7 Days Left!!! The Final Push!!!

Well, there's officially 1 week left until I'm toeing the line with thousands of other athletes, hoping that I can crush my first ever Ironman attempt!!! It's so unreal and I can't even begin to comprehend how I'm able to embark on this journey. It seems so long ago now that I struggled to finish my first Wildflower Long Course attempt this past May...

Since then I've been on such a strong streak of training and racing and building of my fitness level. On this road to Ironman Florida, I've accomplished:

-Raised over $3000 and awareness about Neurofibromatosis and the children and families it affects
-Completed 5 Sprint Triathlons (setting new PRs in all of them compared to previous years)
-Completed a Olympic Triathlon (setting a PR for this distance)
-Completed a Half Ironman (setting a PR for this distance)
-Completed a 2 mile Hermosa to Manhattan, Pier-to-Pier Swim (first ever, sans wetsuit)
-Completed a Century ride (first ever and not an easy one either, 5400ish ft of elevation)
-Completed a Full Marathon (first ever)
-Set PRs for my 5k, 10k and Half Marathon runs
-Set PRs for my 40k Bike
-Changed my diet and (for the most part) eliminated fast food
-Lost 6 lbs and about 10% body fat (which is about 11 lbs of fat)
-Practice discipline, fought through struggles, persevered through pain, blew past doubt
-And at least checked in with most of my social circles (for the most part)

And that's just the things that I can recall!!!

I also want to reiterate my thanks and admiration for the Children's Tumor Foundation and their Endurance NF program. Without them, I wouldn't even be able to do this race. But much more than that, I was paired with little Ava Lowell, her wonderful mother Dawn Lowell and the rest of their beautiful family. They've been a huge inspiration and have really helped to keep me mentally strong. To think that such a beautiful, wonderful and sweet little girl can persevere just helped me keep pushing forward! As the great Macca said in his book "I'm Here to Win," it really helps to understand one's motivation for racing and to really be great you need to find and race for something more than just yourself. So I thank CTF for giving me that!

So this journey has been great and the experience has got me thinking this won't be my last attempt. But for now, I'm very excited to countdown to Race Day and hopefully cross that finish line with a smile and a great time!

To close, I'll leave a snapshot of the course I hope to crush:

 

(Photo credit: www.ironman.com)

Pledge Week 15: And That's A Wrap!!!

Times eaten fast food this week = 0
Total pledge amount this week = $35 (7 days * $5)
Total pledge amount to date = $540 ($600 contributed to date)
Funds raised to date = $3070

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And so the fundraising comes to a close and I just squeaked by the required amount! Whew! That was close! But a very special thanks to everyone who contributed to my cause and to support Ava and all the other NF fighters out there!

(Photo credit: https://herdfoundationnagpur.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/international-thank-you-day-january-11/)

And while the fast food challenge comes to a close, I think I'll plan to keep up the strong work and resistance to this indulgence as much as possible. At the start of the challenge, I weighed it at a respectable 175 lbs but with a rough 20% body fat, not exactly great triathlete numbers for a guy only 5'7". Given the change in diet and the extraordinary amount of training, I weighed in at a much leaner 170 lbs with only 15% body fat. So 5 lb net loss but also a 5% change in body composition means some pretty darn good gains! Hopefully I can avoid any holiday weight gain and keep trending upward for next season!

Today I also finished my last big brick for the season. About 3 hours of biking and 5 miles of running. It was a little rough as I went to my good ol' hills in Palos Verdes. IMFL won't have any hills, but I wanted to hit up ol' Faithful. And you can see why!

But it's been a great, character building journey of first finding my lows and the depths of my struggles, pulling myself from those depths and rising to new heights as an athlete, as a person and translating that newfound confidence and zest for life to all aspects of my life.

I also can't thank CTF enough for giving me the opportunity to partner with them and raise awareness for NF! And then partnering with just the sweetest little girl in Ava who is fighting her own amazing fight! I mean she is my great inspiration. In those dark depths, I dug deep and mentally asked myself why I couldn't continue. Why I couldn't fight through pain or fatigue because Ava fights through so much more every day! And so she has been my motivation to continue pushing forward, pushing for excellence and just pushing to be the best of me!

This journey has been crazy and now I'm exactly 2 weeks away from Race Day! I can't wait!!!!

Race Report: Hermosa Beach Sprint Triathlon

This race wasn't really ever part of the plan. But seeing as it is my hometown race that I've done every year since I've been doing triathlons, I figured why the heck not!!! The effects of the century just a day earlier will forever be unknown...

Race details:
Hermosa Beach, California
Swim: 0.25 mi - open water, ocean
Bike: 10 mi - road, 3 loops on Valley/Ardmore between Artesia and 2nd, fairly flat
Run: 3.0 mi - run, out and back along The Strand

Course Recorded Finish: 1:02:02

Garmin Splits:


AG Finish: 6/32 (top 18%, currently my best finish at a larger event)
OV Finish: 73/559 (top 13%, currently my best finish at a larger event)
AG Race Factor: 1.28
OV Race Factor: 1.08

Race Analysis:
Transitions:
Nothing much to say here. It was a sprint so I chose no wetsuit. That kept my transition time down a relative amount. I could've opted for no socks or no Giro Shield, but I didn't want to deviate too much from my Ironman transition plan for a few seconds. In the end, minutes were the difference between me and the podium so no harm in this category.

Swim:

The swim was relatively good. But let's start with the bad. Waves were somewhat big on this morning so getting out was tough. I had to duck dive early and then on my second dive, a 2-wave-set came in. So I dove the first one and then when I was coming up after the second one, I ended up on some other guy's shoulders who apparently duck dived behind me and around the same time. So as I was getting ready to swim ahead he was standing up and kinda flipped me forward a little bit. I lost my goggles and had to take a second to recover. After that, battling the current was tough. And then coming in I was riding a lot of waves towards the beach when suddenly a big one came and threw me straight down. I was kinda swirling around at the bottom and again lost my goggles. I ended up walking probably a second or two sooner than I wanted to, but it wasn't a terrible loss.

So I didn't know this at the time, but I had a relatively strong swim. Hermosa results show up as a basic text file and I was too lazy to copy and format into Excel to then sort it. But of the top 10 guys in my AG, I came out of the water 7th :D

Bike:

Looking at the race after the fact, the bike is basically where I lost it. For those that have never done Hermosa, it is 3 loops that are flat along a two lane car road. The turns are REALLY tight, it gets VERY congested and there's not much passing room. I rode well and during the race I felt like I was pushing but I had a sinking feeling that I was probably losing it here because I didn't pass a ton of guys.

Sadly, post race this proved to be true. Again, looking at the top 10 guys, I tied Michael Vick (HAHA HEARING THIS NAME CROSS AFTER I WAS DONE WAS HILARIOUS!!!) for 9th. As in I basically bombed the bike despite doing well for my own personal time. My 29:30 time was 3 minutes behind the winner's time of 26:47. In hindsight, this is exactly where I lost the race.

NOTE TO SELF: Offseason training plan should include MASSIVE amounts of bike training. You're a terrible cyclist. Fix this ASAP!!!

Run:

The run was good. Immediately after crossing the finish line, my legs locked up with cramps and I was at the food table, leaning on it and scarfing down bananas, oranges and water. It was a rough run because of the challenge of trying to push for the podium and also not really being geared up and ready for sprinting due to IM training. So while it was a good run, it was rough.

Looking at the results, my 23:43 run time was 4th of the top 10 guys. 4th!!! But the spread here wasn't very wide. So again, the bike is very clearly where I lost the race.

All in all, I can't really complain. I had a good time. I beat last year's Hermosa time by over 11 minutes. For this random set of distances (most sprints don't follow the same standard), I did really well and PRed. But it's hard to feel good when you finish 6th and 1 minute outside the podium.

Pics:

Pre and Post Race:

Creeping the Results Page (no podium... sad...):

Post Race Brunch @ Good Stuff:

Post Race Dinner:

My amazing roommate made a delicious pulled pork and brussel sprouts dinner while I lay on the couch all day. And we had it with this awesome Presidio Syrah Rose I got from Solvang!

Race Report: Solvang's Finest Century

First century ever!!! Decided I wanted to get in 100 miles and preferred doing it with a group and some SAG help rather than trying to go it alone somewhere in SoCal. Ended up working out well! I mean the course was super hilly and quite technical, but I did it!!! :D

Race details:
Bulleton, California
Bike: 101.9 miles

  

Course Reported Finish: 7:08:46

Garmin Splits:

Race Summary:

What to say about this race? Man. There were so many times on this race that I thought I could just give up and it wouldn't matter. I mean some of the climbing and grades were just brutal with switchbacks. But let's hit all the points.

My Mio HR died about 4ish hours into the ride. That pissed me off. I may have to use my Garmin HR for IMFL bike and then switch to the wrist in transition. That would be a major fail though to not have that critical metric for the marathon run!

Elevation was brutal. Slow small grades through the first 30 miles. Nothing too bad. Lots of fun descents followed. Then a gnarly and long switchback up Pacific Grade. Had some relief before the really gnarly 5 mile stretch climbing the summit. Ended with a ridiculously steep and somewhat crappily paved road downhill. I thought I might die, but I made it. Then rolled back into town.

I kept a pretty decent speed through the first 50 miles. I was trying to stick with this really fast group from Canada so that helped keep me ahead and on course. But they proved to always be super fast and they dropped me at mile 50ish, right before the 2nd SAG. But they were a nice group, just older and ridiculously fast. I was in awe. It also made me realize just how weak of a cyclist I am. This will be my focus this off season (unlike last which was my running).

The next 50 miles was a grind. My legs were somewhat toasted, but I had also not gotten this much distance under my belt before. Plus the second half was littered with climbs. So it really was a rough go ahead during the second half. By this point, the two elite groups had dropped me hours ago and none of what I am going to call "the upper average joe" riders were showing up anymore. I had basically lost the top pack but was too far ahead of the rest of the pack. So I grinded out much of the last 50 miles by myself. All I had were my thoughts, some conversations with the staff at the two SAG stations and then my route sheet. And thank goodness for that route sheet. The road was relatively well marked, but only at the turns. So you had stretches between marks and I was definitely concerned I might be going the wrong way haha.

Mile 7ish had about a 10 mile climb up Pacific Grade. It started as a long slow rolling uphill. Then it became some small switch backs. Then it kicked you in the balls with some steep switchbacks. And man I was just so glad to see the SAG at the top of the hill. The guys were super nice, super talkative and just fun. They also served me PB&J sandwiches!!! WIN!!! I had never had this on a bike before but had heard that this is one of the good snacks to have that is real food and not any kind of powder or pill crap. It did just that. I felt rejuvenated despite the climb and I was off going strong!

The other killer point of note was that last climb. It was much shorter, only about 5 miles, but it was ridiculously steep. I'm not sure how it compares to Wildflower's Nasty Grade. Nasty Grade is basically a straight upwards climb on an absolutely ridiculous grade. This climb was just continuous uphill but via switchbacks. And there was similarly no relief. If I stopped pedaling, I would almost fall over. So I just thought back to Nasty Grade and my experience there. Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming. One foot then the next. I also started to incorporate some intervals that my spin instructor HL had taught us. I think he derived it from the Tabata training movement. But it was 8 strokes seated, 8 strokes standing. That's it. I just kept alternating that all the way up the hill. This worked well because it challenged my legs in different ways so I was just burning through in the same position.

But I made it through. Did all the climbs. Loved all the descents and flats. Didn't hit a pothole or a flat tire. And most importantly didn't get hit by a car. So it was a good, fun and successful 100 miler! And with that, I got a couple new PRs too! :D

Pics:
Nutrition Setup:

Pre-Race Exploring in Solvang:

Carivintas Tasting Room which had dogs on all their wine bottles!

Pre-Race Meal:

Finish Line Pics:

Post-Race Meal:

Pasta was included with our race entry and we also got this sick glass!!!

Post Race Fun in Solvang:

Solvang sights. Also checked out the Solvang Brewing Company and Presidio Tasting Room!

Pledge Week 14: Recovery is a Long Road

Times eaten fast food this week = 0
Total pledge amount this week = $35 (7 days * $5)
Total pledge amount to date = $505 ($500 contributed to date)
Funds raised to date = $2870

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The fast food habit was easily kicked again this week. Discipline and good choices in the face of time crunches also helped (thank goodness for Chipotle chicken bowls with no cheese or sour cream). But that's not the real story this week because my good weeks tend to look very similar now...

No, the real story is how much these long races take out of you. If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that I did the Long Beach Full Marathon on Sunday. Immediately after finishing, I grabbed a banana, coconut water and a protein shake from the athlete tent. I gobbled them all down as I then made my way to the medical tent. There I proceeded to get two bags of ice for my quads which I also later used for my calves. I then threw my compression pants on in the car as my parents drove to the brunch spot.

Isn't that the magic formula, right?
Carbs? Check
Protein? Check
Water/Electrolytes? Check
Ice? Check
Compression? Check

I even came home and passed out on the couch with my legs elevated over my sofa! (Elevation? Check haha) I mean I did everything you could think of...

And Monday morning was still miserable. My feet hurt like crazy. My quads felt tight. My calves were on fire. Monday was a rough day just trying to move around...

Tuesday came. A little bit less of everything, but my feet still hurt.

Then Wednesday. Finally some better movement. Getting to the gym to do some light weights helped get my muscles moving. Softball got my cardio back up a bit (we killed the other team so I didn't play that hard haha).

By Thursday, I think I had some semblance of normal movement, but I still felt uneasy. Friday was no different and I spent 1/3rd of that day stuck in traffic on my way to Solvang...

Even Saturday, as I prepared to roll up to the Solvang Century, I was still uneasy and a little concerned. But read my Race Report and you'll see I somehow magically pushed it and was just fine ;)

Race Report: Long Beach Marathon

First marathon ever!!! Stretched it out to the full and had a great race despite some very hot weather!

Race details:
Long Beach, California
Run: 26.2 miles

 

Course Reported Finish: 3:43:36

Garmin Splits:

Race Summary:

This race is a pretty good first half marathon. It's flat as a pancake other than 4 small hills (the elevation changes for those 4 hills are 32 ft, 84 ft, 32 ft and 23 ft). Trust me though, those hills, which mostly happen at the end, are still really killer when you're in pain and tired and trying not to walk haha. They also changed the start to be 6am which kept it really cool at 73° for the start. But the temperature went up to 83° by 8:30am and 93° by 10am. It even got up to 98° later in the day. Pretty nuts!

The race had a mass start so everyone just goes together. The funny part about this is that you get a bunch of people storming out ahead. Being a now seasoned long distance racer, I mentally tried to take note of every person that ran ahead of me, particularly ones that I felt had no business beating me. It helped if they had some unique attire. But I told myself "run your own race, you'll be strong at the end and you'll chase them down." Well, I definitely did and I smoked quite a few of them ;)

One potential malady happened at mile 2/3ish. I'm running along, I just popped a salt pill and put my little pouch thing back into my tri top. Little did I know that it had fallen out. But as I was running, someone passed me and said "did you drop a little black pouch?" I immediately was like "OH CRAP! THAT'S MY SALT! I GOTTA GO GET IT!" I literally stopped, went back about 15-20 ft, looked around, couldn't find it and said screw it. I knew I had a cramping problem and I was scared to push forward without the salt, but I knew it wasn't worth looking any longer. So onward I went... Unsalted :D

Along the way, fan support was pretty awesome for this race. I don't know that triathlons have as huge a following as half/full marathons, so most races I've done have never been this big. But there were so many people at the start. So many people along the course. At some rough spots at mile 16 and when it looped back around for mile 19, you had the Long Beach college pep band playing Eye of the Tiger haha. Support along the course was just great!

As mentioned, there were 4 small hills. The first one was early and I had no desire to walk. But the next hill came past the halfway point and the big one was at mile 18. I definitely wanted to walk. But I had seen some of the people I had eyed down and my personal pride to not walk also got to me. So walk I did not. Even at hill 4 which was near the end, like maybe mile 23, I pushed on. I told myself to keep going, the pain is temporary and it will end soon. Just keep pushing forward. And I did.

All in all, I had a pretty good race and a time that I'm very happy with! It's not fast, but it's good for a guy with my build and it's exciting to hope that I can get a sub-4 marathon! So happy to just have this box checked and now work on crushing that PR! :D

Pics:
Packet Pickup and Race Prep:

Pre-Race Meal:

 Race Pics:

Post-Race Meal:

Pledge Week 13: Peer Pressure

Times eaten fast food this week = 1
Total pledge amount this week = $40 (6 days * $5, 1 day * $10)
Total pledge amount to date = $470 ($250 contributed to date)
Funds raised to date = $2600

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Just under 30 days until Race Day now!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh

Also just $400 from my fundraising goal with 13 days remaining!!! Thanks so much to everyone who has already donated!!!

Now to the topic at hand, the one I'm sure most readers are curious about... I cheated once this week... Twice if you count me having a beer :(

The fast food indiscretion occurred on Monday. I had just had a VERY productive weekend including a 5.5 hour brick on Saturday and then another 2 hour spin on Sunday. It was just a really solid weekend training-wise. Then Monday rolled around and my friend/co-worker Christy had a birthday... Her birthday surprise was a visit from Lauren which meant she was bringing some lunch to the office. Sadly, I had not brought lunch because we had no leftovers and I had no turkey meatballs. So naturally, when we got the call that surprise Cafe Rio was on the way, I just couldn't pass it up... And I cheated...

(Photo credit: http://thegirlwhoknewtoomuch.com/category/images/)

In addition to the Cafe Rio, I just came home from having dinner at my best friend Phil's house. The weather outside was 95° at the beach. We were dying despite being indoors. Baseball was on. Brats were cooking on the stove. And so I succumbed and had a beer. It was just one beer, but I've been trying to kick it for the time being. With the marathon a couple days away and the Ironman just so close, I probably shouldn't have, but it isn't the worst thing.

(Photo credit: http://lindamirjam.blogspot.com/2014_12_01_archive.html)

The good news is that I did avoid drinking beer (particularly binge drinking it) whilst at the USC tailgate on Thursday. I also got in a GREAT half marathon run on Tuesday, setting a PR in the process. And I even got in a pretty good sized brick on Thursday morning before work. This last one in particular has my legs feeling a little sore right now, so hopefully a nice little recovery run on Saturday will get me fresh for Sunday's marathon.

I'm both nervous and excited for the Long Beach Marathon. It's going to be a grind getting all 26.2 miles. But I feel confident that I'm ready and hopeful that I can do pretty well despite what is supposed to be a 90° type of day. I'll have to stay strong, hydrated, full of electrolytes and just focus!

(Photo credit: http://www.owningpink.com/blogs/allison-crow)