I’ve been putting off creating a full RR and now just don’t have the energy to do it, so I’ll repost what I sent to TRI-DRS…

Swim. Tough go for the 1st leg, then faster, faster, faster. Not the sub-30 I wanted, but I’ll take 31:17. Massive hammy cramps trying to get out of the water. So bad that I fell backwards and thought I might be trampled. Finally got out of the water. Weazer yelling at me to HTFU and walk it out…

Very slow T1

Bike: Got out and got moving. Once clear of town, opened up and started to cruise. Tough to keep my focus, but found it and started to move along. Lots of 22-23 mph when I glanced at the computer. Drink, Drink, Drink. sucked down a full bottle in 20 minutes. CRAP, it’s warm. Pass by a time/temp sign 8:47am/82%. This is gonna suck. Head down and ride.

About 45 miles into the bike, someone turns the heat up to 11. My speed drops by 3-4 mph. Keep pushing, out of the saddle to stretch, down on the horns, or in full aero, doesn’t matter. My speed is the same. Ease back just a bit, keep something for the run. (Smart move #1)

In and out T2, thinking I’m fast (but am really slow)… And now the race begins…

Jog out of T2 and the hammys are screaming for mommy… stagger, stumble, limp. I try again, same results. And again, and again. I figure that my day is done. No shame in a DNF with these tough conditions. I start looking for a convenient spot to quit. I see other racers headed back my way, with their race number in one hand, and their chip in the other. only 2 miles into the run…

And I think about my upcoming race in LP. And I think about all the time I spent training for this race. And I hear Kurt in my head screaming “HTFU” and I remember that I had one of the body-markers write that on my left calf. And I think about Weazer, sitting in the stifling heat at yet ANOTHER one of my silly events. So I keep going.

A 73 yr old passes me and suggests I “walk it out”. F-that… I suck it up and run past him
2min later, 73 yr old passes me AGAIN, and suggests a run/walk strategy. He’s become the smartest man on the planet. I heed his advice (Smart move #2)

Mile 2-4 of the run I manage a 3min run (10:30-11:00/mile) 2 min “power walk”, while pounding down water and Endurolytes. At the 4 mile mark I start running, get into a zone and start to cruise. I’m feeling pretty good. My brain starts to work. I figure that a PR is gone, so this is a major training day. I’ve got nothing to lose, and EVERYTHING to learn. So I focus on form. I focus on my mental game. I glance at my Garmin and I’m cruising along at 9:30’s, and I feel pretty good. As soon as I start to feel overheated, I slow up and cruise (Smart move #3). I keep the hammy in check, maintain a slow-&-steady pace and keep plugging away.

About a 1/2 mile before the turn, I hear someone yelling my name “There is no quit in you Bassett, there is no quit in you!” I yell back that “I’m coming after you Gatens” and am feeling strong enough to actually try an run him down, even though he looked pretty fresh too me…

And I start to run. I’m slow, but I’m passing people. A lot of people. Others are passing me, some in my AG, but I’m still passing a lot of people. I walk through the aid stations, take water, eat my Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue caps and push on. I see other friends and acquaintances. They are on the outbound leg. I call out encouragement where I can. I take frequent physical inventory; Hot, but not getting hotter. Uncomfortable, but will not kill me. I’m still sweating, no chills, not much of a headache, minimal cramping. Ok, keep moving forward, push until something hurts, then ease back, walk an aid station; rinse, repeat

I hit the final corner and start to stride into the finish. As I hit the gates, I hear them call out Gatens name. DAMN! almost got him…

Finish the race upright, and with money in the bank. (Smart move #4). Heading into my big training weeks pre-IMLP uninjured (unless you count a blister that could eat Detroit) and much, much smarter for the effort.

6 weeks to IMLP and I’m EAGER for the challenge to come.

Bring it… C’mon, BRING IT!

So today is Friday the 13th, but the way things went yesterday, I guess the bad luck came a day early.

I woke up with a sore throat from a drippy sinus. Uh-oh, this can’t be good. I get on the tri-bike and scoot over to the Y for my swim. I do 3100 yards in 54:11, feeling pretty good. Back on the tri-bike for the commute to work.

About 2 miles from the office, I hear something hit the ground. I look down and see that my Garmin 305 is missing from my wrist strap. I look around and it’s no where to be found. I retrace my steps for about 100 yards and still can’t find it. I figure it’s dropped into the storm sewer. DAMN… That sucks.

I get to work and feel worse and worse as the day progresses. I’m hoping that it’s just an allergy problem, but I’m getting that disoriented feeling that comes with a head cold. DAMN, that sucks.

I’m scheduled for a 2:00hr bike, with a bunch of short, painful hill intervals. I head out around 4:15pm, and think about heading for a big steep hill somewhere for the workout. I get about 50 yards outside of the Raritan campus and flat the rear tire. I get it changed, but feel really dizzy and disoriented while bent over working on the wheel.

I figure that I’ll bag the main workout, and take a nice Z2 ride home. But I can’t measure my HR because I lost my Garmin earlier that morning. I try to push myself, but can’t get my legs to spin fast, nor push a big gear. I’m sweating way more than the effort I’m putting out. That can’t be good.

I get home, throw down a Zyrtec, and rush around to get the tri bike wheels over to the shop for some repair. As I’m standing there (they fixed the wheel while I waited!) I’m feeling pretty run down and I realize that the Zyrtex isn’t working. Damn, it’s a cold.

So I get dinner down, after making a huge mess on the stove and climb into bed. Toss and turn most of the night, take some Afrin and finally get to sleep well after midnight.

So I talk to my coach and we agree that today and tomorrow will be rest days. Sunday will be an easy bike day (up to 4:00hrs at Z1) and Monday will be an easy run up to 2:00hrs and then we’ll pick up the program on Tuesday.

I’m just hoping I’ll be 100% ready for the Fireman Ironman camp on 20-22 June.

Recoverite works well for me. Easy going down, and give me all the stuff I need for recovery. Finding chocolate milk that’s not completely full of crap ingredients is almost impossible.

Now it turns out, maybe just ‘eating’ is good for you..

Best – Real Thought for Food for Long Workouts – NYTimes.com

What next? Post-marathon cigarettes?

Just got back from a nice, easy 60 min ride on the fully-spec’d tri-bike. Did a quick swamp loop (forgetting about the gravel section, DOH!) but the bike came through none the worse for it.

Now it’s time to pack up the gear and get ready for the road trip to Cambridge MD & Forecast:
Yummy! Near record heat, 61% humidity on race day. Should be interesting, in the Chinese sense of the word.

Another new social networking site for triathletes…

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It’s getting hard to keep track of ’em all.

I hadn’t blogged about this before, but I’ve got a couple of new swim toys that I’m loving.

First, I bought a new wetsuit over the Memorial Day weekend. I tried on several suits, but the Roo Superfull fit me like a glove and was much more comfortable and flexible than the other suits. I got a chance to try it out at Mountain Lakes this past Friday, and the results were amazing. The extra floation in the hips and thighs are appropriately named “Virtual Pull Buoy” because the feeling I had while swimming with the suit was just like swimming with a real pull buoy. Even better, I was able to kick comfortably. This suit ROCKS…

I’ve been struggling with finding a good pair of goggles that don’t leave me with a pounding headache and raccoon-eyes, or leak like a sieve. I picked up a pair of Tyr Nest Pro Goggles. These are the most comfortable goggles I have ever worn. My first pair were a dark tint, with a mirror surface. I’ve since picked up a second, clear pair.

What prompted all these purchases? Well, it was time to replace the original QR wetsuit that I got for free when I bought the QR Caliente back in 2004. And the goggles needed to be replaced, along with ALL my other swim gear because I somehow lost my entire swim gear bag. This is the SECOND freakin time I’ve lost the entire bag!!

I’ll never learn….

It’s been a while since I’ve done a 1/2 IM, and I’m experiencing some nervousness around my race this weekend. I was looking over my past performances at the 1/2 IM distance (Eagleman & FIRM-MAN in 2005) and was suprised to see that they were pretty close. The big difference was the 2:07 run at FIRM-MAN vs the 2:24 run at Eagleman. I think the extra time was due to the heat and fueling problems on the bike. I’m pretty sure I’ve got my fueling routine figured out (going with Heed, Hammer Gel, water & Endurolytes). I’m hoping that I can beat my 1/2 IM PR of 5:22. I would REALLY like to sneak under 5:00, but that may be a stretch. I’d have to pull a lot of time off my bike split and have a really solid run.

I think the nervousness may be a combination of normal pre-race jitters, and true anticipation about my 1st triathlon since Wyckoff last year.

Taper-time is weird….

Best weight-loss advice ever:
Engineer’s Guide To Weight Loss – Ted Dziuba

To that end, if you are more than 50 pounds overweight, are unmarried, have no children, and your only reason to get up in the morning is your shitty software job, the healthy lifestyle is not for you. You are better off eating yourself to the grave: you will get much more satisfaction out of life by eating cheeseburgers than you will by torturing the pounds of fat off your gut.

You just have to love a comic that works in a Lyle Lovett reference in to a strip about the Sword of Damocles
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That’s it. I’m sick and freaking tired of crappy service from Last night, we couldn’t get a decent HD picture for Game 7 Spurs-Hornets Western Conference semi-final. The picture kept dissolving into a pixelated mess, making the action totally unwatchable. However, any of the other channels were working, and even the studio segments in the game were fine. In the past year, we’ve had Cablevision out on three separate occasions for service problems. They have swapped out stuff on the line, replaced splitters and recently pulled a whole bunch of new wire in the house. Each time we had a different repair man, from a different subcontractor tell us that the last guy did something wrong.

Even after all that work, we still can’t get consistent, reliable service. The TV in the workout room drops it’s connection randomly for a few seconds every 15 minutes or so. The cable box upstairs has a very narrow volume range and can’t seem to be adjusted. After last night’s fiasco, I’m sick an tired of cable-hell.

I’m switching to Verizon FIOS