GJCC Race Report & Training So Far

Forgive me for the length of this one. I had to include my race report and training for the week.
GJCC Memorial Day Tri Well, my first triathlon is in the books. I didn’t meet my goal of 53 minutes, I finished last in my division, and I got beat by a 5 yr old girl (no, I’m not kidding), but I had a blast and can’t wait for the next one. Here is how it all played out…
We rolled into the parking lot around 6:45 to a field of cars that would rival many game day parking lots. I knew that there were about 400 people racing this weekend, I just didn’t translate that to so many cars. We found a spot on the street. After I aired up my tires, we headed towards the transition area for body marking and transition setup. I racked my bike and arranged all of my gear so I could make a smooth transition from swim to bike then bike to run. I thought I had a pretty good set up, just sorry I didn’t get the camera from MH to take a picture. All the racers started heading to the pool deck to do a quick warm up swim and get in line for the start of the race.
I jumped in to see how the water was. Frigid just doesn’t do it justice. I donned my swim cap and goggles as if I was getting ready to get on the block for the 200m medley in Beijing and then waited for the better part of 30 minutes for the first 189 people to start swimming. My time finally arrived and off I jumped into the water as instructed (no comments on my lack of grace). All I really wanted to do was a Ron Burgundy style cannonball but thought other wise as my feet hit the blue timing mat. Once in the water, I just kept going over my form in my head…chest down, legs up, keep rotating, use your core not just your arms, oh and don’t forget to breath. Here is a clip of the swim below and no, that is not Michael Phelps swimming in the silver cap and goggles, it’s me, but I can see why you might make that mistake.

I finished the swim in 4:49 which was good enough to put me in the top 50% of the field so I was pretty happy. I can’t help but think what it would have been if we hadn’t gotten a little bottle necked every now and then. After the swim, I headed through the pool house and down the steps to the transition area where I got on my biking gear and headed towards the bike exit.
The bike course was pretty fun. It roamed through a neighborhood then through a busy part of town before going through a gorgeous valley surrounded by huge hard woods. For the first 6 miles, I was booking it. I would hone in on the person in front of me with the song “Danger Zone” from Top Gun playing in my head (I know, I’m cheesy) and reel them in and fly on by. Then around mile 7 I saw it, the hill that I was dreading. Here is what happened in my head, “OK Eric, you got this, don’t shift to early, save a few gears for near the top,” then as I got about ¾ of the way up “you got it, almost there….woops maybe not.” I had gone through my gears to quickly and had to stop to push the rest of the way. It was definitely a little humbling to see all the people I passed earlier climb on up the hill. The low point was when an 8 year old passed me. Oh well. I jumped back on my bike at the top and got up some momentum for the fastest portion of the loop. I got up to around 37 mph coming down that hill. It was awesome. I rounded the corner and finished up the last mile. I cut into the transition area to change shoes and take off on the run. Here is a shot of Maverick, I mean me, coming into the transition area.

I racked my bike in transition, changed my shoes and headed out for the 2 mile run. I have got to get better at running after biking. My legs were stiff. I ended up walking a good bit of the first mile (which I’m pretty certain was the longest mile ever). There were families out in there yards cheering everyone on. One dude had his hose pipe out near the street and would spray you down if you wanted…I wanted. I jogged to the turnaround and trotted back through the neighborhood. Once you got a few blocks away, you could here the echoes of names being called as they crossed the finished line…definitely a motivator. I dug a little deeper and ran a little faster trying to keep good form and not give an encore performance of my impression of the Scarecrow on his way to see the wizard.

So here we are, 1:12:17 later and I feel fine. What did I take away from this race? Well, let’s see…get there earlier; work harder to be a middle of the packer; work more on biking up hills; work more on running after biking; keep going to masters b/c it is definitely paying off; and keep dropping the lbs b/c everything was a lot easier this race than Magic City and I can’t help but think being a little lighter has something to do with it.
Team-Magic puts on an awesome event. Everything was very well organized. Even the pool swim went smoothly. I wasn’t too sure how they would get 380 people in and out of the pool, but they did it.
I also need to give mad props to my new friend Kevin. This was his first triathlon as well. He ended up getting a flat on the bike course. This would probably spell disaster for most people and make them call it a day. Some ACME crew members came and changed his tire and Kevin went on to finish the race. The bike portion ended up taking a lot longer than it would have if a tire hadn’t blown. It would have been easy to throw in the towel and get a lift back to the transition area, but Kevin got back on and finished the bike leg. Awesome job!
Once again, I want to say thanks to my awesome wife. Here we are 15 weeks from having a little dude running around and she is up early and out on the course cheering me on…love ya babe! Now, onto the training.
Tuesday 5-28 Recovery Day
Wednesday 5-27
Didn’t go to Master Swim this AM b/c I still feel a little under the weather.
Lunchtime Elliptical: 25mins; 2.72 miles; 472 cals burned
Thursday 5-28
I am determined to make it up the hill at Oak Mountain before Buster Britton so that is what I focused on today. I rode a bit and got partway up the hill a couple of times. I didn’t check my computer to see distance or speeds, but I did ride for about 40 minutes. It’s starting to get a little frustrating. The worst part is that I know it is more of a mental thing rather than a physical thing.
Friday 5-29
I don’t know what happened this morning, but I don’t even remember my alarm going off for Master Swim.
Lunchtime Run
Felt pretty good on the run. Probably going to start taking longer lunches and running a bit more. Outside running will be on Tues, Thurs, Sat, & Sun.
Dist 2.40/Time 30mins/480 cals burned
Once again, I apologize for the lengthiness of this post. I’ll be better about posting more often.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Could Lassie find little Timmy in an abandoned mine shaft?” ~ Keith, when asked if he could hit his ball on the green on a Par 3

Technical Difficulties

Race Report coming soon.  Camera has to charge in order to let me upload the videos.  I should have it up tomorrow night sometime.  In the meantime, feel free to laugh (or be ashamed that you laugh) at the musical genius of the keyboard cat.  You might want to turn the volume down a little if you're at work but be sure you can still hear the music.

Eric's Quote of the Day "I'm not superstitious.  I'm only a little-stitious." ~Michael Scott

Less than 3 days!!

Well, my race is on Monday, and I feel pretty good about it. My buddy Jeff (Harper Fitness)has a race this weekend up at Oak Mountain. It's a half marathon trail run. I'm sure it is going to be awesome! Good luck dude.

Here is how this week played out...

Tuesday 5/19
I cut the grass this evening when I got home so it was a little too late to get in transition practice.

Wednesday 5/20
Masters Swim was fun this morning. I was only there for ½ of it, but it still wore me out. I broke down and got some paddles to use during pulls. They are just pieces of plastic that strap to your hand. They help to keep your hands entering the water in good form and give you a little more of a strength workout too. I definitely felt it during pulls today.

WU: 400
Drills: 200

Pulls 4x100 (descend 1-4) 2:30
Kicks 8x50 (free down/fly back) on 1:20

Main Set (Split 250’s)
Free 200 on 5:00
Free 50 on 1:15
Free 175 on 430
Free 75 on 1:45
CD 100
Total 1900m

Lunchtime run
Time: 22mins/Dist:2.00/ 379Cals burned
Felt pretty good on the dreadmill today. I ran at a pretty good clip for most of it and then remembered that I didn’t need to try to do anything new or work too hard this week so I backed down.
My nephew graduated from high school today (4th in his class!!). We are so proud of him. It was a nice ceremony at the Alabama Theater. We all went to Cheesecake Factory afterwards where I surprisingly did not go crazy on some cheesecake.
Thursday 5/21
I didn't do any training today. By the time I got done running a few errands, it was just too late to go out for a ride.

Friday 5/22 (Early Weigh In Day)
I took today off from work so I could get everything ready for this weekend and head up to the lake early enough to wet a hook before dark. I did still manage to go to Masters Swim. I stepped on the scale before I left so I could go ahead and weigh in since I won't be near a scale on Monday and I'm planning on eating bad after the race. The digits stopped at 246. So, even though I haven't done a ton of training this week, I still managed to drop 5 lbs. I guess I just have enough to spare huh? :-)

1/2 Masters
WU-300m
Drills-200m (over rotate, fingertip, fist, single arm)
Kicks-300m (easy down, hard back)
Pulls- 4x100 on 2:15
Main Set
-3x100 on 2:45
-3x100 on 2:30
Total 1800m

My goal is to do a little more swimming in the lake on Saturday and then go for an easy run or ride on Sunday. I'll be sure to post a race report as soon as I get a chance. Have a great Memorial Day weekend and be sure to honor those that have served our country.


Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go” ~T.S. Elliot (I saw this quote on buddy’s blog and swiped it)

WRAPPING UP LAST WEEK & STARTING UP RACE WEEK

(not too sure why my spacing is all weird, sorry)

5/14 Thursday

Bike (no run)

I hate to use it, but work is my excuse for a short bike and no run today. 

Dist 7.8miles/Avg 13.8 mph/Max 28.7 mph/33:55 

5/15 Friday

Master Swim

Swim was kinda fun this morning.  JJ (coach) wasn’t there, but he emailed up the workout.

WU: Swim: 300

        Drills: 200 (single arm, fingertip, over rotate, fist)

Pulls: 6x50 on 1:20

Main Set: 12x__

         Odd on 2:15 (100m)

         Even on 1:45 (75m)

CD: 100

Total: 1950

I skipped out on the kick set and breathing set (500m) so I could get to work a little early.  I have to leave work early for Carroll and Julie’s rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Congratulations!!  I also have to skip the run at lunch so I can go try to pick up my tux for the third time.  First time it wasn’t in yet, and yesterday, the pants and vest were too big (woohoo).  

5/16 & 5/17 Saturday & Sunday

This weekend was definitely a tough weekend to get in a workout.  I had breakfast with the groomsmen Saturday morning, work Saturday day, wedding Saturday night (which was awesome), work all day (and yes, I do mean all day) Sunday.  I know, excuses are like ass…I mean belly buttons, everybody’s got one.  

This coming week will be an easy week of training.  I’m just looking to stay loose and injury free. 

5/18 Monday (weigh in day)

This week is a fun week…it’s race week.  There’s something about seeing 7 days or less on the calendar between you and a race that gets your blood pumping just a little bit more.  I feel like I’m fairly well prepared for this race.  I’ve been swimming pretty good for the past month, riding has been going well (minus the knee problems) and running has actually fit into the equation (although I do wish I had a few more long runs under my belt).  So, we will see how everything goes.

Today was a weigh in day…251.  I’m down a pound since last week.  It’s not great, but hey, it’s progress!  I feel like I would be down around 247 or 248 if I would have controlled myself a little better over the weekend (weddings = too much good food) because I stepped on the scale Friday morning and saw the screen flash at 249.  I ended up working through lunch today so no lunchtime run.  I’ll get a few loops in on the bike tomorrow and work on transitioning.  

So Far, So Good

So far so good this week. My ride on Tuesday went well. I didn’t have any real bad knee pain. I’m beginning to think it had more to do skimping on a proper warm up and stretching…lesson learned.
A quick rant…if you are getting ready to pull out of a parking lot and a rider is coming down the road and about to pass the turn in, just go ahead and let him go by; please don’t try to fly out in front of him. I’m not exactly a small dude. I know he saw me even if he was gabbing away on his cell phone like a 15 year old girl. If I would have had something to throw at this him (other than my middle finger) I would have. I finally quit my mumbling. Then, about 10 minutes later, a lady was pulling down to exit a parking lot and didn’t even think about coming to a stop until she saw me almost right in front of her and guess what, she was…wait for it…talking on her cell phone. I was prepared to stop quickly if I needed to. I try to be pretty aware of any and all traffic on the road when I ride. So, my PSA’s for today are “Put the flippin phone down if you can’t drive and talk” and the cheesiest, yet most truthful bumper sticker “Share the Road.” Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.

Tuesday
PM Ride & Run
I wanted to keep it kind of short today
dist. 10.1mi/14.4 avg. mph/28.7 mph max/ time 42:09
4 20 sec 5k sprints with push-offs back to start

Wednesday
Masters Swim
Woke up a little late this morning, so I missed warm-ups and the first set of pulls
Pulls 3x125
Kicks 8x50
Main Set 4x150 on 3:35
8x50
CD 100
Total 1875m

Lunchtime Run
I don’t really know why I’m going to list this, but I guess every little bit counts. My legs were pretty stubborn on the treadmill and wouldn’t get going.
15mins/1.25mi/259 cals burned

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “If you’re not first, you’re last.” ~Ricky Bobby

Big Ol' What The Hell!?!

Why is it that anytime you try to do good stuff, something tries to hold you back? I’m not gonna whine or complain, but what the hell? My knee is starting to hurt when I ride (not so much when I run which I find weird). I really hope it is something simple like not warming up enough or not stretching right. Now, let’s see how the week went…
Tuesday-5/5
Bike
10miles/15.7mph avg/24mph max/38:13
3 20s 5k sprints
Wednesday-5/6
I was getting my stuff ready for swimming Tuesday night and couldn’t find my swim bag with all my gear in it. All I can think is that I left it at the pool Friday Morning. I called the Y and my coach and no one saw it. I figured I’d go ahead and go to practice and just hope that it would turn up…it didn’t. So, I swam all of two laps without goggles and decided to leave. Looks like I’ll have to replace everything (boooo!).
Ran at work in the AM
18mins 1.5 miles 308 cals burned
Thursday-5/7
Had another brick scheduled. Rode for about 15 minutes and my knee started throbbing. Decided to give it a rest
Friday-5/8
Slept right through my alarm this morning so I didn’t make it to the pool.
Saturday-5/9
I had big ambitions for today’s training. I was going to ride about 10 miles out and then back to my GYM and then hit the treadmill for a short run. I got about 4 miles away from the GYM and my knee starting aching again. I decided to lay off of it for a little bit. I played golf today too and of course we decided to walk the course. Only time it really bothered me on the course was when we would be walking up or down a hill.
Sunday-5/9 (Happy Mother's Day!)
I had a run scheduled, but I didn’t wake up early enough to get it in before we started making the rounds for Mother’s Day.

Last week was really pretty slack week as far as training goes. I ate “ok” for most of the week. The weekend was a little rough being on the go so much. I really hope that my knee isn’t screwing up. I’m going to hold off on the doctor for a little bit longer though. Maybe I just didn’t warm up good enough for those 2 days. I’ll see how running on Monday goes and then how my ride Tuesday night goes (keep your fingers crossed).
Monday-5/11
Weigh in day!
No change from last week. I’m still hanging at 252, but I’m not too disappointed considering how last week went. Hopefully, this week will go a little smoother.
Masters was good this morning. I only swam ½ the time since today is a “recovery” day. I’ve heard and read not to try and catch up on a day or two if you miss it. I’ll just be sure to push myself the rest of the week.
WU -300m
-200m pulls
Drills 8x25 (2 ea. single arm, fingertip, catch-up, fist)
Main Set
Pulls 350 on 8:35
WD - 100m
Total – 1150

Lunchtime Run
I averaged a decent pace and adjusted the incline from 1 to 5. Overall…28mins/2.21 miles/460 cals burned. The run went well. My knee hurt a little bit, but nothing like it did Saturday. Hopefully tomorrow won’t hurt and I can let out a sigh of relief.

I’ve updated my goals with my training. I’ve decided that even though IM Canada would be awesome to do, I’m going to switch to IM Florida. The overall cost of traveling to Canada to compete seems a bit excessive at this point in my life. IM Florida is in Panama City. It is a pretty flat course. Plus, anyone who wants to come down to cheer can. I’m also planning on doing the Half IM in Orlando next May. It takes place in and around Disney World which I think is way too cool.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” ~Henry Ford

Is that scale right?

Well, today is my weigh in day.  I was able show a good bit of self-control over the weekend which is (sadly) a pretty big accomplishment.  I usually give in to the fast food demons for lunch and sometimes dinner, but not this weekend.  The scale showed 253.5 this morning.  That’s 6 pounds over the past 7 days.  WooHoo!  I’m eating a lot better, not drinking many cokes (trying to phase out all together), and training everyday.  Like you, I’ve heard/read everywhere to keep a food journal.  Mine isn’t fancy.  It doesn’t list calories, fat, protein, etc. It just lists what I ate for each meal & snack.  It really does help especially when you combine it with a training log.  If I have a good training day, I can check to see the “fuel” I used for the day.  This way, I know what would be best to eat race days.  Once I have a bit more time, I’ll probably try to incorporate more descriptive items to food journal (i.e. calories, fat, fiber, etc.).  It will definitely be something I have to do next year training for IM. 

Has anyone else noticed that the ticker to the left has dropped below the 3 week mark!  I’m getting pretty pumped.  I know it isn’t a very big tri, but it will be my first three-sport event.  The swim is a 200-meter pool swim, and then an 8.5-mile bike ride followed by a 2-mile run.  I need to start working more on my transitioning.  It’s going to be a bit different being wet from the swim. 

I didn’t go to Masters Swim this morning b/c of weather.  There was thunder and lightning at our house, and I didn’t want to chance getting to the Y and not be able to swim.  Monday’s are recovery days, so it all works out.

I had a disappointing run at lunch today.  Not b/c of me but the treadmill.  It wouldn’t hold a constant speed.  It’s one thing to fluctuate a 1/10 of a mph but to drop from 6 down to 4.8 up to 5.3 then all around is a bit much.  Oh well, it wasn’t a total bust…dist 1.7miles/time 25 minutes/297cals burned. 

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Betrayal isn’t just a river in Egypt.” ~Michael Scott

Pretty good training week

This has been a fairly productive training week.  I’ve made it to just about all my scheduled training.  We saw earlier how Monday went, so let’s move onto Tuesday. 

Tuesday

I wasn’t feeling up for strength training this morning.  I woke up around 230 last night with a nosebleed and had a lot of trouble falling back asleep.  I have to get back in the groove of being up early every day.  I got pretty good at it when I was still at UAB but have fallen into the snooze button habit.  I hammered out another 25 minutes; 2.8 miles and 376 calories on the elliptical during my lunch break today.

Tues PM Bike & Run

Dist 8.8 miles/Max 27mph/Avg 14.4mph/36mins

I was scheduled to do 6 “sprints” at 5k pace for 20 secs.  On my way back to the start, you do what can best be described as push offs.  You pretty much skip but focus on pushing hard off the ground each time to work on ankle strength.  But, I have come to realize that for right now, I don’t need to do cardio at lunch and then try to do it again that evening.  My legs were dead so instead of hurting myself, I cut out the sprints.

Wednesday

Masters Swim was a pretty good day. 

WU-300

Drills-200

Kicks: 8x75 on 2:00

Main Set:

            2x150 on 2:30

            2x100 on 2:00

            2x75 on 1:30

            2x50 on 1:00

Pulls: 4x50

CD: 100

Total: 2350m 

We had a lunch meeting today, so I wasn’t able to run at lunch. 

Thursday

Just a small brick (ride and then run) on Thursday afternoons. 

Bike

Dist 12.2mi/Max 23.6mph/Avg 14.2/Time 51:24

Run

Time 16:30s (not sure of dist or pace) 

Friday

AM SWIM

Today was a different day at swim.  We didn’t do too many drills.  We did a swim challenge.  We started off with 2m15sec and swam 100m.  After each time, 5 (or 15) secs was dropped off the time.  So we ended up swimming several 100m, then a bunch of 75’s, 50’s, and 25’s.  This lasted until about 6:25.  Then we separated into 3 lanes to do relays.  I was the second to last person on my team and then the last (anchor) on my team.  We placed 3^rd the first relay, and then we finished 2^nd.  On this one, I was the anchor so I went last.  Everytime I turned to take a breath, I could see the person in the lane next to me.  I pulled and pulled and somehow beat her (that’s right, I said her) to the wall.  It was definitely a tiring day at the pool.

Lunchtime Run

Using my struggles at the Magic City Duathlon as motivation, I decided to run on the treadmill today rather than hit up the elliptical.  Feeling pretty good afterwards…

Burned 400cals

Dist: 2 miles

Time: 27:20 (avg pace of 13:40)

Nothing to be overly excited about, but this does include a quick WU and a 5 min cool down.  So my numbers are a little skewed. 

Saturday

Brick Workout

A little sluggish on the bike at first this morning.  My legs finally started to come around after 20 minutes or so of pedaling. 

Dist 14.8/Max 24mph/Avg 14.4/Time 1:01:45

I ran for about 15 minutes after the bike segment but it was a very slow pace.  I’m nervous about getting injured.  I’ve always been one of those people that try to do too much too fast (or as I’ve read, I’m prone to the “too’s”) 

Sunday

Long Run

I’ve decided that for the next couple of weeks, I’m going to do my long runs on the treadmill.  I need to get a better grasp of pacing myself so we don’t have a repeat of Magic City.

Dist 4.09mi/Time 1:01:38 

Stop the Presses boys and girls…

I went back and looked at the official results from the Magic City Duathlon and found out some great news.  I actually finished 4^th in my division!  I was a little more upbeat about the race when I saw this.  

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “There are three rules that I live by: never get less than 12 hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.  Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.” ~ Coach Finstock, ¨Teen Wolf”