FEAT COMPLETED- Run 10K in 50 minutes + Complete three triathlons

So as I mentioned in the race results from the Portland Triathlon, I completed the 10K in 0:48:55, which completes my feat of running a sub-50 minute 10K time. It’s amazing to me that I couldn’t run a 10K in that time at the beginning of the season, and here I am getting that time after doing the swim and the bike ride in a triathlon. That makes me smile to no end. That, and the fact I won’t have to run another 10K to try and get that feat done

The other feat I completed at this race was to do three triathlons this year. Whew, to go from 1 to 3 was a big leap, but now that I’ve done it I can’t imagine only doing one race a year ever again. Once a month, though, that sounds about right.

Race Results- Portland Triathlon 08.23.09

With all apologies to Quentin Tarantino, this was my pre-race warm up inspiration:

We’re gonna be dropped into Portland, dressed as triathletes. We’re gonna be doing one thing and one thing only… beating other triathletes. Members of the nationalist socialist party conquered Europe through endurance, speed, strength, and vigor. And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do to them. We will be cruel to the other triathletes and through our cruelty they will know who we are. They will find the evidence of our cruelty in the flabby, tired, cramping bodies of their brothers we leave behind us and the triathletes will not be able to help themselves from imagining the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, at our running shoes, and the wheels of our bikes. And the triathletes will be sicken by us, the triathletes will talk about us and the triathletes will fear us. Triathletes ain’t got no humanity! They need to be destroyed. Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred bike helmets… and I want my bike helmets!

Needless to say, I was very inspired by both watching Inglorious Basterds on opening day and my great result at the Deschutes Dash in anticipation of my last race, the Portland Triathlon. I came into it feeling relaxed, and while not at my peak fitness, I’ve still been working out enough that it would be a good race. A tasty Chipotle lunch and sushi dinner the night before ensured I would have enough rice in my system to run at least five races, assuming rice is a vital component for running a race.

Swim- 1.5 K
The swim was held in the Williamette River in downtown Portland, which while not the cleanest body of water in the world, was still very swimmable. We checked it out the day before, and with all the boats the water was wavy gravy, but at 7:30am on a Sunday and no boats the water was like glass with the current never being a factor. It was a straight out and back course, which allowed me to not worry about sighting and turning too much, and while it looked a little intimidating from shore, once I got going I was able to get into my groove fairly easy. The start of the swim was havok, with everyone starting in a straight line off the dock rather than as a more spread out group like my other races, and the end of the swim was even worse, with everyone having to climb up into the same 10-foot wide spot on the pier, but all in all it was a good swim with my best 1.5K time (outside of the down-current Deschutes Dash swims, which would be comparing apples to oranges that are floating down a rushing river).

Transition 1
No problems, wetsuit came off, shoes came on. Could be faster, and something to practice for next year to start getting my time down to a more competitive level. Second best T1 time ever, though, which was great especially considering where my bike was parked..

Bike- 40K
A very unique course, with lots of twists and turns over three laps through the West Hills. I paid the price by not having driven the course beforehand, so the first lap was just trying to figure out where to go. Then at the end of the first lap my tire changing kit and one of my bottles fell off the bike, so I spent the second lap all pissed off and not thinking about the race, and the begining of the third lap seeing if I could find them again. The rest of the third lap, I finally got around to racing, but by then the damage was done. I think I could have done much better on this one, but I still passed a bunch of riders (got my 100 bike helmets!) and got my second best time of all my races, which is I did not know until just now and makes me feel a lot better about my bike split. Dang, a bit better luck and preparation and I am going to kill it next time!

Transition 2
Got those sweet no-tie shoe laces for my shoes, and this was the first time I got to try them. I usually try not to use equipment right out of the box for the first time ever at a race, but desperate times call for desperate men. Didn’t help much, as my time was slow compared to my Dash times, but oh well, at least my shoes didn’t fall off during the run.

Run- 10K
Because of the so-so bike ride, I came out of transition determined to make something happen. I had the advantage of having run the course many times when I lived in Portland, as it was the same loop I would run at lunch. The loop is a beautiful run over the Hawthorne Bridge, along the river on the east side and down the floating walkway, back over the Steel Bridge and down the other side of the river through Waterfront Park. With that, I was able to gauge much better than in previous races how much further I had to run, and therefore how hard I could run before I passed out. In the first loop I had a sub 25 minute time, which put me on pace to meet my sub 50 minute 10K time, so during the second loop I gave it my all, particularly through the last stretch through Waterfront Park. During that last 2 minutes, I honestly don’t think I have ever run as hard ever in my life. I was by myself as I approached the finish line, and the crowd was loving my effort and gave me a great cheer. Even the announcer broke from the script of reading the name and and time of the finisher to say “Look at the guy go!” which felt really good. Anyway, I finished super strong and with a full minute under my goal time, and a whopping four minutes under my previous best run time from this year’s Deschutes Dash. Wahoo!

Here’s a link to my division’s times, and here’s my splits (slightly unofficial, as my swim time and T1 got combined, so that’s off my stop watch):

OVERALL- 2:55:22
Swim- 0:34:09
T1- 0:03:26
Bike- 1:26:06
T2- 0:02:43
Run- 0:48:55

All in all, it was a great race, and a great finish to the season. My time was my best non-Deschutes Dash time and my second best time overall, and although it was ten minutes off this year’s DD time the differences in the swim course account for that, so it was all good. I placed 26/33 in my division, which was a bit of a disappointment, but I had a fun, got two feats under my belt and completed my first travel race.

Can I take a day off from training now? Please?

FEAT COMPLETED- Run a 00:07:00 Mile

Coming just two days off completing my Dash time feat, I wasn’t looking for a long workout. Jess, Rob and I all had mile times we wanted to hit, so we decided to hit the track and give it a try to see how much more work we’re going to have to do to get it. The answer: none! We all smashed our mile time goals, which is just crazy, particularly as I feel they were agressive times to begin with. I mean, it’s not like I was trying to do it under 15 minutes or something; the time I was trying to hit was 7 minutes, which would have but me at my high school speed at my very best.

I let Jess go first, then started 15 seconds or so behind her, with Rob right behind me. I needed to get a 00:01:45 lap for four laps to do it, and when I saw that after the first lap I was at only 00:01:30 I thought I might be on to something. The second lap was ten seconds slower, the third lap was the same as the second, so I am heading into the last lap with about a 25 second cushion. I hammered down on the last lap, trying to catch Jess, and crossed the finish line in a swift 00:06:36! Hot dang, two feats in three days! The kid is on a roll! Jess and Rob also smashed thier times, with Jess getting about 00:06:42 (her goal was 00:07:30) and Rob banging out a 00:07:02 (with a goal time of 8 minutes). Good job, Funning Group!

FEAT COMPLETED- Place in the top half of my division at the Deschutes Dash- DD 07/18/09 Race Results

When I set my list of goals this year, this goal was the first, and the goal that many of the others—such as the 10K time, the duathlon time, and the mile time—were set to help me reach this one. This was also the only goal I would only have one shot at trying to accomplish. I’ve been training like crazy for six months, and hot damn, 48 hours later I still can’t believe I did it and am able to check this one off my list. Even if I don’t reach any other of my feats I’ll consider this year a huge success based on my race this weekend. Alright, here’s the blow by blow:

Swim- 1.5K
An easy downhill swim, but the extra training this year in the pool coupled with a wetsuit with sleeves to keep me more comfortable, a couple of extra practice river swims, an open water tri swim at the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon (PCOT) to work the kinks out, and a river that felt like it was flowing like a bat out of hell helped me shave a huge 2.5 minutes off my time from last year. I started in the front of my wave and got passed by a bunch of swimmers in the first few minutes, but by the first bridge I found my pace and was able to keep up with the pack. I had a pink swim cap, which looked even sissier on me than the words “pink swim cap” would usually connote, but hey, I work with what I got.

Transition 1
I had a great transition, getting my wetsuit off in record time with a technique I picked up from Rob. I was a little slow getting my socks and shoes on, so made a game time decision to ride without gloves rather than bothering to put them on. My bike was set up right next to the Bike Out, so I was able to get out easy. All in all, my T1 time was nearly three minutes faster than last year, which means I was able to cut my T1 in half. Those are free minutes you don’t have to work hard to get, so that’s huge. Frick yeah!

Bike- 40K
My Favorite Mary let me borrow The Monarch for the race again, and again The Monarch was not interested in going slow. The day before the race I dropped some coin to get it fitted to me, and it was worth every penny. Every stroke felt like I was maximizing my power, my lungs felt less constricted, and my control of the bike on the downhill felt solid. Uphill, The Monarch and I started picking off bunnies almost from the get go, with maximum bunny pickage happening on the four big climbs. Need a rabbit’s foot? I got about a hundred. Once I hit the top, I saw an apparition of Mary, Obi Wan Kenobi-style, telling me no brakes. Well, when the spirit of your still-living bike racing friend tells you not to use your brakes, you damn well don’t use your brakes. I held on to my aeros and peddled harder than I’ve ever peddled, flying past other riders like they were going the other direction. Absolutely incredible. Thanks to all those stupid indoor bike sessions over the winter and The Monarch, I was able to take a wacky 14 minutes off my time from last year.

Transition 2
I don’t remember this being a slow transition, but it was only 3 seconds faster than last year, and for how close I was to the Bike In and Run Out compared to last year that seems a little weak sauce. Aw well, it’s only one minutes in 160 minute race, and it was faster than most people in my division, so no worries.

Run- 10K
By this time, it was ungodly hot out, and the one thing the Dash is a little weak on compared to the PCOT is aid stations, with only 4 compared to the 6 or 7 the PCOT had, and no sprinklers to run through to cool down. That said, I had the advantage over my run on the PCOT of having run the course about 3 times a week for the last 6 months, knowing every twist, turn and distance to the next aid station there, so I was able to manage. Had a quick pee break on the run; it would be great to be able to eliminate pee breaks from the race, but with all the liquid I consume during the triathlon I’m not sure how (other than pissing myself, which hardcore racers are said to do, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I’ll save that for next year, working title The Year of Pissing Myself- bookmark that blog now!). But other than that, it was a good, strong run, with a great fast burst the last quarter mile to finish like a rock star 5.5 minutes faster than last year and a couple of minutes faster than the PCOT run time.

Here’s a link to my division’s times, and here’s my times:

OVERALL- 2:42:42
Swim- 0:18:44
T1- 0:02:40
Bike- 1:27:08
T2- 0:01:18
Run- 0:52:50

Overall, I took 25 minutes off from last year, finishing 13th out of 29th in my division. Last year I finished 25th out of 25th. Obviously a huge improvement, and exactly the time I was hoping for. I felt incredible finishing this race and immediately wanted to go back out there and race some more (to be fair, this feeling subsided after a minute or so, but still!). I can’t wait to build on this race and am already thinking about Deschutes Dash 2010!

Before the race with my Partners In Vigor

It was about this time we heard someone yell “Release the hounds!” that we knew it was time to start running.

I’m the one with the pink swim cap

I’m the one kicking the other swimmers in the face

I see you girls checkin’ out my trunks, I see you girls checkin’ out the front of my trunks, I see you girls lookin’ at my junk then checkin’ out my rump then back to my sugar lumps, while I shake yeah I shake it all up, you probably think that my pants have the mumps, it’s just my sugar lump bump-ba-bump.

Oh hey, s’up?

Arms in, knees high, perfect form

Arms flailing, feet dragging, not technically any form at all

One last shot of my rump for the ladies

Done and done!

Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!

Thug hug for the big winners

The Partners In Vigor, post-vigoring

Fresh Air Duathlon 07/02/09 Results

Another day, another PR! This time I was on Mary’s bike, but fitted for me, so it made a huge difference. I also had the benifit of having a few races under my belt with the aero bars. Two minutes faster on the bike, good job me. But also 30 seconds faster on the run, and that’s all me, no equipment help there, so super good job me.

Bike- 0:39:51
Run- 0:25:10
Total Time- 1:05:01
Appoximate bike split (up/down)- 28:02/12:14

Race Results- Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon

This was my first triathlon of the year, and as a first major race it could hardly have gone better. Here’s the breakdown:

Swim- 1.5K
Okay, this could have gone better. I did say hardly. The route was a diamond shape of three floats that went out clockwise into the middle of the lake. I was mad pumped while we were waiting on the boat ramp; in fact, I was hoping an innocent brown bear would be swimming by during the race so that I would have the chance to wrestle it in a watery brawl to the death. Instead, after about 50 yards of swimming my goggles started to leak. Ugh. That took the bear wrestling right out of me. I stopped to readjust, swam a bit, stopped to readjust, swam some more, and stopped to adjust one more time. I also got wildly off course during the first leg, having to make a pretty large course correction once I passed the first buoy. After that I fell into a slow grove, and had no other problems other than seeing a bunch of people from waves that started behind me catch up and pass me. Booooo.

Transition 1
Usually when I get out of the water I am woozy, but this time I was clear thinking and methodical. No problems here.

Bike- 40K
This is where it became a race. My friend Mary lent me her sweet Kestrel Talon TT bike, with Zipp aero wheels and aero bars and Shimano Ultratega gears and most importantly, a cute butterfly on embroidered on the seat. Hmmm. That won’t do. Ah, here we go, it’s not just any butterfly, it’s the Monarch, the king of the butterflies. Yes, much better. Anyway, once I got on the Monarch I started passing kids like a 9th grade English teacher who just doesn’t care anymore. I passed probably a good 150-200 people, including most of the swimmers who passed me and most of the slower duathlon racers, who all started at the same time as I started the swim. No doubt, this was the first time in a tri I was truly racing, not just biking. It was exhilarating; perhaps too much so, as I was having so much fun passing people I probably left a little too much on the bike and not enough for the run. Or did I?

Transition 2
Awesome transition. Lost a minute hitting the bathroom, but couldn’t get myself to pee in the lake during the swim. I choose dignity.

Run
Turns out I had just enough energy for the run, but it was close. No sprinting the last quarter-mile for me. By this time it was blazing hot, so it became a game of “when the hell is the next aid station?” Fortunately, they was one every mile, plus residents had set up sprinklers along the route to cool runners off. I am happy to say I didn’t walk, and that I started off strong in the run without any of the wobbly bike legs you can sometimes get if you haven’t done your brick workouts (thanks, weekly du series!). I didn’t pass a lot of runners, but I did pass a lot of walkers, so a pass is a pass.

Here’s a link to the results for the race, and here’s my times:
OVERALL- 3:02:47
Swim- 0:35:08
T1- 5:09
Bike- 1:24:40
T2- 2:43
Run- 0:55:07

Overall, it was a great performance at a great race. I’m definitely stronger than I was at the Dash last year, so hopefully over the next four weeks I will be able to improve even more and crush my Dash time this year. Good times!

At T2, giving the ladies some eye candy

Oh hey, s’up?

Not pictured: my cape

The big winners

OH YA WE GONNA DRANK

A little postrace flexing, just to let ‘em know (let who know what, I am not sure)

FEAT COMPLETED- Complete the duathlon under 1:10:00- Fresh Air Duathlon Race Results 6/25/09

Mary came into my office and saw my bike and asked me where my racing bike is. After much poking fun at me, she offered to lend me her sweet Kestrel TT bike for the Du. With a super sweet aero bike, how could I not finally get under 1:10:00 for my du time? The answer is, I couldn’t not! Which is to say, I did! The bike was a champ, keeping me flying uphill where I usually flame out. It was sized for Mary, so I kept banging my knee, which ended up getting really sore for the run, but even with a crippled TT bike I did better than a fitted Nick bike. In total, the bike split was a crazy 0:02:45 faster than my PR bike time, and even my run time was kicking at just 15 seconds over my PR run time. All in all, an awesome race, and awesome to finally have a feat done. Oh, and do I need a new bike now? Yes. Yes I do.

Bike- 0:41:58
Run- 0:25:42
Total Time- 1:07:40
Appoximate bike split (up/down)- 0:29:05/0:13:18

Fresh Air Duathlon Results 6/18/09

Good lord, what a race. I arrive to the race with 40 minutes to spare and a flat tire on my bike. Shit. The tire has a rip in the wall, which has shredded the tube a good inch or so. Shit shit. I change the tire, hoping I can get one last ride in, but have the toughest time getting the tire back on and inflated because of the tire damage. Shit shit shit. After I finally get it done and inflated, not a minute later, there is a large bang from the tire exploding. Shit shit shit shit.

I would have given up right there, but Rob gave me the motivation to go to the bike store real quick to get a new tire and some tubes. Taylor at Bend Bike ‘n’ Sport was a champ, getting me in and out of there in like four minutes. I sped back to the race and got to the start line well past my scheduled time, bumping me to the end. Since I usually come in last anyway, it was nice to get passed, but at the same time peeps would be waiting extra long for me to finish. Aw well.

Anyway, I am glad I raced as I ended up having a huge improvement. During my uphill I was furious at the whole tire situation and all the stress, so I hammered that. I was still pretty pissed by time I got to the top, so I hammered it down as fast as possible. By time I got done with the bike I wasn’t angry anymore, just knackered, but still had just enough in me to get a good run time. All in all, I got my best bike split ever and my second best run split ever, giving me a new PR of 1:11:03, beating my old PR from last year by a 2 1/2 minutes and beating my time last week by 3 1/2 minutes. Wahoo! If I can keep improving my bike, particulalry my uphill, and get a bit faster on the first half of the run I should be able to make my feat time of 1:10:00 by the end of the series, with the hope of even doing a bit better.

A side note- the race results page now has results from all my races, not just the du. Watch it grow!

Duathlon 6/18/09
Bike Split 0:44:45
Run Split 0:26:17
Total Time 1:11:03

New Link- Fresh Air Duathlon Results

Just for a laugh, I’ve added a link with all my du series times from last year and this. Should be interesting to see the differences in times year over year.

Fresh Air Sports Duathlon Results 6/11/09

Like all good Snoopy stories, it started with “It was a dark and stormy night…” but luckily we didn’t get too much rain for the first Du of the series. It was a Battle for the Bottom between Rob, Jess and myself. I thought I would get the best time, everyone else said Jess, but in the end Rob stomped us by a whopping 4 minutes. Well done Rob!

All in all, I felt great. My run was strong, and I think with a few weeks of racing my bike will improve. I am feeling pretty good at making my Du Feat of under 1:10:00.

Duathlon 6/11/09
Bike Split 0:49:06
Run Split 0:25:31
Total Time 1:14:37