TriCowtown Sprint 3/27/11

The first Triathlon of the season!  Yesterday was in the 80's - today 40.  Many people were complaining about how cold it was, but I wasn't feeling it.  I guess I was pumped up.  I got there early and got body marked and setup in plenty of time to chill out and visit with a lot of friends.  I took a gel 10 min before the race with water.


Race: 300 yd swim, 14.1 mi bike, 5K run


The swim was in 25 yd pool (which I don't like) but my estimated time of 4:59 put me at #80 to start so things weren't backed up in the pool at all.  I never caught anyone to be able to practice drafting, nor did I get passed.  I went across the mat out side the building at 5:02 so I was right on pace.  This was a good thing because this was the first Tri I ever did where I didn't do the swim too hard.  As I left the pool I saw Jeff, Mike, Kristen and Jenn got lots of high 5's.  That was great!

I am not one to put my shoes on the bike first and I had a little problem getting my foot in my shoe.  The run with the bike wasn't very far and was in/out of T1 in 1:58.

The bike was out and back and the out was going to be with the wind so I decided to push the out.  I was able to average about 22 mph out and was able to stay aero most of the way.  I never was able to get behind anyone to practice legal drafting and was only passed by 2 riders that were absolutely hauling.  I never heard them coming.  Coming back was into that bitter north wind and everyone slowed.  I slowed as well but kept cranking the miles out and finished in 44:53 (avg 18.4 mph, 21/22 was the highest I saw so I didn't feel too bad with that ride.)

Jeff was there screaming at me as I came into T2 and again had problem getting into the shoes.  I kind of trip and almost knocked my bike off of the rack.  Out in 1:29.

I have been working on my running form and it really paid off.  I've had MANY 12 min/mi runs in the past and even as recent as December.  But, today was my day.  It was relatively flat course out to the lake and back.  I did the 5K in 26:34 (8:34 pace) for a new PR for 5K.  My previous time was 29 and change and only broke 30 that one time and all during 5K only events.  To think that I'd run 8:34 in a Tri was awesome!  I did this on my own as well not finding any other runners that were at the same pace.

Total time: 1:19:58 a new PR for a sprint as I'd not broke 1:30 on shorter sprints.  Ended up 10th in age group, 6th in Clydesdale, and 85th out of 297.  Good way to start the road to Louisville!

Pictures from TriCowtown Sprint 3/27/11

Sig Ep Buddy David and I

Mike and I

Heading out for ride in the cold!

T2

Coach Roberto running him down!

TriCowtown Sprint 3/27/11

RMR and Calorie tests for Run & Bike done

My RMR was less than I thought so I need to move more especially since I have a desk job.  Sounds kind of funny since I'm training for an Ironman.  My eating habits have been awful this month and it shows because I've put on 8 lbs in 2011.  I know I can get it off and today is the day to start it.  IM will be here before I know it.

3/17 Intervals, NCAA, Jpn

Ran a hour with intervals - wow - it was tough.  Very windy today.  Hips were sore and tight from bike intervals yesterday.  Didn't hinder running though.  Tried to focus on lifting heels to butt and leaning forward.  Worked well...


NCAA Basketball tournament starts today!  I refuse to acknowledge play in games - nothing against the teams that played yesterday.  I haven't watched much basketball this season, but I picking Kansas over Duke.  Don't know how I got Duke that far because I don't think they are as strong as in years past.

http://www.channel4.com/news/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-interactive-video-timeline

Thursday 17 March

Britons in Tokyo and the area north of the capital are advised to leave after fears regarding radiation poisoning. Other countries such as Australia and the US follow suit.

As military helicopters begin spraying water on the stricken plant officials say radiation levels have fallen over the past 24 hours. Winds continue to blow towards the Pacific Ocean where any radioactive material will break up.

TEPCO says pressure is rising again at reactor No. 3. It says there was still water in its spent-fuel pool. On Wednesday, the company described the situation there as "not so good." The US Nuclear Regulator Commission said on Wednesday there was no water in the pool.

Company officials express hope of getting limited power to the plant to help pump water but not yet for reactors 3 and 4.

At around 5:30 pm local time officials say three of the six reactors at plant are now relatively stable.

3/16 Japan con't

weights

Bike: intervals - wow

http://www.channel4.com/news/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-interactive-video-timeline

Wednesday 16 March

One hundred and eighty workers re left on site at the complex as the crisis continues.

Tokyo Electric Power Co says it recorded the site's highest levels of radiation at the No.3 reactor on Wednesday.

At the No.2 reactor the temperature stabilizes and pressure drops. Water is being poured into reactors No.5 and No.6 while Japan says it wants to use its military to help pump water to the No.3 reactor.

Radiation levels at a monitoring post outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant had spiked at 0330 GMT to 10,850 microsieverts per hour, but fell back later to 2,331 microsieverts an hour later, it says.

3/15 Reactor problems still in Japan

Swim 2600 (lot so of intervals - killer)

Run 1 hr TP - thinking about raising hill is working well

via: http://www.channel4.com/news/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-interactive-video-timeline

Tuesday 15 March

On Tuesday morning radiation levels rise fourfold after an explosion at the No.2 reactor. Residents within a 30km radius are warned to stay indoors amid fears of a nuclear leakage. A no-fly zone is also put in place.

Small levels of radiation are detected in Tokyo, although a city government official says the levels are "not a problem".

Radiation levels in a number of areas, including Tokyo, are up to 10 times normal, but there is no threat to human health, the city government says.

Japan tells the UN radioactivity was being released "directly" into the atmosphere, the IAEA says, while the radiation levels have fallen according to the government.

There are two holes of 8-metres square in a wall of the outer building of the No.4 reactor after a blast in the morning.

Winds are dispersing radioactive material over the Pacific Ocean, away from Japan and other Asian countries, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says.

At almost 9pm a local news agency reports that radiation levels at the No. 4 reactor have become too high to conduct normal work from its control room. Workers cannot stay long and are going in and out of the control room as well as monitoring from a different place.

3/14 Nuc reactor probs in Japan

24 weeks to Louisville - day off!

Several nuclear reactors are having issues in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami on 3/11

From: http://www.channel4.com/news/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-interactive-video-timeline

Monday 14 March

Local news channels broadcast footage of smoke rising from the No.3 reactor and reports another hydrogen explosion at the plant.

Later Japan's nuclear safety agency confirms a new explosion rocked the nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air - but officials say the primary containment vessel at the No.3 reactor is not damaged.

Water levels at the No.2 reactor fall and its cooling functions stop. News reports suggest the nuclear fuel rods in the reactor are now fully exposed. A meltdown of the fuel rods cannot be ruled out, local news sources say.

3/13 Sun St Patrick's Day Sprint Tri (not in it)

St. Patrick's Day Tri (Sprint) was today and Jeff rocked it coming 11th overall in his age group with his fastest 5k ever.  Kristen did very well, too.  Way to go NoName!

After some celebratory Migas at Fuzzy's I had a 3 hr bike TP ride.  Don't eat migas before I ride!

Japan Tsunami update / group workout

Group workout with Playtri: bike hills 1 hr, run hills 1 hr
Great workout -
Bike: keep arms bent, look up
Run: raise heel, lean into hills, drills jump touch toes, jump click heels, stand on one foot heel raised under butt.

This is a time line of the events via CNN web: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/quake.tsunami.timeline/index.html:

FRIDAY 3/11/11

2:46 PM

Magnitude 8.9 earthquake 231 miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan at a depth of 15.2 miles.

Quake is fifth largest in the world (since 1900) and the largest quake ever to hit Japan.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues tsunami warning for the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the U.S. west coast. Tsunami alerts sound in more than 50 countries and territories. .

Within an hour after the quake a wall of water up to 30 feet high washes over the Japanese coast.

Cars, boats and trains are swept away. Buildings collapse. Roads and highways are severed. Fires break out in many locations.

7:39 PM

Casualty reports begin to come in. Kyodo News Service reports at least 32 dead.

8:15 PM

Japanese government declares emergency for nuclear power plant near Sendai, 180 miles from Tokyo. Japan has 54 nuclear power plants.

9:35 PM

4 nuclear power plants closest to the quake are shut down.

10:29 PM

Cooling system at Fukushima nuclear report are reported not working: Authorities say they are "bracing for the worst.

Several thousand people living within a mile-and-a-half of the plant are ordered to evacuate.

10:48 PM

Japan resident describes nuke evacuation

83 aftershocks in 21 hours in Japan

Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan

Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

Police report finding 200 -- 300 bodies in coastal city of Sendai.

60,000 -- 70,000 city residents evacuated to shelters.

11:40 PM

National Police up the confirmed death toll to 93.

11:53 PM

A fire at Onagawa nuclear plant is extinguished, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

SATURDAY

12:39 AM

Fires are reported in at least three Japanese prefectures (Hakodate, Chiba, Miyagi). An oil refinery was ablaze near Tokyo.

12:42 AM

A dam breaks in Fukushima prefecture, washing away scores of homes.

12:59 AM

4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas are without power.

1:07 AM

Kyodo News Service puts number of confirmed deaths at 137.

1:31 AM

Delta cancels 29 flights into and out of Tokyo.

American Airlines diverts six flights en route to Tokyo to other airports.

1:57 AM

US Navy announces movement of seven ships toward Japan to assist relief efforts.

2:06 AM

Radiation level in Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant reported rising.

3:05 AM

President Obama says Japan's prime minister told him no evidence of radiation leaks from his country's nuclear power plants.

3:24 AM

Japanese trade minister Banri Kaieda says small radiation leak could occur at Fukushima nuclear plant.

3:34 AM

National Police up confirmed death toll to 151.

3:42 AM

Residents watched as water rushed in

Scenes from the quake

Japan's streets unrecognizable after quake

Train cars thrown, crushed in tsunami

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces US Air Force planes are headed to Japan carrying coolant for the Fukushima nuclear power pant. The report that the planes carried coolant is later found to be erroneous.

4:21 AM

6.2 magnitude earthquake hits Nagano and Niigata prefectures, according to the US Geological Survey.

4:40 AM

Power company officials announced they will vent possibly radioactive air from the Fukushima nuclear plant to avoid a breakdown of the reactor's containment vessels.

5:00 AM

Nuclear emergency declared at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Officials report the earthquake and tsunami cut off the plant's electrical power and that backup generators had been disabled by the tsunami.

5:15 AM

Coming of dawn reveals miles of highways closed by the quake.

13,000 people reported stranded at Narita airport, another 10,000 at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

5:44 AM

National Police now put death toll at at least 184.

5:56 AM

Another earthquake --- one of a series over the past 24 hours --- hits west coast of Honshu. The quake had a strength of 6.3 magnitude.

6:45 AM

Tokyo Electric Power IC. says radioactive substances could have leaked at the Fukushima No, 1 nuclear plant. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says radiation near the plant's main gate is more than eight times normal level.

8:15 AM

Tsunamis continue to awash ashore on Japan's northeast coast.

Death toll now put at at least 427.

8:45 AM

Foreign minister says 25 countries, including the US, have offered assistance, including rescue teams and relief supplies.

9:45 AM

Timeline of disaster in Japan

Survivor describes roof collapse

Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan

Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

RELATED TOPICS

• Earthquakes
• U.S. Geological Survey

Tokyo Power Co. says cooling systems at three of the four units of its Fukushima Daini plant have failed.

11:20 AM

At least 6 million homes -- 10 percent of Japan's households are without electricity, according to the country's ambassador to the US.

12:32 AM

Stores begin to run out of food, water and gasoline as masses of residents of northern Japan stream south from their earthquake-stricken hometowns.

4:17 PM

Death toll rises to at least 900, according to the NHK broadcast network.

Rescuers struggle to pull survivors from collapsed homes, food waters, and fires.

4:19 PM

A small amount of radioactive Cesium has escaped from a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency. Officials say the leak could have been caused by the melting of a fuel rod.

6:22 PM

Tokyo Electric Company says an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant injured four workers. (Kyodo News Agency will later quote electric company officials as saying the explosion caused the roof of a reactor to collapse.)

7:17 AM

Technicians worked to contain temperatures at two Japanese nuclear power plants where cooling systems had been crippled by the disaster.

In the US, nuclear expert Robert Alvarez (Institute for Policy Studies in Washington) says the situation "has the potential for disaster."

7:59 PM

US Geological Survey says the quake appears to have moved Japan's main island --- the whole island --- by 8 feet and shifted the earth on its axis.

8:18 PM

Evacuation area around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant extended to 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles.)

8:54 PM

Authorities insist no harmful gasses had been emitted by the explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant. They blamed the explosion on "water vapor that was part of the cooling process."

9:07 PM

Fires reported at more than 200 locations in 12 of Japan's prefectures.

10:01 PM

US Marines aircraft and helicopters are dispatched from bases on Okinawa to help in relief efforts.

10:35 PM

Radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are reported to have fallen, as officials prepare to flood the containment structure with sea water to bring temperatures down.

Authorities make plans to distribute iodine tablets --- a treatment to prevent radiation poisoning -- to residents near two damaged nuclear plants.

10:37 PM

About 9500 people --- half the population -- are reported to be unaccounted for in the town of Minamisanriku on Japan's Pacific coast.

10:49 PM

A cabinet official says the collapse of the walls of a building at the Fukushima Daiichi plant did not damage the reactor and its containment system.

11:48 PM

Many areas experience blackouts as power plants are shut down for safety reasons. The number of houses without power is down to just over 5 million, according to the power company.