Good time, and a Good race.

Well, my primary fear going into this was coming in dead last. I had never done a multi-sport race before and this was completely new to me. So, with a little trepidation I warmed up and approached the finish line. Because it was also a swim event I not only wore my number but had it written on my hands in sharpy marker. Kind of funny later as my number was "21" and everyone was wondering what I had been doing last night. Anyway back to the race. I was a little concerned over the run as I hadn't been running for too long and just barely had had a workout at a 10 minute mile pace last Tues. I started in the back of the line since I figured that is where I would finish. I had a lady behind me and a guy and a lady in front of me. I passed the lady after about a quarter mile and I passed the guy at the halfway point as the climb over the pedestrian bridge at university had taken it out of him apparently. Anyway, I almost caught another guy before the pool but not quite. About 5 minutes before getting to the pool I popped a gel and started to think about the swim. I managed to swing through transition in a few seconds and was in the pool swimming in no time at all. I wanted to stay ahead of that guy I had passed. After the first lap I noticed he was just getting ready to get in the pool. A lap or two later I noticed a guy not too far behind me but not gaining. I thought wow that guy really caught up quick but it turns out unbenowndst to me I had passed several people in the transition area who took more time.
The swim was nice as it was a good cool down. That being said the legs didn't want to kick as they had just ran a 30 minute 5k which was faster than anything I had done in training so I concentrated on the upper body and kicked lightly. The first 400m were a bit of a drage but not to bad. the last 400m my legs came back to life and I started passing people on the turns. None of them were doing flip turns so I would flip turn underneath them and move on. I actually managed to gain a lot of ground on some of them (not that it matters, I just had a really good last leg of the race). Anyway, climbing out of the pool it was nice to know I wasn't dead last (but it would have been OK if I was, I mean someone has to be last once in awhile). I had a good race and my time was almost bang on the dot what I expected it to be. Not bad for a first Aquathlon.

Bike and swim.

Good day of workouts today. I biked into work in good time, not great time, but I was kind of saving something for the afternoon swim. I have a Swim/Run race on Saturday (not racing to win really, just for experience and fitness, might even come in last). Anyway, mornings are still a little cool which is nice. Usually this far into summer it is hot in the mornings.
Lunchtime swim was nice. I did 800m of swimming with only one stop to make sure my lap timer was working good (ok and a bit of a breath recovery but I didn't stop for more than 30 seconds). I averaged 2:20 for each 100m and finished the 8 in 18 minutes or so. Not a great time but since I have only been training seriously in swimming for 3 weeks I think that is not bad for me. Anyway, it was a nice swim over lunch and put me in a nice position for weightloss for the day.
I just hope I don't look too stupid Saturday. If I do though I guess it doesn't matter anyway. At least I will know where I need improvement the most.

This is your brain, this is your brain on Heat Exhaustion...

Well, I kind of new I would be riding home on the old steed, and I knew it would be hot. What I see in hindsight is that I shouldn't have swam a mile over lunch. The legs were jello this afternoon and the temps were in the 105+ range which is usually a pretty hot ride. Anyway I had a pretty good tradewind heading east through Chandler. I had ice water, and a tailwind it was nice, if only the legs had more juice! I made it to the freeway in good time but that is where I started to slowly lose steam. Around here things got pretty nasty as I was getting hot and having wierd skin sensations so I knew I had to do something soon. I spotted a bikeway on the side of a canal around gilbert and took it thinking it might cut some distance off. It didn't cut any distance off but it did spit me out at an intersection and where the trail ended there was a water fountain with hot water. Now I know that hot water may not sound too appealing but when the humidity is low, even hot water will quickly chill when a wind is applied to it so I doused my helmet and my jersey and started pedaling into a few miles of evaporative cooling bliss. It wasn't too long before I dried out though but the cooling had boosted my energy so I was able to keep better time for awhile. When I finally got out into the farms the temperature dropped near the fields. I still had to douse myself a few times with the waterbottle I filled at the fountain. The last 3 miles were a real struggle. I found myself struggling to pedal up the street to my house. I did arrive just after 6:30 so I could watch the kids but man what an effort to make it! One hour and forty minutes in the blazing sun. Knowing I wasn't exactly in the best shape at the moment I went in and filled the tub with cold water and sat in it. One the cold water helps get the lactic acid out of the muscles, two, there is no better way to help the body shed extra heat than to submerge it in cold water. After the bath I drank another quart of water, ate a bowl of Ice Cream, two bowls of frosted flakes, and another quart of water. Looking at my Diet diary program on my palm pilot it says after all I have ate today and all my excersize, I can still eat 2000 calories before I go over today's calorie goal! Bring on the cheesecake!

My first brick.

Well, today was the day to do the first brick workout! What is a brick workout you might ask? Well, it is a workout where you bicyle for a bit and then switch to running for the second half. Why would you want to run you may ask? Well, I have got this crazy idea to do a triathlon in my head. I figure I will be a bit like a fish out of water, or a fish in water, Or a fish in water and then out of water on a bike and then running, whatever. I am training for a triathlon. I figured it was probably the best way to take off this extra weight I have and make me a lean mean randonneuring machine (who also swims and runs on the side). Anyway, to do this I am getting back into running and am spending a few lunch hours a week at the pool working on my freestyle technique (amazing how much faster better technique can make you go).
Anyway! Today I drove over to the corner of Crismon and Signal Butte to do my Brick. I drove because I figured I would need some place to stash my bike while I ran. Of course when I was pumping up my tires just after 5 am I noticed a wobble in the back wheel. So off came the wheel, out came the chainwhip and I adjusted the bearings in the hub. Putting the wheel back on my smallest sprocket was rubbing the frame! So, more than an hour later I finally had the thing working (dang that sram cassette!) and I was off!
On the bike I was off at a good pace and down in the aero bars again. In no time I was at the turn up to Usery Pass. I was very pleased to see that I was able to hold 11 to 12 mph all the way up even if I was on the edge of being out of breath. Usery pass is a long climb and has many fake tops so it is a good one to train on. As I do more of these workouts I will probably build up into repeats when I get better at managing energy while running. Turning around at the top I cruised back down the way I had come up. I really like descending this hill as you can maintain 25-30 mph for a long time descending it. At the bottom I had to stop briefly to wait for a car to clear the intersection before turning and heading down to my car.
Having heard that the transition from bike to running does a real number on the calfs I started spinning and doing on bike calf stretches on approach to the car. It seemed to work as I had no cramping or pain in the legs when I started running. I just had tired legs to deal with but I get that feeling whenever I start running. The trail I had chosen was uphill so ocassionaly I had to walk a bit to get the heartrate down. All told I did 8 hilly miles on the bike and 2.5 hilly miles running on a pretty hot morning. Next time I want to get out earlier (assuming no mechanicals).

Map of my Commute

Well, I thought that since nothing is particularly special about the commutes this week I would post the map of my commute below. I haven't been commuting as much this week as I have been working running and Swimming as well as cycling to try and shake up my metabolism a bit and shake off some pounds. Today I was back on the bent though and have to go both ways thanks to my Father inlaw taking a vacation in Alaska. Fortunately temps are low this week. Anyway, without further ado here is the map of my commute:

Paul's Commute

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