Travis Pettijohn: Blog

Yesterday I rode my first “century,” or 100-mile bike ride, on the Evanston Bike Club’s North Shore Century. Before this ride, my longest ride ever was 50 miles. As you can imagine, it was extremely challenging. We started in Evanston, IL and rode to Kenosha, WI and back. I was on the bike for 6h37m, on the course for 9 hours. My Garmin reported that I burned 5800 calories (about 2.5 days’ worth of food, or (since fat contains 3500 calories per lb) roughly 1.6 lbs of fat). My average heart rate over the time on the bike was 143bpm (excluding rest time). Average speed was 15.5 mph.

This morning when I turned on a computer the first thing I did was make a list of what hurt. For my own future reference, here is my list. An *asterisk means that the pain is more that what I’m comfortable with, i.e., it might pushing from hard use into injury.

• Neck and shoulders, from supporting the posture. Especially left side between shoulder and neck.
• Forearms and hands are stiff. Lower back is mildly fatigued.
• Butt is very sore. Swelling at seat-contact points.
• Glute is sore & fatigued.
• Bottom 1/3 of quads is especially sore & fatigued. Especially medial.
• Hamstrings are stiff and sore.
• Right lateral knee pain from IT band. *
• Both IT bands are stiff and sore.
• Top-back of calves, up into the knee. Left one feels strained, especially on the medial side connecting into the tendons under the knee. Certain strains produce sharp pain. *
• Knees and the muscles that move them are very fatigued. Getting into the bathtub was a challenge.
• Feet and ankles are somehow okay.

I recently bought a new bike, an Orbea Onix TDA. But this post isn't about the bike, it's about where I bought it.

On a Friday about a month ago I decided to go bike shopping. I went to five stores: Get a Grip, Mission Bay, Kozy, Cycle Smithy and Performance Bicycle.

Each store had a certain vibe to it. Get a Grip was all about getting the right bike with the right fit for you. They don't just sell you a bike, they put you through a 2- to 3-hour fitting process. Adam Kaplan gave me a great talk on materials and had three tubes of different material so that I could rap them against the floor and feel in my hand how they transmit (or in the case of carbon, don't!) vibrations. But he was hard to nail down on makes and models. He wanted to find my fit first and then find a bike to work with my fit and budget. This bugged me a bit as I didn't know what was in the market. But I did really appreciate his level of expertise and his willingness to just talk and explore the subject with me.

Mission Bay was next. He was all about materials, components and prices. This helped me understand the marketplace better and what differentiated the price points.

Kozy wanted to move their inventory. "Here's what's in stock, and LOOK, it fits you, let's get you on it." Cycle Smithy and Performance were better than Kozy, but still, they were more about moving their inventory than service, and they didn't know or weren't able to articulate the differences in price points.

Now that I better understood the market, I called Adam back at Get a Grip the next day. We spoke about models that they carried and I felt comfortable that after going through the fitting process, I would walk out a bike owner. So, I scheduled a fitting and mentioned that I was hoping to get a new bike in time for the Triathlon. They set me up with a loaner bike (a Cannondale Six13) merely on the promise that I'd go through with a fitting.

The fitting rig lets you adjust everything: all of the angles and all of the lengths. It's hooked up to a computer that draws graphs of your power output as you pedal. They did video analysis and showed me some tweaks. It was a very cool process.

When I picked up my bike 2 days later (normally they order a bike and then customize it in about ten days, but this was in stock and they rushed it for my race), it fit me like a glove. I sat into it and I wasn't stretched out, I wasn't compressed. My feet were positioned correctly to get the best power. And to boot, the bike was on end of season clearance, so I got a great price. Adam told me the fit was "within a centimeter" and to schedule an hour with him in a few weeks to get it "within a millimeter." Very cool.

I can't recommend this place highly enough. No where else in Chicago will you find such a level of expertise, professionalism and passion. If you're in the market for a new competition bike, start your shopping at Get a Grip. I'm proud to be a member of their community.

Check this out.

In March of 2004, I blogged about my achievement of running two miles continuously.

In July of 2006, I blogged about running 3.6 miles continuously.

In May of 2007, I blogged about running The Relay, 3 legs totaling 15 miles in 36 hours.

In August of 2008, I blogged about completing an Olympic Distance Triathlon.

What's next? Seems like all I have to do is set a goal and then make it happen.

I finished the Accenture Chicago Triathlon today! I wanted to write up some details of the event for my learning purposes. Some may find it interesting, others will not :)

Overall Stats

These numbers are not "official," but they reflect my stopwatch and the real-time SMS alerts they sent. Updated with official numbers and Olympic distances.

• Total Time: 2h59m51s (broke the 3 hour mark!)
• Swim (1.5km/0.93mi): 34m20s (includes the 1/4 mile trot into T1)
• T1: 4m55s (39m15s)
• Bike (40km/24.8mi): 1h19m55s (1h59m10s)
  • The bike is (more or less) four lengths from Monroe Harbor to Foster. The wind was out of the North at about 10mph.
  • Avg Speed: Overall, 18.6mph; L1, 17.1mph; L2, 21.9mph; L3, 17.8mph; L4, 20.9mph
• T2: 4m58s (2h04m08s)
• Run (10km/6.2mi): 55m41s (2h59m51s)
  • The course went South from Museum Campus and back North. I broke it into two lengths, out and back.
  • Avg Pace: Overall, 8:58/mi; L1, 8:38/mi; L2, 9:27/mi.

Logistics

• Prepared everything the previous afternoon (done before dinner). Mentally rehearsed transitions and how to pack them so that it would be brainless.
• Wake: 3:55am
• Out the door: 4:15
• Set up transitions per my brainless plan. Note that when I arrive to transition at race time, I work with what's on top of the stack first. Whatever's on top, pop it. T1:
  • Mesh bag hanging under bike
  • Bike
  • Helmet upside down. Inside the helmet:
  • Cycling Gloves
  • Gu & Alleve (wrapped in Saran and taped to Gu)
  • Shoes - socks in one shoe, sunglasses in the other
  • Hand towel on top, everything buckled into a tidy bundle
• T2
  • Running shoes
  • Extra socks and Gu in one shoe
  • Orange water bottle (to aid identification) and race number/belt in the other
• Transition closed at 5:45
• Eat: 6:00
  • Turkey sandwich
  • Fruit Smoothie
  • Coffee (prepared the night before and refrigerated)
  • Water (see "mistakes" below)
• Race start: 7:41.

Mistakes

• Over-hydration before the race. I drank 1.5L of water, plus coffee, plus one of those fruit smoothie drinks. I felt bloated and had to relax my swimming pace four times to relieve myself. That's hard to do when people are swimming on top of you. Another consequence of the bloating was that the wetsuit was tighter than usual, meaning it constricted breathing a bit. I also relieved myself at T2. Next time I'll drink less before and drink more on the bike. If I do it right, I should be able to do the whole race without a bathroom stop.
• Ate a little too late. I just sat with my stuff at transition to make sure it would be in a known state and drank water. I should have started eating 30 minutes sooner than I did, or eat a little less.
• What else could I improve about transitions? Not much. Dealing with all the gear was slow. Ride sockless? Do like the pros do and leave my shoes clipped into the pedals? Have Gu on the bike so I wouldn't have to stuff them in my pockets? Don't wear gloves?

Pain

• My right knee is pretty sore. It's the same inflammation from a tight IT band that I get all the time anyway—fixing this needs to a top goal next spring. I tried self-medicating with 3 Alleve along the way to prevent inflammation. I don't know if it helped.
• I got a blister on my left arch on the run. I want to blame the shoes, but since I only got it on one foot it must be a combination of my form and the shoes. A fellow Triathlete suggested double-layered socks. I think I'll try 2 pairs of thin socks next time I go for a long run. Or correct my form :) I wonder if fresh socks after the bike would have helped, as 2.5 hours in one pair left them pretty damp.

Impressions

• When the race kicked off and I was watching the first waves of people swimming, the water looking like it was boiling from all the splashing...I gasped...it hardly seemed real. "I can't believe I'm about to do this," I thought to myself.
• The swim was a blur. I was in such a daze surrounded by 150 other white-swim-capped people that I hardly realized what was going on. All of the sudden I was in the water, and all of the sudden I was exiting and people were helping us out and up onto the steps. I held my front crawl form really well—I usually switch to breast stroke to catch a breath every now and then, but this time I didn't let that be an option.
• T1 was flawless. I sat down in the grass to remove my wetsuit, which helped avoid the cramps I've experienced from time to time in my calves. Everything was in order and went according to my mental rehearsal.
• The bike was more engaging. I was on a brand new bike (got it Thursday—nothing like breaking it in on race day!). Between checking my cadence on the Garmin 405, shifting gears for the hills, avoiding potholes, avoiding debris (like dropped water bottles) and passing at 25mph on Lake Shore Drive, the bike finally woke me up.
• T2 was pretty good. My area was a mess—there were bikes I had never seen before on top of my stuff. But I was able to find someplace to stash my bike, identify my running shoes and change into them. I didn't change into the dry socks, though I might next time.
• It was weird setting everything up in the dark. I didn't recognize where the transition area actually was until I picked up my gear in the afternoon. I just followed the herd this morning...moo.
• The run was long and tiring. I tore out of T2 and when I checked my pace it was 7:30. I laughed and slowed down to a more comfortable 8:30. In the end, I really started running out of gas at the turnaround. Twice I walked while I took some water (at most 30 seconds of total walking, but still). The middle 4 miles of the run were lonely, as the spectators fell off.
• Running under the final underpass 1/4 mile from the finish line...people clapping and cheering and the echoes down there...I got goose bumps all over.
• I'm really proud of myself for doing this. I signed up over ten months ago! I have to say, one of the best decisions I've made in my life was making physical activities social. I have to especially give a nod to Mike Wood and Adam Wengert for the great camaraderie along the way and constant chatter about our training. I honestly don't know if I would have gone through with it by myself. The social spirit made it possible. Congratulations to you two, and to all of my fellow athletes!

It feels like I haven't posted here in forever. Follow me on Twitter, I'm pretty active. Most of my free time has been focused on wrapping up my training for the Accenture Chicago Triathlon this coming Sunday. For example: today I biked 50 miles and swam a half mile. In total, around four or five hours of cardio (there was some resting on the bike ride). Good stuff. I also went to the Chicago air show yesterday...pictures will show up on Flickr and/or Facebook soon.

I was in San Francisco last week for The Relay. After the run (which was awesome, btw: 4.5 miles flat @ 8 min/mile, 5.8 +250ft altitude gain @ 10, and 3.1 +1100 @ 12), I spent a few nights with friends and family that live in the Bay area. Free accommodations, sure, but it was really healthy to spend time with some people that I don't get to see as often as I used to. It's so easy to take friendships for granted when they're convenient.

Anyway, I celebrated my 27th birthday while I was out there. One girl that I was talking to, she and I went to high school together. We were talking about reunions, etc, and she said to me that her life "just keeps getting better."

Perfect.

I couldn't agree more. My life just keeps getting better.

When people tease me about getting old or whatever, I just pause, lean back, smile and say, "You know, my life keeps getting better. And if at 27, my life is the best that it's ever been, then, you know what? I'm pretty damn happy to be 27."

May your life just keep getting better. Cheers.

My proposed weekly workout cycle:

Day 1: Upper body.
Day 2: Legs.
Day 3: Core (or Pilates).
Day 4: Upper body.
Day 5: Cardio (swim/run/cycle).
Day 6: Yoga.
Day 7: Rest.

I'm pretty close to doing this now, but I haven't actually taken a yoga class yet. I think it would also be beneficial if I had a more strict routine. I'll revisit this cycle as The Relay (April 19) and the Chicago Triathlon (August 24) approach, shifting to more cardio and less strength training.

I just got back from running The Relay out in California. It's an intense, sleepless, 199-mile, 12-person relay race over about 36 hours from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. Everybody runs three legs (well, sometimes some people run extra legs) of about 5 to 7 miles each. At the end of the race, I was talking to a couple of other runners. They had both run marathons in the past and they were talking about how this race requires a whole different kind of endurance. Funny stuff. I know that I could not go out and run a marathon tomorrow (maybe next year?), but it made me smile to hear a marathoner talk about how challenging this race is.

Overall, I had a blast. I was there with great people, and the constant activity meant we never had a chance to get bored or annoyed with each other :) I plan on doing this again next year!

Here are my pictures from the event. To give you an idea of how intense this was, here's a timeline from when I woke up on Friday morning to when I went to bed on Monday morning.

Friday 6:00am CDT, Wake.
7:00, Out the door to ORD.
12:15pm PDT, Arrive at SFO, pick up vans, head north to Napa.
3:00, Arrive in Napa, eat dinner, buy groceries.
8:00, Team meeting, plan directions for the next day.
9:30, In bed.

Saturday 5:20am, Wake.
6:00, On the road to the starting line in Calistoga.
8:00, Race starts, Zach runs leg 1.
8:20, Van gives Zach water at mile 2.
8:45, My leg (leg 2) starts.
9:05, Van gives me water at mile 2.
9:30, Jan runs an extra leg.
10:15, Ghost runner runs (in other words, we chill out and wait 45 minutes).
11:00, Sarah runs, we hand her water at 2 miles (this pattern continues).
11:45, Jan runs his second leg ("I came here to run, so I am going to run.")
12:30pm, Van exchange. Jan finishes his leg (6) and hands off to Adam to start off Van 2. We (Van 1) chill out at the exchange point, eat, lay in the sun, try to sleep.

6:00pm, Van exchange. Nellie from Van 2 hands off to Zach from Van 1, I run, Jan runs an extra leg, ghost runner, Sarah, Jan runs his assigned leg.
Sunday 12:30am, Van exchange. Jan hands to Adam on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Jan just ran across the bridge at midnight under a full moon. He raved about it.
1:00, Van 1 arrives at our hotel in downtown San Francisco.
1:30, Everyone has showered and is asleep.

4:00, Everyone is awake.
4:30, Van 1 is on the road to the next van exchange.
5:30, Arrive at van exchange.
5:45, Nellie hands to Zach. Then I run (boy was I in pain; my legs felt like stilts and it took me 3 miles just to warm up). Ghost runner (Jan didn't run an extra leg...slacker), ghost runner, Sarah, Jan.
10:30, Van exchange.
11:15, Van 1 arrives in Santa Cruz, we have brunch (so good and necessary) and then go to the beach to wait for van 2. I fall asleep on a bench on the boardwalk. The water is freezing, but feels really really good on my sore feet.
3:15pm, Van 2 arrives in Santa Cruz.
3:45, Nellie and the group crosses the finish line.
4:15, Both vans are back on the road to SFO.
5:15, I'm checked into my flight at SFO, but am too early to check my bag. So I take the tram to the International terminal where there is a food court and I open a beer. I'm too tired to read, so I send some emails and texts from my phone to pass the time.
7:30, I'm through security. I chill out with another beer and some sushi. Still too tired to read. Try talking to a girl who is also alone with a drink and get shot down.
10:45, Board flight, fall asleep before we even leave the gate.

5:15am CDT, Arrive ORD. Get bags, struggle to stay awake on the L so I don't miss my stop. I definitely fell asleep on the bus that I transfered to, but wasn't worried because I was going to the second-to-last stop.
7:15, At home. Take a shower.
8:00, Asleep.
11:00, Alarm goes off, snooze until..
11:45, Hobble out of bed, run errands, sort through my pictures, go about my day.
9:30pm, Asleep.

I don't normally work out on Mondays. In order to save some money, I joined The Fitness Center under their 5-days-a-week plan. I have full access to all facilities except on Monday and Wednesday. I've worked around it and I think the savings is worth it. Anyway, as I was driving home today with the windows down, enjoying the 60º weather, looking at the gorgeous pink and orange sunset and the partly cloud sky, I decided that I should go for a run around Centennial Park. Actually, I debated myself first. I should go for a run, I thought. But I don't usually work out on Mondays. But it's so nice outside. No, no, I'll just wait, I'll work out tomorrow. Wait, why am I talking myself out of working out? Ok, yeah, I'll go for a run! I hurried up and changed so I could get started while it was still light out. I was pumped up to run and I took off head first into the 15 MPH wind. I had to push pretty hard against it. The second half will be easier. After I finished going south down the west side of the block and turned to head east, the wind was finally on my side instead of in my face. Normally when I run, I go for about a mile, then walk a little, then run about another mile. But today, I thought it might be possible to run around the whole block. I ran in the grass just inside of the sidewalk; the ground was the perfect consistency. It gave just enough underfoot so that it was comfortable, unlike the concrete of the sidewalk. After I had covered two of the four sides of the rectangular block, I considered stopping and walking or stretching. But I didn't. I'll just run to that tree. But when I got to that tree, I decided to go for the fire hydrant, then to the parking lot, then to the sign, and so on. Next think I knew, I had come all the way up the long side of the block. Keep going. I kept setting small goals.

When I started running in earnest two months ago, my short term goal was to be able to run around Centennial Park nonstop. Today, by breaking up my larger goal into small, realizable chunks, I achieved my goal. It felt great today to be able to run over two miles nonstop. Some people might scoff at a measly two miles. But when I started, I was totally dizzy after running one mile. Near the end of my run today, I was pretty fatigued, so I was picking landmarks that were only 10 or 20 yards away. But I kept doing it, I didn't give up. I succeeded.

My legs are sore. I covered over two-and-a-half miles today on the treadmill. In response to Renice's comment, I don't pronate my feet when I run (though I did have to look up the word). I do the opposite. I come down on the outside edge of my foot and then roll inward. The past few days I've made a conscious effort to come down evenly on the front of my foot. I've felt some strain on my calves, but it's the strain of use, not the pain of misuse. Anyway, my long run has left my legs sore in a good way.

I made fudge today. Real fudge. The kind where you cook the ingredients to 234ºF, then let it cool to 110 then stir it with a wooden spoon until it loses its gloss. If you cook it too hot it becomes brittle. If you don't cook it hot enough, it stays soft. If you stir it too long it becomes rock hard. Not long enough, it never sets; it's just a fudge soup. My dad can do it perfectly every time. I think I'm getting there. I've blown a lot of batches in the past, but I think those days are over. I didn't have a thermometer, so I had to pick one up. I got a cool in-oven digital. It has a metal sensor attached to a long cord which plugs into a display unit. You can stick the sensor into a turkey or something and run the cord outside of the oven to the display. I think it's pretty cool. And my fudge is delicious.

What's the deal with the baton girl? I went to the Illinois vs. Wisconsin game last night. It was a great game. Illinois started behind, but then took the lead near the end of the first half. They held their lead through to the end of the game.

Back to my original question. I remember being at football games and asking myself that same question. How does someone get started twirling a baton? What motivates them to keep doing it? I can see a little girl thinking she's a princess twirling the baton, ooh look at how sparkly it is, I'm so elegant, I'm going to dance around while I spin this thing! Then I imagine the girl growing out of it. Certainly they'd grow out of it before they went off to college. But...no. I don't get it. The baton girl just sort of runs around the court independent of everyone else. She's not part of the band, she's not quite a cheerleader and she's not part of the dance team. She is the baton girl. I don't get it.

In other news, I tried an elliptical machine today instead of a treadmill. I was able to cover more distance without that shin pain. Maybe I'll keep doing it. It doesn't feel as natural as running but I still burned a bunch of calories and worked up a good sweat. It kind of feels like running uphill but with an unnatural stride length.

I learned a new way to tie my shoes today. I was reading a Slashdot poll and came across a link in the comments. For years, I've double-knotted my shoes. Whenever I would tie a single knot, it would come undone. The problem with a double-knot is that it's hard to untie. Just wearing shoes with a double-knot can tighten the knot, making it harder to untie. I'm hoping that this new knot, which is only slightly different from how I normally tie my shoes, is the solution I didn't even know I was looking for. It unties with a gentle tug and so far it's held well. I tied my running shoes this way today and the knots held. I must say, it's a little awkward relearning how to tie shoes.

And that concludes today's random entry.

The weather today, as many of you know, is bad. The temperature has been right around thee freezing point, and it's been raining. That, of course, leads to freezing rain. I was driving this evening and all of the sudden I saw this huge sheet of ice falling. I think it was about four feet by one foot in size, just falling down in front of my car. At first, I was confused. I thought the sky was crumbling. I slowed down to give it time to reach the ground. I looked up and noticed power lines. The ice had formed on the power lines and fell right as I drove past it. How crazy is that?

As I was turning a corner, I watched the person turning in front of me slide across both lanes and smack into the pile of snow on the far curb. Way to slow down for the ice, buddy. I let him back out and then head down the street. I kept an ample following distance. Fortunately, this was in a quiet neighborhood street in Savoy, so there was no real danger.

Iffy and I watched Friends, then he came with me to The Fitness Center. He's using a seven day free pass. It was nice having a friend there with me. I don't mind going alone, but it's a little better when you know someone.

I got home from working out after 9. I had some chili for dinner. Right now, I have some blueberry muffins in the oven. The only problem is that I don't have a muffin pan, so instead I'm using a bread pan. So I guess I should say I have a blueberry loaf in the oven. It should work just fine. If it does, I think I'll bring it into the office tomorrow. Otherwise, I won't. We have a meeting at ten, so I have to actually wake up at a "normal" hour. Yuck. I really like that most nights, I don't set an alarm; when I wake up, I go to work. Tomorrow, I have to get up at like 8:30 or 9:00. That's rough. Just kidding :)