What a week... What a weekend... WHEW!

So... this will be a three part post.  We'll start with the week's events, then move into Sunday's race report, and finally yesterday's monstrous hike.  So, bear with me, this might be a long one.

-Part I-
(the week)

The Marine Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC) change of command was on thursday.  So, all week, in addition to my regular work related duties I've had the pleasure of standing in formation as the company guide (that means I hold the company standard called a guidon) for a General's retirement ceremony.  For those that don't know what this means it was two and a half to three hours of standing at attention, marching, and executing various drill movements in the heat of the afternoon sun.  So, my plate was stacked high during the work week.  The ceremony was Thursday afternoon at 1600 so it was a late workday for me that night for sure.  Everybody was there, from foreign dignitaries to the commandant of the Marine Corps.  The Ceremony lasted a full 2 and a half hours.  To give you an idea of the scope of something like this when I was on my way back home I saw Marine scout snipers climbing down from the roof I'm sure they were there for security.  Also, there was a Marine company guide for another company that "fell out".  He literally ate pavement, face first, into the concrete!  OUCH!  There were times when I was afraid that would be me.

-Part II-
(The Race)

Well,  I had some friends over for dinner Saturday night.  I was just a little concerned that the very large meal of home made lasagna that I ate and the couple glasses of wine that I drank would negatively affect me.  Strangely enough, this was what I would call a "breakthrough" race.  I had no GI issues and I was able to maintain a nice pace the entire race.  I had kind of a strange breakfast, but based on what I had been experimenting with, I thought it would work.  I ate toast with blackberry jam and banana pineapple baby food.  Strange, I know, but whatever works right?  Only a couple of issues this race, funny enough they all had to do with the bathroom.  Just before the race I was in line for the port o' john and the gun sounded!  Oh CRAP!  well, I guess it's time to run.  Also, I made the mistake of drinking too much water too close to the start of the race.  So, I had to run off the course and pee... twice.  I imagine I will definitely be able to really pick up the pace on the next race.

-Part III-
(Mt Olympus)

I wish I had all the photos already, but I will post them as soon as I get them emailed from my friends.  We started the day at 0330 with the hopes of scaling the Haiku stairs or stairway to heaven.  We left the house at 0430 to arrive at the entrance to the "off limits" area at 0500.  After wandering around the the network of utility roads and being generally lost for an hour and a half we found the actual trail head only to be turned away by the security guard.  Well, at least we know where to go for next time.  My crew of friends was already in hiking clothes and only slightly deterred by our early morning fiasco.  So, we stopped by Safeway for some more provisions (to include a bottle of Chardonay!) and regrouped at Ray's house.  After googling the most intense hike on Oahu we set out for "Mount Olympus" or The upper Wa'ahila ridge trail.  Wow, a full five hours of hiking later we reached the beautiful summit.  Where we unpacked the picnic that Ray and I hauled up the mountain in our assault packs and ate sandwiches and drank our wine.  We relaxed at the top for about an hour and a half.  Then we started our joyous descent!

And today, a much needed rest day.

Track workout!

for about the last week or so I have been DYEING to run fast.  I don't mean like a two minute interval, or a little fartlek run..  I mean FAST!!  I finally got my chance yesterday at the track and boy did it feel good.  I am starting to really enjoy this relationship I am fostering with the local track.  It's nice to go somewhere and just leave everything you've got on that red dirt that so many other runners have sweated, cried, bled, vomited, and pushed there all into.  Something about the track is quite inspiring actually.  And you can always tell the people that are there to really RUN the ones that warm up by doing "high knees" and then leave a dust trail behind them when they sprint.  Oh yeah, this is a culture i could get used to. Running.

I was pretty proud of my times considering how long it has been since i've consistently done any speed work.  I worked on 600s this week.  Did two 3x600s the first set i did my 600s in around 2:45 and my second set around 2:25.  I'm always proud of myself when i give just a little more on my second set.  Just like today at the pool.

Today's swim was a bit intimidating to me.  I started with a 1,000m timed negative split.  This wouldn't seem intimidating to most serious triathletes but it is the furthest I have swum without resting on a wall since my return to the sport.  So, I was not looking forward to this.  Turns out I did quite well, in my own humble opinion.  Was able to complete the 1k swim in 20:12.  then i had three more timed events two 200m sprints of which the second was to be faster (3:42 and 3:31) i was very satisfied that i was able to complete another negative split effort on this one.  Finally finishing it out with a timed 400m that i was able to complete in 7:41 I am not sure how I should feel about that time but generally I like to keep a good attitude about my workouts so I'd say I'm pleased with it.

Oh... and i haven't mentioned "Company PT".  Yesterday it came as a bit of a surprise to me when my "Gunny" told me that we would be meeting up at 0530 for a company run.  He made sure to reinforce the importance of being hydrated (that's always a sign of a difficult run).  This morning we ran for almost 7.5 miles of which an entire mile was on the beach.  I'm sure all of you are aware of the difficulty of running on sand.  So needless to say, today was a tough day.

A great start to the weekend!

The Ironman bug... It's catching!

It started with a phone call. Just a crazy idea, maybe I'll ask my buddy Eli if he wants to run IMCDA with me. Seeing as how the only event he's ever competed in that i know of is the Honolulu Century Ride. Knowing that, I figured it was a bit of a long shot. Eli is the guy that did the century ride with me with only 3 months notice.

Well, i left him a message a few days ago. I heard from him today. He actually wants to do it! I can't beleive it! This crazy bastard wants to do it! This is gonna be great. He seems just as excited about it as I am. I really had a great time training with him for the century ride. He is an old high school friend of mine and he is just as masochistic as me. Hopefully he is able to register for it before it sells out. That would be a great familiar face to have at the race and a great friend to spend the week with in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

Finishing off the 2010 triathlon season!

Just finished up with the "Tradewind Triathlon".  Official splits:


Overall 27th (25-29 6th) time 1:10:58
Swim 500m 10:29 32nd (T1 0:42)
Bike 11 miles 34:18 34th (T2 0:57)
Run 5k 24:33 57th  
out of 186 competitors


I woke up at 0315 this morning, as is typical on race day but not necessary since this morning's race was only a 10 minute bike ride from my front door.  So i had a couple of pieces of peanut butter toast and a glass of orange juice to get me going.  Then... i waited... made some final preparations, finished packing my transition bag and pumped up my tires.  Then... it happened... I blew my inner tube!  ok, no need to panic.  I have two spares and plenty of time.  I got my spare put my wheel back together, and wouldn't you know it... I BLEW OUT ANOTHER ONE!!  Oh god!  this isn't shaping up to be a very good morning.  Ok Andrew, just relax, *check my watch 0455 bike inspections are at 0500* ok relax.  Wiping the sweat from my brow and taking a deep breath i retrieved my second and final inner tube from the garage.  "Ok, Andrew only fill this one to 120psi NOT 140..."  got it!  whew!  


After riding my bike to the start of the triathlon I realized that i still had plenty of time, as i was the only competitor present.  I then ask frank and the guys at the IT&B tent if they need some help with the bike checks.  After dropping off my run transition bag (that's a story in itself) and picking up my timing chip i helped Frank and the guys out for a while.  


Pre-race mode... GO!  I hardly warmed up (oops).  Listened to the course brief.  Asked the race coordinator to go over the swim one more time, I have a reputation for missing buoys.  then swam out to the deep water start line.   I saw one guy start swimming off and looked at my buddy and asked jovially "did they say go?" he then replied "nope, don't think s- BANG-o OH I GUESS THEY DID!"  Head down in the water pulling away, i found somebody's feet to follow.  Stayed on him almost the entire way out.  On the way back i had some issues sighting and struggled to maintain my pace.  Exiting the water i saw an old rival of mine who works here on K-bay.  


"Kevin", my "Gunny" and i talk about Kevin all the time.  He's one of these guys that will look for you at the finish line just to let you know how bad he beat you.  And we see Kevin at every single race we do. Today, before the start of the race, i told kevin I'd be waiting for him at the finish line.  It felt good to beat him to T1.  


Back to the race, into T1 i remembered all that practice i did friday on my transitions (about 40mins worth) smooth and easy just like i practiced.  Onto the bike not much to say here.  Other than Roberto hammering past me on what little bit of a hill there was.  There was one guy though we kinda went back and forth just friendly little competition.  Every time we hit the headwind on the flight line i would get into a really aggressive aero position and catch him, then we'd turn around and he would catch me.  It went like this until T2 where i turned to him and said "I'll race ya!".  


T2... what a mess...  ok, so let me describe this situation to you.  They had T1 and T2 in two completely separate places.  So, remember that "run bag"?  Yeah, it was a trash bag with a number 8 sticker on it and my running shoes and socks stuffed inside.  So as i ride into the T2 corale a guy with a microphone says "Eight"  i run around looking for a place to hang my bike and think... "why am i still holding this thing this corale is virtually empty" i hang it immediately and run to the guy holding my trash bag.  Dump the contents on the ground shake the grass out of my socks THEN i am able to attempt a quick transition.  By this time the guy i was racing with on the bike is long gone. 


I start to book it.  Grab some water out of T2, almost choke on the friggin water.  I don't know why i was trying to drink it so fast.  I guess i was still in transition mode.  Then the pain sets in,  the dreaded side stitch.  only a mile into the run and already gripping my ribs in pain.  Oh, and the hills.  Lets just say the run course was challenging and any of you who have trained or raced on the Marine Base in Kaneohe will know what i mean when i say "KT".  I needn't say more.


All in all it was an exciting race.  I came across the finish line sprinting to catch and pass the guy in front of me (that's always a psychological game to me) by one second.  I then collapsed in pain on the ground just past the finish.  You know you put out when the race staff asks you if you're ok. 


And then, After I had time to collect myself, stand up, and brush myself off.  I saw "Kevin" cross the finish line.  That's right. I WIN! (thanks Michelle!)


Now onward to Marathon training!!

And so it begins...

Thursday night, i signed up for my first Ironman. Ironman Couer d'Alene in Idaho. I wasn't expecting to sign up for one just yet. I saw my coach Michelle signed up for it... and it got me thinking... the timing is good and there will be some friendly faces. I made a call to Michelle and spoke with her about my training schedule for next year, discussing whether or not to do IMCDA in June or IM western Australia in December. I was concerned that doing the Kona 70.3 on June 4th would not be conducive to my training schedule by doing two big races in June. But turns out, it was a good idea to do a double peak in June. After running it by my wife, i took a deep breath and signed up. I had to convince myself that the $608 was worth it for a lifetime goal.

The scope of what i had signed up for didn't hit me until friday morning when i did the math on each of the events. According to the paces that i currently have during training. If I go the same speed during all three events during the Ironman. It will take me almost 12 hours... 12 HOURS of RACING!! OMG what have I done!?

My Ironman training hasn't gotten off to a very good start I'll say. I've been sick for the last few days. A bit of a head cold. I felt a bit better yesterday, good enough for a swim. On top of me feeling a bit under the weather I've got a race tomorrow, so for today, I'm just going to be chilling out on the couch drinking fluids and watching television. But next weekend I'll be going for my longest ride since my surgery, 3 hours on the bike. I'll have to consider nutrition for the first time since i've resumed training.