Adventures In Triathlon

I will update this post as I update my running gear.

Hydration:

I use a Nathan Handheld Bottle Carrier. It lets me use just about any bottle that I have clean, and it has a pouch on it to hold keys and some gels. ORIGINAL Purchase price was about $20. So look for a newer model that is about that price.
For bottles that I run with my favorite ones are my Nuun Bottles. They are the right size and I like the little grippy bumps on the top section. You probably wont want to spend the going amazon rate on these. Just look for something in the same size and texture.
As for what to hydrate with, that is a fun one.
- Gatorade is the old stand by, but sometimes it is more or less than you want.
- Nuun is what you want if you don’t need the calories from your drink, but want electrolytes and flavor. My favorite flavors are
  - Citrus Fruit
  - Grape
  - Tri-Berry
  - and the now discontinued Iced Tea
- Skratch Labs, this stuff is great, but a little expensive depending on where you get it. It goes down nice and clean, no after taste, but can be super sticky if you get it on yourself. It has calories and electrolytes.
- GU Hydraton Drink Mix, also good, but I find it does have an aftertaste. But if you are out running 4-5 hours, you might want to have it in the mix just for a variety of flavor.
- Camelbak Rogue Hydration Pack, this has been in use for about 5 years now. I take it on any runs where I will be out of the way of water stops and over 6 miles.

Nutrition:

Here is the list of my staples. I will occasionally toss something else in, but these are in use every week.

GU gels, I could not function without these when the mileage gets up there. There is a huge variety of flavors and they have a decent selection of non caffeinated to highly caffeinated gels depending on my needs. Note that is a difference in price when going from regular GU to Roctane. I find I like the roctane more in the summer when I am sweating more.
- Salted Watermelon – Lightly caffeinated is my favorite caffeinated one. Not too sweet. I buy it buy the case 3 times a year.
- Lemonade Roctane – No caffeine, heavy on the salts. Great when its super hot out. I also buy this buy the case about 3 times a year.
Cliff Shots, These are like GU, but they are a bit thicker and their non caffeinated versions come in different flavors. I am a huge fan of the vanilla, it is the easiest thing I have ever found to eat while running. Its easy on the stomach, no after taste and is good hot or cold.

Lighting:

When running before the sun comes up, or when its setting or down, it is important to have some sort of lighting solution. 1. So you can see where you are going and 2 so others can see where you are. Don’t get hit!

Headlamps, I don’t have this exact model but something similar. I suggest getting one that has a always on mode and a blinking mode.
Shoe Lights, I have Night Runners, and they are fantastic. Not only do they provide me with some great ground cover for my lighting, but they make it very easy for people to see me when running down the road.
Arm Bands, I have a few of these from random events that are all different brands. They have shown that the more lighting you wear at night while running the less likely you are to get run over. (DUH) But a key to that is not just a bright light, but something that shows the movement of legs arms and a torso. So that at a distance they see multiple lights all moving.
Clip on lights. If I am running long with my camel back I like to put an extra light on there. The one I have linked is similar to the little red one I have.

Headwear:

Hat/Visor, just get something wicking and comfortable. I have probably 20 hats and visors now since it seems quite a few races give them away. Some are better than others I would just say try them out.
Sun Glasses, I have XX2i glasses and I have loved them. I have a sunny lenses that is your normal sunglasses style and I have replaceable yellow lenses for days when it is overcast or going to get dark, but I still want eye protection. Here is a link for a free pair!
Headphones, this will depend quite a bit on your ears and what device you use to play your music. I personally use CHEAP Bluetooth headphones for any runs that are 3 hours or shorter, and then some not so cheapo wired ones for marathon 5+ hour runs.

Footwear:

This is going to be up to you and your feet. I can tell you I run in…

Brooks Glycerin shoes for the last 3 years.
Hoka Bondi shoes as my long run shoe last year. I am about to get a new pair for this year.

Socks! I probably have more than I need but I find I like different socks for different distances.

Short distances socks (8 miles and under) I like are Puma all sport socks.
Medium distance socks ( 8 to 20 miles) I like to wear Nike running socks. they have a bunch of types. I like the ones that are a bit longer on top for medium runs and have extra arch support.
Long distance (20+ miles) I wear compression socks like this.

Clothes:

Wear what feels good. I like to have shorts with some built in underwear, the best is the Nike 5 inch compression legs built in. I can’t fine a link right now, and I have only seen them a hand full of times, so when I do see them I buy as many as I can.
For cold running I own a few pairs of various mens running tights. Thin to thick for those 40f days to the 20f days.
Tops in the summer is almost always a tech t or tech tank top from a race I have done. I don’t really buy tops anymore just use what I get from races.
Tops in the winter are long sleeve tech tees, tech hoodies, and running jackets.

TECH:

Garmin 920 XT, thsi is the best all around TRI watch out there. It lets me track running, cycling, swimming, weights and rowing. It might be overkill if you just run, but it is a great device for me.
Garmin HRM Run, Great Heart rate monitor that also does some running dynamics for you. It will not only get heart rate, but cadence, left right balance, vertical movement and ground contact time. Very good information to have when you are trying to look at improving your cadence stride or overall pace.
Garmin HRM TRI, same as above but will also take Heart rate date while swimming.
Samsung Galaxy S7, music and what not.

That is it for now, at least for my list of the things I currently run with.

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Austin Marathon Starting Line... Ready Set Go! — Austin Marathon Starting Line… Ready Set Go!
(click on me for full size pic)

Brian’s Story – From Zero to 26.2 miles in 18 months…

Short story: So last week I finished a marathon. The Austin Marathon.

I FINISHED A MARATHON!

Who would have believed it? Not me.

I executed my plan and it worked out, doing 10:07 min miles all the way to a nice 4 hour, 24 minute, 21 second overall time (10:05 min/mile pace).

Long story: Going in to this race I knew my training was spot on, and after the Rogue 30km race I knew what pace to shoot for. The big question was if my right calf was strong enough to take me thru. It had been hurting off and on since mid January so I had no idea what to expect. Would I only make it 2 miles? Would it not even be an issue? Or something in between? One thing I did was put a small insert in my shoe to keep the heel elevated slightly (thanks CoolRunning.com).

The pre race went perfectly. I made certain to have bananas in house for my breakfast this time! I also bought 5 or 6 gels. Got downtown with almost no difficulty and was thru the restroom and on the starting line eating my gel bloks 15 mins early. I had a plan to take in lots of carbs today.

We made it across the starting line 10 mins after the gun and my pacers were already ahead of me. I reeled them in and stayed more or less even with them. I would lose ground to them at every water stop and catch up again before the next one.

The first 8 or 9 miles were uneventful. Just running along, enjoying the sights, watching people. Then I hit mile 10 and suddenly I started to feel a tightening or something in my right calf. I was not happy with this. I had to make it to mile 18 and get my Peanut Butter Gu gel from Joel and Leah and this calf stopping me would not do! I tried a few things and changed up to a very short fast stride for awhile. This seemed to help, but I still was feeling the cramping or pulling or something.

We quickly reached the point where the half marathoner’s cut right and we went left. I almost thought of…. nahhh. First thing after we split off are two miles of fairly steep hills. “So many hills, my calf doesn’t like them.” I just kept chugging along with short fast steps and seemed to hold off any more pain. Once it flattened out things got better. I don’t even think my calf was an issue after mile 15; it just seemed to fade into the background. From there on everything went smooth. Just stay with my pace group. Early in the race I had to force myself to not get too far ahead of them, but later I really couldn’t.

There were so many people cheering from mile 16 on it was great. People giving us oranges, bananas, cupcakes (I had to have a chocolate one!) candy, grapes… so wonderful. Saw Joel and Leah at mile 18+ and got a PB Gu gel!

Shortly after that we hit mile 20. I started worrying. Is this when you hit the fabled “Wall”? What’s gonna happen? My race plan was to start off slow and take in lots of carbs to make sure my body didn’t run out of carbs and hit the wall. And my plan worked. Whatever this wall thing is, if I hit it I didn’t notice.

I really tried to pour on some speed the last 3 miles. I think I did one in 9:30. But I really couldn’t put any space between me and my pace group. Mile 24 was a bit tragic, as I saw a runner twist his ankle badly. He tried to hop on but sadly I doubt he finished. I felt really bad for him.

800m to go and there is one last big steep hill.

Where did they get this thing from? Okay, chuga, chuga, chuga, chuga, choo choo, made it up, and then… I had to go down a hill. At this point I really just wanted flat pavement to lessen the chance of any cramping or tripping or of my calf finally giving in.

Made it to the bottom and I was at the finish line! Woohoo!!!!!!

And now the highlight of the day: my favorite pacer, the guy who saved me from certain doom at the Rogue 30k and who I thanked profusely at the expo yesterday, and who I ran with all day today… he gave me the pace sign! Greatest marathon souvenir ever! Only 20 pace signs and 20,000 people and I’m sure most pacers keep them….

People kept thanking me for pacing after that and I kept explaining my story about how it was my first marathon and he gave it to me. They all said 4:25 was a really good time for a first marathon. That was nice of them. Next year I hope I can do 4:00.

I’m not really a pacer…
… but this isn’t proof.

After finishing my calf was really tight and I had to limp to the Austin Runner’s Club food tent. But after a bit, I walked around, stretched it out and was able to walk fairly well. And I parked 10 blocks from the finish so I had lots of time to stretch it out.

So yeah. I did it! Marathon Man is me. I really can’t believe it.

So what next? No running for bit. Probably a lot more biking and swimming in my near future.

— Race Recap Part 2 —

Two days after my mind is still on the marathon… I keep thinking: “From Zero to 26.2 in 18 months!” I’m still amazed. Hard to believe I couldn’t run a full lap 18 months ago.

I wanted to share some quotes I had in my head while running the Austin marathon:

“Pain is only temporary, but failing to finish you will remember forever.”

“Just skate it off, you’ll be fine” – what I was thinking when my calf started hurting. I’m sure my dad remembers all the hockey coaches (and probably him too) saying that to us players when we got hurt.

“From Zero to 26.2 in 18 months” – yes, I came up with that phrase, around mile 20.

And of course my personal mottos: “There are no limits” and “Inspire!”

Probably missing some… oh, the theme from Rocky 1 – “dada da, dada dada da… ”

One more quote, from around mile 10 where my calf started tightening up: “If I can just make it to mile X I can walk the rest if I have to!” I was going to finish no matter what.

Who knows maybe something here will help or inspire someone!

Other thoughts… outside of my worries about my calf giving out the race was really anti-climactic. It definitely went better than my previous race. I never felt at any point that I was beyond myself or my abilities. I seemed to have hit the sweet spot on training, pacing, nutrition, weather, everything. Guess the plan worked.

Good Times!

Ps. I will probably be resurrecting my site, britri.com soon, so check it out in a week or so. I don’t have much time but will cobble something together 😉 .

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Tag: marathon

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