So, tomorrow is my last day at this job. I'm pretty happy about that. I decided to take a contractor position with NML. They like to hire good contractors, so I am hoping this will turn into a full-time job. If not, this contract will most likely last a couple years.
NML is a solid company, they value PM's and from what I've heard is a good place to work. My current employer is none of those things.
Anyway, I am happy and hoping I will enjoy this position more than my current role.
Training has been going very well.
Friday I felt a little crohns attack coming, not good. So I took that morning off. I was planning a race simulation that weekend, so one of the days was going to be recovery either way. So, Sunday became the big day. I was recovered and felt fine.
Originally I wasn't going to be as rested for this workout, so I was only going to hold 260 watts and then do a hard run at an 8 minute pace to see how that felt for an hour.
As I got out there I made the decision to really push things and see how I would hold up. The weather was near perfect in the high 70's.
I started up and my first loop was a bit above 270 watts. I was feeling very good other than my left glute hurting. It has been bothering me on the bike for a couple weeks. I think it is related to my fit...but have been working to keep it stretched out. My fitter thinks I may be sitting on the saddle unevenly...causing this. But I have to go in to find out...and I haven't had the time during the week. I will have to figure something out. Anyway, I took 30 seconds to stretch it out and got moving on the 2nd loop. I don't like long transitions, I have water bottles all prepped so I just open the car door, dump the old, grab the new and go.
The 2nd loop felt really solid...and I held 270-275 watts the entire way. I finished the 2 loops in 3 hours even with an average of 273 watts and a little over 20mph. Considering the hills, turns, and stop signs that was very good for this course.
I took in 4 full water bottles, 1 bottle of 600 calories and electroylytes, 3 saltstick pills, and 1 caffinated gu.
I pulled in, dropped off the bike, grabbed my fluids for the run and took off. The first thing I noticed was feeling really good. I started off, looked down and was a touch under 8 min/mile. I hit the drumline trail and was off to the races. Next thing I knew I was holding 7:30's for a couple miles. Everything was going really well...although it was heating up. There wasn't much shade. Hit the halfway point and was still doing really well. Turned around and started hoofing it back and was still doing well. At about mile 5 I started to feel it. At that point I came to the realization that the way out had a slight decline...which I was now climbing. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Mile 7 I slowed down a bit and did an 8:10 pace as the wheels started to come off. The final half mile was warm-down.
I may have been push a sub 8min pace for mile 8, I doubt I could have beyond that. But I do think I could have held close to an 8 minute pace for a while longer. That pace felt pretty good during the warmdown. All in all, the workout in general were really good. I was extremely happy with how things went. It was a great confidence builder and will help me determine where my limits will be down in Myrtle Beach. My nutrition seems to be in good shape as I have not had any problems in races or training.
What did I learn from this workout? A couple things really. First, given good conditions 270 watts come race day is not outside the realm of possibility. It is probably a little too high, but given how fast I was able to run off the bike, I can certainly go faster than 248 which I did in Racine. I still have four training weekends to practice my pacing and get in some really tough workouts.
I also learned that I can run pretty fast after a hard ride. Perhaps faster than I realized. In Racine I rode 248 watts and forced myself to run around an 8min/mile pace. I purposely slowed it down. Sunday I didn't slow anything down. My legs were turning over at their pace. I knew it was only going to be an hour run, so I didn't worry about suffering. And I was a lot faster as a result. My final pace for the entire run including warmdown was a 7:48. Even if I had slowed down to 8:20's like I did in Racine my average pace would have been closer to 8:05 instead of 8:20. That is a pretty significant time drop, roughly 4 minutes. A bump in power on the bike from 248 to 270 is worth another 5 minutes (depending on conditions), and my swim should be 3-4 minutes faster as well. Given similar conditions I could possibly approach 4:40. Breaking 4:40 is doubtful, but if I break 4:45 I'll be pretty damn happy.
This weekend will be a longer, slower ride. I want to hold about 250 watts and go for at least 3.5 to 4 hours followed by an easier run. I need to get in an interval run and it is about time to pick up the swimming again.
I've decided to do the lake Country half marathon Sept 4th. Aimee is going to walk it, I'm going to run it. I've never done a stand alone run race and figure it is about time. But as a result I don't know what to expect. According to my 5k time of about 20:00 I should be able to hold 7:10's for a half marathon. I'm not so sure about that! That seems awefully fast. But I also figure...this is the place to see what I can do. My fastest half marathon ever was a few weeks back in training when I held 7:58 the entire way.
So I think as a guage I am going to start off running 7:30's like I did on Sunday after my ride. We'll see how long I can hold that for. If I hold strong, great. I'll end up breaking a 1:40. Perhaps I can pick it up at the end...I really have no idea what to expect in a race situation. Should be fun.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
The quest for the right training mix
So me efforts to find a really solid training week continue. This week has been pretty good.
So last week I took it pretty easy. I did all my hard workouts, intervals, long stuff, etc. But decided to cut some of the filler completely to see how I would recover. As it turns out I recovered very well and had some solid workouts. I did make a change due to the heat/humidity and swapped my long run from Thursday to saturday with a short ride and then followed it up with a long ride/easy run on Sunday. While that worked well I could feel it in my legs on Sunday. But it wasn't all bad. I did my first 30 miles at 270 watts and then lost it a bit and my average dropped to 260+ for a final number. Overall not bad at all. Had I been fully rested I may have been able to run well after that. But due to my long run the day before and the riding my legs didn't have it.
This week I added back the filler workouts and have done some really hard sessions as well. Monday was a swim/ride. In an effort to keep myself under control I stayed in the small ring for the entire ride and only rode for 45 minutes. Average power was just under 200 watts. That's actually zone 2 instead of zone 1, but I still recovered pretty well.
Tuesday was my interval day, TimeTrialPalooza. I stayed aero the entire time and finished with 296w, 306w, 311w, 320w. With my new FTP of 305, this was actually a really good set. I'll keep working to bump that first 20 minutes up. I have to admit, it is disheartening to see numbers this low when a few months ago my FTP was 325. :-(
Wednesday was a swim and easy run. Again I had to really focus on staying under control. That wasn't too hard as I was pretty tired.
Thursday is long run day. I managed 2 hours at around an 8:30 pace. Felt pretty darn good the whole way and didn't tighten up until about 1:30 into it. But I still felt pretty good and when I focused I could pick up the pace without any trouble.
Today is a swim day and an optional easy ride which I doubt I'll have time for.
With this schedule I've been feeling really good. My one complaint was swimming today. I felt pretty beat up this morning. And for whatever reason my neck and shoulders are really knotted up. Perhaps I slept funny. As a result swimming hurt with every stroke. After 15 minutes I went to the hot tub but am still pretty tender. Desk jobs suck...as I am sure that is most of the cause for this.
Anyway, I'm happy with the plan. I'm happy with my times and speed. The one change I might make is the Friday swim. Instead I may just move it to Thursday morning. I'll be pretty recovered thursday morning so a good swim would work in the plan. Plus swimming really shouldn't hurt my long run that afternoon. That way I can sleep in on Friday and not be so wasted. Plus I am doing masters swimming on saturday. I won't be such a wreck for that either.
In total I'll put in about 13-14 hours this week. It had a nice mix of intensity and recovery. So I am pretty happy. I'll make a few tweaks and see how things work out.
So last week I took it pretty easy. I did all my hard workouts, intervals, long stuff, etc. But decided to cut some of the filler completely to see how I would recover. As it turns out I recovered very well and had some solid workouts. I did make a change due to the heat/humidity and swapped my long run from Thursday to saturday with a short ride and then followed it up with a long ride/easy run on Sunday. While that worked well I could feel it in my legs on Sunday. But it wasn't all bad. I did my first 30 miles at 270 watts and then lost it a bit and my average dropped to 260+ for a final number. Overall not bad at all. Had I been fully rested I may have been able to run well after that. But due to my long run the day before and the riding my legs didn't have it.
This week I added back the filler workouts and have done some really hard sessions as well. Monday was a swim/ride. In an effort to keep myself under control I stayed in the small ring for the entire ride and only rode for 45 minutes. Average power was just under 200 watts. That's actually zone 2 instead of zone 1, but I still recovered pretty well.
Tuesday was my interval day, TimeTrialPalooza. I stayed aero the entire time and finished with 296w, 306w, 311w, 320w. With my new FTP of 305, this was actually a really good set. I'll keep working to bump that first 20 minutes up. I have to admit, it is disheartening to see numbers this low when a few months ago my FTP was 325. :-(
Wednesday was a swim and easy run. Again I had to really focus on staying under control. That wasn't too hard as I was pretty tired.
Thursday is long run day. I managed 2 hours at around an 8:30 pace. Felt pretty darn good the whole way and didn't tighten up until about 1:30 into it. But I still felt pretty good and when I focused I could pick up the pace without any trouble.
Today is a swim day and an optional easy ride which I doubt I'll have time for.
With this schedule I've been feeling really good. My one complaint was swimming today. I felt pretty beat up this morning. And for whatever reason my neck and shoulders are really knotted up. Perhaps I slept funny. As a result swimming hurt with every stroke. After 15 minutes I went to the hot tub but am still pretty tender. Desk jobs suck...as I am sure that is most of the cause for this.
Anyway, I'm happy with the plan. I'm happy with my times and speed. The one change I might make is the Friday swim. Instead I may just move it to Thursday morning. I'll be pretty recovered thursday morning so a good swim would work in the plan. Plus swimming really shouldn't hurt my long run that afternoon. That way I can sleep in on Friday and not be so wasted. Plus I am doing masters swimming on saturday. I won't be such a wreck for that either.
In total I'll put in about 13-14 hours this week. It had a nice mix of intensity and recovery. So I am pretty happy. I'll make a few tweaks and see how things work out.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
End of season motivation
So it is that time of year where my motivation typically drops. And this week was the first week. I figured it is a good time for a little experiment.
In my attempt to run 6 days a week, plus my purchase of WKO I've been watching a number of different variables during training. In particular I can see the impact of a specific workout on my body and the training stress as it accumulates. Overall I'd say WKO is pretty accurate with a few exceptions.
The most important thing I've begun to understand is the accumulation of fatigue and the impact each workout has. As an example...I re-tested my FTP post-fit and exclusively aero. It came out to 305. So all my training power zones shifted down about 20 watts. There are a lot of reasons for this drop. First, hip angle while aero is different and most people sacrifice power in favor of aerodynamics. But this does have a significant impact on my training days and the fatigue they create. Racing at 290-295 watts no longer seems unreasonable with an FTP of 305.
I've noticed a relatively high level of fatigue on long rides. I'll get home and be wiped out, the days after I need recovery. Well there is a good reason for that. My long rides have typically been near 250 watts. If I sit up completely straight my FTP is 325 and so a 250 watt ride is a zone2/3 ride. Fairly easy overall. However I've been completely focused on riding aero. And while aero my FTP is actually 305. That is a solid zone 3 effort. It doesn't feel like a big deal when I'm riding, but I do feel it the next day.
It isn't that a longer zone 3 ride is all that hard. When I finish my rides I feel fine. At the Racine 70.3 I was able to run with no problems at all. But the toll it takes on future training days is pretty dramatic. My training stress will sometimes drop to a -30. And my Monday workouts are horrible. Typically I try to do an easy ride/run on Monday, but then I don't recover at all and Tuesday sucks too. Tuesday is supposed to be an interval day, so I can't be wasted for that effort. I have found myself skipping Monday afternoon workouts completely depending on how bad Sunday was - that's not good either.
Part of the issue is that I am doing harder interval efforts. It isn't like I am training for Ironman and need to be spending extended amounts of time doing easy zone 2 efforts. I have been training for Oly and 1/2 Iron races. As a result I need to be doing harder efforts, zone 3 and zone 4 to build some speed. But I also need to include some longer endurance work. Both of those require recovery which my typical training plan appears to be missing. So while I might be able to get in 15 hours of training where almost all is zone 2...I have found it rather difficult to get in 15 hours with both longer workouts and harder interval workouts in the same week. When I try my quality workouts suffer big time. Just getting volume isn't bad, but I need the quality to improve. Racing 1/2 Irons isn't a zone 2 effort.
So this week has been a bit different. Sunday it rained fairly bad so I rode on the trainer. It sucked. I made it about 2.5 hours before I caved in to the boredom and went for a run afterwards. I figure 2.5 hours is my 1/2 Iron time. So good enough. I felt guilty. I did a pretty tough DVD, so it was a harder ride in general...and on the trainer I can't coast. So overall it was a good ride.
Monday I swam, but I took it pretty easy and kept it mostly recovery. Monday afternoon I took off completely. Despite my lack of motivation I still felt guilty. My guilt led to eating. So I learned that part of why I work out is to prevent eating. Tuesday I did my interval ride (FTP test) and was pretty happy with my results. I followed it up with a 40 min run. Wednesday I slacked again and only swam. I was going to run and should have run...but it was just so damn hot. BLAH!!!
Today I have a 2hr run. It's even hotter out. Aimee is trying to talk me out of running. it won't work. Missing some of the filler workouts is one thing, missing a key workout is not acceptable even when I am not motivated. I will say this...if it is still near 95 and so humid you can see the water in the air with blistering sun...the run may stop at 90 minutes. It will be a game time decision. 2 hours will be my longest run of the season. Tomorrow I'll do a tougher swim, but plan to keep the afternoon really easy again. Then I'll move towards a tough weekend of interval running, masters swim, and long ride.
In essence this has become a rest week...but I am trying to guage what I can do from a base fitness standpoint and still be a functioning human. So this week had several easy days with harder days in between. I feel good and am recovering no problem. It is also giving me a bit of a mental break despite the guilt. WKO reflects the recovery as well.
Next week I am going add in some very easy workouts on M, W, F just to see how my body handles it and how WKO reflects the difference. That way I can get a better guage on how I am recovering in general.
I already know what too difficult is, now I need to get a feel for what too easy is. Then I can figure out what just right is. I just know wnen WKO puts me in the -30 range, I'm pretty wasted. If nothing else I think my Mondays need to be easier, my Wednesday will depend on how hard my Tuesday interval ride is, and Friday is usually an easy day to prep for the weekend which is typically hard. Realistically I need to determine what to do on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Doing an easy ride/run is too much unless I really keep the power waaaaay down. But that is important. If my plan calls for an easier ride I do a zone 3 ride, I won't recover. So I have to keep myself in check.
Like always I want to do more than I am able to or should do. I need to find the appropriate level of training for my current fitness and build from there. Jumping into high volume high intensity training is a recipe for injury, burnout, or both. 15 hours with intensity is too much. My training plan may call for that, but if I never hit it, then the plan was useless. I need to figure out what I can maintain for longer periods of time as that consistency is what will build my fitness.
From a training perspective it has been an interesting race season. I really feel like my training has been all over the place. During the off season I was very focused, the racing really threw that off. I have some time before Myrtle Beach, I need to get refocused...and then I need to take about a month off of serious training.
In my attempt to run 6 days a week, plus my purchase of WKO I've been watching a number of different variables during training. In particular I can see the impact of a specific workout on my body and the training stress as it accumulates. Overall I'd say WKO is pretty accurate with a few exceptions.
The most important thing I've begun to understand is the accumulation of fatigue and the impact each workout has. As an example...I re-tested my FTP post-fit and exclusively aero. It came out to 305. So all my training power zones shifted down about 20 watts. There are a lot of reasons for this drop. First, hip angle while aero is different and most people sacrifice power in favor of aerodynamics. But this does have a significant impact on my training days and the fatigue they create. Racing at 290-295 watts no longer seems unreasonable with an FTP of 305.
I've noticed a relatively high level of fatigue on long rides. I'll get home and be wiped out, the days after I need recovery. Well there is a good reason for that. My long rides have typically been near 250 watts. If I sit up completely straight my FTP is 325 and so a 250 watt ride is a zone2/3 ride. Fairly easy overall. However I've been completely focused on riding aero. And while aero my FTP is actually 305. That is a solid zone 3 effort. It doesn't feel like a big deal when I'm riding, but I do feel it the next day.
It isn't that a longer zone 3 ride is all that hard. When I finish my rides I feel fine. At the Racine 70.3 I was able to run with no problems at all. But the toll it takes on future training days is pretty dramatic. My training stress will sometimes drop to a -30. And my Monday workouts are horrible. Typically I try to do an easy ride/run on Monday, but then I don't recover at all and Tuesday sucks too. Tuesday is supposed to be an interval day, so I can't be wasted for that effort. I have found myself skipping Monday afternoon workouts completely depending on how bad Sunday was - that's not good either.
Part of the issue is that I am doing harder interval efforts. It isn't like I am training for Ironman and need to be spending extended amounts of time doing easy zone 2 efforts. I have been training for Oly and 1/2 Iron races. As a result I need to be doing harder efforts, zone 3 and zone 4 to build some speed. But I also need to include some longer endurance work. Both of those require recovery which my typical training plan appears to be missing. So while I might be able to get in 15 hours of training where almost all is zone 2...I have found it rather difficult to get in 15 hours with both longer workouts and harder interval workouts in the same week. When I try my quality workouts suffer big time. Just getting volume isn't bad, but I need the quality to improve. Racing 1/2 Irons isn't a zone 2 effort.
So this week has been a bit different. Sunday it rained fairly bad so I rode on the trainer. It sucked. I made it about 2.5 hours before I caved in to the boredom and went for a run afterwards. I figure 2.5 hours is my 1/2 Iron time. So good enough. I felt guilty. I did a pretty tough DVD, so it was a harder ride in general...and on the trainer I can't coast. So overall it was a good ride.
Monday I swam, but I took it pretty easy and kept it mostly recovery. Monday afternoon I took off completely. Despite my lack of motivation I still felt guilty. My guilt led to eating. So I learned that part of why I work out is to prevent eating. Tuesday I did my interval ride (FTP test) and was pretty happy with my results. I followed it up with a 40 min run. Wednesday I slacked again and only swam. I was going to run and should have run...but it was just so damn hot. BLAH!!!
Today I have a 2hr run. It's even hotter out. Aimee is trying to talk me out of running. it won't work. Missing some of the filler workouts is one thing, missing a key workout is not acceptable even when I am not motivated. I will say this...if it is still near 95 and so humid you can see the water in the air with blistering sun...the run may stop at 90 minutes. It will be a game time decision. 2 hours will be my longest run of the season. Tomorrow I'll do a tougher swim, but plan to keep the afternoon really easy again. Then I'll move towards a tough weekend of interval running, masters swim, and long ride.
In essence this has become a rest week...but I am trying to guage what I can do from a base fitness standpoint and still be a functioning human. So this week had several easy days with harder days in between. I feel good and am recovering no problem. It is also giving me a bit of a mental break despite the guilt. WKO reflects the recovery as well.
Next week I am going add in some very easy workouts on M, W, F just to see how my body handles it and how WKO reflects the difference. That way I can get a better guage on how I am recovering in general.
I already know what too difficult is, now I need to get a feel for what too easy is. Then I can figure out what just right is. I just know wnen WKO puts me in the -30 range, I'm pretty wasted. If nothing else I think my Mondays need to be easier, my Wednesday will depend on how hard my Tuesday interval ride is, and Friday is usually an easy day to prep for the weekend which is typically hard. Realistically I need to determine what to do on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Doing an easy ride/run is too much unless I really keep the power waaaaay down. But that is important. If my plan calls for an easier ride I do a zone 3 ride, I won't recover. So I have to keep myself in check.
Like always I want to do more than I am able to or should do. I need to find the appropriate level of training for my current fitness and build from there. Jumping into high volume high intensity training is a recipe for injury, burnout, or both. 15 hours with intensity is too much. My training plan may call for that, but if I never hit it, then the plan was useless. I need to figure out what I can maintain for longer periods of time as that consistency is what will build my fitness.
From a training perspective it has been an interesting race season. I really feel like my training has been all over the place. During the off season I was very focused, the racing really threw that off. I have some time before Myrtle Beach, I need to get refocused...and then I need to take about a month off of serious training.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Decisions Decisions
Interesting news.
I was swimming last saturday. 1.5 hour masters swim, great workout. After we were finished and sitting in the hot tub I was speaking with Correen a coach at the WAC and she started talking about long course nationals and how she had qualified and was going to Myrtle Beach for Halfmax in October. I mentioned I hadn't qualified and was going to Alabama (cue banjos stage left).
Apparently the qualification standards for the long course event are different. I had no idea. It is a time qualifier as opposed to placing in the top 10% which I had missed by a few spots. So I looked and the qualification standard was a 5:05 for my age group. At Racine I did 4:53 and therefore qualified.
I spoke with Aimee about it and we're pretty sure we're going to go to Myrtle Beach and I'll do the long course race. There are several reasons.....first its Myrtle Beach and not Alabama. That much is obvious.
Second, the half iron distance is more appealing to me at this point. I had a lot of fun at Racine and did really well for me. While I enjoy the OLY distance, I just don't have the top end speed to really compete at that distance.
Lastly, in the off chance that I do really well and qualify for the ITU World Championships, the long course event is in Vegas for 2011. The Oly World championships are in Bejing. I think I know where I'd rather go.
Moving on...I am happy to get into a rythm with my training again.
For the last two weeks I've gotten in 4 solid swims per week. Minimum yardage has been 2600 yards on a short day. Otherwise I'm up over 3,000 on weekday mornings and near 4500 on Saturday. From a speed standpoint I can already see the difference. In my last blog I mentioned too much racing, and I really suspect that was the problem. My training had really suffered. On Wednesday this week, after some solid training days last week I did my swim test - 10x100 w/10s rest. I finished with a 13:02 which is a 1:09 average.
My biking has been okay. I am still struggling from a training plan perspective due to my run focus. So while I'd love to get in 4 swims, 6 runs, and 4-5 rides, that's just not realistic at this point. Especially when i watch the impact on WKO. I simply can't recover. So for the last two weeks my bike volume has really suffered with only 3 rides. However I made up for it with a Killer trainer ride on sunday. I did the TimeTrialPalooza DVD and made sure I was aero for the entire ride. I wanted to make sure my new fit really took hold, and I wanted to guage my power while aero. I have not done an FTP test in a while, that will be in about 10 days.
Anyway, I started off the 20 minute set at 290. I wasn't really sure where to start aero, but 290 is just a hair below what I've done in Oly races. I held that without any trouble. For the 15 minute set I held 300 watts. I was happy with that as I had struggled to hold 300w in the past. For the 10 minute set I was a little over 305 and for the final 5 minute set I held around 315. Overall I was really happy. Next time I'll try to bump my first couple sets by 5 watts. Based on how I felt I should be able to handle that.
My running has come around a bit as well. I've been more focused on running than biking the last two weeks, so the volume has been pretty good. Unfortunately due to the overzealous nature of my training plan I did miss a run or two...but I need to re-arrange my weekday workouts. I also need to make sure my recovery workouts are done at a recovery pace.
On a training note, I hit a milestone yesterday in training. It was a beautiful day, a touch under 80 degrees and lower humidity than normal. I went out to do a long run and decided I wanted it to be a harder long run and set out to break 1:45 for a 13.1 mile run. My first mile was a bit slower and I was worried off the bat, 8:11. But my 2nd mile was 7:48 and made up for it. After that every mile was between 7:57 and 8:02 with the final mile being a 7:35. I finished with an average pace of 7:58.
Last weekend I rode with my buddy Brian. We didn't go real hard, and I felt completely wasted from the start. But I ended up riding a little over 70 miles at 250 watts. I had no power on any hills all day. I think I was a bit worn down from the day prior when I did a really tough interval run on the treadmill. I hadn't run on the treadmill in months and forgot how tough an interval run can be.
My biggest problem was forgetting my nutrition while riding with friends again. I took in 2 fewer water bottles and 200 fewer calories despite a longer ride. I could feel the difference immediately as I started running after the ride. It is critical for me to drink about of 2 full water bottle per hour. Racine was a perfect example. I took in 4 water bottles plus my nutrition liquids. Thats 5.5 bottles in 2:30, about perfect and my run went great as a result.
This weekend I plan to do another long rind and a 30 minute easy run. The following weekend is more of a rest weekend. I think I am going to do a hard race simulation. So I'll do a 60-65 mile ride, ideally closer to 260-270 watts followed by a hard 1 hour run. The goal is to see if I can run well after pushing those watts on the bike. I held back at Racine and stayed with about 250 watts due to a lack in confidence. I'd like to know what my fitness will truly allow for prior to race day. Should be fun.
At this point I have zero races until nationals. I think I am going to keep it that way as I am enjoying consistent training and diet again. I'm down to 197lbs and hope to be a bit under 190 on race day.
I was swimming last saturday. 1.5 hour masters swim, great workout. After we were finished and sitting in the hot tub I was speaking with Correen a coach at the WAC and she started talking about long course nationals and how she had qualified and was going to Myrtle Beach for Halfmax in October. I mentioned I hadn't qualified and was going to Alabama (cue banjos stage left).
Apparently the qualification standards for the long course event are different. I had no idea. It is a time qualifier as opposed to placing in the top 10% which I had missed by a few spots. So I looked and the qualification standard was a 5:05 for my age group. At Racine I did 4:53 and therefore qualified.
I spoke with Aimee about it and we're pretty sure we're going to go to Myrtle Beach and I'll do the long course race. There are several reasons.....first its Myrtle Beach and not Alabama. That much is obvious.
Second, the half iron distance is more appealing to me at this point. I had a lot of fun at Racine and did really well for me. While I enjoy the OLY distance, I just don't have the top end speed to really compete at that distance.
Lastly, in the off chance that I do really well and qualify for the ITU World Championships, the long course event is in Vegas for 2011. The Oly World championships are in Bejing. I think I know where I'd rather go.
Moving on...I am happy to get into a rythm with my training again.
For the last two weeks I've gotten in 4 solid swims per week. Minimum yardage has been 2600 yards on a short day. Otherwise I'm up over 3,000 on weekday mornings and near 4500 on Saturday. From a speed standpoint I can already see the difference. In my last blog I mentioned too much racing, and I really suspect that was the problem. My training had really suffered. On Wednesday this week, after some solid training days last week I did my swim test - 10x100 w/10s rest. I finished with a 13:02 which is a 1:09 average.
My biking has been okay. I am still struggling from a training plan perspective due to my run focus. So while I'd love to get in 4 swims, 6 runs, and 4-5 rides, that's just not realistic at this point. Especially when i watch the impact on WKO. I simply can't recover. So for the last two weeks my bike volume has really suffered with only 3 rides. However I made up for it with a Killer trainer ride on sunday. I did the TimeTrialPalooza DVD and made sure I was aero for the entire ride. I wanted to make sure my new fit really took hold, and I wanted to guage my power while aero. I have not done an FTP test in a while, that will be in about 10 days.
Anyway, I started off the 20 minute set at 290. I wasn't really sure where to start aero, but 290 is just a hair below what I've done in Oly races. I held that without any trouble. For the 15 minute set I held 300 watts. I was happy with that as I had struggled to hold 300w in the past. For the 10 minute set I was a little over 305 and for the final 5 minute set I held around 315. Overall I was really happy. Next time I'll try to bump my first couple sets by 5 watts. Based on how I felt I should be able to handle that.
My running has come around a bit as well. I've been more focused on running than biking the last two weeks, so the volume has been pretty good. Unfortunately due to the overzealous nature of my training plan I did miss a run or two...but I need to re-arrange my weekday workouts. I also need to make sure my recovery workouts are done at a recovery pace.
On a training note, I hit a milestone yesterday in training. It was a beautiful day, a touch under 80 degrees and lower humidity than normal. I went out to do a long run and decided I wanted it to be a harder long run and set out to break 1:45 for a 13.1 mile run. My first mile was a bit slower and I was worried off the bat, 8:11. But my 2nd mile was 7:48 and made up for it. After that every mile was between 7:57 and 8:02 with the final mile being a 7:35. I finished with an average pace of 7:58.
Last weekend I rode with my buddy Brian. We didn't go real hard, and I felt completely wasted from the start. But I ended up riding a little over 70 miles at 250 watts. I had no power on any hills all day. I think I was a bit worn down from the day prior when I did a really tough interval run on the treadmill. I hadn't run on the treadmill in months and forgot how tough an interval run can be.
My biggest problem was forgetting my nutrition while riding with friends again. I took in 2 fewer water bottles and 200 fewer calories despite a longer ride. I could feel the difference immediately as I started running after the ride. It is critical for me to drink about of 2 full water bottle per hour. Racine was a perfect example. I took in 4 water bottles plus my nutrition liquids. Thats 5.5 bottles in 2:30, about perfect and my run went great as a result.
This weekend I plan to do another long rind and a 30 minute easy run. The following weekend is more of a rest weekend. I think I am going to do a hard race simulation. So I'll do a 60-65 mile ride, ideally closer to 260-270 watts followed by a hard 1 hour run. The goal is to see if I can run well after pushing those watts on the bike. I held back at Racine and stayed with about 250 watts due to a lack in confidence. I'd like to know what my fitness will truly allow for prior to race day. Should be fun.
At this point I have zero races until nationals. I think I am going to keep it that way as I am enjoying consistent training and diet again. I'm down to 197lbs and hope to be a bit under 190 on race day.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tri-ing for Childrens Race report
Sunday the saga continued with another race. I have to say, I am looking forward to a bit of a break from racing. My training has really suffered with all this racing interrupting my training plan.
And while my race at Racine went about perfect, I continued my streak of bad luck at Tri-ing For Childrens. So I'll get into the report...I'm going to try to keep the humor as I go through things starting earlier in the week.
So Sunday was the Racine 70.3. Monday I had my bike fit. I was pretty sore after Racine but John got me warmed up and stretched out. I was on the bike that day for about an hour. Almost all zone 1. Tuesday I was still really sore. But I wanted to ride the new fit. I stayed on the trainer to make sure I stayed aero the entire time...but got interupted and only rode about 30 minutes. Wednesday I ran for an hour, it was burning hot. I was still a little sore but pretty much better. I swam that morning too. My neck and shoulder had been giving me a lot of trouble so I wasn't in the water much all week. I haven't done real intervals in quite some time.
Thursday afternoon I was going to run but the storms and tornado's put that thought to an end. I was busy manually starting my sump pump every few minutes with all the cats in the basement.
Friday I was a zombie from not sleeping. Did nothing. Saturday morning I did a 1 hour ride while watching the tour. My diet all week consisted of going out to eat a lot. Really crappy.
Onto the race:
So for those of you who were at the race, some of this you will know, some of this you won't. I don't like to make excuses for performance...so at the end of the day I went as fast as I could that day.
I woke up and things were already wrong. I had a splitting headache and my guts were a mess. I suspected my stomach would be a problem as I had a larger meal later in the evening than i would have liked. But I rarely ever get headaches. So I went down stairs and took a couple tylonol and a bunch of digestive enzymes to get things moving.
Normally I would have had some cereal, but I wasn't feeling good enough for that. So I grabbed some water and got in the car as it is a 45 minute drive. I started to feel a bit better...at least my headache was going away. But my guts were giving me some trouble and I was worried about the race.
I got to the race sight and was hoping to go to the bathroom as I normally do before a race. Alas, it was not meant to be. At that point the thought of a race-time crohns attack started going through my mind. Afterall, there are only a couple things that can prevent me from going to the bathroom!
Anyway...I tried to go through my pre-race rituals. I went for a little warmup run and finished getting my gear together in transition. Said high to a bunch of grinders. Got into my wetsuit and went down for a warmup swim. Things felt pretty decent other than the water being very warm. Fortunately the air was cool. As race time approached all my other issues seemed to fade away. Competition does that for me.
My goal for the swim was to stay with Will and Scott who were going to be the lead swimmers. From the start everything was going fine. The horn went off, we started running and Will, Scott, and I took off. They were side by side and I was drafting of the two of them as I had planned. The pace was fast, but not ridiculous. I knew I'd be breathing hard after this swim. We made the first turn and i was still with them, and right before the 2nd turn they were gone. I still don't know exactly what happened. Either I slowed or they hit an acceleration. Maybe I went off course a little and just lost the draft long enough to lose them. I'm not sure. But as I took a sighting they were about 30-40 feet in front of me. I briefly thought about putting in a hard effort to catch up, and then did. Took a sighting after a bit and wasn't any closer. They were gone. UGH!! I apparently led a pack of 8 into the finish after that.
My biggest question right now...what is happening to my swimming. At Elkhart I swam a low 19. At Pleasant Prairie I was in the 20's. At Racine I swam a 30. And at this race I swam a 20:40. I've been getting slower and slower. Perhaps Childrens was a bit long. It was certainly longer than last year. But in any case Scott only swam a low 19, something I know I am capable of. I suspect my race schedule is a big part of the problem. I've been taking rest prior to races and recover after races. I also hurt my knee. As a result my training has not been consistent at all...and I need to correct that.
The other issue is my neck and shoulder. For the last 3 weeks they've been aweful. Fortunately I think I may have this resolved. My old bike fit had me a bit cock-eyed and putting a lot of pressure on my right side. funny thing, my shoulder has been slowly getting better and better since the new fit.
Prior to Elkhart when I went for Nationals I was working out a TON and loving it. But in the last 7 weeks I've had 5 races including a half iron. While it's been a lot of fun and I've had great results compared to last year...it's also been very disruptive to my training and I think i've slowed down in all three disciplines as a result.
However I feel I must say something. Scott B, damn nice swim. Even though you went to Point and I just can't stomach the thought of a Pointer beating me, especially slacking lazy sprinter, its obvious you're the better swimmer (at the moment). You and Matt have both been good enough to answer all my questions, no matter how stupid. So when the season is done I figure I owe you both a beer.
Anyway, onto the bike.
T1 went pretty well. The trick to getting out of my wetsuit is putting lube on my leg and the inside of my suit. done it twice now, beautiful.
So I come running out of T1 and just based on not feeling 100% I decide to not do a flying start...thank god!!!!! I run past the mount line get on the bike, kick the pedal to the front to clip in...and my chain drops. I felt like Andy Schleck!!
According to eye-witness accounts I said, "Oh shit"! Dismounted the bike, put the chaing back on, sliced my thumb open, got on the bike and off I went. By that time I think I was laughing with a volunteer about it.
Seriously!? I check my gearing when I rack my bike in T1. But some wonderful person in transition must have hit the shifter because instead of being in the big ring, it was geared into the small. So in 5 races I've crashed twice, hyperextended my knee once, and had my chain drop out of T1. At least they are getting less severe!
Off I went and hit the course. For the first 5 miles or so my power felt fine and I was looking pretty good. After that things started to fall apart. My power started to steadily decline from about 310 watts. My legs were burning and aching in places they had not hurt before. At that point I realized I was going to pay for that new bike fit.
I knew it was going to take time to get used to, I was warned it would take 3 weeks...and that after only one week my legs would possibly revolt a bit. What I wasn't prepared for was how much they would revolt.
In my pea brain I figured 5-10 watts lower, no big deal. I'm tough, I'll puch through. Oh no. I wanted 300-305 watts...295 would have been a dream at that point. At the mid-way point of the ride I had dropped down to 280. By the end of the ride I was sitting at abot 278. My speed at the Racine 70.3 was higher than at this Oly race. I was not pleased.
In my defense I will add two things.
#1 it was a bit windy. Nothing horrible, but it felt like the wind was in my face the entire way.
#2 the course is not flat. Don't get me wrong, it is a fast course. But not nearly as fast as Racine. While there are no real climbs at Childrens, there are several areas of rollers and I found it difficult to really maintain a steady power output. It just felt like a constant barrage of ups and downs. Nothing big, but enough to disrupt a steady power output.
Got into T2 and was tired. I spoke with Nate who said I looked wasted already. For the most part I was. My legs were not there...and I was happy to be off the bike. Normally I love the bike.
T2 was pleasanly uneventful. I didn't trip and fall or do anything equally stupid to embarrass myself. That's not really a high standard to live by, but hey...beggers can't be choosers.
Hit the run and was doing okay. I started off running 7:05's. Considering how I felt I was pretty happy with that. My stomach was giving me some trouble, but not serious. The first lap was uneventful, however I didn't take any liquids or calories. I just couldn't stomach anything at that point. By the second loop I was just tired. My legs were aching, probably from that ride and I just wasn't holding my pace. At that poing my stomach started getting more and more bloated. I took a cup of water and took a sip, spit it out and put the rest on my head. It was around then I felt the first hint of a cramp and knew my crohns was acting up. Not the best of timing.
At around mile 5 Larry Lanza ran me down. As he went by I told him he wouldn't be running me down like this next season. There will be lots of running for me in the off season. He'll probably still beat me overall...but this running me down like I'm standing still has to stop.
Anyway, I finished with a 2:14 and change. 13th overall. The swim was longer than last year and the run was challenging due to several muddy sections that slowed everyone down. W/out those two changes I was probably closer to a 2:12+. But everyone gets the same course.
After the race I started to get progressively worse. My stomach was hurting. I had a sandwich and coke hoping that would settle things a bit. It helped for a little while, but not much. I stuck around at the GG tent for a while and chatted with a few GG's. But there came a point in time when my guts were giving me a lot of trouble and I had to leave. So I did, no good-byes or anything...I just had to go.
Started driving and things got progressively worse and worse. The waves of cramping had begun in earnest. I finally made it home and unpacked a little bit. Went to the bathroom and threw up the sandwich and coke. So much for getting in a few calories. I decided to risk taking some prednisone hoping I'd keep it down. Thankfully it did stay down as I went to bed with a heating pad after I took them. I fell asleep for an hour or so and stayed in bed most of the afternoon. By the end of the day I was feeling good enough to eat some solids and went to...you guessed it...McDonalds. Double cheeseburger, fries, shake. To this day it boggles my mind that when my Crohns flares like this that the crappiest food on the planet is what makes it feel better.
Fortunately by the end of the day I was actually able to go to the bathroom. I won't get into any details, however it was glorious in a way which only another Crohns patient can understand. :-)
Now I have to do a little thinking. Over the course of this racing season i've had four or five seperate crohns attacks. That is more than I have ever had for a given time period. Thankfully none have been serious, but they've all caused a certain amount of rest/recovery disrupting my training and life. They've all required prednisone too. My original plan was to call my doctor and get in to see him earlier, but I have an appointment in 3-4 weeks and he's got nothing sooner. So I'll have to deal with it until then.
There are only a couple things I can think of causing this trouble.
First is my job. I don't like what I'm doing or the company and it is causing a lot of unnecessary stress. Stress is a killer for me. I work hard to keep it under control. That is tough in my current position.
Second is my race schedule. All of the fluctuations in my plan coupled with the rest/recovery and then racing hard could be causing trouble. Last season I kept my races to a max of two per month. They were also spaced out. This year I did 3 in June and now 2 in July.
Third is diet, but realistically my diet has not changed enough to cause this. I've actually stayed away from things like peanuts, popcorn, and raw veggies which are the most likely culprits.
So we'll see what the doc says in a month. I'd rather not go on any more long term medications.
Anyway, that as they say, is the rest of the story. So for those of you that saw me on Sunday and thought I was acting a bit odd, (massaging my stomach a lot) now you know why.
I skipped my swim this morning due to the attack. Cold water and crohns do not mix for me. I plan to make it up tomorrow. Beyond that I have a nice normal training schedule planned. I am feeling good enough to bike tonight, and I obviously need to. I may try a short run depending on my guts.
I'm happy to be done racing for a little while and will hopefully get some solid training under my belt. My plan is to focus on biking for the next two weeks. I want to make sure I get my bike fit really dialed in and my power back up to par. After that I am going to really focus on swimming and running in preparations for nationals.
Unfortunately Nationals is the same weekend as the GG end of year party...so i won't be there to accept the jackass of the year award which I so obviously deserve.
And while my race at Racine went about perfect, I continued my streak of bad luck at Tri-ing For Childrens. So I'll get into the report...I'm going to try to keep the humor as I go through things starting earlier in the week.
So Sunday was the Racine 70.3. Monday I had my bike fit. I was pretty sore after Racine but John got me warmed up and stretched out. I was on the bike that day for about an hour. Almost all zone 1. Tuesday I was still really sore. But I wanted to ride the new fit. I stayed on the trainer to make sure I stayed aero the entire time...but got interupted and only rode about 30 minutes. Wednesday I ran for an hour, it was burning hot. I was still a little sore but pretty much better. I swam that morning too. My neck and shoulder had been giving me a lot of trouble so I wasn't in the water much all week. I haven't done real intervals in quite some time.
Thursday afternoon I was going to run but the storms and tornado's put that thought to an end. I was busy manually starting my sump pump every few minutes with all the cats in the basement.
Friday I was a zombie from not sleeping. Did nothing. Saturday morning I did a 1 hour ride while watching the tour. My diet all week consisted of going out to eat a lot. Really crappy.
Onto the race:
So for those of you who were at the race, some of this you will know, some of this you won't. I don't like to make excuses for performance...so at the end of the day I went as fast as I could that day.
I woke up and things were already wrong. I had a splitting headache and my guts were a mess. I suspected my stomach would be a problem as I had a larger meal later in the evening than i would have liked. But I rarely ever get headaches. So I went down stairs and took a couple tylonol and a bunch of digestive enzymes to get things moving.
Normally I would have had some cereal, but I wasn't feeling good enough for that. So I grabbed some water and got in the car as it is a 45 minute drive. I started to feel a bit better...at least my headache was going away. But my guts were giving me some trouble and I was worried about the race.
I got to the race sight and was hoping to go to the bathroom as I normally do before a race. Alas, it was not meant to be. At that point the thought of a race-time crohns attack started going through my mind. Afterall, there are only a couple things that can prevent me from going to the bathroom!
Anyway...I tried to go through my pre-race rituals. I went for a little warmup run and finished getting my gear together in transition. Said high to a bunch of grinders. Got into my wetsuit and went down for a warmup swim. Things felt pretty decent other than the water being very warm. Fortunately the air was cool. As race time approached all my other issues seemed to fade away. Competition does that for me.
My goal for the swim was to stay with Will and Scott who were going to be the lead swimmers. From the start everything was going fine. The horn went off, we started running and Will, Scott, and I took off. They were side by side and I was drafting of the two of them as I had planned. The pace was fast, but not ridiculous. I knew I'd be breathing hard after this swim. We made the first turn and i was still with them, and right before the 2nd turn they were gone. I still don't know exactly what happened. Either I slowed or they hit an acceleration. Maybe I went off course a little and just lost the draft long enough to lose them. I'm not sure. But as I took a sighting they were about 30-40 feet in front of me. I briefly thought about putting in a hard effort to catch up, and then did. Took a sighting after a bit and wasn't any closer. They were gone. UGH!! I apparently led a pack of 8 into the finish after that.
My biggest question right now...what is happening to my swimming. At Elkhart I swam a low 19. At Pleasant Prairie I was in the 20's. At Racine I swam a 30. And at this race I swam a 20:40. I've been getting slower and slower. Perhaps Childrens was a bit long. It was certainly longer than last year. But in any case Scott only swam a low 19, something I know I am capable of. I suspect my race schedule is a big part of the problem. I've been taking rest prior to races and recover after races. I also hurt my knee. As a result my training has not been consistent at all...and I need to correct that.
The other issue is my neck and shoulder. For the last 3 weeks they've been aweful. Fortunately I think I may have this resolved. My old bike fit had me a bit cock-eyed and putting a lot of pressure on my right side. funny thing, my shoulder has been slowly getting better and better since the new fit.
Prior to Elkhart when I went for Nationals I was working out a TON and loving it. But in the last 7 weeks I've had 5 races including a half iron. While it's been a lot of fun and I've had great results compared to last year...it's also been very disruptive to my training and I think i've slowed down in all three disciplines as a result.
However I feel I must say something. Scott B, damn nice swim. Even though you went to Point and I just can't stomach the thought of a Pointer beating me, especially slacking lazy sprinter, its obvious you're the better swimmer (at the moment). You and Matt have both been good enough to answer all my questions, no matter how stupid. So when the season is done I figure I owe you both a beer.
Anyway, onto the bike.
T1 went pretty well. The trick to getting out of my wetsuit is putting lube on my leg and the inside of my suit. done it twice now, beautiful.
So I come running out of T1 and just based on not feeling 100% I decide to not do a flying start...thank god!!!!! I run past the mount line get on the bike, kick the pedal to the front to clip in...and my chain drops. I felt like Andy Schleck!!
According to eye-witness accounts I said, "Oh shit"! Dismounted the bike, put the chaing back on, sliced my thumb open, got on the bike and off I went. By that time I think I was laughing with a volunteer about it.
Seriously!? I check my gearing when I rack my bike in T1. But some wonderful person in transition must have hit the shifter because instead of being in the big ring, it was geared into the small. So in 5 races I've crashed twice, hyperextended my knee once, and had my chain drop out of T1. At least they are getting less severe!
Off I went and hit the course. For the first 5 miles or so my power felt fine and I was looking pretty good. After that things started to fall apart. My power started to steadily decline from about 310 watts. My legs were burning and aching in places they had not hurt before. At that point I realized I was going to pay for that new bike fit.
I knew it was going to take time to get used to, I was warned it would take 3 weeks...and that after only one week my legs would possibly revolt a bit. What I wasn't prepared for was how much they would revolt.
In my pea brain I figured 5-10 watts lower, no big deal. I'm tough, I'll puch through. Oh no. I wanted 300-305 watts...295 would have been a dream at that point. At the mid-way point of the ride I had dropped down to 280. By the end of the ride I was sitting at abot 278. My speed at the Racine 70.3 was higher than at this Oly race. I was not pleased.
In my defense I will add two things.
#1 it was a bit windy. Nothing horrible, but it felt like the wind was in my face the entire way.
#2 the course is not flat. Don't get me wrong, it is a fast course. But not nearly as fast as Racine. While there are no real climbs at Childrens, there are several areas of rollers and I found it difficult to really maintain a steady power output. It just felt like a constant barrage of ups and downs. Nothing big, but enough to disrupt a steady power output.
Got into T2 and was tired. I spoke with Nate who said I looked wasted already. For the most part I was. My legs were not there...and I was happy to be off the bike. Normally I love the bike.
T2 was pleasanly uneventful. I didn't trip and fall or do anything equally stupid to embarrass myself. That's not really a high standard to live by, but hey...beggers can't be choosers.
Hit the run and was doing okay. I started off running 7:05's. Considering how I felt I was pretty happy with that. My stomach was giving me some trouble, but not serious. The first lap was uneventful, however I didn't take any liquids or calories. I just couldn't stomach anything at that point. By the second loop I was just tired. My legs were aching, probably from that ride and I just wasn't holding my pace. At that poing my stomach started getting more and more bloated. I took a cup of water and took a sip, spit it out and put the rest on my head. It was around then I felt the first hint of a cramp and knew my crohns was acting up. Not the best of timing.
At around mile 5 Larry Lanza ran me down. As he went by I told him he wouldn't be running me down like this next season. There will be lots of running for me in the off season. He'll probably still beat me overall...but this running me down like I'm standing still has to stop.
Anyway, I finished with a 2:14 and change. 13th overall. The swim was longer than last year and the run was challenging due to several muddy sections that slowed everyone down. W/out those two changes I was probably closer to a 2:12+. But everyone gets the same course.
After the race I started to get progressively worse. My stomach was hurting. I had a sandwich and coke hoping that would settle things a bit. It helped for a little while, but not much. I stuck around at the GG tent for a while and chatted with a few GG's. But there came a point in time when my guts were giving me a lot of trouble and I had to leave. So I did, no good-byes or anything...I just had to go.
Started driving and things got progressively worse and worse. The waves of cramping had begun in earnest. I finally made it home and unpacked a little bit. Went to the bathroom and threw up the sandwich and coke. So much for getting in a few calories. I decided to risk taking some prednisone hoping I'd keep it down. Thankfully it did stay down as I went to bed with a heating pad after I took them. I fell asleep for an hour or so and stayed in bed most of the afternoon. By the end of the day I was feeling good enough to eat some solids and went to...you guessed it...McDonalds. Double cheeseburger, fries, shake. To this day it boggles my mind that when my Crohns flares like this that the crappiest food on the planet is what makes it feel better.
Fortunately by the end of the day I was actually able to go to the bathroom. I won't get into any details, however it was glorious in a way which only another Crohns patient can understand. :-)
Now I have to do a little thinking. Over the course of this racing season i've had four or five seperate crohns attacks. That is more than I have ever had for a given time period. Thankfully none have been serious, but they've all caused a certain amount of rest/recovery disrupting my training and life. They've all required prednisone too. My original plan was to call my doctor and get in to see him earlier, but I have an appointment in 3-4 weeks and he's got nothing sooner. So I'll have to deal with it until then.
There are only a couple things I can think of causing this trouble.
First is my job. I don't like what I'm doing or the company and it is causing a lot of unnecessary stress. Stress is a killer for me. I work hard to keep it under control. That is tough in my current position.
Second is my race schedule. All of the fluctuations in my plan coupled with the rest/recovery and then racing hard could be causing trouble. Last season I kept my races to a max of two per month. They were also spaced out. This year I did 3 in June and now 2 in July.
Third is diet, but realistically my diet has not changed enough to cause this. I've actually stayed away from things like peanuts, popcorn, and raw veggies which are the most likely culprits.
So we'll see what the doc says in a month. I'd rather not go on any more long term medications.
Anyway, that as they say, is the rest of the story. So for those of you that saw me on Sunday and thought I was acting a bit odd, (massaging my stomach a lot) now you know why.
I skipped my swim this morning due to the attack. Cold water and crohns do not mix for me. I plan to make it up tomorrow. Beyond that I have a nice normal training schedule planned. I am feeling good enough to bike tonight, and I obviously need to. I may try a short run depending on my guts.
I'm happy to be done racing for a little while and will hopefully get some solid training under my belt. My plan is to focus on biking for the next two weeks. I want to make sure I get my bike fit really dialed in and my power back up to par. After that I am going to really focus on swimming and running in preparations for nationals.
Unfortunately Nationals is the same weekend as the GG end of year party...so i won't be there to accept the jackass of the year award which I so obviously deserve.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
New Bike fit
So I had been tossing the idea of getting re-fitted to my bike for quite a while. I've been getting a lot of hotspots, saddle sores, and shoulder tightness. The last time I was fit to the bike was 3 years ago when I bought the bike. I was about 60 pounds heavier and riding at 17mph.
What finally made the decision for me was a couple comments on slowtwitch. I was asking about pacing on hilly vs flat courses last week and someone mentioned my fit being poor due to slower speeds compared to my wattage output. I posted a picture and everyone thought my head was way to high and that I resembled a barn door. So i bit the bullet and went to John at the Bike Dr.
Prior to Racine I made a couple changes to my cockpit. I don't really know if they helped or not, but I know they were not the most comfortable. However my speed at Racine was fairly close to my speed at Pleasant Praire despite a 40+ watt difference. So I suspect I did something right by bringing my arms closer and tilting my bars up...at least for the short term.
Anyway, after meeting with John we made a lot of changes. He took measurements of my flexibility and range of motion and did the following:
What finally made the decision for me was a couple comments on slowtwitch. I was asking about pacing on hilly vs flat courses last week and someone mentioned my fit being poor due to slower speeds compared to my wattage output. I posted a picture and everyone thought my head was way to high and that I resembled a barn door. So i bit the bullet and went to John at the Bike Dr.
Prior to Racine I made a couple changes to my cockpit. I don't really know if they helped or not, but I know they were not the most comfortable. However my speed at Racine was fairly close to my speed at Pleasant Praire despite a 40+ watt difference. So I suspect I did something right by bringing my arms closer and tilting my bars up...at least for the short term.
Anyway, after meeting with John we made a lot of changes. He took measurements of my flexibility and range of motion and did the following:
- Brought the seat up almost a cm.
- Moved seat forward a couple cm.
- Added small riser under stem to bring it up a notch.
- Leveled aero bars.
- Moved aero pads back and out a hair.
- Tilted base bar upward.
- Moved cleats on shoes back and center.
None of these changes were horribly significant on their own, but the effect overall should be pretty dramatic. And it will take some time to get used to this. The overall impact is this.
- By raising my seat and moving it forward I should be able to generate more power while aero. So in this case, instead of losing power by becoming more aero, this may help me at least maintain current power or possibly increase my power a bit.
- By moving my base bar, aero bars and pads I am now a little more stretched out on the bike, thus flatter and lower. My back is straighter. My shoulders and neck are much more relaxed as my elbows are now sitting on the pads properly. This should help me be both more aero and more relaxed and comfortable. My aero helmet fits to my back much better with this new position.
- Because we raised my seat he raised my stem just a hair to match. This keeps my hips within their functional flexibility helping me maintain power. Apparently I am about as low as my flexibility will allow without losing power.
- By changing my cleat position I don't feel discomfort in my toes any more. It should also help me apply more power without losing any due to poor pedal placement.
- I've noticed that even with the aero bars level instead of tilted up, my head and shoulders are about as close as they were. So I am as aerodynamic if not moreso as compared to the changes I made for Racine, and I should be better able to maintain higher wattages. However that may take some getting used to.
After the fitting John had me do a .5 mile time trial. I believe it took me 1:08. My wattage was up in the 400's. However I was tired from racine and have never been a sprinter. Now that I am not sore and have ridden a couple times I plan to do it again tonight after I am warmed up. I want to make sure I have a real baseline from before I've gotten used to this fit.
I do have Tri-ing for Children's coming on Sunday. That will provde me with good testing grounds as well. Hopefully the new position does not cause any major discomfort or problems during the race. It is typically not wise to make changes like this prior to racing, but the race is short and I won't be resting for it anyway. We'll see.
I have a few goals:
- I'm starting in the elite wave so I want to be with the lead pack of swimmers. There is no doubt that with my pool times I should be out of the water with Scott Bowe. No slacking.
- Lets give the swim an even 19 minutes.
- On the bike I want to try and hit 300 watts. I've done 2 Oly races with an increase in power at each, I'd like to continue that trend. 300 watts should put me right on the edge of 24mph in good conditions. This puts me under a 1:03.
- We'll give the bike a flat 1:03.00
- T1 = 1:30; T2 = 1:00
- On the run I want to break 7min/mile. It is a milestone for me and I know I can do it. I did 7:10's at Pleasant Prairie after spraining my knee and had very little motivation to push after that. Here I really want to do it. so for the run we'll call it a 43:00.
- That gives me a final time of roughly 2:07. That's a 9 minute improvement from last season and would have placed me 14th overall at a very competitive race.
I'd also add that my buddy Brian may be at this race. If he is I suspect it will take this kind of race to beat him. I beat him by 7 seconds at Elkhart Lake and I know he's looking for a little payback. He'll more than likely beat me by 3-4 minutes on the run, so I will need to take that out of him in the swim, bike, and transitions. If I hit these splits, I should do exactly that. Either way it should be a good time.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Racine 70.3 Results
So I've gotten enough facebook comments and people texting to get this piece out here a little quicker.
Racine 70.3 was this weekend and everyone can read my last couple postings to get my thoughts going into the race. I'll post my Saturday and Sunday events.
As with all IM races and many bigger races I had to check my bike in the day before. I really hate that. In this case athlete checkin and bike checkin were in two different locations. I didn't care for that as I first went to the race site not realizing I had to go to festival park. Oh well.
I had been watching the weather a lot due to potential storms/heat/wind. I wanted to know what to expect and properly hit my nutrition/hydration based on the day. All in all the weather was pretty good.
Race Day:
Got up at 4am to get some food in me. I had one small bowl of coco crispies, one ensure shake, one banana, and 2 scoops of heed through the morning.
As we drove in I took in some more fluids...but was pretty full. Aimee dropped me off at tranisition so I could get set up and then I had a long wait before my wave started.
I took some time to hang out with fellow GG's. Jeremy, Beth, and Dan were all nearby and we talked for a while. All of us were in later waves. Then we started our walk down the beach to the swim start. I took another saltstick and the last of my Heed.
Swim:
I started in the front of my group. However this wasn't the entire age group as we started in 3 waves. I hit the water pretty fast and was in a lead group of about four people. Right at the first turn one guy made a break and I tried to stay with him. But he had gotten a jump on me and I wasn't in any of his draft. And at that point we started running into the crowds from the previous wave. At that point I lost him as it got very crowded. I swam over to the right in cleanest water I could find. Then it got even more congested. I ran several people over as they were swerving all over the place.
I think I passed the majority of the 3 waves in front of me and actually felt like I was moving pretty good. I could tell by looking at the course prior to the start that it was going to be pretty accurate and certainly not short.
I made the final turn to come to the beach and it was pretty clear. I got out of the water in a little over 28 minutes. However the timing mat was way up the beach near the transition so it took about 90 seconds to get there. Final swim time 30:01. At that point I knew breaking 4:45 was a long-shot.
Looking at all the times I suspect the course was actually a hair long and I should have been swimming harder. Both Lanzas beat me and I should have been closer to them. However they also started very early and didn't have to deal with the mass of slow people I did.
Got through transition okay...took my time to get situated.
Bike:
Nutrition - 1 bottle of 600 calories Heed and Perpeteum. 2 gu's with caffeine. 6 electrolyte tabs. about 5 bottles of water.
Everything started really well during the ride with one problem. Apparently I hit the lap button on my garmin twice and as I started it showed me in T2. So as I was riding I had to reset it into multisport mode/bike mode to get power readings. No big deal as I could do that while aero. But I lost all my swim/T1 time on the watch. So I had to mentally add about 35 minutes every time I looked at my elapsed time. No big deal.
The goal was to be at 250 watts at the halfway mark. As I got to mile 15 I was sitting at about 255 and could tell I was going a bit hard. So I dialed it back and was a little above 250 at halfway. I do not have average speed on my main screen, so I quickly took a look and was shocked to see a speed of 22.5. I knew Racine was a fast course, but 22.5 was way faster than my predictions. I can't help but think that some of my position tweaks helped as there was some wind on the bike course and I was still going fast. My last flat Oly course I hit 295 watts and only went 23.3mph...but today I dropped a full 45 watts and was not that far off.
At that point based on my power, speed, and legs I decided to dial it back just a hair. It was pretty warm out and I really wanted to have a solid run. I really kept up on my fluids and calories. As I started to feel a touch tired I took a gu with caffine as a pick-me-up.
As I approached town I took another look and was right at 248 watts and my speed had actually bumped up to 22.7mph. I was surprised and very pleased. To finish my ride I came in at about a 2:28. I don't know my exact splits.
Looking back I know a few more long tempo rides would have helped me stay near 260 watts and possibly gotten me over 23mph. Either way I was very pleased with my split and still felt pretty good.
T2 was pretty quick as I only needed to get my running shoes and visor on. I was shocked to see Jeremy Angle in T2 with me. We rode once together and he was very strong. Between my pacing with power, better position on the bike, and better nutrition/hydration I stayed with him the entire way. In fact we finished with the exact same bike splits.
Run:
Coming out of T2 it was pretty hot and there was no shade. But I ran out and was feeling good. The first mile has 2 hills and they are the only two hills on the entire course. I hit a 7:50 even with the hills and felt strong...but had to pee. I quickly stopped at the aid station to go. I'm just not able to pee on the bike or while running. Call it a mental block, I just don't think its going to happen. In any case it was quick 20-30 seconds and I was on my way. I figured it was better to do it early rather than disrupt my rythm later.
Miles 2-6 were all held at 8:00 - 8:10 pace and I was still doing well. I was taking an electolyte tab every 2 miles and a gu every 2-3 miles. No problems.
As I hit mile 3 a storm rolled in. The temperature felt great...but it was short-lived. After about 20 minutes the sun came back and where it had rained (not on me) it started to evaporate and get hot and REALLY humid. It was just nasty. I don't know the actual temperatures but it had to have been 85+ degrees and it felt like 95 with the humidity.
Mile 7 - slower due to the heat and hills... 8:20.
Mile 8-11 were all around 8:30 as I started to get a bit tired and the heat took its toll. But hell...8:30's for me is still pretty good overall. Especially since my focus has been all on Oly's and not the 1/2 iron distance.
Approaching mile 10's aid station I could see jeremy in the distance. I was shocked because he ran in school and should have been much faster than me. At that point I knew he was having a tough day and had thoughts of beating him since I was still feeling pretty well, although tired.
Coming into mile 11's aid station he walked through and I passed him. I really wanted to stay behind him until the end so he wouldn't see me. But as he stopped and walked I slipped past and hoped he'd miss me in the crowd.
Alas it wasn't meant to be. He saw me and caught me in seconds. We chatted for a few and were both feeling the effects of the heat. He picked up the pace and was probably going 7:45's or so. I tried to stay with him for that mile but he was pulling ahead.
At mile 12 the increased pace really took its toll and I had to walk through that aid station and dump water and ice all over myself. I had been the entire way already, but I was really suffering at mile 12. I started running again and couldn't get a rythm going...and had to walk for another 45 seconds or so.
At that point I was really pissed at walking this late in a race so I started running again and just forced myself to keep going. there was no shade so walking would only prolong the agony.
I finished up with a run split of 1:49. As I look at my results, that is where everyone beat me. So despite a really solid run for me, it remains a very significant weakness. I was actually with Justin Henkel the entire way...until the run. I think I know where my focus will be for the remainder of this season and the off season.
My finish time was a 4:53:13. So I was very happy to break 5 hours. After the ride I had hopes of breaking 4:45 but would have had to run a 1:40ish. That is awefully fast for me considering where I was last season.
All in all a very successful race.
Racine 70.3 was this weekend and everyone can read my last couple postings to get my thoughts going into the race. I'll post my Saturday and Sunday events.
As with all IM races and many bigger races I had to check my bike in the day before. I really hate that. In this case athlete checkin and bike checkin were in two different locations. I didn't care for that as I first went to the race site not realizing I had to go to festival park. Oh well.
I had been watching the weather a lot due to potential storms/heat/wind. I wanted to know what to expect and properly hit my nutrition/hydration based on the day. All in all the weather was pretty good.
Race Day:
Got up at 4am to get some food in me. I had one small bowl of coco crispies, one ensure shake, one banana, and 2 scoops of heed through the morning.
As we drove in I took in some more fluids...but was pretty full. Aimee dropped me off at tranisition so I could get set up and then I had a long wait before my wave started.
I took some time to hang out with fellow GG's. Jeremy, Beth, and Dan were all nearby and we talked for a while. All of us were in later waves. Then we started our walk down the beach to the swim start. I took another saltstick and the last of my Heed.
Swim:
I started in the front of my group. However this wasn't the entire age group as we started in 3 waves. I hit the water pretty fast and was in a lead group of about four people. Right at the first turn one guy made a break and I tried to stay with him. But he had gotten a jump on me and I wasn't in any of his draft. And at that point we started running into the crowds from the previous wave. At that point I lost him as it got very crowded. I swam over to the right in cleanest water I could find. Then it got even more congested. I ran several people over as they were swerving all over the place.
I think I passed the majority of the 3 waves in front of me and actually felt like I was moving pretty good. I could tell by looking at the course prior to the start that it was going to be pretty accurate and certainly not short.
I made the final turn to come to the beach and it was pretty clear. I got out of the water in a little over 28 minutes. However the timing mat was way up the beach near the transition so it took about 90 seconds to get there. Final swim time 30:01. At that point I knew breaking 4:45 was a long-shot.
Looking at all the times I suspect the course was actually a hair long and I should have been swimming harder. Both Lanzas beat me and I should have been closer to them. However they also started very early and didn't have to deal with the mass of slow people I did.
Got through transition okay...took my time to get situated.
Bike:
Nutrition - 1 bottle of 600 calories Heed and Perpeteum. 2 gu's with caffeine. 6 electrolyte tabs. about 5 bottles of water.
Everything started really well during the ride with one problem. Apparently I hit the lap button on my garmin twice and as I started it showed me in T2. So as I was riding I had to reset it into multisport mode/bike mode to get power readings. No big deal as I could do that while aero. But I lost all my swim/T1 time on the watch. So I had to mentally add about 35 minutes every time I looked at my elapsed time. No big deal.
The goal was to be at 250 watts at the halfway mark. As I got to mile 15 I was sitting at about 255 and could tell I was going a bit hard. So I dialed it back and was a little above 250 at halfway. I do not have average speed on my main screen, so I quickly took a look and was shocked to see a speed of 22.5. I knew Racine was a fast course, but 22.5 was way faster than my predictions. I can't help but think that some of my position tweaks helped as there was some wind on the bike course and I was still going fast. My last flat Oly course I hit 295 watts and only went 23.3mph...but today I dropped a full 45 watts and was not that far off.
At that point based on my power, speed, and legs I decided to dial it back just a hair. It was pretty warm out and I really wanted to have a solid run. I really kept up on my fluids and calories. As I started to feel a touch tired I took a gu with caffine as a pick-me-up.
As I approached town I took another look and was right at 248 watts and my speed had actually bumped up to 22.7mph. I was surprised and very pleased. To finish my ride I came in at about a 2:28. I don't know my exact splits.
Looking back I know a few more long tempo rides would have helped me stay near 260 watts and possibly gotten me over 23mph. Either way I was very pleased with my split and still felt pretty good.
T2 was pretty quick as I only needed to get my running shoes and visor on. I was shocked to see Jeremy Angle in T2 with me. We rode once together and he was very strong. Between my pacing with power, better position on the bike, and better nutrition/hydration I stayed with him the entire way. In fact we finished with the exact same bike splits.
Run:
Coming out of T2 it was pretty hot and there was no shade. But I ran out and was feeling good. The first mile has 2 hills and they are the only two hills on the entire course. I hit a 7:50 even with the hills and felt strong...but had to pee. I quickly stopped at the aid station to go. I'm just not able to pee on the bike or while running. Call it a mental block, I just don't think its going to happen. In any case it was quick 20-30 seconds and I was on my way. I figured it was better to do it early rather than disrupt my rythm later.
Miles 2-6 were all held at 8:00 - 8:10 pace and I was still doing well. I was taking an electolyte tab every 2 miles and a gu every 2-3 miles. No problems.
As I hit mile 3 a storm rolled in. The temperature felt great...but it was short-lived. After about 20 minutes the sun came back and where it had rained (not on me) it started to evaporate and get hot and REALLY humid. It was just nasty. I don't know the actual temperatures but it had to have been 85+ degrees and it felt like 95 with the humidity.
Mile 7 - slower due to the heat and hills... 8:20.
Mile 8-11 were all around 8:30 as I started to get a bit tired and the heat took its toll. But hell...8:30's for me is still pretty good overall. Especially since my focus has been all on Oly's and not the 1/2 iron distance.
Approaching mile 10's aid station I could see jeremy in the distance. I was shocked because he ran in school and should have been much faster than me. At that point I knew he was having a tough day and had thoughts of beating him since I was still feeling pretty well, although tired.
Coming into mile 11's aid station he walked through and I passed him. I really wanted to stay behind him until the end so he wouldn't see me. But as he stopped and walked I slipped past and hoped he'd miss me in the crowd.
Alas it wasn't meant to be. He saw me and caught me in seconds. We chatted for a few and were both feeling the effects of the heat. He picked up the pace and was probably going 7:45's or so. I tried to stay with him for that mile but he was pulling ahead.
At mile 12 the increased pace really took its toll and I had to walk through that aid station and dump water and ice all over myself. I had been the entire way already, but I was really suffering at mile 12. I started running again and couldn't get a rythm going...and had to walk for another 45 seconds or so.
At that point I was really pissed at walking this late in a race so I started running again and just forced myself to keep going. there was no shade so walking would only prolong the agony.
I finished up with a run split of 1:49. As I look at my results, that is where everyone beat me. So despite a really solid run for me, it remains a very significant weakness. I was actually with Justin Henkel the entire way...until the run. I think I know where my focus will be for the remainder of this season and the off season.
My finish time was a 4:53:13. So I was very happy to break 5 hours. After the ride I had hopes of breaking 4:45 but would have had to run a 1:40ish. That is awefully fast for me considering where I was last season.
All in all a very successful race.
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