Signing up for IMC 09/Black Diamond OLY/I am an idiot.

Well, it's done. I have given away $550 USD to NAS sports and signed up for IMC 2009, as did P. Jeebus we must be crazy folks. I honestly have no idea how we'll get all the training in but we will. My biggest problem will be the swim - the time for swimming seems the first thing to get cut when time gets short. My options include signing up for the Dolphins again (which will motivate me to get up early again), swim cords, sucking it up on my own, or some combination. I am pretty close to signing up for the Dolphins. I actually really miss those 5:30am swims. I figure I could swim 2-3 times a week, even if only for 1hr each session before having to cut out early and head home for kid detail/getting to work (LOL).

My second biggest problem will be my running. It sucks right now. I was back at my GP (again) for yet another round of tests. My legs hurt a lot, they swell very easily, as do my hands and lower arms. My neck always hurts, but I think that's my matress haha. This time she wants to rule out MS, ALS, and she is also sending me to a neurologist. I told her I was more concerned about my circulation than my nerves. I think it is time for a new GP. Can't hurt to get a second opinion, right? But if I can at least get in enough miles to have some run form, I'll manage. I'll manage.

The secret weapon for me - this time around - will actually be my bike. Seriously. I have always been an OK rider, but this race season I have had some really decent bike splits, like FOP in my AG. Yeah, crazy eh? I have picked up a set of compact cranks, will get a new cassette with girlier gearing, I'l be a MACHINE hahahaha. I will take my trainer to work as well, so I can ride long there if I want to (it's virtually impossible to ride at 4am at home on the trainer and not wake someone up). I know I can be a better rider than I was for IMWA, and the Soloist will make a huge difference. And to top it off IMC bike course suits me, I actually like to climb and I am an aggressive descender. Should be good. I see no reason why I can't log a 6:30 or better on that course.

So last weekend, P and I did our last tri of the season, the Black Diamond Olympic in Enumclaw, WA. We went down early to watch the 1/2IM race on Saturday, which was great to watch, it made me very nostalgic, jealous even that I wasn't racing! Watching T1 was very fun, we saw one woman spend almost 10min dicking around with a shirt and armwarmers and a jacket and toque and aerohelmet and putting on shades and taking off shades and putting on shades and dropping the lenses out of the shades and putting them back in and putting the shades on and taking them off and putting them on and taking them off and taking off the aerohelmet (while her bike was unracked I noted) and taking off the toque and putting on the aerohelmet and putting on the shades and taking them off and putting them on... It was so painful to watch we nearly cried. Lucky for her she was an awesome rider.

Later that day, we linked up with a friend who was doing the sprint, headed into town for some dinner, and tried to call it an early evening. Lunch was a sammy and some supplies (for breakfast) from Safeway. I drank an Odwalla soy protein drink, it was supposed to be close to chocolate milk. Well, Soy and Andy do not mix. The next morning I must have evacuated on the back side about 4 times before the race even started. I felt pretty bloated and gassy and not happy in the GI region at all. Started the race, swam was tough, it took me a good 400m or so to get into a rhythm where I could bilateral breathe. But then I felt ok, wasn't super fast or anything but wasn't trying for anything special on the swim. Finished about 2min faster than Apple - that was ALL wetsuit lol but I'll take it. Pretty descent T1, then went out and had a solid ride, felt really good, although the taint was a bit tender by the end, it is definitely time for a new saddle. Got off the bike, had a good transition and started trying to run. My calves were SO tight. Holy cow they took until mile 3 to loosen up, I had to walk all up hills. I gotta start running off the bike again, and check the fit on the Soloist again, might need to tweak it.

Before my calves could loosen up tho, my bowels had. I hit the portaloo twice on the course, the bushes at one point, and as I finished the race I ran right past P and straight to the loo. Man, that was nasty. I totally blame the soy drink, I don't normally eat or drink soy of any kind, I prefer cow's milk/dairy. What a miserable run. I should have been 5 minutes or so faster than Kelowna, but instead ended up 5 min slower oh well.

OA finish position: 156/216
OA finish time: 3:07:24  
AG finish position: 8/13 
Swim:   34:08   165/216  5/13
T1:      2:51
Bike: 1:20:47   133/216  3/13
T2:      1:39   142      3/13
Run:  1:07:59   193     10/13

So a pretty good bike overall, 3rd fastest in my AG. In fact I was in 3rd for my AG at the start of the run. Finishers in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th all passed me on the run. Ugh. Funny thing is that once my calves loosened up, and I wasn't clenching my butt to stop it from exploding, I actually felt ok running, the physical motion of the legs, arms, breathing, focus, etc. It started to feel like it used to feel.

Lessons learned:
1) NO SOY EVER before a race. This is so obvious it kills me.
2) Gotta work on getting those calves looser off the bike.
3) It is time for a new saddle.

Lessons relearned:
1) Nothing new before a race/on race day. I am such an idiot.

I have one du left - American Zofingen Sprint Du - in upstate NY, should be a lot of fun, then the Haney to Harrison, then it's 2009. I was chatting with F, my amigo who coached me through IMWA, about IMC, and he said he'd help me out a bit again, which is great.

The key will be the LSD workouts every week. After that one interval/VO2Max type session in each, after that we start getting into technical or dual sport sessions, more sport specific stuff. I admit, I am ready for it, and kinda looking forward to developing a bit of a routine... plus it is a great excuse for not staying out too late/drinking too much/etc... and I will fit into my skinny pants again! Ha!

The goal for the remainder of the year is to get the health stuff in order, as much as possible, do pretty much whatever training I want, but focusing on swimming and running, and try to get the bike set-up and gearing fine tuned.

Oh yeah: P got a new bike! A super sweet Cervelo P2SL, anodized colour, it's awesome. It's SO light, I'm never going to catch him now. Dammit, time for sabotage? ;-) Nahhh...

Stay tuned. AmZof is next! ;-)

AP