Doubt is an ennemy.... (Esquimalt 8K race report)

Pace yourself.....pace yourself....and what if for a 8k I did not pace myself. What if I forget about wearing my Polar and listen only to my body, how I feel? What about not even looking at my watch during the race? What if I told you that my last 3 races I did much better than expected because I ran only by feel....

Well, yes, I looked at my watch but only for a second...and only once...or twice!

The Esquimalt 8K is a small local 8km race and according to last year's times and my current fitness level, I knew I could do very well there.

8:20 AM

I start to warm up...but it's already warm outside, there are no clouds and no wind. I run to wake my legs up and prepare them for that little surprise I have for them...

"Hey legs...we're gonna run under 4min/k today! How about that?"

This warm up is not going too well, I am hot and tired. My legs do not respond very well but this happened to me before at the TC 10K. I had a PR!

8:59:30 seconds AM

I am on the very front line, just behind Marilyn Arsenault, AKA the Running Diva,I am determined not to let her go....for at least 2km.....

9:00 AM

Here I go....I remember this commercial from Versus.com...it says: "...it's not because they're strong it doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked"...I am going to kick ass, including mine! I start very fast (for me) and I decide I am going to keep it fast, for as long as I possibly can. If I slow donw, then I slow down. You see, since I read that quote for Shakespeare, I see racing in a totally different way. I see racing as taking risks and trusting my feelings. I now refuse to view racing as just a fast training run...I now see racing as a game of mind over body, a game I CAN WIN!

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt.
-- William Shakespeare

9 and something AM (km 4)

It's damn hot and my mouth is totally dry. I am not wearing my heart rate monitor but I know I am way above lactate threshold. My HR is probably 90-95% Max HR. I decide to keep it like that, I still feel good but I need a drink. I get a cup of Gatorade from the aid station but I am not slowing down...cherry (yuck!) Gatorade all over my face and sunglasses...not a pretty sight! Oh well, only 4km to go!

9 and something AM (km 6)

I do not feel so good anymore, I had omega-3 gel capsules this morning (as I always do) and I am burping fish oil, that's because of that stupid cherry Gatorade.... Negative signals start to kick in. Doubt is THE ENNEMY!!!! My legs are starting to feel like cement as lactic acid starts to accumulate.

9 and something (somewhere between km 7 and 8)

I think of Simon Whitfield, I think of Lance Armstrong, I think of the Tour de France and I think about these heroes. I remember some blog posts from my coaches Clint Lien and Mike Neill and I decide to keep going strong. I hear a runner coming close to me, breathing as hard as I....I accelerate. He comes just next to me and I accelerate more, this guy IS NOT GOING TO PASS ME!

I see the finish line....even though I did not win the race, this race is mine! I achieved a personal record (31 minutes and... results pending) and finished 3rd in the masters' category....a very nice race indeed!

Emotions are part of what we are...

Roger Federer was recently criticized for crying in front of the cameras. He cried when he lost to Nadal, he cried when he won at Rolland Garros. In fact, if you Google these 3 words: Roger + Federer + Crying you get more than 150,000 hits! Do you think crying is a sign of weakness? It is not a sign of weakness...not in top athletes! In fact, anyone can fake arrogance and cockyness but fake tears are easy to spot. I just find it refreshing to see top athletes behaving like humans in front of the camera, you cannot be superman or superwoman all the time....emotions are part of what we are....human biological machines! We had a very good demonstration today when Heinrich Haussler got to win his first Tour de France stage! Well done Heinrich!

New Balance Half Ironman Race Report

Before I start.....

For a long time, I wanted to do triathlons. I remember watching the Ironman World Championships as a kid and decided that this was going to be something I would do...one day. A few years ago, I told my wife I would be an Ironman before I turn 45 and last year, after watching the Half Ironman at Elk Lake I decided it was now time to do what I said I would do! I always do what I say I will do....always! In October 2008, on my birthday, I joined Island Triathlon...a wonderful group of athletes and coaches to train with. I learned how to swim (I could not even swim 50m before I joined), got fitter on the bike and learned how to run faster than I ever could imagine.

June 21st, 2009: New Balance Victoria Half Ironman

4AM...alarm! I get up...excited and ready for action! I have been carbo loading during the days before and I am confident.

5:30 AM...I get marked (I am 514), get my timing chip and set up my transition. Everything looks good, I decide not to be obsessive-compulsive about this like I was in Sooke. My transition space is nice and clean, everything is there...I leave to put my wetsuit on.

6:15 AM...I have my wetsuit on and I am getting nervous about this 1.9km swim. There are a lot of athletes there and everybody will start together...will I be kicked in the face? Will anyone try to drown me?


6:42 AM...I am in the water, waiting....I saw the cannon and I know it is just about to go

6:45 AM...BOOM!!!! Swim time!!! Here I go...this is it!

6:46 AM - 7:20AM...I am swimming and there is a lot of people around me. In a bold move I decide to get between two athletes in order to pass them. My heart is racing and I can barely breathe. I try to breathe every third stroke but I found it impossible to do...what the hell...I will breathe every second stroke. I pass the first buoy, the second one and I get to the triangle where I have to turn. At the triangle the crowd compacts and there is very little room to do anything...even swim! I have to constantly repeat to myself this mantra: Calm down! Calm down!

On the second half of the swim I feel way more comfortable and I know the swim finish line is near. Last buoy! The exit is just meters away...I feel dizzy! I swim until my hands rake the bottom and then I get up. I really feel weird...this is a very strange sensation...never felt this before! I see familiar faces, I hear Crys, I see Peggy, I see Kim from Island Triathlon....I peel my wet suit and run to transition (T1). I feel like I just landed on another planet...my head is spinning a bit!

OFFICIAL SWIM TIME: 36 minutes 17 seconds (1:55/100m)

T1

Nothing special to add here....too long of a transition but a good transition nevertheless. I get on my bike and off I go...for the next 3 hours my Opus Bike will be my best friend...and it did not disappoint me!

Bike (87 km)
Very often I have a song playing in my mind and as I went for the first hill, I have this Supertramp song stuck in my head..."Take the Long Way Home"...how appropriate! I get up to speed quickly and my legs feel fine except for tight calves.
Uphill...downhill...uphill...downhill...This is going to kill my legs! I pass another Island Triathlon athlete, Fergus. He gives me a very wise advice: "Slow down...you still have a long way to go"....Take the long way home!

The weird thing about the first 20-30km is that I felt almost no pain, going uphill seemed effortless (not that I was going very fast)...adrenalin I guess...but adrenalin can only take you so far... On the second loop I feelt pain in my rear end and I had to stand on my pedals to stretch. This pain became my companion for the next 45 km...

On fast section another song popped in my mind: Satch Boogie by Joe Satriani....fast!

OFFICIAL BIKE TIME: 2h 56 minutes 50 seconds (29.5 km/h...not so bad on a hilly course)

T2

Off the bike, remove cycling shoes...put on running shoes, remove helmet..put on my racing hat....I am outta there!

RUN 20 km
I know Elk Lake very well and I love running there. But this is different! I am running on totally knackered legs...I tell myself..HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS? I start to run, slowly..."cement legs" can not go very fast....I know I will accelerate in a few minutes but WHEN? Sometimes LIFE takes charge and sends you unexpected help. This help came when Lysanne (an amazing triathlete and friend) passed me...Hey DOM...wanna run with me? Sure! Lysanne and I have very similar paces when running is the only thing on the menu...but she is a stronger athlete than I am (and much younger I have to say). I run with her for 10-15 minutes but eventually I had to walk a bit. The good thing is that this proved to me that I could go faster..and that's exactly what I did! The remaining km were very difficult, cramps, pain in the foot, pain in the knees but I decided I was not going to slow down. I had a good pace under the circumstances and I am happy with this!

OFFICIAL RUN TIME: 1h 40 minutes 41 seconds (5minutes 03 seconds / km).. I can run much faster than this...usually!

Conclusion

I am happy with this competition...I am EXACTLY in the middle of my age group...not that I really care but it is nice to know that I worked hard and it paid off. I have to say this...Thalia Castillo is the Head Coach of Island Triathlon and she was everywhere on the course...I could hear my name being called everywhere! She came early for her athletes. She made a HUGE difference in my training and part of my success goes to her. Thanks Thalia!!!

The sky is the limit...

At least this is how I feel right now. My tapering is going so (SO) well despite an annoying cold. I run faster, I swim faster (but not that fast) and my cycling is also going very well. I am gaining confidence and I am really looking forwards to that New Balance Half Ironman.

I know that on race day it can be a different story but at least my preparative work is done properly and with high intensity. I wanted to look for explanations regarding the way I feel right now and this is what I found:

"From a neuromuscular perspective, the taper usually results in markedly increased muscular strength and power, often associated with performance gains at the muscular and whole body level. Oxidative enzyme activities can increase, along with positive changes in single muscle fibre size, metabolic properties and contractile properties. Limited research on the influence of the taper on athletes' immune status indicates that small changes in immune cells, immunoglobulins and cytokines are unlikely to compromise overall immunological protection."

REF: Physiological Changes Associated with the Pre-Event Taper in Athletes.
Sports Medicine. 34(13):891-927, 2004.
Mujika, Inigo; Padilla, Sabino; Pyne, David; Busso, Thierry

Taper weeks...

More intensity, less distance...this is my goal for the next 2 weeks. Despite a little battle with a virus...nothing serious, I just felt a bit tired, I feel like my fitness level is UP THERE! I felt like I never felt before. I feel strong mentally and physically and I am ready for action. The next 2 weeks are designed to bring me to the next level, to "peak". The week after that, I am going to California for a conference. I plan to swim there at least once but preferably twice. I plan to run on the Golden Gate...just for the fun of it! Then I come back. June 21st it's competition time...I plan to give everything I have. Time is no issue, I want to be proud of myself knowing that the time it takes to do this Half Iron is the absolute minimum for me, at this point. I am ready! SOOOOO READY!!!!

I love my quads....

Hill training tonight! Just for fun! 5 repeats, each repeats is 2.3 km, 137 m elevation. In total that will be:

• 11.5 km uphill (11.5 km downhill...no effort)
  
• 685 m ascent
  

New WR!

I like Usain Bolt...I really do! I just hope he is clean!

A blue car and a golf ball....

This post is, again, about my triathlon training...but with a twist! For starters, I almost got hit by a car today, well....I almost crashed in a car. Not my fault I swear! You see, Victoria is full of very nice people and many of these nice people happen to be elderly. Age and vision (not talking "night vision" here)go in opposed directions...we could say they are negatively correlated.

Anyways...I am coming down beach drive near the Oak Bay Marina, nothing in front of me. I am going at about 35km/h. No rain...just a nice day. So here I come and this boat-of-a-car (a blue Caprice, I think) turns to get in the Oak Bay Marina parking lot. I just tell myself: Wait...I am here dude....he does not see me, and still proceeds to the parking lot...slowly. I hit the breaks hard....he is still moving. "I am going to crash in this stupid car" I tell myself and everything seems to be in slow motion. Finally, when I am 2-3 meters from the car, he suddenly stops, looking at me. I still hit the breaks and my back wheel start skidding on the pavement....nowhere to go but on the sidewalk. So I did...barely! It is quite amazing how we get so lucid in times like these. Everything seems to slow down and small details seem to be so easy to perceive.

After a few bad words I stop on the side of the road, my heart is racing. That was a close call!!!! That would have been a bad, bad crash!

I was wearing my Polar Heart Rate monitor and looked at the time on my watch. I thought that, for sure, the Polar would have picked that up...and it did! On the picture below, the red line is my heart rate, the bottom brown section is altitude. You can see (look at the arrows) that my heart rate adapts to the altitude but there is a point where it shoots up for no apparent reasons except for an adrenalin surge in my veins.

After a 83km ride, I planned a run. A nice, but difficult, run around Cedar Hill golf course. Guess what? I almost got hit by a golf ball....it has to be my lucky day! I plan on checking the lotto 6/49 numbers tonight....a few days ago we bought a ticket!

Getting there...

The New Balance Half Ironman is just weeks away and I am starting to feel confident. I know it will be difficult and long, the longest race ever so far but I am really looking forwards to it. I went for a 104km bike ride yesterday and today I ran 16km....in the sun! My legs were tired from yesterday's ride but not as much as I expected. In fact, I ran a very good 10km (Times Colonist 10k see also this blog post) after a long ride last month. I have a bit of stiffness in my calves and maybe in the quads but rolling on my foam tube should take care of that.

I am in some sort of dilemma right now....I would like to run the Oak Bay Half Marathon next sunday (May 24th) but I am not sure for two reasons:

1. I haven't run more than 16 km in the last few months...and only once (today)
2. I certainly do not want to get injured before my big day on June 21 (Elk Lake half Ironman)

On the other hand, it could be a good training session at tempo pace and I am in very good shape right now...I could get a PR.....humm...what to do?

Back to training

Sunday's race went well but I want my next race, the New Balance Half Iron, to go even better. It will be a much longer race and I will need to really pace myself there. In the meantime I need to get in perfect shape for this important race. Last night we ran around Elk/Beaver Lake. This is one of my favorite spots here. So beautiful, such nice trails. We had to go for 3 minutes at 10k pace with 1 minute recovery jog in between. That was a hard workout, very demanding but a lot of fun. I am happy I got to run with Lysanne. She is a very good athlete and runnign with someone makes me running harder. Tonight.....bike!

Race Report - Sooke Spring Sprint Triathlon

Ok...here it is! Am I happy with my performance? YES! Could I have done better.....YES! Overall in my age group (40-44) I ended up being 9 out of 16 finishing triathletes...once again I stand in the middle of the pack. Not the fastest but certainly not the slowest either. So how did it go? Read on! Results posted HERE

Swim - 700m
This is my weak sport, I never really swam before and I had to learn everything right from the most basic things. Yes, I still drop my elbows...

When I registered I had to predict my time and I wrote 15 minutes. I based this time from a 1500m time trial done at Commonwealth Pool a few weeks ago. I calculated 1500m in 31 minutes....approximately 2 minutes per 100m. So 700m in about 15 minutes....give and take a few seconds per 100m.

I was assigned the fourth heat (out of 11). The fourth heat really meant the 4 slowest heat. I had a white swim cap which meant I was the leader of my lane (4 people per lane). 9h35 AM, GO! I start and try not to let the adrenalin burn me down, I try to pace myself but I quickly find out that I can sustain the pace, I breathe every second stroke and I quickly create a gap between myself and the other ones in my lane. I am pleasantly surprized! 28 laps later in a 25m pool I get out...I am the first out of the water for my heat. YESSS!!! I am happy and quickly get out of the building trying hard not to slip on the wet floor. Outside on the cement I start running and take time to smile at my wife....a smile for the camera!

My swim time is officially 13 minutes 6 seconds or 1 minute 52 seconds per 100m. I am happy!

T1 (Transition 1 - Swim to Bike)
This was NOT good! Not at all!!!!!

As I run in the transition zone I try to find my bike...where is it? There are bikes all over the place! When I get to my bike, I put my sleeves on, my socks on, my shoes on, my jacket on (which was actually not necessary) and, mistake, my bike pump in my back pocket. I put my helmet on, grab my bike and start to run. My pump falls out of my pocket, I turn back and put it right back in my pocket and re-start running...the pump falls AGAIN! I spot coach Clint and I imagine him rolling his eyes...I feel stupid! I get on my bike, put the pump back in my pocket and swear that if it falls again...I will not get it back. My time in transition? Too long: 3 minutes 36 seconds! Just to show how bad that transition was, it is good for you to know that the top athletes spent less than 30 seconds in T1. In my defense, I have to mention that I do not have triathlon bike shoes (they can be worn without socks).



BIKE Leg - 20km
I am very happy with this. 40 minutes 26 seconds for a hilly, 20 km ride (30km/h). I found the first minutes quite painful, my legs felt like Jell-O and my heart rate is right up there (adrenalin!!!). I have lactic acid build-up and I wonder how I am going to do this. I keep going and try my best, first hill...downhill.....second hill! I try to catch up to the cyclist right in front of me, which I did quite easily. I gain confidence and it seems like my legs adapted quite well. I start to hammer it! I surprise myself with speeds of 35km+ on false flats (uphill). I try to go as fast as I can on downhills sections. It's going well until I get to "The Wall"....I see people cheering .and I just want to impress them. I go as hard as I can, I am almost there!

T2 (Transition 2 - Bike to Run)

Guess what...? The stupid pump fell again...right in front of coach Clint! Arrrgh! I hang my bike, remove my shoes, put my runners on, remove my jacket and then my helmet...always remove your helmet last! I take a sip of Gatorade and off I go!

Run - 5km
It's uphill....all the way. My legs do not feel like Jell-O this time...they feel like freakin' cement! It hurts but I am confident in my running abilities and I actually felt pretty good despite very high heart rates. I cross people now going downhill and cheer for them...after all, they suffer just as much as I do! My run time is not good (but it includes T2): 26 minutes 21 seconds.

Conclusion

I am happy I did this very first triathlon. I learned a lot and I had a blast! Next time I will get CO2 cartriges and save precious seconds and, most importantly...not look like an idiot trying to keep my pump in my pocket! Oh yeah...before I forget....Island Triathlon did VERY well....we are certainly NOT a "farm team" as suggested by a Human Powered Racing Team athlete....By the way, we did better than he did!

NOT a farm team!!!!

Island Triathlon did Extremely well yesterday at the Sooke Spring Sprint Triathlon...Lots of 2nd places (the women did SOOO GOOD!!!) and men in 1st and 2nd places!!!!! Way to go team! I am still waiting for the results to come out...maybe today, maybe tomorrow....When I get the results, I will write my race report...I have lots to say!

A training ride (in the rain...)

Sunday is the Sooke Spring Sprint Triathlon (700m swim in a pool, 20km bike and 5km run). I do not know Sooke very well but enough to know that it's a hilly place. I have to see this course before I race there. There are several reasons for this:

1. I want to know what the road looks like (potholes etc...)
2. I want to be able to imagine myself riding this place
3. I want to see what those hills look like and convince myself that I will not fall off my bike... (see pic below: elevation map)
   

My Marathon Girl!!!

Mission accomplished!

The TC10K went extremely well...it was actually unexpected that I get a PR in this very popular (and populous) race. After all, the day before I went for a quite difficult and fast bike ride around Land's End, 3h30mins for a total distance of 100km! My legs were Jell-O that night. I did not sleep very well, woke-up early and did not feel that well at the start line. My warm-up session that morning was tough and I decided to cut it short.

I positionned myself right on the 40-49 minutes line with many people (some of them did not belong there) and I just told myself that this would be a training race, I did not need to go fast...I just needed to go hard. So I did!

On my Polar RS800 I had my pace and my heart rate displayed, I could not see the time. 3-2-1...I started to run, dodging those who did not belong there and started running fast....my pace was 3min50 sec / km! I told myself that this was too fast, maybe I needed to slow down a bit, I did not want to burn out before the end (it happened to me last year at the Cobble Hill 10K). I tried to slow down....I look at my pace....3min 52sec / km...and it felt good! I decided to go ahead and not get bothered by my pace...1k past, then 2, then 3....by km 7 I was still passing people (some of them huffing and puffing)...my heart rate was through the roof (over 90% of my max - which is 192 BPM)! I kept running at the highest speed I could sustain, the finish line was not too far after all.....

41minutes 18 seconds....a personnal record! I am happy....very happy! Now I am shooting for a sub 40....wish me luck!