Registration opened at 7 and the race was scheduled to start at 8:30.
After sleeping through 'til about 3am and then dozing on and off 'til 6:30 it was time to load the truck and head for the park. Setting up went quickly. Turnout was light. All the rack spaces were pretty well located for quick transitions.
Here's one of the lifeguards towing the marker buoy out onto the course. We all looked at him from the top of the boat ramp and though he left it kind of far out, which was funny because it drifted even farther away after that.
There were only 2 porta potties to support the whole event. The frappucino in a can was a definite no then. That left plain water before the race.
The swim began after a short meeting with the race director. There were only 66 entries, so it was a mass start, everyone at once, which meant my plan to acclimate in the water during someone else's wave start didn't work out too well. The water was cold (guessing 60-62 degrees) and it took a couple hundred yards before I could put my face in the water and not have a violent involuntary reaction. That made it hard to breathe out with control. I never really had comfortable form the whole way because of this, but settled in after 400 yards or so and made steady progress.
You can see from my GPS track that I have a mean hook (hint: to the left) when I don't have a handy painted lane line to follow, and should continue to work on form and sighting.
Upon wading out of the water onto the boat ramp I removed my GPS from its hiding place in my swim cap and saw .98 miles and 40+ minutes. Well all right then. Olympic swim accomplished. Now I know I can do that. Speaking of the boat ramp. You climb back up this to get to the transition area. 12%-15% is recommended pitch for boat ramps. Who knew?
You left your flip flops at the bottom right?
Into transition there were maybe 5 people behind me still finishing the swim. After a none too fast transition (walk up ramp, step out of wetsuit, put on shirt, shades, helmet, gloves, socks, and road bike shoes that you have to ratchet tight). Walked the bike 10 feet into the mount area and jumped on and hit my best part of the race. Caught a few people on the first hill. One of them had a derailleur issue and actually fell over. The other was struggling and stopped to curse a bit. From there it was seeing people up the road and catching them and picking them off. The course had some rollers and one steady climb that peaked around 10%. Total elevation was not much to an Oakland Hills regular.
In graph form:
Not much to say about the bike except I tried to keep my cadence up, push the biggest gear I could with my heart rate not getting above 170 for more than the occasional moment, like attacking the tops of hills since there would be a short recovery down the other side. This worked out pretty well. Looking back and factoring in final results, I probably passed 25 people on the bike.
Bike course track:
The plan had been to rest on the last downhill bit into transition so I'd be charged for the run, but it wasn't very downhill and I had just passed someone, so, not so much.
Transition was pretty small. Everyone had a good spot.
After parking the bike I ditched the helmet and gloves, pulled my shoes off and went to pull on the running shoes. My right foot would only go halfway into the shoe and then it bottomed out. After about 3 tries I remembered where that missing clif bar was. Shook it out of the shoe, pulled it on and started lumbering away.
My calves were really tight and my heart rate jumped up whenever I tried to open up my stride and it just felt like I had no power at all. This was probably the downside to the no-food plan. Slow jog to the finish it is. The course went straight up the flank of a hill on an access road (10%) to a contour path that was narrow and nicely scenic.
Here's the full GPS data graph with elevation, speed, heart rate, cadence etc.
In the first loop of the run I caught up to one woman at about mile 1, got passed by another at about mile 3, and then in the last downhill quarter mile emptied the tank and maxed out my heart rate trying to catch one last person. For the last 50 yards this was about a 6:00 mile pace and I got 'em at the line by one second. Another 10 seconds later the urge to puke rapidly came and went.
That last position? Picking that one up came at the expense of the first place woman in the 60-69 age group. A mighty swimmer, she. Notice was just served to me that I don't have much room to let my own fitness slip in the next 20 years. One second out of 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Finishing position was 7 out of 12 men 40-49, 26th male out of 38, 34th overall out of 66. Not bad considering that the swim was long and the bike was short, and I'm a marginal swimmer and prefer the bike.
An even bigger lie than the swim distance? The BBQ. Let me say that directly. The BBQ was a lie! Cold overcooked burgers. Warm watery beans. Ketchup was very popular on this day. The Coke was a magic beverage after a hard effort though. If there had been cups with ice I might have ascended to the next plane of existence on the spot.
So yeah, it was challenging. That is sort of the point. For safety and liability sake, if I were the race promoter I would probably try and make sure the part of the event were people could drown was not 50% longer than advertised. And the tough guys who came without wetsuits expecting the advertised 65-70 degree water were in for a rude surprise. I thought I heard one person near me at the very beginning say he was turning back, but there's no way to tell from the results if someone started but did not finish.
You can tell I had a good time because a race report was up the same day (beginnertriathlete.com) and this one with pictures and GPS screen grabs is up the next day.
Next goals? More sprints. Would not rule out an olympic this year as long as it is wetsuit legal. Would like to keep getting closer to workable nutrition, and have some better run results. An ocean swim might be interesting as well. Warm ocean would be more interesting still.
Official results:
http://onyourmarkevents.com/results.asp?id=2435
Monday, May 2, 2011
Check that one off the list
Objective: Ride from home in Oakland to Mount Diablo and back. Estimated 75 mile round trip. The ascent of Mt. Diablo itself is a 3500 foot climb. Just getting there involves heading over the Oakland Hills and some other stuff in the middle ground. Like so.
Not much preparation went into this ride, except an agreement with the accomplice on the ride that we should hold off a bit from our normal fitness-ride pace.
The first half of the ride was a bit tougher than I expected. It was not anywhere near as hot as it can get on the mountain but it was warm in the sun I was not sweating enough. Finally I got the bright idea to start pouring cold water down the back of my neck every 5 or 10 minutes and suddenly it was like the bike had a few extra gears. There were plenty of water spigots on the mountain, which was very convenient. You can see in the chart above that my ability to push to high heart rates was pretty much gone in the final hour but we were in the home stretch at that point so it was all good.
Route, like so.
Highlights:
Excellent late spring day overall. Not too cold in the morning and shade. Not too hot on the mountain in the sun. Nice clear sky to enjoy the views.
Hawks and vultures soaring along the road alongside us. (Waiting for us to drop.)
Icy cold can of coke from the visitors center at the summit.
25 straight minutes of coasting down from the summit.
Microwaved bbq pork sandwich and starbucks in a can from a gas station for some nutrients to bring us home.
No flats. No problems.
Not much preparation went into this ride, except an agreement with the accomplice on the ride that we should hold off a bit from our normal fitness-ride pace.
The first half of the ride was a bit tougher than I expected. It was not anywhere near as hot as it can get on the mountain but it was warm in the sun I was not sweating enough. Finally I got the bright idea to start pouring cold water down the back of my neck every 5 or 10 minutes and suddenly it was like the bike had a few extra gears. There were plenty of water spigots on the mountain, which was very convenient. You can see in the chart above that my ability to push to high heart rates was pretty much gone in the final hour but we were in the home stretch at that point so it was all good.
Route, like so.
Highlights:
Excellent late spring day overall. Not too cold in the morning and shade. Not too hot on the mountain in the sun. Nice clear sky to enjoy the views.
Hawks and vultures soaring along the road alongside us. (Waiting for us to drop.)
Icy cold can of coke from the visitors center at the summit.
25 straight minutes of coasting down from the summit.
Microwaved bbq pork sandwich and starbucks in a can from a gas station for some nutrients to bring us home.
No flats. No problems.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rain. I'm against it.
Apparently the extended closure of Lake Temescal can be caused by rain runoff from the surrounding area which brings nutrients (lawn chemicals?) that keep bacteria counts high. Looks like Shadow Cliffs is it for a while.
There's a group at SC called the Orcas that do swims out in the lake that are not restricted to the roped off area. Might be worth checking that out.
That lake is still < 60 degrees though. Brrr.
There's a group at SC called the Orcas that do swims out in the lake that are not restricted to the roped off area. Might be worth checking that out.
That lake is still < 60 degrees though. Brrr.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
"April through October"
By which they mean, April 30th through something very early in October. Possibly so early in October it is September 25.
Looks like the only East Bay parks with open water swim right now are Shadow Cliffs (only in the roped off area) and Lake Del Valle (north of the boat ramp).
Looks like the only East Bay parks with open water swim right now are Shadow Cliffs (only in the roped off area) and Lake Del Valle (north of the boat ramp).
Monday, April 18, 2011
Open water swims in the East Bay
http://www.ebparks.org/activities/swimming
Key comment:
Swimming at your own risk is allowed in designated areas and when lifeguards are off-duty at some parks. These include Del Valle, Shadow Cliffs, Lake Anza, Quarry Lakes, and Lake Temescal.
And the web page for this park in particular:
http://www.ebparks.org/parks/temescal
Key comment:
Park Activities
Swimming
The swim area is open spring through fall, with lifeguards on duty during posted periods. Swimming is permitted only in the designated swim area. Dogs are not allowed in the lake and the beach. Swimming is also allowed at your own risk when lifeguards are not on duty when the park is open from April through October. There is a beach access fee. Call the park office (510) 652-1155 for details or visit the Swim Facilities page.
Heading to Temescal in the next few days to check this out on the ground.
Signed up for Angels Camp Tri in just under 3 weeks. Need to get out there and test out the new wetsuit and get some sighting practice.
Key comment:
Swimming at your own risk is allowed in designated areas and when lifeguards are off-duty at some parks. These include Del Valle, Shadow Cliffs, Lake Anza, Quarry Lakes, and Lake Temescal.
And the web page for this park in particular:
http://www.ebparks.org/parks/temescal
Key comment:
Park Activities
Swimming
The swim area is open spring through fall, with lifeguards on duty during posted periods. Swimming is permitted only in the designated swim area. Dogs are not allowed in the lake and the beach. Swimming is also allowed at your own risk when lifeguards are not on duty when the park is open from April through October. There is a beach access fee. Call the park office (510) 652-1155 for details or visit the Swim Facilities page.
Heading to Temescal in the next few days to check this out on the ground.
Signed up for Angels Camp Tri in just under 3 weeks. Need to get out there and test out the new wetsuit and get some sighting practice.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Some sort of milestone
Ordered a wetsuit today. Enough of renting. It will be cheap and cheery but it will be mine and save me trips across town to the sporting gear store.
Xterra seems to have a perpetual sale if you know where to look. Like thus: http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/April_Showers_2011/
At the discounted price, it is silly to rent more than once.
To determine the ever changing discount code, go to slowtwitch.com and do a forum search for xterra wetsuit.
Xterra seems to have a perpetual sale if you know where to look. Like thus: http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/April_Showers_2011/
At the discounted price, it is silly to rent more than once.
To determine the ever changing discount code, go to slowtwitch.com and do a forum search for xterra wetsuit.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Still plugging away here
Plugging, sure, but not blogging much.
The second half of February and all of March were crazy rainy. No outside workouts at all. Well, three. Snuck in a bike ride here and there. And managed to get in a three day motorcycle offroad event in around Death Valley that was epic with a small e.
But enough slacking around. Exercise brings motivation (possibly more than the other way around) so it is back to being disciplined about at least working up a sweat 3 times a week, preferably more.
When I was working though, if I went too long without a good workout, my upper back would tense up and it would be hard to sit at a desk. Now that I haven't been working for a while, that symptom didn't show up. Not working out just felt like having more free time. It was just that it was usually free time where I didn't really feel like doing anything and knew I probably should.
Swimming half a mile is a better pick me up than a cup of coffee. Strange things you learn in life.
The second half of February and all of March were crazy rainy. No outside workouts at all. Well, three. Snuck in a bike ride here and there. And managed to get in a three day motorcycle offroad event in around Death Valley that was epic with a small e.
But enough slacking around. Exercise brings motivation (possibly more than the other way around) so it is back to being disciplined about at least working up a sweat 3 times a week, preferably more.
When I was working though, if I went too long without a good workout, my upper back would tense up and it would be hard to sit at a desk. Now that I haven't been working for a while, that symptom didn't show up. Not working out just felt like having more free time. It was just that it was usually free time where I didn't really feel like doing anything and knew I probably should.
Swimming half a mile is a better pick me up than a cup of coffee. Strange things you learn in life.
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