Napa Half Iron Race Report

Ok ladies and gentlemen...here is my official race report from last Saturday's race at Lake Berryessa near Napa, CA. Flew in on Friday with my father, who was kind enough to accompany me to this race. Made our way to Fairfield in our rental minivan, and got checked into our hotel. I got my bike put together with relative ease and then found a local bike shop to pick up CO2 cartridges. Then we made our way back to near the hotel and ate dinner. After dinner, I got my bike and nutrition and fluids all ready to go for the morning. Woke up at about 4:45 on Saturday morning, ate a bagel with peanut butter and had a cup of coffee and made our way to the race site. It was about an hour drive on some windy and narrow roads. Once there and parked I got my transition all set up, got checked in, did a little warmup jog, put the wetsuit on, and then made my way down to the swim start.

THE SWIM - The swim was relatively uneventful, maybe coulda been a little faster cuz I stopped a couple times to adjust goggles and unfog them. Water was a chilly 62 degrees, but I adapted to that quickly. Overall I came out of the swim in about 10th position. Transition was ok. Always a little wobbly going from horizontal to vertical and then running...

THE BIKE - Out on the bike now...The course was definitely hillier than I was used to. Had some good climbs and some good descents. The course was very beautiful and I did admire the scenery as I rode by. Nutrition and fluid intake was on. Although I was getting sick of my energy bar and didn't quite finish it as I was starting to feel a little "iffy". I did have gel and sports drink too...so it all worked out. Got off the bike with a little less than a 3 hour bike split...around 19 mph, which I was happy with, considering the course profile and the effort I was putting forth - I tried to ride somewhat conservatively so I didn't completely explode on the run. So I made it into transition sitting at around 3:30 cumulative time.

THE RUN - I went out on the run which started with a nice little hill right out of the park. Seems like every time the run starts with a hill. Oh well... So the run was a double out and back of about 3.3 miles on the same road as the beginning of the bike course. The run was not all together as bad as it could have been. Took some gatorade and water at the aid stations, as well as hits from the gel flask I was carrying. I used the downhills to my advantage and did what I could on the uphills. That is to say that I ran on the hills til my heartrate hit about 170 and then walked til it went back down - again, I did that to avoid blowing up...blowing up is bad. I was doing well until about a mile before I hit the aid station at about 9.5 miles. I was getting very thirsty... So naturally when I hit the aid station I grabbed an entire bottle of water in addition to some gatorade. I probably took in a bit too much fluid at this aid station when in reality I shouldn't have taken any more than I had been before. I felt a little full the last 3 miles...oops...so I made sure to take only gatorade from then on and only use the water to cool off and wet my mouth when I felt thirsty. My half marathon split was around 2:20...which is not all together terrible actually - around a 10:45 pace, which I was happy with considering the hills - damn hills...

Crossed the finish line around a 5:50... I guess the only thing I would have done differently is not grabbed all that water around 10 miles and shoved it down my throat. It might have saved me a few minutes and enabled me to run a little more effectively the last 3 miles... But all in all I was happy with the race and it was a great experience.

A special thank you very much to my dad who traveled and watched me. Couldnt have done it without you dad... Thanks!!

Race week

Hello all!
It's been a significant amount of time since my last entry so here goes. First off, the knee/leg issue...I haven't really seen a whole lot of improvement along those lines. The good news is that it does get better with rest and it never really seems to get any worse. I did visit the doctor last week and had what is called prolotherapy. It is a dextrose injection into the area in an attempt to stimulate bleeding which theoretically in turn will stimulate the body to heal iteself. I haven't noticed a marked difference but it has only been about a week, so we'll see how that progresses.

Next... I am going to California on Friday to race the Napa Valley Vintage 70.3 distance race on Saturday. I feel well prepared, and well rested these last few weeks with my little mini taper. My dad is coming with me because my wife used up all her time to go to some Ironman in Florida in November :-) I am excited for the trip and for the race, hopefully I can pull a decent performance out of myself. My bike...I do love my new bike. I threw the race wheels on a few days ago and it just looks sweet. So even if I don't go fast, at least I'll look like I did.

I also did some metabolic testing a few weeks ago. I found out that my VO2 max is 59, which is apparently very good. I also did lactate threshold testing, for which I have not received results yet. I am going to check on that. All in all, it was a valuable experience and I am glad I did it. It will be a useful training tool once I finally get the numbers. On this same trip I also met with my coach and completed another power/weight test. I saw a 10% increase in my average watts over a 6 minute all out effort, which coach said was amazing, so both of us must be doing something right. After the test, I got to do a beautiful ride following the Liberty Half Iron distance bike course. Very beautiful ride.

My run feels solid, so does my swim. Little worried about the cold water temps in lake Berryessa, but it's the same for us all so I'll have to deal I guess. Anyway...I'll for sure post a race report next week. Wish me luck all, and thanks for reading!!

Long time no update :-)

Ok...3 months since my last post, so here we go. Why don't I start with whats current. Its about 5 weeks until I race the half iron distance race in Napa, CA on May 1. My training is progressing nicely and I am feeling my fitness progress right along with it. I have been outside for a handful of rides, my last one being 3 hours last Sunday. It was mostly sunny with 15-20 mph winds and about 30 degrees. But damnit it was outside and it felt awesome. I love my new ride very much!! I threw my neuvation wheels on that I had as training wheels on my last bike. It was about a 300gram weight difference compared to the shimano wheels that came with it. I realize there are only a handful of people that give a shit about that particular detail :-)
I also put a set of the Ceegee's cushies aerobar armrest pads on. They're so much nicer than the stock ones, very soft... I also ordered an x-lab rear hyrdation seatpost mount device. I think I'm going to be satisfied for a while after that... I love having a coach. I get feedback on my workouts when needed, and I can e-mail or even call him most of the time and he's available to answer me. The workouts are much more specific and personalized and I feel like I am more fit now than at this point in my previous training cycle. To this point my longest run has been 1 hour with speed / recovery intervals in the middle. I have a feeling my running volume is going to get upped here very soon cuz of my race in a little over a month. My swimming feels as good as ever. And my strength training program is really toning me up and...here's a shock...increasing my strength :-) As for my injury situation - the issue that crept up during the race and resulted in the MRI and the PT is still sort of there but does not seem to be getting worse and at times is not even very noticeable. However...after my long ride of 2.5 hours last weekend, the knee issue that hit me right before the Florida ironman crept back up again. That was resolved with cortisone. I'm hoping with ice and proper treatment I can avoid more cortisone in the same area. If its still bugging me right before I go to CA then I'll go and get shot up some more - the medial retinaculum I believe it is. It feels good now, also hardly noticeable. Well thats about all I got for the time being. It was good to catch up - I promise to be more frequent from now until the next big dance. Take care all!!

my new toy :-)

Ok,
So I've started my first official week of training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene. I really enjoyed the time off and didn't really go as crazy as I thought I was going to. Last weekend in the Cities was really fun. I love being around other trigeeks like myself. Headed off to Gear West at 10 am Saturday morning and got my bike and got it fit with the retul system. A short explanation of that is that its a 3D motion capture system for bike fitting. Sticky sensors are put on the wrist, elbow, knee, and various places on the foot. Measurements are taken and there is an acceptable range to fall into. It was really cool and I'm glad I did it. The guy who fit me actually has TRIGEEK on his MN license plates - I thought that was amusing :-). After the bike purchase, Leah and I went to meet with my coach. And she sat there and internally rolled her eyes a few times while we talked about all things triathlon. We did a bike power test, a swim stroke analysis, and a run gait analysis. One little tidbit is that I averaged 307 watts over a 6 minute all out effort. I read about pro triathletes averaging 315 watts over the course of an ironman bike course... freakin amazing, cause that six minute effort nearly killed me :-). It is very nice to have a coach pick apart all of my disciplines and give me little things to work on too. So it was a great, successful, productive, and expensive weekend :-). Still need to get used to the new bike and to riding aero again - it's been a while since I've been "aero." And as always, so much thanks goes to Leah, who puts up with me and my extremely time and money consuming hobby :-). So this being "week 1" of my training, nothing too intense or long right now, but as always, I'll write when I feel so moved. Thanks for reading all!! Merry Christmas!!

Happy things

Hi all!!
I'm very excited about my nephew being born yesterday morning!! He's gonna kick my ass in a race in about 18 years - it's his destiny, I have forseen it :-)!! I'm very happy for Chris and Pam, and I'm psyched about my role as uncle. I keep telling them its all the fun and none of the responsibility. Then they tell me karma's a bitch :-)

Anyway, I've been to physical therapy a couple of times now and I'm feeling better after a few days of knee stabilization exercises - I got some ultrasound done last time, that seemed to help a little. Of course it may be helping cause I have it in my head that it'l help, but let's not worry about why... I am up to an hour on the indoor trainer - done that a couple times - feel pretty good doing it too. I'm gonna try about a 30 minute run this evening before yoga. My heartrate was not what I was used to last time I ran on the treadmill, but it will improve with base training starting in a couple weeks. Too bloody cold to run outside these days - I draw the line at about 5-10 degrees... And swimming is slowly coming together again, starting to "feel the water," as swimmer nerds say :-)

I am very excited about my new bike!! I actually called Gear West earlier today and talked to who I believe is the owner. I got to talk about triathlon and bike nerd stuff for a while with someone who actually gives a rat's ass about what I'm saying, so that was fun. I asked lots of questions about the bike I am contemplating - the Felt B2 Pro. I even put some money down to hold it for me because he told me that they're really going quickly. They have 3 of the size i need, the 56, and only 1 left in every other size - they're going very quickly he says. So, to summarize, I am very excited about a lot of things. Number 1 and most important, my new nephew. Number 2, my new bike :-). And number 3, my new coach.. The first one doesn't cost me anything, the second two.... not so much.... Lucky for me I have an AWESOME wife who puts up with, supports, and understands my obsessions and dreams. Thanks honey - I LOVE YOU. Oh what the hell, if you're reading this I LOVE YOU TOO.!! Over and out!!

Yay!!

So I saw the doc about my MRI yesterday and I was very happy with what I heard!! I got to look at the images on the screen with him on this fancy ass computer program that probably cost more than my house. It turns out I just have small amounts of fluid around the meniscus and small amounts of bruising somewhere (forget sorry...). He said there was no ligament damage or tendon damage requiring any scoping procedure. I believe the "official" diagnosis was patellofemoral arthralgia, which is a very common condition affecting endurance athletes. The things he saw on the MRI were normal things to see after an event such as the ironman or marathon, which does pretty major damage to your body that you cannot feel or see. So he told me I could get back into running and cycling being careful not to increase volume too quickly and I cannot hurt myself any worse. I'm also getting set up with some physical therapy to work on biomechanics and strengthening stuff. So I'm happy!! Will update soon!!



Don

Into December....

Hi all. Here we are the 1st of December already. My recovery is slowly progressing as far as I can tell. I haven't attempted anything over 40 minutes since the race. It has all been slow, easy stuff. I swam for the first time last saturday since my tattoo - surprisingly not bad considering I was out of the water for a little over 2 weeks. I also went for an MRI on my left knee on Monday morning. I really hope this will provide good news regarding what is wrong with it. It is really nothing major, just a little bit of pressure I can still feel behind the left knee at the top of my calf. I should say it doesn't feel like anything major, but I won't know for certain until I get the results from the doctor tomorrow. Like I said, I can't imagine it's anything too serious given my ability to jog, and ride my bike - not even noticeable when I'm walking or standing or sitting... So it'l be nice to get this out of the way, whatever "it" is. I also went to my first ever Yoga class yesterday - it wasn't easy and I am a little sore all over today - but I think I'm gonna go again, because the benefits of yoga are well known!! I am getting excited for my trip to Minneapolis in 18 days (not like I'm counting). I'm gonna get a new bike - full carbon, and I'm going to meet with my coach and do all kinds of startup testing with him. Well.... - kinda boring I realize but there's not much else to say. I'll update when I know more about the knee situation. Take care all.