No Ironman Signup Line for Me

I am volunteering at Ironman Arizona this weekend.

Race Day is today and I will be part of security in the bike chutes for several hours.

 

Lots of people are volunteering with the intention of being the first ones to line up Monday morning to signup for next year's Ironman's race in Tempe.

 

I won't be one of them.

 

If you had asked me two days ago if I was going to sign up, I would have said, "Maybe."

 

If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have said, "Probably."

 

Now, "Nope."

 

What changed?

 

First my long-time friend Carolyn asked me to fill out the application with her for "The Amazing Race."

I am thinking positive that we are going to get picked to participate in the race.

We will be representing the fit, fabulous, fifty-plus women.

 

I just don't see how I can complete in the race and train for an Ironman.

 

Still I was on the fence Friday morning about signing up for IMAZ 2013.

 

Then my guy, who FOREVER has sign eventing at an Ironman is not on his list....changed his mind and put it on his list.

 

But he asked if we could please sign up for a different Ironman, not Arizona.

Last month we evented at SOMA, a half iron distance which is at the same venue as IMAZ.

It was a good first half iron distance.

 

Robert said we should pick a different destination for our Ironman.

 

You know, they have Ironman events all over the world.

 

So, I told him I would not sign up for IMAZ Monday morning.

Instead, when I get home we will look for the list and pick one together.

 

So, as I leave my hotel room to spend the day cheering on friends and fellow athletes, I know that Ironman will be on my schedule...just not the one in Arizona.

 



I Didn't Get an Apology from Athlinks, but I Got This!

Athlinks sent out an email to athletes the other day saying we as a whole are getting slower and we needed to get it in gear and get faster.

I blogged about the email, and asked for an apology for those of us that are out their moving it as fast as we can. We don't need to be beaten over the head just because we aren't fast. We are moving and that should be enough.

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2012/11/athlinks-you-pissed-me-off-and-i-want.html

In case you missed the blog about the email you can click the link above and read it.

Today I got a reply from Troy from Athlinks.
A reply.
NOT an apology.

Hey there – this the Troy Busot, the author of the original email from Athlinks

 

Let me answer a few of your points above: (You'll have to read the previous blog to know what points he is talking about)

 

Endurance sports absolutely have grown tremendously over the past decades. I think that there are more than enough voices on that side of the aisle – and we celebrate them daily. I believe that our role, however, is to encourage smart, intense, purposeful training with the goal of achieving ones best performances on race day. I do not accept as fact that we must collectively get slower as we grow. Logical, true, but definitely not written in stone. In fact, 2008 is a very notable exception – participation AND performance were both sharply up over the previous few years

 

Also, I don’t think that fast and happy have to be mutually exclusive. Sure, it’s tough breaking through the speed barrier, but once you’re able to get there, man that’s hella fun!

 

There have been several years, 2008 being the most notable, where participation AND performance (decreased average times) were both present. In our data, we show that Marathon is actually doing better than it was four years ago. This is because of the hard-coded time goals built into the sport by the Boston Marathon Qualifying Times. I would bet dollars to donuts that the average marathon times next year (2013) will the best ever. Why? Because humans are very adaptable to limits – either real or imagined. Our data shows this very explicitly. There are huge spikes in finisher times surrounding artificial barriers like 20 minutes for a 5K, 40 for 10K, 2 hour for half marathon, etc

 

The most dramatic increase in female participation has been in Marathon – which saw average times drop.

Our data shows that excluding elites, who max out in their mid to late thirties, most of us who casually enter the sport get progressively faster up into our sixties. Further, our data actually shows that folks speed up AFTER joining Athlinks or similar fitness communities. They are also 85% more likely to repeat a race from their past after joining Athlinks as well. Why? Because they like/want to compare their times against previous years' results.

 

Walkers were excluded from the averages (for the most part). You’d be surprised at how difficult this one is as some walkers are actually pretty quick. In each of our distances, we compared times with a floor of the world record at each distances, and a ceiling of roughly 3-4 times that based on the distance. So 5K went from the record out to 4x the record and marathon was up to 3x.

This all stemmed originally from Marathon times. We are going to be sharing an infographic that shows these huge spikes in finishers around artificial barriers like 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, etc.
Then, there are these other huge spires that we couldn’t explain until we looked at them age-group by age-group. It turned out that they were the Boston Qual times. That’s why you see such rigid consistency in Marathon only. If you tell someone that they need to run a 7:00 mile, they will run about a 7:00 mile

 

Listen, we love you and others who have come from the couch to the start line. The email was sent with a large, large dose of satirical, hyperbolic, campaign-style rhetoric. But I would never apologize for pushing people to perform - on the contrary, there are days when I feel like apologizing to the community for NOT doing more with the data that we have. This wasn't the end of the line for this type of push from us. We want more kids, more moms, more retired people, etc. - and we will use data to push people farther, faster, and longer.

Best,

Troy

Here's my reply to Troy's reply: I wrote my blog with a large, large dose of satire.
I do wish I could become faster.
But as I get older I am happy if I can continue to run, bike and swim at the same pace (if not a little faster) than the previous year WITHOUT getting an injury.

I may even compete at the same event year after year, but still it is unfair to compare one year to the next because every year is different. Rain one year, dry the next. Cold one year, hot the next.

I am satisfied if I get out there and give it my best.
But thanks for keeping track for me, Troy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATHLINKS - You Pissed Me Off and I Want an Apology!

I got an email from Athlinks the other day. Maybe you got one, too. The email questioned: "Are You Faster Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?" (The email I received is copied and is below my ramblings...but please read my ramblings first.) Am I faster than I was four years ago? In my case, yes, I am, because four years ago I was barely moving....I was walking and slowly riding my bike. I was NOT running. I was NOT swimming. I was NOT riding my bike as fast as I can. The email pissed me off! It pissed me off because the tone of it was to make everyone feel bad about how fast (or how slow) we are as a group. The email asked for a commitment to restore our speed in 2013....and then it lists a bunch of numbers about speeds in 2009 and 2012 in various distance races and lists the percentage increase in time....blah, blah, blah. And then after they have shamed you (yes, you, not me, because I wasn't even racing then), they want you to buy a tshirt. I am only buying a tshirt when it says "YOUR TIME ROCKS BECAUSE YOUR ARE AN ATHLETE AND THAT'S WHAT IS IMPORTANT!!" So poo on Athlinks, which is unfortunate, because I like how they keep track of my races and my SLOW times. Here's what I think of their numbers. They did not take into account the HUGE increase of OLDER people getting a clue and getting out there.  They did not figure in the number of people who were out of shape, but in the past couple of years have decided to get healthy and get out there and get their run on, or their bike on, or their swim on or their tri on. They did NOT figure in the ages of people when compiling their statistics. I am not going to spout off a bunch of stats, but I know that in triathlon the number of people competing has VASTLY increase in the past 5 years. And if you want actual stats, let me know and I'll look them up. (another blog) So my thinking is the reason the TIMES have gone down is because a lot more people are out there competing. Some older and slow like me.. Some younger and overweight and slow.. But we are out there! So my answer to Athlinks' question -  How could we let this happen to this, the Swiftest of Nations? We let this happen because more of us are competing. So, Troy.....you owe us an apology. We may be slow, but we are GO!!! Compete. Claim. Connect.

My fellow Americans the time has come for a change!

Kandi -

The past four years have seen an alarming decline in U.S. racing performances in distances across the board. 5K times are off by +1:17, that's a 4% decline! Average Ironman times have increased by +21:54, a nearly 3% decline. I ask you - How could we let this happen to this, the Swiftest of Nations?

Average Times for Leading
Race Distances from 2009-2012

Distance	2009	2012	Change	% Change
5K Run	30:30	31:47	+1:17	+4.04%
10K Run	1:01:01	1:02:28	+1:27	+2.34%
Half Mara	1:01:01	1:02:28	+0:18	+0.15%
Marathon*	4:33:18	4:33:13	-0:04	-0.03%
Olympic Tri	2:52:53	2:55:55	+3:02	+1.73%
Half Iron	5:59:43	6:05:49	+6:06	+1.73%
Ironman	12:49:44	13:11:39	+21:54	+2.77%
* Marathon times were the only notable improvement.

I urge you to join us along with your fellow American road racers, trail runners, triathletes, cyclists, and swimmers in making a new commitment to restoring the speed to your own community.
We have already begun work on tools that will help to monitor and report progress across all events, states, genders, and age groups. We will begin rolling out the changes between now and the first of the year. But the first step begins with you and your commitment to training and racing. The second step is encouraging those around you to do the same!

Lastly, we now have Athlinks tech tees! Another great way to show your support is to purchase an Athlinks shirt for every single person that you know. Trust me, you'll be an American hero.

Best,
Troy Busot
Founder

I'm Not Gloating!

Sunday my guy and I ran the Mission Inn Half Marathon.

Monday he asked me if I had already blogged about it.

 

I think he was trying to brace himself.

 

I'm not gloating......but I beat him.

Not by seconds, not by a minutes or two, but by 6 1/2 minutes.

 

 

 

My plan was to run the half marathon in 2 1/2 hours. I wanted to break that 2 hour 30 minute mark. I know that's pretty slow for all of my fast running and triathlon friends, but my run is slow, but go.

Just this time, well, I wanted to go a little faster.

 

 I think Robert's plan was to run the race together.

 

Before the start of the race a lot of people were running all around warming up. We didn't. I told Robert I was just going to use the first couple of miles as my warm up. My plan was to let everyone run right on by me and I would jog/walk until I felt like my legs were warmed up. Then I would run as fast I felt I could sustain the effort without getting out of breath.

 

I was wearing my Aquaphor shirt, but it was so chilly, that I had layered a flannel shirt and a pullover sweatshirt over all of it. I dumped the sweatshirt at Mile 1 and the flannel at about Mile 2.

 

Robert and I took off at the same time.

The first quarter mile we pretty much ran together and then he began falling behind. I wasn't in a hurry, so I kept looking back and slowing down to let him catch up. He must have thought I was getting a little far ahead of him because at about Mile 1 he ran past me REALLY REALLY FAST!

 

 

 

I just kept up my pace and it wasn't too long before I caught up with him and ran past him. At about Mile 2, I pulled up and walked so he could catch up with me.

 

"Do you want me to hang back and run with you," I asked him.

Now that I think about it, that was a silly question. What was he going to say?

 

He loves me, so of course, he said, "No, don't wait for me."

So I didn't.

My legs felt pretty good, so for the next 3 miles I ran REALLY REALLY fast. I was having fun and I even zigzagged in and out of the orange cones along Redwood.

Man, running in and out of the cones made running seem FUN!

Yeah, I love running, I was telling myself.

 

I kept up a pretty good pace and was passing lots of people until we hit the bike trail by Fairmount Park. I had been dreading running along here. I love biking along here....I ride along at 18-20 mph and I know there is a Starbucks at turnaround part of the trail.

This was not going to be at my turnaround at the run.

 

 

At my least favorite part of the trail, I stopped pulled out my cellphone (yes, I run with my cellphone) and took some pictures.

 

 

 

It is just boring along here, looking at the back of people's houses and you can't even see into their tiny yards because of the big block wall....BORING!!!

And at about 6 miles per hour, there is a lot of time to look at the back of the houses.

BORING!!!

 

I ran on, every once in a while looking back to see if I might see Robert.

 

 

I took a picture of my time at the Mile 6 marker, and you are just going to have to trust me that it says 1:04. I was really happy with that, considering all the messing around I had done (taking off my sweatshirt, then my flannel shirt, waiting for Robert, taking pictures).

 

I felt hopeful that I would meet my 2 hour 30 minute mark.

 

I keep running along and at about mile 8 I saw my friend Orietta coming the other way on the trail. She is fast (she finished in 1:57). We waved at each other.

I walked through all the water stations.

FINALLY, I was at the turnaround.

 

I had probably ran about 1/4 mile when I saw Robert heading toward the turnaround. We waved at each other. I thought about waiting for him, but a little voice in my head said, "Keep going!!!!!"

Good thing I listened to that little voice.

 

About mile 9, my right knee started to tighten up.

I walked 25 paces and ran 100 paces.

Repeat.

At mile 11, I was walking 25 paces and running 50.

My knee was getting tighter.

I looked at my watch.

I had been running (and some walking) for 2 hours.

I had 30 minutes to finish 2.1 miles.

DOABLE!!!!

 

By mile 12, I was walking 50 steps and running 25.

It seemed like the time was ticking away and the end of the street was not getting any closer.

 

I finally was getting near the final 1/4 mile and I heard, "left, right, left ,right."

A group of firefighters ran past me in formation.

 

 

This was not the group, but it was SIMILAR. The firefighters were wearing helmets.

 

There were two ladies sitting on the side of the street enjoying the procession. I walked by them and said, "I think I can run after that."

 

And I ran in back of firefighters all the way to the finish line.

My watch showed 2 hours 27 minutes.

My chip time was 2:26:51.

 

Robert finished shortly after me.

 

 

 



Mission Inn Run

I am running the Mission Inn Run tomorrow.

I signed up for the half marathon.

I am hoping it will be easy, since I don't have to swim 1.2 miles and then bike 56 miles first.

 

I walked the Mission Inn Run 5k several years ago.

I ran the Mission Inn Run 5k for a few years.

I ran the Mission Inn Run 10 K last year (after I ran the 5k).

But I have never ran the half marathon...mostly because some of it is on the Santa Ana River Trail. I have nothing against the Santa Ana River Trail for biking riding.

 

I just didn't think I would like running on it....miles out and miles back. The scenery isn't great where we will be running. It's okay when you are whizzing by at 20 mph on a bike. But I'll be running (I hope) 6 mph.

 

 

So I am not going to have scenery, so I am going to have to turn inward.

 

MUSIC!!!!

Yeah, I can have music.

I know I should be training without music because at USA Triathlon sanctioned events you can NOT use music, but if they say I can use it....I am going to use it......

 

.....just to get me through that long, boring SART!

 

Here's the most important part - I am setting a goal of 2 hours 30 minutes to finish the 13.1 miles.

I know that is not fast for my triathlon friends. In fact, it probably is REALLY slow. But it is a goal I want to achieve.

I almost met that goal when I ran the Pasadena Half Marathon 2 years ago...I almost made the 2.5 hour mark, but I had to stop in the bathrooms several times because of a urinary tract infection (sorry TMI).

 

All my other races seemed to involve knee pain that kept me from hitting my goal.

 

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!

And no matter what I am setting a PR, which is easy since it is the first time I have ever ran this course.

 

My guy Robert said we are running together...I said okay as long as he stayed up with me, but I was leaving him in the dust if I looked at my clock and my run could get me over the line in 2.5 hours and he was lagging.  He will have to use his own minutes to stop and stretch on the side of the road......

Don't worry, I'll wave goodbye to him and see him at the finish line....just as he does for me at triathlons.

 

 

No matter what, I will be happy that I laced up my running shoes and got my run on because tomorrow is not only the Mission Inn Run, PR time for me for the Mission Inn Run half marathon and hopefully hitting my 2.5 hour goal, it is also WORLD RUN DAY 2012!!!!!

 

 

I'll be putting on my tshirt with this design after the Mission Inn Run!

You still have time to sign up for World Run Day!!

 

I am just going to keep on with my Train-n-Tri!!!!

 

 



And the Winner Is!!!!!!!

I put all the names of those people who commented on my blog "What Should I Do Now?".....and swished them around.

 

In case you don't know, in that blog (which you can read here)...

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-should-i-do-now.html

I offered up a pair of sock that I had received from plus3network.

I had received one pair from Plus3Network for completing 99 bike rides, but then they sent me a second pair. They said I could give it to a friend who had cold feet. I decided to give it to a faithful reader of my blog.

So I put at the end of my "What Should I Do Now?" blog that anyone who commented on my blog, either at the blogspot site or on facebook would get their name thrown in the hat.

 

Thus the swishing around of names.

 

And the winner is:

 Wendy Jensen.

Wendy, message me your address so I can send you the socks. I'll message you too.

Okay, this is what Wendy commented about my blog:

"No, Kandi you are not crazy to think about doing a first Ironman at 53. I will be doing my first Ironman next year at that same age....okay, maybe we're both crazy. :) I'm planning Vineman 70.3 next July too. See you there"

 

Okay, so it seem that Wendy and I have some things in common. We are both going to be wearing the same socks. We are either both crazy or we are both not crazy.

We will both be doing our first Ironman at 53.

We are both signed up for Vineman 70.3 in July.

 

 

I am going to find out what Ironman Wendy is going to compete it...maybe we will have something else in common.

 

 

No Training Plan, but I am Moving My Ass!!!

I don't have a training plan right now.

I finished my half iron distance last month and then I kind of took a week off, though I did still bike, run and swim for fun.

Now I am on my second week of no plan and I keep making plans.

 

Saturday my guy and I joined friends and rode our mountain bikes for 25 miles at the Bike the Coast, Taste the Coast!

 

Robert, Jeanne, me and Tom....and Tom looks like a wild man...that's a palm tree coming out of his helmet, not crazy wild hair, but the effect is of a wild crazy hair guy. I only am a wild crazy hair girl when I take my helmet off. That's one of the nice things about an early morning bike ride. You don't need to brush your hair or put on  make-up because the helmet and the sunglasses hide EVERYTHING!

 

Back to my no-plans:

Sunday my only plan was to attend my mom's wedding.

But I got in a good 20 minutes of "SOLID-GOLD" dancing.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the dancing.

 

Me, with Jim and my mom! Jim actually left a voice message on my phone wondering if maybe I had "hurt" myself dancing...hahahahah! Really, it felt great to dance around without my shoes on and jump all around. Five years ago that much dancing probably would have left me out-of-breathe and feeling a little achy the next day. But all my swimming, biking, running and strength-training has me in pretty good shape. I think I could have danced a whole lot longer, but my kids wanted to go home - Party Poopers!

 

Yesterday (Monday) I went to work, but I had my bag all packed to stop at the gym on the way home and get in a swim. There was a lot of chlorine in the water and I could only stand to swim for about 40 minutes. The entire time I was thinking how nice it would be to swim in a lake.

Maybe I will plan an open water swim during my non-plan month of November.

 

Yesterday evening after making a gluten-free dinner (something we are trying at our house), I signed Robert and I up for the Mission Inn Half Marathon next weekend.

 

 I had thought maybe I would do the 5k or the 10k or maybe both back to back. I hadn't planned to do the half marathon, but since I am determined to become a faster, more efficient runner, I thought I should just bite the bullet and go for it.

Plus with the half marathon sign up you get a tech t-shirt instead of the regular cotton t-shirt...so what's another 3.9 miles? Also I figured since I won't be swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56 miles before the 13.1 mile run, it should feel pretty easy. Well, easier than my 13.1 mile run/jog/walk a couple of weeks ago at my first half iron distance event.

 

To make sure my legs are ready for next weekend I am going to run to my local voting booth today and cast my ballot.

 

 

Then I have my PLANNED bike ride tonight. I have a group that meets at my house on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and we ride about 20 miles. I had thought with the daylight hours getting shorter and with the time change, my cyclist friends would want to call a halt to our dark rides and hit a brightly lit spin class instead.

But last week they unanimously said we were continuing on. We all have good lights and reflectors and when we ride in a group we feel pretty safe.

So my non-planned November will have a planned bike ride every Tuesday and Thursday nights.

6 p.m. from my house. You are invited to join us.

 

I am PLANNED to volunteer at Ironman Arizona in a couple of weeks. I am excited to see many of my triathlete friends cross the finish line.

 

I have a PLANNED triathlon later this month - the Turkey Tri at Bonelli.

 1/2 mile swim, 14-mile bike, 4.5 mile run.

 

The rest of my month is NOT planned, though I do plan to get in more swims, more bikes, some strength training, some yoga classes and some gardening.

 

I think December can be my REAL no-plan month!

Well, that's my plan anyway.