Chlorine

So I've been spending A LOT of time in the pool for several months now. It's continuing to pay off, slowly but surely. Most of my gains are from changes to my stroke I think, but I assume I'm continuing to build endurance. This morning was a good test because my main set was 3x500 on 9:03. Before, I was lucky to swim one 500 in 9 minutes, let alone 3 of them. I did them in 8:13, 8:32, and 8:33. Not too bad. I'd like to down under 8 minutes for a 500, but this is good progress...

Still get annoyed when you always smell like chlorine, though.

More Data

Clear signs of progress using the PowerCranks. Today, my plan had me doing a 2.5 hour ride with power intervals. Put it into my hardest gear and go hard for 6 minutes, then 5, then 4, with the rest interval being half the length of the hard effort. Then repeat the entire cycle. Because of the crappy weather, I decided to do this workout on my trainer. Being on the trainer for 2 and a half hours is not my idea of a good time, but I just couldn't bring myself to face the 40 degree, rainy weather again this weekend. I had enough of that last weekend.

So I did my warmup for about 15 minutes, then I shifted into my hardest gear and went at it for 6 minutes. I was holding around 230-250 watts or so for the 6 minutes. Then 3 minutes rest and then do it again for 5 minutes. I made my way through this workout and it wasn't completely horrible. Very, very hard, but not horrible. Then, after about an hour total of intervals, I still had 1.5 hours to go on the trainer. So to pass the time, I started doing 10 minute stints with 30 seconds of rest for my rear end in between the sets. I tried to alternate gears a bit for a variety of efforts. I was still holding around 160-180 watts for these intervals, so overall I averaged 177 watts for the 2.5 hours on the trainer. Normally, on the roads, I average much higher power, but for the trainer, that was pretty good. I am making clear progress. My first decent rides on the trainer after starting to adapt to the PowerCranks were about 125 or 130 watts for 1:15. Now, I'm up to 177 watts for 2.5 hours. That's about a 35% improvement (over a longer time, even). If that improvement translates to a 35% improvement off of a 2:40 half-iron bike split, I will be stoked. We shall see. Also, if I think about the iron distance bike split, my ride at Wisconsin in 2007 was 6:45. 35% off that is gigantic. We'll see how Louisville goes, but I HAVE to be better; just not sure by how much.

The Candy Store, part 2

I don't know how people decide what bike to buy.

I went back to WheelWorks and spent some more time with Joe Santos, who impresses me more and more. He has spent hours and hours with me allowing me to do test rides and I still haven't spent a penny in his shop. I guess that's the way you develop loyal customers. In any case, I am still going through the selection process. This time around I rode the B12 again, twice. I rode a P2 again. I also rode 2 different sizes of P3s.

The B12 felt quite good. It feels stable and fast. The frame may be a bit short for me, but overall it feels good. After my first whirl on it, Joe tweaked the front end and moved my hand position upward. After doing that, I felt really good on it. My only minor complaint was that my knees where bumping my elbows a bit when in the aero position, a sign that the frame/top tube may be a bit short for me.

Next was the P2 again. It also felt pretty good from a geometry standpoint. It still felt a little twitchy and I didn't feel as stable on it as I did on the B12. Otherwise, it felt good. Next was a P3 with 808s. This was the first time I have been on a P3 and the first time I have ever ridden with real race wheels. It may have all been in my head, but I felt really fast with the wheels. Also, I don't think I'll have a problem with deep wheels. It was fairly windy on my test ride, but I never felt like I couldn't control the bike. The fit was good, very similar to the P2, but it also felt a little more twitchy than the Felt B12. Moving to a smaller size P3 helped a little, but the Felt still was a tad more stable for me.

The other option Joe is setting up for me is a really sweet deal on a Felt DA. It normally retails for like 9500, but he can get the '08 version built up with the race wheels and a PowerTap for less than 7000. It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but I want to at least try the bike. The geometry of the frame is similar to the B12, but it has the bayonnet fork (like the B2), so that will be interesting. I still need to ride a B2 and I will try the DA that they build up for me. I may even borrow it for a few days.

I'm to the point now where they all feel pretty decent, so it will be a tough decision. Leaning towards the Felt right now, just not sure which one! Hoping to have a new bike in January!

Slacking

I've been slacking a bit lately on the posts. Between family, work, and training, the last few weeks have been quite busy, but then again, that's the same schedule all the time. From a tri-training perspective, I've had an interesting few weeks.

I met again with Coach and spent some time in the pool. I had reached a bit of a plateau and he hadn't finished off the video from our first session so we decided to meet again and take a look at my stroke progress (or lack thereof). Even though I felt like I had changed it somewhat already, his comments were basically the same. I do too much catch-up, which slows me down, and my timing is off. I need to start me reach sooner. The other thing he added this time around is that when I do reach, I cross over too much, i.e., my right arm goes to my left side and vice versa. So we've added two more drills to help correct these things. A new reach/timing drill where I start my pull before I start my recovery with the back arm and a drill where I concentrate on doing my reach out at 9 or 10 o'clock towards the side of my body. And boy, what a difference. It really feels weird, but the first time in the pool after this little session with Coach, I cut 2-3 seconds of my 50 yd time. I could do a 50 in 0:41, which is really fast for me. It felt quite strange, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I don't have much endurance and cannot keep the good form for very long, so I've still got a lot of work to do. At least I can see a path now towards a 1:10 iron distance swim, which seemed unfathomable before.

Data

Gotta say, I love having the PowerTap. I download every ride and study them briefly before moving on, trying to learn what I can. This week's key bike on the weekend had some power intervals. Warm up, then do a one mile section in the biggest gear trying to accelerate the whole time. Then repeat 3 more times. So I drove down to the hatchery this morning and started from there. I headed over to the canal and did my warmup and then, when I got to 15 minutes, I turned around and started cranking. I was able to accelerate for about 2 minutes or so, but then I petered out a bit. And man did those intervals hurt. They weren't long, but they got my HR up into the 170's on the bike, which is a rarity for me. And pushing along in your biggest gear is no fun. After the prescribed intervals, I headed up to Beals point and finished off the rest of the ride around the lake for a total of 2.5 hours. After that I changed and hit the bike path for a 4 mile run in about 30 mins. I felt pretty good afterwards. Very tired legs, but pretty good.

The coolest thing about the ride was all the data from the PowerTap. I was up over 300 watts for each of the intervals and averaged around 330 or so for each. I'm also experimenting now with intervals on the PowerTap and I have no idea why I didn't try that before! It makes it so easy. And then, on top of that, even though the SW is not chock full of features, you can add intervals afterwards. My overall ride looked like this:



You can see the intervals at the beginning of the plot. Pretty cool. Then, I zeroed in on each separate interval and you can see the stats for each. Way cool. For an engineer, this is pretty cool stuff and even though training with power is by no means cheap, I LOVE the PowerTap and am really looking forward to tracking my progress. After all, the first step to improving a process is to measure it.

A great way to start the day.

We took the family down to the 2nd annual Folsom Turkey Trot this morning... it was a lot of fun! The race has really grown and the ~3000 runners is a bit much for the course that winds through the trails around Folsom. Regardless, we had a good time. Granpa pushed the kiddos in the double stroller, Grandma ran the 5K, my wife ran the 10K, and I ran the 10K. Good times had by all, in both senses of the word. Emily put together a 52 minute 10K, which is not her fastest, but still quite good considering she had a baby 7 months ago. Also, she will be running the marathon next weekend, so this was a good higher intensity run during her brief taper. I was hoping to do a 10K PR. My current best is 39:30 at last year's Run to Feed the Hungry downtown. We decided to do the Folsom race this year because it is closer to home and we thought would be less crowded. Well, not really. When the 10K course merged back together with the 5K course, I had to weave in and out passing all kinds of people. In some cases, it seemed like they had the whole trail walled off intentionally. In any case, I still did really well.

I started off quite fast and hit the first mile in about 6 minutes. At that point, I was feeling great. Well, of course, it's only one mile. So I kept it up as best I could. I started with the very first runners and tried to hang as long as I could. I ended up in a group of about 3-4 runners that was falling behind the lead group. At 2 miles, I was just under 12 minutes. Miles 3 and 4 had a tad more up and down, so I was up to about 24 and change at mile 4. I was hoping to get below 39 and was really hoping for a 37:xx, but knew that would be tough. My HR hovered around 170 for most of the race, which didn't feel that bad actually. Through miles 4 and 5, there was one guy on my heels as I continued to pace us. When we got to 5.5, he really kicked it up a notch and I tried to hang with him. My HR kicked up to 180 as I came up the final finishing hill, but I couldn't stay with him... crap. Oh well. I crossed the line and had 38:52 on my watch. My chip time was 38:49, so I was pretty happy with that. I think I could've done about 30 seconds faster had I not been dodging 5K'ers for the last 2 miles. I was 3rd in the 30 year old male age group and 12th overall, my best finish for a running race!! I *think* I could take another minute or two off that time if I really worked at it. I haven't been doing any speed work lately so this result is just from the warm-up runs I've been doing and the bricks. Perhaps the PowerCranks really are helping my run!? My next race will be the Carlsbad Half Marathon at the end of January and then probably another half marathon in March at Shamrock'n. I want to see if I can break 1:25 at either of those runs. We'll see.

The Candy Store

So, I've mentally committed myself to buying a "real" tri bike. When I did my first race back in '05, I rode an old used Cannondale I bought from a friend for a couple-hundred dollars. It got me through the first season. I was pretty hooked on tri from the beginning, so when I was getting ready to gear up for Ironman in '07, I wanted to get a new bike. As I went through the process, I couldn't decide between a road bike and a true tri bike. I ended up going with a Kestrel Talon, which seemed to provide a good balance and some versatility. I could put some clip-ons on their and use it for long training rides in the hills around here and still race on it.

The Talon did just fine for Ironman Wisconsin in '07; my bike split wasn't fast by any means, but the bike got the job done. For the '08 season, I wanted to really improve my biking and see if I liked an aero setup so I switched it over to a full-on aero setup with a profile design base bar, profile clip-ons, and bar-end shifters. I worked pretty hard on my biking and did a lot more intensity and intervals. It paid off at Vineman 70.3 '08 where I cut 17 minutes off my bike split from the previous year. I was pretty happy about that and it's what's launched me into my new level of addiction for the sport. Now, I don't feel like a decent runner just getting by on the bike and in the water. Now I'm starting to feel like a tri-athlete and just might be able to start getting close to competing in my age group (not winning, but maybe top 10-15% would be a nice start).

Unfortunately, my new level of addiction means I am ready for a road bike AND a tri bike. My plan is to turn the Talon back into a road bike and put the "regular" bars back on and start shopping for a tri bike. To that end, I spent some quality time at Davis Wheelworks this weekend. I called them earlier in the week and asked them about the best process to go through to get a good tri bike that was the right fit for me. The person I was talking to then told me he should put me on the phone with "somebody who knows more." So I explained to the new guy on the other end of the line what my deal was and he walked me through what he thought was the best process. He suggested I come in for a preliminary fit and they would proceed to set-up several different rides for me to test ride. And not just 5 minute spins around the block. Full-on rides in shorts, jersey, shoes, etc. for ~20-30 minutes each bike. He also suggested I ride as many as I can in one day to get a good viable comparison. If I spread them out too much, then they would all feel good.

So, I got clearance from my incredibly supportive and loving wife and set off to Davis for my Saturday appointment. When I showed up, they had the first bike on the trainer and ready to go. And it turns out, the guy I talked to on the phone was the owner, Joe Santos. In the first hour, he spent quite a lot of time listening to me describe what I was looking for and getting the first initial fit done so we could "normalize" all the test bikes to the same points in space. He also spent a fair amount of time with me going over all sorts of details about the options, particularly on the wheels. He reviewed some performance data with me on the wheels and explained the difference between the Zipp design and the Hed design. He also talked to me about my plans for the PowerTap and completely understood my dillemma. His suggestion was basically what I was thinking; that it's not good if you train with it, but then don't race with it. So if I got race wheels, I really should go with a PowerTap if I can. Granted, it will be pricey, but this is really the point in training AND racing with power to get the full use out of it.

Felt B12
So after all the fitting and discussion, I set out on my first test ride, a Felt B12. This is the middle of the line bike for Felt, below the DA and B2, but higher than the B16 or S32. It was really interesting to feel the difference between a "real" aero position and the normal position on my Talon, which as it turns out, is not perfect (more on that later). So I set out to do the out and back loop they suggested. I went through town, past the Mondavi center, and out to the country rode. I got down in the aero bars and stayed there for the length of the out and back route. It felt pretty darn good, a very stable and powerful feel. I wasn't a huge fan of the saddle we put on there - a Specialized tri saddle, but otherwise, this bike felt pretty good. The fit may need some tuning, but good overall.




Cervelo P2C My next test ride was a Cervelo P2C. Joe set it up on the trainer and we dialed it in based on my basic points in space from teh fit. I felt really comfortable on this bike. He put a Profile Design saddle on it, which I really liked. Much more comfortable than the Specialized saddle in my humble opinion. So I proceeded back out on the route, through campus, past Mondavi, out to the country. When I got out on the road on this bike, the fit felt good, but I have to say, the handling felt a little too responsive and almost twitchy... much different than the Felt. Joe said he gets mixed opinions on the Felt vs. the Cervelo on how they handle. Some say Cervelo is more stable, some say Felt. For me, it was the Felt.

Kuota Kaliber When I got back, Joe had set up the Kuota Kaliber. This bike has a more slack geometry and less steep effective seat tube angle. And boy could I feel the difference. It definitely compressed my hip angle when in the aero position. I gave it a chance, though, and went out on the ride. Definitely much less comfortable in the aero position.

Scott Plasma Joe said this bike also has a little less seat tube angle, but he set it up as best he could for me. When I hit the road on this bike, it felt great! I really liked it. It had a Fizik saddle on it and I think the Profile Design saddle is more comfortable, but that wasn't too bad. The one thing I didn't like on this bike was the aero bars were too close together and cramped my arms together too much. Not a problem that can't be overcome. The real issue with this bike is the wheels. It is an '08 limited and comes with 808 tubulars. I don't want to mess with tubulars. I might be able to sell the wheels and get some clinchers (with the PowerTap), but I'm not sure I want to go through that hassle. Otherwise, this was a great bike.



After I finished all the test rides, Joe put together the prices for me so I could mull things over. Not only that, when I got home later that night, he had prepared a PDF with a picture of each bike, the relevant specs, prices, and notes from my test ride. Pretty impressive. If anybody is looking for a place to get a tri bike, I would have to recommend Davis Wheelworks. Good choices and great service.

Now, back to the Talon... the next day, I did my prescribed 2.5 hour ride and now that I can ride for short stints in my aero bars, even with the PowerCranks, I got a good comparison between the fit on my Talon and the aero fit on the other bikes I tried. The Talon felt almost exactly the same as the Kalibur. Definitely not a good fit for me. Didn't fell nearly as powerful (not that I'm all that powerful on the bike to begin with, so I need all the help I can get!) Just more evidence that I need to set that bike up as a road bike for training and get a better tri bike. Even though I'm still struggling a bit with the cost, especially for good race wheels, I am more sure now that it will help me in the long run and achieving my rather lofty goals.

The next step is to go back when they receive the '09 Felt bikes so I can give an '09 B2 a try. I am a little concerned about some stuff I've been reading about the bayonnet system on those bikes, but Joe S. doesn't think it's a problem if you get it set up right to begin with. We'll see how it feels.

To be continued after the next set of test rides...