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roughster
Jul 26, 2003, 10:28 PM
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Ok so thats a not so cleverly disguised plot to echo this to the front page. We'll see if my fellow moderators are generous and keep it here ;)
Actually, the topic is valid as I think Triathlons are EXCELLENT training fro Climbing as they are mental, you need discipline, and you get freaking ripped (to steal a saying from our lovely Lox) training for them.
Anyways, here is a race report from a race I just ran today:
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Xterra Race Report *today* (The race that almost wasn't)
I signed up for the High Sierra Mtn Bike Triathlon (an Xterra Points Event) about 3 weeks ago to get me fired up on training again after a few days of slacking following my 1st 1/2 IM @ Pacific Crest. Unbeknownst to me, evil magic was lurking in the mind of my manager, and he asked me to work M-F Graves (my usual schedule is Sun-Wed) due to my fellow off-shift supervisor being out of town (some dumb unimportant thing like getting married ;) ). Of course I said SURE! think that sum-biotch is going to screw up my triathlon plans!.
So the plan was for me to take it easy on Friday and if we were slow (In Process Analytical Biochemistry testing), I would bail early and get some sleep before heading up to Donner. Well that got all screwy when, despite us being slow, a friend (a big wig from another department, but still a big wig) showed up and wanted to talk shop at 9 PM on Friday! GRR!!! I love to talk about Tris and Biking, but every second we chatted meant, a few more seconds I would have to stay late to finish up the work I had to do (don't you hate it when they actually assign you work that needs to be done :) ). We set some plans for next week (going to crash a local group ride), and he bailed. So now I am at work, its past midnight and I am slacking on the internet .
So I finally wrap it up and get home after 2 AM, can't sleep cause the mind is racing (in actually anticipation of the real racing tomorrow) and I roll over and look to see 03:05. Yes please kill me now...
Alarm goes off at 5AM and I get a sharp elbow jab from the wife and something lovely and flowery from her lips to the tune, "Shut that frickin alarm off or I'll kill you!" Ahh yes, regular Ward and June we are!
I get out of bed (reluctantly) and go fire up the coffee pot. Of course there are no beans ground *shakes fist at the Gods and their damn cruel sense of humor* and then jumps in the shower. Come out, make a post to here, DUH what else would I do 1st thing in the morning at 5AM!!!, and then start loading up my truck. I grab the bike, wetsuit, bodyglide, bike shorts, water bottles, HR monitor, towels, socks, and kitchen sink.
Wheres Waldo Alert: See if you can spot what Roughster forgot....HINT: Use your head.
I jump in the truck that I had Oh-so-conveniently gases up the previous day and was soon blasting down the freeway Eastbound to the tune of 90+ mph and Godsmack telling me about how bad his life sucks (Come on Sully, ever raced a Xterra on 2 hours sleep??).
Emergency unplanned stop in the middle of nowhere as crisis Defcon Stage 5 was reached in the bowel vicinity. Sphincter reports didn't look good, and Scotty was on the horn telling me, "I think she gonna blow captain. I've squeezed it all I can!!". I grab a handful of napkins from the glove box and make a sprint for the cover of some trees. A feces seconds later, I am back in the truck, and once again bopping away to Brittany Spears....oops... I mean Godsmack!! Godsmack I tell you!!!
Get to Donner Lake earlier than anticipated, a testament to my complete lack of regard for local Highway Speed Limits, and drive aimless around the lake looking for China Cove. Of course I didn't bother to look at the printed directions laying right next to me in the passenger seat. After driving the shore a good 30 mins, I broke down and looked. DOH in the state park I had just passed 5 times.
I drive in and grab a good spot, run down to the registration, grab my packet and... (have you ever read one of my RR's before??? If you have you know where I was heading..) went straight to the porta-potty. Let the madness begin! Damn you pee-king turtle! The water is your home, go to the water!!! Don't you like your home!! Sorry, blatant Happy Gilmore rip-off. Please disregard and read on!
After the kids were dropped off at the pool (no not my literal kids), I was back at the truck doing the things I normally do: Stretching, grabbing my bike and stuff, oh yeah don't forget to grab your....helmet (Waldo has been found ladies and gentlemen!!!).
Panic...No can't be...*thinks to self, do I really need to go to the bathroom again so soon*....where is my HELMET!!!! The realization came like a bolt of lightning and I am sure Zeus had a good aim at the blank looking Roughster. My helmet was currently basking in the loving glory of my road bike. Uhh La La, Mademoiselle, you are looking rather fine this morning. Unfortunately, she is 130 miles away to be exact and I am having a crisis both because of my helmets, and YES I had come to the conclusion that I had to go again!
After making sure the kids had toys to play with while splashing around in the pool playing "Logjammer", I was quickly doing the Walk of Shame. Yes you have all seen this person, the infamous Walk of Shamer... He is the guys who forgot *insert crucial REQUIRED item here* and is walking around aimless asking complete strangers who are most likely thinking about how bad they have to go Poo, whether or not they have *insert that crucial item again*.
"Sorry just brought one"
"No thank you, I am all stocked up on Girl Scout Cookies"
"What a dumb ass, you forgot your helmet??"
Yes with each response, my head hung low and I even assumed the defeated slumped look of a Walk of Shamer. But alas, A ray of HOPE!!!! 4 people (2 couples talking) with 4 bikes on the top of a large SUV talking about "relay". Hmmm could this be the one. Could this be "free helmet lady??"
"Why yes I do have an extra and sure, while you look like a unshaven vagrant homeless person, I will lend it to you!" Praise the gods, a willing maiden had been found! However, the maidens companion was in need of an item himself, the magic Duct Tape that is coveted by all triathletes. While I thought I might have some in my truck (I did not), I knew with my walk of shame look perfected, I could easily scrounge some up.
"Back in a jiffy!"
Literally car #2 had Duct Tape and I was soon on my way back to complete the barter exchange along with the promise of waiting till WW3 before leaving if I could not find them after the race.
Now of course, the maidens head was smaller, and I mean A LOT smaller than my own ogre bucket head, but alas I resigned myself to look like a walrus with a peanut shell strapped to the top of his noggin and be racing, then look like a Unsuccessful walk of shamer and NOT be racing.
I ran back, set up my stuff in transition and made my down to the water with scant minutes too spare! Ok I had 20 mins, so I was doing ok time-wise. The water was at least mid 60s (the advertised temp was low 60s but no sir-ee I would have to humble disagree with that assessment), and was very comfortable. I did some strokes out to the 1st buoy and made a mental promise to myself to go out slow and breath at minimum every 2 strokes , and maybe even some stretches of 1 stroke as we were at ~7,000 feet elevation and from my previous Xterra experience in SoCal (Big Bear @ 6,000 feet) I knew I would be sucking wind if I just wallowed around at high speed like I normally do.
The race director came down and whipped us all into shape and soon we were counting down. I hit my HR monitor about 30 secs early, just because I didn't want to be messing with it when the siren went off. (insert siren noise) and we were OFF!
My last swim at PCT was ok, not fantastic but time-wise about what I expected, but my last 1/2 mile was sucky poo @ 18 mins @ Big Bear. I was at least hoping to partially redeem myself from that fiasco. It was heavy melee with mucho body, arms, and feet smacking going on. At one point in time, I stopped and did the macarana with another guy when we got tangled up. I also took a shot ground zero right to the eyes and was very thankful I was wearing a seal mask, which by the way didn't leak! WOOT!!!! 1st race ever where my chosen eye-ware did not leak! Woohooo!!
We rounded the far buoy and turn around and headed back in, and I knew I was doing pretty good (well at least for me). How did I know?? Well there were still some people behind me, I could see the leader and I still had people bumping uglies with me, so I figured I was in pretty good shape.
13:58 a new PR :) I know, I am no Thorepedo, but Hell, I was just happy to not be the guy going, "I can't breath, somebody HELP ME!!!".
Off to the bike! I quickly peeled like a banana, threw on the Child Sized helmet (I cant wait to see the pictures!!), and busted out the trani. Now silly me thought, "Well last Xterra didn't have any water, so I think I can get by with doing the Mtn Bike in my running shoes (Mtn bike doesn't have clipless yet) and then I save a shoe change!! LOL, I would pay for that.
The ride started well enough, but soon hit a LONG stretch of insanely large chunky blocky stuff/rocks next to a railroad track. Now silly me ALSO does not have front suspension on my Mtn Bike. Oh how I wished I had as person after flew by me as I just absolutely got "rocked" by playing the human shock absorber. I later heard people talking about how much of a bone jarrer this ride was, and they were all standing next to their full suspensioned out the wazooo fancy dancy Mtn Bikes with shocks and springs on every joint possible. Made me feel a little better, but not much.
Of course if it was just the heinous rocky stuff it wouldn't have been "so bad" but there were 3 stream crossings, two of which were rideable, and one that they made you get off your bike and run across. It was roughly 3 feet deep (no joke) and my shoes were soaked not only for about 1/2 of the ride, but all of the run. Yes that sucked.
So I make back into T after 1:04 on the bike (Definitely not a PR). Ouch it sucked and literally my hands were totally numb when I got in. Oh well. My cum time was 1:18 and I was thinking, hey thats not too bad and there wasn't alot of bikes in the transition....or so I thought.
I hit the run, well, running. Of course with my wet shoes it sounded like someone was herding a gaggle of frogs up the trail: Croak, Squeak, Squish, Splat (Repeat none stop). Eventually I must have pounded out most of the offending water because by mile 2 I was no longer leaving a wet foot imprint on the pavement, but the sounds continued! I got some strange looks when I started closing in on people to pass. They must have thought Kermit had decided to start racing Xterra!
As I ran I counted people coming back in to see "roughly" what place I was in, 1...2...3..4..5..10..15..20...30....40..I gave up after trying to count by 20s ;) So I hit the turn around at 2 miles, and came in pretty strong, holding off a hard charge by some guy who I passed (he was walking), but the sound of frogs must have been an inspiration to him as he was heel biting me all the way in.
1:48:42 81st Overall 16/32 AG.
I was not horribly disappointed due to my long list of excuses at the ready, and I also realize that since everyone (usually there are two Xterra race distances per race if you know what I mean) was running the same distance, that the competition just increased big time.
It was a tough ride for sure, and it was echoed and confirmed by some of the pros I heard talking. Oh well!! Its all good in the Hood! Now if I can just find my Willing Maiden to give back the helmet, I'd be good to go.
I walked around aimless holding the helmet in very obvious poses as to be easily identified. Eventually, Steve (Duct Tape Man) saw me and said he would give the helmet back to Michelle. I asked him to please express my sincerest and deepest gratitude. I wanted to do it in person, but I had walked the Transition and Expo 20 times and did not see her. She must have been doing the running leg or osmenthe.
I waited around for another hour looking, but I didn’t see them anywhere despite their car still being parked semi-close to mine. Oh well, I hope Steve accurately conveyed my gratitude as it was truly a noble and generous thing to do. Hopefully I won't give her head lice!
So back in the car, where I noticed my stomach had decided that it would enjoy being a Clothes Drier and was rapidly grunting and turning in circles. Despite it being upset, I point the nose of my Nissan Frontier towards home and set the cruise control on 84.5 mph (secret special driving beta. You are invisible to cops @ 84.5 mph).
I was home before I knew it, unloaded the stuff, and ran straight into here to type up this trip report for my Internet Buddies.
Hope you enjoyed reading it!
Next time I promise I will be more prepared!
Lessons Learned:
- Don't forget helmet.
- Duct Tape is a useful Bartering Commodity
- Two Shoes for all Xterra events from now on
- I burn roughly 1800 calories for a: 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile mtn bike, 4 mile run Tri.
- I poop a lot!
- Need to get shocks on front end of my 10 year old mtn bike.
- I like to type up long race reports
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flyinghatchet
Jul 27, 2003, 1:13 AM
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Off to community with this thread! No, just playin man, this fits here fine. Actually, it's somewhat of a trip report, just not of climbing.
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enigma
Jul 29, 2003, 7:15 AM
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---Roughster, enjoyed your well written trip report ,so graphic I could feel it, and your pain.
Of course its the accomplishment of the triathlon, that is suppose to feel good, right :?: :wink:
So what walls and climbing projects do you have in mind now that you're in this awesome shape :?:
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onelung
Jul 29, 2003, 7:26 AM
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Dood, You forgot your helmet?
Damn I am throwing a roll of duck tape in my jeep tonight!
I am one who packs for a trip mintues before my flight....yet for a race....Its a week long spiritual process towards success.
My shoes have no less than 100 miles, bike... greased, lubed, ready to roll.
Anyway so you forgot your hemet? Well what the hell is wrong with signing a waiver?
That should have been your option...but please post kiddie helmet racing photo!
bill
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roughster
Jul 29, 2003, 8:00 AM
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Onelung,
I asked about a waiver option and they said "no go", either find a helmet or sit it out :(
Yeah I can promise that will be the last time that happens heheh :) I'll post the photo when they get up, should be quite funny!
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tarzan420
Jul 29, 2003, 8:46 AM
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Reading this thread had me yearning after the two triathalons I did (Dierke's Lake (also a climbing spot) and Spudman Tri, for those of you familiar with Idaho Tri's), so what did I do?
Went for a half hour run
Starting at about midnight :roll:
That's just the sort of thing to do here in the land of the (lack of) midnight (but plenty of) sun.
Now I just have to: a) get my road bike up here
b) figure out how to get my dreads into a swim cap...
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montgomerywick
Jul 29, 2003, 11:33 AM
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tris will sux the life out of your climbing if you are "true to the tri" and train for them properly, regardless whether sprint or long distance (but esp. long distance)...too hard to juggle 4 activities and do any one of them well...that "jack of all trades, master of none" thing...
/training for IMF 2003
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roughster
Jul 29, 2003, 12:32 PM
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In reply to: tris will sux the life out of your climbing if you are "true to the tri" and train for them properly, regardless whether sprint or long distance (but esp. long distance)...too hard to juggle 4 activities and do any one of them well...that "jack of all trades, master of none" thing... /training for IMF 2003
Its true training for tris does take alot out of you (I am training 6 days a week), but it doesn't mean you have to give up climbing. I figure a long day of climbing is similar in intensity to a average 5-6 mile run or so (provided there is some kind of hike out tot he crag. That means I can train 5 days and still get at least 1 climbing day in a week :)
Also, climbing is a great Taper Activity to keep you from killing yourself when the anticipation of a close race is unbarable. I rode over 80 miles today (Vacaville to Sacramento (state capital) and back, took a nap, and still found time to crank out a 45 min session on my home wall before I came into work. Now thats a training day! :)
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roughster
Jul 30, 2003, 10:00 PM
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If anyone is interested in seeing my 36 Week IM training program:
http://members.aol.com/roughit3/im.xls
Should be interesting! The "Free Pass" is my Get out of jail free card from training which I will most likely use a lot to go climbing, hehe :)
EDIT: Doesn't look like you can open it from this Message Board, just right click on it and select "Save Target as" then save it to your desktop if you want to see it.
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thrillseeker05
Jul 30, 2003, 10:15 PM
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Loved the report! Thanks.
A friend of mine races the TRI so I’ll have to forward this.
Peace
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gunkiemike
Aug 1, 2003, 2:12 AM
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My climbing went up 4 grades after I quit racing triathlons. Now I bike for fun, run to keep the fat man from catching me, and swim only if I fall out of the boat.
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montgomerywick
Aug 5, 2003, 2:01 PM
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In reply to: My climbing went up 4 grades after I quit racing triathlons. Now I bike for fun, run to keep the fat man from catching me, and swim only if I fall out of the boat.
precisely...once i finish my IM in november, I'm hanging up my speedo, cutting back the running and long distance biking and getting my crimp on...
last saturday, biked 57 & ran 3; sunday biked 95, averaged over 22 at 90 mile mark....climbing, only into bed...
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dalai
Aug 15, 2003, 8:06 AM
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Which IM are you competing in November?? I competed in New Zealand last March and am currently focussing on climbing now in the off season. Other than for weight management, I think to train for IM seriously definitely jeopardizes climbing performance. Climbers complain about how much they train have nothing on IM training for volume!
I will be probably competing in NZ again next year or maybe even Japan in May 04 to try to get to Hawaii. (I missed out by just over 3 minutes from qualifying this year at NZ!!)
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montgomerywick
Aug 18, 2003, 1:47 PM
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florida...nov 8th...
training is not going good on running & swimming fronts...could bike it no problem right now
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dalai
Aug 19, 2003, 3:04 AM
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Good luck in November montgomerywick. Still a good couple of months to get the swimming and running right.
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roughster
Aug 19, 2003, 3:45 AM
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Good to see others gearing up to IM suffering :) I am doing Californiaman May 22nd of next year in Sacramento, CA (actually Folsom but same difference).
I rode 100 miles today and then bricked 3 mile run afterwards. Two words: Ouch and Ouch. The swimming I am not worried about, the biking is also a non thought, but the run... 26.2 miles AFTER the 112 bike is going to be a killer. I told my wife to prepare herself to see me do a lot of walking. I will do my best for sure, but I can't even imagine running 26.2 at this point. I can do it w/o anything up front, but the bike then run combo is going to be a killer!
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gunkiemike
Aug 20, 2003, 12:09 AM
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In reply to: ... but I can't even imagine running 26.2 at this point. I can do it w/o anything up front, but the bike then run combo is going to be a killer!
One of the best things I heard another competitor say after my longest race (a half Ironman) was, "I'm not a strong enough biker to run that far".
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dalai
Aug 20, 2003, 1:23 AM
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I agree. Due to persistent knee problems, my weekly running mileage has only been up to 50 - 60 km in the lead up to IM races. By focusing on the bike there is a definite cross training effect, and also being stronger on the bike lets you expend less energy in the saddle and saves it for the run.
The first time I raced a full IM, I hadn't even run further than 28 km in training! I was able to run the full distance only walking the aid stations finishing in 10 hours 23 minutes.
Since then with focusing still on the bike, I ran a 3:35 marathon leg at IMNZ this year. Only slowing because of cramping due to the humidity and dehydration.
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montgomerywick
Aug 20, 2003, 2:05 PM
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3:35 is a respectable marathon time on its own..what were your other two splits?
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fivetendude
Aug 20, 2003, 2:39 PM
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Hey Roughster,
Don't worry about your times, just enjoy the race. I did my first IM last year, (Canada) and thought it was awesome, not that I'm in a hurry to do another one. It was my first marathon as well so be prepared for a lot of walking, but lots of others are as well so who cares. The bad part was that I had to basically take the whole summer off from climbing to train. As we have a fairly short climbing season here. So after nipping at 5.11 leads 2 summers ago I'm back to getting worked on 5.9's :cry:
Mind you I was living on the road and trying to train for IM so after the race I felt I deserved to take a FEW months off and enjoy that 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. beer after dinner,(usually a steak!)
Work Hard, Play Harder...
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dalai
Aug 20, 2003, 11:34 PM
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IMNZ splits this year
swim 1:01:46 + 3:03 Transition (long run uphill from the water)
ride 5:14:35 + 1:42 Transition
run 3:36:57 (sorry for the inaccurate marathon split posted earlier - I race in the 30-34 age group and my memory isn't what it used to be.)
Total Time 9:58:01 71st overall, 14th age group 3:15 short of qualifying for Hawaii. I had a really good consistent race this time, other than the cramping.
Definitely for your first IM, just enjoy as much as possible the day as FiveTenDude says. My first time, the goal was to just complete the distance and race the next one. Running that first time down the finishing shoot would have to rate as one of the most amazing events in my life. Savour the moment, as when you cross that line you will be an Ironman!
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fredrogers
Aug 21, 2003, 5:47 PM
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Tris and other endurance sports will make your heart healthy and keep you in shape for climbing approaches and big mountain climbs. But your rock climbing will suffer big time if you focus too much on endurance sports. You won't have enough time or energy to climb and there is not much crossover between the two sports. One is an enudurance sport while the other is a technique/strength sport. But it's great if you don't mind being Jack of All Trades Master of None.
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hasbeen
Aug 21, 2003, 6:20 PM
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Fred Rogers, cool! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...
"Power and endurance, ne'er the twain shall meet."
- Dr. Fred Hatfield
Certainly, doing that much endurance training will wreak havoc on your ultimate power, and there is plenty of science to back this up.
My cardiovascular system is hella strong right now and I can zip around mtn trails like they're nothing. My climbing, however, is off about 8 grades from its peak; bouldering, about 5 V-grades. Something has to be sacrificed. If it's not, that means that you weren't properly training for climbing when that's all you did.
But so what? Who needs to climb extra letter grades anyway? I used to spend an entire year training to redpoint or flash something a letter grade higher than I'd done the year before--which is something no lay person can even fathom. It was fun, for sure, but there are more experiences to be had. So have fun training and doing other things. Life's about trying new things.
Some impressive IM times here, too. Nice job!
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flyinghatchet
Aug 25, 2003, 11:43 PM
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Moved to Trip Reports by yours truly.
G$
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