Before we started swimming, a light drizzle had begun, and it had not stopped by the time I exited the water. I always like when there are volunteers who militantly order me onto my butt so that they can rip off my wetsuit...that sentence reads differently now that I can read it back to myself. Anyway, these guys make wetsuit removal easy, but I didn't see them when I got out of the water. Jessica said they were there, so I must have missed them. Getting a wetsuit off by yourself is difficult.
I succeeded eventually and I pulled on my bike shorts and running shirt over my wetsuit. Typically, I would wear triathlon clothes during a race, since you can swim, bike, and run in the same outfit, but the ones I have that fit are getting pretty worn. I think the shorts might be see-through at this point, so I was hesitant to use them as swim bottoms and then for another 6 hours after that.
I was finally all geared up when I wheeled my bike out past the timing mat and just at the start point. After ditching a bottle of water that was woefully small for my water bottle holder (sorry, kind volunteer who picked it up!), I was on my way.
I was one of the last ones out of the water for my distance, which is not unusual but was more pronounced on this day. Typically, the people who exit the water around the same time are either overall race stragglers, and therefore easy to pick off on the bike, or cycling dynamos who haven't learned to swim well yet who zoom past me from the start. That's pretty much how it broke down. The other people on the course at that time were racing the Olympic. It's sometimes obvious to see the difference between Olympic racers and sometimes not. Regardless, I was happy for the additional company while I had it.
The hilliest part of the course was the beginning (and end)! It seemed a little cruel to me, since that was the part shared by all distances. I don't know. I don't get paid to design race courses.
At the very end of that first 6 or so miles (the shared part), we climbed a steep hill. At the top of the hill, a woman told me something like "good for you". From what I could tell, it was completely genuine, but I was trying to figure out what she meant because we were both successfully climbing the hill. I like to think I did it with some style, even though I do almost nothing with style.
The ride was pleasant and not especially hilly except for the beginning and end. The only little thing that posed a tiny problem was that it poured torrentially for two thirds of the race. There were places where I went slower than I would have otherwise because I didn't want to fall. I was also wearing my sunglasses. It was a little bit like driving without windshield wipers.
The rain wasn't awful, though it certainly impacted my performance. I think worse than the rain itself was the fact that there were NO mile markers in the whole race. None. I was wearing my watch, so I had a good sense of how far I'd gone, but if it hadn't been for that I would have been extremely frustrated by this situation.
Additionally, there came a part of the race that felt like it was 5-10 miles long in which there were no signs and no volunteers, so I continually thought I was lost. There was no one visibly ahead of me and only one person occasionally behind. There would be stretches when I wouldn't see her for a long time and worry that I'd taken a wrong turn, so I would slow until she came into sight and then continue. At one point, I started to worry that both of us had taken a wrong turn and nearly came to a full stop to wait for her, when I finally saw a race vehicle waiting at an intersection ahead. None of this helped, either.
But finally I did return to the turnaround point, which was my signal that I was only 6-7 miles from the end. Unfortunately for me, this was also the hilly part and I appreciated it even less at the end of the 56 mile ride than I had at the beginning.
All that aside though, I was just happy to have made it to the run. The run is and will probably always be the most reliable part of any triathlon for me. I can always grind out a run.
Showing posts with label triathlon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label triathlon. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Race Report: HITS Half Iron Distance Triathlon - Part 2!
When we left off, Moses and I had taken very different approaches to the pre-race routine. But we were finally ready, and Jessica and he got into their car and I got into mine and our tiny caravan started toward the race.
Jessica and I both wanted coffee and we stopped at 2 convenience stores before finding one that was open at 5am. We got our coffee and breakfast bars, and I got pretzel nuggets for my new during-race snack because, as you recall, my croissants were needed elsewhere and I'd tried pretzel nuggets during the Naked Bavarian in March.
When we reached the race, it was light outside, but the weather did not look promising and I was pessimistic based on the rain from the previous evening. Nevertheless, Moses and I were both very excited. He to be doing his first triathlon, and I to be just doing triathlon, which is something of a rarity because of its high cost in both money and time.
We unloaded the cars and walked over to the registration tent to pick up our packets. It's rare for a half or iron distance event to have morning-of packet pickup and it's something I appreciated here. After stuffing my envelope into my tri backpack, I did a tiny loop around the parking lot on my bike to make sure it was in working order, and then we went to the transition area to begin setting up.
This was definitely a low-cost event. I'm certainly not complaining because I am cheap, but it's worth mentioning that it showed. Typically, bikes are lined up on rails, but it looked like the race organizers had finagled some sort of system with particle board shelving units and folding footstools? It looked as strange as it sounds, plus it made knowing exactly where to park our bikes challenging. It took me a good five minutes just to find my number!
Once I did, I busied myself putting number stickers on everything (swim cap, helmet, bike) and putting all my gear in appropriate piles. Bike shorts, shoes, socks, sunglasses, and race bib belt made up the bike pile. Running shoes, running shorts (it was unusual for me to have two shorts-changes), and a running shirt (also unusual) made up the run pile and I always place my helmet on top of my aero bars. I stuffed some pretzel nuggets into the covered pocket of my saddle bag so they wouldn't get as wet.
When we first got there, almost no one was wearing or putting on a wetsuit, so I spent a good amount of time sussing out whether or not most people would wear theirs because the water was warm. 25-30 minutes until race time, the suits started to come out for half and iron triathletes (probably Olympic, too, but I didn't see them as much), so I put mine on. My wetsuit makes me look and feel like a sausage.
I chatted some with Jessica and Moses before realizing the pre-race talk was happening near the water's edge and I said goodbye and good luck as I walked off to listen and subsequently start the race. My swim would be two loops around the course. I knew this would be troublesome from the get-go. The more direction changes there are, the worse I swim because I can't swim in a straight line to save my life.
The gun went off and the swim started, ever a frenzy. I try to hang back as much as possible at the start, because I'm going to end up in the back anyway and want to minimize the number of times I get kicked and hit getting there. The water was warm. I knew it was supposed to be, but it was even warmer than I expected. This was the first time I'd felt too warm during the swim. The good news is that I'd actually remembered to bring lube for my neck, so didn't chafe the hell out of myself.
The actual swimming went even more poorly than I expected and I can't tell you how many times I had to change direction and overcorrect myself in some way. It was a mess and I think I did it in 1:02, which is abysmal.
Well, this has already turned into a novel, so I guess it's going to be a 4-parter. To be continued!
Jessica and I both wanted coffee and we stopped at 2 convenience stores before finding one that was open at 5am. We got our coffee and breakfast bars, and I got pretzel nuggets for my new during-race snack because, as you recall, my croissants were needed elsewhere and I'd tried pretzel nuggets during the Naked Bavarian in March.
When we reached the race, it was light outside, but the weather did not look promising and I was pessimistic based on the rain from the previous evening. Nevertheless, Moses and I were both very excited. He to be doing his first triathlon, and I to be just doing triathlon, which is something of a rarity because of its high cost in both money and time.
We unloaded the cars and walked over to the registration tent to pick up our packets. It's rare for a half or iron distance event to have morning-of packet pickup and it's something I appreciated here. After stuffing my envelope into my tri backpack, I did a tiny loop around the parking lot on my bike to make sure it was in working order, and then we went to the transition area to begin setting up.
This was definitely a low-cost event. I'm certainly not complaining because I am cheap, but it's worth mentioning that it showed. Typically, bikes are lined up on rails, but it looked like the race organizers had finagled some sort of system with particle board shelving units and folding footstools? It looked as strange as it sounds, plus it made knowing exactly where to park our bikes challenging. It took me a good five minutes just to find my number!
Once I did, I busied myself putting number stickers on everything (swim cap, helmet, bike) and putting all my gear in appropriate piles. Bike shorts, shoes, socks, sunglasses, and race bib belt made up the bike pile. Running shoes, running shorts (it was unusual for me to have two shorts-changes), and a running shirt (also unusual) made up the run pile and I always place my helmet on top of my aero bars. I stuffed some pretzel nuggets into the covered pocket of my saddle bag so they wouldn't get as wet.
When we first got there, almost no one was wearing or putting on a wetsuit, so I spent a good amount of time sussing out whether or not most people would wear theirs because the water was warm. 25-30 minutes until race time, the suits started to come out for half and iron triathletes (probably Olympic, too, but I didn't see them as much), so I put mine on. My wetsuit makes me look and feel like a sausage.
I chatted some with Jessica and Moses before realizing the pre-race talk was happening near the water's edge and I said goodbye and good luck as I walked off to listen and subsequently start the race. My swim would be two loops around the course. I knew this would be troublesome from the get-go. The more direction changes there are, the worse I swim because I can't swim in a straight line to save my life.
The gun went off and the swim started, ever a frenzy. I try to hang back as much as possible at the start, because I'm going to end up in the back anyway and want to minimize the number of times I get kicked and hit getting there. The water was warm. I knew it was supposed to be, but it was even warmer than I expected. This was the first time I'd felt too warm during the swim. The good news is that I'd actually remembered to bring lube for my neck, so didn't chafe the hell out of myself.
The actual swimming went even more poorly than I expected and I can't tell you how many times I had to change direction and overcorrect myself in some way. It was a mess and I think I did it in 1:02, which is abysmal.
Well, this has already turned into a novel, so I guess it's going to be a 4-parter. To be continued!
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Training Scorecard - 4/24-5/3
Oof. It's been over a week and I've lapsed again in my posting. Let's restart this thing.
Eating: C
Meh? Last week I did well, but the weekend was crap.
Alcohol: C
Same idea good during the week, but I took Toronto as a good opportunity to try all the Canadian beer. ALL of it.
Sleep: B
I usually get 6-7 hours and last week this was mostly true with a couple exceptions.
Training Overall: B
Last week I did some swimming, some biking, no running during the week, but a whole lot over the weekend.
Run: Yes
Toronto! I'll write a race report soon.
Swim: Yes
Went for a swim at the Chelsea Rec Center in the morning before work on Tuesday.
Bike: Yes
I rode on both Sunday (30 miles) and Monday (20 miles) and both rides were excellent. On Sunday, I just rode around Central Park for awhile because I'm uncomfortable riding across the GWB by myself. On Monday, I stuck to the west side and rode all the way up to the Little Red Lighthouse.
Other: A
Improv practice(s), baseball game, book release party, Toronto.
Eating: C
Meh? Last week I did well, but the weekend was crap.
Alcohol: C
Same idea good during the week, but I took Toronto as a good opportunity to try all the Canadian beer. ALL of it.
Sleep: B
I usually get 6-7 hours and last week this was mostly true with a couple exceptions.
Training Overall: B
Last week I did some swimming, some biking, no running during the week, but a whole lot over the weekend.
Run: Yes
Toronto! I'll write a race report soon.
Swim: Yes
Went for a swim at the Chelsea Rec Center in the morning before work on Tuesday.
Bike: Yes
I rode on both Sunday (30 miles) and Monday (20 miles) and both rides were excellent. On Sunday, I just rode around Central Park for awhile because I'm uncomfortable riding across the GWB by myself. On Monday, I stuck to the west side and rode all the way up to the Little Red Lighthouse.
Other: A
Improv practice(s), baseball game, book release party, Toronto.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Training Scorecard - 4/1
Even though I've tried updating daily in the past to moderate effect, I'm trying it again. See, I've got a pretty big triathlon coming up in July and I need to figure out some way to at least attempt to keep myself accountable for my training and choices. So here goes this.
I would like to keep consistent with the categories below and I'm going to give myself grades for them as close to daily as possible. Getting to a level of fitness that will allow me to finish the tri is going to be challenging in this amount of time, but I think it's possible if I start making good decisions in both physical training and also my other habits (food, booze, sleep, etc.).
Clean Eating: B-
I stuck mostly to fruit, vegetables and protein, but also I had some cookie cake and a Diet Coke, which is my eternal enemy and the vice I just can't quit.
No Alcohol: A
Didn't have any!
Sleep: A
I got 7.5 hours.
Training Overall: B
Run: Yes
6.5 miles
Swim: No
Bike: No
Other: A
Blogging!
I would like to keep consistent with the categories below and I'm going to give myself grades for them as close to daily as possible. Getting to a level of fitness that will allow me to finish the tri is going to be challenging in this amount of time, but I think it's possible if I start making good decisions in both physical training and also my other habits (food, booze, sleep, etc.).
Clean Eating: B-
I stuck mostly to fruit, vegetables and protein, but also I had some cookie cake and a Diet Coke, which is my eternal enemy and the vice I just can't quit.
No Alcohol: A
Didn't have any!
Sleep: A
I got 7.5 hours.
Training Overall: B
Run: Yes
6.5 miles
Swim: No
Bike: No
Other: A
Blogging!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The Moses Zone
Yesterday, my friend Moses posted on my Facebook wall asking a few questions about what will be his first triathlon. He has a list of criteria that he'd like the race to meet and asked if I had any input.
I sure do!
Let's first establish our criteria:
It won't be hard to find a triathlon that is relatively local. If I do a search on Trifind (the website Moses has been using) and narrow it down to all triathlons in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for the remainder of the year, I get 94 events! To narrow it down further, I'm only going to include those that are within about 100 miles of NYC.
Distances
This is where it starts to get tricky. Moses is looking for the swim of a sprint triathlon, bike of an Olympic, and run of almost a half iron race (unless he means 10 kilometers, in which case it's an Olympic distance run, as well). Below, I list the distances for the most common types of triathlon:
I've established a designated Moses Zone because these are the distances I think he should consider for his first race. Generally, I recommend that everyone start with a sprint tri in order to let themselves gauge how they feel about the experience before committing to a long, arduous training plan that they might not be inclined to follow for long. However, I know Moses has a high baseline level of fitness. Moses could definitely pull off an Olympic distance triathlon for his first.
Price
It gets even trickier here. Although Moses has the ability to train for and race an Olympic distance triathlon in not too much time, the price of Olympic distance races tends to be higher than $100.
Date
Moses hasn't given me a specific time frame in which to work, but I'm going to eliminate any triathlon in the month of August. At least a month of training should be a prerequisite here.
Overall
We're not going to be able to meet all of Moses's criteria, but we can come close. If I apply the logic set above, I'm now looking for an Olympic distance triathlon within roughly 100 miles of NYC that occurs no earlier than September 1. This yields 8 results on Trifind and my natural next step is to create a spreadsheet with relevant data because I love spreadsheets and data.
This is my general process when I'm looking for my next triathlon. Hopefully Moses will find it helpful. One way or the other, I have a lot of confidence that he'll pick the one that's right for him.
I sure do!
Let's first establish our criteria:
- Location: the event should be in NYC, NJ, or PA. We're looking to generally stay local.
- Distances:
- Swim: ~1/4 mile
- Bike: 25+ miles
- Run: 10+ miles (I think? This wasn't specified and could be in kilometers)
- Price: ~$100
It won't be hard to find a triathlon that is relatively local. If I do a search on Trifind (the website Moses has been using) and narrow it down to all triathlons in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for the remainder of the year, I get 94 events! To narrow it down further, I'm only going to include those that are within about 100 miles of NYC.
Distances
This is where it starts to get tricky. Moses is looking for the swim of a sprint triathlon, bike of an Olympic, and run of almost a half iron race (unless he means 10 kilometers, in which case it's an Olympic distance run, as well). Below, I list the distances for the most common types of triathlon:
I've established a designated Moses Zone because these are the distances I think he should consider for his first race. Generally, I recommend that everyone start with a sprint tri in order to let themselves gauge how they feel about the experience before committing to a long, arduous training plan that they might not be inclined to follow for long. However, I know Moses has a high baseline level of fitness. Moses could definitely pull off an Olympic distance triathlon for his first.
Price
It gets even trickier here. Although Moses has the ability to train for and race an Olympic distance triathlon in not too much time, the price of Olympic distance races tends to be higher than $100.
Date
Moses hasn't given me a specific time frame in which to work, but I'm going to eliminate any triathlon in the month of August. At least a month of training should be a prerequisite here.
Overall
We're not going to be able to meet all of Moses's criteria, but we can come close. If I apply the logic set above, I'm now looking for an Olympic distance triathlon within roughly 100 miles of NYC that occurs no earlier than September 1. This yields 8 results on Trifind and my natural next step is to create a spreadsheet with relevant data because I love spreadsheets and data.
This is my general process when I'm looking for my next triathlon. Hopefully Moses will find it helpful. One way or the other, I have a lot of confidence that he'll pick the one that's right for him.
Monday, July 27, 2015
July (Almost August) 2015 Catchup
This is shaping up to be my worst year for blog posts. I've been meaning to catch up for some time, because there were four or five times over the last few months that I wanted to write and just never sat down to do it. Call it laziness or a funk, but I've been terribly remiss with regard to blogging.
I was inspired to post something tonight because I spent the last few hours of it watching livestream of the Ironman Lake Placid finish line. It's something I highly recommend doing if you're looking for some big ol' feels.
I was at a social function a few weeks ago and met a friend of a friend who slipped into casual conversation that she was set to do Lake Placid in a short three weeks. Prior to this, we had chatted a bit about riding and triathlon in general, but it took some time for her to mention the Ironman. She revealed that she was anxious about it because she had attempted the same race in 2013 but hadn't made the bike cutoff. She was very apprehensive about even talking about it much. I had some relevant insight, as someone who has found myself in the same exquisitely agonizing situation (well-documented, in a four part post that starts here). We commiserated about it for awhile, and eventually parted ways. She said she wasn't completely sure she was going to do it while I did my best to encourage it.
It wasn't my day, so I won't make this its own epic saga (although maybe she'll do a guest post about it...). Suffice it to say, she started and finished like a champ and she is an Ironwoman. I am very glad she overcame her fear of the distance and was able to power through all the tough times that come with a daylong race.
I'm liking this guest post idea more and more, so I'm going to try to make that happen. As for me, I would like to post about a few things that have happened since we last touched base:
I was inspired to post something tonight because I spent the last few hours of it watching livestream of the Ironman Lake Placid finish line. It's something I highly recommend doing if you're looking for some big ol' feels.
I was at a social function a few weeks ago and met a friend of a friend who slipped into casual conversation that she was set to do Lake Placid in a short three weeks. Prior to this, we had chatted a bit about riding and triathlon in general, but it took some time for her to mention the Ironman. She revealed that she was anxious about it because she had attempted the same race in 2013 but hadn't made the bike cutoff. She was very apprehensive about even talking about it much. I had some relevant insight, as someone who has found myself in the same exquisitely agonizing situation (well-documented, in a four part post that starts here). We commiserated about it for awhile, and eventually parted ways. She said she wasn't completely sure she was going to do it while I did my best to encourage it.
It wasn't my day, so I won't make this its own epic saga (although maybe she'll do a guest post about it...). Suffice it to say, she started and finished like a champ and she is an Ironwoman. I am very glad she overcame her fear of the distance and was able to power through all the tough times that come with a daylong race.
I'm liking this guest post idea more and more, so I'm going to try to make that happen. As for me, I would like to post about a few things that have happened since we last touched base:
- I told a story at the Moth StorySlam just about a week after my last post. It was (perhaps not shockingly) about running and Hurricane Sandy.
- I finished the New Jersey Marathon at the end of April and ran it just about the time I anticipated.
- Brooklyn Half
- Queens 10K (maybe)
- Challenge Atlantic City half iron tri
- Party With Purpose - 5K in Hoboken
- Tomorrow is Day 1 of serious marathon training
Now that I've broken the ice, hopefully these posts will come easier. Congrats to M (kept at least partially anonymous for now) and to all the Lake Placid (and other Ironman races that happened today) finishers.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
I'm Still Alive!
Which, based on the number of times I've posted this year, may come as a surprise. I had a decent January when it came to training, but a very rocky February and March due to some good reasons and some bad reasons. But those are over and done, so let's move forward.
A few noteworthy things have happened since I last posted. I signed up for a half iron distance triathlon on June 28, and I'm really excited about it. It's been a long time since I trained for/did a tri and I forgot how much I enjoy it. With that in mind, I was very excited to go on my first ride of the season two weeks ago. It was a group ride that was sent to me by my friend Bern. It was good to get out on the road, but also entirely too cold for a very long ride so we didn't do much more than 17 miles. The other good news is that it sounds like the group will go out for a ride every couple of weeks. Hopefully gone are the days when I spend an entire season doing training rides by myself!
I also signed up for the Chicago Marathon lottery. I think it would be really fun to do Chicago, since I've spent a little time there for work now. It closes April 21, so I imagine decisions will be made soon after. If I end up doing that, I'll have to miss the Staten Island Half for the first time in 6 years. That's okay, though. Sometimes it's good to change up the routine.
Finally, I'm really proud to say that I've run 50 miles per week for the last three. That's more than I've done in the past but I think it's sustainable for awhile as long as I listen to my body and rest if it's necessary. One thing is for sure, the fact that I've managed it has given me a huge confidence boost about my ability to stick to a training routine. I was beginning to wonder if I'd lost it.
Hopefully this means more posts for me. Happy Easter, everyone!
A few noteworthy things have happened since I last posted. I signed up for a half iron distance triathlon on June 28, and I'm really excited about it. It's been a long time since I trained for/did a tri and I forgot how much I enjoy it. With that in mind, I was very excited to go on my first ride of the season two weeks ago. It was a group ride that was sent to me by my friend Bern. It was good to get out on the road, but also entirely too cold for a very long ride so we didn't do much more than 17 miles. The other good news is that it sounds like the group will go out for a ride every couple of weeks. Hopefully gone are the days when I spend an entire season doing training rides by myself!
I also signed up for the Chicago Marathon lottery. I think it would be really fun to do Chicago, since I've spent a little time there for work now. It closes April 21, so I imagine decisions will be made soon after. If I end up doing that, I'll have to miss the Staten Island Half for the first time in 6 years. That's okay, though. Sometimes it's good to change up the routine.
Finally, I'm really proud to say that I've run 50 miles per week for the last three. That's more than I've done in the past but I think it's sustainable for awhile as long as I listen to my body and rest if it's necessary. One thing is for sure, the fact that I've managed it has given me a huge confidence boost about my ability to stick to a training routine. I was beginning to wonder if I'd lost it.
Hopefully this means more posts for me. Happy Easter, everyone!
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| I set a trail on Friday and the view from the West Side Highway was lovely, even if I didn't capture it very well. |
Friday, June 27, 2014
Triathlon in the Wall Street Journal! Discuss...
It's not actually that rare for triathlon and specifically Ironman to be featured in a Wall Street Journal article. The WSJ seems to have an affinity for Ironman coverage although I was unaware of this until I googled "Ironman Wall Street Journal" not five minutes ago. What led me to that particular Google search? Well, this particular article, which I saw posted in r/triathlon (the triathlon subreddit) a few days ago.
Take a read, if you can, though I'll go ahead and TL;DR for all you lazies. The article summarizes a struggle that's currently happening between Ironman branded races and independent long and ultra distance races. A long course triathlon is typically (and perhaps detrimentally) known as a half-Ironman. This entails a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. An ultra distance triathlon is traditionally known as an Ironman and entails double the aforementioned distances (2.4, 112, 26.2 miles, respectively).
For anyone I haven't lectured about this, it's important to know that Ironman is not a race distance, but a brand. Are all Ironman (or half Ironman) races ultra (or long course) distances? Yes. Are all ultra and long course races Ironmans? No. Much like all squares are parallelograms but not all parallelograms are squares.
The Ironman brand is owned and run by the World Triathlon Corporation and most people will recognize it as having a sort of (if not an actual) monopoly over the industry. As is stated in the article, many Ironman races sell out within minutes of registration opening. Independent races on the other hand, some most noticeably produced by HITS or Rev3, often struggle to register 100 participants despite the fact that fees are almost always lower than those of Ironman races.
That's the main takeaway, though there are a couple other good points made in the article. The fact that many finishers like getting a tattoo of the Ironman logo and that triathletes can only qualify for Kona (the holy grail of triathlon entries) by placing extremely well at an Ironman are two. Interestingly, the article does mention two independent ultra distance races that don't seem to hurt for registrants. These are Beach2Battlship, which I did last year, and Vineman. I think it is important to note, though, that both cap their registrations at around 700 participants versus the thousands that usually compete in Ironman events.
There is a really good quote at the end of the article that makes the point that after someone completes one or even a few Ironman events, the importance of the brand fades quite a bit. I related to this a lot. Once I'd done an Ironman, I didn't feel a particular need to pay the premiums for those events and looked to find something a little more affordable for my second. Although I think I might be able to qualify for Boston maybe, someday, I am infinitely less optimistic that I would ever be able to qualify for Kona. Therefore, it's not all that important to me if my long or ultra distance triathlons are independently run. On the other hand, one of my coaches at Everyday Triathlete was very intent on qualifying for Kona and it made sense for him to only compete in Ironman races to accomplish this.
I don't often get comments, but if anyone is so inclined, here are two discussion points:
1. If you have completed an Ironman or ever plan to, have or would you get an M Dot (the Ironman logo) tattoo? Why?
2. Would it be important to you that your first long course or ultra distance race be an Ironman event? Why?
Take a read, if you can, though I'll go ahead and TL;DR for all you lazies. The article summarizes a struggle that's currently happening between Ironman branded races and independent long and ultra distance races. A long course triathlon is typically (and perhaps detrimentally) known as a half-Ironman. This entails a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. An ultra distance triathlon is traditionally known as an Ironman and entails double the aforementioned distances (2.4, 112, 26.2 miles, respectively).
For anyone I haven't lectured about this, it's important to know that Ironman is not a race distance, but a brand. Are all Ironman (or half Ironman) races ultra (or long course) distances? Yes. Are all ultra and long course races Ironmans? No. Much like all squares are parallelograms but not all parallelograms are squares.
The Ironman brand is owned and run by the World Triathlon Corporation and most people will recognize it as having a sort of (if not an actual) monopoly over the industry. As is stated in the article, many Ironman races sell out within minutes of registration opening. Independent races on the other hand, some most noticeably produced by HITS or Rev3, often struggle to register 100 participants despite the fact that fees are almost always lower than those of Ironman races.
That's the main takeaway, though there are a couple other good points made in the article. The fact that many finishers like getting a tattoo of the Ironman logo and that triathletes can only qualify for Kona (the holy grail of triathlon entries) by placing extremely well at an Ironman are two. Interestingly, the article does mention two independent ultra distance races that don't seem to hurt for registrants. These are Beach2Battlship, which I did last year, and Vineman. I think it is important to note, though, that both cap their registrations at around 700 participants versus the thousands that usually compete in Ironman events.
There is a really good quote at the end of the article that makes the point that after someone completes one or even a few Ironman events, the importance of the brand fades quite a bit. I related to this a lot. Once I'd done an Ironman, I didn't feel a particular need to pay the premiums for those events and looked to find something a little more affordable for my second. Although I think I might be able to qualify for Boston maybe, someday, I am infinitely less optimistic that I would ever be able to qualify for Kona. Therefore, it's not all that important to me if my long or ultra distance triathlons are independently run. On the other hand, one of my coaches at Everyday Triathlete was very intent on qualifying for Kona and it made sense for him to only compete in Ironman races to accomplish this.
I don't often get comments, but if anyone is so inclined, here are two discussion points:
1. If you have completed an Ironman or ever plan to, have or would you get an M Dot (the Ironman logo) tattoo? Why?
2. Would it be important to you that your first long course or ultra distance race be an Ironman event? Why?
Friday, November 29, 2013
Race Report: Beach2Battleship - Part 4
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you spent it eating too much food with people you love. Second, I really need to get better at doing these in a timely fashion. The details fade so quickly. I guess at least I remember the important parts.
I grabbed my T2 bag and ran over to the second changing tent. Again, not really necessary in my case, but I still had minor changing to do. I pulled my bike shorts and tights off, switched my bike shoes with my running shoes, and put on my hat and sunglasses. I remember someone offering some sort of painkiller. I think I had a small headache developing, so I took it. Then, I exited the tent and handed off my T2 bag to a volunteer. Finally, I was off on the run.
They had us do a strange little out and back in the first loop, which I can only assume was the .2 of the marathon. It then came back past the finish line and through a pretty little downtown area that was full of spectators. By the time I was coming through, there was still a fair number of half iron athletes out on the course and I appreciated their enthusiasm, even if it wasn't specifically for me.
Guys, I was totally into this marathon. Normally, this would embarrass me, but I am totally comfortable saying that I crushed it. I can't claim all the credit, though, because the course was highly conducive to being crushed. With very few exceptions, it was flat. Plus, the temperature was nice (mostly, though I did find that it got cold later at night). Mentally, I was able to get in fast and deep. From almost the first mile, I took it step by step and resolved that I would not walk outside of aid stations. I'm proud to say that I didn't.
I had it in my head that I wasn't well-trained for this race. I think this still might be true, but in the sense that I didn't train to my full potential. That, however, is a discussion for a different day. Since I thought I was ill-prepared, my goal was to finish. Once I got to North Carolina and realized I might be better off than I thought, my new goal was to finish the marathon in 5 hours.
So heading out on the run, that was my goal. I was determined not to walk beyond the aid stations because walking breaks are such a slippery slope. I was probably 10 miles in when I realized I could not only break 5 hours on the marathon, but I had a really decent chance of breaking 14 hours for the whole thing. And that was my goal going into this year! There was a chance I'd accomplish one of my goals for the year! Game on.
The race course consisted of two 13 mile loops. I ran the whole thing strong because I felt good for approximately 25.2 of the miles. I was passed by very few people, particularly later in the race simply because I refused to walk. I took things one mile at a time and just ran from aid station to aid station (there was one at each mile). I started out the run wearing my bike jacket, but quickly found it to be too hot, so left it with one of the volunteers at the Mile 3 aid station, intending to return for it on the way back.
The volunteers were amazing, as were the rest of the athletes running. I saw an Everyday Triathlete on the course, which was awesome. Also, I saw my mom halfway through the run which was a big boost. I also made a couple of race friends. Sometime between the beginning of the race and halfway through, I realized there was one guy in particular that I'd keep passing and falling behind. While he was running, he'd pass me. When he'd start walking, I'd pass him. And so it went, for many miles. Sometime around the halfway point, we started talking and introduced ourselves. His name was Todd and we commiserated over both still being on the first lap. Todd stopped to get his special needs bag and I continued on, figuring I'd see him again and we would continue as we had for the first half of the race.
I really enjoyed my second trip past the finish line and the bulk of the spectators. My determination must have been showing through, because almost everyone said "hey, good pace!" as I ran by. That's what I like to think, though in all honesty it was probably just something they were saying to everyone. Still, though, it was hard not to feel happy and strong with all that encouragement. I was a little frustrated by the fact that I saw no mile markers between miles 12 and 15. Obviously, I knew approximately how far I'd gone because the finish line was basically the halfway point, but still.
Things got a little tougher around this point. It was pretty much dark and significantly colder. Adding to the darkness of night was the fact a couple of the street lamps went out, and I could see literally nothing in those short stretches.
Around mile 20, I met a man and we started running together and chatting. His name was Andy, and as luck would have it, he was trying to break 14 hours as well! I was happy to have a companion in my quest. After awhile, we even passed by Todd and invited him to come break 14 hours with us. He started running with us and we ran as a trio for a bit.
At about mile 23, though, Todd had fallen back a bit and Andy started cramping. He told me to go on ahead. I was conflicted, because I was hesitant to leave. I asked if he was sure and told him to catch up when he could, but did continue on. Maybe a mile later, though, I did a quick hip stretch and heard him call out behind me not to stop! Andy was back! Right around the 24 mile mark, we passed a bar and a bunch of drunk people who were very good at cheering. Once I got to the aid station, I grabbed my jacket and ran back to catch up with Andy for the home stretch.
After half a mile to a mile, though, I started hurting. It was some sort of abdominal cramp? I couldn't even really tell where it was, but it came quickly and hit me hard. At first, I was able to ignore it. Soon enough, though, it hurt too much to speak. I let Andy know what was happening with all the words I could manage (not many) but by this point, we were absolutely both dead set on breaking 14 hours. Even better, Todd found us once more. He ran up behind us and said something like "so, we breaking 14 hours, or what?" which I loved, even though I couldn't express it and could barely even acknowledge that he'd made it back.
We approached the finish line and Andy found his daughters, who ran into the finish chute to cross the finish line with him. And I saw my mom! Andy and his daughters crossed the line just a second or two before Todd and I did, but we all finished a solid couple minutes under 14 ours. I accomplished one more 2013 goal before the year was up! We gave hugs all around, and introductions were made. Andy thanked me for helping him break 14, but we helped each other. I don't remember if I did, but I hope I thanked him back.
Todd walked away before I really got a chance for thanks and congratulations, but we hugged before that. Afterward, I grabbed grub and a beer and cheersed Andy before heading back to the hotel.
This post has already run really long, but I want to hammer home the point that I had a really good race, in spite of myself and all my worrying and anxiety. I didn't just race a good race, I also just enjoyed it. Beforehand, I worried that I'd forgotten how to triathlon since it was my first and only race of the year, but it was not true! I remembered how to do everything and was very comfortable. It was amazing and I was very glad to have shared the whole experience with my mom, and the crucial part of the marathon with Todd and Andy.
I didn't edit this, so I apologize for the length and mistakes.
I grabbed my T2 bag and ran over to the second changing tent. Again, not really necessary in my case, but I still had minor changing to do. I pulled my bike shorts and tights off, switched my bike shoes with my running shoes, and put on my hat and sunglasses. I remember someone offering some sort of painkiller. I think I had a small headache developing, so I took it. Then, I exited the tent and handed off my T2 bag to a volunteer. Finally, I was off on the run.
They had us do a strange little out and back in the first loop, which I can only assume was the .2 of the marathon. It then came back past the finish line and through a pretty little downtown area that was full of spectators. By the time I was coming through, there was still a fair number of half iron athletes out on the course and I appreciated their enthusiasm, even if it wasn't specifically for me.
Guys, I was totally into this marathon. Normally, this would embarrass me, but I am totally comfortable saying that I crushed it. I can't claim all the credit, though, because the course was highly conducive to being crushed. With very few exceptions, it was flat. Plus, the temperature was nice (mostly, though I did find that it got cold later at night). Mentally, I was able to get in fast and deep. From almost the first mile, I took it step by step and resolved that I would not walk outside of aid stations. I'm proud to say that I didn't.
I had it in my head that I wasn't well-trained for this race. I think this still might be true, but in the sense that I didn't train to my full potential. That, however, is a discussion for a different day. Since I thought I was ill-prepared, my goal was to finish. Once I got to North Carolina and realized I might be better off than I thought, my new goal was to finish the marathon in 5 hours.
So heading out on the run, that was my goal. I was determined not to walk beyond the aid stations because walking breaks are such a slippery slope. I was probably 10 miles in when I realized I could not only break 5 hours on the marathon, but I had a really decent chance of breaking 14 hours for the whole thing. And that was my goal going into this year! There was a chance I'd accomplish one of my goals for the year! Game on.
The race course consisted of two 13 mile loops. I ran the whole thing strong because I felt good for approximately 25.2 of the miles. I was passed by very few people, particularly later in the race simply because I refused to walk. I took things one mile at a time and just ran from aid station to aid station (there was one at each mile). I started out the run wearing my bike jacket, but quickly found it to be too hot, so left it with one of the volunteers at the Mile 3 aid station, intending to return for it on the way back.
The volunteers were amazing, as were the rest of the athletes running. I saw an Everyday Triathlete on the course, which was awesome. Also, I saw my mom halfway through the run which was a big boost. I also made a couple of race friends. Sometime between the beginning of the race and halfway through, I realized there was one guy in particular that I'd keep passing and falling behind. While he was running, he'd pass me. When he'd start walking, I'd pass him. And so it went, for many miles. Sometime around the halfway point, we started talking and introduced ourselves. His name was Todd and we commiserated over both still being on the first lap. Todd stopped to get his special needs bag and I continued on, figuring I'd see him again and we would continue as we had for the first half of the race.
I really enjoyed my second trip past the finish line and the bulk of the spectators. My determination must have been showing through, because almost everyone said "hey, good pace!" as I ran by. That's what I like to think, though in all honesty it was probably just something they were saying to everyone. Still, though, it was hard not to feel happy and strong with all that encouragement. I was a little frustrated by the fact that I saw no mile markers between miles 12 and 15. Obviously, I knew approximately how far I'd gone because the finish line was basically the halfway point, but still.
Things got a little tougher around this point. It was pretty much dark and significantly colder. Adding to the darkness of night was the fact a couple of the street lamps went out, and I could see literally nothing in those short stretches.
Around mile 20, I met a man and we started running together and chatting. His name was Andy, and as luck would have it, he was trying to break 14 hours as well! I was happy to have a companion in my quest. After awhile, we even passed by Todd and invited him to come break 14 hours with us. He started running with us and we ran as a trio for a bit.
At about mile 23, though, Todd had fallen back a bit and Andy started cramping. He told me to go on ahead. I was conflicted, because I was hesitant to leave. I asked if he was sure and told him to catch up when he could, but did continue on. Maybe a mile later, though, I did a quick hip stretch and heard him call out behind me not to stop! Andy was back! Right around the 24 mile mark, we passed a bar and a bunch of drunk people who were very good at cheering. Once I got to the aid station, I grabbed my jacket and ran back to catch up with Andy for the home stretch.
After half a mile to a mile, though, I started hurting. It was some sort of abdominal cramp? I couldn't even really tell where it was, but it came quickly and hit me hard. At first, I was able to ignore it. Soon enough, though, it hurt too much to speak. I let Andy know what was happening with all the words I could manage (not many) but by this point, we were absolutely both dead set on breaking 14 hours. Even better, Todd found us once more. He ran up behind us and said something like "so, we breaking 14 hours, or what?" which I loved, even though I couldn't express it and could barely even acknowledge that he'd made it back.
We approached the finish line and Andy found his daughters, who ran into the finish chute to cross the finish line with him. And I saw my mom! Andy and his daughters crossed the line just a second or two before Todd and I did, but we all finished a solid couple minutes under 14 ours. I accomplished one more 2013 goal before the year was up! We gave hugs all around, and introductions were made. Andy thanked me for helping him break 14, but we helped each other. I don't remember if I did, but I hope I thanked him back.
Todd walked away before I really got a chance for thanks and congratulations, but we hugged before that. Afterward, I grabbed grub and a beer and cheersed Andy before heading back to the hotel.
This post has already run really long, but I want to hammer home the point that I had a really good race, in spite of myself and all my worrying and anxiety. I didn't just race a good race, I also just enjoyed it. Beforehand, I worried that I'd forgotten how to triathlon since it was my first and only race of the year, but it was not true! I remembered how to do everything and was very comfortable. It was amazing and I was very glad to have shared the whole experience with my mom, and the crucial part of the marathon with Todd and Andy.
I didn't edit this, so I apologize for the length and mistakes.
 |
| A picture my mom took |
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Race Report: Beach2Battleship - Part 2
When we last left off, our protagonist (me) was checking in on the beach and getting ready for the 2.4 mile swim. I did, though, forget to mention that on the way to the start, the shuttle driver got lost. Thought it was worth mentioning.
ANYWAY, we were all checked in and milling around the start line in our wetsuits and purple swim caps. Unlike any other half or full iron race, this was a mass start. My three half iron races were wave starts and the NY/NJ Ironman was somewhere in between, with four or five barges unloading onto the start line over time. So this was a first, and I was a little concerned that things would get crazy and elbows would be thrown and I'd be on the receiving end of some punches and kicks.
My worrying was for naught. After the national anthem was sung, the gun finally went off and we were all in the water. It was so cold outside that the 71 degree water temperature seemed downright balmy. Seriously, I do not exaggerate when I say that the entire swim entry was lovely. It was very likely the most pleasant swim start of my triathlon career. That's not to say blows weren't exchanged. I hit/kicked my share of people and got hit/kicked myself. But it was nothing I'd consider out of the ordinary.
About 10 minutes into the swim, I realized that I'd forgotten to lube up my neck. I can only guess that this is because I did it on the barge last minute last year, and thus never incorporated it into my pre-race routine. Alas. It only took another 10 minutes before I started realizing I'd have some serious wetsuit chafing around my neck.
The crowd around me thinned quickly. At first, I attributed this to my terrible skills as a swimmer. I should really consider re-evaluating this perception, however. Over four years after my first triathlon, I have improved immensely. I may never be a "good" swimmer, but I'm certainly not a bad one at this point. I bring this all up because the crowd did not thin due to my lack of swim proficiency. It thinned because I was not swimming in a straight line and, unwittingly, had begun veering to the right. Unfortunately, this wouldn't become clear to me until I was more than halfway through.
Before coming to that realization, I found myself swimming mostly alone on the right side of the channel. Mid-stroke, I felt my foot come in contact with something that seemed like a person. As I try to do whenever I kick/punch someone accidentally, I picked my head up out of the water and looked around for my unfortunate victim so I could apologize. I looked behind and all around me and saw no one. I began to panic that I'd kicked someone under the water, so I popped my head under the surface, but I saw nothing. I was pretty freaked out that, somehow, somewhere, there was a drowning or dead person around me that I'd kicked. But I had no evidence to prove that was actually true! Plus, I thought it might be overly alarmist of me to call over someone on a paddleboard. Perhaps yelling something like, "HEY! HEY, YOU. YES, YOU. I THINK I FOUND A BODY OVER HERE."
With no evidence to corroborate my fear, I continued my swim, hoping to everything that I had encountered some algae and not a person in need. I kept swimming, and was finally close enough to the ride side of the channel that someone explicitly told me that the left turn was coming soon and I should make my way over to the other swimmers. After following instructions, I did indeed find a bunch of fellow swimmers. Unfortunately for me, I'd overcorrect my direction multiple times before the swim was over.
Finally, though, it was. I reached the dock where volunteers were standing waiting to help. I pulled myself up onto the platform and began running, unzipping and unstrapping the top part of my wetsuit. One of the volunteers came and helped me by pulling it off my legs. I then ran the remaining 400 meters to T1.
ANYWAY, we were all checked in and milling around the start line in our wetsuits and purple swim caps. Unlike any other half or full iron race, this was a mass start. My three half iron races were wave starts and the NY/NJ Ironman was somewhere in between, with four or five barges unloading onto the start line over time. So this was a first, and I was a little concerned that things would get crazy and elbows would be thrown and I'd be on the receiving end of some punches and kicks.
My worrying was for naught. After the national anthem was sung, the gun finally went off and we were all in the water. It was so cold outside that the 71 degree water temperature seemed downright balmy. Seriously, I do not exaggerate when I say that the entire swim entry was lovely. It was very likely the most pleasant swim start of my triathlon career. That's not to say blows weren't exchanged. I hit/kicked my share of people and got hit/kicked myself. But it was nothing I'd consider out of the ordinary.
About 10 minutes into the swim, I realized that I'd forgotten to lube up my neck. I can only guess that this is because I did it on the barge last minute last year, and thus never incorporated it into my pre-race routine. Alas. It only took another 10 minutes before I started realizing I'd have some serious wetsuit chafing around my neck.
 |
| The view of my chafing from the back |
The crowd around me thinned quickly. At first, I attributed this to my terrible skills as a swimmer. I should really consider re-evaluating this perception, however. Over four years after my first triathlon, I have improved immensely. I may never be a "good" swimmer, but I'm certainly not a bad one at this point. I bring this all up because the crowd did not thin due to my lack of swim proficiency. It thinned because I was not swimming in a straight line and, unwittingly, had begun veering to the right. Unfortunately, this wouldn't become clear to me until I was more than halfway through.
Before coming to that realization, I found myself swimming mostly alone on the right side of the channel. Mid-stroke, I felt my foot come in contact with something that seemed like a person. As I try to do whenever I kick/punch someone accidentally, I picked my head up out of the water and looked around for my unfortunate victim so I could apologize. I looked behind and all around me and saw no one. I began to panic that I'd kicked someone under the water, so I popped my head under the surface, but I saw nothing. I was pretty freaked out that, somehow, somewhere, there was a drowning or dead person around me that I'd kicked. But I had no evidence to prove that was actually true! Plus, I thought it might be overly alarmist of me to call over someone on a paddleboard. Perhaps yelling something like, "HEY! HEY, YOU. YES, YOU. I THINK I FOUND A BODY OVER HERE."
With no evidence to corroborate my fear, I continued my swim, hoping to everything that I had encountered some algae and not a person in need. I kept swimming, and was finally close enough to the ride side of the channel that someone explicitly told me that the left turn was coming soon and I should make my way over to the other swimmers. After following instructions, I did indeed find a bunch of fellow swimmers. Unfortunately for me, I'd overcorrect my direction multiple times before the swim was over.
Finally, though, it was. I reached the dock where volunteers were standing waiting to help. I pulled myself up onto the platform and began running, unzipping and unstrapping the top part of my wetsuit. One of the volunteers came and helped me by pulling it off my legs. I then ran the remaining 400 meters to T1.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Race Report: Beach2Battleship - Part 1
The iron summaries tend to be long, so I decided to split it into a few. One for beforehand and one each for the swim, bike and run. I'll do my best not to spend a ton of time on the expo, since there will be enough to write about without going into that very much.
What I will mention about the expo is that's where I heard about the water temperature. See, the whole time I was training for this race, I was really worried it would be super, super cold. I was thinking it would be low 60's, and I'm not sure I've ever raced in water that cold. But as I stood waiting to pick up my packet at the expo, I heard someone say the water would be a whopping 71 degrees. 71! A full 10 degrees warmer than what I thought I'd have to deal with. So that made me feel better.
That was a fantastic thing to learn. The only problem was that I failed to really anticipate how cold the temperature would be for the rest of the race. It wasn't until we were there, in North Carolina on the night before the race that I began to grasp the idea that the temperature would be in the 30's and 40's with a chance it would reach the 50's during the middle of the day. That sounds great...for running. For biking, not so much.
Sure enough, I woke up to a temperature of 36 degrees. There was frost on the ground as we walked out to the rental van to drive to T1. At this point, I was much less nervous about the swim and more so about the bike. I did have a jacket, but was only wearing shorts. Thankfully, my mom suggested we go to the 24 hour grocery store to see if they offered anything in the way of tights or leggings that I might be able to wear. Despite my skepticism, they certainly did. I had the choice between capri and full length. After some thought, I settled on the full length tights with the logic that I could roll the longer ones up if necessary, but could not lengthen the shorter ones if it got too cold.
My mom dropped me off at T1 and I began setting up my station. I pretty quickly changed into my wetsuit because it was a great way to combat the cold. I put most (but not all...rookie mistake) of my clothes into my T1 bag and checked that in the designated area. I opted out of having special needs bags for either the bike or run and had already checked my T2 bag the day before. By the time I was all set up, the race organizers were calling for full distance athletes to board the shuttles to the beginning of the swim. They tried to coax us by promising that the shuttles were being warmed up.
And you know what? The idea of a warm shuttle bus was appealing. Unfortunately, upon boarding my shuttle I was dismayed to find that it had neither windows nor a discernible heat system. Well played, race organizers. Well played.
The other triathletes were a lot more intelligent than I about this part of the whole process. We arrived at the beach (the beach parking lot, to be specific) approximately an hour before the race was even supposed to start. I had on my wetsuit and no shoes. No shoes! Most other people had brought throwaway clothes to wear prior to the start. Not me. I therefore did my best to huddle around the one functional heat lamp that had been set up. People were pretty nice about it, and as they cleared out, I was able to move in a little closer. It was a unique and positive, if also cold, experience. I made sure to use a port-a-potty soon after my arrival.
Finally, 7:20 rolled around and it was time to "check in" aka step onto the beach and make our way to the start.
Stay tuned, as I describe the swim and how my movements in it very likely resembled a slow motion pinball.
What I will mention about the expo is that's where I heard about the water temperature. See, the whole time I was training for this race, I was really worried it would be super, super cold. I was thinking it would be low 60's, and I'm not sure I've ever raced in water that cold. But as I stood waiting to pick up my packet at the expo, I heard someone say the water would be a whopping 71 degrees. 71! A full 10 degrees warmer than what I thought I'd have to deal with. So that made me feel better.
That was a fantastic thing to learn. The only problem was that I failed to really anticipate how cold the temperature would be for the rest of the race. It wasn't until we were there, in North Carolina on the night before the race that I began to grasp the idea that the temperature would be in the 30's and 40's with a chance it would reach the 50's during the middle of the day. That sounds great...for running. For biking, not so much.
Sure enough, I woke up to a temperature of 36 degrees. There was frost on the ground as we walked out to the rental van to drive to T1. At this point, I was much less nervous about the swim and more so about the bike. I did have a jacket, but was only wearing shorts. Thankfully, my mom suggested we go to the 24 hour grocery store to see if they offered anything in the way of tights or leggings that I might be able to wear. Despite my skepticism, they certainly did. I had the choice between capri and full length. After some thought, I settled on the full length tights with the logic that I could roll the longer ones up if necessary, but could not lengthen the shorter ones if it got too cold.
My mom dropped me off at T1 and I began setting up my station. I pretty quickly changed into my wetsuit because it was a great way to combat the cold. I put most (but not all...rookie mistake) of my clothes into my T1 bag and checked that in the designated area. I opted out of having special needs bags for either the bike or run and had already checked my T2 bag the day before. By the time I was all set up, the race organizers were calling for full distance athletes to board the shuttles to the beginning of the swim. They tried to coax us by promising that the shuttles were being warmed up.
And you know what? The idea of a warm shuttle bus was appealing. Unfortunately, upon boarding my shuttle I was dismayed to find that it had neither windows nor a discernible heat system. Well played, race organizers. Well played.
The other triathletes were a lot more intelligent than I about this part of the whole process. We arrived at the beach (the beach parking lot, to be specific) approximately an hour before the race was even supposed to start. I had on my wetsuit and no shoes. No shoes! Most other people had brought throwaway clothes to wear prior to the start. Not me. I therefore did my best to huddle around the one functional heat lamp that had been set up. People were pretty nice about it, and as they cleared out, I was able to move in a little closer. It was a unique and positive, if also cold, experience. I made sure to use a port-a-potty soon after my arrival.
Finally, 7:20 rolled around and it was time to "check in" aka step onto the beach and make our way to the start.
Stay tuned, as I describe the swim and how my movements in it very likely resembled a slow motion pinball.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
A Lot Can Happen in a Month
For real. I'm notoriously bad at going back and writing things if they're more than a week or two old so I'm going to compress a few things here.
The first weekend of October brought my worst half marathon in two years. It was bad. Mentally, I was out of the race the entire time. Granted, my comedy group had a show the night before so maybe it's not that surprising. I remember waking up that morning and feeling like I simply did not have 13.1 8-minute miles in me. I sure didn't. I still had my cold, I had digestive issues. I was a mess. Maybe they're all crappy excuses but one thing is for sure, it was not a good day in my race career. Particularly when it comes to the half marathon, which is my favorite distance and at which I've been able to consistently perform. Normally if I start a bad race, I can salvage it by the end. This was highly abnormal in that the entire race was a train wreck. Let's move on.
The following weekend was the Staten Island half marathon, which was much, much better. I usually do pretty well at that race. It was all going swimmingly until the new running shoes I bought (I know, right?!) gave me a massive toe blister. PLEASE BE ADVISED: I'VE UPLOADED A GRAPHIC PICTURE HERE TO IMGUR IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING MY TOE BLISTER. That's the most graphic picture I've posted since the Blood Blister Incident of 2011 and I want you to be aware of what you're getting yourself into by clicking.
This was mostly no problem until about mile 8, when it started to be a really big problem. In the end, I finished in 1:51 and change. Considering the extenuating toe circumstances and that it was nearly 10 minutes better than my abysmal showing at Grete's (mentioned above), I was satisfied with that. I will, however, be running my next half marathon with a vengeance.
Another two awesome things happened at this race. The first was that Amortya came to cheer us on. The second is that it was my friend Jessica's very first half marathon! She rocked it, in case you were wondering.
Oh, let me back up to the day before this half marathon. On that Saturday, I went for my long bike ride and it did not go well. I got a replacement cycle computer (which I should have done last year, but go figure) and knew that I wasn't riding nearly as fast as I needed to. I was agonizing and agonizing and finally decided that maybe it would be best for me to do the half iron distance race. Once I'd made up my mind, I felt much more at ease than I had in the previous 4 or 5 weeks.
I wasn't happy about it really, but I'd made my peace with the fact that it was probably necessary. Then, my whole plan was turned on its head when I read on the website that my deadline for switching to the half was September 1 or until the half sold out. Both deadlines had long passed. I didn't know how to feel. I'd gotten so used to the pleasant ease that came with having decided to do the half that I didn't even have it in me to return to my panicked state. Instead, I dug up my athlete's guide and looked at all the cutoff times, trying to determine exactly what I could get away with.
As it turns out, quite a bit. After doing some specific calculations, I realized I probably could do it, no problem. I only had to maintain slightly less than 12.5 mph for the duration in order to make the cutoff. Even on my slowest rides, I managed that pace. So I decided I was going to stick it out and do whatever it took to finish. Not that I really had a choice, but I was comfortable with the thought that I could do it, even if it took me 17 hours.
So I went into my final weekend of training determined to do what I could. On Saturday, I went out for my ride. I got off to a late start and thought I'd probably be able to ride 60 miles before it was too dark. But you know, I kicked ass on that ride and I stuck it out for 100 miles because I was killing it in exactly the way I needed to for the race. In the end, I finished right around 7 hours. Perfect.
The next day, I followed up an 11 mile run with a swim at the Asphalt Green pool. I swam the full 2.4 miles in 1:40 minutes and knew finishing was completely within my grasp.
And you know what? I did it. On Saturday (10/26), I finished my second iron distance race in 13:58:01. It will definitely get its own race report but that will come on another day. For now, have a picture of my medal taken just after I finished.
The first weekend of October brought my worst half marathon in two years. It was bad. Mentally, I was out of the race the entire time. Granted, my comedy group had a show the night before so maybe it's not that surprising. I remember waking up that morning and feeling like I simply did not have 13.1 8-minute miles in me. I sure didn't. I still had my cold, I had digestive issues. I was a mess. Maybe they're all crappy excuses but one thing is for sure, it was not a good day in my race career. Particularly when it comes to the half marathon, which is my favorite distance and at which I've been able to consistently perform. Normally if I start a bad race, I can salvage it by the end. This was highly abnormal in that the entire race was a train wreck. Let's move on.
 |
| Blech |
This was mostly no problem until about mile 8, when it started to be a really big problem. In the end, I finished in 1:51 and change. Considering the extenuating toe circumstances and that it was nearly 10 minutes better than my abysmal showing at Grete's (mentioned above), I was satisfied with that. I will, however, be running my next half marathon with a vengeance.
Another two awesome things happened at this race. The first was that Amortya came to cheer us on. The second is that it was my friend Jessica's very first half marathon! She rocked it, in case you were wondering.
 |
| I guess we can make this picture an annual tradition |
I wasn't happy about it really, but I'd made my peace with the fact that it was probably necessary. Then, my whole plan was turned on its head when I read on the website that my deadline for switching to the half was September 1 or until the half sold out. Both deadlines had long passed. I didn't know how to feel. I'd gotten so used to the pleasant ease that came with having decided to do the half that I didn't even have it in me to return to my panicked state. Instead, I dug up my athlete's guide and looked at all the cutoff times, trying to determine exactly what I could get away with.
As it turns out, quite a bit. After doing some specific calculations, I realized I probably could do it, no problem. I only had to maintain slightly less than 12.5 mph for the duration in order to make the cutoff. Even on my slowest rides, I managed that pace. So I decided I was going to stick it out and do whatever it took to finish. Not that I really had a choice, but I was comfortable with the thought that I could do it, even if it took me 17 hours.
So I went into my final weekend of training determined to do what I could. On Saturday, I went out for my ride. I got off to a late start and thought I'd probably be able to ride 60 miles before it was too dark. But you know, I kicked ass on that ride and I stuck it out for 100 miles because I was killing it in exactly the way I needed to for the race. In the end, I finished right around 7 hours. Perfect.
The next day, I followed up an 11 mile run with a swim at the Asphalt Green pool. I swam the full 2.4 miles in 1:40 minutes and knew finishing was completely within my grasp.
And you know what? I did it. On Saturday (10/26), I finished my second iron distance race in 13:58:01. It will definitely get its own race report but that will come on another day. For now, have a picture of my medal taken just after I finished.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
(Not) Finding Balance
Despite my best efforts at doing all the things I want to do, lately it seems like it's one thing or another that's falling by the wayside. Most recently, my triathlon training. I think we can all agree that, these days, neglecting any of swim, bike or run will result in a full-scale disaster.
So I tried to think about why it is that I've had such a hard time balancing everything. I came up with the following diagram:
I've made better flowcharts, but I'm proud of this one because it's a wonder I was able to follow it all the way through my train of thought.
You know what else I'm proud of? A dance my friends and I did last weekend at our friend's wedding. The whole weekend, actually. We traveled to Virginia Beach from Thursday to Sunday for wedding festivities and I managed to get both my long run and a swim done in one day! It wasn't as much as it would have been if I'd been home, but doing long runs early or on an irregular schedule is a feat for me.
Hopefully soon I'll have a little more time to get into detail on my lack of balance. What I know is that I'm now at the have-to-kick-ass stage of my training. 7 weeks. Now or never.
Here's the video!
So I tried to think about why it is that I've had such a hard time balancing everything. I came up with the following diagram:
 |
| I know, small font. Click on it for a better view. |
You know what else I'm proud of? A dance my friends and I did last weekend at our friend's wedding. The whole weekend, actually. We traveled to Virginia Beach from Thursday to Sunday for wedding festivities and I managed to get both my long run and a swim done in one day! It wasn't as much as it would have been if I'd been home, but doing long runs early or on an irregular schedule is a feat for me.
Hopefully soon I'll have a little more time to get into detail on my lack of balance. What I know is that I'm now at the have-to-kick-ass stage of my training. 7 weeks. Now or never.
Here's the video!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
70 Minutes of Luck
Yesterday was one of those days. I got sucked into the hustle and bustle of Tuesday (perhaps the hustliest, bustliest day of the week). Went in to work, had a doctor's appointment, had to run over to New Jersey for some meetings and found myself uncertain of my workout schedule at the end of the day. It's become increasingly clear to me that I need to step up my game in the swimming and biking departments, if I want to finish this triathlon in October. Originally, I'd planned to hike all the way to Riverbank State Park to take advantage of their Olympic-sized pool. But, as some of you may know, it is a hike. It's all the way up around 145th Street and, while it is a beautiful facility, is quite a waste of time in terms of commute. I'm all about doing things efficiently, and swimming there would have been excessively inefficient.
But I'm getting desperate. Inefficient or not, I'm at the point where I need to bite the bullet. I have to swim where and when I can, so I seriously considered it before deciding to check out the city recreation center in Chelsea, which apparently also has a very nice pool. The website mentioned that swimmers have to register by 4pm, though, and by the time I was checking this out it was 5:30. I called the number and no answer. By this point, I was feeling flustered. This was a prime example of what's been happening all season with training. I keep telling myself I can fit it in, that it'll work out somehow. Only, it hasn't worked out enough so far and now it's crunch time, so I need to be more inistent.
Somehow, though, things worked out yesterday. After I got no answer at the Chelsea pool, I decided to take my chances at my gym. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that the majority of my gym's locations have pools, but they have a couple of issues. The first is that they are tiny. TINY. 20 feet, maybe? And two (unshareable) lanes wide. I can deal with that, though. The major problem is that there's a 20 minute time limit if people are waiting for the pool. I get why this is a rule, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.
 |
| Have a picture of Phoebe sleeping with her tongue out |
I walked into the pool area and was delighted to find not a soul in there aside from the life guard. I thought there was a decent chance I'd get my full 20 minutes and then some, since there seemed to be little demand for the pool. 16 minutes passed, and still no one had come. "Awesome," I thought, as I continued, thinking I could probably squeeze a good half hour in. Then I was at 27. Then 43. Then 52. Then an hour. No one came! I still had the pool all to myself! I wondered if I could make it all the way to an hour and a half, which I thought would constitute a good, solid workout. 1:07. 1:13. Finally, at around an hour and twenty minutes into my swim, another guy arrived and hopped into the pool. He was faster than I am (no surprise there), so I spent the last ten minutes of my workout pushing a little harder.
I did it. Inexplicably, I spent a solitary hour and twenty minutes in that pool and then an extra ten minutes with a pool buddy. Who knows how long I could have gone if I'd wanted. I know I can't expect that every time I go to the gym, so I'm inspired to find a new way. This was encouraging, and my next course of action will be to start attending some coached swim workouts, hopefully starting next week. I can do this. With a happy combination of strategy, efficiency, hard work and dumb luck, I can definitely do this.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
B2B Training Ramping Up + Comedy!
Hi, all. Good to be back and I wish I had more time these days to reflect on running and triathlon. Someday soon, I will.
But let me reflect briefly to catch up. I last posted at the beginning of the month and since then have run one (right? Amortya, correct me if I'm wrong) race, which was the Queens 10k. It was a good race despite being a little bit hot. Oh, and one part at the beginning smelled like urine, but let's chalk that up to New York City charm. I ran it in 49:56, which was fine but not a PR.
I also recently signed up for my usual slew of fall races plus a new addition, which I'll be running for the first time next Saturday. This is the NYRR Team Championships, which is 5 miles around Central Park. I'll be running it for hash-associated running team known as the Hudson Dusters. For the first time, I'll even be rocking a team singlet!
I've also been stepping up my tri training because, well, it's about that time. I've had a couple of long bike rides (50-70 miles) and an open water swim, along with the usual amount of running. Amortya and I started up our weekly long runs again after sticking to 6-8 miles for the past month or so. I'm still working out how to get in more time on the bike. I haven't come up with a solution, and I really need one because I'd like to be faster on the bike this year and I won't get that from long rides alone. Also, swimming. Another thing I could really stand to improve. Aside from the short mid-week swims, however, more dedicated swim time is going to have to wait another week or two.
On the comedy front, I've been doing my best to get out there and my efforts have yielded some results. Now, whether or not those results will mean anything for the future remains to be seen. First, I did that open mic I wrote about a couple weeks ago. It went well. You know what else? Most of my set was Ironman/running inspired. In fact, what I learned is that I should probably diversify my material a little bit. But just a little bit because I'm attached to my running and triathlon bits.
I also got what seems like a rare opportunity to write a play for a theater here in the city. It's a short play, but I still wrote it and it's still going up onstage. Even crazier, I'm directing and performing in it. To be honest, I didn't know I'd have to do those things when I signed on, and I'm nervous about them. However, I also can't help but believe that it's an amazing opportunity. Now I just have to hope that it goes over well. Also starting tomorrow is an improv class, something I haven't done in about a year and a half. And my final comedy activity: an internship at the PIT (People's Improv Theater).
As much as I hate being the person who's always saying "God, things have just been soooo crazy for me these past few weeks," it actually has been true recently. I get up, go to work, run home (sometimes literally), walk Phoebe, go to whatever comedy related thing is happening that night, run to the gym (always literally), run at the gym and/or do whatever workout is appropriate for that day, run home (sometimes literally), go to sleep. Run commutes have never been as valuable to my schedule as they are right now. It would be great if I could finally be good at working out in the morning, but that hasn't happened yet.
TL;DR - It's been busy but I'm managing just fine. Nothing the occasional Redbull won't help. Also, if you're interested in seeing my play in a larger short play festival, here's the info.
But let me reflect briefly to catch up. I last posted at the beginning of the month and since then have run one (right? Amortya, correct me if I'm wrong) race, which was the Queens 10k. It was a good race despite being a little bit hot. Oh, and one part at the beginning smelled like urine, but let's chalk that up to New York City charm. I ran it in 49:56, which was fine but not a PR.
I also recently signed up for my usual slew of fall races plus a new addition, which I'll be running for the first time next Saturday. This is the NYRR Team Championships, which is 5 miles around Central Park. I'll be running it for hash-associated running team known as the Hudson Dusters. For the first time, I'll even be rocking a team singlet!
 |
| Queens 10k. I look super grouchy. But also like I'm flying. |
On the comedy front, I've been doing my best to get out there and my efforts have yielded some results. Now, whether or not those results will mean anything for the future remains to be seen. First, I did that open mic I wrote about a couple weeks ago. It went well. You know what else? Most of my set was Ironman/running inspired. In fact, what I learned is that I should probably diversify my material a little bit. But just a little bit because I'm attached to my running and triathlon bits.
I also got what seems like a rare opportunity to write a play for a theater here in the city. It's a short play, but I still wrote it and it's still going up onstage. Even crazier, I'm directing and performing in it. To be honest, I didn't know I'd have to do those things when I signed on, and I'm nervous about them. However, I also can't help but believe that it's an amazing opportunity. Now I just have to hope that it goes over well. Also starting tomorrow is an improv class, something I haven't done in about a year and a half. And my final comedy activity: an internship at the PIT (People's Improv Theater).
As much as I hate being the person who's always saying "God, things have just been soooo crazy for me these past few weeks," it actually has been true recently. I get up, go to work, run home (sometimes literally), walk Phoebe, go to whatever comedy related thing is happening that night, run to the gym (always literally), run at the gym and/or do whatever workout is appropriate for that day, run home (sometimes literally), go to sleep. Run commutes have never been as valuable to my schedule as they are right now. It would be great if I could finally be good at working out in the morning, but that hasn't happened yet.
TL;DR - It's been busy but I'm managing just fine. Nothing the occasional Redbull won't help. Also, if you're interested in seeing my play in a larger short play festival, here's the info.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Yikes!
Holy crap. I can't believe it's been an entire month since I last posted. I'll admit, I am ashamed. I've been hard at work with not only running and triathlon, but also with comedy. Let me catch you up on some stuff:
Boston Training
Guys, I came to the disappointing conclusion that there's almost no way I'll be ready to run a Boston Qualifier by the fall. Perhaps this should have been obvious to me when I set out to accomplish it. If you've spent much time at all reading this blog, you well know that being prudent and realistic are two things at which I'm terrible. The effort and time involved for a Boston Qualifier are more than I currently have to give, considering the other things I'll mention shortly. In no way have I given up on qualifying, I'm just adjusting my schedule. It looks like a BQ will have to wait for 2014. In the meantime, I'll continue with my speedwork and healthy lifestyle efforts. It should be noted that I'm still very committed to those aspects of the plan. No beer 'til November!
Ironman Training
Underway. I have the running bit under control. Now I need to zero in on the bike and swim. Last weekend, I did my first long ride of this training cycle. I rode to the park, did 10 laps and rode home. I consider the trips home as warm up and cool down and the middle 60 miles took me 4 hours to complete. Slow and steady, but I can deal with that and improve on it through the coming months. A hurdle I need to overcome has mostly to do with scheduling. Last year, I rode with Brian and the WorkLiveTri crew on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. At the time, though, I lived a mere 5 blocks from the meeting point. Plus, I had a roommate who could help me take care of Phoebe. Now, I live significantly further away and have sole custody of the pup. I wish I could say that I'll be really amazing about getting to sleep early and waking up early (around 4:30am), but I'm not convinced. I'm therefore doing my weekday rides after work, instead.
Comedy
The biggest surprise of all. Over the last month, I've been committing a lot more to comedy in a number of ways. My sketch group, The Chupacabra Conspiracy, had a show in early June and I spent a period of time last month writing sketches like crazy. Although it looks like we might not be able to put on another live show in the next couple of months, I'm exploring other avenues for getting my stuff out there. I won't go into too much detail about that, though. The one thing I will say and that I'm extremely nervous and a little excited about, is an impending foray into standup comedy. I'm in the middle of writing a set, I've scoped out an open mic with a friend who does standup, and I'll probably hit one up myself in the next week or so.
I'm not going to lie, comedy and endurance sports are two interests that don't mix well. One necessitates late night commitment and the other early morning commitment. And that's just events! Nevermind actually writing and creating stuff, which I'll have to squeeze in around the rest and my job (can't forget about my job). No complaints here, just statements. You know I'm always up for a challenge.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
DEALWATCH: Xterra Wetsuit Sale - May 2013
I've noticed that a lot of traffic here comes from people looking for deals on Xterra wetsuits. I used to be a lot better about posting those coupon codes, but I'll admit I haven't paid much attention recently. Anyway, I found one in my email. Here, have a coupon code!
As you can probably see, the code is ACTFAST. This is the link. Offer ends May 27th, so take advantage, bargain hunters.
As you can probably see, the code is ACTFAST. This is the link. Offer ends May 27th, so take advantage, bargain hunters.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Introspection on the Runner's Code
Jeremy and I once debated a philosophy of Ayn Rand which is called “rational self-interest.” From a Wikipedia article (refrain from judging my source), “According to Rand, a rational man holds his own life as his highest value, rationality as his highest virtue, and his happiness as the final purpose of his life.” She speaks out relatively vehemently about the concept of altruism for its own sake, believing that its practice, selflessness, belies an actual lack of self.
I was not onboard with this at all when we first discussed it. I suppose I refused to reason through the philosophy and stubbornly viewed it in different terms, as a condemnation of selflessness. I was brought up Catholic and this seemed absolutely antithetical to everything I believed about human beings and their obligations to each other. Admittedly, the jury is still out on my Catholic upbringing versus this intellectual view on morality. They’re not mutually exclusive of one another but they’re also not completely compatible.
As usual, I digress. The longer I’ve been part of the endurance sport community, the more strongly I’ve come to believe that we do have obligations to one another as members of the community. But these obligations don’t represent a lack or absence of self, they enhance self. They are an extension of ourselves. Cheering people on at races, running with them, helping someone avoid all the mistakes I’ve made in my own amateur career. Doing those things makes me happy and maximizes my joy. And those that might benefit from that, in turn, put their own joy back into the community. Maybe, depending on the context, selfless and selfish actions can be the same things.
I thought about all this after last weekend, when a number of my friends ran their first races. Being able to watch them (and people I didn’t even know) run was the best thing about the whole weekend, even though I ran my own PR. I mentioned this to my own friend and running mentor, Sharon, who I’m sure had her own running mentor and she said something like “we all pass it along.”
Maybe that’s the endurance athlete’s moral code. It’s some hybrid of rational selfishness and self-sacrifice. It’s an elevation of self that comes from giving back at least as much as we’ve been given along the road.
I was not onboard with this at all when we first discussed it. I suppose I refused to reason through the philosophy and stubbornly viewed it in different terms, as a condemnation of selflessness. I was brought up Catholic and this seemed absolutely antithetical to everything I believed about human beings and their obligations to each other. Admittedly, the jury is still out on my Catholic upbringing versus this intellectual view on morality. They’re not mutually exclusive of one another but they’re also not completely compatible.
As usual, I digress. The longer I’ve been part of the endurance sport community, the more strongly I’ve come to believe that we do have obligations to one another as members of the community. But these obligations don’t represent a lack or absence of self, they enhance self. They are an extension of ourselves. Cheering people on at races, running with them, helping someone avoid all the mistakes I’ve made in my own amateur career. Doing those things makes me happy and maximizes my joy. And those that might benefit from that, in turn, put their own joy back into the community. Maybe, depending on the context, selfless and selfish actions can be the same things.
I thought about all this after last weekend, when a number of my friends ran their first races. Being able to watch them (and people I didn’t even know) run was the best thing about the whole weekend, even though I ran my own PR. I mentioned this to my own friend and running mentor, Sharon, who I’m sure had her own running mentor and she said something like “we all pass it along.”
Maybe that’s the endurance athlete’s moral code. It’s some hybrid of rational selfishness and self-sacrifice. It’s an elevation of self that comes from giving back at least as much as we’ve been given along the road.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Deep Thoughts: Ironman Edition
So I still need to write a very general summary of Ironman and how much it meant to me. Now that my move is winding down, I’m finally getting a little time to think about these things. But before I write and post that, I also wanted to talk about other, less profound things. I could talk about my Ironman experience all day long, but who would enjoy that (I’m not fishing here. You really don’t want it). Instead, I wrote up a condensed list of some of my Ironman reflections.
I’ll think of more things, I’m sure. Word of warning, if I think of enough things there may be a follow-up deep thoughts post.
- I sweated off the body markings on both my arms before the bike ended. What I gather from this (whether it’s correct or not is another matter) is that I did a really good job hydrating. Normally, I do a less-than-ideal job with this. I can’t decide what’s worse, my hydration abilities or my sighting.
- I did not question the cleanliness of the water in the Hudson until we reached probably the last 10 yards of the swim. I put my face in the water and suddenly could not see my hand in front of my face because it was so black. I kept putting my head in just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things but then I got a mouthful of what tasted like motor oil and decided to just keep my head out until the end.
- That hill! That hill at the beginning of the run was brutal. I’m glad we didn’t have to do it twice. When I got to what looked like the end and realized it made a sharp turn and kept going up, I said “COME ON!” and the guy at my side laughed at me.
- I’d like to add following directions to the list of things I’m bad at…okay fine it was the first thing on that list (Kim, I can see you laughing). I didn’t bring my bike and run gear bags to transition the day before the race as instructed so had to take them the morning of. It ended up not being a disaster somehow, even though no one seemed to know where the bike bag location was.
- Bonk Breakers bars are really good. I looked forward to getting off the bike just so I could eat like two of them. It was my idea of an Ironman feast. They’re so good that I even tried and succeeded at eating one while on the bike. I know, guys. I didn’t even fall.
- At one of the miles Trey asked me if I’d tried chicken broth, which they had available at many of the hydration stops on the run. I thought the idea sounded pretty foul, but he insisted that it was amazing so I gave it a try around mile 23. Trey was right. It was amazing.
- At some point, though I also stopped being able to eat that much. At the end of Dyckman Hill, someone handed me an orange slice. When I wondered aloud why I hadn’t been eating them the whole time, she handed me another cupful. But I looked down at them and sadly realized I couldn’t eat any more. In the trash they went.
- Dyckman Hill was no joke and I admittedly walked it. Even the voice was like “eff that.” For the record, I walked a lot on the run. It’s something I look forward to improving upon in future Ironman races.
- Triathletes are really tall. When I was at the pre-race briefing I was surrounded by people and most of what was at my eye-level was mid-back. Toward the end of the race, I was running as fast as Trey could walk.
- The swim was fast. I did mine in 1:01! That’s only 6 minutes longer than it took me to swim half the distance in Providence
- Crossing the George Washington Bridge was amazing. Not only was the view beautiful and the wind fantastic, but drivers were honking encouragement! At least, I think it was encouragement. But then again, this is New York City so who knows.
- I thought about a lot of things on the bike. One of the strangest, though, was a burning desire to know why the eff Berger would break up with Carrie over post-it?!?! If anyone can provide some insight into this, please do. It’ll give me something to ponder on my next IM ride.
- I got my nails done (purple, in case you were wondering) for the race. Just because I smelled like an armpit didn’t mean my nails shouldn’t look pretty.
- When I finished, I thought Mike Reilly had missed my name and I was crushed (I know, it didn’t diminish the fact that I’d finished the Ironman but let’s face it, no one is rational right after finishing). Many thanks to my amazing friends for hearing (or at least convincing me that they’d heard) him say it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
An Ironmanalysis
Yesterday, while perusing the Ironman US Championship website, I was thrilled to find a list of participants. Why so much enthusiasm? Well, I was presented with a rare opportunity to combine two of my favorite things: triathlon and Microsoft Excel.
I pivoted the crap out of that table. Let's talk about results!
Women vs. Men:
I was surprised to find that the data I pulled for the Ironman US Championships indicate that the ratio of men to women is nearly 5:1. There are 466 women registered as of 6/25 and 2208 men. I'm trying to obtain official data that says what the women/men percentages are for all Ironman events combined. At some point, I definitely heard from someone that the overall breakdown is close to 50/50. But 17/83 is a far cry from that, so I'm starting to have doubts that it's true.
Age:
The oldest woman in this race is 66 years old and the oldest man is 75. There are three 18-year-olds, two women and one man. It should be noted that 18 is the youngest one can be to compete. Also, the two women have the same last name, which leads me to believe they might be twins.
The average age of US Championship participants is 40.3. The averages for men and women differ slightly, with the average age of the 466 women being 39 and the average age of the 2208 men being 40.6.
Speaking of outliers, there actually are two in the data (age listed as 0), but I've left them there since it's probably a data quality thing and the records likely do represent people who are participating. In the graphs below you'll see these categorized as "WHAAA?" which was my chosen indicator in the gigantic nested if-statement I created to sort everyone into age groups, which brings me to:
Age Groups:
Let's see some tables, shall we?
Mmmm...yes...very interesting. Now, pie charts!
New Jersey – 430
Unspecified – 362
California – 124
Connecticut – 124
Florida – 107
Pennsylvania – 60
Texas – 55
Massachusetts – 46
Virginia – 43
Illinois – 38
But wait! There are 11 listed here! True. This is a result of the "Unspecified" category. You'll notice that the number of competitors without a state listed is sizeable. Rather than take out that chunk, I just added Illinois, which could very well be the 10th state if those 362 participants were correctly categorized (or maybe it wouldn't. What if 68 out of those 362 are from Manitoba? I don't really know. That pesky Unspecified category could change that list quite a bit, but we can't know for sure).
Well, that's that. If you have any questions about the data, ask away and I'll try to get you some answers. If you see any errors, let me know!
I pivoted the crap out of that table. Let's talk about results!
Women vs. Men:
I was surprised to find that the data I pulled for the Ironman US Championships indicate that the ratio of men to women is nearly 5:1. There are 466 women registered as of 6/25 and 2208 men. I'm trying to obtain official data that says what the women/men percentages are for all Ironman events combined. At some point, I definitely heard from someone that the overall breakdown is close to 50/50. But 17/83 is a far cry from that, so I'm starting to have doubts that it's true.
Age:
The oldest woman in this race is 66 years old and the oldest man is 75. There are three 18-year-olds, two women and one man. It should be noted that 18 is the youngest one can be to compete. Also, the two women have the same last name, which leads me to believe they might be twins.
The average age of US Championship participants is 40.3. The averages for men and women differ slightly, with the average age of the 466 women being 39 and the average age of the 2208 men being 40.6.
Speaking of outliers, there actually are two in the data (age listed as 0), but I've left them there since it's probably a data quality thing and the records likely do represent people who are participating. In the graphs below you'll see these categorized as "WHAAA?" which was my chosen indicator in the gigantic nested if-statement I created to sort everyone into age groups, which brings me to:
Age Groups:
Let's see some tables, shall we?
Age group percentage breakdowns are similar for men and women. My age group, women 25-29, has 49 people. Here's hoping I finish better than 49th. The largest group for men is 40-44 while the second largest is 35-39. For women, this is switched. Also, well done, gentlemen, for having 5 participants over the age of 70.
Finally, we come to
Home States:
Not surprisingly, New York will be producing the largest number of competitors in this race. Or maybe it is surprising, considering that most of the race takes place in New Jersey. Discuss.
Top Ten Home States (by number of competitors):
New York – 882New Jersey – 430
Unspecified – 362
California – 124
Connecticut – 124
Florida – 107
Pennsylvania – 60
Texas – 55
Massachusetts – 46
Virginia – 43
Illinois – 38
But wait! There are 11 listed here! True. This is a result of the "Unspecified" category. You'll notice that the number of competitors without a state listed is sizeable. Rather than take out that chunk, I just added Illinois, which could very well be the 10th state if those 362 participants were correctly categorized (or maybe it wouldn't. What if 68 out of those 362 are from Manitoba? I don't really know. That pesky Unspecified category could change that list quite a bit, but we can't know for sure).
Well, that's that. If you have any questions about the data, ask away and I'll try to get you some answers. If you see any errors, let me know!
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