Another solid week of abusing myself. I continued my run focus and tried to fill in what cycling and swimming I could. I fell a little short on both, but was very happy with where I'm at running. The hip still gets tight, but I rolled a 19 miles run feeling pretty strong. The Hokas seems to make a real difference and I'm not all that sore after a 2+ hour run. The consistent mileage helps a lot to. Last week I had 3 runs over 12 miles.
This week will be a lighter week as we just moved into our new home in St. Joseph, MI. I finally might get back into a routine after we unpack a forest of boxes scattered through the house. I also have a short list of home repair items, most of which I'll contract out.
Status report - THE RUN is feeling strong. The extra 4-5lbs is holding me back but at least my fitness isn't. Weight is a balancing act. On one hand, the extra weight might help me sustain energy levels late in a race. On the downside I'll burn more energy the entire time and go slower. Yes, yes, I'm trying to justify being a little fat...haha. THE BIKE is OK. Maybe a little behind where I was last year. Fewer long rides and the run volume is taking it's toll. I'm also swimming a little less, and I think that residual training load carries over to recovery capacity. I also think my position is slightly more aggressive and out on the road, holding a good aero position, it costing me a little power. But the loss of power is worth the gain is speed. It's also possible that my right leg continues to be dominant, maybe more dominant than last year. As usual, this is always the big "?" that your left with on 1 leg power. THE SWIM comes a goes. One day I'm feeling really strong and knocking out 100 repeats in 1:21-1:23 (100SCM) then other days 1:25-1:27 is a struggle. Just keep plugging away. Rather than forcing myself to complete a workout when the stroke is crap, I've been adjusting based on how I feel that day. I think it's helped prevent burn-out somewhat, but taken advantage of days when I feel great.
Racine 70.3! We'll see how this one goes. A definite "B" race. I should have some recovery with all the moving going on. On that note, I'll keep intensity higher, workouts shorter and overall reduce volume a little, but not as much as a recovery week. When possible, maintain a high frequency. My current prediction: 29-31' Swim (condition dependent), 3' T1, 2:12-2:15 Bike (might be a little optimistic looking at last years results, but we'll I'm feeling good about where my speed is at on the bike), 2' T2, 1:24-1:28 (depending on heat/humidity). That puts me between 4:11-4:18. That could be anywhere from 3rd to 10th in the age group...haha. I expect a pretty deep field as usual and spread out over 3 waves means it's just you against the clock all morning. Nutrition plan will be the same as usual. Carry 1 BTA and 1 aero bottle of sports drink (I need to buy some more), take 1 hand-up, and eat 2-3 gels for 360-400 calories per hour. If The humidity is high, I may take only 2 gels and drink another 1/3 bottle of water, the rest dump over me. On the run, I just live off the course and see how I feel. I'm getting pretty excited to race all the fast guys in the Midwest in including a couple of fellow coaches. Though both are injured a little or just coming back, they are still fast, very fast.
By the numbers:
Swim: 15,147y, 3h24m
Bike: 199mi, 9h22m
Run: 60.3mi, 7h37m
TOTAL: 20h23m
TSS: 1244
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Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Quick Update - 07/8/15
Crazy few weeks. Preparing to move, big weeks of training, family in town...never ends. Training is going well. I'm still not getting any lighter, but I'm feeling strong on long runs. Had a few good swims in the pool too. Hopefully I can finally find a descent routine in a few weeks....maybe. I trimmed back the total volume but tried to bump up intensity a little to compensate. I dropped some easy rides... and a few swims. But my run CTL is at a all time record including last year. It just crossed 50 TSS/day. So on average I'm running the equivalent of about a 10k easy run every day.
Looking forward to Racine. It will be very much a "B" race but I plan to put myself in a good position to have a descent day similar to Steelhead last year. I think right now... assuming it's a typcial swim, maybe a normal 29xx swim, then roll a 2:12 or so and run a 1:25 and eek out a PR in a 2:11. Then, if the weather is descent, maybe finally crack the 4:10 mark at Steelhead.
After Racine, there's just 2 more training blocks then taper. It's been a long road.
Summary...by the numbers:
6/22-6/28 (Recovery Week)
SWIM: 2h04m, 9090y
BIKE: 4h49m, 99mi
RUN: 3h17m, 27.4mi
TOTAL: 11h10m
TSS: 628
6/29-7/05 (Base 3, Week 1)
SWIM: 1h52m, 8421y
BIKE: 9h19m, 215
RUN: 6h42m, 55.1mi
TOTAL: 17h53m
TSS: 1174
Looking forward to Racine. It will be very much a "B" race but I plan to put myself in a good position to have a descent day similar to Steelhead last year. I think right now... assuming it's a typcial swim, maybe a normal 29xx swim, then roll a 2:12 or so and run a 1:25 and eek out a PR in a 2:11. Then, if the weather is descent, maybe finally crack the 4:10 mark at Steelhead.
After Racine, there's just 2 more training blocks then taper. It's been a long road.
Summary...by the numbers:
6/22-6/28 (Recovery Week)
SWIM: 2h04m, 9090y
BIKE: 4h49m, 99mi
RUN: 3h17m, 27.4mi
TOTAL: 11h10m
TSS: 628
6/29-7/05 (Base 3, Week 1)
SWIM: 1h52m, 8421y
BIKE: 9h19m, 215
RUN: 6h42m, 55.1mi
TOTAL: 17h53m
TSS: 1174
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Weekly Wrap-up 06/21/15 - Survived a Big Week
I survived 2 solid weeks of training. I'm sore, I'm tired, but somehow I can't wait to hit the pool in the morning and get in a long easy ride tomorrow. Maybe it's just being in a new place. Training is fresh & new. I know that wasn't my opinion when I was 3 hours into a 6 hour ride today and was ready to get off. It was hot, humid, longest, sunniest day of the year, and every bump was starting ot annoy me. But you push on knowing that these days just make you stronger. this was one of my biggest weeks ever. It's not often I bump up against the 1400TSS mark in a week. Especially when my swim volume was a little down compared to some previous "big weeks". I did this one the hard way, with my legs.
I also did 2 open water swims this week. That's huge, since in a whole season, my only OW was usually races. Ultimately, they have benefits, but in terms of improving swim mechanics and swimming faster, they are counterproductive. But it's a fun change of pace at a time of the year where your a little burnt out of swimming laps indoors. I also expressed my dissatisfaction with the warm water at the YMCA. It was consistently 84-85F and Wed. I had to end a workout early. I cancelled my membership and am now going to a private health club with a 3 lane, COOLER, dedicated lap pool. No open swim, swim lesson or anyone but lap swimmers. It was 82-83F when I was there, but I hear it often cooler. It felt great. It also have cold tubs, and a hot tub too. Nice gym, yoga, massage therapy and so on. Plus it's much closer to where I'll be living. It's a place my wife will feel more comfortable working out at. Maybe that's the best reason of all. A win-win all around. Oh..and it's still 25M. It doesn't have the fancy gutter system, but the lane markers do a good job holding the waves down.
On top of everything, I did a mini "do-it-yourself" triathlon on Thursday. Lots of fun. I didn't really track my splits, but I laid down some good power and felt great on the run. My swim sucked. 1st time in Lake Michigan and had trouble finding a rhythm.
Best of all, I think I'm finally feel like I'm getting close to being IM fit again. That 150 CTL mark seems to be that threshold for me. I still need to drop a little weight to really get my run back to 100%, but I'm handling the volume OK.
Next week I have a abbreviated recovery week since this was a 2 weeks block. I travel back to Iowa for the last time (other than visiting April's family) next weekend. I excited about starting a new life here, but it is still hard to say goodbye to where you've lived for 11 years. Well, I'll be honest, I'm enjoying it so much here, it's not that hard. I don't mean that to be a negative, just that there's more positives in terms of my lifestyle and what I enjoy doing. Maybe it because of the way I was in a sense forced to leave. Being laid off, and not finding a job locally without a lot commute. In a sense, it makes you feel like the local area rejected you. I think too that at some point in your life, your ready for change.
By the numbers:
Swim - 3h13m, 13,998y
Bike - 13h44m, 291 miles
Run - 6h37m, 54mi
TOTAL - 23h33m
TSS - 1394
I also did 2 open water swims this week. That's huge, since in a whole season, my only OW was usually races. Ultimately, they have benefits, but in terms of improving swim mechanics and swimming faster, they are counterproductive. But it's a fun change of pace at a time of the year where your a little burnt out of swimming laps indoors. I also expressed my dissatisfaction with the warm water at the YMCA. It was consistently 84-85F and Wed. I had to end a workout early. I cancelled my membership and am now going to a private health club with a 3 lane, COOLER, dedicated lap pool. No open swim, swim lesson or anyone but lap swimmers. It was 82-83F when I was there, but I hear it often cooler. It felt great. It also have cold tubs, and a hot tub too. Nice gym, yoga, massage therapy and so on. Plus it's much closer to where I'll be living. It's a place my wife will feel more comfortable working out at. Maybe that's the best reason of all. A win-win all around. Oh..and it's still 25M. It doesn't have the fancy gutter system, but the lane markers do a good job holding the waves down.
On top of everything, I did a mini "do-it-yourself" triathlon on Thursday. Lots of fun. I didn't really track my splits, but I laid down some good power and felt great on the run. My swim sucked. 1st time in Lake Michigan and had trouble finding a rhythm.
Best of all, I think I'm finally feel like I'm getting close to being IM fit again. That 150 CTL mark seems to be that threshold for me. I still need to drop a little weight to really get my run back to 100%, but I'm handling the volume OK.
Next week I have a abbreviated recovery week since this was a 2 weeks block. I travel back to Iowa for the last time (other than visiting April's family) next weekend. I excited about starting a new life here, but it is still hard to say goodbye to where you've lived for 11 years. Well, I'll be honest, I'm enjoying it so much here, it's not that hard. I don't mean that to be a negative, just that there's more positives in terms of my lifestyle and what I enjoy doing. Maybe it because of the way I was in a sense forced to leave. Being laid off, and not finding a job locally without a lot commute. In a sense, it makes you feel like the local area rejected you. I think too that at some point in your life, your ready for change.
By the numbers:
Swim - 3h13m, 13,998y
Bike - 13h44m, 291 miles
Run - 6h37m, 54mi
TOTAL - 23h33m
TSS - 1394
Monday, June 15, 2015
Weekly Wrap-up - 06/15/15
Solid training week. Really getting back into the swing of things and feeling more fit. Still struggling to hold power on the bike. I think I'm lacking enough rest on easy days and enough intensity on hard days.
USAT Coaching Training over the weekend was a great experience. Excellent presenters both days. A lot of material I already knew, but the talking with other coaches changed my perspective a little. I got in a couple workouts. The most fun was a 15+ mile run with Jackie Herring, a pro triathlete and coach. Great conversation and she's of course very fit. I haven't run that fast for that long wince last spring. Just what I needed. my legs actually felt great. It wasn't a fast run but it was more like Zone 2 IM pace instead of just an easy run pace.
On my long ride I ran into a local triathlon legend named John___ (I'm bad with names, but at least I remembered his 1st name). He's was a real stud back in the day and still a strong athlete now. I'll have to hook up with him for some Lake Michigan OWS. I think he's still faster than me in the water pushing 60. He's been to Kona a few times, swam a 55ish back in the day without any fancy swim skins. Probably rode sub 5 hours on a steel frame bike and old school bars. I'm also going to start riding a morning ride maybe 1 day each week and my long ride with another strong triathlete. I gather that she's the fastest female in the area... so hey, I guess we should train together a little.... haha. She's ridden 2:20-2:30 at Steelhead the last few years on the bike. She's doing her 1st IM this year... Muskoka. Should be fun.
Overall put in some good work and making progress. I'm feeling pretty confident about having a good day at Racine. My running has never felt better. Just need to trim some weight and I'll be rolling.
By the numbers:
Swim - 2h24m, 10,717y
Bike - 10h49m, 218mi
Run - 6h41m, 53.3mi
Total - 19h54m
TSS-1180
USAT Coaching Training over the weekend was a great experience. Excellent presenters both days. A lot of material I already knew, but the talking with other coaches changed my perspective a little. I got in a couple workouts. The most fun was a 15+ mile run with Jackie Herring, a pro triathlete and coach. Great conversation and she's of course very fit. I haven't run that fast for that long wince last spring. Just what I needed. my legs actually felt great. It wasn't a fast run but it was more like Zone 2 IM pace instead of just an easy run pace.
On my long ride I ran into a local triathlon legend named John___ (I'm bad with names, but at least I remembered his 1st name). He's was a real stud back in the day and still a strong athlete now. I'll have to hook up with him for some Lake Michigan OWS. I think he's still faster than me in the water pushing 60. He's been to Kona a few times, swam a 55ish back in the day without any fancy swim skins. Probably rode sub 5 hours on a steel frame bike and old school bars. I'm also going to start riding a morning ride maybe 1 day each week and my long ride with another strong triathlete. I gather that she's the fastest female in the area... so hey, I guess we should train together a little.... haha. She's ridden 2:20-2:30 at Steelhead the last few years on the bike. She's doing her 1st IM this year... Muskoka. Should be fun.
Overall put in some good work and making progress. I'm feeling pretty confident about having a good day at Racine. My running has never felt better. Just need to trim some weight and I'll be rolling.
By the numbers:
Swim - 2h24m, 10,717y
Bike - 10h49m, 218mi
Run - 6h41m, 53.3mi
Total - 19h54m
TSS-1180
Friday, June 12, 2015
Update 06/12/15
Wow... I'm been more than a little absent on training updates. Tons of things going on. I started a new job, living in an apartment in St. Joseph, MI, bought a house that's closing in just over 4 weeks, sold out current home.
On top of that, I'm ramping up training, went to a TBC Training Camp in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend, at USAT Coaching Level 1 Certification Training now in Des Moines, IA. Phew. Hmmm... where to start.
TBC Madison Mini Camp
I'll just sum this up.... great training weekend! Met a bunch of new faces, got to ride with the legendary duo of Adam Zucco and Scott Iott on a few spirited rides... one on a rainy afternoon that I consider one of the more epic rides I've been on. A great ride in crappy weather. We even did the Madison 1/2 marathon and I ran my 1st negative split in a running race ever and won free dinner. Learned something there, and ran faster than I expected. Hard to beat that.
St Joseph, MI
Beautiful location. Rolling hills through mostly wooded countryside on some excellent roads with wide shoulders and light traffic. Runs along the Lake Michigan beach and cute beach side tourist town. It feels a little like your on vacation some of the time. Excellent schools for our daughter and we found a nice 1950's Cape Cod for our new home. My wife even found a job! Crazy! I love my new job and to top it off, I found a very active distance running & triathlete community there. I might have a chance to expand my coaching a little and have a few people to train with. I get the impression there's not a lot of coaches in the area. The town i of course host to Steelhead 70.3 in August. Yes, yes I signed up already. I also feel like I'm making some progress again in the pool.
USAT Coaching Training
A great speaker gave the training all day. Ian...ummm... crap... I'm terrible with names. Its embarrassing. I had a nice 1 hour run this morning then a very easy 80 minute ride with another name I've forgotten and Jacking Herring (pro triathlete). Had some great conversations about coaching, training, etc. Great person! Easy to talk to. I can see why she's so popular in the Madison Community and has great sponsor relationships. A real role model for pro triathletes connecting with AG'rs. Plus, she genuinely loves the sport. 15mi long run tomorrow morning and another long day of coaching training. I'm learning more than I expected and if nothing else gaining a new perspective. I also learned a LOT about swim technique. Things i should have known but never read into it in detail. I think i can make some real improvements in my technique and my athletes.
Overall summary of my training... I'm running more, feeling great on longer runs. Bike volume jumped up and there just no substitute for riding more and I'm feeling at lot stronger. On longer outdoor rides, close to where I was last year...almost.
By the numbers.... I think I have 3 weeks to summarize...
May 18th-24th
Swim - 2h57m, 12800y
Bike - 12h58m, 251mi
Run - 4h42m, 40.1mi
TOTAL - 20h37m
TSS - 1251
May 25th-31st
Swim - 1h50m, 7763y
Bike - 12h30, 263mi
Run - 6h11m, 49.1mi
TOTAL - 20h31mi
TSS- 1171
June 1st-7th (recovery week)
Swim - 2h54m, 11920y
Bike - 4h52m, 104mi
Run - 2h53m, 23.4
TOTAL - 10h39m
TSS- 712
On top of that, I'm ramping up training, went to a TBC Training Camp in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend, at USAT Coaching Level 1 Certification Training now in Des Moines, IA. Phew. Hmmm... where to start.
TBC Madison Mini Camp
I'll just sum this up.... great training weekend! Met a bunch of new faces, got to ride with the legendary duo of Adam Zucco and Scott Iott on a few spirited rides... one on a rainy afternoon that I consider one of the more epic rides I've been on. A great ride in crappy weather. We even did the Madison 1/2 marathon and I ran my 1st negative split in a running race ever and won free dinner. Learned something there, and ran faster than I expected. Hard to beat that.
St Joseph, MI
Beautiful location. Rolling hills through mostly wooded countryside on some excellent roads with wide shoulders and light traffic. Runs along the Lake Michigan beach and cute beach side tourist town. It feels a little like your on vacation some of the time. Excellent schools for our daughter and we found a nice 1950's Cape Cod for our new home. My wife even found a job! Crazy! I love my new job and to top it off, I found a very active distance running & triathlete community there. I might have a chance to expand my coaching a little and have a few people to train with. I get the impression there's not a lot of coaches in the area. The town i of course host to Steelhead 70.3 in August. Yes, yes I signed up already. I also feel like I'm making some progress again in the pool.
USAT Coaching Training
A great speaker gave the training all day. Ian...ummm... crap... I'm terrible with names. Its embarrassing. I had a nice 1 hour run this morning then a very easy 80 minute ride with another name I've forgotten and Jacking Herring (pro triathlete). Had some great conversations about coaching, training, etc. Great person! Easy to talk to. I can see why she's so popular in the Madison Community and has great sponsor relationships. A real role model for pro triathletes connecting with AG'rs. Plus, she genuinely loves the sport. 15mi long run tomorrow morning and another long day of coaching training. I'm learning more than I expected and if nothing else gaining a new perspective. I also learned a LOT about swim technique. Things i should have known but never read into it in detail. I think i can make some real improvements in my technique and my athletes.
Overall summary of my training... I'm running more, feeling great on longer runs. Bike volume jumped up and there just no substitute for riding more and I'm feeling at lot stronger. On longer outdoor rides, close to where I was last year...almost.
By the numbers.... I think I have 3 weeks to summarize...
May 18th-24th
Swim - 2h57m, 12800y
Bike - 12h58m, 251mi
Run - 4h42m, 40.1mi
TOTAL - 20h37m
TSS - 1251
May 25th-31st
Swim - 1h50m, 7763y
Bike - 12h30, 263mi
Run - 6h11m, 49.1mi
TOTAL - 20h31mi
TSS- 1171
June 1st-7th (recovery week)
Swim - 2h54m, 11920y
Bike - 4h52m, 104mi
Run - 2h53m, 23.4
TOTAL - 10h39m
TSS- 712
Monday, May 18, 2015
Weekly Wrap-up 05/18/15
Been pretty busy the last few weeks. Plenty of good news. I accepted an offer for a new job located in Benton Harbor, MI. No, not Whirlpool (local joke). I'm moving to St. Joseph this week to start work next week ahead of my family. We have our house sold and found a new house we like. I'm really excepted about how this can improve my training. There's a new YMCA with a 25 meter pool, several high school pool and of course Lake Michigan. Yes, open water swim training in a "real" lake. Michigan is a big time swimming state. Aquatic clubs, masters swimming, etc even in a small town/community. Roads for riding look pretty good. The road parallel to the lake has wide shoulders and is excellent pavement, or at least the segment on the Steelhead 70.3 course was. No river bugs!!!! I get to live in a town with a local 70.3 event, pretty cool. Lots of scenic running, sidewalks, etc. Did I mention no river bugs? I'm looking forward to maybe turning my swim training around. Right now, I'm procrastinating going to the YMCA. Plus in winter I could maybe get into cross country skiing possible, snow shoeing and in the late fall, drag out the MTB with some great trails not too far away I think. Maybe a cheap fat tire bike for some winter riding on snow packed roads too.
For the family, there's awesome schools, some of the best in the state. The beach, ice skating, skiing, sledding, lots of youth swim programs and other youth sports, great dance studios and so on. Chicago is 90-120 minutes away, Kalamazoo 45 minutes, Grand Rapids <90 minutes, and my parents are about 2-1/2 hours away. Summer weather is more mild, less humid and less extreme. Winter is longer, but slightly less extreme, but with more snow. I think overall there's less variability, but also more cloudy/rainy days.
Training...
After Trizou I had a unstructured Transition Week. I won't bother listing total other than it was 11 hours and 640TSS. SO that was a off week. This week I'm back to trying to build my base, but house hunting, packing, moving, etc are making that hard and the weather isn't as cooperative with thunderstorms. I'm doing the best I can. Weight management is still dismal too. Not much motivation to swim either. But swimming comes back fast, so I'll just keep focusing on bike and run mileage. Memorial Day weekend is the TBC Madison Mini-Camp. I'm excited about that. Lots of riding, running and a little OWS... in freezing Lake Monona. Rumor is it's just to 60F. Might try double swim caps for that.
Overall this last week was close to to target hours, a little short on TSS, but solid run mileage and good swim frequency.
As a fun side note, I received my Red Cross life-guarding certification this week. I only needed the CPR training, but figure WTH, why not.
By the numbers:
Swim: 7000y, 1h36m
Bike: 154, 7h49m
Run: 44.9, 5h39m
TOTAL: 15h05m
TSS: 957
Next 2 weeks will be a solid jump. One of my goals since I'm be living "single" is to pack in as much extra Zone 1 riding as I can to build a larger aerobic base I feel like I'm missing and ramp up the run mileage.... oh and drop some weight. My running is really suffering from that.
For the family, there's awesome schools, some of the best in the state. The beach, ice skating, skiing, sledding, lots of youth swim programs and other youth sports, great dance studios and so on. Chicago is 90-120 minutes away, Kalamazoo 45 minutes, Grand Rapids <90 minutes, and my parents are about 2-1/2 hours away. Summer weather is more mild, less humid and less extreme. Winter is longer, but slightly less extreme, but with more snow. I think overall there's less variability, but also more cloudy/rainy days.
Training...
After Trizou I had a unstructured Transition Week. I won't bother listing total other than it was 11 hours and 640TSS. SO that was a off week. This week I'm back to trying to build my base, but house hunting, packing, moving, etc are making that hard and the weather isn't as cooperative with thunderstorms. I'm doing the best I can. Weight management is still dismal too. Not much motivation to swim either. But swimming comes back fast, so I'll just keep focusing on bike and run mileage. Memorial Day weekend is the TBC Madison Mini-Camp. I'm excited about that. Lots of riding, running and a little OWS... in freezing Lake Monona. Rumor is it's just to 60F. Might try double swim caps for that.
Overall this last week was close to to target hours, a little short on TSS, but solid run mileage and good swim frequency.
As a fun side note, I received my Red Cross life-guarding certification this week. I only needed the CPR training, but figure WTH, why not.
By the numbers:
Swim: 7000y, 1h36m
Bike: 154, 7h49m
Run: 44.9, 5h39m
TOTAL: 15h05m
TSS: 957
Next 2 weeks will be a solid jump. One of my goals since I'm be living "single" is to pack in as much extra Zone 1 riding as I can to build a larger aerobic base I feel like I'm missing and ramp up the run mileage.... oh and drop some weight. My running is really suffering from that.
Monday, May 4, 2015
2015 Trizou Sprint Race Report
Taper:
First I'll summarize my final taper week leading to the race. It's pretty simple, workouts get shorter but intensity on intervals remain the same. So I'll have some hard efforts and hard rides, but nothing really long that I can't easily recover from. Some key workouts were a few rides with race wheels and the last in full kit to see how my speed:watts ratio looked compared to similar rides last year after some changes to my bike position this winter and early spring. Running felt good. the extra few lbs is showing, but mechanics seem comfortable and relaxed, not ITB or Achilles issues. So I'll take it. My swimming has felt good, but still not where I think it could be. What worked well was ramping up yardage the last couple weeks then dropping off again. Swimming seems to respond well to this. Cycling also responds well this was too. Running, it will just get you injured.
Race:
Trizou is a short sprint distance race located on the Missouri University campus in Columbia, MO. The race has an Open Elite wave, meaning it's open non professionals and professionals following USAT rules with a prize purse under $5000. Over $5000, only those with an Elite race license could participate in that wave. This wave however cannot be given age group awards. They are included in regular USAT scoring/ranking. The fun part is you get to race head to head in a single wave rather than racing in a time trial format.
The Course:
The swim is 400M (8 lengths) in the University 50M long course pool. Lots of room for spectators, which is rare for the swim. Ironically, the rest of the course is poor for spectators as the run and bike take you away from the transition and finish area. It's overall a pretty lonely race outside of transition. That's not exactly unique. But not too many other options at that venue. The only challenge to the swim is 1) pacing...it's easy to go out fast since some former collegiate swimmers always show up 2) getting used to bulkheads and the depth and location of the pool markings.
The "14mi" bike is 2 laps on a very hilly course. I had 13.2 miles total, with 450ft of climbing on each lap. Each lap was around 6.4 miles I estimate. That's a LOT of climbing. Overall a full IM, it would be around 7900ft of elevation. That's what I had for IMWI. The course features 2 long primary climbs and descents and a couple smaller ones and plenty of turns. it really presents a challenge to put down power and at the same time ride close to threshold and stay out of anaerobic territory. You're rarely on flat ground for more that maybe 1 minute. It's possible to take all the turns without braking depending on how hard you ride entering the corner and how skilled you are at cornering. I coasted a little entering the turns and tapped my brakes a bit. Even I have my limits. The most heroic is a sweeping turn at the bottom of a long straight descent. I recorded 39mph on both laps. The momentum from that turn drives you up the longest climb on the course. I consider that turn critical to a fast lap.
THE RACE!
I was more relaxed than usual. But the discovery that my rival the last 3 years, was not doing the race this year, added some pressure. I've been runner up 3 years in a row and now I had a clear shot at the win. But you still never know who all will show up. I can always expect some fast "fish" off the front. The concern is that my running isn't where it was last year. That made my strategy simple... swim strong, but controlled, then set the bike course on fire, catch the fast swimmers, get a gap and lay down the best run I could hoping none are also elite runners too.
I swam pretty relaxed. Focused on good mechanics and trying to be efficient but with a strong, long pull and steady kick, good clean turns with tight streamline. I maybe went a little easy, but I also know that going 10" faster could cost me 20-40" on the bike. Staying right around T-pace was overall a smart move I think. I also never hit that sweet spot in my stroke mechanics. I still swam a PR around 6:05, but i had hoped to be under 1:30/100M I've swam a 1000TT @ 1:17 pace, so it was a little disappointing. My swim has been hit & miss all winter. What I didn't do is ruin my race by burning a match.
I came out around 4th or 5th place. I fought getting my sleeved trisuit on while running in transition. I eventually got it, but it cost me maybe 5s or so and 1 person passed me. I fumbled a little getting my feet in my shoes. It's my first race with these new Bontragers. It's made harder as you go uphill right out of transition. I could use some practice. I'll have to start saving rubber bands from the newspaper. I got down to work. I picked off the 4th place rider about 1 mile in before the long descent then another mid turn on the fast sweeper and shot up the hill. I held my power within zone 5 and just tried to relax and keep it steady. My friend suggested I just ride by feel alone, but I think I would have gone out too hard...maybe. I chose to remain a slave to my PM for better or worse. I think it kept me honest a few times. Overall I kept cadence pretty high around 100-110, lower climbing around 85-95.
I picked off the next rider on a slight rise on the only longer straight on the course. I put in a solid effort to stay legal in terms of the 20s rule and pass him with a good head of steam so he can't latch on and to maybe deflate his confidence a little. I was now in 2nd but couldn't see the lead rider yet. I kept a strong effort and focused hard on my head position, shrugging my shoulders a little to get more narrow and setting up clean lines in the turns. I stayed right around 95-100% most of the time and tried not to drop under 80% on downhills. Up the 2nd climb on the 1st lap I could see the lead rider and vehicle. I wasn't gaining much ground on the climbs, but was taking in big chunks on the flats and turns. Mid turn on the fast descent on lap 2 I made the pass. It was my race to lose now.
Being in the lead gives you wings, and also affords you the opportunity to get a little draft off the lead vehicle. It helps when it's a Jeep Wrangler. I think the only vehicle that corners slower might be a fully loaded semi, snow plow or school bus. We're not talking right on the bumper, but on most turns I was 50 yards back and you could feel the change in the wind. Every race where I've lead, it's an opportunity if you can corner and descend well.
I focused on putting some time gap on the 2nd place rider knowing he's not a confident bike handler and a little less aero. I pushed strong and hit T2 with I suspect a 1+ minute lead. I set a fast but comfortable pace on the run. Just faster than my current threshold pace I estimated around 5:40-5:50. I was breathing strong but not real hard. Focused on good turnover, head up, good arm drive and staying relaxed. I'm a strong runner and it's my race to lose. Run fast enough that they'll have to really work for it, but keep a little in reserve to surge late if they are coming. Set myself up for a fast split. Great thing about a long taper is that legs aren't fatigued, energy levels are high. I felt like I easily could have sustained that pace I was on for a Olympic distance. Maybe that's the reality of training more for long course. Short sprint are hard because you mentally have to completely change your intensity.
I'll cut to the chase. According to splits, the 2nd and 3rd place runners were reeling me in, but it was too big of a gap. Last mile I cruised on to the finish. I was already just above threshold, so hard to find that extra gear 40 minute into a race when the win is secured. My final time was about the same. I ran a slower, slower T1, faster swim, lower T2, but much, much faster bike.
Looking ahead to Kona, this is exactly where i want to be. Strong bike legs, just need more mileage. Run form is good, I'm healthy, just need more mileage and to drop 4-5lbs. Swim...meh, whatever, I 'll get in some yardage and hopefully find a masters swim class.
Great race, nice $250 pay day. That bike effort, I'm really proud of as some greats like Ben Kanute, Starky, Daniel Bretscher, and other have done that race. The pace I set was up there with those great. Of course they would kill me on the swim and run...and the level of cycling and equipment has improved the last decade, but hey, not so bad to be nearly world class at just one thing.
I'm looking forward now to Racine and see what I can do on that course. Maybe break my bike PR form Steelhead last year and overall 70.3 PR from Kansas if the conditions are good.
By the numbers (Including the race):
Swim: 8137y, 1h50m
Bike: 85.3mi, 4h09m
Run: 20.1mi, 2h19m
TOTAL: 8h17m
TSS: 590
First I'll summarize my final taper week leading to the race. It's pretty simple, workouts get shorter but intensity on intervals remain the same. So I'll have some hard efforts and hard rides, but nothing really long that I can't easily recover from. Some key workouts were a few rides with race wheels and the last in full kit to see how my speed:watts ratio looked compared to similar rides last year after some changes to my bike position this winter and early spring. Running felt good. the extra few lbs is showing, but mechanics seem comfortable and relaxed, not ITB or Achilles issues. So I'll take it. My swimming has felt good, but still not where I think it could be. What worked well was ramping up yardage the last couple weeks then dropping off again. Swimming seems to respond well to this. Cycling also responds well this was too. Running, it will just get you injured.
Race:
Trizou is a short sprint distance race located on the Missouri University campus in Columbia, MO. The race has an Open Elite wave, meaning it's open non professionals and professionals following USAT rules with a prize purse under $5000. Over $5000, only those with an Elite race license could participate in that wave. This wave however cannot be given age group awards. They are included in regular USAT scoring/ranking. The fun part is you get to race head to head in a single wave rather than racing in a time trial format.
The Course:
The swim is 400M (8 lengths) in the University 50M long course pool. Lots of room for spectators, which is rare for the swim. Ironically, the rest of the course is poor for spectators as the run and bike take you away from the transition and finish area. It's overall a pretty lonely race outside of transition. That's not exactly unique. But not too many other options at that venue. The only challenge to the swim is 1) pacing...it's easy to go out fast since some former collegiate swimmers always show up 2) getting used to bulkheads and the depth and location of the pool markings.
The "14mi" bike is 2 laps on a very hilly course. I had 13.2 miles total, with 450ft of climbing on each lap. Each lap was around 6.4 miles I estimate. That's a LOT of climbing. Overall a full IM, it would be around 7900ft of elevation. That's what I had for IMWI. The course features 2 long primary climbs and descents and a couple smaller ones and plenty of turns. it really presents a challenge to put down power and at the same time ride close to threshold and stay out of anaerobic territory. You're rarely on flat ground for more that maybe 1 minute. It's possible to take all the turns without braking depending on how hard you ride entering the corner and how skilled you are at cornering. I coasted a little entering the turns and tapped my brakes a bit. Even I have my limits. The most heroic is a sweeping turn at the bottom of a long straight descent. I recorded 39mph on both laps. The momentum from that turn drives you up the longest climb on the course. I consider that turn critical to a fast lap.
THE RACE!
I was more relaxed than usual. But the discovery that my rival the last 3 years, was not doing the race this year, added some pressure. I've been runner up 3 years in a row and now I had a clear shot at the win. But you still never know who all will show up. I can always expect some fast "fish" off the front. The concern is that my running isn't where it was last year. That made my strategy simple... swim strong, but controlled, then set the bike course on fire, catch the fast swimmers, get a gap and lay down the best run I could hoping none are also elite runners too.
I swam pretty relaxed. Focused on good mechanics and trying to be efficient but with a strong, long pull and steady kick, good clean turns with tight streamline. I maybe went a little easy, but I also know that going 10" faster could cost me 20-40" on the bike. Staying right around T-pace was overall a smart move I think. I also never hit that sweet spot in my stroke mechanics. I still swam a PR around 6:05, but i had hoped to be under 1:30/100M I've swam a 1000TT @ 1:17 pace, so it was a little disappointing. My swim has been hit & miss all winter. What I didn't do is ruin my race by burning a match.
I came out around 4th or 5th place. I fought getting my sleeved trisuit on while running in transition. I eventually got it, but it cost me maybe 5s or so and 1 person passed me. I fumbled a little getting my feet in my shoes. It's my first race with these new Bontragers. It's made harder as you go uphill right out of transition. I could use some practice. I'll have to start saving rubber bands from the newspaper. I got down to work. I picked off the 4th place rider about 1 mile in before the long descent then another mid turn on the fast sweeper and shot up the hill. I held my power within zone 5 and just tried to relax and keep it steady. My friend suggested I just ride by feel alone, but I think I would have gone out too hard...maybe. I chose to remain a slave to my PM for better or worse. I think it kept me honest a few times. Overall I kept cadence pretty high around 100-110, lower climbing around 85-95.
I picked off the next rider on a slight rise on the only longer straight on the course. I put in a solid effort to stay legal in terms of the 20s rule and pass him with a good head of steam so he can't latch on and to maybe deflate his confidence a little. I was now in 2nd but couldn't see the lead rider yet. I kept a strong effort and focused hard on my head position, shrugging my shoulders a little to get more narrow and setting up clean lines in the turns. I stayed right around 95-100% most of the time and tried not to drop under 80% on downhills. Up the 2nd climb on the 1st lap I could see the lead rider and vehicle. I wasn't gaining much ground on the climbs, but was taking in big chunks on the flats and turns. Mid turn on the fast descent on lap 2 I made the pass. It was my race to lose now.
Being in the lead gives you wings, and also affords you the opportunity to get a little draft off the lead vehicle. It helps when it's a Jeep Wrangler. I think the only vehicle that corners slower might be a fully loaded semi, snow plow or school bus. We're not talking right on the bumper, but on most turns I was 50 yards back and you could feel the change in the wind. Every race where I've lead, it's an opportunity if you can corner and descend well.
I focused on putting some time gap on the 2nd place rider knowing he's not a confident bike handler and a little less aero. I pushed strong and hit T2 with I suspect a 1+ minute lead. I set a fast but comfortable pace on the run. Just faster than my current threshold pace I estimated around 5:40-5:50. I was breathing strong but not real hard. Focused on good turnover, head up, good arm drive and staying relaxed. I'm a strong runner and it's my race to lose. Run fast enough that they'll have to really work for it, but keep a little in reserve to surge late if they are coming. Set myself up for a fast split. Great thing about a long taper is that legs aren't fatigued, energy levels are high. I felt like I easily could have sustained that pace I was on for a Olympic distance. Maybe that's the reality of training more for long course. Short sprint are hard because you mentally have to completely change your intensity.
I'll cut to the chase. According to splits, the 2nd and 3rd place runners were reeling me in, but it was too big of a gap. Last mile I cruised on to the finish. I was already just above threshold, so hard to find that extra gear 40 minute into a race when the win is secured. My final time was about the same. I ran a slower, slower T1, faster swim, lower T2, but much, much faster bike.
Looking ahead to Kona, this is exactly where i want to be. Strong bike legs, just need more mileage. Run form is good, I'm healthy, just need more mileage and to drop 4-5lbs. Swim...meh, whatever, I 'll get in some yardage and hopefully find a masters swim class.
Great race, nice $250 pay day. That bike effort, I'm really proud of as some greats like Ben Kanute, Starky, Daniel Bretscher, and other have done that race. The pace I set was up there with those great. Of course they would kill me on the swim and run...and the level of cycling and equipment has improved the last decade, but hey, not so bad to be nearly world class at just one thing.
I'm looking forward now to Racine and see what I can do on that course. Maybe break my bike PR form Steelhead last year and overall 70.3 PR from Kansas if the conditions are good.
By the numbers (Including the race):
Swim: 8137y, 1h50m
Bike: 85.3mi, 4h09m
Run: 20.1mi, 2h19m
TOTAL: 8h17m
TSS: 590
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