IMCHOO Build 4 recap

The search for the bike shorts continues. I was really enjoying the Coeur shorts, but the way I sit on my bike led to chafing on the rear seam. I think the DeSoto 400 milers have a wider rear seam, so hopefully will get the pad under my weight instead of a seam in the middle of it.

I really like the look of the Coeur shorts and expect I will wear them often for shorter things and maybe even change into them for the IM run.

Overall this was a great build cycle. I've talked with other Choo people and we are all slower now than we were at the training camp, so I'm going to try to not worry about whether my race goals need to be changed based on my week-to-week training performance.

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps - Success! I felt pretty rough on the one after the brick, but made it.
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with 3x trippple hill - Success! Not my best times on the course, but I did it three times
• Celebrate summer at post-biking picnic/potluck - Success! It was a gorgeous night and we hung out until like 9pm, enjoying a pink sunset and the magic of fireflies
• Celebrate friends marriage - Success! A beautiful afternoon in a park with great company.

Review of last three weeks

• 2 Monday bootcamp
• 2 Weds strength training
• 2 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• at 1 post-run welcome-to-outdoor swimming
• at 1 Friday afternoon HH swims
• Ran
• 2 Monday night run lead
• 2 track practice
• 7 mi in long brick 
• 14 mi long run completed
• 0 run commute miles, but 1 right-hand-run recovery run
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 1 hills workouts
• 1 trainer ride when thunderstorms cancelled the hills workout
• 50 mi in long brick
• 90 mi - New longest! Great until the end when my shorts got too irritating
• 28 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with unprecendented 4x trippple hill 
• Responsibly address new leg ache with preventative PT
• Be independent with a long run on the holiday weekend
• Celebrate summer at 4th of July party

Tri games: Right hand Run

I find it challenging to get my recovery week workouts in, since there aren't group workouts on the schedule. Last night, I was supposed to do an easy run and I left work on time in gorgeous weather, so no excuses.

I live near a lovely bike path, which is a standby for running, but I was looking for a little more adventure, so I tried out a new idea for a running game, the intuitively named "Right Hand Run"

The rules are pretty simple

1. Start running
2. When you get to an intersection, either
1. Go straight, or
2. Turn right
3. If you get to a cul-de-sac, U-turn with airplane arms over the right shoulder, and continue as before
4. If you end up in a warren of alleys, hope desperately to cross over onto a road that bends to the left to get you back on your way again. Not that I did that.

This appealed to me because right-hand turns don't necessarily involve crossing roads, and it also gave me a reason to practice my right-shoulder airplane turns, which are embarrassingly awkward.

I had to start thinking about the end game pretty early in the run. By crossing a particular major road, I was committing myself to pretty much 1 route home, so I knew I had to try to connect up with that end segment.

It worked quite well. I was saved from having to do a looking-like-a-stalker loop around a playground by using an alley and having a road curve fortuitously left. I was still on the same road, so it wasn't that *I* made a left hand turn :)

I think it will be even better for an early weekend run where I can be on the road more vs. having to hop on and off of sidewalks -- I've been spoiled by running on trails, or for a run if I'm traveling in a new area.

IMCHOO Build 3 recap

This build cycle introduced the need for the occasional car-nap during the work day. I need to figure out how to get more sleep into my day. I took the recovery week very seriously, with a massage to work out some potential hip aches and some more real-food eating and prep that I hadn't made time for in the work weeks.

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp - Nope! Memorial day group bootcamp was cancelled and I did not motivate myself to do it on my own.
  
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill - Nope! All the fun extracurricular activities came on Thursday night this build cycle, so I missed these, and then did not make them up.
  
• Race the lake swim mile with good sighting and body position - Success! A lake swim PR!
• FTP test on the bike - Success! It hurt, and I did a 20 minute test instead of pacing better for a 40 minute test, but I earned the numbers I wished for.
  
• Enjoy evening off for theater - Success! This was one of the Thursday extracurriculars, but it was worth it. Complete with pre-theater dinner and great company
  

Review of last three weeks

• 0 Monday bootcamp
• 3 Weds strength training
• 1 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 1 mi lake swim
• Ran
• 3x Monday night run lead
• 2x track practice - got the whole workout done, but it was rough with the heat
• 10 mi long run completed, but it was rough
• 12 mi long run in solid Z2
• Skipped recovery week run, and no run commute miles
• Biked
• 2x flat workouts
• 0 hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• 70 mi - New longest! Felt great! Great company!
• 80 mi - New longest! Getting toasty, got it done.
• 12 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with 3x trippple hill
• Celebrate summer at post-biking picnic/potluck
• Celebrate friends marriage

Lake swim race report

There isn't much exciting to report from the race itself.

I prepared well

1. eating a reasonable breakfast reasonably early
2. wearing a swimsuit that I was ready to see turned murky from the algal lake-life
3. packing relatively new goggles with tint and polarization for the long part of the swim into the sun

And I did well!

I was seeded in the fifth wave, which meant that I got run over a bit, but the big pack of wave 6 swimmers didn't catch me until the first turn.

I had Garmin set up to buzz every 10 minutes, so I had a "reset button" to restart my attention to form and the fact that it was a race.

I had grand hopes of a sub-30 finish, but given my history, that would have been a little ridiculous, so instead I was happy when the watch buzzed 30 minutes as I was coming up to the last turn.

Overall, it was my best 1 mile lake swim yet at that venue! Hooray!

2009 - 36:28
2010 - missed signup deadline
2011 -  35:18
2012 - 33:28
2013 - 33:20
2014 - went camping on Memorial Day weekend instead of swimming
2015 - 32:33

IMChoo/2 Travel Report

Now that the race report is written, on to more important things, the road trip report!

I drove to & from Chattanooga last September and some parts of that trip were great, and I hoped to repeat, but others were not so exciting.

September 2014:

1. Kind Roots, Lexington, VA. Great find, though sort of random in a strip mall YMCA
2. Ellis Soda Shop, Abingdon, VA. Too far from highway to repeat on this trip
3. Hillbilly Willy's BBQ, Chattanooga, TN. Didn't actually go here
4. Bluewater Grille, Chattanooga, TN. Yummy but indifferent service
5. Mellow Mushroom, Chattanooga, TN. Always a favorite
6. Pigeon Mountain Grill, on bike course, GA. Tasty cheese burger
7. Blue Door Cafe, Draper, VA. Closed on Mondays, so couldn't make it here
8. Shanks Bakery, Harrisonburg, VA. Didn't make it here because my drive home was running so late by this point, and they are closed now.

I decided to make this recent trip a little more exiting by pursuing a theme of "round food". The first night, I had over-sugared myself on doughnuts, so had a salad with grilled mushrooms, but otherwise, much round food was consumed

May 2015:

1. The doughnut quest
   a.      Sugar Shack, Alexandria – Maple Bacon
   b.      Pure Eats, Lexington – Peanut Butter
   c.      Blackbird Bakery, Bristol, VA – Peach-filled glazed (highly recommend this stop for all of your sweet treat desires!!!)
   d.      Julie Darling Doughnuts, Chattanooga, TN – Banana Split cream-filled
   e.      Doughnut World, Bristol, VA – Apple fritter
   f.       Apple House, Lindon, VA – Apple cider cinnamon
2. The round foods
   a.      Pure Eats, Lexington, VA - Basil and Mozz Burger
   b.      Pigeon Mountain Grill, GA - Buckeye chocolate peanut butter ball
   c.      Community Pie, Chattanooga, TN - Sweet Fig Neapoliton pizza
   d.      Cashew, Chattanooga, TN - Black bean and plantain vegan quesadilla. Yum!
   e.      Mellow Mushroom, Knoxville, TN  - Mellowterranean pizza

Looking forward to Sept 2015

For the IM trip, there are a few things already on my wishlist

1. Blackbird Bakery - Must stop here again!
2. Julie Darling Doughnuts- Thurs breakfast
3. Milk & Honey - Thursday lunch/ice cream
4. Farmer's Daughter - Friday morning breakfast
5. Hot Chocolatier - Pick up some surprises for my family
6. Maple Street Biscuits - Send support crew to pick up some while waiting in line for finisher gear.
7. Blue Door Cafe, Draper, VA - Closed on Mondays so haven't made it here on either of the two road trips

IMChoo/2 Race Report

I went to Chattanooga last weekend and tried to race the 70.3 as if it was half of my Ironman. It was great reconnaissance, and I feel way more confident about my race. 

1. Race Report
   a. Swim: 31:00 – Half iron PR, lovely downstream swim. Stayed relaxed and sighted well. New long sleeve wetsuit was a cozy hug in cool water, but I prefer sleeveless if temperature is above 70 degrees
   b. Bike: 3:23 – Half iron PR. Aimed for Z2 and only went above it for 12% of the ride.
   c. Run: 2:27 – Negative split. Aimed for Z2 but implemented as a sawtooth of running too fast and walking.
   d. Overall: 6:29:52 – within 10 seconds of my half iron PR, and on a training day no less!
   
2. Course notes and focus points
   a. Lodging
     ·        When I found out my nice hotel wasn't serving breakfast until 7am on race morning, I switched to a cheap motel out of town, close to Waffle House. No regrets!
     ·        I recommend the Lookout Mountain cluster of motels over the airport cluster -- closer to town.
     ·        Last year, when I was checking out the course, I camped at Raccoon Mountain Campground and found that to be a great location as well.
   b. Pre-race
     ·        Wake up early, get breakfast in. Picked up 500 calories of food at 4am, and ate it after setting up transition.
     ·        For IM, clean transition area, so just need to say hi to bike and put on bottles.
     ·        Get on shuttle early and get in line for swim. Getting into the water early, and hence onto the bike course early was perfect for me – avoid passing people on the bike.
     ·        Bring something to sit on while in line. Send it back with your sherpa
     ·        Gu or other small snacky before swim start
   c. Swimming
     ·        Flow controlled by upstream dam. 8000 cu ft/whatever for 70.3 race day. 24000 cu ft/whatever last year on IM day. Calibrate expectations
     ·        Remember to start watch on the dock
     ·        Practice jumping in and starting swimming at swim practice. If I feel breathless at practice, the next day, jump in and swim slower.
     ·        70 degree water was ok with long sleeve wetsuit. For race day, last year, it was too warm for wetsuit. Research swim skins
   d. Biking
     ·         Get bottles that fit well in cages. Noteworthy bumps in first few miles left other people's nutrition on the side of the road.
     ·         Get a trusted tune-up. I saw lots of dropped chains and inability to get into desired gearing.
     ·         Mentally, break ride into 6 parts.
       1.       Stick (outbound) – 11 mi – settle in
       2.       Loop front half – 21 mi – slower
       3.       Loop back half – 25.5 mi – faster
       4.       Loop front half – 21 mi – slower
       5.       Loop back half – 25.5 mi – faster
       6.       Stick (inbound) – 11 mi – fly home
   e. Running
     ·         Practice evening running in heat by coming to Monday night runs!
     ·         Practice running bravely downhill and avoid the braking quadkiller http://running.competitor.com/2013/11/training/improve-strength-and-speed-with-downhill-running_53833
     ·         Two loop course, climb in 1^st mile
     ·         1 mean little climb on the south side of the river. Battery Pl. Quarter mile with 4% grade
     ·         For IM course, 1 hill up & down on the north side of the river, Barton Rd. Quarter mile with 5% grade up, 0.4 mile with -4% grade on the backside. Face that in the other direction a few miles later

IMCHOO Build 2 recap

I had a big confidence booster when I relayed for a half iron. I did the bike leg and mostly stayed within Z2 and had a resulting time that was much, much faster than I had hoped for. Following that up with a 70.3 in Chattanooga showed that the relay was not a fluke. Hooray!

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp - Success
  
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill - Success, including getting it done on my own
• Drop bike off for annual tune-up over a vacation weekend - Success, including getting a hand-me-down power meter installed
  
• Run 11 while on vacation - Nope! Late night catching up with old friends instead
  
• Eat rationally while on vacation and on race weekends - Nope! too much deliciousness, too little control
  
• Race Chattanooga 1/2 as an Ironman/2- Grand Success!
  

Review of last three weeks

• 1x College reunion weekend
• 1x Monday bootcamp
• 3x Weds strength training
• 1x Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 1.2 mi at Choo/2
• Ran
• 3x Monday night run lead
• 2x track practice - one derailed with a lingering side stitch
• 1 hr brick during Kinetic race weekend
• 13.1 at Choo/2
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 2 hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• 56 relay miles at Kinetic race weekend
• 56 at Choo/2
• 21 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• Race the lake swim mile with good sighting and body position 
• FTP test on the bike
• Enjoy evening off for theater