Ironman Arizona 2011 Bike

Confidence is high, gear is on and the only negatives I can think of at this point of the race is that I lost a bottle full of powerbar gels and forgot to put on my second layer of sun screen. The first third of a mile is a no pass zone through a corridor of screaming onlookers. After it opens up you feel like a rock star ready to face hours of open road. The first 8 miles leading up to the B line highway is slightly up hill, but mostly flat.

This was a great time to begin just staying up on my handle bars for 10 minutes holding a 90 rpm cadence and warm up. I wanted 15 minutes, but I felt so good and had prepared in the aero position with such a high percentage of my training that it seemed alright. Having recently been fit for a new bike I had set up the Velo Vie frame I was riding in a much more comfortable and less stretched out position then normal. This would prove to be a huge asset in allowing me to stay in the aero position for almost 6 hours straight.

Not much to say at first, it is more about holding a pace that on the first lap is easy, second lap a normal exertion, and third lap only an above average. The entire first lap was almost no wind. This made for the easiest overall effort you could ask for. Half way through the first uphill portion I felt like my right ankle was kind of naked. A closer look revealed that there was no timing chip attached. I had lost the entire chip holder. There was nothing that could be done at that time, so I continued intent on finding an answer over the next 9 hours. As I was passed slowly by a group of riders drafting off each other I asked them what they thought I should do and was told to tell the timing chip people at the timing mats. This though obvious, was a brilliant idea.

so glad someone finds my bike for me

It almost paid off at first to be distracted in deep thought over the ramifications of this because it kept me from thinking of the grind of pedaling up hill. Every 15 minutes my watch went off telling me to eat, or drink and it just became a flow. I ate half a marathon bar on the first 15 with water, a gel on the 45 with water and at the top and 30 drank ironman perform. I only ate the marathon bars for the first 3 hours and then went to strictly gels. I also ate a salt tablet on the first 15 minute mark of each hour with water.

As I came to the steepest portion of the course on the hill just prior to Shea avenue I had to leave the aero position briefly to keep the exertion level casual. After conquering the hill for the first of three attempts I came to the timing chip and had to stop. I told the guy what happened. He said he would mark my time manually. I needed a longer term answer though so I had to find out what my best course of action to get a new chip was. This lead to what color their shirt would be, where I should stop and so forth. After five minutes of talking, losing precious momentum I continued on with a plan to stop at the turnaround that begins the second loop. He had told me I might have to go into the transition area, this burst my bubble of ever hoping for a PR on the day, but in aviation we say versatility is key. You never know what the world will throw at you and I would just take it as it happened.

this is the glory of the B line highway

The down hill was awesome. Still no wind and equipped with Zipp wheels, the bike flew. At the aid stations I would drop my Ironman perform, grab a water bottle, fill up my front aero bottle and pick up a new ironman perform. I would finally chuck the empty water bottle and continue on with just the two bottles. I grabbed a gel on every third aid station to make up for my lost gel bottle. The only aid station I skipped was the last one on the third loop.

I stopped at the end of the first loop by the guy manning the timing chip mat. I asked him if he knew I was coming because the guy at the top of the hill told me he would call down. He didn't know who I was, or what I was talking about. I told him my dilemma and he wrote down my number telling me there would be a timing chip waiting for me in my shoe for the run transition. The whole conversation including getting him to manually put my time down took roughly 3 to 4 minutes. At this point my lack of awareness when the chip fell off had cost me about 8 minutes. Now that this entire timing chip issue was clear in my head I was ready to start things over no stress. I yelled at my family as I rode by that I had lost my timing chip, but amongst all the screaming I don't think they heard me.

On the second lap there was now a strong tailwind going up the hill. I had done the first lap in 1:55 even with the 8 minutes lost. I weighed 185 lbs on race day (as far as I could tell) this meant my biggest weakness of hills turned into one of the easier parts of the race. I was moving so much faster then the normal hills I ride that I had to verify by checking my heart rate versus my cadence. At 145 bpm and a cadence of 90 the race was coming to me, and though it was going well I wasn't pushing too hard. This carried me back to the timing mat at the top of the hill where I once again got to yell at the same guy to please put my time in manually. My weight normally hurts me on the uphill, but on the way downhill I enjoyed watching all the skin and bones guys get pushed around by the wind while I let gravity just do it's part.

This is when the race became fun. I was ten minutes into the downhill on pace for another good lap when I for the first time in my race career got tapped on the butt by the Firefighter and told hello. We took some time for small talk in the middle of our side of the road and settled in together for about 5 minutes. This is when he went on a vintage Firefighter zone. This is when like the incredible hulk he rages and I did everything to stay with him tell I decided this was my race. I was going to do good or bad following my plan and sticking to what I wanted. So he road away in his marathon bar top and the view I'm used to during all my training road farther down B line.

This is what all the preparation is for. I settled into my zone and 8 miles later pulled right up behind him, he asked if I was showing off for my family. I laughed at him and yes might have pushed a little more to stay with him through the turnaround at the bottom. I knew he would beat me this race because of the run, but I didn't want to let him have the bike. After the turnaround to begin lap 3 he ditched me again. This was twice, so when I caught him again I just stayed behind him not telling him. I didn't want to play this cat and mouse again. We spent the majority of the last lap together taking turns on who was in front. I for the first time we have ever ridden together took the lead from him only giving it back when I chose. This was pretty strategic as we passed group after group. We only stayed together though because it was working. I would not recommend it for those not racing at a similar pace.

In the almost two hours I was with him I asked him if he would consider peeing on himself during the bike because we both were on pace to set a PR. Since we both make it public knowledge that peeing in our wetsuit isn't a big deal I you'd think this had come up before, but neither of us have ever been fast enough to even consider it. I normally have a tiny bladder and make the two of us stop, but this race I didn't use it once. Needless to say, the Firefighter laughed at me letting me know that he hadn't stopped to pee either, but I hadn't caught him so many times just because I was riding fast.

Each lap was an even 1:55 for me and would have been closer to a 5:33 if not for my timing chip issues. Either way a posted 5:48 was a PR for me by 42 minutes. We stayed together pushing past many competitors that were on their second lap riding hard all the way to the transition area. I gave him a pound told him to have a great race and that I would see him at the end. This was probably the most special part of a race for me I've had because for how many hours we spend training together to make the Ironman a shared event even for one lap was awesome. This was much less about competing, and more about doing what we had practiced for months on Carefree Highway together.

There is another twist to the race though. My beautiful wife could not find my updates on line and chose to do something about it. She thought I had no idea, but she moved mountains to make sure that they would fix the situation. It took her many conversations and phone calls coordinating other family to help make sure my race went well. On the third lap they told me that there would be a timing chip in my shoe for the run. I already had been told this by the guy at the timing mat and thought nothing of it. There is no way to know what would have happened without their hard work and determination, but it was a selfless thing only meant to make my race day better. I am eternally grateful for the time taken just to make sure I was ok.

The recap of the bike is that practice helped me hold the aero position for the entire time except for planned portions during the steepest part by Shea. This was a great help on a windy day. Riding with the Firefighter was probably the highlight of my race, and made it go by very fast. Having the information from my Garmin 310XT for cadence and heart rate during the bike was invaluable in staying within heart rate zones.  Having an aero helmet was great keeping my warm during the cooler parts and as the day heated up being well vented . I will definitely look into buying one. I raced my race, stuck to the plan and even though I was scared I couldn't even do a 6:30 I cut 43 minutes off my previous best.

Ironman Arizona 2011 Swim to Bike Transition

The crowd is screaming, I'm dripping wet, holding a wet suit and running bare foot. This is what the transition is like as you run roughly 2/3rds of a block to reach the tent area. There is a spotter yelling out bib numbers to volunteers near the bike transition bags so that when you run by the bag is being handed to you. My bike bag was in the farthest corner of the bike transition bags so this saved several seconds of searching amongst the rows. I took my stuff to a bench outside the changing tent and immediately had a nice lady assist me in the transition.

I dumped out the bag immediately stuffing the wetsuit into it with my goggles and swim cap. I had a towel from the Hyatt that I put down attempting to clean my feet off before putting on socks. I needed help to put on my CEP compression sleeves holding out my feet one at a time while the lady pushed them up my calf. This is where I think the velcro attachment to my timing chip was loosened. I next needed help putting on my pearl izumi arm warmers and reattaching my garmin to it's watch mount. I needed assistance putting on the tight garments because not only am I soaking wet at this time, but also fairly cold leaving my fingers/toes much less affective. A few more good wipe downs on my feet to get the grass off and I was putting my socks on. Shoes came next, gloves and next thing I knew I was wearing sunglasses as well as my bike helmet. The last item to don was a race belt. I wore one that already contained my salt pills and a bottle of extra chamois cream in pockets.

In the future I would consider doing the swim wearing my compression sleeves because they would dry off fairly quick and it about a minute just to get them on. By bypassing the changing tent I also accidentally bypassed the sun screen people. I had already put on a coat during the morning so I took the risk of heading out on the bike without it. When you tell the volunteer aiding you they will take your transition bag off your hands letting you just walk away. As with the bags someone yells out your bib number and as you walk through the rows of bikes, your chariot appears out of no where being handed to you in stride. The last leg of this transition journey is to simply walk, or jog with your bike to the end of the transition area and mount up to begin the bike leg. This jog is across an uneven grassy area and running with shoes that contain bike cleats makes everything interesting.

Approaching the line to mount the bike I make sure I cross directly over the timing chip matt. Crossing it with several other athletes I assumed that one of the beeps going off was to hack my start to the bike leg. This was not the case. I don't know still where the timing chip went, but do know that it never left the transition area. I also looked down when straddling the bike to clip in and begin pedaling to see that an entire bottle of 4 power bar gels fell out off my bike. All I could do at that time was curse and begin thinking about how to adjust my nutrition plan. I thought no sun screen and the loss of my bottle were the only pit falls on this transition, but with the loss of my timing chip I just can't give myself a very good grade. I did set a new PR for timing, getting everything done quicker, but now I need to do the same thing more effectively.

It was good to have a plan, but also worth taking a couple extra seconds to just calm down and breathe if thats what it takes to not miss such big things.

Ironman Arizona 2011 Swim

The swim starts with a giant line that looks like something from the day after Thanksgiving. We are all hanging out in wetsuits and since they lined us up roughly twenty minutes before the race starts, not everyone got to get that last bathroom break in. Apparently there are some overly competitive athletes out there because a man in a mega phone stands near the water entrance yelling to everyone not to jump in head first diving into the water. That thought hadn't even entered my mind. I had a cocktail in my belly of 5 hour energy, pepto bismol, berry blast gel, ironman perform lemon flavored and a sudafed.  This was not really giving me confidence at the time in my choice of pre race ritual, but as the throngs in front of me leaped into the water like lemmings off a cliff I had to just go with it. Since we're all bare foot in neoprene the course director thought it would be funny to watch half of us climb over a guard rail intended to keep the non crazy people from getting into the water that is only safe to swim in a few times a year.

I had still stayed with the Firefighter at this time and we took the plunge. As you enter the water everything goes dark and green for a bit while you sink, until the buoyancy of your wetsuit pops you right back out of the water. It was cold, but that was soon to be remedied. The water entrance is on the west side of Mill avenue bridge so it takes 5 minutes of swimming just to get to the starting line. This is a good warmup and a chance to get used to the water. We swam tell just on the east side of the bride and looked up seeing the whole family of the Firefighter. It was the easiest we have ever found those supporting us on the bridge before the start. We all look like pink and green caps bobbing up and down treading water. This was a welcome show of support for us both because there is just not that much to talk about in the 61 degree water waiting for the day of pain to begin.

This is where a highly practiced procedure is done to help improve the cold as well as distract you. For the faint of heart you might want to stop reading now. Ok, if you are still here I warned you.... I pee in my wetsuit. This not only relieves a full bladder making swimming much easier, but it is warm. I will open up spots in the neck ankles and sleeves to allow water in before and after, but it still gets the job done. It is kind of a funny joke that you realize looks of contentment on the faces of all those around you aren't the calm before the storm, but the bathroom break before the storm. The water between you and the wetsuit will warm up from your body heat and as strokes are taken it circulates out of the ankles a little at a time while more water can enter via your wrist area.

this is what the beginning looks like, people everywhere you turn

With that out of the way I began a slow side stroke towards the front and ended up roughly 25 yards from the start. I was with all the people I knew doing the race before the gun went, but then it was on like donkey kong. Every one is in each others space bubble making what ever your time was doing laps in that nice pool impossible. Just like driving in traffic, you don't want to be stuck in a lane moving too slow. I lost all thought of staying with those I know and the race had begun. I will take long strokes using my left hand down stroke to pop my face up forwards and see where everyone is. I set my watch to go off every ten minutes to roughly simulate swimming 500 yards. By the first buzz of the watch things had settled to allow small pockets of unused water. This water is so unclear that it is hard to see the hand in front of your face. This makes making decisions on course under the water impossible. As opposed to a clearer water swim your head has to always pop up out of the water to sight. I swim open water breathing on an every other stroke sequence always breathing on the right side. I practice in a pool keeping left and right sides even, just not on race day because of the dark water and the need to be more aware of where I am.

This was a great swim, water was wonderful and it was noticeable that there were more people in it. This years list of participants was 2565, meaning one crowded Tempe Town Lake. For those doing the race in the future I would recommend that if you are a strong swimmer then go to the front. It would be preferable to have people swimming up your feet where you can kick then navigating from behind. I used a lot of energy to site every other stroke during the first 8 minutes or so. The buoys are easy to see and in between the larger markers are smaller ones to keep you on track. The race begins into a rising sun, but this is not as big a deal as others make it out to be. If you sight out the side and only from the front every few minutes it doesn't matter how bright the glare is.

The race kind of enters cruise control at this point. I would find people to draft off of to rest in the swim for a couple minutes and then pass them as I moved up the pack. People would come at you from crazy angles on a collision path from far to your side with no attempt to let up before running into you. This lack of direction can't be explained well, but it made for strategic speed ups and a couple times literally swinging my body over someones legs to keep from getting punched in the face. It almost feels like an old nintendo game is enemies coming in from the side while you look down on your yourself from above. Each encounter pulls energy, as does speeding up in spurts. It is important to be aware of yourself when you can't just look down to see a heart rate. I hit my stride crossing the northeast corner of the course. This is the point where it is all about holding a rhythm. Find those with similar speeds to stay with, and just bullet towards the west. Before crossing under the Mill avenue bride going west I started a very light flutter kick to use the bathroom again. This is kind of gross, but by emptying your bladder now it can save precious time on the bike. I also did this one more time turning south.

an example of wet suit stripper

As you get closer to the swim finish it is about calming your heat rate before the crowds and transition so that you won't get too excited. The steps are swim up steps leading into the water. You grab one that is out of the water and then carefully put your knee or butt onto the next one down. It would be easy to slips at this time, or put a shin right into the front of a step. There are people there helping offer a hand. I got my bearings climbed out taking the hand of a volunteer and he nicely unzipped the back of my wet suit. The next stage are the strippers. I came to the first one I saw she pulled my sleeves down off my arms, I sat on my butt and she pulled it off my feet handing me my suit. I had already pulled the cap and goggles off before the stripper to hold onto. The crowds are yelling, my watch said 1:11 (a new PR for me), my bladder was empty and adrenaline pumping. I crossed the timing mat into transition and held a steady jog so as not to get too caught up in the moment and began the dry land portion of the race knowing the first segment of this triathlon was over.

Ironman Arizona 2011 Morning

The day truly started waking up at 1:24 in the morning to have half of my breakfast. Nothing like hearing the buzz of your phone from across the room knowing 140.6 miles is awaiting you. The first half was a bagel, a 28 ounce Gatorade endurance and a marathon bar. I went right back to bed until a quick 2 am alarm went off. My second breakfast was just as exciting, another bagel, Gatorade endurance and a banana. This time I actually got to stay asleep tell 4:15 am.

you have to make things easy when planning to get up at 1am to eat

I awoke with 8 hours of sleep including adjustments for my breakfast ready to face the day. I threw on my contacts, covered all the sensitive areas with body glide and began putting on my race clothes for the day. I stretched for ten minutes and coated almost all muscles that would be used during the three disciplines with a thick layer of icee hot(it's an addiction right about now). I made sure the fake Wheaties Fuel tatoos on my shoulders were in place and donned my dry clothes to fight off the cold morning as well as be warm post race. We took some pictures. There really isn't that much that is needed to be done at the hotel so it makes for a quick start to the day.

I drove with my beautiful wife to the athlete parking garage stopping by the ice machine to fill up a cooler so that my family could have cold drinks for the day. It's an easy drive into the athlete parking garage, I walked out and met the Firefighter outside the garage to start the day. First thing after getting into the transition area I put nutrition on my bike. For this race 3 marathon bars cut in half, a little plastic zip lock with 14 salt tablets, 4 tums and 2 gel bottles with 8 power bar gels in them. With that out of the way I walked out of transition to drop off special needs bags. This is pretty easy being that they put both of the drop offs just on the other side of the Mill avenue bridge. After this it was off to my bike bag to add a hotel towel for drying my feet (sorry Hyatt, I never returned it). The run bag was next, I ran out of icee hot in the room and needed to complete the job so i grabbed a little from the run bag.

picture is out of place, it's vitamins icee hot and chapstick... all essentials

Feeling the tingling sensation that was my muscles being calmed down I grabbed my bike and waited in line to get my bike tires pumped up. This was nice, I just waited tell the front of the line and without any questions the guy pumped up the tires to a pressure setting I still don't know. I wish I had asked because it was the fastest bike time I've ever had. To keep up with the face the Firefighter and I are slightly ambiguously gay I called him to see if he wanted to hang out with me in the bathroom line. I know it's like something off a Miller light commercial. We did pretty good waiting in a line behind the transition tent (hidden bathrooms are usually better), and took one more visit to the bike.

One the way back we ran into a couple friends also doing the race and chatted, this is when our wives called to let us know we needed to come take cute pictures. Yes, we did come and the pictures do a good job of capturing how naive we were to the pain about to be endured for the next 12 hours. We do have the best support any Ironman could ask for in two wonderful wives we probably don't deserve, which might be another reason for the goofy smiles at 6 in the morning. We could only hang out for a few minutes because transition was closing soon and they had to get in position for the big start. We left them with a kiss for good luck (we only kissed our own wife), and then the fun began.

pointing to the only reason I can do these, my Lord and Savior

My wetsuit had been expertly hung up in the hotel room by myself in a way that kept the inside of it wet and cold which was wonderful with the temperature outside being in the fifties. I put the wetsuit on, then immediately took it off realizing I had forgotten to put on sun screen. Now with sunscreen on I put the suit back on and began prep work for the nutrition.  I took a sudafed to not have any congestion during the race (it worked I snotted all over myself throughout the entire bike) and can now tell you it was a terrible idea. I next took 2 pepto bismol tablets to calm my stomach (it also helps keep you from having to poop because of nerves). The last part of this wonderful cocktail would come later.

notice woman in sweatshirt, this water is COLD

You take everything that isn't in a transition bag at this time and not going in the water with you and leave them in a dry clothes back. This last sentence is important because I thought I did this until 5 minutes before jumping in the water I was reminded that I was still wearing sandals. Sandals are not very aerodynamic and cause lots of drag in the water so I had to return to the dry clothes drop off and have them create a second bag for me to put my sandals in. Running back to find the Firefighter and two other friends doing the race I chugged a 5 hour energy to give a boost of caffeine for starting things off. This was followed immediately by a berry blast power bar gel and an entire Ironman perform lemon lime sports drink. Armed with that wonderful mix of chemicals swishing around in my stomach we made our way towards the lake to the sound volunteers with megaphones yelling at us to get in the water.

Day Before the Ironman Arizona 2011

It's 6:46 PM and I'm getting ready to go to bed. That sounds very AARP, but what can I say it's a long day tomorrow and I want to be rested. My day started today with a relaxed breakfast and a swim for 20 minutes in Tempe town lake. I swam one circuit of the available swim course out to the Ford sign and back. The water was cold, but will feel good once I'm a little ways into the race. The Firefighter was with me and then we helped each other hand out samples from our active ambassador sponsors. 140 samples of Wheaties Fuel have now found their way to my fellow competitors to help them taste the win tomorrow.

After all the Wheaties were handed out and the Firefighter handed out his Snickers marathon bars we took our bikes out on the road to test out our new wheels. We both put a Zipp 404 wheel on the front and 808's on the back to help get every last ounce of speed from our bikes for the 113 mile ride ahead. We only rode ten minutes to make sure the shifters were good and there was nothing to get fixed. Satisfied with our bikes headed back to the Hyatt showered up gathered our things and a few 6" subs later went to bike drop off. This was pretty relaxed after the anarchy that occurred earlier in the day. Kind of like the difference between the day after Thanksgiving versus a random Tuesday. A new part of the process this year they took pictures of all the bikes as they entered transition for security reasons.

Now things were set, bike in place, run and bike transition gear bags waiting for us to come running up yelling, our bid number. We strolled through the expo picking up some swag and trying to find deals. Turns out a 75% deal on a new X Lab Super Wing will help make my new Cannondale complete now when I pick it up on Monday, or Tuesday. This was all by 3 also about the time the Firefighter headed off with his own family (he was done being part of the Peele clan for one trip). Done with the expo I went back to the room to relax with the wife. I prepped all my nutrition for the race and off to Claim Jumper for a 4 PM dinner reservation. This sounds early, but I'm going to get up at 1 AM and 2 AM 1500 calories of breakfast. You have to give your body an opportunity to process before 12 hours of continuous exercise. Dinner was great, 12 of us there to hang out having fun joking about the craziness the Firefighter and I are going to participate in. One crazy bit of news that came out from dinner was that my wife wants to be an Iron woman hoping to participate in Ironman Arizona 2013 ( more to come on this story later). Here I am now typing away on my IPAD winding down before the storm that is tomorrow.

It's been a great weekend so far, the race weather is forecast to be 73 degrees for the high and a low of 54. The sun sets at 5:45 guaranteeing I'll finish in the dark. I'm not changing too much for this race, but coming in a little more relaxed. Last time I did one of these I had to fly to Albuquerque to work the next day, legs knotting up while sitting in place for hours at a time. This year I don't head out tell Wednesday allowing me to just focus on the task at hand. I hope that I can set a new PR, but mostly that it's a positive experience and that I can stick to just racing my race. I wish the best of luck to everyone in the field and hope all the Ironman virgins finish strong.

Last Official Workout Day

Today I swam for 40 laps with the firefighter. I had already started when he got there having gone 9 laps solo, and at an above average pace. This is when what I will call the Iron swim similar to other races where the two competitors are grid locked. The fire fighter jumped out like a fire cracker and I sat in the lane next to him right near his feet drafting for about 5 laps. He slowed down and I saw my chance to control the pace choosing to slow things down a bit until he took the lead back. I wasn't trying to win, but I took the lead back and so forth until we were both pushing pretty hard. I didn't fall into that little zone in my head like normal, or get distracted, just focusing on stroke, stroke, breathe until I hit the wall looked at the fire fighter and pushed off to start again. This came to a conclusion with us both finishing and simultaneously stood up looked at each saying,"your killing me." This was what having a good training partner can do. I thought he was pushing me, while he thought he was doing everything he could to keep up. We both left the workout feeling good with Sunday lurking around the corner.

Since I lamed out on the run planned for yesterday I'll definitely be trying to get about a 8 mile run in. I am going through the motions on it not trying to set any speed records, or push it too hard. That leaves me three full days to rest. I will take the Velo Vie out with the new wheels Saturday/Friday, but more for a test ride then a workout. I'll also brave a swim in Tempe town lake Saturday morning for thirty minutes to get a feel for the course, but that could easily turn into 20 minutes not wanting to over do it. Today is about keeping those muscles used to the motions and exercises they'll be doing for hours. Though muscle loss doesn't occur for roughly two weeks cardiovascular loss can occur at even one week. Mitochondrial density decreases as does VO2 max. That basically means a reduced capability of the bodies engine on a cellular level and capability to carry oxygen to your muscles. This is why even with a twelve hour race approaching it is necessary to continue to train. Anything can happen on race day, but a lot more good can happen if you've prepared well.

I didn't get to do a full taper, but the closest thing to one I've done since Highschool swim team. All the plans in the world don't do any good when life happens and you have to skip workouts. For now my race day setup is already packed so I'll be running in some random workout clothes wearing a fuel belt that I won't don Sunday, and the wet suit is also staying in my workout bag. I go back out to fly tomorrow and then Friday morning the festivities begin.

Last Bike Ride before the big Race

I got up at 5 AM today to start the day letting out my little 13 week old english bulldog Sweetums with her cohort Skittles the cairn terrier. After getting fitted for my new bike the day before I realized that I have been riding my bike wrong the entire time. Not only have I been riding a long time on my Aegis incorrect, but had just two days prior set up the bike I'm borrowing for the Ironman incorrectly. I had to adjust my loaner bike to the new guidelines I learned. This involved making the seat post as low as it would physically go, I mean it bottomed out and was still not low enough. I also had to take the aero bar pads as wide as they could go. Turns out that having your arms uncomfortably skinny not only is not much more aero, but also makes the new aero bars stretch your wrists to an uncomfortable level. Funny thing, apparently you are actually supposed to be comfortable and easily settled on the bike.

the Velo Vie dialed in and ready to go

I left the house much happier then my last test runs on the bike moseying down the street near my house down hill warming up. The goal was to get one last fifty plus mile ride in to get time in the saddle. This was a joint effort with my partner in crime the Firefighter both of us breaking in new bikes. We took a route filled with many uphill runs, some good down hills, all levels of steep climbs and descents. It is hard to say good ride, or bad because time was the real goal here. We both came out with over a hundred miles in the saddle over the last week in new rides his intended to be a much better ride, mine to still help me be succesful despite my last minute bike issues. I finished on mile 53 with the best final up hill stretch towards my neighborhood I've had over the last few months. This is a great confidence builder finishing strong able to walk away happy that with a lot of support I have a bike that is great to help me get through this craziness happening Sunday.

West Wing road final stretch

My new Cannondale Slice

I guess I'm trying to be like Christie Wellington, I am now a proud owner of a Cannondale Slice. I have been doing research around the clock on all my options since the mechanic at performance bike told me I was down one Shimano Ultegra drive train. The cost has now been put to good use and I am very excited after hours of scouring reviews, forums and talking to salesmen. I also must admit I am embarrassed by my lack of previous knowledge. I am going to explain how ignorant I was to the equipment I have accomplished 2 Ironman's 1 half Ironman and countless sprints with. This has motivated me with a renewed understanding of what equipment I have/had and how it is intended to work. I can thank a wonderful salesman named Alan at Tribe Multisport for taking four hours to answer every novice question I had throughout the grinding out process.

The top contenders were a Kestrel 4000 SL (just purchased for a steal by the Firefighter), a Fuji D6 (on sale at performance bike), a Cervelo P3 ultegra, Cannondale Slice 4, and what I'll call other. I am not very familiar with many of the other brands so such bikes as the Scott Plasma, QR, Felt and Giant I just had a harder time finding information on. Turns out a QR is not ideal for someone of my 185 pound size, the Scott Plasma from this year has a molded seat post that was not ideal to me for resell and the Felt/Giant I never got to. The Fuji D6 was not ideal for a bike that was now going to get all my miles as well as harder to upkeep the brake system on and Cervelo just thought a little too much of it's name in the bang for your buck contest. Kestrel was so popular everyone is sold out of 2011 models and I need a bike soon, thus disqualifying them from the fight. This left my new companion for the foreseeable future the Cannondale Slice 4. This is not just any Slice 4 though, it was adjusted one piece at a time to make the bike best setup for me. I will have pictures in the gear section soon, but I'll walk through how it went.

this is my stock model before any of the changers are made, it's gonna be nice

SRAM Red Derailleur

After the first hour of settling on the Slice as my bike we began talking about what we could do to the 2200 dollar price tag already reduced from 2800 to make it better meet my needs. With this being my only bike we kept the cassette made of heavier stronger materials and chain to withstand the long miles going with a 11-26 ratio SRAM PG 1070 10 speed. The original cassette was a 12-25, but we thought the 11-26 would give the bike more versatility over different situations. nicer components would have weighed less, but been more fragile over hundreds of miles. We next took the basic Cannondale Base Bar and upgraded it to the Profile Design ProSvet Carbon Base Bar with ABS Semi Carbon Brake Lever. This reduces weight, feels better to the touch and helps lower the outer hand grips by roughly a centimeter. We took the SRAM Rival front derailleur upgrading it to the Force level (one higher) to improve it's quality while still keeping it a very rigid steel material that won't flex, or wear as hard under the many miles I'll put on it. The rear derailleur we went for broke putting on SRAM Red (2 levels higher in quality) to give the bike a much smoother gear shift in the rear cog. The crank was upgraded for stiffness, weight and to be honest partly color to the SRAM Red level. The wheels were a nice Fulcrum Racing 7 Wheelset, but I still upgraded slightly to Mavic Aksium Race wheels. The spokes are aero and they weigh a little less. This is the basic makeup of the bike. I didn't touch the brakes because it was not cost effective and would not help with aerodynamics just weight and a slight performance difference. The shifters were already a very nice return to center SRAM set that is the nicest I have ever used, very user friendly.

SRAM Force Front Derailleur

In the middle of all the looking I took the bike for a little stroll roughly two hours into the process to make sure the bike size I needed was actually in stock. All my measurements were taken and recorded. These measurements were compared to those given by Cannondale and I was narrowed to a 56, or 58 cm frame set. The 58 was the big winner with my long torso. I am not lying when I tell you a bike has never even come close to fitting so nicely. I was told quickly that my understanding of how a bike should fit was all wrong and Allen made the proper adjustments to get it close before I took about 3 loops between Indian School and Camelback roads behind the store. I have been sitting too high with a stretched out position trying to be much longer then is ideal. This was the bike for me, I rode over all the bumpiest parts, the shifters were sweet, it was responsive, and smooth. This was to be my new chariot for upcoming triathlons. The benefit of going to a place like Tribe to get your bike, the seat even at it's lowest setting was too high for my stubby little 34 inch end seam so he had to use a circular saw to cut it down to my size. This is the type of customizing that brought me in to get my specific bike, not just any stock frame.

easier to clip into using either side

We took the bike to the fitting room attached it to a trainer and really made it mine. With weights hanging from strings, tape measure, angle measurements, and the ability to move my the platform the trainer was on for multiple viewing angles the bike was adjusted to me. Apparently I am very flexible and easy to fit, having no problem holding any of the positions asked. Alan adjusted my seat height, angle, position, aero bar position, aero pad position and lastly handle bar height. I do not have my cleats on the ideal position for the pedal stroke, but this was not changed since I do have an Ironman with a different bike coming up and this is how I have practiced. We added some new Speedplay Zero Stainless Black pedals and cleats that will be put in the proper positions to the list. I also got 2 white X-Lab Gorilla Carbon Cages in White to match the back and use as rear water bottles. I did not want just one bottle in the back and since only one bottle mount is on the frame set I am doubling up the back. This left no room for my current bag of parts that sits under the back of my seat so I got an X-Lab XSW Strap and Rear Seat Bag in Black Small that I am going to try out. The bag setup could change, but Alan said he would set it up for me to check out when I pick up the bike.

2 of these for rear bottles

I would have considered doing this race with it, but the parts won't all be in tell Friday afternoon and the bike won't be ready tell probably Monday. The only part I forgot is a light so that in the now winter months I can ride before 7 Am if needed. The entire process of purchasing this bike was outstanding. I can tell you it was cheaper for me to get my Slice 4 with pedals, bottles cages and all then the Cervelo P3 Ultegra standard. My beautiful bride has been a rock star this entire time giving me a 5000 dollar budget. I had wanted to wait tell this time next year for this beauty, but knowing the races coming up for me my wife not only gave me the green light, but supported it enthusiastically. I didn't want to spend that and am glad that I didn't have to in order to walk away with a ride that has Justin Peele written all over it. There might be faster bikes out there, lighter, or even prettier, but none that at this moment fit me like a glove with my needs and intentions in mind. After Ironman AZ on Sunday I will pickup my new bike probably Monday, resist the desire to ride it for about a week and then start up training for Coeur D'Alene. I now have a ride being built for me with purpose behind every component hand picked by me, as opposed to a bike whose size I never learned, component set I found out after breaking, that I never understood the correct way to position myself on. The Aegis Trident was a great bike that I never took the time to understand, or use to it's potential. I won't make the same mistake twice, and I hope anyone reading this won't make the same mistake the first time.

Adjusting The Velo Vie

Today the goal was to put in two hours of trainer time with the new bike for the Ironman that's a week away. I put the Velo Vie on the trainer hopped up and began to pedal to my hearts desire. The point of this exercise is to take the initial adjustments and fine tune them before going out on a real ride. It is much easier to hop off a trainer and sit at my kitchen table making changes then out on the road. The goal can be best illustrated with a picture.

from slowtwich.com

The goal is to keep making adjustments on the seat height and position until I can have all the set angles.Even with your arm sitting a little forwards of your shoulder it should still make a ninety degree angle to the line of your shoulder to your hip. It is also important to have a downward peddle stroke that is neither completely locking out your leg, nor staying too bent. This took raising my seat height four times, and adjusting the saddle forwards as well as towards a farther downward angle. I had to adjust the pads on the aero bars for my forearms taking them as close towards the saddle as they would go and also as skinny as they would allow. The last thing I did was play with where I need to put my arms in order to meat the measurement requirements to have optimal positioning. I don't know if I can duplicate this picture, but I do know that after an hour of tweeks and an hour of steady riding under more optimal positioning that it was a vast improvement.

This fit along with adding the cadence and speed sensors to the bike for the Garmin 310 XT makes it ready to take out on the open road. Tomorrow I will try for another two hour ride. I am also heading out to Tribe Multi-sport to try and find my new bike for post race training.

The Great Bike Dilemma

I previously wrote about Pre Ironman Remorse and now have more distractions leading up to the race then I could possibly want. I dropped my Aegis Trident off at Performance bike to have it tuned up one last time before the big day. Common sense says not to have anything changed in a tune up prior to such a big race, but my lowest gears were skipping really bad and the race involves a lot of up hill riding. I figured it was better to get things checked out and fix the skipping rather then do an uphill course with such inefficiencies.

the tool used to measure my chain, mine was past the 1.0

I told the mechanic my situation and he immediately went for the chain and a measuring tool. He looked up and told me that I was in trouble because the chain had stretched way beyond what was reasonable, had ruined my cassette, and pretty much messed up my entire drive train. This is unfortunate because I had a Shimano Ultegra set up and to replace it was going to run my in the high hundreds. My bike being a 2005 that was never fit to me, but rather just the only one I have used extensively made me very reluctant to invest in the new components to get it up and running again. The mechanic told me he would look into trying to get the bike running smoothly, but could not guarantee any of the work.

I was in Denver the next day when I got a voice mail asking me to call back. I was told they were unable to get the bike to even shift correctly and that they wouldn't charge me. I asked if I should consider a new bike and was told yes, that if I am going to continue racing it would be a good choice. I immediately sent a text to the man who I bought my bike from and introduced cycling to me and asked if I could borrow his bike. I had no idea what he was currently riding, how nice it was, or if it was even a tri bick, just that he was not participating in Ironman AZ this year (he has done it three times). I got a text back saying of course and at least knew I would have a reliable bike to ride.

I later found out I would get to ride a Velo Vie with a SRAM Red group set. I am still going to put the Zipp 808 and 404 wheels I am renting on it from Race Day Wheels, which will make for a slick ride. The bike has a full carbon Bontager aero handle bar set up and makes for a much nicer bike then mine was, though only a week out still a different bike. This is concerning, because that means without making it a perfect duplicate of my prior ride, I will be using muscles not previously exercised to the same extent, as well as holding a slightly different position putting strain on my back and neck. I also got some good news in that I am going to borrow a Louis Garneau Vorttice aero helmet. I'm hoping a little extra aerodynamics can make up for my lack of time with the new bike.  At this rate I'm going to brake all the rules of last minute changing.

It will be hard not to feel like a poser in this.

I have done this kind of thing before borrowing a bike from the firefighter before, to do a century bike race the Tour De Tucson and only riding it once before the race. It was over a hundred miles and I got through it fine, but didn't have to run a marathon afterwards. This at least encourages me that though it's not ideal, I actually have experience with last minute fixes.

I got a call day two of my trip while in San Jose for about half an hour and was told by the bike mechanic they got the Aegis Trident shifting, but the work would not be guaranteed. The work couldn't be guaranteed because it could come out of alignment at any point. With me renting wheels from race day wheels and them having to change out the cassette there was no way to assure myself they could get it shifting correct. This assured me that I was going to be on a new bike for the race and I also began looking for my new ride that that would need to be purchased to continue training for Ironman Coeur D' Alene and Arizona 2012 (I'll save that for another day).

Here comes day three where I finished a flight from El Paso to Phoenix and started the journey to a new bike. The first trip was home to pick up my beautiful bride and head to performance bike to pickup the Aegis Trident. I picked it up and while there looked at the 2011 and 2010 Fuji D6's they had there. Then on to my cycling mentors house to set things up for my new race day bike of IM AZ 2011. He was waiting for me in the garage with bike already set up on a trainer. We transferred my saddle to the new bike, tried to put my pedals over unsuccessfully adding one more item to the new equipment I'll use. I am upgrading from a free set he gave me four years prior from his wife's road bike, to a new nicer set that he had been using. At this point the only items I'll be using that I have prior experience with are my shoes, clothing and aero bottle. In aviation we say versatility is the key to air power, well I hope the same proves true for racing.

The bike is a pretty one but I am going to now have a 2 cm further drop from seat to aero bars. My profile design aero bars had a 45 degree up turn as opposed to these mostly straight ones which should help hold aero better, but take a little getting used to. I can still make last minute tweaks, but I am 90% set up for what race day will feel like. After the work on the trainer I put the bike to work with a few turns around the block also wearing the new helmet. I am excited with the prospect of using a bike that with the new race wheels would retail near $7000 with a helmet that cost almost as much as my tv, but in the end it's not the equipment as much as the engine.

About to take her out for a test ride

I am planning on riding Sunday through Wednesday to get used to the bike. No century rides, but an opportunity to become better accustomed to the differences. My mind is filled with curiosity over what I'll be capable of and if in the end it could yield a positive result. In the mean time this has been a dilemma I'd just assume not to have had, a weekend of scrambling and much more excitement then the doctor ordered.

Pre-Ironman Remorse

It is a morning less then two weeks away from Ironman AZ 2011 and I can't help but wonder as I watch past races on TV about all the workouts I didn't get in. The what if's can bug you, but with two weeks to go there is no magic last minute training that will make a huge difference. I got sick twice in the last six months and never recovered the speed I lost, though can three weeks really be blaimed for a race I've been preparing for throughout the entire year. I wanted to be 175 pounds coming into this and am not quite there currenty 185 pounds. That is ten extra miles to drag for 140.6 miles. I have signed up to do another Ironman in June 2012 already, could that have allowed me to lose some of that urgency of putting it all on the line for the one race. These are all the thoughts that can't help but pass through my mind as the race approaches.

The thoughts that also pass through my mind are how less then two weeks ago I did a 113 mile bike ride on the actual course with a 8.5 mile run making it the best training workout I've probably ever done. The Firefighter and I are going to practice an open water swim for 2.5 miles today in a lake near our house to cement that confidence to start the race. I ran the marathon last time in under 5 hours having never ran more then 14 miles in one sitting. This year I ran a marathon, multiple half marathons and just put in a 20.5 mile run over the weekend. I have better equipment this year with added advantages of compression sleeves to support circulation throughout the race, and a Garmin 310XT giving me all important heart rate and pace information. The knowledge I've picked up while training of seeing what just 5 minutes of letting my heart rate jump in the mid 170's can do to destroy a well laid plan is a game changer. I work a job where I get more rest now, and the opportunity to train more days on the road where I otherwise wouldn't have in past years.

The journey to Ironman is not a short one unless you are an extroardinary athlete and those are not the words I would choose to define myself. This is a wonderful sport where as an age grouper I will get to share a course with past Champions and some of the top athletes on the planet. The great equalizer is that regardless of if you are the first one to cross the finish line, or the last one to cross before the midnight deadline you are dubbed Ironman. The stories that pass across my television illustrate that this race means many things to many people and to me is more of a test of will. I love the training being outside, falling into your zone within your mind as the miles progess. I have done two of these and have a plan for three in the next 13 months. That is a lot of training and opportunities to test myself, but in the end doesn't change the original start to this, that my first of the three tests is on November 20th.

I do have some pre Ironman remorese, but bless the athlete that made it this far without having to miss a workout, and that stuck to their diet coming in at the exact weight they desired. I am more then anything truly excited that regarldess of what didn't go right, I will hear that gun shot while I am treading water in Tempe town lake, see the throngs of suporters cheering selflessly to raise my spirits and tear up as I cross the finish line and hear those sweet words one more time,"Your are an Iron Man." The first time I did the race it was a grind and much harder then I thought. The second time was much better and a preview of how much more enjoyable it can be when it is not as much of a struggle. I got the blessing of hoping to improve by half an hour and instead improving by an hour and forty minutes. This time I had hopes of finishing under twelve, but will now just attempt to set a new personal record. This is a thankless sport, but regrets, or not I love it.

Open Water Swim

Ironman AZ is only 3 weeks away and I had not done an open water swim since 2009. That is until yesterday. I left my house and headed to pick up the Firefighter so that there would be someone else there in case I got a cramp in the middle of the lake. He had sent me a text earlier in the week telling me about an open water swim that a local triathlon club was doing that day and we figured swimming in Lake Pleasant wouldn't be that bad if there was a big group of us. We had our wetsuits, goggles, brightly colored swim caps, and some body glide to keep from chafing too bad. I brought 2 cases of Wheaties Fuel cereal to hand out at the group training event and spread the word on how wonderful it is for living an active lifestyle.

Getting in our gear, still with no clue where everyone else was.

The directions were pretty vague, but with a little trial and error we found our way to the lake and began looking for the big group of people to join them, hand out cereal and learn from them about the best way to practice at Lake Pleasant. We saw some cars randomly scattered throughout the parking lot and figured that with them half a mile from the water it was too far to walk dressed in a wetsuit with no shoes on. We next put my F 150 into four wheel drive and off roaded our way down to the water where what we thought might be people there for the group swim were really campers out fishing on a random Tuesday in November. We next went back the way we came and headed to where the boats are released into the water, but every car down there had a boat trailer and there was a sign saying not to stay more then 15 minutes and with us intending to be in the middle of the lake it seemed like a bad a idea.

Me ready to swim, holding up my garb for handing out Wheaties Samples

At this time it was 4:40 PM and we had intended to already be half an hour into our swim so we went back to the random people camping, decided to keep the cereal for another day and put our wetsuits on. The first step into the water was great, it wasn't too cold, and with the sun up and an outside temperature of mid eighties the conditions were perfect for an afternoon swim. After the twentieth step into the water with only a foot of depth, I had to laugh thinking we chose the worst place to start our swim. We had committed though and as we got farther into the water we could actually see a few people swimming in the middle of the lake in wetsuits. This at least meant we weren't stood up, we just had no idea what their course was, or where they started. A few more steps in and we had deep enough water depth to swim and made our way to a buoy. The swim went well, we had no idea where we were going and started the first leg heading into the middle of Lake Pleasant for about 15 minutes. This is when the next issue came, the sun was setting already.

Looking ready to swim

The original plan was to go 35 minutes out and then turn around and call it a day when we got back to my truck. The idea of being over a mile away from my truck in the middle of a lake and the sun going down was a scary prospect so we adjusted and chose to kind of do laps instead. I breathe on my right side only during open water and the Firefighter only the left so it was kind of an ambiguously gay duo moment as stroke for stroke we could see each other as we took a breathe and sighted off of each other . This was to keep from running into each other, but also to stay on the same general pace. Major bonding especially after I had to ask him to zip me up before we got into the water. When we got back to the buoy nearest my truck we actually ran into someone from the group. He told us about the course and explained how they entered the water where the boats enter because the water gets deeper quicker. I felt stupid after hearing that, but hey I was in the middle of a lake treading water in November with the sun going down so genius wasn't exactly how I would have described myself at that moment regardless.

this is us changing in the dark

This is where we abandoned the lap idea and chose to explore the route the rest of the swimmers use and headed in the opposite direction we had just come from towards a canyon. This went great for about twelve minutes until I almost ran into branches poking out of the water and grabbed the Firefighters leg to keep him from a similar fate. By the time we swam back to the starting buoy it was dark and we called it a day. The goggles had held up well (Thank you Aqua Sphere for making wonderful goggles). The wetsuit still works like a charm and after a 1.8 mile swim we both felt like finishing an ironman wouldn't have been that big a deal. The biggest thing we learned was that we didn't need a group swim to do what we had just done. We've already scheduled to try it again on Wednesday, but show up earlier so we're not taking our wetsuits off in the dark. It was a silly adventure, but gave both of us confidence heading into the Ironman and also a really affective way to practice our open water swimming.