Buffman & Squeaky post race report

Buffman & Squeaky post race report

I competed in the Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday It was the 4th time I've completed the Buffman, & my 6th Olympic distance triathlon altogether. I PR'd this distance last year with a 2 hr 52 minute performance. Because I've lost 40 pounds since last year & my Coach The Mad Scientist Pete Alfino has been getting freakish results from my body this year, I set a lofty goal. I wanted to get a 2 hr 40 minute time or better. That would be a 12 minute PR. Normally that would be an outlandish goal. But I have faith in my fitness level & body this year.

Like I wrote on my blog in an earlier post I really struggled with this taper. I binge ate from Thursday until Saturday night. Everyday I woke up telling myself it won't happen again today. It did, & each day was worse. In the 4 days of struggling I gained 5 pounds. I'm up to 193.8. Up from 188.6. The bad news is I've been averaging 1 pound a week of weight loss so this backslide will take me at least a month to recover from. The great news was as soon as the race was over I didn't have any cravings at all. I haven't had any since then either. It's always my greatest fear that I won't get back on the band wagon after one of these rough periods. That has been the story of my life with this current weight loss streak being the only exeption so far.

I showed up at the race sight at my normal 6 am arrival time. I got my favorite spot for this race. I've got that spot every year for the past 4 years. I set up my transition area & commenced mingling until race start time It was unusually cold that morning. I was hoping it would stay cooler than normal the entire race. The Buffman & Squeaky has a tendency to be hot on
the tail end of the bike & very very hot on the run. Add the killer hills on this course & it can make for a rough race. The temps did end up staying unusually cool the entire race which is especially good news for me, since I'm a bigger triathlete I have allot of difficulty dispersing heat.

The water at the Buffman & Squeaky triathlon is spring fed so it's always a bit of a shock every year to see how cold the water is. It was a mass swim start. I usually wait until most everyone is in the water & on their way before I start my swim. This year I hopped right in the mix, mid pack. You see, even though I fought him tooth & nail my coach has demanded I swim more. The
difference this year has been amazing. An open water mass swim start is a contact event to say the least. About 500 meters into the swim I hear a heavily accented voice yell "this is fun!" It was a guy I met named Marcos. He's a really great guy I met pre-race who is from Germany & was competing in his first real triathlon. I say "real" because he's done some of the White Sands Missile Range triathlons. But those are not open water swims, there are not usually many racers at those, & their not mass start swims. So it was his first mass start but apparently it didn't bother him at all because he finished a couple minutes ahead of me despite my best swim ever. I finished the swim in 32 minutes & got out of the water at the same time as fellow Outlaw Carl Armstrong. That was a first. Carl is normally a vastly superior swimmer compared to me.

As I ran out of the water & into transition I was very dizzy. That's common after a long open water swim, but this time was much much worse than normal. When I got to my transition area I was so dizzy I had to sit down to put on my socks & shoes. Not something I normally do & not something I'd suggest if your looking for a fast transition.

On the bike, immediately out of transition there is a huge hill about 8 percent grade and probably around 150 yards long. All the other years this hill saps my strength for the rest of the race. I never really recover from that climb. Not to mention that all 6 or 7 of these very steep & long hills on this course used to have the same effect on me. Not this year! I tore those hills up like I've never dreamed I could do. I usually get passed by dozens of people on each climb. I would hold my own on the flats, but the hills was the place I lost all my time. Again, not this year. I only got passed a few times by people who were obviously bike dominant triathletes. Most of those I caught back up to & passed on the run.

I pushed myself as hard as I possibly could the entire bike. At the turn around I thought I had made a pacing mistake because my legs were hurting really bad. I though if I kept up this pace I'd have nothing left for the run. To late now I thought. I might as well go for broke. By the time I reached the transition to the run my legs were on fire, they even felt slightly swollen & pumped up from the effort I was using to push the pace on the bike.

I thought to myself as soon as I started the run that I was in trouble. My legs were hurting & I felt much more exhausted than I ever had before starting a run on an Olympic distance. Well, I thought for the 2nd time that day, might as well go for broke. I figured it was pretty much certain I was going to fall apart on the run. My legs really were trashed. I figured I might as well run as hard as I could for as long as I could in hopes that I could put enough time between me & my competition so that once I had to start the tedious run/walk process I'd be far enough ahead that not to many would catch up. I was wrong in my theory. But wrong in a good way. I continued pushing myself harder than I thought I could sustain, but I never had to slow down. I kept pushing my legs harder & further into what I felt was the point beyond what I could handle. I never slowed down! Apparently my training for IMAZ is going well because I have what
seems to be a limitless well of energy/endurance in my legs. I finished my race in 2hrs 40 minutes 55 seconds. I made my goal of finishing in 2hrs 40 minutes or under. I broke my PR by 12 minutes!!! Its not like I had only done 1 or 2 Olympic races to have a PR of 2;52. I'd done 6 Olympic races & crushed the previous best by a kickin 12 minutes!!!

As I've said before, my coach told me I'm on tack for a 13 hr Ironman in Nov. That seemed way to good to be true. But now, I do believe. From an Ironman DNF in Nov 07 to a possible 13 hr Ironman in 08. Oh Goodness, God is very kind to me indeed. The splits of the Buffman & Squeaky aren't posted yet. As soon as they are I'll update my blog. Thanks for tuning in, & God bless you all.

Buffman & Squeaky Oly & a taper

My favorite 2 races are the Atomic Man duathlon & the Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon. I'll be competing in the Buffman this weekend in Lubbock TX. This is the 4th year in a row I will have done this race. Last year I set a personal course record of 2 hrs 52 minutes. I'm hoping to finish this race in under 2 hrs 40 minutes. That's a lofty goal. 12 minutes faster than last years PR. 12 minutes, that's no small feat. Especially considering how difficult this course is. Its the exact same course as the BSLT 703. It's a hot & hilly course. 12 minutes faster would usually be unattainable. But this year I'm coming in 42 pounds lighter. My training's been on the money, I'm following my coach's plan to the tee, & I'm doing a taper for this race. I'm only doing 4 tapers this year. Its part of my plan this year of racing less. Hopefully this plan will help me to do a sub 6 hr half iron at the 5430 & a Sub 13 hr Ironman Arizona in Nov. But before I focus on those races I have the Buffman & Squeaky in my sights.

Only one problem. This dang taper. To taper is a good thing because I get to see how my efforts are paying off. But in all honesty I hate tapering. I don't do well with tapers at all. Allot of it has to do with the mental aspect of tapering. I keep thinking that if I wasn't tapering I'd be gaining more fitness for my Iron aspirations. But my biggest problem with the taper is the food cravings & weight gain! Most athletes struggle with their weight during a taper. All endurance athletes get cravings during a taper. But when it comes to food cravings I'm a weakling. Yesterday I was almost giddy when I got off the weight scale. 188 pounds. 190 was my dream goal back in November when I DNF'd my first Ironman due to being obese. I was 256 pounds in November. I never dreamed I could actually get to 190. Now I'm below 190. A dream come true! This is the first time I've been this light since I was 17 years old. Maybe 16. Then last night I had a taper induced sweet tooth go rampant. I ate 128 weight watcher points yesterday. 6400 calories. More than I'd usually eat in 3 days. Most of those calories were consumed from 3pm to 9 pm yesterday. Today I ate 2 plates of nachos & 1.5 packages of graham crackers before work. The only reason I stopped over-eating today was because I had to go to work. When I'm at work I'm stuck in a tower for 12 hrs a night & have no access to any food other than what I bring to work. Thank the good Lord for my work.

I keep telling myself today & yesterday is over. Tomorrow is a new day. There's 3 days left until my race & then my tapers over. I'm hoping I can hang onto my diet plan the next 3 days. I won't dwell on the last 2 days because when I beat myself up I turn to food for comfort. Its a big bad snow ball affect. I'm choosing to accept what I've done the last 2 days, & just move on. 3 days. I can do anything for such a short period of time. I just need to keep praying for strength & fortitude. I need to keep my eye on the prize.... Ironman, a 13 hr Ironman to be exact.

Light is fast.

Skinny isn't a body type, its a tactical necessity.

I'll see if I can minimize my food cravings until this taper is over. 3 days. Any prayers would be appreciated. Keep tuned in & I'll let you know how my taper, diet, & race goes.

Thanks for reading. I'm out!

Slowly but surely

My coach Pete Alfino told me the only way to get faster at swimming is to swim. Well apparently he was right. For the first time in my life I've been swimming consistently. I looked back at my triathlon logs & pulled up my 1000 yard swim TT PR's. I've done more swimming TT's, but I'm only going to write the ones where I set PR's.

July 27, 2007
a 1000 yard time of 22:23
averaged 2:14 per 100 yards.

Dec 26th 2007
time 19:43
ave 1:58.

Today April 4th 2008
16:53
1:41 ave.

That's an increase of 33 seconds per 100 yards! If you look at one of my favorite races of all time, The Buffman & Squeaky, my PR is a 2:52, & I PR'd the swim at 36 minutes. If I keep this progression on my swimming going I think a sub 30 minute swim is more than possible. That's 6 minutes faster on the swim alone. Now take into consideration how much lighter I am, I believe a 2:40 may be possible. I'd have to have a great race, but I usually bring my best on that day. I'll keep you informed.

I've been agrivated this month because since March 3rd (one month and 1 day) Ive only lost 4 lbs. I was averaging 4.5 lbs of weight loss every week for almost 3 months. But recently my losses has slowed to a snail's pace. I decided rather than become frustrated I'd take my measurements & see if I've really stopped making gains or if I'm losing fat & gaining muscle. My last measurement was on March 5th 2008. 1 month & 2 days ago. Since then I've lost 4 lbs.

Chest 41.5 41.25 loss of .25
arm 15.5 15.75 gain of .25
stomach 39 38 loss of 1 inch
butt 43.5 43 loss of .5 inches
quads 26.25 25.5 loss of .75 inches
Total loss of 2.25 inches. Not bad, slowly but surely. Just don't ever call me Shirley.

Buffman race report

About 20 minutes before the Buffman & Squeaky I walked up this gigantic hill to my van. Once I got there I dropped Off my bag and headed back down to the transition area. I decided to leave my new Blue Seventy wet suit in the van because a triathlete is never supposed to try a new piece of equipment the 1st time on a race. And as usual I hadn't been swimming in many months. No swim, no test swim equipment. That simple. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill there was 15 minutes until the race and the pre-race meeting is being held. As I got to my transition area I hear the RD say "The water temperature is 64 degrees." I'm glad everyone was paying attention to the pre-race announcements or their transition area when I heard this because I'm sure I looked like a deer caught in the head light! 64 degrees? Dang that's cold! My eyes got great big and round and I took off running the half a mile or more to my van-up that HUGE hill again! By the time I arrive at the swim start I have 4 minutes left. It'll be close but I can get my wet suit on in time. As I pulled it over my shoulders and turned to ask someone to put the pull string under the Velcro for easy reach I realize I put my wet suit on backwards! AAHH, I'm panicking! I ripped the suit off as quickly as possible turning it inside out in the process! AAHH, somebody help! I was 100 pounds of potatoes squeezing into a 50 pound sack turned inside out with a time limit!!! AAHH. I finally turned it right side out and got it over my feet, I quickly stood up and tried running to the mass lake race start while trying in vain to pull my wet suit up at the same time!!! AARRR. I looked like a panguin running with a black wet suit around my ankles! I heard people giggling at the boat ramp, but I cared not! I was determined to start this race with the rest of the other triathletes fully dressed! I finally got to the edge of the water, bent over for one more big pull of my wet suit to get it up and my head jams into some into some guys butt knocking him foreward into the water. By this time I'm getting an audience, there's no one laughing anymore. I think they were to the point of pitying me. Finally I get the wet suit over my shoulders, use the draw string to zipp up, and some guy behind me is kind enough to strap the string under my Velcro without me having to run around pleading SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I think the RD saw my my trial and tribulations and waited until I was calmed down sufficiently before he started the race. After about a minute of me standing there at the ready position my heart rate finally started to slow, and BANG, the race starts! My heart rate promptly shoots sky high again. This is one of the problems I found I have for races where I want to do well so badly, I can't calm down because I'm so exited. At the 20 minute mark I look up and realise I am only at the half way point! If I keep this up I'm going to have a 40 minute swim!! "Come on man! Calm down! Concentrate on you breathing, relax!" I told myself. It wasn't until then that I finally started to make some progress. I passed more people in the last half of this swim than any 2 of my races combined! Only the 2nd swim of my life where I felt fast-well on the 2nd half I felt fast. I finished in 33 minutes, which was an Oly swim PR. I don't have any idea how I pulled that off with such a bad swim start! Thankfully I had a relatively uneventful transition to the bike.

On the bike I was pushing my best but couldn't seem to get much speed out of these X-large thighs of mine. I think that was because of the slow base mileage I'm putting in for my Iron in Nov and because of me coming down off my pre-swim adrenaline rush. I kept praying to God to either let me have fast race, or for him to give me the strength to accept a slow one. By the time I got off the bike I was at 2 hrs flat. That was exactly the time I got out of T-2 last year, but last year I didn't push myself as hard on the bike or swim, and last year I ended up having the 2nd best run of my life(next only to Soma 2005)! So I wasn't optimistic about breaking any PR's. This is usually a sweltering hot race but almost as soon as I started the run a whole bunch of clouds covered the sun and a nice breeze started up from across the lake. Felt great and I think that God answered my prayers because that sure helped my performance allot. As I was finishing the run I saw my wife and baby girl standing about 50 yards in front of the finish line. I looked at my watch and realized I had enough time to run over and pick up my daughter so that I could run the last 50 yards with her in my arms while still beating my best Oly time.

Best part of the day was that I finished with my 19 month old daughter in my arms! As we crossed the finish line my daughter saw everyone clapping for her and she got this huge smile on her face and started clapping those little hands as fast as her little arms possibly could while screaming "Hurray!" at the top of her lungs! No one can tell me Jesus doesn't love me. Life is good. Every Outlaw who showed placed in thier division Stuart & Helen Crane, Carl, Onearm bandit and her husband, Misty(El Chivato's Mom), & El Chivato finished in 3:35, breaking his old PR by an HOUR!!! Another Outlaw and a fellow Clydesdale we call Miles(who is El Chivato's Dad) ended up breaking his PR also with a 2:37! Miles had the 3rd fastest Clyd finish in Buffman history! I ended up 1st place Clyd 39 and under with a 2hr 52 minute race. I PR'd by 2 minutes. I love you too Jesus, and thank you for a perfect ending to a wonderfull race.

my first attept at blogging

Sat May 19th

Tomorrow I will compete in my favorite triathlon, the Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon held in Lubbock Tx. Today I'm planning on a 1.5hr Z-1and z-2 bike then an easy day of packing and a 5-6hr drive from Santa Fe NM to Lubbock Tx made tolerable by the company of El Chivato a 16 year old fellow New Mexico Outlaw hitching a ride, my wife, and my 19 month old blond headed baby girl Bell. This will be Chivato's 2nd Oly distance tri. Last year he placed 1st place in the 19 year & under division @ the Las Vegas NM Oly at the young age of 15 with an admirable time of 4:30.My first year doing the Buffman & Squeaky was 2005. It was my 2nd race ever, I finished in 3:07 taking 3rd place Clydesdale which was pretty good considering I still weighed 260lbs. In 2006 I showed up 30lbs lighter and by that time I'd completed 3 Oly tri's. I finished 2:54 taking 3rd place again and setting an Oly PR (personal record), which is impressive because it's a very hilly and windy course. This year I come in with a 3 goals. Some of them doable, some a little lofty. But I can do the unthinkable, anyone in doubt of this can simply watch me at an all you can eat buffet in amazement! Now for my goals. Once they're on paper- er, screen, type? oh you know what I mean- Than it's the real deal. Right? Well here they are set in stone-type- whatever. This blogging is harder than it looks!

-1. I want to set a new Olympic distancePR. My old PR was 2:54. I think I should be able to pull this one off. I have no idea how I'll do time wise with my 1500 meter swim. I haven't practiced swimming in any way shape or form in over in over 14 months. The only swimming I've done has been at races! My running is at an all time best. I'm guessing a sub 54 min run. My 40 kilometer bike should be sufficient to hold on to a decent pace, but this is iffy because I've been putting in allot of slow base miles for the Silverman Iron distance triathlon in Nov. Ok, now that I see it in black and white -wait this is my first time blogging, I don't have any idea what color it'll be- I see that I have an unknown swim, an iffy bike and a good run. 1 out of 3....But I refuse to readjust my goals. Add heart and determination and that makes it 3 out of 6. OK...I shave my head, which makes me more aero dynamic! Thus the odds are now in my favor! See how a little optimism goes along way?

-2. I'd like to do better than third place clyd 39 & under. 2 years in a row I've taken 3rd. I give glory to God that I was able to accomplish that. But 1st or 2nd, Oh how glorious that would be!

3. I'd like to finish faster than 2:50. Now that is a lofty goal! Like I said before this race follows the same course as the Buffalo Springs 70.3 which is known as the most difficult half Iron in the world! This course has it all. Cold water(usually in the low 60's) hills, heat, a very windy bike- someone remind me, why in the world is this my favorite triathlon? Since 2004 there has only been 4 clydes to go sub 2:50. One of which is the Honorable Sportsman himself Arnold Ceniceros with a 2:46.

Well we're off to the races! I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for reading.