Caffeine?

I was recently talking to Loren about caffeine use for racing and he said there was a ton of info out there on the subject so I started to check it out. I'm trying to understand what benefits can be had by using it during a race.

I don't really have any caffeine in my diet, except for what's in chocolate (Dam Sweet Tooth!). I don't think it's a conscious thing against caffeine, it's more the fact that I don't drink coffee (long story I'll tell some other time) and I have maybe 1 Coke every couple of months based on a craving.

And with that... I wonder if the caffeine would adversely affect me because I don't have any in my diet. What I do know is that "real" caffeine, the kind in coffee makes me a bit jittery and "manufactured" caffeine , the kind in Coke just gives me a wake up call.

I have a bit more investigation to do before I see what it can do for me... I'd love some input, advise or whatever you can offer. And for now, I found this article done by someone at Rice University that I found fairly interesting.

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/caffeine.html

Sacramento International Triathlon :: Race Report

Hi All... It's been a couple weeks since I've written a post; I had to travel back to CT.

So this past weekend I did the Sacramento International Triathlon. My wife Julie and I went up on Friday and spent a couple of days out of good old San Francisco and headed up to Sacramento. Even though it's fairly close... it's good to get out of the routine and do a little something different.

It was all pretty mellow because of the race, but we had a great time. I never knew that Sacramento (at least downtown) was was a nice as it was. We had a couple good meals and the weather was great. It was great having Julie at the race with me, she's been very supportive of my newly found Triathlon addiction and I really appreciated it.

As for the race...

Because we were up there early... I took the opportunity to check out the course on my Saturday workout. It was nice to be able to get familiar with the little twists and turns and go into the race knowing exactly where to go.

The Swim: The swim started late because they didn't have the buoys in the water and when they did it was still a bit out of whack. Regardless, they made due and everything got underway about 1/2 late.

It was an in water start in a deep water channel that runs into the American River, not a bad venue because there's very little if any current and the water temp can get a bit higher because it's not really getting any of the snow runoff.

So there we are all in the water, I went to the other side of the channel to get out of the fray and to take what I thought was a more direct line to the buoy. I felt like I got a pretty good start but that seems to be the last thing that goes through my mind in the swim other than trying to maintain fairly good technique so I can optimize my strokes. My swim coach basically told me that when I try to go harder / faster, I lose some form which works against me. That I'm better off maintaining my form and I'll get better times. So that's what I did.

I suppose it worked out ok, I came out of the water 41st out of 100... to me that says (Get Faster... you are slower than 40 other people in this race). I have more thoughts on the swim but I'll save them for another time.

The Bike: I think I got out of transition pretty quickly, I'll have to analyze it closer some other time. But what did surprise me was that people weren't running to the bike mounting area; basically at the end of the gravel as it meets the tar. Most people were running on the tar paper that was laid out (one 3 ft wide strip of roofing tar paper)... It was so Odd. I think I passed 10 people in that area alone and never saw them again once I was on the bike.

Because I rode 1/2 of the bike course the day before, I knew what to expect. It was pretty flat the entire way, but it was pretty bumpy; I actually have a bruise on my left forearm where I was on the aero bars.

I also took the opportunity in this race to use some caffeine which I hadn't done before but have been reading some really interesting stuff about caffeine masking pain; which allows you to go harder in a race (I definitely think it worked).

The Run: I really enjoyed the run at this race. I saw Julie on the way out of T2 which gave me a little boost and I was using another technique I read about to keep my pace (get on a treadmill and get to a pace you want to run at. Count your foot falls 1-8. And then in the race count at the same pace... it keeps you on pace and your mind off of the pain. Another side affect is that your breathing follows the cadence too which also helps maintain the pace). Oh and it works!

Overall I felt really good in the run. I definitely have some faster times in me, but I hit my goal for the race.

I think I'll do much better overall once I get my new Garmin 405! I'm really excited about that... I've been training w/out a hrm for 2.5 months now and it sucks.

Overall... I'm stoked about my performance in my 2nd Tri... 23rd overall and 8th in my AG. Time: 1:32

Some Highlights:

• Julie being there to support me.
  
• Loren finished 5th OA / 2nd in his AG.
• Kelly and Sarah Rocked... 2nd & 4th respectively in the Olympic distance (Nice work!).
  
• There was a teacher and his students from Daly city that did the Tri. What a great way to promote health and fitness.
• I got to meet Kelly (fellow ZteaM Tri member) and Sarah (One of the few readers and commenter's on my blog... Thanks Sarah)
• The announcer at the Tri said as Loren was approaching the finish line "And the first female to cross the finish line for the Sprint distance is Loren Pokorny from Tiburon". Loren promptly corrected him ;-)

Some Lowlights:

• As a rider was passing and I didn't see him, I blew a snot rocket on him. Sorry #216.
• The way that SIT handled All of the Triathlete's gear when bringing it from T1 to T2. Seriously, they must have just thrown it all in the back of the truck and then just threw it on the ground in a big pile! It was Total BS. We pay a lot of money for our gear and they just chuck it on the ground like it's a pile of junk. If you can't tell... I'm pretty ticked off about that. If you didn't lose anything you are lucky.

UVAS is up next on 5/18

From Training ... To Triathlete

Well... yesterday I did my first ever triathlon; "Ice Breaker"! And I went from a guy training for triathlons to a Triathlete.

So here's my version of what happened...

I'll start with the Wednesday before when Loren said, "hey, I'm doing Ice Breaker up in Folsom, you should do it... it's short". My response was something like... I've been training for Sacramento and trying to peak for that race And it's my First Tri, I don't know if I'm mentally prepared (I still had 2 weeks to do that). And I hadn't practiced transitions at all!

After a day or so, I figured "What the hell... I might as well give it a shot and I'll get some real experience". And I had been training hard, I was pretty much ready.

So there I was the night before packing all my stuff (with checklist I found online and then added some stuff). Wetsuit... check, Goggles... check, Tire pump... check, etc... Finally I had it all together and the car was packed. I didn't want to do any packing at 5am, it was going to be bad enough that I had to be up at 4:30 to eat oatmeal and begin hydrating.

Time for bed... Right! Now I'm sure sleep isn't all that great the night before a Tri anyway... but the night before your first Tri; Horrible! I think my mistake here was that because I didn't know what I didn't know I was trying to rehearse the transitions in my head. Out of the water, find my spot, spray sand off feet w/extra water bottle.... And so it went for T1 and T2. Overall it was just restless sleep.

I arrive at the parking lot just after 7am (it's about a 2 hour drive from San Francisco). At this point I'm just making it up as I go along. Ok go check in and get whatever it is that they give you. Then go back to the car and get all your stuff together.

From there I get into the transition area and pick a spot that's 1/2 way between the Bike exit and the Run exit and set up shop. One of the things I discovered is that for all of the stuff I brought from the checklist, which was mainly things like duct tape, athletic tape, new skin, advil, headlamp, etc... I didn't really use much of it. I needed my towel to lay on the ground, bike shoes, helmet, sneakers, socks, number belt, sun glasses, goggles, swim cap, wetsuit and a visor. Not really all that much stuff considering that in all my reading (50 or so back issues of Triathlete... thanks Loren) there really wasn't much about how little you really need, maybe it's because there's always a new this or that to buy. I guess looking at it now, it's the training that makes you have the most stuff... racing is very straight forward (sort of).

Now I go and get my number put on my body. When there I asked if it was ok to have anything other than number and age on your body and they said yes... so I had "K.B." put on my left calf which stands for Kathy Bilcz. On Saturday I found out that one of my closest friend's mother passed away. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer less than a year ago and they caught it pretty late. I was home for Christmas and went to see her and she was looking pretty good and had good spirits... I think that actually helped me not to cry when I saw her. When we left that day, I gave her a big hug and told her "I love you". It was the last time I saw her. She was like a mom to me and I'm Very Sad that she's gone now. I think about her often and putting her initials on my calf actually gave me some motivation in my race. I'll put her initials on every race. I miss her!

(Sorry... I'm having a hard time dealing with that and I'm sure I'll write more on it later. back to the race report)

Anyway... Loren and I are down at the swim start. We go in to check out the water and it's actually not that cold. As our division starts Loren and I walk about for about 80 yards or so as some of the people are swimming in front of us and we're keeping up with them. Eventually we have to join the swim too. As we near the buoy I noticed sand in the water and when I looked up to sight the buoy I see people walking again! So, I stand up too... Loren is right next to me. I'm sure this isn't a normal occurrence but it was nice to have it happen in my first Tri; it gave me a chance to gather myself again and power through the last 2/3 of the swim.

The swim wasn't as brutal as I thought it would be... and by brutal I mean kicks to the head, slaps to the feet, etc... All the stuff that comes with swimming in very close proximity to a lot of other people. I had a few collisions by people swimming of course but nothing to major. Luckily I swim pretty straight.

So now I'm done with the swim, get out of my wetsuit at water's edge (as recommended) and begin a loooong slow uphill run in sand to the transition area. I'm sure it wasn't intended to be such a long run, but the water in Folsom Lake was so low... that's where the race had to be. Anyway the run was brutal and my heart rate was through the roof!

T1... I'm feeling good here and I think I was actually pretty quick (we'll see). I get my stuff on and I'm off!

Luckily for my warm-up I went out and rode the first 2 miles of the course so I knew what to expect and I felt good on the bike. I used the bike to get my bottle of water down, I'll probably drink more water earlier in the bike next time. It was a little hard to drink on this course though because of the twists, turns and undulations. Nothing too exciting here... I felt strong.

T2... It sure was nice to be able to ride into the transition area; I think that's pretty unheard of. I felt really quick in T2. I came in w/ 5 people and I was the first out. Helmet off, shoes on, race belt on... Off and Running!

The run started out as expected, because you could see it from the transition area. Then... All hell broke loose. I was basically on an Xterra run course. Luckily I grew up in Connecticut on a bunch of land and ran in the woods a lot. But, this run was Tough! There was one part of the run that was Really tough, it was essentially 80ft straight uphill around mile 3. Now the uphill part was tough and it definitely took something out of you... but the downhill was treacherous; it had water gully's and roots which would make easy work of a broken or sprained ankle. I'll tell you what, if I sprained an ankle this early in the season on what's being call an "Ice Breaker" Triathlon I would seriously be Pissed!

On the run I had to be very opportunistic about passing people on the run because it was a single track trail and even when I said I was coming through, there wasn't anywhere for the other runners to go. I was certainly tired and my calves felt like they weighed 50 lbs each but I felt good overall.

Out of the woods (literally) and I could see the tents. I gave it a little extra (which I didn't have much of) and crossed the finish line! I was officially a Triathlete!

Water, cool down and some pasta and I was good as new. Until about 9pm when I fell asleep on the couch... it was a long day!

Some highlights:

• I cheered on a bunch of people through out the race that looked like they were having a rough go of it and one of them was with me at the end and came up to thank me for pushing him harder.
• I met Courtenay, who's blog I read because Loren is linked to her in his blogroll. And she finished 2nd overall.
  
• T1 & T2 were better than I thought they'd be

Things to work on:

• Getting into a groove on the swim and staying relaxed. If I do that, I think the swim will take care of itself.
  
• Early pacing on the run. Start slower... finish stronger.

Sacramento in 2 weeks.

Alergies = Tough Training

I have to say that my training this week has suffered significantly... I've been on the rollers, did a short run and had a swim lesson w/ Evan but my allergies are reallying getting the best of me this week.

I'm allergic to juniper / mountain cedar which blooms mainly in Feb., Mar. & April. It's during these months that I can barely breath and I sneeze my head off. Today's pollen count is pretty high and I'm dying!!! http://pollen.com

If you suffer from allergies and have trouble breathing / sleeping try breath right strips. I swear without these, I'd be a zombie due to lack of sleep for these months. You've probably seen some professional athletes wear them in games... I don't go that far, my sinuses are pretty clear when I'm exercising.

Which... Now that I think about it might be just what I need to keep in mind. My nose runs a lot when I'm working out, which in turn keeps the sinuses free of the pollen (at least for a little while).

Anyway... I guess this was more of a venting session.

I'm going up to Folsom on Sunday to do the Ice Breaker Tri (last minute decision). It's short (.5, 13, 4) so it'll give me the ability to work out some kinks before the Sac Int. Tri.

Swim Lesson...

Today I had my first swim lesson. I looked on Craigslist first (as I do for a lot of things) and came across a compelling ad for swim lessons by a former Cal swimmer who had some pretty good stats to back him up; Evan Lane.

I am pretty stoked to finally get some good swim instruction. I've spent time looking at instruction video, reading articles and then trying to put those into practice at the pool. But like anything, if you're told the proper way to do something and can practice it, you'll get better. As opposed to practicing something you think is right and potentially (most likely) ingraining bad habits.

Evan and I met at my usual pool (Rossi pool) and to Evan credit, he met me at 6am. God knows that at 25, I only saw 6am if I had a tee time and there was beer involved or I hadn't gone to bed yet.

After chatting a bit I hopped in the pool to swim a couple of lengths while Evan watched, probably thinking... "crap, what have I gotten myself into". He was really diplomatic as we began to talk about the things I need to work on.

We stared with the Kick. I'm tending to kick from the knee instead of the hip (think scuba diving kick). And Evan confirmed what Ben had said about the type of swim briefs I should be using (which I knew about a la a blog that seemed pointed directly in Loren's direction); the TYR polymesh trainers. The main reason for this is so I'll feel the water on my thighs, making me kick more from the hip. Adios to my Speedo Lycra Jammers.

The next thing we talked about and then worked on was a side drill. This is essentially getting my arm in the proper position for the proper catch and so I don't drop my elbow and pull. It goes like this... put your arm straight above your head and then stretch it higher until your shoulder touches your cheek; your shoulder should rotate slightly inward.

Now for the drill:

• Keep my arm in previously mentioned position
• Head in the water looking down but slightly forward
• Body on my side
• Non water arm... shoulder out of the water
  
• Kicking from the him (not the knee)
• And... comfortable/relaxed enough to rotate my head and breath when I needed to
• oh... and up the right arm and back w/ the left arm
  

LOL.... RIGHT!

Needless to say... I'm paying Evan AND I want to be a better/faster swimmer so I'm going to do what he tells me.

The first 2 lengths I sucked. I did everything mostly wrong but managed to make it up and back struggling for air (mainly just holding my breath as long as I could before I had to pop my head up for a Gasp). Evan gave me some good feedback and I kept doing this drill. After a while, I started to feel comfortable and things actually came together by the end of the session; especially being able to easily/comfortably turn my head and take a breath. I still have a long way to go...

It should look something like this: (although I didn't use fins)


Well... that was lesson 1. Practice, Practice Practice!

Thanks Evan, See you next Thursday (6am).

Wicked Sweet Tooth!

ok... I've been meaning to ask this of the very few people that read my blog.

Since I started training... I have a Wicked Sweet Tooth! Does this happen to you?

My craving usually tends toward dark chocolate and more specifically Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares w/ caramel filling.

When I'm eating them (almost by the bag full) I know I should only have 1, but I can't help myself... they are Good!

I wonder if they sponsor people? :-)

My New Toy...

Check this out... a buddy of mine (Chris Christensen) is letting me use his rollers! I'm totally stoked about this because I have to do high cadence workouts. But in San Francisco where there are a lot of hills; which is what most of my rides tend to be (headlands and most recently Mt. Tam).

I set them up and put my ironing board next to it so I'd have something to grab onto instead of doing a floor face plant (thank God I did, I came close to falling the first few times). Oh... and this will certainly straighten out your riding, seeing that you have 2 ft to ride on.

After about 10 minutes of trying, I got the hang of it and did pretty well. I rode for about a 1/2 hour and will ride about an hour a day. I was also surprised that it was actually a pretty good workout... I was sweating up a storm.

I'll post again later to give a 1 week update on how it's going.