Race Report!

It's done! First, thanks for your support, comments and questions. It's good to know that folks were out there and tracking things. I'll get together with Kate at some point and figure out how we did in raising funds for the AED. So, the report. Got up at 4:30 thinking it was a 50-50 proposition if I would do the race. The weather forecast called for thunderstorms and I wasn't going to go if storms were rumbling around. But I got up and checked the forecast on TV and on-line and looked outside and it was cloudy but I decided to go for it. Got my Dad (he's a nice guy) to drive me out to a reservoir type spot a couple of miles down stream on the Saco where there was a dam on the river and there wasn't a current, like there was upstream where we were. Did a little warm up swim and set my watch on the timer mode and was off sometime around 5:30. I had set up through mapmyride.com an out and back of 1.2 miles, so I swam the first segment pretty much as I expected and pretty much the same pace I was use to from swimming in the pool. On the second time around, I hit the storm. I didn't notice any thunder and lightning, but it was raining buckets. It took about 15 minutes for the storm to pass and I kept on going, and then things settled down again. It was sort of interesting to reach the turn around spot and to look at the storm that had just passed by. I got back (and swam a bit more to be on the safe side and make sure I did the full 2.4 miles) at 1:39 and met my Dad again as he brought me my bike. About that time another storm came around and this time there was definitely some thunder booming. We waited around to make sure the storm was sliding around us and then I began the bike at 2:07. The transition time was 28 minutes, which was probably about 10 minutes or so beyond what would be typical. But, off I went. Again, through mapmyride I had set up two loops on either side of the Saco. I had ridden these loops in training, so no surprises. I ended up stopping at the house at the end of each loop to get more drink and food, except for the first loop when Dad, once again, met me on the road. The stops were certainly longer than when I did Lake Placid, but on the other hand it was nice to get off the bike and walk around a bit. I had my bottles (I did Gatorade and water) and food (bagels and peanut butter and jelly and Clif Bars and bananas) all set to go. During the second loop I hit another 15 minutes of rain, but it was mostly just overcast all day with a few breaks of sun on occasion. Pretty comfortable on the bike, and was able to do a bit of aeroing (a new word, I think), which helps with time. Something I did note was how polite autos and trucks were. I didn't have a single case of people trying to show off their driving skills and see how close they could get to me. I even had a couple of trucks pull all the way to the opposite lane! Much better than what I sometimes have encountered. So off the bike after 112 miles at 9:16 and spent some time changing into my running gear, so started the run at 9:38. I wasn't really thinking about overall time at this point, because I wasn't sure how the run would go. In the end though, the run went well. I set up a loop of 3.4 miles so I could stop at my "aid station" on a regular basis. I was a bit stiff to start. but I began to loosen up as the run continued. Running is my strength, so for me the key is to get into a rhythm. I felt good on the run, and this segment there were only a few splatters of rain, and no downpours. So I did my seven loops plus a portion to make it the full 26.2 miles, and got greeted at the end with my daughter, two nieces and sister waiting at the end of the driveway. That "Eye of the Tiger" music made it all worthwhile! Ended at 4:04:45. Thanks to my crew. including Mom and Dad and Cathy, for their support and running commentary. You too, Sarah! Interestingly, my time for the activities themselves are not much different from when I did Lake Placid 5 years ago. I'm feeling pretty good about that! I'm definitely stiff and sore today, but not so bad that I can't get down stairs, which is my measuring stick! So the journey ends. Thanks again for being along for the ride.

Setting a date

So the latest is my determination to run the race as soon as the conditions allow. I'm not really going to improve my training anymore, between work and the weather, so I figure I might just as well go ahead. The two obstacles are the temps - doing this in the 90's isn't my idea of fun - and the current in the Saco. I can't fight the current upstream with all this rain, so I've either got to wait and hope the current slows down, or find another place to swim. If I go down river a couple of miles, there is a sort of reservoir that I'm assuming won't have nearly the current. I'm heading over there tomorrow to check it out. If conditions work out, I would do the race as early as Monday, June 8th. Right now the weather forecast is for showers, but that is fine, since the temps are suppose to be around 80. Thanks for all your support. I'll be in touch.

Texas Interlude

Almost to the starting line! I had the big weekend a couple of weeks ago and that seemed to go pretty well. I made it over 5 hours and got to 89 miles on the bike. The run was tough after, but I think that's just the way it is going to be. Then Julie and I went to Texas for a week so she could attend her college orientation, and at the same time visit two of my sisters who live in Texas. It was a great time, but I didn't have easy access to a bike, so I lost a week there, and besides a jump into Lake Belton, I didn't swim either. The good news is that I had felt I wasn't doing much running, but while down there I did run on 5 of the 6 days. The other glitch has been this weather. It's a bit tough putting in long practices when it (seemingly) is always raining. I'm hoping to get out this weekend for what will be my last big push. The reason for that is because I've decided to push the race up a week or so. Instead of the 20th, I'm shooting for the 13th instead. I'm also going to fudge that as well if the weather doesn't cooperate, so the race will fall in a window centered on the 13th. I haven't been in open water yet, but hopefully that will happen this weekend as well. Thanks again for your support and don't forget to log on to First Giving and look me up to support our AED fundraiser!

Wow!

Wow, as in, has it really been eleven days since my last post!? As I seem to say every week, it has been busy! End of school and end of gymnastics stuff has filled up this time period. Unfortunately, it has also eaten into my training. But this will be a big weekend. Big run and big bike on the agenda. I'll let you know how it goes - promise! Thanks for your support!

Another one down

It seems like I'm saying the same thing each week in regards to my schedule, but it really feels like something is always coming up and throwing a wrench in the system. This week - senior stuff. Hard to believe, but true! Anyway, the big news for the week is hitting the 5 hour ride mark and passing the 80 mile barrier. I was suppose to add a run at the end, but I decided to pass on that part of the plan. I still feel good about getting to this point, though, even if I did struggle a bit getting going on the run the next day! The quesiness I have felt a bit in the past didn't hit this time, and that was probably because I was more intentional about both eating and drinking during the ride. So that was another positive. That's all the good news, but the one concern I now have is my shoulder. I think it's probably a nerve thing which I've had in the past. It's probably more related to the swim than anything else, but of course it doesn't go away when I stop swimming, unfortunately. We'll see. Thanks for your support and comments.

Another Milestone

So a few events this past week. First, we traveled north for Memorial Day so I was able to do the second loop of what I anticipate will be my bike loops. This second loop uses the same route on the east side, but inside of crossing the Saco and heading south, I head west and take Rt. 117 back down. I actually rode it the other way, going clockwise, but because I would prefer steep ups and gradual downs, I'm planning on doing this one counterclockwise, though I will do the "East" route clockwise. 117 is a smooth road and has a good shoulder, even though the traffic is heavier than I normally like to ride in. So I've now riden both the loops I'm planning to use, and hopefully will be able to do the loops at least a couple more times before July 20. The other big event was my first 4.5 hour ride and crossing the 70 mile mark. I was a little concerned because it didn't seem like I was doing enough endurance stuff. Remember, this plan I'm following is really about putting in a fast race, so he seems to emphasize speed work. That's not my big concern, but I checked my workouts from my previuos race and I'm actually pretty close to what I had done before. That makes me feel a little better. This weekend the plan calls for the first 5+ hour ride. I'm hoping that will get me to 80 miles. Finally, we got the word out a little at Spring Fling. I had a banner out and I'm hoping that folks were able to stop by and get an idea of what we're trying to do. The fundraising seems to be going well, so thanks for all your support. June's almost here, and that means July can't be far behind!

Test Run

I was up to Bar Mills having a mini family reunion over the weekend (it was good seeing you!) and ended up biking one of the possible loops for the rally. Right now I'm thinking of doing four loops of 28 miles each, but I'm probably going to double up two of the loops, if that makes sense. Anyway, I did one of those loops and it worked out well. There were some rough sections with broken pavement, but they were relatively short. On the other hand, I liked the route because it had some nice smooth "aero-friendly" sections and the traffic seems to be light. I'll be heading up again to check out another loop sometime soon and then I've got to start thinking about running loops. Other good news involved my ride back. My first long ride wore me out, but I've since riden back from Bar Mills and both times I felt still alive and well when I got done. The next step is to put a run on the end of those rides, but I'm not quite that ambitious yet. This week I'm trying to follow the format of the training plan pretty closely, both in number and duration. I'll let you know how that goes. Also, PCA's Spring Fling is on Friday. I'm going to be around, so stop me and we can talk! And for those who are interested - and thank you for those who have already given - the easy giving method is to go to firstgiving.com and search for me or Saco River rally and hit the donation button. See you soon.

The Last Time

So, just for the fun of it I checked out my times for the race I did back in 2008 at Lake Placid. The swim was about 1 hour, 43 minutes, which is typically slow me, the bike was about 6 hours 45 minutes, and the run was 4 hours 10 minutes. I certainly do not think I'm going to beat these times, but it gives me something to shoot for. I would like to see my swim time come down just a tad, but the other times are going to be slower. However, there is a certain amount of unknown here because even though the distances are the same, the course is different, and that variable can change things. I'm hoping to go up to the Saco soon and bike the route I have picked out. That should give me at least a rough idea of the times involved, though again, once you start doing the full distance and put them all together, anything can happen. I'm also hoping that I get a bit more aligned with the training plan starting this coming week. If you see me, ask how I'm doing with that! Til next time.
PS. And please don't forget the contribution for the AED, and thanks to you have have already contributed - it's much appreciated.

Nothing New

Well, not anything out of the ordinary to announce. Got through another week and did another long run and bike. The bike this time was from my parents place outside Portland back home. According to my bike thingy, it's 57 miles. I like the ride. It's back roads for most of the way and I also follow the Eastern Trail for a good portion of it. I'm pretty much doing one workout a day, though the plan calls for two. We'll see if I can push it up to the called for two after tennis ends this week. I'll also give you what I'm doing on a daily basis, too, when I get a chance. Thanks for reading and don't forget to give!

Milestones

So a couple of milestones this week, or more specifically, this weekend. For the first time I crossed the 2 hour mark on the run and crossed the 3 and a half hour mark on the bike. That translates to somewhere around 15 miles on the run and I barely broke (by three quarters of a mile!) 60 miles on the bike. Yep, I'm pretty tired.  For the run, I stay on the backroads between Dover and Durham, but for the bike I ended up taking my "Coastal route," going from Dover, down along Route 1 and all the parks on the coast, and then back through Newmarket. I like the route, but it's a bummer when the wind picks up and sweeps across the ocean! I also go out toward  the Deerfield area and will also do portions of the Eastern Trail that runs north into Maine. Interestingly, to bike to my folks place outside of Portland is almost exactly 56 miles. It's nice to have a little variety. The plan I'm following is more or less for young studs, but I'm more concerned about endurance. Both of these times/mileages are important for me because it does help get me use to spending time out on the road. The run is important because since it is the last event, it's where you're pretty much beat up and you need to hold it together. The bike is where I'll be spending most of my time, so I need to get use to big chunks of time in the saddle. I've glanced at the future workouts, but I can't remember what the times are for these as I move forward, but I'll definately be expecting to see more of the same. I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm also starting to here comments about the race from folks, so that's a good sign. Hopefully we can get some contributions to help us get the AED for the Upper School. Anything you can do would be a great help! Enjoy the week!

Still at it.

OK, so I feel a little guilty when I saw how long it had been since my last post. My bad. I'll try not to let it happen again. I now have three weeks left in the tennis season, and with three matches a week, it is going to be a full schedule. Last week my excuse is that we were in Virginia. It was a great week with visits to Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, and we topped it off with a day at Busch Gardens. For my training, it was a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is that I didn't get any swimming in. The place we stayed at did have a lap pool, but they had a cold snap and I couldn't force myself into the pool. I did sit on the edge one day and got wet up to my knees and did a little kicking. Does that count? In all the time we were there, I saw one guy get in the pool for about three minutes, then he headed for the spa. For the good news, I got on-line before we left and found a couple of spots to do some mountain biking and trail running. By getting up early and having a teen age daughter help out by sleeping in, I ended up at Freedom Park five of the days we were there. Mountain biking and trail running are what I really enjoy doing, so I had a great time. The park didn't have a lot of technical sections, except for the manmade ramps and jumps, but it provided a really fun, fast track. I, of course, kept my wheels pretty much firmly planted on the ground, but it would have been interesting to see some of the young guns taking off on those ramps. After we got back, I didn't do my long weekend workouts, but I did jump on the bike tonight and hopefully will pick up the training from here. I am going to have to skip some workouts, and I tend to focus on the "main sets," so I'm not out as long as the plan calls for, but I feel pretty good about where I am. This week will be week 12 in the countdown to the race, so progress is being made. Slowly but surely we're getting there!

A New Experience

Generally speaking, not a bad week. On the publicity side, my daughter and a friend posted the blog address on Facebook, and the hits started coming in. Another good reason to have kids! (There are actually quite a few of them!) I'm hoping to get together with Student Council at school and see if we can figure out a way to do some marketing. Any ideas, and I'll take them. One person has suggested making T-shirts with my image on them! Oh, yeah, I can see the possibilities!
On the training side, it's a bit busy with school, tennis (I coach the school's tennis team) and training. (But we did win one of our matches this week!) It seems to be going alright, with me adjusting where I have to to compensate for reality. The new experience for the week, thought, was something I really have not had happen before. After my long Saturday workout, I started to feel a bit off. Nothing too bad, but definitely not right. Truth be told, one of my biggest fears is not being undertrained for the race, but the nutritional issues. Back in the day, I knew someone who ran in three Ironman races, and only completed one. It wasn't that he didn't train, it was getting hit with stomach issues. Racing for that amount of time you need to eat and drink, but the stress on the body can make unpleasant things happen. They actually talk about the nutritional component of the race as the fourth element. So I'm going to be a tad bit concerned for the next few weeks to see what happens - which hopefully will be nothing.
Thanks for reading and spread the word.
Chip
PS. And please consider making a donation!

The Power of Facebook

Well, Cathy, Julie and I are sitting around talking about getting the word out about the race and Cathy just starts typing onto her Facebook account about the race and then adds a link, and lo, within a couple of minutes, a response comes back, followed later by others. I'm impressed. My problem, of course, is that I only have about seven friends, so that doesn't work for me. So, feel free to spread the news as you see fit and help out a good cause!
The training this week got bumped up a bit. The regular workouts stay pretty much the same, but weekends are the time for the long workouts. This week for the first time the bike was upped to over three hours, I did 3:20, and the run hit two hours. I'm feeling pretty good afterward, but trying to squeeze in everything that needs to get done over the course of the day, or the week, is beginning to be an issue. We'll see how it all works out.
Also, if anyone wants to jump on board and give triathlons a try, we can set up any length course you want. It's a great way to get in shape, stay in shape, lose weight, cross train, or just enjoy the outdoors. Doing the race as a relay with different partners is also fun, and actually that was how I did my first triathlon. We can set up whatever you desire!
And as an aside, I can't wait for warm weather!

And don't forget, donations are gladly accepted - you don't want me to do this all for nothing, do you?!

A good week

So what do I do for training? Well, at this point the plan I'm following typically calls for 3 swims, 4 bikes, and 4 runs a week, which is how this past week worked out. I try to stay up with the bikes and the runs, but if I have to cut something out it is probably going to be the swim. So this week I only got two swims in. I do find it interesting that considering the proportion that each event takes during a triathlon, how much emphasis is placed on the swim. If you break it down, training plans call for a whole lot more swim time, considering how much time the swim takes compared to the bike and the run. So that's my rational explanation on why the swim gets less of my attention, but in reality I just stink at swimming and I'm looking for any reason to stay out of the pool! Well, I really don't mind swimming that much, but it is discouraging to have mature ladies, young studs, and even rubber duckies pass me in the pool! This week may be a little more difficult, as tennis has started in earnest, and for those of you who don't know, I coach the boy's varsity tennis team. Next week is going to be the real challenge, with three matches set for the week. With two-a-day workouts, finding time is an issue. I'll let you know how it goes.

PS - Don't forget to consider contributing to the fundraiser. It's for a worthy cause. You can contribute the old fashioned way with a check to the school, or just visit firstgiving.com and type in my name. Then all you have to do is hit the Donate button!

Why you need children

Well, thanks to Julie at least now I have a face. Look out, there may even be more to come...maybe.

Still working on a photo

OK, this isn't exactly me, but I've realized I have no digital photos of me doing a triathlon. As soon as I figure out how to take a picture and get it on to my computer, I'll put it on line so you can at least connect a name and a face. For now, here is the location of the Saco River rally - with the Saco River in the foreground.

Only 18 weeks to go!

I'm starting to settle in on my training plan. I have one that I have taken off the web and it seems to work OK. I don't do exactly what the plan calls for, but I modify it to fit my schedule. So for instance, they expect six days of  workouts, with most of those double sessions. I've modified it so at this point I'm taking two days off, but I still try to do most of the double workouts. This week the long bike ride was 2 hours and 15 minutes, and the long run was 1 hour and 20 minutes. The swim I don't even bother with trying to meet! They swim a whole lot more yards than I'm able to put in, in the time they expect. So I'm pretty much just swimming for the designated time - usually 45 minutes. The biggest issue right now is trying to do the long bike sessions inside. I usually go to the Works to get it in, but I'm looking forward to getting out on the road. Of course, I won't mention the snow storm that's slated to come in tomorrow. Spring has got to show up sometime!

One more time...

Well, for some reason I can't fathom, my posts are not showing up. And since I type about as fast as I swim, I'll try this one more time and then wait for Cathy or Julie to come home and show me what I'm doing wrong. But never fear, I shall return (I've got to work in those history references when I can!). To summarize, my reaction to pool water is going a little better and I've set up a donation page on the web at firstgiving.com. The address is www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/chippease/sacoriverrally. Or go to the site and just type in "chip pease" or "saco river rally" and I should be at the top of the page. After that, it's just a matter of hitting the donation button. Thanks much!

In the beginning...

Thanks for joining me on this journey. At this point, I really don't know what I'm doing, but with a little help from my friends I'm hoping this all works out. My intent is to get this under control and up and running over the course of the next week or so with the desire to keep folks informed, and involved, with my training and with the fundraising. This is a long process, and hopefully we can all stay better motivated with these postings. To prepare, I have been keeping active over the course of the winter fairly regularly. With three events to prepare for, the swim, bike and run, it doesn't take long to fill in the day. I'm now into a more intentional training plan. I've taken one from the internet and I've adjusted it to better suit the time that I have available. Last week was a big one, and I put in about 12 hours or so. That number will go up gradually until July. My goal is to add to this blog as interesting events happen and milestones get passed. Right now, my big concern is my swim. I swam all winter, but once I started to bump my time in the water up to an hour, I'm starting to react to the pool water with allergy-like symptoms. It's rather unpleasant and I'm working on trying to find a solution. I went back into the water yesterday for 15 minutes, and that seem to work OK. Tomorrow I'm planning on going in for a half hour and see what happens. I'll let you know. Thanks again for stopping by, and we'll talk soon.