First triathlon in the books!

I did it.  It wasn't pretty, especially the start, but now I can call myself a triathlete!

First I want to thank everyone for their support on this.  Denise has been a hero in taking take of the kids while I've spent a lot of time training.  Then my teammate during the event--Victoria Ramirez.  Tim Pollard for originating the idea, and although he didn't race, for at least going on a ride of the course with me.  Laurie Matheson for showing her support during the race.  And Lauri Kopra for helping me with my swim. 

Then of course, this was all for CJ and her family.  So thank you to Roger and Rachel and the rest of the Foundation for supporting me during this.  I'm proud to say I raised over $1500 for CJSTUF!


Here are the times for the race.

Swim: 00:08:17.5
T1: 00:01:41.1
Bike: 00:35:53.7
T2: 00:00:56.2
Run: 00:24.30.9
Total: 1:11:19.4

A full recap and breakdown to follow.

Final prep

I had my last open water practice yesterday.  It went well.  I did try just jumping straight in and swimming, and while I was sort of able to, the cold water shock is big and I had to take a breather almost immediately.  As much as it doesn't sound fun, I think I will plan on doing a little pre-race swim just to get over the cold.  Then I get to hang around damp until the race start.

I don't have any big serious work-outs this week, it's mostly about tapering and not getting rusty.  I have been suspicious about my left knee (that I notice mostly when I'm riding), so will stay away from big gears and long rides.  I think that is what did it, I jumped in too long too soon on the bike.  Going from basically 0 to 30 miles was too much.  Anyway, I'm not greatly concerned...just a little.

Which really just leaves transitions and logistics.  I practiced the former in the garage this afternoon.  Can I tell you how silly I felt donning all my race gear and taking it on and off in the garage.  Fortunately none of my neighbors witnessed it.  As far as logistics, being a one-car family has proven a downside.  I need to get there hours before the family would like to, so I'm having to arrange alternate transport.  I may have to rent a car; I'm actually hoping to try out Zipcar, but my account hasn't been approved yet (not sure what the hold up is, it's a corporate account so it may very well be my own company.)  I'm hoping it's not that my drivers license expires in 10 days--but that's a different story.  So is the cop story, but that's also for another time ;)

And how could I forget, yet another teammate has dropped out.  Tim is giving his old man knee as the excuse for leaving me high and dry.  But at least I have confirmed my friend Victoria is still in it, and our friend Laurie will be there in support.  Can you believe at one point I had almost 10 people that were going to race?  I guess that doesn't say much about my race leader skills.

Now, just to not let my nerves get the best of me.

1k

I broke the $1000 mark!  I never had an official goal, just to raise as much money as possible...but secretly I really want to raise at least a thousand dollars.  And just before the one week to go mark I hit that.  I am so thankful to everyone who helped and contributed. This really means a lot to me, and it will go a long way to help CJSTUF.  So thank you!

I'm stoked!

Second time in Aquatic Park this morning.  Again thanks to Lauri for taking me out.  I did MUCH better this time.  Really not much nervousness at all.  Still bitterly freezing cold, but I was able to actually concentrate on my stoke most of the time and my breathing, instead of just being panicked about the whole thing.  Turns out I don't need a special cold water swim cap (maybe for a long swim)--the regular caps does just fine.  Also thought I might need some better/bigger goggles (Aqua Sphere), but my regular swim goggles also were fine this time--the defogger made a big difference.  I also tried ear plugs this time--which aren't necessary in the pool, but I feel like it helped with no cold water going in my ears. 

Anyway, all around a much more positive experience.  And since that was really my last hurdle to get over...I'm totally stoke and ready for the race!  I still need to practice transitions, and figure out race logistics, but otherwise am ready to go.

I also had a really good brick workout this week.  Did a spin class with one of my race buddies Victoria, then immediately went out and ran 4 miles at an 8 minute mile pace--which is fast for me.  So that's all coming together too.  Next week is my last hard week, then a week of taper.

On the fund raising effort, I sent an email out to the parents of Lila's and Cora's school.  Thanks to the Director of Hills Plaza Marin Day Schools for allowing me to do that.  So between that and the work email last week I've had some more donations coming in.  I'm almost at 4 digits, so I'm really thrilled with that.  Again thanks to the parents and the Schwabbies for their contributions.

into the...

COOOOOOOOOOOLD!!!

I did one of my last new things today.  I practiced the open water swim for he first time.  With much thanks to my friend Lauri--who is a pro at the open water--she was able to calm me down get me through it.  Really--this is the only part of the race that is still intimidating.

We donned our wetsuits and started into Aquatic Park.  (My daughters were quite fascinated the the wetsuit and kept coming over to pet me in it.)  I knew it was going to be cold... and it was (about 50 degrees).  There is nothing pleasant about that.  And while the wetsuit did it's job, it doesn't cover feet, ankles, hands or your face.  The ankles was really the worse bit--they hurt, REALLY hurt because of the cold.  I think the only thing that made me get over that was getting my face wet--because that literally is just so shocking it takes your breath away.

Honestly, things went pretty well.  But definitely a few lessons learned.  For instance, there are no breaks--no place to touch down and take a breather.  When you're tired, treading water or a back float are your only options--and it's just not the same as standing up on the bottom of the pool.  And more than anything else, I was exhausted from that.

Not being able to see due to murky water was different too--but that didn't really bother me.  Speaking of not being able to see--I did use defogger, but it didn't work.  I don't know if it's because the water was just so cold, but really I couldn't see at all where I was going even when I looked up.  My best option there was just trying to stay with Lauri, because then I knew I was pretty much going the right direction.  And that was something else--with the tides it's much harder to go straight than you think.  (I did once mistake a buoy for her :)

Anyway, despite that bit of panic at the beginning it was a very positive experience.  And Lauri can take most of the credit there.  I can't say I'm a convert and that open water is my new thing, but I am--or will be-- comfortable enough with it to get through it and on to the bike.  Then the fun can begin.

Also, I finally sent the pledge email to my work colleagues.  I suppose I am most nervous about that email than others.  We get so many similar emails at work for other fundraisers, hopefully they won't mind--but I still don't like bothering my colleagues.  Sorry, and thanks in advance!

It's getting closer, less than a month

I rented my wet suit today.  I'll get to use it this Saturday at Aquatic Park.  My friend Lauri is going to show me the ropes of open water swimming.  Pretty excited--a little nervous.

Also today, I effectively did the tri...indoors.  I went to the gym and did all three sports in succession for either the distance (swimming and running) or time (spinning) I expect to do.  I did the swim a little faster than planned (but still slow), and the run a bit slower than I wanted. Again because of being indoors, it was hard to say how my biking compared.  Transitions weren't realistic at because the gym is layed out for a triathlon and I had to deal with a locker, etc.  Nonetheless, did the whole thing in 1:20.54 which is just off the mark of what I hope to actually do.  And I was not super-pushing it, so I have more to give come race time.  (Assuming I don't choke like my last race and let my nerves and heart rate get the best of me.)  I was pretty pleased with this effort, especially for the first time of doing all three.

One lesson learned, might need to invest in better tri-shorts.

Then the other other sports news, is I got my bike back form the shop today.  New shifters, chain, cables, handlebar tape and brake pads.  Plus a tune-up.  Wasn't too happy about the bill, or the fact they lost the parts for a while.  But I am stoked to try it out--hopefully Thursday.  Last Thursday I got a 22 mile ride in on the mountain bike.  So I'm hoping for about 30 this time on the roadie.

Still Training

Wow has it really been a month since my last post?

Well, even though my blogging has been lagging, my training has not.  While I still have not been good about sticking to my actual plan, I am basically getting in 2 swims, 2 runs and 2 rides in each week.  In fact, last week I had a 2 hour run--which means I haven't really lost much from my Half Marathon training.  And his past weekend I got an 18 mile ride--on my mountain bike no less--which is my longest ride in a very long time.

The side story there is that my road bike needs some work.  While on a different ride, the shifters basically went out--leaving me with a 1 speed while going up hill.  I was going to get a tune up anyway, but now I have to replace the shifters as well.  For now, I'm on the knobby tires--road bike is due back next week.  Oh yeah--spinning is about as boring as it gets--WAY more boring that running on a treadmill.  Now that the weather has finally dried up, and daylight savings is here--I should be able to get outside more for both.

I'm also almost within one month of the race, which means I need to rent my wet suit and start getting in the cold cold water.  Another side story here--it turns out being in the water lot, causes dry skin.  At first I had no idea what it was, then I thought it was the chlorine, but no--it really is just the time in water.  So I've had to buy some fancy soaps and lotions to counteract the water.

The most exiting development--is that the jerseys came in.  They look awesome!  A little on the small size though.  I'll just have to drop a few more pounds.

Time to get back on the fund-raising bandwagon again.

Triathlon training in earnest...

So...I took Monday off as planned.  Then I went snowboarding on Tuesday instead of training (I had forgotten I had planned that).  First time up in two years--felt pretty good.  I wasn't really feeling 100% that day or the next few actually.  So I took Wednesday and Thursday off as well.  I had a run on Friday which felt...okay...a bit creaky.  So much for training in earnest.  If it's any consolation, I read that I was supposed to take 1-2 weeks off after the race anyway.  And the coach feature on my watch pretty much said the same thing.

Today I had a swim video clinic.  They are supposed to video record you above and below the water, then you go watch yourself and the coach critiques you.  Well...the underwater camera wasn't working.  And after the recorded us above water, the playback wasn't working.  So the coach just told us verbally what he saw.  Not really the value that I wanted.  But, they are supposed to send the DVD so we can watch it, and there is supposed to be a make up session for the underwater part.  The only real drag is that it means another day where Denise has to watch the kids so I can go do my training.  (I think she is getting annoyed by all my training demands.)

So the rest of the weekend I'm hoping for a run and a bike.  I actually hope to ride the bike course on Monday with one of the people doing the race with me, so that should be go to scope it out.

Kaiser Half

1:52:18

One of my rules to myself about this blog is to stay positive.  This will be a short entry today.  I finished faster than my last race by 7 minutes (so technically a new PR).  My legs feel pretty good.  It was cool to see my wife and daughters on the sideline.  That's about it.

Now to break my rule--I'm pretty disappointed in how things went today.  My goal was 1:45, and three weeks ago I was on pace for 1:40.  I think the biggest reason for missing the mark so badly was being sick last week.  One day of more food going out than in, and three days of fever.  So even after that was over, my eating hadn't really come back to normal.  So I just didn't have the right nutrition the week before the race.  Also, between the sickness, a pair of girls waking up in the middle of the night, and who knows what else...I didn't have a good nights sleep the entire week.

I was worried early on when my heart rate spike to 170 right off the bat--I'm sure to adrenaline.  But it never really calmed down (my average for the entire race was 171).  Normally, I can run at 150 or 160 for the first hour plus, then pull out he 170-180 near the end when I need it.  But since it was so high the whole time I was just tired and had nothing extra to give.  Also, it usually takes me 20-30 minutes to get in the zone; then the middle half is really good; finally near the end I have to concentrate again to keep focused.  That middle zone was much shorter today, so again, it was a lot more discomfort and work.  By around mile 9 I was ready to be done.

I did a very good job on distance and speed training, and an okay job on hill training.  But something that had never really occurred to me was training with an elevated HR.  So that's something I need to work on.


My next Half isn't until the end of October, so I've got a long time to stew on this before I can redeem myself.


Tomorrow is a rest day.  Tuesday, starts the Triathlon training in earnest.

One day left

I managed to get my taper in after all.  It became very easy not to over-exercise when I was keeled over with a 3 day stomach flu.  I even got my weight down to race-weight!  So, not exactly how I planned my week before the race.  I did get a nice easy run in on Thursday to make sure my legs still worked.  A little low on energy though.

The other good news is that it looks like no rain on Sunday.  That was iffy for a while because Sunday had been projected for rain for he past week.  And in fact it is raining right now, and supposed again on Monday--so a well timed break in the clouds.

I'm excited to have Denise and the girls at the race.  The girls have never seen me run, so that should be fun.  The plan for the rest of the day is get my race gear together, figure out logistics of drop-off, and relax.

Trickle trickle

A few more donations have come in.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Thanks to you also who are unable to contribute but have sent me a personal note anyway.  Those are always appreciated.

I still have a few more efforts on that front to do.  Corporate donations, hit up my Linked-In friends, and fill in the gaps of bad emails addresses.  If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

Tapering...

Who said anything about tapering?  So NOT exercising has been harder than exercising.  Case in point, my 45 minute run on  Thursday, while only 30 minutes on foot, turned into an hour long BRICK.  Since my previous bike/run was interrupted, I decided to try again.  This time 30 minutes each, and each with a pretty decent effort.  Again, no jello legs.  So I was pretty please.

I have slacked on the swimming lately, which is partially due to the congesting I'm having.  I wouldn't say I have a full blown cold after all though.

Today I have a 5 mile run planned, and hopefully a leisurely biek ride tomorrow.

And this coming week... I will work very hard... on NOT working hard.

Updates

A few small updates.  I'm catching a cold.  I've run through them before, so as long as it doesn't turn into something worse I should be okay.  But it's not the best timing since the Half Marathon is less than two weeks away.  I'm excited that my friend Gerry is also running the race.  Also, it will be the first race that my girls will be there to see e.

The jersey's are in production now.  So they should arrive soon. Crossing my fingers that they arrive in time for the Half, but they are not actually expected until after that--but at least well before the Tri.

And then finally, I've also started my fundraising in earnest now.  I started off with a few close friends and family, but have now opened that up to just about everyone.  I still have my work colleagues to hit up, but that's a bit more complicated because of the matching donations.  So that will come after a bit more research.

I'm off to take my vitamins!

Long, Long, Long

Today was my last long run--17 miles--before the Half Marathon in two weeks.  In fact, it's the longest I've run in over a decade.  And the longest I have to do until at least September.

It was okay--almost didn't happen.  It's been raining all week, and this was the first break long enough to go outside.  As a result though, it was a bit sticky.  And I had missed a run due to the rain, sick kid, and work stuff--so I was feeling a bit creaky and it took me a long time to get in a zone.  In the end, it didn't feel great, but it's done.  A lot better than my crap swim yesterday.  Also, no new blisters.  I'll be sore tomorrow (heck, I'm a bit sore now).

There were a few interesting parts to the run.  I had to do an extra loop in the park to make the mileage I needed.  The trip out to the zoo is no longer long enough (14 miles).  I took the extra time in the west end of the Park, which I like much better than the other half.  More lakes--lots fewer people.  Also got to run by the Bison three times as a result, and they were right up in front one of the times--I've never seen that.  Also cool, was that because of the storms and standing water, the Great Highway was closed in large sections.  Lots of people were taking advantage of it and biking and running right on the highway.  And speaking of standing water, there was a new "lake" in the Park.  Marx Meadow had flooded so badly that it was basically a new pond.  I saw kids walking into it in their rain boots and it coming almost to the top of their boots.

Anyway, now it's time to taper.  No long and no hard runs until the race.  I've learned my lesson this week though--four days to too long to go between runs.

Downs and Ups

I've lost another teammate, so we're down to just 3 racers.  I am putting in the jersey order today though, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Also, I got my first donation!  Let's hope that prime's the pot and more are on their way.

First saddle time in a while

I'm trying to stay focussed on the Half Marathon, but I've been sneaking in some cross-training.  Today I had a nice 15 mile ride.  Took some time to practice transition T1 and T2 work--need more practice there.

Speaking of the Half, I did my last speed work yesterday, 10.5 miles at race pace.  With that pace I should come in around 1:40, which is 5 minutes faster than my goal, and 20 faster than my last Half Marathon in October.  And, it puts me on pace for a 3:20 Marathon...which would be an entire hour faster than my Big Sur Marathon 10 years ago.  There must be something to that adage about getting better at endurance the older you get.

Let the money roll in ;)

I've sent my first official requests for donations.  I have to tell you this feels so awkward to me. I never really participated in most of the school fund raising efforts, selling magazines for schools trips, etc. as a kid.  With one exception--I was required to go along with an effort for the marching band in high school.  I think it was called Tag Day(??).  On the hottest day of the year , we all had to get dressed up in our marching uniforms, and go around the neighborhoods of Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax Virginia, and go door to door begging for money.  Wool uniforms in August--torture!  It was truly one of the most humiliating experiences I've ever had to do.

My only justification, is that I am connected to this cause.  I know these people--they are good friends of mine.  And I just can't say enough about what they've gone through and the heartbreak of losing their daughter.  This is my way of contributing.

Team--

My team took a hit yesterday.  Sadly my Wood friends made a major change in their lives (bought a new house) and that has thrown their plans to compete off track.  Good luck to them on the new house.  We'll try to move on without them. :)

BRICK

I'm still really focussed on the upcoming Half Marathon, but I've been getting a little itchy.  Hence the swim yesterday, and the BRICK workout today.  This is another first, I'd never done a formal Bike/Run workout.  My bike got cut short because they wanted to clean the room (spinning bike at the Y)--but I still got enough in and had a good run afterwards.  I'll do more of these, but probably not for a while.

I swam a mile!

I have never doe this before.  This is about 4 times longer than I have ever swam, and 4 times longer than my race.  Having a lane to yourself makes a huge difference. Basically after a few laps, I just zoned out and 45 laters I was done.  Yep, awfully slow.  Anyway, now that I can do the distance, I still have to work on speed, and open-water.

Other Races

In addition to the Vineman Sprint Tri, I actually have a few more races planned for the year.  I'm being ambitious and have not only planned my first triathlon ever, but am jumping up a league and have an Olympic distance event planned next.  In the meantime, I've got my second Half Marathon coming up in 4 weeks--I'm considering it a training event for the tri.  I also hope to come in around 1:45, which would beat my previous best of 1:59 last October.  Then this October, I plan on repeating the Healdsburg Half.


Feb 7
Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon

Apr 17
Vineman Sprint Triathlon

July 10
San Francisco Olympic Triathlon at Treasure Island

Oct 30
Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon

Vineman

I am doing my first triathlon on April 17, 2010, the Vineman Showdown


Originally it was just an opportunity to try something new.  But when my friend CJ was diagnosed with a brain tumor, it became an opportunity do something for her.  You can read more about her story at CJSTUF.ORG.


I am now recruiting friends to do the Tri with me.  We'll race as Team CJ, and I will be raising money for CJ's Thumbs Up Foundation.  I'll be posting updates on fundraising efforts and my training.


So far, these people have committed to the race:



Jenny Pretare Wood
Philip Wood
Tim Pollard
Laurie Matheson
Victoria Ramirez

I have also created some triathlon jerseys for the team, that should look like this:

For anyone that wants to donate or join the team, please let me know.


James Staudte