1st IM Training cycle A Race: musselman half race report

Prior to going into the race report, I have to attest this was one of the best ever triathlon location I have ever experienced: many events, incredible town & neighborhood support, great race organization, fantastic & plentiful swag. And all this came on top of the Team Z extended family incredible support! I surely hope we do it again as Team next year… mainly because I want to enter the micro trike race… 




Anyway… Here we go… it is not of the prose quality we are used to by our Kiwi friends, I am just a French man.



My goal for this race was to follow HR and practice my nutrition plan.

Total Time: 6:44:52 - Age group: 55/75 - Overall: 552/808 - Sex Group: 366

Swim: 0:38:33 - Swim Overall: 355 - Swim Sex: 249 - Swim Age: 33 - Swim Pace: 01:50

T1: 03:49 - T1 Overall: 636 - T1 Sex: 378 - T1 age: 55

Bike: 3:14:14 - Bike Overall: 497 - Bike Sex: 365 - Bike Age: 53 - Bike pace: 17.3 mph

T2: 03:10 - T2 Overall: 525 - T2 Sex: 332 - T2 Age: 48

Run: 2:45:06 - Run Overall: 615 - Run Sex: 385 - Run Age: 60 - Pace: 12:25 min/mile



Nutrition Planned:

Pre-Load: 5 days prior, I started loading in Hammer Race day Boost to the ratio of 2 capsules twice per day (Breakfast & Dinner) and 4 capsules the morning of.

Breakfast was my usual race day breakfast: oatmeal with maple syrup and spices with fresh berries and a coffee

Between breakfast and race, I continued to maintain levels with some bites of fruits (banana), pancake and water at the tent.

Swim: nothing

T1: nothing

Bike: Nutrition was a custom mix of CarboPro powder with PowerBar Pure Protein and PowerBar Perform in a bike bottle set in the torpedo mount in bike cockpit. Total 1400 cal in the bottle for what I had planned to be a 3 ½ hours ride. I had 1 hour of additional calories in the bottle in case something went wrong and it took me longer than expected.

1400 calories represents 4 hours of riding at about 350 calorie/hour. The plan was to drink a sip every 15 minutes (watch set on timer) with a large gulp of water, after the 1st 15 minutes had gone by. I also took one Hammer Anti-Fatigue capsule per hour and 1 Salt Stick per hour.

I used 3.5 bottles of water + 1 bottle of Hammer Heed on the course + 1 bottle of PowerBar Perform.

Run: Planned to continue one salt stick per hour and use 2 cups of water + 1 coke per station. I had 2 gels with me. I took one into the run, and was planning to use one every other station.



What went well?

Swim:

My goal was 0:40. Achieved a pace of 1:50 and felt very comfortable, did not push, so now I know I can maintain this for 2.4 miles in November.

I was not fazed by the wave as I started to play with them after the first left turn (parallel to shore), by trying to find a rhythm/tempo, counted 2 beats between troughs. At the 2nd left turn, I quickly realized that every 3 strokes, I would get carried over by a wave, so I went body surfing and used it to my advantage to keep on pace while resting… Once I entered the river, I had some challenges maintaining a straight line, but quickly utilized the shore distance on my left side breathing to sight. Helpers tapped my shoulder when it was time to get out.



T1:

I took my time, controlling my jog out of the swim to keep HR down. I attempted to put on my compression socks, but as my feet were wet, I struggled, got frustrated, cursed aloud and got a raised eyebrow from an official… Whom I quickly apologized to, just in case… Fortunately, I had a backup plan and put on my swag bag wool socks (they are awesome!). I usually refuel in T1, but based on recent conversations, I decided to wait for 15-20 mns into the bike to do so.

Mounting line was crowded and narrow, ran up from the crowds a little, mounted and got off.



Bike:

Uneventful, many passed me grinding hard (dipping shoulders) in the first hour when I maintained a high Z2/low Z3. I really enjoyed the country side views and the 10-miles-spaced aid stations. It made for a comfortable generous use of my onboard water: drink, wash bike, wash face, wash bike more, splash on body, etc. Many downhill were handled at top speed. I did not mind the short steep hill, but came out more leery of the never ending false flats and facing winds. After the 1st hour, I started to catch up on many of the riders who had passed me and were settling into a slower pace. I was very surprised to actually pass Nelson, but I got to butt-slap him! Man that was a firm one! I used the portion of rough road to pass many competitors as they were drastically slowing down and I was not bothered by the road.



Run:

What went well? Well… the first 3 miles to the 1st hill, average 8:40 mn/mile and felt really good about it, seeing so many Zers, caught up to Speedy Lynn (when did you get that fast?) and later our very own celebrity superhero PiMan caught up with me… I had been feeling the target drawing on my back for a while… The hoses were very welcome as I had stuffed by newly acquired Fight MS Trisuit with sponges. I used 2 glasses of ice at every station, emptying them in the front and back of my suit to maintain my core temp down.

The highlight of this whole tri-thing was of course at the finish, well… because it is the end, but specifically because all my Z peeps were lined up, screaming and cheering. Guys, at that moment you totally refilled my tank! Finished with PiMan, thought of grabbing his hand to make it a Buttercup & Daffodil moment but decided against it as I did not want to tarnish that beautiful memory in your kind minds…



What went wrong?

Many things…

Bike: as I started to cross the tarp to go from the park onto the road, I lost my nutrition bottle which almost opened… although I did not realize this until my scheduled 1st gulp 15 minutes later when a 1/4 bottle of this energy charged syrupy liquid spilled on me, the bike, the gloves… It got me to think what if, it had entirely spilled? I had nothing else but a gel in my bento box and would be in trouble in any other courses, and maybe on this one as I would have had to entirely rely on the Hammer Gels given out every 10 miles at the stations.

That custom nutrition liquid mix works well for me and was tested, however never tested in this heat level and after 3 hours the syrupy mix of chocolate protein w/ Perform Lemon Lime (CarboPro does not have any flavor, or sweet taste) ended tasted like vomit…

Run: Although I probably would have not been able to maintain an 8:40 pace throughout, my plan was for a positive split to finish at an avg. pace of 9:15-9:30… Well the mental failed first at that first hill. I felt light headed and dizzy at the top and it took me forever to get up there. HTFU, I know… this needs to be my absolute new mantra…

I did not take enough salts, and very quickly felt very slushy, dehydrated. At mile 7, I tried HEED again. Big mistake! It induced major stomach cramps and an urgent need for a loo… the loo, I passed at the station had a 3-persons line and when the door opened, its heated fumet dispersed and I could not get myself in… so I plodded along searching for the perfect tree and started to think that it might be ok to go in the short. Fortunately, I got some sense in me and went knowing at somebody’s house, very sheepishly, doubled over asked to use the bathroom. Thank God the lady of the house decided to step outside… as the pressure released… enough of the scat note… I continued to plod along, tapping on music tempos, other runners’ cadence, Lynn and finally Bob Young with whom I finished by following a run/walk interval.



Thank you all for your support and cheers!

I registered for IM Arizona 2011!

What did I do?...
This is it. It has tempted me many times before and I have finally made the step, we, as a family, have made the step! 354 days to race day in Tempe, AZ.
I was debated between doing the team IM race in Cozumel next year or Arizona. The average temperature and humidity levels were the final decision factors after having discussed with mates and friends the advantages and inconvenient of both races.
OMG! I will be doing an IM!

Baltimore Half Marathon - October 16th, 2010

NICOLAS NOUVEL #21184


SPRINGFIELD, VA, USA

Age: 45 Gender: M
Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:09:48
Chip Time 2:02:57
Overall Place 2693 / 8048
Gender Place 1598 / 3318
Division Place 139 / 288
Split1 1:03:21
Split2 0:59:36

Well after having dropped off the team in early January 2010 and about 8 month of stress, false training starts and general inactivity, I finally decided late July that I had to commit to an actual race to be able to get back to the program. Early August, I finally found a new job… I was unemployed… And best of all, my new boss is a triathlete (2 x lake Placid, 1 x Frankfurt). Suddenly my outlook opened up and I could finally consider my first IM. Obviously I would prefer a Team Z IM as my first, but I considered IMAZ for a while to finally put my sights on IMCoz.

To match up the start of my year training path to an IM, I choose to run the Baltimore ½ marathon which occurred last week-end on 10/16/10. So I went online, found an acceptable online training program and got to the grind… Although the program called for 6 days/week training, I basically averaged since early August about 3 to 4 work outs per week. I experienced some shin pains issues with a new pair of shoes, easily fixed by converting to a different model/brand. It appears that through the years my gait has somewhat altered itself to where I am today, so the good old Asics Cumulus did not fit anymore and I had to move to the Brooks Ghost 3. Problem solved.

Fast forward to Saturday morning, woke up at 6 am, enjoyed a quick breakfast of cereals, milk and banana and drove to Baltimore. While driving and until the race start at 9:45 am, I drank 12 oz of water, followed by 20 oz of Gatorade. The start of the ½ M was at mile marker 13 of the marathon so I tried to watch for Kai G but was never able to see him. Off we went at 9:45 am. By that time, I had realized I had made the mistake of not bringing a cap or applying sunscreen and my shining egghead was turning pinkish… My hidden goal was to run the ½ sub 2, as I had run the run leg of SavageMan half in 09 in 1:58, I figured this was an easier course and I could do it… Well, well… Not training for 7 months does not cut it! My strategy was to remain on pace the whole race. I ran through all water stop, grabbing a glass of water for head splash, and a glass of Gatorade. In the first hour, I ingested one caffeinated cliff shot. Between mile 6 and 7, I started realized I was falling behind my pace. It had taken me 1:03:21 to reach the halfway point. I was 3+ minutes behind my targeted pace. The Garmin 305 has a nifty little tool which allows you to program a virtual runner on a set time, for the distance you are running. At a glance, it tells you whether you are running in front of behind and by how much. So I picked up the pace. At mile 8, I started to feel the first pangs of a cramp in my left leg and swallowed with water 3 Endurolytes. At mile 11, again 3 more Endurolytes as my left calf started cramping. From mile 9 to the end, I ran negative miles splits from 9:20mn/mile to end up with a second half at 0:59:36. The last mile was hard and I do not think I would have had much more to keep going. I felt my nutrition was adequate for the distance. I definitely ran a good part of the race beyond my anaerobic threshold as I could feel in my legs, lactic acid build up within 2 hours of the race ends.

Overall, this is not the race results I was hoping for; however I am happy with it as:

1. I ran a controlled race with a perceived adequate nutrition.

2. I sat on my @ss for about 7 months…

3. Pain is good?... maybe not… but what the heck it makes me feel alive!

Short tale of a failed marathon run... although I did finish!

The day started at 4:45 am when the alarm clock rang.

I met with Rich, Janet, Tracey and Mike at 6:30 at Pentagon station and walked over to the race staging area, dropped my bag at the assigned UPS truck, hit the johns and move onto the correct starting pad. We were looking for Fritz but could not find him in the sheer mass of runners. Gun went off at 8 am, passed the starting line at 8:12 and off we were! Morning was chilly and I was wearing my tri top and shorts with a sweater with a fleece cap. Dropped the sweatshirt at 0.8 m, met with Tracey, the day Cheer Drill Sergeant and a very effective one at that(!), exchanged my fleece for my running cap and off we went. Up to mile 6, everything went all right, kept the planned pace. Starting at mile 6, I started feeling a tightening on the top part of my right gluts which slowly travelled down to the back of my knee, top part of the calf.

Big mistake: I did not stop to stretch at the symptoms onset (although I can’t say it would have changed anything). It actually took me a while (about 4 miles) to realize the pain was shooting down from the gluts, instead of up from the calf… When I finally started to stop to stretch I was not taking care of the right muscles… By the time, I did it was too late...

Miles 10 to 12 were very tough, as the right hip abductor tightened as well. At that point, I hobbled on my left leg and ended up doing that for the rest of the marathon… My left quad is paying for it today with a major lactic build up! I seriously considered quitting then. I had left behind Rich, Janet and Mike who all caught up with me by mile 14. Smartly Mike suggested stopping for Tylenol at the EMS tent. Smartest decision so far that day at it edged enough of the pain to be able to finish the distance! They took off and I kept on hobbling on my left leg.

I saw several times a few Team Z cheer squads: Tracey, Priscilla, Alaina, Jacquie (I actually heard Jacquie before I saw her), Andrea (whose high pitch screaming would pierce through the brouhaha), Kim, Mary, Jeff & Jeff and a few others. All of you were there at the right spot(s). Thank you! Mile 16, I stopped feeling bad about myself and started focusing on all the other runners, reading their stories on their backs, the stories of loved lost ones, sometimes several within the same families, a soldier with a metal spring leg running, a soldier clearly just out of the hospital with still reddish raw scars walking it on crutches, etc… Very inspiring! Very motivating! At one point, I had caught up with Matthew and we kept plugging along together more or less.

By mile 18, I knew I’d cross the bridge and tried to go faster to see both my wife and my daughter who were waiting for me between mile 22 & 24 before they had to leave. I missed them. Mile 24 to 25 was the most difficult for my knee and leg, but I was so close. Mile 25th brought a welcome sight in both Tracey and Jacquie who had come to meet Matthew and I. They pulled us in (a big hug and thank you as you already know how much I appreciated it!) and we finished together on the chute, Matthew able to take off in the last 100 yards! Way to go Dude!

A US Marine handed me my finisher’s medal, got pictures done and met the main Team Z cheering squad for a late lunch!

My time is as follows:

Gun time: 5:34:11

Overall: 17620/20963

M: 11099/12656

Division: 1810/2011

15K: 1:56:56

Half: 2:40:38

30K: 3:49:11

35K: 4:31:05

40K: 5:16:14

I found it very infuriating when your nutrition and strength are fine and the reasons you are falling behind your plan are because of a body part failure to comply… Pain in places not experienced before. New pains for which there are no apparent reasons. What?... If I will it hard enough... This is mutiny!

Anyway… There will be other marathons, not in the next couple month but maybe I’ll change my 2010 ½ marathon plan to tackle another one in March… Shamrock, possibly??

Arlington Science Focus School 5K

This will be my next race. The race will be run in Arlington on Saturday, may 2nd at 8:30 am.

2009 COLONIES ZONE SHORT COURSE YARDS SWIM MEET

My first ever swim meet!

On Friday, April 24th 2009, I competed in the 1,000 yards free style. On Friday, exceptionally I left work early at 4 pm to have plenty of time to find the pool, a parking spot, meet with Coach Ed and gather last minute tips. I arrived at George Mason University Aquatic Center by 5, proceeded through positive identification, changed and met up with my team (Team Z). The pool facilities were absolutely incredible, the water temp perfect at a mere 74-76F. The meet started as scheduled at 6 pm. I was placed in heat 9 of 11 with a start time of 8:06 pm... Hurry up & wait!... Nervousness started building up as both the 1,000 and 1650 yards heats were going through.

It was incredible to witness Coach Ed compete (won his age group by the way) in the 1650 y. all in zone 1. His stroke count went from 10/lap to 14/lap, slow and steady arm cadence but what a pull through in the water! He finished in 21+ minutes... I had seeded for my 1,000 y at 20 minutes...

My turn came up and I headed for block #5 where I waited for the judge to OK to jump in the water. Christine was my lap counter. Other team mates, Tracey, Priscilla and Janet were swimming respectively in lanes 6, 7 and 8.

I do not feel comfortable yet with the diving as part of a competition start. I guess, it comes from the fear to have my goggles removed or pushed at the race start. After that moment, most of it is a blur of nervousness until the gun went off! I remember a nice cheer from a teammate, Melody W.,... and off we were!

I made probably the worst mistake one can make in such a situation. There was so much adrenaline pumping that I went out flying (at least what it felt like for me) and did my first 50 y (2 laps) in 47.57 seconds, then the next in 50.38 seconds. At that point, I realized I had to pace myself so I dropped and focused on swimming form, catch up and gliding. My splits were not very consistent progressing from 53.79s to 1:00:20... At this point, I was mostly battling with negative thoughts and losing form. 200 yards from the finish, I focused again and picked up momentum to finish the last 50 yards in 54.54s. What a relief when I saw the orange card announcing the last lap! I ended up finishing in 19:00:45, a full minute faster than my seed time and expected finish time.

All in all, it was a good experience and I believe I will be looking for similar swim meets for practice. I had always believed I was a good swimmer when I joined the team. well I was a good leisure swimmer! Since, I have progressed, but there are still huge improvements to achieve in form, efficiency and more!

Rumpass in Bumpass 2009 - Sprint Triathlon - 04/19/09

alrite... another race... The first tri of the season! Gotta do good...

... So what did I do the night before? I just procrastinated getting my stuff together... Finally 10 pm comes and I'me starting to put a move on the equipment... 11 am finally comes around: I'm going to bed!

Wake up time on Sunday: 5:30 am, breakfast (bowl of cereals, coffee, fruits, yogurt... but Oh wait!... because I hadn't finished all last night, I now don't have time to eat breakfast... not so good!)... so 6:35 am I bolt out of the house, meet Marlene at 6:45 am in front of Starbucks Springfield Plaza... Run in and buy the traditional halfacapamocacappucino, a slice of marble cake and a banana. As Marlene is driving to Lake Anna, I'm inhaling the food... Too fast, too little as I'll discover later...

We are at the arce site about 1 hour later, meet the team, pick up bibs, body marking, lay the stuff in transition, hang around with friend, I munch on bacon... put on the wetsuit, fight with body glide, spread it thick where I don't need it and none where I need to...

Time to warm up and "aclimate" to the water... dip toes, ankles, jump in and swim 50 y out and back, hang in water, splash at Zoe...

Anyway! Let's get to the race...

Total: 1:26:50

S: 16'47"

T1: 2'24"

B: 39'32"

T2: 1'33"

R: 26'33"

More stats: 187/415 overall racers, 150/267 males, 21/37 of M40-44, 17/30 of division

basically in the middle of the pack...

Now the report,... Actually more of a collection of thoughts from the race...

S: Positioned myself on the outside, back of the pack. The gun went off and I let the crazies go and fight, got quickly into my tempo, swim, glide, swim, kick someone, get kicked in the chest & breath out because of so many %#$%^@# breaststroke swimmers. Overall felt good. It was the 1st time I swam the whole distance without stopping, just kept going, sighting roughly every 10 strokes. Yellow man in sight: almost done, made the turn behind the dock and forced myself to keep swimming until my hand touched the ground, went up... and Oh! Surprise! I'm dizzy! Thank God for the volunteers pulling us out!

T1: Yank the neoprene cap out (I should call it the suction cap! it wouldn't come out!), stuff the goggles in it and jog... Green mass, Z cheers (love you guys!)... But I can't walk straight. Bike on the left side, rack before last on back side by blue tent, why is everything moving around?????? Found the bike, finished pulling wetsuit out, fought with singlet jersey, socks, cap, helmet clipped, glasses... Off I go! Jogged out, HR in Z5b, not good, gotta slow it down...

B: I guess Ok. It took me about 10 minutes to get the dizziness under control. After a stroke of genius (Borat: "Not!"), I realized that maybe, maybe, possibly it could be because I'm low in cal... Swallow a Hammer gel and miracle 3-5 mn later, I'm much better... Maybe I should drink too?

Went aero and kept pedaling, trying to pick up others, worked somewhat for a while. After 7 miles, I increased my cadence and bracket and started to hammer a little! Knowing how it feels, I tried to cheer to all the Zers whom I passed or who passed me. I try to remember my teammate names, but sometimes it fails (Ask Kathy... ;-) You know who you are!). Back to the chute, unclip, jumped out, ran in transition.

T2: scramble, slow, cannot take off one of my bike show... Maybe I should remove the strap... run shoes on tighten the Yanks and off I go... more scrambling, trying to make coffee, check emails, send a fax on my Garmin 305... Green group on left side this time, Z cheers again, Robin yells at me something about creamers for my coffee... Roughly she meant to get my butt moving! (Love you Gals!)

R: Boy... are my legs heavy.... My left hip is hurting. Stop whining and get on with it. 10 minutes later, I finally find my groove and plug along. I'm hot, forgot to drink, sweated a lot, forgot the gel on the bike and just realized I basically had only 2 gulps of water while riding... There'll be water at the turn around. I just have to endure it 'til then. We'll see what happens. Someone from the Richmond Tri Club is smack behind me, pacing me. He passes me at the turn around. I'll get him on the way up! Gulp 3 endurolytes, a whole glass of water, dump another on my head! Let's finish this thing! I hear 2 more guys catching up with me, making a coment of passing this 43 y.o. (me!...) How dares they!... Now I'm fuming, angry... so I pace them... We pass the Richmond Tri Club guy, back into th trail. Watch out for the roots and place your efforts here to pass as many as possible. Everyone will slow down to watch for the hazards. This is the time. get to the tree with the photographer and... of sweet sight for sore eyes... abeautiful young woman who lifts her T-Shirt... Shall I say more? I'm no pervert (at least I don't think so...), but when offered I look... Renewed strength! Out of the trail, on the road, the chute and I sprint, I give it all, pass the 2 guys that had passed me, feel good finish, can't breath, need to sit, drink.

Back to the Team Z tent. Thanks Ed for the awesome organization as always, but also thank you to all of you who cheered, supported, cooked, provided advices on bikes (Seth).

Good friends, good eats, good times!