Sedona Arizona Hiking Adventure

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Jeff

After hiking around the Grand Canyon, we headed south to Sedona, AZ.  If you’re ever making a trip to the Grand Canyon, definitely put Sedona on the “must visit list”.  I honestly enjoyed Sedona just as much as the Grand Canyon.  My first thought when we were approaching Sedona, was “why do we live in Raleigh again”.  The main road is Hwy 89A.  You can pretty much just drive up and down this road all day just looking at the amazing scenery.  Hwy 179 is just as spectacular, and intersects right into Hwy89A like a big tripod.  Once you get here it is just a matter of picking any one of probably 50 side roads to go down and explore. 

Interestingly, you could just drive down a neighborhood road until it dead ends. Then there’s typically some kind of trail head that marks a hiking path to some of the best scenery around. 

Our first morning we got up bright and early because we wanted to check out Cathedral Rock.  You can get here by parking at the end of Verde Valley School Rd. The hiking trail is nice. It starts out flat, then starts to climb after about 30 minutes, but nothing too steep where you need to hold onto things.

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After a relatively short hike, we made it to the base of Cathedral Rock.  At this point the climbing is more of a challenge.  You can reach the half-way point without too much effort(20 minutes).  To go higher, this is where you need to grab onto things for leverage.  At this point, my smarter half said I’ll wait here.  My dumber half(me) pressed on for a bit climbing up the rock.  I should point out here that the only things to grab onto are rocks. I got to this section where it’s really narrow and steep for about 75 ft. This section started to get congested with people climbing above and below you.  It was at this point that I started thinking what if someone above fell…They would take out everyone below.  Not good. Have you ever read “Into Thin Air” where everyone is getting bunched up just below the summit on Everest? Anyway, eventually I got to a semi-clearing which was about 75% of the way to the top.  Good enough for me.  This is a picture from the bottom.  You can see the people walking around near the base. It’s a kind-of-flat section and a not-so-flat section. Well worth the visit.

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Later in the day, we headed over to check out Bell Rock and Courthouse Rock. This was right off the side of the road on Hwy 179.  We just parked the car, found another trail and started hiking.  This was much easier than the trail at Cathedral Rock trail.  Maybe a 45 minute loop. 

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After a short time at Bell Rock, we tried to hurry back to our hotel.  The hotel(SkyRanch) was at the top of a plateau of sorts, where a little town airport is located(crop-dusters only).  We figured this would be the best place to catch a cool sunset over the town below.  Ok, so the sunset doesn’t quite beat the Grand Canyon, but it’s pretty cool.  And you can’t live at the Grand Canyon.

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The next day we headed out to find the Devil’s Bridge.  For some reason, this one isn’t marked on any of the maps around town.  I just stumbled on it while browsing online.  And I’m glad I did.  This was my favorite spot in Sedona.  This is off of 89A.  Take Dry Creek Rd until you see a sign for FR152, or a small cluster of cars.  This is the road that leads to the trail head.  You can drive farther back in here most of the way IF you have 4×4 drive(you will need it), or if you have really high ground clearance.  We had the Hyundai rental car, so we walked it in about 1 mile to the base of the trail head. The trail itself is less than a mile and not too strenuous. 

Check out the cool rock formation of the Devils’ Bridge.  The Apex of the bridge is only a couple feet wide at best, so I’m not sure how sturdy it is. 

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Here’s a view from below and opposite angle.  Really cool to see.

 

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This next picture was also on the path to the Devil’s Bridge.  I was so amazed to see it just perched up there.  This is a really big rock.  Not like kitchen table size big.  More like the size of a dozen minivans.  The bridge above and the rock below really make you wonder how things can form over millions of years.

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Later in the afternoon, we decided to check out the Broken Arrow Trail with Pink Jeep Tours.  For some reason, I was thinking this would just be a quicker way to get to the scenic areas. To me, the tour seemed to try to impress you with the capabilities of their 4×4 jeeps.  I don’t have anything against jeeps, but I think they do an incredible amount of damage to the trails out here.  I’m not sure if any restoration plans are in place.  Nuff said…Next time I’ll take the Broken Arrow Hiking trail.  This is located off of Morgan Rd(0.2 miles past the end of Morgan Road.), which is off Hwy 179, near town. 

This view was taken near Submarine Rock.  I looked everywhere and could not find anything that resembled a SubmarineSmile

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Next, we headed back just in time for sunset and to see Snoopy Rock.  You can see Snoopy on top of his doghouse every day right in the middle of town. 

 

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Our last day in Sedona, we spent late morning and early afternoon at Red Rock State Park, located just off of Hwy89A just a couple miles south of Sedona(5miles or less).  There are about a dozen trails here that are all linked together.  You can walk/hike for as long as you want and are really never too far from the visitors center.  This was a great spot, and there was much less foot traffic from other hikers.

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If you’re running short on time, at least drive by Red Rock State Park.  The road loops back around to 89A.  Take the Lower Red Rock Loop Rd direction to the Upper Red Rock Loop Rd for the best views.  This view was literally a point and shoot from the car window. I love the fall colors below in the valley, with the Red Rocks in the background!

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It took us nearly 3 days of hiking to check out Sedona, and there were still dozens of places that we didn’t have time to see.  This was exactly what I needed after #IMAZ with all the build up and adrenaline surrounding it.  It’s nice to be outside, away from all distractions, and see what has been there all along.  I love this place!

Thanks for Reading! 

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Grand Canyon National Park

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Jeff

We arrived at the Grand Canyon(GC) on our first day at about 4:30pm, about 30 minutes before sunset.  I’ve always seen pictures of the GC before, but I never realized what an incredible sight it was.  We parked the rental car and walked right out onto Mather Point.  Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time literally took my breath way.  I just had to stand there and look for a few minutes to take it all in. 

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The next morning we wanted to see what is was like to see the sunrise at the GC.  We had to do some quick recon the night before to see where the best places are for viewing.  The short answer is, there are no bad places for viewing.  No matter where you look, you can see forever.  The nice thing about this National Park is that there is a trail along the entire South Rim.  Most of it has no guard rails, so your view isn’t obstructed. 

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Near Yavapai Point

I would guess that the entire length of the trail is about 30 miles.  We were there for 2.5 days so we were planning on walking most of it.  After about 7 miles the first morning I realized how depleted I was from 2 days ago, and the difference a change in elevation makes.  We walked from the Bright Angel Lodge all the way down, almost to Hermits Rest.  From then on, we stuck to the shuttle bus, which follows the same trail along the South Rim.

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Near Yavapai Point

So, after that first morning I realized that the best times for photos are sunrise and sunset.  It’s hard to describe the changes that take place in such a small window.  The colors are changing right before your eyes.  During the middle of the day, the views are still incredible, but the camera(or at least mine), doesn’t pick up the amount of colors that you see during sunrise/sunset.

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Yaki Point Eastward

After walking and hiking for most of the day, we decided to hang out at Yaki Point for our second sunset.  We chose this location because it looked like the point that reached the farthest out into the canyon.  So when you are out on the tip of the point, you can look East and West all along the South Rim.

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Yaki Point Westward

Initially, I thought(because I’m a newb) that once the final shadows reach the top of the canyon, the changing colors would be over and it would be time to go.  This was actually the best time, as everything started to take on these purple colors and this nice bluish glow came up just over the horizon. 

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Near Yavapai Point

The next day we set out East to see points beyond Yaki Point.  Personally, I liked this end of the Canyon better, because there were better views of the Colorado River winding through below.IMG_2371p

The color of the rock changes the farther East you go.  I think this is near Moran Point, which is a nice overlook off of Desert View Drive.

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Vishnu Temple

Honestly, you could sit at a single spot all day long and just keep looking and looking, and continuously see new things.  The canyon is so big though, that you want to keep moving to make sure you don’t miss anything.

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Near Lipan and Navajo Point

Visually, the GC plays tricks on your mind.  Most of the time we were there, I was thinking it was maybe 2-3 miles across, some places maybe 5.  Nope, some of the views are 40 miles across from the South Rim to the North Rim.  40 miles!

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Near Lipan and Navajo Point

My favorite spot was at the Indian Watchtower at Desert View.  It just so happens that this is the last place that we saw before we had to leave.  If I had to do it all over again, this is the spot I would want to check out at either sunrise or sunset.  You’ve got the river going North/South here and a great view East/West for the sunlight as it changes all of the colors on the rock.  I bet it’s nice.

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Indian Watchtower at Desert View

Better yet, if I had to do it all over again, we would be on a raft, on the river, and just meandering along, taking in all the views from the bottom of the canyon looking up.  Camping out at night on the riverbank under the stars.  Who knows, maybe some other time.

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Indian Watchtower at Desert View

Thanks for Reading!

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Apache Trail

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Jeff

The day after Ironman Arizona, we were looking for some very light physical activity.  Ann found the Apache Trail, which is only about 30 minutes outside of Tempe.  I don’t know how she finds these places but they’re awesome.  Lots of fun winding roads with spectacular views.  You can see miles of canyons, cactus plants, and other plants and wildlife.  Getting there is very easy from Tempe/Phoenix.  Go 60 East all the way to a left on S Idaho Rd, which becomes N Idaho Rd.  Drive past all the tourist trap stuff until you get to N Apache Trail.  Just follow N Apache Trail for as long as you like.

You will see Superstition Mountain as you enter the area.

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For me, coming from the East Coast, I thought the scenery was amazing.  The desert plants are so different from the fall leaves that I’m used to this time of year and there are so many different kinds.  You can see forever, and the air is as clear as it gets. I’m amazed at how many shades of green you can pick up in November.

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It’s really an exciting drive.  I was constantly looking around the next corner to see what cool landscape would be next.  Just when you think you’re in a vast desert you come around the corner and see the most spectacular lake with these amazing vertical cliffs jutting down into the water.

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Along the drive, there are numerous spots to pull off the road for viewing.  I think the rule of thumb here is if there’s no room to pull over, don’t.  Most of the road has no guard rails, but looks like one of the closed circuit driving loops like you see in the car commercials.  We saw an athlete out there cycling.  We would pass her in the car, then stop and takes pictures.  She would then pass us by on the bike.  We would then pass her again, and repeat the process 6-7 times.  I think she ended up beating us since we stopped in the town of Tortilla Flat for a bowl of chili and a glass of special brewed Superstition Beer(though secretly I think it was Coors light).  Only 6 people live there, so we thought we would stop and say hello.

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Eventually the pavements ends, and the dirt road begins.  I think this happens around Roosevelt Lake.  Since we were in the Hyundai rental car, we thought best to head back as our last off-road excursion in a similar sized car was dicey, and it was getting later in the afternoon.  Though just in time for a pretty good sunset as a few stray clouds rolled by.

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Next up is the coolest of all canyons!  Thanks for Reading.

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Ironman Arizona Race Report

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Jeff

Today is the day I am going to break 12 hours.  This is what I have believed since I set this goal and signed up 1 year ago. 

We wake up every race morning at 4a.m.  Pre-race night is just about the only time during the year where I actually get 8+ hours of sleep.  I feel well rested since I went to bed at 7p.m.  After a quick breakfast of peanut butter on a bagel, we are rolling out the door and on our way to the race start.  By 5 a.m. we are in the transition area.  I love race day just before the race.  Everything is electric, and everyone is so focused on the long day ahead.  We’re all nervous yet relaxed at the same time.  It’s almost time to let the day unfold…

I’ve said in the past that Ironman race day is lots of little problem solving events after another.  As things unfold throughout the day, you just have to make the best decision with the options that you have.  About 6:30 a.m I kissed my wife goodbye and then headed back to my bike to drop off some nutrition and water.  Then, as I was setting up my Garmin HR monitor, I realized that the watch was not picking up my HR from my HR strap.  I know, I know, most of you are saying big deal, but if you’ve been training with a HR monitor for the past 364 days, targeting a specific HR, you have an “Oh Crap” moment, as you quickly have to move to “PLAN B’”, since the race is starting in 20 minutes.  Quickly, I tried to run an initial set up on the watch so it would “find” the HR strap.  Problem is that it kept finding multiple HR straps because there are 2500+ athletes standing all around me.  I would venture to say that there is not a single athlete out there on race day without a HR monitor.  “Oh Crap” is all I could think.  18 minutes to start.  Time for me to forget about HR, I’m flying blind today…

The water is a very chilly 61 degrees.  I jump in and start making my way about 200 yards to the starting area under the bridge.  As I’m swimming over to the starting area I’m thinking to myself, “I can’t feel my jaw”.  My feet and hands are pretty numb too.  I laugh underwater as I paddle over to the start, remembering the words of encouragement from my wife, Ann.  “Just pee in your wetsuit.  That will keep you warm for the first 5 minutes…The terror will keep you warm for the rest.”  I wanted to get out fast on the swim, because the area is very, very, crowded and it’s easy to expend too much energy fighting the crowds.  So, I moved to about the 3rd row back, and far left, out by the 1st yellow buoy.  But then, more and more people keep arriving in the water and you get more and more cramped in there to where it’s more difficult treading water, because you don’t’ have the space.  About 2 minutes before the canon went off, someone got their arms tangled up in the quick release strap on my wetsuit, unlatching it a bit, and taking in a bit more of cold water.  I fastened it back with 1 minute to go, then someone else got tangled in it again.  This is going to be a problem I thought,  it’s way too crowded here.  I fastened the strap 1 more time, then made a hard bee-line left out to the very edge of the race field.  I was about 15 yards outside the first yellow buoy. 

 

Swim:

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Boom!!! The canon goes off!  Here we go!  I am actually doing Ironman Arizona.  The first 10 minutes was a really rough swim.  There were so many people, and I was probably in one of the better areas. I had my goggles knocked off from somebody’s elbow.  Then I caught another stray arm that about ripped off my Timex stopwatch(my PLAN B).  To say I swam my butt off would be an understatement.  Visibility below water was zero.  I kept sighting about every 30 seconds and kept heading generally toward the yellow buoys in the distance.  Things started to thin out by the time I got to the first turn, then everyone gets bunched up again.  I got to the turn around a looked as far ahead as I could.  I could see 4 buoys I think.  I just made a straight line towards the last buoy, and didn’t worry about the 1-3.  This took my path mostly outside the path of the other swimmers which was fine by me.  Then after what seemed like an eternity, I made the last left turn and sprinted towards the swim finish.  I kicked excessively hard for about 30 seconds because my feet were still numb and the blood was all in my arms.  Time to prepare for the next stage, the bike. 

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I got out of the water in 1:01:21, 4 minutes faster than Ironman Florida.  So I put that 4 minutes in the bank for later.  I headed off to Transition 1, quickly found my gear bag, ran in the tent, and dumped everything out on the ground.  I simplified things this time and just put on bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses.  Everything else that  I might need was velcro’d to the bike.  Transition 1 was 5:01, about 8 minutes faster than Ironman Florida.  So, now I’ve got 12 minutes in the bank.  I’ve got to find about 13 minutes more somewhere… 

Bike:

The bike route consists of a 3  x ~40 mile out and back type loop.  The first 10 miles are flat, and the next 10 are uphill, then 10 downhill, followed by 10 flat.  The hill is not severe, just very gradual.  The big unknown about this course is the wind.  On the first loop, on the first hill, my legs felt really fatigued.  I was a little worried, as I was only 20 miles into a 112 mile ride at this point.  Then I reached the top at the turnaround and realized I had been going into a steady headwind for 10 miles.  So at the turnaround, it was like letting out the spinnaker on sailboat.  the wind just carried me.  I was changing to a bigger and bigger gear going downhill.  It was effortless.  I was spinning out at 37mph.  Then the terrain flattened out and so did my speed.  I made my way back into town to the turnaround to start lap number 2.  The crowds at the turnaround were tremendous.  They were in the thousands.  I was so AMP’d, that it was really hard not to push things as hard as I could.  I still had no HR reading, so I was going 100% by “feel”.  So the next 2 laps, that is exactly what I did.  I just rode and tried to focus my efforts to be the same “feel” as my training.  Halfway through my 2nd lap I approached the special needs station.  I didn’t even get off my bike.  I stopped right in front of the box with my bag, grabbed some nutrition and then shoved off again.  Next was another aid station to get more fluid.  I had seen several people in front of me bungle this before, so I didn’t want to drop anything.  As I approached the station, I slowed only slightly, then pointed directly and a volunteer that was holding “Ironman Perform” drink, so they would know I was going to them.  I reached forward, grabbed the bottle while pulling the bottle in, like a football.  Didn’t spill a drop.  I did the same for another bottle of water.  The wind on the 2nd and 3rd lap was different each time. It seemed that most of the time I was dealing with a cross wind from different directions.  It was constant and not gusty.  I had to lean in ever so slightly to one side to keep the wind from pushing me sideways.  Each Lap needed to be just under 2hrs for me to have a good chance of being under 12 hours at the end.  I split 1:57, 1:59, and 1:56, for total bike split of 5:52.  Sweet!!! A full 17 minutes faster than my Ironman Florida bike split.  This is the point in the race where I knew I was going to be under 12 hours.  I have a full 29 minutes in the bank to put me 4 minutes under 12 hours.

Bike

Transition 2, was a blur.  I was in and out in 2:33 and don’t really remember anything.  I must have managed to take off my helmet and put on my running shoes, because all of a sudden I’m running out of the changing tent to tackle a marathon.

Run:

This is also the point in the race, where things get tough.  I had 2 choices. 1 – I could just run the marathon nice and easy and come in just under 12 hours and be happy, but not really push myself.  After all, I would still be reaching my main goal of 12 hours, which is still a personal best.  Or 2 – I could find out how much gas is in the tank.  How fast can I go today, I thought.  Today I choose #2(and I hope I always do). 

This entire day I’ve been going without a HR monitor, just going by feel.  It’s no secret, the marathon portion of an Ironman doesn’t feel good to anyone.  This is where you really have to face your demons.  As I started out, I felt great.  Way better than I should.  I started out at 8:30 pace, then thought better of it and slowed down a bit for the first 8 miles.  I was holding on to a 8:44 for about 5 miles, then as the miles went by, I got just a little bit slower.  Somehow I saw my wife about mile 6 among thousands of people cheering.  I was so happy to see her at this point. I waved and put on my best smile so she wouldn’t worry.  One might say that I was even a little emotional at this point behind my sunglasses.  I still think it was the numerous hot dog vendors in the area, probably slicing onions somewhere.

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There’s something about the middle third of the marathon in an Ironman.  It’s like you’re in the land of the damned.  You’ve come so far, but you still have 18 miles to go.  It’s an eternity and anything can happen.  I run on.  Then I start to have those thoughts in the back of my head. Hey man, you know you’re going to break 12 hours, no need to push so hard. Why not just slow down and walk for a bit.  I’m not a professional athlete, and I’m not racing for a Kona slot. I don’t race to put food on the table, and nobody is depending on me to have a good race.  I’m just one of several thousand age groupers.  In the end, nobody would really fault you if you slowed down a bit and took it easy. They would all understand.  It’s a long day…But, I’m stubborn.  I hold on and run.

This conversation was going on in my head for what seemed like hours.  Then, as I was running up a hill on the backside of my 2nd 8 mile loop, I saw an athlete running her first lap.  She was running on a prosthetic leg from the knee down.  When I see someone like that, I am always amazed and inspired.  Not because of the physical challenge they are enduring, but because the courage they must have to even attempt it(dammit who’s slicing onions again).

Around mile 17-18(I think), the path leaves the lake area and heads under a bridge where they have a wall of speakers with the music cranked up so loud.  I can hardly see as I go from the light of the sunset to the dark shadows underneath with my sunglasses still on.  It’s loud under the bridge as the music is echoing off the concrete.  It sounds like I’m at a Green Day concert and they’re playing Holiday.  I can’t hear the volunteers, or anyone else.  I can’t even hear the negative voices in my head.  All I hear is the pounding music against my ribcage.  The feeling is awesome!  As I leave the bridge I am renewed with fight.  I pick up the pace.  I think I am going to be under 11:30!  About 7 more miles to go.  I pick up the pace and hold on.

By mile 22 I am running a pretty good pace still and feeling very nauseous.  I think I may vomit.  As I pass by an aid station I hesitantly decide to forgo anymore calories or fluid.  I just pass on through.  The feeling goes away…eventually. 

Just before mile 24, I hear an athlete yell to one of his friends that he may break 11:20. He surges, but his friends stay behind.  I stay right on his heals, then he starts to falter.   I said come on man, stay on my heels, we can do this!  At that, I took off looking like Forest Gump with his leg braces still on.  For the next 2 miles I ran as hard as I could(Probably only 7:50 pace). My quads are cramping one minute, my calves the next.  I am depleted.  I have nothing left in the tank, and no matches left to burn, only the now pounding voice saying HANG ON! 

As I approach the finish line area, the crowds get larger and larger, and the music gets louder and louder. Finally I turn the corner and see Mike Reilly with the microphone. I look up and see 11:17.  I slow down for the final 50 yards or so to take it all in.  I give out as many high fives and fist bumps as I can reach.  It’s exhilarating.  I cross the line in 11:17:47, a full hour+ better than my previous best.

Finish

Today was a great experience that I’ll always remember.  I can’t help but wonder….If I can break 12 hours, what about…?

 

As for tomorrow…..Roadtrip!!!

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Thanks for Reading!

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Ironman Arizona Race Week

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Jeff

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I can’t believe this week is finally here.  I have been looking forward to this week for an entire year.  It’s time to go to the A-to-the-Rizona.  This Sunday is Ironman Arizona, in Tempe..

Thanks for stopping by. As most of you know, I really love to compete in triathlons.  I don’t really know what it is about it that just grabs me.  I remember the first time I saw the Ironman championships in Hawaii on TV. I saw this guy competing with his son who has cerebral palsy.  During the Ironman, the father pulls the son in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run. All 140.6 miles like that…Are you kidding me!

 

It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, and I new I wanted to be a part of it.  So, 13 years later, here I am looking forward and grateful to be starting my 3rd Ironman Triathlon.  Every time I compete in a distance race like this I see someone out there racing with a disability that is hard for me to fathom.  It’s amazing what some folks can endure.

If you’re new here, and don’t really know what an Ironman is: 
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a marathon (26.2 mile run), raced in that order and without a break. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight.

My race/bib number is 1515. Ironman Arizona starts Sunday 11/20 at 7a.m._MST. If you’re interested, go to http://ironman.com/  .  You’ll see a link for "Live Race Coverage" for Ironman Arizona.  You can track me via bib# 1515 to see how I’m doing, or watch the live video feed of the race.  The swim should take me about 1 hour, and the bike should take me about 6 hours.  The run just takes as long as it takes.  I never really hang my hat on a specific time.  My main goal is always to finish before the midnight cutoff, and I will walk/crawl if I have to. But my main goal is to finish in under 12 hours(I even have some skin in the game to make sure I don’t get complacent).  

People often make the assumption that training for an Ironman is the most excruciating thing you could ever go through, and that it just seems like torture. Not me…I LOVE IT!  It is tough, but crossing the finish line is something you will never forget as you can see in the video above.  I love the intense competition, and I love the challenge of trying something that you’re not sure you can do….until you do it. So don’t feel sorry for my poor tortured soul. I’m out there enjoying the moment and doing what makes my soul smile. You sign up 1 year in advance because the slots fill up wicked fast in about 45 minutes, which is ok because it takes about 1 year to get ready. Once you get entered in a race, really the biggest challenge is making it to the starting line in shape and ready to go.

Since signing up 1year ago, I’ve logged the following distances.

    * Swim Totals: 180,862 yards(102+ miles) 
    * Bike Totals: 3649 miles
    * Run Totals: 928 miles

When you add up all the mileage, there are just an infinite amount of things that can go wrong along the way.  It’s the adversity you deal with during training that keeps you going on Race Day.  By the time Race Day rolls around, you’ve likely wrecked your bike or just barely avoided it, been chased by a dog that was faster than you on a bike, or got bit by a dog, or just fallen in a hole while running and not paying attention. I’ve been caught in a hail storm while on the bike with nowhere to hide, chased by a rabid raccoon on the bike(sorry, no pic), and seen some incredibly large wild turkeys while out on the back roads.  These are also some of the funniest moments after the fact, and all you can do is laugh.  Life is too short to not get outside and get dirty.

Enough rambling from me, it’s go time…Check back late next week and I should have all the details from what is sure to be an interesting week.

Thanks for Reading!

 

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Am I Supposed to be Tapering now?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Jeff

This weekend can only be described as a Blur.  The tough thing about training for an Ironman isn’t necessarily the training, it’s fitting the training in with the rest of the commitments that you have in your life.  Try as I might, I can only be in one place at a time.  I’m supposed to be tapering for the next 2 weeks, but I also have other things that I just need to get done before #IMAZ because the weather starts to get too cold in December.

Friday:

I Left work about 5:30PM and raced over to the gym to get in a 3000yd swim workout and 30min FMS Core body workout.  It was supposed to be 4000yd swim, but I had to skim a little here and there throughout the weekend.

Saturday:

Today, we’re going to need to start with a cup of coffee of good intentions.  Add some great weather to the mix and lets get it on!

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Today called for 2hours on the bike followed by a 1hour run.  I headed off to the gyim to knock out a 2hr trainer ride, followed by a 1hr run on the treadmill.  It was a bummer for sure, since the weather was just perfect.  I would have loved to have been able to do the entire workout outside, but this was not the weekend. On the way into the gym I passed the outdoor pool….So sad! It’s closed for the year and seems to be saying “nobody wants to play with me”.

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After, I left the gym I drove home, grabbed a duffle bag, and got back on the road and head towards the coast, 2.5 hours away.  I met Ann down there, who came down 3-4 hours earlier to get started with the tractor, filling in dirt from Hurricane Irene’s mess.  By the time I got down there, Ann had already unloaded about 15-20 loads of dirt/rocks with the tractor.  She is like the energizer bunny.  I was there to spread it all out with a rake/shovel/hoe.

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So we did this routine until the sun went down.  It was pretty cold and the wind was blowing off the water at about 20-30 miles an hour.  Like I said, better to take care of this now, than in December or January.  It’s only going to get colder. 

Sunday:

Sunday, we started with the same routine for about 3 hours.  Just spreading dirt and rocks with a rake/shovel/hoe.  This stuff really just kicks your butt.  Raking heavy wet dirt and rocks, was like one long 3 hour ab workout….I needed to leave by 10am so I could get back to Raleigh(2.5 hr drive) so I could get in another longinsh workout.  I left around a 11a.m., but took a 2nd to admire the new coat of paint we put on the porch about 1 month ago.

This is the before/after:

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So around 11am, I left the coast and headed back to Raleigh.  2.5 hours later, I was back at home, to pack up the bike and all my gear.  Today was also the day I was supposed to drop off my bike at Inside Out Sports, since they are driving the big truck out to #IMAZ.  I thought the drop off time was 6pm, but called ahead and found out it was actually 5pm….Crap, there goes my last outdoor ride before #IMAZ.  I was hoping to get in a good 60 mile ride and 1 hour run and then drop it off and IOS.  “Plan B” was to drop off the bike and then just head to the gym to do the whole thing on the trainer/treadmill. 

So, it was kind of sad actually dropping off “Blue” at IOS.  Blue has been rock solid for the last 2 years and has never let me down or left me stranded.

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You’re my boy Blue!! The next time I see Blue will be in 2 weeks!  That seems like an eternity.  That’s ok, we’re going to spiff things up and get some new dancin’ shoes for the race.  2 weeks and counting!

Thanks for Reading!

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Peak Training Week

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Jeff

This week was my biggest week in terms of training volume before I start the taper process for Ironman Arizona.  I thought I would share my last week for those that are interested in what this looks like.  Keep in mind, I do not put in this kind of volume year-round, but rather go through a periodization process where I gradually build for a couple weeks, then ease back for a week, and then build further.

Monday:

  • Bike(Trainer) 30 miles at HR 130 bpm
  • Run 3.25 miles at Hr 149 bpm
  • Sauna(Dry) 10 min 160F

Tuesday:

  • Bike(Trainer) 20 miles at HR 130 bpm
  • Run 6.25 miles at HR 135 bpm
  • Sauna(Dry) 20 min 160F

Wednesday:

  • Swim 400 yd drills, 3800 yd at IM pace, 400 yd cool down
  • Bike(Trainer) 17 miles at HR 134 bpm

This was actually the last day that the pool would be open, though they turned the heat off the day before.  Brrrr….The water was about 60-65F.  Not too bad after you get used to it, but quite a surprise when you jump in expecting 80F !

Pool

Thursday:

  • Swim 200 yd drills, 5 x 500yd all pull, 400 yd cool down
  • Bike(Trainer) 20 miles at HR 130

Friday:

  • Swim 1500 yd Time Trial
  • Run 4.5 miles at HR 130 bpm
  • Sauna(Dry) 30 min 160F

Saturday:

  • Run 21 miles at HR 137bpm.  3:21:43
    • This run was at Umstead State Park.  This really kicked my butt the last 5-6 miles.  I was happy that I was able to hold 9:32 pace. 30lbs of ice later to get the water down to 52F, and I was feeling much better.

Umsteadice 

 

Sunday:

Time to saddle up for a really long ride!

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  • Bike 115 miles (I think my coach is trying to kill me). My average HR was only 130, but after the initial 40-50 miles, I tried to keep it at 135, which was really tough for me.  The fatigue from yesterday’s 21 mile run was really rearing its ugly head.

The cool thing is that it is October here in NC, and that means it is fall, and the temperatures are really perfect for being outside all day.  The leaves are changing colors(the pic is not as good as real life). It’s especially cool to see the colors in the morning when the sun is just coming up.

Leaves

  • Run 45 min at HR 145 – 159.  Wow, after 6 hrs on the bike, this about broke me.  So for 45 min, to get my HR up over 149, I pushed a 7:54 pace.  Mentally I was spent, and thought I might even puke at this stage.  I kept having tell myself to pick it back up and focus to get get my HR back up over 149bpm.  Every couple of minutes, I would drift back and my mind was out in La-La land. 

Finally, I was done, and really glad I pushed through it. So, for the week this put me at 19hrs 53min of training.  Some of the workouts during the week were supposed to be a little bit longer, but I had to cut a couple short due to other commitments.  But that’s just the way life is and you can worry about it.   There’s really no need for me to train for longer than 20 hrs a week.  Its that fine line between too much training where injuries and burnout occur.  Today I got really close.

The next few weeks will be decreasingly long as I go through the taper process….Awesome!!  After a hard year of building and training for Ironman Arizona, it’s time to put this Jumbo Jet down for an easy landing.

Taper

Thanks for Reading!

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Ironman 70.3 Augusta Race Report and PR

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Jeff

The alarm went off at 4:00a.m.  My first thought was, "I feel rested…I wonder how fast I can race today?" My second thought was, "I should eat a bagel with peanut butter".  All of our bags were packed so we pretty much just loaded up the car and checked out of the PI. This was only 3-4 miles away from race site, but I would still recommend just staying downtown at the host hotel if you do this race next year. 

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Anyway, 5:00 AM now…the car is parked and we are on the first athlete bus to take us to the transition area(1.2 miles away) to set up gear in T1. This is a point to point swim, so the logistics are a bit different. We arrived in transition a couple of minutes later, quickly got body marked, and just took some time setting up.  It was at this point that I realized that I only had my bike shoes and my running shoes(on my feet).  Normally this is fine, but I had to leave my running shoes in the transition area, and then get back to the swim start 1.2 miles away. Not a huge deal, but I noted that I did have to get back on a crowded bus(potential to get toes stepped on), cross some parking lots and railroad tracks, and visit the port-o-potties…all barefoot and in the dark.  Lesson learned – Bring flip flops next time.

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Finally, it was 7:30 and time for the Pro’s to start.  It was about this time that I ran into Hassan from my hometown of Matthews, NC, whom I met earlier this year at the White Lake Half. Hassan told me about this race and suggested it, and here we were.  So if you’re reading this Hassan, you were right.  This race was great! 

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I was in wave 9, starting at 8:04.  The only downside about the entire race for me was that you could not warm up in the water.  You have a narrow catwalk down to the docks, where everyone starts.  So the wave in front of you starts, and then you start 4 min later.  At 8:01 I jumped in and tried to warm up as best as I could for a couple of minutes. My plan was to stay wide and out into the middle of the river away from other swimmers.  Most folks seem to want to draft as much as possible by chasing bubbles from the kicking feet. I would rather stay in my own bubble of things that I can control, and swim a straight line, with a long, even, relaxed stroke.

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* Note: All references to Time, Speed, Pace, are totally relative.  A fast pace for me is likely slow for other athletes. And a slow pace for me is likely to be fast for other athletes.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s improvement and progress that matters.

Swim:
This was my fastest swim ever! I swam 23:13. As soon as the horn went off, I sprinted for about 200yds, and never looked back.  I only had a couple people off my right side, and only the buoys on my left.  I felt great.  Before long I started to catch the wave in front of me that went off 4 minutes earlier.  Then at the very end I caught a couple of folks from 2 waves ahead.  I never made contact with a soul the entire swim. Sighting was dead on straight.  As I exited the water, I smiled as I saw my time.  13th in my AG.  This was a couple of minutes faster because of the current. 26-27min would have been more likely without the current. My fastest 1.2 mile swim.

T1:Swim-To-Bike was a longish run, though the wetsuit strippers flipped me out of my wetsuit in about 1 second.  T1: 4:04.

Bike:
The bad thing about a fast swim is that you have a torrent of 3000+ cyclists about to unleash hell on you.  But today I felt good.  My HR was way high because my heart was still pumping blood to the open capillaries in my arms, and not to the closed capillaries in my legs.  I really had to ease back on my bike effort for the first 15-20 minutes, to let my HR come back down and get my legs pumping.  It seemed really humid so I started drinking lots of water, and started my EFS liquid shots, and Endurolytes every 15 minutes.  For longer IM training I’ve been trying to keep my HR at 135 bpm. Today, for 56 miles, I decided(about 2 miles into the race) to race at 145bpm, and just see what happens.  The road surface was mostly average to above average.  The course itself was awesome though.  There were quite a number of good rolling hills and winding turns.  I decided to just take it easy on anything that required the small chain ring (only of couple of these), but on the downhill’s, I wanted to bomb down them as fast as possible.  I had so much fun on the bike course.

Bike

At mile 20, I was just over 1hr, and at mile 40, I was just over 2hours.  I don’t typically track my average speed during a race because it will make me try to hit a number despite what the weather and terrain are like.  Usually I average about 18-19mph on my long rides.  At 40 miles into the bike, I felt good and started thinking today could be a PR day.  So for the last 16 miles I kicked it up a notch to finish strong with a 2:46:01 (20.24 mph pace). At the time, I was having trouble doing the math in my head, but I was sure I had just PR’d on the bike. 2 for 2, so far so good. 122 in my AG.

T2:Bike-To-Run was a fairly quick transition. I just racked my bike, put on some running shoes, and grabbed my hat and EFS shots. T2: 1:45.

Run:
The entire run course is in a historic district in the downtown area along the river.  The course is extremely spectator friendly, and I was happy to see all of the support.  As soon as I started running I thought, just go hard, it’s only 13.1 miles.  It’s crazy how your perception of things change.  I was thinking how I just ran 18 miles after work one night, 2 weeks ago.  So I tried to keep my HR at 149 or slightly lower, which put me at about 9:15 pace for a while.  About 15 minutes into the run the temperatures really heated up into the low 90’s with some pretty good humidity.  At this point I started to see folks having issues with cramping and trying to cool down.  So I played it cool and just maintained my same pace until somewhere between mile 8 and 9.  At this point I made conscious decision to enjoy the pain and go all out for the last 4.5 miles.  What is there to lose?…I may just finish the whole thing strong and PR. It was going to be close.  My overall pace was coming down, and my HR was going up.

Run

Overall I felt good, so I just kept pushing a harder and harder pace, and before I knew it, I was coming around the corner to the finish line chute.  Run 1:57:06. 75 in my AG.

Finish

My overall time was 5:12:09, and I was so happy to have set a new PR. It has been nearly 10 years since I went 5:20:00 at a 70.3 distance. Overall Rank 383 out of some 3000+ athletes…I’ll take it!  Today was a big confidence boost with just less than 2 months to go before IMAZ.  I’m on track and looking forward to the days ahead.

Thanks for reading!

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Tour De Moore Century

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Jeff

With all of the recent hurricane and tropical storm activity, I was really looking forward to the Tour De Moore Century this Labor Day.  There was another tropical storm making its way towards NC, but I really didn’t care.  I just wanted to get back out on the road and do some hard work on the bike.  I rolled out of Raleigh at about 5:30 AM towards Southern Pines.  30 minutes down the road I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses, which would be a problem since I wear contact lenses.  Luckily, I found a 24hr BP gas station and bought some stylish specs for $8.

As far as cycling goes, Southern Pines is a great place to bike.  There are lots of great horse farms for scenery, and very little vehicle traffic.  Oh, and this course will work you pretty hard.  This is a course of constant rollers.  Nothing too long, but long enough that you can’t just power over it either.  Just guessing, but there are probably about 30-40 rollers that keep you honest.

Here’s quick video that I took on my Go Pro as everyone raced out of town. 

 

Compared to last year, I road almost exactly the same:

9/5/10
Distance 102.28
Time:5:53:04
Speed: 17.4
Avg HR 137

TDM2010

 

9/5/11
Distance 102.64
Time: 5:56:06
Speed 17.3mph
Avg HR: 145

TDM2011

My HR was a little higher this year, but I think that has more to do with the humidity being above 90%.  The ride kicked my butt equally both years.  I think the 3 min time difference oddly may have been due to still having mud caked in my bike cleats from the previous weeks lightning/hail storm.  The 2 times I stopped to refill water, I just could not get my cleats back on the pedals for a minute or two…Oh well, live and learn.

These rides are great for Ironman training.  You’ve got lots of time to practice your nutrition, and there’s SAG support and rest stops just in case you need anything extra. 

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Cleaning Up Irene’s Mess

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Jeff

As I alluded to previously, we had to figure out a way to get 2 mangled boat lifts out of the water.  The weather was nice that day, but the water was still pretty choppy, making the process much more difficult.

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Throughout the clean up process, I’ve come to believe that bigger is better.  Ex: Get the biggest chainsaw you can find.  Or, if it’s too big to cut up with a chainsaw, just drag it with the truck.  For the boat ramp we could have really used a tractor or front-end-loader, or something similar.  That way we could just drag the whole thing out from the muddy water and disassemble on dry land.  Unfortunately, all we had was a cheap ratchet set, lots of rope, and a sledgehammer(just in case). 

Other than that we worked from Sun Up to Sun down for 3 days….and then some in the dark too.

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The straw debris is much thicker than it looks in the picture.  It’s about 12 inches deep, about the thickness of a pencil, and still kind of water logged, so your standard garden rake won’t cut it.  We ended up renting a tractor with a big bucket on the end of it.  Next time(and there’s always a next time), we’ll try and get a bucket that clamps down.  Anyway, we ended up filling up the trailer with this stuff about 30 times to be hauled off and eventually burned.

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We still have a lot to do, but we got the bulk of it cleaned up without too many snags.  It’s like they say, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Thanks for reading!

–Jeff

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