Now that is what I'm talking about... that is the most anaerobic pain I've felt in a long time! My track workout was a 3K all out, 10 min recovery, 2K all out, 10 min recovery, and 1K all out. I broke my previous 3K best time by 25 seconds lowering it to a 10:23. Plus, coach kept splits for me, which was really nice. Here's how it broke down:
3K
lap 0.5 - 0:36
lap 1.5 - 1:19
lap 2.5 - 1:22
lap 3.5 - 1:23
lap 4.5 - 1:25
lap 5.5 - 1:27
lap 6.5 - 1:26
lap 7.5 - 1:25
10:23 (5:32/mile pace)
2K
lap 1 - 1:20
lap 2 - 1:27
lap 3 - 1:29
lap 4 - 1:27
lap 5 - 1:27
7:10 (5:44/mile pace)
1K
lap 1 - 1:21
lap 2 - 1:26
lap 2.5 - 0:41
3:28 (5:32/mile pace)
I started off pretty hard for the 3K and was just hanging on for dear life at the end. But as coach pointed out, if I had posted like a 1:20 lap at the end, it would've shown I was holding back something for the last lap. However, I clearly was not, so this is probably a better indication of my current speed. I took 25 seconds off my previous best, which is roughly a 0:13/mile pace improvement. Coach also told me he's never had anybody break 10 minutes. I think I could get there eventually - it's about 3-4 more seconds per lap and would add up to a 5:20/mile pace.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Smooth
This morning I did my swim and continued the grand experiment with breathing exclusively on my weak side. It is actually working out well. I wasn't as dizzy, didn't get quite as much water up my nose, and felt smoother and more streamlined in the water. I also noticed I was consistently hitting times that I had to work harder to reach when breathing strong side. For example, my main set today was 3x250 on 4:08, then 5x50 on 0:48, and then another 3x250 on 4:08. Normally, I'd struggle to hit 4 minutes on the 250 and on that second group, I'm sure I would've been a few seconds over. But this morning, I was doing 3:56-3:58 fairly easily and then on the second set of 250s I was hitting 4:00 on the last 2 and not putting in a huge amount of effort. It doesn't seem like my top-end speed has increased all that much, but I feel like I might be more efficient in that I can keep a decent pace for what feels like a longer time.
Tonight is a killer track workout and tomorrow is a commute to work day with hard intervals. Overall this week, is a good tough week and next week will probably be even harder. I am working to get 2 good weeks in and a decent, but short, taper in before Vineman, which is in 2.5 weeks! Can't wait for that race!
Tonight is a killer track workout and tomorrow is a commute to work day with hard intervals. Overall this week, is a good tough week and next week will probably be even harder. I am working to get 2 good weeks in and a decent, but short, taper in before Vineman, which is in 2.5 weeks! Can't wait for that race!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Weak-side breathing, take 2
Not too bad this morning! I did 2700 yards and did all my breathing to the right side (my weak side). It felt slightly more normal and was able to do the 4x250 on 4:08 set fairly easily as I was getting ~10 seconds of rest between each 250. It wasn't all that much effort, either and I was breathing fairly steadily. I was still getting more water up my nose, etc. than I normally do, so I've got to figure that out, but switching to the other side has done something for my form, I think. I still have some balance issues because I know I am dragging my hips/legs most of the time, but I think I'm starting to figure out the hand angle/drag issue. I may try to throw in an "extra" swim tomorrow since I missed Monday's completely. Since this is a recovery week and I have a relatively short "long" run in the morning, I may do some swim drills over lunch if I can get away.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Dizzy
I had another session in the pool with my coach last weekend and one of the things we decided to do is to have me breathe only to my weak side from now on... all the time.... at least for the next few weeks. It seems that I've developed some bad habits by breathing only to one side for the last few years that we need to try to undo. Then, after I've got that down, we'll get back to working on the timing issue I have with my reach/pull.
Today, I swam 2650 yds all breathing to my weak side and I have to say, it made me a little dizzy!! Otherwise, it wasn't that bad and ironically, for shorter distances I was a little faster with a little less effort, so I know it's doing something. However, for the longer sets (200s), I got tired and was a little slower and not breathing as well. I think that should improve fairly quickly, but we'll see.
I was also focusing, during my drills, on the other things he noticed: the way the water feels on my lead hand, i.e., what angle and what position in which it enters the water (I am creating unnecessary drag), my body position, and my kick being streamlined.
It was an interesting experiment. To be continued....
Today, I swam 2650 yds all breathing to my weak side and I have to say, it made me a little dizzy!! Otherwise, it wasn't that bad and ironically, for shorter distances I was a little faster with a little less effort, so I know it's doing something. However, for the longer sets (200s), I got tired and was a little slower and not breathing as well. I think that should improve fairly quickly, but we'll see.
I was also focusing, during my drills, on the other things he noticed: the way the water feels on my lead hand, i.e., what angle and what position in which it enters the water (I am creating unnecessary drag), my body position, and my kick being streamlined.
It was an interesting experiment. To be continued....
Alternating 400s
Last week was descending 400s and that was killer. This week was a little easier - alternating 400s. I warmed up for ~10 minutes (a lot shorter because this is a recovery week) and then went into alternating laps, one at 1:26 pace and one at 1:52 pace. My splits were:
1:25 (1:48 recovery)
1:27 (1:55 recovery)
1:23 (1:54 recovery)
1:26 (1:55 recovery)
1:25 (1:55 recovery)
1:25 (1:51 recovery)
1:26 (1:52 recovery)
1:27 (1:52 recovery)
1:24 (1:53 recovery)
1:24 (2:05 recovery)
It took me a little bit to get the pacing down, but I still couldn't hit 1:26 every single time, but still not too bad overall.
1:25 (1:48 recovery)
1:27 (1:55 recovery)
1:23 (1:54 recovery)
1:26 (1:55 recovery)
1:25 (1:55 recovery)
1:25 (1:51 recovery)
1:26 (1:52 recovery)
1:27 (1:52 recovery)
1:24 (1:53 recovery)
1:24 (2:05 recovery)
It took me a little bit to get the pacing down, but I still couldn't hit 1:26 every single time, but still not too bad overall.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A Run-in With a Bike Trailer
Today was my long ride and a short run. My plan had 95 miles on it with a 6 mile run afterwards. I got up early and was on the road by 6:25. I headed out of Folsom up Green Valley into Rescue and then over to Shingle Springs, then back down into El Dorado Hills and Folsom. After that first loop, I then proceeded up into Newcastle and Auburn and back down towards Folsom. Once I got back to Folsom on the bike trail, I was getting ready to pass a guy pulling his kids in a trailer and yelling "on your left." I wasn't really even going THAT fast, but then all the sudden, the guy veers quickly to the left to pull over to the other side of the trail and I could not stop quick enough!!! I crashed right into him and his trailer and went flying over the top. I rolled to the ground with my bike and then made a quick assessment. I was worried about their kids, but they were just scared and not hurt. Then I was worried about my bike, but it appeared to be fine - all except for the rear-mount water bottle cages I have. The carbon mount was snapped. I was thinking to myself if that is the worst of it, then that's OK!! Everything else seemed fine and I even finished off my last 10 miles to get to 95. I have a couple of scrapes on my hands, elbow, and shoulder, but otherwise, nothing serious. I was lucky! That could've ended my season!
Overall the ride was great (except for the little mishap). I felt great physically and had energy the entire time. I even did the 6.1 or 6.2 miles afterwards in 45 minutes pretty easily. I averaged 191 watts and 18.3 mph and the ride had 5000' of climbing. Not bad for the day!
Overall the ride was great (except for the little mishap). I felt great physically and had energy the entire time. I even did the 6.1 or 6.2 miles afterwards in 45 minutes pretty easily. I averaged 191 watts and 18.3 mph and the ride had 5000' of climbing. Not bad for the day!
Friday, June 19, 2009
In the Middle of the NIght
So I had another long training day before work this morning, or should I say last night. I was up quite early and on my bike by 4:10 AM. I wanted to get in my 90 minute ride and 17 mile run prior to starting the work day at 8:30 or so with my first meeting. Turns out I made it with time to spare! I even was able to shower and eat breakfast!
The ride was uneventful. I averaged about 19 mph but spent the first part on the way out on the bike trail just dodging all the little critters on the bike trail that are out before dawn. It was really sort of creepy. My light doesn't help me see much, but it does help other people see me, which is mostly the point. By the time I hit the turnaround, it was light enough to see, so I got down in the aerobars and went just a touch harder on the way back. It was ~28 miles.
Then I got off my bike, went to the potty real quick and headed out for my 17 mile run. My plan was to try to do it at a steady pace the whole way, which seemed to be right around 7:30 min miles. By the last 4-5 miles, my legs were tired and weary, but I was keeping the same approximate pace. Not a bad run. 17 miles in 2:08:41. I felt decent and it was a good training day overall.
Sunday is a 95 mile ride and a 6 mile run!
The ride was uneventful. I averaged about 19 mph but spent the first part on the way out on the bike trail just dodging all the little critters on the bike trail that are out before dawn. It was really sort of creepy. My light doesn't help me see much, but it does help other people see me, which is mostly the point. By the time I hit the turnaround, it was light enough to see, so I got down in the aerobars and went just a touch harder on the way back. It was ~28 miles.
Then I got off my bike, went to the potty real quick and headed out for my 17 mile run. My plan was to try to do it at a steady pace the whole way, which seemed to be right around 7:30 min miles. By the last 4-5 miles, my legs were tired and weary, but I was keeping the same approximate pace. Not a bad run. 17 miles in 2:08:41. I felt decent and it was a good training day overall.
Sunday is a 95 mile ride and a 6 mile run!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Descending 400s = Brutal
Wow, descending 400s is a tough track workout!!
This morning, I was supposed to do 30 minutes warmup, followed by repeated sets of 400s in 1:19, 1:16, and 1:13 with 1 min rest in between and 3 minutes rest in between the 3 sets. Then after that, I was supposed to do 2 "all-out" 400s, and I put "all-out" in quotations for a reason!
So I did the warmup in about 32 minutes - not sure how far it was, I'll have to map it out later. My first set was in 1:22, 1:18, and 1:17. The second was 1:21, 1:17, and 1:17. The third was 1:22, 1:18, and 1:17. The final 2 were in 1:19 and 1:18. At least I was consistent. Then I followed all of that up with 3 miles cool-down. Overall it was about 11 miles with some serious intensity in the middle! I couldn't quite get down to 5:00 pace, but I'm sure this workout will show up again.
Then, this afternoon, I did a nice 2900 yd swim! A good training day.
This morning, I was supposed to do 30 minutes warmup, followed by repeated sets of 400s in 1:19, 1:16, and 1:13 with 1 min rest in between and 3 minutes rest in between the 3 sets. Then after that, I was supposed to do 2 "all-out" 400s, and I put "all-out" in quotations for a reason!
So I did the warmup in about 32 minutes - not sure how far it was, I'll have to map it out later. My first set was in 1:22, 1:18, and 1:17. The second was 1:21, 1:17, and 1:17. The third was 1:22, 1:18, and 1:17. The final 2 were in 1:19 and 1:18. At least I was consistent. Then I followed all of that up with 3 miles cool-down. Overall it was about 11 miles with some serious intensity in the middle! I couldn't quite get down to 5:00 pace, but I'm sure this workout will show up again.
Then, this afternoon, I did a nice 2900 yd swim! A good training day.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Few Days Off
I had a business trip to PA this week so I took Wednesday completely off and only did a 1-hr run on Thursday. So basically, I had a couple of days off (or at least easy - except for the cross-country flight) in the middle of the week.
I thought that would help me be refreshed for the Friday morning ride/run. I didn't get a lot of sleep because I got in late and in order to get my brick in before work, I have to get up basically in the middle of the night! I was up before 4 and out the door headed to work by 4:25 or so. I was on my bike a few minutes before 5. I headed from work to the canal and up the bike trail towards Beals' Point. I made that my turnaround and it totaled a 28.1 mile ride for which I averaged 19.1 mph and 205 watts. I felt pretty good. Then, I headed out the same way for my run up the canal and to the north side of the bike trail around Lake Natoma. I did my prescribed 20 min warmup and then did 4 sets of 15 min at half-iron race pace followed by 10 min "cool-down" or easier. This yielded a total run of 16 miles with a 7:15 average pace. I figure I was doing just below 7 during the sets and around 7:30 during the recovery. I was tired, but didn't feel horrible afterward and then, of course, had a whole day of work!!
It was a good workout and the rest during the week, I think, helped me do pretty well. Then today, I did an easy swim with a focus on drills and form - 2400 yds. And tomorrow is an 85 mile ride followed by a 6 mile run! It's getting close to crunch time and I'll be doing long rides every weekend and nothing shorter than 16 miles for my weekly long runs (after a pre-ride, of course).
I thought that would help me be refreshed for the Friday morning ride/run. I didn't get a lot of sleep because I got in late and in order to get my brick in before work, I have to get up basically in the middle of the night! I was up before 4 and out the door headed to work by 4:25 or so. I was on my bike a few minutes before 5. I headed from work to the canal and up the bike trail towards Beals' Point. I made that my turnaround and it totaled a 28.1 mile ride for which I averaged 19.1 mph and 205 watts. I felt pretty good. Then, I headed out the same way for my run up the canal and to the north side of the bike trail around Lake Natoma. I did my prescribed 20 min warmup and then did 4 sets of 15 min at half-iron race pace followed by 10 min "cool-down" or easier. This yielded a total run of 16 miles with a 7:15 average pace. I figure I was doing just below 7 during the sets and around 7:30 during the recovery. I was tired, but didn't feel horrible afterward and then, of course, had a whole day of work!!
It was a good workout and the rest during the week, I think, helped me do pretty well. Then today, I did an easy swim with a focus on drills and form - 2400 yds. And tomorrow is an 85 mile ride followed by a 6 mile run! It's getting close to crunch time and I'll be doing long rides every weekend and nothing shorter than 16 miles for my weekly long runs (after a pre-ride, of course).
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Tahoe Ride
One last post to catch up on for the day...
Today was my long ride and since we're in Tahoe for a couple of days, I thought I'd ride around the lake. The catch is that the condo we're staying at is up Kingsbury grade, another 1500 feet up from the lake ~ about 7500 feet above sea level. I got a ride down the hill with my wife (she was doing her long run) and started my ride down there. It turns out America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride was also happening today - it's a ride around the lake and it's a huge Team In Training event, so once I caught up with people, I was passing tons of riders most of the way. Sort of annoying, but the upside was that there were people along the route cheering, too...
The ride around the lake has about 3500 feet of climbing I think and you're between 6000 and around 7000 feet above sea level for most of it. I did fairly well, though and got around the lake in well under 4 hours with an average of like 19.1 mph and about 190 watts. Then, I had to do the Kingbury grade climb back up to the condo. Another 1500 feet over about 4 miles. It brought my average down to 18 mph and pushed my average watts up to 197 for the whole ride. Not bad. 5000 feet of climbing at elevation over 75 miles and I still averaged 18 mph. My run afterwards was a little hard. It had another 500 feet of climbing over 3.9 miles. I was tired, but still knocked it out in just over 30 minutes - so still just a hair under 8 minute miles for this hard run after a fairly hard ride.
All in all, it was a good workout. And to top it off, we went to the beach with the fam afterwards and played in the sand with my kids, followed by a nice dinner out afterwards. What a great day!!
Today was my long ride and since we're in Tahoe for a couple of days, I thought I'd ride around the lake. The catch is that the condo we're staying at is up Kingsbury grade, another 1500 feet up from the lake ~ about 7500 feet above sea level. I got a ride down the hill with my wife (she was doing her long run) and started my ride down there. It turns out America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride was also happening today - it's a ride around the lake and it's a huge Team In Training event, so once I caught up with people, I was passing tons of riders most of the way. Sort of annoying, but the upside was that there were people along the route cheering, too...
The ride around the lake has about 3500 feet of climbing I think and you're between 6000 and around 7000 feet above sea level for most of it. I did fairly well, though and got around the lake in well under 4 hours with an average of like 19.1 mph and about 190 watts. Then, I had to do the Kingbury grade climb back up to the condo. Another 1500 feet over about 4 miles. It brought my average down to 18 mph and pushed my average watts up to 197 for the whole ride. Not bad. 5000 feet of climbing at elevation over 75 miles and I still averaged 18 mph. My run afterwards was a little hard. It had another 500 feet of climbing over 3.9 miles. I was tired, but still knocked it out in just over 30 minutes - so still just a hair under 8 minute miles for this hard run after a fairly hard ride.
All in all, it was a good workout. And to top it off, we went to the beach with the fam afterwards and played in the sand with my kids, followed by a nice dinner out afterwards. What a great day!!
Race Report - Tri 4 Fun Sprint Triathlon
I was originally going to do the Olympic distance race on Sunday, but I was heading to Tahoe with the fam on Saturday afternoon, so I decided to do the Sprint Triathlon instead. This is the same race where I did my first triathlon in June of 2005, which also happened to be the last time I did a sprint distance tri. I was looking forward to going all out to see how I could do in a shorter race about speed and not endurance.
Prerace was uneventful. I picked up my stuff and got my transition area set up. I was racing on a loaner bike, but had my saddle and my race wheels. I was also planning on trying my new speedsuit in the water. Normally I would wear a wetsuit, but Louisville is no wetsuits, and I got this speedsuit at a HUGE discount, so I thought I'd give it a try. My swim was a tad disappointing in that I thought I would've been a touch faster. I was on the beach in 15:20 and heading up towards T1. My transition was not particularly fast. I did take the time to put on socks, which for a sprint is probably not necessary. I've just never tried it without.
Swim: 15:21
T1: 2:33
Now I was off on my bike. The Cervelo loaner I've got from the bike shop fits me pretty well and my plan was to hammer as hard as I could, since this was a sprint distance race. The course is 16 miles out and back. On the way out of the park I was going hard and getting into a rhythym, except there are a few turns as you leave the park. Out on the main road, I knew the wind was at my back and it would be a little harder on the way in. I kept pushing and was passing people left and right. I made it to the turnaround in 19:30, and headed back. On the way back, it was definitely more windy and slightly more hilly (more uphill than on the way out). I got back to the transition area in about 40:20, so I lost about 2 minutes off my pace on the way back, but still not bad. I averaged 23.7 for the 16 miles and did an average of 292 watts. I figure that's right about where my FTP is. I got into the transition area, took my helmet off, put my shoes and hat on and took off.
Bike: 40:20
T2: 1:00
The run is an out and back 3 miler on a fire road around the lake. No big hills, but some undulating terrain. My legs were a little wobbly at first, but after about the first 3-4 minutes, I settled into a good pace. I got to the first mile mark in about 6:20 I think. I kept pushing and passed a couple more people in my age group. I was to the turnaround in about 9:50. On the way back I kept pushing hard as I wanted to break 20:00 for the run. I finished off the run in 19:13 (~6:24 per mile pace). Amazing to think that the pros do this pace (or faster) for a marathon!! And that's after riding 112 miles!!
Run: 19:13
Overall: 1:18:35
Overall place: 12th
AG place: 2nd
When I did this race in 2005, I did this course in 1:39, so I cut 21 minutes off that time in 4 years. Not too bad for a sprint! It felt good to go hard for a short distance and see how much speed I have. I'm still not as fast as the real speedsters, but have definitely gotten faster.
Prerace was uneventful. I picked up my stuff and got my transition area set up. I was racing on a loaner bike, but had my saddle and my race wheels. I was also planning on trying my new speedsuit in the water. Normally I would wear a wetsuit, but Louisville is no wetsuits, and I got this speedsuit at a HUGE discount, so I thought I'd give it a try. My swim was a tad disappointing in that I thought I would've been a touch faster. I was on the beach in 15:20 and heading up towards T1. My transition was not particularly fast. I did take the time to put on socks, which for a sprint is probably not necessary. I've just never tried it without.
Swim: 15:21
T1: 2:33
Now I was off on my bike. The Cervelo loaner I've got from the bike shop fits me pretty well and my plan was to hammer as hard as I could, since this was a sprint distance race. The course is 16 miles out and back. On the way out of the park I was going hard and getting into a rhythym, except there are a few turns as you leave the park. Out on the main road, I knew the wind was at my back and it would be a little harder on the way in. I kept pushing and was passing people left and right. I made it to the turnaround in 19:30, and headed back. On the way back, it was definitely more windy and slightly more hilly (more uphill than on the way out). I got back to the transition area in about 40:20, so I lost about 2 minutes off my pace on the way back, but still not bad. I averaged 23.7 for the 16 miles and did an average of 292 watts. I figure that's right about where my FTP is. I got into the transition area, took my helmet off, put my shoes and hat on and took off.
Bike: 40:20
T2: 1:00
The run is an out and back 3 miler on a fire road around the lake. No big hills, but some undulating terrain. My legs were a little wobbly at first, but after about the first 3-4 minutes, I settled into a good pace. I got to the first mile mark in about 6:20 I think. I kept pushing and passed a couple more people in my age group. I was to the turnaround in about 9:50. On the way back I kept pushing hard as I wanted to break 20:00 for the run. I finished off the run in 19:13 (~6:24 per mile pace). Amazing to think that the pros do this pace (or faster) for a marathon!! And that's after riding 112 miles!!
Run: 19:13
Overall: 1:18:35
Overall place: 12th
AG place: 2nd
When I did this race in 2005, I did this course in 1:39, so I cut 21 minutes off that time in 4 years. Not too bad for a sprint! It felt good to go hard for a short distance and see how much speed I have. I'm still not as fast as the real speedsters, but have definitely gotten faster.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Bike Commute
Yesterday, I did my bike commute and was a little nervous as to how my legs would respond to my tough ride home, which had 2 sets of 5, 4, and 3 minute intervals at hard effort. Ironically, though, when I got to the Iron Point hill, I was still feeling pretty good and did an interval up the climb. I averaged 360 watts and never dropped below 8 mph on the climb!! Then, when I was approaching home, I did the Serrano hill and made it up in 7:35, which is about 15 or 20 seconds faster than I've ever done it and that was at the end of my hard 1:30 ride. I think the combination of an easier week followed by the Auburn race gave me a little bump in cycling fitness. Or perhaps it was just the easier week? Nonetheless, I was feeling strong.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Race Report - Auburn Long Course (World's Toughest Half)
Finally! My first race of the season. It's been a long time since 9/1/08, when I started the "new" training strategy/plan with a coach. This race is not my key race for the year, but it was supposed to be a good check point to see where my fitness is at this point in the season. My coach suggested I just go hard and not worry about pacing, but to really nail my nutrition and hydration (good advice) - so that was my plan. A 3-hr bottle of Perpetuem, a Hammer gel every 45 minutes on the bike, with 2 salt tablets (I use Endurolytes), and a bottle of water every 45 minutes to an hour. Then on the run, I was going to do a few swigs of Cytomax at every aid station and use my water bottle consistently through the first hour, possibly switching to water at the aid stations if I felt the need.
Everything leading up to the race went well and was uneventful. My wife went with me to T1 which is always nice. I got everything set up and hit the port-a-potty. Then with about 10 minutes to go, I went down to the water to get in and warm-up a bit. The water felt great - I think it was in the low 70s, which was quite comfortable. The wave start was all the men doing the half-iron, so it was fairly big. We got off to a bit of a late start because they were still setting the last buoy (which was a little concerning), but nonetheless, we were underway!
I tried to concentrate on my form during the swim and focus on high elbows and body position. I didn't get too abused during the melee at the beginning so I got into a decent groove heading towards the first buoy. When we rounded the edge of the lake and over to the buoy it was a little crowded, but not bad. Once to the first buoy, it really thinned out more and I was out in the open water. It was a little difficult to sight because they didn't have anything in between the 3 corner buoys of the diamond-shaped course. As a result, when it was all said-and-done, I think I extended the course a tad by going a bit too wide. I kept cruising along and didn't really have any problems. I was out of the water in 35:45 or so and got up the boat ramp and over the mat in like 36:00 even. I made my way up to my bike, got my wetsuit off, my helmet and shoes on, and headed off.
Swim Split: 36:00
T1: 2:43
The first 6-7 miles of the bike course are up-hill into Auburn. It's over 1000 feet up, I believe. I actually really like climbing, so this didn't really bother me. I was passing people already through this section pretty easily. I spent the first 15 minutes or so trying to get my HR settled a bit and then started my nutrition plan. Then I made it up into town and passed the finish/T2 and Emily was there to take a picture (which I will post as soon as I download it). As a went through town, I took some of the little, tiny roads (and use the word road loosely) that get you over to the other side of town. The course actually goes through the parking lot of a body shop and I couldn't quite figure out where it went after that, so I lost a few seconds. Even had a tried to pre-ride this section, I never would've been able to figure it out. In any case, I got over to the other side of town that I am more familiar with and headed out into the foothills. You basically keep gradually going up and up into the foothills along the I-80 frontage roads. Some really fast, short descents, some good climbs, and not great road quality. Once you get out there, there is a loop through a campground where you take a fun, roller-coaster style road, then a steep, curvy descent down to the river, then past the campground, and then do the 1.2 mile climb back out. As I made it down to the river and started the climb back out, I noticed the same, weird feeling on my bike as when the fork had rattled loose. I have a Felt tri bike with the Bayonet fork and thus far have not had good luck. I love everything else about the bike, but the fork has been nothing but trouble. So here I am with 25 miles to go and my fork is unstable and is causing some really weird handling.
I decided to just deal with it and stay focused on what I could control. The bike was still rideable, but I could not go into my aerobars for the rest of the race, so I had 25 miles of riding to do on my top bars... not ideal. Regardless, I kept pushing on as best I could and tried to concentrate on continuing with my nutrition to set up a decent run. As I started getting back close to town, I realized I was having a fairly good ride. Not too many people break 3:15 on this course because it has 6000' of climbing and is somewhat technical, but it was looking like I could get close to 3:10. I was still feeling pretty good and was starting to feel like I could have a good run. I made it back to T2 in 3:09 and got ready for my run. T2 was uneventful, which was nice and I headed out on my run.
Bike Split: 3:09
T2: 2:07
As I started the run, I knew I had some legs today, so I was encouraged and got started with a good mindset. I had passed a lot of people on the bike (I think only 1 guy in my age group passed me on the bike), but when I started the run, I knew I'd be passing a lot more. I did the 1st lap with a target HR of around 145-150 or so, which is fairly comfortable for me. I took my belt/bottle on the run, so I continued to drink water throughout the early part of the run. I also had 2 Hammer gels and some salt tablets with me. The course goes on some trails first and I did those easily, then headed up the hill towards the neighborhood/school. I made it around the loop at the school easily and cruised back down the hill. At this point, there's a section that goes into the state recreation area that has some hills, but it wasn't too bad. I was back from the 10K loop in around 45-46 minutes, I think. I was still feeling pretty good, so I pushed it a bit more on the 2nd loop and tried to keep my HR around 150-155. I kept clicking off 7:30 miles in spite of the hills. On the 2nd loop, there's an extra section to get it from 20K to the half-marathon distance and on this part, there's a fairly steep downhill on a trail, so I was careful on that section. Right through there, I passed one of the lead women and kept going. I did the out and back in the recreation area and had about 1.5 miles to go, mostly uphill, to the finish. By this time, I knew I could possibly break 1:40 on the run and 5:30 for the race, so I kept going. I made it back to the park and to the finish with a 1:38 run split and a 5:28 overall race time. Coming into the race, I was hoping to do a 5:45, so I was quite happy with a sub 5:30 on this really tough course. I knew not that many people would be breaking 5 anda half. I crossed the line, grabbed a drink, and then caught up with my family. They told me I migh've been top 15 or 20 overall!
Run Split: 1:38
Overall time: 5:28:38
Overall place: 18th out of 202 half-iron finishers
AG place: 4th out of 29 half-iron finishers
That afternoon, I called the bike shop and talked to the owner (who was the one who helped get me set up on my tri bike initially) and he was VERY accommodating, as he should be. When you spend this much money on a bike, you certainly expect it to be reliable. I dropped it off the next day and they were sending the frame/fork back to Felt to see what the deal was. They also gave me a Cervelo loaner that is a REALLY nice bike so I can race on that this weekend in the sprint and take it to Tahoe over the weekend for some training.
Looking back, after they posted the results, I saw that my swim time was 76th out of 202 HIM finishers and 14th out of 29 in my AG. My bike split was 30th overall and 5th out of 29 in my AG. My run split was 14th overall and 5th in my AG. I am getting stronger on the bike and am starting to be able to run fairly well off the bike. Only 13 other people in the whole race had better run splits and with respect to biking, I definitely was higher in my AG than I ever have been. Overall, I was very happy with this result and have made good progress with my coach. I was a little disappointed I wasn't slightly faster in the water and I was VERY frustrated by my bike, but nonetheless, I felt good physically and really nailed my nutrition plan. It was a great rehearsal for Louisville.
Everything leading up to the race went well and was uneventful. My wife went with me to T1 which is always nice. I got everything set up and hit the port-a-potty. Then with about 10 minutes to go, I went down to the water to get in and warm-up a bit. The water felt great - I think it was in the low 70s, which was quite comfortable. The wave start was all the men doing the half-iron, so it was fairly big. We got off to a bit of a late start because they were still setting the last buoy (which was a little concerning), but nonetheless, we were underway!
I tried to concentrate on my form during the swim and focus on high elbows and body position. I didn't get too abused during the melee at the beginning so I got into a decent groove heading towards the first buoy. When we rounded the edge of the lake and over to the buoy it was a little crowded, but not bad. Once to the first buoy, it really thinned out more and I was out in the open water. It was a little difficult to sight because they didn't have anything in between the 3 corner buoys of the diamond-shaped course. As a result, when it was all said-and-done, I think I extended the course a tad by going a bit too wide. I kept cruising along and didn't really have any problems. I was out of the water in 35:45 or so and got up the boat ramp and over the mat in like 36:00 even. I made my way up to my bike, got my wetsuit off, my helmet and shoes on, and headed off.
Swim Split: 36:00
T1: 2:43
The first 6-7 miles of the bike course are up-hill into Auburn. It's over 1000 feet up, I believe. I actually really like climbing, so this didn't really bother me. I was passing people already through this section pretty easily. I spent the first 15 minutes or so trying to get my HR settled a bit and then started my nutrition plan. Then I made it up into town and passed the finish/T2 and Emily was there to take a picture (which I will post as soon as I download it). As a went through town, I took some of the little, tiny roads (and use the word road loosely) that get you over to the other side of town. The course actually goes through the parking lot of a body shop and I couldn't quite figure out where it went after that, so I lost a few seconds. Even had a tried to pre-ride this section, I never would've been able to figure it out. In any case, I got over to the other side of town that I am more familiar with and headed out into the foothills. You basically keep gradually going up and up into the foothills along the I-80 frontage roads. Some really fast, short descents, some good climbs, and not great road quality. Once you get out there, there is a loop through a campground where you take a fun, roller-coaster style road, then a steep, curvy descent down to the river, then past the campground, and then do the 1.2 mile climb back out. As I made it down to the river and started the climb back out, I noticed the same, weird feeling on my bike as when the fork had rattled loose. I have a Felt tri bike with the Bayonet fork and thus far have not had good luck. I love everything else about the bike, but the fork has been nothing but trouble. So here I am with 25 miles to go and my fork is unstable and is causing some really weird handling.
I decided to just deal with it and stay focused on what I could control. The bike was still rideable, but I could not go into my aerobars for the rest of the race, so I had 25 miles of riding to do on my top bars... not ideal. Regardless, I kept pushing on as best I could and tried to concentrate on continuing with my nutrition to set up a decent run. As I started getting back close to town, I realized I was having a fairly good ride. Not too many people break 3:15 on this course because it has 6000' of climbing and is somewhat technical, but it was looking like I could get close to 3:10. I was still feeling pretty good and was starting to feel like I could have a good run. I made it back to T2 in 3:09 and got ready for my run. T2 was uneventful, which was nice and I headed out on my run.
Bike Split: 3:09
T2: 2:07
As I started the run, I knew I had some legs today, so I was encouraged and got started with a good mindset. I had passed a lot of people on the bike (I think only 1 guy in my age group passed me on the bike), but when I started the run, I knew I'd be passing a lot more. I did the 1st lap with a target HR of around 145-150 or so, which is fairly comfortable for me. I took my belt/bottle on the run, so I continued to drink water throughout the early part of the run. I also had 2 Hammer gels and some salt tablets with me. The course goes on some trails first and I did those easily, then headed up the hill towards the neighborhood/school. I made it around the loop at the school easily and cruised back down the hill. At this point, there's a section that goes into the state recreation area that has some hills, but it wasn't too bad. I was back from the 10K loop in around 45-46 minutes, I think. I was still feeling pretty good, so I pushed it a bit more on the 2nd loop and tried to keep my HR around 150-155. I kept clicking off 7:30 miles in spite of the hills. On the 2nd loop, there's an extra section to get it from 20K to the half-marathon distance and on this part, there's a fairly steep downhill on a trail, so I was careful on that section. Right through there, I passed one of the lead women and kept going. I did the out and back in the recreation area and had about 1.5 miles to go, mostly uphill, to the finish. By this time, I knew I could possibly break 1:40 on the run and 5:30 for the race, so I kept going. I made it back to the park and to the finish with a 1:38 run split and a 5:28 overall race time. Coming into the race, I was hoping to do a 5:45, so I was quite happy with a sub 5:30 on this really tough course. I knew not that many people would be breaking 5 anda half. I crossed the line, grabbed a drink, and then caught up with my family. They told me I migh've been top 15 or 20 overall!
Run Split: 1:38
Overall time: 5:28:38
Overall place: 18th out of 202 half-iron finishers
AG place: 4th out of 29 half-iron finishers
That afternoon, I called the bike shop and talked to the owner (who was the one who helped get me set up on my tri bike initially) and he was VERY accommodating, as he should be. When you spend this much money on a bike, you certainly expect it to be reliable. I dropped it off the next day and they were sending the frame/fork back to Felt to see what the deal was. They also gave me a Cervelo loaner that is a REALLY nice bike so I can race on that this weekend in the sprint and take it to Tahoe over the weekend for some training.
Looking back, after they posted the results, I saw that my swim time was 76th out of 202 HIM finishers and 14th out of 29 in my AG. My bike split was 30th overall and 5th out of 29 in my AG. My run split was 14th overall and 5th in my AG. I am getting stronger on the bike and am starting to be able to run fairly well off the bike. Only 13 other people in the whole race had better run splits and with respect to biking, I definitely was higher in my AG than I ever have been. Overall, I was very happy with this result and have made good progress with my coach. I was a little disappointed I wasn't slightly faster in the water and I was VERY frustrated by my bike, but nonetheless, I felt good physically and really nailed my nutrition plan. It was a great rehearsal for Louisville.
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