Interesting night of riding

Tonights ride was one of the most interesting rides I've had in a long time. Thankfully it didn't involve any vehicles this time. It starting off as a usual ride that we do during weeknights which is a 36 mile loop. We went tonight because the sun was out for the first time in weeks!

Three of us were kind of cruising along around the scenic Ocean Dr chatting and just enjoying the weather. After reaching about the half way point of the ride, I see a cop on a motorcycle coming slowly around the corner flashing his lights. Uh Oh.... But wait!!! Following the cop were 40-50 cyclists! Well, each year a local bike shop where we live puts on a "Longest Day of the Year" ride which circles around the small island we live on. In total, I think it ends up being a 45-50 mile loop. So after about 30 seconds, the adrenaline kicked in and my decision was made. TURN AROUND! Back the other way we went. The group was kind of cruising as they had just started and the police escort was there to keep the Newport, RI traffic in check as they went around. Looking down at my computer, my average speed over the first 17 miles was about 17.7 mph.

So out of Newport we went... and up went the pace. Soon I had dropped my mates that I was with, but was hanging with the front group. It was kind of cool to go out in a group of 20-30 riders. Gone was the fear of getting hit by a car. Next thing I know, I'm at 37 miles total and my average mph jumped to 20.1 mph. To raise the average that much that quickly gives you an idea of the pace we were keeping.

Unfortunately, staying with the main pack didn't last. Its not that I cracked, its that a small group of us got caught behind a truck that kind of passed us and made a turn just as we were making a turn. That caused the back half to slow down just enough that enough of a gap was opened that we couldn't gap the distance. We (myself included) didn't have enough firepower. We tried with 3 of us, but that became two quickly and all was lost. A hill was upcoming and I had no gas left. I hadn't planned on doing this ride so I had 1 water bottle and no food/gels. Now I had been out for over 2 hours. After 50 miles I was toast. I also had a problem in that my car was on the other side of the island (My house is in the middle). So I said my goodbye's and decided to use the upcoming light to avoid traffic on a road that just should not be ridden by a solo rider. Off I went at a slower pace and cooled down the last 3 miles home.

Final Stats:

• 51.2 miles
• 20.2 mph
  

Summer Race Schedule

After completing the race a week ago, plans were set in motion to complete the season schedule. I had to do this around two planned trips during the summer and also include some recovery time (It took 3 days for the muscles to feel good again). So here it is:

• July 12 - Old Colony YMCA ITU Triathlon, Middleboro MA
  
• Aug 15 - Bayside YMCA Sprint Triathlon, Barrington RI
  
• Sept 13 - FIRMMAN RI Half-Ironman, Narragansett RI

A mix of distances there with the primary race being the completion of my first half ironman, 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13 mile run to end the season.

Here are the goals I've set:

For the July race, which is another ITU distance like my last race, my goal time is 2:30. The race course is supposed to be relatively flat compared to the last course I did... plus it doesn't have the 5 minute jog between the swim/bike transition area.

The Aug race is a repeat of the race I did last year. In last year's event, my end time was 1:14:00. Last year I wrecked a month before the race and had little swim or run training. I didn't get back on the bike until the Wed before the race. If the course is setup similar this year as last year, then I'd be happy with something under 1:10.

The half-ironman - FINISH! Seriously, this is one long race. Something in the 5:30 hour range putting in a 30 min swim, 3 hour bike, and 2 hour run (plus transitions).

Ashland Lions Race Report!

This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. Olympic distance is listed as a 1.5, 40, 10 km race (1, 24.8, 6.2 miles). Basically double any other race I've done. There were a total of 189 entries in the race today.

First obstacle was the weather. It was horrid. 60 degrees and rain! Which just makes going 20+mph on the bike downright miserable. Here is a shot through the trees of the lake where the swim was... you can see the rain hitting the lake:


I started the swim in the second wave, four minutes behind the first. I was unsure of the lake temperature so I borrowed a wetsuit from a neighbor. The wetsuit lasted about 50 yards of warmups. It ended up that the arms were a tad to big, causing water to enter the suit each time my arm entered the water. So I dropped the wetsuit on the shore and went with the tri-suit. I ended up with a decent position at the start so when the gun went off I didn't have too many people to climb over. Sighting was a small problem as I had light blue goggles which on a rainy day didn't work so well. I finished the swim in 2!:41 earning a 2nd place in my age group and 17th overall. Not bad for only 2 practices!!! Just wait till the end of the season when I have more time in the pool.

The second obstacle was the 1/2 mile, uphill run that the organizers made us do through the woods. It crazy! Due to the rain, it literally became a mudlide. Luckily I brought some gore-tex trail running shoes. But they still didn't matter. The trail was just large boulders, tree roots, and puddles. Basically, I ran up it by stepping in the puddles.

The bike was a rolling course with small rollers and two small hills. One was 3% grade for about a mile+ and the other was 4-8% grade for about 1/2 mile. The rain made the course miserable. There were rooster tails everywhere on the first lap. Thankfully, the rain stopped for the second. I finished the 26 mile course in 1:16:10 for an average of ~20.5mph. Considering my legs felt like garbage from the first pedal stroke it wasn't a bad time. Coming off the bike, I was probably in 35th place. Here is a pic of me rolling past my cheering section after the steeper hill:


It was all downhill (performance wise) after I hopped off the bike. I just don't do very well when my feet hit pavement. For one thing, I've never run more than 3 miles in a race. So, I decided to run/walk the 6.2 miles, 8 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. Some of the hills on the course modified this, but I kept to my strategy. The run didn't hurt very much, although much of that had to do with the pace I kept. I finished in a whopping 57:30 for a split that was 137th overall. Here is my finishing shoot shot:


My final stats:

• Swim: 21:41
• T1: 5:50 (includes muddy run)
• Bike: 1:16:10
• T2: 1:32
• Run: 57:30
• Total: 2:42:44 (62nd place, 9th/21 in Age Group)
  

Race Season starts!

Most of the winter was spent nursing two injuries, the kneecap fracture and the shoulder dislocation, both of which kept me out of any training. However, I spent the last two months upping my training level (now up to 100-125 mile a week on the bike) so its time to give some races a go.

So, tomorrow is the official start of race season. I'm taking part in an Olympic distance triathlon of 1 mile, 26 mile, 6.2 mile distances. The course is what I would call rolling. There are two "bumps" in the 13 mile loop, one short hitting 8% grade and one longer 1.5 mile 3-4% climb. The run is supposedly rolling too.

My current pre-race activities have consisted of packing, hydrating, and talking with Dr. LAG (fellow former swimmer and much better triathlete than I) about his Olympic tri race that he did today. By the way, congrats to him as in his first race in years, he pulled off the victory by 4 minutes! Averaging 24 mph on the bike and then putting in a 42 minute 10k run.

All I know is that I'm excited but a little nervous.....