This is the week after my first oly and before my first duathlon, which is the last multisport race of the year for me (unless inspiration strikes). I'm writing this mid-week. After not doing squat Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday :) I made the mistake of reading the last Harry Potter book Monday night, and that killed me for Tuesday. And I slept in on Wednesday, skipped the swim, and did a short, brutal TRX leg workout. At least it's a known fact that sleep is essential to recovery, I can (sort of) feel good about that.
Wednesday:
TRX / weights
2x split lunges, 15 reps, both legs
2x single leg squats, 10 reps
2x good mornings, 10 reps
2x dumbell squats, 20 reps
2x plyometric push-offs from straddle, 10 reps, no weights
1x core rotation, 20 reps
Thursday:
Swim
did the now standard 25-250 in 25 yard increments, followed by 5x100free+50breast. Total 2125 yds.
I wasn't doing anything for time, but timed one of my 100s @ 1:42. I was more focused on starting to breathe on my left (weak) side. Since I get tired and need to breathe more, I started doing 2 breaths right side, 2 breaths left side.
I noticed that I pull to the left when breathing left side. I then tried to keep my right hand straight during extension. One other thing I noticed was that when I started the movement with my hips, I could still definitely feel the pull in my lats. I would contract my abs, and lats, and the movement would just come.
I think the only way I'm going to go faster is if I can apply more force with the same amount of economy -- in other words, I need to save energy and apply it at the right time. The less thrashing, the better.
Friday:
Swim
1x250 w.u. emphasis breathing.
1x250 w.u. emphasis rolling from the hips.
10x100 not for speed, emphasis stroke, breathing, efficiency.
200 warm down, stroke mechanics x25, breastroke x25
Getting better @ breathing bilaterally. Sometimes I feel like I'm weaving in the lane, I need to work on extending my leading arm out straight instead of over the centerline. Hip rotation feels better to the right, when I breathe to the left I'm still lifting my head and not rotating to the air. Lots to work on!
Saturday:
Run
6.05 mi 51:18, 8:29 avg. 2 mi warmup, then building to a hard pace.
mile 1: 10:43
mile 2: 9:30
mile 3: 7:52
mile 4: 7:48
mile 5: 7:15
mile 6: 7:45
climbed: 800 feet
descended : 1054 feet.
Wednesdays lifting made me sore until...after the run. I focused on fast turnover and 'pre-compressing' my striking leg. cadence/turnover was good, except on steep uphills/downhills, I need to work on keeping it going in both situations.
Sunday:
Run
3 mi easy. kicked back today, was tired from the hard effort yesterday, and going hard isn't going to buy me anything on Wednesday.
Monday:
Swim
super easy, concentrate on form.
4x250 form swims.
4x50 form swims.
I'm really happy with my left (weak) side breathing today. Felt really natural, the most natural so far. I'm inclined to try it in the race.
Was supposed to run tomorrow, but I tore up my big toe chasing after the dog this evening. Hope to heal it up before the race, where it will (a) get wet and (b) get slammed into a shoe. Nicked an artery, so it was bleeding like a mofo. ah well. It's always something :)
Next up: race report.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Race Results, Lake Meridan Olympic Dist Triathlon, 08/22/2010
Impressions:
I really, really liked this race. It was very well organized, the swim was in a beautiful lake, the water was warm (but not too warm!), the ride was on some really nice, fast, rolling roads, and the run was tougher than hell (for me, a non runner). Also: the other athletes and the volunteers were really friendly, the pancakes were great, and the overall vibe was a bunch of people out there to have a good time. I really want to do this one again next year, hopefully I'll improve my times.
I like the olympic distance, because it ends up that I don't go that much slower in the swim or the run, and I go a little faster on the bike -- go figure. I'm a slow warmer upper, I guess. So next year, less sprints, more olys. Maybe the Whiskey Dick or something similarly challenging.
Results:
18/75 overall
4/17 age group
31/75 swim, 1500 yds in 32:10, 2:08/100?
26/75 t1, 1:45
14/75 bike, : 1:14, 20.83 mph
40/75 t2
40/75 run 46:37, 7:45 mi
The Details:
I stayed on the game plan. Specifically:
I cruised the swim. I really didn't go for speed, I had never swum that far in my life and didn't know if it was actually possible :) I focused on gliding, and driving from the hips, and was never breathing hard. I did, however, spend a lot of time going back and forth across the lake -- definitely lost some time due to lack of navigation skillz. Need to get better at open water swimming and shave some time off. I didn't feel like I was going 2:10 slow, more like 1:50 slow.
I came out of the water feeling pretty good, got through t1 as well as I ever have, and jumped on the bike. I had a good bike. I felt fast right away, and passed a lot of people. A relay team biker came past me, and I reeled him in. Every time I would pass him he would jump out ahead of me. Whatever -- I still had a 10k run to go, so I ended up following him in (from a ways back, of course). The bike course was rolling, just like the Mercer Island loop. There were some sections with serious false flats, but those were super fast on the way back. I only got passed by a couple of people -- I think this was because the faster riders were the faster swimmers. Maybe one day I'll know :)
I came into t2 and fumbled through a 1:32 t2. Amazing that it took me that long to get into running shoes -- I need to work on that!
The run HURT. It was hilly, and I never feel amazing starting out a run anyways. I felt like I was going uphill -- slowly! -- the first 3 miles, and flat -- slightly faster -- the second 3. Never got into a running groove, and was moving a lot more slowly than I did in the sprint tris I have done -- maybe this was due to fatigue? Not sure. My bike split was as fast as I have ever ridden a tri, in more rolling terrain that I've ridden before. So maybe I left it all out on the bike. After 3 miles I started to feel better and even passed someone who had passed me, so that was cool. Perhaps the coolest thing that happened to me was when I came up on a 65 year old about 3 miles into the course. 65, and he had stayed out in front of me for that long -- I looked him up later, and saw he had clocked a 26 minute swim! Amazing. Definitely inspiring.
Conclusions:
OK, now I know I can do the swim. Now it's time to swim faster. This is going to take time, lots of time, but I like swimming now, and I'm up for it. I think concentrating on form is the way to go, I've got a lot of improvement left in my swim just by tinkering with efficiency.
I was happy with the bike, but I know that I need more power in my legs. I was spinning 90-100 rpm, which is great, I'd love to do the same in a bigger gear so I can go that much faster. I didn't do a lot of focused leg work this year, but it's time to get serious about the bodyweight exercises, the trx, and plyometrics. My quads can be a lot, lot stronger.
The run was the hardest for me. Part of this is due to lack of power in the legs (see above), part due to lack of running efficiency -- I probably need to focus exclusively on running for a chunk of time -- and the rest is just mental. When it hurts -- and it does -- I need to have a better game plan. I think the key here is to train at the intensity that requires me to bring out the head games, so I respond automatically.
The best part of my mid life triathlon crisis is that I've go so much room for improvement! I'm stoked to circle back around after my next event, which is the last multisport one I have scheduled, and work on my weaknesses, and kick the shit out of my 2010 times.
I'm doing the Mercer Island Aquathon, a 1000 meter swim/8k run, that's right, both areas I can really improve in, next Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a shorter swim and (please, God) flatter run :)
I really, really liked this race. It was very well organized, the swim was in a beautiful lake, the water was warm (but not too warm!), the ride was on some really nice, fast, rolling roads, and the run was tougher than hell (for me, a non runner). Also: the other athletes and the volunteers were really friendly, the pancakes were great, and the overall vibe was a bunch of people out there to have a good time. I really want to do this one again next year, hopefully I'll improve my times.
I like the olympic distance, because it ends up that I don't go that much slower in the swim or the run, and I go a little faster on the bike -- go figure. I'm a slow warmer upper, I guess. So next year, less sprints, more olys. Maybe the Whiskey Dick or something similarly challenging.
Results:
18/75 overall
4/17 age group
31/75 swim, 1500 yds in 32:10, 2:08/100?
26/75 t1, 1:45
14/75 bike, : 1:14, 20.83 mph
40/75 t2
40/75 run 46:37, 7:45 mi
The Details:
I stayed on the game plan. Specifically:
I cruised the swim. I really didn't go for speed, I had never swum that far in my life and didn't know if it was actually possible :) I focused on gliding, and driving from the hips, and was never breathing hard. I did, however, spend a lot of time going back and forth across the lake -- definitely lost some time due to lack of navigation skillz. Need to get better at open water swimming and shave some time off. I didn't feel like I was going 2:10 slow, more like 1:50 slow.
I came out of the water feeling pretty good, got through t1 as well as I ever have, and jumped on the bike. I had a good bike. I felt fast right away, and passed a lot of people. A relay team biker came past me, and I reeled him in. Every time I would pass him he would jump out ahead of me. Whatever -- I still had a 10k run to go, so I ended up following him in (from a ways back, of course). The bike course was rolling, just like the Mercer Island loop. There were some sections with serious false flats, but those were super fast on the way back. I only got passed by a couple of people -- I think this was because the faster riders were the faster swimmers. Maybe one day I'll know :)
I came into t2 and fumbled through a 1:32 t2. Amazing that it took me that long to get into running shoes -- I need to work on that!
The run HURT. It was hilly, and I never feel amazing starting out a run anyways. I felt like I was going uphill -- slowly! -- the first 3 miles, and flat -- slightly faster -- the second 3. Never got into a running groove, and was moving a lot more slowly than I did in the sprint tris I have done -- maybe this was due to fatigue? Not sure. My bike split was as fast as I have ever ridden a tri, in more rolling terrain that I've ridden before. So maybe I left it all out on the bike. After 3 miles I started to feel better and even passed someone who had passed me, so that was cool. Perhaps the coolest thing that happened to me was when I came up on a 65 year old about 3 miles into the course. 65, and he had stayed out in front of me for that long -- I looked him up later, and saw he had clocked a 26 minute swim! Amazing. Definitely inspiring.
Conclusions:
OK, now I know I can do the swim. Now it's time to swim faster. This is going to take time, lots of time, but I like swimming now, and I'm up for it. I think concentrating on form is the way to go, I've got a lot of improvement left in my swim just by tinkering with efficiency.
I was happy with the bike, but I know that I need more power in my legs. I was spinning 90-100 rpm, which is great, I'd love to do the same in a bigger gear so I can go that much faster. I didn't do a lot of focused leg work this year, but it's time to get serious about the bodyweight exercises, the trx, and plyometrics. My quads can be a lot, lot stronger.
The run was the hardest for me. Part of this is due to lack of power in the legs (see above), part due to lack of running efficiency -- I probably need to focus exclusively on running for a chunk of time -- and the rest is just mental. When it hurts -- and it does -- I need to have a better game plan. I think the key here is to train at the intensity that requires me to bring out the head games, so I respond automatically.
The best part of my mid life triathlon crisis is that I've go so much room for improvement! I'm stoked to circle back around after my next event, which is the last multisport one I have scheduled, and work on my weaknesses, and kick the shit out of my 2010 times.
I'm doing the Mercer Island Aquathon, a 1000 meter swim/8k run, that's right, both areas I can really improve in, next Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a shorter swim and (please, God) flatter run :)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Training Summary 8/16 - 8/21
Race is on 8/22. First Olympic Dist Triathlon. I've got numerous aches and pains:
Monday
Swim: ~1750 yds
tried something new: 25->250, adding 25 yards at a time. This really allowed me to get into a decent rhythm, but I was mainly breathing on my right side -- fallback behavior.
Tuesday:
Swim: ~1800 yds
this time I was able to breathe bilaterally a lot more. Forcing myself to exhale made it easier to inhale. (duh). Also, I focused on not crossing the 'center line' when pulling. This seemed to result in a much better 'grab' of the water.
Finally, I signed up for the Mercer Island Aquathlon, featuring the two things I'm kind of weak at: Swimming, followed by Running. Wheeee! (should actually be fun, I'm going to concentrate on both and see what happens).
Wednesday:
Run 6.5 mi
warmup 2 miles
1.96 miles at 80%, avg 7:39/mi, 15 min TT.
1 mi recovery < 142, avg 9:38/mi
1.47 mi @ > 156, 7:34/mi effort, hills.
So my body feels much better after this run, which rates as a pretty hard run, short distance. My TT effort was 5 sec/mi faster than last week, could be due to not having ridden hard the day before. But I would ideally like to get these below 7:30. I don't feel like I'm running super hard during these efforts, but the HR tells a slightly different story.
The final 1.5 ish miles were just all out on W Mercer. A steep downhill, a steep uphill, all made for a solid finishing effort. I'm going to officially shut it down now, tomorrow is swimming, Friday maybe a really easy 4 mile run. depending on when I get up, of course : )
Thursday:
Swim:
ladder 25 => 250, then down 250-200-150-100-50. Total 2075 yds.
I'm liking this ladder thing. I settle into a good groove on the longer sets, I'm not worried about going fast as much as I am trying to maintain good form. I noticed today that I raise my head (and sink) when breathing to my weak (left) side. I managed to figure out a way to extend my right hand more straight ahead, with my hand tilted towards the pinky, that enabled me to float during left side breathing. When I get tired, I still breathe every stroke. But now I'm starting to breathe to my left side every stroke as well, and with the form improvements it's becoming more comfortable.
I really wish I would have been swimming like this earlier in the year, but it takes what it takes, hopefully next year I'll see the payoff from the time I'm putting into building form and going longer w/o thrashing.
Friday:
Rest. Lopa, Kids, + Neils, Anita and Kids all came back from Orcas yesterday. We hung out and caught up, and crashed around 10:30. Then Kiran had a 'bug issue' (I've got to teach him how to kill bugs, believe it or not) and I couldn't go back to sleep after taking care of it. So 40 minutes on the Alpha Stim and I was finally ready to go to sleep, but a 5AM start was not in the picture. It's T-2 days to the race, so a rest day was probably in order anyway.
Saturday:
Run, 4 mi, easy. I ran sockless and adjusted my shoes.
Race Thoughts:
It's apparently going to be 63 and rainy on Sunday, which means our starting temp will be (again!) in the low 50s. Thank god for the wetsuit. Hopefully the rain will hold off in the AM and the ride will be dry. I hate navigating around people in the wet, things get very random.
My hopes and dreams for this race:
The Swim: At this point I'm pretty sure I have an aerobic pace, one that I can keep up for a while, and that it's in the 1:40-1:50 range. However, I also know that I can thrash pretty hard at 1:35. So, I could lose a lot of energy without gaining a lot of time if I'm not vigilant. The key for the swim will be to stay comfortable, hold back, concentrate on long, fluid strokes driven from the hips, and most importantly not give a fuck about the masses that churn off ahead of me.
The Bike: After swimming longer than I ever had swum in my life, I'm going to hope that 20+ years of riding 'kick in' and that I can maintain a decent pace. Note I have no idea if the course is hilly or not. It doesn't look too bad on Google Maps, but virtuality and reality tend to be disjoint. I havent ridden since last Sunday, but that Sunday ride was decent considering how hot it was. Assuming my legs feel good, I think going hard at the start, maintaining the pace as much as possible once I feel better, and spinning out the last mile would set me up for
The Run: This is a wild card. My last brick ended badly, in 93 degree heat, with me clocking 3 miles at about a 10 minute pace, at a high HR. Since the temps are going to be 'brisk', that's not an issue. Overall fatigue, on the other hand, will definitely be an issue. And my last run went pretty well. I felt mentally fine during the 80%TT, and can definitely push harder than that. It would be killer to average < 7:30 the whole time. I don't know if that is a realistic goal given that it's coming on the tail end of the longest swim of my life followed by a 25 mile ride.
I'm going to assume that the first mile sucks, and it gets better after that. Hopefully my sensations from the last couple of sprints are true, i.e. I start to feel _really_ good at mile 2.5, and I can keep a decently high pace up for the remaining 3.5 miles.
Overall: Hey, this is my first Oly. I don't have any real expectations other than I want to make a solid effort and cross the line feeling like I left nothing on the table. With the weather setting up to be very un-summery, it should be an epic, whether that is good-epic or bad-epic is mostly in my head. I want to win that battle, regardless of the actual time it takes to cross the finish line.
- left knee is hurting on impact when running.
- lower back is twinging in the AM.
- left foot is exhibiting symptoms of plantar fascitis.
Monday
Swim: ~1750 yds
tried something new: 25->250, adding 25 yards at a time. This really allowed me to get into a decent rhythm, but I was mainly breathing on my right side -- fallback behavior.
Tuesday:
Swim: ~1800 yds
this time I was able to breathe bilaterally a lot more. Forcing myself to exhale made it easier to inhale. (duh). Also, I focused on not crossing the 'center line' when pulling. This seemed to result in a much better 'grab' of the water.
Finally, I signed up for the Mercer Island Aquathlon, featuring the two things I'm kind of weak at: Swimming, followed by Running. Wheeee! (should actually be fun, I'm going to concentrate on both and see what happens).
Wednesday:
Run 6.5 mi
warmup 2 miles
1.96 miles at 80%, avg 7:39/mi, 15 min TT.
1 mi recovery < 142, avg 9:38/mi
1.47 mi @ > 156, 7:34/mi effort, hills.
So my body feels much better after this run, which rates as a pretty hard run, short distance. My TT effort was 5 sec/mi faster than last week, could be due to not having ridden hard the day before. But I would ideally like to get these below 7:30. I don't feel like I'm running super hard during these efforts, but the HR tells a slightly different story.
The final 1.5 ish miles were just all out on W Mercer. A steep downhill, a steep uphill, all made for a solid finishing effort. I'm going to officially shut it down now, tomorrow is swimming, Friday maybe a really easy 4 mile run. depending on when I get up, of course : )
Thursday:
Swim:
ladder 25 => 250, then down 250-200-150-100-50. Total 2075 yds.
I'm liking this ladder thing. I settle into a good groove on the longer sets, I'm not worried about going fast as much as I am trying to maintain good form. I noticed today that I raise my head (and sink) when breathing to my weak (left) side. I managed to figure out a way to extend my right hand more straight ahead, with my hand tilted towards the pinky, that enabled me to float during left side breathing. When I get tired, I still breathe every stroke. But now I'm starting to breathe to my left side every stroke as well, and with the form improvements it's becoming more comfortable.
I really wish I would have been swimming like this earlier in the year, but it takes what it takes, hopefully next year I'll see the payoff from the time I'm putting into building form and going longer w/o thrashing.
Friday:
Rest. Lopa, Kids, + Neils, Anita and Kids all came back from Orcas yesterday. We hung out and caught up, and crashed around 10:30. Then Kiran had a 'bug issue' (I've got to teach him how to kill bugs, believe it or not) and I couldn't go back to sleep after taking care of it. So 40 minutes on the Alpha Stim and I was finally ready to go to sleep, but a 5AM start was not in the picture. It's T-2 days to the race, so a rest day was probably in order anyway.
Saturday:
Run, 4 mi, easy. I ran sockless and adjusted my shoes.
Race Thoughts:
It's apparently going to be 63 and rainy on Sunday, which means our starting temp will be (again!) in the low 50s. Thank god for the wetsuit. Hopefully the rain will hold off in the AM and the ride will be dry. I hate navigating around people in the wet, things get very random.
My hopes and dreams for this race:
The Swim: At this point I'm pretty sure I have an aerobic pace, one that I can keep up for a while, and that it's in the 1:40-1:50 range. However, I also know that I can thrash pretty hard at 1:35. So, I could lose a lot of energy without gaining a lot of time if I'm not vigilant. The key for the swim will be to stay comfortable, hold back, concentrate on long, fluid strokes driven from the hips, and most importantly not give a fuck about the masses that churn off ahead of me.
The Bike: After swimming longer than I ever had swum in my life, I'm going to hope that 20+ years of riding 'kick in' and that I can maintain a decent pace. Note I have no idea if the course is hilly or not. It doesn't look too bad on Google Maps, but virtuality and reality tend to be disjoint. I havent ridden since last Sunday, but that Sunday ride was decent considering how hot it was. Assuming my legs feel good, I think going hard at the start, maintaining the pace as much as possible once I feel better, and spinning out the last mile would set me up for
The Run: This is a wild card. My last brick ended badly, in 93 degree heat, with me clocking 3 miles at about a 10 minute pace, at a high HR. Since the temps are going to be 'brisk', that's not an issue. Overall fatigue, on the other hand, will definitely be an issue. And my last run went pretty well. I felt mentally fine during the 80%TT, and can definitely push harder than that. It would be killer to average < 7:30 the whole time. I don't know if that is a realistic goal given that it's coming on the tail end of the longest swim of my life followed by a 25 mile ride.
I'm going to assume that the first mile sucks, and it gets better after that. Hopefully my sensations from the last couple of sprints are true, i.e. I start to feel _really_ good at mile 2.5, and I can keep a decently high pace up for the remaining 3.5 miles.
Overall: Hey, this is my first Oly. I don't have any real expectations other than I want to make a solid effort and cross the line feeling like I left nothing on the table. With the weather setting up to be very un-summery, it should be an epic, whether that is good-epic or bad-epic is mostly in my head. I want to win that battle, regardless of the actual time it takes to cross the finish line.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Training Summary 8/9 - 8/15 2010
This week is my last week to go hard on consecutive days. Next week I need to shut it down for the race on 8/22, meaning no super hard efforts.
Monday:
Swim
1x250 warmup form 25+50+75+100
10x100 w/~30 sec rest
todays big breakthrough was that when I tried to swim 'slow', I only lost a second or two from when I was swimming 'regular'. And sometimes I would come in at the same time. Pace was around 1:46/100. Compared to last time, when I felt I was working really hard for the same pace.
I was working on gliding a lot more, and doing a lot more bilateral breathing. Another breathing pattern that is working is L-L-R-R. That might be the ticket for when I need to breathe more.
There is no way I'm going to get faster in a week, let alone a month. I think I'm going to keep concentrating on form and keeping my HR down. Maybe a year from now I'll be a freaking fast swimmer, but I think that it's going to take a long time to build that in.
Tuesday:
Yesterday I had some chicken salad. (Note: that's always a bad way to start a training log entry). I proceeded to crap my brains out, along with a lot of liquid. So this AM I felt pretty spent. I'm going to chillax today and see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday:
Biking:
2 laps of MI, 27 mi, 1:21. A smokin time, I could tell this was going to be a good ride because I did the entire first climb in the big ring. Cranks and pedals were creaking, which was irritating, but that motivated me to press on even harder, and focus on applying power through as much of the stroke as I could. I avg'd 20.4 mph the first lap, 16 mph on the up and over hill, and 20.4 mph on the second lap. Not bad. I think the combination of the day off (yesterday) and increased weight training is helping the biking.
Thursday:
Running: 7.51 mi total
Today was a track day: 80%TT followed by a 1 mile all out. 80% TT was done averaging 7:44, the last time I did this I averaged 7:32. It might have been b/c I was a little tired from yesterday's bike. Who knows. Then I ran 6:40 for the all out mile, compared to 6:42 the last time. I'm going to do a 80% TT next week, fresh, to see if that makes a difference.
Friday:
Nothing:
all the good intentions in the world were foiled by a (fun!) night out with the guys from work. 5 stiff drinks and a wobbly bike ride home left me in a somewhat unsleepy state, and when I finally did fall asleep, it was really hard to get back out of bed one hour later (5AM).
Saturday:
Run: 4mi total
easy, in new shoes. I spent a lot of the run adjusting the fit of the shoes, playing with the tension of the yankz. Just wanted to get things settled. Lt Knee and back felt stiff, I think I did something to the back last Saturday lifting the mower, and the knee is a new ache. Hopefully old shoe related.
Sunday:
Brick:
Bike: 24.5 mi, 1:24,avg HR = 138. Run 3.15 mi, avg hr = 149
It was hot, like 90 degrees hot, which at sea level feels like being in a sauna. Started out the bike slow, then eventually woke up, then turned into a N head wind. But kept the pace high enough. I felt fine when I was finishing up.
A brief change of clothes and a chance to let Shadow pee, and I was out on the road for a run. By this time it was fucking super hot, way hotter than it was on the bike, or at least it felt that way on the run. I had planned 6 mi, but cut it in half after looking at my HR and my pace (and extrapolating about how I would feel if I did the whole 6). It's a really good thing I turned back, b/c I started to shut down in the heat. Not a good feeling. But I think it's heat related, not fitness related. We haven't had this kind of heat all summer, and I'm acclimatized to training in mid 50 degree weather.
This is the last 'hard' effort before the 8/22 race. I'm going to do a running 80%TT on Wednesday, and continue to swim for efficiency, but no more sustained efforts until the day of race. The kids and Lopa have left to go camping w/Anita and family, I couldn't get free from work, so I'm at home. They come back on Thursday, so I've got a couple of free days to do what I want...which ironically happens to be hang out with them :< But they'll be back soon enough.
Monday:
Swim
1x250 warmup form 25+50+75+100
10x100 w/~30 sec rest
todays big breakthrough was that when I tried to swim 'slow', I only lost a second or two from when I was swimming 'regular'. And sometimes I would come in at the same time. Pace was around 1:46/100. Compared to last time, when I felt I was working really hard for the same pace.
I was working on gliding a lot more, and doing a lot more bilateral breathing. Another breathing pattern that is working is L-L-R-R. That might be the ticket for when I need to breathe more.
There is no way I'm going to get faster in a week, let alone a month. I think I'm going to keep concentrating on form and keeping my HR down. Maybe a year from now I'll be a freaking fast swimmer, but I think that it's going to take a long time to build that in.
Tuesday:
Yesterday I had some chicken salad. (Note: that's always a bad way to start a training log entry). I proceeded to crap my brains out, along with a lot of liquid. So this AM I felt pretty spent. I'm going to chillax today and see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday:
Biking:
2 laps of MI, 27 mi, 1:21. A smokin time, I could tell this was going to be a good ride because I did the entire first climb in the big ring. Cranks and pedals were creaking, which was irritating, but that motivated me to press on even harder, and focus on applying power through as much of the stroke as I could. I avg'd 20.4 mph the first lap, 16 mph on the up and over hill, and 20.4 mph on the second lap. Not bad. I think the combination of the day off (yesterday) and increased weight training is helping the biking.
Thursday:
Running: 7.51 mi total
Today was a track day: 80%TT followed by a 1 mile all out. 80% TT was done averaging 7:44, the last time I did this I averaged 7:32. It might have been b/c I was a little tired from yesterday's bike. Who knows. Then I ran 6:40 for the all out mile, compared to 6:42 the last time. I'm going to do a 80% TT next week, fresh, to see if that makes a difference.
Friday:
Nothing:
all the good intentions in the world were foiled by a (fun!) night out with the guys from work. 5 stiff drinks and a wobbly bike ride home left me in a somewhat unsleepy state, and when I finally did fall asleep, it was really hard to get back out of bed one hour later (5AM).
Saturday:
Run: 4mi total
easy, in new shoes. I spent a lot of the run adjusting the fit of the shoes, playing with the tension of the yankz. Just wanted to get things settled. Lt Knee and back felt stiff, I think I did something to the back last Saturday lifting the mower, and the knee is a new ache. Hopefully old shoe related.
Sunday:
Brick:
Bike: 24.5 mi, 1:24,avg HR = 138. Run 3.15 mi, avg hr = 149
It was hot, like 90 degrees hot, which at sea level feels like being in a sauna. Started out the bike slow, then eventually woke up, then turned into a N head wind. But kept the pace high enough. I felt fine when I was finishing up.
A brief change of clothes and a chance to let Shadow pee, and I was out on the road for a run. By this time it was fucking super hot, way hotter than it was on the bike, or at least it felt that way on the run. I had planned 6 mi, but cut it in half after looking at my HR and my pace (and extrapolating about how I would feel if I did the whole 6). It's a really good thing I turned back, b/c I started to shut down in the heat. Not a good feeling. But I think it's heat related, not fitness related. We haven't had this kind of heat all summer, and I'm acclimatized to training in mid 50 degree weather.
This is the last 'hard' effort before the 8/22 race. I'm going to do a running 80%TT on Wednesday, and continue to swim for efficiency, but no more sustained efforts until the day of race. The kids and Lopa have left to go camping w/Anita and family, I couldn't get free from work, so I'm at home. They come back on Thursday, so I've got a couple of free days to do what I want...which ironically happens to be hang out with them :< But they'll be back soon enough.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Training Summary 8/2 - 8/7 2010
This week I was out of town traveling Mon - Thurs in SanFran. So no swimming, no biking, and (almost!) no running.
Monday:
Swim: 2x250 warmup (25+50+75+100 form practice)
10x100 w/30 sec rest.
I am getting better at pulling with my pinky out. I get way more force this way, it feels like I'm grabbing onto a cable. It's awesome. Times for 100s are in the 1:43-145 range.
Tuesday:
upper body + core weights. First day in SanFran, I slept badly, so didn't get out for a run.
Wednesday:
7.85 mi run. first mi in 9min, the next 4 in 8 min. Then I hit the big hill (Lyon road, 500 feet elevation gain) and slowed down. Effort stayed high until the end of the hill, then I rolled it in @ 9min miles. Felt pretty good on this run.
Thursday:
Unfortunately I pulled part of my toenail off last night (note: clip toenails before long runs!) and running wasnt an option. I did, however, crank the leg weights big time. 2 sets of squats, lunges, plyometric lunges, quad extensions. it was good leg resistance work, something I need to really get serious about this winter.
Friday:
Got in late from SF last night, hadn't seen the fam since Monday, took the day off.
Saturday:
2x250 warmup, 10x100 w/30 sec rest. If last Monday was a breakthrough, today was a fallback. My shoulders were really tired coming into the workout, and I really started to thrash about 1/2 way through. Next time: slow it way down and get the form back. Swimming a mile on 8/22 is going to be tough.
Sunday:
The 'Eastside Hills from Hell' ride, again. This is such a quality ride I just couldn't help myself, I had to do it again. This time, in the rain, and I reversed the last bit before the turnaround, going down to Holmes pt and doing the nasty climb out all the way to the top of Finn Hill. It was wet, and I couldn't stand b/c of wheel slippage on the steep parts, so it was a good power workout.
I'm feeling stronger on the hills, but not sure if this is just in my head. Its hard to tell speed wise b/c I haven't done this ride in the early season (too scary).
Monday:
Swim: 2x250 warmup (25+50+75+100 form practice)
10x100 w/30 sec rest.
I am getting better at pulling with my pinky out. I get way more force this way, it feels like I'm grabbing onto a cable. It's awesome. Times for 100s are in the 1:43-145 range.
Tuesday:
upper body + core weights. First day in SanFran, I slept badly, so didn't get out for a run.
Wednesday:
7.85 mi run. first mi in 9min, the next 4 in 8 min. Then I hit the big hill (Lyon road, 500 feet elevation gain) and slowed down. Effort stayed high until the end of the hill, then I rolled it in @ 9min miles. Felt pretty good on this run.
Thursday:
Unfortunately I pulled part of my toenail off last night (note: clip toenails before long runs!) and running wasnt an option. I did, however, crank the leg weights big time. 2 sets of squats, lunges, plyometric lunges, quad extensions. it was good leg resistance work, something I need to really get serious about this winter.
Friday:
Got in late from SF last night, hadn't seen the fam since Monday, took the day off.
Saturday:
2x250 warmup, 10x100 w/30 sec rest. If last Monday was a breakthrough, today was a fallback. My shoulders were really tired coming into the workout, and I really started to thrash about 1/2 way through. Next time: slow it way down and get the form back. Swimming a mile on 8/22 is going to be tough.
Sunday:
The 'Eastside Hills from Hell' ride, again. This is such a quality ride I just couldn't help myself, I had to do it again. This time, in the rain, and I reversed the last bit before the turnaround, going down to Holmes pt and doing the nasty climb out all the way to the top of Finn Hill. It was wet, and I couldn't stand b/c of wheel slippage on the steep parts, so it was a good power workout.
I'm feeling stronger on the hills, but not sure if this is just in my head. Its hard to tell speed wise b/c I haven't done this ride in the early season (too scary).
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Training Summary 7/26 - 8/1
Note: my olympic distance tri is 8/22. And I'm out of town next week travelling. So now is the time to train hard :)
Monday 7/26
Swim: 1 hr
goal: stroke training, w/reinforcement at easy pace.
Tuesday 7/27
Wednesday 7/28
Run: 1:15
2 mi warmup run to track
15 minute mi @ 80% HR (157) TT: 1.99 mi = 7:32/mi
1/4 mile walk
1 mile all out @ 6:41
2 mi back home
This is the first 80% TT effort I've done. The goal is to get faster at the same sustainable HR. 7:32 was close to my 'best case scenario', I was hoping for 7:25 or so, and was actually at 7:20 pace before my HR started creeping up and I had to slow down. Note that 80% HR may not be accurate, I need to retest using a max HR test (these....suck)
The one mile hurt. Which was to be expected. But I don't think I pushed as hard as I could have, mainly because of lack of concentration. I was thinking about how much it hurt, not how I could run faster/with better form. I think a 1 mile on track interval, esp following the 80% effort TT, is a great mental training exercise, its hard, but short enough to not totally shatter me for the rest of the week.
Monday 7/26
Swim: 1 hr
goal: stroke training, w/reinforcement at easy pace.
- 1x25-50-75-100 catch up stroke
- 1x25-50-75-100 rolling side to side (driving w/hips)
- 1x25-50-75-100 side to side w/fistgloves
- 5x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.
- 5x50 @ 1:00
- 2x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.
Tuesday 7/27
Swim: 1:10
goal: same as above
goal: same as above
- 1x25-50-75-100 catch up stroke
- 1x25-50-75-100 rolling side to side (driving w/hips)
- 10x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.
I noticed yesterday that I was averaging 1:48 or so doing easy 100s. This is sad b/c I was averaging 1:45 at the last tri I did, 1/2 mile swim. It's good because if I can improve efficiency, I can drop time easily.
Wednesday 7/28
Run: 1:15
2 mi warmup run to track
15 minute mi @ 80% HR (157) TT: 1.99 mi = 7:32/mi
1/4 mile walk
1 mile all out @ 6:41
2 mi back home
This is the first 80% TT effort I've done. The goal is to get faster at the same sustainable HR. 7:32 was close to my 'best case scenario', I was hoping for 7:25 or so, and was actually at 7:20 pace before my HR started creeping up and I had to slow down. Note that 80% HR may not be accurate, I need to retest using a max HR test (these....suck)
The one mile hurt. Which was to be expected. But I don't think I pushed as hard as I could have, mainly because of lack of concentration. I was thinking about how much it hurt, not how I could run faster/with better form. I think a 1 mile on track interval, esp following the 80% effort TT, is a great mental training exercise, its hard, but short enough to not totally shatter me for the rest of the week.
Thursday 7/29
slept in. Did some really minimal maintenance pilates. I really needed to sleep in after 2 late nights out. On the upside, it's always good to get beers and go to a Sounders game.
Friday 7/30
27.06 mi bike ride, 1:22 total. The usual Mercer Island loop
20.2 mph first lap.
15.4 mph over the hill
18.8 mph around the north side of island
20.5 mph on backside of island
Aside from almost getting killed by some latte sipping soccer mom on the second lap, this was a fine ride. I'm generating reasonable power and settling into the position well.
Saturday 7/31
Swimming 1 hr
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on rolling hips
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on extending arms forward and gliding
10x100 w/45 seconds rest. Focused on form not speed, was averaging 1:42, then slowed it down to 1:45 to keep focusing on form. Felt good and relaxed in the water. Breathing well on both sides for first 50, then on right side for last 50. Oh well. Really starting to feel like I'm driving from the hips.
Sunday 8/1
Cycling. 38 mi 2:17, 16.9 mph. "Eastside Hills From Hell"
This is the east side of the lake washington route, out and back across the following major climbs:
Weekly total: ~8.25 hrs trained.
Friday 7/30
27.06 mi bike ride, 1:22 total. The usual Mercer Island loop
20.2 mph first lap.
15.4 mph over the hill
18.8 mph around the north side of island
20.5 mph on backside of island
Aside from almost getting killed by some latte sipping soccer mom on the second lap, this was a fine ride. I'm generating reasonable power and settling into the position well.
Saturday 7/31
Swimming 1 hr
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on rolling hips
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on extending arms forward and gliding
10x100 w/45 seconds rest. Focused on form not speed, was averaging 1:42, then slowed it down to 1:45 to keep focusing on form. Felt good and relaxed in the water. Breathing well on both sides for first 50, then on right side for last 50. Oh well. Really starting to feel like I'm driving from the hips.
Sunday 8/1
Cycling. 38 mi 2:17, 16.9 mph. "Eastside Hills From Hell"
This is the east side of the lake washington route, out and back across the following major climbs:
- the col d'Killarney, a vicious 1/4 mile straight uphill grind rising from the lake like a bat out of hell.
- the col d'Kirkland, coming out of downtown Kirkland like a Lynwood girl in a bar fight,
- the col d'Juanita, a deceptively gentle start with a demoralizingly long ending.
- the col d'Holmes Point, a solid grind that follows a wild descent off of the top of Juanita.
- Then turn around, do the col d'Kirkland backside, which (I think) is worse than the frontside,
- followed by the col d'Medina point, a brutal grind between the bowels of Kirkland and the posh avenues of fair Medina, followed by the backside of the col d'Killarney, which at this point in the ride is definitely worse than the frontside.
Weekly total: ~8.25 hrs trained.
- 3 hrs swimming
- 4.5 hrs biking
- 1.25 hrs running
Race Report: Seafair Sprint Tri, 2010
Details:
1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run
Results:
1:19:06 total
15:22 for the 1/2 mile swim (1:45/100m avg, 43/99age group)
2:36 T1 (48/100 age group)
35:46 for the 12 mile ride (20.13 mph avg. 26/99age group)
2:16 T2 (74/100 age group)
23:06 for the 3 mile run (7:26 mile avg, 24/99 age group)
27th out of 99 in 40-44 age group.
Race Prep:
I had spent the last two weeks in Corrales, at roughly 5000 feet. Not 'altitude' per se, but enough altitude for me to feel it, plus it was dry and hot. I got in some good runs with some decent hills, and worked on form. After every hard run I'd hit the TRX for suspended lunges and one leg squats. I also worked on my swim form, which has come a long way since the Issaquah Tri. Unfortunately the pools I had to swim in were pretty short, which made it hard to get into a groove.
I had not ridden my bike at all in the previous 3 weeks, except for yesterday (day before the race), when I spun out 20 miles. This really didn't sweat me much, since I know how to ride a bike and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to forget at this point in life.
Day of Race:
At 5 AM it was overcast, cloudy, and 54 degrees. In mid July !?! This has truly been a no-summer summer. I was dreading getting into the lake, my Lake Sammamish experience had left some mental scars. But, my ethnic cheapness won out and I trundled down to the race to get my money's worth!
I was very pleasantly surprised when I stuck my toe into the lake and found that it was much warmer than the air temp. My warmup swim was great, mainly because unlike last time I wasn't getting an ice cream headache. I tried to stay warm until the start, but the last 10 minutes were cold just standing around. Everyone around me was shivering too, so I didn't think about it too much.
The gun went off and it was a muthaf*cking scrum, definitely the most aggressive start I've had in my long, sordid history of 3 triathlons. People were pulling on my legs, I was climbing over slower swimmers from earlier waves, and there was plenty of thrashing going on. I settled into somewhat of a groove, but never felt like I was 'flowing'. My arms were working too hard and I immediately started breathing w/every stroke. And I was doing way too much work with my arms, they were getting tired. So I tried to concentrate on driving my stroke from my hips, and that was actually going pretty good when all of a sudden, the swim was over!
I stood up to run out of the lake and my right hamstring started to seize up. wtf ?? I've never had that happen from a swim. Fortunately it didn't go into full spasm, and I hobbled into the transition area.
T1
My transitions are getting better. This time I was wearing my shirt underneath my wetsuit, so it was simply a matter of getting out of the wet suit and getting into biking gear, then heading out to the bike. I'm always amazed at how dead my upper body/arms/fingers are after the swim. Not a good time for fine motor movements, like putting on a helmet :)
Bike
I was spinning up and getting ready to 'turn it to 11' when _both_ hamstrings twinged. Damn. I decided that (a) this worked itself out last time, maybe I should give it another go, and (b) to slow down while my legs were getting to their happy place. I could barely ride 20 mph on the flats for the first mile or so, then picked it up to 22-23 We made a sharp right turn up a narrow path that some guy was trying to grind up in a 53x12. I was able to get around him, and then was out on the I-90 express lane.
I was flying on the express lane. It went way faster than it does on the way back from work, which I usually do on a fixie, on the bike path, with a heavy backpack. There was also a pretty significant side/tailwind coming out of the southwest. Before I could think any more deep thoughts, we were on Mercer Island, in the tunnel, which all of a sudden started to go...uphill? Hey, I never noticed that this part was uphill before! Then again, I had only done this in a car, and the car never complained like my legs started to -- my speed dropped way off and then the tunnel was done, and there was a short downhill followed by the turnaround. That downhill seemed a lot longer when it was ridden as an uphill...then it was back into the depths of the tunnel again, which was now a sweet downhill, out across the bridge, into the head/sidewind, and back onto Lake Washington blvd, where we were a little more sheltered from the wind and I could just _barely_ keep it at 20-21 mph. At mile 10 I started to feel good, really good, and picked my speed up, which was too bad because the bike ride was only 12 miles long. I want to do an olympic distance ride to see if my theories about being a 'slow warmer upper' hold true. Or maybe I don't, that way I could live with the delusion that I'm actually quite fast at longer distances without proving it :)
Only two people passed me on the bike. They were moving fast, one was drafting the other. I didn't try to match their pace, it was on the headwind section. I kept the last one in sight for a while, then he...disappeared. I passed a lot of people, but they were from the other age groups. This was probably because the majority of my age group was down the road due to my slow swim!
T2
back into the transition, once again my fingers moved with the grace of a sleep deprived three year old. But this time that didn't slow me down, because I had bought those yankz shoelaces the day before. Best $8 I've ever spent. I just pulled the shoes on my feet, and I was off and running. In the wrong direction. That cost some time -- oh well :) A nice volunteer grabbed me and turned me around -- thanks, whoever you are!
Run
Same old first mile story: my legs felt like lead and the road felt like molasses. But I had accepted that before the race, and just kept telling myself it would get better. I managed to keep things reasonably fast at 7:19 for the first mile. The second mile was going much better, 7:06 pace, and I caught and passed one of the bikers that had passed me. Then we turned the corner and hit...the Mother of All Hills. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it felt like the mother of all hills. I slowed to a jog/shuffle kind of jig, I saw a lot of people walking it, my mantra became "don't walk", but walking might have been faster than what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I looked like a very angry, very tired duck. Because this I felt like I was half lurching, half waddling up the hill. One guy I had been running with (a fellow 40-44 age grouper) kept going at a good clip up the hill, which was pretty impressive because he was 6-3 and built like a linebacker. Definitely not a Kenyan, but he just floated away from me! I think mile 2 was about 7:57, I _really_ slowed down on that hill. Soon (not soon enough!) we topped out and turned around, and I was able to catch and drop Linebacker boy. Must be mygut lower center of gravity.
After coming down the big hill, we turned right and were about 3/4 mile from the finish. So I picked it up as best I could, and gutted it in at a 7:10 3rd mile.
Conclusions
I was thinking about doing an oly August 1, but I think I'll do one in late August instead, after I've spent some time working on my swim. It hasn't improved much since last year. I'm going to concentrate (again) on form over speed, I have faith that with form, speed will come. I definitely need to get more power on the bike, more intense riding and some bodyweight exercises should help. The run I'm actually happy with, I could always be faster, but these things take time, and at least I'm not waddling (as much as I used to) any more. I think some tempo runs and road intervals will help the speed. Running fast enough to be uncomfortable is the only way I'm going to get faster.
I've decided that my goal with triathlons is to simply go as fast as I can and be happy if I can cross the line completely worked. At 41, with (extremely) limited potential and training time limited to about 7 hours per week, that's about all I can ask from myself. With that goal in mind, this triathlon was definitely a success. I had many moments where I talked myself into going faster, and many opportunities to go slower that I passed by. I'm not sure what's up with the cramping, but I've learned from this and other endurance events that there is always something, the game is to work with it and not worry too much. I would love to have a race where I feel like I've completely crushed the swim, the bike, or the run, or even more than one leg, but hey, this is triathlon #3, I think I've got to pay some more dues before I get day like that.
1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run
Results:
1:19:06 total
15:22 for the 1/2 mile swim (1:45/100m avg, 43/99age group)
2:36 T1 (48/100 age group)
35:46 for the 12 mile ride (20.13 mph avg. 26/99age group)
2:16 T2 (74/100 age group)
23:06 for the 3 mile run (7:26 mile avg, 24/99 age group)
27th out of 99 in 40-44 age group.
Race Prep:
I had spent the last two weeks in Corrales, at roughly 5000 feet. Not 'altitude' per se, but enough altitude for me to feel it, plus it was dry and hot. I got in some good runs with some decent hills, and worked on form. After every hard run I'd hit the TRX for suspended lunges and one leg squats. I also worked on my swim form, which has come a long way since the Issaquah Tri. Unfortunately the pools I had to swim in were pretty short, which made it hard to get into a groove.
I had not ridden my bike at all in the previous 3 weeks, except for yesterday (day before the race), when I spun out 20 miles. This really didn't sweat me much, since I know how to ride a bike and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to forget at this point in life.
Day of Race:
At 5 AM it was overcast, cloudy, and 54 degrees. In mid July !?! This has truly been a no-summer summer. I was dreading getting into the lake, my Lake Sammamish experience had left some mental scars. But, my ethnic cheapness won out and I trundled down to the race to get my money's worth!
I was very pleasantly surprised when I stuck my toe into the lake and found that it was much warmer than the air temp. My warmup swim was great, mainly because unlike last time I wasn't getting an ice cream headache. I tried to stay warm until the start, but the last 10 minutes were cold just standing around. Everyone around me was shivering too, so I didn't think about it too much.
The gun went off and it was a muthaf*cking scrum, definitely the most aggressive start I've had in my long, sordid history of 3 triathlons. People were pulling on my legs, I was climbing over slower swimmers from earlier waves, and there was plenty of thrashing going on. I settled into somewhat of a groove, but never felt like I was 'flowing'. My arms were working too hard and I immediately started breathing w/every stroke. And I was doing way too much work with my arms, they were getting tired. So I tried to concentrate on driving my stroke from my hips, and that was actually going pretty good when all of a sudden, the swim was over!
I stood up to run out of the lake and my right hamstring started to seize up. wtf ?? I've never had that happen from a swim. Fortunately it didn't go into full spasm, and I hobbled into the transition area.
T1
My transitions are getting better. This time I was wearing my shirt underneath my wetsuit, so it was simply a matter of getting out of the wet suit and getting into biking gear, then heading out to the bike. I'm always amazed at how dead my upper body/arms/fingers are after the swim. Not a good time for fine motor movements, like putting on a helmet :)
Bike
I was spinning up and getting ready to 'turn it to 11' when _both_ hamstrings twinged. Damn. I decided that (a) this worked itself out last time, maybe I should give it another go, and (b) to slow down while my legs were getting to their happy place. I could barely ride 20 mph on the flats for the first mile or so, then picked it up to 22-23 We made a sharp right turn up a narrow path that some guy was trying to grind up in a 53x12. I was able to get around him, and then was out on the I-90 express lane.
I was flying on the express lane. It went way faster than it does on the way back from work, which I usually do on a fixie, on the bike path, with a heavy backpack. There was also a pretty significant side/tailwind coming out of the southwest. Before I could think any more deep thoughts, we were on Mercer Island, in the tunnel, which all of a sudden started to go...uphill? Hey, I never noticed that this part was uphill before! Then again, I had only done this in a car, and the car never complained like my legs started to -- my speed dropped way off and then the tunnel was done, and there was a short downhill followed by the turnaround. That downhill seemed a lot longer when it was ridden as an uphill...then it was back into the depths of the tunnel again, which was now a sweet downhill, out across the bridge, into the head/sidewind, and back onto Lake Washington blvd, where we were a little more sheltered from the wind and I could just _barely_ keep it at 20-21 mph. At mile 10 I started to feel good, really good, and picked my speed up, which was too bad because the bike ride was only 12 miles long. I want to do an olympic distance ride to see if my theories about being a 'slow warmer upper' hold true. Or maybe I don't, that way I could live with the delusion that I'm actually quite fast at longer distances without proving it :)
Only two people passed me on the bike. They were moving fast, one was drafting the other. I didn't try to match their pace, it was on the headwind section. I kept the last one in sight for a while, then he...disappeared. I passed a lot of people, but they were from the other age groups. This was probably because the majority of my age group was down the road due to my slow swim!
T2
back into the transition, once again my fingers moved with the grace of a sleep deprived three year old. But this time that didn't slow me down, because I had bought those yankz shoelaces the day before. Best $8 I've ever spent. I just pulled the shoes on my feet, and I was off and running. In the wrong direction. That cost some time -- oh well :) A nice volunteer grabbed me and turned me around -- thanks, whoever you are!
Run
Same old first mile story: my legs felt like lead and the road felt like molasses. But I had accepted that before the race, and just kept telling myself it would get better. I managed to keep things reasonably fast at 7:19 for the first mile. The second mile was going much better, 7:06 pace, and I caught and passed one of the bikers that had passed me. Then we turned the corner and hit...the Mother of All Hills. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it felt like the mother of all hills. I slowed to a jog/shuffle kind of jig, I saw a lot of people walking it, my mantra became "don't walk", but walking might have been faster than what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I looked like a very angry, very tired duck. Because this I felt like I was half lurching, half waddling up the hill. One guy I had been running with (a fellow 40-44 age grouper) kept going at a good clip up the hill, which was pretty impressive because he was 6-3 and built like a linebacker. Definitely not a Kenyan, but he just floated away from me! I think mile 2 was about 7:57, I _really_ slowed down on that hill. Soon (not soon enough!) we topped out and turned around, and I was able to catch and drop Linebacker boy. Must be my
After coming down the big hill, we turned right and were about 3/4 mile from the finish. So I picked it up as best I could, and gutted it in at a 7:10 3rd mile.
Conclusions
I was thinking about doing an oly August 1, but I think I'll do one in late August instead, after I've spent some time working on my swim. It hasn't improved much since last year. I'm going to concentrate (again) on form over speed, I have faith that with form, speed will come. I definitely need to get more power on the bike, more intense riding and some bodyweight exercises should help. The run I'm actually happy with, I could always be faster, but these things take time, and at least I'm not waddling (as much as I used to) any more. I think some tempo runs and road intervals will help the speed. Running fast enough to be uncomfortable is the only way I'm going to get faster.
I've decided that my goal with triathlons is to simply go as fast as I can and be happy if I can cross the line completely worked. At 41, with (extremely) limited potential and training time limited to about 7 hours per week, that's about all I can ask from myself. With that goal in mind, this triathlon was definitely a success. I had many moments where I talked myself into going faster, and many opportunities to go slower that I passed by. I'm not sure what's up with the cramping, but I've learned from this and other endurance events that there is always something, the game is to work with it and not worry too much. I would love to have a race where I feel like I've completely crushed the swim, the bike, or the run, or even more than one leg, but hey, this is triathlon #3, I think I've got to pay some more dues before I get day like that.
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