IMAZ Brief Recap

I'm back and I finished my first Ironman!

I'll work on a longer recap of the race and events leading up to the race, but I wanted to at least acknowledge the successful completion of my first IM distance race.

I finished in 12:42:28. My goal was sub 13 so I’m very happy with the results.

Swim: 1:18:13
T1: 12:26
Bike: 6:19:45
T2: 5:30
Run: 4:46:37

Motivational Movie Monday

Dick and Rick Hoyt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRHxHapwirw&NR=1

Motivational Movie Monday

Your Very Best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSM1mvMypWU

LA Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon

Last weekend was a "simulation" weekend.  On Friday morning I did a 4k swim.  Saturday morning was a full 112 mile bike ride using all of my race-day gear, followed by a 7 mile brick run.  And Sunday I ran in the Los Angeles Rock n Roll Half Marathon.

The half marathon wasn't part of my training plan, but several people I know were running in this inaugural event so I decided to sign up, and I'm glad I did.  I finished in a new PR time of 1:43.33.  Over 2 minutes faster than my previous best from 2006! I can only imagine what I might have done if I was fully rested for the race.

The training plan is starting to wind down now.  My last really long run was yesterday.  Only two more long bike rides this Saturday and next Saturday, and then two full weeks of tapering before the big event!  Then I just need to take it easy and try not to go stir crazy!

Motivational Movie Monday

Ironman Motivation - Just four weeks to go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNnSM7xAZNU

T minus 1

Only one month left before Ironman Arizona!

A few months ago I ordered a MyAthlete Shadow GPS tracking device from MyAthleteGPS.com and it's scheduled to arrive TODAY!  I'm pretty excited about trying it out.  If you've never heard of these, they are worth checking out at your next major endurance event. It's a small pager sized device that has a built in GPS and limited cell phone.  Every 30 seconds or so, it reads your current location, direction and speed and transmits it via cell towers to the MyAthlete website so friends and family can see where you are on the course in real-time (not just when you pass over a sensor mat on the course).  It won't work during the swim, but I think my swim time will be fairly predictable so I'm not too worried about tracking during that portion (though it would be cool if it worked at some point in the future).

I'll be testing it out this Saturday on my first simulation brick (112mi bike & 6mi run) where I'll be wearing and using all of the gear I'm planning to use in Arizona. Two weeks later I'll do another simulation ride/run making adjustments based on this weekend's training.

This Sunday I'm running in the Los Angeles Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, so I'll test the GPS device again there. I'm very curious to see how I feel on Sunday during the Half Marathon after doing the 112mi ride and 6mi run on Saturday.

Support Crew T-shirts have been designed and ordered for my whole team of Iron Sherpas.  They are scheduled to ship this Friday and will hopefully arrive next week. I REALLY hope they look OK.  I have a lot of people coming to AZ to help me and I'm sure they don't want to wear lame tshirts all day...

Motivational Movie Monday

Ironman from the Inside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNZQ8uyoIc

Motivational Movie Monday

Scott Johnson - Ironman Finisher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngvkj3IAb-I

Ironman Perform

Beginning in June 2010, Ironman branded events started using Ironman Perform Sports Drink in place of Gatorade at the Bike and Run aid stations.

I read so many bad reviews of the drink in Ironman Louisville race reports that I thought I better give it a try on some of my long workouts to make sure I wouldn't have any problem with it at Ironman Arizona.

I'm happy to say that after two weeks of using Ironman Perform, I haven't had any negative issues with the drink on the bike or during my long runs.  It's a little bit too sweet for my taste, but I also think Gatorade is a little too sweet, so honestly I didn't find much difference between the products.

I still prefer my Heed/CarboPro mix, so I'll start the bike fully loaded with Heed/CarboPro. But I'm glad to know I won't have any issues with the new Ironman drink when my pre-mix runs out.

3% and 3 Seconds

Last week (week 12) was my final testing week of my 20 week training plan.

Continuing to use the same route on the bike test, I increased my average power by 3.4% or an average of 9 watts for the 40 minute test.

Prior to start of training plan
223 Average Watts
10.3 mph average
65 rpm average cadence

Week 4 testing
242 Average Watts  (+8.5%)
11.5 mph average
74 rpm average cadence

Week 8 testing
263 Average Watts (+8.6% compared to week 4; 17.9% increase overall)
11.6 mph average
74 rpm average cadence


Week 12 testing
272 Average Watts (+3.4% compared to week 8; 22% increase overall)
11.8 mph average
70 rpm average cadence


On the run, I only improved my time by 3 seconds compared to week 8.  And really, it was probably more due to stubbornness than fitness.  I pretty much have my running speed dialed in, so it doesn't surprise me that I didn't improve much this time.


There's no more testing, but October 23rd is the first of two simulation rides - 112mi bike followed by a 6 mi run.  And on Oct 24th I'm running in the LA Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.

Motivational Movie Monday

My Wife's first Triathlon back in 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzrx3me0KMY

T minus 2

Just two months to go until Ironman Arizona!

I'm on week 12 of my 20 week training plan.  This is the final testing week and the last real opportunity to adjust my running pace and cycling power numbers prior to race day.  I'll post the results from my testing later in the week.

The repair of the dam at Tempe Town Lake appears to be on schedule. Crews are 85 percent finished with the installation of Bladder No. 3, 70 percent finished with Bladder No. 2 and about 10 percent finished with Bladder No. 1.

Here's a link to a time lapse video done by the Arizona Republic of the roll out of Bladder No. 1. http://bit.ly/9XXCPr  

Motivational Movie Monday

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman giving "Motivation" to his new recruits.
Beware - there's some harsh language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wijlLEriWYg

Running

10 weeks of official "plan" training down, 10 weeks to go until Ironman Arizona and the running miles are really starting to add up.  Starting this week, my plan has me running every Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Two of those runs are brick runs, so fairly short and easy, but the others are focused runs that leave me a bit drained. Bike and Swim volume are also ramping up each week making rest more elusive.

The good news is I've been feeling really good on my run workouts - especially the long runs.  Gotta keep working towards legs that are bullet-proof for that 26.2 mile cool-down run on race day!

Motivational Movie Monday

The Spirit of the Marathon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8XSit8XyeM

Motivational Movie Monday

IronWill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8l249bM0FE

Motivational Movie Monday

Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham - The Crawl - 1997

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTn1v5TGK_w

Power Up

Week 8 testing showed another power jump of 8% since my last test on week 4.  That's an 18% increase since I started on the training plan.

Using the same 7.5 mile climb as a test, here are the numbers

Prior to start of training plan
223 Average Watts
10.3 mph average
65 rpm cadence

Week 4 testing
242 Average Watts  (+8.5%)
11.5 mph average
74 rpm cadence

Week 8 testing
263 Average Watts (+8.6% compared to week 4; 17.9% increase overall)
11.6 mph average
74 rpm cadence

14 seconds

My week 8 run test was yesterday.  

I finished the 5k run in 21:00.  That's a 14 second improvement over the same run on Week 4.  That's about 1.1% better or roughly 4 seconds faster per mile than I was at the last testing point.

Average HR was 176, with a max of 188.

Not as fast as I hoped I would be after four more weeks of training, but faster is faster so I'll take it!

It was also 17 degrees hotter yesterday (99 F) than it was on July 29th (82 F) so maybe that gives me a bit of an excuse.

Bike test is coming up this Saturday.

Tempe Lake Update

The following was reported by Rick Baldwin on www.iamtri.com in the Ironman Arizona 2010 Group Forum:


According to a very nice City of Tempe official who is overseeing the Dam replacement project. Here's the scoop:


The project is officially 10 days ahead of schedule, keep in mind though that more monsoon rain could cause slight delays in the future.

The lake is scheduled to start filling on 8 October. A cofferdam will be built to allow the lake to start refilling (do not need to wait for arrival of the fourth bladder).

It will take 2 weeks to a month to completely refill the lake depending on the flow rate from source water at Roosevelt Lake.

Bladder 4 is scheduled to arrive mid-October, once it arrives, it will be installed and the cofferdam will be removed.

Motivational Movie Monday

Adidas - long run commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-xvPF14PE

T Minus 3

Only three months to go until IMAZ!

I'm starting week 8 of my training plan this week.  This is another testing week which means a 5k run for time and another 40 minute FTP test on the bike this week.  I hope I continue to show improved numbers.

Check back later in the week for the results from the tests.

Lake Progress

"Three new rubber dam sections will be lowered into place by a crane on Thursday as Tempe works to restore the empty Town Lake."


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38731002

Motivational Movie Monday

Ironman Hawaii 2008 Motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTrrQ9TDMY4

Motivational Movie Monday

"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRNqoqFzTi0

More power!

Scotty we need more power

Last week (week 4 on the training plan) was a testing week, so I had the opportunity to see if my training is resulting in more power on the bike and faster times on the run.

The results were good across the board.

For my run test, I did a 5k time trial at the Rosebowl which has a nice flat and measured 5k loop.  My 5k time was 20:39, or about 6:40 per mile.  That's about 10 seconds faster per mile than I did in my pre-training plan test.  Obviously the run at Ironman Arizona  in November is much father than a 5k, but the testing helps me set my Vdot score, and establish challenging training paces.

For my bike test, I did a warm-up ride, then did a 7.5mile climb from the base to the first peak of Little Tujunga Canyon.  Prior to the start of my training plan, I averaged 223 watts, 10.3 mph, and 65 rpm cadence on the climb. Since I started my 20 week training plan, I've been using 220 watts as my Functional Threshold Power (FTP) value. Last week I improved by over 8% to average 242 watts, 11.5 mph, and 74 cadence on the same exact climb.

The bad news is, today is interval day on the bike.  I had to go and re-work all of my interval numbers using the new threshold value.  I'm guessing I'll sleep well tonight after riding with these new training zones today.

Tempe gets OK to start replacing dam

by Dianna M. Náñez - Jul. 31, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

"Tempe has been given permission to begin replacing the Town Lake dam that burst July 20, draining the lake of nearly 1 billion gallons of water.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources had put construction on hold following the dam's failure."

Read the full story here: Tempe gets OK to start replacing dam

Motivational Movie Monday

Men's 4x100 freestyle relay 2008 Olympics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVZrne7X5ww

Motivational Movie Monday

Ironman Hawaii Motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ9luEvSL_4

Strawberry Fields Race Report

The 2010 Strawberry Fields Triathlon Festival was last Sunday, July 18th.

I did this same event last year and this year I improved my time by over 10 minutes!

The Swim

Prior to the swim, we had to take a short walk down the beach to the starting point.  The swim took us a few hundred yards out, then we swam parallel to the shore before turning back and swimming in towards the beach.

The map below shows the course - don't mind all the squiggly lines and loops - Even though the Garmin 310xt is waterproof, it can't get a gps signal while underwater, so it's constantly finding and losing satellite signal during the swim. 

My swim time was not particularly good.  I normally expect to finish 1.5k in less than 30 minutes.  But it was a relatively rough sea, and I did beat my time from last year by about 5 minutes, so I was pretty happy with it overall.

I also used some TYR anti-fog spray to eliminate the fogging problem I had at the Breath of Life Triathlon a few weeks ago.

Swim distance: 1500 Meters
Swim Time: 35:37
(Last year swim time: 41:17)

The Bike

T1 took 2:40.  Not great, not bad.  19 seconds faster than last year.

The bike course is a little short at Strawberry Fields, so the official times always look blazing fast.  My bike split this year was 1:04:40.  It was about 1 minute slower than last year.  Not so surprising since last year was a bike focus year for me, and by July I had just finished training for a double century, so my bike fitness was probably a bit higher in 2009.

The Run

T2 was 0:44:42.  About 5 seconds faster than last year.

The 10k run was the highlight of my race.  I started out with a 7:15 mile that seemed entirely too easy. I was worried that I might be going to fast, but it felt so good that I just kept the pace - for the entire 10k!  My 10k split was 44:42.  Almost 6 minutes faster than last year.

Also, as you can see by all the data I collected on my Garmin, I actually figured out how to use multisport mode on the 310xt and captured every bit of my race.

Total time: 2:28:56
(last years time: 2:39:29)

T minus 4

Four months from now, I'll be out on the IMAZ Course.

Hopefully they'll have water in the lake by then!

http://www.examiner.com/x-42562-Scottsdale-Running-Fitness-Examiner~y2010m7d21-Tempe-Town-Lake-dam-bursts

Motivational Movie Monday

This is the last week of the Tour de France, so please enjoy one more cycling motivational clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdF2lGSJWJ4

Lance is out of podium contention for this years Tour, but I've heard rumors that he's going to do Kona next year.  I suspect he'll get his butt kicked there too, but I love the idea of how much publicity it would bring to our sport.

Wednesday Bike Intervals

Wednesday is Bike Interval day with a short (30 min) brick run after the bike.

Yesterday's assignment was:


Warm Up: 10-15 minutes Easy,
then 3 x 1min intervals with 1 minute rest in between.

Main Set 2 x 12min intervals with 5 minutes rest in between @ FTP
(Basically 12 minutes fast, then 5 min recovery, then repeat)

My current FTP is around 210 watts. (That's the highest watts I can hold steady for 20+ minutes)

Here's the power graph from yesterday's ride.

I marked a red line at the 210 watts mark on the graph.  That's the mark I was trying to hit and hold during each of the intervals.  So the graph shows about 15 minutes of warm up, then the three short 1 minute intervals, followed by the two longer, 12 minute intervals.

I love training with power. It takes the guess work out of the equation, and I always know how hard I'm working regardless of road conditions, hills, or wind. 210 watts is always 210 watts no matter what the speedometer says.

18.5 weeks to go

Ironman Arizona training is in full swing now.  I'm in my second week of a 20 week Ironman training plan purchased from Endurance Nation.

The typical week looks like this:

Monday - Swim
Tuesday - Interval Run
Wednesday - Interval Bike + Run (Brick)
Thursday - Swim, Long Run
Friday - Swim
Saturday - Long Bike
Sunday - Bike + Run (Brick)

Then every 4 weeks, there's a testing week to check progress and establish new pace and power numbers.

So today for example, I have a 1hr bike interval session with a 30 minute run off the bike.  I do the weekly bike interval sessions on my CompuTrainer so I can set the exact interval difficulty and duration

Last week I completed a 1.5k swim on Monday
Half-mile hill intervals (running) on Tuesday
1.5k swim and 17miles of interval work on the bike on Wednesday
1.5k swim and 80min run on Thursday
Friday was a rest day for me (which is why I added the extra swim on Wed)
68 mile ride on Saturday
and a 30 mile ride followed by a 10k run on Sunday.

The volume is still relatively low (about 11hrs for week 1), but the intensity is pretty high.  Those interval workouts are especially killer.

I'm capturing all of my run and bike workouts on my Garmin 310xt.  By capturing all of my bike and run data, I'm able to see a Training Stress Score (TSS) for those workouts.  The TSS is calculated by Training Peaks Software and basically factors in the intensity and duration of a run or bike and assigns a score.  As my fitness increases, I adjust my baseline numbers in TrainingPeaks so the Intensity Factor (IF) is adjusted.  As the weeks progress, I need to go faster or farther in order to earn the same number of TSS points.  

I'm looking forward to the first testing week so I can gauge my progress.

Motivational Movie Monday

Lance is no longer a contender, but the Tour continues...
Enjoy "The Beauty of Cycling"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4dS5jsl7tc

Motivational Movie Monday

Happy Independence Day!  Enjoy these 40 motivational movie clips in 2 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

Breath of Life Olympic Triathlon Race Report

Last Sunday I finished the Breath of Life Ventura, Olympic Distance Triathlon.

The 30-39 mens age-group was the first wave and we started promptly at 7:15am.  I love it when races start on time!

The swim was in a protected harbor, so other than the fact that we were swimming in salt water, it was more like a lake swim than an ocean swim.  It was a relatively easy 1500k out and back swim.  My only problem during the swim was my goggles kept fogging up, and it was pretty overcast so I had to stop several times and de-fog my goggles to make sure I was heading in a straight line.

Swim time: 28:31

T1 was uneventful, but the transition area was long and narrow so it took a little while to get from one end of the transition area to the other.

T1 time: 3:09

The bike section was flat, fast and fun!  There was a short out-and-back section on Harbor Blvd with a 3-loop circuit in-between for a total of just over 25 miles (a little longer than a standard 40k course).

I averaged 20.4mph on the bike section with each loop of the circuit faster than the previous.

Bike time: 1:19:42

T2 time: 1:13

The run was also flat and fast.  My average pace was 7:44 and I finished the (slightly long) run in 49:46.

My finishing time was 2:38:00.  That put me in 179th place overall.  This was an age-group championship qualifying race, so there were a LOT of fast athletes out there.

The only two problems I encountered during the race were my fogged goggles, and the fact that I didn't put my Garmin 310xt into multi-sport mode so each lap was tracked as "Other" instead of correctly labeling each lap as Swim, Bike, or Run.  Since both issues are fixable, I really can't complain.

Next race is Strawberry Fields on July 18.

Motivational Movie Monday

The Tour is coming! Enjoy this celebration video from 2007.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KMZJb-puA

T Minus Five!

Today is June 21st.  Exactly five months until Ironman Arizona!

Next weekend I have my first Triathlon of the season - the Breath of Life Olympic Tri in Ventura.  I did the sprint triathlon there a few years ago and it was a great event. I'm looking forward to doing the Olympic Distance event this year.

Last year I did just one Olympic distance triathlon in 2:39:29 so I guess I'll shoot for a better time next weekend.  This will also be my first open water swim of the year. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get out to the beach to do some open water swimming.  But I've got several open water swims under my belt from previous seasons so it should not be a problem.

The main thing I hope to accomplish is to make sure all my equipment is still functioning well and get a baseline time for this distance. If I have any equipment issues or need to make any purchases this will give me plenty of time to take care of them and get used to whatever I buy.

In about a month, I've got the Strawberry Fields Olympic Triathlon on July 18th so I'll have an opportunity to make some adjustments and focus on a faster time if needed.

July 5th, I start my 20 week IM training plan and two-a-day workouts become a regular part of life.

Motivational Movie Monday

Inspirational Video On Increasing Your Confidence!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

(Embedding is disabled for this video so you have to click the link)

Motivational Movie Monday

Never Give Up: An Inspirational story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcLvPkn1i_U

Motivational Movie Monday

Training 24/7 The Life of a Triathlete

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8RrtppCAeM

Training transition

With less than 24 weeks to go until Ironman Arizona, it's time for my training to make a transition.  So far, I've filled the year with generic endurance training and endurance events like centuries and half-marathons.  My focus has been on building fitness, but not specifically on triathlon training.

Now it's time to transition into Ironman specific training. 

It's time to start spending more time in the pool. 

It's time to start running after every bike ride. 

It's time to bring out the wetsuit and get some ocean swims done.

Goodbye road bike.  Thank you for your service this year.

It's time for you to take a break so I can focus on riding my tri bike

and goodbye hair-pants.  It's time for silky smooth triathlete legs.

Motivational Movie Monday

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

T Minus Six

Only six months to go until Ironman Arizona!  Does it seem close to you?  It certainly does to me.

I've found myself searching for and reading DNF (Did Not Finish) Ironman stories on the web lately. Not to be negative or pessimistic about my chances of finishing IMAZ in November.  I just found I can learn more from folks who had races that didn't go so well.  Sometimes the picture perfect race reports aren't very informing or even that interesting.  It does tend to create a little bit of paranoia though.  The more stories I read, the more I see how many things can go wrong - especially on the bike.  Even though I expect the run to be difficult, it will be nice when I get off the bike and onto my own two feet where the chance of an equipment failure ruining my day diminishes significantly.

On a more immediate note, this weekend is the San Diego Century.  I'm driving down to Encinitas CA tonight after work, for an early morning start tomorrow. I completed this ride last year so I know exactly what to expect. It's a challenging course with a fair amount of climbing, but nothing out of the ordinary. I expect it to be a fun training day.

Motivational Movie Monday

From Service Dog to surf-ice dog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4

Upcoming events

It's a little bit more than 6 months until IMAZ, and I've got some endurance events on the upcoming calendar.

On May 22 I've got the San Diego Century.  I did this ride last year.  It's a challenging century ride with a good amount of climbing.  It should be a good training day.

June 13th is the Valley Crest Half Marathon.  I haven't signed up yet, but I probably will. I've done this race before too.  It's not the flat and fast half marathon I'm looking for, so I don't expect to be anywhere near a PR, but it's a very hilly trail half marathon, and should help build strong legs for Ironman Arizona in November.

And my first Tri of the season will be on June 27th at the Breath of Life triathlon in Ventura.

But most importantly, I'm taking this weekend off from training to go camping with my son and his Cub Scout Pack.  It should be a great weekend.

Motivational Movie Monday

Running on the Sun


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-e4bOLAuXg

Feeling Sluggish

For almost two weeks I was feeling really sluggish on my run workouts.  Even on short runs I'd feel like I was running a minute or two faster per mile than I actually was.

I think it had to be lack of sleep, because the last two nights I went to bed earlier, and sure enough, on my run today I felt great and my pace was back up where it should be.

Motivational Movie Monday

Never give up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx796zSg5gs

Motivational Movie Monday

The Triathlon Song


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Fw1GdRKkc

T Minus 7

Ironman Arizona - November 21, 2010 is only 7 months away!

Over the last month I've logged a half marathon and a hilly century into the IM training bank.

I'd still like to find a good, fast half marathon course so I can try to set a new PR this year.

I've got the San Diego Century coming up on May 22, and my first triathlon of the season is at the end of June.

Motivational Movie Monday

Dr. Randy Pausch on the Oprah Winfrey show


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ya9BXClRw

The Breakaway Ride - Race Report

The Breakaway Ride - Stage 8 was last weekend (Sunday, April 11, 2010).

There were 3 options for the ride.  Short ~ 36 miles, Medium ~ 62 miles, and Long ~106 miles.  I signed up for the Long ride which included 4 circuits around the Rock Store Loop.

According to the race director, 900 cyclists signed up to ride in the event.  From the website count, it looks like around 200 of those signed up for the long ride.

The long course was designed to roughly mimic Stage 8 of the Tour of California - though it's not an exact duplicate since the pros wont start or finish where we did.


The major uphill section of the loop climbs from around 720ft to around 1950ft with the curviest section of the ride known to local motorcycle riders as "The Snake"

Major climb repeats 4 times at mile 20, 42, 64, and 86

Now for the results.


My official time is listed as 8:01:25.  My worst century result as far as total riding time. A full two hours slower than my sub-six hour effort in Palm Springs  My total riding time was 7:31:23.  The other 30 minutes were spent at rest stops along the way, or stuck at stop-lights and stop signs.


As I was descending Decker Canyon after finishing my second climb, it started to rain and I seriously considered heading back to the start and just skipping the final two loops.  I was cold, and I was not looking forward to finishing two more difficult loops in the rain. But then I snapped out of it and remembered that these events are all just deposits in the Ironman training bank. And if I DNF during my training rides, how can I expect to finish the real deal. Race day might be windy, hot, cold, or raining, so I figured I needed to stick it out and gain the experience  and finished what I started.  Luckily, the rain never hit full force and the roads never became really wet or unsafe.  In fact, after that brief rain during the second loop, it didn't rain again.


During the race we wore a timing chip (which are common in triathlons and running events, but not too common in cycling events).  At the bottom and top of the Rock Store climb, they captured times so they could give out a KOM (King Of the Mountain) award to the fastest male, and a QOM (Queen Of the Mountain) award to the fastest female climber.


My climb times were as follows:


#1: 18:58
#2: 20:12
#3: 23:06
#4: 22:31
for a total KOM time of 1:24:50

Climbing The Snake on my 3rd loop

For comparison, the fastest male climber posted times of 12:48, 13:33, 14:06, and 15:04 for a total KOM time of 0:55:33.


The QOM winner posted times of 19:32, 19:21, 20:09, and 19:46.396 for a total time of 1:18:50


Of the 200 who entered the Long course event, 70 DNS (Did Not Start), and 57 DNF (Did Not Finish) the full distance.


Overall I was 60th out of 73 finishers, which doesn't sound too good. But I honestly feel really good about the day because of how difficult it was and the fact that I stuck it out and finished the ride.

Motivational Movie Monday

A tribute to Ironman


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ragbcOPm_w

Breakaway Ride

This Sunday is the Breakaway Ride which duplicates Stage 8 of the Tour of California.

I'm signed up for the 106 mile long course, which is four loops around a very well known and hilly local loop called the Rock Store loop.

Stay tuned for a race report after the ride!

Motivational Movie Monday

I bet I could get more of my friends to help me train if I used this technique

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

Chesebro Race Results

The 2010 Chesebro Half Marathon was a great event.  It's actually just one part of The Great Race of Agoura Hills.  The whole event is made up of two separate half marathons, a 10k, 5k, and a kids 1 mile run.

The Chesebro Half  wanders through Old Agoura, down Chesebro Road and onto the Cheeseboro Canyon Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. (Yes, the road is Chesebro and the trail is Cheeseboro).

I finished the race in 1:46:39

That's an average pace of 8:07 per mile
82nd place out of 1038 participants
10th out of 86 in my age group

My goal was 8:00 minute miles which would have been a new PR. I was about 2 minutes slower than my goal and less than a minute slower than my Half Marathon PR of 1:45:48

It was mostly trail running with a couple miles of street running at the start and finish of the race.  The first 8 miles were mostly uphill, with steep climbs at the 8mile and 10 mile marks.

I'm so close to a PR at this distance.  I'm looking for a flatter 13.1 course in April or May that might be a good candidate for a breaking my record.

Here are my mile splits for the race:

Split Time         Distance
1 0:07:27 1
2 0:07:49 1
3 0:08:00 1
4 0:08:03 1
5 0:08:02 1
6 0:08:47 1
7 0:08:43 1
8 0:10:08 1 (Steep climb here really killed my time)
9 0:07:34 1
10 0:07:28 1
11 0:08:16 1
12 0:07:29 1
13 0:07:54 1
14 0:00:56 0.14
Tot  1:46:41 13.14

Motivational Movie Monday

West Texas piano player Doug Smith has had a passion for music his entire life. This video documents his struggle to once again play after a paralyzing car accident.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA0LoIhjnkc