2012 Year in Review

And you thought 2011 was bad? Straight to the stats... 

Biking info (2011 results in parenthesis to compare)

Number of rides: 74 (down from 125)

Miles biked: 734.32 (down from 1690.30)

Elevation gained: 45,902' (down from 108,485')

Total Saddle Time:  57:54:19 (hh:mm:ss) (down from 138:08:35)

Run info

Number of runs: 17 (down from 24)

Miles: 58.34 (down from 91.91)

Elevation gained: 3,574 (down from 8,274')

Total Run Time: 10:11:19 (hh:mm:ss) (down from 17:31:48)

Starting weight: 288.4

Ending weight: 299.6 (net change: +11.2 pounds)

Races/Events finished:

Issaquah Triathlon (Sprint)

Ocean Shores Sprint Triathlon (Sprint)

Federal Escape Triathlon (Olympic)

Overview: (see the race reports for details)

My own advice to myself from last year still rings true: "Be a man! Take some Pepto Bismol and ________!" (Fill in the blank with every event I missed last year)

Wow broken record time? Another quote from last year: "No more excuses. This year was lame. Next year will be better." I say that every year. How will this year be different, considering I am already way behind last year, which I said was a bad year?

Last year started out strong but ended poorly. My poor performance in the Federal Escape Olympic forced me to rethink everything. I spent most of August with family trips and other non-training activities to regroup. Then in early September I had a minor setback: I broke my toe just before going on a long ride into Seattle (more to come on that later). Breaking my toe (only a minor break) was just the wind up. When the pitch was actually delivered I struck out big time. That strike out was our back-to-school schedule, which I am still trying to figure out. 

In the last 3 months of 2012 I rode my bike a grand total of 10 times. No so impressive when you consider that in the same period in 2011 I did 33 and in 2010 I did 25. 

This year I'm starting out slow and just now beginning to see how to coordinate my ride/training schedule with all the personal appointments (i.e. pickups/drop-offs for the kids' classes, swim, sports, etc). The next few months will really tell the tail. It really scares me that I am less than 90 days from the Issaquah Tri (my traditional first race of the year) and my training is horrible. 

But I have an ace up my sleeve...

Patrick at the start of the Federal Escape Kids' Tri...Or rather a young man. My son decided that he wanted to do the FULL Issaquah Sprint Tri this year! I promised him that if he trained hard enough he could do it and, not only that, I would stay with him to make sure he finished the race. A sprint tri is a big jump up from the little kids races he has been doing. In 2012 he finished 3 such races and barely broke a sweat. So far this year he has significantly improved his swimming and can do 250 yards in the pool without stopping (a personal best for him). He has a long way to go but is well on his way. 

So what happened to the Grand Columbian? I decided top drop this race in July after the Federal Escape and good thing I did! The broken toe incident (ride report coming later) happened less than a week from when I would have been racing in my first half-iron distance race.

Did I do Cycle Oregon 2012? Short version: no, I didn't get off the wait list. My strategy of waiting until it sold out backfired. I was so far down the wait list that there was no chance of getting into the real ride. Too bad, since 2013 appears to be not nearly as exciting (i.e. I most likely will not do it).

Lessons learned:

1. Broken toes suck. Must join the "protect our toes" society.
2. I need to find a new way to deal with illnesses and still train. More to come...
3. Focus earlier in the year on distance running and cardio volume.
4. My best and more consistent results are still from bike commuting, which I try to do 3-5x per week during the spring/summer and early fall months.
5. Commuting home on foot on Fridays are a great way to get in an 8+ mile run once a week. That will start in April.

Rubber side down...

Hitting the Reset Button...

We used to call it the "3 finger salute" in my programming classes: when your code was so bad that you crashed your computer and had to hit ctrl-alt-delete and start over. 

Well, I'm doing it already for 2013. But I didn't crash this time...

The Federal Escape Olympic last year really rocked my world. I did so poorly that it forced me to reconsider my plans for the entire year and finally drop my race schedule completely.  

And then life happened. And it happened again... and again...

Even though it was 7 months ago I am just now adjusting to our "new" family schedule of school, sports, and other activities which has forced me to limit me to only 17 rides since last Labor Day. 

And so I am starting afresh with my goals. In the coming week I will post several new things and something. Expect to see...

• 2012 Year in review
• 2013 Ride/race schedule
• My weight loss progess in the right side bar (totally ripping off Fatty)
• Training with/during/despite Illnesses
• Bike commuting: When?
• Bike commuting: Rain, Rain, Go Away!
• The True cost of commuting
• Bike Thefts and Recovery (i.e. how to get your bike back WITHOUT getting shot)
• A new site layout and design

Sounds like a lot, eh? I actually have more than that in store. Even though I haven't updated my site since BEFORE Lance confessed to the big "O" my site is getting more hits than ever.

Triathlon is a great sport. I hope I can contribute even more to it.

And so on I merrily stagger... }B^)

2012 Race/Ride Calendar

Note: Race Calendar and Race Results pages are now live. Check them out!

There is never a derth of events to coordinate each year. My Tri goals for this year are quite simple-

1. Finish more than 1 race.
2. Finish a half-iron distance (70.3 or similar)

Here is how it is shaping up at this point-

June 2 - Issaquah Tri (Sprint)

June 23 - Pacific Crest Long Course Tri (Half-iron distance, ~70.3 miles)

July 28 - Federal Escape Olympic

Aug. 18 - Beaver Lake Tri

Sept. 15 - Grand Columbian Olympic (unless I do Cycle Oregon again)

Training: For this year I am going with the same training regimine that I didn't follow last year, although I meant to do so, the 20 week, run-focused, Olympic plan from beginnertriathlete.com. Once I complete that program in late May I intend to extend my cycling/running mileage but maintain my swimming. This will be a first for me, if I can pull it off. Schedules and illnesses always seem to throw me off course. We'll see how this pans out.

Rubber side down folks!

Spring Swim Anyone?

Pine Lake Swimming/Fishing docksIt's that time of year when those of us that are in training all-year yearn to leave the pool and venture out into the open water. In the Seattle area the time frame available for outdoor swimming is limited due to... any guesses? (Should be obvious) And while that rain is melting the glaciers and snow pack the lakes remain cold well into June. How cold? Are the lakes in any condition for swimming? I took my kids on a field expedition to a couple of local lakes to find out.

“Is the lake sick Dad? Why do we need to take it’s temperature?”

“Because I’m not jumping into water that’s under 55 degrees.”

 “Why would you want to jump into cold water?”

“That’s a very good question, son.”

The last time I experienced a cold water swim was the 2010 Issaquah Tri where the water temp was about 57F (see race report for full details). It was a weird experience where I could not get my arms working and ended up doing the breast stroke for 400m. U-G-L-Y.

King County is nice enough to provide detailed lake conditions on their website which includes water temperature as well as bacteria and algae levels. In other words: data heaven. (Nerds rejoice!) 

I used an Acu-Rite Wireless Digital Cooking and Barbeque Thermometer purchased from Woot.com a few years back. OK, so it's not exactly a scientific instrument. The last time I used it was to check the temperature on a pot roast. It may not be scientific but it does give a relatively accurate reading.

Thermometer Reading at Pine LakeAfter letting the sensor sink down as far as possible we waited. It refused to exactly straighten out thanks to the metal cable on the sensor which is typically wrapped tightly around the base. The temperature settled at 56F at a depth of about 2 feet.

To verify we took another reading close to the shore which would be slightly warmer due to the minimal depth. The ducks were very interested in our little sensor sitting in the water which delighted my kids. After heroicly fighting them off (with a camera flash as I took their pictures) we were able to read a temp of 57F, just as expected.

The short answer: the lake is almost ready for swimming! At least this lake is almost ready. Lake Sammamish, where I did most of my summer training last year, is another story completely. That lake is almost entirely glacier-fed and much colder. Snow melt holds the temp anywhere from 5-15 degrees colder than Pine Lake which is entirely rain-fed. According to the King County buoy site the temp today is 49F. I would say that makes it 8 degrees colder but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. In order to get a firm comparison I took the thermometer to Lake Sammamish and to do a similar test.

Thermometer reading at Idylwood ParkThe location of choice is Idylwood Park where the City of Redmond has setup a 100 yard buoy line during the summer months where their lifeguards can supervise. The City of Bellevue has a similar setup at Meydenbauer Beach Park. Idylwood is a favorite training area for local triathletes with its close proximity to Microsoft and other local tech companies in Redmond and Bellevue. It also has a dock that goes out into the water. This allows me to take a reading away from the shore similarly to what I did at Pine Lake.

The results: 52F. Brrrr!

I think I'll be waiting a bit before I don the wetsuit and swim a few lap s at Idylwood. Pine Lake and the other rain-fed lakes are just about ready for some limited open water swimming.

Conclusion: Almost, but not quite. With a few more warm days the temps should be tolerable with a full sleeve wet suit. If we get a warm day this week maybe I'll take a long lunch and try out Pine Lake.

Cross Training - Winter Edition

Cold Creek Trail, Snoqualmie Pass, WAThis past weekend I took "cross training" to the next level:  cross-country skiing!  The kids were at a birthday party all morning so I had some time to myself. With all the cold temps and rain/snow falling in the area a trip to the mountains seemed a better alternative to biking/riding.

I used to enjoy nordic skiing several years ago. As I drove up to the pass I kept having to go back further and further in my memory to find the last time I actually strapped on a pair of skis and hit the trails. Turns out it was 1996, a little further back than I anticipated, and it showed (more on that in a minute).

The drive up was uneventful except that the sun I was expecting turned out to be overcast skies. That turned to light snow flurries near the pass and moderate snowfall within a few hours.

The Nordic Center at Snoqualmie Pass is a great place to try out cross-country skiing. Within 10 minutes of arriving I was strapping on my rented skis and off on the beginner/training loops next the lodge. What a great place to "get my legs under me" and remember my technique. It took me close to an hour to be comfortable enough to venture out on the trails. As it turns out I should have spent that hour on the trail. The Cold Creek Trail (AKA USFS Road 9070), which starts just west of the Summit East lodge, is very much a "green" beginners trail or, as I'm sure the more experience skiers call it, a warm up trail. I could have easily gone straight to the trail and started there instead of the green loops.

Once I did make my way up there on the Cold Creek trail Self-portrait on the Cold Creek TrailI was greeted by wonderful views of Snoqualmie Pass and Keechelus Lake. The snow conditions were perfect for skate-style skiing and the temps were tolerable (20-25F). I was in seventh-heaven. The groomed trail made it so easy to move along even with my sloppy strides. The other people on the trail greeted me at every turn with smiles and a cheerful hello, expecially the long line of young kids out for a XC class.

...except for the fact that my lack of off-season training really started to show after the first 90 minutes. Looking at my GPS profile for the day the data doesn't lie: within just a few minutes on the flat course my heart rate was up above 170 BPM and stayed between 150-165 for most of the day. After only 2 miles on the trail it was obvious that I needed to turn around. The entire loop around Mt. Catherine is 15.5K/9.6 miles. I did need to be home by early afternoon so I turned around for an early return. Wow, am I glad I did. The last mile back to the lodge turned out to be the hardest/slowest time of the day. After only about 3 hours of actual skiing I was DONE. I was at the point where no amount of resting would allow me to continue for the day.

Recovery: Amazingly I was only moderately sore during day 1 and 2 of recovery. Here I am on day 3 and I'm ready to go back.

This was an incredible experience for me, reminding me of days long past when I would camp at Lake of the Woods in southern Oregon with my Boy Scout troop. The memories came flooding back time and time again: how we used to have races down the snow-covered trails, sword fights with our ski poles, and my all-time favorite, tree tackling! Tree tackling, you say? That's where you run up to a snow-laden tree, hopefully no more than 24" in diameter, and try to tackle it so that the snow falls off the tree all around you. Trust me, it's a hoot!

Anyway, now I'm trying to figure out a way to get back up to the mountain again this Friday/Saturday for a repeat performance. If I can only fit it in to my frenetic schedule... }B^)