Announcing Dirtbag Race Plans for 2012! Big News!

Ladies and gentle-dirtbags! I have two announcements about my upcoming race season. One smaller but fun one and a Big Ass One. I've very excited about both.
First, this:

This, my friends, is the Warrior Dash. Described on their website as "America's most insane race...where 12 obstacles from hell await you along this 3.01 mile course". How does that not sound awesome? Exactly, everything about it sounds awesome. Here's a rundown of the "obstacles from hell":

-waist deep water and logs
-something called Satan's Steps
-barbed wire and barricades
-vertical climb
-scrap yard scamper
-teeter-totter
-warrior wall
-cargo nets (horizontal)
-slippery slope
-more cargo nets (vertical)
- fire leap
-more barbed wire plus mud

Like I said, so much the awesome. And the best part is that although its timed, no one cares how fast you go. I certainly won't be watching my time. I'm going out to have a muddy good romp. And for the registration price I get a t-shirt, a finisher medal, a fuzzy horned hat, a chicken leg, and a beer (the beer will be given to a grateful, muddy co-warrior). This literally might be the best $45 I've ever spent. I'm very excited.
But not as excited as I am about Event #2, the Big Ass Event for 2012:

I have signed up for 70.3 miles of badassery broken up into chunks of 1.2mi swim, 56mi ride, and a 13.1mi run, some of which takes place on the Ironman Championship course better known to triathletes simply as Kona. I haven't been sure is funds were going to allow me to participate in this event, but with the blessing from Super Awesome Wife and Sean offering some much-appreciated help, plus using funds from Official Dirtbag Sponsor Background Profiles, I am going to be able to get my first half-Iron distance race under my belt. It's not until June 2, which at the moment seems a long way away, so right now there is no focused training plan for the race. That will come later. As of now I'm base building and getting the body moving again. No, I haven't worked out regularly since Ko'Olina. I've been alternating between sick, tired, or busy. But I'll be getting back into it soon.
What this means for the rest of my season is I won't be doing the two sprint tri's I did leading up to Honolulu, and I will use the Honolulu Olympic as a tune-up.
So, just so we're all clear, a year ago a sprint triathlon was a big deal. Six months ago an Olympic distance triathlon was a big deal. And now a half-Ironman is a big deal. Let's not look any further ahead for a while.

Pictured: The future

Taper Time

Ride Day(Wednesday)
time- 42 minutes
distance- 16mi

Swim Day (Thursday)
1 x 150- Warm-up
1 x 500- long and smooth

Run Day (Thursday)
distance- 2.3mi

These last two days are the real taper days. Today (Friday) and tomorrow are the relaxing, chill out, excuse to sit on the couch days. Well, there will probably a short, keep it loose, run on Saturday. Energy storage. Conservation. Plotting.
What seems to happen around my taper time, and I'd have to look back to see if this is as true as it feels, is my confidence roller coasters. I get out of the water after a short swim feeling like my stroke was slightly broken and wondering if I'll be mending it with tape during the race. My ride, because my traitorous brain let my body in on the fact that we're tapering now, is slow. Slower than I thought I wanted it to be, even if it wasn't. And what if then I can't figure it back out during the race? At which point I flash back to my last triathlon, in which it took me half the ride to get my head back in the game, and promise myself it won't happen again. But look at that run. That was a solid run. I'd like a performance like that again please. Sure hope the soreness I completely imagined in my right knee and foot doesn't show up Sunday. Even though I know it won't.
Now is the time where little aches make me fidget with non-existent injury nerves and I stare at my bike for minutes at a time fighting the urge to maybe adjust the seat just a tad or gee, maybe the aerobars could be a little more level because the days before a race are not the best time to screw with a set-up that's seen you through the miles of training. (Though I do want to get in to IT&B for a real bike fitting soon. It's been a while and I bet there is comfort and miliseconds of aeroness to be found, though probably not in that order.)
I have a race plan. And I think there will be sticking to it. Get through the swim quickly and efficiently, take the bike out hard, at the turn-around assess energy levels and try to bring it back harder, survive the run while kicking quick and embracing the pain. And don't forget to hydrate. And keep an eye out for Tri Cook and Kepa, the Tri-n-Hawaiian. Not so much to beat someone I interweb-know, but you never know when a random shout of encouragement will help you find that last half mph you've been looking for.
Looking forward to the Anniversary tri. Should be a good time.

Starting to Think Taper

Swim Day
1 x 150- Warm-up
3 x 200- 3:00
3 x 50- Sideline kick
3 x 100- 1, 2, 3, Swim
3 x 100- 1:30
1 x 100- Cool down
total- 1600yds

Run Day
time- 30:14
distance- approx. 3.5mi

I'm not in full taper mode yet for Sunday, that will start tomorrow, but I'm thinking about it. Which means that the intensity of today's swim and run was compromised. Spent a lot of time thinking about how I want to race this weekend. I feel like I can bomb the bike hard, I have that endurance now no doubt, without suffering too much on the run. It's only three miles once I get off the bike, and on a flat, easy course. I should be able to crush the bike and make the run hurt. That's the real goal: to run without Fear. I want to find the Trust, find the Fast, and Go. Getting my head in that space.
Coming up today or tomorrow, a special interview with a Kona Ironman Finisher and Official Member of Team Dirtbag (he's just now finding out about that last part too), Sean Price.

Think About the Future, Jack!

Dual purpose blog today, sports fans. Swim Workout first, then planning the future of Dirtbag Fitness.

Swim Day

1 x 200 Warm-up
5 x 100 1:20*
3 x 200 pull 3:15
2 x 300 4:30
1 x 150 Cool down

total yards- 2050

Decent 5am swim. I marked the 100s set because the time is obviously much too fast. I did that on purpose. Right now in my training is called building my base. My swim already has a solid base. The run and the bike need a lot of miles because that's how you get better. Swimming works the same for most people, but my swim is pretty solid. Its not super-fast, but we can build on this. So instead of stacking yards on top of yards, I'll do that when the next tri cycle starts up, I'm working on dropping my base hundred time. No triathlon swim is a sprint, but the faster I can get my pace, the better the swim time. So my plan for base training is doing 100s on the 1:20 until I can make all five. Then up it to seven. Then ten. Hopefully I can get it to 15 100s on the 1:20. If I can do that I'll be a happy Dirtbag. On this particular set I made the first two (ok, and then barely), then spent the next three hitting the wall, checking the watch, and cursing under my breath as I did what amounted to an open turn. Gotta get that average down. The rest of the time standards actually felt slow comparatively though. So I've got that going for me.

Thinking About The Future

I am not done with the triathlon thing. I'm just getting in to it. The Haleiwa tri was the last of the year and that gives me plenty of time to prepare for my next one. I have two triathlons planned right now, one A race (races will be leveled from A-C, A being very important, B being a training race, not going for a Personal Best, C being just for fun) and one B race, as well as a C with the wife (kinda).
My big goal and my A race for the next six months is the Honolulu Triathlon on May 15th. This will be two things: first, it will be my biggest race in terms of number of participants. Second, it will be my longest race. They do a Sprint and an Olympic distance of this event and I plan on signing up for the Olympic. Where as a sprint is a 500yd swim, a 12-ish mile ride, and a 3 mile run, and Olympic is a 1500yd swim, a 20 mile ride, and a 6 mile run. So basically twice as far as what I've done so far. Training will be intense. I'm still looking for a good training plan to use and modify. Pretty sure its going to kick off right when we get back from New Zealand. Registration opens in December I think, and I'll need to be paying attention. I bet it fills up quick.
A month before the Honolulu Tri, though, will be the Lanikai Sprint Tri on April 17th. This will be a B race. I'm going to use it as a tune-up for the Honolulu race the following month. So I'll be pushing it but mostly it will be used as a measure for how training is progressing. Registration has opened for this race and I'm hoping it doesn't fill. Neither of the ones I've done so far have, so I'm not too worried, but I should sign up sooner rather than later.
And my last planned race is also the soonest. That is the Great Aloha Run, an eight mile run from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium on February 21st. This wasn't actually my idea. This was Stitches' suggestion. She wants to walk it and I'm all for that. But I don't want to walk eight miles. It will be better for me to run it. This is a total C race. Its going to be in the middle of the start of my training cycle, its two miles longer than my race run will be, and I'm going have fun with it. It'll be good for me. I know I can run that far, I haven't yet though. Stitches is hunting down people to walk with so I don't feel guilty not walking it with her. Should be a good time.
So that's the future of Dirtbag Fitness friends. I haven't mentioned this in a while and this seems like a good time, donations are still welcome and accepted. They will be put immediately towards registration for the Honolulu and Lanikai Tris.
I have another morning swim planned tomorrow before school and getting on a plane to Seattle for Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday Swim to me!