COLUMBIA TRIATHLON!!!

RACE!
Wow. What a weekend. What a race. It's in my nature, when looking back on things like this, to somewhat diminish the elation I felt. What exactly made this race so sweet, it's hard to say. But here's my little recap.

Saturday afternoon I drove down to Columbia to register, rack my bike, and check into my hotel. The hotel accomodations were provided by Team in Training which was nice. I suppose to have a roommate, but lucked out when his wife tagged along so they got their own. Pre-race bike racking is fairly common, but new to me. Nothing special about it, but I cover some parts with plastic bags in anticipation of the impending rain.

The race had an expo, which was a lot smaller than I expected. But of course, the only other race I've attended with an expo was the Marine Corps Marathon, which had over 30,000 runners (vs. only 2300 here). Still, I always enjoy these things because of the people watching, and the off-chance for free schwag. I also ended up getting a good deal on a gym/transition bag.

So the main event: THE RACE.
When it came to a race plan, as usually I didn't have anything particular set in stone except for the run. I didn't worry about the swimming because it's fairly innate, and I'm pretty decent at it. I didn't worry about the bike for the exact opposite: it's still not intuitive, and it's not my forte. What mattered to me was the run. I had a solid goal in mind. It's all strategy where I know how every move will affect me later, and it comes down to risk assessment: if I push it now, can I take the pain later?
So my swim strategy was to simply go at a decent pace, which was no problem; compared to the Nanticoke River, I was sliding on ice and easily broke through the swim wave ahead of me.
The bike strategy was developed en route. After a solid swim, the bike started quick and was fueled by adrenaline. I knew I was going a bit faster than I normally can and wanted to think ahead to the run. My plan ended up being to positive split. So I would push the first part of the bike leg, and then easy up later to let my legs recharge for the run. This seemed to be fine; in the later parts I could feel my legs aching and worried, but knew not much could be done at this point.
The run was simple: try to negative split, but push the pace; break 7:00min/mile. For me, negative splitting is not based on pace, but on perceived effort. Running a race like this is always a blur. But after a decent bike, and feeling great at the run start, I felt phenomenal and was cruising. I past many, many of the older age groups that had started earlier and probably got away a little on the bike. Passing was [and is] a great motivator. Also, the Team in Training presence helped a lot, from being encouraged by other teammates, and even a little boost from supporting those I encountered. I was hurting by the last couple of hills, but once we were back on the lake, I did my best to empty the tank for a good finish.

The final summary:
Swim: 23:35 >1500m, no more breakdown
T1: 2:40
Bike: 1:25:54 >41k, 17.8 mph
T2: 2:12
Run: 42:16 >10km, 6:49 min/mile
*BONUS: 5TH PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP

5th wasn't really a big deal initially. Most races do top three. However, it was a nice bonus to find about, just as I'm about to leave, that top five get awards. So I kind of clumsily mozy over to the award ceremony. I missed my part, and have to sneak around the sideline and try to be discrete.

My proud point is reaching my goal of sub-7:00 min/mile for the 10k. Now, as I've stated before, I've actually never done a 10k before. Sure I've done longer training runs and races, but never this distance. Previously, the closest was the Turkey Trot 8k, and I had yet to break 7:00 on that. But I was incredibly excited to learn I had reached this goal. It really boosts my confidence for getting closer to a Boston qualifier for a marathon.

Some short [hopefully] comments:
-The weather was rainy. It was steady almost right up to the start, but stopped and was really just wet for the ride and made transition a mud pit.
-Lucky for most people, I only saw one crash [post-occurence]. Of course, unlucky for that individual. I hope he/she is ok. Lots of flats during the race.
-Part of any race plan is how to deal with the unexpected. My relaxed bike plan fit the bill, when about halfway, I could feel a pending bladder need. It came down to making a pit stop or trying to wait out the rest of the race. My desire for a solid, comfortable run (comfortable from the bladder sense, not the exertion) and my relaxed bike plan reasoned a pit stop. I think this made a serious contribution to making my run work out as it did.

Final impressions: It was a great training cycle. I am so glad I was able to complete this with Team in Training. Overall, our group of 35 triathletes raised $120,000!!! This was a huge accomplishment and just made the race sweeter. I'm still up in the air about if/when I will join the team for another race. I would love to do this race again; we'll see how it fits into my future plans.

The one thing that always sticks in my mind is the question a fellow racer asked me: "So when's your next race?" which embodies the mindset I like of always having something in mind. In two weeks I'd like to do the Dreaded Druid Hills 10k, but I don't know how much dedicated training I'll give that. My next BIG races aren't until the fall. The Nations Triathlon, an Olympic distance in Washington, DC is September 13th. Then the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh is November 7th. My training plan starts second week of July. When does your's?

Race Week!

I'm down to the last few days before the Race! The day will start with a pretty early wake up, I think around 4:00? I know it won't be later than 5:00. The race will start with the pro/elite waves going off at 6:45. My swim wave won't start until 7:40. I submitted my estimated times as 0:26:00 swim/1:10:00 bike/0:42:00 run which is a collective race of 2:18:00 (hr:min:s). I think the swim time is probably pretty accurate, if not a little conservative. The other two, especially the bike, are pretty ambitious. For most of the times, I just scaled up my race times from Triangle Tri, which was a sprint. The distance is longer, which should slow me down, but I think I hoped my experience and fitness would have improved as well. The bike is definitely up in the air; I still consider myself a novice, so cycling is always a little unpredictable. The run time truly is a goal. I haven't calculated the exact base, but for a 10k (6.2 miles), that's a sub-7:00min/mile, which I have not done for a race of this length. In fact, I've never done a 10k. I've done half miles, miles, two miles, 5ks, 8ks, and then jumped to half marathon and marathon. My last 8k was almost a year and a half ago and was not sub-7:00. However, I am positive my fitness is better, and during brick workouts, my run off the bike is almost always faster than normal.

Last week was the end of the semester and [pretty much (I have one more)] the end of classes. With Dr. Greenberg out of the country, I had the chance to go home for Thursday and part of Friday (I had to be back for my Coast Guard obligation). It was too short, but except for maybe more time with my parents, I think it was spent perfectly. I was able to catch up with everyone I NEEDED to catch up with and it really helped me out. It's still hard in Baltimore to find people who I can talk to about both problems and common interests, and I was absolutely able to get some of that while at home.

With only a few more days, this is the worst stage of any training regime: the taper. That is, the time when you reduce your training volume to start saving up energy. The whole time you feel antsy and awkward. It doesn't come naturally and the only taper I ever really followed was for the Marine Corps Marathon, which was planned out for me. Doing it on my own, and trying to do it right is harder. NOT tapering is pretty easy, but when you actually worry about balancing between storing energy and maintaining fitness, it's a little stressful. Furthermore, the reduction in training volume also affects caloric needs, and especially for myself, adjusting is hard.

The Thursday I was at home I needed to go for a swim and ended up going for the first time to the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC). A very nice facility, it made me think about the differences between gyms. I've been a member/user of several facilities; the NC State Carmichael Rec Center, Johns Hopkins Rec Center, the YMCA, and the Triangle Aquatic Center. Here is a brief summary of some amenities I've like and who has them.

Locker rooms, enough said: ALL
Rental lockers, being able to have a place to store clothes/equipment/whatever for a long period of time is extremely valuable if you don't like toting around EVERYTHING you need: ALL except only NC State was is free
Shower soap, seems simple enough, but goes back to minimizing the amount of essentials you must bring from home: ALL except TAC
Towel: NC State, YMCA
Workout clothes: ONLY NC STATE. It seems weird, but it works. Just like a towel, you can check it out for a whole semester and after using, you trade it in for a clean up (old one is washed). It saves a lot on laundry if you workout a whole lot. I only ever used a T-shirt though.

Some amenities that I've used, but don't think are totally necessary: Locker keys (so to have a locked locker without bringing a padlcok. I always have a padlock anyways so it doesn't really matter.). Student ID access: it's annoying to carry around all your keys and wallet and whatnot when working out; at State, this was nice to eliminate that hassle.

I think I should note, that while many gyms had several amenities, (including some not listed), State definitely takes the lead for having all of them. It truly was a very versatile gym with a lot of fringe benefits.

Next time should be a POST race summary!

Long couple of Days. Ups and Downs

It's been a busy past two weeks since my last update. This past week I had a 15 page (minimum) paper, a homework problem set, and a presentation, all for one class. Then I also had an outline for another paper in a different class, and also had to grade lab reports for the organic chemistry lab I TA. It was a very stressful week. It was only Tuesday, and every time I heard the word nucleic acids or sugar or DNA or anything of the sort, I wanted to throw up and just disappear for a couple of weeks (months (years)).

I am so glad and thankful that I have the ability to exercise. I don't know what I would do without it. It's such a stress reliever by itself, and it's really the only thing that keeps me going. That just makes me think of when people find out how I train and ask "how do you do it." And really I just don't know how I could not.

Last weekend I had a couple of bike-to-run bricks. If I haven't mentioned it before, a brick workout is a combination of two or more of the disciplines (swim, bike, run) into a single workout. They're important preparation for a triathlon, because until you do one (either a triathlon or a brick), you won't be ready for the sensation that is changing from the swim to the bike, or [especially] from the bike to the run. One day was pretty easy; it was the morning I had Coast Guard duty, so the bike leg was particularly short (just 30 min on the trainer) and a 4 mile run. The next afternoon was great, with a decent 35 mile bike, followed by the same 4 mile run. What amazes me is that I seem to be significantly faster coming off the bike than if I started from a dead run. Of course, I'm just waiting to find the threshold where that is no longer true. I don't expect that when I do a half-Ironman, my half marathon off a 56 mile bike will be faster. (Of course, who knows...)

This week was suppose to be a recover week, and I did so to my mild extent, which given my school workload, it matched up nicely. I took the week off from lifting, which gave me time to do my grading. And Wednesday, due to a CBI speaker forum, I passed on attending the weekly TnT ride. This afternoon, I also decided not to brick after my bike ride. It was windy and chilly which made the ride kinda tough and miserable. This route was only the second time I've done this longer course, so I opted out of the run.

Yesterday was a very fun day. A couple of us (TnT people) went down to Salisbury, MD, a town (city?) on the Eastern Shore (you take the Bay Bridge to the big peninsula) to volunteer for a local 5k race. The TnT group out of that area has been putting on this and other fundraiser for a couple of years now to raise funds for TnT events (like Columbia, but also some of the 100 mi bike rides). By volunteering, they are able to throw some of their net our way.

It was a long day; we had to leave at 5:15am to make the two-ish hour drive. I think we wanted to get there early enough to volunteer just for registration, but we got looped into to helping through out the event, but it only kept us until about 10:30. What I really enjoyed was being able to meet all the triathletes. Baltimore is not the most [tri]athletic area; I really only started meeting triathletes through TnT. At this race though, I got to network with some interesting people. They were also amazingly nice. For helping out at the starting line, a race director hooked us up with some free lock-laces (shoelaces you don't need to tie/untie, making transitions quicker). It turned out another guy is the race director of the open water swim I'm doing in two weeks. I talked to him about inexpensive places nearby to spend the night before the race. We had moved on in the conversation, but not even 10 minutes later, he offered to put me up for that night (other common TnT acquaintances were also going to be there). Really; nice people. Another fellow volunteer took some pictures. I'll see about getting them up here or on Facebook.

We got back late enough that I decided to pass on trying to get to the lab. All I needed to do was some reading, and I would've only ended up being there for 2 or 3 hours. Instead I finally got my oil changed and made a trip to Charm City Run another local running store. I'm still up in air about if I should invest my "loyalty" in one specific store: Falls Road Running Store, or Charm City Run? And if I do, which one?

By the way, I think I will end up doing the City of Oaks Marathon. No matter how I played with the numbers, CoOaks will be cheaper, and I'll have the advantage of knowing the course location, which I learning can make a huge difference.

Right now doing laundry and relaxing until swim. I need a new swimsuit soon.

After this week, I was dying for the chance to visit Raleigh. I still don't know if/when I'll be able to do that next.

Please be thinking of my aunt Becky. Last week, her husband, my uncle, passed away. A lot of my family is with her now, so I'm sure she's in good company.

Race Course Brick, Stadium Run, Ultramarthons

This weekend was great and afterwards I am feeling very motivated and invigorated.

Saturday I drove out to the race course to join TnT for a team ride. It started in the mid-30s and was EXTREMELY cold. And unfortunately I had decided against bringing my windbreaker, leaving me in just my coldgear baselayer. Out of maybe 20-25 people, most rode the Celebration Sprint Tri course, with about 7 or 8 of us riding the full Columbia Olympic Course. Afterwards, about five of us had a relaxed transition and ran an extended loop around the Centennial Lake. The bike ride was slightly shorter than I may have wanted, but it was my first bike-to-run brick workout for the season. Furthemore, I don't often get to do group rides and so being out with some fellow triathletes can really lift one's spirit. My legs were burning on the run, but the whole experience was exciting and enjoyable.

When I leave Baltimore to head home to Raleigh, the main road merging to I95 runs right by Camden Yards and M&T Stadium, the respective playing fields for the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens. For my run on Sunday, I extended a previous route with a tour around these stadiums. For the moment, running in the shadow of these monumental structures does something for my mindset. I wouldn't call it calming or uplifting, but it was fun. My legs seemed to fatigue earlier, but for reasons given below, I made it at a pretty decent click (~ 7:15 miles).

Certainly adding to my motivation were two ultramarathoners (an ultramarathon is any event over 26.2 miles, typically distances 50mi, 100mi, and up); one professional and peripheral, the other personal. Daren, a friend on many levels (he's the father/father-in-law of two awesome friends who got married, and last fall he coached me for my inaugural marathon) ran the Umstead 100mi. If the website was more helpful, I'd give a more rousing report, but unofficial, I'll say he finished in a phenomenal time of 23:01 (that's HOURS:minutes). Even though, he's "retired" from coaching, Daren is always a crazy-athlete's hero.

Another was a very intriguing article in Runner's World (April '10 issue) about ultramarathoner Scott Jurek. A monster of an runner, Scott has dominated the world of ultramarathon. He's won the 100mi, 41,000 ft up and down, Western States Endurance Run seven years (1999-2005) in a row, been the only American to when the 153 mile Spartathlon, and the only person ever to - in the SAME YEAR (2005) - win Western States and two weeks later win the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley. But this article really focuses on his recent slump and personal tribulations. It's hardly an uplifting tale. However, it's great at deviling into his soul and throughout I saw a reflection of the same things I go through every day. It wasn't inspiring or motivating... but comforting to know that someone, ANYone - who cares if he's a renowned ultrarunner - has same problems as I do. You can read the article here The King of Pain.

Back to the Grindstone

Last week was the university's official spring break. As a graduate student this means almost next to nothing. It really means a break from going to classes and the "opportunity" to get quality labwork done. During this week I worked mainly on a protein expression experiment. So what does that involve? Well, all (or almost all) proteins created these days come from using bacterial cells to create a whole lot of your protein. I had previously grown some E. coli cells containing a plasmid (stretch of DNA) that could be "tricked" into creating a whole lot of my protein. While growing the cells, and causing the protein production is relatively quick, separating this one protein from all the cellular material takes a few days.

Also, on Thursday of that week, we (members of our research group) attended an annual "Baltimore Area Repair Symposium." In Baltimore, there are several research facilities that study how organisms repair damaged DNA; Johns Hopkins (our group as well as several at the med school and school of public health), NIH-NIA (National Institute of Health-National Institute of Aging), Univ. of Maryland - Baltimore County, and a few just outside of Baltimore. The day consisted of about 20 researchers giving short, 15 minute summaries of the current research/results they are undertaking. During breaks, peripheral rooms contained posters made by graduate students that further highlighted areas of research. There was a longer, keynote address, by a research from my neck of the woods, Dr. Tom Kunkel, who is based in Research Triangle Park, but has professorships at Duke and UNC. The first part of the day was very interesting, probably because it was much more chemistry-based relavent to my own research. The second half seemed to focus so much on specific, esoteric proteins, that I was bored to death.

My training last week was tapered somewhat. The accidental 16 miler from the previous weekend had taken it out of me, and it was time to recover. Of course, the only real tapering I did was not swim, and not lift. My running mileage was pretty much where it's been. Only thing was that my early morning Saturday running (before heading to Annapolis for Coast Guard training) was extremely difficult, probably ghosts from the previous week.

But this week I'm back in the pool and back in the weight room. I'm planning to play around with my weekend long workouts to help keep things interesting and to help pick up the intensity.

PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING.

Long Run Lamentations, Visitaion Weekend, Warm Weather

Overall, this was a decent overall training week. Most of the week, I was keeping up fairly well. I struggled to get starting with my weight-lifting sessions; while I got through them, I decided I'll probably take next week off from that.

This has also been visitation weekend for prospective graduate students for the Chemistry department. Many of you are probably unfamiliar with the process, so I'll give you the basics. Once you are except into a graduate program, the situation changes from you trying to get in, to the school trying to get you to come. To this end, departments will bring you to their schools and spend the weekend familiarizing you with their program in order to recruit you. Note, in order to "recruit," you are primarily given overviews of the research the faculty is undertaking. On Friday, there is a poster session, where current graduates illustrate and explain the areas of research of their professor. Then on Saturday (today), the prospectives meet with specific faculty members where they get a more in depth summary of their projects. Right now, they are likely at the Aquarium at the Inner Harbor for a nice meal, followed by some time on the town. Most will be traveling tomorrow.

My past two days of running have been quite interesting. The good news is, the temperature has been perfect for my runs. In the upper 40s, I did not need to wear any "coldgear" (slang for the warmer, moisture-wicking technical fabric for cold temperatures); temperature-wise, I was comfortable in shorts, shirt, and gloves which I found I need sooner than I need layering on my arms.

The bad news was the wind and the rain. Yesterday I stayed somewhat dry (ok, so I got wet, but my shoes did not get soaked, which some how means I decide it's dry). But this morning I probably only got half a mile before I was soaked and my shoes were heavy. The wind was brutal as well; I swear at one point I was running in place.

The weather probably did not help my other frustrations this morning. Originally, today was to be a bike ride with the Team in Training (TnT) group, which got canceled because of the weather, so I decided to do my long run I had planned for yesterday. Planning on approximately 13 miles, and some what unmotivated to do an older route, I briefly planned out a new route - and not just running the same roads in a new way; I would be heading down the eastern side of the city near the med school campus.

Well, so after getting started, I realized I was a little bit more worn out that I had thought, and at about two miles decided I would cut off a little extension I had planned, meaning my run would only be about 10 miles top. However, things did not go as planned. Having run "far enough" I turned back after having just past the hospital (only reaching the edge of the school itself). Instead of exactly retracing my route, I took some roads that I "knew" would cross more familiar roads that I could use to zigzag my way back home.

Bad idea.

Explaining the details here would probably only be confusing, and would do justice to the situation. Needless to say I had multiple cutbacks, did a loop which probably added about a mile, was going south when I wanted to go north, etc. All this while soaked and wind-blown. Oh, yeah, and I needed to get to the lab.

Distance-wise, it did not turn out as an easy day. In summary, I originally planned on 13. Then decided to cutback to about 10. My actual mileage? 16.5.

I should admit, I seeing a new side to Baltimore. My main road to the med campus was Eastern Ave, which runs through/along some neighborhoods (Fells Point, Greektown, Highlandtown to name a few) that looked to have some great places to eat.

Some closing comments:
It was a productive day in the lab where I used E. coli cells to express a DNA polymerase protein. I read two very interesting research articles, and also took an NMR spectrum of one of my nucleotides. My advisor complimented me on both my diligence in reading the literature and on the quality of my spectrum.

Despite 50+ weather, there is still some snow. Mainly from mammoth-sized piles.

For meals next week, I plan on eating Irish-style for St. Patty's Day.

Johns Hopkins has buildings all over the place. JHU's website list four "campuses" in Baltimore, but I have also past my two buildings/campuses not otherwise mentioned.