Honoulu Tri '13 Race Report

Here we are, my last and final triathlon in Hawaii. Also, the only race I've done three times as a solo. Also, the worst run I've ever had during a race (save maybe 2011's Ko'Olina Sprint). But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I registered for Honolulu ages ago, back when the early registration price was still reasonable. I figured I needed to do it, even if I wasn't trained up. This was before Dirtbag Baby was born, so I didn't yet realize how much my training was about to be impacted. Which was a lot.
I barely trained for this race. Barely barely barely. I hadn't really been in the water. I'd done a few rides over 25 miles, but not much over and not often. I hadn't run further than 3.5 miles since probably the Honu. I was not ready. If you went back and told 2011 me how I was preparing for this race he'd have freaked out. I was training like crazy back then. Not so much.
That meant mentally I was in a completely different place come Sunday morning. I talked about this in my last two race reports- I felt no pressure to perform at all. I was putting no expectations on myself other than finish the race and try to enjoy it. I knew it was going to hurt. I also knew that as far as courses go it is pretty easy. The swim is in a protected lagoon (basically, it's not really a lagoon). The ride is as flat as you can ask for, and not in a typically windy part of the island. The run is even flatter than that, and there is pretty decent shade. I can get through this on minimum training as long as I do it right. The big question was how long would it take for that lack of preparedness to catch up to me? Hopefully not until the run, because if I bonked on the bike I'd be miserable.
Dirtbag Mom was on island to visit with us and (mostly) Dirtbag Baby, so she drove us down to Ala Moana park Sunday morning, dark and early. Tiny human was so good the whole day. It was crazy early for all of us and we weren't sure how he would react to getting up and going in the car like that but he was great. Slept, no fussing, just a good boy.

I was feeling good, found Diesel and The Grey prior to the start, so we got to chat a little. Nice to have friends at the race with you. The Grey was complaining about his Achilles tendon, saying he'd probably have to walk the course so he didn't injure himself before the Honu. And Diesel was at the tail end of a cold that had knocked him on his ass all week. We were a couple of right strong triathletes, us. 
There were technical difficulties before the off, so we didn't get to hear the national anthem or Hawai'i Pono'i, the Hawaii state song, and I thought that was a bummer. I'm not a big fan of nationalistic chest thumping, but those songs start big events. They just do. We did get thirty seconds of silence for Boston, which I liked. And which was almost observed in silence, but not quite. Not quite because, well..ok, let's do this now.
The Honolulu Triathlon has become quite the travel race for Japanese triathletes. More and more visitors come every year to compete with us. Probably because the course is beautiful. Probably because they like coming to Hawaii anyway. Probably because they get some kind of deal- there are entire sections of the race staging area set up specifically for Japanese athletes. And I have no problem with Japanese athletes, I don't. I have a problem with the race becoming geared away from the people who live in Hawaii and towards the people who fly in for the race. This isn't a complaint about having everything translated into Japanese- I don't care. I really don't. America doesn't have a national language and I want everyone to know what's going on. But I no longer feel catered to when it comes to the Honololo Triathlon. I'm not the target athlete, but I'm the one who lives here. I'm the one here doing every other event the race director puts on. So when Japanese athletes do a cheer during the thirty seconds of silence for Boston I'm a little irritated. Don't believe me that the race is becoming more focused on Japanese imports than locals? Here is the race shirt from this year-

See? Look closer.

 Really look at it.

If you've ever ever been somewhere surrounded by tourists from that little island nation you know light blue and pink (PINK!?! ON BLUE?!? WITH YELLOW!?! WTF?) is their jam. It's the ugliest race shirt I have.
Anyway, there are a lot of Japanese racers here. They race differently than American racers do. They bunch. A swim start is always a washing machine mosh pit of bodies, and I like fighting through that and finding open water. But the numbers of guys in my wave made that very difficult. Not to mention (ok, this and one more complaint about Japanese athletes- I hope I don't sound racist because that's not it) they all wore their wetsuits. Now, according to USAT rules the water temperature was a wetsuit legal 77*. Except there was no way the water was that cold. I think the race director fudged the numbers because all those paying customers flew their wetsuits all the way to Hawaii and he didn't want to tell them to take 'em off or be ineligible for medals (not that we got medals, ohh I have so much to complain about I guess. Quick version in this tangent within a tangent- The Race Director, who nobody likes, has decided the event is going green. That means no awards for anyone but the overall winners. If you won your age group he will email you your certificate and personalized picture. Yeah, fucking digital awards for a race you paid nearly $200 to register for. Fuck that guy.). Anyway, wetsuits make crappy swimmers better because they float. That means crappy swimmers get in the way more.
I seeded myself near the front of my wave on the beach, mostly because I didn't want to get stuck behind too many people. Fidget, wiggle, shake, check goggles for the 12th time, wait- GO! The elite wave got a gun. We got a guy yelling at us. Whatever.
And I immediately got converged upon. This mass start was much more full than I remember from the last two years. Maybe because the last two years I was more confident in my swim so I charged harder right away. Either way, lots of bodies dropping to swim right in front of me, then standing back up, then dropping again. In my way. Come on, fellas, get on with it. There was probably 75 yards of this foolishness before we actually were able to get under-weigh.
It took longer than normal to find open water, and I spent quite a lot of the swim out right next to a dude who liked me a bunch. He didn't swim straight, so we kept bumping into each other. There's a difference between drafting and actually sitting on someone's hip, but he didn't know that. We were friends.
I chilled the swim out for the most part, concentrating on keeping a strong, steady, smooth stroke. Not spending too much energy, just get it done. Keep the heart rate under control and swim straight. The turn-around came quicker than I expected and I was feeling good. But I had forgotten about salt water chafing. Oh, the chafing. Right in the armpits it grinds and grinds, making the skin there raw. I normally put some type of Body Glide on my skin to prevent that, but had forgotten because it had been too long since I'd done a long swim. My bad. That stuff hurts, man. I couldn't wait to be done with the swim, not because I was tired but because I was raw.
Hit the beach and cruised to T1. I'm not in a hurry, I will take my time. No stress. Didn't see Wife, Mom, and Baby on my way up the beach  but that didn't mean they weren't there. The Grey and Diesel were in a wave way behind my own, so they hadn't been through transition either. I wondered if I would see them on the bike or not until the run. Expected Diesel on the bike. Changed, trotted out to the line, mounted and got to the going.

Even cruising the swim I was still pretty fast. You can do a lot with good technique, and I do.
The ride was smooth sailing. Because I was slightly slower on my swim than normal I was out on the road with a few more people. Last year and the year before I didn't have any friends for a while. I was out of T1 this year with two or three other guys, who left me in the dust pretty quick.
I had no illusions about how badly under-trained I was for the bike, so I was determined not to go crazy. Got down in aero, tucked in, and found my rhythm. I did pass one or two guys and played leap frog too, but mostly it was pass pass pass the Dirtbag. Still, I felt surprisingly strong out on the road. I knew I didn't have any sudden speed in my legs, there would be no sprinting, but I had a constant strength. Smooth and steady, that's the way to do it. Felt completely different from last year, when I had a great big distance engine. But it would do.
Since I'm all about complaining it seems like, here's another one- Where were the course marshals stopping the drafting and group riding? Our races are non-drafting events, meaning you need x number of bike lengths between you and the guy ahead of you. If you're passing then pass and the person passed has gotta drop back. There shouldn't be a massive peloton. There shouldn't be a line of three guys drafting off each other like they do on training rides. There was so much of that going on. I passed massive groups of riders clumped together. At the risk of sounding whatever, the biggest clumps were the Japanese riders, taking up the entire road and making passing impossible. No race awareness at all. No consideration for the athletes around them. Where was the people zipping around on motorcycles who are supposed to flag and fix that? Totally and completely frustrating.

 The one part of the course that normally gives me trouble, the out-and-back on Lagoon Dr. wasn't a problem. It wasn't any fun either. You see, normally there's a strong tailwind on the out and a strong headwind on the back. I was looking forward to the tailwind. You hit Lagoon around mile 19 and by then I was ready for a little natural boost. Twas not to be. On the plus side, that meant no headwind.
Pulled my feet out of my shoes for my amateur take on the flying squirrel dismount the super-fast guys use and rolled into T2 feeling ok. I knew there was pain ahead. I could feel it in the legs. I took my time in transition, got set, tried to get a but more water in me (thought I'd hydrated well on the bike, but it never hurts and the sun was hotting up).

The last time I looked happy on the run (15 meters in)

 The run fell apart pretty damn quick. I knew two steps in that it was going to be bad. How bad I wasn't sure, but bad.
It was worse.
It occurred to me not long into the 10k that I hadn't run more than 3.5mi since...oh probably the Honu last year. Crap. Swimming is easy. Cycling isn't hard, not on the flats (I'd have died if there were any significant climbs on the ride). But running, for yours truly, that's brutal in the best of situations.
I walked. I walked so much. I bonked like nobodies business. It was the hurt. I hadn't fueled well the morning of the race and I hadn't used my brain and bought some Gu before race day for during the race. What I had done was found a Hammer Gel from last year and stashed it in my back pocket in case I needed it. But I didn't know if those things go bad. What would they do? By mile 3 I didn't care. I needed calories. I took the Hammer. It was kind of gross. Still prefer Gu. I walked all of mile 3, waiting to see what the tummy made of the gel. Would I feel better or feel sick? Better, it turned out. Well enough to trot more than I walked for the last two miles. But I was miserable in the middle there. It was swiftly becoming a hot, windless day. Probably the worst run leg I've ever had. Lots of walking. Lots of fighting the negative. It didn't help that the run course is pretty dumbly laid-out. Lots of loops and turns and double-backs because the race director is too cheap to reserve the park next to Ala Moana as well, so it's a mess.
The Grey met me for the last quarter mile, having finished well ahead of me (and having run most of the race, contrary to what he said he was going to do). Actually, he and Diesel didn't catch me until the run, which was cool. They started with the old guys, waves and waves behind me, but still. We trotted to the finish line together, then he peeled off and I got to do something I've been waiting to do for five months.

The Grey, mocking me into the finish

 I took my son from his mom and held him in my sweaty, stinky, gross arms and ran through the finish.

Pretty much the coolest way to finish a race ever

 When they handed me my finisher medal (plate) I had them put it around the boy's neck. That was a pretty cool moment. Tiny human's first triathlon finish.

After the race the boys, my mom, and Super Awesome Wife hung out in the shade for a while. We rinsed off in the ocean, getting the sweat clear. And we watched the millions of tourist triathletes roam.
Final race thoughts-
Swim- 27:22
T1- 1:50
Bike- 1:15.07
T2- 2:07
Run- 1:18.36
Total- 3:05.20 
My splits, aside from my run, weren't that far off last year's. I didn't get a ton slower by not training like a crazy person. I did lose a lot of the confidence I'd gone into the previous races with. I didn't ever feel strong. I don't like racing like that and I need to fix it.
I am very disappointed in what the Honolulu Triathlon has turned in to. The digital awards, the massive medals, the hideous shirts, the overly fancy number tattoos, the blocked up and over-crowded bike course, the ridiculous run course, the lack of Hawaii Pono'i or the National Anthem, it's just not a fun environment to race in any more. And the parking. For a price you can get cherry parking, something I like taking advantage of. The website said passes were $10. Diesel picked one up for himself and one for me. They charged him $15, said there had been a change. Later we found out they cut the price back down to $10 the next day. I don't know what's up with that, but it smells fishy. No announcements were made about, "Hey, if you over-paid for parking we'd like to refund you your five buck." Just screw you, sucker. I don't think I would do it again next year. Which is too bad, because it's the only Olympic-distance race on the island. I'm not a fan of the Race Director, who's other race is the Ko'Olina Sprint, another poorly organized and over-priced event. I'm sorry this report focused so much on the negative, I don't like to do that and it isn't what this blog is about, but that's the taste that the whole race experience left in my mouth. I'm finally finishing this race report weeks after I crossed the line and I'm still put off by the whole thing. I know it's not just me, at least The Grey and Diesel feel the same.
We are moving to the mainland at the end of this month, where I'm looking forward to new races and new challenges. I want to thank thank thank Background Profiles for their incredible continued support. 

Haleiwa Sprint Tri '13 Race Report

Bike Factory Haleiwa Sprint Tri Relay Race Report

Relays are a great way to do triathlons without doing a triathlon. I understand that doesn't make much sense, bear with me. At this point I've done plenty of tris, I know triathlon, and I enjoy triathlon. But sometimes I don't feel like doing an entire race. I want to be a part of the event, but for whatever reason doing the whole thing isn't in the plan. Last time we did a relay, the Lanikai Tri last year, it was because the Grey, Diesel, and I were mid-Honu training and none of us wanted to do a sprint, but a race sounded fun and we figured we could place, which is always nice. For the Haleiwa Tri I didn't feel fit enough to put together a respectable effort for an entire race so I talked the guys into relaying it. Again, we knew we should place. That helps sell the idea.
I swam, Diesel rode, and the Grey ran, like last time, because that is our strongest line-up. I picked up Diesel at 5am race morning, both of us grumbling that I had talked us into getting up that early to race for such a short period of time. He has a twelve mile ride ahead of him. That's less than 30 minutes of work. I had a 500m (they said) swim. That's less than ten minutes of work.
Sometimes triathlon is dumb like that.
We met the Grey there and got set up easily. Check-in and everything went well. I was excited because Carrots, my tri-friend and Super Awesome Wife's knitting buddy, was doing the race too. Seeing friends makes races better.

T1 Set Up

Diesel and The Grey getting ready

It's very early

Carrots and husband

Race start was planned for 6:30, which is kind of dumb because it's still dark at 6:30am. So we probably started at 6:40 or so. Two waves, men first, then women and relays. I wasn't thrilled with having to wait to the second wave. I know how quickly I swim, and I know how slowly a lot of triathletes swim. I'm going to hit the back of the men's pack. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?
I lined up on the beach with the girls pointing as straight on to the first buoy floating 150m offshore as I could. Why swim at and angle? That makes your race further. Why are all you people so far down the beach?
I didn't hear a countdown for the men, just the horn. Fine, whatever, go go go. Once they were away I got my goggles ready and shook out my arms. Next to me on the beach was a very serious looking woman in a pro tri suit. Like name on the stomach and back and everything. Decided to hang by her. If you're going to get beat, get beat by someone who didn't have to buy her own gear.
Thirty seconds...GO!
I had a great start. Killer start. Looking to my sides I think I was the first to the turn. Pro Girl may have beat me, but I didn't see anyone in front of me. Felt stronger than I expect. So fast that I was worried I'd run out of gas before the swim was over. And I might have if it was really 500m. There's now way it was that far. 400m tops. By the second buoy and the turn into the beach I was in the middle of the men's pack, fighting through feet and bodies. Got wide of the group for the sprint in and swam hard. I don't think I was the first of the second wave out of the water, but the transition area was pretty damn full when I got there.
Honestly, the hardest part of the swim was the transition run. Long ass run from the beach, along the park, up to T1. Then chip to Diesel and he was off.

Dirtbag swam hard

Carrots gets her helmet on...

And she's off!

This is the fun part for me. I never get to see transition fill and empty. I never get to cheer on other triathletes as they chug into T1, change, and head back out. It is cool and made me feel like part of the tribe. Then it was out to the street to watch the cyclists on their three laps and talk to Carrot's husband, MamaSaid, who came down for the race (Super Awesome Wife's mom was in town and Dirtbag Baby had a long day the day before so they skipped this event), and another relay team. This race is cool because they have a beach cruiser division. So you've got dudes and dudettes on $5k bikes roaring by then a guy on a rusty cruiser with high bars pedaling away. Triathlon should be fun.
Diesel came ripping in to T2, and I had to call out to The Grey, who got distracted talking to someone and had to rush into transition to get the chip.

Diesel goes zooooom

Coming in at the end of Lap 3

Diesel and The Grey in for the switch

Grab the chip!

And he's away!

 The run course was a tough out and back along the beach. So it was sand and trail out, then on the beach back. No one really likes this run course. Thanks Grey! He had a great time.

Here he comes!

And across the line!

 Once he was across the line we hung out for a while, talking, snacking, and being friendly. Diesel and MamaSaid left to hike and the Grey and I checked out the results postings only to discover that we weren't listed. What the hell? The Grey and I bothered the timing guy until he gave us an answer- The chip time for the bike said 18 minutes, which is impossible. Which means he thought Diesel only did two laps. Which means he disqualified us! What. The. Hell. The Grey argued and I grumbled until he looked at the swim time and run time and the final time and realized that what his chip was telling him didn't make any sense. So yeah, the Grey bullied the timer into giving us our time back. Second place! Woo! We got a nice tile, leading to many jokes about doing this race until we can refinish a bathroom. We are hilarious.

Team Dirtbag!

Carrots is a tough triathlete

Tough guys with second place tiles

 Another race with good swag, we got nice long sleeve shirts, a sticker, and a bag. They tried to give me a trucker hat instead of the bag and I shot that right down. Who wants a trucker hat? That's what the race people get for giving me a choice. I'll take the choice. 
I love being around events like this and relays are a great way to play without too much pressure.
Final Splits
Swim- 5:49 (hell yeah, but that means there us no way it was 500m)
T1- 2:16 (long ass run)
Bike- 33:37 (blazing!)
T2- 00:37
Run- 26:24 (not bad for a bruised up old man hehe)
Final Time- 1:08:42

Swag- long sleeve, sticker, bag

Talking and Swimming is Hard

Swim

1 x 200- warm-up
10 x 100- 10 seconds rest
3 x 50- sideline kick
1 x 500- odd 50 easy/even 50 hard
1 x 50- cool down

Morning workouts were old hat for a long time. But stopping getting up at 5am is the easiest habit to break in the world. And getting back into that habit can be brutal when the other option is staying in bed with a tiny human and a wife. (Yeah, we are co-sleeping hippies. And yeah, we are super careful and light sleepers.) Not hitting snooze and rolling over is a matter of guilting myself into getting up. Thinking thoughts like, "Don't be full of weak sauce. You used to do this all the time. Just get up." And the kicker, "You know you're going to be pissed at yourself if you don't." Which is true. I'm always hard on myself when I miss a workout. Trying to be extra hard on myself now because I'm in the midst of getting back into the groove and I need to set the routine back up.
My other big problem with morning workouts is I'm not planning ahead like I used to. Part of packing my bag the night before was always grabbing some paper and writing my workout for the morning down, keeping in mind goals and objectives for the workout and the training cycle as a whole. I haven't done that since my last Honu training swim. This is a terrible habit to be in. It is so much easier to bail on a set when it isn't in black and white in front of me. Before my next swim I need to write down a workout rather than plan it on my way down the hill to my truck.
I'm still not fit so I'm not swimming on time standards yet. I don't feel like I can be pumping like would make me happy so I'm moving my body, getting back into the feel, getting my stroke back instead. It's amazing how fast the stroke goes away. I can feel the wiggles, the looseness, the lack of power and grab. I have to keep telling myself it will come back. It takes patience and regularity.
 It also means staying focused in the water. Sometimes the mind will wander, and when it does sometimes I talk to myself. This isn't so bad on the bike, is slightly more troublesome on a run, and can be quite an issue on a swim. I'm not really sure what I was talking about, sometimes my Ego thinks it will be invited to an active.com panel at some conference (neither of these things exist as far as I know), and I will be able to talk and talk and talk to a rapt audience. My Ego is that kind of guy. My Ego is used to being a teacher. I make no excuses. I started a blog for no one but myself, so imagining myself talking to an imaginary audience is not really that big of a leap. I'm also giving a talk at a national teachers conference in Vegas this summer so I'm thinking a lot about talking in front of groups. Anyway, what were we talking about?
Oh yeah, Manti Te'o is a big fat liar liar pants on fire. If you believe his story that he was totally fooled for four years then you believe he is the dumbest person on the planet. Naive doesn't even begin to cover it. He was in on it, he was in on it the whole time. Otherwise he would have come angrily clean the moment he found out he'd been duped. Wouldn't you have been so very pissed? What, we are supposed to believe that the people tricking him were so involved that they stayed on the phone with Te'o for hours at a time listening to each other breathe? We are supposed to believe he never once asked to Skype with his girlfriend? That he didn't go to her funeral because she said she wanted him to play football instead? That he never ever tried to visit her when he came to Hawaii, a state so small there is a race that started by three guys riding their bikes around it? He's been in on it the whole time. He continued to lie after he claims he found out it was a hoax. I don't know why he lied, but he is so full of it. I don't even know why it's important, other that FOOTBALL PLAYER FAKE DEAD GIRLFRIEND HOAX is the best combination of English words I've ever seen on a newspaper.

Almost Back to a Groove

Swim
1 x 200- Warm-up
5 x 200
5 x 100- 1, 2, 3, Swim

The swim this week (god, that sentence is depressing) was ok. It wasn't fast and it wasn't challenging, I didn't do much pushing, but it got did. Right now that is important. I'm still in the midst of finding the balance of working out and coming home after work to be dad. Dad is, obviously, more important. But fitness keeps me sane. Even after one mediocre morning swim I feel better.
And then the next day I get sick. Started feeling it Wednesday evening and by Thursday I was in it with stuffy nose, head cold, sore throat, tight neck muscles (whenever my traps get sore I know I'm getting sick, for some reason I carry it there). The whole shebang. Which kind of killed follow-up workout plans for the next few days. Better to be healthy, especially now since Sick Dad doesn't get to snuggle with Baby Dirtbag nearly enough. Can't be getting the tiny human sick.
Also, I did the Magic Island Biathlon last weekend. I need to write a race report, probably will in the next few days. Don't let me forget.

I haz the dying

Christmas Biathlon Race Report

This was an impulse race for fun. I have been feeling like I hadn't raced in a long time and once you get used to doing something like that you need to keep doing it. I'm addicted to racing. Which is funny when you think about how nervous my stomach gets before even the smallest and easiest of races.
So, even though training had been slim I decided to fork over some dough and knock out the Waikiki Swim Club's Christmas Biathlon, a 5km run/1km swim low pressure fun event. Anyone can run 5km, and doing the swim after the run for once sounds like a great idea. Then I can make up time on all the damn runners who can't swim. No surprise this event was thought up and hosted by a Swim Club.
The other reason for doing the event was Super Awesome Wife was due on the 11th of Decemeber. This might be my last chance to race for a while. Please keep the above date in mind for later.
Hanging around before the race was fun because I meant a person I knew only from the internet who was doing her first multi-sport event (and who placed in her age group!), a guy I meant at the swim meet and open water swim I did over the summer, and Team Bloody Mary (now Team Tri-Rita), who are at nearly every event hosted on the island. All great people, all really nice to see.

Tim swims and Anne run and neither care about racing. Good people

The race started with a 5km run around Ala Moana Beach Park. I purposely did not bring a watch of any kind to reinforce the idea that this was only for fun. Time didn't matter. Of course I had a goal time in mind, I know about what I can do a 5km in and what I can swim 1000m in, but I wasn't planning on sweating it. Haven't been running enough to sweat it. In fact, I was unsure of just how my knee would tolerate the race. Would it tweak and I'd hobble around for three miles? Would I get to run a fraction of it?
Turns out I ran the whole thing, went out a little too fast at the top and paid for it at the end, but overall a nearly pain-free experience. Well, knee pain free. You can't not run at all and then try/not try to race three miles without some pain. But that's more of a Bad Training Dumbass pain.
One thing I spent time thinking about was transition from the run to the swim. You never go in that direction. I needed to put a cap on, and I wasn't about to wear one on the run. So what to do? Stop and put it on? Do it while running? I went with the latter, tucking my goggles and cap into the waistband of my suit. And with about 100 yards to transition I took off my visor and glasses and popped the cap and goggles on without breaking stride. Easier than I thought. Then all I had to do was take off my shoes and drop the visor and shades and into the water I went.
The run-to-swim transition wasn't too bad. Slowing down to take off the shoes helped the heart rate adjust. The hardest part was pulling all the blood out of my legs and into my arms and shoulders. I'm not happy with how my swim went. It's not really fair because I haven't been swimming too much either, but expectations are high. There was no rhythm or smoothness in it. I just got it done. Was able to do decently compared to most of the other racers, but not what I wanted. It is fun to do my strength at the end of a race for once. Meant I got to swim from person to person. I'll catch you, now I'll catch you, now I'll catch you. That's a nice change.
The return was directly into the rising sun, making sighting difficult. I basically swam towards the sun. I sighted by blindness. Where can't I see? I'll go there. Which meant I didn't see the exit buoys until I was almost on top of them. Think I went in a straight line. Normally do.
Pro Tip for multi-sport athletes (and I know a lot of you need this): Swim as far in as you can. Seriously, until your hands scrape the sand. Because if you pop up too early then you're trying to run in hip deep water. That's slow. Swim until you're scraping bottom then when you pop up your in shin deep water and you can easily high-step out.
Times:
Run- 27:31
Swim- 20:16
Finish- 47:47
Age Group- 5th
Overall- 37th

47 second off my very own mug!

Bwah!

 Any normal day that would have been the big event. But when I got home Super Awesome Wife had a much more important event warming up. You can read all about it here.Want a hint? I wrote most of this post like this-

Mean to Myself

(Yesterday)
Ride
dist- approx. 16.5 mi
time- approx 1hr

(Today)
Swim
1 x 200- warm-up
10 x 100- 1:30
1 x 100- cool down

Knee rehab

Today in the pool I was mean to myself. And that was a good thing.
You see, dear readers, when I'm not totally feeling it I leave myself an out. I say to myself, "Listen, I promise to push these on the time standard. But if I miss one I get thirty seconds on the wall to rest and recover before getting back to it." That's a good deal.
Except I don't like missing my time standard and I'm a stubborn ass in the water. So for the 10 x 100 set I made the first few easily then started to slip, my poor training habits catching up with me. I was getting less than five seconds rest by number five and less than two seconds for eight, nine, and ten. Yeah, I'd hit the wall, look at my watch, it would read 12:28 and I would get a breath then hit it again. I spent these 100s thinking it would be so easy to fade juuuust a little. Just enough, Then I'd had thirty whole wonderful seconds to catch my breath. But it had to happen organically. I wasn't going to let myself miss. And I never did. Made all ten on the 1:30, getting barely any rest for the last three or four.
Swims like this are frustrating because I know I can do better but make me happy because I fought through a mentally tough workout, and I can draw on that the next time I get in the water without feeling it.
Been getting back out on the bike too. Knee gives some twinges still, right on the inside, but it's lessening. Hopefully the rehab is doing its job and I'm getting stronger. Haven't tried to run yet, but I was talking to a friend today who is thinking about doing a marathon soon and I started to get the itch. I got the itch to run. Triathlon has made me broken.

Looking For Motivation

Swim
1 x 200- warm-up
5 x 100- 1, 2, 3, swim
5 x 50- 25 fly/25 free
1 x 100- cool down

Single leg squats
4 x 10

Stability ball curls
3 x 12

Plank
2 x 1:00

Your friendly neighborhood Dirtbag needs an event to think about. I'm so wanting to do something stupid I even looked at registering for the Honolulu Marathon in December. $140! So that ain't happening. There is the biathlon series coming up starting in December, and individual registrations for those are $25 or all three for $60. So that is probably where I'm going to put some money next.
 I also need my knees to cooperate. After yesterday's workout there for for sure soreness around the left knee. I'm not sure yet if it's the muscles responding to the squats and curls or is there is still an injury being worked out. But it is tight. I think I need to keep foam rollering it too. I've got single leg squat goals. I want to be able to do pistols, unsupported squats, so that's what I'm working towards. It's all about strengthening around the knee and stabilizing the hips. Eventually I stop supporting my foot back behind me and start kicking it out in front and sitting onto a bench.

Not me. Yet.

Also, I realize how rubbish the last few general posts have been, reflecting how I've been feeling about the workouts. And like the workouts, I fell out of the habit of doing this so now I'm in the process of getting it back.

If Kipapa Don't Reach (I'm in Trouble)

Swim (Monday)
1 x 200- warm-up
Ladder
100- 1:30
200- 3:00
3:00- 4:30 (fail)
400- 6:00 (fail)
500- 7:30 (fail)
1 x 100- cool down

Run (Tuesday)
time- 31:47
distance- 3.16mi

 Training isn't really the word for what I'm doing right now. Hell, it barely feels like maintenance most of the time. I guess going from the level of intensity I was at pre-Honu to what I'm doing now, which used to be intense when I started this journey, is weird. I feel like I'm not working hard enough, but with no near goals I'm struggling. Kinda been the theme of most of these posts for a while now. In October there is the Marine Corps Splash and Dash that I did with Super Awesome Wife last year and I'm thinking of registering for that. It is cheap, it was fun, and it gives me a reason to train.
We have moved and now live at the bottom of a gully. Well, we live up a steep hill which you have to go down to get to the main road which them climbs out of the gully. So every ride and run begins and ends with a steep-ish descent and then a steep-ish climb. Neither are long, it just isn't a fun way to start or end a workout. Finishing a long workout like that will be satisfying though. At the end of yesterday's run it did feel good to be able to quick-step it up the hill. Check out the link to my Garmin data to see what I'm talking about elevation-wise and determine for yourself if I'm being a wuss. I'm sure it'll get easier as I get used to it. And climbing = strong.
The title of the post comes from the name of one of the streets I ran along. I made a left instead of simply turning around and running back exactly how I came and then made a right on Kipapa, a road that I was pretty sure connected back to where I wanted to go. I was 95% sure. Just sure enough to do it. But then for whatever reason that song popped into my head and I started thinking, "If Kipapa don't reach I'm in trouble yeah..." That it pretty much all the song I know off the top of my head too, so that's not helpful.
Still paranoid about injury. Inner left knee was sore this morning, but not painful. Probably the climbing. I'll do a gait check.
And now, for all my Whovian friends, I present this:

OH! Also, please go check out my Active Articles page at the top. They posted my whole swim series as a really nice four-parter and it'll make me look good if you click over and read them again. it's good for ya! Thanks.

Figure Four

Bike (Tuesday)
time- 1:10
distance- 20.48mi

Run (Wednesday)
time- 22:42
distance- 2.38mi

Swim (Thurs am)
1 x 100- Warm-up
5 x 100IM- 1:45
5 x 200

Tuesday's bike was mostly a recovery ride from Sunday's 63 miler. I didn't put a ton of effort into it, and it was pretty flat because Ewa. And this morning's swim was really chilled out mostly because I wasn't feeling it. The IM set went ok, but it was quickly obvious that the 200 set wasn't going to be happening. So instead of pumping it I focused on swimming from my hips and that power generation. Then I got out and grabbed a Starbucks before school.
But my run, while not far or especially hard, was the most focused workout of the week thus far. I spent a lot of time thinking about the figure four.

No, not that one (Bonus points of you know who the blonde is and his signature noise). This one.

From my running clinic. I am a very visual person so I tried very hard to keep this image in my mind while I ran. The bent knee on contact, the mid/fore-foot strike happening directly under the center mass, pulling with the hamstring to create that 4 shape, and the slight forward lean. Those were my focus points. Especially the 4. If I can strengthen my hamstrings and pull evenly with both legs a lot of my running issues, I think, will go away. The pull and center mass contact also creates a shorter stride, which means a quicker turn-over. I'm still trying to connect quick turn-over with pacing with mixed results. But these things are part of why I'm running so short right now. I have no running races planned, no triathlons on the radar yet, so now is my time for fixing and fiddling. Run short, and get mechanics together.



...WOOOO! *trademark lisp*

Swimming With Friends Means Talking Too Much

 

Swim
1 x 200- warm-up
5 x 100- IM
1 x 150- cool down
5 x 100- Build by 25s
25s- Stroke count/technique work
1 x 50- Cool down

Met a friend way to early this morning at the pool. She's still new to triathlon, through she's three in, and is much more a runner than a swimmer. So while we were swimming I was giving tips. And no, I didn't make her do the IM set. She got there just as I was finishing it. When you're feeling weak nothing makes you feel strong like a good IM set. Of course, the converse is also true.
Swimming with someone else doesn't always give me the best work out when they aren't at the same or close to the same level, but it is psychically nice to help another triathlete and get my own work in at the same time. I go, she goes, I go at my pace, she goes at hers, I drop a few knowledge bombs, and there's the swim.

I know you were thinking a Psych joke was needed.

This too

I Had a Clever Name...

Bike (Sunday)
time- 2:39
distance- 37.78mi

Swim (Monday)
1 x 200- Warm-up
5 x 200- 100- 1, 2, 3, Swim/ 100- 5, 7, 9
2 x 300- Odd 50s Easy/ Even 50s Hard
1 x 100- Cool down

I came up with a clever name for this post Sunday during the ride. But I forgot it. Maybe that is for the best because who knows how clever I actually am when I'm tired and hot. Don't answer that.
Sunday's ride mark the beginning of this year's Honolulu Century training. I did the ride alone last year and this year the Grey has decided to ride it with me. Last year's Century training was actually when I met Diesel, though like this year he wasn't training for it. He's got Kona in his sights and, as such, he doesn't need to pay to ride one hundred miles. He's probably doing it that weekend anyway.
The Grey and I though, we like paying for rides. And at $70 right now that's less than a dollar a mile. Not bad since the ride is so well supported. I also signed up because I need something to look towards. I missed all kinds of cheap registration dates because Super Awesome Wife and I were looking to move at the end of the summer, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Drop dead date for that is September, so maybe, but I'm not holding my breath. But I missed any version of cheap registration for the Ko'Olina tri, which is now at $110! Holy crap. I know I practically spent that much the last two years, but not this time. Not worth it for an annoying swim, mediocre at best bike course, and pretty run. I missed the Tradewinds tri this last weekend. And I don't think they will let me in to the Na Wahine. So there are no triathlons on the horizon from now until December. And in December my training and racing funds/schedule get thrown out the window in favor of a much larger adventure. I'll still be trying to do both of those things, but who knows how Dirtbag Fetus is going to change what I'm able and willing to do.
Anyway, Sunday was a short but decent ride. The Grey and I have been starting down at the airfield since Ewa isn't a great place to start and Mililani means we have to go over a few of the narrow bridges, which are never fun with impatient drivers passing us. We hit Pupukea and that was fun fun fun. Harder than I remember. Every time for the first couple times that'll be the case. We stopped at Waimea to chat with Diesel and MamaSaid, who were taking a dip in the crystal clear water. Seriously, clearest that bay has looked in a long time. Really pretty. But I didn't feel like getting in so it was only a stop, but not a swim.
I also made faces at a line of school buses full of children, because that's what I do. Faces like this:

I'm a growed -up teecher

This morning I swam. I didn't get up as early as I wanted, so I hit a small slow down on the way to the pool, so I didn't have quite as much time as I wanted. There should have been at least one more 300 in there.
I forgot how much that 5, 7, 9 set hurts when you aren't ready for it. It hurts a lot. Which is good, because I need to build up the pain tolerance. Stroke technique is only as good as the distance you can hold it and right now mine is kind of rubbish. I'm noticing a lot of waggle in my hand at the entry/start of stroke, which means I'm wasting time going laterally before starting my pull. My core weakens too quickly as the sets go on, dropping my middle and creating drag. As always, I'm not finishing as consistently as I ought to be. I need to get stronger again and fine-tune those little mistakes. It'll come. The front end of training after a break is always frustrating. But the hard sections of the 300 are getting faster while still maintaining proper stroke. And I'm still running on Olympic visions so every wall I see Phelps kicking ass with his dolphin kicks. Work that wall. Good swim discipline even if there are no walls in triathlon.