Race day tomorrow

Im nervous already. How can I be nervous about this? I guess this is the first time I have raced my bike. Trying to play through how the mornign will go pre -race

Looks like rain

I ride my bike to and from the softball fields for meetings and games and whatever. Its 3.5-4 miles one way depending on the route and just gives me a few more miles on the bike. Wednesday night I had a meeting and rode my bike over. As the meeting ended I could see a storm rolling in. People kept asking me if I wanted a ride. No Im to good for that. As I took off I rode from the bike trail to the street and I was confronted with this...


Hmmmm what to do...Everyone else is gone. Im 4 miles from home. Its not bad right now..It just looks ominous. In fact its very still and quiet. LETS RIDE!

http://runkeeper.com/user/mcope/activity/35168125

Do you ever make a decision and realize almost immediately that it may have been the wrong one but there isnt much you can do to stop it? I rode 50 yards from that picture and the wind picked up to near tornado levels and a mile into the ride I rode directly beneath a hole in the clouds that was swirling like a whirlpool. Debris blowing in my face 40-50mph winds It was all I could do to stay on. Light rain but I still was soaked by the time I got home. :)

Full race loop

Full Race Loop map from Runkeeper

My last post was very quickly written and not very informative really just a mental journal entry. Also it wasn't really a legitimate course run so I rode it again 2 days ago on Sat. This time I threw my bike in the van and drove over to the start of the course. I really wanted to get the best true idea of what race day was going to be like. I had 2 bottles of hydration. 1 straight water and the other Lime Nuun. Last time I felt like I wasn't getting enough hydration so I planned on squashing that problem. I put on all my gear and checked my lights just in case I didn't get back before sunset.

I was off.

I felt pretty good and I sure do love my bike its so light and quick. I love when I really put all my power into it and it responds. After the first 4.5 miles I realize I need more hill work and make a mental note to start pushing myself harder on hills. There is a little wind but nothing like Thursday. I hit the halfway and felt pretty good. I drank water on the first half and planned on using the Nuun on the way back to help recovery. I think that worked out pretty nice. I felt good all the way back and was 3.5 miles from the finish when I got passed by a car of kids that thought it would be fun to toss out a cup with pop in it. Luckily I avoided being hit. I did a have a few choice words for them and told them so in universal sign language. Seriously! What makes you think throwing something at a cyclist is a good idea? Did your mother teach you that?

I made it the remainder of the ride without incident and even broke the 30 mph mark cool.

Very excited about it. finished in 1:06 and know I can get it under :59 . I plan to ride this at least 3 more times before Race day.

16 miles out of 20 not bad

Last nights ride and Runkeeper map

This was my first real ride outside on highway that was greater then 10 miles. I did almost 20 miles last night. I know now what my tri is going to be like in 2 weeks. Im hoping for NO WIND! LOL the hills coming back last night were brutal with the wind. I need to get something to eat halfway through as I was starving. Plus I think I needed to drink more then I did. I was trying to time my ride so I didn't run out of daylight. I got very cold near the end. The road I was riding is not the safest road. Lots of curves and some blind hills. Traffic is always a little higher speed then what it should be. Started to cramp at the half way point. I stopped to get a drink and walked for a bout 20 sec and it eased up. Im hoping to ride the full course this weekend.

My iPhone battery died at the 16 mile mark and so runkeeper stopped recording my activity. Still i finished my ride and it was 19.7 I felt pretty good too.

Rain Rain Go Away....

I hate the rain and Im not wanting to ride in it very much. Blech!!

QOTD: If you can make your heart and nerve and sinew serve your turn long after they are done, and so hold on when there is nothing in you, except the will that says to them 'hold on.' Rudyard Kipling

Weekend Rides

This weekend I managed to get out on my new bike for not one but TWO bike rides. I have not gotten properly fitted yet so I I have tweaked the seat adjustment both days.

I am a little disappointed but I guess I have been unable to ride for more then 30 days. I was really hoping to be faster then what I ended up with. I know part of it is the knee and just making sure not to go to hard.

Saturdays Ride

Kind of cold and I felt sluggish and heavy

Sundays Ride
I felt better and faster. Kept getting slowed down by traffic and poor roads. I need to get out on a old highway

New bike

Im driving to Omaha tomorrow to pick up my new bike. Im very excited.

I'm not dumping a boatload of cash into this thing but I wanted to get something that would provide a decent frame with some upgrade-ability

I have been looking at Giant for a while and decided on the Trinity A2. I know the A2 has the lower end components. This is a bike I can "grow" into. The reviews Ive read on Slowtwitch and BT have suggested that this is a really decent bike. I stopped in at the Bike world Warehouse sale and found that the bike Im buying tomorrow was quite a steal compared to the "deals" to be had at Bike world.


Trinity A2 (2008) - Bikes | Giant Bicycles | United States

Im feeling better!

I apologize for not updating this. I have been slammed with workouts. This whole week Ive been pulling double duty. That's right folks 5 AM swim or bike and than Bike or run in the PM on MWF. On T/Th I have Bootcamp which has been kicking my hiney.

I'm not sure if its the extra workouts or not but I'm making great progress on weight. Yesterday I was down to 215.6. I am up a little today but I think much of that is due to too much sodium before bed.

I have backed off C25k speed training as it and the Bootcamps were giving me a severe case of shin splints like I have not experienced in several months.

I am really getting worked up about a Bike. I believe I have convinced myself that buying one now before spring sales would be stupid and a waste of money. I really do like the looks of Giant Trinity series as well as some Quintana Roo bikes. I still want to give Mojo Cycle a chance and try out a Diamond Back podium but I think Im going to throw money away if I buy a new bike. I desperately need to get into a LBS and get measured and properly sized.

I have a couple of rough patches coming up and I need to stay focused as the holiday season approaches. I have 2 business trips coming up. Both will entail overnight stays and much eating out with no real ability to control food options. Additionally working out during these trips is extremely difficult if not impossible. Im going to have to make up the Bootcamp classes I'm going to miss too. I need a plan to keep me on track....

Any suggestions hit me up!

Triathlon Test

Despite still being somewhat under the weather I had a great weekend. Had a real fun time with my kids Trick or Treating I stayed away from the candy for the most part. I snuch a few pieces but not much.

On Sat I was able to stop in at a Nike store where I was looking for some clothing and a new hat and instead found a real nice pair of goggles for $6. Sweet deal!

Sunday I was going to do my 3rd day of C25k Speed training but since I got my new goggles I wanted to swim to which led to me deciding to try and do a whole sprint Triathlon during my workout session.

I knew my transition times would be shot on T1 so I didnt even bother and besides this was going to be my first attempt at this ever. I have done the bike and the run together and even the swim and the bike and the swim and the run but never all three consecutively back to back.

I wanted to still do this as quick as possible even though I knew I was going to have some stupid crap to deal with like getting out of the pool rinsing off changing from swim trunks to Run gear but I still hurried. I think I had about 8 total minutes of transition time of which T2 was only 1:30? Really what I was interested in was my total time and just finishing.

The Swim
My swim is still really bad but I do feel like I'm improving. The goggles were a god send. It really helped me feel more at ease in the water I didn't feel as panicked while swimming about having to breath and getting water in my eye and stroking properly. It was one less thing to worry about. I feel my stroke is pretty good but I need to work really hard on breathing properly and I need to be more aware of my kick. Make sure I'm using my whole leg not just kicking at the knee.
I did most of the 500M freestyle crawl. only 1.5 laps on my back or sidestroke. In the past Ive done half of them on my side or back. Still very hard. I feel so out of breath when I have my head down. I can hold my breath for 1:40 but when Im swimming I cant go 10 secs. Grr very frustrating.

Swim time - 19:50

The Bike
Interestingly I found that when I was doing this I realized how difficult it is to stay focused that Im racing. To constantly be pushing and not get caught up in music or something else. Made me think I need to be more cognizant during training and push harder. Nothing much new here. Since it was stationary I started out the first 6 miles very hard setting level 18/20. Made sure I stayed above the 20mph line the best I could every little bit I would get up on it and push for 30-45 sec. So I wasn't just riding it out. Near the end I did the whole last 3 minutes as hard as I could.
Wipe the bike down and hussle over to the treadmill.

Bike Time - 37:04

The Run
Bricked!! This is probably the most bricked my legs have ever felt. I had about a min and half in between Bike and treadmill. I intended to run my C25k speed training session Wk1 D3 but when I kicked up the pace to 8:30/Mile pace and I hit the .4-.5 mile mark I started getting light cramping in my calves and decided I better ease back a little so I clocked myself back to a 12 min for about 3 min than kicked it back up to 11 min/mile. I ran at that pace till I hit the 1 mile mark and then kicked it up again to just faster than 10:45/mile. I really was feeling quite good during the run better than I had anticipated. In fact as it progressed I begin to kick the speed up a little more every 5 min. As I was about to enter into the last 1K an Iwas running at about 9:45/mile. I felt great. In all the 5k and training 5k's I have run I have never felt this good. It just seemed like I could run forever no matter what speed I bumped it up to. I bumped my speed up to 9:00/mile with the last half mile. I just felt really good and decided I was going to end it with everything I got. 6 min from the end I kicked it up to 8:15/mile. I hit the 3.0 mile mark and bumped the speed again to finish at a speed faster than 8 min/mile. I know that isnt blazing for most but that is booking for me. If I could run 8 min the whole thing Id be super happy.

I was running hard at the end. Not my top end but close.

Run Time - 33:34


Total Time 1:30:31

Spinning and spinning and spinning.

Bought a spin bike at a garage sale on Sat. $40 for a Schwinn Spin bike very nice quality in good shape. Knew I would need it this winter. As it turns out Ive used it the last 2 days. Yesterday and tonight.

Glad I had this as an option

An hour of spinning makes for a good workout if I push it!

Im in love....

I test rode my first real Tri bike today. A Low end used Trek Hilo 1000. It was a amazing. I felt like I was on a rocket sled. When I drove my foot down into that pedal the first time I nearlty gave myself whiplash. Very fast and unbelievably lightweight.

I really want it. BAD!!!

More reversed Duathlon

Went full Wk9 time today. I hope to get the rest of Week 9 finished this week.

Workout: 5k/4k/5k
3.4 mile bike ride
31 min run:

• 12:30/12 min
• 11:30/12 min
• 10:58/6 min
• 8:30/ 1:30 min

3.7 mile bike ride

I want to start working on my speed more I'm hoping to get about 2 3 more weeks of just repeating Week 9 so I can feel more comfortable at that distance. Then I will begin working back through for speed.

Tri-ing something new

My workout tonight was a little different. Instead of driving to the Y to do my run I rode my bike.


3.4 mile cycle

Ran 25 min for 2.1 miles ( I was not feeling up to snuff tonight)

3.4 mile cycle

I didnt break any speed records. I never do on my runs or my outside bike rides.
I did the cycle rides in 18 min and 15 min. I am going to do this as much as I can. I cant wait to get a road bike.