I'm That Runner

Run
time- 23:56
distance- 2.38mi

Today I was That Runner. I didn't mean to be. It was an accident, I swear. I didn't do it on purpose.
Today...I matched my training gear. All of it.

Yep. Red, black and white visor. Red, black and white shirt. Red, black, and white Bikilas. Black running shorts. At least I don't have black and red earrings in.
Yeah, sometimes it's fun to match. Racing I try to put it all together. Want to look good in the race photos. But running down the road in matching gear? It looks funny. Like you're trying too hard. Like I should have a sign on my back that says, "I'M TRAINING FOR THINGS!"*
 The run felt alright. Not great, but better than it had been feeling. Achilles tendons start out feeling a little tight but they loosen up, and I'm foam rolling afterwards, so hopefully keeping the runs short and easy, plus rolling out, will prevent re-injury.
*yes, I bought a bike jersey from the Honu that I wear when I'm riding. That's different because shut up.

Wave at the Sign Wavers

Ride

time- 1:45ish
distance- 20-something*
*watch battery died right at the end and it is charging right now. You get estimates and you'll like it.

Campaigning in Hawaii consists of two things:
1) Take a position on rail, the thing we already voted yes on four years ago.
2) Get a ton of people to stand on the side of the road waving signs at people in traffic.

Traffic sucks, vote for me!

There are always people on the roadsides this time of year. And I pass, I think, every single one of them when I'm riding. Going uphill.
You see, Makiki Dr (I'm almost positive I spelled that wrong) is steep and that means it's slow. So I go by a ton of people with signs. It's like an aid station during a race, except without water or snacks and with empty promises. You know what's strange? Not all of them talk to me. A few shout encouragement, which is nice. But some don't say anything, they just watch. I'm going by so slowly a candidate could knock out a stump speech before I'm out of earshot and you're just staring at me? Say hi. Tell me I'm looking good. Make a joke. You're holding a sign with someone's name on it and you aren't trying to connect? Fail.
On the positive side of the coin, by the time I went by again Tulsi Gabbard was actually standing with her sign wavers. While I want to be clear this doesn't influence my vote, she is damn pretty. So that was nice.

See? Politician pretty.

I also want to note- some jackass standing on the side of the road has never made me want to vote for anyone. I think they should knock it off.
The rest of the ride went well. Down to Target, down some road that looked nice and clear, and then home. Damn windy on the way back, which wasn't great after the climb but is good for me. During my climb I was really hurting, way sore low back, and the thought that I was getting stronger helped me keep pushing hard. Same through the wind.

Finish Proud

I have written a new active.com article. It's about goal setting and reflecting on your races. Enjoy. Tell your friends, have them enjoy. Tweet @active and tell them how awesome it is. Go on their Facebook page and demand they double, no TRIPLE my pay (I'm not getting paid). Tell your friend who works at Triathlete magazine.

Anyway, here it is:
Finish Proud

I really like this philosophy of racing, but I'm wondering how others feel about it. I'd love some comments and some discussion of the pros and cons of looking at racing this way. Thanks.

Dirtbag Offroad

Ride

time- 2:04
distance- 6.5mi

Yeah, I rode for two hours and only went six miles. How?
Mountain biking.
Dirtbag went mountain biking and lived to blog the tale.
Yesterday I got a text from Diesel asking if I wanted to go mountain biking. I have been interested, it seems like good cross training. And I'm borrowing the Grey's old mountain bike so I have what I need. Figured why not? I asked if they would go easy on me and he assured me they would. Not so much because they are nice for me, but because Diesel was bringing another friend who isn't a cyclist at all. So I switched the pedals out on the mountain bike for my clips, tightened some loose cables so it shifts better, and readied myself. I only had one question: "What does one wear mountain biking?"
Diesel, as usual, was very helpful. "A pink tutu."
I didn't want to muss my tutu so I wore some old riding gear, which was a good choice.

Mighty Steed!

I changed a component all by myself, like a growed-up!

 I got to the trailhead at 7:30am and joined the rest of the group. Diesel and his friend Fore, the Grey, and Crazy UltraMarathon Runner Guy (still working on a better name) and his friend, a 19 year old from the mainland on island visiting whom I yclept Boy Wonder. All experienced off road riders save for Fore and myself.
And the first thing that happens is as soon as Crazy UltraMarathon Runner Guy sees my bike, which is the Grey's old bike, he starts laughing. Apparently my ride, not so great. And I kind of knew that. They all have fancy mountain bikes with nice shocks and frame suspension and knobby tires and gears that shift when you ask them to. My biggest concern was the hybrid tires I had. Any loose dirt and I was going to be fighting a downhill battle (get it?).

Look at all the grip!

Of course, the first thing I did once we started was skid out and fall down. Because that's what you do. Get it out of the way first. Should have walked down the hill. Forgot that brakes will lock and locked brakes will skid and skidding is bad. So crash boom. Get up, dust off, get laughed at, get on with it.
I never went fast and never felt completely comfortable, but I did relax and enjoy myself after a while. The bike isn't really built for technical trails and we kept to the baby trails, mostly in deference to Fore. They would have been more than happy to drag me up and down the mountain, I'm sure. Yay for not being the slowest for once. Not that I'm making fun of Fore, it takes some guts to come out and do this when your normal exercise is golf and sitting around. Good on him. But it did mean there was a lot of ride, hear a curse and crunch behind us, wait, repeat. He kept getting up though. He quickly learned that "easy day" means something very different for us than for normal people. Easy is a fluid concept.
At one point CUMRG, Boy Wonder, the Grey, and myself went one way and Diesel took Fore on a less technical trail to the same place. Then I got dropped. Getting dropped on unfamiliar trails is very different than getting dropped on the road. Trails branch and turn and up in the mountains after a few hundred yards your voice or bell doesn't carry anymore. So I spent some time pretty sure I was riding in the right direction. Practiced my tracking skills I learned from the TV and the Hollywood. "Hmmm, these needles look to have been disturbed recently. And that appears to be fresh bike tread marks. Urine...still warm. They went this way."
I did eventually find them and we ended up at a bunker overlooking the North Shore, which is an amazing view. I've been there before on trail runs but it never fails to impress. After a short break we split up again, CUMRG and Boy Wonder going one way and the rest of us another. CUMRG said his way "wasn't too hard or technical," which to me means, "you'll probably crash and die." See the above fluidity of "easy day".
Yesterday I fixed the gearing on my Mighty Steed so that it would shift into the littlest ring, that way I could spin up steep parts. Of course today my fix was unfixed. It was a faux fix. So I spent a lot of time trying to knock the chain down and failing and struggling/walking up hill. I also crashed a few more times. The Mighty Steed only has about an inch of play in the front shock, which really isn't great for roots of any size. The guys who clear these trails do a great job replanting trees along the sides, and I helped them by crashing into a few. I also suddenly forgot how to clip in without looking. There was many a time where I would be riding along fighting with my right pedal to just get in there damnit! Finally started supporting myself on a tree, clipping both feet in, then pushing off. I also manually pushed my chain down onto the small ring. Fifteen minutes before we were down. Which still helped, because the last little bit was a heck of a climb. Or, as the others put it, "a short little bounce up an easy hill." Right then.
You know what made that little bounce even easier? Diesel coming up from behind me and grabbing my shirt, pulling himself past while I struggled to not go backwards down the hill onto my ass. At least he did it to the Grey too, and the Grey actually got knocked off the trail a little and had to stop. I count that as a win.
It was a lot of fun and it'll get easier. I was given an old pair of knobby tires so I'll switch those out sometime before the next time we go out. That should help some. And we stopped at Storto's in Haleiwa afterwards for some of the best sandwiches on the island. Score.
Also, ran yesterday. 2.3 miles, still taking it easy and hoping I'm healed. Foam roller today. Please don't have familiar pains tomorrow.
Also also, found my ANT+! Yay! Now I can upload all the workouts! So here is today's ride. In fact, I'm so happy I'm going to put it below too.

Women's Olympic Triathlon Live Blog

Watching the live feed online of the Women's Triathlon online. Decided I would like to try a live blog, so I'll be throwing thoughts up as they come to me and as the race goes. Ohh, Dirtbag experimental. It's a 10pm Hawaii time start, 9am London time. First Olympic thing I've gotten to see live. Very excited to see racing at this level.

-Wet suit swim. Bleh.

-Start off a pier thing. Kind of an undramatic and fast Ready Go! 

- Swim is great to watch. Big washing machine behind the lead group. Beautiful strokes, even with the wetsuits.

-Short run into T1.

-Blazing T1, even with wetsuits slowing them down. Saw a helmet get knocked off a bike. D'oh! 

-They said there are 100 turns on the bike course. And it might be raining because, well, London. Sounds fun. 

-Tri is free to watch at the Olympics because the course is so big. Another reason triathlon is awesome. 

-Olympic bike is draft legal, making the bunching and strategy very different from what I'm used to. The groups are so tight.

-Lots of laps on this course. Six, I think. Keeps everyone near spectators.

-One girl already goes down. Front wheel got loose. Looks like her bike got tweaked in the fall.

-So many corners make it hard for the girls to spend any time in aero. Doesn't look like a fast bike course.

 - Cheering for Laura Bennett, you know, because her husband and I are now best friends.

- Tons of people lining the road. So cool.

- Bunch of front tires getting loose. Same spot in the road it looks like.

-Draft legal bike means the run is so very important. Bike is more about hanging with the lead pack and conserving, doing your share of pulling but not too much.

- God, these crashes look like they hurt. Sliiiiiiide.

- Oh, seven laps. Not six. Right then.

- I have transition area envy. 

- Bennett still leading, but only by a second. So really she's just doing a lot of the pulling right now. American Sarah Groff back in 21st at Lap 2, but still close enough to the lead pack.

- Love having the announcers with accents in my ears.

- Bike course goes by Buckingham Palace. How cool would that be? Think Her Majesty is looking out the window checking out the race, corgi in her lap? *Jon Stewart impression of the Queen* "Helloo!"

- Keep getting commercials on my live feed. They are much louder than the race. Ohh, my ears.

-There seems to be some specific spot on the course that women are going down. Looks like they are showing awareness of it now and trying to avoid. Hard with such a big bike group. Really seems like a lot of girls sliding out.

- Two groups right now. Lead group only has about five seconds on the first chase pack. Mini-pelotons.

- I want average speed information. I want to be even more impressed with how closely they are riding to each other by knowing how quickly they are doing it. 

- Attacks are fun. Get out of the seat and blast!

- The runners are working heavy strategy right now. Stay close enough to grab the lead pack off the bike, but don't blow your legs out. Touchy balance, that.

- These bikes don't have the flat wing bars most tri bikes I've seen have. Must be a rule thing. Or a handling thing, since you need drops to stay low but still in control. You know what, that's probably it. Ignore the first part.

- Emma Snowhill's (AUS) selection robbery is big conversation for the announcers. She would be the defending gold medalist, but she got snubbed buy the Aussie selection committee for some reason.

- 4 of 7 laps down at 57 minutes of race time. 

- Right now they are predicting a two and a half minute gap between the leaders and the chase group getting off the bike. Which means someone is going to make a big move soon to try and close that gap.

- Sun is coming out, hopefully it will dry the road. But they are saying they see black clouds on the horizon. 

- Course is so flat. Weee!

- One of the announcers is a Kiwi. Awesome accent explained. He's my new favorite announcer (Behind Vin Scully, naturally.)

- Laps are taking 7-8 minutes. Lead group is sticking together nicely. Haven't seen a crash in a while. Will everyone settle in and wait for the run or will there will be drama? Come on, drama! Two laps to go.

- Draft legal means Lucy Hall looked back at the girl behind her and said, "You pull now," and dropped back. 

- T2 is going to be so fast. There are 22 girls that are going to come out together it looks like. Almost at one lap to go.

- Interesting. Lucy Hall (GBR) looks like she wants to jump away, she's already leading, but she wants someone to come with her. No one is biting. Two Americans, Bennett and Groff, still in the lead pack.

- There is a box at each athlete's transition and everything needs to go into it or there is a 15 second penalty. Don't muss the transition area. 

- 1:17 race time and on to the bell lap of the second leg for the chase group. Two minute gap.

- We are looking forward to a 35 minute 10k. Blazing!

- Doesn't look like any attacking is going to happen. Soon the girls will be pulling feet from shoes to prepare for their flying squirrel dismounts into T2. The ONLY time a super-fast transition matters. 

- Did I mention that the Palace is gorgeous? Because it is. 

- Athletes taking on fluids and probably grabbing some kind of Gu. 1:23 race time, almost back to transition. Looking forward to watching this.

- Damn. In an out in no time. Crazy fast T2. Bennett and Groff still in it. Hall, who lead from the swim, already dropping off the back of the pack. About 1:26 race time.

- McDonalds being the official restaurant of the Olympics is like Jack Daniels sponsoring AA. 

- The announcers haven't been giving any splits or average speeds. This is information I want. It would be cool to know. They've gotta have real time updates. So I'll go with they are running really damn hard. You're welcome.

- Lead group had 22 girls and they have already dropped almost half. Hard to tell who is in there. Aussie, Kiwi,  Spaniard, Swiss, Swede, Brit. Sounds like Bennett is in there somewhere too. Hope so. Go Laura! She took fourth last time she competed in the Games. Looks like she might be getting dropped. No!

- The run is four laps. Tightly packed lead group through lap one.

- Groff in the lead pack one second back, Bennett seven seconds back.

- Midway through Lap Two and the lead group is cut to eight. The pace is very high. 

-Bodies are so different than their iron-distance sisters. Less shredded, but more powerful looking. 

- Groff now getting dropped.

- The math is getting to some of the women. They know their pace and the one getting set is too high. The girls getting dropped off don't look blown out, they just can't hang. Something weird going on with Paula Finlay (CAN). Pulled out of the race. Looks in pain.

- Through Lap Two at 1:42 race time. Half way. 5k pace/ 16.12min. Holy. Crap.

- Seriously looks like there will be a sprint to the finish. Love that. Racing for almost two hours and a sprint still happens. And it looks like Groff and a girl from Spain are running together to close the lead gap. 

- Lead group down to four at 1:46 race time. Leading is a Brit named Jenkins. The Brownlee brothers are expected to win the men's race and they are British too. Could be a big weekend for the Union Jack.

- Aussie, Swede, Swiss, Brit leading. Groff in fifth. Might be closing, hard to tell. Come on!

- Noticed they have to wear the ankle timers just like I do. For some reason I really dig that. One big happy tri family.

- 1:51 into bell lap. About eight minutes to victory. 

- Groff closes the gap! She's right back in this thing! Lead group of five now. Come on, girl!

- 1:53 race time, 2k left. Someone has to make a move.

- Has to be some gamesmanship going on here. 1km left. Waiting for the move. Jenkins getting left?

- Lapping other athletes now. Tight group of four leading.

- MOVE SARAH!!!

- No one giving ground. Blue carpet. Big finish.

-  Dead heat! Spirig & Norden tied 1:59.48. Denshem 2 seconds behind. Groff 12 seconds behind them. What do you do with a tie? That was an amazing sprint on the blue carpet, watching them turn it on. Groff fropped off right away, then the Aussie Denshem, and after almost two hours of racing it came down to a 100m sprint. Do they go to the hundredths? They should both get gold. 

-Laura Bennett 17th, 2:29 behind. 

-The three finishers crossed the line and hit the deck exhausted. Waiting for official statement. The clock has them at the exact same time, but maybe they have a photo finish. Unofficial report right now is Spirig. Some replays and good shots make it look like she may have just barely taken it. It'll be thousandths of a second.

Gutsiest comeback I've ever seen from Sarah Groff. Dropped off the back, came back in the last lap to make it a contest. Dropped again at the final sprint but still put herself out there all the way. Brilliant sprint finish after two hours of racing.
More great pictures here. It's also where I stole most of mine. http://www.london2012.com/triathlon/photos/latestpictures.html#the-lead-athletes-race-the-running-stage-the-women-triathlon-event

Hope this live blogging thing worked out ok. I'm going to try it again with the men's race. It was a lot of fun for me, even though I was basically sitting in a chair staring at my computer and pumping my fist, trying not to wake the house. 

Olympic Inspired

Swim

1 x 200- warm-up
5 x 100- IM
5 x 50- sideline kick
1 x 500- odd/even hard/easy
1 x 100- cool down

I'm obsessed with the Olympics. I get home, get my workout in, and then park it on the couch for all the swimming, diving, beach volleyball, gymnastics, skeet shooting, whatever else I can possibly handle. I love the Games. I love the drama. One of my favorite things in the whole world is a champion crying on the medal stand as s/he listens to the National Anthem. This is also the only time I don't mind the incessant playing of the National Anthem. The tears after the women's gymnastics team waited for their final scores were so sweet.
Though I hate it when they shove a camera in the face of the fallen. When the male gymnasts struggled so badly I felt bad enough. And then they go and get right in the guy's grill? Back off. He just had four years of work washed away by one stumble. Give him a minute.
Anyway, the Games mean I need to be doing more IMs. And, and I know I've said this before but this time this time I mean it, mixing up my strokes will make me a better triathlon swimmer. Butterfly wears me out and swimming tired is good. Forcing a strong proper stroke after a good IM set leads to better freestyle sets. Hence the IM set this morning. I plan on trying to put one in once a week.
My body feels soft and loose, a consequence of being lazy all summer. I know in a few workouts everything will start coming together again but right now it's hard to be patient. I've been through this cycle, I know the sucktasticness that is early in the rotation, but I don't have to like it. So I spend time kicking myself for letting it get this bad and then I spend time kicking myself for kicking myself for taking some well-deserved time off.
There is the North Shore Challenge this weekend, 2.4mi, but I'm not going to do it. I missed registration and it would cost $50. I'm not willing to drop that much on something I won't do well in, or well for my standards. It's a bummer I let myself miss half of the Swim Series, but I have good reasons. Now I'm looking for a race. Tradewinds is coming up too soon and I don't think I'll be doing Ko'Olina this year. Hmm....

To The Top

Ride
time- 1:33
distance- 19.13mi

You know what is good? Getting back into the groove. Getting back to working out every day at least once a day. Releasing endorphins, burning calories, earning dinner, hurting good. There are a lot of things making me grumpy right now but being able to get out there and sweat is helping.
I looked at the name of the road I'm climbing out of Kapolei but I keep forgetting it. Whatever it is, it hurts. There feels like a ton of up in not much distance, and there are some steep damn portions. I think even if I was trained up much of the climb would still be granny gear worthy.
Last time I did the climb I turned around at the top of the main road. Today I noticed that if I went left there was more climbing to be done. So I went left. Probably not a whole lot more elevation gained (I miss uploading information so much!), but it was pretty steep. First time on the ride I got up out the saddle to put more power through the pedals. Felt good to get all the way to the dead end at the tippy top.
Back down is ripping fast. There was one point where I needed to make a right because I couldn't scrub enough speed before the yellow to stop safely at the red, just enough to turn safely. I think that if I do this too regularly I might set my brakes on fire.
Which would be cool.
Until it wasn't.

FYOOSH!!!

I still love the Olympics. I have lots of thoughts on swimming. Here they are super-quick:
I'm having so much fun watching all of this. So far four world records have fallen in the pool. Guess those suits weren't having as much of an impact as they thought. Phelps is amazing, imagine if he had been really focused for the last four years. Missy Franklin is a water goddess. The 100 free is a start, turn, and finish. This means it's only slightly impressive. The 200 breast is better than the 100 breast because the strokes are longer, smoother, and prettier. The Americans have had the best turns in every race I've watched. Massive glides, massive dolphin kicks off the wall. I love it every time Missy Franklin cries in the pool, then cries again on the medal stand.