Humidity

It doesn't get very hot or humid here in Duluth very often. It makes it a great place to live in the summer most of the time. However, I had to get my run in this morning and the weather was gross. Temperature was 66, dew point was 65, so 96% humidity. There was a slight breeze which helped some because I don't run fast enough to create my own breeze.

Overall the run went well. I felt fine, I was well hydrated before I set out for my 5 mile run. I didn't break any records on this run, but I got it done. Oddly I spent a lot of my run trying to imagine feeling this good in two weeks at my next race. My first step towards visualization?

A Major Award!

So I belong to a virtual masters swim team called the Nort'landers. We practice independently all across Minnesota and get together for swim meets to compete as a team. Yesterday was the long course (50 meter pool) state championships. Our team won and I took first in all 8 events I swam (5 individual, 3 relays).

Over beers after the meet, the team presented me this trophy for earning the most medals at last years nationals. 

It makes me laugh.

Long Course Swim Meet

Not many people at this meet so it went fast. Not much time between events.

So my daughter went to a swim camp at the University of Minnesota a couple of weeks ago and at the end of the camp they do a swim meet. Each kid swims 2 events in the 50 meter pool. My daughter threw down a 45 second 50m backstroke which beat my PR in long course 50 back by 3 seconds! So although I wasn't going to swim it, I decided I can't let her have a household PR. I was going to switch my 100 back for the 50 back but I ended up just getting an official 50m split from my 100m race.

So first up was a relay. No pressure on these relays, just swim. Good warm up of 50 meters. Then I got out of the pool and got back in the same lane for my 100m backstroke. My 50m split was a PR but not fast enough to beat my daughter. I sprinted that first 50m and then just relaxed the next 50m. I ended up just 1s short of a 100m backstroke PR. So I was happy with that result. I so rarely swim any backstroke right now.

Next up was the 400m free. I swam this at USMS Summer Nationals last year. That was a really long race for me last summer and I beat my goal time of 8 minutes by swimming a 7:57. I didn't have any real time goals this year except to try and set a PR. Well I went 7:13! A 43 second PR! I felt really good in that race.

I swam another relay of 100 meters of freestyle, then a break and another 50m back as part of a medley relay team. After that relay, I walked back to the other end and dove in for my 200m freestyle race. The 200 is an odd race for me. I am not sure how to pace it. I can't give it everything because I will die after 100 meters. But I finished in 3:33 which was an 8 second PR!

Next up was the 100 free. After having a good set of 100's in the pool on Thursday I was hoping for a good result here. But I was a bit torn about going all out like I did on Thursday because I had the 1500 free just about 15 minutes later and I needed something for that. My time was less than a half second slower than my PR from last summer. I was ok with that.

Last was the 1500. I went out trying to push a little bit but not too hard. Just be consistent with my stroke. I viewed this as practice for my upcoming triathlon. I haven't been doing a ton of long distance non-stop swimming so this was a good test. I felt really good through this. Strong, steady, good form, breathing steady. The last 150 I tried to pick up the pace a bit. I finished in 29:50. I was a bit disappointed in this time. I was hoping to go under 29 minutes, and I felt like I was swimming as strong as I did in the 400. It turns out I was swimming about 4-5 seconds/50 slower than I did in the 400. So I have some work to do to figure out what that right pace is. Can I hold that 400m pace that I had for 1500m? Good experience, and confidence builder for the future.

So overall a good meet I am very happy. 5 individual events and I took first place in my age group in all of them. It helps to be the only person in your age group competing, but you can't win if you don't show up!

Swimming Sprints

Well a sprint workout today. After the first set of 5x25 sprint on :60 he had us do 100 for time. Coach told us not to go all out but we should push ourselves. So I think I doing just that, nice and easy, push it just a little shooting for 1:35-1:38 and swim a near PR 1:29. Oops.

Two rounds of 5x25 sprints later, we are told to do another 100 and to beat that pace setting time. I go and swim a PR (from a push) of 1:25 (motivated by Ann in next lane before she left for the day). Holy crap! I couldn't believe it.

One more round of 5x25 and we did another 100 for time. Coach asks if I can repeat my 1:25 now that my fast swimmer left. I don't know....

Good start and breakout, first 50 is solid, turns are right on. At 60 yards starting to feel it, keep pushing, I can see coach on the deck waving me on. Final turn was perfect, break out past the flags, arms getting heavy. 15 yards to go and my legs are DONE, they feel like logs I am just dragging behind me. My arms keep churning through what now feels like molasses....almost done, no more breathing, there's the T, touch the wall, stop my watch.

1:22

Are you kidding me? Back to back PR's! Woooooo!

After last nights 5k PR run with negative splits, this is crazy!

The Prez and Negative Splits

So my training plan has a 30 minute run on it today. I guess this is a mini taper in preparation for my swim meet this weekend. I tried to go back and find the last 30 minute run I did but it has been a LONG time.

So I chose a route that I figured would be close to 5k in length which should take me a bit less than 30 minutes. I planned to do my run before dinner. On the way home from picking the kid up from camp we had to stop to watch the President in Air Force One land at the airport near my house.

It was a warm day with the temps around 80F when I went out for the run at 5pm.

I wasn't pushing the pace at all just trying to be comfortable at the start. First mile was a fairly normal pace. Second mile was actually 1 second faster. The third mile is a bit more uphill so I was trying to keep the pace. With the house in sight, I skipped the last walk segment and ran the remainder of the way to the house.

Exactly 3.1 miles. When I got inside I looked at my data and I had set a new 5k PR, and I negative split the run too! What the heck?!

So it was quite an eventful night!

Long Open Water Swim

Met up with a different local group for an open water swim. This group meets M-F mornings for various workouts. Today was a swim/run (I skipped the run).

There were 7 of us. 3 people went out ahead with the intention of swimming the "long" route. 4 of us swam the first half of the short route and then regrouped. I was significantly faster than the other 3 people in my group so I ended up waiting for them to catch up.

2 people decided to head back and 2 of us decided to continue on to complete the long route. We stopped bout halfway out to the point when we met up with the group coming back. Then we took a quick breather at the turnaround point before going non-stop on the way back.

I was significantly faster than my buddy so I ended up swimming about a dozen strokes then wading for a bit for her to catch up some. So it was definitely stop and go  for much of this workout.

I felt great the whole time. No issues at all. I did end up with some chafing on the back of my neck from the wetsuit. Good to learn now, I will make sure I lube that up pretty good next time.

Tuxes, Marathons, and Trainer Rides

It's been a whirlwind few days here. I flew out to Washington DC for a work related celebration that required me to wear a tux. So that was kinda fun.

Was there less than 24 hours though and back in Duluth in time for a couples golf event that my wife and I did.

Saturday morning we were down in Canal Park at the finish line of Grandma's Marathon. My wife and I volunteer every year for this event, and our jobs are to escort the winners of the marathon (men's winner for me, women's winner for Melissa) from the finish line to the media center and get them what they need while they are getting interviewed.

This year's men's winner was a four-pete winner. Unbelievable. These guys are just so fast and make it look so easy. I know their training is hard, but they are amazing to watch. I can't run a single mile as fast as these guys run 26 of them.

After 3 days off of training, which it turns out I needed after the hard workouts on Wednesday, it was back on the bike. The threat of storms, and the lack of a spare bike tube kept me inside on the trainer today. Not the greatest of rides, I think my legs are still pretty tired, but I got through the hour and a half ride. Then a quick change and out the door for a 15 minute run.

15 minutes is the longest run after a bike ride I have done so far. It went pretty well. I wasn't super fast, but I managed to get the legs churning.

10k

So my training plan said to lengthen my run time to one hour today. So I figured I would scope out a 10k+ run route. So I hopped on my bike and rode a loop that was just short of 6 miles. So with that information I decided that I would just down a side street for 0.3 miles and then turn around, and that way I was assured of hitting my 6.2 miles for this run. With that information I headed out for my run.

OMG that was hard!

It was really warm outside, sunny temps in the low 80's when I started. Much warmer than I am used to. I have started to bring water with me on these runs which is a lifesaver. My legs were so tired from the swim/bike I did last night and then the strength workout I did this morning. Ugh.

My goal was to do a run/walk time of 2:45/0:45 through at least the first 5k and then switched to 2:30/1:00 for the remainder. I succeeded in that regard. I was trying really hard to keep my pace under 10 minutes/mile and I managed that through 5 miles, but I really started to die off in mile 6 and beyond. My feet really started to hurt in the last mile or so. Thats new.

When I finally got home I was a hot sweaty mess. I just laid on the floor trying to catch my breath and lower my heart rate. A nice cold shower did wonders too. After the shower I looked at the data for my run.

Before I started this whole triathlon training thing last fall I looked up a couple of the running races I did in my past. I ran a few 5k's here in Duluth after I moved here, and I did a few 10k races in Denver when I lived there. I looked up my times (it is amazing what is on the internet) and wrote them down.

The last time I ran a 10k was Memorial Day 1998, so just over 20 years ago. My time in that race was 1:07:34 and was my best 10k time ever!

Today my 10k time of 1:01:10 shattered that!

So I am super excited and super exhausted at the same time!

Flat Tire and Rainbows

So after that great swimming experience it was time for a 20 mile bike ride. Similar to the swim, we were to ride to a certain halfway point and then meet up before heading back. The route was mostly a common one I take from my house so I was familiar.

Several us got to the halfway point which is a bar on a small lake and we waited for a bit. Then we decided to head out and as soon as I started I ended up with a flat rear tire.

So now this kinda a big deal, but if you are going to get a flat, probably best to do it on a group ride with tons of people with you to help and right next to a bar when you can just go in and call your wife and have a drink while you wait if you decide not to fix it.

So I carry a spare tube, CO2 inflaters and tire levers to do the job, but I have never actually changed a bike tire before. I had watched some youtube videos so I was familiar with the premise of how it worked, but I had not actually done it. I also carry a $20 bill in case I need to buy beer while I wait for a ride home.

It was funny that several people that were with me said they had never changed a bike tire before. So it turns out that I wasn't alone and I was going to be doing a demonstration for the group.

I managed to get the old tube out and the new tube in. Getting the tire back on was a bit of a chore but I managed that too. Then I had to figure out how the CO2 cartridges worked (really well is the answer), and finally I was ready to get back on the road. It took 15 minutes for me to change my tire.

A quick ride back to the car with a couple of sprinkles of rain along the way and my evening of successful firsts (open water swimming and tire changing) was complete. As I got in my car and drove away, A double rainbow appeared to the east. I thought it was a fitting end to my evening.

Open Water Swimming

So a local running store offers "tri-nights" on Tuesdays during the summer. They do an open water swim at a lake near my house followed by a 20 mile bike ride. The swims are kayak supported for safety. So I signed up and I hope to take advantage a few times this summer. Tonight was one of those nights.

I drove over, parked, and grabbed my wetsuit. There were about a dozen of us for this session. I began putting on my wetsuit and realized that I had it on backwards. Nice way to start Tim! After finally getting my wetsuit on, I got someone to zip me up and we headed out into the water.

My research on the open water panic attack said to do a few things. First try to get acclimated to the water before swimming. Let some water into the top of the wetsuit to help provide another barrier to the cold. Then stick your face in the water and just blow some bubbles. Finally when you start swimming, start slowly.

So thats exactly what I did. The water was COLD!!! The wetsuit is super nice though and once into the water waist deep I kneeled down and let some water into my suit. Then I stuck my face in a few times to blow bubbles. Yep the water was cold on my face too. So far so good. Breathing is normal, heart rate is normal. I am thinking that I can do this, but I have to swim yet.

So we all headed towards a white garage door across the little bay we were in. I was told it was about 400 yards away. I waited for everyone else to leave and then I started. I took a few strokes, sighted, and then asked a kayaker if I was going to the right place. He assured me I was.

Then I just put my head down and swam. I was sighting every 3 breaths which seemed to be about right. I stopped after a short while because I came up to some feet. So floating in the water, I realized that I didn't start my watch! AAAAH why do I do that?

So with the watch started I head out again, nice and easy. My tempo was very slow and deliberate, just focusing on my breathing and before I knew it, I was with the group in the shallows by the white garage door.

Some went on to do the mile swim, but I decided to just turn around and finish the swim with most of the others. Not going to push anything this time around. Again I waiting for everyone to start and then I headed out, again with the same easy pace.

After a little while I was comfortable so I started picking up the pace a little. Pulling a little harder with each stroke and slightly increasing the tempo. I ended up passing several people on the way back which was unexpected and suddenly I was in the shallows at the boat landing again.

I DID IT!!! I can actually swim in open water just like I thought.

Riding in the Rain

So I had another 1:30 bike ride on the schedule today. I wanted to play golf with friends at 8am so I was on the road from my house by 6am to get my ride started. Yucky day today. It had rained overnight so the roads were wet. Temps were cool at around 50 degrees and wind was off of lake superior so chilly.

I tried to check the radar before I left but it was down for maintenance. So I had no idea if I was going to get wet or not. The long range views from the other radars seemed to indicate that it would be dry for the morning.

I was planning to do the same route as a couple of weeks ago which starts with about 5 miles straight north from my house. As I turned to the east it started to rain. Cold rain too, definitely made it hard to see.  I really didn't need this, and it certainly wasn't fun, so I cut my ride short by a couple of miles by turning south a couple of roads early.

I must have been just on the edge of the rain because once I turned back to the south it stopped again. It was really dark out. The clouds were thick and not letting the early morning sun through. I only have tinted glasses on my bike so it was dark and hard to see.

So it was an interesting ride. Not as strong as previous rides, but I did experience some new conditions with the rain and the dark. I think I need to get me some clear glasses for riding.

Confidence Building

I have been doing a lot of reading and I had a panic attack in the water. This is apparently common in open water swimming and I just need to do a few things differently next time and get more exposure to open water.

But because of that I guess I will just say that I lost a lot of confidence last weekend in that race. I posted at the end of the race report that I am considering dropping down to the sprint rather than the Oly for my next race. My coach disagreed and wants me to do the Oly but I have some serious doubts.

So this week has been pretty standard. With pool swims Monday and today, a bike on Tuesday and a run on Wednesday.

Monday's swim went ok. I CAN still swim, I did prove that to myself. My breathing was still not quite right and the intervals that I would normally have no issues hitting I struggled with today.

Tuesday's bike ride went GREAT! I did a core workout first along with some stretching before heading out into the nice crisp fall air (oh wait, it is June). I was well rested and felt pretty good. I last did this loop ride in October and I took 7 minutes off my time. I didn't go into my small ring at all on the hills either which was a first.

My HR was right where I like it, and my breathing wasn't labored. It is amazing how much better I perform when my HR isn't pegged like it was on Sunday. So it was a great confidence building ride.

My run yesterday started with a 5 mile bike ride to loosen up. Nothing hard, just an easy spin since that worked well in my shakedown ride last week. It turned out to be my longest run to date. First time for 5+ miles, and set a 5k PR! The 5th mile was brutal, it is just a long slow climb. Nothing steep, just always uphill.

I did 2:45/0:45 for the first 3 miles, then about halfway through mile 4 I switched to 2:30/1:00 and used that to the end. But overall I felt great during this run.

Today Coach was out sick for our swim class so I ended up "leading" the class (there were 3 of us regulars). I pulled out a previous workout I had written down and was in my bag. I got the whiteboard and marker, wrote it out and off we went. It was a workout that didn't require anyone to send us off, we were able to do it ourselves.

I had zero motivation this morning to swim. Just one of those morning where I would rather have stayed in bed. But I had a good swim, fast sprints and felt much better than Monday.

So overall this week has been very positive for me.

1. I have proven to myself that I can swim, even if it is in a pool
2. People were impressed that I actually finished the race despite what I went through. I hadn't really given that any thought, but in reality I never felt like quitting.
3. My fitness has improved in the past 8 months quite a bit and I keep proving it to myself.
4. I did a bunch of research and I think I know what set off my panic attack and how I am going to fix it

I am looking forward to trying open water swimming again and proving to myself that I CAN do that too!

NewBriTri Race Report

Preamble

The whole family drove to Minneapolis the day before. Ran a couple of errands. Dinner at Olive Garden and in the hotel room early.

Pre-Race

Arrived at the park about 640am and picked up my bag then found a spot in transition and got my stuff set up. It was then that I realized that I left my body glide back at the hotel. I met up with Austin who was the guy who gave me my first swim lesson 3 years ago and my daughters former coach. We chatted for a bit. We also ran into Elaine who has been swimming with me in the mornings.

Then it was time to get the wetsuit on. That’s almost as exhausting as the race itself. I borrowed some spray on body glide from the women next to me and put that on my wrists and ankles. Then I walked over to where my family was. It was super windy out and kinda chilly standing around, but not too bad with the wetsuit on.

After the pre-race meeting we were set to go.

Swim

The swim was set up time trial style with people entering the water every 3s or so and had a triangular shape, so just 2 turns. I put myself in the middle of the pack with a bunch of other people shooting for a 15 minute swim. It wasn’t very long and I was off and into the water. It was fairly shallow for a while so some running/wading for a bit and then I dove in. First stroke my hand touched the ground but after that nothing, so I think I timed it about right.

I swam about 100 yards or so, not crowded at all, but suddenly I just felt like I couldn’t breathe. My normal rhythmic breathing that I do in the pool all the time was suddenly not enough air. Not even close. So I switched to a safety stroke for a bit (mix of breast/side stroke) to see if I could catch my breath and calm down. Then back into freestyle. I could only manage maybe 5 rhythmic breaths and then I was back upright in the water.

This continued to the first turn buoy where I found a lifeguard on a paddleboard. I stopped there for a while, just stupefied that this was happening at all. I didn’t understand it, I didn’t know what to do about it either. My HR was through the roof, and I was essentially hyperventilating. I was with that lifeguard for over a minute for sure, I don’t know exactly. I wasn’t really getting any better but I decided to continue on.

But first I had to start my watch! (Doh!)

The leg to the next buoy was the longest on the course. Same thing was happening. Go for a few strokes stop, go for a few strokes and stop. I made it to the next paddleboarding lifeguard at the midway point of the leg and stayed there for a while. Frustration growing.

On from him to the next corner doing the same thing again. I make it around the corner and stop at a kayak for a while. The funny thing is there was a guy who was basically doing sidestroke the whole way and he stopped at every lifeguard too. Apparently he thought my stopping looked like a good idea.

Now a straight shot to shore and I managed to make it to walkable area and slowly make my way to shore. I am totally gassed, HR high, and totally out of breath.

The wind didn’t seem to affect me at all on the swim. There were really no waves at all to deal with, I never got any water in my mouth. Just no idea what set this off.

Completed the swim in 19:32 which was 40/42 in my age group

T1

I walk into transition, I am trying to get my breathing and HR under control here before the bike. I get to my spot and try to take my wetsuit off, the arms came off easy, but I could NOT get my feet out. ARRGG! So finally I manage to get my wetsuit off, my socks and bike shoes on, throw on my helmet and then walk to the bike exit. 3:57 for my T1 time.

Bike

I get on my bike and start pedaling out. I am still breathing really hard and I glance down at my bike computer and it shows 173 for my HR! No wonder I feel like crap. The first mile or so is within the park so nice road and no cars. I get into a rhythm and I work to get my cadence up to where I want it not really paying attention to anything else.

I pass a few people along the way and then about a couple miles in, my bike computer tells me that my fitness performance score is -12. No kidding! I feel like crap, my HR is still well over 170 (it should be in the 150’s). So everything about the bike is about trying to get my HR down some.

I don’t take in much fluid, too hard to do with as hard as I am breathing it seems. We take a turn to the west and then the north, directly into the teeth of the wind. I am not cold, but I am working pretty hard. I am noticing that I am not really putting a ton of power in the bike today and my speeds are down, but it is all I can do with my HR as high as it is.

I finally get my HR consistently down under 170 about halfway through the bike, but this was not going to be a legs and power kind of day, this was going to be whatever my body will aerobically allow me to do.

I do pass a bunch of people on the bike, I only got passed by 1 person which I found odd. We finally turn to the east and a tailwind, but man is that road ROUGH. Thankfully it wasn’t very long and we were back in the park. I pass a few more people on the last mile and see my family just before I head to T2.

Time was 41:57 for 12.6 miles, and 28/42 in my age group. That was surprisingly good for as bad as I felt and KNOWING I can ride much harder than that.

T2

Again I walk through transition, rack my bike and throw on my running shoes and I am heading out. 2:14 was my time though, so not setting any records there.

Run

Still slow, but I am now on the run portion. I knew right away that my 2:45/:45 run walk was going to be abandoned, I had given up on doing “well” in this race a long time ago, I am just in it to finish it now.

So I ran as much as I could, walked as quickly as I could. The STEEP hill at mile 0.4 was cruel. I got passed by a lot of people along the way, but I knew I wasn’t going to be last, and I just wanted to finish. I was really having more trouble than normal breathing. At the pace I was going it shouldn’t have been an issue, but there was a lot about this day that I don’t understand.

I finally rounded the final corner to the finish line. My family was there cheering me on as well as my friend Austin who had finished a LONG time before me.

Run time was 35:14 and 41/42 for my age group.

Total time 1:42:52, good for 39/42 in my age group, 124/144 in my gender, and 169/208 overall.

Final Thoughts

Whether it was just a natural reaction to wearing the tight wetsuit with all the other stressors going on like never having done an open water swim, or something else I don’t know. I will plan to do a bunch of open water swims in the coming weeks if I can find people that are going out. Maybe that will help some.

With this reaction, I am definitely rethinking whether I should do the Olympic distance tri that I have next on my calendar. There is no way I would finish the swim if this happened again much less a 2x longer bike and run.

Rule Breaking....Again

So we remember from my last race, that I broke the rule of not doing something new in a race by wearing only my tri kit in the water. It didn't go well as it was quite draggy in the water and it slowed me down.

Today we drove down to the twin cities and I stopped by the bike shop where I bought my bike and got fitted. I wanted to discuss saddle options. I haven't been real happy with the stock saddle, I was looking for a bit more cushion than it provides. So I discussed it with their master fitter and I ended up getting a new saddle installed on the bike. We did check over the fit and everything seems good there.

So now I am doing a race with a new saddle on my bike. I am not too worried about this change.

However....I am worried about the other rule. Tomorrow I am doing my very first open water swim, and it is part of a race. I am more than confident I can swim the distance of 800 yards, and I have swam with my wetsuit in the pool, but due to the late spring, and lack of training opportunities, I have not had a chance to swim in open water yet.

This race is using a time trial start for the swim. We will be started every 3-5 seconds. So that should take some of the pressure of the mass start out of the equation.

So it will be interesting!

Pre-Race Bike/Run

So I have been having issues with my bike for a while now. I can't get into some of the gears and it hops out of others. So I was finally able to get my bike into the local bike shop by my house and they got it all fixed up in a day or so.

With the race on Sunday, my training plan called for a 20 minute bike and 10 minute run on Saturday, Since the weather was pretty terrible today (46 and windy) but the forecast for tomorrow was worse (46, windy and rainy) and coupled with wanting to make sure my bike was all set to go prior leaving for the race, I decided to just go ahead and get it out of the way today.

Everything worked great so I am super happy with it right now.

Then after that quick bike ride it was time for a 10 minute run. I just run for 5 minutes and then turn around and come back. I don't really pay attention to the pace or anything like that, I am just running for 10 minutes.

So as I am running I am thinking, "I don't remember running this far in 5 minutes." I had run almost all the way to the school before my 5 minutes were up. I thought it was odd, but maybe I just didn't remember it right from before.

I finish my 10 minute run back at the house and download my data and I just ran the fastest mile to date for me! What?!?! Maybe I just need to ride my bike a bit to loosen up before a run.