THE RACE I DIDN'T RUN

Yesterday the Desert Classic Duathlon was held in the McDowell Mountains between Fountain Hills and Scottsdale Arizona.  I was not there.  The two runs were on desert mountain biking trails and the ride;  if mountain bike on mountain trails, if road bike on the paved road running between Rio Verde and Fountain Hills  --  your choice.  It was a "B" race for me, meaning a race to test my fitness but not something I was peaking for.  My "C" races are train-throughs substituting for a hard training day.  My "A" races are usually National or International Championships that you have to qualify for.  Or, the qualifying races for the National Championships.  Usually only 2 or 3 "A" races per year.

I was not there.  It was hard for me to cancel out as I had been coming along decently with my training and wanted to have an objective fitness test.  However, I fell and cracked a few ribs 10 days earlier and had not been able to train in any material way since the injury.  The bruises and cuts were healing nicely, but the pain upon pressure to the chest and any deep breathing -- excruciating when coughing -- was only slowly improving.  And,  while not extremely painful, the popping feeling of the ribs was very disquieting.

I tried biking last Wednesday, and as long as I did not press hard (stayed under 200 watts on the power meter) and didn't have to stop, the pain was manageable.   I could ellipse a bit, but the popping of the ribs was annoying.  Running or swimming or weight room;  out of the question.   So, I continued to take short bike rides and tried to convince myself that it would come around in just a few more days.   It did not.  So, I was not there.

Why did I think that I had any chance at all, since all the "googled" information talked about a three to six week recovery?  Because a similar situation happened to me before, and two weeks later I raced an Ironman.  Well, let me rephrase that, I completed an Ironman.  It was two weeks prior to Ironman Arizona, 2008 edition.

I was on a longish run in the desert and fatigued enough that I tripped over a boulder and fell into some nasty outcropping.  I took my shirt off to tourniquet my lacerated hand and ran the two miles back to my house.  The emergency room administered twelve stitches and checked my damaged ribs.  I wondered out loud if I could still race in two weeks,  The doctor was not encouraging but said I would probably do no more damage if I insisted. He prescribed some anti-biotic to take before and after the race.  You see, the swim is in Tempe Town Lake which is unfit for swimming most of the year, treated for the race.

I had convinced both my nephew and son to enter so it was a family affair.  How could I back out?  So, with the severest pre-race taper ever (no training two weeks prior) I completed the race.  In both T1 and T2, I contemplated quitting but found the mental fortitude to continue.  Not pretty but Ironman are rarely pretty.

So surely this time was no different.  Yes it was.  I did not have the popping of the ribs in 2008, maybe because it was more of a bruise than a break (according to my Radiologist, about half of the breaks can not be seen on x-ray).  This time it was a "B" race.  This time my nephew and son were not entered.  This time I was more mature and less obsessive/compulsive (that's what I told my wife).

Now I need to focus on recovery and getting my fitness back.  I tried to swim this morning  (500 yards, not fun) and jog on the treadmill (only 2 miles and the bouncing was uncomfortable).  I did bike 38 miles at an average of 180 watts, probably the only exercise I can perform for the next few weeks.  I was not there, but I will be back.

FIRST 5K IN A LONG TIME

SKIRT CHASER!!! Sponsored by Lifetime Fitness/Red Rock Racing.   Ran my first 5K running race since sometime in the 1980's.  Things have changed, not the least is my speed.  This picture is 2 hours before race start;  I have a tendenacy to always be early.  Beautiful day, same site as the AZ Ironman.

Change number 1:  According to the race results, there were 1399 finishers, 523 of them male.  You were encouraged to attach a sticker someplace on your body that would signify if you were single and looking for love.

Change number 2:  This picture is 2 hours after the race.  Free beer, wine, food, band, great 70+  sunny weather.  Everybody stayed around to enjoy the atmosphere.  The race ran back and forth across the bridge in the background.

So, how did the race go.  Well, I was a bit nervous due to my long absence from such short, hard effort runs.  I adjusted my training prior to the race and put in my longish bike on Friday (instead of Saturday) with a short run afterwards and only swam Saturday morning (with a pull buoy) so my legs wouldn't be trashed for the afternoons race.


I had mentally established some achievable goals (sub 22) and a streatching goal (sub 21) based on training runs and a bit of wishfull thinking.  Recently I have not been able to break 22 on the finishing 5K leg of a sprint tri, but surely I could in a 5 K running race?  With Garmin on wrist, I nosed up to a reasonable close distance to the starting line, once the women had started 3 minutes earlier.

When the men were let loose, I had to run harder than I wanted in order to work my way to some open air.  My Garmin said 6:20 pace, way too fast for me to sustain.  I settled into a sub 7 and felt OK at that pace, but wished to see a faster number for my effort.   There were some small hills on the run, 160 ft of verticle climbing according to my Garmin, so it was not exactly a flat course.  But I took advantage of the downhills and pushed to the finish in 20:43, 6:40 pace.  38/523 males, 46/1399 runners.  Ahead of anybody over age 54.  Anybody got an extra beer ticket?

MY MAGIC NUTRITIONAL NUMBERS FOR LONG DISTANCE RACES IS 1440

As I rode down to the VILLAGE in the dark this morning to meet up with ONE MULTISPORT for a team ride, I thought how this was wonderful winter weather (38 degrees, windy, 30% chance of rain) -- for Minnesota!  not Arizona!

During the ride a conversation ensued with some experienced Long-Distance Triathletes regarding race nutrition.  I shared with them my nutritional experiences and "Magic Numbers", and thought I'd post them on the blog as well.

How do you like the photo?  It spells out 1440, my magic numbers.  I even figured out how to put in two of our sponsors products, e6 and FIX Performance.  Cliff is not a sponsor but it is a product I do use.  I do not eat solid food on race day until after the race.  I do eat bars on long ride days as I get tired of liquids and gels.  Solid food upsets my stomach during races.  But I digress.

With over 50 years of running and triathlon experiences, and the help of my son (PhD in BioMechanics) who has researched race day nutrition over the years, I came up with the numbers 1440.  They are meant to be a memorable way to  represent the amount of salt, calories, and liquid per hour  that the average body needs to keep going during multi-hour races.

1000 is the mg of salt that is sweated away per hour of strenerous exercise.  In steady state the body  maintains abour twice that amount, so for short races salt should not be an issue.  For long races you should count up the salt in your energy drinks and food intake and supplement the shortfall with salt capsuls (my favorite as they are usually buffered). If you don't, the liquid/salt balance becomes distorted and the stomach/intestines cannot effectively pass liquid into the body.

400 is the calories that the stomach and intestines can process into the blood stream per hour. Consume more than that, and it will become a burden on the stomach and not help your energy levels.  So, again, count up the calories in your energy drinks and supplement the shortfall with calories from your favorite nutritional source (gels, bars, blocks, etc.)

40 is the ounces of liquids that the stomach and intestines can process into the blood stream per hour.  Drink more and you accumulate volume in your stomach (usually not comfortable) which will also mess with your salt/liquid ratio.

So there, 1440 is my number and should serve as a starting point for you to experiement with on your long ride days.  Let me know if this computes with your experiences.

OK, I'm new to this social media thing.  When I was in college we wrote programs in fortran, cobal, or machine language, punched holes in punch cards and submitted them tied up with a rubber band for an overnight batch run. So, bear with me as I figure this out.

The main reason I'm even attempting this is because the triathlon team I joined in Arizona, ONE Multisport, strongly encouraged me to do so as a way of sharing experiences, promoting our team, and promoting our generous sponsors.

First, who the _____ am I?  Well, I'm at the leading edge of the baby boomer generation, retired early, and returned to triathlons after a 13 year absence.  Found out I could still swim, bike and run and was still competitive within my age group, which was 60-64 when I first returned.  Now I'm in the 65-69 age group plotting my strategy for when I roll over to 70 and will be the young, hopefully fast guy.

I took the USAT (the governing body in the USA for triathlons and duathlons) age group 65-69 national championships titles for triathlon in 2011 and duathlon in 2012.  Also set the American course record for the 65-69 age group at the World Championship Ironman in Kona in 2011 (drats, finished second to a Dutchman).  I was rated number 1 in my age group for both Triathlons and Duathlons in 2011, and number 1 for duathlon and 4th for triathlon in 2012 by USAT, who keeps statistics on such things.

I hope to post a picture and story following each race this year.  First race up is the 5K Skirt Chaser which typically draws 2,000 racers.  This will be my first running race since the 1980's as I've only race triathlons and duathlons since then.  It'll be interesting.