it's all me

Rachelle and I have temporarily joined a gym. When I say temporarily it's because it's the closest gym that has a pool, but it's $100 a month PER PERSON to be a member if you're on a month to month plan. We'd need that flexibility due to our impending move. The gym we're going to right now offers a free trial week, which we're using now. When the trial week ends, we're done with them. $100 a month, even with free classes (except pilates) is not a good deal. There is another local gym that we'll be using a weeks free trial on next, sort of like gym tourists. We know this other gym is more affordable, but we don't know about the pool situation.

One of the negatives about attending an adult gym as opposed to the student-centric gym at BU is that for some reasons I started having a lot of negative feelings about myself. Sure, I was the heaviest guy I saw at FitRec, but there were other out of shape folks to the point where I didn't constantly feel out of place. I don't know what it is about the new gym, as I've seen a couple other flabby guys, but I definitely feel uncomfortable.

It had gotten to me so much in just a couple of days time, that I actually had a pretty hard time motivating myself to run yesterday. I was running in the area near the gym, and I just felt like everyone would see me running. I felt fat, and I thought everyone would be watching me and judging me, and it made me feel miserable. Plus, it was hot, so I would be slower than normal.

Then I realized the only person who was judging me was me. I've eaten OK the past couple of days, not great, not terrible, just OK. I felt like a sausage in my tri-top, and I kept worrying about it coming up. I hate running with my belly hanging out. I had to keep telling myself over and over again through the run "no one cares about what I'm doing but me". No one was watching me, and if a couple of people snickered at some fat guy running (as I always suspect people who see me are), so what?

I wound up running two miles, and even did some hill work. Well, hill work for me anyways; there are some slopes to the road behind the gym, so I gained 52 feet in total elevation over 2 miles. Not much, but better than nothing. In the heat, it felt like a lot more work that it actually was. I'm hopeful that all those running will pay off next Monday, as I fully plan on a 10k PR, even though I don't know anything about the course.

Evidently the internal chanting and pep talk paid off, as I felt less out of place at the gym once I finished my run and started swimming. We wound up doing around 2400 yards in a bit over an hour, and I felt much better than I did during the 1000 yards we did the day prior. I love using my Swimsense watch, especially with the new updates that account for almost any size of pool, and allowing me to more accurately track my weight.

The TT bike ride

Friday night, Rach and I went to a technical presentation put on by the lead engineer of the Trek Advanced Concepts Group hosted at Belmont Wheelworks. The discussion was not for the technically faint of heart as the topics included wind tunnel testing, different forms of foil shape (essentially how they bend the carbon or aluminum of the frame to be as aerodynamic as possible), yaw, and almost any other design point about a bicycle. It might sound boring but it was actually very interesting.

The shop was closing when the talk ended, so we had to wait until Saturday to ride the Speed Concepts that were brought in for test rides. Rach and I got on the bikes (the Speed Concept 7 series) and headed off for a couple of miles worth of riding. It was fun seeing Rach enjoy her ride immediately. She was down in the aero position and pushing herself, even climbing most of the hill while still in here aero tuck.

For me, it was a much different experience. While I enjoyed the light weight frame and the feel of a very nimble bike under me; it took me most of the ride to get used to the idea of an aero position. I did eventually get used to it, and found with a proper fitting I'd probably really like it. Getting used to bar end shifters and breaks was another matter entirely, and I know it would take some serious saddle time in order to adjust to that.

The real issue though, was a design flaw in the Speed Concept; the SC uses a unique clamp style to hold the aerodynamic seat post in place. Because it's a very small clamp pressed up against the post and screwed into place on the top of the top tube, it's sensitive to weight. When I first got on it, the seatpost dropped a couple of inches. Jack, our teammate and the mechanic at the shop I prefer to work with when I'm there, adjusted it again and sent me on my way. Within minutes, the seat post dropped again, and I could actually hear and feel it wiggling from side to side as I rode it.

When we got back it was clear to me that even if I could afford a Speed Concept, the design wasn't one that was meant for a person of my current weight. I found a polite way to let the designer know that this design is clearly not meant for a larger person based on that weight based failing point. He agreed, and sympathized that it's unfortunate that it didn't work for me.

Rachelle on the other hand, was ready to take hers home that day. She loved the Trek TT saddle that comes on the Speed Concept so much, we actually ordered her one on the spot, and she's really excited to start using it when it comes in.

I fought the law... and I WON!

Last weekend at the Patriot Half, I was given incorrect information from the race director at a crucial time that led me to believe I wouldn't be given the full time I planned to have in order to finish the race. When I contacted him after the race regarding the situation, he said he wasn't going to place me into the Aquabike division because they felt 

"(you) did not look ready to complete a half marathon and with the toll the heat was taking on athletes (we had many suffering from heat exhaustion) we felt it best you didn't continue. I think this was the right decision to make and I'll stand by it."

The problem here is that instead of pulling me from the course, or even addressing it with me that they thought I didn't look ready to continue, they gave me bad information, apparently intentionally bad information, in order to discourage me from continuing while they allowed others to finish. I admit it was a hot day, and I was slower on the bike than I hoped, but I felt good and ready to continue, and I was 10 minutes under my Timberman time at that point, with an easier half-marathon course ahead. There's no way it can be said that this was influenced by anything other than my size, as I was fully prepared to complete the half-marathon, and if they thought I was ill prepared to continue, they could and should have pulled me from the course as they had done to others.

Before he sent that response, I was resigned to leaving it alone; but when he told me his reasons behind my being given the wrong information; I WAS FURIOUS. In the time it took for them to give me bad info, they could have asked me how I felt, and not only would I have told them I felt good, but that while I was off my goal pace I was ahead of my prior half. They could have then made a decision not to allow me to finish if they felt I wasn't prepared. No one took a second to ask me how I felt, or if I was ready to finish the race or anything like that.

At that point, I made the decision to talk to USA Triathlon to see if there was an appeal process and to understand why I was given information that didn't match with the decisions made in regards to other competitors. When I provided the context of the discussion to the head of the USAT referees here was his response:

Event organizers are allowed to set deadlines or cut-off times for each part of their race.  The race director enforces those times.  From your letter, it appears that the race director was somewhat ambiguous in his reply to your question concerning the run cut-off, but you were given the sense that you probably could not make it and you voluntarily dropped out of the event.  Later you discovered that the cut-off was not enforced after all.  Had you known that you would not have dropped out.  While you have no case for appeal, since you elected to drop out, even though based upon information that was later changed, I think it would be a fair request for you to ask the RD to reinstate you in the Aquabike.  He may have reason not to, that I am unaware of, but you can certainly make the request.

When I sent this to the Race Director, he agreed to make the change to put me in the Aquabike. It doesn't make up for the fact that I didn't get the chance to finish the race, but at least it's a result that matches the part of the race i was allowed to finish.

With that out of the way, my focus has turned to the upcoming races. Rach is working on the July and August training schedules, and we're using a free trial week at a local sports club to get some extra pool time. We're packing for our move (to wherever that will be) so we'll be balancing ramped up mileage and moving prep. I did a 7 mile run/walk on Sunday, and we'll be swimming today and I have softball and some running tonight.

I'm going to ride a TT bike!

I'm really excited for Friday night. Belmont Wheelworks is having an event this weekend with Carl Matson who is the lead design engineer of the Trek Advanced Concepts group. I don't know what the hell that means but I think advanced concepts == FAST! Friday night Rach and I are going over there for about 90 minutes to try out a TT bike or two and watch a technical presentation on the bikes.

Also, one thing Rach mentioned to me tonight is that I do a great job of studying up on nutrition, technology, equipment and training, but injury prevention and rehab are not my strong suits. I expected her to say she'd teach me. Nope, she wants me to do it myself, and was laughing at me for the way I was stretching. I guess since I'm going to be running more than ever before these next couple months, keeping away the injuries will be critical.

We're going for a 60 mile ride on Saturday as we start prepping for the Ironman. I have to say I think these rides will be fun, working harder to get in more mileage but not having to worry about doing too much climbing work considering how flat the Rev3 course is. Also, because we DNFed last weekend, we have to schedule at least one more race to get USAT rankings this season. That's important to me because it allows me to track my year over fitness and progress.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their comments following last weeks race. I still haven't heard if the RD will place me in the AquaBike but USAT head of referees that I had a strong case to ask for that, though I didn't have a strong case to appeal my results as I'm the one who walked off the course.

Patriot Half-Ironman: Lessons learned

4 days after the race, and I think I've had enough time to mull over what went right and what went wrong this weekend, and the lessons I've learned:

- More Training - This should seem obvious, but I felt ready for this race. My times were faster than Timberman, so that tells me progress was made; but I was still fairly close to the bike cutoff. We trained longer distances than last year, but we still need to do more. We didn't miss many workouts this summer, but the goal now is zero missed workouts.

- Less Weight - my cycling has improved quite a bit, and what's holding me back, literally, is my front. I think about how much easier the climbing would have been if I'd been just 30 pounds lighter. It takes a lot less energy to climb the less weight you're hauling up those hills. So 30 pounds is my goal to lose in the next 80 days. Yes, it's a challenge to accomplish, but it's only a couple pounds a week, and it will make my finishing the race that much easier.

- More Fluids - I'm going to be drinking a lot more fluids, mostly in the form of water, from here on out. It was a hot day and I couldn't take on enough fluids during the bike. I need to enhance how much fluid I can carry on the bike at once. Whether that means a seat mounted bottle rack, a frame mounted Speedfill bottle, or if I start riding with a Camelbak, I'm going to make sure hydration is no longer an issue in my training or racing.

- Better Race Prep - It would have been really hard to prepare for the heat on that course with the few warm days we've had this year in Boston. But I could have done longer trainer rides in our very warm house. I should have prepared for the worst instead of just hoping for the best.

- Transition Practice - I had around 13 minutes in transition time on Saturday. I need to find ways to get through transition faster.

- Never Stop - If I hadn't left the course voluntarily I would have finished. From now on, I don't care how much time is left when I leave T2, I'm going out on the run course and doing my damnedest to finish even if they tell me I won't get a time. Timberman they would have had to yank me kicking and screaming off that course, and I made it under the time limit. I would have made it under the original time limit on Saturday too, but I let the number get into my head instead of just finishing. So, if I'm last and being a burden on some tired and hot course volunteers next time, they'll just have to deal with it I guess

USA Triathlon head referee said I didn't have grounds to appeal my result, but did say because the Race Director gave me wrong information, he doesn't see a reason why they shouldn't reinstate me in the Aquabike division. I'm waiting to hear back from the race director.

At least I don't have to wait long to have my revenge. While our next triathlon is a few months away as currently scheduled, I'm doing the Harvard Pilgrim 10k at Patriot Place on the 4th of July. I got a free race entry through Active Advantage, and I'm going to set a 10k PR that morning.