Leaving town in a few hours.

Our move officially commences in a few short hours.  Lana and I packed 95% of our stuff yesterday, and did about 90% of the cleaning, so we’re pretty much ready to go.

Our plan is to drive halfway to Gainesville (Chattanooga, TN) and stay the night in a hotel.  The 15 hour drive is barely enough to do in one day, but with Majel and the big moving truck we want to stay safe and take everything a bit slowly.  So, we’re going to spend the night in a hotel in Chattanooga.

I’m gonna miss Bloomington.  I’ve met some really awesome people here, and done some really neat things.  If nothing else, I’ll miss the beautiful rolling countryside for cycling, as central Florida is just flat, flat, flat.

In other news, my head feels a bit better.  The swelling has gone down.  The pain in my head has shifted from headache to neck pain, so at least the pain is evolving.  I’m taking less Vicodin, and more Tylenol, so that’s a good sign.

Crashed my bike today.

I was planning on doing 100 miles this afternoon.  Two loops of my 50 mile route.  I completed the first loop without incident, and was feeling strong starting the second loop, when just two miles into the second loop I fell hard making a sweeping left hand turn.  (For the townies, I went down on Henckel Road, approaching Griffey Lake from the south side of the lake, just before the downhill gets steep, at that left hand turn near the golf course.)  Evidently I just slid out and went down at about 20mph.  I hit my head (I was wearing a helmet) and lost consciousness for a about a minute or two.

When I came to, there were several golfers (the golf course is right next to the road) around me.  They called the ambulance (and Lana) and I was taken to the hospital.  They took a CT scan (negative), confirmed that I had a concussion, cleaned me up, stitched two cuts on my face and sent me home with some Vicodin.  (SWEEEEEEEET).

Fortunately, I broke NO BONES and have ZERO MAJOR DAMAGE to my body.  Just a few cuts and bruises, mostly on my face.  My bike also appears to be okay, too!  I could be back on my bike as soon as TOMORROW if my bruses heal well overnight!

Here are the lessons learned:

1. I am an idiot who doesn’t know how to handle my bike.  Initially, I thought I may have been hit by a car, but this was incorrect.  I simply slid out making a left hand turn.  The minor damage to my bike, as well as the damage to my hands, legs and face supports this.
2. Cyclists NEED to wear proper protection when riding a bike.  Fortunately, I had this covered.  I was wearing my helmet, which served its purpose by cracking and destroying itself.  I was also wearing gloves, which saved my hands some damage.  I was also wearing sunglasses, which were scratched and bloody and may have saved my eyes some damage as well.
3. If you’re a cyclist, YOU MUST HAVE GOOD HEALTH INSURANCE.  I will pay less than $100 for this trip to the hospital, thanks to the good insurance from Indiana University that I got by being an AI.  Cyclists will crash.  It is inevitable.  It’s part of the game.  And when it happens, you’d better be ready to either (a) whip out that health insurance card or (b) pay.
4. Lana is amazing and supportive.  She beat the ambulance to the hospital and was at my side throughout my ER experience.  I am glad to be her partner.
5. Beards are no good for cyclists.  I shave my legs so that in the event of a crash the wounds are easier to clean.  However, I forgot to apply that logic to my FACE and now some of my cuts will be difficult to clean and slower to heal.  First chance I get, the beard goes.

Alright, I am gonna go eat some delicious Mother Bear’s pizza, and maybe some Jiffy Treet (thanks Allison!) and definitely some Vicodin.

RACE REPORT: Muncie Endurathon (half Ironman), 11 July 2009.

Going into the race, I figured that I had a shot at breaking 5 hours. The Muncie course is FAST, I’ve been nailing my training, I’m dropping weight and generally feeling good about myself. All I needed was a good weather day, perfect execution and no injuries and 4:59:59 would be mine. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen today, but just the same I had a good, smart race and a decent time to boot.

We stayed in the Lees Inn in Muncie, and this was definitely a great hotel for what we paid. I somehow booked the “executive suite,” which ended up being a bedroom with a separate living room–nice! The hotel was even nice enough to put the continental breakfast out for the racers at 4:30am! Great service from Lees Inn Muncie.

Arriving at the race site, it seemed that the weather forecasts (which had predicted thunderstorms for most of the day) were wrong. It was a clear and pleasant morning as I did my race prep. I met up with Nathan and Brandon, my age group compadres. Nathan is a very strong cyclist, and ended up with the 20th best bike split out of all 507 long course athletes. Brandon is one of my coached athletes over at Pointy Helmet Coaching, and a strong overall athlete himself. My time goal was to break 5 hours, but my competition goal was to be close on time to Brandon!

We went off in the 6th wave. The wind was starting to kick up, and created some difficult cross-chop to navigate on the 1.2 mile swim. I actually put together a strong swim–about 35 minutes out of the water–and was off on the bike.

Immediately, I had some problems. First, the strap on my bike shoe came out as I was trying to strap in rolling out of transition. I actually had to stop on the side of the road, fix my damn shoe, curse a lot, and get going again. Second, about 20 miles into the bike, I started getting some serious cramps in my right quad. It was a weird pain that I’d never felt before, and it didn’t go away with stretches and some angry self-massage. It hindered my power output on my right side, and I spent most of the bike “limping” on my left leg.

In addition to those issues, the weather played a significant factor on this bike ride. The 54.5 mile course is fast and flat (and 1.5 miles short of the standard 56 miles), but the winds today were tough. They swirled around, starting from the S, then moving to come from the NW by the end of the ride. This resulted in a headwind for about 1/2 of the course, a crosswind for 1/4 of the course, and a tailwind for a mere 1/4 of the course (the first 1/4). The forecasted thunderstorms eventually started at about mile 45, and though this didn’t really affect my time, it was annoying.

As a result, my bike time was a disappointing 2:39. Under better conditions, and no cramping, I should be able to ride 2:35 for 54.5 miles without too much trouble. Today, it just wasn’t in the cards.

As I ran out of T2 with Brandon, who had made up his swim deficit to catch me right in transition, I realized that I’d have to run 1:41 for the 13.1 mile run course to break 5 hours. Not gonna happen. So, I decided to run tempo, not take any risks, and just put in a solid time. The first two miles were tough, as my quad was still cramping. I stopped to stretch twice and it eventually simmered, but my first two miles were abysmally slow.

I eventually got into a good rhythm clocking 8:20 miles. The thunderstorms continued on the run, though this was alright as the rain and wind helped keep me cool. I was feeling pretty good at mile 8 so I decided to press a bit. I surged to 8:05-8:10 pace and put in a solid last 1.1 miles to stomp the timing mat in 5:09:58.

Brandon finished up about 30 seconds before I did (not bad for either of us), and Nathan put in a really solid 4:57. Only 21 women beat me (meaning, I got double-deca-chicked).

This was 21:32 better than last year’s effort on the same course under similar conditions. So I’ve improved quite a bit since last year–yay! I need to work on my run, as it was comparatively weak compared to the rest of the field, but my swim was strong compared to the field. However, this is probably because triathletes generally suck at swimming, so I can’t take too much stock in that.

Special props to all of the race volunteers who stood out in the pouring rain to hand us water, gatorade, gels, etc. They made this race enjoyable for us all. Thanks, guys.

My training goals now turn toward preparing specifically for Ironman Wisconsin. This means long bike rides, more run mileage and no injuries. Judging by today’s performance, 11:30 at MOO would be stellar, and I should get under 12 hours if I don’t screw up the marathon.

Stats:
Swim (1.2 miles): 36:41 (Rank 138/507)
T1: 1:25
Bike (54.5 miles): 2:39:01 (21.1mph) (Rank 170)
T2: 1:43
Run (13.1 miles): 1:51:10 (8:30 min/mile) (Rank 228)
Total: 5:09:58 (Rank 168) (14/28 in M20-24 Age Group)

Some misc notes:

• Why don’t more people use disc wheels?  A wheel cover costs $90 and saves several minutes on 98% of triathlon courses, especially a super-flat course like this.
• Lana took a bunch of pictures of racers, mostly women, for my Pointy Helmet website.  I noticed that most women have simply HORRIBLE bike positions.  Sorry for the generalization, ladies, but it’s true.  Seat too high/low, aerobars too high, cockpit too short/long, etc.  Why?  Plenty of manufacturers make a decent women’s tri bike…  Are women really that hard to fit?  (The answer, by the way, is not really.)  Sarah Sanders, you’re excused–I’ve seen your bike position, and it’s better than the positions of most men.  Keep kicking ass, Sarah.
• Why don’t more people wear their wetsuits?  Yes, the water was warm today.  But, you’ll save 3-6 minutes over 1.2 miles whenever you wear it.  So, if they let you, do it!
• Very little drafting today, which was great to see, especially on a flat course.
• I saw a VI (Visually Impaired) athlete competing today, tethered to a sighted guide on the swim and run, and riding stoker on a tandem bike.  Very cool.  I think one day, I’ll see if they’ll let me be a VI guide–I already have a tandem!