Still abroad

I've been in Finland a little over a week now. Today was the solstice and there was a beautiful but brief sunset, some amazing colors. The evenings in Karjaa are beautifully quiet and serene if you take time to listen. Walked to the old St. Katherine this evening. It is very old and it overlooks a local river. There are no words to accurately describe it except that for me it is legendary. There are only two more days of camp then I will spend some time in Helsinki and the countryside before returning to the states. I will be sad when camp is over but look forward to some "freetime" in Finland.

I've had the opportunity to run three times: twice on the wooded trail and once on the road and through a local park with a river vista. The trail runs are 3 km loops, up and down, generally used in the winter for Nordic skiing, there are some long steep climbs. The road run is on bike trails, sidewalks, and park trails, generally flat or with some inclines. My first trail run was 6 km in 55 min. That was last Wednesday. Then Thursday I ran the road run for about 6 km in 55 min. also. Finally on sunday I was able to work in a long run. I ran the trail loop making several circuits for a total of 13.5 km in about 1:55. Due to the hills, by Tuesday my legs were pretty tired. I'm hoping to get in a short 45 min run. tomorrow and get some of the kinks loosened up. After that I don't know if I will have time to train or the opportunity/location. I'll be semi-on the road in Finland staying with a family at their summer cottage and I expect that it will be relaxing and I may not even want to train. We'll see.

Anyway, if you are out there, good for you. I see many of my Monroe Tri Club friends are racing and training, good for you too! So, a hui hou, see you on the road.

A short note

I've been working hard at English Communication Camp in Karjaa Finland. Long days up at 7 and bed at 12. Students are excellent, lots of diversity, Namibians, Iraqi, Swedes, and Finns. I was able to squeeze in a run on the wooded cross-country track near the school I am working at. Did about 3.75 mi, 55 min. today. Need to up that by 30% on my next run. Haven't had the opportunity to do much else until today but I've got some days to go before heading back to the states. The trail is very nice, wood chips and soft earth, rolling hills, a 3 k circuit. It is lighted for the winter so nordic skiers can use it in the snow anytime. Also it is well protected, safe to run, very interesting environment, chance to listen to nature. Anyway, more later, a hui hou, see you on the road (somewhere).

Side note, I just tried to spell check but because I am online in Finland the program thinks I should be speaking Finnish. That is pretty funny. Hope it's ok. Also some Monroe Y Tri members are doing half marathons soon, so good luck to all of you.

Rainy Training

Yesterday was a beautiful day but before that rain off and on enough to make you want to just leave. Anyway this was another short training week, 5 sessions. So the mileage has gone down but I can always use recovery time. Leaving for Finland for a while so training will really be limited. I hope to run at least every other day and have some good 10k sessions.

Summary for last week: swim 1.44 mi. 1:55; cycle 32.5 mi. 2:54 (3 spin classes); run (following spin classes) 9:36 mi. 2:13; strength and stretch 1:45; total time 6:10, total distance 43.24 miles.

Thanks for keeping up, until my next post, a hui hou, see you on the road.

Issaquah Sprint Tri 2010

After what seems like weeks of rain, the sun shined on the Issaquah Tri. Held at lake Sammamish State Park the course and transition areas were saturated and pretty much a mud bowl. Everywhere you needed to go, it was deep mud and it made for an interesting day.

Waiting for the start, standing at the edge of a very cold lake, I wondered how the day would go. We waited in waves, a delayed start giving us plenty of time to think. Just before my wave was called for the swim start I decided to take a quick warm-up swim. I waded into the lake, it was cold, and as I started out my stroke ducking my head into the water, the cold ran through the top of my wetsuit and literally froze my spine. My reaction, "what am I doing here?" There wasn't time to change my mind, my wave was called and in minutes signaled to start. There were 50 men and women in my wave, the second to last to start, and there was room on the side to start out slowly. Because of the cold I swam with my head up and sighting the first turn. It was so cold that it took quite a few minutes to settle in. On the long side of the course and the final turn I got it smoothed out. I felt pretty good and passed a few swimmers. It was difficult to see, the water was murky, so when you came up on someone, it was as ink in the water was slightly disturbed and then it disappears. Reaching shore I had trouble getting my footing so I walked up the ramp and then jogged a bit to the transition. I was cold through, been in the water less than 12 minutes, shivering a bit and my mouth had the usual hypodermic droop. Several members of the Monroe Y Tri Club who had come out to encourage us, two were near my bike in the rack and talked to me as I tried to get out of the wetsuit and into my bike gear. This was the longest time I was in the transition, too long.

The transition exit was deep mud and running through it clogged my wheels. All the time I was on the bike it made strange noises probably due to the extra mud stuck in just about every space. The bike leg went well. Though I couldn't zip up my shirt with one hand so it was a little breezy. Parts of the course were sunny and others were in shade, but for the most part everything went well. I passed a few people as i rode through the course. There were a couple of hills, not too steep, but hills so i used all my low gears and many of the high gears on the other side. I never shifted up to the big ring, instead I used the downhills for rest. On one downhill I broke 30 mph with a little help. Normally I would back off but I was pumped and felt solid so I hammered on. It was exhilarating. I made a good change in T-2 and got out on the run course without too much trouble, with the exception that my feet were numb and my legs were wobbly.

I shortened up my stride and knew that somewhere in the next 3 miles my stride would come back. The run course was like a steeple=chase, some good footing hard top or dirt, mud holes, deep muddy grass, slippery pallet bridges, two creek crossings over moss covered wet wood. My splits improved as I proceeded with the run and I passed a few runners. Also some of the people I passed on the bike eventually passed me on the run.

At the end of the run I was excited hearing the names of runners as they approached the finish arch. Down the chute I came. The announcer instead of calling out my name requested the medical team to the podium, and then I was through the finish. accepting water, finishers' medal, and the good wishes of friends and family, which was plenty of reward for me. I was not so tired as I was exhilarated. I had completed my first official triathlon with no problems and was completely in the moment.

Now that it is over I realize this is an important first step and I hope that it will keep me motivated to continue training hard. I know I can get out of transitions in less time. My swim and run were faster than I expected and the bike was about what I expected.

Official results: 1:50.06 767/837 overall 8/11 age group

swim 11:34, T1 7:35, bike 56:40, T2 4:00, run 30:16

A hui hou, see you on the road.

Weekly summary

Memorial Day weekend in Ketchikan, short week of training, Issaquah Sprint Tri today. I had only a few training sessions combined with the event Saturday. Training summary including the Tri: swim 2.17 mi. 1:56; bike 30 mi. 2"09, run 5 mi 1"06; total distance for the week 37.17. Total time 6:32. As I said half the volume and in a week I will be off again and unable to train consistently. I have a plan for my running and I think I can do some cycling but there will be no swimming available. My next event is the Seafair so I'll be able to get up to speed in time for that. Now I need to focus on events for July on, which I will do and when.

Looks like this week I can get a full training schedule in. My plan is to go back to the volume but ease off on the intensity. It can be a good recovery week. So, a hui hou, see you on the road.