Success!

Well mostly. I completed it, but missed a lot of my goal marks. Weather will be blamed for some of this though as it was 90* and humid, and there was a pretty steady headwind most of the ride.

Basic numbers:
Place: 102/230
Time: 6:09:57
Field avg.: 6:22:02

Swim place: 25th
Swim time: 33:01
Swim avg. speed: 7:48/500 yards
Field Average: 41:22

Transition 1:  3:42

Bike place: 67th
Bike time: 2:58:20
Bike avg. speed: 18.84 mph
Field avg: 4:20:01

Transition 2: 3:11

Run place: 102nd
Run time: 2:31:43
Run avg. speed: 11:34/mile
Field avg: 2:23:41

The swim was definitely a surprise. I had to double-take my watch when I got out of the water. A solid 5 minutes faster than I expected and I was throttling back so as not to go out too hard. Good start for the day.

My first transition was pretty fast. I had trouble getting my wetsuit into the transition bag which cost me probably 10-15 seconds. I also had to run out of transition in my shoes carrying the bike. The corral was on a grassy field with lots of stickers to eat up tubes. I saw a lot of flat tires in the first 1-2 miles of the ride. I did forget to put sunblock in my bag though - ugh.

The ride went pretty well. I was staying on my food/salt/drink schedule pretty well until about 30-35 miles in and my gut went haywire. I think it was because I had too much drink and not enough water. Unfortunately, that was just after the second aid station so I had to go another 10 or so miles to get water. Until that point I was holding a steady 21.4mph. The gut issues dropped me down to the 16-17mph range and perfectly coincided with the hills, which was a bad combo. I lost a lot of time there. I refueled at the next station and was off and kicking right away after drinking a half bottle of water. I was able to get my speed back up to 18-19mph, but the damage was done. Not a lot, but enough.

The start of transition two was amusing. Getting off the bike into a run was comical. Imagine having two dead legs and being told to run up a hill quickly. That's basically how transition started. I was in the back at the top of the hill. Not a steep hill, but about 100 yards with a 10-20ft elevation gain. Doesn't sound like a lot, but enough.

The actual transition was fast. I almost forgot my salt tabs, but thankfully checked my pockets before I jumped up. My life would have been miserable without them. I also caught the sunblock guy before I ran out. The only had one guy and he wasn't right next to the exit.

Starting the run went well, but the hills. The god damned hills! I ran the first 1.5 miles and hit the hill. After that point I ended up walking up most of the hills. The heat was full bore and I could not stay cool. I was dumping ice down my top every aid station, which were roughly every 3/4 mile. Heat or not, I need to work on my running.

In the end, there are some things that I can do better and others things that I learned.

Swimming: Keep doing what I am doing. Brett and Peter make for a great coaching team.

Transition 1: Remember sunblock and to bring a floor pump to check my tires day of.

Bike: Have one water bottle empty holding a tube and tools. Carry minimal Gu and Chomps and one bottle of water, as you can reload at aid stations. Time Trial helmet: over a 50 mile distance you can save 3-4 minutes on a helmet alone. Aero wheels are good for another 2-3 minutes. I didn't get passed by many people on bike, but almost everybody who did was on aero wheels with a TT helmet.

Transition 2: Sunblock up. Maybe quick tie laces, but I'm pretty fast already.

Run: Just keep running and lose another 20lbs. I just need to spend time getting my running muscles stronger. When it's hot, do anything to stay cool.

My shoulder did act up and I will be scheduling with an ortho soon. I need to have it looked at to see if it's time to fix it. God forbid my shoulder give me proper leverage while I am swimming and not falling out when running.

On that note,  I'm going to sleep. Oh, and my ass hurts. Along with every other muscle in my legs.

So that weekend is here

A reiteration of the last post basically: just super fucking busy. House is being remodeled: kitchen, floors, paint, main floor lighting, fireplace, etc. I did most of the demo to save money, so my little down time has been spent on that. Not much time for blogging.

Updates since my last post:

• Training has been pretty steady. My mileage is up there for running and biking. My swim is holding a steady 9 min/500 yard pace for 2200 yards. Bike I am holding at a steady 18mph over varied, hilly terrain. I expect to hold closer to 20mph during the race. Running I can hold a 9min pace for an hour. Still not fast, but steady.

• Spent Labor Day weekend in Moab, UT with Sven, Abe, Misha, Kurt, and Brett for our annual bike trip/Cal Cycling reunion. In reality it's just us all taking time off to hangout and ride bikes. Abe brought a drone and we got awesome pictures and video. I'll upload some eventually.

• Sarah took Haley to SF for a week during September, so I spent a week training and ripping up hardwood flooring. I highly recommend against doing that without somebody to help. It sucks. 

• And I've lost 35lbs; I'm now sitting at a pretty steady 215lbs. I still have another 15lbs for goal, but I've made a pretty big dent. I'm going to be changing my workout post-race to involve more weight training and less riding, as it's going to be cold as hell soon. I'll probably put on more weight, but hopefully I can keep it muscle then lean down for next season.

• My shoulder has been acting up again. The lack of ligaments between my clavicle and arm becomes very apparent about 6 miles into my run when my arm feels like it is falling off my body. I've been using KT Tape to some benefit, but I have a feeling I will be a very unhappy monkey at the end of the race because of that. I already have a referral from my doctor for an ortho. I might finally be getting my shoulder fixed. Hopefully it's easily correctable, as it impacts my swimming too. Hard to get leverage on my left arm stroke.

The bike was dropped off last week for delivery to Austin, so I rode the 'wookie bike' last weekend. After  having lost that much weight and strengthened my back, the upright position is annoying. I will probably end up picking up a new, traditional frame to swap parts over to. The 'wookie bike' will be hung in the rafters until I'm old and gimpy again.

I haven't decided my races for 2015 yet, but I did put in for the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz. It was fun the last time I did it, so hopefully I can get lucky enough to be drawn. If I get a slot, I will be getting a new road bike. The course is so hilly that a full aero bike doesn't make sense. I am planning on doing two Sprint, two Olympic, and two Half's next season. The Sprint's will be refreshers in the beginning of the season with the Olympic's being mid-training for the Half's. I screwed up and didn't register for the Oceanside Half in time and registration closed. Still a bit angry with myself for that one.

Race is this weekend. Getting packed up tomorrow and Thursday, flight is on Friday. We'll be meeting my parent's at the airport and going from there. Probably spend the rest of Friday getting our bearings and Saturday on race prep. The race starts Sunday at 7:30am.

Goals are currently:
Swim: 38 minutes. Holding a 9min/500 pace.
Bike: 2:48 hour. That's holding 20mph.
Run: 2:10 hour. Low expectation pace holding a 10min mile.
Total: 5:36 hours excluding transitions

I think I can beat these, as the elevation will be a substantial benefit to me. As long as I keep eating and drinking, taking salt, and not pushing to bonk I will do well. Looking at last year's results, I would fit in around 100/258 starters. I'm still shooting for top third though, which would put me around 5:27. That isn't too outlandish...

The one thing that I am bummed about is that Dad can't run along with me at any point without me risking DQ. That is somewhat (very) frustrating, but I see the point that having somebody to race with could be having a pacer. Hopefully he does migrate out along the run course though. Having people along the course is nice and a boost. When I saw Sarah and Haley at the Aurora race, it was a great boost.

On that note, I'm going to sleep.