Iron Star 2006 is in the books, and I'm very pleased with the end results: Well . . . for all my moaning and worrying about a bad race, I actually ended up doing better than I had expected would. I did learn a few things about the longer distance races that I will share first. Then . . . on to the race report.

Update:
Official results are posted at Runner Triathlete News. I've updated the timing info below but for splits in all legs (including transitions), here's a summary:

Total: 5:29:59 (108th overall - top 18% / 22nd AG - top 23%)
Swim: 33:42 (94th overall)
T-1: 2:21
Bike: 2:45:31 (34th overall)
T-2: 1:14
Run: 2:07:13 (242nd overall)

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't neglect the nutrition on the run. I forgot to ingest a Gu on my regular schedule when I started the run. It didn't register until I hit mile 6 and my peripheral vision started to darken. I felt like I might actually faint. Then, it dawned on me that I needed calories, so I quickly downed a Gu and within 10 minutes, I was fine.

2. I need to learn how to run. As much as I wish it wasn't so, the longer course triathlons really are all about the run. While I met my run goal of at least 10:00 per mile, I really need to shave about a minute to a minute and a half off that pace to feel like I'm running "well."

3. Hammering the bike at any part of the ride (at least on a flat/rolling hill course) is not a good idea. I hammered up a couple of small hills and was exhausted after doing it. It took a lot of relaxation and easy spinning to get my legs/lungs back after doing that. Not a smart thing.

4. The last half mile of the run is simultaneously the longest and most exhilarating part of the race.

5. I need to drink more on the bike and not worry so much about stomach issues.

6. Endurolytes (electrolyte pills) are the best!

Okay . . . on with the race report (pictures from Lisa to follow when I download them):

Pre-Race Activities:
Lisa and I left Leander on Friday evening around 6:00 PM after work. We were staying with friends of Lisa's (Jennifer and Carlton and their baby, Sam) who happen to live not 3 miles from the Del Lago resort where the triathlon was being held. They are a really terrific and nice couple, and Sam is a simply adorable baby (3-4 months old). Carlton went out of his way to help me get prepared for the race, including driving us around the bike and run routes so I could check them out. Jennifer was a wonderful and gracious hostess and made us feel right at home. It was almost as if I'd known them forever! They are simply terrific people and I'm so glad I got to know them.

Anyway . . . we arrived at Jennifer and Carlton's house a little after 9:00 PM on Friday . . . said our pleasantries, got our stuff moved into the guest room, and had some time for chit chat and small talk before we just had to crash.

I got up at 7:45 AM to go ride a little bit of the bike course. I must say that that morning had me worried about race day. It was pretty cold 53 degrees, and even with my windbreaker, arm warmers, leg warmers, ear warmers, and shoe covers, I was pretty cold doing that ride. I only rode about 25 miles (10 or so of it on the actual bike course), but it seemed like an awful lot of "uphill." Then, when Carlton drove us around the whole thing, I got even more worried. There weren't a lot of real hills, but the whole ride seemed to be a general uphill ride. I was counting on having some long sustained (even if only moderate) downhill riding on the backside of the ride, but it didn't seem that way in the car.

The rest of Saturday was pretty easy. I went to pick up my packet and attend the course talk Q&A, and then Lisa and I took Jennifer and Carlton and Sam out to dinner. I got my carbo-loading in, and then it was home and in bed by 10:00 PM.

I was up at 5:00 AM and out of the house by 5:20 AM. I had some toast with peanut butter for carbs and protein, as well as a cup of coffee to get things moving and clear out my system so I wouldn't have bathroom issues during the race. I arrived at the resort at 5:25 AM and got through body marking pretty quickly (I was number 354, by the way). I got a decent spot on the bike rack and set up everything in transition.

Again, it was pretty chilly Sunday morning. The ground was cold and the water temperature was 70 degrees. I met up with a few Texas Iron folks and just chewed the fat until about 30 minutes before the 7:00 AM start time. At 6:30, I put on my wetsuit and headed to the water to do a very mild warm up.

At 7:00 AM, the gun sounded for the first wave and then I stepped up with my group for the 7:05 wave. Lisa managed to get there just before 7:00 AM. She wished me good luck and snapped a few pictures of me waiting for our start time. Here's one.



The Swim:
The swim went a bit better than I expected it would. My goal time was 35 minutes. I based that on the fact that I hadn't swum much over the past few months and that I swam a 29-minute one-mile swim at the Ironhead Olympic distance triathlon back in July. The swim start was a running beach start, so when the gun went off, we ran into the water and just started going. My swim actually went pretty well. I settled into a nice stroke, sighting every 20 strokes or so. I didn't try to push too hard in the first 300 meters like I normally do. I just settled in and swam. The group broke apart pretty quickly with the fast swimmers moving ahead right from the start. The rest of us strung out along the swim in a fairly long line. I was near the front of the line, a good 200 or so meters behind our leaders. We caught a few of the stragglers from the first group, and I didn't get passed by anybody from the group behind us until I was about 150 meters from the swim finish. I got out and staggered into transition. My swim time was 33:42 minutes, a little more than one minute faster than my goal time.

T-1:
They had wetsuit strippers near the swim exit, but I bypassed them because I was already half out of my suit when I got to them. I figured I'd lose more time lying down and trying to get up than I would if I just did it all myself. I managed to get most of my wetsuit off just as I got to my bike. I sat down and pulled my legs out and then went through my normal progression (plus nutrition). Since I was on the ground to take off the wetsuit, I just slipped my socks on first. I put my glasses and helmet on next, then grabbed my Gu's. I put two in each pocket in my shorts and then put a power bar in the fourth pocket. Then, I grabbed my bike and headed for the bike exit. T-1 time was 2:21. I can do better, but considering I had to take off my wetsuit and stuff a bunch of Gu's in my pockets, I'm pleased.

The Bike:
There are two main things I can say about the bike leg. First, it wasn't as "uphill" as I had originally thought it would be. There were definitely a bunch of gradual ascents, but the road undulated more than it seemed in the car, so we got some flats and gradual descents as well. Second, I must be stronger on the bike than I thought. My goal was to average between 20 mph and 21 mph, but I was up around 22 mph after the first 20 miles. I did lose a bit of that as the ride progressed due to the increasing number of gradual ascents and natural fatigue, but I didn't feel sore or tired despite pushing 22 mph. Normally, I would have thought that would fatigue me a lot more than it seemed to.

There were no real surprises on the bike. Per Steve's suggestion, I drank nothing but water for the first 30 minutes. I set my watch to repeat an alarm every 15 minutes to remind me to hydrate and/or take in calories. The first 15 minutes, I drank a good two swigs of water, but nothing else. At the 30-minute mark, I had a Gu and more water. At 45 minutes, I took a good swig of Gatorade. From then on, on the hour and half hour, I took in water and a Gu. On the quarter and three-quarter hours, I drank Gatorade. It seemed to work well for me. I had a Power Bar with me in case I needed to have something "filling" in my stomach, but I never used it. My stomach felt pretty good the whole ride.

One thing I like about the bike ride is that I tend to pass a lot of people on it. It's a good feeling to go zooming past guys on their $5000 bikes with $1200 disk wheels! I would estimate that I passed about 45-50 people on the bike. I was passed by about 10 or 11. At about mile 25 I passed by one of the Texas Iron participants (John) in the 30-34 age group. John and I usually share a lane in the swim workouts because we're about the same speed. He gave me some great encouragement. I would see him again several times on the run as we passed each other in opposite directions. Really good guy.

Although at about mile 40-45 I was ready to be off the bike, there were no momentous or eventful things on the bike. I cruised into transition well ahead of where I had expected to be. My bike computer read 21.3 mph for my average speed, and I learned later that I finished the bike leg in 2:45:31.

T-2:
Transition from bike to run was even smoother than swim to bike. I had no leg issues like I did at Ironhead, so I was able to get off the bike and run into the transition area at normal pace. I quickly dumped my empty Gu packets and picked up a couple of others. I forgot to grab my Enervit juice, but I doubt I would've used it anyway. Since I was out of my bike shoes before I got to the dismount line, it was no sweat to re-rack my bike, slip on my running shoes, visor, and race number and head out quickly. T-2 time was 1:14, pretty good for me.

The Run:
Well . . . these long course triathlons are truly about the run, and there's no doubt I need to get better. Given the paucity of my run training, I was shooting for 10:00 minute miles. That would give me a 2 hr. 11 minute run time . . . not good by any stretch, but certainly acceptable given my aversion to running this summer. As always, off the bike, my legs were like jello. My quadriceps were very tired from the bike ride, but my hamstrings felt good and refreshed. It took a couple of miles to get my quads back and used to running, but they did get there. The other thing I wasn't counting on was numbness in my left foot. I didn't feel numb on the bike, but for the first 3 miles of the run, my left foot was quite numb. It made my already awkward stumble-run that much more awkward. Add to that the fact that my back was sore for the first 4 miles, and I thought I was in serious trouble.

However, somewhere between the first and second aid stations, my back finally loosened up and the feeling returned to my left foot. I felt really good for the next few miles and picked up the pace to about 9 minute miles. Only one thing worried me during that stretch. At about Mile 6, my peripheral vision started to darken and I had a couple of instances where I thought I might pass out. I realized then that I hadn't had a Gu for over an hour. I downed one quickly and felt better in less than 10 minutes. Then, I cruised pretty well for a while longer. That's when it happened . . . I hit that wall. Right after Mile 8 or just before Mile 9, I just started feeling awful. No stomach issues, but just my legs just didn't want to move, and when they did, I felt like I wasn't going anywhere. My pace slowed considerably, and I was afraid I might actually not be able to make it without walking the rest of the way. However, I got to Mile 10 and told myself I had only a 5k left to do. That helped, and I kept shuffling along at a 10:00 or more per mile pace. I picked it up with about half a mile to go and crossed the finish line right about at 12:35 PM. Lisa has a good picture of me finishing. She snapped a picture of the finish clock that shows 5:34:56, so she got it about 3 seconds before I hit the finishers' timing mat. Here's the picture.



My final run split was 2:07:13, good for about a 9 minute, 43 second per mile split. That's better than I was shooting for, so I'm happy with it (at least for this race).

Wrap-up:
All in all, I liked the Iron Star triathlon. It was well-run with some great competition. I finished 22nd in my age group (out of 97 people). I was pleased with my time, and very pleased with how professional everything was. I may not do this race next year since Ironman Wisconsin is only about 5 weeks before it, but we'll see!

Thanks to the folks at Out-Loud Production who put on a great race, and especially to the volunteers and spectators. Their encouragement was fabulous and really helped me push forward on the run.

Now that my tri season is over, I think I'll take a break for a week and then talk to the Texas Iron folks about focusing my training a bit more on running for distance. Perhaps by IM Wisconsin next September, I'll have a better base for the full Ironman!

That is all! There will probably be fewer posts on this blog over the next several months, and most of those will focus on everyday life stuff rather than triathlon and my training regimen.

See you all next Spring for more triathlon!

Well, so much for avoiding soreness! I know what you're thinking . . . he pushed himself too much. No . . . actually, I didn't. I did a VERY light run workout with Texas Iron last evening, after my 22-mile spin. We did a 15-minute warm-up followed by two sets of easy drills to freshen up the legs. Then, for those of us racing this weekend, we did 3 steady 600-meter runs, each followed by a 200-meter recovery run. The 600's were supposed to be done at less than 75% full exertion, but the goal was to time our pace every 200 meters and strive for a consistent pace. So . . . if you ran 25 seconds for the first 200, you should strive to run 25 for the second and third 200 of the 600. Not that easy to do.

Anyway, after we ran, my left leg was feeling very tight. It feels a lot like (although MUCH less intense than) the way it felt after I did the Ironhead Olympic triathlon in Irving back in July when I first injured it. It feels like a slight strain, and has been bothering me a bit all day. My left achilles tendon is somewhat sore to the touch and the left hamstring is pretty tight, too. I was planning to do an easy 15-mile spin with my friend Shelley today, but the combination of my sore leg and 30 mph wind gusts put the kibosh on that. So . . . I'll take it a bit easy today and hope I feel good for a light spin on part of the bike course in Conroe tomorrow morning.

Thanks much to Steve for the hydration and nutrition advice. I'm definitely doing the gels and Endurolytes. I'll have a commentary about how the nutrition works out when I do my race report.

Two days and counting!

Three more days until Iron Star. I don't feel ready! What can I say? The time is upon me and I'm getting more nervous than I've ever been before a race (except maybe my very first race last summer). The sheer enormity of it all is starting to hit me. The last time I swam even one mile was in July at the Ironhead olympic distance triathlon. The last time I rode 60 miles was . . . . I can't remember! And, you all know I've never run more than 8 to 10 miles, so this is going to be a VERY interesting triathlon. I'm really not sure how I'll do. Nevertheless, it's coming and I gotta get out there and try! Here's the latest on this week's training:

Tuesday, October 24: I didn't get any training in. I intended to do a bike-run brick, but work was all over me. I did do push-ups and sit-ups when I got home, but it wasn't much.

Wednesday, October 25: I almost didn't get any training in Wednesday, either. I took the day off from work (to make up for having to work the previous two Saturdays). I had intended to get in a 50-60 mile easy spin working on form, nutrition, and keeping my heart rate under control. However, it rained ALL day yesterday, so I couldn't get the ride in.

I was also scheduled for the Wednesday swim workout with Texas Iron. Because of the rain, I was sure they'd cancel. By 5:30 PM, the word came down that class would be held. The rain let up pretty well by our 7:00 PM start time, so we worked out. Since so many of us are racing at Iron Star the workout was pretty simple. We warmed up with 16 x 25 m in 4 sets of 4. The first one of each set was a drill (catch-up, fingertip drag, etc.). The last three 25s of each set were strong and steady. We did 4 of those. Then, we swam 8 x 50 m alternating between a hard 50 and a strong, but steady one. We then did an easy 200 m recovery swim. Finally, we did 5 x 100 m. The first 25 m of each 100 was hard swim to simulate the start of the swim wave. The next 50 m were swum strong, but steady, focusing on long strokes to simulate settling in for the main body of the swim. The last 25 was a recovery swim. We then warmed down with an easy 200 m swim. I gotta say, I didn't feel great in the pool. I never could get into a good rhythm. Hopefully I got all the bad vibes out in practice and will have a GREAT swim on Sunday. Who knows?

Today, Thursday, Oct. 26: Today, I did an easy spin on the 22-mile hill course. I averaged 19.4 mph on the course without really exerting too much. It took me about 7 miles before I felt good on the bike, but when I finished, my legs did not feel tired at all. I wanted to run afterwards, but I decided against it since I'll be doing a run workout with Texas Iron tonight. I plan to take it pretty easy so that my legs aren't sore tomorrow and Saturday. The last thing I want is to be sore only a day or so before the event! Besides . . . it's Taper Week! ;-)

Three days and counting!

Good training day, today. Today was a great day on the bike. I only did my regular 22-mile lunch time route, but I felt great on the bike. I managed to average 20.5 mph over the course of the 22 miles. There wasn't much wind, so it was pretty much all me. Even after the ride, though, my legs felt pretty good. I was a bit surprised at how good I felt. Last Thursday's run left my legs and back a bit tight and my muscles REALLY sore. After my training Saturday, I thought I'd never be able to shake off the soreness before the race this weekend.

That reminds me . . . Saturday's workout was great too. I had planned on doing a 50-mile bike ride, but I missed my Wednesday swim class with Texas Iron (turns out they canceled it because of weather, anyway). So . . . I went to the Texas Iron Saturday bike class instead. It was an interesting workout. We did interval training on a short 2-mile loop. Several participants are racing at Iron Star, so we backed off the intensity a bit. Basically, we just did four laps at 80% of full throttle. There were some short hills in the course, so the workout was great on the legs. Normally, that's good, but I was so sore from Thursday's run that the hills killed me! To top it off, Jamie had us run 30 minutes after the bike workout. I know it was good for me, but DAMN it hurt.

Well . . . I'm now 6 days from my first Half Iron distance race. I'm getting pretty nervous about it, but I'm also pretty excited. I'm sure I'll have a heck of a good race report, regardless of how I do.

More to come later.

The Long-Awaited Update: Okee, dokee . . . I know it's been a while (5 days -- perish the thought!) since my last update, so here goes:

Training is still a bit sporadic. I had to travel to Lubbock for two days for work, so my hiatus from the bike reached epic proportions. I haven't ridden since the wreck on Sunday and before that, I'd been off the bike for 7 days. So . . . until yesterday, I'd ridden all of ONCE in 10 days. The streak is OVER!

I got the Guru back from Jack & Adam's yesterday morning. Seems the crash broke the front derailleur cable. No biggie. They just replaced it. Got 'em to clean up the bike, especially the drive train, too. I rode 12 miles yesterday at a very easy pace with my friend Shelley. I just wanted to start easy. Plus, I had a hard run workout, so I didn't want to ruin my legs.

Monday was a no training day. I intended to ride and run, but work interfered.

Tuesday, I left early for Lubbock. I got a nice run in (about 5 miles at a moderate pace) in the late afternoon. My legs were a bit stiff the next day, but not too bad. I felt good, even though my running has been sporadic.

Wednesday was another no train day. I didn't make it back from Lubbock until after 7:30 PM and I was exhausted from the trip. I got home from the airport after 8:00 PM and just didn't have the energy to do anything. I did manage to do some push ups and sit ups Wednesday morning, but no running or swimming or biking.

Thursday: I've already mentioned the biking. I also had a run workout with Texas Iron. It was NOT an endurance workout, but more of an intensity workout. We did an easy 10 minute warm up, then some drills to work on form. The actual workout was a bear! We partnered up with someone of roughly equal speed. Then, we had to run a triangle relay. Basically, one team member would run two legs of the triangle and then tag their team member's hand. Then, the first member would backtrack one length of the triangle while the second team member would run his two legs and tag the first member's hand, and so on. We did this until everyone had run 6 sets of two-foward-one-back. There was a STEEP hill on one leg of the triangle that just about killed me. My legs are VERY tight today, but I'll be riding about 20 miles to loosen them up. The good news is that my back doesn't hurt much anymore. It's GOOD to be out exercising!

Iron Star, here I come!

Edit: Did my regular 22-mile bike ride at lunch today! Averaged 19.0 mph. I wish my heartrate monitor was working because I'd like to know how hard I was going. It felt a bit harder than usual, but that's to be expected with my recent unwilling hiatus. A guess on my perceived effort is that I probably averaged about 160-165 beats per minute across the ride. That's too high, but not as bad as it could be. I know my heart rate must've spiked up over 180 on a few climbs. I need to avoid that kind of spike at Iron Star to avoid blowing up. I still think, if the ride is generally flat and easy rollers, that I can average 21.0 mph without blowing up so much that the run becomes impossible. If I can do a 2 hour half marathon after a ride like that, I'll be pleased as punch.

Second edit: Forgot to mention . . . today I had my first ugly bike incident. Some jerk teenager threw a half full water bottle at me out the window of his car. Luckily, he had bad aim and it missed me. Could have been very serious if I had been hit. It was easily full enough to cause me to lose control of my bike. The good thing is that I wasn't going that fast and a crash probably wouldn't have been awful.

More setbacks - Maybe I'm destined not to do well at Iron Star. Well, I got back on the bike today for the first time in 7 days. I did about 20 miles on the relatively flat Parmer Lane course near the house. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a training setback. It was raining this morning at 8:00 AM when I went out - not hard rain, but misty and wet. Two miles into the ride, I made the turn from Crystal Falls onto Parmer and down I went! The rear wheel slid out from under me. I wasn't hurt at all, really . . . a strawberry rash on my right hip and my right butt cheek, but no damage to my bib shorts or my jersey. There weren't even any cars or other cyclists around, so even my pride wasn't too damaged. Everything seemed fine, so off I went to finish the ride.

As I got near my turnaround place, I slowed considerably to make the turn to go back. That's when I noticed the problem. I pulled the left-bar shifter to shift from the big chain ring to the small one, but it wouldn't shift, even though the lever was working fine. Then, I noticed that the lever was not actually still connected to the cable, so it wasn't shifting right. Also, the left bar-end shifter was loose and popping out. Not sure how that happened, as the front of the bike never hit anything in the crash.

Well . . . I managed to make the best of the rest of the ride, and was even able to manually push the cable to make the shifts I needed to make. I got home and got cleaned up okay, and even got a little sympathy from Lisa for the crash. (I made it sound worse than it was!)

So . . . in a nutshell, I had to take the tri bike (Guru) in to get fixed after church. The Colnago is already in the shop (and has been for a couple of weeks). I won't get the Guru back until Thursday, so now I'm relegated to having to clean and lube my old Specialized Allez to ride tomorrow. I guess it could be worse . . . I could have no bike to ride, but I'm not relishing riding the old 21-speed with the triple chain ring. Although . . . after 7 days without being able to ride, I guess I can't be too picky!

Well . . . off to get in a short run!

Miserable training week; what happened? I'm not sure what happened this week. Seems like a confluence of bad luck and bad scheduling. I haven't trained much at all this week and now I'm only 2 weeks from Iron Star. I have a feeling this is not going to be my best triathlon results. This week started out looking not too bad. As I mentioned on Monday, I missed the workout Sunday because I just had too much work to do at home. I missed a workout Monday because of work-related issues. Tuesday was lightning and thunder all day, so no workout. Wednesday I traveled to College Station for work. I made it back in time to get to my swim workout, so at least I got that one done.

Yesterday, I had to travel to Galveston. I made it back to town in time for my run workout class, but I forgot my running shoes and had to hustle home to get them. The traffic was so bad trying to get from Leander to Barton Springs Road that I gave up at about 6:30 PM when I was still sitting on MoPac a good 15 minutes from Barton Springs. The workout started at 6:00 and ended at 7:00. It just wasn't worth it to show up at 6:45.

Today's plan was to ride to work from Leander. Would've been a nice 26-mile ride. But, the cold front and the clouds conspired against me. With the cold front, the clouds delayed the sunrise by about 20 minutes. It's 7:50 AM as I write this and it's still dark enough that I wouldn't be comfortable on the road without a bike light (which I don't have yet). I knew I couldn't wait until 8:00 or 8:30 to start my ride in, so I bagged it and drove at 6:30 AM. So, now, I'll probably ride 22 miles at lunch with Jason, but I was hoping to do both.

Then, tomorrow, I have to go to Dallas for a deposition at 10:00 AM. I know . . . a deposition on Saturday . . . . It's my first weekend deposition, but it has to be done. That means I don't get to do the 50-mile taco ride this weekend, and in fact, don't get to train at all tomorrow.

As you can tell, I'm feeling pretty down about this week. This is NOT the week I needed to have all this stuff screw up my training. I wish it all could have been delayed by 3 weeks. Then, Iron Star would be over, the season would be over, and I'd be fine with missing some training.

Oh well, though . . . I guess this just means I need to strive to get back on schedule next week. One can only hope!!

Quick update: No training for 3 days!! Had a bit of a crimp in my training this week. Work has been incredibly busy for the last week. I took off Sunday to do house and yard work with Lisa, fully intending to do some kind of training yesterday. Well . . . work intruded and I couldn't get out on the road. So . . . no big deal. I'll start up again today. No dice! The weather is awful. Pouring rain and slick roads all day. So, still no biking for the last 3 days!!!!

Tomorrow, I'll be in College Station all day, but hopefully, I'll make it back in time to get to swim practice by 7:00. I definitely don't want to miss that!

Ah well . . . I'll just consider this a taper week!

;-p

I'm an uncle . . . again! Before the training update, just a quick word of congratulations to my twin brother, Steve and his lovely wife, Laura, for the arrival of their twin sons, Will and Alex yesterday at about 9:00 PM! They are beautiful!!!

Okay . . . on to the training!

Today was another day off. Seems like Sunday is becoming my official rest day. Seems with all that has to be done on the weekends, I have to cram it all in on Sunday if I want to have my Saturday rides.

Speaking of Saturday rides . . . yesterday's ride was a great 50-miler. I did the Dam Loop again, but this time, I actually followed the right path. I met up with another guy on 620 who was going the same speed I was and we just did the rest of the loop together. Nice guy. He's training for Iron Star, also, so we had a lot to talk about. He's done a half iron before . . . Disney 70.3 earlier this year. He was a wealth of information and a lot of fun. I hope I see him again on the Dam Loop ride again.

Now . . . for the ride itself . . . not much to tell. Averaged 19.7 mph, which isn't too bad, considering the hills. I figure if I can do 50 miles in a bit less than 2 1/2 hours, I should be able to do 59 miles in a little less than 3 hours, especially with all the adrenaline and race atmosphere at Iron Star. I just need to be careful not to blow up on the bike and destroy my run. Speaking of running . . . I need to do more of that! Maybe I'll do a short ride, longer run brick tomorrow.

Update du jour: Been pretty busy at work today, so here's a quick update. No training today. My hamstrings were a bit sore from yesterday's workout (see below), so I decided to err on the side of caution and take a much-needed break. Tomorrow is a 50-mile bike ride. Wheeee!

Thursday evening's training was awesome! It was a bike-to-run transition class with Texas Iron. All we really did was ride the bike for a bit, then run. Then, we rested and did the circuit again. Oh yeah . . . and we warmed up with a slow run-to-bike warm-up. So, it went like this:

Warm-up: jog the run circuit (maybe 1 1/2 miles?), hop on bike and do the bike circuit easy (3 miles, maybe?)

Workout: do the bike circuit at "race pace," then hop off the bike, into running shoes, and go on the run circuit at race pace. Then, rest 10 minutes and repeat at race pace. It was tough! There were a couple of hills on the bike that just broke my legs!! But, it was great training.

Cool down: 5-10 minute jog.

I woke up this morning with very tight hamstrings. Lots of stretching and water today, but no training. Just need the rest!!!

More after tomorrow! Just waiting for Steve to call and tell me that the twins have arrived! Tick, tock!

Swim Whine: My shoulders! Had my first swim with Texas Iron yesterday and "Oh . . . my . . . goodness! My shoulders are sooooo sore! I know I'm whining, but damn! The workout wasn't a LOT of distance, but it was pretty intense. We started with a warm-up of 300-200-100, with the 300 being a normal swim (freestyle), last 25 meters of each 100 was done as a drill (working on technique). The 200 was a "pull" meaning we used a pull-buoy that eliminated the ability to kick. The last 100 was a "kick" using only a kickboard. I hate the kicks! I need to work on core strength, because my legs get exhausted from kicking only a short while, and that's just not good. After the warm-up, we did 15 x 100 meters, broken into 3 sets of 5 x 100's. The first 5 were a normal swim on 2:25 intervals. Not too bad, but I pushed my tempo to maximize my rest periods! The second set of 5 was a "pull" set on 2:20 interval. That was a bit harder. I don't have a great kick, but it's amazing how much faster you can go even with a bad kick. I was struggling to get done with each 100 pull within 2:00. The last set of 5 was a normal swim on a 2:15 interval. Surprisingly, this was my easiest set. For some reason, I settled in and was swimming well, maybe on 1:50 or so. I got a lot of rest between 100's. Finally, we warmed down with an easy 100 meter swim. Total swim distance was 2200 meters. At this rate, the 1750 meters I have to swim at Iron Star will be a walk in the park! ;-p But, seriously, I was pretty tired when we finished and this morning, my shoulders are SORE, but it feels great! Can't wait for the next one!

Today should be an interesting training day. At mid-day, I'm doing a VERY easy ride/run brick with my friend, Shelley, from work. We'll ride slow (for me) because Shelley is a much more casual triathlete than I am. Distance will probably be about 12-15 miles. Then, we do a short run, maybe 3 miles, at an easy pace.

After work, I have my second day of Iron Star training. Thursday is their "miscellaneous" day. Depending on the week, it could be running, biking, swimming, transition, or core-strength training. This week's session is bike/run transitions. We'll be doing a series of short bike rides (probably only a couple of miles), ride into a mock transition area, and work on shortening the time between getting off the bike and getting onto the run. Then, we will do a short run (a mile or two) and repeat the drills. I've never "trained" transitions like this, so I'll be interested to see how it works out.

Okay, now on to the personal stuff . . . .

Last night was a "tough" night. Lisa did her weekly dinner with her mom while I was at swim practice. During the evening, her mom's dog, Dutch, a sweet (but huge) German Shepherd/St. Bernard (they think) mix had a serious seizure. Dutch has been having seizures occasionally for some time, but he's on medication and it's been a while since his last one. I've never witnessed one, but Lisa has dealt with several. She says they are NOT pretty. He loses control of bodily functions, gasps and wheezes for each breath, and thrashes around on the floor. Lisa isn't sure how long they typically last but, in her words, it seems like a REALLY long time.

Anyway, she came home pretty emotional about it. I can only imagine how hard it is to watch a pet you love suffering like that. I just gave her a big, long bear hug and told her how lucky Dutch is to have people who care so much and who will hold him and protect him during the seizures despite the mess that it makes. She seemed comforted by that, but I could tell she was still pretty sad and shaken up by it all. What else can you do but offer a sympathetic ear? I know how I'd feel if it was Reese or AJ and I'd want someone to listen to my grief. I didn't get to see much of her this morning, but she seemed to be in better spirits when I called to make sure she was awake.

Well . . . enough of that! More to come on the Iron Star training tomorrow!

Formal training restarts today! An explanation of today's topical heading in a moment; first, an update on yesterday. I ended up not doing any training yesterday. I had the bike with me at work and intended to do a nice brick focusing on the run. However, work was exceptionally busy. I'm trying to get two summary judgment motions done on my two most active cases, plus respond to a frivolous motion for sanctions in one of those cases. Throw on top of that the fact just got two new cases from one of our recently departed attorneys, both of which are filed in Los Angeles, California (where I've never practiced and don't know a thing about), and it makes for a BUSY day. So . . . I had to skip the workout. Instead, after work, Lisa and I took Reese and AJ on a nice long walk through the neighborhood. It was very nice! Some good quality time together.

Now . . . as for today . . . . Today, I begin attending two weekly workout sessions with Texas Iron. Wednesdays are the swim workout and Thursdays are the "whatever" workout. So, I intend to ride 22 miles with my friend Jason at lunch time. Then, at 7:00 PM, I'll be heading over to the West Austin Athletic Club for my hour-long swim workout with the Texas Iron group. I have no idea what they have in store for us, but I bet it'll be a good workout!

There's a reason I don't usually train all three triathlon sports on the same day: And now I remember why. Yesterday, I did a hilly 23 mile ride at lunch (see yesterday's "update." After work, Lisa and I met at the gym so we could work out. She did her usual cardio/weight/cool down routine. I decided to swim and then run a bit on the treadmill. I got a nice hard speed workout from Steve (thanks, bro!). Since my swimming has been so sporadic, I decided not to jump in full bore on the whole thing. He suggested a 300-500 meter warm-up, followed by 3 groups of 5 sets of 100 meter swims with 10 seconds rest between them, with an easy 100 meter breaststroke between the 3 groups (do a 100 sprint after the last group). Then, cool down with an easy 200-300 meter swim. Goal: to get in 2500 meters.

Well, that's too much for me right now. So, instead, I did the 300 meter warm-up, followed by 3 groups of 3 sets of 100's with the breaststroke interludes. I had to do 20-25 second rest intervals, and my "sprint" was only a 50 meter freestyle. I skipped the cool down completely, as I was wasted. I got in about 1600 meters. Woefully short of the goal, but I just didn't have the energy, especially if I wanted to run . . . and I did.

Bad mistake! I didn't have any injuries, but I had no endurance at all. I managed to run for about 20 minutes (at an 8:00 mile pace), and was totally spent. My hamstrings were getting tight, so I figured, rather than risk injury, I'd call it a day. On the plus side, I slept like a baby last night!

So, what's up for today? Here it is: A brick!!! 15-mile ride, followed by a 6-mile run. I figure I have time for two laps around the 3-mile portion of Town Lake. I need to up my running. So, here it goes. Stay tuned for the update!

Not much new to post, but . . . As the title says, there's not much new. No training yesterday. I took the dogs on a short walk in the morning and then Lisa and I went to church. Afterward, we had lunch with Lisa's mom and then ran to the grocery store for some much needed items. We had plans to run a bunch of errands after we got home and got changed, but we were both pretty tired. Lisa ended up reorganizing the pantry while I dozed in front of the TV for about an hour and a half. By then, it was almost 5:00, so I mowed and edged the lawn while Lisa did some weed pulling. Sounds like an exciting day, no?

Well . . . I'll pay for it this week. I start up with my weekly swim classes again, however, instead of two swim classes a week, I'm doing the "ongoing triathlon training" with Jamie Cleveland and Andrea Fisher, two world class pro triathletes here in Austin. It's a "mix and match" program where you can attend two sessions a week and they focus on different areas each day. I chose the Wednesday night swim and a Thursday night "tri-training" session where they mix up the work between bike, run, transition, and other areas that need work. Plus, I thought I'd pick their brains for some ideas of what I can do when I'm not in their class to help with my swim and run endurance. The bike is not a problem for me right now. I could be faster, but I really need to work on the other two in a more structured environment.

So . . . today it'll probably be my usual lunch bike ride. After work, I'm supposed to meet Lisa to head over to the gym for a workout. I'll probably do a bit of swimming and a short run on the treadmill. That way, I'll get all 3 disciplines in today. Tomorrow will most likely be a bike-run brick workout at lunch and another short run after work (Lisa is meeting a friend for dinner, so I'll have some time on my hands . . . might take the dogs with me!!).

The countdown to Iron Star is roughly 4 weeks. I know I can whip myself into shape. I just need to buckle down and do it. Oh . . . and I really need to cut down on the food intake. I'm gaining weight, I can tell. I need to get back to more fruits and vegetables and less carbs. I guess it's true what they say about being "fat and happy." ;-p I just need to cut out the "fat" part!

More to come tomorrow!!

Update: Wow!, good bike ride today. Met a friend of mine who works at Temple-Inland and his buddy, and the three of us rode part of my regular route. The last half of the ride, though, was mostly climbing through Westlake. Very nice, very ritzy area. Beautiful views. Leg-breaking climbs. Haven't done THAT in a while. Plus, I did it all on my tri bike, which gives me hope for IM MOO! Definitely adding that route to my Training repertoire! Twenty-three miles of good fun!

Oh my! What a brick!! Well, now . . . I had a heckuva work out today! I've been meaning to do a 50 mile bike ride for a while. Well, today, I got it done. I did a 55 mile ride along the "Dam Loop." Not too bad, really, but I'm not used to riding that long. I managed to stay in the aerobars through most of it, but my neck was hurting a bit by mile 40, and by mile 48, my back was a bit sore. I was tempted not to do the run, but I pushed through it. I had planned to do a 5 mile run after the ride, but I limited it to 3 miles. Gonna be rough in 4 weeks if I don't do some more. I figure I'll do the 50 miler at least 2 more times, and maybe a third one the weekend before Iron Star. If I do it 3 times, I'll be SURE to go very easy the last weekend. There's still no getting around the fact that I've GOT to run and swim a bit more, too.

There ya have it, though . . . at least I know I can do the bike portion of Iron Star! It's going to be a very interesting half a day!

Brick-a-brack: Yes, it's all about the brick workouts for me now. I'm convinced that if I can just get my sorry legs used to running off the bike, I might somehow be able to do more than just walk this half marathon at the Iron Star. So . . . I'm taking Steve's advice (banner moment here!) and doing a short run after every bike ride. It's rather hard to force myself to do that when my legs are tired from fighting a 20 mph headwind for 25 miles, but, hey . . . if it was easy, everybody would be doing triathlons.

So . . . yesterday, as I planned, I did my regular 22-mile loop on the bike. The headwind was rough, but I did manage to do a 2-3 mile run after the bike. It was really more of a jog, but at least I did it. In the evening, I went home, took the dogs out for a short romp, and then did another 2 mile run. Probably shouldn't have . . . my legs are tight and sore, but I keep thinking that eventually, my legs won't hurt anymore if I just keep at it.

Today: The plan is a short, easy spin on the bike followed by another short brick. I'm doing the 50-mile "Dam Loop" tomorrow morning on the Saturday ATC taco ride, so I don't want to blow out my legs today. Besides, I'm riding with a co-worker who is slower than I am. That's good for me . . . I don't want to do intense rides every time I go out. So . . . it'll probably be a 15-mile easy spin (a little more than half of my regular 22-mile route), followed by a 2-3 mile jog around Town Lake. Then, tomorrow morning will be "hammer-fest" on the taco ride.

Non-Training Stuff: Things continue to be great with the new digs. Just one thing I've learned from integrating my two dogs into life with Lisa's two cats: Dogs really will eat anything . . . and by "anything" I include both cat poop and cat barf. Reese is no longer allowed to lick me unless he gets a few drinks of water first. On the plus side, we've had a few days now with no temper tantrum shredding incidents from the boys. I don't know if it's because we've been careful to pick up all the stuff they could shred from the kitchen, or if it's because the evening walks are helping curb their anxiety. Either way, Lisa and I are both pleased.

On the home front, Lisa and I have taken a bit of a break from unpacking and finding space for my stuff. It's hard to do during the week, especially when Lisa has to worry about class and I have to get in some training. Tomorrow, I'm sure we'll get a few more things put away in the afternoon. Should be a relaxing evening on Saturday, though. Lisa's friend Becca will be in from Houston to go to a wedding in Salado. Since her husband works weekends, she invited Lisa to go with her. They'll be leaving at 4:30ish, so I'm on my own for the evening. I foresee a nice easy walk with the dogs followed by some prime time college football watching on the big screen!

Well . . . off to do some work. I'll have more updates later!

Training Update: Okay, here's the training update for the last couple of days:

September 27, 2006 - Yesterday was a bike/run brick. I was still a bit sore from my Monday 5-1/2 mile run and there was a stiff 20 mph wind yesterday, so I took it easy on the bike and just tried to get the miles in. I did the normal ride on Hwy 360 which is about 22-miles. Felt pretty good, but my quads were definitely still stiff. I concentrated on spinning easy up the hills. Felt wierd. Because of the winds, I sometimes dropped to 9 mph or so on some of the hills, but my heart rate stayed fairly low, and my legs eased up a bit. It certainly wasn't an intense training session, but I'm sure it did me wonders on maintenance.

I did a 2-mile run after getting back to the Bicycle Sport Shop. It was really more of a jog. My quads were screaming at me for making them run again, but I managed to run through it. There's just not getting around the fact that I need to run more. Heart rate stayed low (150's), and I never really felt tired. I just had sore muscles.

Today: Planning another ride/run brick. I was supposed to ride with a friend, but she bailed on me, so I'll probably do the same route I did yesterday. I think I'll try to make the run 3 miles instead of just 2.

Photograph Troubles and More: Well, after a few more tries, I still can't get the photographs to work. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I follow all the directions and get confirmation that my photos have been added, but when I view the posting, there are no photographs. I guess we'll need to keep at it.

Today's Training Plan: Today is a relatively easy day, particularly because of the continuing uncertainty regarding the trial. I'm toying with the idea of riding at lunch time, but if the call comes in while I'm out, that could be trouble. It'll be a game-time decision, I guess. If I do ride, it will either be a 12-15 miler or a 30-minute session on the trainer, which I have at the office right now. I'm leaning toward the trainer, but don't want to make too much of a racket in here. I guess I'll do a test run to see how loud it is. Something is better than nothing I guess.

In addition to the possible ride, Lisa and I are planning to go to the gym tonight. She's been making comments about needing to get back in there to work out, and I definitely need a swim session. So . . . even if I don't ride, I'll be doing a swim workout. Because my swimming has been so sporadic, I'll start with an easy 300 meter warm-up. I'll do 10 sets of 50 builds with 10-15 seconds rest. Then, I'll probably just swim for distance at an easy pace to see how much stamina I have. I gotta be able to do 1.2 miles at a decent pace. I can't count on hammering the bike at Iron Star if I want to have any legs left for the half mary. I still think I can go 5:45 if I put my mind to it.

I'll post some updates tonight.

Weekend Training Report. News Flash: "It wasn't terribly productive!!" I'm really feeling the "End is Near" syndrome for this training season. Iron Star should be motivating me, but I find it hard to convince myself to get out and train. I've resorted to fear of not finishing, and even THAT is not getting me going as much as I thought it would. The simple fact is that I've done too many races over too long a season. Next season will HAVE to be shorter or at least have fewer races. But, I digress . . . . On to the report:

Saturday, September 23: Today I did manage to do a 33-mile bike ride starting at 7:45 AM. It was exceptionally windy and overcast . . . not good for my motivation. I began with a crosswind for 2.5 miles and then turned full-bore into a headwind for the next 15 miles. I decided to go with intensity rather than watching my heart rate too closely. All in all, it wasn't too bad, even though the wind had to be at least 20 mph. The return trip was slightly more uphill, but with a tailwind, I was not having to push too hard. I finished off pretty tired, but with a 22.3 mph average on a rolling course (not bad hills, though). I intended to run with the dogs for a bit afterwards, but I just couldn't get it going. One of these days, I'm going to run out of time to actually DO a run!!

Sunday, September 24: No training today. I sorely needed to sleep in (which I did). Plus, with church at 11:00 AM, lunch with Lisa and her parents immediately after, and having to get to work by 2:30 PM for last minute trial prep, there just wasn't time. I think I'm glad, though. I needed the rest.

Today: I brought my bike and the bike trainer to work today. I figured that with the trial going on, I could get back to the office after we finished for the day, get in 30-45 minutes on the trainer, towel off, and get back to some serious trial work. Only one problem: we didn't get reached on the docket. Right now, we're on stand-by, so I can't take the bike out on the roads. What if they call me to start up immediately and I'm off training? So, I just have to sit and wait it out. I can still do some spinning this afternoon on the trainer, but I think I shouldn't. My running needs work BADLY. I think if I don't get the call today, I'll take off at 5:00, go home, and get in a 45-minute run with the dogs. They need it as badly as I do. Just have to MAKE myself do it. Anyway, I'll get the training in today. Now . . . if there's no trial tomorrow, I'm DEFINITELY on for a swim workout. I gotta get that working for me again!!!

Update: I ran for 50 minutes today. Took the boys out with me for the first 20 minutes, but after a while, they were tired and were dragging me down. So, I circled back by the house and dropped them off. I tried not to run too hard. Heart rate never got above 150, so that's good. I'm guessing that my pace was around 8:15 to 8:45 minutes per mile, so I did somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-5.5 miles. Not a bad start, but I think I might be sore tomorrow! Lots of stretching and massage will be in order tonight. I guess we'll see how I respond.

Non-Tri Stuff: So, my first week after moving in with Lisa has been pretty darn good. We're making a lot of headway on getting things OUT of boxes and incorporated into the design scheme. One of these days, I'm going to get some pics of the house up so that you all can see how well my stuff is fitting in with hers. This weekend, we got the guest bedroom (formerly her computer room) all decked out. We put her old queen-sized bed in there (mine is now in the master bedroom because it's newer and nicer!!) . We have my small computer cart, a TV table, an end table, and my old dresser in there as well. Surprisingly, it's not terribly cramped. When I get the pics up, it'll make sense! Lisa and I are both very pleased with how it looks.

As for the rest of the house . . . well . . . it's a work in progress. We've got my couch incorporated into the living room scheme, but we're going to put a throw or a slip cover on it. This will do two things: (1) give us a color that better fits her scheme (my couch is a beautiful saffron, but it doesn't fit with the other colors); and (2) make it easy to clean off dog hair while protecting the original couch. We're working on that!! We got my dining table in the kitchen as a kitchen table, along with the butcher block table and the pie safe. It looks great!! You'll see!!

Well . . . that's all for now. I'll get those pics up soon. Also, her cats and my dogs are starting to bond nicely! For some reason, our pics of Abby the cat lounging with me and the boys and with Lisa and AJ aren't coming through. I'll try again later.


Ciao for now!

Getting behind in my blogging!! Okay, so I'm a little distracted by work. I have a trial next week and have been a bit too busy to get my blog entries in on my self-appointed deadlines. Since I'm not accountable to anyone for this except me, I think I'll forgive myself! Anyhoo . . . here's the story for the last couple of days:

September 19: This was a hard training day. I got to work pretty early and planned to ride at lunch. Because of the trial preparation, I didn't make it out at lunch time. So . . . at about 3:30, I left work early and went home. Lisa was going to have dinner with her mom, so I had several hours for training. I was tempted to do a really long ride, but my quads were tired for some reason and besides, I needed to get a swim in. So . . . I mapped out a route from home to the Gold's Gym in Round Rock that has a pool. It was about 16.5 miles away. I rode the bike to the gym to swim. Unfortunately, it took me longer to get there than I anticipated because of a REALLY stiff headwind.

By the time I got there, an aquatic aerobics class for women had taken over all but one small lane of the pool. I shared the lane with another swimmer for about 20 minutes, but it was too hard to maintain a consistent swim. I found myself stopping every 50 yards to let the other swimmer get some distance. Plus, the aquatic aerobics class was very disruptive. They were making a ton of waves and the instructor's yelling kept distracting me from concentrating on what I was doing. I know, I know . . . I should've sucked it up; but, I finally gave up after swimming a little less than a mile. Good thing, too. I made it home only about 30 minutes before dark. By the way, the tailwind on the way back wasn't NEARLY as helpful as I thought it should've been. ;-p

So, the total workout on Wednesday was: 33 miles of biking and about a mile of swimming. At least I got back in the pool! I can't wait until the first week of October when I start up again with Texas Iron! Andrea and Jamie will get my swimming back on track!

September 20: Didn't get any training in today. I intended to go running with the dogs after work, but once again, the trial preparation interfered. I had to stick around at work until after 6:30 PM (the horror!!!), plus, I had to stop at the store to pick up food for dinner. Thursdays are becoming a regular "fish" night, so I cooked again!. Incidentally, Lisa's class was canceled last night, too, so I had other motivation not to go running when I got home. When I finally got back to Leander, I was too tired and hungry to go running immediately. Lisa and I made dinner and watched Grey's Anatomy, and by then, I knew I wasn't going to go running . . . . I know I'm digging a hole for the 1/2 marathon at Iron Star. I still have 5 weeks. I can DO it!!!

Today's Plan: Okay . . . today's plan is to get in a short bike/short run brick at lunch. I brought the Guru to work (the Colnago is on its way to Huntsville to get the crack in the right rear drop-out fixed) and scheduled all my witness meetings with a 2 1/2 lunch break. I'm good to go! Hoping for a 10-12 mile bike at medium intensity, followed by a 3-4 mile easy run. I'll post again this afternoon or tomorrow with my results. Target heart rates are a constant "under 150" on the bike and a constant "under 165" on the run.

I missed posting a training report for yesterday, so here it is:

Yesterday was all about the bike. It was a crappy day at work, started off by a 2 1/2 hour commute to work. Since my new home is only 25 miles from where I work, that's an exceptionally long commute! What did I expect? It was rainy, and we all know Austinites don't see enough rain to learn how to drive in it. Anyhoo . . . suffice it to say that when I got home around 6:00 PM, I was ready to ride hard.

I promised Lisa I wouldn't ride for too long. She was about to start dinner and besides, I felt guilty walking in and then leaving her with my dogs for a long ride. So . . . rather than do distance, I worked a bit on intensity without blowing up. I did a 30-mile ride attempting to keep my heart rate at or under 150 bpm for the entire ride. This meant exerting myself harder on flats and downhills to keep my heartrate from dropping too low, as well as spinning easily up the hills so that the heart rate wouldn't et too high. I was mildly successful.

The flats and downhills saw a few too many lows. At one point, I couldn't even keep my heart rate above 140, and I was spinning wildly at 35 mph on a descent. On most of the hills, I managed to stay at or under 150 bpm, but on two hills, I spiked up to 155 and 159 respectively. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I was pretty spent after the ride, but I got my legs back enough to take the dogs on a short run. So . . . I got in a good brick workout and managed not to overdo it too much.

Today, I plan on doing a 45-minute to 1 hour run if I can get away with it. Lisa and I have a lot of unpacking to do, so I may end up bagging the run today and giving it a shot at lunch tomorrow. I also plan to swim tomorrow night while Lisa does dinner with her mom (a Wednesday ritual). So, my training for Iron Star is not progressing as regularly as I'd hoped, but I still think if I can stay on track and not overdo it on the bike, I'll be in good shape to finish well under 6 hours.

I guess we'll see!

Training for IM Moo . . . a bit delayed. Today was my first day back into training since the Dilloman sprint tri on Sunday. I would have liked to have started up earlier, but I was determined to take Monday off. Then, I had to travel to Dallas for work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Although I got back early on Wednesday, I elected to move a few things up to Lisa's rather than do any training. Besides, my heels were still pretty bruised from running on those rocks on the bike-out and bike-in at Dilloman.

So . . . today, I did an easy 15 miles on the bike. I started out with the usual ride from Lamar and Barton Springs Road over to MoPac to Hwy 360, but instead of going all the way to the 360 Bridge and back, I cut the ride short at Bee Caves Road and took that route back down to MoPac and then back east on Barton Springs. I still managed to average 20.1 mph, but most of that was on the last 2/5 of the ride while I was on Bee Caves, which is mostly a slight downhill. Once you get into traffic and hit the lights right, you can get some serious speed going on Bee Caves!

Anyway, the goal on my ride was to keep my heart rate under 150. I managed that for the most part. There were several hills where I spiked up to as high as 160, but I recovered pretty well and spent most of my time around 145-150. It's hard to maintain a constant heart rate with all the starts and stops at the stoplights. Anyhoo . . . it was good to get back out on the bike, and the weather is just beautiful. It had to be in the mid 80's for the ride. Barely had to drink much at all to stay hydrated.

After I pulled back into the parking lot at Bicycle Sport Shop, I changed into my running shoes, put on a dry-fit top and went for a short run. I don't know how far I went, but I was out for about 25 minutes, not too hard, so I'm guessing I went about 2.5 to 3 miles. The goal here was just to get back into a brick work out. It's been so long since I've done one! Anyway, I kept the heart rate below 165 and just cruised down by Town Lake to First Street, up to Barton Springs, and back over to Lamar. I plan to increase the mileage of both the run and bike by a few miles next time I do another brick.

Hopefully, this will get me ready for the Iron Star I'm doing in Conroe at the end of October. It's my final race of the season and will be my first Half Iron distance race. I'm a bit nervous about running 13 miles, as my longest training run to date has been 8 miles, and was a while ago. If I can just contain myself on the bike and not get too used up on it, I think I'll do just fine. Hopefully, I won't have any lower back issues on the run either. That was a killer in the Ironhead Olympic tri I did back in July. Bad leg and back back made for a sloooooowwwww run! But, I think I'm in better shape now than I was then, and I know not to hammer too much on the bike this time.

All in all, it was a good, easy transition back into the training regimen, and was sorely needed! Now . . . if I can just get myself to get back in the pool!

Countdown to IMMOO 2007. Well, it's official. I've signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2007 . . . even after reading some of those horrific race reports about the 57 degree highs and the driving rain of 2006. It'll be a family affair as my twin brother Steve and I battle it out in the first ever Perkins Twin Ironman Smackdown! Should be fun!!!!

Dilloman Race Report. Today was the 2006 Dilloman Sprint Triathlon put on by the Austin Triathletes. No pictures available to post for this entry, but I'll get some up in later posts when they become available. Here's my race report:

Short Version (the numbers):

Overall: 12th/458
Age Group: 2nd/42
Swim: 16:02.0
T1: 3:54.9
Bike: 34:29.3
T2: 0:48.0
Run: 23:49.2
Total: 1:19:03.4

Click here for the Official Results (Overall)

Long Version:

The Day Begins:

Surprisingly, I woke up about 5 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, which was 4:30 AM. I wouldn't have set it quite so early, but I learned from last year's Dilloman that an early arrival at Pace Bend would be essential to a good race. Last year, I got there at 6:45 and had a really bad rack position for the bike. Today, I made it by 5:30, just when the park opened, and managed to get an inside position on the second rack closest to the bike out. Very good spot for me.

Not much in the way of pre-race nutrition. Lisa toasted an Ego waffle with peanut butter for me, and I had a little carton of orange juice, but that was it. The only thing I hate about getting to races that early is sitting around transition forever waiting for the darn thing to start. If finally started, but probably about 15 minutes late.

The Swim:

I was in the second wave consisting of men ages 35-39 and 40-44. Except for the fact that the water was very low, the swim was not too bad. I'm a bit surprised by the 2:00 per 100m pace I had because I felt like I was swimming faster than that. There's no getting around the fact that I need to get my butt back in the pool and work on the swimming. I should be able to consistently swim at least 1:40 per 100m. I'm just not working hard enough at it. Surprisingly, however, I came out of the water in first place in my age group.

T1:

This was pretty bad for me -- and really for everyone. The low lake level made it so that we had a long hike -- about 450-500 meters from the swim exit to the transition area. This was over rocky terrain, so it was a mandatory shoe run. It took some time to get my sandy feet into my running shoes and then get my butt from the beach to the transition area. Then, I had a bit of trouble getting my tri top on again. I need to just wear a tri suit or go shirtless. Cost myself about 20 seconds fumbling with the shirt. Also, I had forgotten that the run from the bike-out up to the bike mount line was a rocky, gravely road. That's not fun to do barefoot with you shoes already on the bike! Anyway, I got out of T1 in second place in my age group, though I didn't know it at the time.

Bike:

This is still my favorite part of every triathlon. I just feel at home on the bike! The Guru was freshly lubed and tuned up by David at Jack and Adam's Triathlon Shop. She was running very smoothe, I must say. I got into my shoes pretty easily, and from there, I was passing people left and right. One guy did pass me, but he was from the swim wave ahead of me, and I'd passed him on the swim, so I didn't mind so much.

The two-loop course was pretty hilly. I remember that from last year. At least this year it wasn't pouring down rain! My bike split was a lot better than last year's. I averaged 21.6 mph, more than 3.5 mph faster than last year. I really felt like I was flying for most of the ride. I could tell that I wasn't as fast as some of the flatter rides I've done, though. That Guru just takes alot out of my legs even on short climbs. I really need to find a way to climb more comfortably.

Anyway, the second loop was pretty crowded with all the folks coming in off the swim. I had a couple of close calls and an occasional slow-down because of slower riders, but all-in-all, not too bad. I hit the dismount line in about 35 minutes and proceeded back down the rocky trail to the bike-in.

T2:

I'm proud of this time. Less than 50 seconds in T2. Just dropped off the bike, dropped my helmet, slipped into the running shoes, and I was off! Sure missed my visor, but at least I had my sunglasses on!

Run:

The run was a trail run. Not my favorite. However, I still ran pretty well. It was a bit demoralizing when I'd gone about 400 meters into the run to look up and see the overall winner, Brandon Marsh, heading back in for his final 400 meters. Here I was just getting started on the run and he's in the home stretch! Oh well . . . that's why he's a professional!

I ran pretty well. No back problems this time, but I couldn't get my heart rate to drop. I was up over 170 bpm for most of the run, and I'd rather have been down near 160. It didn't seem to matter too much, though. I still managed a sub-7:30 min. per mile average. This is GOOD for me. Much better than my 10:00 min. per mile average last year.

So overall, I finished in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 3.4 seconds. Good enough for 12th place overall, by far my best finish at an Austin race, and second only to my 11th place overall finish in Orlando earlier this year at a MUCH smaller race. I was pleased with the overall time and finish. My goal was 1:20:00.0 and I beat it by almost 57 seconds!

Here's my comparison of this year's Dilloman with last year's:

2005/2006

Swim: 14:39.2/16:02.0
T1: 2:56.0/3:54.9
Bike: 41:21.6/34:29.3
T2: 1:16.4/0:48.0
Run: 30:08.6/23:49.2
Overall: 1:32:22.0/1:19:03.4

My goal was to hit 1:20:00.0, and I beat that, so I'm pretty happy! All-in-all, it was a good day. Plus, the podium award for second place in my age group was a stuffed armadillo with a blue handkerchief and a medal that said "2nd" on it. I'm pretty proud of it!

Okay, here's the "full" version of the pic below. I wish there was a way I could have gotten more of the Chicago skyline in there.

No training ride today at noon. I just didn't have the will power. Planning to try to squeeze one in after work. Perhaps I can work through what's left of lunch and leave a bit early! I should be able to get a nice long ride in if I can leave early. The weather here has been much cooler this week. Highs today should only be in the very low 90's. That's a BIG difference from the mid 100's a last week.

Inaugural post. Well, this is the first post of the blog, so bear with me. I'm new at this!

I went out for a training ride today in preparation for the Dilloman Sprint Triathlon in Austin this Sunday. It felt good to get back on the hills after doing so many flatter rides. However, I gotta tell you . . . it's amazing how quickly the fitness goes away! My legs are shot. Thank goodness I still seem to have decent recovery.

Anyhoo . . . I'll be interested to see how my time at Dilloman this year compares with last year's. The 2005 Dilloman was my first ever triathlon. I felt like I did okay for a first-timer. Last year, I finished in a total time of 1:32:22.0 (including a 2 minute penalty for blocking -- oops!), which was good enough for 128th place out of 421 total participants. I gotta tell you, though . . . with as well as I've been racing this summer, a repeat performance in that range this year will be a major disappointment. I know I'll have a slower swim time, because I haven't been working the swimming much; but, I expect I should be faster in every other aspect. I guess we'll see on Sunday! Here's my prediction for this Sunday:

Swim: 15:30. I just haven't trained it much lately. Hopefully I'll surprise myself!
T1: 01:45. Last year it was almost 3:00, but I've learned a lot this summer.
Bike: 37:15. Last year there was rain, so if there is none this year, I should have a much faster ride.
T2: 01:30. I've no idea how fast the T2 will be, but I did 1:30 in Chicago with its huge transition area. I figure I can do that here, too.
Run: 24:00. This is the "X" factor. I had a BAD run last year of over 30 minutes. My running lately, however, has been in the 22:50 to 23:30 range. If I keep close to that pace, 24:00 is a decent estimate.
Total: 1:20:00. Assuming no penalties (none since 2005!), this seems pretty realistic. I'd like to do better, but the rolling hill bike course and my lack of swimming doesn't bode well. Even if I just meet this prediction, though, it's still a 12 minute improvement over last year!

Let's hope it goes well!