This past weekend I took part in the Epic Oregon Relay, and had a blast doing so! Â It’s 178 miles divided amongst 12 people in 2 vans, leap frogging from just outside Portland all the way down to Eugene in 24 hours. Â My team’s name was “Back off man, I’m a scientist!”, because most of the people on the team are, in fact, scientists.
With my first half-iron completed, even though it took me forEVer to finish, I’m finally confident that I can survive the distance.  For the first few months of my training leading up to that event, I was hitting new distance records on the bike almost every week, and adapting to the distance itself was plenty enough of a goal.  Now it’s time to get fast, so I’m going to repeat the last 7 weeks of my training program,  but make a very conscious effort to push myself harder, especially on the bike, as that’s where I can gain the most time (an hour or more, versus 20 minutes in the swim or 30 minutes on the run).
World’s Toughest Half, Auburn, CA – 05/22/2011
(most of the pictures are by Facchino Photography, but some are by my dad)
On race morning, I got up at 4am and had my pre-race meal: turkey deli meat, Safeway deli pasta, and a quart of Gatorade. Â I coated myself in sunblock (not only for the sun, but also as protection against swimmer’s itch), donned my jersey, and we set out. Â We got as far as Railhead Park before I realized Mistake #1: I had left my phone and all my maps back at the motel. Â Through a combination of Chieko’s semi-functional GPS, my foggy memory, and blind luck, we found the drop-off point. Â Hooray!
My first ever Half-Ironman is this Sunday! Â Yikes! Â I’m both excited and terrified at the same time. Â I have a massive list of all the gear I need to bring in addition to the usual packing for nearly a week away from home. Â I’m driving instead of flying, as the gas is actually cheaper than bike transportation fees (and that way I don’t have to either learn how to completely break down and re-build my bike or trust someone else to do it for me).
This week is taper week, meaning I’m doing very light training just to keep things loose. Â However fit I am now is how fit I’ll be at the race.
Late last year I found a link to the Seattle Triathlete meetup group.  I joined, but didn’t attend any meetups until this past Sunday, when the group organizer hosted a potluck.  I brought deviled eggs:
The potluck was fun! Â I don’t have any triathlete friends, so it was nice to be able to geek out about tri stuff with like-minded individuals. Â I also met the host’s ugly (but sweet) cat:
I don’t know what’s wrong with it (other than advanced age), but I’m sure it’s being taken care of.
I still haven’t braved the COLD northwest waters for any open water training this year, and now I’m out of time. Â I’m a little worried about that, but not much, as I didn’t have a hard time acclimating to open water swimming when I first started last year. Â I did try on my wetsuit, though…
Stylish!
If you want to win, you have to get aerodynamic. For dudes, an important aspect of this is making sure your facial hair is groomed in such a way that it directs airflow in an optimal direction. So make sure that instead of this:
You look more like this:
The creepy grin and bags under the eyes are optional.
I like drinking. Â It’s fun and I’m good at it. Â But, with just four weeks left until my first half-iron, it’s time to get serious and cut out the booze.
Not that I’m drinking much now anyway. Â Alcohol interferes with any training I have the next day, slows down my body’s repairs, disrupts sleep, and suppresses my immune system, putting me at risk of catching a nasty cold.
I stopped drinking entirely in the month before my first triathlon last year. Â Doing so really helped me focus on what I was about to attempt, and ensured I was in peak condition. Â Plus, it should help me drop a few extra pounds, and every pound lighter I am will make a huge difference, what with all the hills on the bike course.
Speaking of weight loss, I’ve dropped another pants size! Â That makes a total of 10″ off my waist since I started running again two years ago. Â Go me!
(I was recently asked for bike tips for someone just starting training for their first triathlon. Â Here’s how I replied…)
You should just get a standard road bike for your first tri (as opposed to a tri-specific bike). Whether new or used, it needs to be good enough to withstand the amount of training you’ll be doing. Cheaper parts would mean more frequent breakdowns and less training.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Leavenworth, WA, to make some new friends and do a bit of altitude training.  I used Google maps to plan out a route, then used USATF’s site to plot the elevation:
Before any race, it’s vital you find out what products will be available at the aid stations and where those stations are on the course. Â You should always do some test runs with those same products to make sure they digest smoothly and provide the calories/hydration you need. Â If not, you’ll need to bring your own.
Fortunately these days, all this information is usually online (I haven’t yet found a case where it wasn’t). Â The Auburn half-iron will have Cytomax, which I think I’ve had before without problems, but I’ll need to test it in the next couple of weeks to be sure.
Last weekend I rode my bike around Lake Washington, on a 55 mile route. Â I used Google maps to figure out the mileage and turns, then wrote out a greatly abbreviated list of directions to use while on the ride. Â I ended up finding some pretty massive hills, which, along with the overall distance, would have been impossible for me to conquer just a year ago.
The next day I swam 1.25 miles in the morning, and ran 13 miles in the evening.
Like, woah.
