Issaquah Sprint Triathlon June 5 2010

Last Saturday I did my first triathlon of the season, my second triathlon ever, the Issaquah Sprint Tri.  The official distances of each leg were 1/4 mile swim, 15 mile bike ride, 3 Mile run.

Details
29th out of 108
The actual course:. As measured by Garmin: 14.7 mile bike ride, 2.69 run.
Times:

• swim  08:15, 35th in AG
• t1       3:17, 50th in AG
• bike:  43:07 or 20.9 mph, 24th in AG
• t2      2:32 81st in AG
• run   20:23, 35th in AG

20.9mph bike, official 6:45 for run, but I think that was assuming a 3 mile run. If the run was 2.69 and total time was 20:23, meaning real pace was 7:34.

Race Prep
I can't say I was flying for this race. Work has been grueling. I end up working most nights after the kids go to bed. Usually knock off around 10, 10:30. I had only been riding on the weekends, averaging one ride per week. My running had tapered a little bit, but I had been focusing on speedwork. And my swimming is still definitely in the 'technique and endurance buildup' phase. So I didn't have massive expectations, I just wanted to make sure I went as hard as I could.

Day of Race:
It was the first nice day in 3 weeks. But it was still cold. I ventured out into the lake to see how cold, and came back with an ice cream headache. It was so cold it literally took my breath away. I had to force myself to take slow, deep breaths -- once I had a layer of water around my chest and it had started to warm up, this was easier. But my feet were insta numb, and it felt like I was moving through molasses.

Swim:
After the warmup it ended up being about 30 minutes to the start. I once again had the joy of immersing my body in ice cold water and losing my breath, but I got it out of the way before the start. This time I started in the middle of the field, and fortunately didn't have a lot of people crawling over me. But I was definitely thrashing. I was uncomfortable because it was so cold, and I kept having to re-sight. Started getting tired near the end - thing is, it was only a 1/4 mile swim, but it felt so much longer!

T1:
I stumbled out of the water. Couldn't feel anything beneath my knees, and my arms were completely pumped. Fortunately, the wetsuit came off like a prom dress (fast!), because of the leg zips. I was still having issues feeling anything, and struggled to get my bike jersey on. Next time, I'm just going to wear a sleeveless jersey under the wet suit. Hopefully it will be warm enough so that  I dont regret doing that, but trying to put on a bike jersey with completely pumped arms is a stumblefuck of an experience. I lost a lot of time in transition -- basically the two places before me had slower run/bike/swim times, but faster transitions. Transitions are free time, I shouldn't be pissing them away.

Bike:
The first part of the bike course was about 3 feet wide, for about a mile. This made it hard/impossible to pass slower people, which was frustrating. The road opened out after that, and once we were on lake sammamish, it was smooth sailing. Sort of. I still couldn't feel anything beneath the knees, not sure if this was good or bad, but I felt like I was struggling on the bike for the first 5 miles. Definitely felt like I was getting into a good groove around mile 13, but then we were back into the narrow cones and getting ready for T2. 20.9 mph is decent, but I would definitely like to be able to move faster than that next time.

T2:
Since all I had to do was change into my shoes, I was amazed at how hard T2 really was. I think most of the difficulty was that I still couldn't feel my toes. Getting socks on was not an option (next time: bring a towel just for this!), I shoved my feet into running shoes and stumbled out onto the run.

Run:
Ouch. I think some bricks are in order. I felt like hell the first mile. The second mile I was fighting off a hamstring cramp. The third mile I started to feel good, but before I knew it, there was the finish line. 7:34/ mile is pretty freaking slow. But it's hard to run when you can't feel your feet :)

Overall:
A little slower than my last triathlon in September. But just a little. The first transition definitely went better, and I'm pretty happy to have survived the swim and done decent on the bike, and glad that the leg cramp on the run was fleeting.

I would like to believe that Olympic might be more my thing, based on how I was feeling by the time I finished each leg (except the swim. I was just glad that was done). The nice thing about triathlons is that I always feel like I did something at the end, even the short ones like this.

TD: 5/10 - 5/23

ooh, I've been a bit remiss in my diary entries.

Workout summary:

5/12: speedwork: 6.54 mi total, 4 x 400.
5/14: swimming, concentrated on bilateral breathing
5/16: bay to breakers, I jogged this with Lopa: 7.5 mi
5/18: weights/trx
5/20: swimming, more w/bilateral breathing and form
5/21: speedwork: 7.57 mi: 1x800, 2x400, 4x200
5/22: biked the MI loop. Felt stale after speedwork, finished in 1:28 (PR = 1:22)

my diet: I haven't been tracking, and it's reverted to the usual (not great, not terrible ;). I'll try to do a better job of tracking.

Today: I might run, before I change my mind and go back to bed, but I'm pretty wrecked. After the bike ride, I moved 5 cubic yards of mulch into the backyard, which involved loading a wheelbarrow up with 100 lbs of mulch, then taking it down the stairs. I'm surprised I'm not more wrecked, must be the advil.

Thoughts on speedwork: this article pretty much sums it up. Its a pain game. Running fast trains your brain to deal with very painful situations, trains your body to maintain form in those painful situations, and in general, 'normal' pace is revealed to be the jog that it really is. After running 800s,  400s, 200s  around the track, the run home almost feels like walking.

TD 5/05 - 5/10

I've been somewhat remiss on all fronts lately.
(1) business trip to SF went well, I only got one run in, my typical 8 miler to the edge of the Presidio. Next trip down I'm going to go into the Presidio and check it out some more.
(2) After business trip, no exercise for a couple of days due to lack of sleep and work = busy.
(3) diet? major falldown. I'm eating a lot of crap at work and generally not doing too well.
(4) Weekend: got in a 38 mi hilly ride on the E side to Issaquah and up the first part of Cougar Mtn. Sunday I took the day off b/c mothers day. I did a killer TRX session instead, concentrated on legs. I also did a lot of mellow walking / biking with kids. Kiran did his first 8 mile bike ride!
(5) Monday it rained and I wussed. No swimming, nothing.

I've got to get back on the good eating train, I can feel the fatigue from too much sugar. Arrrggh.

Tomorrow is climbing with Rob.

TD 5/02-5/04

After Saturday's run (5/01), I felt a little stale, but decided to go and do the 8.6 mile tempo loop around the N end of the island. Started out _real_ slow, felt better by mile 3, picked it up on the backend of the loop (3-5.5), shuffled up the steep part of the hill, then brought it home.

Looking over the data: the first 3 miles was _really_ slow compared to the last time I did this run, for example

the 4/18 tempo mile splits:
mile 4,5 : 7:31, 7:19
 the 5/1 tempo mile splits:
mile 4,5: 8:46, 7:56.

Wow. Day 3 of running, apparently fatigue happens!

 Sunday Night I flew to SF, for 3 days of work. Monday AM I got in some basic lifting/core stabilizing exercises.

Work: We're ramping up on the company's hadoop/Pig usage/platform, and it's pretty fun, but we're stuck in a small, hot room. Which makes it hard to work. We did pull about 10 hours, then went to a Pakistani place for dinner.

This AM I woke at the usual time, but really didn't feel like running. Even after having read 'Once a Runner'. Part of the lethargy is caused by the fact that I haven't had a truly liberating crap since I got into town, and I don't want to unclog 8 miles into a 10 mile run, no bathroom in site. The other part is that I'm tired, and feel like I'm starting to catch something. Last night I was kind of stuffed up.

Food Intake: 
Weekend was pretty good, I don't remember the exact intake, which means I need to start writing it down daily again (otherwise what's the point?)

Yesterday:

• breakfast: 1 mini scone, 1 sausage mc starbucks sandwich, 1 grande americano. Standard SF breakfast
• lunch: salad. Felt pretty good about getting a salad. 
• snack: whoops. 4 handful of jelly beans, 2 oranges, 2 bananas, 2 handfuls of dried fruit (I'm pretty sure its mega fattening). 4 talking rain sodas. 1 green tea.
• Dinner: all meat, all the time, at Shalimars.

TD 4/28 - 5/01

Whew. An epic week at work, a broken cleat, and life in general have conspired to make this week all about running and swimming.

4/28 :Wednesday: nothing. Just the ride into work.
4/29: Thursday: swimming. 3x200 warmup, 10x50 intervals. Had to keep it short today, but tried to keep it intense. I'm noticing that I'm not rolling all the way on my left side. The bilateral breathing thing is hard to commit to. When I do it, I start to drop my legs/lift my head. I think the solution is to try 'cigar mouth', i.e. breathing in from the upward side of my mouth.
4/30: Friday: speedwork. I had subconsciously avoided this all week. but no more. I kept it short and sweet: 4x200 sprints, 2x400 sprints, 2x200 stride 100/sprint 100. Running fast hurts. But it also feels great to move that fast. I think speedwork is a required staple from now on. It make running 'normal' feel much easier.
4/31: Saturday: 6 mi @ recovery pace.

TD 4/27: Swim and climb (day off)

Whoa Nellie I fell off the diet wagon today. Kiko, that bastard, unpacked a chocolate box, and I was off to the m-f races.

Monday was a swim. I started to increase my continuous yardage to 200 yards. It's hard (after a while) to keep going, it seems like I enter oxygen debt, and I need to slow down, catch my breath, and relax. I also concentrated on rolling from side to side, and gliding on my side.

I'm still a slow mofo in the pool, but I'm shooting for comfort rather than speed. Ironic, because in running and cycling, I'm definitely shooting for speed over comfort. But swimming is so technique heavy that I need to dial in a good stroke before I speed things up.

Tuesday (today) was a climbing day. Did a bunch of 10b's and 10c's. Finger strength coming back. This is a good way to take a break from Triathlon training.

Tomorrow: if it rains, I'm swimming. If not, I'm going to to real speed work at the track, like a serious guy would. 

Monday:

• Breakfast: 2pcs toast, 1 coffee, 1 protein drink, 1 bowl grape nuts
• Lunch: 1 small bbq pizza. I can make better @ home.  + diet coke
• Dinner: Met Sarah and Philippe @ Wild Ginger. Ate lots. Had 2 beers. Felt great.

Tuesday:

• Breakfast: 2 pcs toast, 1 coffee
• Snack: 1 protein bar, 1 apple juice
• Lunch: 2.5 pcs pizza + diet coke
• Snacks: 4 pcs chocolate, 3 oranges
• Dinner: homemade swimming rama (yum!) with brown rice. 
• Dessert: the last ice cream sandwich :(

TD 4/25: weekend run and bike

4/24: 6.3 miles, 3 mi warmup at < 142 bpm, 3 mi tempo. Felt OK, slightly tired, and this was mentally tough. Speedwork day on Wed + weights -- apparently still not over it?

On tempo section I focused on quick, 'ballistic' leg movements and relaxing between those. This seemed to help pace and comfort level.

I also did resistance exercises after todays run:
2x15 single leg squat/lunges
2x20 standard dumbell squats w/60 lbs
2x20 good mornings w/60 lbs.

4/25: 38 mi North Loop Lk Washington w/Rob, 2:23.
Rob is an animal. In mtb shoes, on an old cannondale, Rob pushed me very hard up all of the hills. He's got a huge motor, and very strong legs. It was great to have him there, because I was tired from yesterday, and the hills hurt.
The highlight of this ride was the fact that I could hurt as bad as I did and still keep the pace up on the hills. Again I was focusing on each pedal turnover, not trying to make it smooth, but pushing through the pedal stroke as quickly as I could. Focusing on each pedal stroke was a really powerful way to push the discomfort out of my mind, I'm going to have to keep working on it.

Diet:
Saturday:

• breakfast: pancakes
• lunch: pizza
• dinner: stir fry + 1 glass wine

Sunday:

• breakfast: 3 pcs quiche
• lunch: avocado+tomato sandwich
• dinner: 2 pcs costco pizza :(
• dessert: 1 ice cream bar :( :( 

just kidding on the frowns. A mans gotta live, after all!