Ironman Canada--25th MPro

The tall scruffy fellow (below) had a great day, pushed thru pain and got his picture on the front page of the local paper.
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The short scruffy one ran out of power at ~3hrs into the bike, and jogged a dissapointing marathon on zapped legs.

Pictures and more story soon. Time for beers, thanks for reading.

Mexico & Ukraine invade Canada

This pair of shaddy, scruffy-looking characters will take on the winds, the mountain climbs, the rollers and whatever else IM Canada dishes out tomorrow. Don't mess with them.

the calm b4 the storm

Another lovely day in beautiful in the Okanagan. Except the winds have shifted and are blowing from the north, which is not a welcome sign for tomorrow.

2/3 of Team Ramirez is now under the weather, so it will make for a long(er) day for everyone. The remaining 1/3 of the team (me) is ready to go.

The push for the summit is on...

Shifty weather

Today we woke up to some milder temperatures for this time of the year in the Okanagan Valley. I went for an early morning swim in Skaha Lake, a beautiful deep body of water. A 5min walk down from our homestay sure beats the driving time and logistics to get up to Lake Okanagan.

Do you not understand how pretty this place is???

Afterwards, I walked the 5minutes home to some awesome pre-made hotcakes, thanks to the awesome planning by the savvy team management. I then got a ride in the team car down to Keremeos, and rode my way back up Yellow/Twin Lakes. It was a tad chilly when the sun would hide, and gusty at times, and it gives me something to think about for Sunday, forecasted to be at 10C when we get out of the water.

The rest of the day included some grocery shopping, some good relaxing by Skaha Lake (before it got cloudy and sprinkled on us) and some more chilling with our great hosts. Mike and Su are super cool and we get along great, and that makes coming back to Penticton so nice. Donovan and their daughter, Anja, make each other laugh and have a ton of fun together.

Check it, Mike- This is how you play this thing... C'mon Anja, press the 'X'

Even though the Team Director is under the weather, the rest of the team is pulling together and making the best of it. See you tomorrow, T-32hrs. All systems are go...

Oh Canada...

We made it! A speedy border crossing and we are back in awesome Kaleden, on Lake Skaha and just south of Penticton.

Thanks to some awesome planning by the Team Director, we got off the the van and right unto an awesome meal of noodles, chicken, veggies and fruit!

More tomorrow...

Lk Stevens Redux

I was asked if I could quantify the impact the water temperature had on my race. Being a data-driven enginerd, here's my analysis-

Swim- No ergometer in the water, but the horrible swim time says it all. I did all I could and all it got me was really cold.

Bike- Ah, the beauty of power data...
0-10mi, AvePower=199w, NormPower=209w
0-16mi, AvePower=205w, NormPower=212w
0-28mi, AvePower=213w, NormPower=223w, 1:19
28-56mi, AvePower=231w, NormPower=245w, 1:14

the numbers don't lie... I was hurtin'

16mi was about the point where I stopped shivering, and my HR started becoming 'normal.'

Taper switch is ON.

Lake Stevens 70.3 - 21st MPro

The last big hard workout leading to Canada is done. I really wanted to do more at this race, but I encountered 2 big hurdles:

Hurdle 1)The AIR temperature, combined with the water temperature- After warming up, they pulled us out of the water for what seemed like an eternity. So there we were, shivering in the 50F air, soaked to the bone, teeth chattering, shivering and shaking. The RD banned us from using wetsuits, by 0.2degrees. Really? You kidding me? Great judgment call on that one, sir... "So what? Cowboy up, man!" I did, and it made for a miserable first 1.5hrs of racing. By the time I finally stopped shivering, was keeping my nutrition down and could turn the pedals without being in pain, I had been blown out the back and was dead last, way back after the worst swim ever.

uffff.....

Hurdle 2) My body was/is still recovering from last weekend's leg-pounding. My goal was to clock 1:18 on this course, and I was on target at mile 10, just under 60minutes. I then came unglued in the last 3miles. I managed to get past a few of the guys who were fading, and was very happy to get across the mat. Afterwards, I sat down in a shaddy spot at the finish while Donovan poured water bottles over my head.

Happy to get the running legs going...

I would like to thank my kick-ass sponsors who were out on the course, being super vocal- Mike and Shawn from Blue Seventy; Jon from Blue Cycles; Wes from Potentrx; Scott from Nuun and Robert from 1st Endurance where there in spirit. To Theresa & Donovan, thanks for putting up with another really early morning and a long day at the races.

Outstanding job by 8th place Guy Crawford, who's been racking up some awesome races around the globe. Great job as well by my buddy Michael "Mo Powah" Gordon, who finished 20th. I think he was getting back at me for 'beating' him at Boise. He too was just working out. Now let's see how Canada treats us both.

It's taper time. The work is done. Let's see what kind of ROI we get in 2 weeks.

the long slow road to recovery and my big mouth

Last Saturday's little adventure has left me out of running commission for days. Maybe it's a sign of total inexperience with trail running. Maybe it's old age. Whatever the case, it's taken me a while to bounce back. I think I will be fresh again come Sunday morning, but we'll have to wait and see...

Speaking of Sunday, today I was on the phone with my buddy Shawn, who informed he was having coffee with some of my competition. So I said to tell them I was going to hand it to them on Sunday. Little did I know he immediately relayed the message to Luke Mac and Big Matt that I was going to spank them. Great. That's like a casual weekend jogger telling, oh, I dunno, someone like Haile he's going to get schooled.

Let's hope by Sunday my legs help me get most of my foot out of my mouth.

Grand Ridge Half Marathon - 2nd Overall

My buddy Dave has been raving about trail running this and that, and how awesome it is compared to pounding pavement. So this past Saturday I decided to give it a go with a half marathon that had 2,000ft of elevation gain. I figured it would be a really good workout for this build block. Little did I know the leg-pounding fest I was in for.

Post-race, food & drink in hand, happy the pain was over.

My impressions? It sure is different- it is a laid back atmosphere, and it is cool. It is also crazy, especially going downhill: I felt I was running borderline out-of-control, trying to place my foot in the right spot among holes, roots, rocks, branches, all while running as fast as possible without falling face first or injuring something. I almost won the thing too, but a XC runner hunted me down in the last 400m. I'm pretty happy with the result given, IMHO, how tough the terrain and the elevation gain was.

Will I do it again? Not sure. I found it a little dangerous, I felt like I was about to lose it at almost every corner and down section. Maybe there is some technique involved, as I smashed my legs. The workout was awesome, though. Now let's recover for next weekend.

JC

The case of the dissapearing flip flops

Someone stole my flip flops. My $2, all-rubber, gray slippahs (as they say in Hawai'i). From the Greenlake Bath House steps, where lots of people leave wallets, car keys, bags, etc. in full sight. No, they were not picked up as garbage, as there were plenty of other visible garbage items scattered around the steps pre & post swim.

Well, whomever you are, I hope they keep your feet comfy. I mean, if you are taking cheap used flip flops, you probably need them more than I do. I'm more in disbelief than I am angry, honestly.

Federal Escape Olympic - 3rd Overall

I did a small Olympic tri just south of Seattle. It reminded me a lot of when I was starting in the sport, back when I had just started swimming, and had gotten my first road bike. It had that low-key, feel-good vibe about it.

You see this brake thing here, Papa?

You know you are not supposed to use those when you are racing, right?

I got a swift kick to the mouth in the swim, which cut up my upper lip (fat lip in picture). It really messed with my concentration, and I wasn't able to get it together and get back in the game. At some point on the bike ride, the bleeding stopped, and I was able to tear out the big flap of skin that was hanging from my lip inside my mouth. Had I had run splits, I may have been able to do more. I eased off and cruised the last mile, stopping for Donovan to run in with me. "I gotta help Papa finish the race!" is what he says. All in all it was a good high-intensity workout, which is what I was after.

Thanks to Stefan and Melissa, for letting me come out to play. They are the RDs for this race, who put on a great event together. My family and I had a great time, and enjoyed the venue and great post-race food (organic hotcakes, sausages, fruit, granola, etc). As always, thanks to all my awesome sponsors. 2 weeks to the Lake Stevens workout, and then unto IM Canada.

jc