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July 31, 2007
Riding with power, swimming without rubber
I'm getting excited and nervous about this weekend's race. Right now the forecast says it'll be 85 degrees, which isn't too bad. But the swim, which is in a dammed section of a very shallow river, may be an issue. The latest water temperature reading was 77.5 degrees F. If it hits 78, wetsuits will not be allowed. (You can actually wear one, but won't be eligible for awards, or something like that. I think the absolutely-no-wetsuits cutoff is 82 degrees.) At any rate, even 77 is pretty darn warm, so I may be swimming without the wettie.
You triathletes out there know the trade-offs: wetsuit = faster. No wetsuit = slower, maybe more comfortable, with the potential for extra drag from race clothing. But no wetsuit also = faster transition time since there's no wetsuit-peeling dance. I'm actually thinking about wearing a regular swimsuit over my race top and shorts so the pockets on the tank top don't catch water. Maybe I'll wear a skinny elastic belt and fuzzy hand-knit leg warmers to complete the Jane Fonda look. Feel the burn!
My non-triathlete readers, if they have gotten this far, are probably thinking, "How much energy can you possibly spend worrying about these minute details???" The answer is: A LOT. That is the life of a triathlete. I admit I go a little mental the week before a race, but so does everyone else. (And by the way, I was kidding about Jane Fonda. I could never emulate a woman who got bicep implants.)
So about that wattage-based cycling class I mentioned in my last post. In that post I talked about my problem of essentially getting lazy on the run. I've been having the same problem on the bike: I just haven't been forcing myself to go harder for extended periods. There are a couple of places here in town that offer wattage-based cycling classes, so I tried both of them out a few weeks ago thinking it might help me address this problem.
The first place has rooms full of CompuTrainers, which for the uninitiated is like a regular analog bike trainer, but with resistance controlled by a computer. You bring your own bike, set it up on a trainer and do an instructor-led ride, controlling the wattage with a little console. (CompuTrainers are actually extremely valuable training tools -- you can download real-life routes to simulate a race course in your basement, and do many other cool things with them. I'd love to have one at home.) This place also offers state-of-the-art physiological testing and coaching, and sponsors a professional women's tri team. Very cool. Also very expensive.
The second place I tried is a studio run by a local triathlon coach. The classes bear many similarities to spin classes at a regular gym. Except that they are 1,000 times better. Most gym spin bikes have no electronics at all (and that can be a good thing sometimes). The bikes at this studio have an electronic display that shows speed, cadence, heart rate and wattage. The coach leads the class through a wattage- and cadence-based series of intervals. And it's all cycling-specific, unlike some of the goofy moves spin-class instructors do in the name of getting a good workout.
I chose the second place primarily because it was a lot less spendy. I'd love to go to the first place, but the total expense and the inconvenience of schlepping my bike across town twice a week were turn-offs.
Watts are the ultimate measure of power on a bike. Going by heart rate, you know how hard you're working, but not what the results of that work are. Watching the wattage number on the display motivates me to maintain a steady rate of work, and also to smooth out my pedal stroke. (The number of watts jumps around quite a bit, more so with an uneven pedal stroke.) The class time absolutely flies by. It's really fun (the good music doesn't hurt). Hopefully over the next couple of months, I will see the watts I can sustain go steadily upward.
I have to admit, I enjoyed being told at my first class by the woman next to me that the max wattage number I was working with was quite a bit higher than hers. This is not a surprise, since I am a lot heavier than she is. On the road, she is probably faster, since wattage alone does not determine speed. What's more important is power-to-weight ratio. My plan is to increase my power and decrease my weight to improve that ratio. And thus go faster!
And since I just signed up for Ironman Arizona, I've got about eight months to see some results.
July 27, 2007
A visitor from my past, hopefully here to stay
Eleven weeks ago I wrote about a pretty unhappy 8-mile run at the Sawyer Camp trail. I averaged 10:30 per mile, and I longed to get my old speed back. Today I went back to that trail for the first time since that day. I ran 11 miles at an average pace of 9:38 per mile. I was as shocked as I was impressed with myself.
Now I probably ran a wee bit harder than is appropriate for a long run. My heart rate was a little higher than my comfy aerobic zone. But I am 14 pounds lighter than I was then, and I have been doing weekly track workouts since the end of June. Wait, that was only a month ago. Huh.
That's another thing. I did my first track workout in years just six weeks ago. It was painful, slow, discouraging. I had never run so hard to see such disappointing times. But in six weeks, I have made huge progress. This week I ran five 800s in 3:35 (give or take a couple seconds), which I'm guessing is pretty close to the fastest I've ever run that distance.
Speedwork, weight loss, consistency. These things do make you run faster. Something else that makes you run faster? Running faster. I've been noticing, especially on long runs, that my HR was getting lower and lower but I was still running the same plodding pace. I had to consciously decide to speed up, make an effort to lift myself out of the easy-peasy slow-run pace I've gotten used to. Running on the track has surely helped my legs remember how to turn over faster.
I've also started taking a wattage-based indoor cycling class; that's a story for another post. Will it help my cycling? That remains to be seen. But wow, is it fun!
Am I seeing the return of my old athletic self? (Not the old-old athletic self, the one who would reward herself with a 500-calorie bagel after a 30-minute elliptical workout -- the newer, faster old athletic self.) I really hope this week hasn't been a fluke.
I am racing my first half-ironman of the season next weekend, but if the temperatures are in or near the triple digits -- and there's a good chance it will be at least 90 -- I will not be running fast at all. I may in fact be walking, since I do all my training in cool foggy temps and tolerate heat badly. I have no idea what to expect timewise. My last half was over a year ago, and my time there was 6:29. The bike course at next week's race is slightly hillier. If the weather cooperates, I think I can take a chunk of time off my run. But we'll see.
Honestly, I'm really hoping to see that speed in a second half-ironman five weeks later, the Big Kahuna Triathlon down in Santa Cruz. That's where I ran my PR at this distance (6:03) three years ago so I want to see how close to six hours I can get.
July 23, 2007
Challenge yourself
Sometimes we triathletes do crazy things, like mad hard workouts, or doubling up on races over a weekend, or logging a three-hour run before a ten-hour workday. Sometimes I wonder if we try to out-crazy each other just for the sake of doing things that seem totally insane to normal people, or just because we can (and because it's fun, in a sick way, of course).
My friend Russ is doing something far crazier than I've ever done, but he's also doing it for a couple of great causes. He plans to race four triathlons four weekends in a row in September to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. And he's not just doing any four races. He will be racing an Olympic-distance triathlon, a half-ironman, a sprint, and then a full ironman, in that order. That's 262.5 miles of triathlon in a month. With only a week between each race!
That, my friends, is the best kind of crazy. Both nutty and noble.
He's blogging his experiences over at challenge2help, so go check it out and give the man some money!
July 20, 2007
Back to the number 7
Is anyone else out there excited about the imminent arrival of the final Harry Potter book? Just ten more hours of waiting!
Actually, I will probably have to wait longer than that. I requested it from the S.F. Public Library, which is where I get 96% of my reading material these days. I am 346th in line for the book out of 800+ hold requests (I placed my request several months ago, man I love the internet). I should get it pretty quickly, though, as they have ordered something like 500 copies. Perhaps my friend(s) with public library experience can chime in on how quickly an embargoed book gets processed and into circulation. We'll see how long I last before I just go out and buy the damn thing.
July 18, 2007
Mortification
I rode my bike today for the first time since Sunday, and on my way out I stopped by my local bike shop for a small adjustment. I already think they hate me there because of a scheduling mix-up a couple of weeks ago. But now they must think I'm a giant nerd, too. About half an hour after I left the shop, I realized that my big white race number sticker was still on the front of my helmet. It's like realizing hours after lunch that you have a huge gob of spinach wedged between your front teeth.
Hi, my name is Ariel and I'm a DORKY TRIATHLETE.
July 17, 2007
Donner #7, plus another 7
My seventh annual race at Donner Lake was fun! But, oh, did I mention? It wasn't my only race last weekend.
Some friends of ours held a little 7k race in Golden Gate Park on Saturday as part of the festivities surrounding their wedding, which was on 07/07/07. It was a perfect way to celebrate, as the groom is a track and cross-country coach. If memory serves, the couple met on the track. And we know them from our running circles.
So I couldn't very well not do this race, although I would have preferred a more restful Saturday. I took Friday completely off from training, and then tried to take it easy in the 7k. But you know what made it fun? Dave ran the race with me. Yes, my husband Dave, who has run marathons at a slightly faster pace than I run a 5k when I'm in good shape (low-7's per mile). Yeah, he is way, way faster than me. But Dave hasn't been running much this year after switching to bike racing. And all his old track buddies were there, talking trash. So running with me gave him a great excuse not to kill himself trying to keep up with them and their six-minute miles.
My time for the 7k was 41 minutes and change. Dave let me beat him by two seconds. This will probably be the only time I will ever beat my husband in a race. Unless I can somehow get him to race me in the pool. And that will never happen.
We had to leave before the awards presentation, sadly, to hit the road for Donner Lake.
We got up to the lake Saturday afternoon and I went for my traditional pre-race swim. It's possible I enjoy this part of the weekend more than the race itself. Perfectly fresh water, sunshine, clean air and mountains. That's all I really need.
Race morning I got up at 4am, ate, slathered on the SPF 45 and headed back to the lake. At 4:59am, I was the first racer into the parking lot. I think my obsession with arriving early may be out of control. But I like to get in, set up, and get out before the hordes arrive.
I got first choice of transition racks, so I happily plopped my bike into the first slot in row #7. That must be fate, right? Ah, no, because then I realized that row #7 was in the sprint section of the transition area, so I had to move to row #13, in the section reserved for international-distance racers. I consider 13 to be a very lucky number. Even if it isn't 7.
My early arrival gave me plenty of time to do a little warm-up jog, hit the blue boxes several times, take photos of the lake, go back and check my gear, and veg out in the peace and quiet of my car. And then I squished into my wetsuit and headed to the start.
I felt like I had a great swim, and indeed it was 10 seconds faster than last year at 28:25, even though I never found a good pair of feet to draft behind. My bike was 45 seconds slower than last year at 1:50:15 (24.8 miles, approx. 3,000 feet of climbing). I would have expected it to be faster, just since so much of it is climbing and I'm considerably lighter than last year. But then again, last year I had just spent a week riding in the Rockies, so I was probably much more fit on the bike.
My run was 3.5 minutes faster than last year, at 1:04:45 (they claim the distance is 6.5 mi; I think it's at least 6.7). I had to remind myself at mile 2 that I wasn't just going slowly... my lungs were working extra-hard to pull oxygen out of the thin 6,000' air. Everything is a little harder up there, but it's most obvious to me on the run.
Comparing my results, I see now that my transitions have been getting slower over the years. I was very proud in 2004 of my 52-second transition between bike and run, which included sunblock reapplication in addition to the usual shoe and headwear change. I think all my long-course racing has allowed me to get lazy with the transitions! Must work on that. Must save precious seconds. (To be fair, they have moved and reconfigured the transition area since then, and it takes longer to get into and out of now.)
I finished in 3:28:05. Out of my six international-distance finishes here, it ranks third. So, not bad, but not spectacular, either. (I count this as my seventh Donner race because I did the sprint distance once. It was my second triathlon ever. Ha!) For such a relatively short race, it's a damn hard race. It never does get easier. But it will always, always be the most beautiful race around.
July 13, 2007
Donner time again? Already?
I have had many potential posts floating around in my head about things like cynicism, addiction, having reasonable expectations for ourselves and our lives, choosing one's battles, cycling with watts, and how much I love summer fruit. But I'm having a hard time turning any of them into anything coherent.
So for now I'll just say that today I am wearing jeans that I haven't fit into for two years. Go me.
Also, I am racing this weekend up at the Donner Lake Triathlon. This will be my seventh consecutive year racing up there in the thin Sierra air. Again, go me.
Every time I do this race, I am amazed that another year has passed and amazed to find myself on that beautiful race course once again. It means that I have survived (indeed, thrived) another year. It means that I'm still racing and doing what I love. And it reminds me that life is great. The course is like a little piece of heaven for me.
That's kind of a funny thing to say, because it's really a very difficult race. As it should be, considering that the lake is named after the ill-fated pioneer group that may or may not have resorted to cannibalism after being trapped by 30-foot snowdrifts in the winter of 1847, giving goofy smart alecks fodder for a stupid joke to be played on unwitting restaurant hostesses a century and a half later. (Or maybe that's just a California thing? Does "Donner party, your table is ready" make anyone else think of their dad?)
Time for me to dust off the wetsuit and get my race gear together... I haven't raced (or even swum in open water) since September. I'm sure it'll be fine! The wetsuit should fit a little better this year, anyway.
July 2, 2007
Note to self: The internet is a good thing, but it's not the only good thing
One day at home without the internet -- Friday -- brought out the worst in me. I never realized quite how addicted I am.
When I'm on vacation, I'm fine without internet access. But sitting at home without the ability to check mail, or surf random web sites, I quickly started to go nuts. I felt completely isolated from the world. This is not healthy, but the internet really is my connection to people. I am not much of a phone person. And since I don't go into an office every day anymore, I don't get a lot of facetime with, well, anyone.
I finally gave up on my troubleshooting efforts and called Comcast tech support. (And while I was on hold, I found myself itching to click on a few web sites -- DOH! -- what did I say about addiction?) They basically went through all the steps I had done myself: checking connections, recycling the cable modem and router, etc. On about the fifth modem reboot, we got the internet working without the router (thus no wifi, but that's my problem, not theirs), so I hung up. I spent another five or so tedious hours getting the internet to work through the router and thereby spread its love wirelessly around our apartment.
(For those who care, the solution was to hard-reset and recycle the modem and router in the correct order, plugged into the right holes at the right time. These are things I thought I already knew; I never realized just how finicky the damn modem is.) (And then of course I had to completely re-configure the somewhat complicated wifi security, because when I tried to reload the saved configuration, it didn't work.) (Too much detail, sorry.)
And then I could finally relax and go to bed.
I got up at 0-dark-thirty the next morning to do local century ride. OK, well, I did the metric century: 100k, or 60-something miles. It was a beautiful, sunny ride with wonderful training partners. I even ran into my friend Tracy at an aid station, and after registering our surprise at seeing each other, we figured out that we're training for the same half-ironman.
The next day I did a lovely two-hour run and saw no fewer than three people I know along the Ocean Beach path, all within a span of five minutes. For a weekend, it felt like the world was full of friends, and that was super-cool.
