Chris' Triathlon Blog

Hornet Juice Review

Chris Scott — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:49:57 -0500

About a month ago Hornet Juice asked me if I'd like some samples to try out and sent me some info. on their product. It sounded interesting so I tried it out to see how it worked for me. Here's my thoughts.

What is it and How Does it Work?

Hornet Juice is a mix of 17 amino acids developed after researching the giant hornet's ability to fly 50 miles a day. The short description of what it does is that it metabolizes fat to give you energy during extended workouts since glycogen can only take you so far. See their site for more info.

Usage

They suggest you take Hornet Juice 30 mins. prior to a workout on an empty stomach. It comes in individual servings that you mix with 8.5 oz. of water, juice or sports drink. For longer workouts, they suggest taking it every one and a half hours.

Workouts

My first workout I used Hornet Juice was a 50 min. run after coming off a day off after a pretty tough weekend of riding and running. I did a strength workout in the morning so my legs weren't feeling the freshest when I started my run. I felt good throughout the run and even though my legs were heavy, I felt like I had a good energy level the whole time.

The next day I did an hour bike on the trainer and had some Hornet Juice about 30 mins. prior and on an empty stomach. I felt good during my ride but really no different than any of my other hour trainer session over the past month. My stats were about the same and my energy level felt normal.

Two days later were my longer weekend workouts: a 2:15 ride on Sat. morning with a 20 min. run in the evening and a 1:40 run on Sun. morning. On Sat. I didn't have the Hornet Juice prior to my workout but put it in my water bottles with Gatorade. This turned out to be a bad idea without diluting the Gatorade since it made the flavor too strong and sweet. It wasn't undrinkable but it would have been much better with diluted Gatorade or another sports drink or just water and some Carb Pro. I felt good during my ride and my energy level was strong throughout. Usually on longer rides, my energy starts to taper off toward the end and the last few miles end up hurting, but not this time. It was an easy ride since I had a run the next day but not much slower than I normally do that distance.

On Sun. I drank the Hornet Juice on a full stomach about 30 mins. before my run. The workout was an hour warmup followed by 30 min. at tempo pace and then a 10 min. cool down. My legs were tired for the warmup and my tempo pace was only 0:15/mile faster than the warmup pace but I was able to complete the workout and not cheat on the cool down :-) I was happy that I was able to finish it and do pretty well on my times.

Conclusion

So, did it help? I think I'm mixed on this one. It felt like it did help on my runs and may have made a difference on my longer bike. I do want to get some more and try it for a couple months to see how it works on various distances and disciplines. From most of the reviews I've read online, everyone felt like they performed better and their longer workouts with it.

You can buy it directly from their web site. Shipping is free and they accept major credit cards and PayPal.

If you try it out, here's a few tips:

It does not taste good (at least to me). This doesn't bother me too much but I don't think that it "tastes like a mild fruit drink with a berry flavor" as they say. It tastes like a workout supplement.
Don't mix it with another full-strength sports drink.
Don't drink the last few sips in your glass/water bottle. Whatever is in there that doesn't fully disolve is very bitter.
Check out their FAQs for tons of other info.

I Love TriSports.com

Chris Scott — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:47:31 -0500

This year, I've been getting most of my triathlon and running gear from TriSports.com. Their prices are very competitive and they have just about everything I want in stock. The clincher for me the first time I used them is that they take PayPal so I get so spend some of my ad revenue quickly and easily.

For small orders, their USPS shipping prices are typically cheaper than UPS Ground but at some point (likely weight and/or number of items), UPS Ground is less expensive so you'll want to try both options at checkout. I've found that the delivery times for both are about the same and sometimes USPS is even quicker. TriSports gets stuff out quickly and I've never had a delay in getting what I ordered or any problems with my orders.

A nice touch that I noticed after an order or two was that the packing slip for each order had a hand-written, personalized thank-you note on it. Another nice touch came in the mail yesterday: their holiday card with a group photo on front and everyone's signature inside.

While I like to support our local running and tri shops, for consumables (gels, supplements, etc.) I just can't justify the travel time and larger markup. If you're looking for running, swimming, or tri gear check out TriSports.com.

Bike Hugger Jersey

Chris Scott — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:41:14 -0500

A couple weeks ago, I ordered my wife and I the Bike Hugger jersey. I was impressed by the looks of the photos they had on their site of the actual jersey and also of the product graphics. Even though they note that the jerseys are made by Hincapie Sports of their best materials, I was still surprised how nice this jersey is.

The fit--as noted--is slim. Since I am as well, I ordered my normal Large size which fits perfectly. It is a bit snug but not tight. There are two features that set this apart from any other jersey I've had. First, is the full-length zipper. Being able to unzip all the way and open the jersey on a ride is nice and it also makes it easier to get on and off--especially over sunglasses or a helmet. The second is the gel-grip waist. This is similar to the rubbery line at the bottom of most cycling shorts that keeps them from riding up. Same thing goes here and this does a great job of keeping the bottom of the jersey where you want it.

Other than the technical features, this jersey just looks and feels great. My wife and I are both happy with ours and at $75 the price is very affordable. I've had jerseys that were the same price or a few bucks more that weren't nearly as comfortable or as stylish. I'm waiting for the next design :-)

Related side note: I ordered these via Amazon on a Monday to get here by Wednesday (free shipping since I have Prime) so I would have Julie's by the weekend for her ride. On Wed., I left the house for about an hour and that was when UPS said it was delivered to my front door. I checked about an hour after I got home and didn't see it. I searched my yard and also the side door and couldn't find it. I waited until Thurs. to see if maybe it would get redelivered or if one of my neighbors got it by mistake but it didn't show.

I used Amazon's callback feature and was called and connected to an agent who had my info. on her screen. She said they would re-ship the order and she added the items to my cart and said I'd get a credit for the purchase price plus $5 to cover my cost for Prime overnight shipping. Sure enough, in about an hour I got an email saying the credit had been processed and I placed the order with overnight shipping. The package showed up on Fri. afternoon and everyone was happy. Amazon rocks!

Garmin Forerunner Now Comes With USB Power Adapter

Chris Scott — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:33:37 -0500

I bought my wife a Forerunner 305 for her birthday yesterday (yes, I'm a nice guy) and noticed that at some point since I got my replacement in late March, they are now shipping them with power adapters. This is a nice touch so you don't have to plug it in to your computer--or have one available--to charge your Forerunner. Perfect for traveling.

If you're still thinking about getting one of these, now you have one more reason. Amazon.com has them for $210.69 as I type this.

Floridian Super Sprint 2007

Chris Scott — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:40:34 -0400

As part of my own sprint series, I did the GFT Super Sprint this past Sat. Julie didn't join me like she did last year since she's training for Ironman Arizona so I went solo. The race is a 1/4 mi. swim, 8 mi. bike, and 2 mi. run.

I got to the race site early since there were half and full iron distance races that started at 7:30 AM. I bummed around in the dark trying to spot my friend Adam who was doing the half until it started raining a bit. I moved under a tree until is started raining even harder so I found shelter near the restrooms under an overhang.

The race started about 30-40 mins. late since we had to wait for the last swimmer from the iron distance race that started at 7:30 AM to get out of the water. We ended up starting a bit after 10:00 AM.

The water is so low in Lake Minneola that the first bouy that is about 20 yards past the swim area was probably only in head deep water and the edge of the swim area was waist deep. This meant you had about 60 guys running to within about 20 yards of the buoy and trying to start swimming and make the turn. Total chaos. Luckily, I got a bit ahead after that and had a straight shot to the final buoy and the finish.

This year, the transition from the beach was better since we went in the transition area at the end near the beach and didn't have to run on pavement but had nice, soft grass. I spent too much time in T1 and hopped on the bike.

I don't know why I don't remember how much the first few hills at the beginning and end of the course take it out of your legs, but they do. I passed a bunch of people on the bike but didn't see anyone in my age group that remembered. Only one guy passed me toward the end and he was in a higher age group so I hung on for a bit but let him go.

Since the run is so short, I tried to go all out and keep it up as long as I could. I slowed down a bit toward the last half mile but ended up at a 6:50 pace so I was happy. The run course was a bit different and definitely better than last year and bit flatter.

I ended up 2nd in my age group and had a good time at the race talking w/people doing the half and full prior to their race and with a bunch of people doing my race in the transition and swim area before the race. I didn't hang out for the awards since they didn't even have the preliminary results posted after I had packed my stuff up and put it back in my car. Hunger won out over pride :-)

My stats:

Finish time: 49:19
AG Place: 2nd out of 9

Swim Time: 5:13 (calculated off finish time since posted time was 2:35)
Swim AG Place: 2nd

T1 Time: 2:53
T1 AG Place: 6th

Bike Time: 26:08
Bike Pace: 18.4 MPH
Bike AG Place: 9th

T2 Time: 1:25
T2 AG Place: 2nd

Run Time: 13:40
Run Pace: 6:50 min./mile
Run AG Place: 2nd

Buttar Fall Triathlon Festival Sprint

Chris Scott — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:43:01 -0400

Due to the heat of summer, I decided to only do a few sprints this season after the half in May. The second one of these was the Buttar Fall Triathlon Festival on Sat. 10/6/07. I did this race last July and it was a great course and put together really well. This race is a 0.75K swim, 20K bike, and 2.75 mi. run.

The weather when I left my house was rain with thunder and lightning but it cleared up by daybreak. I went for a short run after racking my bike and did a swim warmup in the dark. The bugs were thick so I stayed in the water for as long as I could.

The swim went by quickly and I felt good throughout and tried to pull hard the last 50-75 yards. The run to the transition is long and a mix of sand, rocks, twigs, and other assorted foot hazards. I kept up an OK pace and hopped on my bike.

The bike was great since the course is flat, nicely-paved, and has only a few wide turns. I felt good on the bike and tried to keep my form in check to get some more power and speed.

I tried to do like last July and go off fast on the run and try to hold my pace for 2.75 miles. I did pretty well but slowed down a bit on the last 3/4 of a mile. As part of my workout plan, I had to run for 30 mins. after the race. I felt better than I thought I would on that part but I forgot to put my socks back on for it so had to stop about 20 minutes into it due to blisters on my arches. Live and learn...

Overall, I had a good race and came in almost four minutes faster than last year--almost all on the swim portion.

My stats:
Overall time: 1:11:51
AG Place: 3 of 9

Swim: 11:30
Swim AG Place: 3rd

T1a (beach to transition area): 1:59
T1a AG Place: 3rd

T1b: 1:12
T1b AG Place: 3rd

Bike: 35:33
Bike Pace: 20.98 MPH
Bike AG Place: 5th

T2: 0:52
T2 AG Place: 6th

Run: 20:36
Run Pace: 7:29 min/mile
Run AG Place: 3rd

The Off Season

Chris Scott — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:49:45 -0400

Well, after the Gulfcoast Half I've been doing very little training. I was good for a week or so after the race and then my training frequency became inversely proportional to the temperature in Central Florida (for you non-geeks, that means I haven't been doing much since it is damn hot).

I've been running on and off which is a bad idea since the off makes the on hurt that much more. I ran last night and carried a water bottle with me (the Ultimate Direction FastDraw Plus, which I highly recommend) and went through the whole thing in less than an hour. And that was on an overcast, somewhat cool night.

Julie and I had plans to do the Loggerhead tri in Jupiter on Aug. 11 but we may skip it since we haven't been training much. In the next few weeks, I'm going to try to ease back into things by scattering a ride, run, and swim in when I can. I'll be in Ohio next week and plan on running, open water swimming, and plenty of wakeboarding.

MotionBased Safari Plugin Not Compatible With Safari 3 Beta on Mac

Chris Scott — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:26:54 -0400

I upgraded Safari on my MacBook to Beta 3 yesterday. The MotionBased plugin loads fine and it all looks good when doing an upload since I see the transfer messages on the Garmin, however it never completes and uploads it to MotionBased. I uninstalled the beta to go back and it works fine.

Just an FYI in case anyone is thinking of upgrading.

Gulf Coast Triathlon

Chris Scott — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:09:00 -0400

I finally did the Gulf Coast Triathlon, a half iron distance race (1.2 mi. swim, 56 mi. bike, half marathon). It feels like I've been training forever for a half since I decided to put this distance off until this year since trying for the end of last year took its toll with training in the heat.

Julie and I drove up on Thursday and Kirby and Bev met us there that night and Adam met us there on Friday. My new camera came in handy and Kirby took some great pics.

Speaking of heat, now I know why this race is affectionately called the "Gulf Roast". It was hot, hot, hot! Here's my race recap:

Race Morning
Wake up at 4:00 AM and eat, take some Endurolytes and other vitamins and supplements I normally take, and start hydrating. Our bikes were already in transition and we stayed at the host hotel, so we just had to walk down and get our stuff ready.

I go to pump up my tires, and my rear is flat. I pump it up and can hear the air escaping and even in the darkness can spot the hole in my tire. I don't have any spares so I ask the guy manning the Dragon Sports tent for bike repairs if they have a tire or patch kit. He says he didn't pack the stuff so he's not sure and the guy that did will be back soon. I head to the room to grab a dollar bill in case I need to rig a patch. I get back down and they had a few tires. Most of them are the Continental Grand Prix 4000s I wanted to get anyway. They are all red which works perfectly since my new bike has red on it.

I grabbed my bike and tossed it over the transition fence and they picked it up and had it ready to go by the time I got back from the room with cash to cover the tire/labor. Had to go back to transition to rack my bike and then get all my stuff laid out for the bike and run. Back in the room, we all got suited up and wetsuited up and went down to wait for the swim start.

The Swim
The ocean was fairly calm and the wind wasn't too bad. The Course was a long out, short over, and long back. The current was going to be with us for the over section. The water was 75 which was perfect for my sleveless wetsuit.

About 150 yards out, there were jellyfish a couple feet below the surface which made swimming fun. Got stung a bit and had to go through them again on the way in. Luckily, the itching wasn't too bad.

I don't carry my Garmin on the swim so I didn't know my swim time. I had planned on 40-45 mins. and ended up doing it in 36.

T1
An uneventful, yet slow as usual, T1 which is a good thing.

The Bike
The bike course is flat and runs along the beach for a bit and then out into the woods where the heat picked up and the road alternated between nice and crappy. I skipped the first bathroom stop which was a mistake since I was dying about 5 miles before the next one. Stopped at the next one and leaned my bike up against a post. When I got out of the port-o-let, one of the volunteers handed me my bike. I told her she rocked and went on my way. My rear tire was in the gravel so I peeled out which probably didn't look at all cool.

My butt was feeling sore by about mile 35 when I took another bathroom break. This one was preemptive. The last 20 miles, I had to get out of the bars and lean back to get rid of the butt pain. Luckily it didn't slow me down too much. My goal for the bike was 18 MPH average and I was at about 17.7 according to my computer and my Garmin which I didn't think was bad considering I had two stops. My new bike rocks and made it easy to keep that pace. Still, I was happy to get off the bike and start running.

T2
The port-o-lets next to my rack were occupied so I had to jog over about 100 yards away from the transition exit to get to an open one. Still, uneventful.

The Run
Ah, the run... I felt great coming out of transition and had to slow myself down to keep a 9:00 mile pace which was my target. That lasted for a couple miles and then the heat got me. Miles 3-7 really sucked. Hard. 8-10 were better and the last three were tough. I walked all the aid stations and took water, gatorade, and sponges at each one. I got a bit of chaffing in an area I didn't want chaffed and had to deal with that for a couple miles which wasn't too fun. I was going to stick a sponge down my tri shorts to try to stop it but the next aid station was out.

The Finish
I was very glad when I was done and very happy to get a nice cold beer after a recovery drink. A swim after that in the pool felt really good. They were out of pizza when we went back down to get food so we had another beer and then showered up to go to Carraba's for dinner.

My Results
Swim: 36:21
AG Place: 103 of 221
Gender Place: 379 of 919

T1: 5:18
AG Place: 173 of 221
Gender Place: 664 of 919

Bike: 3:07:29
Pace: 17.9 MPH
AG Place: 198 of 221
Gender Place: 793 of 919

T2: 2:36
AG Place: 107 of 221
Gender Place: 406 of 919

Run: 2:26:59
Pace: 11:11
AG Place: 151 of 221
Gender Place: 541 of 919

Overall Time: 6:18:10
AG Place: 168 of 221
Gender Place: 640 of 919
Overall Place: 824 of 1239

New Bike: Cervelo P2C

Chris Scott — Tue, 08 May 2007 16:49:10 -0400

My wife and I finally broke down and bought new bikes. Speaking of broke...

We both got 2007 Cervelo P2Cs. These bikes are beautiful, light, and fast. And, they're fast. Really fast. Even a slow schlub like me can fly on this bike.

I've only put about 50 miles on it so far but that will change this Saturday when we do the Gulfcoast Half in Panama City. I'm dying to see how this feels during a race since during training it has added at least one MPH to my average speed and even that feels easy.

Garmin WebUpdater for Mac Beta Released

Chris Scott — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 11:22:51 -0400

No, this isn't an April fool's joke. I saw on gpsreview.net that Garmin released a beta of WebUpdater for the Mac. I'd try it on my Forerunner 305, but since I just got a new one from Garmin after my old one died during a firmware update, I'll hold off until the production release.

Excellent Garmin Warranty Service on My Forerunner 305

Chris Scott — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:00:42 -0400

Two weeks ago I decided to upgrade the software and GPS firmware on my Forerunner 305. The software updated OK but the firmware upgrade completed and my Forerunner didn't come back to life.

I tried all the troubleshooting tips on the Garmin site and even waited for the battery to die and recharged it to see if that would help, but it was still dead. So, I called up Garmin tech support and after only have to press two options in there phone tree was connected with a very nice support tech who walked me through a few more options. Unfortunately, the determination was is would require repair service so I had to send it in.

They said it would be 7-14 days after they received it. I was getting ready to leave the next day for a snowboarding trip and wanted to have it to track my HR on the mountain but it wasn't going to happen. On Friday which was less than 14 days after I had mailed it off, I got a package back with a brand new Garmin in it!

I've noticed the screen contrast is a bit better on this one but I haven't really had a chance to play around with it more to see if there were any changes made since I got mine when they first came out. I'm very pleased with Garmin's service.

Garmin Forerunner Quick Release Bike Mount for Multisport Athletes

Chris Scott — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:39:02 -0500

OK, the new Garmin Forerunner Quick-release Mounting Kit is going onto my wishlist. The kit includes a quick-release wrist strap and also a bike mount. You just pop the Forerunner out of either to switch between bike and run. This would be perfect for triathlons since I could wear the wrist strap during the swim, have the unit already on the bike, and pop it out and onto the wrist strap for the run without losing any time for putting the whole thing on after the swim.

Garmin Foot Pod for Forerunner 305 Available

Chris Scott — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:30:57 -0500

The Garmin Forerunner 305 Foot Pod Accessory is now available from at Amazon.com and garmin.com

Happy New Year: Garmin Training Center Mac Compatible!

Chris Scott — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 12:23:08 -0500

If you have a Mac and have been waiting for Garmin to make Training Center Mac compatible, your wait is almost over. If you will be at Mac World in San Francisco in early January, you can pick up a CD there. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until late January to download it.

If anyone is going to be there and would be kind enough to pick me up a CD, I'll gladly pay you to ship it to me. If you're technically inclined, I can also give you FTP access if you want to burn me an ISO image and upload it. I'll even throw in a beer or so.

Bikin' Dirty/ Ridin' Dirty Floyd Landis

Chris Scott — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:10:34 -0500

Much funnier than I thought it would be... (YouTube video)

Garmin Course File for 2006 OUC Half Marathon

Chris Scott — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:49:56 -0500

Thanks to MapMyRun.com I was able to create a Garmin course file for the OUC Half Marathon here in Orlando without actually running/driving the course. If you are doing the race with your Garmin and want to use the course feature, you can download it from the map.

When you download the course file using MapMyRun you tell it what your target pace is so the course file is created with that information to track against. To use this during the race, go to Training/Courses and select the course and choose Do Course. According to the Motionbased Wiki, you should see the following information:

Dist to Pt - Distance to next course point (Starting Point in this case)
Time to Pt - Time to next couse point based on previous activity
Dist to End - Distance to end of course
Course Time - Time to end of couse based on previous activity

I'm fairly sure that the course points will be each point on the map instead of just water stops and mile markers but I can't tell for sure. For more info. on using the courses feature, see the MB Wiki. I'm going to try to test this out on a smaller scale tonight to see exactly how it works.

New: Triathlon Gear Holiday Store

Chris Scott — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:31:58 -0500

With the help of Amazon.com, I've put together a triathlon gear store for the holidays. This is an easy way to get gift ideas for your triathlete friends and family without the hassle of leaving the house :-) Go check it out.

Ironman Florida 2006 in Panama City

Chris Scott — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:39:45 -0500

I didn't do this race, but a group of us went up to Panama City (sing the opening to Van Halen's Panama for fun) to watch Bev do her first Ironman. First, here's the photos.

Since we watched Adam do his iron distance race a couple weeks ago, we were better prepared this time. We had plenty of water and beer. The weather was clear, cold, and windy. When we left the hotel on race morning it was 45 with a wind chill of 39. But, we couldn't complain since we weren't the ones that had to don a wet suit and get in the cold ocean.

The swim was a mass start with the pros starting a few minutes ahead. The sea of swim caps was quite impressive. So was the number of spectators.

Swim start

The ocean was a bit rough with two opposite currents running parallel to shore. From talking with one of the lifeguards, they pulled at least 13 swimmers out. Julie volunteered as a wet suit stripper so we hung around to watch end of the swim until she was done. She was covered in pee water but I still love her :-) She said she had a great time and would definitely do it again next year.

The last swimmer

We were just trying to get around the crowd of spectators when we caught Bev leaving on the bike:

Bev (in orange) leaving on the bike

The bike was one loop so we had some time to kill waiting for Bev to come by the hotel. Tracy and I went for a run (I managed to get in almost 10 miles before I felt like crap) before lunch and then met up with the rest of the crew that was crazy enough to go swimming in the Gulf without wetsuits while we were gone. We ate lunch outside on the race route so we could cheer people on.

Julie, Jessica, and Adam pondering lunch

After lunch we hung out at the corner by our hotel which was on the route to cheer and caught Bev finishing her bike. We packed up once again and went back to the race site in time to catch the first finishers coming through. We went out to the run course and saw Bev finishing up her first lap and then a few minutes later starting her second lap. We had a prime spot since there was a convenience store across the street to provide beer and a bathroom and a Pizza Hut a few hundred yards away to provide yummy pizza.

A bit before her expected finish time, we moved back to the finish area to get a good bleacher spot and cheer her on. The wind was picking up (if that was even possible) and it was cold so I was glad when I saw Bev round the corner for the finish. We greeted her with a beer.

Finished!

Bev kicked ass and we had a great time. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Race Day: Floridian Super Sprint

Chris Scott — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 17:03:53 -0400

Date: 10/21/06
Location: Clermont, FL

Since we were watching the Great Floridian and the Florida Challenge full and half iron races that day, Julie and I decided to do the super sprint: 1/4 mi. swim, 8 mi. bike, 2 mi. run. Since we got there early and it was a short race, my mind wasn't really in it and I wasn't as hydrated as I would have liked and forgot to eat as much as I should have. But, the race was still fun.

The swim wasn't too crowded so I got a pretty good line without much thrashing. The bike was just one loop around the lake and only a couple of really small hills at the beginning, but otherwise a flat course. The run was an out and back with another out and back, all on the trail at the lake. It would have been nice if there was a mile marker for the first mile but I felt good a bit before then and picked it up. When a guy ran by me and told me I had four mins. left at my pace, I told him I'd try to keep up with him for two mins. I managed longer than that and at the end was in a sprint with him and a girl from the Tri Knights team that was walking when I passed her and said "Go Knights!" just a few seconds earlier. I came in second in that mini battle.

Overall, my time was 52:22 and I was 3rd in my age group. Julie took first in her age group pretty handily. If I was trying in the transitions, I could have shaved a couple minutes off my overall time and possibly come in second. The pizza after the race and the 3rd place plaque made the entry fee worth it :-)

Race Day: Healthfirst Olympic Distance Triathlon in Melbourne, FL

Chris Scott — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:30:33 -0400

Julie, Bev, and I went over to Melbourne on Saturday for the Healthfirst Olympic on Sunday. We were staying with my parents so we dropped our stuff off at their place first and then drove over to the packet pickup and to drive the run and bike courses.

The bike course did two loops--one larger and another that was half of that--that goes over the Banana and Indian Rivers on the Pineda Causeway and then the Indian River again on the Eau Gallie causeway. Total, you go over the big bridges four times on the bike. The course was all on well-paved roads with no real hazards to speak of. Between the bridges it is flat other than the speed humps on S. Tropical Trail.

The run course took you through downtown Eau Gallie (if there is such a thing :-) and then over the causeway to the other side of the river and back. The odd part of the course is that the last half of the run course and the last part of the bike course coincide from the east side of the river back to the transition area on the other side. This made finishing up the bike course a bit trickier than normal since we all had to share a lane of the road and shoulder.

The swim looked really long but didn't feel too bad. The red bouys were hard to see and the sunrise didn't help at all since it just put a nice glare on the water to the east. At times going to and from the turnaround bouy to the north, it was hard to tell if the swimmers in front of you were coming or going. I went out at a nice, steady pace and kept it for the whole race with a bit of a faster pace for the last 50 meters or so. Getting out of the water was fun since they had built a plywood and outdoor carpet ramp to climb up to get over the coquina rocks there for erosion control. Thankfully there were volunteers on either side of the ramp to help people out. Of course, I didn't need any help since I am a super bad ass. A photographer from Florida Today captured us as we were getting ready to warm up--that's me in the foreground.

Photo credit: Kathleen Hinkel, FLORIDA TODAY

My goal pace for the bike was 18MPH. Unlike my last race, I had a fresh battery in my bike computer so I actually knew my speed. However, I did manage to forget to reset it from our ride the day before so I couldn't rely on it for time or avg. pace. I figured if I tried to keep a 20MPH pace that should average out to about 18. I felt good on the bike and was able to keep my pace for an actual average of 18.2 MPH. This is going off 40K but from Julie and Bev's computers it may have been a mile or so longer. At one point on S. Tropical Trail a peacock decided to cross the road in front of the guy in front of me. Luckily he was able to brake enough to avoid it and it kept moving unlike the squirrels that kept darting in front of me and then freaking out.

I felt good on the run for the first four miles which was about the time when I had to turn around to come back over the bridge. I ended up walking a bit at the water stop at the turnaround while I chugged a couple waters and then a bit more on the way up the bridge. On the way down I felt better and was able to pick up the pace for the finish. It was hot on the run and there wasn't much shade. Even though I took water at all the stops I still felt dehydrated.

Photo credit: the kid that was still hanging around the racks after almost everyone had cleared out

This was a fun race and it was good to see my old hometown again. I definitely want to do this next year. Maybe the sprint though...

My stats:

Finish time: 2:48:36
AG Place: 6th out of 14

Swim Time: 28:37
Swim AG Place: 6th

T1 Time: 2:30
T1 AG Place: 8th

Bike Time: 1:21:38
Bike Pace: 18.26 MPH
Bike AG Place: 9th

T2 Time: 1:17
T2 AG Place: 8th

Run Time: 54:36
Run Pace: 8:47 min./mile
Run AG Place: 7th

Race Day: Downtown Orlando Triathlon

Chris Scott — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:37:51 -0400

This race was fun! Julie spectated and took photos while I tried to punish myself for a 1/4 mile swim, 10.6 mile bike and 3.5 mile run. The best part was the finish in Wall Street Plaza where they had food an plenty of beer (the third keg was being tapped before the award ceremony started). View the photos.

My stats:

Time: 1:07:15
Age Group Place: 7 of 37

Swim Time: 8:14
Swim AG Place: 7th

T1 Time: 1:52
T1 AG Place: 4th

Bike Time: 29:04
Bike AG Place: 13th
Bike Pace: 21.9 MPH

T2 Time: 1:11
T2 AG Place: 15th

Run Time: 26:56
Run AG Place: 9
Run Pace: 7:42 min/mile

Race Day: Miracle Miles 15K

Chris Scott — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:30:49 -0400

OK, so I'm only about three weeks late on posting about this race. It has been crazy at work and with training so I'm a bit behind. Anywhoo...

I met up with Adam and Tracy and warmed up for a bit before the race. It was warm but not too terrible. We went out at a pace of 8:45 and were able to keep it up until the end. Adam left me with about half a mile to go and I had nothing left to even try to catch him. I finished in 1:21:45 for a pace of 8:42.5.

I did much better than I thought I would so I was very happy with my time. Last year this race killed me and I did 1:27:32 for a pace of 9:23.4 so I was glad I did better this time.

Track Dean Karnazes' 50 Marathons in 50 Days at Timex

Chris Scott — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:14:26 -0400

Just what I need to make me feel like a slacker. So far they only have the Lewis and Clark Marathon stats up but check out his avg. pace for his first of 50 back-to-back marathons! Not only that, his avg. heart rate was 130 BPM. I can get up to 130 walking the dog.

New iPod Shuffle Looks Perfect for Running

Chris Scott — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:13:19 -0400

Just look at it:

Not only is it small (1.07 in. x 1.62 in. x 0.41 in. - including clip) and more square than the previous versions, it has a clip built into it. Even if you don't use the clip, the shape should fit better into most pockets on running shorts and shirts. I don't run with music, but if I did I'd be putting down $79 for one of these today.

8/23 Training

Chris Scott — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:59:44 -0400

Track is whack! We did track for the first time in a while. We ran up to Lake Highland to the lightning detector going off so we ran to Howard. Nothing like running on asphalt instead of whatever that squishy stuff the nice tracks are made of is.

The workout was 6-800's. I felt pretty good so I tried to keep a consistent pace and pick it up on the last one. My times:

3:23
3:23
3:23
3:21
3:20
3:09

I've Been Putting My Swim Cap on Wrong This Whole Time...

Chris Scott — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:54:22 -0400

I've been using the "condom" method, not the "here's the church, here's the steeple" method shown above. I'm not sure what that last step accomplishes, but it looks like you do it with flair!

Graphic via: Google Blogoscoped

8/22 Training

Chris Scott — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:21:09 -0400

The plan was to swim 2500 yards and then ride/spin for an hour. Lightning cut the swim short to about 1100 yards so I went home and hopped on the trainer. I made it 45 minutes until boredom and hunger got the better of me. Did get to catch up on a few episodes of Inked though...

8/20 Training

Chris Scott — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:19:22 -0400

We met Ann and her friend out at the Oviedo trail and ran what was supposed to be 1:30. I made it to the end of the trail and since I didn't know that it continued past the bridge over 434, I went for a run in the woods on a horse trail for a bit. Unfortunately, it was a bit too technical and I was worried I'd sprain something. I got in 1:20 when I got back to the car and by that time it was getting hot and I was tired so I called it a day. I felt so much better than I did on last Sunday's run.

In the afternoon, I went to the Y and swam 2500 yards straight. Trying to keep an accurate count was the hardest part of the workout.

8/19 Training

Chris Scott — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:16:30 -0400

Julie, Pam and I did the UCF to Fort Christmas route in the morning. The weather was nice since it was overcast the whole time. Still humid, but better than it has been. Saw a couple deer--ironically when we got back into town, not in BFE.