Friday, July 22, 2011

Panic time

Well, panic is setting in all around. I'm trying to wrap up a major project at work, haven't' been able to run in weeks, and Lauren is due soon. I finally found a great PT who is a runner, and he seems to have identified my issues. I also got a new pair of training shoes, and racing shoes (k-swiss kwickie blade lite).

I got lazy with my form, stretching and antagonist muscle strengthening. This is usually the root of most injuries, but I caught mine early enough. I did two miles today on the treadmill with no issues. I'm gonna try to do a longish run on Sunday to see how it holds up and go from there.

I've been biking almost every day, and am seeing huge gains. I'll continue this when my running kicks back up, building a better base for the race. I'm gonna do a fake half in August, and re-evaluate from there.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Harrisburg race report

The Harrisburg sprint tri was the second course (3rd race) I ever did. The first time I did it, I had just gotten my cervelo and was ready to see how I could race. I was having knee problems, but had a few months of training. I went 1:23 and was happy, but had a slow bike.

Because of vacation and injuries, this was the first time I'd be able to race it since 2008. My only speedwork sessions this year have been races, but my speed has been great. I had an idea of what I wanted to do on the swim, bike and run. There was almost no current, but we were able to wear wetsuits. I finished 7th overall and 3rd in my ag. 3rd - 7th were separated by 30 seconds.

Swim: 14:29 (.6 miles) - my Xterra Vortex 3 was great. People complained of the heat, but I was fine. I lined up too close to the bouy though, and lost about :30 trying to keep a good line. I was happy with my time and position though.

T1: 1:20 - ok...need to practice removing the wetsuit. Since I wear socks and calf sleeves, it's slower...but ok with me

Bike: 35:43 (14 miles) - I was really happy with my time. I felt in control for most of it, and only had one "traffic" issue where I lost some time due to a cop car..oh well. I didn't push it too hard and still had some in the tank.

T2: :33 - fast as usual. Easy in and out.

Run: 17:06 (2.8 miles) - I'm happy with my run, but felt I could have done better. I didn't feel great at the start, but was still doing 6 minute miles. The 3rd place guy was about 10 seconds behind me at the start of the run, I just couldn't hang on (he outran me by 40 seconds).

I'm really happy with how the whole race went. I'm excited to do it next year, since I feel I can take off 3 minutes between all events. I know I have a lot more improvement I can do on the bike and run with some more interval work.

That about wraps up my race season. I've got the big race left, and am psyched with how well this year has gone. I'm keeping a positive thought on staying healthy and carrying this into next year.