PSEUDO-GOUT STRIKES AGAIN

This posting is all about personal catharsis.  I cancelled out of yet another race due to injury. This time it was the Minneapolis LIFETIME triathlon, held on Saturday July 13th, the largest and most competitive race in Minnesota. Its purpose in my seasonal planning was to give me a benchmark going into the Racine Ironman 70.3 the following week.  I have raced this course previously so whatever I might have done would have given me a good reference point for pacing the 70.3.

Instead my worst pre-race fear happened.  Pseudo-gout appeared with no warning.  Thursday was a solid 2000 yd swim workout followed by a 5 mile run followed by walking 18 holes of golf. Great way to spend a day when retired in Minnesota.  Absolutely no pain anyplace.  Friday was a short swim and short bike as a pre-race taper day.  By supper I had developed a severe pain in my left knee.  This knee pain forced me to climb stairs one step at a time dragging the left leg.  I had a tough time getting to sleep even with the Advil. Woke up at 2 am to the loudest clap of thunder and lightning imaginable, so got up to make sure the house wasn't hit.  Couldn't lift my foot but a few inches off the ground.  I immediately knew that my race was toast, so took the early wake-up off the alarm clock and went back to sleep.

STARS IN THE JOINT

I was diagnosed with pseudo-gout (see picture on right) a few months prior to my 2010 Kona Ironman race.  The orthopedic doctor who had performed the 3 arthroscopic surgeries on my knees to remove torn cartilage took x-rays to help diagnose my severely sore knees -- I assumed I had damaged some cartilage again.  But no, mixed in with the cartilage in my knee joint were all these tiny white specs that made the joint look like the stars in the sky on a particularly clear Arizona night.

Those stars were crystals made up of calcium.  No known cause.  Incidence increases with age. Possibly genetic.  No known cure.  No treatment except NSAID's to ease the pain. And even worse, the bouts of pain come and go at random with random intensity and random duration. My doctors personal experience was that the more surgeries you have, the greater the incidence.  My left knee had 2 surgeries and more stars.  My doctor said I could take up to 12 Advil a day and exercise as the pain permits. I can take a lot of pain, but even at the 2010 Kona Ironman I had to walk the last 16 miles of the marathon.  At 2 am in the morning of July 13, I was not about to suffer through a less meaningful race, so another race bit the dust. Blogging about this worked, I feel better now.  So does my knee.

For the truly interested, below is a link that provides a more clinical description.

PSEUDO-GOUT LINK

GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO FOLD EM

I had been holding my cards for as long as I could, but I just cancelled out of Kansas 70.3 to be held on June 9th.  Very tough decision as this was a target race for me.  I had planned on finishing first in my age group and qualifying for the World Championship 70.3 race to be held in Nevada in September.  I have a backup qualifier in mind -- Racine 70.3 scheduled in July.  But, not getting to race at Kansas is kinda like getting a flat on a bike ride and using up your only spare.  The uncertainty of whether you will finish the ride or get another flat is unnerving.

The reason I cancelled is I have another injury.  Following my race two weeks ago Saturday, I took a recovery bike ride on Sunday and swam/ran on Monday. Tuesday morning I could hardly walk.  It appeared I had a good case of the shin splints on my right leg. Haven't had shin splints since High School.  So I followed the RICE rule (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) but continued to swim and bike as the pain was not excruciating for those exercises (as compared to attempted running).  After a week nothing much changed so I started with the heat and self massage treatments. OK, that's not going well, maybe I have something other than shin splints.  What about a stress fracture of the tibia or navicular bone (google it)?  Healing time is up to 6 weeks, ugh, I can't have that.  Did you know Frank Shorter ran the 1976 Olympic Marathon with a stress fracture and still took the silver medal?  Just a trivia diversion for those under the age of 40.  Or, maybe I have External Compartment Syndrome (ECS)?

After some self diagnosis aided by the Internet, I ruled out shin splints (they appear on the interior of the leg, my swelling is on the exterior).  I ruled out stress fracture (the pain usually localizes after a few days, mine didn't).  That left me with ECS or a simple tendon/ligament strain.  The foot is complicated, 24 bones per foot, almost 1/4 of all the bones in your body are in your feet.  Take a look at my right leg almost two weeks after the pain first appeared.  You can't even see the ankle bones for the swelling. Guess I better not attempt a 70.3 race (with a half marathon run) on that puffy lower leg.  So, wait for healing and the opportunity to race another day.

Now, it's time for a confession that may have a nexus regarding my injury.  I'm old school when it comes to training and athletics.  I mean really old school.  I keep things relatively simple.  I have never had an athletic coach except for high school and college track, and they were conscripts (Any teacher here want to coach track? Pay is $500 per season.).  I have never consulted a nutritionist for dietary, training or race needs.  I simply follow the crave theory.  If I crave it, I eat it. Well, not exactly true. I do try to show reasonable constraint but I don't exclude anything in particular from my diet.  I have never used supplements unless you call multi-vitamins a supplement.  I don't get regular massages or physical therapy for athletic purposes (I have received them occasionally for injury recovery).  I have never had a professional triathlon bike fitting,  swim evaluation, or running evaluation.  I don't have a physical trainer.  I'm not sure what "core" workouts mean, but I imagine you exercise everything but the arms and legs.  How do you do that?  And, while I used to keep track of training and race efforts with a pencil and paper,  now I no longer bother keeping track at all.  Certainly you don't care how far I biked on Jan 6th 2002.  I know I don't.

31st APPLE DUATHLON -- A PEACH OF A RACE

Saturday May 25th had the running of the 31st APPLE DUATHLON in Sartell, Minnesota.  A well respected race, it has hosted the USAT Duathlon National Championships in past years, and was a USAT section qualifier for the ITU Worlds this year. Approximately 450 signed up for the event, interestingly there were about 50 entrants over the age of 60.  The lengths were 5k, 33k, 5k.  The podium awards consist of a polished red granite apple, symbolic of the granite mining in the area.

This has been an awkward spring for Minnesota, with the ice staying in the lake well into late April.  The forecast was for 50 degrees and showers, slightly warmer than the local lake temperatures.  At least it was a duathlon and not a triathlon.   And, it did not rain on our parade, but remained cool, overcast with some winds but conducive for fast times.

I had scouted out the competition in the M65-69 age group and noticed that Kerry Mayer was entered.  We had a close race at the USAT duathlon nationals last year in Tuscon.  He outran me on both legs but my bike split compensated giving me a 12 second win.  Could I be as lucky again?  Chatting before the race start, I asked him about his running background only to find out his personal best marathon was a 2:21.  Mine was a 2:35.  Explains his run advantage.  Thankfully he doesn't like to swim.

Mike McDowell/Kerry Mayer/Ben Ewers

The over 50 crowd was the last wave to start and Kerry exceeded my expectations taking a 1 minute lead into transition.  It took me until mile 17 to catch him on the bike, meaning that unless he blew up (not likely in such a relatively short race) I was angling for second place.  We entered transition 2 at about the same time but I came out way behind him (later discovered he was 20 seconds faster in the transition).  Whatever chance I had of mind overcoming matter and keeping up with him was lost in the transition.  Overall I had a good race, beating my own course record set 2 years ago by 3 minutes.  Kerry broke it by 5 minutes.

While discussing our age and training related injuries after the race (typical banter between aging athletes), Kerry said the close loss last year was a wake up call that improvements had to be made to his biking.  A new bike was part of the improvement (why not buy some speed, its legal), as well as more focus on bike training.  This clearly demonstrates that exposure to other peoples abilities re calibrates your thinking as to what your own capabilities are.  What we think is fast, what we believe is possible, can be redefined by the example of others.

Partway through the awards ceremony, Jerry MacNeil, the announcer, stopped the awards show to lead a standing ovation for an 88 year old local icon who had just finished the race.  Bob Powers was in the house.  What is possible and achievable for each of us?  Do we have stretching goals?  Will we be capable of crossing finish lines at age 88?

UNDER THE BOARDWALK, BOARDWALK! (ER, HIGHWAY) -- TEMPE INTERNATIONAL

Urban triathlons are full of challenges due to the innate venue obstacles of staging the race in an urbane setting. TheTempe International Triathlon on May 19th was more unique than most as the transition site was literally under the 202 interstate in downtown Tempe Arizona (lower photo shows early morning setup). The transition site limited the entries to a combined 900 or so for either the sprint or Olympic distance events. The swim was in Tempe Town Lake with a beach entry on the north side of the man-made lake.  The bike was on a very turney (not a real word but descriptive), 21 turns per 12 mile lap city road loop with minimal hills (300 ft vertical per lap).  The run was on a 3.1 mile loop over and back across the multiple bridges spanning the lake, with sets of stairs to descend from bridge to lake level on each lap to complete the urban feel.  The race had a delayed start to ensure the traffic controls were safely in place which pushed the race finishing run into a warmer part of the hot Arizona day.  The registration and awards ceremony were at a shopping mall about 3 miles away as there was minimal parking near the transition site.  Most parked on the south side of the lake and biked or walked across to the race transition site.  Oh, and the race served as the Arizona club championship race.


This race makes efforts to be beginner friendly.  The self appointed beginners are all grouped together in the transition corral.  Since Arizona has few lakes to train or stage races in, for many beginners this would be their first open water race swim.  Consequently the beginners are given the option to wear a beginners swim cap (yellow) so the lifeguards can pay special attention for any signs of distress.  The day before the race the elite members of my team, ONE MULTISPORT (see left), along with the race director provided any interested entrant with a 1 1/2 hour on site race clinic covering all aspects of the event (swim, bike, run, transitions) and answering any questions.  About 100 attended.

Perhaps it was no surprise, but the USAT official found a spot in the lake where the water temp was 77.4 degrees, so wetsuit legal.  It was a wave start, sprint first, over 60 Olympic distance last (my wave).    Quite uneventful as the wave start provided for plenty of open water to choose your swim line.  Transition uneventful this time.  The bike course with all the turns was as expected -- I remembered to gear down into the turns so I was properly geared upon exit -- taking more watts to achieve the expected average speed.  I expended an average of 225 watts for an average speed of 22.3 mph, about 1 mph slower than I would have averaged on a less turney course using the same watts.  

I switched my training shoe brand two weeks previous based on a recommendation from my son who was experimenting with the HOKA ONE ONE brand for his ultra trail runs.  He thought it would benefit my aging body parts as it is extremely cushioned and stable but looks like a moon boot.  It has an added feature of a relatively low (4 mm) drop, heel to forefoot, to encourage mid foot striking.  I raced with the race version that weighed only 9 ounces, not bad for a moon boot. 

It was warm and at 3 miles I stopped sweating, a bad sign, but with only 3.2 miles to go I eased just enough to avoid cramping or worse.  I had chosen to not use any salt for this race as you usually do not need that supplement for an Olympic distance.  The delayed start put me into a hotter part of the day where a salt capsule or two would have been good insurance when taken on the bike segment.


My elapsed time of 2:25+ won the old gents (65-69) age division, and would have won the 60-64 as well.  The overall winning time was 1:58 (by Lewis Elliot, USAT ranking of 100) attesting to some of the unique challenges of this urban turney race course. Oh, and ONE MULTISPORT didn't win the club championship, but we did win the far more important award for BEST LOOKING TEAM.  TA DA.

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.