I'd
like to thank Kiwami and Xterra for supporting me this season. The
Konami tri suit is hands down the best suit I've ever had. I raced all
my races this year in it, from sprints to 140.6. My Xterra Vortex 3 was
the first long sleeve suit I had, and I had 0 jelly fish stings :).
Brian from PBN was a huge help dialing in my nutrition, it was a game
changer for me. desertdude, rroof, barryp (running plan) and others
from the forums answered questions about training/health/etc that kept
me going.
Race
day - I woke up feeling great. It had poured the day before and
overnight, so I was worried about my bike. Got into transition and my
powertap was DOA...so much for riding my target watts. Had issues
getting my tires pumped, so I knew the bike was gonna be a long day.
Nutrition
- Breakfast was a bagel with peanut butter, then a bottle of
gatorade/carbo pro sipped before the swim. On the bike, I had EFS gel
and EFS/carbo pro in the water bottle. Sipped/drank those every 15
minutes and chased with water. Was peeing clear the whole bike/run. On
the run, I did a shot of EFS gel at every turn (4.4+ miles) and then
gatorade/water at every aid station - switched to soda at the half way
point.
Swim (1:11) - I lined up at the outside buoy and took it
easy. I did the ST method for training and slacked off in July/August.
Finished and felt pretty good.
T1 - hot sweaty mess in the
changing tent. Didn't wait for my own bag, just grabbed it and got
changed (slowely). Need to remember to remove the plastic from the gel
flasks
Bike (6:20) - I planned on taking it fairly easy (150
watts), but had to go off RPE since my PT was dead. 10 miles in I'm
slowing down and hear a "thud thud thud" at my front tire...yep, first
flat. Got it changed and kept going. 5 minutes later, what do you
know? Another flat...this time the vavle stem failed. Got going again
and a minute later I hear the air bursting out of my front tire...got a
pebble in it and it was slashed. I was ready to throw my bike and call
it a day, but the SAG wagon wasn't too far away. Waited for them and
got a new front tire installed. Who knows how long I lost (30+
minutes), but I just wanted to finish the race. Got to mile 56 and a
friend of mine had flatted twice and was DNF'ing. Stopped to see if she
needed help and then went off. Hit the special needs and my neck was
killing me. I had to sit up and just take it easy the rest of the ride.
I'd love to go to Elite and get a good fit from DG to work out my neck
and hamstring issues, but can't budget it right now.
T2 - In and out. Someone gave me tums and it was a huge help.
Run
(3:48) - Since I didn't push the bike hard, my legs felt amazing. It
was a three lap course, and I did the first lap around 1:12. Second
lap I was running with a guy in my AG and took it a little easier than I
wanted to, but was fine with it. Hit the half way point at 1:48 Third
lap, I was still feeling good, but decided to run/walk the aid
stations. At mile 20, my hamstrings were getting ready to cramp up and I
just didn't have the run base I wanted to. Hit the last turn around
and ran into the one and only, Wongstar. She was all smiles during the
run. Got to run and chat with her for a few miles (22-24) which was a
huge help for the mental side.
Finished in 11:29 and was ecstatic. They even gave my son a call out :) at the finish.
Tri
Columbia did a great job as always. I think I'll hold off doing
another 140.6 until I can ride longer than 4 hours without having
issues.
Blog about my triathlon excursions.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Year Report
Well, now I've had a few days to reflect about the race, here is my year report. Just a warning, it will be long.
TRAINING
I started my training on 1/1/11. I rode the Columbia course on my computrainer to see where my bike fitness was. My plan was to do the Computrainer P.I.G training plan for 20 weeks to work into biking, then the BarryP 3-2-1 run trianing plan.
Jan/Feb went and I was making some progress. I was increasing my running mileage gradually and feeling great. Biking was going OK, but I was quickly realizing the Computrainer wasn't worth the money. Some people love the ERG mode, but I'd rather push my own watts then rely on something forcing me to it. The 3d software crashed, wigged out, etc. The real course videos wouldn't register for a month, then Kona had issues and Lake Placid had some "phantom" crazy hard hills. I was dissapointed because the majority of my training was going to be on the CT with Lauren pregnant.
RACE SEASON
Race season came in April, with my first sprint. I had a bad bike fit (self inflicted) and an asthma attack on the bike. I had to run/walk the run...I was not happy with that performance. I realized that my bike wasn't even close to what I was hoping to be at. I think I was in better shape the years before b/c I turned in the same time with better gear...oh well!
I did a local 5k race and finished a tough course in 17:40. I started feeling more confident about my running. I was still taking it "easy" on my runs compared to years before focusing on building base mileage. I did a 66 mile ride outdoor with some friends that felt pretty good, but started to bonk b/c of nutrition.
May had more training and a fast 5k. I ran 17:10 to get 2nd overall. I felt great and was really happy with my run training. My swim training had been going great too. I was only swimming 1-2 times a week, but got up to 3k sets.
June I had a sprint and a 70.3 race. Both I suffered from gearing issues on the bike. I was riding 165mm compact cranks with a 12/27 cassette. I was spinning out on hills and loosing time. The sprint went well, with another solid run. The 70.3 had a tough bike course. I went out too hard and suffered, but had a good run to land me 1st in my AG.
July I started getting PTTD in my right ankle. I had to back off my run training and decided to ride every day the tour did. I enjoyed this a lot. My long rides were on the trainer next to my mother-in-law's pool. I did a few 3 and 4 hr rides where I jumped in the pool to cool off. I did a sprint race and had a solid bike, but was still tired on the run. I missed 3rd OA by 30 seconds.
August came along with Isaac. We were new parents having no idea what was going on. Work gave me 1.5 weeks off, which I took advantage off. I got a 12 mile run, some biking, etc. My training dropped off, but I focused on my running until the race.
Last month I did a few 2+ hr rides, but a 16 and 18 mile run. My swimming dropped off, but I was fine with it. This leads me to the race. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, as my bike training was well below my target. I wanted to have 5 rides of 4 hrs of more and only got two. I wanted to have 4 16+ miles runs and only had 2. Oh well.
Check out my race report to see how I did. I'm doing a 15k in December and maybe another 5k, but will start formulating my training/racing plan for next year. Just waiting to hear back from a few companies about some opportunities. The big focus may be a 4:30 70.3 and a BQ at Philly.
TRAINING
I started my training on 1/1/11. I rode the Columbia course on my computrainer to see where my bike fitness was. My plan was to do the Computrainer P.I.G training plan for 20 weeks to work into biking, then the BarryP 3-2-1 run trianing plan.
Jan/Feb went and I was making some progress. I was increasing my running mileage gradually and feeling great. Biking was going OK, but I was quickly realizing the Computrainer wasn't worth the money. Some people love the ERG mode, but I'd rather push my own watts then rely on something forcing me to it. The 3d software crashed, wigged out, etc. The real course videos wouldn't register for a month, then Kona had issues and Lake Placid had some "phantom" crazy hard hills. I was dissapointed because the majority of my training was going to be on the CT with Lauren pregnant.
RACE SEASON
Race season came in April, with my first sprint. I had a bad bike fit (self inflicted) and an asthma attack on the bike. I had to run/walk the run...I was not happy with that performance. I realized that my bike wasn't even close to what I was hoping to be at. I think I was in better shape the years before b/c I turned in the same time with better gear...oh well!
I did a local 5k race and finished a tough course in 17:40. I started feeling more confident about my running. I was still taking it "easy" on my runs compared to years before focusing on building base mileage. I did a 66 mile ride outdoor with some friends that felt pretty good, but started to bonk b/c of nutrition.
May had more training and a fast 5k. I ran 17:10 to get 2nd overall. I felt great and was really happy with my run training. My swim training had been going great too. I was only swimming 1-2 times a week, but got up to 3k sets.
June I had a sprint and a 70.3 race. Both I suffered from gearing issues on the bike. I was riding 165mm compact cranks with a 12/27 cassette. I was spinning out on hills and loosing time. The sprint went well, with another solid run. The 70.3 had a tough bike course. I went out too hard and suffered, but had a good run to land me 1st in my AG.
July I started getting PTTD in my right ankle. I had to back off my run training and decided to ride every day the tour did. I enjoyed this a lot. My long rides were on the trainer next to my mother-in-law's pool. I did a few 3 and 4 hr rides where I jumped in the pool to cool off. I did a sprint race and had a solid bike, but was still tired on the run. I missed 3rd OA by 30 seconds.
August came along with Isaac. We were new parents having no idea what was going on. Work gave me 1.5 weeks off, which I took advantage off. I got a 12 mile run, some biking, etc. My training dropped off, but I focused on my running until the race.
Last month I did a few 2+ hr rides, but a 16 and 18 mile run. My swimming dropped off, but I was fine with it. This leads me to the race. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, as my bike training was well below my target. I wanted to have 5 rides of 4 hrs of more and only got two. I wanted to have 4 16+ miles runs and only had 2. Oh well.
Check out my race report to see how I did. I'm doing a 15k in December and maybe another 5k, but will start formulating my training/racing plan for next year. Just waiting to hear back from a few companies about some opportunities. The big focus may be a 4:30 70.3 and a BQ at Philly.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
And this chapter ends...
I'll have a full report up soon. I'd like to thank Xterra, Kiwami, and my family for the support this year. The race was amazing. I had a bunch of issues on the bike at the start, but still finished. My marathon time of 3:48 was good for 13th overall, with a finish time of 11:29.
I've got a lot to work out on the bike until I try this distance again, but I think with the time and training, i can join the sub 10 club.
I've got a lot to work out on the bike until I try this distance again, but I think with the time and training, i can join the sub 10 club.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Taper Time
Well, it's time to start the taper. This may be the last post before the big race. Saturday, I tried to ride but the quad would have none of it. On a whim, I decided to throw some KT tape on to see if the quad was a strain/tear.
Well, that seemed to do it. I took Sunday off and Monday did a great 18 mile run. Half was on the treadmill, then I got fed up with the humidity and decided to run in the rain...except it didn't rain. I was able to keep a 7:45 pace for outside, taking it pretty easy. The last three miles are tough because it was uphill, but I was feeling better.
My running is back to normal (somewhat). I think I'm just burned out on the bike. I still can't sustain high wattages, but that's fine. I'm not going to be pushing hard for the race.
Well, that seemed to do it. I took Sunday off and Monday did a great 18 mile run. Half was on the treadmill, then I got fed up with the humidity and decided to run in the rain...except it didn't rain. I was able to keep a 7:45 pace for outside, taking it pretty easy. The last three miles are tough because it was uphill, but I was feeling better.
My running is back to normal (somewhat). I think I'm just burned out on the bike. I still can't sustain high wattages, but that's fine. I'm not going to be pushing hard for the race.
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