B-Fit B-Day Challenge Results

I made it another year! I was born under a bad omen (on Friday the 13th), but that hasn’t slowed me down yet. Today, to celebrate my birthday, I did the B-Fit B-Day Challenge. If you haven’t read my post from Tuesday where I give the details of the challenge, here’s what you need to know:

Take your age and:
1) Swim the number of miles in the first number,
2) Run the number of miles in the second number,
3) Bike the number of miles in the combined number.

And if you’re turning a “10” (like 20, 30, 40), then you have to run 10 miles, not 0. If you choose to accept the B-Fit B-Day Challenge you must....

Bronze: Do all three (swim/bike/run) during the week of your Birthday.
Silver: Do all three (swim/bike/run) in the three days before, after, or on your B-Day.
Gold: Do all three (swim/bike/run) in 24-hours to celebrate your B-Day!

I wanted to go for the gold, of course. So I planned to get up before 5 am and head to the pool. I’d get my swim done, and then go to the U of M to teach my photo class. After that, I’d come home and do a bike/run brick to finish the challenge.

Recently, there’s been a “traditional” photo to inaugurate the start of the Challenge. It’s a photo of the birthday boy or girl putting on his/her goggles at the pool. Here’s an example of Triboomer’s and little Jakey getting ready for their B-Fit B-Day Challenge:

I had a problem though. I got to the pool so damn early that no one else was there. And I wasn’t about to wait around. So I started. After I finished, there were a few people around, but they were all busy swimming laps, and I wasn’t going to drag someone out of the pool to take a photo of me. So I went up to the locker room, set up my camera in an empty locker, and made my version of the photo:

It’s not NEARLY as cool as Triboomer’s or Jakey’s, but it will have to do.

Swim: 2.0 miles (72 laps in a 50 yard pool)

I hadn’t swum that far since Ironman WI 6 months ago, but I knew it was still possible. I hit the pool EARLY, and started out. Shortly after starting, the pool filled up with old, overly-perfumed ladies on their noodles for their morning “workout.” I kept getting lung-fulls of White Diamonds and Aqua Net. Those ladies need to shower first (hair too!) like the rest of us!! Well, I got bored and depressed quickly. Seventy-two laps suck. I took a quick poop break after lap 40, and that was the little mental break I needed.

That distance drained me. The good news was that it was super fast for me! This was the first long distance swim since I’ve been meeting with Andrea to work on my breathing. I started well under 1 minute per lap (50 yards). I started to get slower. Near the end, I was afraid I could go over 72 minutes for the 72 laps. Instead of swimming HARDER, I finished by swimming BETTER (paying more attention to my form). And, wouldn’t cha know it, my last few lap times picked up! I finished in 71:51. Fastest swim of that distance ever!

T1: 6+ hours...

...so, yeah. T1 wasn’t fast. I got out of the pool, stretched a little, showered, and headed off to teach one of my classes. However, I DID get to stop for some sweet, sweet T1 fuel:

They should make a gel in this flavor! Yum-a-dum-dum!

After the delicious stop at Mickey-Ds, I drove to Minneapolis and got ready for class. I held class, and was headed back to St. Paul just after noon. I grabbed a few bowls of cereal and got all of my bike and run stuff together.

Bike: 27 miles (in my basement, on a trainer)

I got my bike ready with a couple of bottles of water. And I threw my large bottle of Hammer Gel in my rear bottle holder. I had 2 chugs of the gel throughout the ride:

I flipped on the TV in front of the trainer, and I was able to watch Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray. Cooking shows. Evil.

I started out on Big Rhonda, and kept slowly raising my speed throughout the ride. I was also able to enjoy Martha talk about Mexican food and cake, and Rachel talked with someone from Gray’s Anatomy, someone with cute animals, and then cooked with chicken. I should NOT have tuned into cooking shows. Torture. Anyway, here’s my bike computer before the ride, after the ride, and my bike time:

T2: 1:40

I wanted to have a nice brick workout today, so I had my run stuff all ready to go as soon as I hopped off the bike. Just after a minute, I was out the door. Thirty seconds later, I was off. A nice, speedy T2 time.

Run: 7 miles (out-and-back run, down Summit Ave)

I started my run with that great feeling of heavy, stiff legs from biking. I LOVE that feeling. And it was a great day! I was running again in shorts, because it was our first 50 degree day! I was puddle-hoppin’ and it was great. It was beautiful!

I don’t run with any fancy Garmin or equivalent, so you’ll just have to take my word that I ran 7 miles. Here was the route:

And here’s my final time:

And just for believability, here are my splits: (unless noted, all splits are half mile splits, taken at the major intersections along Summit Ave)

4:35 (nearly 3/4 of a mile)
3:33
3:24
3:15
3:24
3:18
1:45 (just over 1/4 of a mile)
(turn around)
1:47 (just over 1/4 of a mile)
3:17
3:34
3:20
3:14
3:18
4:29 (nearly 3/4 of a mile)

23:17 first 3.5 miles
23:05 last 3.5 miles

I got home and grabbed a picture of a tired, tired fella:

A fresh-faced 27-year-old

From jumping all those puddles, my legs got a little nasty:

Once I was done, I had a big glass of Recoverite (which is like crack to me), and a bunch of York Peppermint Patties. So it was a nice birthday with a great workout!

Final Numbers:
• Swim: 2 miles (72 laps in a 50 yard pool), 71:51. Average lap time: 59.87 seconds.
• Bike: 27 miles (on the trainer), 68:45. Average speed: 23.5 mph.
• Run: 7 miles (out-and-back along Summit Ave), 46:22
Pace: 6:38 / mile.
• Total Tri Time: 3:06:58

So I went for the gold and made it!

Thanks for reading everyone! Oh, and I think Pharmie and I are running the “Human Race 8K” run at the University of St. Thomas on Sunday. See you there?