More Swimming Instruction

The time off in Warren was great. We did a ton of visiting but not much training. My only workouts were the Tango Swim and an 18 mile bike which included the climb up Hatch Run.
Tuesday night I had my swim lesson. The girl being coached right before me looks to be about Fiona’s age. I could tell she was very good. It turns out she’s ranked 2nd in the nation in her age group for the 1500m. Her time being 18:xx /1500m.
We discussed my Tango swim briefly before getting started. I tell him that I bought the smaller hand paddles and the Tempo Trainer Metronome.
The metronome has 2 settings. The first is a beep for each stroke. The second is three beeps each time you should be hitting the wall if you are holding your interval.
I explain how I have a tendency to have a high “cadence” when I swim. I really have to focus to slow it down. So he hops into the pool and takes a look at what it is that I’m doing.
First off I’m not finishing the stroke and my finish isn’t even propulsive. At the end of my stroke, I’m pushing water up towards the top of the pool. I need to adjust my hand position so I’m directing water behind me at all times. This will reduce fatigue as well because I should be just lifting my hand out of the water on recovery rather than breaking through the surface.
This will increase my distance per stroke. It will also take me longer to complete each stroke so my “cadence” should drop a bit. Old habits die hard though. So I ask to try and find the right tempo using the metronome. I think he’s afraid that working on this will slow me down and he knows I have races yet to do. So after a bit of discussion he decides that we will do “big chain ring” work and we find a good tempo for me to try out this week.
Next we discuss how often I’m swimming and what my typical swim workouts are. He tells me that my most obvious deficiency is the long swim. To start he suggests that once a week I swim 100 laps non-stop with hand paddles. This will serve multiple purposes.
1) I’ll become confident with the distance.
2) The hand paddles will be a good strength builder
3) Using the metronome, I should improve my groove. If I’m not strong enough to hold a pace the entire 100 this will show it. I will learn my pace.

Following the 100 laps, he suggested 20x25 as speed work. The goal is to try and have the same long stroke that you had with the distance swim. Also I think he wants to make sure I keep working at higher cadences.

Then I mention to him that I often feel I’m trying to control my rotation using my arms rather than with my kick. To verify this he has me do one arm drills. First, swimming with one arm out ahead of me, breathing towards the stroking arm. Second, swimming with one arm against my side, breathing towards the non-stroking arm. They didn’t go so well but I’m sure he could see that I’m not always in sync with my kick. We were getting towards the end of the session so we didn’t really dig into this issue. I’m guessing we will be back to this next week.

Somewhere along the way, we also discussed my open turns at the wall, weight training and breast stroke.
Open turns: Prefers it for triathletes, at least at my level.
Weight Training: Lats, Triceps, Lats, Rotator Cuff, Lats. Seated Row, Lats, Dips, Lats…
Breast Stroke: To get more power from my arms, I need to get wider up front. Then I need to learn how to kick/glide.
Honestly, I think trying to work on something other than freestyle is just going to confuse things. Once I feel like I can swim freestyle without having to think about making changes or adjustments, then I’ll be more interested in adding other stuff.

I ran a slow 10K on Wednesday night.
Swam the 100 laps with paddles Thursday Morning.
Biked 15 miles with the "mountain road" climb in the middle Thursday night.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Saturday will be a big training day. Sunday will be spent whitewater rafting for 5 hours. Wahoo!

Maybe next year.

ATHLETES: Allegheny Outfitters would like to sponsor local athletes who plan to compete in the Kinzua Country Tango adventure race Aug. 1, 2009 (www.kinzuacountrytango.com). Sponsorship will include free canoe/kayak rental for the race, entry fees, t-shirt and a strong cheering section. Will consider solo racers and people who are teaming up to tackle the grueling race. We're a family-run company that believes in working hard and being creative; being good stewards of the environment and giving back. (We also think crazy physical challenges are fun). Interested in joining our team? Tell us why in a short email to info@alleghenyoutfitters.com.

Shawn's Tango 2009 Race Report

Quarter-Ton Tango 2009 Kinzua Country Tango Race Report (Shawn’s Perspective)

This is going to be even longer than Matt's. Sorry, I must have the details for future reference.

I arrived at the scene on Friday night. I met my brother at the Y where we attended the pre-race meeting, then went for a big dinner at Pizza Hut with the Defenestration Administration, the team containing Bart’s kids and their friends. My dad, Greg and Jane, support team members for us and the D.A. joined us as well. Upon completing that wonderful meal, it was decided that Bart and I should test our canoe, since we had not canoed together in years, and had never been together in this particular canoe, which was a really nice (and not very wide) Kevlar Wenonah. It was getting dark.

We headed down to the old airport and dropped the canoe in the water. It worked great. Greg and Jane thought they should probably try it too since they were going to be called upon to be our safety canoe on the swim leg. They cruised around on the river for a bit in darkness, wearing headlamps. Okay, we were all satisfied that we could operate the watercraft. As it turned out, practicing in the dark may have been one our best ideas.

We got back to basecamp, known as the Cerra’s house, at about 10:30PM, already past my hoped-for beddy-bye time. We then had to arrange logistics for all of the transitions. When you are a Tango Complete team, you don’t have any relay members to help out, so everything needs to be figured out. We had to do this for two different teams, so we worked out the Defenestration Administration first so they could get some sleep. After that, Greg and I went over all my personal needs for the race. Greg had an extensive and detailed list by the end, which was nearly midnight. I then had to create the bags I told him he would have available after he went to bed, taking me about until 2AM. There are a lot of bags! Every transition has new and different requirements. When you are burning through calories and sweating like we do, you better have everything in order. I then went to bed in the attic on a wood floor and slept for three hours.

I got up and headed for the race. My pre-race nutrition was working surprisingly well already. I was awake. That alone is saying something after a night like that. I started with a sugar-free Red Bull to try to cover the caffeine deficit without the volume. I then downed a few Clif Shot Bloks with caffeine too. Okay, feeling relatively normal.

We tried to line up in the back of the pack, but people kept trying to get behind us. We assured them that they would not be slower than us, but they didn’t believe it. The race began and they all promptly worked their way around us as predicted, and within 50 yards we were in last place. As we progressed, there were two people ahead of us moving at a pace that was not much faster than us, but just a little. We dubbed them Green Girl and Blue Guy. We have incredibly inventive naming conventions. Kathy, the safety biker who brings up the rear was right behind us. She was essentially the sag wagon, but that name doesn’t do justice to someone as beautiful as Kathy. At about mile three, after we asked her numerous questions, she decided she was going to be riding with us for a few hours so she might as well talk to us. That helped pass the time for the next 9 miles. We kept our pace pretty steady at around 12-minute miles. We figured if we could maintain that, we would have room to walk up a few hills and still make the cut-off time of 10AM. Crossing the dam in the morning fog was delightful. That’s not something you get to see often.

We kept cruising along, and amazingly at about mile 12 we passed two people! Yes, they were in the race. One was Blue Guy, but we never caught Green Girl. She stuck it out, finishing a few minutes ahead of us. We glanced at their legs and found that the two people we passed were relay team members. Somehow these relay teams picked people slower than two middle-aged (!) 250 pound men to run this leg of the race for them. We stayed ahead of those two all the way to the end, meaning there was one mile of the race in which we were not in last place. One out of 52 ain’t bad!

Both of those relay teams immediately left transition, whereas we didn’t do that. Greg had my bike ready exactly as we had discussed, but we needed to consume some calories and change shoes. After a few minutes, we took off on the bikes. Thus began the most fateful leg of our journey.

It began on the climb up Longhouse Scenic Drive, when Bart tried to shift into his small front ring, and it wouldn’t go. We had to stop, flip his bike over, and manually put it on there. We then continued to the top of the hill at a slow but steady pace and upon reaching the plateau, Bart attempted to shift his rear gear into a smaller ring, and the entire rear derailleur exploded. We came to a stop. I thought we might be able to bend it back into place and maybe have a fixed gear bike, but it was totally destroyed. One of the guide rings had shattered, the hanging arm had broken in half, and the chain had split. There would be no more pedaling this bike today. Okay, it’s mile three. What are we going to do? We can walk up hills and coast down them. How long will that take to go 17 miles? If we average 5 miles an hour, we might make it in a little over three hours. Keep in mind that we both have SPD clip shoes on though, so walking is not the most comfortable thing to do, especially on gravel. After a few minutes, I propose we string together our spare inner tubes and I can tow him. He agrees to give it a shot. Everyone should try this sometime. It is quite a challenge for both people to steer with the strange forces of the big rubber band pulling both of you in different directions. At one point, going up a steeper hill, the tubes were stretching out pretty far and just as I was gasping for air trying to lug 600 pounds of manflesh and bike-metal up the mountain, Bart couldn’t hang on anymore and the tube slipped out of his fingers, snapping me smartly in the back and immediately spinning his handlebars around, causing him to crash. It was a low speed topple though, so he got back up and we walked to the top of the hill. After maybe 10 miles of that sort of thing, we were coasting down the big treacherous gravel decline on the way to Elijah Run, when I heard behind me another crashing noise. No sounds from the rider at any time. I turned around and saw a mangled bike lying in the road, but no brother. What the heck? That must have been one big pothole! How does a 250 pound man disappear from a road? I rode back to the bike and looked over the embankment and there he was, lying about 15 feet down against a tree. This embankment was nearly vertical, so I couldn’t safely go there, but I saw that he was moving, and asked if he was okay. He would determine that shortly, he said. He then tried to claw his way back up, and I saw that he was bleeding pretty heavily from his thigh, and had lots of scratches, abrasions and grass and dirt stains all over his shirt. We picked up his bike and my assessment was that it was now toast. The handlebars were severely twisted. The front tire was flat. The rim was bent. It would barely coast now, even if we could steer it.

Two race vehicles came upon us within minutes of the crash and asked us if we were okay. We suggested that we could use another bike if they could tell our support team. Bart decided we could try to get to transition and decide what to do then. I rode the crooked bike like a velociped with a lot of rolling friction, challenging body position, and difficult flat-tire steering, while Bart rode my bike so he could try to recover from the fall. After perhaps another hour, maybe 4 miles from the end, our support team arrived with another bike. This was great news. The only catch was that this bike had egg-beater pedals, which my shoes did not fit in very well and wanted to slip out constantly. I eventually found a way to wedge my cleats into the beaters in such a way that I could pedal somewhat efficiently, but not too powerfully. Bart followed on my bike. We made it to T2 with, I think, two minutes to spare before that cut-off. The officials said we were good to go if we wanted to continue. Jane did some medical work on Bart while I stood in the shade eating potato chips and drinking some G2. I told Bart that continuing was completely up to him. I would not be upset, nor would I pressure him. He decided that swimming might feel good. Lying down in the cool water, taking the pressure off his legs might be nice. I put on my wetsuit.

We all headed down to the boat launch, Greg and Jane got in the canoe while Bart and I readied our flippers and goggles. We both plunged into the water, and started swimming out into the lake. The first thing we noticed was the multitude of boats speeding around in the water. Mike Shine, the water safety guy, had apparently left the race. We were on our own, with our little canoe our only protection. As it turned out, Bart was not feeling as well as he thought, which we discovered after we were well out into the water. He was finding it hard to catch his breath, and couldn’t get into any kind of groove while swimming. Too many different parts were hurting and he was physically exhausted. I tried pushing him at one point, but we couldn’t get the steering thing to work without more practice. If we had brought the innertubes, I might have been better able to pull him, but we hadn’t brought those. On the good side of the coin, Greg and Jane were remarkably unruffled by the constant and significant waves, and tried to usher us along as well as they could. They seemed completely at ease out there, never once looking like they might tip. At one point, they gave us some Gatorade, (being careful not to let anyone touch the canoe!) which seemed to revive my brother a bit, and we struggled along, once again pushing the cut-off time.

Amazingly, we arrived at transition again with only minutes to spare before this cut-off. So far, a nearly perfect score! Every cut-off was moments away! The ladies here indicated there were still two teams that had not yet returned from orienteering. Woohoo! We might be able to catch someone!

The orienteering went off without incident. We took our time, walking the whole thing, and got a few helpful hints since we were last and all the race officials wanted us to finish so they could go home, but no one did anything too helpful. We found all the points in the loneliest orienteering I have ever done, and ambled back to the transition zone. Finally, we were an hour ahead of the cut-off time.

The second run became a 4.5 mile walk. Bart wasn’t up for running. My shoes had gotten wet during orienteering, and that didn’t make them all that comfortable, so I was okay with walking. Plus there is no point in me running if my partner isn’t. After a little while, Bart did start walking at a fast pace that I was not comfortable keeping, so I alternated between walking and running to stay even with him. We discussed how we really needed to knock out a good canoe split because we had nothing else to show for the day except his scars and some stories. I was up for it and still feeling pretty strong.

We hit the transition, took off our shoes, and ran down the hill. We threw the canoe in the water and just started paddling. This was it. The sun was setting as we took off. I was not excited about hitting the rapids in total darkness, so I was hammering as hard as I could. I did not remove my life vest for the entire leg. It was borrowed from some smaller people (not surprising) and chafed my armpits the whole way, but I was not interested in drowning this night. Swimming in a churning river with somewhat higher water flow than usual, and in the dark, is not a good idea, so I wasn’t taking any chances. Remember, I swamped our canoe in the rapids last year. We encountered cheering crowds at several places along the river (I think they were the same crowds. Thanks Crowds!), and then saw Greg and Amy at the Glade Bridge remarking that they barely made it in time to see our glow sticks floating by. They said we were going pretty fast to which we replied “This is the only leg of this race we can actually DO.” By the time we hit Flare Island, it was dang dark. For once I was happy for all the light pollution created by the refinery, and we made it through the rapids unscathed. Shortly after that, we hit a wall of water moving perpendicular to the flow of the river. I saw it about one second before we hit it and yelled “the water is moving sideways!” then the canoe lurched to the right as if a giant hand had yanked the front end toward the shore. I thought we nearly capsized, but we didn’t take on any water, so it mustn’t have been as bad as it felt. We pulled through that, and kept on paddling. Whew. Soon, we saw the hulking shape of the railroad trestle against the deep, dark blue night sky and gunned it for the Point. A light shone under a tree, and we slid into the (rather unofficial-looking at this point) finish. We didn’t know it then, but we had scraped out a first-place canoe split against all the complete Tango teams, and done a respectable job against most of the relays too.

It was nice to end on a satisfying note like that. All of our friends were there at the finish, the guys’ team, KB2, the doggies, Amy, Fiona, Greg, Jane, my Dad, even Kathy the safety biker was there! Thanks for all the support everyone!

It was a great race and a fun day. I was surprised to discover that I was in remarkably good condition after 14 and a half hours. Heck, I was surprised I made it through the half marathon running nearly the entire thing. The rest was icing. Time to start thinking about next year!

Matt's Race Report (long as always)

Kinzua Country Tango 2009 Race Report

Once again I am surprised at how closely the guys team matches up with the women’s team KB2. It makes for a very fun competitive day.

13.1 mile run. We are figuring Chris will finish in 1:35:00 to 1:45:00. Cindy running for KB2 told her team before that they shouldn’t expect her to be super speedy. I think she finished about 90 seconds behind Chris. I knew right then we had a race.
Chris 1:40:00
Cindy: 1:41:00

20 mile mountain bike. Craig started with a 90 second lead on Genine. While we were standing at the bike finish. Jim and Chris were asking me what I’d expect to happen here. I told them I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Genine showed up first. This isn’t a knock on Craig, this is because I know how many miles Genine has put in this summer. I also know that Genine usually gets stronger on the bike after about 40 minutes. It’s as if the first 40 are just a warm up. Then there is Genine’s race intensity. She matches up with Craig perfectly. I’ve watched both of them finish races where they have left it all out there, it’s impressive.
So sure enough, Genine rolls into the parking lot first. Maija turns to me and says “In your face!” Ha Ha!! Oh man, come on Craig where are you!! There he is less than a minute behind her. Time for me to try and catch Maija.
Craig: 1:28:00
Genine: 1:27:00

2.5 mile swim: I get down to the docks with all my gear. I’m looking at about 20 kayakers floating around in the water. I spot Craig’s mom and Jerry hands her my Gatorade and Gel. Here we go. I don’t even look to see how far ahead Maija is already. I’ve just got to swim my pace. Of course I’m not even sure what my pace is. I had just told my teammates to expect me to arrive in about 1:15:00 but added that with the addition of fins and hand paddles I really don’t know. Last year was 1:40:00 but I had run the 13.1 already. My 1:15:00 is largely based on Maija’s prediction of 1:10:00 for herself. I’m just hoping to stay close.
Early in the swim, I was swimming like a triathlete. I wasn’t kicking very much. I was just pulling myself along with my upper body. The nice thing is I had just bought hand paddles last week and they are grabbing a ton more water. The question is, will my shoulders allow me to swim the entire way with them?
Not too far along into the swim I pull my head up and Mrs Cerra tells me that I’m getting close to catching Maija. That is encouraging! I think this was the moment when I started kicking with a purpose. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to continue kicking for a long time. It really didn’t tax my cardio as much as I thought it might and the fact that my legs didn’t cramp up right away was also an added bonus. (Note to self, train with fins and hand paddles more than once before the Tango).
After that one bit of communication, I just stayed on task. She would wave me in when I’d start to drift off line but I didn’t break for anything. When I’m in a pool swimming, I complain of having to deal with turning and getting back into a rhythm. Similarly, during triathlons I often find myself fighting through a crowd which also throws me off. I had to swim around one other canoe that was in my line. Other than that I just stayed in the groove.
My left calf finally cramped up on me just before I made the “turn” to the beach. So I dropped the kick…. Oh man, now I feel really slow. This is my only event today. Suck it up and get going!
I couldn’t remember how far the beach was once you make that turn where you could finally see the destination. It was closer than I remembered. I was feeling great so I turned it up. There was someone ahead of me and I wanted to pass them before the finish. I think I did but I’m not sure. I started to think about how I was going to manage to get my fins off and then run up to transition. My right calf was really unhappy with me.
I get through the buoys. Try to get my fins off while standing in waist deep water. Balancing was a problem. I need to remember just to swim to where I can just be sitting down to do this next year.
I “run” up the beach. I hear my dad cheering for me. Then I hear Genine, Michelle and Craig. He is psyched. Jim and Chris are in the transition box also cheering me on. I make the tag and they are off. I’m sucking wind from the run up the beach. Craig is telling me I finished in just over an hour and he had to go chase down Jim and Chris because they weren’t expecting me for another 15 minutes.
That right there is a big reason why race days are so much fun. The focus and motivation of race day is tough to match when training. Then the surprise of doing better than you had expected is the added bonus.
Maija finished about 5 minutes behind me. I think she was surprised that I was already there. I am surprised that she’s only 5 minutes behind me and she didn’t use fins or hand paddles. Also she beat her predicted time by one minute. 1:09:00.
Within a minute Genine and Maija were off on the orienteering. We still had a good race going on. KB2 beat us in orienteering last year!
Mrs. Cerra came over to tell me that we had passed 10 people during the swim. Wahoo! I only remember seeing 4 but people were all over the place out there.

Orienteering: Jim and Chris headed out 5-6 minutes ahead of Genine and Maija. We had planned a very aggressive 1:15:00 for this split. There are 5 points this year instead of 4. That will add some time. We find out the fastest so far has been 1:10:00.
Craig and Jerry hang around for awhile but eventually decide they’d rather wait down by the canoes. Michelle keeps checking in on Ellis to see how she’s doing. The 1:30:00 mark comes and goes and we haven’t seen either team. 1:45:00 here comes Jim and Chris! I hand Jim his Gatorade and he turns right back around to hammer out the 4.5 mile run.
I ask Chris if he’s seen Genine and Maija. He said that he had and they were looking strong. That’s good, I was worried about Genine’s hip on this run.
Not long after Joe Nelson comes running in. I ask if he’s seen KB2 and he says they are right behind him. Sure enough here is Genine running with everything she’s got to try and keep up with Maija. They tag Ellis and Genine disappears back behind the tents. Uh-oh, that’s not a good sign. She was definitely at her max and she just needed to catch her breath. Whew! They finished in 2:03:00

We drive down to the boat launch. Jim has already finished the 4.5 mile run in :38. Fantastic considering he had just done 1:45:00 of orienteering right before it.

Craig and Jerry are now in the canoe.
Michelle and Genine prep their canoe and wait for Ellis to show up.
Ellis knocked out a :40 minute run. She passed the other Women’s Relay team along the way. KB2 is back in first place! Michelle and Genine run down to their canoe and are on their way.
We check back in with Ellis, she is doing better. Again just another case of leaving it all out there.

Time to head to the finish line!
We get down to the point and before long. Jerry and Craig come powering into the finish line. Just behind team R100. They finished in 1:13:00 and they did it in a very normal canoe. Awesome Job Guys!
Our Total time is 7:47:00.

Now where is Michelle and Genine? They come cruising into the finish with a 1:23:00 Canoe Split!! Their final time 8:24:00. Fantastic!
This was a really close race between our two teams. The orienteering was the deciding factor. As we know from last year, this easily could have gone the other way.

That’s the day from my point of view, less the tale of the “Quarter Ton Tango”. I’m guessing Shawn or Bart will document their 14 hour adventure for us some time soon.

Kinzua Contry Tango - Full Results - Unofficial

http://www.kinzuacountrytango.com/2009%20Tango%20Unofficial%20Race%20Results.pdf

Have fun trying to read them. Couple notes - we are shown in a three way tie for 9th because of time. The other two teams did in fact come across the line ahead of us, so I would say we were more like 11. 5th fastest canoe. I am betting the other four had nicer equipment. Our canoe had a dent in it, for goodness sakes. Jerry and I are shooting for 1:05 next year, if not better. I told Tamara I just needed $2,000 to get 10 more minutes. I think she is on board, she didn't really say No.

Shawn and Bart crushed the other Tango teams in the canoe, in the dark. They were the best at this. Awesome! - If anyone hears that Quarter ton has problems like this next year, we are using their canoe and bringing it back to them.

Kinzua Country Tango Partial Results Unofficial

Here is some information Jerry looked up for us from the results at the Y.

Our Team: R-69 took 9th place finishing in 7:47

1:40 for the 13.1 (13th place overall)
1:28 for the 20 mile bike (20th place overall)

1:03 for the 2.5 mile swim (14th place overall)
1:47 for the Orienteering (13th place overall)
:38 for the 4.5 mile run (10th place overall)
1:12 for the Canoe (5th place overall)

KB2 finished in 8:23

1:41 for the 13.1
1:27 for the 20 mile bike
1:09 for the 2.5 mile swim
2:03 for the Orienteering
:40 for the 4.5 mile run
1:22 for the Canoe

These are unoffical times but it's better than nothing.

Tango 2009 Race Report - KB2 Victorious Again!

My second Tango as a competitor is complete and the KB2 winning streak continues. Who would have thought, right? Before I get into my race report, I have to thank my teammates, Maija, Michelle, Cindy and Ellis. They were AWESOME and each of them left it all on the course on race day. Truly inspiring! And an extra special thank you to Michelle for being such a resourceful talent scout! I know that you already are planning for Tango 2010…love it!

KB2 - Tango 2009 Pre-Race Team Photo

Going into the race, I was hopeful but still a bit cautious about my biking. I was confident that the miles I have been logging with Matt on my bike would help to improve my performance over last year, but the factors of riding a relatively unfamiliar bike (thank you, Michelle! It was fantastic!) and my lack of skills on dirt/gravel road conditions (throw in the down hills for good measure) still weighed heavily on my mind. How would I really feel out there?

Me at the Bike Start - Here we go!

After passing 2 people on Longhouse Rd and the next climb, I found Craig shortly after getting onto the dirt road. We basically road the entire course together exchanging leads until the final steep decent. He smoked me, as I knew he would. While I have almost over come my fear of down hills on my road bike, it still remains on a dirt road. I figured that was the last I would see of Craig until the finish. I assumed that he broadened his lead enough on the steep decent that I would not be able to catch him once we got back to the paved road. But I was determined to give it my best effort. After getting back to the black top and releasing the death grip on my handlebars, I started to dig in. I passed 2 guys and then David Brook came up on me from behind. We chatted for a second and then he moved along. I decided to make him my pace car for catching Craig….and it worked! I caught Craig on the final climb of the course (I think) and kept pushing to the finish line. I was convinced that he would zoom pass me at any moment, but he didn’t. Woo-Hoo! He rolled in about 30seconds behind me. Awesome ride, Craig! Thanks for pushing me!

Orienteering…..ugh. Let me keep this as brief as possible. Maija came out of the water, I met her in T3, she grabbed shorts, shoes, cookie and Gatorade…we are good to go. We started with a muddy climb up the hill. Points 1 and 2 were found easily. Point 3 eluded us at first. We were not alone in the woods at that time, so we were observing and assessing what other teams deemed the best solution. It was then we decided to move ahead to point 4 (found it) and then back to 3, which was more easily found this time around. The trails on the map looked to be very clearly marked to get us to point 5 (extra point added this year) and then it would be a straight shot back to Rt 59 and run to the beach. Well, apparently the map needs to be updated as we totally overshot the “T” in the trail to turn down to point 5. Grrrrr……we turned around to try to find our missed turn. It didn’t exist that we could find, so we cut through the brush and trees until we got to Rim Rock Rd, over the other side of the road, check off point 5, scurry/slide down the hill to road (more mud), hop the guard rail, and run down Rt 59 to the beach. It is at this juncture that the vast difference between my running pace and Maija’s is evident. I held my own as we ran down the road, but as we began to approach the beach entrance she began to speed up. Whew-wee! I did my best to hold pace, but I instantly felt the queasy feeling in my stomach start. As we tagged Ellis to start her run, I quickly ran behind the medical tent and knelt down with my head between my knees….please don’t throw up. I had visions of the Mooseman finish racing through my mind. The feeling subsided quickly and I continued on without incident. I am convinced that is totally related to nutrition. I’m not sure if I had enough calories in my system prior to the start of the orienteering, we were out there with almost 30minutes longer than expected and with the final push at the end (I even commented to Maija as we were running on 59 that I was feeling hunger pangs) equaled a not good situation.

Maija & I tagging Ellis at the end of the orienteering.

Michelle and I gathered our stuff and drove down to the boat launch for the final leg of the race. We cheered at Ellis as she was running the 4.5miles. She looked great out there! Arriving at the boat launch, I quickly went to the bathroom and prepared my food/drink for the canoe. Oh…and the very important ice packs for me to sit on! After a fall in the grass and a major stitch in her side, Ellis came in from her run with a photo finish! (She is a warrior!) It was Ellis' run time that pushed KB2 ahead of the second place finishing womens' relay team. Michelle and I tag Ellis, run to the canoe and the final adventure begins! Within the first 10-15minutes, I knew my ride would be painful. Both of my hips were sore and inflamed from the orienteering and my gluts, hamstrings and calves were tight from both of my previous events. My left leg would totally seize up if I attempted to change positions. There were several times throughout our ride down the river that poor Michelle had an up close and personal view of my behind as I was trying to stand and stretch my legs in the canoe (ala Matt & Shawn 2007). All credit for the speedy KB2 canoe split goes to Michelle. I was quite impressed with her canoeing skills. She mindfully navigated us to the finish line in approximately 1 hour 20 mins…cutting nearly an hour of off last year’s time.

Michelle & I at the finish line!

I’m still not sure what our official race finish time is, but I do know that we improved significantly over last year and repeated as the champs of the women’s relay open division (despite some possible womens' team category controversy). We decided that we are donating our $200 prize money to the Dana Farber research fundraiser. That makes it all worth it right there.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say Congratulations once more to Shawn and Bart for their monumental achievement in completing the full Tango despite their insurmountable obstacles. I was so proud to cheer you across the finish line!!!

And to Matt……YOU TOTALLY ROCKED THE SWIM!!! You never cease to amaze me. Thank you for care and support on race day and every day. Complete Tango together next year…you & me??? Let’s see where my running leads to over the next year………..and if I can keep up with you on the swim! :-)

Working hard and playing hard with friends and family is what I enjoy most about the Tango. Looking forward to seeing results and times soon……so we can begin planning our match ups for Tango 2010!!

Kinzua Country Tango Picutres.

Pictures of people on our teams can be found at this link.

Other shots I took during the day can be found here.

Some of the pictures didn't upload because of the wide aspect ratio. I'll figure that out and add them in later. I'll update this post when I get the rest of them up there.

Guys Team

Kind of funny,I don't think all 5 of us were ever all standing near each other at the same time the entire day/weekend. Who needs team meetings or organization?
Obviously there is no team photo. Ha ha!

I have to admit I'm incredibly frustrated at the lack of information about race results. I would really like to know how we placed.

No Results Yet

Stopped at the Y this morning. They don't have the results. We will check in again before we drive out of town today. It would be nice to know how everyone did.

We think the guys relay team R-69 may be in the top 10. We'd be happy with that.
Genine's Women's Relay Team KB2 won the open class again this year.

Shawn and Bart "quarter ton tango" finished around 9:30PM.

Many details to follow.

Tango Report

I won't go into any type of details. Great Day. Great Race. Great Team. Wish I had more time to socialize.

I was disappointed in my bike, but enjoyed riding near Genine, kept it interesting, fun and competitive. She was awesome (if she over comes the fear of loose gravel down hill, watch out, Don't think Bart helped this anxiety). Her time with Matt riding especially hills definitely paid off. She kicked my butt. Impressive.

Matt was awesome, really awesome.

Jerry was great. He was a machine, can't wait to see how our canoe compared to others.

Jim & Chris, did a great job. I again can't wait to see the orienteering times. Extra point to find. Tme has to be real respectable.

Final note, Shawn and Bart showed great perseverance. It was great to seem them finish after all the trials. Awesome job!

I will let others tell their stories about the Tango, because they were much more compelling than mine. My story is I bike well, wished I had done better. Canoed great, wished we had better equipment. Our team was real tough, Can't wait for next year.

Pictures from local on-line paper thing place:

http://cu.timesobserver.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=300098&offset=20

Waiting to Bike (Genine and Craig, I am a little hard to find)

Me (Craig) at bike start

I think the bottom of Michelle's bike with Genine on it

Genine start of bike, camera moved up a little:

Second Picture of Genine on bike

Again Genine, man she got some press

Really Another one of Genine

Matt, Super pumped, Super Charged!

Jerry & Craig walking down to canoe

KB2 getting award - Super Fast and easy on the eyes

I may have seen one more of Matt, but running up hill and saw a couple of my mom getting ready to start the Support Kayak.

Timing is Everything

Having looked at the elevation profile of the run course and finding it hillier than I remembered, then thinking back to Casey saying "That course was just uphill and more uphill" or something to that effect, I am actually concerned about our intrepid team making the 3-hour deadline. That right there is going to be the race for us, either way. If we beat the deadline, then I say we're home free. If we miss the cut, then it's over. We will bust our humps to make it, of course, but our humps may not be big enough to hold all the energy we need to make this on time.

I know it seems hard to imagine for anyone who runs that this course couldn't be completed in 3 hours, but I assure you we will be running nearly the whole time, and we will still be pushing the clock.

It would be best if it isn't terribly hot in the morning. What other variables beyond my control can I also wish for?

I'm ready to race right now!

Just got back from the Y. Didn't swim much, just enough to feel like I'm ready for Saturday.
Let's get this thing rollin!

On the Road

Our plans have changed. Genine and I will be in Warren Wednesday late afternoon/evening. We are staying until Monday morning.

That's the news. See you all soon!

Kinzua Country Tango Trash Talk

Just thought I'd let you guys know that the girls team, KB2 has been dishing trash. It just hasn't hit the blog yet.
I only get one shot at bragging rights this year. I have to beat Maija on the swim....
I think this means I have to try and use fins for as long as I can. Is there any way you guys can meet me at the beach and carry me up to the transition box? I have a feeling my legs aren't going to want to run up that hill. Or is that illegal? :-)

Some inspiration for the Quarter Ton Tango Team

Tango OCD

I'm not positive of all the details here. I do know it would be good to decide some of this beforehand so there are no questions. Maija had to hitchhike a ride from Bart Vashaw to the canoe start last year.
I also didn't see Mrs. Cerra before my swim. I was just kind of hoping they'd arrived while I was waiting for the tag from Craig.
Then of course the Vehicle shuffle. If we take too many cars up. We could be short drivers back into town at the end.
Take a look and make some comments. I'm sure I made mistakes. I wrote it up on the train this morning on the way in.

7AM RUN START AT THE YMCA
Shoes, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, nutrition and hydration

Jerry will have Truck with KB2’s Canoe
Matt will have car with Genine’s Bike
Craig will have car with His bike

Matt will drive Genine, Maija, Ellis To the next event
Jerry will drive Michelle to the next event
Craig will drive
Jim will drive? Chris? If we have 5 cars we only have 4 drivers from the Canoe Start.
Does someone need to drive Cindy’s car to Kinzua?

BIKE START AT KINZUA BEACH
Bike, Bike Shoes, Helmet, Hydration, Tire Pump, Repair kit
Michelle will drive Maija / Ellis / Cindy in the Jetta to next event. Leaving Key for Genine. Genine can load her bike.
Jim / Chris will drive Craig’s vehicle so he can load his bike in.
Jerry Drives Matt to Next Event with Kayak or canoe

SWIM START AT BOAT LAUNCH
Safety Kayak, Wetsuit, Body Glide, Sunscreen, Swim Cap, Goggles, Fins, Hand paddles
Matt leaves Key for Genine. Genine Drives to next event w/ Ellis if Michelle is support
Michelle, Jim or Chris Drives Jerry’s truck to next if Jerry’s a support kayak
Craig drives Jim and Chris to next event

ORIENTEERING START_AT BEACH
Running shoes, socks, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, hydration, nutrition.
Safety Canoes will need to be taken out of the water.
Genine / Ellis ready with Maija’s Running Gear so she can have a quick transition to start Orienteering. Will need to take care of her wetsuit and swim gear for her.
Canoes and Kayaks will need to be brought up from the beach.

4.5 RUN START AT KINZUA BEACH
Shoes, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, nutrition and hydration
Matt / Craig will have whatever Jim needs ready for him to run
Jerry takes Matt to next
Genine takes Maija & Michelle to next
Craig Takes Chris to next or Chris Take’s Jim’s car?


CANOE START AT KINZUA DAM
Canoe in the water ready to go. Paddles, Life Jackets. Hydration, Nutrition
Make sure we have keys for all vehicles to drive back into town.
Who Drives Jerry’s Truck? Jim?
Who Drives Craig’s car? Chris?
Matt has his car


CANOE FINISH AT “THE POINT”

Mile Markers?

Are there mile markers along the 1st run at the Tango?

If not, it might help me to plot the run course and note those myself.

Our team brings new meaning the concept of "Cannonball Run." We need all the help we can get.

Great Finish to a Rainy Race

Not me of course, but Eleanor. She took 2nd in the annual Rainday 1 mile run. She broke 9 mins. It was like a 8:34. Levi was a minute behind her (which was awesome for him). They both took 2 mins off of last years time. I didn't even work with them. Oh, yea Eleanor ran in a pair of sandals because my mom & dad had forgot her tennis shoes in Warren. Just think that probably cost her first Place. Maddy walked the 5k pushing Dinah in a stroller (46 min +) and my mom also walked (near 45 mins, best female 60 and over, she was only 30 seconds behind the 60+ female runner winner).

I ran a 24:55 (8:03 pace). First mile 7:45, Second 8:32, last 1.1 miles 8:35 (translates to a 7:48 pace for the last segment). I got comfortable or I wanted to be comfortable running with the people around me in the second mile. Didn't pay much attention to the watch until I hit the 2nd mile marker, than Ohh crap, this is gonna hurt. Last little hill at the end, I couldn't hang with the two high school kids next to me. I ran a 23:10 at this race last year. Not too disappointed, would have liked to be closer to 24, didn't plan to rock the world at this race or go for any kind of PR, too hilly.

Important stuff. Biked 28 miles yesterday. The 20 mile mark I was just under 1 hour 20 mins. This ride was hillier than the Tango will be, but not as gravel filled. Over 1,100 ft of climbing. The first hill was over 600.

I bonked in the last 5 miles or so. Any little hill I was down shifting for the granny gear. Took no sugar packs with me, only water. That was probably a mistake. When my heart rate got up, my legs were useless. Low heart rate on flats, still could pound pretty good. Need to think eat at the 45 minute mark in the Tango to have the punch at the end of the bike.

Matt, I tell you this to say My goal is still 1:10, but it looks like a 1:15 or so. I hope I ain't bragging.

Oh, shoes worked great. My left foot was a little uncomfortable at first, but as I went it felt better. Might have been a little residual calf thing from the race on Saturday, once I was totally warmed up not a problem. I would much rather ride the road bike uphill. If only I would buy the rims and tires for the cyclocross. Maybe next year, with enough time to test.

Rainy finish to a great day

I'm sitting on the back porch while the rain is pouring and the thunder and lightening are booming. I love summer rain storms.

After a rather "off-schedule week" resulted in my having 3 "rest days" and feeling tired and lazy, today turned out to be a good day for training. I did a bike-swim-run. After sleeping in well past our alarm this morning, Matt & I started out for a bike ride around 11am. We had planned on doing 2 loops of the Buckman course, but only got in 1 loop (16miles) due to rain. My legs felt so sluggish (my right hamstring/glut was acting up), but it was good practice to ride in the rain.

Then we headed to the pool to get our swim in. I just picked a workout from my swim binder. It was 2800m. My swim felt good today. We stayed focused and on task...holding true to the rest intervals, etc. I used fins for the 4x100's and the 200 kick. then it was 3x200. I did the first 200 w/o fins and kept pace with Matt. Wow! That's never happened before! I put the fins on for the last 2x 200's and Matt used the pull buoy. I still kept pace with him. The main set finished out with 12x25m fast on the 40. I worked hard on these to stay focused on my stroke using the tips Matt passed along from his last swim lesson with coach q. It was a great feeling to be able to hold my own during our swim today. Let's see how long it lasts!

After dinner we both we did a short run. Matt went 5miles. I ran 3miles. I wanted to see how my legs would do after the bike and swim earlier today. I was pleasantly surprised. Finished the 3miles feeling strong, with good legs at an 8:40pace. It started to rain again during our cool-down walk.

So, I am ending my day feeling better than I did at the start of it. Hopefully this bodes well for strong results at the Tango and Timberman!

Oh, the humanity!

I am never going to be so happy to get on a bike as I am at the Tango. It is going to be such a load off my poor knees and feet.

I could much more easily swim for two-and-a-half hours than I can run that long. Ugh. A half marathon is just too much running for a guy like me.

I ran 8 miles tonight, and that seemed like as much as I want to run. That is a new personal record for me. I have never had any reason to run more than 6 miles in the past. 13 miles is going to take forever. I'm going to get bored.

Is anyone taking bets on us finishing this thing? What are my odds? Can I get in on this action?

Biking Companions

I thought Genine would like this. I was biking along and encountered this:



Here is another to give a better sense of scale:



But this one was a lot cuter, though I couldn't get good focus in the dim light with my iPhone:



Maybe this is why my bike rides always take so long.

Uberman Triathlon Pictures

If you are interested in seeing the pictures Genine and I took at Maija's race today.
Check them out here.

Uberman Triathlon Race Results can be found here.

John Kenny
Todd Wiley
Adam Otstot
Rick Fesler
Christopher Ganter
Ian Ray
Todd Stackhouse
Alexander Ochman
Matt Coleman
Brendan Jones

Laurel Wassner
Laurie Hugg
Heather Leiggi
Sharon Schmidt-Mongrai
Midge Kerr
Sarah Dalfol
Leah Roberts
Maijaleena Zucker
Kate Donald
Lori Freeland-Morris

Fiona Tri's Again

This morning was the third annual kid's triathlon in town, and the usual suspects all arrived. It's a fairly informal race that is supposed to be fun. There were a whopping 9 contestants in the 11 y.o. category this year. There was an in-water start, and Fi shared her lane with her best friend. As the race progressed, Fiona was the first female out of the water, third off the bike, and she maintained that position on the run. Her best friend took second, and her old daycare buddy from Russia was first (as usual). That is the girl who was running sub-six-minute miles at 10 years old, but she just turned 11 recently. Fiona was wearing lace-up sneakers, so her transition was pretty slow, but she did a nice job keeping up the effort on the bike and sticking with the run better than usual. Her 40-pound comfort bike makes the uphills a little slower than they could be, but she is oh so comfortable. The huge tires and plush seat really make a difference. Probably not the kind of difference most triathletes would shoot for, but she knows the bike well so that's what she likes to use. The winning boy had a Cannondale racing bike. At 11 years old, that's pretty hardcore.

Fun times were had by all.

I need to take some swimming lessons from her.

Helpful Form for Kinzua Country Tango

Hey guys. Suggestions on making this better?
Click on it for a larger view.

Beyond Limits

I talked to Craig this morning, and we discussed estimations of finishing the Tango, as well as lodging issues and training ideas. He thinks the Quarter-Ton Tango can make it in 11 hours, while his team is shooting for 8 or better. Upon describing what I've been doing lately to prepare, I was met with uncomfortable silence. I interpreted these silences to mean something akin to "you are going to kill yourself" or possibly, as my wife has prognosticated, to become "permanently crippled."

My training has been...shall we say...lackluster.

So here's my new philosophy: We enter races like this to push ourselves beyond our limits, to get out of our comfort zones, to see what the human body can do. If we train to successfully handle such an endeavor, then we don't go beyond our limits!

Anyone who finishes this race looking good has clearly not gone out of their comfort zone!

I am taking the charge of being utterly unprepared for this race seriously. No one can make me prepare myself! I won't have my body defiled with some pesky training and so-called aerobic fitness. Nay, I shall undertake this race with the least possible understanding of what I need to do, how fast I can go, when I've gone too far, or how to nutrify and hydrate myself. Indeed, I shall not rest until I am totally, hopelessly unprepared. Hey, not resting might be part of my new training plan too!

I might even pack on a few extra pounds just to give myself a little extra challenge. Let's see anyone try to weigh more than me on race day. I dare ya!

Excited!

FedEx website telling me they have my Box with my new mountain bike shoes and pedals only 40km away. Why does it take them 5 hours to delivery something I could bike down and get in two (less than two at race speed)? Exciting, can you feel the tingle!

Bike Lesson

A little different than Matt's lesson, but a lesson just the same.

Lesson #1 - Get home from Mall with wife and child. Tell wife you are going for bike ride 8:30 pm. She says it will be dark soon. Aaaah . . . (looking up to the sky) . . . not for an hour or so. I was wrong, she was right.

Lesson#2 - If riding at sunset avoid areas with overhanging trees with steep descents. The shadow or dark spot of a pot hole plummeting at 40 mph is not as evident as you would think it should be. No wreck on my part, but I was so scared (because of course I couldn't slow down), I think I pee'd a little (or it might be the hard rack of the saddle into that area forced a little out, or it was just sweat, yeh sweat).

Lesson #3 - Don't let the neighbor kid see you coming home without a light on your bike after dark. "Hi, Mr Cerra, didn't you know it was dark?". "Are you suppose to be riding in the dark, my mom told me (numerous reasons not to do it) " "Does Mrs. Cerra know you are doing this?" Good night Bryson.

Swim Lesson

I posted a couple weeks ago that I was going to do the swim focus. That's because I thought my first lesson was going to be that Thursday. Then a schedule conflict happened.
Well tonight was the first lesson. I wrote a bunch of notes about what was discussed but just looking at it I'm not sure how useful it is unless you were there.
I forwarded those notes to Shawn. If he thinks it's useful info, I'll try to edit it into something to put up here.

I feel that we set a good path for me during tonight's lesson. I hope to continue saying that after each lesson. :-)

Orienteering practice

Here is my spontaneous training amble from today's church picnic.

Nothing major, only a little over a mile, but what a mile. Check out the elevation profile on this one. I figure it's a pretty good representation of the first climb up to Rimrock in the orienteering section.

The Really Important Stuff

Leave it to me to be thinking about the post- race gathering preparations instead of the actual race! But I can't help it! I think all of the cooking and baking for the Mooseman took it's toll, so I am brainstorming of ways to simplify. Which if you ask Matt, is a difficult task for my "inner-Martha". Here is what I came up with...please tell me what you think.

Since we will most likely be eating at the picnic hosted by the race at the finish, I'm thinking that instead of another big dinner at Matt's dad's cottage, we can have the Post Tango Dessert & Fruit Extravaganza....complete with a make-it-yourself ice cream sundae bar. This will keep it simple for those who are traveling (which is most of us) to be able to pick up something easy to bring (ie:cookies, fruit, watermelon, favorite ice cream flavor, etc). Matt & I will pick up all the ice cream toppings, cones, dishes, etc. No worries....you know I can't stop myself from making a few cookies!

Let me know what your thoughts are or if you have any other ideas that you think will work. Most of all, we just want to be able to get together to relax, laugh and share our stories from the day's adventures.

Now...get back to your training!!! ;-)

Thinking about nutrition

Here is an article with some good info about typical mistakes made during an endurance event.

The Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made By Ironman Triathletes

Things in my head

Matt asked me today what has been going through my head as I prepare for the Tango. He thought it might be entertaining to see the craziness that occurs in there as something like this approaches. I will not bore you with all the details. Instead, I will bore you with a few thoughts about the quest to finish this race with my brother.

The big question is this: can we finish the first run before the cut-off, and with the ability to continue? That means we can't be dehydrated at the end of it. That has led to another big question that I have mentioned recently which is the hydration equation. I believe I have decided to go with two handheld bottles, so I practiced with them on Thursday and my right arm, which previously has normally held the flashlight when I run at night, got to hold a significantly heavier 24 oz bottle. On Friday, my right shoulder was extremely uncomfortable, tight, stiff, and sore. Not to worry, however, since that means I am adapting to the changes. A little more practice and I'll be ready. I have decided to shrink the right bottle a little too. My left arm is totally cool, even with the bigger jug, presumably because it is stronger in general and I have been running with a bottle in that hand longer.

I have not had the patience to run the full distance yet, and I may never get there until race day. I go so slow that it takes a freakin' long time. I much prefer biking for 4 hours to running for 2 and a half.

The next problem is eating. I love it! Every time I think I had a good day with a nice calorie deficit, the next day I recover from it. I have lost a few more pounds in the last two weeks though, so that's always helpful with running. I have about 12 days left here, so I could still lose a few more. I'm shooting for 6. Every pound counts in a run like that.

Biking is good. All my bike rides have been way harder than the Tango course, with 1500 foot climbs being a weekly occurrence. Of course Matt has my pump, so that's been a bit annoying ( I left it in his car in NH), but everything else has been great. (Bring the pump to the Tango, Matt!)

I have been swimming with the fins a few times and I feel really good about that for me. If I were doing it alone, I think I could really smoke the swim this year. As it is, this may be my brother's weakest link, so it looks like I may be getting to take it easy here and catch my breath. It looks like Greg is coming up again to support the team, so maybe he and I can have a nice long chat during the swim.

Our orienteering should be fine. Nothing spectacular, but we should be quick to find the points this year. No mistakes like last year. Aside from the fact that we're old, fat, and slow, this might be one of our better splits.

The second run is going to suck. That's all I have to say about that.

The canoe then is our last chance (one of two, I reckon) to bring in an above average split. It would be nice to pass someone here, or at least have one event in which we are better than half the entrants. Bart has a very nice canoe for us, so at least that won't be a hindrance, and our healthy arms will finally be useful. The good news is nearly everyone should be ahead of us, so passing people might be a possibility. I just hope they aren't all hours ahead.

My workouts have focused mostly on running, with occasional biking, swimming, and lifting. I am doing nowhere near as much as Matt or Genine, or probably anyone doing the whole Tango. Maybe there is a part of me who thinks completing this thing while being utterly unprepared is more of a challenge than being good at it after lots of training. I do tend to enjoy my own suffering. Pushing myself beyond my comfort zone was part of the idea when signing up for this thing.

Looks like I ought to have a lot of enjoyment.

Training is fun

Genine and I had a great time in NH. We managed to get projects done around the farm. (mostly mowing). Got to hang out with Eric and Family. Our friend Jeff even stopped by. All of this happened around a bunch of training.

Sunday: Swim
Monday: Mooseman Bike + Side Trip 33 miles, Some swimming
Tuesday: Wetsuit Swimming 2500m or so
Wed: Timberman Hills 26 miles. 45 min swim. no wetsuit. 4 mile run later
Thursday: Wetsuit Swimming
Friday: Timberman Full Course 56 Miles. Swim got rained out.
Saturday: Travel Day
Sunday: Back in NJ 10-11 mile run with Todd and Maija
26 mile bike with Genine. I got to try out Todd's HED 3 wheels. Sweet!

I'm pleased to report my knee is well. The 10-11 mile run today was super flat tho'. Maybe if it were on hills I'd have a different result. The funny part of this run was after 45 minutes. We are to run 3 miles at 6:45 pace... Todd and Maija knocked that out, I just watched them slowly pull away from me. Ah well. It was good for me to put out a hard effort for 3 miles. I didn't have my watch so I don't know what I ended up running. (good excuse eh?). I also finished thinking I need to put some more attention on planks and core for the next month. I really don't want to be dealing with side stitches at Timberman.

The only thing I messed up was practicing for the Tango. I never got my fins on! I'll be in the pool quite a bit this week. I'll be ready.

Tango!

I'm in as the swimmer. I thought there might be a chance I'd get you guys and upgrade to the team and I'd duck out. That didn't happen. You are stuck with me.

So I guess it's time to start covering some of the details.

Do we have someone that can be my safety kayak/canoe during my swim? I definitely swim off to my left when I get tired. So it would be helpful if they understand I'm going to use their position to guide me rather than them following me.

Do we have a canoe lined up for Craig and Jerry and someone to get it below the dam?

We can work on the car shuffle details later.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

great week - great workouts

This past week at the farm has been the perfect mix of relaxing, mowing, projects, family time, alone time and....fun workouts. My favorite by far was today's Timberman Half bike course. Since Matt outlined the ride, I won't go into details except to say that I love riding my bike! While the course obviously was challenging, the long stretch on 106 was awesome. It felt great to have plenty of room on the birm, smooth pavement and miles upon miles to hammer away. I held on to Matt pretty well for the majority of the ride. He dropped me on the last long hill. I decided that I couldn't allow that to happen, so on the last mile+ I went into full sprint (about 23.5mph on the incline) to catch him as we made the turn to the park road. Whew! After today's ride, I think I'm going to feel cheated doing the Timberman sprint bike.....15 miles?? What's that all about??

We also got in everybody's favorite Mooseman course with a few extra miles added with a trip to Sculptured Rocks at the start on Monday and several of good swims at Newfound. How is it that I can get so excited about swimming in that lake? I need to figure out a way to channel those emotions when I am back at SVY next week! Although let me just say that vertical kicking in the lake sans wetsuit is tough.

My running took a back seat this week. I did get in 3miles on Wednesday night. We went to the walk/run trail in Bristol. I did my first mile at 8:30pace/ second mile at 8:50ishpace and third mile at 9:30pace. Hamstrings & gluts gave me major grief....sigh. I guess they were ready for Wednesday night track workout instead.

In my opinion, there never seems to be enough relaxing time at the beach. I'm hoping that the Monday after Timberman is sunny & beautiful so we can plop our chairs in the sand and just hang at the beach....all day and do nothing...well maybe a little recovery swim! ;-)

Here are some fun pics of the ice cream place we stopped at after Wednesday's bike. It was homemade and yummy, although we both agreed that the Jordan's homemade ice cream that we had post race at Mooseman was better. Luckily, they will be having Jordan's post Timberman. The actual ice cream place is on the bike course on 106. I told Matt that Amy, Fiona and I will be heading there while he & Shawn are racing!! :-P

Timberman Bike practice

So we went over to the Timberman Course for the 2nd time this week. Wednesday we didn't do enough homework to be able to ride the course without wrong turns. So we ended up doing all of the hills and none of the flat stuff (26 miles). Then we got back to the car and drove the course.

Today, it was less windy and we knew where we were going. I have to say I had my concerns. When we drove the course the other day it seemed like a long drive. How long will the bike ride feel like?
Well the good news is that we didn't make any wrong turns today. So we got to the long straight "flat" section about 30 minutes faster than we would have on Wednesday. (Note to Shawn the part on 107 on the way out is the toughest section).
Much of 106 is repaved and is a great ride. Genine was having a blast. She hung with me the whole way. (G=tough cookie). Really the only section where I think I dropped her was the uphill on the way back on 11A.
The worst road is 11B. That section my arms were taking a beating in the drops. The only smooth part is the center of the lane to the double line. Fortunately it's a short stretch.
When I got back to the lot, I figured I had better try to run a bit. So I pull on my running shoes and head up the road. My legs felt ridiculously huge, like each of them were the size of my torso. I didn't have my footpod on, so I don't know my pace. I don't think I ran more than a mile. Just enough to know that my legs will in fact be willing to run after that bike.

I had predicted awhile back that it would take me 3:15:00 do finish the bike. Today we finished in 3:17:31.
So I looked up some of our friends finishing times and found times from 2:53:00 to 3:13:00. I've got some work to do...

fun times in NH

We got a late start to our bike today. The nice thing was I got to see this because we were late.



At the very least I know Levi will appreciate this post.
Having fun up here. I just don't have time to keep the blog up to date.:-)

A little inspiration

Cooked out on the grill last night. Did deer steaks, corn & small potatoes cut in half. Excellent. That wasn't the inspiration, even though it could be.

Tamara took kids to Vacation bible school at 6:30. I went to my haircut at 6:30. I get back a little after 7 pm. I take Dinah to the neighbors who haven't seen her much since she was born. We visit. I get back to the house at 7:30. Put Dinah down for a mid evening nap. I get ready to run. Tamara says "You will be back to get the kids from VBS". "Sure", I say. 7:45 start run. I set timer for 15 mins to tell myself to turn around at this point no matter how far I am to assure I am back by 8:15 to pick kids up at 8:30.

I realize I can get to the top of the big hill in 15 mins, so I really go out hard, thinking I can always take it easy on the way back. 10 mins into run, Heh, here comes Missy Rose, Man, she is going early to pick up kids from VBS, maybe she wants to visit with someone.

Got to top of hill 14:37. Turn around, burning pretty good, I walk until the timer goes off. Start to jog again. Going pretty good. Car comes by full of kids. I think those kids are in VBS with my kids. White GMC, Missy Rose, coming towards me. AHHHHHHH Crap. Switch off Chrono to time, it is 8:07.

You guess it yet, VBS is over at 8:00 not 8:30. I start to haul. I didn't tell Tamara which way I was going, the baby is napping, I promised to be back. Run, Forest, Run. Another car full of kids I recognize. I am 1/2 mile from home, kids are 1.5 miles on the otherside.

Come hauling up the driveway, both our cars are still there. Run in door, no cooldown, reach for keys. I yell "I'm sorry". Tamara appears from other room. "I took care of it" She says she realized it ended at 8:00 around 7:59 and called the church and Rob was bring the kids home. Then she looked a little paniced and said "Are you OK, don't have a heart attack on me".

I was panting. Definately had the heart up to race speed for the last 1/2 mile. I actually felt it in my legs this morning. That was a little inspiration, Panic. I knew she would take care of it, I was glad that we both had thought through it the wrong way.

A couple more like that and speed workouts will be nothing.

Backed Out

Backed out of another race that I didn't sign up ahead of time. Makes it a lot easier. It was the five mile run last Friday. I knew I wasn't going to set the world on fire, but wanted to do it anyways.

Well, the long story is as usual, long. Short version is Geothermal heat pump quit cooling the house right before the 4th of July. Did not cause harmony in the house when your super wonderful 1.5 year old heating cooling system stops working. Good news is company I bought Ground Loop pump from stood behind the product and sent me a new pump, bad news is I had to put it in. Of course it took longer than anticipated and I was up late Thursday night. Good news, house was like a meat locker after new pump was installed (literally Eleanor had to put on a long sleeve shirt because she was so cold), Bad news I was beat, it was hot (outside) and Tamara really needed my help with the baby after she worked all day, so I decided late, real late Thursday night to not race Friday. That is the short version. Whew!

I still ran Friday night. Took the opportunity to do a fast run for two miles and a third slower. Right near 8 mins on first mile, a little slower on second, and much slower on third. Ran again Saturday. Lots of pushups and abs.

Other good news, may have found local dude with a pond big enough to open water swim only 4 miles from home. Neighbor guy who does tris wants to start putting in a couple swims a week.

More shuffling of kids anticipated over the next couple weeks for camp and Grandmas. Hope gas prices stay level.

Cut-off times?

I am just curious if anyone here has any record of the cut-off times for the Tango? It was my understanding that the cut-off for the first run was 10 AM which would be three hours. Where did I get that idea? It isn't on the website anywhere. I assume then that it was in the race packet, but I don't have that info anymore. It would be an unwelcome surprise to arrive at the race and discover that we are not going to be fast enough to make the first cut-off time. I am not worried about taking three hours, but it would be good to know what the outside limit is, in case things get hairier than Matt's back.

Logistics

Anybody interested in working out some logistics for the Tango? We might need to figure a few things out.

In the meantime, I took my new shoes outside for a real world run tonight. Did a 5K in reasonable time (for me). Shoes are good. I think these might work. I'm feeling surprisingly spry for my size right now. I really hope I can drop a few more pounds before the race so it will be even easier than the cakewalk I'm imagining now. I also took along my new Nathan hand-bottle with reflective strap (interesting brand name given the nature of this blog), and it seemed to be acceptable too. I was concerned that it might feel like doing 16 oz. curls for half an hour, but it was hardly noticable. Of course my arms are not the lightest things to start with, so I suppose it isn't much to add. I might have to end up going with one in each hand by the time of the Tango. This whole "no-aid-station" thing adds an interesting element of problem-solving to the race. I sweat a lot, so hydration, especially early in the race, is going to be very important. Anyone have any hints?

I tried on the 4-bottle fuel belt and that isn't going to work. I can explain in more detail later, but in a nutshell I would say the design flaw is that it can't handle a guy of my waist measurements, even though it fits. I swear I could start a company just making stuff like this. I can never find what I want. How hard is it? We could be the next Camelback.

Do you guys have your team figured out?

Shoes work

Took the new shoes for a test run tonight on the Y treadmill. Two miles and no troubles. I quit while I was ahead. Everything seems to be in order. No pain. No squishy crooked feet. I didn't want to run too far in a pair of shoes that were new to my feet. Mileage is going to go up quickly though.

I also lifted a few things, Matt inspired me to do a bunch of lunges, then I went swimming until the pool closed. Everything's looking good. I even lost a couple more pounds from last week.

Gotta go for another half pound a day for the next 21 days. I still won't be down to where I was last year, but I think I'll be faster.

Neither fantastic, nor damaging

I just thought I'd post since the boys seemed to be in the mood. Sounds like I should have been in Warren. Here is how things went for me lately:

On Wednesday last week, I ran 6.2 consecutive miles. I believe this is the longest uninterrupted run I have ever done. My goal was to run at whatever pace allowed that to happen. It worked. That was good.

On Thursday, I awoke to a sore foot. I decided to just walk a few miles to take it easy. By Thursday night, my foot had swollen up like I sprained my ankle or something, which I hadn't. The pain was on the top and outside of my foot.

On Friday, my family and I drove to DC for a short visit, and I ended up walking all over the place (in the same shoes that had allowed the injury to occur), getting steadily more painful as I went. By Saturday night, it was really unpleasant and swollen. I decided I better stop walking and probably needed to buy a new pair of shoes.

Sunday, I went on a 4-hour bike ride. I didn't map it, but it was probably around 50-55 miles. I was taking it easy, trying to do a level 1 or 2 ride. I have to take my camera out on these rides because they are so beautiful. The bike riding was perfectly comfortable. No foot issues or any other kind.

Monday I went swimming. Trying to avoid the weight-bearing stuff. I took the fins in an effort to develop the fin legs I need for the Tango. I love swimming with those. Again, no foot issues, and I rocketed through the water. Why can't we use those in triathlons? Later in the day I went to the local athletic shoe store where the guys are actually supposed to know what they are doing, and I tried on 5 pairs of shoes. I ended up buying Brooks Adreneline 9's. I have not tried running in them yet, but walking seemed very comfortable and level. I crush shoes, so I am looking for models that do not squish one way or the other. We'll see how these fare as I put them through the paces. I don't have a lot of time to change horses again, so I hope these feel as good down the road as they do know. Gotta run 17 miles in them less than 4 weeks from now.

Today I took it easy. Chores around the house, getting the kid where she was supposed to be, and then went to a swim meet all evening.

I am supposed to be ramping my running mileage up to 13, but I don't want to push this foot. The Tango could be quite an adventure indeed. My wife thinks I am going to permanantly cripple myself. I explained that I am rather durable. She wasn't buying it. Then again, I am over 40 now, so maybe I am toast.

Another fantastic weekend

Friday: We sleep in for a bit then load up our bikes for what will be our longest bike ride ever. We planned 46 miles. I took my GPS in the bento box just in case I get us completely lost or if we need to modify our ride for some reason.
I wanted to pace this ride similarly to how I might ride the Timberman course. Meaning I wanted to feel like I could run when we finished. I think I accomplished that goal. I would have run a 5k when we got done but we had to get home. Jerry and Michelle were going to be there soon.
That evening we took them downtown for the “Cruise in” and met up with Tiffany and Jimmy. He brought his cobra, that is an awesome car.


Saturday: Sleep in a bit, go for a short run, then drive down to Scott and Kryste’s for dinner. Nice to be able to just sit and catch up with everyone.

Sunday: Genine and Michelle go to the pool to swim. Jerry and I go to the weight room. I did better than I expected. Jerry kept the workout moving. It was as if I had a personal trainer. We did a bunch of lunges. I’ll admit I must have gone too heavy with the weight, I’m still really feeling the legs from that workout.

Monday: Evening Masters Swimming. I think I got about 3400m in. It was a good swim. I was really trying hard to hold form. I left feeling pretty good about the swim. My legs were super tight when I finished.

Tuesday: Morning run with Todd. I got a good stretch in before I left the house but my legs are still feeling sore from Sunday’s lunges. I felt super slow. I think my legs were trying to avoid any stress, so I was running tight.

Evening Bike: With Genine, Maija and Bob. I think this managed to work out some of the junk/soreness in my legs. I guess I’ll know for sure in the morning.

I think this would have been the perfect week for a massage. I just don’t see where that’s going to fit into the schedule. Maybe when we are in NH next week.

Almost Ruined it all

Almost ended my triathlon season Sunday. I was in Warren, sorry Jim didn't have much free time to run around, and the kids were jumping off the dock. "Come on dad, do it with us". All right here I come. Running down the deck, I decide to really plant it and fly out far. The deck is composite and at this time wet. Of course the dock is trimmed with a nice piece of aluminum.

Long story short, I slipped on the composite deck at plant time, lucky for me the slip ended when my foot rammed against the aluminum, instant pain. Of course this made me lean back instead of forward, fortunately my head missed the side of the deck by inches. I hit the water, my foot was screaming. All I could think was "Triathlon season over".

I have been able to walk without a limp, but the black and blue mark is nice and the swelling was less today. I had a five mile race planned for this coming Friday, we will see.

I plan to do the real test tonight on a run. I should be OK.

I did not do the bike course for the TANGO when I was in Warren, too much other stuff to take, but I did do an open water swim from the Marina to the Bridge, without the wetsuit, felt good. I did this after I hurt my foot, so my foot couldn't be too bad.

I was never so thankful that the water was cold five feet under the surface.

A guy at work already pointed out that I can still do these things in my thirties, but when I hit forty it is all over.

Swim Focus

As I've said many times before, I love swimming. I don't know why exactly, it's not like I get in the water and speed like I've got a motor. Maybe it's because I believe I can get much better than I am right now. So how do I make this happen?
I've felt my biggest improvements have occurred during/after my sessions with Coach Q. So I looked at my schedule and found 5 or 6 sessions between now and Timberman. So here I go. Another attempt to raise my game in the pool.

In my email to him, I said that I was only interested in working on freestyle for triathletes on a 1500m distance. I don't care about flip turns, open turns or anything else. Yes these things will help your time in a pool and maybe keep your flow. I'll worry about that when I finally have flow to keep.

Some of the things I'm thinking about going in.
1) How to build a kick. My kick is awful. In my opinion 50m is too far for me to kick drill as I just lock up and practice a horrible kick.

2) I think I'm trying to muscle the swim too much. (and quite possibly I'm not using the right muscles either). I don't think my pull is efficient and it's rushed. I feel like he did a good job helping me with this before. I'm looking forward to revisiting this.

3) I'm sure he will find plenty wrong in my swimming in just 25m. I'm going to make sure to have him watch me swim 200+, I'd like to hear what he thinks happens to my stroke once I fatigue. Do I get lazy and completely change something? Or do I really fatigue.

4) Speaking of fatigue. Weights for swimmers. I'm curious what exercises he suggests for dryland training.

Of course I have a million questions, I always do. I'm not expecting the lessons to be structured around these exact issues. Yet I'm hoping after 5 or 6 sessions, I'm no longer wondering where I am with these things.

Midweek rambling

I went to Jack Rabbit earlier this week to look at my gait and see if my current running shoes are still the right shoe for me. Sadly, I wasn’t sold on what the guy was telling me. Basically he didn’t seem to think there was any difference between running in my Stability shoe or a Neutral shoe. Whatever, I can live without knowing what the deal is there. Or I can go back some other day and get another person to take a look.
The other part that was nice was I got to look at both feet on the video. I was concerned that my right foot might be moving oddly because of my injury. We didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

I did get a bit of a trick from the sales guy, which might help me with my heel rub when running sockless. I need to lace up my shoes differently so that my heel doesn’t slide as much. I’m not sure if it will work with bungee laces yet but it definitely worked with standard laces. Here is a link showing different ways to lace your shoes to try to make them more comfortable for you.

I did try on about 4 different shoes. He didn’t see a difference in my running between any of them….
This is the pair that I thought was the most comfortable. Other than the fact my heel was slipping a bit Thus the lacing trick to fix that problem.

I did try on the Zoot shoe as well. I don’t think that’s going to happen for me. I know they are supposed to be super light for racing. I just felt like I was running barefoot and I’m not sure that’s a good thing for me. Maybe if I weighed 120-130 pounds I wouldn’t feel that the extra cushioning is necessary. Or if I was a Chi Runner. I think I'll stick with the thick cushion.

I got my Wednesday morning track workout in. 7x400 on 5K pace. Unfortunately I didn’t remember where I put my watch. So I don’t know what my splits were. Not a big deal, my goal here was to pace well and get through all 7 of them without feeling as if I might injure myself. I’d prefer not to have the hip flexor issues again this year. I also have plenty of time before my next race. I’ll just keep building it up. It definitely feels good to be pushing the pace.