Tri for Your Cause Recap

The Tri for your Cause "Boulder Sunrise" event was a great day and all around success. Even though the swim clinic the night before got rained out, race day was picture perfect...

Sunrise over the Boulder Reservoir

Setting up transition and last minute bike tweaking

I was in the first wave and, as usual, did my best to get to the front of the swim and stay there. The new F2R wetsuit was great and I felt comfortable and warm the whole swim. The water was pretty chilly, around mid-60s, and I only felt a bit of cold in my hands, but that quickly went away after 100 meters of swimming or so. The best part about the wetsuit is how easily and quickly I can take it off-it only takes about 5 seconds once I got to transition! Very impressive...

Getting ready to get wet, feeling the stoke

Our wave takes off. I'm somewhere up on the left


Swim to bike transition. Already have the wetsuit half off.

Getting ready to rock the bike

The bike was pretty fast and I was pretty happy to only get passed by people in decked out Tri-specific bikes, and only about 5 people even passed me at that. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was the first person to finish on a regular road bike, which makes me feel great about my work on the bike so far, but also serves to fuel the need for more toys, which my wife can affirm is a fire that needs very little fuel as it is...

The run was admittedly pretty brutal. I hit my goal times pretty close on the swim (actually a bit faster) and the bike (within a few seconds), but my run was a good 30 seconds off the pace I was hoping for. I did feel really awful for the first half of the run, so to still run a 7:30/mile pace after not running much this year is still something to hang onto. If I could run that pace for the half ironman in September, I think I would be pretty happy!

Finally, I would be remiss to not mention the great meal that Amanda made after the race! After the obligatory post-race free Avery beers provided by the event, I came home to 2 hours of yard work, but the Chef made it worthwhile as always. Here is a great pic of the avo/basil dip she made:


'Til Next Time,
BJ

Next Tri This Weekend!

Well after much wrangling with my online registration, I am officially registered for the Tri for Your Cause semi-sprint event in Boulder this weekend. Tri for Your Cause is a great event because you get to fund raise money for your registration fee and then get to choose which organization gets the funds, hence "Your Cause." Naturally I am supporting the National MS Society and couldn't be more excited, though I spent more time on hold with active.com trying to get my registration figured out than I will competing in the actual event. If anyone is also doing this event, drop me a line and let's meet up in the beer tent afterwards...

The race is pretty short, and will serve as another tune-up for all the little things that you can only do in a race setting, namely: transitions, nerves, and racing in the crowd. With 500 entrants, I will be able to get more than my fair share of the latter! This will be my biggest race (as far as participants go) ever, so I'm sure the energy and chaos will be very high...

The race starts with a 500 meter open water swim, and I am very excited to try out my new wetsuit. Thanks to F2R for hooking it up and I will post a full review of the wetsuit next week. The bike is 17 miles of rollings hills around Boulder, and should be pretty similar to the course I rode in the same event 2 years ago. I am still going to try and ride the course the day before as a warm up and pysch up. For whatever reason, I have this obsessive need to have every second of every facet of the race planned out in my head in order to feel confindent and relaxed. I don't like having to guess or plan for the unknown. Kind of curious, especially since this feeling of "reacting in the moment" is what I strive for when I play music. The run is a straightforward 5K that is 100% flat on gravel, so definitely no surprises there.

A few great links I've come across recently:

-Tips for a mass swim start. Since this will be my first mass, open-water swim start in a couple years, this should come in handy. Namely, prepare and train for being in oxygen debt for the first 50 yards or so and then be able to regain a normal pace.

-Denver is getting some more bike lanes!

-Happiness is stillness is God-like. Not sure if it's possible to find stillness in a triathlon, but to achieve a more still state of mind surely has to be of help. Your event is a river and you are a drop flowing along...

Thanks for checking in and be sure to check out Amanda's food blog, which is taking shape quite nicely. Some great nutritious and delicious stuff going on over there!

'Til Next Time,
BJ

Making my life slightly less masochistic, 4 steps at a time:

Step One:

Remove wedding band.



I know you're thinking, "In what way does removing my wedding band make my life ANY less masochistic?!?!" Well, I have a loving, amazing, understanding wife and it's really for the greater good. I had been having some numbness in my left foot during longer rides and remembered reading this article on one of my favorite websites, Pro Cycling's Garmin-Slipstream. Tried it out for the first time a few weeks ago. I wear my wedding band on a custom leather lanyard...
...works like a charm, numbness gone!

I'll let you decide whether the solution is physiological or psychological...

Step Two:

Don't mangle oneself while biking...

Step Three:

If I do get mangled by a genius in a 4 wheeled vehicle, or any other such mangling device, I now carry with me my health insurance card. I know this seems pretty obvious, and I was as about as smart as "that guy who wears both headphones cranked while biking on a busy street during rush hour" for not having it before, but I keep it in my bike jersey now and I think we're all the better for it...

Step Four:

Peanut Butter Jelly Time! I have started carrying a half PBJ w/ honey on my longer rides to save money on gels and bars, and to great effect. The honey and jelly are great for a quick boost of energy, the bread keeps me from crashing and the peanut butter gives a little protein boost. I think the fact that it's real food as opposed to some "goo in a pouch" goes a long way too as my body seems to react to it a lot better. And yes, this item existed just to justify running the link above...


'Til next time,
BJ

Thoughts for the week

I followed the return of Lance Armstrong to competition with great interest the past week at the Tour of Gila. He really seems to be doing this comeback thing the right way - using his clout and fame to push his foundation around the world but still putting his training and team first. Good stuff, Lance. He is a twitter junkie, so maybe we can get a shoutout sometime from him to help me promote my efforts raising money for MS research...

A few other links worth sharing:

-Something I live by in my training and we can all get on board with: Training on a Budget!
It's very easy to fall into the trap of "more money spent on equipment and training = greater results" when really it's just an excuse to buy more toys. I pay $12 a month for the local rec center which includes an indoor pool and which supports my community a lot better than any 24 hour fitness-type place would.

-finally starting to work some good climbing into my training. Nice climb and a hell of a descent coming back!

-Congrats to friend Steph for completing the Colorado Marathon in Ft. Collins. Truly an inspiration...I'm still bitter that New Belgium isn't open for tours on Sundays though...

-check out my new music project: Funky Acoustic Duo

A reminder to follow me in tweetville

'Til next time...
BJ

All the little things
that all the people see
as they're going through their lives
on real and borrowed time.

If you take the time
in the course of your life
look and you will see
what I mean by little things.

-from new song "Little Things"

Training Log, little yellow birds, & links

I've found a great new way to update the MOTD (masochism of the day, aka, my training log) without having to overload the blog itself with those details for those who may not care about my day to day workouts. I have been logging and posting my daily workouts on mapmyride.com have a public profile which you can view.

It works pretty well for me and this way I can keep the actual blog to more general and philosophical type discussion. You may even want to give it a spin for yourself...

I have also started a twitter account under milehightriguy which I will use to post things not quite blog-worthy. Follow me and my journey tweet by tweet...

A few random links for the day:

-Matt Fitzgerald of Triathlete mag on climbing in the saddle vs. out and the relative efficiency of each citing several related academic studies. Spoiler alert: there about equal and you should just trust your body...

- camping in Arizona bad ass land and sweet tri action in one place...hmmmm......

- amazing time at the Derek Trucks Band show last week. If you aren't already in the know on this guy consider yourself brought out of the darkness and into the light!

'Til next time...
B

BlasterBlast recap

First race of the season is in the books. Overall a pretty good experience. It snowed/rained/puked mashed potatoes from the sky for 3 straight days before the race, so I had it in my head that there was no way we would be riding bikes. I was happy to be proven wrong and the race went ahead full blast (pun intended).

It was barely above freezing, very wet and icy all throughout the bike and run courses, and featured a bike course layout that made you want to crawl back into bed. The bike was straight down a 40mph hill for one half and then back up a serious half mile climb on the other side. Serious ass kicker and not especially fun seeing as I have done absolutely no climbing yet this year. But considering all of that was out of my control, I feel like the parts that were in my control went quite well. Transitions were smooth and fast and everything paced about where I feel it should for this time of year. The whole point was to gain race experience, something I am severely lacking, and on that count it was "mission accomplished" (and not like GW Bush on an aircraft "mission accomplished" either)...

Highlights of the Day (props to the ace camera work by wifey):



Possibly the best part about training in the quantities I do is being able to eat lots of food. I like food and I like to eat and I am lucky enough to have a gourmet chef for a life partner. Here was her offering for my post-race "recovery" meal - spicy indian cabbage with roasted potatoes and cauliflower...delicious!



'Til Next time...
B

First Tri on the Books! and other masochist minutae

So it's official...the first event is on the books (or on the credit card to put it more precisely). Super short sprint triathlon. Benefits the Colorado School of Mines swim team, so you know I'm down with that...

Last year I trained and trained, and never really got around to signing up for an event until the very end of the year at which point it was more like an afterthought. I suppose this was mostly due to finances (them things are expensive!) but regardless, I never got the full experience of training, so this year, I'm making the effort to get a full season in (goal is 2 sprints, 1 oly, and a half ironman at season's end - more details on that next week).

The best way metaphor I can think of for the training vs. competition debate is with my private music students. They come in, learn proper techniques and drills, practice (hopefully), get good enough to graduate to better gear, and start learning more advanced songs. This, to me, is only half of the experience of learning an instrument however. To really know what it means to play instrument, you have to prepare for and follow through with public performance. This could be a simple at home concert for family (doing all 3 events in a row while your boyfriend watches or 5k charity run), a recital with your peers (local sprint tri or marathon relay), or a concert you book in advance and promote to make into a real event (season ending half ironman).

Naturally your level of preparedness determines what type of performance you will be attempting, much as our level of fitness determines which events and distances we choose. This will change thoughout the year and from season to season. The real trick is being able to push yourself out of your comfort zone and strive for something bigger, but that is how you truly improve and get the full experience out of the practice/training experience. Finally, I always tell my students that they need to practice to be 10% better than they really need to be in performance, because you always have to factor in the effect of nerves and other unforeseen factors, probably not altogether a bad idea for triathlon either. I call this having "chops to burn" or maybe we could change that to having "lungs to burn."

Here's hoping our performances help push us all to the next level - see you in transition...

Couple Links:
-A somewhat humorous breakdown of defensive cycling:

"In a 2006 survey of 18- to 24-year old Americans, barely a third could find Iraq on a map; just over 1 in 10 could find Afghanistan; fewer than half could locate Ohio or New York. While you're on your training ride these very people are driving directly at you, cell phone in one hand, iPod in the other, steering with their knees. "

-Nutrition is especially important in early season workouts; post-workout specifically

-Gonna start trying out some home recipes of energy gel to get both my fix of being cheap (you wouldn't think something called "goo" would cost so much) and experimentation...I'll get my wife the gourmet into the test kitchen and check back in with a post in a couple weeks



'Til next time...
B