IM Hawaii

Today is the world championship Ironman Hawaii. I like watching the coverage via streaming video and the text updates, available at link from IronmanLive.com. (On race days the page changes to display quick links, then it reverts back to the usual appearance.

I've watched a few hours of coverage and will probably leave it on in the background and glance at it once in a while. I really like to watch the last hour and see the crowd cheering and the athletes struggle to finish the race. However, since Hawaii is three time zones to the west, that would mean the race finishes at 3 am Pacific Time. I plan to be long asleep by then!

No Run

I slacked this morning, and slept through my group run with ESR.

I went to see a midnight movie with a friend, and I didn't get back and ready for bed until 2:30 am. Thus, when the alarm went off at 7:45 I just turned it off, as I didn't feel up for a run. I could have done it, but why risk getting sick before my base training even starts? That doesn't make sense!

I think I'll take this day as a rest day: my sleep schedule is messed up due to the movie, and I have a slight headache.

16 minute 5K??

A quote from this article caught my eye:

At age 39, he ran a 5K race and couldn't break 16 minutes, finishing only third... He decided it was time to get back in shape.

WTF! Out of shape... 16 minute 5K??

Hotel Reservation

I finally got around to making my hotel reservation.

First I tried the Fairfield Inn by Marriott. I travel every once in a while for business and Marriott is the preferred hotel for my employer. Thus, I picked them as next time I travel for work I'll sign up for their frequent customer program. Since a work trip generally means two weeks in a hotel, I could rack up some points through work and get a few on this trip.

However, the Fairfield Inn in CdA is already completely booked for Ironman CdA weekend!!

So, I called up the Best Western in CdA. I signed up for the frequent customer card with Best Western over the summer, as I wound up staying at a Best Western for my two out-of-town tris over the summer. The Best Western had some availability, with a restriction of 5 night stay minimum at $149 a night.

Yes, that's right. I already knew about this from reading various reports on TNO. It is steep, but then you have to stay somewhere, and this location is about 2 miles from the event.

I reserved a double room from Thursday June 23rd to Tuesday June 28th, for a grand total of $845.60. The first night is a non-refundable deposit of $169.12, which had to be paid now.

Base Schedule

I have a tentative base training schedule:

M - ? (swim/strength)
T - run
W - bike
Th - bike
F - swim
S - run
Su - bike

The weekend will be group events: Saturday will be runs with the Eastside Runners (my running group) or with T1 and T2, and Sunday will be a bike ride with T1 and T2 and possibly with JHS. That's the plan. I'll juggle it around to hit a workout with T1 and T2 somehow. :)

Tuesday will be a moderate distance run, at most 8 miles on down to less than 4. Wednesday and Thursday's bike will also be modest, perhaps a ride to work plus a bit more for 10 to 15 miles total. Friday I'll hit the pool at a local high school and do some drills.

I can't decide what to do about Monday. My goal in this period is to take it easy while working out, so I shouldn't really need a rest day. In fact, getting used to making the time for a daily workout is probably best. So rather than resting I think I'll drive out to the gym for a double workout: easy swim and then some moderate strength training. I'll see how that goes.

This schedule gets me three bikes a week, two runs, and two swims. I might even consider weighting the bike more as it is my weakest discipline. For example, I could bike on Tuesday as well - and maybe still run, depending on time. If I did this, I would cut the run back and just go for time, say 30 minutes. Or if I'm really tired on Monday I can move the swim/strength to Tuesday and replace the workout.

One critical factor T2 has mentioned is sleep. Maybe I need to set an alarm to remind myself to go to bed!

I'll kick off this weekend, and follow this schedule until mid-November, when I go on vacation for two weeks.

Training Bike Update

I talked to my bike mechanic and he says what I want done should be possible. I mentioned this in an earlier post but in summary I want to be able to swap between regular cranks and power cranks without changing the bottom bracket. I'm also upgrading most components to ultegra.

More importantly, he promises the bike next week, possibly even on Monday. I'll believe it when I see it. He does good work but I definitely need to call him weekly and bug him to stay on schedule.

JHS mailed and noted nobody came out to ride last Sunday. It was a busy day so I couldn't do it, but I am thinking about doing a short ride this Sunday. It would be less that ideal as it might rain, and I can't put fenders on my racing bike. (Hence, I want my training bike back!) Part of the reason I want to ride with JHS this weekend is to reinforce the idea that we (me, T1, T2) were serious about doing some training rides. JHS sent mail and probably got a lot of "yeah, sounds great" responses, but might be discouraged at the fact nobody (not even anybody from the tri club) came out. However, it is early still and we'll be ramping up training starting in December. Plus, it is good to take a break at the end of the season so JHS should expect a bit of laziness. ;)

Bike Fit

I made an appointment to see Erik Moen, who is highly recommended for bike fitting. He's a physical therapist at the Seattle Pro Sports Club.

I told him my cycling background, which is essentially three years of triathlon. The problem I want solved is: comfort in the aero position.

I am hoping that either through altering the bar height (i.e. add/remove spacers from the headset), moving the aerobar stems (they can slide back and forth), modifying the seat height, or becoming more flexible, I can become comfortable enough to ride in the aero position for much of an iron-distance bike segment.

I've tried making a few tweaks on my own, but just can't seem to get it right. I'm fairly comfortable on my training bike, a Trek 2000, but then I don't ride that in the aero position. My own personal theory about my aero discomfort is that my torso is too short - that is, I have to stretch a bit too far forward to grab the aerobars. Conversely, I am not flexible enough to sit on the saddle and grab the aerobars (the hip angle is too compressed, or my back isn't flexible enough). In my mind, if I could move the seat forward (I already have it in the forward 78 degree position) or somehow shorten the top tube, I would be comfy. Unfortunately, neither of those is possible without major welding skills that would likely destroy the frame anyway, so a fix will either be through the other means mentioned above, or it will be time to consider getting a different bike.

Well, I am really looking forward to this bike fitting. I want to know what to do. Biking is such a huge part of an ironman race; it it so critical to be comfortable on the bike.

Improving Nutrition

T2's recent post on eating better had made me evaluate my own diet.

I almost always eat cereal for breakfast, usually with some fresh fruit - a handful of blueberries. I'll also have a small cup of orange juice. I think I do OK as far as breakfast.

For lunch, I'll often eat out with coworkers. It is partly a social thing as well, and we have favorite restaurants in the area we frequent. I avoid fast food, but do eat it perhaps once or twice a month. When I do eat fast food, I'll either have the spicy chicken sandwich combo at Wendy's (regular size meal with a diet coke), or the 2 piece chicken combo at KFC, with a side of corn-on-the-cob and either baked beans or mashed potatoes. I don't consider Subway to be fast food, because it appears their ingredients are fresh, non-processed, non-injected-with-junk, non-preservative-laden, and so forth. When I eat at Subway I almost always get the southwest chipotle cheese steak, and as a fallback I'll get the BMT. As far as the restaurants I eat at, I'm sure there is room for improvement, but I think I do OK here as well.

One friend at work just loves to eat fast food (for example, he thinks the food court at Costco is a great lunch), but I've managed to put the kibosh on that when I have lunch with him. Another coworker and I have similar tastes and we'll eat together fairly often. Anyway, I could bring my lunch once a week or so, but as I mentioned, eating out for lunch is partly a social thing and something I enjoy.

Dinner is one area I am horrible in. I cook so rarely it is embarrassing to admit how often it happens. Let's just say I get by on:

• eating at friends (i.e. I'm invited over to eat with a family)
  
• eating out (I'm getting good at eating half of a take-out order, thus getting two meals out of it)
  
• microwave dinners
  

Well, that has to change. I could be saving money, eating better, impressing women with my ability to cook. ;) Hehe. Who knows, maybe I'll actually enjoy cooking as a hobby.

So I am going to set a very modest goal of cooking once a week. If I can't do this I must somehow mentally beat myself up. I will rent Se7en and focus on the SLOTH part of the movie if I have to.

I have two cookbooks that should be ideal: 5 in 10 cookbook and 365 Great 20-Minute recipes.

I plan to flip through these books and identify at least 10 recipes to try out, adding a few more over time. I'll even blog about it on my public blog! I'm not sure which day is best to start on. Surely I can find one hour on either Saturday or Sunday this weekend.

Resting

I'm midway through my planned two weeks off from exercise. I did run on Saturday, but took it easy.

I can tell my resting phase is going well because I'm a little sore today. How am I sore? Well, I played volleyball with my A&E league team yesterday, for the first time in nearly two months. Between the end of the summer season and me missing the first two weeks of the fall season, I hadn't touched a volleyball in a while.

Now, my left quadricep is noticably tender. I find it odd my soreness is confined to that area. It tells me that perhaps I am jumping or landing on my left leg too much. So, like many other things, my technique could improve.

As my training advances, I'll start taking it more and more easy while playing, so as to not risk injury. I do have a great time playing, but I don't want to do something stupid, get injured, and lose time training for the ironman.

A friend G came to visit and help me celebrate my birthday. Today was all about low-impact exercise: a nice walk at Discovery Park, an easy geocache, and meandering through downtown Kirkland. So I wasn't a complete slug, other than the fact I took the day off to enjoy myself and spend some time with G.

Upcoming Events

A few other events are coming into focus already:

Dawg Dash, Oct 24

This is a fun race and a group of us will do the 5K. T2 and T1 will be there!

Houston half mary, Jan 16

My friend Bev already bought airline tickets for her and her family to go. I plan to go as well, and it will be a reunion weekend, so to speak. We'll visit a few friends who are in the area, and do the half. Bev originally wanted to do the full mary, but after feeling wiped out by the Sacramento half, and realistically assessing the time she can put into training, she now wants to do the half. Last I heard at least.

I was originally interested in doing the full, but now I think it would be a huge mistake. The taper and recovery for a full marathon would really take a chunk of time out of my training. I would be better off spending extra time on the bike rather than gearing up for a marathon.

Chilly Hilly, Feb 27

A bike ride run by Cascade Bicycle Club. 30 or so miles of good hills. I may see if there is interest in doing the course again sometime in March, on our own, just for the extra bike training.

Vancouver half mary, May 1

My friend C from work signed up, and forwarded me the info. I think C would also like to have me do it as well. It would be fun. I checked out the course, it starts at the Plaza of Nations, and does a loop around downtown, Stanley Park, the seawall, and back to the Plaza of Nations. This will be very scenic.