The KodaFit Blog

Sorry folks…  Life has been pretty hectic of late, but here is my official race report on the Layton Triathlon held on July 31th, 2010.

After a rough night, involving a carbon monoxide scare, among other things I woke up and realized that despite plans to have my transition area set up by 6:10, it was now 6:25 and I had yet to pack.

In a flurry of activity, I showered, applied the necessary protective stuff - Body Glide and Chamois Butt’r, grabbed all my stuff and found myself walking my bike over to transition shortly before 7am.

Fortunately I found a spot right where I wanted to be anyway, and got setup.  It turned out that most of the members of the Northern Utah Triathletes Club had similar plans, and so I spent the remainder of the time talking to them, and checking in with a couple of other friend who were racing.

The race kicked off at 8am, with a time trial type start.  The super sprint athletes went first, followed by those of us who were doing the full sprint distance.  I think I started around 8:30, and was 10th or so in the pool.

The first swim went well.  I passed one person midway through, posted a good time.

The run to transition was a little longer than last year and traversed the parking lot.  Everything was well marked, although when you have that many spectators wondering around, it’s hard to get a straight shot.  I shouted “Coming through!!” a couple of times, and generally people were pretty good about moving aside…  There was one gentleman though who simply ignored me, and I made a point of running right by him…  Close enough to brush his skin and freak him out, but not enough to knock him flying!

T1 went well.  My plan was to attempt the entire race sans socks, although biking sockless isn’t totally new to me.  The bike course had changed a little as well since last year.  An out and back along a narrow path had been changed to one way, which made passing some of the slower super sprint folks much easier.  Layton PD did a great job controlling traffic, and it seemed I was done with the 5.5 miles almost as soon as I began.

T2 went well too, and I found myself out on the run…  It was hot, and I struggled a little to get my breathing under control and my form down.  With the course being just 1.5 miles long, there wasn’t much time to get into a rhythm.

The first person to pass me did so half way through the run, and was followed by a second.  I increased my pace, tried to relax, and held on to both of them to the end.

T3 makes this race unique, along with T4 and T5.  Dumped the shoes, grabbed my goggles and it was back across the parking lot to the pool.  I ended up in the pool right with one of the guys who had passed me, and we battled it out for a lap or two.  I also realized I’d forgotten to drop my Garmin off as well - fortunately it’s somewhat water resistant, so it seemed OK.  Finally I pulled away, and actually felt like I finished the swim stronger than the first round.

Back across the parking lot, onto the bike, and off after the other person who passed me on the run.   I caught him midway through, and we traded places a few times as we hurried our way toward the final run.

T5, and my family had arrived as well - Photo’s later! - The sock strategy paid off, as I was able to drop my challenger in transition.  It felt easier to get into my stride now, although the heat and fatigue were starting to make their presence known.

I had a clean run, passed a couple more athletes, and hit the finish line breathless and completely spent.

One nice feature at this race was that a minute after finishing I was handed a card with my time, and current position, with a count of the number of races who could potentially bump me down the order.  I think I was 12th overall with 3rd in my age group… But there were still 9 guys out on the course.

I checked in with the family and friends and set about trying to rehydrate, cool down and get my stuff cleared up.

I was almost completely ready to go at the awards ceremony, and I must admit I was a little bummed when they announced third place in my age group, and it wasn’t me…  The disappointment was short lived however, as my name then got read as the second place finisher…

YEAH BABY!!

Despite a slightly longer transition run, I actually dropped more than a minute off last years time, and I’m currently about 5 pounds heavier than I was last year as well.

All and all it was a great race.  I love the course, and the swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run format add an extra level of excitement to it.  You can push harder than you normally would in each discipline, and then swim midway through actually feels great.

Kudo’s to the Race Director for a job well done, and I’ll be sure to race this one again this year.

Oh…  And one final thing…  It would appear I was the first to sign up for the event when it was opened last year, which made for a nice surprise when I picked up my packet at Roosters the night before…  I got to wear number 1.  Not sure if it made me more of a target, but it felt good.

Perhaps next year I can try and earn the number 1 spot as well!

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Before I get to my report on the Layton Triathlon, I think it’s important to share some stuff about the time leading up to it.  Lets begin with the plan…

After a week of minimal sleep, my plan was to get to bed early on Friday night, wake up at about 4:30 on Saturday morning.  Get packed and leave for Layton at 5:45.  I would then arrive shortly before the transition area opened, giving me my pick of transition spot and then 2 hours to warm up, visualize the course and generally just get in the right mindset.

Before I begin, it’s probably also important to note that there were no adverse affects to the family due to the events which will hereafter unfold…

Friday night actually went fairly smoothly.  I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to, but as I climbed into bed around 10pm, my bike was clean and lubed and ready to load and my head and legs were nicely shaved as well.  An episode of Flashpoint later, and I was ready to go to sleep.

“BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP”  “BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP”

I was awoken with a start around 11:30pm.  My dear wife was freaking out.  Initially I thought it was the smoke detectors, but it turns out that it was the Carbon Monoxide detector in our room.  I staggered out of bed and opened the window, while my wife grabbed it and tried to shut it off.  After a few minutes, we finally got the awful noise stopped.

None of the kids had budged at this point - including the one who had fallen asleep on our floor, not 5 feet from where it was located.

I WAS TICKED!!  I hadn’t slept well all week, and now I get woken up by a stupid alarm, and I was feeling cranky, shaky and actually really nauseous as well.  I climbed back in bed and tried to go back to sleep, while my wife continued to worry about it…

Gradually I started to realize that perhaps the nausea, the fatique and my general dopiness could actually be a case of CO poisoning.  I went down to my computer and started researching.  My symptoms all matched, and seeing as I replaced our water heater earlier this year, I guess perhaps that was the cause.  The only thing that didn’t add up was that the detector was supposed to have 4 quicks beeps which would sound every 30 seconds - not the constant squeal we had heard.

Leaving all the windows open, I drove over to Walmart shortly after midnight and purchased a new detector with a digital readout.

I arrived home, set it up, and within minutes had confirmed that CO levels in the house were  0ppm on all levels of the house.

We suspect that a combination of dry wall dust, caused by recent home improvements, combined with a basket of toys, which the kids had left up against the sensor, likely caused the unit to either become unplugged and/or malfunction.

At 1:30 we were finally ready to get back to bed, but we were both so wired, we couldn’t sleep.

So we watched an episode of House Hunters International, and finally shortly after 2am, felt like we were ready to sleep again.

2 and a half hours before my alarm went off… Or at least was supposed to go off…

I slept quite well, until I stirred, noticed sunlight in the windows and saw 6:12 on the clock.

AAAAAAAACK!!!!

And thus began the morning of the race.

I managed to get dressed, get my transition bag  packed and get my nutrition organized all before 6:45.

By 6:55 I was at the venue, and thankfully, my spot of choice was still available.

The day went far better from then on, but I’ll include that in my race report tomorrow.

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Runners World had some rules for running without a shirt a month or two back.  According to the article, you can run without your shirt on, if…

1.  You have the body to pull it off.

2.  If you have doubts about number 1, it’s best to assume you don’t

3.  If you can avoid being within an arms length to other runners for the duration of your run.

One of my tri clubs - The Northern Utah Triathletes, put on a mini triathlon a few weeks back.  I ended up running a little late, and so my packing was left a little lacking.  It didn’t turn out to be completely bad, since I have been curious about what it would be like to do an Open Water Tri without a wetsuit.

So there I was wearing my somewhat thin and transparent 2XU tri shorts, and for the benefit of everyone else…  My Speedo underneath - and don’t worry, it’s the Endurance model, not a pair of the really tiny ones!

The swim actually went really well.  The water was perfect and although it felt a little weird to not have the usual neoprene barrier to the water - I think I liked it though.

In T1, I thought about grabbing a shirt, but all I had was my cotton club t-shirt, and so I threw caution to the wind and decided to go topless.

I should add here, that the thought that perhaps I could be running afoul of rule #2 did cross my mind at this point.

Out onto the bike we went, and for the first 2 miles, I didn’t feel too hot.  My legs were still sore from a 70 mile ride 2 days before and I couldn’t get into a rhythm.

After the turn around however, I decided to try and chase down everyone who passed me.

I passed the last person with just a couple of hundred yards to go, and hit T2 in first place.

My transitions weren’t as smooth as I would have hoped, helped along by the fact that my Garmin kept popping out of it’s clip, both on my bike, and on my running wrist strap.

But there I was in T2, getting my running shoes on, and another athlete next to me decided to inform me about triathlon rules…

“Just so you know…  You have to wear a shirt at most triathlons!”

Clearly she doesn’t know how many tri’s I’ve done, but I think her comments may have had other motivations…

First, when I passed her on the bike (After she passed me), I was probably closer than an arms length, thereby breaking rule #3.

And I think her comments confirm my doubts about rule #2, thus indicating that I was in violation of rule #1 as well.

I had a good run to finish it off though, and came in 2nd overall.

The biggest lesson of the day though I think, was that I probably shouldn’t do the topless thing, until I can get my six pack back.

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As winter began last year, I figured I could bike through it.  So there I was one Friday evening, dressed all nice and warm, with a warm bottle of Perpetuem, wind breaking covers on my top and shoes, and off I went for a 60 mile bike ride…

I only got 20 done.  Never have I felt so cold, and that was nothing compared to the pain of the blood returning to my toes on the drive home.  Now in all fairness, I think temps ended up hitting around 10 degrees towards the end of my ride (-12 Celcius), so I’m not a complete pansy, but even so, I realized that me, biking and winter where not going to be friends. Oh, and did I mention that the Perpetuem froze too?

I purchased a trainer the next day.  It was almost a nice pink one, which was on a great sale, but as I waited for a salesman to check the computer and ensure it was the same model, it ended up getting sold.  So I got the traditional green Kinetic Trainer by Kurt, and headed home.

Setup was a synch, and thus began a whole winter of training whilst going nowhere fast.  The trainer kicked my butt.  Usually I can hold  18mph on the road without too much trouble.  On the trainer I can hold 16mph, but only just, and I’m usually a sweaty mess within minutes.  I do think it made a different though, since my endurance seemed much better when it finally warmed up enough for me to take the bike back outside again.

But why am I sharing this tale now, you might ask…

I set the trainer up again last night, and mounted my trusty steed upon it.  I think it might have some advantages for me right now…

1. Better workouts, due to the increases resistance
2. Ability to workout based on power output (Kind of at least - Kinetic have a power chart somewhere online, based on speed.
3. No need to get dressed all fancy and drive someplace before I can ride.
4. Linked to #3.  I can ride topless, and without a helmet.
5. TIVO
6. Kind of more time with the family.
7. A plethora of kids are available to service my nutrition and hydration needs at all times.

Of course there are disadvantages too:

1. Don’t get that real road feeling.
2. Can get boring pretty quick.
3. Frustration at not being able to go as fast (But that ends up being good when I get back outside!)
4. Usually I’m a big sweaty mess at the end.

I think tonight I’ll try and rig up a fan in front on the bike as well - perhaps that’ll cut down on a little of the sweat problems.

Now if I could just find a way to power part of my house with my workouts, life might be even sweeter!

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I was really worried hitting the pool this morning.  I honestly don’t think I’ve been there all month, and the couple of Open Water swims I’ve done, haven’t exactly had much in the way of quality or quantity…

Add to that, that I’m still up the 10 pounds from my post Ironman junkfood fest - otherwise known as my ‘Recovery’ and I was expecting some pretty dismal lap times…

Turns out that I dropped about 2 seconds a lap on average though?!?

So it seems that…

REST + WEIGHT GAIN = SPEED

I wonder if perhaps the extra padding around my middle is functioning as a pull buoy and helping my positioning in the water.  And I  did go through a couple of weeks of good solid weight training…

Either way…  I’m not complaining.  We’ll just have to see if it holds out for the end of the week.

Layton Triathlon this weekend!  It’s the super sprint/sprint which has the Swim Bike Run repeat deal going on.

I finished 4th in my age group last year, and so hopefully I can crank a little extra speed out of my legs this time around and actually place.

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I’ve been slacking off a lot since IronMan.  Perhaps that was a good thing since I never really took a break last year.  I trained all the way up to Silverman in November, and as soon as that was done, it was right into the middle of training for IMSG.

I’ve haven’t been training as much as I should have, I haven’t been blogging as much as I should have, and I’ve been slacking in other areas as well.  In fact the only area of life I seem to have excelled in, is gaining weight - and the rub is, that I’ve been trying to eat healthier as well.

But I think it’s over!

I’m three weeks into  a marathon training plan, in preparation for the Layton Marathon in October.  It’s supposed to prepare me to break 4 hours, but until this weekend, I still hadn’t gotten around to doing any of the long runs…  Uh oh!

Anyway, so I finally got to the long run this weekend, and thankfully, my 12 miler yesterday went better than expected.   The only downside was that it was stinking hot!!

It felt good to be back out there though.  Me and the Mrs went out on Saturday morning as well.  She biked while I ran, and amidst wise-cracks from the neighbors - about her having the job they wanted, we actually had a great time.

The other aspect of life which rocks right now….  THE TOUR IN ON!!

I love watching and being inspired by the cyclists, but as an added bonus, the architecture and history in France, Spain and the other European countries is great to watch.

This is the Crest tower (I think that’s how it’s spelt…) a magnificent tower, which was erected in the 13th century.

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First of all, my apologies to Jadin… I figured I’d put you out of your misery early.

I had the kids chanting, told the kid picking to choose your name, but I’m afraid it didn’t happen…. Sorry Mate!

Alright, so a day late I finally got the names and did the official drawing for the 50% off coupon up at BAM.

The official name selector was young Bronwyn, just 23 months old, completely incapable of being bribed, or reading.

Here she is with all 5 names in an official BAM 2008 finishers hat.

So after much ado, whining by the other kids about not being picked to draw the name and a drumroll…

The name was picked…

And the winner is…

Josh P!

Thanks to everyone who entered.

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Well, it’s official!  I finally got my body properly hydrated, and it looks like the damage done since IMSG is about 10lbs of weight gain.  I’m on a month hiatus from donuts, and I’m trying to eat healthier.  Of course having a birthday doesn’t exactly help, but I’m still telling my self that the bratwurst was totally worth it.

Part of the problem too is that I’ve been a slacker on my workouts.  I was supposed to run 4, 4 and 9 miles this weekend to kick off my training program for the Layton Marathon in October, and it didn’t happen.  I’m a big believer in group workouts, and so thankfully, fellow Shark Jodi P. committed me to biking into work with her this morning.

I was supposed to leave at 4:45, but I proceeded to over-estimate my speed, and under-estimate  the distance to the meet-up point, and all that was further complicated by the pack on my back - something which I haven’t done in over a decade.

Anyway, we finally met up, and had a most enjoyable trip into downtown Salt Lake.  Since I work at a different agency, the final couple of miles were solo.  I got a little lost in Rose Park - which might not have been the brightest plan on my part - a few too many drive bys in that area recently - but I haven’t been giving drug dealers to run around or sleeping with anyone’s wife recently, so I think I was probably OK.

The final section was a super steep climb up 300N to the State Capitol.  HOLY MOLY!!!  Half way up there was a small side street, and somehow my bike turned down it, otherwise, I may have simply fallen over, or started rolling backwards down the hill.

I arrived at work tired and sweaty, yet invigorated and ready to start the day.  Finally mileage for the ride in was a hair over 37.  I suspect it’ll be a little shorter on the way home, but it’ll be hotter too.

Longest single day ride since Ironman!  And hopefully it’ll have an impact on the scale tomorrow too!

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I won again folks, and my good fortune could result in good fortune for you!

Here’s what happened…  The folks at Wasatch Racing do a twitter contest twice a month, and so far this year, I’ve lucked out twice and got my answer in first.  I won a gift pack from TriSwim first, which came with some TriSlide as well - Just awesome products, and then in the second contest, I got a whole bunch of stuff from Chamois Butt’r.  My wife proudly wears the shirt to work out now!

The last contest was for a 50% off coupon for the Battle at Midway triathlon in August, and I won it as well!!!!

 YAY ME!!!

The problem is, the Battle at Midway Tri is such an awesome race, that when registration opened last year, I signed up within a week.  Actually I’m doing the Bad-Ass challenge, which should be fun, and gets my little kids in trouble with my wife when it comes up in conversation too!

 ”Dad, are you really going to be a Bad Ass?”

Anyway, so since I already have an entry into the race, I asked the kind folks over at WARP if I could pass it onto a friend, and they were OK with that…

But, since I have sooo many great friends who might enjoy this race, I thought I’d make it a little fun.

If you would like 50% off an entry into the 2010 Battle At Midway Triathlon (Full or Lite division), all you have to do is ask!  Simply leave a comment here on my blog, or write something on my Facebook wall or shoot me an email, and on the evening of July 5th, I’ll have one of my kids pick a name from a hat.

BAM is truly an incredible race.  It’s put on by triathletes who been there and done it themselves, and they know how to do it well.

Not only is the race well organized, but the venue is incredibly beautiful, and as an improvement this year, you don’t have to climb the mega hill out of T2 to appreciate the beauty either!  They’ve made the run course a little easier this year, which I for one, am very appreciative of.

You can check out this very long and boring report I did after last years race if you want to read more about it, or check out their website here.

BAM was also featured in Triathlete Magazine last month as one of the best lesser known races in the US.  Guys it was the swimsuit edition too, so if you got in trouble for looking at it, this may be a way to prove to your wife that you were actually reading the articles!

So, leave a comment here, put one on facebook, and tell your friends as well.  You have until 7:30pm MDT on Monday July 5th to get your requests in.

And if you want to try and beat me out of their next challenge, you can follow the WARP team on Twitter

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So I’m lying in the dentist’s chair last Thursday afternoon, and flipped through the channels to ESPN.   I don’t usually follow too much in the sports world, but I have been interested in the World Cup.  So I checked out the scores and all of that, and then find myself watching a story about an epic 11 hour long tennis match.

Before I continue…  My apologies to any tennis fans who I may offend by saying what needs to be said.

The commentator is going on and on about how this 11 hour tennis game has gone on longer than some baseball games, and is the longest in the sports world today.

“Oh really!” think I to myself…  “You guys have never heard of a little event called…

THE IRONMAN!!

But wait…  It turns out that this 11 hour long tennis match was actually spread out over 3 days!  Which means that these guys got to take breaks and actually get a full nights sleep in the midst of the 11 hour match.  And not just 1 night of sleep, but 2!!

And then after every couple of serves, they go over an sit in a chair, under an umbrella, wipe the sweat from their brows with a towel, and suck down on water and other beverages of their choice.

I’m sure they game took a toll on their bodies, and I’m sure there was a mental aspect to playing the same game for 3 days straight, but to say it’s the longest most grueling game in sports history…  I don’t think so!

In other news…  I’m horribly behind on my race reports, but to summarize the past two races:

The Shark Attack Triathlon was 2 weeks ago.  It was a pool sprint and the weather was cool and wet.  I had some challenges on race day, but ended up winning my age group!!

The Lunatic Triathlon was last Friday night.  It was a blast, although in hind sight, driving back from Price, Utah after the race was not the best idea.  I got home at 4am, and am still feeling the effects.  I felt like I did well.  It was reversed, so we ran first, and I felt good.  Wasn’t my fastest 5k ever, but I felt solid throughout, despite the uphill nature of the course, my recent 10 pound weight gain, and I believe it was at a little more altitude than I am used to.

T1 was quick and speedy and it was out onto the bike course.  It was dark, and a little hairy, but I passed a bunch of bikes, and only got passed by one.

T2 was insanely fast!  I came in with my feet out of my shoes, dropped the bike, my helmet, grabbed my goggles and sprinted to the pool.  I was 21st at that point.

The pool swim was worse than open water, as far as legs, arms and aquatic battles go.  They had us swim up and down the same lane, and oft-times I would pass someone as someone else was passing a swimmer in the opposite direction.  I’ll have to share the story of my ass being grabbed repeatedly as well.

I emerged 13th overall and 5th in my age group.  Actually there were only two age groups.  Over 30 and under 30.  Had it been traditional USAT age groupings, I would have gotten 2nd, and only been beaten by this guy -> Dane Rauschenberg Mr. 52 marathons in 52 weeks!

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