The big race!

We arrived in Washington, D.C. around noon on Friday and spent the rest of the day checking in to the hotel, attending a briefing for the race, and registering. The hotel was awash with Team in Training athletes. There's something really cool about seeing a bunch of grown kids lugging gear and bicycles around the lobby of an upscale Washington hotel, the Hilton. Most of the 585 Team in Training members who were registered for the race were staying in the hotel. The day before I had started saturating my body with vitamin C to combat an incipiant cold.

On Saturday, we took the bus to the race start/finish/transition area to get our bikes, which had been shipped earlier that week. I fastened my number, 5396, to my bike and found my spot on the bike racks in the huge transition area, which was big enough to hold the over 4,000 bikes which would be ridden in the race. By shear luck, I had been given a spot at the edge of the route I would be running through the transition area. I would be able to position my bike and equipment right along that path! We then collected for a short Q and A with Dave Scott, 6 time Iron Man World champion. While he was speaking I noticed that a boat on the Potomac, which was a short distance away, seemed to be drifting fairly quickly with the current. Since we would be swimming about half of our 0.9 mile distance going upstream on the following day, that made me a little nervous. So, I was keen to test the water when we entered the Potomac for our warmup swim a short time later. While I was swimming, I stopped a couple of times to see how quickly I drifted with the current, only to find that I was barely moving. That gave me a big boost of confidence for the swim. Now, if only it will be "wetsuit legal" tomorrow.

My Sunday started bright and early at 4AM. We loaded onto buses at 4:30 with all our gear to ride to the transition area, lay out our gear, and wait for our race starts, which were from 7AM to 8:33AM. At 6:45AM we left the transition area and collected in the "swim pen", all 4,000+ of us. The race was wetsuit legal, so all but a very small number of us had wetsuits. It was a surreal sight in the shadow of the Washington Monument as 4,000+ "penguins" watched the sunrise and waited for their chance to jump into the Potomac to begin the race. I waited for an hour and a half as the crowd of penguins gradually thinned and it got closer to my race start time.

Finally, 8:30AM came and I jumped into the water with the rest of my "wave". The gun went off and we were on our way. In my two other triathlon experiences, the initial "crush" at the swim start thinned within a short while. In this case, however, since waves of people had been starting every 3 minutes for the previous hour and a half the crowd never really did thin out. For the next 37 minutes I had to swim around slower and dodge faster swimmers. Finally, I completed the circuit and was making my way out of the water, stripping off my wetsuit and heading for the transition area.

I easily found my bike at the edge of the path through transition, removed my wetsuit and continued out onto the bicycle course. The course was a beautiful combination of rolling hills with plenty of shade. But, my cold was beginning to sap my strength. I could tell this immediately when I began riding. For the next hour and a half, my energy would wax and wane as I struggled to maintain my pace.

I finally returned to the transition area to begin the final run leg of the race. I felt strong when I began the run with no sign of muscle cramps. Walking through the water stops to make sure I remained well hydrated was proving to be a good strategy. At about mile 4, however, my cold was again sapping my strength. I had to slow down a bit and walk for maybe a half mile at a time to save something for the finish. My overall time for the race was 3 hours and 26 minutes. Not my best effort, but reasonably good given my struggles with the cold.

It was a great weekend and an amazing experience. Our group of 10 from northern Ohio raised over $58,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Most impressively, the 585 TNT participants in this one triathlon raised over $2.4 million for the Society.

I am hoping to join Team in Training for the Wildflower Triathlon in California next May.

5 days and $0 to go!

Spent most of last week in Florida where I made several 3 mile and one 6 mile run. I think I'm ready for the run leg on Sunday. I'll take one salt tablet before each leg of the race. That should help me fight off the leg cramps.

On Saturday, several of my team in training friends were getting together for a swim at Headlands Beach. Since my wife had the car, I decided to bike to Headlands to meet my friends for the swim. It's an easy 20-25 minute ride from my house to Headlands... usually. The swim was at 7:15 AM, so I left home at 6:30. Plenty of time. I was about half-way to the Beach when I realized that I wasn't wearing my helmet! That never happens since I am very careful to always wear my helmet when I am riding. Well, it happened this particular morning. So, I hurried back to my house to get my helmet. Now, I am definitely running late. I slapped my helmet on my head and hurried back out to the Beach. I was half-way to the Beach again when I realized that my rear tire felt a little mushy. A short time later, it was flat. Of course, it's always the rear tire. Becuase that is the hardest to change. It was a struggle since I had both saddle bags on my bike to carry my gear for the swim. Well, I finally arrived at Headlands at 7:30, about 15 minutes late. Happily, my friends were still waiting.

We had a nice swim and I rode with them for a short time after the swim then headed for home.

On Friday, I'm off to D.C. Wish me luck!

14 days and $0 to go!

Two steps forward, one step back. It's been a rough week, but I'm getting back "in the saddle", so to speak.

I started the week on Monday with a round of yoga. I rested from any other activity after my swim / run on Sunday. On Tuesday after yoga I went for a 6 mile run. About 4 miles into the run, I took a tumble after I missed an uneven spot on the sidewalk. A quick "duck and roll" maneuver left me with a little "road rash" on my right leg and left elbow but no other "damage". Nothing really hurt but my pride. I finished the run with slightly bloodied socks from my wounds. On Wednesday I did my yoga and laid off the other activities to let my leg heal.

With beautiful weather on Thursday morning I decided to go for a 10 mile ride out to Headlands Beach and back. It had rained the night before, so I should have been extra cautious. But the exceptional weather lulled me into a false sense of security. Rounding a rather sharp bend, I encountered a small patch of sand on the asphalt path. Who would have thought there'd be sand at a beach ;). That was enough to send my bicycle to the right as my body was going to the left :(. With my feet securely fastened into the pedal clips, I wasn't able to jump clear of the bike, so I did what I tought was the next best thing. I put out my left hand to brace myself against the inevitable fall.

I thought I had escaped with nothing more serious than a slight case of road rash. But, I was wrong. A severely sprained wrist was the result of my attempt to keep myself from hitting the road too hard. I spent a sleepless night downing aspirin and ibuprofen and wrapping and unwrapping my wrist to try to get comfortable. This was followed by a full day of periodically icing my wrist in the hotel ice bucket. We were out of town and staying in a hotel for my son's wedding. There's a certain symmetry to this since on the day my son was born my arm was in a sling due to a separated shoulder, which happened when I fell while running. So, on the day he was married my sprained wrist from a bicycle fall was wrapped.

Well, my wrist is feeling much better today. It is definitely on the mend. On to Washington, D.C. It's only 2 weeks away!

20 days and $0 to go!

I finally got some salt pills! I'm hoping that will resolve my periodic problems with leg cramps and pulls.

The week started pretty well with yoga and a 3 mile run on Monday. The team got together on Tuesday at a local beach on Lake Erie. I was there. We started with a half hour swim in the lake. This is the first time I have been swimming since vacation. It felt good and I was able to maintain a strong stroke for the entire time. The water was pretty rough, which added to the challenge. We had all brought our bicycles. So, after the swim we biked for about 45 minutes then finished up with a 2 mile run. It was a mini-triathlon. I picked up my new "Team in Training" Tri shorts and top. Pretty cool! No matter how I do in D.C., at least I'll look good. It was really good to get together with the rest of the Team. I really don't have the opportunity to do that too much.

I did yoga on Wednesday, but nothing else since I wanted to rest up from the workout on Tuesday. On Thursday, I started with yoga and went for a 6 mile run. I completed 5 miles and waked the last after I felt a sharp pain in my right calf. I knew if I continued running it would just get worse, so I walked the rest of the way. That's when I decided to look for salt pills.

On Friday I did yoga and gave my legs a rest. On Saturday I rode about 6 miles. On Sunday I met up with the Team again and swam for about 45 minutes in Lake Erie. After the swim, we ran about 2 miles. A beautiful day for a nice workout.

Oh, yes. And I ordered a bottle of salt tablets I found on the internet. They're "SaltStick" brand and have all the good stuff - sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. They even have some Vitamin D to help the absorption of the calcium. Hope they work.

27 days and $0 to go!

The Pittsburgh skyline as seen from Mount Washington. The bridge that is visible spans the Allegheny River. The Ohio River is in the lower left. The Monongahela River comes in from the upper right but is not visible in this picture.

My daughter with the biggest owl I've ever seen.

Yoga and running. That comprised much of my training this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, I did my joga routine and ran about 3 miles. No real problems with the calf cramping. That's a good thing. Hopefully, I am past that. I definitely need to start gearing up for the big race, which is less than a month away. I decided to step up the distance on Thursday, covering 5-6 miles on my morning run.

Thursday evening, I was in Pittsburgh to visit my youngest daughter who was interning for the summer at the National Aviary. She is staying on Mount Washington on the shores of the Monongahela River, which joins the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River at the base of Mount Washington. Two blocks from where she was staying is a stunning view of downtown Pittsburgh. Friday and Saturday morning, I ran the length of the aptly named Grandview Avenue along the crest of Mount Washington. It was indeed a "grand view". It was also quite a workout! The crest of Mount Washington is actually quite hilly!

I finished the week by biking about 10 miles on Sunday, after doing my joga routine, of course.

35 days and $0 to go!

Yes, I have met my fundraising commitment and goal. A big thanks to all who contributed. Your generosity is helping those who are truly in need... and, one tri-geek to participate in a truly wonderful event. Thanks!

I spent most of the week running in the "Big Easy". I'm still nursing a slightly pulled left calf but it's definitely improving. Regular Yoga before my morining run is helping a lot. I must stay flexible and that seems to be the best way for me to do that.

On Monday, I ran a total of about 3 miles from the Hotel to the Super Dome and back. This was not a particularly interesting course. So, on Tuesday through Friday I decided to take a more well-worn path through the French Quarter. Much more interesting. Interesting architecture, interesting people, smelly streets - at least early in the morning before they get a chance to hose everything down. You have to dodge the occasional tipsy pedestrian unsteadily wending their way back to their hotel after a night of merriment. In admiration, I hailed the garbage collector who was doing pullups on the side of the truck while it was moving. First time I've seen that done. A couple of times, I passed a warehouse full of women shucking oysters for the days repasts. All in all, a very interesting place.

On Saturday, for the first time since vacation, I climbed on my bike and rode about 10 miles. I had intended to ride out to Headlands Beach but the Greater Cleveland Triathlon was in full swing. I hadn't realized it was this weekend. So, after gingerly dodging a few runners to keep from interfering with their race, I headed back home.

42 days and $120 to go!

I started to get back to the regular running regime this week, but my old nemesis, the pulled calf muscle, got in my way. Back from vacation, I flew to Florida for the week hoping to get in some good running. So, Tuesday morning after a 20 minute session of Yoga, I went for a 3 mile run. I noticed about three quarters of the way through the run that my right calf was beginning to tighten a little. By the end of the run, it was clear that I probably had trouble. It stiffened up over the next day or two, so I was only able to walk. The walking seemes to have loosened it up a little. I was able to run 2-3 miles on Saturday morning, but I am still feeling a little stiffness in that muscle.

In the mean time, I have decided to concentrate on my Yoga routine. My left knee, which has had a couple of surgeries over the years seems to do much better if I flex and stretch the surrounding muscles regularly. I have gotten away from the Yoga a bit lately. Getting back to it will be a good "tune-up" for the big race, which is only 6 weeks away now.