I got back from Idaho on Tuesday night and headed to Lake Placid on Friday. After working two busy days, unpacking, and repacking, away I go again. There was a group of us heading up there with the intention of training. Dan, Mark, and Vasso were getting ready for IMLP in 3 weeks so their training was very purposeful. We got up there at a good time so we checked in and made our way to mirror lake for a swim. This lake is awesome to swim in so I was looking forward to it. The IM course was not set up but buoys were running from one end of the lake to the other. I ended up swimming around the buoys 2x which is longer than the IM course so I'm estimating I swam about 3 miles straight. My longest swim ever. My shoulders were tight but I felt good.
After some lunch and rest, I headed out for a run. My legs were sluggish and tired but I managed a 50 min. run. We met up with the rest of the gang and headed for a nice dinner. Tomorrow was a big day.
We headed out together at a very reasonable pace on the IM bike course. I had some reservations about this course because it has kicked my butt everytime I have ridden on it. This time was different. I guess I am in much better shape this year than I have been in the past. The first loop was good until finished the out/back section and stopping to refuel 40 or so miles into the ride. After starting up 86 for the final part of the loop, my legs felt awful like they filled with lactic acid but I was that tired and I had fuel so I had energy. My experience told me that this would pass so I just had to be patient. I made it to the top of the highest climb, now riding alone, I went back down the "bears" and picked up Vasso because she didn't know where to turn so I got to climb back up them again but I was feeling good at this point so I didn't mind.
After some technical difficulties with my rear brake, we stopped in High Peaks, fixed that, then off for the second loop. The rain started to fall lightly which was nice but a little slick. Long story short, finished the second loop in the rain and a bit wet but a great feeling of accomplishment and a great day of training. After a nice soak in the lake to cool the tired legs, we headed back to the hotel for a shower, a little shopping, then off to dinner with the group.
At dinner, I somehow either convinced myself or was convinced by Mark and Dan that it would be a good idea to climb Whiteface in the morning. After our usual stop at the bagel place, we headed backward on the IM course (86, I think) towards Whiteface. This is an 8 mile climb (3 miles up to the gatehouse, then another 5 to the top). We made it the 3 miles with Mark powering up ahead and Dan and I suffering from yesterday's ride and just suffering from this 3 mile ascent. After making it up to the guard house, we couldn't go any further because you have to pass the guardhouse before they start manning it because cyclists are not encouraged to make this climb. We didn't make it in time. Even if we did make it in time, I had made up my mind that I wasn't going anyway. My legs were too fried and I still wanted to run long after the ride. We made it back and I headed out on my run. It was uneventful and I didn't feel so hot. My legs just didn't want to work very well. I cut it a little short but all in all still had a great few days of training.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Idaho and Ironman Coeur d'Alene
I traveled to Idaho a few weeks ago for Sue's Ironman. This is my third Ironman as a spectator and I love them. It is so inspirational to watch 2,000 people race as I can now relate to what it takes to prepare for one of these things. I had arranged to rent a bike from a local bike shop so I could get some riding in. After getting in late Wednesday night, my plan was to head over to pick up my bike on Thursday to get in a loop of the bike course or 56 miles. I got up early Thursday morning and headed over to the lake (at the end of the street) with the girls. They scored a great rental house in an optimal location. I had my new thermal swim cap in hand and I cautiously put on my wetsuit and neoprene cap. I knew it was going to be cold but I have never swam in such cold water so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was somewhere around 53-55 degrees. There were plenty of people swimming so I figured since I have more body fat than most of these people, it shouldn't be a problem.
I put my feet in the water and so far so good. Its cold but okay. I start putting my hands in the water and its okay. I wade for a while, then decide to go. I dunk my head and it was like I got an immediate headache from eating ice cream too quickly. WOW....the cold on my face was harsh. I had to stop and wade. I contemplated the need for this since I wasn't racing and at one point I was trying to convince myself to go back. Of course I didn't but it was tough. I realized that it just took some time to acclimate your face to the water temp. I managed about 2 miles..not bad.
I eventually got my bike later in the day and start heading out for a ride. 2 miles into my ride, my front derailler cable disconnects and I lose the ability to shift from the small ring to the big ring. Not a big deal. I'll stay in the small ring since I'll be doing lots of climbing. A few seconds later, a huge pop (flat tire). Not only did the tube blow, the tire ripped apart. I call Lida for a ride. She picks me up, we head back to the bike shop, make the repairs and off I go. I decide to take an alternate route and do on this hilly scenic trip around Hayden Lake. Then, I merge onto the Ironman course and ride that for a while. My legs were a bit heavy from all the climbing and traveling. My day ends with 45 miles but it was a strong ride.
We hit the steakhouse later and pig out....yum.
Friday is another swim in the morning and I learned my lesson from yesterday and spend some time splashing water on my face before I submerge it. I got in a 1.2 mile swim. Later in the day I hit the Ironman run course for a 12 mile run. I was feeling pretty sluggish so I didn't push it.
Saturday was my day to ride 100+. This bike was really not working very well but fortunately I decided to ride a flat route....a bike trail from CDA to Spokane. It was nice scenic route and I felt fairly strong all day. I got in 101 miles, then followed it up with a 20 minute run.
Sunday was race day and so I just enjoyed watching the race all day. It was a LONG day. I did a bunch of running around and ran with Sue and Lida some but nothing formal. The girls both had a great race and was fun to be there to help support Sue and cherish in the celebration of the finish and the race.
We got up early so the girls could hit the finisher tent and I didn't last in there very long. It was crazy. Off to Hawaii rolldown just in case Sue would get lucky but no such luck.
It hit the CDA golf course for my first round of the year. It was a blast . I drove a Par4 300 yard green and hit a 6 foot putt for eagle......that was cool.....my only highlight of the day.
Off to Lake Placid next weekend for a big weekend of training......
I'll post some pictures of the trip.
I put my feet in the water and so far so good. Its cold but okay. I start putting my hands in the water and its okay. I wade for a while, then decide to go. I dunk my head and it was like I got an immediate headache from eating ice cream too quickly. WOW....the cold on my face was harsh. I had to stop and wade. I contemplated the need for this since I wasn't racing and at one point I was trying to convince myself to go back. Of course I didn't but it was tough. I realized that it just took some time to acclimate your face to the water temp. I managed about 2 miles..not bad.
I eventually got my bike later in the day and start heading out for a ride. 2 miles into my ride, my front derailler cable disconnects and I lose the ability to shift from the small ring to the big ring. Not a big deal. I'll stay in the small ring since I'll be doing lots of climbing. A few seconds later, a huge pop (flat tire). Not only did the tube blow, the tire ripped apart. I call Lida for a ride. She picks me up, we head back to the bike shop, make the repairs and off I go. I decide to take an alternate route and do on this hilly scenic trip around Hayden Lake. Then, I merge onto the Ironman course and ride that for a while. My legs were a bit heavy from all the climbing and traveling. My day ends with 45 miles but it was a strong ride.
We hit the steakhouse later and pig out....yum.
Friday is another swim in the morning and I learned my lesson from yesterday and spend some time splashing water on my face before I submerge it. I got in a 1.2 mile swim. Later in the day I hit the Ironman run course for a 12 mile run. I was feeling pretty sluggish so I didn't push it.
Saturday was my day to ride 100+. This bike was really not working very well but fortunately I decided to ride a flat route....a bike trail from CDA to Spokane. It was nice scenic route and I felt fairly strong all day. I got in 101 miles, then followed it up with a 20 minute run.
Sunday was race day and so I just enjoyed watching the race all day. It was a LONG day. I did a bunch of running around and ran with Sue and Lida some but nothing formal. The girls both had a great race and was fun to be there to help support Sue and cherish in the celebration of the finish and the race.
We got up early so the girls could hit the finisher tent and I didn't last in there very long. It was crazy. Off to Hawaii rolldown just in case Sue would get lucky but no such luck.
It hit the CDA golf course for my first round of the year. It was a blast . I drove a Par4 300 yard green and hit a 6 foot putt for eagle......that was cool.....my only highlight of the day.
Off to Lake Placid next weekend for a big weekend of training......
I'll post some pictures of the trip.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Griskus Olympic Race Report
After coming off a recovery week, I was really looking forward to my first triathlon of the season. I felt pretty well rested even though I had done a few hard workouts earlier in the week.
It was a beautiful morning and the water was in the low to mid 70's....quite nice. I was in the first of 3 waves. There were only 4 buoys. After the first buoy, the next two were so far away that they were a little hard to spot. I simply followed the pack of people for the first couple of buoys then they took off and I was what seemed like I was all by myself. On the way to the first buoy, I knew I was swimming slowly when a guy next to me was alternating between side stroking and breast stroking and I couldn't drop him....not a good sign. That was a good motivator early in the race to kick in another gear. Fortunately I didn't see him again. The swim felt like it was taking a long time and when I came out in 33 minutes, I hoped that it was long because I didn't feel terribly slow.....come to find out, it was measured at 1 mile.
After a longish run to transition, I had trouble getting my wetsuit off as the zipper got stuck in my jersey, but got it off without ripping anything. Onto the bike felt good. Legs felt good as the first 5 miles are flat so its nice to get the legs warmed up before the hills came. I knew it was a hilly course but I really didn't know much else about the course. Since I sold my race wheels and have yet to buy new ones, I was on my training wheels. I took the climbs steady and felt comfortable climbing but once again I took the downhills cautiously because I am still not comfortable descending. I love cycling on flat roads but unfortunately this course doesn't have much of them. I ended up cycling 1:18 which turned out to be just okay compared to everyone else. I felt stronger out there but hills are not my best friend even though I have been getting better and better at climbing them.
Coming into T2, I felt great. I knew this run course as its a double loop with a big hill right in the middle of each loop that you have to run down, then run up. My plan was to take it easy to the hill, steady down, then pick it up until the uphill, then steady up the hill, evaluate how I was feeling, then pick it up until the downhill again, steady down, pick it up until the uphill, steady up the hill, then all I have until the finish line. I played a little game on the second loop as a few people I knew were behind me that I knew were stronger runners so my goal was to finish strong and not let them pass me which I was able to do. Ran 43--something which I am happy with as its a tough run course and the conditions were pretty humid.
Ended up third clydesdale and won myself a new timex watch......not too shabby.
Heading out to Idaho on Wednesday for Sue's race. Tentatively planning on swimming 3.6 miles (water temp. permitting...its like 52 degrees right now), biking 168 miles, and running 27 miles in 4 days.
It was a beautiful morning and the water was in the low to mid 70's....quite nice. I was in the first of 3 waves. There were only 4 buoys. After the first buoy, the next two were so far away that they were a little hard to spot. I simply followed the pack of people for the first couple of buoys then they took off and I was what seemed like I was all by myself. On the way to the first buoy, I knew I was swimming slowly when a guy next to me was alternating between side stroking and breast stroking and I couldn't drop him....not a good sign. That was a good motivator early in the race to kick in another gear. Fortunately I didn't see him again. The swim felt like it was taking a long time and when I came out in 33 minutes, I hoped that it was long because I didn't feel terribly slow.....come to find out, it was measured at 1 mile.
After a longish run to transition, I had trouble getting my wetsuit off as the zipper got stuck in my jersey, but got it off without ripping anything. Onto the bike felt good. Legs felt good as the first 5 miles are flat so its nice to get the legs warmed up before the hills came. I knew it was a hilly course but I really didn't know much else about the course. Since I sold my race wheels and have yet to buy new ones, I was on my training wheels. I took the climbs steady and felt comfortable climbing but once again I took the downhills cautiously because I am still not comfortable descending. I love cycling on flat roads but unfortunately this course doesn't have much of them. I ended up cycling 1:18 which turned out to be just okay compared to everyone else. I felt stronger out there but hills are not my best friend even though I have been getting better and better at climbing them.
Coming into T2, I felt great. I knew this run course as its a double loop with a big hill right in the middle of each loop that you have to run down, then run up. My plan was to take it easy to the hill, steady down, then pick it up until the uphill, then steady up the hill, evaluate how I was feeling, then pick it up until the downhill again, steady down, pick it up until the uphill, steady up the hill, then all I have until the finish line. I played a little game on the second loop as a few people I knew were behind me that I knew were stronger runners so my goal was to finish strong and not let them pass me which I was able to do. Ran 43--something which I am happy with as its a tough run course and the conditions were pretty humid.
Ended up third clydesdale and won myself a new timex watch......not too shabby.
Heading out to Idaho on Wednesday for Sue's race. Tentatively planning on swimming 3.6 miles (water temp. permitting...its like 52 degrees right now), biking 168 miles, and running 27 miles in 4 days.
Monday, June 2, 2008
My legs are tired!!!
The day before racing a duathlon I rode 4 hours, then 2 days after the duathlon I rode 80 miles and I was wondering why I was feeling so flat lately....duh! I haven't been recovering so well lately but good news is that this is a recovery week....yahoo. Not sure what to do with myself.
I finished up a decent week of training. Managed a 3 hour ride on Wednesday after doing a long swim in the morning. The ride felt horrible. I had no energy. I got up the next morning to do a long run and figured it would be a shuffle fest but it turned out okay. I ran 1:30 and felt pretty decent. Rode 2 hours on the trainer on Saturday, then followed that up with a HILLY 3 hour ride on Sunday and a 30 minute brick run. Felt pretty good considering.
I volunteered at the Ridgefield Tri on Sunday. It was a good race. If only every triathlete would volunteer their time at one race, it would help grow this sport even more with knowledgeable people on the course.
Lots of travelling coming up and lots of training so this recovery week will do me good. Planning on racing Griskus Olympic in a few weeks, then off to Idaho for IMCDA.....I get to watch :-) followed by a big training weekend in Lake Placid, my half iron in RI, back to Lake Placid and before I know, my ironman will be here.
I'll take lots of great pics so spice up the blog....everyone wants to see pics, right?
Later.
I finished up a decent week of training. Managed a 3 hour ride on Wednesday after doing a long swim in the morning. The ride felt horrible. I had no energy. I got up the next morning to do a long run and figured it would be a shuffle fest but it turned out okay. I ran 1:30 and felt pretty decent. Rode 2 hours on the trainer on Saturday, then followed that up with a HILLY 3 hour ride on Sunday and a 30 minute brick run. Felt pretty good considering.
I volunteered at the Ridgefield Tri on Sunday. It was a good race. If only every triathlete would volunteer their time at one race, it would help grow this sport even more with knowledgeable people on the course.
Lots of travelling coming up and lots of training so this recovery week will do me good. Planning on racing Griskus Olympic in a few weeks, then off to Idaho for IMCDA.....I get to watch :-) followed by a big training weekend in Lake Placid, my half iron in RI, back to Lake Placid and before I know, my ironman will be here.
I'll take lots of great pics so spice up the blog....everyone wants to see pics, right?
Later.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Shamrock Duathlon
Last Sunday I raced the Shamrock Duathlon. It consists of a 5k run, then 28k bike, followed by another 5k run. The race setup was great. The weather was perfect. They had these great bike racks that you simply place your rear wheel in so it is clean and simple and everyone has the same amount of space. I do a little .5 mile warmup, one last trip to the bushes and I line up near the front.
I looked at the results from 2007 and noticed they had a clydesdale division so I register for that division and notice the winning time and person that won. I know who the guy is and I spot him at this year's race too. I know he is a pretty fast guy for us clydesdales so my game plan is to keep him in sight.
The gun goes off and he takes off......too fast for me. I tend to take the starts conservatively at first because everyone goes out too fast. It takes a few minutes for my HR to get up into my race zone, and to stabilize at a sustainable pace for me. So, I get into my zone and I start to pass a lot of people that go out too hard. That guy is one of them. I don't look back and I don't worry about him. I passed a few others that normally are faster than me. I guess I was running well. Sub 20:00 for first leg. Faster than I expected. I wasn't sure how I would feel today because I rode 4 hours just 13 hours ago. My legs were tired. Onto the bike and so far so good. I settle into my zone, steady on the climbs and push the flats, and take in some gatorade. A few guys are passing me which I wasn't happy about but I wasn't going to push too hard because I still had to run again. Here comes my guy......he passes me. I step it up a bit to keep in contact and end up re-passing him for a little bit. Then, a large downhill comes so I get into my position and all of a sudden, here comes a high speed wobble.....oh crap. I was moving at this point and my front wheel was seriously wobbling. I thought I was going down but I controlled it. Here comes another downhill and the wobble is here again.....oh crap. This stinks. I resign myself to riding the downhill very conservatively in order to stay on top of my bike and let the other guy go. There was no way I could keep the gap close. If this didn't happen, I would have pushed harder to keep him in contact. And, if I didn't ride 4 hours the day before, this would have been much easier too.....oh well. Maybe I can catch him on the run.
Glad to get off the bike and start running. I shouldn't have a wobble problem here. I start out slow to get my legs under me to see how they are going to do and so far, so good. I settle into my pace and with about a mile to go, I see the other guy and I'm closing. I finish strong but didn't catch him. I needed another mile or two and I would have caught him. He finished ahead of me by about 30 sec.
I get a massage, hydrate, and eat a bit. The results go up on the board and I look at my name and see a 2:00 penalty....thats odd. I ask the official what it was for and she tells me that I racked my bike on the wrong side of the bike rack. I laughed in her face and asked her if she was joking. She laughed too and said that a bunch of people received the penalty. This is the part of the sport that gets me angry because they have different governing bodies that have different rules and every race is set up differently. It knocks me from 2nd to 3rd in my category. I would have been 35th overall out of 254 finishers.
Overall, a good effort.
I sold my race wheels 2 days later so now I'm shopping for a new set again. Tubulars vs. clinchers is my great debate now.
I looked at the results from 2007 and noticed they had a clydesdale division so I register for that division and notice the winning time and person that won. I know who the guy is and I spot him at this year's race too. I know he is a pretty fast guy for us clydesdales so my game plan is to keep him in sight.
The gun goes off and he takes off......too fast for me. I tend to take the starts conservatively at first because everyone goes out too fast. It takes a few minutes for my HR to get up into my race zone, and to stabilize at a sustainable pace for me. So, I get into my zone and I start to pass a lot of people that go out too hard. That guy is one of them. I don't look back and I don't worry about him. I passed a few others that normally are faster than me. I guess I was running well. Sub 20:00 for first leg. Faster than I expected. I wasn't sure how I would feel today because I rode 4 hours just 13 hours ago. My legs were tired. Onto the bike and so far so good. I settle into my zone, steady on the climbs and push the flats, and take in some gatorade. A few guys are passing me which I wasn't happy about but I wasn't going to push too hard because I still had to run again. Here comes my guy......he passes me. I step it up a bit to keep in contact and end up re-passing him for a little bit. Then, a large downhill comes so I get into my position and all of a sudden, here comes a high speed wobble.....oh crap. I was moving at this point and my front wheel was seriously wobbling. I thought I was going down but I controlled it. Here comes another downhill and the wobble is here again.....oh crap. This stinks. I resign myself to riding the downhill very conservatively in order to stay on top of my bike and let the other guy go. There was no way I could keep the gap close. If this didn't happen, I would have pushed harder to keep him in contact. And, if I didn't ride 4 hours the day before, this would have been much easier too.....oh well. Maybe I can catch him on the run.
Glad to get off the bike and start running. I shouldn't have a wobble problem here. I start out slow to get my legs under me to see how they are going to do and so far, so good. I settle into my pace and with about a mile to go, I see the other guy and I'm closing. I finish strong but didn't catch him. I needed another mile or two and I would have caught him. He finished ahead of me by about 30 sec.
I get a massage, hydrate, and eat a bit. The results go up on the board and I look at my name and see a 2:00 penalty....thats odd. I ask the official what it was for and she tells me that I racked my bike on the wrong side of the bike rack. I laughed in her face and asked her if she was joking. She laughed too and said that a bunch of people received the penalty. This is the part of the sport that gets me angry because they have different governing bodies that have different rules and every race is set up differently. It knocks me from 2nd to 3rd in my category. I would have been 35th overall out of 254 finishers.
Overall, a good effort.
I sold my race wheels 2 days later so now I'm shopping for a new set again. Tubulars vs. clinchers is my great debate now.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Friday's Weigh-in
Well, I was happy when I saw that I lost 4 pounds which was done in only 3 days. You may think that I cut calories but I will tell you that I ate a ton. In fact, I haven't stopped eating. I have been training a lot so its important to fuel. I can really feel it when I don't have enough fuel in me. I am also planning ahead when I know I have a long workout. It really makes a difference to fuel up on carbs. If I eat fried calamari and nachos for dinner, then try to ride 5 hours the next day, I will be in for a long day.....not very good fuel.
Whenever I cut out sweets from my diet, I lose weight immediately but it plateaus and the challenge is to continue to eat right. I started eating right last Tuesday and now I'm down 5 pounds....maybe more. I'm on my way to meeting my goal. Only 21 pounds to go :-) People say to me that there is no way I have that much to lose but the numbers don't lie. If I have 15% body fat, then losing 26 pounds brings me down to 8-9% body fat which is a healthy number in males.....not too much.
Had a really nice week of training. I had a key swim training session with some friends gearing up for Lake Placid so we hammered some meters in a 50 meter long course pool. I'm enjoying these sessions in the 50 meter pool....it breaks up the monotony of going back and forth so many times. I rode 80 miles yesterday on a very hilly course and felt pretty strong doing so. This is a good 20 miles beyond my longest ride so far. I did a brick run afterwards too and my legs felt great. I really believe the loss of a few pounds makes a huge difference and the clean diet is such better fuel for these workouts. I followed this workout up with a 12 mile run today and my legs felt good. I was running really strong for the middle hour of this session so I know the potential is there to feel strong for a few hours with less weight and more training.
The spring is getting busy already. Heading up to RI hopefully in the next couple of weeks to ride the RI 70.3 bike course and coax Sue to swim some in the cold waters to acclimate to CDA water temps predicted to be in the mid 50's. Then its out to CDA for Sue's race which I'm really looking forward to, then up to Lake Placid for a training weekend. Its up to RI for my race and back to Lake Placid for Ironman (to watch, volunteer, train, and work).
Looking forward to this coming week for training, eating right and Friday's weigh in.
Whenever I cut out sweets from my diet, I lose weight immediately but it plateaus and the challenge is to continue to eat right. I started eating right last Tuesday and now I'm down 5 pounds....maybe more. I'm on my way to meeting my goal. Only 21 pounds to go :-) People say to me that there is no way I have that much to lose but the numbers don't lie. If I have 15% body fat, then losing 26 pounds brings me down to 8-9% body fat which is a healthy number in males.....not too much.
Had a really nice week of training. I had a key swim training session with some friends gearing up for Lake Placid so we hammered some meters in a 50 meter long course pool. I'm enjoying these sessions in the 50 meter pool....it breaks up the monotony of going back and forth so many times. I rode 80 miles yesterday on a very hilly course and felt pretty strong doing so. This is a good 20 miles beyond my longest ride so far. I did a brick run afterwards too and my legs felt great. I really believe the loss of a few pounds makes a huge difference and the clean diet is such better fuel for these workouts. I followed this workout up with a 12 mile run today and my legs felt good. I was running really strong for the middle hour of this session so I know the potential is there to feel strong for a few hours with less weight and more training.
The spring is getting busy already. Heading up to RI hopefully in the next couple of weeks to ride the RI 70.3 bike course and coax Sue to swim some in the cold waters to acclimate to CDA water temps predicted to be in the mid 50's. Then its out to CDA for Sue's race which I'm really looking forward to, then up to Lake Placid for a training weekend. Its up to RI for my race and back to Lake Placid for Ironman (to watch, volunteer, train, and work).
Looking forward to this coming week for training, eating right and Friday's weigh in.
Monday, May 5, 2008
The 26 week challenge
My coach just emailed me and said that he was 26 pounds overweight and he had 26 weeks until his 'A' race which also happens to be my 'A' race.....Ironman Florida. So, I thought it would be good motivation for me to give myself the 26 pound challenge. That is 1 pound per week for 26 weeks.....I'm good at math :-)
I really believe I have the fitness to be a lot faster if I had less weight. I don't think I would sacrifice a lot of strength with less weight. I think for smaller athletes....<10% body fat, losing more weight verges on the side of losing speed.
I competed in a duathlon yesterday....the Greenwich biathlon.....a 2.5 mi run/10 mi bike/2.5 mi run. The race was over before I had a chance to warmup. I ran a 2 mile warmup at a fairly good pace. The race started and everyone went out hard. I held back some to allow myself to settle into a comfortable pace. It takes time for your HR to work up to that point. When you go out too hard, you risk tweeking a hamstring and dying because you go beyond your lactate threshold that you can recover so you crash (so to speak). I paced the first run very well, allowing myself to build into and as a result I consistently passed people all the way. Then I had a crappy transition and fumbled with my helmet and my shoes but not terrible. Getting onto the bike my legs felt terrible but then I realized that I had just run 2.5 miles all out.....that explains it. I eased into trying it to get a feel for my legs. The race was fairly spread out at this point. I was only passed by one person on the bike and he was part of a relay. I passed a half a dozen people or so but not as many as I would have liked. My second transition was much better as it always is. I came into transition with a group of people and I was the first or second out. My legs felt pretty decent and I settled into a good pace. I was passed fairly quickly by the eventual women's winner, then only one other guy who finished directly in front of me by 10 seconds or less. Overall I was pleased with my race and fitness at this point. I was 2 minutes faster this year than last. I missed breaking an hour by 30 seconds. I think my run pace was approx. 6:30/mile.
With less weight, running pace will be the biggest difference. With 20 pounds less weight, I should be able to run closer to 6 min miles. I could feel the weight as I was running. For every 5 pounds I feel a big difference.
I had some solid workouts last week. I trained with some buddies and we did a great ride one night and a really hard swim the following day. I followed that with an endurance 2:30 on the trainer on Saturday. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I rode the Wildflower course on the computrainer which is a really good course for riding on the training. Fairly flat...no steep climbs....just some gradual rises.
I have a challenging week ahead but not too bad. Looking forward to it and looking forward to losing a pound this week :-)
So, there it is....the 26 pound challenge. Anyone else want to join me?? Wish me luck :-)
I really believe I have the fitness to be a lot faster if I had less weight. I don't think I would sacrifice a lot of strength with less weight. I think for smaller athletes....<10% body fat, losing more weight verges on the side of losing speed.
I competed in a duathlon yesterday....the Greenwich biathlon.....a 2.5 mi run/10 mi bike/2.5 mi run. The race was over before I had a chance to warmup. I ran a 2 mile warmup at a fairly good pace. The race started and everyone went out hard. I held back some to allow myself to settle into a comfortable pace. It takes time for your HR to work up to that point. When you go out too hard, you risk tweeking a hamstring and dying because you go beyond your lactate threshold that you can recover so you crash (so to speak). I paced the first run very well, allowing myself to build into and as a result I consistently passed people all the way. Then I had a crappy transition and fumbled with my helmet and my shoes but not terrible. Getting onto the bike my legs felt terrible but then I realized that I had just run 2.5 miles all out.....that explains it. I eased into trying it to get a feel for my legs. The race was fairly spread out at this point. I was only passed by one person on the bike and he was part of a relay. I passed a half a dozen people or so but not as many as I would have liked. My second transition was much better as it always is. I came into transition with a group of people and I was the first or second out. My legs felt pretty decent and I settled into a good pace. I was passed fairly quickly by the eventual women's winner, then only one other guy who finished directly in front of me by 10 seconds or less. Overall I was pleased with my race and fitness at this point. I was 2 minutes faster this year than last. I missed breaking an hour by 30 seconds. I think my run pace was approx. 6:30/mile.
With less weight, running pace will be the biggest difference. With 20 pounds less weight, I should be able to run closer to 6 min miles. I could feel the weight as I was running. For every 5 pounds I feel a big difference.
I had some solid workouts last week. I trained with some buddies and we did a great ride one night and a really hard swim the following day. I followed that with an endurance 2:30 on the trainer on Saturday. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I rode the Wildflower course on the computrainer which is a really good course for riding on the training. Fairly flat...no steep climbs....just some gradual rises.
I have a challenging week ahead but not too bad. Looking forward to it and looking forward to losing a pound this week :-)
So, there it is....the 26 pound challenge. Anyone else want to join me?? Wish me luck :-)
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