The North Face Ultra Challenge - Strava 50k

I've had my eye on different Strava challenges. Most of them are a week long or over a weekend. My weekends are always super busy with work, meetings, and church. Plus I have a wife that I like to spend time with. The North Face Challenge seemed more up my alley because it wasn't 50k in one run, but over a weekend. See the Strava link here to check it out.

I took a ton of photos using my Samsung Galaxy S3 and an arm case. We had rain for five or six days which mad for really humid conditions. It was a tough weekend, but totally worth it.

I finished the 50k in 6 runs:

Saturday
Run 1: 21.8km to the very last train station before work.
Run 2: 1.1km to work from the train station.
Run 3: 9.8km after work back to the far train station.
Run 4: 1.8km to the flower shop to pick up a few roses for the mrs. Her choir was performing.

Sunday
Run 5: 10.3km Sunday morning with Kendall.
Run 6: 6.4km Sunday night after church.
Total: 51km!

Right out of the door. 

The temple two minutes from my house. 

It wouldn't be Saturday morning without a little Taichi!

It looked like it was going to be a nice day.

I decided to run parallel with the train tracks. It's flat and usually not too many lights.

This was as I was passing Taichung Train Station. Who knew it would be raining 15 minutes later? 

 Just a big god sitting on some houses. 

A quick Gu and some Supao. Gupao?

雙子新大樓 The church used to be on the 34th floor on the right.

Scooters. This is at one of the smaller train stations too. 

I don't know why, but this lady passed me and cut me off. Not cool. I even had time to take out my phone to snap a few photos. When she saw I had a camera, she took off. 

Here are some of my battle scars. 

2012 HSR Miaoli Station - Duathlon Championship

My first duathlon! Run 5k + Ride 28k + Run 5k.

I'll be honest, I wasn't too excited because I consider myself to be a much better swimmer than a runner, and now I had to run twice. After my run bike run brick three weeks ago, I sort of knew how i'd feel. For me, running a quick 5k and then getting on my bike sort of feels like i'm cycling uphill and holding my breath. I feel a massive lack of energy in my legs, sort of like I'm peddling with Play-doh.

After talking to an experienced duathlon veteran, Michael Le Houllier (who finished 10th overall), I decided to push a little harder on my first 5k (Strava link here) to try and get into a good cycling group. Draft legal! I managed to run 19:09 and ended up with a small group of 7 riders who quickly caught another group.

The 28km ride was up and down over 1-2km hills (Strava link here). I even got a KOM on one of the segments. The out and back course gave me a chance to see how far the lead pack was. I estimated that they had five minutes on us, which isn't bad. An average heartrate of 191 landed me a 45:15 with an average of 35.3 km/h.

The last 5k separates the men from the boys as they say. It was tough! My second 5k was two full minutes slower than my first. I managed to hold my own and pass a few people up. My time of 21:03 (Strava link here) landed me and overall 50th and 7th in my age group.

Official finish time: 1:27:27.

It was a fast race and I'll definitely do it again next year.

Check out my mancave. I drilled some framing into the roof to suspend my bike. 

I was up at 4am to catch the first train North. I had no idea that the meal I ate at 4:10am would be my last until 8pm that night. Literal pain from being so hungry. 

#bikeporn

I was the tallest in my age group, but unfortunately not the fastest. 

Stoked! 

My dragon trophy is better than your dragon trophy. 

Ironman 70.3 Taiwan FinisherPix

I received my FinisherPix last week. I had to dig through some lost and found photos and was able to add quite a few more. The photos are expensive but I think it's worth it. 

Definitely feeling the pain. 

I ran the 2012 Miaoli HSR Duathlon yesterday. Photos and race report to come soon. 7th in age group and 50th overall. 

Ironman 70.3 Taiwan Race Report

After hours of mental and physical preparation, thousands upon thousands of calories burned, sacrificing sleeping in, and sore commutes to and from school, I was finally able to compete in and complete my first half Ironman, the Ironman 70.3 Taiwan.

30 minutes til' swim start. 

Chris "Macca" McCormack took last years race and I was a little sad that he wouldn't be there to defend his title. There were still plenty of pros in competition, but none who drew as much attention as Macca. 

1.9 km swim - 37:29. The swim started at 6:15am and was a 1,600 people mass start. Unfortunately, I am not able to afford a wetsuit yet, so I swam with my trishorts as always. I set a goal for 35 minutes on the swim, which was a little ambitious considering all the people swimming with me. The water was super warm and the jellyfish were out. I had to swim against a group of people who were cutting the buoy, then I got stung by a jellyfish on my upper lip. I had a terrible first lap. There were two 950m laps with a short on shore run around a cone and across the censor before the second lap. Strava Swim link here.

10 minutes until the pro swim. 

90 km bike - 2:45:21 The bike course (Strava link here - I'm 5th place!) was flat and fast. It was 2 1/2 laps around the south western tip of Taiwan. We rode clockwise along the ocean as well as through rural farming neighborhoods and rice fields. I was able to maintain an average speed of 34.1 kph on my detachable aero bars. I only had three small mishaps. I hit a bump a few minutes in and one of my nutrition bottles fell out. I had to stop, unclip, and grab it. I dropped another bottle towards the end of my second lap and only a few minutes later, had a sticker stuck on the tire, so stopped to rip it off. I took a GU every 45-minutes and switched between caffeinated and non-caffeinated.

I need to work on the bike mount. 

21 km run - 1:59:00. Terrible! I started way too fast, but I felt like my body was just going that fast, I wasn't trying to push or set a pace. Lesson learned. Strava link. The run was flat and paralleled the last segment of the bike course. 14km south, and 7km back north to the finish line located at Yoho Beach Resort.

I have finished three half-marathons, one marathon, one sprint triathlon, and four olympic distance triathlons, but nothing felt quite like finishing this race. I struggled the last mile, but summed up the strength to run the end. The crowd was amazing, slapping hands and cheering loudly. A strong sense of emotion and accomplishment hit me as I rounded the corner to the finish line.

After crossing the finish line, the first thing I did was look for my wife. Lauren has been nothing but supportive of me on this journey and it is to her I owe my accomplishments. I love her infinitely. We were able to sneak in a congratulatory kiss before I went and collapsed for a few minutes on the grass.

I did it. I finished. I hit my goal. 5:21:50. 

Time to eat the 6,500 calories I just burned!

Lauren and I spent Sunday relaxing and eating. We used our new Samsung Galaxy S3 to take some sweet panoramic pictures. 

This place is called Chuhuo 出火. There are natural gasses that come out from these rocks and even though the chain fence says 'No Trespassing' we couldn't help ourselves from purchasing popcorn from the old lady and popping it over the open flame. Cooking popcorn on an eternal natural gas flame was a first for both Lauren and I. 

Ah... Baisha Beach 白沙 was good to us as usual. We seriously had perfect weather. I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

We went to some nature preserve museum at a lake. 

See you next year?

T-minus One Month!

Only one month until my first Ironman 70.3 which, of course is in Taiwan. I've been packing on the workouts. Swimming two to three times per week, cycling two to three times per week, and slacking on the runs.

9/23 - White Dolphin Half Marathon: It was so hot that one young guy died and another four needed to be hospitalized. Check out my Strava link here.

September: 190km on my mountain bike. 190km on Kharma, who is broken right now. My left crank arm is being replaced as we speak. Hopefully, she is ok soon because the granny gear on my mountain bike is spoiling me.

9/26 - Bike/run workout. 48km of hills on the bike and 5km run on flat.

9/30 - 20km run with Bigfoot in Sanyi. Check out my Strava link here. It was such an amazing run. We had perfect weather and tons of climbs.

10/1 - 78km on the mountain bike near the ocean. I will do this ride again on Karmen as soon as she is fixed. I think I can get some good KOMs on this ride.

You know you're near the port when...

Good on Taiwan for wind energy. The wind is harsh on this segment out in Gaomei.

10/6 - Quick 41km ride after work and before dinner. Stayed mostly flat. The Strava is not really worth showing, although I was proud with a 26.2 kph on a mountain bike in traffic with lights. Strava link to my ride.

10/8 - 111km. I headed North for a while and then turned West towards the beach. It was a great flat and fast segment to the ocean. I was averaging 40+kph until I turned around and the wind hit me hard. I could only cruise at 17kph. Strava link to this ride.

Cycling and Swimming

With my first Half Ironman less than two months away, I have been focusing on cycling and swimming since I have come back to Taiwan. Starting this weekend, I will start a more intense training program with a lot more running and cycling. I have the 2012 3rd Humpback Dolphins Cup Running Race (half marathon) this Sunday and I have not prepared for it at all.

I got my first KOM (King of the Mountain) on Strava on the 橫坑巷72 2號 Climb. I've also been riding up and down the mountains near my house and was pleased to see it lined with courses and racers using Strava.

This is the end of my KOM.

This Summit Resort is a huge castle in Xinshe. （新社）I took a little break here.

Xinshe is seriously the capital of mushrooms. They are everywhere. 

Shroomin'

Mushroom bears with my bike. 

Cycling aside, I have been swimming at least twice a week. I have a few set workouts. My favorite is 1500m race against myself. I'm down to about 26 minutes.

39 days until Taiwan 70.3.