Metabolic Testing: VO2max Testing - What's Your Number?

A triathlete’s VO2max number can be a good basis for bragging rights in the endurance sports arena. If you know this number, which defines your maximum aerobic capacity, and it’s a good number, you can talk trash while hanging at the pool edge, chatting in spin class or stretching on the track.

But as a measurement that originated in the second century with Greek physicians blowing into sheep bladders, is the VO2max really that valuable?

I've had a VO2max test each of the past three seasons. This year I had the test performed on both a treadmill and an electrically-braked cycle ergometer. My reasoning for testing has been to establish my training zones and particularly my AT (Anaerobic Threshold).

My goal as a Triathlete is to continue to improve, and unlike the professional athlete, I have a limited amount of time to train so I need to make sure that I get the most out of every workout. To me, improving means being able to swim, bike, and run faster for a longer duration.

I've been lucky and over the past few years have had some very knowledgeable Group Fitness Instructors at Lifetime Fitness. I've also spent time reading and researching a variety of training methodologies for endurance athletes. I wish I can tell you that I have found some magic formula but I haven't.

What I have learned is that at some point when increasing intensity during exercise, your body switches from burning fat as the primary source of energy to burning primarily carbohydrates. This point is referred to as your AT or Anaerobic Threshold. Why is this important? Well, I'm glad you asked. The average human body can only store about 1500 to 2000 calories of carbohydrate where as it can store upwards of 30,000 calories of fat. Even the leanest of endurance athletes have a nearly limitless supply of fat calories.

AT is also the point at which you begin to notice marked fatigue, and this marks the beginning of the end. Your muscles will soon lose the ability to maintain that intensity and you will either have to slow down, to an intensity below your anaerobic threshold, or stop.

To achieve our overall goal to swim, bike, and run faster / longer we must train our bodies to work at ever increasing levels of intensity for longer periods of time below AT.

Therefore, accurately knowing your AT is pretty important to your training.

There are several methods of determining your AT. A very simple method for estimating the anaerobic threshold is to assume anaerobic threshold occurs at 85-90% maximum heart rate (220-age). Unfortunately heart rate varies greatly between individuals and even within the same individual so this is not a very reliable test.

For the more experienced athlete, a time trial of a 10km run or 30km cycle at or close to anaerobic threshold can be used to determine AT. By simulating a race in training and recording heart rate, the anaerobic threshold may be determined. Alternatively, exercising for 30 minutes at the fastest sustainable pace can be used. The key is to sustain a steady pace which is why this test is more suited to experienced athletes who can gauge how fast to set off. A heart rate monitor with split time facility is required to record heart rate at each 1-minute interval. Take the average heart rate over the final 20 minutes as the heart rate corresponding to anaerobic threshold.

The most accurate way to determine lactate threshold is via a graded exercise test in a laboratory setting (1). During the test the velocity or resistance on a treadmill, cycle ergometer or rowing ergometer is increased at regular intervals (i.e. every 1min, 3min or 4min) and blood samples are taken at each increment. Very often VO2 max, maximum heart rate and other physiological kinetics are measured during the same test (2).

Blood lactate is then plotted against each workload interval to give a lactate performance curve. Heart rate is also usually recorded at each interval often with a more accurate electrocardiogram as opposed to a standard heart rate monitor.

Once the lactate curve has been plotted, the anaerobic threshold can be determined. A sudden or sharp rise in the curve above base level is said to indicate the anaerobic threshold. However, from a practical perspective this sudden rise or inflection is often difficult to pinpoint

So the bottom line is that whichever method you chose will have some inherit flaws. Personally, my lab results have not corresponded to the data I've collected from race day and time-trails. In fact the lab results are significantly different and are of no practical use for training. For me, recording my heart rate during race conditions at near maximal efforts has produced the most reliable results. This race day data seems to correspond to what I perceive to be AT. Since my lab results have been suspect I'll continue to use a combination of time-trial and perceived exertion to determine my Anaerobic Threshold for training purposes.

References
1) McArdle WD, Katch FI and Katch VL. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology: 2nd Edition Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
2) Maud PJ and Foster C (eds.). (1995) Physiological Assessment Of Human Fitness. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics

Good Intentions

Forgive me readers for it has been 4 months since my last post...

As I begin my fourth year of multi-sport endurance training and my 36 weeks of training for Ironman Wisconsin 2010 (yes I'm doing it again), I think I have officially recovered from Ironman Wisconsin 2009. The last sign of recovery (for you squeamish types; you might want to forgo the next couple of sentences) my pinky toenail has finally fallen off this past week and the new one is coming in nicely. During the bike leg of last years event I developed some fairly severe foot pain. I developed a quarter size blister in the center of the ball of my foot which expressed itself during the last 30 miles of the bike and throughout the run. I tried to over compensate on the run which resulted in running on the side of my foot and rubbing my pinky toe. It turned black right away after the race and I figured it would fall off. I never imagined it would take 4 plus months to run its course.

Anyways, its a new year, and many have begun the year with good intentions. You have all made your resolutions. Whether it be to improve your fitness and health, go back to school, or work on your relationships with family or with God, we all have started out with good intentions. I recently received a little snippet and wanted to share it with you. Maybe it may help you turn your good intentions into reality.

Learning To Prepare For The Best

John Leonard

As I write this in early January in Fort Lauderdale, the air temperature is a “balmy” 42 degrees….well, balmy if you’re from Green Bay, Wisconsin, maybe. Here in South Florida, that’s a cold wave. We swim outside, and the water temperature is 75 degrees…..the heaters can’t keep up when the air is this cold. The wind chill factor, according to Channel 7, is…well, we don’t want to know the wind chill with a nice brisk 20 mile an hour wind coming off the Everglades.

My phone rings at 5 AM and a small voice on the other end asks plaintively, “Do we really have swim practice, Coach John?” Yes, we really do.

WHY? Is the next question, which I wrestle with myself on the 15 minute drive to the pool….why put teenagers in the water on this cold and nasty morning when both they and I would prefer to stay snuggled in at home for another hour or hour and a half.

Now, I KNOW why, but can I express it to my swimmers? Yes, I’ll try. Everyone, on the day after the high school state meet, vows that “next year” they will A) make a final, B) Make the meet C) win an event or D) write in your own goal here.

It’s easy to vow to do something the day after, when you are excited, full of the promise of life and get up and go. It’s a lot harder to REMEMBER what you wanted to do in early January when it’s 5 AM and cold outside. Then it’s a lot harder and a lot easier to rationalize, “it’s just one workout”.

The problem is, when teenagers begin to learn to rationalize, they get really good at it really fast, and pretty soon, the ACTION required to fulfill the commitments to those goals/dreams, falls prey to the rationalization. And after you rationalize the decision you want to make the first time, it’s so much easier to do it the next time, and the time after that, and pretty soon, the goal is just a dream, because you’re rationalizing yourself into thinking, “I’d like to do that if everything could be perfect for me, and it would never be cold in the morning, or no social events would ever conflict with practice, and time with my friends always went the way I want it to.“

But things never go perfectly. The ONLY thing you can successfully predict is that obstacles to your goal WILL come up, and little or nothing will go smoothly. And that consistency in preparation is the only way to raise the percentages of the chance you will reach your goal.

Read that again….”raise the percentages of the chance…” Not a guarantee. If it’s a good goal, there are no guarantees, EXCEPT that if you don’t prepare correctly, according to the plan, you won’t raise your chance of success, you’ll lower it.

So why go to practice at 5 AM in the cold? Because it’s part of the plan, and it raises your chance of success. But most of all, because you have told yourself that you will commit to doing it. And if you let yourself down, who won’t you let down? Prepare for a chance for success. And feel really good about doing that.

2009 Ford Ironman Wisconsin Race Report

It would be easy to fill this post with everything that did not go well for me yesterday, but I won't. There were too many good things and the number one goal of the day was accomplished, I Finished! And I heard Mike Reilly (the voice of Ironman) call my name as I crossed the finish line; Miles Burd from Cottage Grove, MN, "You are an Ironman"!

Pre-Race - The Parking Garage

Left the hotel without incident at 04:40 AM, I planned to park in the ramp I'd be using the last couple of days. It was right across the street from Monona Terrace near the bike staging area. The traffic was tough, as expected, me and 2400 of my fellow participants were all arriving for the long day ahead. I was about to turn into the garage when I saw the sign $4 advanced event parking. I did not even think about this. I left everything with Charlene. I had no money on me at all, and my heart rate quickly jumped into zone 4. I called Charlene (glad I had my phone) and told her the good news. Originally the support crew was not going to leave the hotel until 05:30. I pulled around the corner and there was an open parking spot on the street, right on the corner, and it was free. God was definitely watching over me this morning. I pulled in, thanked God, and immediately called Charlene back to cancel the emergency.

Pre-Race - Race Prep

There is a lot of prep for this race. You basically set up your transition areas on Saturday, the day before the race; your bike, swim to bike gear bag, and bike to run gear bag. When I dropped off my bike the volunteer helping me (great volunteers all weekend, thank you again!) said it would be a good idea to let air out of the tires and top them off in the morning. It was in the mid 80's Saturday and the bike staging area is all concrete. The last thing you need is a tire to expand and blow up. So in addition to bringing my special needs bags for the bike and run, I brought the pump and a gallon of water to fill my bottles. I used Hammer Perpetuim powder for nutrition and Gatorade G2 powder for electrolytes and had it in my bottles already. I just needed to add water, pump up my tires, and put the Garmin on the bike. I then visited my run gear bag to drop off the Garmin I borrowed from Ryan (thanks again Ryan), visited my bike gear bag and dropped off my cell phone which I planned to carry on the bike (just in case), dropped off my special needs bags (a couple of blocks away in front of the capital), and then, finally, dropped the pump and the rest of the water back at the van.

Finally, I could relax. I planned on meeting Charlene, Alexandra, Christopher, and my Mom before heading down to the swim start. As I was walking over to the pre-agreed meeting place I ran into Coach T. Thousands of people around and I run into someone I know (amazing). Teresa and Tina were volunteering today (again thank you volunteers!). I think I saw these two at least a half dozen times throughout the day cheering me on. Thank you! So after chatting with coach T for a bit I met up with the familyand got my final kisses and hugs in (thank you family for all the support. I'm grateful you were here with me and have put up with me over the last year, especially you Charlene!). Then I headed down to the swim start.

The Swim - 2.4 miles

The swim start at Madison is a deep water mass start. So at about 06:25 the pros got in the water. At 06:30 the age groupers started filing in and I was one of the first. The course at Madison is a large rectangle, the long sides of the rectangle are 1/2 mile long and the short sides are 0.1 miles long. You swim the course counter-clockwise and do two loops. The course is a few hundred yards from the shoreline. The starting line runs from the shore to the corner of the course. Swimmers can start anywhere from the shoreline to the corner buoy and behind. There is a water ski jump about 1/3rd of the way between the shore and the corner buoy, right on the start line, and this is where I planned to start. It meant swimming an extra 1/8 of a mile down the first side but I was willing to give up the couple of extra minutes if it meant less traffic.

The venue for the start is amazing. Monona Terrace has spectating areas on four levels. Behind Monona Terrace are several high rise hotels with viewing, and with the capital building in the backdrop, it is an amazing sight.

The morning was perfect, the water was calm, the sun was just coming up; truly beautiful. The water was a little warm, 75F, but manageable even in a wetsuit. The pros started at 06:50 to the sound of a cannon and the age groupers at 07:00. After the singing of the National Anthem we were off. I quickly found open water and swam pretty much unabated until the first turn. After that corner I decided to stay wide, which again added a little extra distance but avoided the extra traffic.

T1 Swim to Bike Transition

After getting out of the water volunteers guided you to the wetsuit strippers where two more volunteers pulled your suit off for you. Gotta love those volunteers. Then you run up the parking garage helix to the fourth level of the Monona Terrace parking garage. The helix is filled with cheering spectators. You then run into a conference room where more volunteers hand you your swim to bike gear bag. From there into the Men's changing room (another big conference room). Volunteers are there to help you, if you ask. When leaving the convention center out to the bike staging area some more volunteers slather you with sunscreen lotion.

The Bike - 112 miles

The ride starts with a spin down the opposing helix of the parking garage before heading out of town. The Ironman bike course is a lollipop shaped course. You ride the stick 14 miles from T1 and then ride a 42 mile loop, which you do twice before returning down the stick back to transition T2.

There are 87 turns on the bike course and I'd guess less than a few miles of flat sections. The course is continually rising and falling. There are not many huge hills up or down but there are few significant ascends and descends. You cannot put it in cruise control physically or mentally anywhere on this course. And by the way, the hills seem much bigger the second time around.

There are three fairly significant climbs that start about 10 miles outside of the city of Verona, which would be at about mile 40 and 80 overall. The climbs were lined with spectators, men in cheerleading outfits and bikinis, a woman dressed like a Harem girl, and plenty of other characters. It was a lot of fun to have the crowd cheering as you slowly ascended. It was just as much fun on the second loop as the first but the slow ascent was much slower. With 8 miles left there is one last significant climb and then from there pretty much down hill back into town.

With Monona Terrace in sight I was more than ready to stable my steady steed for the day.

T2 Bike to Run

Much like T1 the bike to run transition is in Monona Terrace. You run in and are handed your bag before entering the changing room. The volunteers provided me with some water and assistance with my gear. I changed and left the building for the run course were I was met with more sunscreen volunteers who lathered me up again.

The Run- 26.2 miles

The Madison run course is a two loop affair. The run course is relatively flat. There is one significant hill (Observation Hill) on the University of Wisconsin campus. This hill is at about mile 6 and 19 respectively. Which, by the way, is a beautiful campus, very impressive.

Some unique features of the course include a trip inside Camp Randall Stadium (home of the Wisconsin Badgers) where you run around the football field on the turf; pretty cool. There is an area I named 'Inspiration Mile'. Janus, one of the race sponsors, has a tent set up at the expo where family and friends can make signs. All these signs are placed along the path, this is at about mile 8 and 21. This was very cool.

There were a lot of spectators along the course and saw family and friends several times on the two loops. Aid stations were set up at almost every mile. The aid stations were very well- manned and well- stocked. Every aid station had sponges, water, Gatorade, fruit, pretzels, and potato chips. Some had energy bars and gu. During the second loop, chicken broth was available at most aid stations.

Finishing the last couple of miles or so in the dark with the State capital lit up coming up State Street is something I'll remember for a long time. The finishing shoot was at least a 1/4 mile long and lined with cheering spectators. There was a grandstand at the finish line packed with more cheering spectators and with the 'Voice of Ironman' Mike Reilly announcing every finisher's name overpowering it all. This was all visually and audibly amazing, quite the spectacle, and very welcome after a very long day.

Post-Race Thoughts

There are a lot thoughts bouncing around this head of mine today, the day after. Kind of feels like a bad hangover where you're trying to remember what exactly happened the night before.

But one consistent thought is; I finished and that was really my only goal yesterday, but I know I can perform at a higher level than what this day produced. This thought should not surprise any triathlete, runner, swimmer, or any other person on the planet that is looking to continuously improve themselves. But what I've learned over the past year or so is that training for an Ironman is a big commitment, and even though you try not to have it affect the other things going on in your life it does.

Your support system has to be strong, your commitment to training has to be unwavering, but most importantly you must work and focus on maintaining a balance between work, family, and training.

For now it is time for some R&R. I need some time to sit back and take it all in, to evaluate this past year, and then to plan what is next. So stayed tuned to find what happens next on this journey.

Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles, brag for the rest of you life!

Let the Count Down Begin

As I start writing this post there are but a mere 5 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes until the cannon sounds and the calm waters of Lake Monona start to churn, and the 2500 athletes become a human smoothie maker of sorts...sounds like fun...

This morning I started my final week of preparations. It's a taper week, obviously, and I had a mere 30 minute run today. My legs are feeling springy and had to hold back a bit. It was an amazing, beautiful morning for a run and 30 minutes seems oh so short!

I'm trying not to think too much about the actual race. There is plenty-O enough anxiety there but trying to push it out of my thoughts for now. For some reason the swim start has been keeping me up some nights. Can't imagine why...

Had the bike in for a once over this past week. Had a new rear tire mounted and purchased a new rear cassette. Kinda late in the game for a major change on the bike but based on my trial ride in Madison a couple of weeks ago a lower gear seams like a wise choice. I had the 11/23 cassette changed out for a 12/27. I must ride smart and focus on spinning up even the steepest climbs while staying in the saddle. I will heed the advice I've gathered combined with the first hand experience I've gained and will go into the bike with the strategy of JRA (just ride along). I will ignore the Ricky Racers that I will be surrounded by and ride like I have a marathon to run a little later in the day. Oh yeah, I do have a marathon to run!

I have not been able to avoid the weather watching activity which typically supplies very little useful information. But early indicators are for temps in the low 50's at the start with a high in the upper 60's, mostly cloudy conditions, and a 30/40 % chance of rain. My strategy for the weather; be prepared for anything and remember that the weather will be the same for everyone!

Just a couple of logistical items:

If your bored next Sunday, and tired of watching the Browns beat up on the Vikings and their "Cash for Clunkers" Quarterback!, check out live athlete tracking @ http://ironman.com/


It's not too late! If you would like to make a charitable donation to C.H.I.N - Congenital Heart Information Network, the charity I've partnered with, please proceed using the following link.
http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/wi09/imwhatim

34 Weeks in the Books

Well my training for Ironman Wisconsin is all but over. There are two weeks of progressive taper left before race day, Sunday, 13 September. It will be a small miracle if I can avoid driving myself or my family insane between now and then.

Today I ran the 28th annual Woodbury Country Mile (half-marathon). This was my third. When I did it the first time, I was not sure what a country mile was. Well, a country mile is an informal term meant to mean a great distance, significantly longer than a real mile. One possible origin of the term is that when one travels over unfavorable terrain the perceived distance between two points seems much longer, which fits this race very well. Not that your running through a corn field or anything, but the coarse meanders through the biking/walking trails of Woodbury, MN. There are lots of turns and plenty of short steep inclines and declines.

It was a cool start to the day (49 F), and I over dressed. It gave me an opportunity to practice my hydration strategy which I'm still fine tuning.

I parked at the club (Lifetime Fitness) about a mile and half away from the start line so I'd get a nice warm up and cool down in for the day. It would also allow me to get a short recovery swim in afterwards.

The race today produced a new Woodbury PR (-5:00 min from last year) and a new half-marathon PR (-3:00 min from New Prague earlier this year). My legs were tired from the start but I was able to find and maintain a rhythm. On a less positive note, I strained my right achilles, hopefully nothing a little R.I.C.E. won't fix; I'm sure looking forward to my two week taper.

Next stop is Madison, WI... all aboard!

Good Advice

The one consistent piece of advice that I have received from people I've talked to that have done Ironman Wisconsin is "Ride the bike course before the race". Well I'm not one who usually takes advice. I have a bad habit of doing things my way which typically means learning things the hard way. But this advice was something I planned to listen to. I just needed to work out when I'd get down to Madison to execute it.

I had the opportunity this weekend. It worked out that not only would I ride the bike course but swim, bike, and run the Ironman course. US Master's Swimming has been holding an open water swim in Madison for the past seven years. It is the same course as the Ironman course. So when I found this out I put together a plan to get there.

My plan consisted of doing one loop, 1.2 miles, of the swim (there was also the full 2.4 mile swim available), one complete loop of the bike, 72 miles, and one loop of the run, 13.1 miles. My plan was to swim and bike on Saturday and run on Sunday.

The Swim - 1.2 Miles
The swim course is a big rectangle. You swim it counter-clockwise, which is ideal for me since I favor breathing to the left. It was an in the water start, my first, same as Ironman. If you wanted your time to be an official US Master's time wetsuits were prohibited but the event allowed wetsuits and 85% of the swimmers wore them. My guess is that about the same number were using this event as a training day for Ironman and could care less about having an official time.

My goal for the swim; stay relaxed and warm up for the bike. I swam an acceptable pace but did not push at all. I focused on keeping my stroke long with good form. I know that the swim three weeks from now will be completely different. There were 350 swimmers for this event. There will be 2500 for Ironman and the bump and grind will be extreme (so I'm told). The water temp was a pleasant 71 degrees.

The Bike - 72 Miles
The Ironman bike course is a lollipop shaped course. You ride the stick 16 miles from T1 then ride a 40 mile loop (twice during the Ironman race) before returning down the stick back to transition.

I could not get over how many people were out riding the course. A lot more than those that did the swim earlier in the morning, that's for sure.

There are 87 turns on the bike course and I'd guess less than a few miles of flat sections. I only made the wrong turn FOUR times (sure could of used a TomTom). The course is continually rising and falling. I would not describe it as gently rolling, more like moderate rollers. If you like roller coasters you will love this course. There are not many huge hills up or down but there are few significant ascends and descends. You can not put it in cruise control physically or mentally anywhere on this course.

I was not impressed with the quality of the roads. I did not flat but I'd guess that there were several throughout the day. The course is made up of primarily older rural farm roads and there are some pretty bumpy sections. Anyone for a nice butt massage...

I've debated a bit about renting a set of ZIPP race wheels for the race. I've been hesitant to commit because I'm still not completely comfortable with cross winds when descending. I've experienced a few scary moments even with my TTR3 40mm deep wheel set. This weekend's ride has sealed the deal. No race day wheels for Miles. It was not a real blustery day but had to brake and be cautious on several steeper descends. I'll stick with my stock TTR3 wheel set this time.

The Run - 13.1 Miles
I bailed on the Ironman run...the run course is not ideal for a Sunday morning run. It is on mostly downtown Madison city streets and I'm sure will be a lot of fun on race day. So instead I ran around Lake Monona. I followed some markings on the pavement "LMR". I guess it stands for Lake Monona Run. It is a half-marathon course. Most of the markings were visible and I avoided the numerous wrong turns I made on yesterday's bike. A very enjoyable Sunday morning run in near perfect weather conditions.

It's hard to believe that there are only three weeks left before race day; one more full week of training followed by a progressive two week taper. Can anyone say butterflies? The butterflies have awakened from their cocoon...the question is can they fly?

GCT - Greater Cleveland Triathlon

When I was planning my race schedule last fall for this past weekend I penciled in the Cleveland race or Shoreview's Turtleman race as my two options. This race would be my final triathlon tune-up prior to Madison. I wanted a mid-distance (Olympic) race and both fit the bill. The final decision was whether we would make the annual trip home to Cleveland that week. When we finalized our vacation schedule, the Cleveland race was firmed up.

Last year, the swim was canceled due to rough water conditions. The race was changed to a duathlon consisting of a 1.25 mile run, 24 mile bike, 10k mile run. The Coast Guard is responsible to make the call. If they do not feel they can adequately monitor and keep the swimmers safe then they have to cancel or modify the swim. The main problem with this area is that there is no break wall and with Lake Erie being the shallowest of the five Great Lakes, water conditions change rapidly. This race has a MO of not getting the swim in. I guess that since it's inaugural year in 2003 the swim has been canceled or modified more times than not. This year was no exception.

A couple of friends were participating in the Shoreview race this year which was held on Saturday 08 August 2009. The swim was scheduled to be modified because of water levels in the lake. It was being shortened. Well, due to extremely poor weather conditions on Saturday the swim was replaced with a 50 yard water run. I have not had a chance to talk with my friends directly yet but I'm curious what exactly a 50 yard water run is? I did hear that the weather was so bad that the race was stopped before all athletes could finish. A strong thunderstorm rolled in while a significant number of participants were still out on the run. From what I've heard, maybe the race should not have even started. It seems to be just one of those crazy weather years.

For the Cleveland race, the forecast was for very warm, windy, and humid conditions, but most forecasts were calling for clear skies. Well guess what, the forecast was off by several hours and a strong cell was still over the area when we arrived at Mentor Headlands State Park at 05:45. It was warm, about 75 degrees with high humidity and was very windy with thunder and lighting and rain. You could sense that the swim was in jeopardy, but it had not officially been scratched.

After picking up my race packet and getting into transition, the inevitable announcement came that the race format was being changed to an Olympic and sprint distance duathlon for all. The Olympic distance would consist of a 5K run, 40K bike, 5K run. The sprint would consist of a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2 mile run. The event was scheduled to have both a triathlon and duathlon, so the change was easy for the race directors, and everyone would be doing the duathlon.

The First 5K Run
Last year's Cleveland's race was my first duathlon experience. This year's race format was different again. As I stood at the starting line contemplating my strategy I was unsure on how to approach the first 5K. How hard should I push? The course forced the issue for the first half mile. The run starts on a 6 foot wide path. I did not start far enough up in the pack and was trapped behind some slower runners with little option but to bide my time. When the course opened up I pushed forward and settled into a pace that I could maintain.

The Bike (24 miles)
The bike course was the same as last year. The roads were wet, but the sun was out. The course heads south out of the park; the wind was out of the southwest and was a minor nuisance. The course is on good roads (mostly), and is up hill for the first half or so with a couple of ridiculously steep climbs. The climb at about mile 11 is fun (23% grade). These steep climbs are very short.

The Second 5K Run
A second chance; the run is identical to the first. It is an out and back run course. Nothing too exciting to report. This time traffic was not a problem. Legs felt a little heavy but I quickly got into a rhythm. Carried a water bottle and drank most of it over the 3.1 mile run. It was in the mid 80's with near 100% humidity.

Overall I was pleased with the result. My track workouts are starting to pay some dividends. I'll never be Usain Bolt but have definitely made some improvements. I was disappointed that for a second year I did not get to swim in Lake Erie. But the MO in Cleveland when it comes to sports is "There's always next year".