Let's Disco

I completed the Disco X-50 Triathlon today.  This race is put on by Dallas Athletes Racing and was more or less the same course as the Texasman X-50 they held back in May.

Surprisingly, the day was cooler than May's race thanks to yesterday's thunderstorms.  Unfortunately, the rain didn't cool the lake down.  It was 84 degrees rendering it not wetsuit legal (read: Grant will swim slower).  It felt sort of weird at the race start with 69 degree air while running into 84 degree water. I was able to execute well and even pass two folks in my age group within the last mile AND hold them off with a sprint to finish to be sure.

I felt I had a better race today, and certainly felt better AFTER completing the race.  There were a couple of changes I made that likely account for this.  First, I gave myself a taper which I did not do prior to the Texasman.  Second, I eased back on the bike, riding in HR Z3 (rather than Z4 in Texasman), and pretty much kept my Power in the Z2-3 range.  Third, I eased into the run, starting out in HR Z2 and then easing into Z3, ending in Z4.  Finally, I used Endurolytes throughout my race, taking two every hour.

Next race: Dirty Rock Off Road Sprint Triathlon

Train safe!
-CoachGrant

Registered for Off Road

I've got about another month or two before I have to commit to triathlon bike training, so I decided to continue getting the most out of my mountain bike. While I actually can't wait to get out and do some serious cycling on the road, learn new routes around Dallas, and meet new people, I registered for the 2012 DORBA Frozen Endurance Series at Johnson Branch State Park, a four hour solo off road race (one attempts to get the most amount of 8.8 mile laps within four hours.

Given this new race added to my annual training plan, I need to continue to practice.  I fractured a rib or two back in late September, and therefore I'm still not re-confident in my off road skills.  Yesterday I went out to Rowlett Creek Preserve and was able to ride ALL the trails out there, walking only minimally.  Now I realize that most of the trails our there are "green," but there are a few "blue" and "black" trails.  I was still able to get through all of them, boosting my confidence.

Looking forward to this new experience.

Train safe!

Racing with the New BMX Pedals

The pedals and ride proved out to work for me yesterday at the Sabertooth Duathlon at Natural Bridge Caverns. 

The race started in the "belly" of the cave as a time trial start.  You had to climb out of the cave as part of the first two mile run.  Then you proceeded to the bike.  There were four duathlons going on all at the same time, three road races and one off-road (the one I chose). 

The bike couse was tough.  It was rocky, full of rotting tree limbs and bark (aka unprocessed mulch), and hills.  I had been doing quite a bit of practicing in Garland, but was not real prepared for this course.  While portions of the trail were jeep trails, much of it was a fresh cut, technical nightmare (for me).  Rock after rock, rut after rut, more "mulch" sucking the life out of my tires...  There were two technical (extremely rocky) decents that I just walked down.  Then of course, what goes down, must also go up; so this race director decided to pick the toughest climbs possible.

By the second climb, my rear derailer was having issues, leaving me no choice but to walk it up that hill.  The remaining few miles were fortunately on a dirt road.  I quit shifting my rear derailer to try to keep the cassette in tact enough to make it back to T2, using only my front derailer to address changes in terrain.

Entering T2, my son walked up and said he caught a stick in his rear wheel that ended up tearing up is rear derailer, and had walked his bike in.  He ended up running the second run for the heck of it.

Based on the technical difficulty of the course, I was really glad I had my BMX pedals.  I didn't have any major falls as a result, and where I did have to walk, it was easier with running shoes on that the cleated shoes.   Leading me to a first in age group win.  I am going to continue to use my BMX pedals.

I recommend trying out this race if you want to test your off-road biking skills.

Train safe!

It's not just about the run!

I road with a group out of the major bike store located in Richardson, TX this morning.  The riders consisted of casual bike riders, bike racers, and a few triathletes (you can tell the triathletes by the arrowbars and horns on the bikes). 

During the ride, I started chatting with another rider about a variety of topics, mainly just to pass the time.  The subject turned to triathlon.  He told me one of college friends was a triathlete, who asserted that triathlon was just about the run.  We talked some more on this, and I was disappointed that this sort of misinformation is out there. 

In our sport, we must be good at all three sports (plus transitions!) and then play to our strength.  We have become not just adequate swimmers or coast on the bike; we have to work to get really good at all three sports.  Then I contend you play your strength in a race to finish as fast as you can.

I had a client that was a good swimmer and an even better runner, but he was an awesome cyclists.  Before one half ironman race, we discussed strategy.  As I worked through the numbers, it became obvious--swim well, bike hard, and hang on for the run.  In other words, work his strength, the bike.  It worked.  He went on to qualify for Team USA in that race!

It's not just about the run.  Become good at all three sports, but come race day, play to your strength.

Train safe!

Sub 10 hours!

No, I'm referring to my Ironman time, although I do wish I could perform that well!  Since I've had my attention diverted to things such as starting a new job in a new city, selling my current house and purchasing a new one; AND the fact that I was getting a bit burned out with all the endurance training, I've backed on my weekly training hours--below 10 hours a week.

I've discovered a couple of interesting factoids during this process:

1. I'm not tired all the time
2. I have found it much easier to get out of bed for those early morning workouts
3. I have gained weight
4. I want to race

Next race: Nation's Triathlon!

Train safe!

Barefoot Running

After reading the book "Born to Run" one has to at least try to run barefoot.  Well, I bought a huarache kit from www.invisibleshoe.com, made them and tried them out this morning (I purposely waited until after the NYC Marathon).  I easily ran a half mile warm up in them on the concrete streets of my neighborhood.  I didn't feel pain in my legs nor my feet, surprisingly.  As soon as I put my running shoes on, about a half mile into the rest of my run, I started getting some twinges in the hip that I've been fighting for the last couple of weeks.  I did not feel this during my half mile warm up in huaraches.

I am going to continue to SLOWLY build up some mileage with these huaraches and report my experience.

Train safe!

Against the Wind

I couldn't get the old Bob Seger song out of my head yesterday.  I rode a modified version of the Monaville Loop to allow me to do 50 miles.  The ride heads pretty much straight north--and yesterday that was directly into a headwind.  I was able to hang onto an 18 mph average for the first 25 miles, but was pushing high wattage due to the wind.

From Hempstead back to the car it was all tail wind allowing me to average 23 mph for the second half of the ride with a bit less wattage!

I did learn that when the battery starts to go low on the iBike Power Meter, it starts to produce some sporadic readings.  From mile 30 on, it would periodically think I was climbing a steep hill.  According the manual, that is "normal" when the voltage from the battery gets too low.  I now know how to verify before the ride the battery voltage to avoid this issue in the future. 

Train safe!
-Coach Grant

More Hills, Please!

It has been three weeks since racing World's in Germany.  I have been pleasantly surprised at my training post race.  I had completed minimal training the week of World's--about 3 hours total.  Now, I did do a lot of walking while being a tourist, but mostly a week of sitting in the car, driving from place to place.

The first surprise is how quickly I feel I recovered.  The day after the race I, again, did no training.  After all, I was sitting on an airplane from Frankfurt to Houston for nearly 11 hours in a window seat two people away from the aisle seat (two people that wanted to sleep the entire way...no one I knew), so how much could I really do.  LA Fitness called me the day I got back and asked me to substitute teach a spin class that evening, so I did.  From there on, I've been pretty much back on schedule.  I did keep my longer workouts not-so-long, but haven't felt the extreme fatigue I expected.  I will mention, the Houston heat has been quite fatiguing, though.

Secondly, I was surprised at how much my speed has picked up.  I've seen about 2-4 second improvement in my 100s in the pool, a nice increase bike speed, and incredible running improvement.  Even in this heat my easy runs have improved by 20 seconds a mile.  I keep wondering if my Garmin has a problem because there has been a heat advisory nearly ever day this month in Houston, and I'm still able to maintain a good running pace.

I could try to analyze and figure it out, but my guess is that it was the massively insane hills on the bike course in Germany that has added to my fitness.  So I'm going to focus more on hills.

Train safe!

Back in Business with Power Meter

I went out last week to improve the calibration on my iBike.  One can simply do a quick tilt calibration, enter the weight of you and the bike (with water bottles half full), do a coast down, and you are on your way.  The iBike, though, improves the calculation if you do a 4 mile out and back ride after your coast down.

Last week one evening I did just that.  Then the thing quit working again!

I wrote to Velocomp who promptly sent me some suggestions to try.  If those didn't work, they'd send me a new mount.  I tried everything suggested and it still didn't work, so I proceeded to removed the mount.  Ahhh,  I think I just found the problem..

As I was removing the wire that goes down the fork to measure speed, I noticed that the way I had the wire positioned caused a slight cut and possibly a short across the wires.  I taped that up with some electrical tape, and that fixed it!  I'm back in business with a power meter.

I was able to ride my full 100 mile ride yesterday without incident of the iBike cutting out.  I feel it is calibrated very accurate now, too, as I'm getting numbers close to what I get on the Computrainer.  The nice feature of the iBike is that I can go back and apply the new calibration factors to the old rides (assuming nothing material changed).  So I did just that.  The good news--the long ride data is pretty consistent from ride to ride using my new profile--and improving slightly from long ride to ride (in terms of average watts).  The bad news is that I'm not making exponential gains.

Train safe!

iBike Update

I've been riding with the iBike on my long rides and some of my midweek rides for a couple of weeks now.  I purchased a "close out" iBike Pro wired, so it is a generation old.  Here are what I've experienced so far.

Setup.  Followed quick setup where I only did a tilt calibration, coast down, and wind setting to calibrate the iBike.  The directions recommend that every time you ride, you need to first let the iBike acclimate to the outdoor temperature and then calibrate the wind sensor.  I've found this to be true. 

Issues:

1. Make sure your mounting of the iBike and angle of it doesn't move after calibration.  If it points more up, it thinks you're climbing and show too many watts.  If it points down, it thinks you are going down hill and will reflect as such.
2. While my quick setup works, it is best to perform the recommended 2 mile out / 2 mile back ride after your coast down for more accurate measurements.  I did this in race gear for the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon.
3. During Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon, I tried to get GU off my fingers using water while riding.  I must have accidentally gotten some in the unit, so it stopped working.  It dried out and started working again...after the race.
4. Training in my neighborhood at 4:30 am causes me to ride a course of a lot of turns.  Turns appear to cause the iBike to angle up, thus over stating wattage.

All-in-all, when the tilt is correct (I tightened my handlebars), and I'm not riding in a place with a lot of tight turns, the data matches pretty close to what I get on my Computrainer.  I don't feel confident enough with it yet to use as a race pacing tool given the volatile nature of the wattage numbers being reported .  Perhaps using an average would be better?

More to come as I learn more and gain experience.

Train safe!

Warmed Up at BSLT 70.3

On Sunday, June 27, 2010, I raced the final "warm-up" race toward competing for TeamUSA.  I raced the Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon. 

It was challenging for a couple of reasons. 

First, I had had significant fever and stomach issues on Wednesday and Thursday prior to Sunday's race.  I wasn't sure at that point if I'd even be able to race.

Second, I'd never been to Lubbock.  Upon landing in the airplane, everything looked incredibly flat and barren--minimal trees, minimal hills, minimal crops on all that irrigated farmland.  There is a canyon near Lubbock where they dammed up the river, making Buffalo Springs Lake (where we swam for the race).  The bike and run courses took us out of and back into the canyon several times, which made for a very hilly course.  That's OK, though.  Afterall, I'm training for a race in the Allgaue region of Germany.  It will be very hilly there.

Train safe! 

The ups and downs of the training week

This past week was challenging.  First, I continued to add to my strength workouts. I'm working on individual leg strength and continued to do single leg squats.  To continue with the strength theme, I added distance and intervals to my treadmill workouts.  Due to rain on Friday, I did a strength workout and decided to move my long run to Saturday before heading off to teach my spin class.  A few miles into my fifteen miles the day after single legged squats had me questioning my decision to move days around.

I also decided to do my first long ride of the year.  That decision was made when the temperatures were in the 60's.  Sunday morning temps at Royal Middle School were 33.3 degress F...it said so on the High School digital sign.  I was meeting another rider, Jonathan, so I HAD to do it.  After putting on over 4 layers of clothing (this was the first time I wore booties OVER my toe covers), we headed out.  The wind seemed be against us the entire way, my toes never warmed and my nose wouldn't stop running.  Upon completing the ride, I did NOT want to run.  I was cold, stiff, and sore (remember those single legged squats).  Jonathan convinced us both that we should just do it.

I'm glad we did.  Our pace continued to pick up as we ran, and we finished with feeling returning to our toes.  It actually put the workout, the week, and the drive home, in a positive light. 

Train safe!

Goofy's Challenge and a Half Race Report

During the Goofy's Challenge and a Half, I really did feel more "Goofy" than "Incredible".  Just to remind you, this race is actually two races, a half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday.  Back to back--yep starting times are exactly 24 hours apart.

First the Donald's Half Marathon:  After arriving in Orlando on a delayed flight, followed by a bus ride from the airport to Disney World on the Disney Magical Express, the bus ride was more like an extended milk run.  We were the first people on the bus--and the last to get off.  I can't even remember how many hotels the driver stopped at to drop folks off, but it took what seemed like forever to get to the Animal Kingdom Lodge area.  We finally got to bed by 1:15 AM on Saturday morning.  In order to make it to the Start by 5:40 AM, we were told be on the bus by 4:00 AM.  So after about 1:45 nap, we were up, getting dressed, and eating some breakfast. I was still worried about the sore hip I'd been fighting since the Great Floridian Triathlon.

After a short bus ride, we arrived at the start staging area.  It was about 30 degrees F.  Cold.  Disney was making a great effort to make this a "show" with spot lights waving through the air, a DJ barking and playing loud music, etc.  Racers were huddling together to stay warm.  One person pointed out that it looks like snow in the spot lights.  My wife stated, "No, that's just Disney Magic."  Unfortunately, it was snow...that quickly turned to sleet.  So in the sleet, I headed toward the starting line.  It was an incredibly long walk, as long as the walk in Boston to the starting line.  Not understanding the distance/time to the start line, I got to my corral just after they pulled the separating ropes, so I had to jump the fence to get in queue (with the volunteers yelling for us not to jump the fence).  Just as I got in queue, the starting gun went off. 

Being a ways back, the inital couple of miles were slower than I would normally run, but knowing I had to run a marathon the next day, I was OK with the pace.  Also, I didn't really feel that cold.  Then we turned into the wind.  Brrrr.  Cold sleet pelted my face.  Now I'm thinking, "This was really a Goofy idea."  The sleet eventually turned to a light rain.  The best part was heading into Magic Kingdom from the back lots and turning onto Main Street USA.  The Christmas decor was still out; lots of people; the mayor greeting us.  "Now this is kinda cool!" I thought to myself.  The remainder of the race went well and I was able to pick up the pace a bit.  I noticed a lot of runners were stopping and getting photos with characters.  It was still pretty dark, and I really was more interested in getting back to a warm hotel room than getting photos with Disney characters.  I crossed the finish line, picked up my medal, muffin, fruit cup and headed straight for the bus back to the hotel, hoping to warm up in the bus.  Not today!  The heater in the bus either didn't work or the bus driver didn't know how to work it (why would he...it's Orlando, for crying out loud!).

After shivering all the way back to the hotel, I had a nice HOT bath, lunch, and as a family, we spent the rest of the day wondering EPCOT.

Mickey's Marathon:  Same routine as the half...up at 3:00 AM, on the bus by 4:12 AM.  It was colder, though, 24 degrees F.  At least the sky was clear, so I knew there would be sun later in the race.  This time I brought and checked warm post race clothing, checked it early and headed to the starting line.  This time I made in time to get in the proper corral.  I was still feeling fatigued, but now I was sore from the previous day's run.  I had set a goal for a 4 hour marathon (I had no idea what it would be like running a full the day after a half) before heading to Orlando, but after spending the day in the cold at EPCOT, and the way I was feeling, my finishing goal was being pushed out longer and longer in my mind.

The first few miles were quite laborious.  I noticed I was running close to 8:30 miles, but was not really committed to finishing well.  Knowing I had seven hours to complete the race and still get my "Goofy" medal for completing both the half and full marathons, I started calculating in my head when I could look forward to walking the remainder of the course and still officially finish.  I figured I had to run until mile 9.

At about mile 5 we entered Magic Kingdom.  Characters started showing up along the way.  It hit me, "I paid a lot of money to enter and get to this race.  If I'm not going to have good finishing time, I might as well have a good time while I'm running."  So I decided to stop and have my photo taken with various characters in each of the parks.  There was Magic Kingdom

Then along the golf course

Animal Kingdom

Hollywood Studios

And finally EPCOT and toward the finish line

 

It stayed below freezing the entire race.  So much so, that the aid stations were slick due to the frozen spillage from the cups.  Frost was forming on runner's stocking caps.  But the sun was out, which made it a much more comfortable run than the half's sleet and rain.  I was able to run the entire way, and to my surprise, finished in 3:51.  Yes, I earned my medal(s)!

 

Editorials about this race.  If you do this race, do it for fun, not for a personal record.  The organization was fantastic, even with the bitter cold.  The staging/starting area was set up with much warmer temperatures in mind (the year prior the high for the marathon was 77).  They needed portajohns in the staging area, not after you checked your warm clothes and were headed to the start line.  The bag check should be much closer to the starting line, even though I understand that it was strategically place near the finish line.  Boston figured it out, so can Disney.  

 

Also, I guess I'm spooled with Houston's Marathon, where you head indoors upon finishing and are served a complete, hot breakfast.  The food at the finish line was comparable (not enough in my opinion) to Boston: bagel, fruit cup, banana, and bottle of water or Powerade.  However, it was all separate without a bag to carry it, so you had to juggle your food along with your bag and/or Mylar blanket (afterall, you need to stay warm), it was still below freezing.  At least Boston hands you a prefilled bag of food, making the line move faster through the food area AND preventing gluttons from overloading their bags (preventing later finishers from having anything to eat at all).  

If you go there understanding these nuances and preparing physically and/or mentally for them, it is worth doing for the fun of it.

Welcome 2010!

It is that time of year to reflect on the past year, strengths, weaknesses, along with the price of gasoline and consider directions for the coming year.

Here is where I'm heading in the coming year:
1. Race in the ITU World's Long Course Championships in Germany this summer.
2. Race shorter races leading up to item #1.
3. Learn to take recovery weeks.
4. Continue to grow my CoachGrant.net.
5. Strength train more.
6. Be social.

Best of luck to all in 2010. Train safe!

Am I a quitter or smart?

Being either a "quitter" or "smart" don't seem to be polar opposites to be in an either-or question. Usually one is considered to be "smart" or "dumb." Also, in a race, one would either keep going or quit.

Well, in last Sunday's Texas Trails 50K race in Huntsville, TX, I entered into the club of "quitters". I have been fighting a bit of an injury in the left glute/hamstring area just after finishing the Great Floridian Triathlon. My left leg just doesn't want to pick itself up correctly, and when I force it, it really hurts. Nonetheless, I started the day feeling OK; the starting gun went off, and away I went.

The first 10K brings you back to the start/finish line to cross the timing mat. As I crossed the mat and headed out for another 20K loop, I thought to myself how well I was doing considering my situation--the day was executing well.

Then at about mile 15 (according to my Garmin Forerunner 305), I tripped on root in the trail. Oh, well...I got up and suddenly tripped again, and again, and yet again. Inside of a single mile, I tripped six times!! It had to be that my injured leg was not picking itself up high enough. Funny thing was that I knew that and was consciously trying to lift it higher. The sixth time I tripped, I hit my knee pretty hard, and decided that to be "smart" I better quit. I proceeded to run/walk to the start/finish line at mile 19, and turned in my chip. I quit.

This is the first race I have ever quit. I could have finished, I had plenty of time to even walk the last 20K. But I was afraid I would hurt myself more that I was already hurting, so I figured I be smart and quit.

Therefore, it is not an either-or question. However, I still internally struggle with these questions: "Was I smart to quit? Or am I just a quitter?"

The Amazing Human Machine

The Texas Trails 50K race scheduled for December 5, 2009 in Huntsville, TX is fast approaching on my schedule. I was started to get concerned that I was not recovering fast enough from the Great Floridian Triathlon (GFT), especially given last week's training.

My mid-week runs are now back up to my typical 7 miles, although I'm holding off from doing any speedwork since the GFT. I also was able to start adding a fourth weekly run this week. I'm also seeing my pace starting to pick back up. However, Sunday morning my scheduled called for 20 mile run.

Upon waking on Sunday morning, I tried hard to justify why I really didn't need to do this run--a rest day would be good for me. I just couldn't talk myself out of it, no matter how fatigued I felt. Mind you, it could have been the Margarita's and Mexican food the night before, too, that wanted me to NOT do the run.

Well, I went out to Terry Hershey Park and got my legs started. Still feeling some slight pain in the left glute area (that tends to feel better after I warm up), the demons in my mind kept trying to convince me to stop. I continued to plod along to mile 6, 7, ..., 13,...I thought, "Why not just walk back to the car from here?" I decided it was better to just keep plodding.

I ended up passing by my parked car at mile 16.25, according to my Garmin. "Now's the perfect time to stop!" I kept on running. I did an out back to complete 20 miles. Wow, I did it! What was interesting to me is that even thought my heart rate was extremely low the entire run, my pace actually improved throughout the entire distance.

I wasn't ready, wanted to quit, but made it while increasing pace the entire workout. It is amazing what the human machine can do even when your head's not up for it!

A 25K workout

It was two weeks after the Great Floridian Triathlon, an ironman distance race, and I decided at the last minute to race the Houston 25K. The 25K is part of the warm-up series to the Houston Marathon. While not being fully recovered, I figured I could still have a good result; after all, I was in "ironman" shape.

There is more to the pre-race story, though. The week prior I had started my crossfit-like resistance training. The day prior to the race I taught an intense spin class, where I participated with as much effort as I was instructing the students to put into the class. Later that same day, I went to a Bodyworks certification class, which, of course, included participating in an hour class of Bodyworks. This class included a lot of squats while holding dumbbells.

You can image the results at the 25K. To review, minimally recovered from an ironman, re-started resistance training, and two hard workouts the day prior to the 25K. As a coach, I insist that you do as I say, not as I do. I think I'll just call this a 25K workout, not a race.

Train safe!

coachgrant.net

Does Crossfit Training Work with Triathlon?

I was introduced several months ago to a concept of fitness training called Crossfit. At the time I was training for the Great Floridian, an ironman distance race, so I didn't want dig into the subject too deeply.

Now that I've raced the Great Floridian, I'm ready for a bit of a change. Sure it is now "running season" in Houston, but I want to try something new. So after several Internet searches, I've found there is a huge amount of folks participating in such workouts. The main site for all things crossfit is found at www.crossfit.com.

So far I've done just two 20 minute workouts outlined (workouts named after girls). I modified the workout to make them easier since I've not done much strength training for a while AND just finished an ironman. These two workouts were very efficient and VERY tough. They made me extremely sore.

More to come.

Train safe!

coachgrant.net