Foggy Mornings

Thursday mornings are best served with coffee and a dash of weekend dreams. But with Musselman Sprint and Half-Ironman rearing their buggardly little heads on the July calendar, Alaina and I hit the dirt roads extra early for a two hour ride before work.

For some reason, it was down into the 40s this morning, so we donned some Fall riding gear and set out...without the coffee. *sad face* The one downside to riding the dirt country roads is the lack of espresso bars on the farms. Someone needs to remedy this.

Prepping rituals

I call this stretch of road The Prologue. It's a flat, neatly tree lined road that leads into Barton Hills, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in town, and a good place to take in those sweet summery smells.

American poet, Carl Sandburg, writes that the fog comes on little cat feet, but we caught it on deer hooves this morning. Click the pic to see the young buck.

Alaina cruises ahead while I enjoy the idyllic white fence of an equestrian center on the right.

Fired up and ready to go play with some rats at work.

Rumbling and Rolling

The heat (an humidity!) is on and our next race is just about a month away -- Musselman Sprint in Geneva, NY on Saturday, July 16 and a half-Ironman triathlon the next day, July 17 -- so it's time to get back to regular training. Races are a blast but they disrupt our regular schedule because we have to taper our volume the week before, then take a week pretty easy to recover, so all that time in between is a bit anxiety-making. Should I be doing more? Doing less? Should the beatings continue until morale improves?

Alaina has taken control of our training schedule, and she is a cruel coach. Tempo intervals on the bike followed by hill repeats on the run. Long, hard bike rides on Saturday with a short run afterward, then long hard runs the next day. Sheesh, the female competition at Musselman doesn't stand a chance.

I've been doing my rides during the week on my cyclocross bike out on the dirt roads almost exclusively because I'm so sick of cars on the paved roads. The scenery in the country right now is stunning. Deep green forests line every road that isn't rolling farmland, with the cornfields at just over knee high in time for the 4th of July.

Last weekend Alaina joined me for a 2 hour fun ride on the dirt roads to stretch our legs out a couple of hours after a brutal 10 mile hard run. Pictures below.

More pics from Grand Rapids Triathlon

More pics to come on this post in the next few days.

Grand Rapids Half-Ironman

Two weekends ago, we raced (and won!) the Co-ed Division of the American Triple-T Ohio, a 4-race, 3-day event on some of the most brutal roads and trails I’ve ever bowed down before. So we must’ve been sipping some of that 120 proof Yousocrazy! cognac to sign up for this one the Thursday before the race. Alaina was stoked by the prize money for overall winners, and I hadn’t done a stand-alone half-Ironman since Austin in ‘09, so it would be a good litmus test for fitness this season.

My body was taking its sweet ol’ time recovering during the two weeks between races, probably because I wasn’t doing enough active recovery to help it along. The temptation to cut workouts short and get to drinking on a giant raft in the middle of the Trout Lake on our first 80+ degree days of summer...well, how can you turn that down?

The Swim

I like watching people's behavior in groups. It calms me. And the swim start is a good time for this. I’ll float around and listen in on nervous chatter and see what people do with themselves while they’re waiting for someone to tell them when to GO.

Just before the start, most of the first wave of athletes stood on the ramp looking around for where others were seeding themselves. And then, crazily, they started migrating toward where everyone else was going to swim, which was as far to the outside of the buoy line as they could stand without falling off the ramp. So I sculled to the left, started in the water while everyone else had to run down the slimy ramp, and swam like I had the place all to myself. Oh Brer Fox, don’t throw me in that buoy line, anywhere but there!

In sum: just because everyone else is doing it don’t make it a good idea.

I had a good swim at 32 minutes, and Alaina had a great swim at 30 minutes flat. She's a shark in there!

T1

Transition area is the one place where this first year race really needs some changes. 1000 athletes. One rack on each side of a closed off two lane road, with a narrow space to run down the middle. 3 different races: Sprint/Oly/HIM using it. Crowded to say the least.

The Bike

Going into the race, I wanted to hurt myself on the bike. For once, to not be conservative. To get to that place Springsteen imagines: “where dreams are found and lost / I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost / For wanting things that can only be found / In the darkness on the edge of town.“ And this time, I came very close.

The best part about not being a great swimmer is you get to cruise by a bunch of people at the start of the bike, which is great for the ego, but not so much for the watts. I settled into an effort that I clearly couldn’t sustain for 56 miles, dreaming of a sub-2:30 bike split with all the fairytale gloss of Ralphie’s delusional adventures with his Red Ryder bb gun. I was going to shoot my legs off.

Miles 2-10 feature a chip seal segment so trashy that John Waters could direct a feature film about it, but I was ready with my extra low 105 psi to smooth things out a bit. Good news is that right after this little zigzag in the course the roads get downright creamy. If you’re looking for a dead flat half-Ironman course with only a couple tame rollers that you don’t even have to get into the granny gear for, Grand Rapids has the course for you.

I passed about 10 people in the first few miles before Michigan countryside called up the ghost of Kerouac and it was just me and the road, thinking

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'
For stretches of time I put my head down on my forearms and watched the white fog line zip along below me, pushing that bubbling poison in my legs just past levels of comfort without spiking it to OD zone.

At the turn around of this out-n-back course, I was able to count the number of riders ahead of me: 5. I’ve never been that high overall. Could I hold it? Could I run off it? Was this plan to go hard on the bike going to work, or am I just not the top-10 kind of finisher after all?

Around 1:50 into the bike I approached a 4 way intersection with two green shirted volunteers who were clearly disinterested in directing traffic. Luckily, there was a guy ahead of me who yelled to them and they told him to turn left. Just before I made my turn, I saw this other dude blazing straight ahead, clearly going the wrong way. Turns out he was the eventual HIM male winner, who went 2 miles off course and still smoked the race. I figure he was the guy who passed me about 15 minutes later asking me what place I was in. I shrugged thinking, 'uh, one place worse than I was before you came by.' :D

As expected, my power dropped the last 20 minutes of the bike and I bled speed as the HIM course merged with the Olympic distance racers and I ran out of juice. Alaina and I both had our best half-IM bike splits ever, with me going 2:26 @ 22.9 mph average for 56 miles, and Alaina going 2:31 at 22.1 mph average.

The Run

I saw with such clarity. I felt with hypercolor skin sense. Every pence of strength I spent on the bike was demanded payback by an angry creditor clanging on my skull. I’m not going to blame nutrition, the heat, or the salt sticks I fumbled to the tarmac on the bike. This suffering was because I overcooked the bike. And I can’t hide from myself on the run.

The run is a pure, beautiful thing. It doesn’t lie to you or pretend it’s something it’s not. It doesn’t sugar coat the distance. If you stop pushing forward or turning over your feet, you don’t get any closer to the finish line. Your race dies there in a pool of sweat that stares back into your guts.

At mile 2, when I felt my first twang of cramping in my quads, I actually laughed at myself. Who are you? Do you think you can run sub-1:30 after that bike? Do you even think you can finish this race? Oh hell yes. I’m going to finish if I need to drag my bloody carcass over the finish line. Run if you can. Walk if you have to. Crawl if you must. I’m going to finish.

Just before the end of the first lap I heard that crisp pitter-patter of a true runner’s pace clipping me from behind. Dude was cruising at probably 6:30 m/m with no sign of letting up. He was out of sight within minutes. As he passed, I told him, ‘go get ‘em’ and he said, “we’ll see” and chuckled. The last bit told it all; he had a great race.

My strategy became survival to hold as close to 7:10 m/m as I could. But the wheels were falling off.

After the last turn around I could see that no one from my wave was closing in and I tried one more time on the last 5k to push it, but cramping in my quads and groin gave me electric shocks every time I tried to go any faster. As I crossed the finish line my legs and lungs and soul were beaten to a dirty pulp and all I cared about was for it all to end.

I couldn't believe I had gone 4:35 for the race, a 14 minute PR for 7th place overall and 1st place in my Age Group! Alaina did a 4:43 and WON overall female.

Post race

I waited by the finish line with all the sun baked spectators, stretching out. I spotted Alaina coming down the road as the 1st place female and I was even more excited for her than finishing the race myself. She won another race and this time I was there to cheer her through the finish line!

The Grand Rapids Press had an article on Alaina's win and she's quoted all over the place.

What an amazing day of racing for Team Case!

No room at the inn

Island Lake Swim Fun

The rain held off, so the Nearys and the Cases went up to Island Lake Rec Area for some biking and swimming. Tom caught a bunch of bluegill and bass but ironically no trout at Trout Lake, while Sharon and Cody picnicked and relaxed on one of the mini-beaches around the perimeter of the lake. Another super smashing day this long weekend.

The three swimigos

This is the real reason why Alaina flies through the water.

In her element.

The most competitive Case? C.O.D.Y. No doubt.

Disc Golf at Hudson Mills

The Nearys came to Michigan this Memorial Day weekend! Friday night was filled with laughs and great food at Casey's. Saturday featured a long relaxing morning, then off to Hudson Mills Metropark for some running and then disc golf on the Monster course with Cody the amazing shot fixer. She loves being on her job.

We played 18 holes without losing a disc before both Tom and I threw our discs into this scummy, over-full pond and I had to wade waist-deep into the muck to retrieve them. Ack! Sorry, no pictures of that mess.

Best running partner in the world.

Sharon is all focus.

Great action shot taken by Tom.

Once he stopped using the putter, Tom threw like a beast.

Alaina made this best shot of the day for a birdie.

No doubt, Alaina had the best round of the day.

Who's happiest?

American Triple-T Post Race

I've been slacking on taking pictures during our training sessions for this weekend's American Triple-T event, so blogs have been sparse. But that doesn't mean we haven't been training our butts off in prep for these races! I'll give a brief race report here and more details when the race pictures come out. We didn't take many pics this weekend because there was so much racing and we kind of just forgot.

The past week in Michigan brought the ultimate suckage in weather trifecta: wind, cold, and rain. It was even harder than usual to believe we'd be diving into a lake and racing in 4 triathlons over the next 3 days. But Friday was gorgeous on our drive down to southern Ohio and we got ourselves mentally ready to rock this thing as a Co-Ed team.

Our goal was to race smarter and pace better this year on the first 3 races so that we could race a strong half-Ironman as the 4th race. The plan worked as we had a faster overall time for the whole weekend by over 10 minutes! And we won! By the last race on Sunday we had a 15 minute lead on the second place team and we caught up to them at mile 1 on the run after they put up a really fast bike split, so all we needed to do was take it easy and finish the race.

The only bad part of this 140+ mile weekend was the run on the half-Ironman for me. The 80+ degrees and high humidity and pollen levels sapped me of fluids more than I expected and made my lungs feel asthmatic the whole time. My legs felt amazing for once because we paced the weekend right, but I couldn't get enough oxygen to my muscles, so I definitely slowed us down. But in the end, we finished and WE WON!

I can't thank Alaina enough for getting me through that 13.1 mile stretch in the hot, buggy, hilly as heck trails. She didn't let me quit and calmed me down when I panicked and felt dizzy. She's some kind of amazing athlete, partner, and wife.

Bridge that connects the swim course to transition area

This is our only picture of the bike course! Hah!
It's the boy scout camp where we go UP for 3 miles straight.

After the run everyone goes down to this creek that feels like an ice bath. It's awesome.

This dude could be my brother from another mother. We have the exact same frame.
He corrected my timing chip problems, and I thanked him at the awards ceremony.

First Place Co-Ed division champions of the American Triple-T. Two years in a row.

We won two $1500 gift certificates to a bike shop in Ohio. We're rich!

Triathlon as Lifestyle

Most of the time I think of triathlon as a hobby. Like playing golf, or going to concerts, or joining a softball league, it's something I do for fun in my free time. Alaina and I take the sport seriously and we want to do well at races, but we do it because it's fun to swim + bike + run on a regular routine. It gets us outside and makes us feel like adventurers. Triathlon magazines and forums talk about triathlon as a lifestyle, so I've been wondering lately, when does a hobby become a lifestyle?

dictionary.com defines 'lifestyle' as "a set of attitudes, habits, or possessions associated with a particular person or group." I'd say our attitude is push ourselves to new limits. The habits that get us there are daily training. And the possessions are the ridiculously expensive gear and nutrition that ultimately make this possible. We are triathletes. Maybe it has become a lifestyle.

This weekend's long ride was a 75 mile loop on country roads near Chelsea in howling 20+ mph winds. UM commencement was today, so we wanted to get as far away from Ann Arbor as possible. Hoping for the projected 60 degrees, we got 50s and cloudy, as we were underdressed and froze our tookies off. After 3 hours of hard riding trying to keep the body heat up, we were both ready to crack, so we dialed the effort back and phoned in the last 50 minutes. Sooooooo ready to be done at 4 hours, and even happier that we're not full-Ironman training.

20+ mph sustained winds brought the pain.

Alaina drops her chain on a climb and sniffs her armpit in frustration.

Only 1.5 hours into the ride and feeling groovy.

Finally back in Chelsea

Lifestyle smile. Or I need to take the zoom off.

Easter Hike

The midwest was treated to a warm, gorgeous Easter Sunday, so after a 13 mile run with Alaina, we took the hyper dog out to Kuebler Woods and Bird Hills trails for an hour long hike. The wind had blown down some new trees for Cody to play on over the past week, and the parents didn't want to be left out of the fun, so we played balance beam over this ravine.

Cody scouts for squirrels from her perch

Alaina tests her mettle.

I didn't trust this tree farther than I could throw it.

Pooped pooch. Chased every living thing out there.

Tired girls.

Cody chases some squirrels

Tireless little pupper

Sometimes it Snows in April

Prince has a beautiful song called "Sometimes it Snows in April," and I get to play it all day at least once a year. That day came this past week where not only did we see flakes in late April, but it actually started to accumulate throughout the day. Oy vey. Prince is from Minnesota and he should know better. The song should've been called "It ALWAYS Snows in April."

So the mitten state was feeling beaten and broken, ready for Spring to finally break through, when Mother Nature gave us this Saturday. Mid 60s, sunny as you could ever want, and maybe a little windy (15-25mph), but for we who made snowballs last week, there was little to complain about.

Alaina and I hopped on our bikes and took to the country roads for a 72 mile ride, our longest this year. Although we weren't blazing fast, it was a hard ride in preparation for our first triathlon of the season, the American Triple-T, which is exactly one month away. It's far and away the hardest race series we'll do this year, with 4 triathlons in 3 days. The terrain is hilly -- it's in Southern Ohio at the foothills of the Appalachians -- and every race of the 4 gets progressively longer and more difficult. We won the Co-Ed team division last year, so winning again is definitely on our minds. Hooray for Spring!

Less than a week ago, we woke to this loveliness.

Some thought that Spring would never come.

But when it did, we took to our trusted steeds.

And there were smiles and joy once again.