I like to do things two or three times so I can compare how I did. Today was my second attempt at the Delta Century. Last year, I hung desperately on the rear wheel of a teammate we affectionately called "The Bull". I would say that for about 80-90% of this ride, Paul was in front...unless of course there was a photographer ;-)
Photo op in 2014...me in front (Paul in blue) LOL
This year I knew was going to be different. For one, Paul was no longer training with our group. For two, HS had been sick for two weeks and it was questionable about whether or not he was even going to be able to do the event. What this meant for me was that I was going to have to be prepared to not draft anyone and to possibly ride by myself. With that in mind, my main goals for this year's ride were to maintain an average pace of 18 mph (last year I was able to average 19.9 behind Paul) and to ride in front.
Oh the Wind
I remain unimpressed with Garmin's weather reporting capabilities. Apparently it grabs the info from the point you start your activity. So for today's ride, my watch reported a 4 mph wind...WRONG! Here is what www.weatherunderground.com reported for Courtland, CA
9am - 10mph wind with gust up to 15mph....that's more like it
Our second rest stop was at the Old Sugar Mill. Unfortunately, several course arrows had been blown away, so we had to take a round about way of getting to the stop (I talked to some riders that missed it completely). At this stop, HS informed me that if the wind continued blowing like it was, I was going to have to go on without him...he would just ride at his own pace. As much as I hate riding by myself, I understood... I think it was a miracle he had already gone half way with the way he was feeling.
OK, don't smile :-)
We left the Old Sugar Mill and guess what? The wind kept blowing. It didn't seem to matter what direction we headed, we were going straight into the f'n wind! Eventually, HS told me to just keep going, so I did. I still had my 18mph goal and I was going to do it alone :-(
Tale of the Tape
So, despite the wind, rough roads and no HS keeping me company for half the ride, I was thrilled to see that my average moving pace was 18.4 mph. My goal for Vineman is 18.5 mph, so I think I'm on my way. I keep reminding myself that I'll be in better shape and rested for race day, so 18.5 is doable.
For those who know me, I am affectionately known as T-C-B or Tequila Cry Baby. Too much Cabo Wabo and the tears start to flow. Anyway, today it was wine...in the middle of tasting at Berghold Winery. I didn't intend for it to happen. And I didn't intend to drag HS into my emotional collapse, but I could not help myself.
Ashley is also a W-C-B (At her sister's wedding)
After leaving Klinker Brick, we headed over to Berghold. We saw a couple of people from our last stop and struck up a conversation about the Giants (I was wearing a spring training shirt). Next thing we know, our attention was turned to the gentleman to our right. I'm not sure what started the conversation, but he was engaging and had some great stories. Next thing we know, he's telling us about his cancer diagnosis with 0% chance of survival. He explained how he had sought out a second opinion and how now because of a new procedure he now has a 70% chance to survive. What struck me is that he wasn't sitting at home feeling sorry for himself, he was out wine tasting. He told us about his upcoming cruise with his beautiful wife.
I said a quick prayer for him and his family and it just seemed to push me over the edge...I started to tear up. I tried desperately to compose myself as much as he was. When he saw that I was losing my composure, he apologized because wine tasting was supposed to be a happy time. HS started to tear up when he looked at me. It was all going south so fast and I could see that he didn't intend for us to feel like this, so I interjected "So, I'm doing a 140.6 mile race this summer."
That was just what the conversation seemed to need and the three of us were able to redirect our focus. Of course, what followed next was the typical triathlon questions "What do you do?" "How far?" "Are you crazy?" (Actually, the last one I just offer up as "I am crazy, that's why I'm doing this." Of course, HS gets more praise than me because he looks amazing and he isn't doing the race! ;-)
You Can If You Think You Can
I am currently reading "You Can If You Think You Can" by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. I decided to move away from reading triathlon stories and focus more on reading stories about positive reinforcement and believing in yourself. This book is perfect and the gentleman we met today could have been a case study in the book.
I'm about 1/2 way through the book but one of my favorite take-aways from the book is "Love life and life will love you back". The guy at Berghold clearly loved life and he wasn't settling for some doctor's diagnosis that would have probably had me running for my bed. Life is amazing and we should embrace every moment we have.
This morning I read the following passage in the book...
It has been my observation that people who are active and deeply interested in everything that goes on in the world are not likely to become bored, frustrated, or fed up. It seems that the more you are into things, the greater the zest. The more active the mind is, the better it will perform and the longer it will keep on performing. To slow down can result in boredom, but not if one continues to exercise the mind by reading, thinking and by participation in contemporary affairs. You can avoid boredom all your life if you keep alive mentally all you life. Keep moving, keep thinking, keep participating -- this is the golden secret of perpetually fascinating existence.
This is what triathlon does for me...whether it's the training or the racing...whether I hate it (at the moment) or I love it... it makes me feel alive. Nothing is more exhilarating than crossing the finish line after tackling something people gave you a 0% chance of completing. I am going to keep Gary and his wife in my prayers. I hope he gets a clean bill of health and that we run into him in another winery some time in the future.
Last week +Coach K informed me that my swim workouts needed to change…that I needed to be doing more endurance work in the pool. He sent me a couple of sample workouts both of
which were 3,100y. UGH!
3,100y is at least 1,000y more per workout than I was doing (perhaps that is the reason for the change)…
and while there are some 50’s in my new and improved workouts, most sets are
500’s, or 5 x 100’s with an insanely short rest in between so they may as well
be a 500. You cannot rest on the wall or strike up a conversation with your
lane-mate during a 500. In a 500, you have to swim! What the heck???
Positive Tracy would say that 20 laps are not that far and
not that hard. Negative Tracy would say that Vineman is 8 x 500y! Positive
Tracy would then add that the 8 x 500y in Vineman includes plenty of
opportunity for walking ;-)
I started this week with the swim workouts for Monday and
Wednesday and the promise of a Friday workout from Coach K. I checked my email
first thing this morning and didn’t see a workout. Should I remind him? Nah! I’m
just going to do my own thing today...it's FRIDAY!!!
That was a great plan for a few hours…suffice it to say, he remembered to send me a workout…a nice long endurance based workout! After reviewing today's workout, I asked Coach K "If this is an endurance workout, what was Monday and Wednesday? LOL" His response..."What doesn't kill makes you stronger..." Yeah, but it might make you puke in the pool! ;-)
Freak Show (aka My Swim Week in Review)
Michael~David Wine = Good Freak Show
24 Fitness Pool = Bad Freak Show
Since I knew I would be hard pressed to fit a 3,100y workout
into the same time frame as a 2,000y workout, I decided to once again brave the
waters of 24 Hour Fitness. This move would also free up some time in the
evening with HS (who is currently under the weather...poor HS :-(
Monday
Monday afternoon I arrived at the gym around 4:30pm. There
was only one other person in the pool. I had an entire lane to myself and no
distractions. After 5pm things started to get busy and an older gentleman asked
if he could share my lane. I agreed and instructed him to swim in the half next
to the wall (I was there first so it was my call!).
He did a couple of laps of freestyle and then switched to
backstroke…and when I say backstroke, I don’t mean the kind you normally see
where each arm circles independently. No, he was doing the kind of backstroke
where both arms go up at the same time and then swing wide underwater. I had a couple of problems with this…
He started swimming down the middle of the lane
During his wide underwater stroke, he made
contact with my leg!!! DO NOT TOUCH STRANGERS IN THE POOL!
He rested a bit, did a little more freestyle and then returned to his backstroke. This time however, I was prepared…as I swam past him, I
started kicking like Jaws was behind me…I almost felt bad about doing it when I
saw him climb out and sit on the edge of the pool…almost LOL
On top of the issue with my lane buddy, someone entered the
shallow end with perfume or cologne that reeked like mosquito repellant. It was
over powering, but managed to stay at one end of the pool. (Honestly, there is
no shallow end in this pool…it’s all shallow).
Wednesday
OMG! If I wasn’t such a hard head, I would have left the gym
the moment I walked into the pool area. It was packed. Both outside lanes had
2-3 people in them swimming/walking/bouncing. The center lane only had one
person. I’m pretty sure his intensity was keeping the walkers out. I dropped my
swim bag on the deck and tried to make eye contact with him so he would know I
wanted to share the lane. He didn’t acknowledge me, but he seemed to move over,
so at least I had a place to swim.
As I sat on the edge of the pool putting on my cap and
goggles, some little, older guy darted into the pool, popped under the lane line and surfaced in my half of the lane. Since I was at the opposite end of the pool, I
made the universal hand signal that says I’m swimming here. He didn’t seem to care. He
then proceeded to start swimming…sort of. He dove under the water and started
a painfully slow underwater breaststroke. In fact, it was at least 20 seconds before he resurfaced
about 5-10y down the lane...I had begun to wonder if he was OK.
At this point he sort of asked about the lane (I really couldn't hear or understand him) and I said “No!
I’m swimming here.” (You gotta be willing to fight for your space in the pool).
He went back to the wall and said something to Mr. Swimmer, but Mr. Swimmer
pushed off and just kept going. At this point, I just started swimming straight
at the frog man... I guess that was enough for him because he moved over to a
bouncing lane.
Since I was fired up from showing my lane domination skills
I decided to do flip turns during my warm up. This lasted for all of 3 laps.
The water in the pool was probably nearing the “unsafe for humans” range…it
was cloudy and gross (and yes, I saw at least one bandage). Two of my three
turns resulted in me pushing off against water and not the wall. The cloudy
water along with my fogged up goggles was impairing my ability to judge the
distance. Whatever…flip turns are overrated LOL
After my warm-up, I got into the meat of the workout. The
first set was Ok, but the second set was guess what? A 500. Ok, I can do this.
Correction, I can do this in a pool that does not feel like a hot tub. By the
end of that 500, I was on the verge of vomiting (typically a feeling reserved
for running in the heat). There was no way I was going to be able to complete
the next sets without a little help. Rep #2 was done with the help of my fins and
#3 was accomplished with fins and paddles. I had to do whatever it would take
to get out of there.
Friday
TGIF! I went back to Tokay today. +James had posted on Facebook that he was swimming for 90 minutes today so I knew I had enough time to complete my workout. Even though the wind picked up and the temps dropped a bit, the cool water felt glorious! I was feeling so good that I did flip turns for the first 400 yards of my warm up. That was a first!
James decided to keep me company during my workout and swam next to me for most of the work out. This totally stresses me out...not as much as Coach John watching from the deck and then asking "What are you doing?" (I'm never sure if he mean what is my workout or if he's asking me to identify my stroke LOL)...anyway, having James cruising along next to me...seemingly effortless...drives me insane and make me want to push myself harder than I want to be pushed (maybe that's a good thing???). Anyway, my extra effort started to make my calf and foot a bit twitchy, so I ditched the last 50y of my cool down and called it a day!
This was my third Ice Breaker Triathlon (third time's a charm, right?) and in my mind, my best to date. Well, I guess it was my best to date...I had my best overall time, but the splits are hard to compare. On top of that, I messed up the multi-sport setting on my Garmin so I couldn't even use my own data for comparison. Oh, I have data...it just says that it was all cycling. LOL
I may not swim perfectly straight, but I know I didn't swim in circles!
Pre-Race
As I was getting my stuff ready HS asked what time the duathlon started. I told him it started at 8am and that my race started at 9am. At that point, he decided he wanted to race. He threw his race gear in a grocery bag and was ready to go!
We headed up to Folsom with a quick stop at an ATM to get cash for his race fees. His decision to race sort of changed my plans for the race. HS was supposed to zip my wet suit and hold my spare pair of goggles. Oh well, everything worked out. I found someone else to zip me up, and I put my extra pair of goggles by my shoes (I'm working on embracing change LOL).
After the start of HS's duathlon, I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the water to warm up. As I was standing in the lake talking to my teammate, Steve, a girl came up to me and said "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I recognize you from YouTube"! She explained that she was looking for videos about Ice Breaker and saw the video I made of Ice Breaker 2013...for those of you that missed it...here it is...
Swim
The swim starts in 2013 and 2014 were on the shore and you would run into the water. This year, with the water continuing to recede because of the drought, we actually started in the water. Unfortunately, even with the water start, there were lots of big rocks you had to navigate around so as not to break a toe.
2015 - Sunny and no wind
In 2013, they clocked your time for the swim down by the arch as you came out of the water (if you watched the video above, you can see them tearing my tag off). My swim time in 2013 was 18:46. Below is a picture of me coming up out of the water and heading up the hill to T1...I was not a happy camper.
2013 Ice Breaker - Worst swim EVER
In 2014, they didn't clock your swim time until the top of the hill...which is quite a distance (probably around 1/4 mile). My swim time in 2014 was 21:46...and I had a much better swim. It really bothered me that it was "slower" than my sucky swim in 2013...no matter how many times I reminded myself about the change in where they clocked your time.
This year, my swim split was 19:15...still not as fast as my sucky swim in 2013! ARGH! Just kidding...this year they once again clocked your swim at the top of the hill, so at least I could compare it with last year and it is definitely quicker...2-1/2 minutes quicker ;-) I also decided to have a pair of shoes down by the arch so I wasn't trying to run up that rocky, sandy hill.
Bike
My bike was about 30 seconds slower than last year. Not sure if this is significant or not. I did feel like I dilly-dallied a bit longer than usual in T1. I took the toe warmers off my cycling shoes, grabbed a bite of food...it just didn't feel as quick as I usually try to be in transition.
During the actual riding portion, I made an effort to keep up a high cadence and not trash my legs trying to grind up the hills. This could have also contributed to a slower bike time, but it did pay off in a much better run split.
Run
This year the run course was a bit different than the first two years. It was still 4 miles, but it headed out in a different direction that was supposedly flatter. It may have been flatter (I don't think so), but a good portion of it was a sandy, single track trail. I'm pretty sure it was in this new section that I picked up a rock that wore a good sized hole in my big toe.
T2 was speedy and efficient. I started to head towards the normal "run out" spot when I heard my teammate, Dani, yelling at me to go the other way. Oops!
In 2013 my run split was 37:34, last year it was 40:16, this year it was 36:01. I'll take it!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very happy with my performance at this race. In fact, I feel like I've finally put this ghost to rest. After 2013, I wanted to do this race again to show that I could do the swim. Then last year, after I added time, I wanted to do the race again to show that I could go faster. This year, not only did I go faster, but I feel like I had a great swim. I no longer have that feeling like I need to prove something.
2013: 1:44:38 (2nd place...out of 2 in my age group)
2014: 1:46.48 (4th place... I really didn't like standing on the grass)
2015: 1:40:32 (3rd place...good enough)
Will there be an Ice Breaker 2016 in my future? Not sure. This race definitely favors swimmers, sprinters, and trail runners... three things that would not describe me as a triathlete. Still, it's a fun race and a good way to kick off the race season.
My last post was over a month ago (actually it's getting close to two months because I've been sitting on this post for so long)! So what's been going on? Well....I've been swimming and cycling and running...that's it. End of post. Talk to you in another month!
Actually, HS and I did get away for a week to go to Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ in early march. I had a blast (even if it meant flying) and would definitely go back. We had plenty of amazing food, potent drinks, sunny days at the ballpark, and recovery week training.
Spin, spin, spin
Mac' and cheese burger...AMAZING!!!
Beautiful lap pool
Go Giants!
Training Plan
I've worked hard to stick to my training plan. I mean seriously, if I'm going to spend money on a coach, I should probably listen to what he says I should do...even when every fiber of my being is screaming...train more...TRAIN MORE...T-R-A-I-N M-O-R-E!
Actually, even though I feel like I'm not training enough (long enough, far enough, hard enough) my Garmin data shows a marked increase over what I did last year.
First Vineman Nightmares
So the nightmares have started a little earlier than expected. The first one is sort of silly...I got to the school for T1 or T2...I couldn't tell. Anyway, the arrows that were supposed to direct you where to go were drawn in chalk. Unfortunately, the chalk bucket had been left out and a bunch of kids were busy drawing hundreds of additional arrows all over the school. Long story short...I got lost in transition (hey, that could be the name of a book LOL) and could not get anyone to help me. When I finally got a volunteer to give me a course map, it did not contain any directions. The was a small map and a list of good restaurants to stop at for lunch. Stop for lunch? This is supposed to be a race!!!
My next nightmare I think was more about how I was feeling physically that day. In my dream, I was trying to run in the race but my legs would not work. I was on the ground trying to claw and drag myself along the route, but no matter what I did, my legs felt like they were stuck in sand and would not move!
Time to Race
I have not done a race (of any kind) since CIM. I thought I would miss the thrill of racing, but I've actually enjoyed just focusing on my long term goal. That being said, the triathlon season is getting started in California, so it's time to start doing some practice races. I plan on doing many of the same races I completed in my first two years. There is a level of comfort in racing a familiar course and it also allows me a chance to compare my performance with the previous years.
Let me start by saying that I LOVE training with our group. One of my least favorite aspects of my Vineman training is that I often feel out there on my own. Whether it's because I have a run scheduled and the group is riding (or swimming), or because the group is only riding for 90 minutes and I have a 2-3 hour ride scheduled...whatever the reason, it really bums me out that we can't train together :-(
Today, however, I was able to mix Vineman and Lodi Masters. The plan was for HS and I to show up an hour early so I could get one loop done before the rest of the group showed up to ride. Unfortunately, after a restless night of sleep (Aunt Flo ruins any chance I have of a full night's sleep) I woke up at 5:58am. It took a few minutes to sink in that in order for us to get to North Shore by 7am we were going to have to hustle. We should have been out the door at 6am, not just waking up!!!
I filled the water bottles, aired my tires, got dressed, woke up HS, and finally stuffed my mess of a hair "don't" into a ball cap. We were on the road by around 6:30-ish. We made fairly good time and got to North Shore Camanche about 7:10. Eric decided to join us and was there waiting (that's a first LOL) About 5 minutes later we were rolling down the road.
Loop No. 1
The first loop wasn't too bad. Since we were behind schedule, we didn't dilly dally at our normal re-grouping areas. It was during this first loop that I realized how tired my legs actually were. I had asked my coach to flip-flop my rest week and the next training week because of my schedule...so last week, instead of taking it easy, I kept training. All I can say is UGH!!! I need a break!
Loop No. 2
When we came back to the start, +James was the only one there waiting for us. While it's not the same as the times when we get 10+ members from our group riding, it was still great to have James joining us. James has committed (on Facebook) that he is doing the Santa Cruz triathlon in September...so I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of him in biking and running gear, instead of just a Speedo.
Which brings me to my next point...I know that James has worked hard to become a Masters swim coach and he is a very good swim coach...HOWEVER... and this is just my opinion...he has done much more for me as a cycling coach. Even today, he rode up next to me and told me to drop my elbows. Everything he has told me about cycling has stuck with me and I am a much better cyclist than I was 2 years ago. Much, much, MUCH better!!!! Please keep the comments coming, Coach!
Missed my 2-1/2 to 3 hour goal...oh, well. Also of note...I hit my fastest "max speed" ever...only tapped on my breaks twice on the big descent on the second loop and managed to hit 33 mph!!!
The Run
The first mile of the "off the bike" run was AWESOME...and it was completely, 100%, straight downhill! I think I ran my fastest mile split ever! Not bad considering I had just rode almost 30 miles. I made a pit stop at the restroom and then caught up with HS and James. Our destination today was the gazebo where we normally take the Tri 101 class to do open water swims. Everything looked the same, the only thing missing was the water. I walked down to where the water normally was to check out the dried up weeds that used to tickle my toes. Looks like we won't be swimming here anytime soon :-(
Lake Camanche 2012
Lake Camanche 2015
Today was great....I loved riding with our group again and I hope more people show up next time. I definitely think there is a pancake ride in the near future :-)
HS and I did this ride on Saturday as part of the Community Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired "Pedaling Paths to Independence" charity ride. This is an annual event with 25 mile and 65 mile routes. We opted for the 65 mile loop.
We enjoyed this ride so much, we are definitely going to do this route again. The ride starts from Linden, Ca (just east of Stockton). There is plenty of on street parking and De Vinci's Deli is right there for a post ride meal.
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