Wednesday, March 26, 2008

B-Fit Birthday Challenge

What the heck was I thinking? Roman throws out this B-Fit Birthday Challenge and it all SOUNDS well and good. Then I see that being 44 this year, I have to swim the first number in miles (that would be 4 miles, Nytro...) then bike the total number of years in miles (44, duh) and



then follow that up with an easy run of 4 miles, the last number in my age. The swim, in a word, sucked.

My longest swim ever prior to this was 3500 meters. This one would be 6500 meters. Smart? No. Especially on a diet of 2k to 4k meters per WEEK of swimming up to this point. But, I figure I'll just take it slow and steady, plus....I had my new fangled swimming I-Pod setup to keep me company. For 3 hrs. Sort of.

Quick product review. In the Birthday spirit - Di got me the Nano...Dad got me the Earphones, and Mom got me the case. Thanks, everyone, for my birthday gifts! The H2Audio waterproof gear (case and headphones) for the Ipod Nano worked like a charm. Nano is easy to operate in the case. Easy to see, and most importantly, it stayed dry. I have a set of tri-shorts with a big pocket in the back for nutrition....and for I-pods it turns out. The waterproof headset also worked great. Well, actually - I don't have a big noggin - but I had to have the headset pushed out to it's max settings to get the buds in position for my ears.

The headset comes with these black ear "inserts" that cup around the buds and then insert into the ear, in an effort to seal the ear of water. These work...not so much. Probably a function of the shape of the ear canal, but I could not get a good seal, and as a result, could hear when I turned my head to breathe and my one ear drained, but as soon as that ear went back in the water, the ear would fill and the sound would go away. Well, not totally away, but it was very muffled. The directions suggest using swimmers' ear wax and form some sort of cone-dealy...I'm willing to try it for good tunes while swimming. I'd adjust during breaks and get a few laps of good clean sound in - I'll tell ya, it really made the laps go by faster! Good rocking songs with plenty of Base worked the best. Folk music with girly tunes could barely be heard (sorry Trimama)

And I had 3 hrs to mess with it.

I read, a little too late, that a "swimmer's mile" is 1500 meters or 1650 yards. I should have swam 6000 meters, but I did 6500 meters or 7108 yards 'cause I did the math, and that's what it came up to for 4 miles. I don't know...towards the end I did one set of 500m in 13:09, so if I take that off of my total swim time, I'll have 6000 meters in 2:38:24. With 17:12 in total breaks. If you keep the other 500 in, just add that time and another 1:28 break. Good grief. About 2:20 per 100 yards. Did I mention I started slowly?

T1: 1:16:00 - time to eat a hearty lunch at Boston Market (mmmm...1/2 rotisserie chicken, green beans and potatoes...) and drive the 23 miles to Flatwoods, my training loop.

Everything else was fairly uneventful. I was thoroughly smoked from that self-imposed Chinese water torture and had nothing to give to the 44 mile bike other than some easy turning of the crank. I could tell my ass was still sore from the Century only 2 days prior - wearing the still damp tri-shorts was probably not the best idea. I went 2:21:43 for 44 miles; an average of 18.63 mph. Winds were steady at around 12 mph with gusts approaching 30mph. Nice.

T2: 3:15:00 - yes, that's 3 hrs and 15 minutes. I thought I had to work at 5pm, so I didn't brick that last little run. Turns out, no work, so before American Idol started and my Chinese food got delivered, I knocked out the neighborhood lap times 4.

Oh yea, I tore it up! 41:23 for 4 miles; yes, yes, that's only a 10:20 per mile pace - hey - absolutely NO records were harmed in the completion of this Challenge!


And for everyone wondering, yes, the next day, my shoulders are like rusty gates. I'll see tomorrow if I can still do a swim-motion. After a day of lawn work, they really feel much better then they did when I woke up. At least my perception of swim distance has taken a paradigm shift to the extreme. 4k ain't shit anymore!

36 comments:

Fe-lady said...

Heavy b'day workout!
Hope I get to watch a vid when you are, let's say....79!
Great job.
I said "GREAT JOB"...oh you have water in your ears!

bigmike600 said...

Holy F that's a swim. Dude you really have gotten better on the run IMHO. Man I can't stop thinking Holy F that's a swim.

Spokane Al said...

That is a lot of swimming! Congratulations on knocking the challenge out. And happy birthday to you.

S. Baboo said...

Great job man!, That is a long ass swim!

CoachLiz said...

Wow!

I am really impressed with that swim. Now I want one of those waterproof cases for my Nano. It would be kick ass cool to swim to Van Halen, Aerosmith, and Led Zepplin.

Bill said...

Whooo Hooo!

That's a hell of a swim. Makes me glad I'm sticking with the Runner's Challenge this year and only running 40 miles.

Unknown said...

6000 yds???? Dude you should have said you were 21 again........
Good effort.
Oh yeah - what's wrong with 2:20/hundred? That's where I hang all the time.... just sayin.

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

Happy Birthday Bigun. Great workout.

Carrie said...

Happy belated bday, Stud.

Jenny Davidson said...

Congratulations! That swim is a triumph of determination...

Mike said...

So glad I read your comment about the swimmer's mile. I'll use that for my 4 'mile' swim :)

Great job in getting it done. Happy Birthday!

Mike

Unknown said...

You rock Bigun!

Born To Endure said...

Love the pic and you ARE a rock star..way to go!!

Brent Buckner said...

Welcome to 44! It's a good age... in a few months I'll be looking back on it fondly....

I don't know whether or not the Bfit rule book specifies swimmers' mile.

Actually, the 4 mile swim might stop me from considering the Bfit Bday Challenge... I can barely care enough to do a 5K event, let alone a 4 mile solo effort.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dude - Since you've become a marathon swimmer you might want to enter the 4.4 mile Cheasapeake Bay swim this year. I Hope your shoulders get better. Ice and Motrin! See ya Sunday.

Bullet said...

Dude, I've been complaining about my 34th b'day coming up and having to do a 3 mile swim. I'm just going to shut my mouth and do it. You're a true warrior for completing the swim.

tri-mama said...

Happy Birthday!!!!! For the record, I have a little heavy base in the lineup- i wear a swim cap and it works great. way to go on the swim, my arms would spongebob if i did that!

Supalinds said...

First off, Happy Birthday, again.

Second, holy shit that is one serious swim. I can't believe it, I still can't wrap my head around it. 4 miles. That is so freakin long. You are my hero.

Great day!!! One hell of a workout, I hope you had a great Chinese dinner!!

greyhound said...

Ugh, my shoulders and lats hurt just reading that. That's why you're the big man.

Comm's said...

Dude that is monster. MONSTER. i am awed.

TRI-ROB said...

You're an animal bro! That swim was just plain CLAZY! Happy birthday you old fart!

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

WOW. See, CDA will be EASY for you now ;-)

Kate said...

Whoa! What a guy. Di should be very proud!

You sort of just made my 28th b-day this July into somthing that cant complain about. I may have to link back to your site to remind myself not to whine that day!

Oly said...

Whatever. I think the fine print of the B-fit said... you could do the distance over an entire week.

So you chose to do it in one day. Your bad not mine.

QUITE YOUR WHINING! OOHH Sore arms. Wahhh. Don't even get me started on the Boston Market thing.

As to the ear wax thing... You better work on that cause the Dummy is rooming with you, and he talks a lot.

Wax on, don't wax off, ya know (in reference to)the cone dealy...

Happy birthday!

Bolder said...

well done.

Steve Stenzel said...

Nice job!!! Great times goin' for the gold! Happy B-Day!!!

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

What the hell is that line down that swimmer's back? That is bugging the crap out of me. Is that back cleavage? What is that?

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

Happy birthday! Was that an outdoor swim?????
;-)

Iron Eric said...

What a cool day!! Thanks for sharing your story. It seems that the younger you are, the easier the birthday challenge is.

Oh well.

Green Eyed Lady (aka GEL) said...

Who did you get to pose for that picture at the pool? ;) Have fun tomorrow. Registration opens at 6am. Excel Man is leaving a little after 5. LOL

TriBoomer a.k.a. Brian said...

Fab job on getting the gold! Tain't nuttin wrong with a 2:20 per mile average. That's a huge amount of swimming.

I dig the photo. You're keeping the pre-Gold Challenge alive.

Cheers!

Stay tuned...

ShirleyPerly said...

Whoa, that's a lot of swimming. Hope nothing permanently rusted in those shoulders. Thank god you had a waterproof iPOD to keep you company lap after lap after lap ...

IronTriTim said...

Great job. Very tempted by the ipod case and headset. Find swimming very boring and this might just encourage me to swim.

FunFitandHappy said...

Congrats Bigun

I'm not exactly looking forward to my 4 mile swim this August.

At least I get to run 10 miles afterwards :)

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Nice Job Bigun!! I am totally jealous of that sunny, outdoor swimming pool.

Bolder said...

btw dude, i noticed no one mentioned that no swimming pool water was harmed in the making of that video!?!

besides all the flexing of your studliness, and the tan -- not a LOT of swimming!!!

give your fans what they deserve -- the BIGUN IN ACTION!!!!!!!!