UGLY, BUT NOT CANCEROUS

It turned over 100 degrees in Phoenix a few days ago, and the sun and heat reminded me that just a month ago I had this ugly non-cancerous growth removed from the back of my leg.  I've had numerous such items removed and biopsied for cancer in the last ten years.  So this short blog is my version of a public service announcement.

These skin conditions are mainly the result of too much unprotected sun in my youth.  I've had a few squamous cell carcinomas removed and hundreds of keratosis (pre-cancerous) frozen off or carved out.  As a result I've become very conscious of odd appearing skin conditions, which is why I had this growth removed.  The sun block I lavish on today will help me when I'm 100.  The sun block I didn't use when I was 20 is causing what I routinely deal with today.

In my 20's and 30's I trained and raced shirtless, as was the norm.  In the early years of triathlon you swam, biked, and ran in your speedo swim suit.  Even Ironman distances.  No matter modesty, it was not a spectator sport then.  To prepare your skin for racing in the sun, you trained in the sun.  Wearing a jersey would interfere with heat transfer.  It all seemed quite rational.  And you got this great tan as a side benefit.

If you look at the cover picture of my blog, you see me wearing what appears to be a white long sleeve t-shirt as I finished the 2011 Kona Ironman.  Actually, it is a wicking fabric with a SPF of 50, as are the shorts.  There are a few brands available, mine was Craft.  I trained with this outfit a few time in the Arizona sun and heat prior to using it for the first time in Hawaii.  I both biked and ran clad in this SPF 50 outfit.  I could pour water on it and put ice in pockets built into it to help keep my body temp as cool as the conditions would permit.  I only saw a few amateurs and one pro similarly clad.  As a fashion statement it has zero standing.  I did not have to apply sunblock except to my face and neck.  I had no sunburn after 10 hours in the Hawaii sun.

So, either protect yourself now or fund your health care expense account for future use.  And hope the growths you get are just ugly and not cancerous.

LEADMAN 125 EPIC MARQUEE, first TRI of 2013 season

Yesterday (4/14/13) I raced the Leadman 125, hosted by Lifetime Fitness.  Tempe Town Lake, Lifetime, and Red Rock Racing hosted a whole weekend series of races starting with the Collegiate Draft Legal Championships on Friday, the Collegiate non-drafting Championships on Saturday, and three triathlons run concurrently on Sunday (a Sprint, Olympic distance, and the 125K).  Amazingly, Red Rock and Lifetime pulled off a very excellent Tri Festival, especially challenging as it took place in an urban setting.

The 125K race is an attempt to host an equivalent to a half Ironman that doesn't leave you with as much of a post-race hangover.  Consequently it has a slightly longer swim (2.5K), longer bike (109.5K), and shorter run (13K) compared to a half Ironman.  The theory is that it's the run that leaves the most post-race hangover.  It takes about the same total time to complete.  Judging from how I feel this morning, the concept is sound.

Interestingly, there were more entrants in the 125 than each of the shorter races.  Perhaps due to its unique lengths.  There were even some 125 entrants that were first-time tri racers. That's nuts.

I won my 65-69 age group by a wide margin, but also would have won the 60-64 and 55-59 age groups.  When that happens, I know I had a good race overall.  No complaints, mate.   However, the following critique of my effort shows I was a little rusty and made some rookie mistakes.

I woke up early race morning to a flat on my racing wheels.  My race wheels are tubulars, lighter and less prone to "snake bite" flats (flats that leave two puncture marks caused by the pinch impact of the rim against the tube when hitting a hole or major road crack).   The bike course was changed two weeks before the race to a multiple (4) loop urban setting with lots of turns per 17 mile loop (fourteen 90 degree turns and three 180 degree turns per lap) with lots of road expansion joints.  Better for light weight tubulars.  I replaced the wheel set with my training clinchers and departed for the race site early so I could take advantage of the bike mechanics provided by Landis Cyclery to readjust the shifters to the replacement wheels.

The swim takes place in Tempe Town Lake, a short section of the Salt River with a dam on one end.  The 125 started at 7:00, the Olympic started at 8:00, the sprint at 9:00.  The water was about 70 degrees, so wetsuit legal.  YES!  The swim course was a water start, by waves,  and there was nothing to complain about except that by necessity the first half is straight into the rising sun.  Oh, and my time was about 5 minutes slower than I expected.  Checking after the race with athletes who had the new Garmin and wore them on the swim, it appeared the swim length was at least 1.7 miles versus the advertised 1.55 miles (2.5K).

The transition area is a decent jog from the stairs getting you out of the "lake".  They had wetsuit strippers to help you get your wetsuit off.  Fastest strip I ever had.  Thank you ONE Multisport volunteers.   In races longer than the Olympic distance I select comfort over speed in transition, so I take the time to put socks on, re-apply anti chaff cream, and re-apply sunscreen since I am prone to skin cancer from excess sun exposure in my youth.  This time I was trying the spray-on variety of sunscreen.    All good and dandy, but I had put my glasses on before I sprayed my face, so I had to take the glasses off and remove the sunscreen from the lenses.  Luckily I had a towel in my transition or my next best option was no glasses.

My major concession to new technology is the bike power meter.  I have an older SRM version on my race bike, and a new STAGES version (purchased from Airpark Bikes, a ONE Multisport team sponsor, with a good discount!) on my road bike.  Power is independent of wind or elevation change and is critical to helping you manage your effort on longer races.  I love my STAGES,  they cost significantly less than $1,000,  go get one!

The first bike loop would be without the Sprint and Olympic athletes on the course, so relatively less crowded.  However, the bike course looked like a plate of spaghetti with all the twists and turns, so my strategy was to work it pretty hard the first loop and be careful for loops 2,3, and 4.  I wanted to average about 200 watts.  I hit 210 on the first loop, 208 the second, 202 the third, under 200 the forth with an overall average of 203.  Obviously faded a bit.  Also lost two water bottles and my liquid fuel (GU) bottle from major bumps which catapulted them off my bike.  Luckily I had stashed some CLIFF Shot Blocks on my bike as backup.  Still, I was down 400 calories from my "nutrition" plan as I entered the bike-to-run transition due to the lost fuel.  On impulse, I stuck my salt capsule container into the back pocket on my race jersey.  It was warming up into the mid-80's and I had been taking 2 salt capsules per hour per plan.

The bike-to-run transition was decent.

The run is part walking path, part single track trail run through a local preserve called the Papago, and part canal towpath.  I started our feeling pretty good, worried about being under my nutrition plan and the warming sun.  I decided to scale back my planned effort and walk the aid stations as a precaution.  Once I turned onto the trail portion after about 2 miles, I found myself walking the uphills and after tweaking my knee on a downhill section, started walking the downhills as well. After all, this was not my A race. While there was not a huge elevation change on the run course, the trail portion had a lot of sharp uphills and downhills with a  loose rock/gravel surface.  When I finally got to the towpath section of flat crushed gravel, I was able to run smoothly and the "tweak" disappeared.  But, with about 3 miles to go, I started cramping in the leg with the knee tweak and was forced to a walk.  I was close to an aid station so I immediately took 2 salt capsules with water when I got there and thought  "what-the-hell", and took 3 more.  Either the cramping would go away and I could finish decently or my stomach would react violently.  The cramps ceased a short time later and I ran it in.

I'm very glad to get this first race of 2013 in the books with no apparent injury hangover.  It confirmed where my fitness levels are as I continue training for my first 70.3 Championships qualifying race in Kansas in June.  Special thanks to the event organizers and volunteers, and ONE Multisport for being supportive of the fitness lifestyle.  Now for a complete rest day.........

GOAL SETTING 2013

OK, I guess its time to share some of my triathlon goals for this year.  I have found that without some stretching goals, there is not enough "fear" to get me training consistently to prepare for these races.  I usually keep this goal setting close to the vest, family and close friends. Partly because stuff happens.  Partly because failure happens.  Partly because "who cares"?

I started thinking about what to plan for in 2013 back in November 2012.  I had just injured out of the ITU Duathlon World Championships (Nancy, France) and had a sour feeling (but at least I got most of my deposits back).  All that training and no opportunity to see what I could do on an international stage (other than Kona)!

So my initial thinking was to re-qualify for Team USA and target the 2013 ITU Duathlon World Championships, to be held in Ottawa, Canada on August 10-11.  But then USAT plopped the USAT National Tri Championships on the same weekend.  (As the 2011 65-69 age group champion, I had passed up the 2012 USAT TRI Championships to race the ITU Worlds DU, part of the sour I felt when I cancelled Nancy).  It took me until today to recommit to the ITU DU Worlds having qualified by way of being ranked #1 in my age group by USAT.

However, between November and today I also decided to race some 70.3's with the intention of qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 world championships, partly because it's so close to Arizona.  That championship is 4 weeks after the ITU DU, on September 8th.

So, I have set two quite different and not completely compatible goals for 2013.  Notice I only mentioned what  races I am going to target, not my performance goals.  That I'm keeping close to the vest.  And, to encourage you to check back later in the year to see what happened.

Now I'm in the process of filling in the rest of the calendar with modest races to help validate what level of fitness I'm achieving, to remind me of all the preparation it takes for race day events, and to finalize on race gear selection.  Game on.