killer of bees

let it be know to the order of hymenoptera that tangling with the amazing hip will result in your painful and untimely death.  i am your scourge.  i am your reaper.  i am your death.  may this warning serve you in choosing your targets wisely.

yesterday, on my ride home from work, i was flying down a street, in a big gear and nearing 25mph when a foolish and careless member of said order made an attempt to find out just how amazing my hip was. 

from the inside.

i, like most cyclists when pushing hard, will ride with their mouth agape to get in as much air as possible.  this provides quite a large target, and said member of the aforementioned order hit the bulls eye.

it took all of a second to collect it in my mouth and spit it back out, but that was just enough time for it to deposit it's stinger in the roof of my mouth near the top of my throat.  immediately upon spitting it out, i could feel the pain and throb of it's poison coursing through my mouth, jaw and cheek.  i cruised to a stop, sat on the curb and let the initial pain subside.

i fished around the roof of my mouth where the pain was the greatest and couldn't find the stinger, but when i let my tongue run over my entire mouth, i could feel it stuck in the roof toward the back of my mouth.  i tried to scrape it out without squishing the sack, but failed and felt a wave of additional pain as i connected with it.  i finally pulled it out and sat there for a moment marveling how such a small thing could cause so much pain.

i made sure that it wasn't swelling so much that my breathing was impacted, washed my mouth out with water and then hopped back on the bike to continue my ride home.  i made it home safely with no further incident.  i was a bit more conscious of how open my mouth is when i ride hard.

now, a full 15 hours later and i can still feel a dull pain in my mouth and jaw.  at least i was on the winning side of that fight, though.  when will those things learn that even though they inflict pain, they're going to lose?  maybe they think it's a war of attrition.

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Insects Oingo Boingo Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre Disc 1

a sweet voice

saturday night, after the triathlon, i came down with the flu and have been down and out for the last few days.  this flu really kicked me in the butt.  i was so wiped out that i spent most of the day monday and tuesday in bed.  i'm on the mend now and may be back on the trails on friday...we'll see how the lung cookies cooperate.

part of being healthy is keeping a healthy mind set.  if you're happy and you know it, health tends to follow along.  so, when you're sick and feeling like crap, one of the best cures is to find things that make you smile.  when you're immersed in the following video all day long, it's hard not to recover quickly:

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep) The Rakes Capture/Release

zipper quigley

the thing that stood out most about the drive up to santa barbara this year vs. last year was the weather.  a marine layer dominated the sky and was just beginning to burn off when we arrived at around 1pm.  "if that could hold through the weekend", i thought, "it'd be great weather for the race."

saturday dawned cool and overcast and as the sky began to lighten, i was already at the transition area with my gear completely set up and ready to rock.  lesley, who was racing the following day in her first sprint, waited with me while my start time grew closer.  we joked around about how hard it is to cheer for people with normal names at large races.  yelling "john!" or "eric!" might not get the same response as someone named "zipper".  if your name was zipper, you'd know if someone was trying to get your attention.  i also mentioned that in the family reunion areas at large races i always tell my crew to meet me at the letter "q".  the "s" area is always jammed.  so, i guess the ideal race day name would be something like "zipper quigley".

my wave was scheduled to start the swim at 7:09 and i was suited up and ready to swim with plenty of time to spare.  as my wave prepared to swim, i positioned myself in my customary location;  outside left, toward the back.  the swim is my weakest discipline and the chaos of the pack always un-nerves me.

the horn sounded and we were off.  i ran down the beach, waded into the surf, waited for a wave to crash and then dove in.  i quickly had my face in the water and began focusing on my stroke.  i also quickly realized that i was in the middle of my wave, not to the outside, and definitely not at the back.  as we rounded the first buoy, i took stock and noticed that i was, surprisingly, comfortable.  my heart rate was fine, i was swimming with a really powerful stroke and i was right in the main mix of my wave and not bothered by the kicks and bumps. 

i found a guy that slowly swam past me and tucked right in behind him.  i was able to draft off of him for the whole swim.  i took a couple kicks to the face, but nothing that messed with my goggles.  the great thing, though, was just how comfortable i felt in the middle of all that chaos. 

before i knew it, we were back in the surf and i was running up the beach.  goggles on head, unzip the suit, strip to the waist and head into t1.  the transition was seamless.  the suit came off without a hitch, helmet on, shoes on, grab the sunglasses and bike and i was off.

the bike course is tough.  there are some challenging climbs that are single digit speed steep and the resulting downhill sections are technical with sharp, steep turns and incredibly poor road conditions.  i pushed hard on the bike, making sure i didn't fall asleep at any point and always at the height of effort.  i was able to pass a significant number of people on this leg, and the thing i noticed this year vs. last year was that most of the cyclists were in my age group.  in races past, i usually end up coming out of the water a wave or two behind mine.  not this time.  i was still right in the mix.  on one of the main climbs, a car [the course was open] came up on my left and i heard the ringing of cowbells and shouts of "zipper quigley!"

it was kevin and the kids.  lesley had relayed my race day name joke and now the kids were using it to cheer for me.  what a great boost of energy and motivation.  our host family is the BEST at race day crewing. 

at one point, a guy in a kain jersey passed me up [with a 35 on his calf], cut right in front of me, turned around and gave me the "lance" look.  excuse me?  i wasn't sure what that was for, but i backed off, got out of his draft zone and picked it back up and passed him on the next climb.  this went on for a while, with the two of us yo-yo'ing back and forth.  eventually, i passed him and didn't see him again on the bike leg.

the bike leg went by pretty quick and before i knew it, i had hit 30 miles and was on the home stretch.  i rolled into t2, ditched the shoes, slipped on my running shoes [now with yankz!], grabbed my visor and was off!  i ran down my rack, headed toward the run exit when a yell of "helmet! helmet!" caught my attention and i realized i still had my helmet on.  duh.  i turned around, ditched it and waved a thanks to the folks who had clued me in.

feeling like a dolt, i headed out onto the run.  within seconds, i found myself running up on "lance".  i settled into a strong, but comfortable pace, blew past him and didn't even give him the courtesy of a glance.  that loss of 20-30 seconds with the helmet must have let him get ahead of me, but i wasn't going to let him pass me again.

my legs felt quite good on the run and i didn't have the stomach problems that had plagued me last year.  gotta hand it to racing with proven fluids and fuel.  i ran a comfortably fast pace, handled the climb up onto the bluff without any difficulty and before i knew it, we were at the five mile turn around.  as i climbed back up to the bluff, i saw "lance" again, a couple minutes behind me and looking like he was really struggling.  i put on a happy face and ran past him moving fluidly and confident.

i picked up the pace a bit on the way down off the bluff and pushed a bit on the run into the finish.  my run pace wasn't flying compared to what i've done in just running races, but i was happy to be keeping about a 7:20 average for 10 miles  after 35 miles of other disciplines.  i came across the finish line smiling with a pr-busting 3:29:17, a full 16 minutes off of last year's time.

i was over the moon with my time, and i felt fantastic.  like i said previously, i may have been in better tri-shape last year, but i FELT better this year, and that made all the difference.  when i looked at the splits for the race, i was surprised to see that i had dropped five minutes on each of the disciplines and the last minute was attributed to faster t1 & t2 times. 

i'll have to say that this year's santa barbara tri was my best tri performance to date.  i can't wait to challenge my pr next year!

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Santa Barbara World Party Dumbing Up

no fail whale for our hero!

with the santa barbara tri coming up, i felt it was of the utmost importance to get in a really long, solid brick this weekend.  this week has been a pretty hefty week for training, so to cap it off with a nice bike/run would be perfect.

i set the alarm for 4am saturday night and actually woke up a couple minutes before it went off on sunday.  i forced myself to sit up and that was all it took to let the bladder take over the process of keeping me awake.  i ate, staged gear, got all my fluids and fuel together and was out the door a little after 5am.  as i hopped on the bike, i thought for a second about going back inside and getting my tire levers.  i waffled for a second and then popped back inside to retrieve them from my pack.

off i went!  the plan was for a long clockwise loop through santiago canyon.  the route includes a speedy, flat section along irvine blvd on the way to the climb at jamboee, several challenging climbs through the canyon and then a long, fast 10ish mile downhill back to the house.  as i headed out toward irvine blvd through the pre-dawn darkness, i felt sluggish.  riding was hard.  everything felt difficult.  yeah, i had put in some hard workouts during the week, but that wouldn't make me feel THIS bad, would it?

at 2.5 miles into the ride, i just plain felt flat.  and then i realized why.  my rear tire had been loosing air and finally gave out.  duh.  i patted myself on the back for getting the tire levers as i quickly changed the flat and hopped back on the bike.  amazing the difference a fully inflated tire makes.

the pre-dawn dark gave way to a marine layer grey sky, but as i climbed up into the canyon, the fog gave way to a brilliantly blue sky and a bright sun.   i cruised along in the sun, enjoying the cool temperatures and tackling the hills without much difficulty.  at the top of the final climb, i shifted high and really dug into pushing it as hard as i could on the downhill.  it was great to fly, nearing the end of my ride as most cyclists were just starting their ride and climbing the first of many hills.

back home after just under 39 miles, i switched into my shoes, grabbed a fuelbelt and headed out for a the run.  i planned just a simple out and back along the paved san diego creek trail.  the run portion of santa barbara is all paved, so i felt i needed to get some more road under me.  i set out with a goal of just enjoying the run, keeping a pace within myself and not pushing so hard that i wouldn't have any energy left for the rest of the day.

at the 5 mile turn around, i snuck a quick peek at the garmin and saw that i was comfortably below an 8min pace.  woohoo!  i kept focused on my form and staying relaxed while continuing to put fluids in my body.  i ran the returning miles home feeling, for the most part, comfortable.  i could tell i was getting a little tired by the time i hit mile 8, but i really felt like i could have cranked it up and really hammered the last miles if i had desired to do so.

i rolled back home and finished the 10+ miles with an average pace of 7:44.  woohoo!  i had just completed about 50 man powered miles!  successfully putting in a workout longer than the race course is a great confidence builder. 

i can't wait to race in a couple weeks.  it'll be my first tri in a year.  i'm not sure if i'm in better conditioning than last year, but i FEEL good, and that's more important than anything.

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Harder Than I Am Catherine Wheel Like Cats and Dogs

sometimes, slacking pays off

i had a pretty hefty brick planned for this morning. i had intended to do a 40 mile ride and then a two hour run; somewhere in the realm of 14-16 miles. that would have equated to a solid four hour workout. that meant a four am alarm and a five am start time. when four am rolled around, i started making deals with myself and the ride shrunk from 40 to 20 miles down to no ride and just a two hour run. finally, when i got up at 6:30, i was looking at an hour and a half run.

by the time i'd had something to eat and a cup of coffee, i just was not feeling like getting out the door. normally, i'd force myself to put on the shoes and just get going, expecting that i'd come around by the first mile or two and hit my stride. seven am came, and smsmh wasn't up yet, so i headed downstairs to get thunderclap up. i thought about just scrapping the run and maybe heading over to the y for a swim later and eventually just decided to give myself an unplanned rest day.

as i played with thunderclap, taking the day as a rest day paid off. i was sitting on the kitchen floor, had stood tc up and had let go of him. normally he'd just plop down on his rear, but this time, he took a step. then another and quickly a third before he flopped forward into my arms. his first steps. and i'd been there to witness them. sure, he had no idea what he'd just done and he didn't repeat it, but seeing those first tentative steps had been totally worth missing my big brick.

sometimes, slacking pays off.

in spades.