Fun Scale

I have a scale to rate the different types of fun in my life. Type 1 fun is when you are enjoying the fun in real time. Type 2 fun you don't actually enjoy until it is over. Type 3 fun takes months or years of reflection, and only then do you recall it as fun. I flew into Kona on Wednesday and ran 8.5 miles, and followed it up with a swim at Kona masters. Both activities were type 1 fun, I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I was running and swimming. The following day, I biked the South Loop with the Kona group and once again, it was type 1 fun, even the hammerfests up the hills. Friday was an early masters swim workout and I was tired, relegating the fun to more of a type 2. However, there were definitely moments of type 1 fun during the swim. I ran 9.5 miles in the afternoon and once again, it was a mixture of type 1/2 fun. The plan called for a hundo ride on Saturday, and my body was feeling both the heat and the previous two days of training. I did not want to ride hard at all, and I just wanted to get time in the saddle. My plan was to start with Kaitlin and the Kona crew at a social pace and then break off and do my long ride. I flatted and my friend Jano waited for me, telling me that he would be my domestique to pull me back to the group, what a nice gesture I thought. The nice gesture, however, was lost when I was swearing at Jano in my head as we basically time-trialed 25 miles to get back to the group. This was not how I wanted to start my 100-miler. Thoughts of changing the plan and just cutting the ride short crossed my mind. But type-A/OCD triathlete reared his ugly head and next thing I knew, I'm rolling toward Hawi and doing my 100-miler. The last 20 miles were rough, not bad enough to be type 3 fun, but definitely type 2, and I couldn't wait to be done. Today's 50 mile ride and 10 mile run off the bike was definitely type 2 fun. I just wanted to be done with the training, and once done, I knew I would be happy (and think it was fun) because I finished another solid block of training.

Unlike my prep for IM CDA, I made a goal to never hit type 3 fun in my IM Canada training. If I think it's going to be a type 3 fun day, I'll take the day off. Tomorrow is a rest day, just an ocean swim and some canoe paddling with my friend Jason, both very much type 1 fun. And then on Tuesday, Michelle flies in for what she promises to be three epic days of training, and knowing Michelle, she's gonna be pushing my type 3 fun limits.

Gobble Gobble

I guess it is the time to give thanks as this is my second "feel good" post of the week. My friend Bree Wee is collecting gently used shoes and shoe boxes stuffed with goodies for her holiday project Spreading Aloha to the Marshallese. Old running shoes are still perfectly wearable, simply take out the insole, and throw them in the wash. They come out clean and looking brand spankin' new, and perfect to donate to Bree's project. The previous link will give you all the info you need and where to send the stuff. If you're in my hood, bring the shoes or shoe boxes filled with goodies to me and I'll ship them to Bree for you.

And I had to post this video my brother showed me just tonight after we stuffed ourselves with turkey. My nephew (age 6) and niece (age 3) have been spectating a lot of cross races lately; both of their parents (and on one occasion, their uncle) race cross almost every weekend. Well look at what skill the two of them picked up from watching all the cross races. This video cracked me up, and it's so cool that they want to be like their parents.

A Taste of TRX

I finally got to do this thing called TRX this past weekend. I took some of my athletes along for the ride, and they all pretty much loved it. Looks like we are going to have to come back to the TRX Training Center again, and again, and again... Here's a video to give you an idea of what it's all about. And here is another way to describe it as told in an email exchange with my friend Eric.

Eric: We're riding 75 miles this Saturday, Pt. Reyes loop, you in?

Me: Darn, would be great to catch up, but I'm taking some kids to do TRX.

Eric: What's TRX?

Me: It's the latest and greatest, here's a video [insert link].

Eric: Oh, it looks like the latest gimmick to make the gym more fun. I'll stick with my biking and vacations.

Do A Cyclocross Race...Check!

The night before the race, my brother called me and said, "You know, it's supposed to be pouring down rain tomorrow. Do you still wanna race?" I told him I was 100% committed. Driving to the race, it was pouring down rain and I kept thinking to myself, this is going to be real cyclocross. Bring it! I was really excited.

Race prep involved a quick tutorial on cyclocross bike shift levers, ONE dismount and mount practice, and a warm-up of about half a mile. I placed myself in back, way back, we're talking 5 places to last. It was kind of cool to go into a race with no expectations. The plan was to use the first lap as a warm-up, learn the course, and get a sense of what cyclocross is all about. If I felt good, the plan was to see how many places I could move up from my 5th to last starting position. My first lap was pretty mellow, and I didn't make a concerted effort to race or pass guys. You see, in my head, I designated myself as the guy who was going to suck the most technically. But as the race progressed, I kept seeing all these guys bite the dust (mud), while I somehow managed to stay on my bike. Also, there were sections that you had to run with the bike, and hell no was I going to let someone pass me running. My confidence grew as the lap progressed. By the start of the second lap, I learned a few things, and I decided to be more aggressive. Any time I saw an opening, I would actively work to pass guys. I attacked the hills, the asphalt sections (I'm a triathlete, asphalt is my turf), and all of the run sections (once again, I'm a triathlete, running is my thing). My increased aggressiveness led to two minor tumbles, both while following too closely to the guy in front, and when he went down, I went down. Halfway through lap 3, I had pretty much passed all the guys I could, and I decided to just take it all in and enjoy my ride to the finish.

Post race, my brother asked if I wanted to race the following weekend. I told him that if I placed in the top 24, then I would race because that would mean I get called up. Cyclocross is all about good positioning at the start. Guys who finish in the top 24, get priority or "called up" when lining up for the next race in the series. I finished in 26th, something to think about. It was the best $35 I have spent in a long long time. $35! The last time I paid $35 to race a tri was back in 1990. Congrats to my brother and his wife for racing, it was a family fun-filled morning. Oh, and my favorite thing about cyclocross? The dismounting and mounting-it looks so cool, especially when you're totally in sync and it's just fluid. Who knew?

Ironman Envy

Because I've spent this entire year chasing the (still very much elusive) perfect ironman race, I am in awe of what I saw on Saturday in Kona. For those athletes to execute what they did, in the most pressure packed race, not to mention the grueling conditions, is something I have yet to achieve, and something I am still only dreaming about. In fact, my quest for a Kona slot is going on 11 years now. How sweet will it taste next year *wink*. Thank you Hawaii competitors for stoking the fire and making my Sunday run that much easier to execute. Special props to my teammate Rachel Main, who smashed her PR by 20 minutes with a 10:08 to finish 8th in the world in her age group.

This weekend also saw the redemption of my six year-old nephew in his second triathlon. In his first race, he had a bit of a panic attack. But like all champions, he found a way to succeed. That meant some swim lessons with his uncle and a more focused mindset the second time around. You can see this focus in the picture of him on the bike. The little dude crossed the line in first place, but since he checked in with the wrong finish-line volunteer, he officially placed 2nd. No worries. His younger sister, all but four years-old, saw her brother do his first race and begged to do the next race. Not yet a swimmer, she improvised and kicked her way through the swim, and finished like a champ. Thank you knee-biters for giving your uncle a bit more motivation for his upcoming two ironman races.

Bruises by Chairlift

This song pretty much inspired me to make an accompanying video. After almost nine months of not working, I'll be starting back up in two weeks, yikes. Summer is also coming to an end, and the sun/heat finally decided to make an appearance here on Sunday. I think it was Mark Twain who said something like: The coldest winter I spent was the summer I lived in San Francisco. On tap is a half ironman in Santa Cruz in September and maybe one more olympic distance race to close out the season. Ironman Cozumel is not happening, but Silverman? It's official, I'm in Ironman CDA for 2011 and if all goes well next Monday, I'll be in for Ironman Canada 2011 as well.

Taking One for the Team

One week after Vineman, I was on a run and tripped, pulling my glute or hammie in the process. All I know is that my entire right leg was very tight. In the days following, I tried to run but had this funny-looking gait where my right leg would swing out and around to recover-I looked like one of those dogs that run with their hind legs skewed to one side. I had one week week to resolve this gimp before I raced an olympic distance race. There was no option not to race because it was the club championships and our team had a shot at winning the series; and I was going to take one for the team.

During the race day warm-up, everything felt okay, gotta love race day magic. The plan for the race was to hammer the swim, ride control, and don't die on the run. I was not going to go balls out and risk another disaster. Instead, I decided that I rather have a solid race rather than try and go fast and risk disaster. I got out on the swim and did not see anyone around me after 200 yards. I didn't feel any tapping on my feet from behind, and this lack of contact slowly made me think that I might of swam off course. But soon, I saw swimmers from the earlier waves. I felt great and thought I was swimming really fast. I was first out of the water but once I saw my split, I realized I was not swimming fast, everybody else was swimming slow-no wonder that swim felt like it didn't hurt. Out on the bike, I tried to stay control which is hard to do. Guys would go by me and I would want to put the hurt down but then come to my senses and pull back. Thus, there were lots of speed changes on the bike. I think I accomplished my goal because the bike felt extremely short and I arrived to T2 mentally fresh (and 2 minutes off my best bike split here which was the goal). I had some major issues with transitions at this race, unable to find my spot both during T1 and T2. It must have been entertaining for the spectators to see this guy run all around transition looking for his stuff. Onto the run, I wanted to go by feel and let my body naturally pick up the pace. The first mile felt long and though my turnover was quick, my stride felt like it was 2 inches long. I felt like there was a whole lot of spinning going on but not a whole lot of distance gained. But as the run went on, I felt better and better and my stride opened up. I didn't wear a watch but I'm sure that I negative splitted my 5K's. Coming into the last 100 yards, I slowly shut it down but then immediately heard the crowd raise their cheering. Right then, I knew I was a target for some guy from behind. So I got up on my toes and duked it out...losing by three-tenths. No worries, he was 31. My overall time was 3 minutes slower than last year and seven minutes off my PR, but I'm happy that I found some speed...and the race was not a disaster. I found may way onto the podium and scored precious points for the team. And yes, we won both the championships and the series. Go Big Blue!

Bouncing Back

Flat, flatter, flattest. I raced an olympic distance race on Saturday and that's the best description for the swim, bike, and run legs. There were some tell-tale signs that the day might not go so well: I slept horribly due to nightmares, I went to load my bike race morning and my rear tire had a puncture, I spaced out and missed the exit on the Bay Bridge meaning I had to go all the way to SF, and I forgot I had a gel in my back jersey pocket and laid down on it, squishing gel all down my backside (and of all flavors, it was mocha so imagine what others were thinking). I set a PR for the slowest olympic distance time and worst, I kept asking myself how could a race so slow be so painful? Post race, I was a bit of a headcase and spiraling downward. Somehow, I deduced that I was no good and not fit to race an ironman in three weeks. Oh, what nut jobs we type A, triathletes can be. But the Libster came to the rescue and composed a very thoughtful email, chalk-full of sane and useful advice. You're good Libby.

The following morning, I headed out for my last long ride, 135 miles and 9300 feet of climbing. The first hour was painful, not only for myself but for Jason, who accompanied me on the ride. When I'm in the hurt box, I go internal and do a lot of self-talk, which makes for bad company (sorry Jason, you want to ride with Bree next time, she's totally external when in the hurt box). Speaking of self-talk, here is an interesting article Jason sent me: Will I? But as the miles ticked away, my ironman fitness came through and I felt better and better. There were some challenges including a handful of wrong turns, attacking rottweilers, low-blood sugar, and a road closure that forced us onto a mt. bike trail. Three miles from the finish of the ride, I gazed at the thick fog rolling in and I thought to myself: WHAT AN EPIC DAY. This is what I live for.

I Believe

There are no coincidences in life, and thus, I was meant to meet Belinda Granger just before I left Kona. She was meant to deliver a message that would get me through this ironman volume week:

I have been in the sport for a long time now and honestly a big percentage of it is MENTAL. You truly need to believe that you are capable of so much more than you think...you are so much stronger than you think....you are so much more determined than you think....you can deal with pain so much better than you think.

Yep, that was the last message Belinda sent me on Facebook, and there hasn't been a workout the past week that I have not called upon this advice. Physically, I'm feeling tired from 325 miles of cycling (with over 20,000 feet of climbing) and 48 miles of running, including a 30K trail race with 4100 feet of climbing. If you have a long run on the schedule, the best way to tackle it is to sign up for a trail race. Mentally, I'm copacetic, bring on that ironman at the end of the month.

Some highlights from this week's training:

• Jason riding with me for 184 of the 325 miles
• Feeling AWESOME during the 30K trail race one day after my 109 mile ride, and chasing my way to second overall
• Running into the kid in the above video
• Discovering the Bike Hut on Tunitas Creek Road (restores my faith in mankind and shows that we can indeed still trust)
• A quiet (and hot) Bay Area due to everybody being out of town for the weekend
• The bread pudding at Tartine
• And Finally...the TOUR de FRANCE on Versus

Revisiting the Sabbatical

The purpose of the sabbatical was to satiate the restless part of me: the curiosity to live abroad, the obsession to race an ironman under 10 hours, and the romantic notions of traveling, meeting new people, and living a different lifestyle. Post-sabbatical, the plan was to retire from racing, be sensible and buy a home, and slow life down enough to make room for a pooch. During my long ride yesterday, I realized that the sabbatical pushed me further away from these post-sabbatical plans. I find myself even more restless, and I want to race more ironmans, visit the friends I've made abroad as well as meet even more friends, and I definitely don't want to be tied down by a home-I need the cash to travel, race, and live. And so the adventure continues.
I have to admit that pre-sabbatical, I was starting to feel my age, in other words, a bit old. I felt like I lost the spunk I had in my twenties and early thirties. Living and traveling abroad required me to meet new people on a daily basis. Unlike old and familiar friendships where you rarely need to define yourself, new friendships require you to "sell" yourself a bit; and in the process, you are reminded of who you are. I learned that I still have spunk, maybe not as much as I did when I was in my twenties, but I've got enough spunk to try new things and have a grand 'ole time. I highly recommend traveling as a means to learn what you're made of and who you are. The following are videos and images of my most memorable days during the sabbatical. I'm looking forward to viewing these videos and images when I'm much much much older.
On tap this Sunday is a speed session in the form of an olympic distance race. It's in the hood and I get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge; but I'm not looking forward to swimming in the SF bay. The focus is my ironman at the end of July so this has been a volume week. I'm not too worried as I've raced well in the past on tired legs. Also, the race looks low-key and very grassroots triathlon-love those, they always remind me of my early years in the sport.

Ian and Charisa

I wish I had been there when Charisa told her husband that she invited some guy she met on the internet to stay with them for the weekend. And I wasn't the first, she did the same with Ian when they first met in the blog world. But I think Bree's Kona coffee mac nut carob chip cookies made a good introduction. Too funny. For those of you unfamiliar with these two, they are newly minted pro triathletes. But because they both still have full time jobs, I see them more as age-groupers who aren't scared to race with the pro's, and that in my book is HK (hard core). Their work ethic is inspiring, and I credit these two for pulling me out of my retirement from ironman racing. The original plan was for me to join in on one of their ironman volume training blocks...and suffer. But their coach changed things around and instead of volume, the theme was now SPEED, and we all know speed kills. Everything felt fast this weekend, even the warm-up and warm-down. Whereas I exercise, these two train. Every workout has a purpose and parameters, like a specific pace or heart rate. Me, if I feel good, I go hard. And if I feel bad, I do what I can on that day-no rhyme or reason really. It was a blast to be a part of this type of training again, and by the end of the weekend, I think I found some speed. I also found some new training venues, some good eats, and some new and old friends. New friends Nick and Carla prepared one of the best post training brunch I've ever eaten...for 13+ people. We're talking food like: banana coconut pancakes, vegetable eggs benedict, asparagus frittata with smoked paprika, and homemade cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins. And during a ride, I ran into an old college acquaintance, Mari Holden, who also happens to be an Olympic Silver Medalist. I will definitely be back...but only after I am over the psychological scar from sitting in LA traffic.

The Monicas

I'm down in Southern California doing a mini training camp for my upcoming ironman. First up are Tom and Maria Monica, who I met thirteen years ago when I first moved to San Francisco. Tom is a numerous Xterra World Champion as well as a multiple Kona qualifier; and Maria was a podium finisher at Kona, and she used to race as a Pro/Cat 1/2. And well, I've always been their less talented step-child trying to keep up. I recall an 8+ hour training session that left me so wasted, I could only walk my bike the 3+ miles through Golden Gate Park to get home. So many people stopped me that day to ask if I was okay or if I needed help with a flat tire. I'm no longer that 26 year-old, and in fact, I'm the same age as Tom was when we first met. I told him that I now run the same way he did back then, when I teased him that he was too old to get his heart rate up. Some things never change: the man can still swim, ride, and run, and Maria still pushes it on the flats and the descents telling us to go go go. It was so nice to ride with two people I have so much history with, but even nicer to know that we all aren't stuck in the past: new bikes and new racing kits! On Saturday, I get to train with the ET's, or the Endurance Twins, Charisa and Ian.

Day 122: Last Week's Training

The original title of this post was "This Week in Training", I never got around to posting it in the proper week. It seems like everyone and their grandma is in Kona this week. I have over 15 friends from the mainland U.S. and Australia over here, combined with new friends and the Kona crew, the social calendar is quite full. I arrived in Kona last Sunday and in the span of five days, I moved and slept in three different places. On the third (and final move), I remember laying in bed and thinking how normal it all felt to be living out of suitcases and moving from place to place. I wanted to live life as a pro, and after 4 months, I finally am used to the lifestyle.I got straight to business once I got to Kona, putting in close to 32 hours of training last week. Each day, I feared the workout thinking, is this the day my lack of fitness will catch up to me? Somehow I made it through. Actually, I know how I made it through, good company and lots of laughter. On my fifth straight day of riding, Bree and I had a 6-hour ride post swim. The first hour was so tough mentally and physically. But then I whipped out the camera and we made these stupid videos and we started busting up laughing. Who knew the laughing would be better than a gel or salt tablet, and it totally got us into our groove. The next four hours were copacetic. At the five hour mark, Bree and I died our second death. We tried pace-lining, but we ended up separating, each of us with only our thoughts on the Queen K. The last hour was definitely ironman-pace effort, which coincidentally we were supposed to try and do if we felt good. How ironic. After a run off the bike, we had 20 minutes to get back to my hotel to move me into my new place. I first saw Bree at 6:00 AM that day, and we finally departed ways at 4:30 PM...only to meet up again 2 hours later for a movie. What a day. The above video chronicles some of the week's activities.
Sunday will go down as one the most memorable days of my life. After we nailed our 90-minute run, we had a splash in Kailua Bay. We swam to the 1.2 mile buoy and that's where the magic happened. A pod of 50+ dolphins came out to play with us. I've never seen a dolphin in the wild, let alone swim with one. I wish everyone could experience this at least once in their lifetime. And if not, I captured it all on video for you. Mahalo Kona!

Day 95: By Land, By Sea, By AIR

When in Queenstown, do Queenstown, and that means adventure. The main drag in town is a smorgasbord of adrenaline salesmen trying to sell you on: bungee jumping, paragliding, river rafting, jet boating, mt. biking, and my personal choice, skydiving. The video describes my experience quite well. Queenstown is a mountain resort, and it has a vibe similar to Whistler and Aspen, but times two. If I had to choose a soundtrack for my New Zealand trip thus far, it would have to be Best of the 80's. They love their 80's music here, I'm so nostalgic for my high school days (I'm listening to WHAM! as I write this). After spending two days here, I am now off to a place slightly less commercial for an ironman scouting trip: Lake Wanaka. Oh, forgot to mention the Brisbane International Airport won my award for the airport I would most like to throw a cocktail and dinner party.On the training front, things have been quite sporadic and slow. My "holiday" state of mind is lingering and I've only done the occasional swim and run. I've been off the bike for almost one month now. I had planned to run more during this trip but I didn't plan so well for the cold here. The weather usually hovers around 10-14°C here, and well, I only packed shorts and tank tops as running apparel. Since February, I've been wearing nothing more than boardies; and my friend Maggie (who lives here and has been following my trip) advised me before I came, "You're going to have to cover your nipples with the weather out here." I didn't think I would have have to cover them that much. The pics below are from my trail run in Dunedin with Daniel, Maggie's partner.

Day 93: Byron Bay in Song & Pictures