topher's Summer of Pain
Training / Racing Blog: September
Beginning of Month Weigh-in: 165 pounds
1 September, 2007 — Today I sat on the bleachers at Camp Randall Stadium and watched the Badgers work their way to a 42 to 21 win over the Washington State Cougars. I got really sunburned. Does that count as training?
2 September, 2007 — Today I finished another race in the Summer of Pain series. Sunburned from yesterday's outing but feeling spry, I made my way to the starting line of the Lake Country Half Marathon in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Right from the starting gun I was feeling great and turning over my feet quickly. The Oconomowoc community threw a lot of spirit into the event, too. At 10 spots along the race course, local musicians and bands played their hearts out to motivate the racers. (To the trio playing Green Day and Good Charlotte covers: you guys rocked! Thanks for putting a tempo in my head.) And the streets were lined with tons of people cheering us on. The energy was infectious, making for an excellent event.
The official results: I maintained a 6:52 pace, finishing 13.1 miles in 1:29:49. I came in 4th out of 56 men aged 30-34 and placed 27th out of 642 people overall.
The combination of my strong finish time and how wonderful I felt is making me feel a little better about the half Ironman coming up in two weeks. The blisters on my left toes are not getting any better, but my body feels great. St. Louis, here I come! (It's going to hurt.)
Shout Out: Julie and Aaron, two friends from the Oshkosh Triathlon, showed up for the half marathon today. Both Julie and Aaron placed 3rd in their respective age groups. For the record, Julie's trophy was ever so slightly larger than Aaron's.
3 September, 2007 — Today I went for a bike ride with Julie and Aaron (see above). The ride was short, but intense and hot. And I don't know what Julie's doing, but she got another flat tire (see August's report on the Oshkosh Triathlon).
4 September, 2007 — Strength training and lots of stretching today.
5 September, 2007 — Today started with the Badgerland Striders. I met the group at Hart Park at 6:00 AM. This was much easier now that I live only a few blocks from the park. It made getting ready for work after the running that much easier, too.
After work, I had to sneak in a thrashing on the bike before doing some bike shopping with Julie. To get the ride in on time, and to avoid the heat, I hit the spin bike alone for two hours. Mind numbingly boring. That's all I'll say about that.
6 September, 2007 — Just helped Dad replace the roof on my parents' house. I guess it's a workout.
7 September, 2007 — Today I got in a great swim and more roofing with Dad.
8 September, 2007 — Today I got an early morning swim at the Wauwatosa WAC, which is now conveniently only blocks away from my place and has a great pool. On a serious high note, much of the funky tissue building up on the toes of my left foot has come off, presumably from 2 days of swimming. They now look a lot better.
Later today I'll make the scenic drive up to Door County for the Door County Century.
9 September, 2007 — I'm sorry to do this to you Chuck D., but I must: It was the best of rides, it was the worst of rides. Today I rode the Door County Century, 100 miles of pedal-powered misery. I had high hopes for this event, and most of them were shattered. I thought the setting would be beautiful. I was told the course was "the flattest century in the midwest". And I've been training all summer. So I had hoped to distract myself with the beauty of the countryside, pedal hard, and set a personal record of sorts. Ouch.
First, some history: In June I rode in the Trek 100, a 100-mile bicycle ride for the MACC Fund. That ride was a little brutal because it was early in the summer and we got rained on quite a bit. But I jumped into a few pelotons and actually made pretty good time overall, finishing the 100 miles in 5 hours and 19 minutes—including an 11-minute lunch and two mechanical problems with the bike.
So with that as a guide and several months of training under my belt, I had put it in my head that I was going to finish today's century in less than 5 hours. I packed Power Bars and gels into my cycling jersey. I went potty before I started. And I was going to rip through this thing in less than 5 hours. It didn't happen, even though I only stopped once for 1 minute and 37 seconds to fill my water bottles. In fact, I finished 1 minute slower than I did in June. But it's not all bad news. First, this course was HILLY. Man did it have some hills on it. Second, we got rained on again, and it was cold. Third, the wind today was the worst wind I've ever ridden in. There were stretches of open road with absolutely demoralizing wind sweeping across. It was brutal. But the biggest factor influencing today's ride was this: there were no groups forming. And without the benefit of a peloton, there was no way I was going to maintain half-hour stretches at 27 or 28 miles per hour. I'm not that strong. So I did today's ride totally alone. Not once did I fall into a pack, because there were none. I cut through the wind all by my lonesome self today, for 100 miles. It was mind-numbingly boring.
Therefore, I'm actually tickled pink with my 5:20:25 finish. The fact that I maintained that pace all alone means I was cranking pretty hard. And my legs continue to tell me about it—at 10 PM.
That said, the ride was beautiful. We pedaled along the north and south shores of Door County and rode stretches through two state parks. The shorelines, forests, rolling farms, and adorable towns were wonderful. The scenery really did make for an enjoyable ride.
So, though I fell short of my goal, I had fun completing the 7th event in the Summer of Pain. Now I've got less than a week to rest before the half Ironman. Did I say rest? I meant train a little more.
14 September, 2007 — I've gotten a little behind on the Summer of Pain blog. Sorry about that. So today I'll give a little recap of the week. The 100-mile bicycle ride left me a little fried. And I have the half-Ironman tomorrow. So I took it a little easy this week, kind of. I got in a couple good swim workouts. I had an intense, but brief (45-minute), bike ride. And I got in a great run. So, it was supposed to be a bit of a recovery week to get my body ready for tomorrow's pounding. Well... I ended up doing a lot of roofing with Dad. To put this into perspective, Dad's been putting many more hours on the roof than me—by vast margins. But we both admitted over some sandwiches at 10 PM last night that we were sore. Ibuprofen all around, please.
So, as a quasi-rested and mildly sore individual, I'm going to jump in the truck in a few short moments and drive down to St. Louis for the race. If I live, you'll hear from me tomorrow, one race closer to finishing the Summer of Pain.
15 September, 2007 — Every story, and therefore every race report, has a beginning. And my bid at the HalfMax National Championship Half Ironman begins with me crawling out of my tent at 5:00 AM to 41 degree temperatures and the realization that beyond my race gear (spandex shorts and short-sleeved jersey), I had only packed shorts and t-shirts. It was going to be a cold morning for topher.
I spent the entire summer worrying about this event. I consider it the hardest event of the Summer of Pain lineup, and being a national championship, I figured the field of competitors would also be the hardest. I truly had visions of finishing last at this event. But more than all of that, I feared the St. Louis heat. I did not want to swim, bike, and run through 70+ miles in 89 degree temperatures and a dew point of 88. I simply didn't.
As it turns out, I didn't have to. I should have packed a snowmobile suit.
The race was scheduled to start at 7:15 AM. So, by 7:00, I had staged my bike and running gear in the transition area, picked up my timing chip anklet, and had my race numbers Sharpied onto my arms and legs. At about 7:04, I took off my t-shirt and sandals and began walking down to the beach for the start of the race. By the time I had walked the 400 meters from the transition area to the beach, the wet grass and cold temperatures had removed the sense of touch from my feet. I could not feel them beneath me.
There are moments in life when it dawns on me, with no ambiguity, that I have screwed up. As I arrived on the beach in the cold morning air, I looked down at the field of 400+ competitors gathering on the beach and realized, in near panic, that I was one of only four jackasses not wearing a wetsuit. I was part of the 1% who thought a wetsuit was unnecessary.
There are moments in life when it dawns on me, with painful subtlety, that insult is about to be added heavily to injury. As I warmed my feet in the waters of the lake, and stood shivering amongst the field of competitors staring at me in disbelief, I began to notice just how thick the fog was forming on the lake. So stark was the contrast in temperature between the water and the air, that an absolutely opaque fog had formed at the lake's surface. I couldn't see a single one of the buoys marking the race course. I knew right then the race start would be delayed, and that I would be forced to stand, shivering and looking like a jackass (being that I am a jackass) on a beach full of wetsuit-clad competitors.
The race start was delayed 45 minutes. As I stood shivering away all my race energy, I focused on the tasks ahead of me, tried to ignore the Sports Illustrated photographers that were giggling at me, and mouthed silent thank-yous for the sensation the lake had restored to my feet. Outside the inside of my head, my body convulsed in what must have appeared to be an epileptic fit.
Finally, the starting gun fired and sweet relief began. The savage punches and kicks, the painful contractions of frozen and exhausted muscles, and the 1.2 miles of swimming I had ahead of me were blissful compared to the violent cold I'd left behind on the beach. The water was my blanket.
35 short minutes later though, the cold returned. I left the water, ran to the transition area, donned my cycling gear, and jumped on the bike. Although the temperatures had crawled their way to about 46 degrees since 5:00 AM, pedaling at 20 MPH, still soaking wet, I thought I was going to shiver right off the bike. Can we please have some of that St. Louis heat?
At race speeds, it didn't take long to dry off, and as the hours passed on the bike, the temperatures made their way into the 50s and the ride actually became pleasant. I was able to conserve fluids easily and didn't have to make any stops during the 56 miles of the bike course. And out of the 56 miles, there were only about 10 miles with serious hills to climb. So my legs were feeling wonderful as I transitioned off the bike and into my running shoes.
But all of this was about to become utterly meaningless.
In the way throwing a Dixie Cup of water on a house fire is inadequate, applying the word "hilly" to this run is inadequate. It's inadequate in a way we can safely call "woefully". This run was not hilly; it was a damned asinine roller coaster of a goat path. During the 1 hour and 40 minutes I spent on this run, only once were both of my feet simultaneously on a plane we could meaningfully label as "level". This lasted 19 seconds, while I quickly obliged nature in a Port a-John along the side of the race course. The floor of said Port a-John was the only level surface anywhere along the 13.1 miles. Mountain goats lay dead alongside the gravel roads. Grown men and women cried out in pain. Search and rescue helicopters flew purposeful circles overhead. The volunteers handing out water, Gatorade, and Hammer Gel were harnessed and roped to nearby trees. My legs screamed at me the entire time. It was agony. I longed to be standing on a cold beach, shivering in my imprudent near-nakedness. The run hurt.
My goal had been to finish the half Ironman in 6 hours or less. In the end, I came in slightly under 5 hours and 5 minutes. I had absolutely crushed my goal. Approximately 400 racers entered the HalfMax Championship. I finished 90th overall and finished 13th out of 35 men in my age group. I finished far better than I had hoped, and nearing the finish line, watching the clock tick only slightly beyond 5 hours, I nearly cried as I sprinted the last 200 meters into the crowd...
I'll post official standings and splits when I get them. And I believe there will be some good photos from this race, including photos of some near-naked jackass freezing on a beach. So I'll update the gallery soon.
HalfMax Update: I received the official results from the HalfMax race and there have been some adjustments. Apparently there were fewer racers than they were originally announcing. Below are my official times and placements. The bad (more realistic) news is that I'm no longer in the top 25%. I'm hovering between the 50th and 75th percentile, which among this crowd seems far more appropriate to me. The good news is that I am no longer part of the 1% of jackasses that showed up without a wetsuit. I am part of the 1.35% of jackasses that showed up without a wetsuit. That makes me 0.35% less jackass-like. There's nothing like a clerical error to boost your self esteem.
Official Results:
Finish Time — 5:04:53.3
Swim — 35:07.7
Transition 1 — 2:17.3
Bike — 2:45:12.8 (20.3 MPH Average)
Transition 2 — 1:28.2
Run — 1:40:49.3 (7:41 / mile)
Overall Placement — 92nd out of 295 racers
Age Group Placement (Male 30-34) — 10th out of 29 racers
Men's Division Placement — 80th out of 203 racers
16 September, 2007 - Today involved nearly ongoing stretching, some light strength training, and a campaign of fluid and calorie replacement that nearly matched a Thanksgiving binge. It was a good day.
17 September, 2007 - Today I finally got to take a run around the new neighborhood. I put in just under 7 miles and got to take in a bit of Wauwatosa, the trails of Hart Park, and the trails of the Menomonee River Parkway. It was a good run, although there were a few hills that reminded me of the goat path from St. Louis. Ugh.
18 September, 2007 - Today I rested the legs and did some strength training at my new "home" gym, the Wauwatosa WAC.
19 September, 2007 - Melissa hosted a goofy-costume themed Spin class at the Waukesha WAC. I guess it was supposed to be a Super Hero thing, but I'm not so much into the whole super hero thing. I prefer real heroes. So, I stopped at the local neighborhood GoodWill on the way to the gym and bent the definition of "Super Hero" a little bit. There are pictures in both the Goofball section and the Friends section of the gallery. Check 'em out.
20 September, 2007 - Today I went down in the basement, armed myself with a bunch of tools and a bottle of bicycle lubricant, and set about making the bike from the Muddy Buddy functional again. There was mud in so many places that the bike wouldn't shift right, the back wheel wouldn't spin right, and the brakes worked only on their own terms, not the rider's terms. And as I took it apart to clean it all out, I kept finding other problems. The bearings in the back wheel were coming loose. One of the pedal spindles was bent. The bike was in rough shape. But, I nursed it back to health—though I stopped short of giving it a bath—and then took it out for a ride around the new neighborhood. It was a beautiful, albeit greasy, afternoon.
21 September, 2007 - Just some strength training today.
22 September, 2007 - Today started out with several hours of roofing. Then Julie and I went on an 8-mile run along the Bugline Trail between Merton and Sussex. After the run we were stretching at Firemen's Park when along came an eclectic bunch of youngsters carrying a mattress. For seemingly no reason at all, these youngsters suddenly dropped their mattress, stripped the bedding, stuffed animals, and other items from on top of the mattress, and began jumping up and down on top of it. The next thing we knew, Julie and I were swept up in the scavenger hunt these youngsters were on—Julie riding atop the mattress while I helped the six kids carry it some 10 blocks or so down the streets of Merton. Odd, but fun, and we got some free bottled water out of it.
23 September, 2007 - Sunburned from yesterday's roofing excursion, I started today's roofing activities with a healthy dose of sunscreen, and then got to work. After roofing, Melissa and I went out to Kettle Moraine for some mountain biking. It was our first trip out there in quite some time and we were pleased to find that the big Blue Loop had been updated with a couple extra miles of singletrack. For a while we thought we were lost because the terrain was so unfamiliar, but someone later confirmed that the trails had been changed and more was added to the Blue Loop. Melissa had one spectacular wipeout in the middle of a 30-foot mud puddle, which I thought for a moment was going to give her Muddy Buddy flashbacks. But she didn't show any signs of PTSD.
24 September, 2007 - Just some roofing today.
25 September, 2007 - Today I just did some strength training, then packed my bags and left on a little business trip to Chicago.
26 September, 2007 - This morning I got up early and made my way down to the fitness room at the Radisson. I ran a little over 6 miles on the treadmill. It was terrifically boring.
27 September, 2007 - This morning I got up early and made my way down to the fitness room in the Hilton, across the street from the Radisson. It's a wacky business trip and I had to change hotels mid-stream. The treadmill at the Hilton had a TV built into it, so today's 6+ miles was much less boring than yesterday's. But, on a comparative note, the fitness room at the Radisson was nicely temperature controlled. The fitness room at the Hilton was stifling, and I must have sweat out 11 gallons during my run. It was horrifying.
So the question is: would I rather be bored and comfortable or entertained and miserable? Comfort is overrated. It was nice watching the news while I ran. I'll take entertainment over the luxury of mere comfort any day. And this is the Summer of Pain, after all.
28 September, 2007 - The business trip in Chicago finished up early enough today that I was able to get back to Wisconsin and sneak in some playtime in the wonderful weather. I made a quick pit stop at the gym to get in some strength training and then filled the truck with gear for a little mountain biking. I hit the trails at the landfill-cum-ski-hill, Crystal Ridge, in Franklin, Wisconsin. The trails were wonderfully muddy and I was an absolute mess when I got done riding. And "getting done riding" almost ended differently than I had expected. First, I noticed for the first time today that the mountain biking trails at Crystal Ridge cut across the driving range, roughly between the 250-yard and 300-yard markers. So I now fully expect to get hit by a golf ball one of these times. Second, the river and park land surrounding Crystal Ridge attract a lot of wildlife. And today I happened upon some. I reached the bottom of a hill at a pretty good speed and leaned hard into the sharp left-hand turn at the bottom. Three quarters of the way through the turn, I slammed on my brakes and came to a skidding stop about 8 inches from a large, female deer, standing still in the middle of the trail. I startled the doe so much that she started thrashing and kicking wildly while trying to flee. I had to drop to the ground to avoid getting kicked. The whole thing was spectacular, hilarious, and terrifying.
29 September, 2007 - Not that it can meaningfully be called training, but I got two skydives in today. The reserve parachute, harness, and container had been in the shop for a few weeks, getting the thrice-annual inspection required by law. I finally got it back and had to go play with it. So I made my way down to the airport in East Troy, put the pile of nylon parts that is my parachute back together, and then took it in the air to see if I'd assembled it correctly. Yup.
I also needed a light amount of cardio today, and wanted to keep the adventure going, so I decided to do a little urban mountain biking. I figured it would be fun compared to all the running I've been doing. So I tightened up the nuts and bolts on the old mountain bike and took off through the streets of Wauwatosa and Milwaukee. I was jumping off of curbs and riding down long staircases. I found some short trails around the Honeycreek Parkway. I was having all sorts of fun when, all of a sudden, my front tire went flat. No big deal—I was carrying an extra innertube and I had a handy-dandy CO2 cartridge with me to reinflate the tire. In about 5 minutes I was back on the bike, continuing my little urban assault. I made it 6 blocks before the front tire went flat again. And that was it. I was out of innertubes and out of handy-dandy CO2 cartridges. And so I walked, pushing my abused bicycle, from 76th and Bluemound to 66th and Lloyd. It was a great workout.
30 September, 2007 - It was a beautiful Sunday morning, so Marna and I went hiking at Lapham Peak State Park in Delafield. This part of the Kettle Moraine Forest, as we were to learn, centers around a hill named for a gentleman whose name was Increase A. Lapham, Eminent Scientist and Useful Citizen. We got a kick out of this, and I have decided that when I die, I want my urn to say the following: Herein lies what's left of Chris "topher" LaVesser, Eminent Goofball and Useful Citizen. Marna and I also reached the two-party consensus that, if either of us were ever to have a child, we would not be naming it "Increase", "Decrease", or any other such name. The hike was beautiful. And then we watched the Packers game.
End-of-month Weigh-in: I did not get a chance to weigh myself at the gym, and I either lost my bathroom scale in the move or don't own one. So, Check the October page and see what I weigh in at in the end of the Summer of Pain.
