Cycling shoes are dishwasher safe?

Once again I started to notice that the cycling shoes were getting funky.  A couple of years ago I spent an afternoon defunkifing the shoes but this time it was late afternoon and I did not want to dig out the bucket (I briefly thought about putting them in the Jacuzzi tub).

I had read that you could put the shoes in the dishwasher (when your better half was not around). 

I checked over my should and decided to try it out.  I placed two pairs of shoes on the top rack.  I set the dishwasher to the non-heat setting.

I was disappointed with the results.  They were cleaner but not super clean.  I went ahead and got out the bucket and cleaned them the old fashioned way – you can read about it here.

After the next cleaning (and drying) the shoes were oh so much better.   The funk was gone!

Silver again!

Fresh!

Mighty Magnolia 2013 Race Report

As I mentioned previously, there were a lot of changes (2013 training and prep) since the last time I raced the Mighty Mag (2011 Mighty Mag Race Report).

SWIM -

Well, the equipment for the swim was the same and the starting lineup was similar.  I started at number 16 towards the very front of the 350+ line.  I had not been swimming much the past year but my times were close to where they have been in the past.  Without many people in front of me I just cruised the swim.  I was alone except for the 4 or 5 people that I passed.  I gave them a wide berth and did my own thing.  I ‘water jogged’ the swim 18 seconds faster than 2011 (2013 – 8:20 / 2011 – 8:38) and placed first in my age group, go figure.  That being said I was 1:13 slower than the fastest swim of the day – that is a lot of time in a third of a mile swim.

T1 -

I ran out of the water as soon as I could stand.  I unzipped my long john wetsuit and ran up the short rise to T1.  I had some trouble getting the wetsuit off of my legs and sat down in transition and pulled the legs off.  I felt like I gave back the 20 seconds I gained in my swim in T1.  I was actually 5 seconds faster (2013 – 1:11 / 2011 1:16).

BIKE -

I made the decision to not race on my race bike due to lack of conditioning.  I am a better cyclist this year.  The course is tough with lots of rolling hills.  I was out on my own for the entire ride passing only a couple of people that were ahead of me.  I also got passed twice, I think.  The bike was uneventful except that being in the aero bars and the slammed stem I was not able to produce the amount of power that I should have.  There is a compromise between aero and power and by not practicing or adapting to the position I think I left a lot of time on the table.  I finished the 16.5 mile bike 92 seconds faster than 2011 (2013 - 46:10 @ 21.4MPH / 2011 – 47:42 @ 20.8MPH).

Me on the bike testing the position.

T2 -

I grabbed my running visor and race belt and headed out.  A volunteer noted that I had my swim goggles in my hand as well.  I dropped the goggles prior to leaving the transition (a great volunteer put them back next to my bike – super cool).  I was 5 seconds slower than 2011 (2013 – 53 / 2011 47).

RUN -

Running has been my strong suit.  Not during this race.  I blame a lack of bricks (1), low run mileage (15 – 20 miles a week) and being heavy (10 lbs).  I remember running this in 2011 and while it hurt I was running well.  I was charging through the few people ahead of me.  This year I was over cooking the run and not moving as fast as I wanted.  I had to back off and actually walk for 10 seconds around mile 1.  Looking at my heart rate average (after the race) I really was working hard – I just wanted more.  In 2011 I ran the ‘3 miles’ (it is a little short) in 19:01 (4th best overall for the day).  This year I gave up a whopping 2:41 – almost a minute per mile (2013 – 21:42 @ 7:14/mile / 2011 19:01 @ 6:21/mile).

I finished the race in 1:18:19 (57 seconds slower than 2011).  However, I did legitimately win my age group (Sam was the only 40 – 44 male that was faster and he won the overall). 

In my age group I was 1st in the swim, 2nd in the bike (behind Lance) and 4th in the run.

Not a bad overall showing but there is definitely room for improvement.  I feel like this race was a high school test – sure I got a B but what if I would have studied?

Mighty Magnolia 2013–Training and Prep

Congrats on your come back – Ginger – Living the Tri Life

Don’t call it a come back, I’ve been here for years – LL Cool J

Before the race, the last triathlon I did was the Mighty Magnolia (clears throat) 2011 and I did not do any running races since RnR NOLA 2012 (half PR).  Well, there was a trail run that I ran in a banana suit last fall (Rattler Ramble).  It is not like I have been sitting on my duff – it is just I have not needed to toe the line.  My bike volume has been the biggest ever (I have averaged 130+ miles per week since March), the run volume has been low to moderate but consistence and the swim – well, I got in the pool some before this race.

Packet pick up the night before

I signed up for the Might Mag way back early in the spring.  I made a commitment.  I put down my money for accountability reasons (and the race is much cheaper the earlier you register).  You also get to start earlier (time trail start based on when you register – I was number 16).

I ended up having a good race, not a great race but a good, solid race.  I generally only sign up for races (triathlon, running or otherwise) when I can do my best.  I like to push myself, test myself and reach for PR’s.  I have a good track record of achieving these because I don’t race every weekend.  I am not interested in doing a training race – training is training and racing is racing.

But this race would be different.  I haven’t exactly been sitting on the couch the past year (remember, lots of biking) but I am at the very upper limit of my comfort zone in weight, which is defined as all of my clothes still fit me just fine but they might be a little snug.  I’m not hitting the big and tall racks but I could stand to lose 10 pounds (and 15 to get to my absolute leanest).  And when it comes to racing light is right – nowhere around that fact.

TRAINING AND PREP -

SWIM -

I often say that I am a proficient swimmer – I’ll get through the swim but I’m not going to win any races in the water.  Looking it up (well advanced in an art, occupation, or branch of knowledge), proficient that might be too strong of a word.  I am more of a confident swimmer.  I am a water jogger and like most triathletes the swim is just a way to get to the bike.  I am not a line watcher and I would much rather being playing water basketball or water volleyball than swimming laps.  I tallied my swim training sessions for the year the breakdown is nothing to brag about.

MAY	4
JUNE	2
JULY	5
AUGUST	7
SEPT	7
OCT	4
TOTAL	29

 

One of those (the weekend before the Mighty Mag) was actually an open water swim.  I also wore the wetsuit for the first time on race day since the last time on race day (2 years).  I tried it on the night before and hoped that it would fit (I did have to get some help from a big strong man to zip me up – thanks Chris).

 

BIKE -

 

I have been biking a lot this year – more than ever AND better than ever.  I have travelled to 3 large group outings (century rides and the type) and I have been training with a lot more focus.  I have embraced the training with intensity and concentrating on longer power efforts.  This has meant that I have participated in fewer group rides.  I have found that when I am in a group ride I am very rarely riding where I need to ride.  Depending on the group, I am either coasting along in the draft or in fear of being dropped.  A lot of my rides have been solo (early morning) and at my intensity level.  Guess what?  I am riding better than I ever have.

 

Last year I rode my race bike twice, for a spring time trial on the trace (I got a PR - 30:21 @ 23.33 MPH (for 11.85 miles)) and for a fall (late summer) time trial on the trace (I got another PR and finally broke 30 minutes – 29:46 @ 23.78 MPH (for 11.85 miles)).  I did not ride my race bike at all this year – all miles were on my road bike (even a hilly Epley Road TT – road bike no aero bars – results).  I also got a new road bike in mid September (a Litespeed C1 – I will tell you all about it in another blog post, promise).  I brought my race bike and my new road bike out to the Mighty Mag race site the weekend before the race.  I wanted to do some aero testing.  I have a powertap power meter and with a careful consideration for details you can extract the difference in CDA (coefficient of drag) using the Chung method (pdf and calculator).  I used the same wheels and tires on my race bike and my road bike.  I did a couple of test runs to establish a base line.  After about 30 or 40 runs (8 combinations tested) I determined that my HED-3 wheel (with Bontrager Aero TT tire) and my Rocket Air aero helmet is the fastest combination on both the road bike and the race bike.  The race bike was a good deal faster than the road bike (riding in the drops).  However, the race bike was very uncomfortable (soft tissue issues – in fact I wondered to myself how I could have ridden this bike in an IM – oh yeah, actually riding the bike more than once a year, that’s how).  Even though the Mighty Mag is only 16.5 miles I decided to stick with the road bike (it was not as fast but pretty fast for a road bike).  I then sent out the call to triathlete community to see if I could borrow a set of clip on aero bars.  They responded, in fact Lance even brought me two pairs to my house.  I slammed the stem on my road bike and bolted the bars into place.  I only got a short shake down ride of about 10 minutes the morning before the race with the new set up.

 

 

Road bike in race trim

 

 

 

Slammed stem

 

RUN -

 

I went out to the race site two weeks before the race to ride the

course with some friends.  After riding the course and a slow transition I ran most of the run course (skipped the little out and back sections).  This was my first brick in two years (since the last time I did this race).

 

So that was my training and prep for the race – lots of things were not optimum -

 

1. Very little swimming and zero practice in the wetsuit
2. Changed everything on the bike (including the bike)
3. Running mileage way down, weight up and zero bricks

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This started as a race report but ended up being a short training / prep / triathlon year in review.  Stay tuned for the race report!

 

 

Tour d'Oconee - Tame The Lion!

The Lion

We left in the pouring rain at 4AM from Hattiesburg.  We were off to visit our friend whom had moved to Georgia.  The forecast called for rain the entire weekend and during the entire 62 mile ride. 

The rain let up a few hours into the drive and by the time we had made it to Watkinsville the sun was out and the weather was perfect.  We ate a quick lunch and went for a quick 20 mile tune up ride.  After the ride we made our way to the Terrapin Brewery!

Brewery

Hopzilla

The crew

Twins?

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This was a hilly area.  Of course, everything is hilly when you live in Mississippi. 

Although this was just a ‘ride’ it took off at 27 MPH – and that is not an exaggeration.  Our goal for the ride was to try and hang onto the front group as long as possible.  I am the weakest of our little group but I am pretty good at dodging the wind (I <3 drafting!).

But I was out of position, in the front middle section of the riders (not the racers).  The group accelerated and took off quick.  I was red lined from the first 10 seconds of the ride just trying to bridge the gap.  It took me a couple of minutes but I was successful!

Right after I was on the back of the front pack they made a hard right turn.  The pace line was like a slinky I was off the back again.  It took almost everything but I battled back to the tail end of the front pack.

But too many matches had been burned too quickly.  I was blown up, failing back and loosing ground rapidly.  This was at mile 6.  Bear in mind, that this was a 62 mile ride.

I ascertained that I was in ‘no man’s land’ and there would be few riders around me of a while.  I rode solo for a couple of miles – still working hard but not red lined at 27 MPH. 

A couple more guys popped off the front group and drifted back.  I was able to regroup with 4 others.  Later another joined our second tier group.

Since we would be with each other for a while we introduced ourselves to each other.  I was from MS, Bill was traveling from FL to New England, Chris, Johan (from Germany) and Jason were locals.

We took turns at the front and made good time.  While the front group made zero stops on the ride we decided to take on water at mile 30ish – I also need to pee like a race horse.

This was a hilly, windy ride and as the miles at intensity racked up I could feel the fatigue.  I was not alone.

On a particularly long hill as Bill and I crowned the apex we looked back.  Jason and Johan were near but Chris was not to be see.

Bill asked aloud, “Where is Chris, the guy in yellow?” 

Johan replied in the best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation that I have ever heard, “He has capitulated!” I laughed out loud.  That is the best term for dropping off of a bike ride!

ca•pit•u•late (kəˈpɪtʃ əˌleɪt)
v.i. -lat•ed, -lat•ing.

1. to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms.

2. to give up resistance; yield: to capitulate to someone's pleas.

Lance and Keith stayed with the lead group until mile 15, Sam until 40 and Raland the entire ride!

Race Shape for Strava

I went for a run with Lea and John Mark on Tuesday.  Last semester we ran a lot together but this year, do to scheduling conflicts and injuries, we rarely got together – just to make it clear, I’m still running most everyday at lunch.

But Tuesday we headed out on the trace for a comfortable, conversational run.  As we headed out, John Mark mentioned that he had created a new running Strava segment on the trace – his nemesis hill.  To be fair, it really is not much of a hill but – it is a hill.  He baited us.  He told me that I had the KOM and Lea was just behind me.  As we approached the start line I could not help it.  I started to pick up the pace.  We only knew that the end was at the 7th street tunnel.  I took off, slowly.  Lea could not help but follow.  It just happens, you can’t help it – you have to take up the challenge.  Once I heard Lea behind me I picked up the pace.  The segment is only 0.6 miles @ 0.7% grade.  But at full speed it was a very hard effort.

Since Lea entered the segment just after me I knew that I had to ‘beat’ him by a few feet.  I was running hard and fighting gravity as best as I could.  He was just behind me.  I wanted to put a surge or two in but I was unable to attack.  The segment ended up in an all out sprint and I finished a few feet ahead of Lea. 

Neither one of us had clicked off a lap or anything, we just ran.  I uploaded my run gps file after lunch.  It was a hard effort but I had to wait for Lea to upload his file.  He texted me a short time later.  I had ended up beating him by 1 second!  I told him that since this was a new segment that we would be lucky to hold in the top 5.

Upon closer examination, it was noticed that the segment did not really end until the other side of the tunnel.  Lea and I had walked this portion so even though we had the top 2 spots it was about 30 seconds slow.

John Mark later edited the segment to make it end before the tunnel – which I agree with – but, it stole my KOM by 2 seconds.

I put the segment into http://raceshape.com.  This site lets you look at the segments in closer detail.  It shows how a gap changes between two athletes.  The flat purple line in the graph is my pace on the segment.  The blue line is Lea.  Notice that at various points he was ahead (above the purple line) and behind (below the purple line).  In the last 5 hundredths of a mile Lea put in a surge and went from 1 second behind to 2 seconds in front.  That is how you steal a KOM.  Now I just need to drive out to the segment.  Put my bike on the trainer.  Warm-up for 30 minutes.  Then do an all out 0.6 mile effort collapsing upon myself to take back this KOM.

See for yourself here (this view shows Lea as the purple and me as the blue – I did not slow down at the end, Lea just sped up).