DCWW

I'm a DCWW.

Steely Toughness? None for me, thanks. I'll take a zero.

DC is full of Winter Wimps. President Obama has a point, kidding that this town could use some steely Chicago toughness. The area shuts down with barely measurable snow. But when sleet and freezing rain coat everything with a thick candy shell of ice, well, as with botched oaths, an abundance of caution is reasonable. AOC has been my training MO this winter.

Less daylight, cold temps, rain-sleet-snow… When snow and ice rolled in I simply said Nuh-uh. No run. For 6 days. Bike outdoors? Please. This DCWW hasn’t turned a pedal under natural light in months. Dame Devereaux has more outdoor miles than me.

Instead, I mustered the fortitude to exercise in comfy, climate controlled indoor world choosing the hampster wheel, riding indoors rather than risk a bum bruising slip and fall while running. Riding the trainer is like sitting on a fence post, sure, but with the remote and food and drink within reach.

Until this weekend. Yesterday back outdoors with a nice run in 32F. Today running topless in 61F and not a cloud in the sky.

The Cliff Notes training log:

Thur. 1-15-09
Swim 40mins
~1500m total
Core-pushups on deck- 15mins

Bike QR trainer recvry spin
Duration: 1:02:42
Work: 572 kJ
Distance: 20.217 mi

Fri. 1-16-09
Swim 37mins MAC
~1500M

Verstegen run prep 15mins
Run 42mins, ~15F, ~5.5mi, clear crisp, chance to wear some cold weather gear for first time this season

Sat. 1-17-09
Swim 25mins, ~800m
Bike QR trainer
Duration: 1:07:40 (1:07:43)
Work: 740 kJ
Distance: 23.408 mi

Sun. 1-18-09
Verstegen run prep 20mins
Run 68mins, ~9mi

Mon. 1-19-09
Swim 45mins, ~1600m, some steady free and uptempo 200’s with 5x50kick mixed between

Bike QR trainer tempo-ish ride
Duration: 1:33:50 (1:35:08)
Work: 993 kJ
Distance: 31.906 mi

Tue. 1-20-09
Inaug! Tears and joy. And celebratory exercise.

Run 62mins steady, ~8.25mi
Bike QR trainer after run
Duration: 1:01:02
Work: 606 kJ
Distance: 20.246 mi

Wed. 1-21
Swim 7:50-8:30
~1400m totalm

Thur. 1-22
Verstegen prep core 15mins
Run 42mins, ~5.5mi

Fri. 1-23-09
Swim 40mins at MAC
Total ~1600m

Run-bike p.m.
Run 38mins, ~5mi (guess)
QR Bike
Duration: 56:52
Work: 562 kJ
Distance: 18.811 mi

Sat. 1-24
Swim 35mins MAC
~1400yds total

Bike QR trainer with 3 x 12-13mins in 2-3mins off
Duration: 1:45:28 (1:47:08)
Work: 1138 kJ
Distance: 35.685 mi

Sun. 1-25
Core - Verstegen run prep 15mins
Run ~52mins

Mon. 1-26
Swim a.m. 40mins MAC
Total ~1600m

Bike QR trainer recvry ride
Duration: 57:53
Work: 523 kJ
Distance: 18.534 mi

Tue. 1-27
swim 35mins at MAC
~1400m total

Bike
QR trainer, intervals sufferfest, main set 15 x 1 min/1min off
Duration: 1:12:09
Work: 777 kJ
Distance: 24.375 mi

Wed. 1-28
ice, at least .25inch frozen solid layer coating entire car
Bike QR trainer
recvry spin,
Duration: 49:31 (49:50)
Work: 437 kJ
Distance: 15.805 mi

Thur. 1-29
Swim MAC
25mins steady free, couple 50kicks mixed in.
~1000m total

Bike QR trainer steady
Duration: 1:18:25
Work: 795 kJ
Distance: 26.076 mi

Fri. 1-30
Swim MAC 40mins
~1500m total
Bike QR trainer steady light
Duration: 1:11:16
Work: 727 kJ
Distance: 23.867 mi

Sat. 1-31-09 Swim 49mins MAC
~2000yds total
Verstegen run prep 20mins
Run steady 50mins, ~6,5mi, 6th day since last run, didn't feel smooth, but not bad
Bike QR trainer steady, ~8mins after run
Entire workout (169 watts):
Duration: 1:03:20
Work: 640 kJ
Distance: 21.139 mi

Sun. 2-1-09
20mins glutes/core Verstegen run prep
Run-Bike
60F! Run topless. Felt decent, maybe weather joy.
Run 81mins, ~10.5mi

Bike
QR trainer steady, ~6min trans from run.
Duration: 1:15:26
Work: 778 kJ
Distance: 25.387 mi

American. Musical Reset Button.

Moyers closed his show with this music video last week. A song commissioned by Norman Lear on the occasion of the inauguration,and presented as a video with various singers in recognizable venues across the country.




And the classic Rev. King speech. No doubt one of thousands of blogs posting it. (17mins) You may have to crank the volume.




Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

The full text is here.

Stretched holiday season

Christmas in January, why not?

2007 & 2008 - The tree grew.

Card of the Year, two years runnning.

Thanks to B for the pics below.




Love the framed pic. Guess the year if you can. Is that well dressed bear winking?





Sweet vest, but can the dude run like a Deere?



Tri Stuff

Thur. 1-1-09

Run 56mins, ~7.5mi, ~32F,

Bike QR trainer steady+ after run

Duration: 1:05:41

Fri. 1-2-09

Off

Sat. 1-3-09

Bike QR easy-steady, head cold

Duration: 1:28:12 (1:31:25)

Sun. 1-4-09

Swim 35mins

Core - Verstegen run prep 15mins

Run 44mins steady, not too bad, ~5.75mi

No QL-back issues at all last 4-5 days.

Mon. 1-5-09

Off

Tue. 1-6

Bike QR trainer easy

Duration: 1:00:51

Wed. 1-7-09

Bike QR trainer easy-steady. Duration: 55:59 (57:09)Aborted planned run, raining hard and 35F.

Thur. 1-8-09

Swim 45mins,

15mins – Verstegen run prep

Run pm steady 45mins, ~5.9mi

Fri. 1-9-09

Swim 43mins

Core – on pool deck after swim crunches and straight leg lifts, 15mins

Bike QR trainer

Duration: 1:01:34 (1:03:35)

Sat. 1-10-09

Verstegen core run prep 20mins

Run 68mins steady, ~9mi, ~41F, steady light rain, but most joyful run of '09.

Swim 40mins

Sun. 1-11-09

Verstegen run prep core 20mins

Run 41mins, ~5.4mi

Bike QR trainer easy steady, 7min trans from run

Duration: 1:46:41 (1:48:12)

Mon. 1-12-09
Swim 45mins

Tue. 1-13-09

Swim 40mins
Core on deck - 20mins - 3 x crunches-straight leg raises-pushups

Bike QR trainer intervals – 3x8mins, 2min recvry

Duration: 56:22

Wed. 1-14-09

Core – Verstegen run prep (glutes) 15mins

Run 51mins, ~7.8mi, steady +, 28F no wind

Seeing lots of $1.9X for gas.

Year End Totals

Less running, more swimming in 2008. Given a handful of sessions that did not make it into the log, pretty comparable low 500's total S-B-R hours over the last 2 yrs.

2009 - Mapping the Course

As 2008 closes, I'm...

Employed and nearly 100% physically. Carrying a decent base of fitness. The usual suspects on the winter work list: flexibility, overall and injury-prevention strength, lots of room for improvement re swim form and fitness, smaller form refinements in the dry sports.

Plans for '09...
Near term: See the usual suspects above. Work hard, and smart, on my swim. Stubborn (stupid?) sob that I am I believe I can get my swimming close to my run and bike level within my AG. Make strength and flexibility work a daily thing. Across the year, I'm baking a two-layered cake, and hope to top it off with tasty Boston Qualifier icing.

Layer One of the '09 cake is training and peaking for a Memorial Day event. Layer Two's flavor is yet to be determined. Some kind of fall target, likely Nation's Tri. Then, if all goes well, the BQ attempt to close the year. I'll indulge in a few no-taper training races along the way.

Currently mulling the best recipe for the months leading up to the Triple T on Mem Day. Whether, which, and how many races to use as training events. Big weekends, and semi-epic personal training events may be better bang for fitness buck, wiser than racing as training. Regardless there will be lots of hills, both running and biking.

I'm money-down for the Triple T and the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. Another likely suspect is a Richmond Duathlon in late April. That's probably it for racing before TTT, altho one tri would be nice to have one tri under my belt before heading to OH.

THE CALENDAR

Spring possibles:
February 7 - Cross Country race (8K, 12K options, Derwood, MD)

March 1 - B&A Trail Half Mary (Balt)
March 29 - National Half Mary (DC)
April 5 - *Cherry Blossom 10 Miler* (DC) I'm registered.
April 19 - Half iron tri, Lake Anna, VA
April 27 - Duathlon, Richmond, Short Course Nationals (run 10K, bike 40K, run 5K). Qualifier for world's this Fall, in the US, in NC.
May 9 - Half Iron tri, VA

May 23-25 - *Triple T* (OH) TARGET RACE

Weekend of tri. Three days, four races. Signed up to tackle it in '08 but injuries forced me to bump my entry to '09. Not so much racing as pacing and recovery between races in order to survive this beast. As the races get longer, the courses get hillier.

Fri. PM - Sw 250m - Bike 5mi - Run 1mi;
Sat. AM - Sw 1500m - Bike 25mi - Run 6.5mi;
Sat. PM - Bike 25mi - Sw 1500m - Bike 5mi - Run 6.5mi;
Sun. AM - Sw 1.2mi - Bike 55.5mi - Run 13.1mi

2nd Half of '08

Wide open. Lots of A & B level race possibles.

Tri Possibles:

Diamond in Rough Oly 7-11-09
Musselman 7-19

Travel to San Fran?? - August 8 senior games 10K champs

Mograntown Half 8-9-09
Diamondman Half 9-13-09
Nation's Tri 9-13-09
Duathlon Worlds 9-26-09

Marathon Possibles:

Richmond Marathon 11-14-09

North Central Trail Marathon 11-28-09 (Sparks, MD, ~80min drive) This one has appeal. Race day driveable, would allow 8-10 weeks after a September tri, and is allegedly a top ten marathon for percentage of finishers qualifying for The Boston Marathon.

Goals for '09
Stay healthy. Healthy = happy.

Sportswise, Health = consistent training = improved fitness. Consistency trumps all!

• Sub 65mins at Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in April;
  
• top 10 in my AG at the duathlon short course nationals in Richmond and qualify for world's (Concord, NC);
  
• get my 500m TT swim in the 8:30 range by May 1;
  
• survive the training for the Triple T, toe start line healthy;
• top 5 AG at the Nation's Tri in September;
  
• run under 3:20:00 in a fall mary and qualify for Boston.

SWIM note - had a benchmarking swim workout this week: 500meter Time Trial (TT). Final session of the Tue. & Thur. 6a-7a group swim with coach Daniel Brafman I will miss these. Daniel has helped me a great deal.

12-30-08 500m TT- 9mins 22secs (500m) (1:52/100m pace). Not bad por moi, esp with recently limited training. First 100m was 1:44. Had hopes of 9min flat, 9:22 still fastest ever for me. Swimmers in the audience, stop laughing.

Chronology:
12/30/08 - 9:22 500m - (1:52/100m pace) (would be ~8:37 for 500yards)
2/14/08 - 9:08 500yds - (1:49-:50 100yd pace) (would be ~9:52 for 500m)
11/15/07 - 10:29 500yds - (2:06/100yds pace) (overswim 50yds?)

10/16/07 - 9:34 500yds - (1:53/100yds pace) (underswim 50yds?)
9/27/07 - 11:10 500m - (2:14/100m) *Day 1 with Daniel.

Tradition Season

Ah, holiday tradition time.
Food, family, viciously competitive board games, crisp air, relearning the art of layering clothing, holiday cards & family updates that put my slim toilings to shame... maybe some more food.

Not all traditions are good. Enter my annual Thanksgiving injury. Yeah, steering this blog back to tri.

[No Christmas post. Yet. Can't blog without pics. That's a rule. In short, it was good. Not white. Everyone is here and healthy. Gas around town is at $1.77 to $1.95 for the cheap stuff.]

Last year: a nasty chest and back strain suffered raking leaves on T-day. This year's fun is more mysterious and less serious. Not quite as debilitating and quicker to heal. Strained lower back and ab/oblique thing over the pre T-day weekend. Quadratus Lumborum ("QL"), a back muscle connecting my right pelvis to the bottom right rib.
Not sure how it happened. Almost 1 yr to the day from the '07 event. (*note to self - next year crawl into a bunker in an undisclosed location and take the last week of November '09 off. Can I rent a rascal for a week so I don't even have to walk?)

Crap timing, of course. Was swimming faster than ever and in a groove hitting my Tue. & Thur. 6-7a swim sessions. Had my weekend daylight fun run up to 1hr50ish, feeling good during and recovering well after.

After about 10 days of olympic level eating and almost no exercise, I dusted off the scale. Up 7-8lbs. Late night Clif bar and cereal binges in front of the TV, on top of usual massive quantities of food are excellent plumper-uppers. I've got nothing on this bloke.

Feel just a little better about yourself now?
Go ahead, have another cookie. If you don't nab it he will.

Chiro/ART and hard core myofascial release style massage on the back and upper glutes has really helped, supplemented with similar self massage via the roller at home. Gradually returned to running after 2+ weeks. Same for swimming. Over 4 weeks in now, run and swim are feeling 95% normal re the injury spot.

Fortunately, I could limit my fitness losses by ride the trainer (aka "fencepost"), which I could do with zero QL discomfort, resulting in an unplanned week of 200miles cycling, my biggest bike week in a loooong time. How could I not have had many, many 200mi+ bike weeks in '08? 200 ain't nothing. It's tougher to get in miles this time of year (go hamster boy, go!), but only a couple 200+ weeks all year?

Back to roughly 100% now, time to steer back on track for winter work. Standard stuff, off season = putting time into strength and flexibility work, aka injury prevention or "prehab," stuff that falls by the wayside the rest of the year. Round the body out a bit.

Every coach and therapist I've seen over the years has zeroed in on my core/pelvis/glutes as the epicenter of my issues. The planned routine involves 20-30mins of pre-run dynamic stretching and muscle activation style work. If I stick with it, this should make me a stronger, more efficient person and injury free runner.

This video is spot on for my purposes, and for any runner really. It hits strength and flexibility and balance for run specific muscles, and brain tranis for run specific postures and movements. I'm doing it before every run.

One visible consequence of my weak medial glutes (among other things) is a rocking pelvis. This teeter-totter effect is a bad bad thing, with ramifications for IT Band and knee trouble, not to mention performance. See below my pelvis/hips tilting like there is a drunken puppeteer up above, or I'm working some invisible hulahoop. Pics are from the Nation's Triathlon, 9/13/08. Coming at the end of a hard race effort, there is some significant muscular fatigue going on, nicely bringing out the hip dip effect.

Rocking the pelvis - and one fishbelly white middle aged midriff.

I hear pale is the new tan for '09.

Thanks for reading.
Merry Christmas!

Fall - where'd it go?

The leaves were just starting to change. Now they're long gone. Bare trees and freezing rain. Gray skies and darkness before 5pm. Ugh. Well, it's not feet of snow and downed power lines.

Thanksgiving was great. B made it down so we had the family foursome. Excellent batch of Yorkshire produced in the Devereaux kitchen. Two pies. NY blueberries in one. Killer crust. Really, not just sayin' that. Too late to kiss up for gift purposes anyway, eh?

All went out and watched Milk on Fri. after. Penn is great, better than his Spiccoli and Dead Man. Sold out theatre. Thanks to the other 3 for not body-checking me with cold shoulders when I arrived only 15mins before the movie. We only managed to get tickets thanks to their super early arrival. The whole world was out and about with the same idea. I brought snack offerings for all. Next time maybe I'll shock everyone and prepurchase tix online.

The chef has confirmed he qualified for the 2009 Summer Senior Games in the 10K road race to be held in San Fran in August. An unexpected and well earned achievement coming at the end of a long battle with the injury bug.

The 10K is the longest event in the games. No half or full mary. Quite a menu of other sports.

Hope all the snow-bound folks are staying warm and comfy as the devereaux cats.

Paper Chase

Quite an election night last week. OH? FL? NC? Cali, NM, Nevada… it was really happening. Everything glowing trippy with amazement, hope and possibility.

In Scottsdale, the old Mac was back. And Grant Park. Wow. President Obama. I soaked it all up with Lehrer, Shields & Brooks, Olbermann/Matthews and gang, a little Wolfie, along with On Politics blog and fivethirtyeight.com. Giddy to bed, looking forward to Wed. and drinking in all the morning after reactions.

Up and out to the pool for an early unscheduled bonus swim, topped off with some core work and weights. Vim and vigor. Jazzed. The sun brighter, the weights lighter. Ready to settle into a metro ride with my trusty Post, the staple of my morning routine, no doubt brimming with election content.

Not so fast. The paper boxes, all empty. Noooooo! 3 Post boxes, USAToday boxes, WSJ, NYT… all bare. F. Not even 8a yet. Must. Have. Paper. World, don't mess with my a.m. routine. Off to the 7-11 across the street. No luck. 2 corner boxes further past the sleven, bare. Rrraaaaargh. Gas station/convenience a block further, bare. 45mins later and another mile or two walked I'm boarding the train... paperless.

Later, word the Post was printing a second run of the front/news section to be available at 3p. Inky fingers on the home commute, woo-hoo! Well, no papers at 3. At 4 a line was forming. I grabbed some wallspace outside the CVS with like minded hopemongers. Chatted with a gal who canvassed for Obama in VA, celebrated late into election night outside the WH. Good stuff.

5 o'clock. Okay, screw an evening run. I'm pot committed. But only so much. Started to feel a little stupid the 15th time a passerby asks "why the line?" and I tell them for the Post. 6:15, I caved, headed home. Quick stop at a neighborhood store in the 'burbs. Nothing.

Still stoking some stubborn Thursday a.m., I rolled out a few mins earlier than usual for my swim group. Given the hours invested what's another few mins, eh? Bingo. The 2nd store I hit had a few special editions remaining. Notch a win for Team Stubborn. I bought a few, left some for fellow seekers.

If anyone would like one, let me know.

Or... get one from the Post directly (!) Yeah. Seems they have decided to print more and take orders. Hmmm, maybe move that W over to Team Stupid.

Anyway, I remain fired up, ready to go!

Crowie and Muppet; Brierman Half Lite RR

Crowie and Muppet

Ironman Hawaii (Kona), the annual championship for the Ironman triathlon took place earlier in October. IM distance - Swim 2.4mi, bike 112mi, run 26.2mi.

Chrissie "Muppet" Wellington won last year as a relative unknown and backed up that win with another this year. She came out of the water a few mins behind and shortly rode her way to the lead on the bike before spending 10mins on the roadside dealing with a mechanical and watching other women fly past. Once back on the road she powered back to the sharp end of the field then ran away with a 2:57 marathon. She has never lost an IM distance race. Perhaps the most impressive triathlete alive right now.

Wellington

Swim - 56:20 (11th Wpro)

Bike - 5:08:16 (21.8mph) (2nd WP);

Run - 2:57:44 (6:48) (1st WP, 22nd overall)

Australian Craig "Crowie" Alexander, long time dominator of the Half Iron and shorter distances took the men's win. He finished 2nd in Kona last year in his first visit. This year he executed smartly and moved up to the top of the podium. Stayed near the leaders out of the water, a strong bike but no gambling attempts to break away or catch the uber bikers riding to win it on the bike. He closed the gap to the leaders during the last portion of the bike, then ran through them, taking the lead mid-marathon and holding it.

Alexander

Swim - 51:43 (14);

Bike - 4:37:19 (24.2mph) (16);

Run - 2:45:01 (6:18) (1st pro, 5th overall)

Brierman Half Lite RR
Never too late for a race report, eh?

Brierman Half Lite Tri 10-12-08 - My Final Tri for the year.
.85mi swim; 40mi bike (two 20mi loops); 9.3mi run (out/back course)

As a first yr race the field was small. Under 100 entrants for the Half, maybe 200 for the Sprint distance tri.

Unending hills (course profiles below). Toughest run course of the year, likely ever, for me. Toughest bike course, next to Savageman. The body held up fairly well, for my 3rd race in 5 weeks. Competitively, middlin race results. Nevertheless, a satisfying challenge and a fun 4hr+ day, esp with the ideal weather. One of those spectacular early fall days. ~50F at the start, high of ~70F at noon, no wind, no clouds, no humidity. Scenic country views, which included more McPalin yard signs than I've seen anywhere else.

Def did not have my A game, physically or mentally. The well of race day adrenalin low at this point. Seems I successfully peaked physically and mentally for Nation's Tri back on 9/14. Could not "hold the peak" thereafter. Wouldn't be a "peak" then would it? Racing after Nation's was all gravy anyway. Pure enjoyment of simply being able to do it, racing against the course and myself more than the field.

Lake swim. Nice. No chop or currents to deal with. No chance to loosen the bike legs up, out of T1 it's straight into a steep climb out of the park. Hills all day thereafter on the bike and the esp the run.

The ruthless terrain had me craving a flat-to-rolling course tri with a lake swim. Something I can (comparatively) tear up when fit and fresh. Picture portly Homer Simpson, face plastered against the glass window of Mr. Donuts, drooling over the rows and rows of baked goodness, aaaaaaaaaghha, gaaaaagh. That's me, as I envision Diamondman Half in DE, flat and fast. Must have traced that course a few times over in my mind.

Brierman Details - Greenbrier State Park, MD, ~1hr drive north of DC.

Swim 30:30 (34th/67 overall) (51%)
T1 5:25 (64th out of 67) (96%)
Bike 2:19:18 (~17.2mph) (16th overall) (24%)
T2 2:20 (overall 53rd) (80%)
Run 1:10:35 (7:36) (7th overall) (11%)
Final 4:08:07

14th/67 overall (21%)
13th/54 male (26%)
5th/10 35-39 AG

Splits for the 35-39AG winner (age 39):
S: 26:26
B: 2:00:11
R: 1:14:42
T1+T2: 5:25
Finish - 3:44:11

All ten 35-39 AG finish times:
1. 3:44:11 (39)
2. 3:51:07 (37)
3. 3:53:34 (39)
4. 3:57:48 (37)
5. 4:08:07 (yours truly)
6. 4:26:22 (35)
7. 4:43:09 (39)
8. 4:50:09 (35)
9. 5:05:46 (36)
10. DNF

Run Course Profile

Bike Course Profile
Do this Loop 2x, Twice the Fun

Five and Alive

Glance back at '08. A very good season of racing. Five races + Healthy throughout + Best performance came at my target race = Success. Anything beyond that is bonus.

Breaking it down, the swim (still) sticks out.
Other eyes are generally drawn to the run and bike first, then, "dude, if you could just swim anywhere near that... ." Yeah. I'm working on it in my stubborn Irish way, and having fun. This stuff is my play time after all. The voice in my head just won't shut up - you can be a swimmer.

Like putting up Christmas decorations, it's never too early to start planning the fun for 2009. Entered the Triple T (three days, four races) for 5/08 then deferred to 5/09. Nothing else on my calendar so far, will plan around that monster.

Table Below: Quick Look at 2008 Race Result Numbers - Competitive Angle.



Election day is finally here. Girding for heartbreak, while hope burns bright. I'm not going to buy any Tue. night results.

Wednesday wake up will bring sunshine and roses and yes we can!, or, doom and gloom and mental trench warfare v cynicism and thoughts of Canada. Just hope the races are decided by Wed. morning.

Gas at $2.75 when I filled up this week.

Backyard Burn 10miler

Backyard Burn Trail Run race (10mi)
Wakefield Park, VA

25min drive. gas $3.16 for the cheap reg.

~48F & clear. 9am start.

Ventured into the not-so-red state for my first ever trail race. FUN. I understand why the 5 annual B-Burn trail races sell out.

True trail. Dirt, roots, rocks, forest, log jumps, single track, stream bed (dry) crossings.
One minor ankle roll, one stumble forward, arms flailing almost face-plant (had to be hilarious looking), and one honest to goodness forward sprawling splat with minor palm and knee scrape to prove it.

The 10miles flew. After the first .5mile of open road and wide trail allowing runners to unbunch from the mass start it was mostly single track, all up and down, winding twists and turns, trees whizzing past. All creating the sensation of running at ludicrous speed even when my effort was merely steady with some occassional frisky. Tough to pass on the narrow trails. Not really "racing" it so happy to wait a bit for a widening or to politely pass after a friendly "on your left."

Hung out in the sun after, watching awards and hoping to win some give away schwag (4 Ipods, no luck) before heading to work.

Top 3 in 30-39 AG ran 1hr 3min - 1 hr 6min. And finished 1 - 2 - 3 overall. Two of the three are DCTri studs. Sheeesh.

Me: 1hr 12mins.

one unkempt crispy critter, two captivating chiros

Drs. Anna and Kathy from Positively Chiro were on hand as sponsors and to work on runners post race. PC has been crucial to my health, and thereby my happiness this year. In March I was running just 10-15mins every other day. With their help I had a great season of racing and training, and generally enjoying to my heart's content all this tri stuff I've come to love. It's nice to be limited only by fitness, not injury.

Reconnecting

Another full weekend. Last week NYC with M&D and tour guide extraordinaire B. Oh, and Zoe. Tenement Museum, Candle Cafe, running in Central Park, Shea Stadium. Here for coverage of all the fun.

Out to Odenton Saturday afternoon for a gathering of the old gang and their growing families. Thanks A & S for hosting and providing tasty food.

Great to see everyone and catch up. The ladies look amazing and the fellas are holding up reasonably well. And still fun to hang out with. And, incredible kids, very well behaved. Having seen these fathers in their younger years, I'm giving credit to the women. Fellas, you married well.

Sunday was a quick trip up to Greenbrier State Park to scope out the Brierman Half Lite bike and run courses, might do that race 10/12. Big hills, ugh. The 12-21 gearing was not the way to go.

Earlier in the week a night out a Merriweather to see Phil & Friends and the Allman Bros. Thanks D for nudging the rest of us to join you. It was a good night despite rain for ~3omins. Umbrellas and rain coats came in handy. Seems there are still plenty of hippies, of all shapes, sizes and degrees. Far too many still chain smoke, even in an outdoor venue it was a brutal 2nd hand situation.

On to the pics... lots of pics. I think I managed to include everyone in attendance at least once. Who belongs to who should be self evident.

Merriweather crew.

Greenbrier State Park
Leaves starting to turn.

Savageman 2008

One of the many signs out on the hilly bike course.

EXECUTIVE SUM UP

Savageman Half Iron Triathlon - 9/21/08 - Deep Creek Lake, Western, Maryland

Swim 1.2mi, Bike 55.7mi (1 loop), Run 13.1 (2 loops)

Result - 6:12:37 (6:39:33 last yr)

Overall: 47th out of 223 starters (195 finishers)
Men: 39th out of 182 male starters (162 finishers) (chicked again x8)
AG: 8th out 39th starters; 36 finishers in 35-39AG

No injuries. Did not feel too bad just one week after Nation's Tri. No wind, no humidity, mostly sunny. Lots of aid stations. Shady run. Pretty ideal conditions. Faster (er, not as slow :) across the board in every element this year vs '07. 6hrs was the dream goal. Sub 3hrs 30mins on the bike was one goal hit.

** THE LONG READ **

Foggy swim again this yr. Tough to see buoys on swim course. There were more of them, which helped. Air was warmer in '08, no 38F with ice on the windshield, instead mid-hi 50's at start , hi for the day ~70. Water cooler this year, maybe 65-68F.

I had a weird start. Treaded and stroked around a little for 1-2min waiting for the start gun (~8:30a). But immed felt dizzy when started. Kind like the bedspins (zip it! :). Had to stop and tread, was a mental challenge to stay composed until it (hopefully, and yes) passed, not slip toward panic. Finding a fixed landmark to focus on seemed to help. Been years since I've had any swim start issues roughly like this, maybe since my first open water swim. Started up again slowly, gradually got into a steady rhythm. Never pushed it. Was okay from there on. 5-6 leaky goggle stops didn't help.

Just under 40mins flat when I stood up. 42:02 with run to T1. (47:30 last year)

Hellacious course thereafter. Never ending hills from the start of the bike to the end of the run. I suspect the race organizers would've made the swim uphill if possible. Even having ridden it in August, the ride was more punishing than remembered. Otherwise, fine on the B/R.


Spotted the Mayor an 11min lead before I got on the bike. Passed him around mile 45, got off the bike ~2mins ahead of him, finished 18mins ahead.

Locals and volunteers were more numerous than last year and really got into the spirit. Experienced one ugly bottle exchange (best to be said is I stayed up right), but also one particularly smooth bottle hand up. It' s something of an art to hand an object to cyclist moving at 15-25mph.

At the last bike aid station I shouted ahead my menu selection - "sports drink!" Immediately an arm shot up from the hive crewing the station, bike bottle in hand. I pointed right at him - we locked in as I neared. I kept my arm extended, doing my part, showed all my fingers, palm open. He didn't look too athletic this gent (more like a Korean war VFW happy hr regular, to generalize from appearance). But turned out he was a savvy pro. Started jogging ahead of me along the shoulder before I got to him, getting our relative speeds closer, bottle extended. I slowed almost not at all. He reached toward the road, but not too far in to my path, swinging his arm with me as I grabbed. Voila - smooth, rolling hand up. Had it been a cup of tea not a drop would've spilled. Perfect.

No sympathy.

DATA - 2007 & 2008 Numbers

2008 Savageman

6:12:37 (6:39:33 last yr)

47th out of 223 starters (top 21%); 195 finishers (24th%)
39th out of 182 male starters (22nd%); 162 finishers (24th%) (chicked again, x8)
8th out 39th starters in 35-39AG (21%); 36 finishers (22nd%)

Swim

2007 47:29 (19th in swim/20 AG) (bottom 95th%)

2008 42:02 (30th in swim/39 AG) (77th%) (138/182 men) (76th%)

T1

2007 11:26 (19/20 AG) (bottom 95th%)

2008 10:26 (38/39 in AG) (98th%) (172/182 men) (bottom 95th%)

Bike

2007 3:39:52 (10/20 AG) (15.4mph) (50th%)

2008 3:28:09 (16.1mph) (10/39 AG) (26th%) (44th/182 men) (25th%)

T2

2007 3:06 (16/20 AG) (80th%)

2008 2:43 (20/39 AG) (52%) (88/182 men) (49th%)

Run

2007 1:57:40 (8:59mi pace) (6/20 AG) (top 30th%)

2008 1:49:19 (8:20mi pace) (7/39 AG) (18th%) (23/182 men) (13th%)

Final

2007 6:39:33

2008 6:12:37

(AG -moved from 30th after swim to 16th after bike to 8th (after run))

(Men - from 172 among men after swim to 66th after bike to 39th (after run))

Savage Mtn Challenge

2007:
40:48 (10.29mph)
Overall - 26/158 (men, women, teams) (top 17th%)
Men - 24/133 (men and male teams) (18th%)

2008: (slightly longer climb)
41:07 (10.40mph)
Overall - 23/217 (11th%)
Men - *25/177 (15th%)
AG - 4/36 (12th%)
(teams not included in '08)
*listed as 21st, est'd 25th to include some fast folks among the 177 but who missed the timing mat

Power Geek Info.

Entire workout (176 watts):

Duration: 3:27:19 (3:28:24)

Work: 2188 kJ

TSS: 271.5 (intensity factor 0.887)

Norm Power: 204

VI: 1.16

Pw:HR: 10.86%

Pa:HR: 5.19%

Distance: 55.94 mi

Min Max Avg

Power: 0 438 176 watts

Heart Rate: 101 195 147 bpm

Cadence: 22 114 77 rpm

Speed: 2.4 41.5 16.2 mph

FTP est'd: 225-230w (max 60min ALL out effort)

Peak 1min 362w

Peak 2min 322w

Peak 5min 285w

Peak 10min 275w

Peak 20min 235w

Peak 30min 221w

Peak 60min 213w

Smallwood Oly 6/29 - Peak 20min - 215; Peak 60min - 209w

Northeast Oly 8/17 - Peak 20min - 228; Peak 60min - 221w

Nation's Oly 9/14 - Peak 20min - 219; Peak 60min - 214w

Savageman Half 9/21 - Peak 20min - 235; Peak 60min - 213w