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On the bike again November 23, 2005

Posted by riverbrady in : Training , add a comment

Today I decided that it's been two weeks, and much too long without some time on my bike. I met up with my old sprint training partner to put in a few easy spinning miles while she reintroduced herself to biking after a few month hiatus.

Trying to outdo everyone I've talked to lately, early on (before the ride) I decided it would be nice to blow out one tube and crack the valve on the other tube…apparently my alter ego thinks I need to practice changing flats more, but was nice enough to let me do it in the comfort of my own home.. Being the latter part of the year, this quickly led to a modified route, which still left us cycling back very grateful we had a full lane to ward of the cars in the total darkness.

Back in, things felt good. My knee complained a little bit, though I think it was just trying to tell me it needs to ride more. Overall it was a good day: some fun conversations, a good ride, and new items for the apartment.

Dancing Dancing Dancing November 21, 2005

Posted by riverbrady in : General , add a comment

It was a good weekend overall. When everything came to a close there was a total of about 34 hours of dancing, 300-400 dancers, and just barely enough sleep.

It was fun, though it’s also helped me put some perspective on
priorities of certain things of late. Namely, that I’d like a break
from dancing to pursue other aspects and activities I’ve been missing
the past bit. If I still had my students around I’d stay in the
scene…they are, after all, a large part of what’s made this so
enjoyable over the years. It’s also not a complete break from the art,
just some time off. I’ve already promised some friends still at Trinity
at I’ll come to visit a few weekends when they need someone to fill in
for the performances.

Next…it’s looking like some adventure racing, hopefully that Iron distance offroad triathlon
at some point, more stained glass work, and hopefully a little
travelling for races or to see friends, especially getting back to the
west coast more often to see the family and all.

Now to try to get back to a normal sleep schedule.

Moving, and a long weekend November 17, 2005

Posted by riverbrady in : General , add a comment

Overall it’s been a good week. It’s been stressfull in many ways, and this weekend will once again reintroduce me into a sleepless world, but life is much happier at the moment.

This weekend marks the end to my self-imposed exile from biking and running, and a reintroduction to the part of life that gets me up in the morning. It will be tempered by the fact that the Austin Lindy Exchange is this weekend (essentially 300-500 Lindy Hop dancers congregating in Austin for 40+ hours of dancing with live bands over three days). It’s always good seeing friends from around the globe. The whole dancing from mid afternoon until 5am in the morning will be intersting, as I’ve been trying to keep to an earlier schedule than most everyone I know. I’ve a sneaking suspicion that most of my training is going to go out the window, but am figuring on the fact that for this weekend dancing is “cross training” *grin*

Let’s just say it will be fun, exhausting, and thank goodness for the mass of futons at the afterhours dance and the fact that us dancers are comfortable piling onto them.

I’ll see how things are after the weekend as I think I’m getting to the burnout point where I need to get away from the scene for a while…which would give me much more time to play in the outdoors…which right now is a very happy prospect.

On another hand, I’m finally fully moved into my new apartment save for a few items left at the house. I need to get back over there to fix various roommate damage, but may wait until next week when I can work on the house alone.

Pool work today. Thank goodness for indoor pools as the temperatures have dropped to winter levels as of a couple days ago.

Back into things November 13, 2005

Posted by riverbrady in : Training , add a comment

Swam for the first time today since the Ironman…a nice easy 1000M. It felt good to be in the pool, though it still perplexes me that the top of my feet seem to be the worst for wear, as far as aches from the race go.
I followed that with a bit of free weights for the upper body. I'm still trying to stay away from anything harsh on my legs for the first few weeks…to make sure that my legs are able to fully recover, but it's now the beginning of base season again, which means weight room here I come.

2005 Ironman Florida November 8, 2005

Posted by riverbrady in : Race Reports , add a comment

Pre-Race

I arrived in Panama City Beach the Thursday before the race. My main goals were to meet up with Scott, register, get in a morning swim on Friday, and generally relax. It was great finally being able to put a face to Scott…at least a better one that a little icon details, and it was a good time hanging out with him before the start of everything: visiting the expo, going through the carbo dinner, and just generally talking triathlon.

Raceday

Race morning found me awake before the alarm clock, having woken up every few hours throughout the night. At 4am I hopped through the shower for good measure, and was busy fiddling with contacts, debating if I should call Scott to make sure he was actually up (rather than just his light being on) when the phone started ringing. Grabbing our bags, we headed to transition. As we arrived about 10 minutes before transition opened, the bodymarking line was almost nonexistant (note to self to sleep in a little more next time). Admittedly, I was looking forward the the big number stamps…we settled for permanent markers instead. The next hour consisted of us checking out bike tire pressure, dropping off special needs bags, and watching/listening the general activity increase as we waited for the start time to draw near before we changed into our wetsuits. Every now and then you’d hear a tire blow and a collective “ooooooh” from the crowd.

Finally time came for us to don our wetsuits and head down to the beach. For anyone who hasn’t seen the start of an Ironman, the pure crowd of triathletes is amazing. Though we had talked about starting at the outer edge, Scott and I ended up closer to the middle than anywhere else…more due to me stopping to look at the views than anything else. Surprisingly, before the cannon went off we ran into everyone we knew except for Matt. Overall the day looked perfect.

The Pros took off at 6:45 and we all watched them as they rounded the far buoy before we started. Then, it was our turn.

The swim

It was an interesting start. The pros had taken off running for the water. The majority of the age groupers took off jogging or walking. As it was, we had about 50 meters of wading before we really hit water deep enough where the crowd thought we could swim. Looking left and right one could see the definite line all along the mass. The beginning is one of the most chaotic parts of a race I’ve experienced. Though I missed out on the horror stories of people grabbing you by the legs to literally swim over you, I did experience a lot of bumping, some kicks inadvertantly received and given, and a general wonder if my feet would ever kick under the water as the swells were larger than the day before. By the first turn buoy the crowd had settled down a little bit, though there would be brushes with people throughout the race. There weren’t too many jellyfish that I saw directly, save the three I swam right over (thanking profusely that I didn’t get stung on the face), though it was difficult to tell the difference between air bubbles and white jellyfish out of the corner of your eyes.

It took me probably a good 500-600 meters to get over the initial rush, slow down a bit, and simply get into my groove. The sun was particularly bright, but not unbearingly so. By halfway through the first lap I had settled into a nice 2-2-3-2-2-3 rhythm, which has always worked the best for me. Sighting on the way back to shore was definately the easiest, as we had the hotel to sight off of…and the water was clear enough that a few hundred meters off shore I could sight my lie off of the bottom sand and it’s linear pattern, not needing to actually raise my head as much. Finally, seeing those around me stand, I stood up and started wading to the timing arch.

There was a water station as we jogged along the beach, wonderful for rinsing a little (or lot) of salt out of your mouth. I managed to catch Rebecca standing and cheering, which was a pleasant surprise as I wasn’t sure I’d see here during the swim.

Entering the second lap of the swim consisted of much the same. Notables were that it felt more difficult fignting the tide as we were swimming out, and overall everyone was spread out to their place in line. Overall at this point spirits were high and I was in a positive frame of mind, simply trying to take it a little easy and conserve energy. Everything was smooth until about a quarter mile from the finish, when I saw a shadow following me in the water. A few seconds of panic and then I realized that it was my shadow *sheepish grin*

Coming up on the beach, running through the timing arch…1:18. I was shooting for sub 1:30, and had swam a 1:13 in the pool, so I was very happy.

T1 consisted of wetsuit strippers, a changing tent that was packed to the gills, the everpresent quick bathroom break, and walking from the swim, to the tent, to my bike, to the mounting line (trying to keep my heartrate down).

The bike

The bike started well. We had just a bit of tailwind coming out of T1 and I had a great time watching people fly by me as I cruised along, letting my HR drop down to where it needed to be. Though there were the first mile mishaps: one of the holes in my bib number tore, and I hit a bump right as I was getting a Gu, to see it launch into the air. I stopped to get it, but someone ran it over just as I made it back to where it was lying. No worries, I had packed 3 or 4 more than I thought I would need.

The first fifty miles of the bike were like a routine ride: chatting with some of the riders as they passed, grabbing water and gatoraid when needed, stopping about every two hours for a bathroom break, which I took as a sign that I was keeping well hydrated. I was living by my HRM, slowing down on hills when needed, pushing it a little more when I deemed it safe. The main goals of my race: keep hydrated, ride a clean ride, keep my HR down.

I was a little surprised at some of the packs that went by, but overall they were limited to 3-4 riders, unlike some stories I’ve heard.

At special needs I grabbed a bit more sunblock for my shoulders, kneck, and back, and my caffenated Gu from the bag, just in case. By this time there was a little group of us that would generally stay around each other, passing one another as we felt better, exchanging quips and yelling back and forth, and all of us running a clean race. We also had fun sharing some insults with the road as we turned off the main highway onto the backroads, and encountered the road cracks…you know when you go over a gridge and you get the thump-thump as the tires pass over the joints. Change this to a bike, make the joints inch-wide cracks, and make it more of a jar-jar. I cannot tell you how happy we all were to be off of those.

The other point that his us about halfway…the wind. It wasn’t horrible, but it was constant. Combined with the flatness of the terrain that requires almost constantly peddling, and we all started to drain a bit faster than normal. At the turnaround you could hear people cheering the tailwind…and then cursing again five miles later as we hit the main road. At this time I started into my Expresso Gu, figuring I had enough to make it through the bike, through the run, and keep myself from rollercoastering down. It helped…immensly, and the bike went bike fairly routinely until mile 100.

The bike course has one big hill, which is in actuality a bridge. You’re biking along and expect to be hitting 30 or so coming into mile 100. It was a little distressing looking down to see the bike computer sitting at 19.8mph. The reason hit as soon as I reached the bottom, and the big ocean headwind hit. The next ten miles had me in the small chain ring exclusively, and loving those times someone would pass and I’d get a brief respite from the wind.

I hit mile 110 at just over 6 hours…a little tired, but happy with my time and ecstatic that I would be coming in under 6:30…the time I told myself I would “life” to hit based off what I thought I could do. Little did I know that the last two miles would be the worst two I’ve ever ridden. The wind had me down to a max of 9mph as I struggled to finish the bike, but keep my HR down where it should be. It was at mile 11 I caught myself going through the happy/breaking up/numb series of sensations, though I told myself I just needed to keep pedalling.

I cannot express how happy I was to see that crowd at the dismount line. The first 110 miles took a liittle over 6 hours. The last two miles took almost 20 minutes.

T2 was relatively quick…a shoe change, grabbing my hat, bathroom break. Walking to the run start I had a few thoughts:
- I have a marathon…a marathon…
- This crowd is wonderful!

The run

The crowd took me out, lifted my feet, and got me started on the run. Once running everything didn’t seem so bad. Almost immediately after I started I saw the lead guy coming in…as best I could tell I had started running a couple minutes before he won the race…one goal accomplished today.

At this time I didn’t know if Scott was ahead of or behind me. I knew Clarance and Betsy were ahead of me as I saw him start the bike before me and Betsy passed me on the course, and I knew that Mike and Leslin were behind me. The first six miles I fell into a standard routine: a cup of gatoraid and water at the aid stations, water and Gu every third mile/aid station, and constantly checking the runners coming the other way to try to spot someone I knew. I saw Rebecca at mile 1 and had to turn down the tylenol she offered…I had left my packets in the car, but wanted to finish this race clean, within the rules, and that would have been outside assistance.

About mile 4 I passed Betsy. We chatted for a couple minutes and then I wished her a good race and continued on. Mile 6 brought Clarence chugging the other way, already past the turnaround. A quick high five and I thought to myself that if I keep up the pace I’ll be able to catch him just before the end, similar to how our half Ironman went. I hit the turnaround, rejoiced that I had 6.5 miles done, and focused on the next 6.5. Coming our of the park, I saw Scott when I was about mile 10, but in our yelling back and forth as we passed couldn’t make out if he was on lap 1 or 2. Until mile 13, everything would remain relaxed and feeling pretty good.

It was the turnaround that struck me first. Realizing I’d been running 2 hours and 28 minutes, I tried to fathom the fact that I was about to run the same distance again. Though, yet again, the crowds took me out and kept me going. I tried to munch some zuchinni bread I had in my special needs bag, but a minor taste told me I’d be living on Gu. Mile 14 came up and I walked about half a mile as I chatted with Rebecca. Then I decided I was going to “push through this”, not realizing that I meant push through at my current pace and my body thought I meant push through dropping down to 10 minute miles. A mile later my legs blew up.

At this point I realized that this was going to be a long second loop. I got back into a walking/jogging routine, taking the next mile and a half before walking a significant distance. It was during this time that I realized another lady and I kept passing each other…her name was Wendy. At the next aid station we struck up a conversation and just kept talking as we both started jogging. By mile 15 we had both commented on how nice and helpful it was to run with someone else, and decided that we’d keep it going as long as possible. Running, talking almost constantly, we covered the next ten miles in a time that would have been near impossible without the other. Our conversation meandered and flowed between topics, sometimes focusing on the race, sometimes on each others life, but always carrying us forward step by step. At each aid station we’d pick a landmark at the other end and start jogging again when we hit it, and being accountable to each other, we would start where we said. Without each other our times would have likely been an hour shorter, it not more.

Finally, we hit mile 25. Picking it up a bit, my legs started to cramp severely about halfway through the mile. Earlier in the race Wendy had told me to go on if I was feeling good, to which I told her I was happier running a little slower than I was and having a running partner to talk to. This time I told her she should go on, yet she slowed down and let me get my legs back. The final straightaway, the little turnaround, and the small hill right before the finish felt like they didn’t exist. As soon as we saw those crowds, everything vanished except the finish line…all the pain, and the aches, all the cramps seemed to not exist. Rounding the corner at the top I told Wendy to push it in and take the front spot of the two of us…she had pulled me through that last mile and more than deserved it. By time, I crossed 2 hundreths of a second later. 13:37:16. Two more goals completed…finishing and finishing under 14 hours.

Afterwards

The organized chaos at the end of an Ironman is amazing. WIthin a few seconds someone had a space blanket around me, then my chip off. There was a space for post-race photos, the food tent, and the medical tent…all within about 40 feet. By the time I had grabbed a burger and sat down I started to realize how cold I was, as the temperature had started dropping at sunset. My face had started tingling a little as had my hands. During this time one of the volunteers found me, and finding that I couldn’t really straighten my legs, took me down to the massage tent, where I found out the had triage massage tables. Two wonderful wonderful people worked on my legs as a third made sure I was getting as much gatoraid and water as I could drink. What seemed like half an hour, but was in reality 10 minutes later had me back on my feet and wandering around trying to find Rebecca. They even pointed out to my confused self that I had a nice dry shirt in my finisher’s bag : )

Finally I found Rebecca…waiting with a shrimp Po-Boy. Real food by that time tasted like heaven on earth. We grabbed my bike and bags, and made our way back to the hotel. I actually felt pretty good once we were back, but we ran an IV just to be on the safe side. The next day found me very sore…legwise, but doing ok. During the race I was telling myself that I wouldn’t be doing this race again next year. After thinking about things, I’ve decided I’m not going to do Florida again for a while, but would like to do Coeur d’Alene in 2007.