If you put your gels in a bottle...

...you also need to add water. Otherwise it is like trying to eat Elmer's glue.

Also, I learned that the colloquial name for road rash in German is "schnitzel," just like the food. I find this quite amusing.

Thankfully, my schnitzel from the gel incident is almost healed. But occasionally, it is itchy. Try saying "itchy schnitzel" five times fast!

Mallorca 70.3 Race Report

You can read an overview of my race on the Team Timex blog here. But for the purposes of this blog, I thought I'd go into a few more details.

This is the first 70.3 race I've done while doing Ironman training. For all my previous races, the half Ironman was the "max distance" I was preparing for. It was interesting to see the difference in my attitude in the lead up to the race...I have to say that I wasn't as nervous about the distance, simply because I knew that I had trained for much farther. I also noticed that after the race, I was surprised how much energy I had left. It wasn't that I could have gone much faster, it was just the race didn't go on long enough. I understood this concept before, but this was the first time actually physically experiencing it. Overall, I was quite pleased with how this race went, but it was also a great chance to try out a few things, as well as learn a few lessons.

I have really been putting a focus on my race fueling. Before, I was a "C student" when it came to my nutrition. I think I was adopting a very conservative attitude of since I was performing well and not having stomach issues, I should just continue with what had worked in the past. I was doing an adequate job for a HIM, but I knew that simply doubling it was not going to cut it for the Iron distance. So in putting a focus on carbs (especially on the run) for this race, I was amazed at how much better I felt.

Here's what I did:

1x PowerGel Strawberry Banana@ 20 minutes prior to swim

Bike (3 hrs total time)
2x PowerGel (1@15K, 1@65K) I brought these on my bike, but they did have them at aid stations
2.5 scoops Infinit Ride formula, double strength in a waterbottle, sip every 15 min or so
[This works out to about 800cal in total or about 63g carbohydrate/hour...I would like to be at 80g/hr]

Run (1.5 hrs total time, 3 laps)
1st aid station: Assorted PowerGel and water
2nd aid station: Cola and water
3rd aid station: Cola and water
I carried 3 dextro tablets with me and took on laps 2 and 3
[This is 530cal or 87g/hr]

So why PowerGel? And why Strawberry Banana? PowerBar is one of the Team Timex sponsors, it is the on-course nutrition, and the Strawberry Banana flavor is the only one they sell at the PX. I think that the "convenience" of nutrition is a very important -- it doesn't do you much good if it is prohibitive to actually get it.

One important note on the gels -- I had the gels taped to my top tube and ate one before the 1st aid station. I intended to throw the wrapper away at the first bike aid station. So I tucked it into my leg gripper on my shorts. I must have put it open side down, because the remain gel trickled down my leg (it is pretty thin) and collected behind my knee. Then I forgot to throw it out. So I now had a sticky mess behind my knee, which is resticking to itself every pedal stroke. I figured it would soon dry out -- it did not. As a result of ignoring this stickiness for the next 2.5 hours, I have a big patch of raw skin behind my knee. Moral of the story: use that water bottle and wash it off!

Actually, my new plan it to put all my gels in my bottle between my aerobars. I'll test that out on my ride tomorrow.

Another thing I learned is that I had not done nearly enough riding outside. I've probably ridden outside about 4 times since last season. There are various reasons for this, but the result is that my bike handling stills were atrocious.

All in all, what a great way to start the season. I definitely want to go back to this race next year!

Training breakthroughs

1. I finally got my TV set up in front of the trainer. Plus, I got Netflix and Hulu working! Good thing, since I've got some 4 and 5 hours rides coming up.

2. I purchased a transformer strong enough to handle my Vitamix -- to celebrate I bought a bunch of beets, apples, and spinach.

3. My training camp last week was outstanding. Not only was it in the south of France, but I got a lot of instruction from my coach about climbing on the bike, swimming, and running form. Plus, I didn't have to worry about grocery shopping and cooking. So to review: south of France + good training + awesome food that I didn't have to procure or prepare = pure heaven. Check them out at http://www.sancture-sportifs.com/

Great trail running!

With my coach's instructions of "as hilly as you can" for my long run, I looked on the map and headed to an area that looked like it would provide that opportunity.

The town of Konigstein is adorable with two old castles and a very quaint atmosphere. But what was really awesome was the extensive trail network up into the Taunus Mountains.

I had made a strip map beforehand, and the only place I really remembered was Grosser Feldberg. So when I saw trail signs pointing out that direction, I modified my route to go there. The whole run was just incredible -- fairly well maintained and very well marked trails and all in the forest. Turns out that Grosser Feldberger is a mountaintop with an antenna. I found out later that it is the highest point in the mountain range.

Since I didn't want to get too lost, I just went over the hill, down a bit, and turned around. Climbing back up the hill from the opposite side turned out to be the most difficult part. It reminded me of running up the ski hill at West Point.

So --  17 miles with 3000 ft of climbing. Mission accomplished, I'd say.

Getting ready for my 4 hour ride (on the trainer)

I'm using this as a nutrition test as well, so I'm mixing up various concoctions to test out. With the amount of bottles I'm prepping, you would think I had a baby. :)

I did just discover that my new condenser dryer is providing some pretty hefty humidity in the basement. Good training!

Just keep swimming

When I go swimming with my tri club three times a week, I only have a loose understanding of what is actually going on. This is one of those cases where you just want to do what everyone else is doing. 

I'm reminded of a story that someone told of their experience living in Japan: This guy was really into judo (or karate, or something) and when he first got to Japan, he went to a big group session. After his collegiate training, he thought he was in pretty good shape, but this class lasted for hours. While he is barely hanging on, he was amazed how easy this was for everyone else. He kept going to class and after several months he was a lot fitter and his Japanese was much better. As he was complimenting some of the other students on their abilities, one of them said, "oh, you are very strong! You go for several hours each class and we only go for one."

I can totally empathize with that now.

General training notes

We are finally into to our new house! The first thing that got moved over here was my bike -- that is saying something about my priorities. My basement pain cave is already taking shape and is going to be a perfect spot for some heavy duty trainer sessions.

We moved in on Saturday and I had a two hour run scheduled for Sunday. I really didn't want to drive the 30 minutes to my usual long run loop, so I decided to figure out something around here. But since I know nothing about the area, I was kind of nervous. Here are some good tips:

1. Water features usually have well marked trails/sidewalks next to them. In this case, the Main River is my new running partner. In Mainz, I spent 90% of the time running on the trail next to the Rhine.

2. Before you start out, find some tall, easily distinguishable landmarks. When I was aimlessly running through the boonies on Sunday, I almost wept when I saw the Rathaus tower. In the case of my other favorite run loop, there was a giant fiberglass peach sitting on a pedestal. (I'm just guessing it was a peach, since I don't think they grow a lot of oranges there.) Smokestacks are another good one, especially if they have fancy paint jobs.

When I am driving on the autobahn, I am very mindful of the "keep all the way right except to pass" rule. So this is kind of like the USAT drafting rules. But I also have to remember that the Polezei will probably not accept "complete the pass in 15 seconds" as an excuse for breaking the speed limit.