Track Racing Report 2014

Wow. How did I let this one slip? I wrote this in October 2014 and, well... I have no excuse. OK, I have a long list but none of them are really worth it. So here it is...

Well, another race season has come and gone. And what do I have to show for it? Maybe a cat-4 upgrade? Not quite, but more on that later. 

To officially race at the Marymoor Velodrome you must jump through a few hoops-

1. Take one of their Adult Track Classes. These happen on various Saturdays and Sundays throughout the Spring/Summer. I took mine on June 21, 2014. It lasts 4 hours and give you a great introduction to the track, track safety, and basic race tactics. Bike rentals available just bring a helmet (and your own bike shoes/pedals, if you have them).
2. Safely compete at least 3 "Cat-5 races" on Thursday nights during the Spring/Summer.
3. After you have been cleared by the Thursday night racing officials, you can go to Monday Night racing, where the Cat 4 men duke it out.

At least that's what I've heard: I didn't make it to step #3 but I'm getting ahead of myself...

As described previously, I've been having a blast on Monday lunch breaks doing track workouts.

A sunny October day at the track: you better believe I put in a few laps!

I did quite a few practice runs before my personal schedule lined up with a Saturday track class. It showed me quite a few things I didn't know, like how to get on your bike and start pedaling without hanging onto a rail. No, I'm not kidding. Have you ever tried to start-off from a dead stop, with no assistance, with clip-less pedals and 48/15 fixed gearing? That one took a while to learn. 

Just under 2 weeks later I made it to my first of three required cat-5 sessions. My son made a video of my first ever time trial (1-lap 400m TT from a standing start).

Not my best attempt but it was enough to get me seeded in the racing for the night. More importantly, I didn't crash and I stayed below the red line for the entire lap. 

After that we did a 5-lap scratch race, a 3x4 points race, and an unknown distance race. 

Sitting on the rail waiting to start my first scratch race. That's me, second from the rear.

Lap times in training vs. in a race (i.e. drafting)

Riding in a pack is a LOT different than alone on a wide-open 400m track. How different?

• Best 400m lap time by myself: 39 seconds
• Best 400m lap time in a pace line: 35 seconds

That doesn't look like much but consider this: that's an 11% improvement. The main reason is wind resistance while riding in a pack but the dynamics of pack riding also come into play. I know that the best way to run faster/farther is to find a running partner even if we only run side-by-side for the duration of the race, as I did in the 2010 Issaquah Triathlon.

The dynamics of pack riding are also something I seem to struggle with, especially the accordion action of entering/exiting a turn. I'm sure this will ease as I get more experience but for now it can be unnerving. 

Second race night (i.e. I've got nothing)

After my first race night I was very excited for my second of three required cat-5 races. The night of the race something just felt "off" and I couldn't get moving as fast as I had before. After every race I would hang my head and pant like I had just run sprints. 

It wasn't until later that night that I figured out the problem: I had a booster shot for T-DAP vaccine that morning and was having a mild reaction. Note to self: do not race within 12 hours of having a shot of any kind. It REALLY slowed me down. The other racers dropped me like 3rd period French, to coin a phrase.

Injury report

While coming home on my commute one night (July 2014) something didn't feel right. I got up the next morning with a familiar pain pattern. After a quick trip to the see the doctor yes, I had another hernia. Surgery ended my season before it really got started. As with 2013 this one had the same story: no riding for nearly 2 months. Ugg. 

Just over 2 months later I rode my bike to work for the first time and, as expected, it took me a LONG time to ride to/from work. This winter is going to be a little rough. There is also this sleep issue I'm still dealing with (as in lack-of-it) which totally zaps my energy and motivation. 

What about next year? I'm thinking track racing (at least an upgrade to cat-4), RAMROD, and Cycle Oregon. And maybe a triathlon. Only time will tell... }B^)

2013.1 Year In Review

"But Lee? 2013 isn't over yet? How can you be doing a 'Year in Review' post in August?"

I had a bit of a slow start to 2013.1. Here are my stats as of Aug. 5th-

Biking info (2012 and 2011 results in parenthesis to compare)

Number of rides: 34 (down from 74 and 125)

Miles biked: 320.18 (down from 734.32 and 1690.30)

Elevation gained: 22,050' (down from 45,902' and 108,485')

Total Saddle Time:  28:21:27 (hh:mm:ss) (down from 57:54:19 and 138:08:35)

Run info (2012 and 2011 results in parenthesis to compare)

Number of runs: 2 (down from 17 and 24)

Miles: 6.33 (down from 58.34 and 91.91)

Elevation gained: 164 (down from 3,574 and 8,274')

Total Run Time: 1:11:00 (hh:mm:ss) (down from 10:11:19 and 17:31:48)

Starting weight: 299.6

Ending weight: 306.0 (net change: +6.4 pounds)

Races/Events finished:

None.

Overview:

Is that pitiful or what? That's what I thought, too. Reflecting back my problems started somewhere about September, 2011, not long after I finished the beautiful ride of Cycle Oregon 2011. When I came home from that ride I weighed about 260 lbs. and felt pretty good. Over the next couple of months I was hit by the usual cold/flus/bugs that my kids dutifully bring home from school, which really knocked me down. I mentioned it in my 2011 and 2012 year reviews as well: I considered them bad years but I was getting progressively worse each year, not better.

I noticed my sleep was terrible: I would routinely wake up in the morning more tired that when I went to bed. Sleeping in until 8 or even 9 am become routine, which left very little time for exercise, let alone bike commuting. 

The last straw was my weight, breaking 300 lbs right at the beginning of the year.

Something had to give. 

The first thing I did was schedule some time with my family doctor. I gave him my sob story and he ordered up a round of tests, which I was pretty sure I knew the results before I would see them (negative for diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure). What I didn't expect was the diagnosis of hypothyroid and possible sleep apnea. The Doc started me off on thyroid replacement hormone (with follow-up appointments to check hormone levels) and a referral for a sleep study. 

Before I could get in for the sleep study, though, I had yet another set back. I woke up one morning fully prepared to ride into work. I was all dressed for it, bag packed, and ready to go but my body was telling me to stop: something just wasn't right but I couldn't put my finger on it. The next day I woke up with significant pain in some rather tender areas. Since I had had no recent trauma or injuries I went in to see The Doc again. After explaining my symptoms, The Doc calmly said, "Sounds like you have a hernia." After failing the "turn your head and cough" test (every man will know what I'm talking about) the diagnosis was official (Follow that link only if you want the gory details of exactly what went wrong. You have been warned!).

Prognosis: full recovery after required surgery. Recovery time of 4-6 weeks. The words of Bill Cosby were sooooo true, "They didn't tell me they were sewing my knee to my chest!" For almost a month I couldn't walk very fast, stand up fast, or ride my bike. Oh yeah, and I still wasn't sleeping well. I was in sad, sad shape.

My surgery was on May 17th, a Friday. The surgeon was Dr. Eiji Minami, an amazing surgical specialist at Overlake Medical Center, although my surgery was at Evergreen Surgical Center. Dr. Minami was one cool customer: The time from when they put me under to when I woke up in the recover room? Just under 60 minutes. The best part: no sutures/stitches! I am absolutely in love with surgical adhesives (i.e. they glued the incision closed). 

With that hurdle crossed it was back to the sleep study. I went on down to the Evergreen Sleep Disorders Center for my sleep study. After a false-start with a take-home sleep study (i.e. the WORST bloody nose I have had in my life) I went in for a full, in-house sleep study (i.e. not at my house). They connected 24 sensors and electrical leads to my scalp, face, throat, chest, back, side, and legs. I looked really weird. (like this is news)

Wired up and ready to sleepAll those sensors made it very difficult to sleep. I have to say it was the worst night's sleep I have ever had. 

Diagnosis: moderate sleep apnea (not severe but not mild either).

Prognosis: much better sleep with a CPAP machine, which I brought home on Aug. 5th. My first night was 2 nights ago and I have to say it did make a difference in how I felt in the morning. I have high hopes for the future.

How about my rides since my surgery? My first post-surgery bike commute was on June 28th and, wouldn't you know it, the road department went and made all the hills around here longer and steeper! 

I was really dreading that first commute. In the morning I was joined by my son Patrick for the commute in to work. He really likes to ride, even if it involves climbing a big hill to get to my office.

Patrick riding with me to workPatrick riding down "the hill", i.e. NE 42nd WayI was really dreading the first ride up Sahalee Way, even if it is the easier of the 3 options for coming home (lowest grade at 10% but 1 mile long). Fortunately I ran into a friend, Gustavo, who I have raced with twice and ridden numerous times. He offered to follow me home to make sure I actually arrived. That was music to my ears!

Gustavo riding home with me on my first post-surgery ride home.Just as I thought, Sahalee Way was a killer. I struggled up that hill like I have not done in quite some time. I'm sure there were many drivers dialing 9-1 and just holding their finger over that last 1 in case I didn't make it. And then at the top of the hill I found another surprise friend...

Gustavo and Varugis waiting for me at the top of Sahalee WayAnother friend from work, Varugis, a very dedicated bike commuter and fast hill climber, just happened to meet up with us. He took the "brutal" NE 42nd Way climb up the plateau and passed right in front of Gustavo. Thankfully we barely paused to say hello, otherwise I might have fallen over from shear exhaustion. They stayed with me until I passed their subdivision (they live in the same neighborhood).

Gustavo and Varugis splitting off to head homeI was sooooo thankful they were able to ride with me. There is something about shared-suffering that makes it a lot easier to bear. 

Since that day I have ridden to work 6 times, one of which was a long trip to Tacoma to meet up with my wife's parents. (report on that to come later)

And so, on August 6th I am declaring the start of a new year, which I am calling 2013.2. What does this mean? It means I am hitting the reset button and setting some new goals:

1. Ride more miles in 2013.2 than I did in all of 2012.
2. Do at least 1 Sprint Triathon.
3. Ride to the Company Meeting.
4. Do at least 1 "jog home" commute, where I jog the 8 miles home from my office.
5. Do at least on long ride, such as Tour de Blast (at the request of Gordon)

Lessons Learned

1. CPAP machines are awesome! Not terribly comfortable but mine does help me sleep.
2. My motivation is clearly tied to the quality of my sleep.
3. Go to The Doc earlier next time, without waiting 18 months and gaining 40 lbs.

Now to get started on jogging. This should be easy, right?

}B^)

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...

Reflections on 2011

"So long 2011, don't let the door hit ya in the rear on the way out..." - My Sister, as posted to FB.

I'll get this out of the way quickly: as far as triathlon is concerned, 2011 sucked. Even though I crashed in 2010 it was still better than 2011. This year I only finished 1 race. Ugg. What made up for that? CYCLE OREGON 2011. Read on if you dare...

Biking info

Number of rides: 125

Miles biked: 1690.30 (nearly 500 was on Cycle Oregon)

Elevation gained: 108,485'

Total Saddle Time: 138:08:35 (hh:mm:ss)

Run info

Number of runs: 24

Miles: 91.91

Elevation gained: 8,274'

Total Run Time: 17:31:48  (hh:mm:ss)

Starting weight: 284.4

Ending weight: 288.4 (net change: +4.0 pounds)

Races/Events finished:

Beaver Lake Triathlon (Sprint)

Tour de Blast

Cycle Oregon 2011 - "Going Coastal"

Overview: (see the race reports for details)

"Be a man! Take some Pepto Bismol and ________!" (Fill in the blank with every event I missed last year)

No more excuses. This year was lame. Next year will be better.

At the Beaver Lake Tri I learned that my bike training was terrible. I did PR on the swim but came no where close on my bike/run goals. 

On the Tour de Blast I learned that the best weather preparation in the world only works if you actually bring your bad weather clothing on the ride. I won't be making that mistake again. Otherwise it would have been an EPIC bad-weather ride.

Cycle Oregon 2011 once again proved that my bike training this year was poor but that is the only thing bad I have to say about that ride. It was amazing in almost every way. I am waiting with baited-breath for the 2012 kick-off Party where I will finally decide whether or not I'm going to kill myself to get there in 2012.

Lessons learned:

1. I need to find a new way to deal with illnesses and still train. More to come...
2. Focus earlier in the year on distance running and cardio volume.
3. 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.

2010 Mileage Report

Back in 2006 I took a statistics class at a local junior college as part of my transfer program to finally finish  my college degree. I needed to find a statistically interesting set of stats to study for my final class report. It took a while to decide but I remembered something weird. My wife learned a habit from her father: when you fill up with gas, always write down the information in a note pad for future reference. She records gas fill-ups, oil changes, brake and tire replacements, any service done on the car, etc. The information looks like this...

Car Mileage Recond 

It is a simple spreadsheet in a spiral notebook. The data fields are date, mileage, fuel cost, gallons purchased, and dollars spent. You will also notice the notation of an air filter replacement and tranmission fluid flush/fill.

Using this data I came up with a range of interesting statistics:

1. Miles per gallon
2. Average miles driven per day/month/year
3. Dollars spent per day on fuel
4. Miles/time between oil changes

Since I always buy gas from the same place (when possible) the data also show the historical price per gallon in a fairly accurate way (regular unleaded). One of these days I'll post on my blog the results of the study I did regarding the relationship between gas prices, my driving habits, and my fuel buying habits.

Since putting all this data into Excel is a bit arduous I do it about once a year. This time around I found it had been 3 years since my last update to my ever-growing spreadsheet. I did buy the car new 14 years ago! (1998 Subaru Legacy L wagon)

What did I find out this year?

1. Average miles driven per day: declined 3 years running to 19.71. This is the lowest level since 2003 (18.84) and a significant drop over 2007 (27.33).
2. Total miles per year: same decline as #1, following the same trend. The high in 2007 was 9974 while the low in 2010 was 7195.
3. Gallons purchased followed the same pattern as miles driven but the changes in dollars spent was amplified by the volitility of fuel prices. 2008 was a lower mileage year than 2007 but a spike in gas prices in 2008 raised total fuel purchased to $1416, a $91 increase over 2007, and $387 higher than 2010 ($1029).

Bike mileage -

• 2007-08: 1475, avg. 737 per year (missed about 300 miles before I purchased my first odometer)
• 2009: 1727 = 784 (old odometer) + 943 (garmin.com, includes 450 miles for 2009 Cycle Oregon)
• 2010: 950 miles

Conclusions:

1. I'm a major nerd. Anyone who knows me will confirm that fact.
2. Buying my bike in 2007 dramatically reduced the miles I drive per year. 2003 was the year after our twins were born so we didn't go very far that year (not much other than commuting, plus vacation and 1 month infant care leave, all spent at home).
3. As my bike commute miles stack up the miles driven in my car continue to decline.
4. Gas prices are fairly volitale but still below the high of a couple years ago ($4.35 on June 26, 2008)
5. My crash in August 2010 really put a dent in my annual biking mileage but not my car mileage.

The rest of this year should be even better than '09 as long as I stay injury free. I signed up for Cycle Oregon again this year, which should add another 500 miles, and I'm already above 200 miles for 2011 YTD. Maybe I can reach 2000 miles for the year?

Sorry Kris, I got nothin' on you...

Daily Mile Blog entry about Kris R, a guy I know from work.