Finally got in a running good work out this week. Logged only 25 miles but had a long run of 13 on Wednesday. A couple of 6 milers and a 2 mile run on Saturday. Got in only 48 miles on the bike and 1800m on the swim not including the Raging Isle Swim. That was a 1 mile swim from Sunset to Ehukai. The weather was beautiful and the surf <2ft. The water wasn't too clear but visability was good enough.

My right foot plantar faschia is hurting and I'm afraid I'll be taking a couple of weeks off from running and keeping my cycling miles low. I'll see how my foot feels tomorrow after a ride. Maybe it's a good time to go back to the gym and start doing weight workouts again.

I saw previews of What It Takes, a movie about getting to the Ironman Chapmionships. One of the athletes Peter Reid announced his retirement this week so it's kind of ironic. Looks good and I'll definatlywatch it when it comes out.

Kept track of IM France this morning and Buffalo Springs 70.3. In the BST 70.3 my man Micheale Lovato came in 4th for the men and his wife Amanda did the same in the women's.

Also had the IMCDA on IMlive and watched the race when I could. Got back just in time to see the winner Joanne Zigler cross. Heather Golneck was second and Kate Major third. The me's race was strictly amature and Chris Hauth won it. He placed second at Honu and if I remeber was 7th overall at IMCDA a couple of years back when the men pros were raceing. He is amazing and I'm wondering why he's not pro.

I'll check back in a couple of days to update my foot. I've got to nurse it for the Tinman on 7/23. I plan to crush my last year's time of 2:23 so the foot needs to heal.

Post Honu

Wow I can't believe that I haven't checked in for 3 weeks now. My last posting I talked about how I was burnt out after the Honolulu. I was worried that I wouldn't do well in the Honu. As it was, things went well although I could have done better.
We left for Kona on Thurs. June 1 and checked into the Waikaloa. Our room was right above the dolphin pen which made Nikki pretty excited. I took my run gear over to registration at the Mauna Lani and got a hat and jersey at the expo. Saw some Xentis wheel sets that I really like. I'll have to start saving for a pair of those ($2000). We went back to the Hilton and swam the rest of the afternoon.
On Fri. I put the P3 together but didn't have a chance to test ride it. Swam with Nikki all morning and went to the pre-race briefing that afternoon. Saw a lot of friends there and that made me feel comfortable. They talked about the course and the weather and what to look for to stay on course. I was still apprehensive about the ride up to Hawi as I've never done it before. That evening we went searching for a place to eat that wasn't going to cost an arm & a leg. No luck. By the time we sat down to eat it was after 7 so going to bed early wasn't going to happen. When I got back to the room, I did my final prep and went to bed close to 10 while Kel and Nikki watched tv.
Saturday was race day. I woke at 4 and made some instant coffee. Walked around the hotel a bit and went to the restroom to lighten up for the race. Had some oatmeal, yogurt and a banana for breakfast. Grabbed my gear and went to park at Mauna Lani. From there it was about a 20 minute ride to Hapuna for the swim start. This was the first time I got to ride after putting the bike together. Fortunately it was working fine. Had the local mechs to air up my tires and got my transition set up. Went for body marking and activate my chip and was set. For the swim to bike I decided to put my shoes on in T1 which was one error. I also forgot to shift into a proper gear which was another error.
The cannon sounded the swim start and 850 people took off. I was doing good, staying in the pack and getting some drafts. I figured I'd make good time until I missed the last right turn buoy and had to go back about 50 feet to go around it. My left ham cramped at about 1400-1500 meters into the swim. As it worked itself out my right ham cramped. I then realized I forgot my salt tabs in the room for error #3. Running up to T1 I stopped at the port-a-potty for a quick release. Got my gear on and headed to the mount line. Tried to clip in with everyone else and push off going uphill (in the wrong gear). Finally got going and my hams by my glutes were tight. Perhaps from the earlier cramps. Now you see why those three errors cost me.
The bike wasn't as bad as I imagined. The climb to Hawi was doable with 11-21 cogs although slow at some points. The hardest climb was 10-11 miles before the end when we climbed a 3/4 mile hill that just killed me. I'll have to practice more hills next time. Going up to Hawi the winds weren't too bad and the scenery was beautiful. It rained a little before Hawi and the temperature compared to the coast was nice and cool.
Into T2 I did the Hunch over run to the change tent. I took my time and put powder and socks on before the run. Cooled off, had a drink and went pee again. On the run my quads ached from the climbing and I kept regretting not having the salt tabs. I was able to run 4 miles before I had to walk a bit. Kept the run-walk thing going and took my time at the aid stations. Tried to get in bananas when I could find them and took in some Gatorade. To my surprise my nutrition held out for the day though I was getting a bit bloated (but not uncomfortable) from all the liquid I was drinking. I couldn't help it, I was thirsty. The up and downs really took a lot out of me. When we got off the golf course we turned down a slight decline for a mile and past the 10 mile marker. After a u turn we now had to run back up that (now) incline for a mile. After mile 12 it was flat till the finish. The pace picked up and I wasn't going to stop or drink till I got done. I figured the last mile was at an 8 min pace as I was jacked and wanted to finish under 6 hours. The last 100 meters was up a small 15 foot hill which was no problem. Total time was 5:53.
I survived and was under 6 hrs. I was very happy but felt I could have done way better. I learned a lot from this race and hope to carry it over to my next long course event. More hill training for the bike and run will be on my training plans. The swim went well considering the little time I put into practice. I took the next week off with only one run and bike. This past week I got in more running but my bike has had set backs (flats on Raodie and Kel not feeling well). I still feel in shape but don't want to loose it. Training for the marathon will start shortly and I still have swim events and tris on the calendar. See you on the road.

Burnout Before Honu

I took my P3 into the shop the day after the Honolulu to see if they can get the front chainring to shift properly. I finally picked it up last Wed., 10 days later. And it only took them 30 min to put in a shim between the deraillure and bracket. Still doesn't shift quite right so I contacted Cervelo because my bracket is a bit distorted.
Anyway, I resumed training right after Honolulu to prepare for the Honu. I figured a moderate training week followed by a moderately high volume training week and taper the third week into the race. I just haven't been able to get myself going. I get up and do some training but have had a hard time waking up to get out the door. Last Wed. was supposed to be my last long ride but I didn't have my P3 yet. I would have taken Roadie out but my body was just drained. Took the day off and felt better the next day and did a 20 mile ride on P3. On Fri. I did a quick brick of 10/3 and did really well. Got a good night sleep last night and woke up easily this morning. I sat on the couch before walking Maka and the next thing I know I woke up at 4am. Too late to do anything but shower and get ready for work. I hope Nikki and Kel will let me go for a short run this afternoon.
I'm getting kind of nervous now and though I feel I can do the Honu, I feel the past couple of weeks has hurt my performance level. I just keep thinking of how I'll take a week or two off after Honu before going back to training. Just have to keep focus for one more week.

Honolulu Triathlon

Yesterday was the Honolulu Triathlon which is an oly distance and an ITU point series event. It was on a new course which is pancake flat and made for some unbelievably fast times. The top pro men finished around 1:46 and the top women just under 2hrs. Michael Simpson was there as was Julie Swail.
My race day started as ususal by walking Maka around the block then trying to eat my pre race meal of oatmeal w/raisins and a cup of yogurt. I could barely eat the oatmeal and didn't even try to eat the yogurt because I had the worst case of pre race butterflies ever. I was worried about boinking so I took some extra GU. Turns out I didn't need it.
After finally finding parking and walking about 1/2mi to the venue, I got my transition set up and went for a quick jog. When I got back I grabbed my goggles and cap and had enough time for a 5 min swim. Then came the wait. I stretched and went to the restroom one last time. After a 10 min delay, the pro men finally took off. My wave didn't start till later and I saw the first group of men exit around 19 min. later.
My swim start was fast and I got clear quickly. I held a fairly fast pace for most of the swim, encouraged by passing earlier wave groups. Got a cramp in my right calf with about 200m to go so I slowed a bit. Finished the swim in 28 min which was ok for me. When I got out and ran to transition the cramp faded and I readied for the bike.
On the bike I slipped my shoes on before I got out of the parking lot. I bunny hoped the 6-8 speed bumps and turned onto Ala Moana. From there it was flat and fast. Thankfully there was only a slight breeze so that made coming up Lagoon Dr. easier. I dropped my spare tube in an intersection and went back to get it which cost me a couple of minutes on the bike. So instead of 1:03 I finished it in 1:05. That averaged out to around 22.5 mph.
The run transition felt hard on the legs. My pacing was right on target but the legs felt like they may not hold the distance. Focused on the small goals like getting to the next aid station or pacing someone for a bit. I was able to pass a few people and a few people passed me. Played cat and mouse a few times and ended dropping those I played with. "Just focus, keep the pace" is what I kept telling myself. At the last 1/2 mile on Magic Island I dropped the last few guys and began a moderate kick 1/4 mile from finish. With about 150 m. to go I gave my final kick, held my head high, (tried not to) show no pain and smiled for the camera. Run time=48min.
My overall was 2:26:36 which beat my goal time of 2:30 so I was very pleased. I had hoped to finish in the top 10 of my AG but there were some fast people out there. Ended up 15th, but if I didn't go back for my tube I could have moved up to 13th in my estimation.
Nikki let me take a nap later that day and I took some Ibuprofen so that really helped. I also used some IcyHot on my legs and today I feel like I can run again. I will give them the day off but I will go swim later. It was a great race and I look forward to next year. But for now I have to focus on the Honu half IM in just less than 3 weeks.

Busy Week

Been training hard this past week, for me at least. Got in 107 miles bike, 23 run and 3.5 swim. Was going to do a 10K today at lunch but work was sooooo busy I wouldn't have felt right digging out for an hour. I also missed out on my Wed. swim because of errands. Still I think I did good, even got in a rest day on Fri.
Got the P3 back from the shop on Fri. I took it in for a tune up so it would be ready for the Honolulu and Honu tris. Still doesn't want to shift from the small to the large chain ring. Can't figure it out. It seems like the front derailure doesn't have enough travel outwards. I'll take it back in next week and hopefully we can figure what's wrong. I took it out for a ride this morning out to Triangle park and back. Since it's fairly flat I left it in the large gear. Feels good to go fast again. Such a big difference from Roadie. Need to look at the saddle adjustment though, it seemed a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps I got too used to Roadie's saddle which turned out to be really comfy once I got it set up right.
Tomorrow starts another week and I'll try to ride again and maybe get a run in at work. I'll kind take it easy especially towards the end of the week. The Honolulu is next Sunday!

Metric Century

The Metric Century was this morning out in Haleiwa and went out to Swanzy Beach Park-n-back. Rained through the north shore part but cleared after turning Turtle Bay. And talk about flats, it seemed like every 1/2 mile there was someone changing tubes. Sometimes they were only 100-200 yds apart. I was just waiting for my turn and fortunately I didn't have one, I think. I say that because after a brick run when I got back to my truck I noticed my rear tire went flat. Found a small piece of glass in the tire. The bike handled fine so it may have been a slow leak I got near the end of the ride.
The brick run was hard and my legs were shot. Ran about 5 1/2 miles very slowly around 8:40. Had to walk on a couple of small 1/4 mile hills. All in all it was a fun day. A lot of cleaning when I got home. My bike and riding gear were dirty as heck. Looked like Paris-Ruboue (sp?). Now I'll put Roadie away and start training on P3.

Officially 45

Ok so now I'm officially 45. Kel and Nikki took me to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner last night. It was my last meal splurge as I am now 6 1/2 weeks out from the Honu. Today I start regulating my diet in hopes of dropping a few more pounds. The ride up to Hawi got me a bit concerned so I've been doing more hill work. I'll be doing the Metric Century this weekend and use it to gauge my time in the saddle vs. strength. I'm hoping to turn it into a training ride followed by a brick run. My longer rides lately have been on Roadie to get used to the saddle for the Metric. After this weekend I'll switch back to the P3 for the Honu. I have no worries about doing the distances as I've done each individually, it's putting them all together on June 3rd.

More Rest Than I Planned

Took a well deserved day off on Thursday. It sure was nice to sleep in till 3:30. Felt like going for a swim after work but forced myself to just hang out while Nikki went to tutoring. Read a little and drifted off to sleepland.
Friday I thought I was all rested, for sure I was pumped for a morning ride. The wind was about normal from the NE @ 15-20 mph. So no big deal. I started off fine and just planned to do some spinning. Whoa, someone forgot to let my legs know they had a day off yesterday. Sluggish ride that lasted too long for the route. When I arrived back home I couldn't figure out why it wasn't a better ride. Maybe one more day off tomorrow. Went with Nikki to the talent show at her school. There were a couple of young boys who could really play the piano. One of them was in the 1st grade and the other was probably just as old. Got to give those kids credit for getting up there and performing, takes a lot of guts.
Fell asleep on the couch with Nikki on my lap. Kel woke me up when she called at 10:50. Carried Nikki to bed and when I fell asleep I couldn't get up in time for a workout. Oh well, I had planned not to do anything but if I HAD gotten up then I might have gone for a run. Took my Felt in to get it tuned and adjusted while I went to pick up my swag bag for the metric next week. The clicking I heard turned out to be my left pedal which I thought I checked. Got a new rear derailure cable, socks and GU. All for the whopping price of $23. Happy boy again. Can't wait to ride on Monday. Now I'll get my P3 done sometime soon.

Catching up

I know it's been a few days so let me catch up on my training. On Sunday I went for a 6.8 mi. run around the Big Loop/Small Loop. Legs felt kinda shot so I decided to give them a day off on Monday. Slept in till 3:30 and Kel was good enough to let me go swim after work. Got in 2500m but wasn't the best swim, more like going through the motions.
Yesterday I went for a 42 mi. bike @ 3:30 am and did some hill work. Rode around Koko Crater a couple of times before heading out to Diamond Head. Wind calmed down some but still enough to slow me going downhill. There's some new pot holes on Monserat Ave. and I had to bunny hop one in a dark spot while going downhill. It was a biggie and I'm glad I saw it in time. Came home and changed then went for a 4.5 mi. run around the Big Loop. Legs were tired but I was surprised at the pace of 7:50. Went to the Oahu club in the evening for the Tuesday nite dinner. It was spaghetti and meatballs. Pretty good for $6. Met some neighborhood friends including ones that had moved away to AZ. and are thinking of moving back.
This morning was another 6.8 mi. run around the Big/Small loop at a recovery pace of 8:30. Took Nikki to school and finally got to clean up the side of the house. There was some overgrown grass, dead banana stumps, a bunch of keawi and some palm leaves that had to be cut. Went for a 3000 m. swim and again it was hard. Began to think my lane was filled with molasses. Got home in time to get Nikki from school and help with homework. Took her and Maka for shaved ice after.
Ok so it's not the edge of your seat thriller report but it's how my life is. Pretty average but I couldn't be happier. Got a nice house in a great neighborhood, a loving family and even a good tempered dog that we take to the park every nite (even treat her to shaved ice). I'm a very lucky guy!

Windy Ride

This morning was another windy ride. Gusts blowing from the NE @ 25-30 mph. It's like spinning uphill, especially for me. At 6'4" I'm like a big parachute in the wind. Went out on Kalanianiole and of course it's in my face as I ride home. On a good morning with a slight 5 mph breeze I can ride at 19-20 mph coming home. Today I saw my speedo drop to 12-13 mph. My legs weren't tired or anything and I was spinning like crazy. Got mad and downshifted and pushed harder to a neck breaking 15 mph. Tried to tell myself that it's just a part of the sport and that I have to get used to it someday. But the wind seemed constant and every so often I found myself getting angry at the effort I had to put in to maintain speed.
As a side note, I rode my Felt F65 and noticed the clicking that I've had the past couple rides is now getting more frequent. I need to take it in and have the mechs check my bottom bracket. It always clicks when my right foot is at 5 o'clock. I'll need to fix it before the Metric Century at the end of the month.
Put 2 new Continental GP 4000 on my P3 but I still need to figure out the front derailure problem. I can't get enough travel for it to shift easily into the big ring. Maybe tonight my daughter will give me some free time to tinker with it.
Well gotta go. I'm going to try and get in a 10K this morning. Going to do Lagoon Dr. and Nimitz Hwy. First part of the run.....Straight into the wind.

First Post

Well today is my fist posting as a newbie blogger. What better to talk about than my favorite activity. Here in the Aloha state we have an ideal climate for training. Although we do have seasons it's not as drastic as in most areas. Our fall and spring seasons are usually the wettest.
Right now I am training for the Honu Triathlon on the Big Island. I'm really looking forward to doing it because it'll be my first half IM. My training is right on track and I have no doubts that I can finish. What I'm apprehensive about is how well I will finish. I want to try and get in under 51/2 hrs so I'll have to push it hard. My runs have been going well and I just did a long run of 13.3 mi. on Tuesday. I felt good and held a pretty good pace @ 8:24 min/mi. I need to work more on my long bikes. I plan to do the Metric Century on 4/30/06 and I included that as part of my training plan.
Also part of my training is the Lanikai Tri which was held last Sunday. Because of the recent heavy rains, the water quality at Kailua beach wasn't very good. The race was changed to a run-bike-run Duathlon. The 2 mi. run to start immediately went uphill. This was a good thing because it quickly thinned out the pack. I've been practicing hills and was able to get out of the main group. I ran conservatively @ 7:20 pace. T1 went well, and considering I really hadn't practiced transitions I was pleased. The bike was good paced and I spun a high cadence on the out portion. The small hill at Kbay was harder than I thought and it took a chunk of time from me. Going back seemed like more of a push but I also used a lower gearing. At T2 I found my insoles slipped out a bit from my run shoes when I kicked them off in T1. I slipped them back in and headed for the run course. It took almost 1 mile to find my run legs but after I felt at ease and was actually getting stronger as I went along. #188 passed me just before mile 2 and I used him to set pace. We were closing in on another athlete at the hill before the finish and I knew I could take them both. I quickly passed both of them on the uphill and squirted down the other side. Entering the boat ramp parking I knew they weren't going to catch me. A small victory for the race. I finished the second run with a 7:09 pace and felt I could have gone longer and perhaps quicker.
Next up is the Honolulu Triathlon which looks to be a fast, fast course.