Memorial Day weekend is over and I escaped without too much damage. As far as training goes, it was all about running and swimming.
Friday:
1 mile ocean swim - Solana Beach - rough surf
Saturday:
coached run workout - ski beach
10 min warm-up w/ strides
intervals -hard running with 90 seconds recovery
4 min
3 min
2 min
1 min
4 min
3 min
2 min
1 min
2 min
2 min
2 min
10 min cooldown
Sunday:
Long run - 90min - 12 miles
Monday:
1 mile Ocean Swim - La Jolla cove
Right now I feel totally recoverd from all my workouts. In the upcoming weeks I have some very challenging workouts lined up, but at the same time more easy days (just swimming) than I would normally schedule myself. The best part about having a coach is that I just get to sit back, do the work, and let someone else worry about the details. Of course I will not follow along blindly. It's defintely important to let the coach now how you are recovering and how you are feeling.
I have also been surfing a lot. I have surfed the last 4 days in a row, which wouldn't have been a big deal before I started training for triathlon. I am planning on getting in the water a lot more. Nothing is more relaxing than getting the water for a couple of hours with my friends and getting some waves.
I also made it through the weekend without comsuming too much junk food and beer. It was good to get to have a relaxing weekend bbq'ing with friends and relaxing (no racing).
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Thursday 5.25.2006 - things are changing
This past week has been pretty interesting for me. First of all I have had time to reflect on my race performance. I am definitely happy with pulling off a second place at a pretty big event, but there is a lot of room to improve.
here are a couple things:
1. the swim - i need to swim harder. My goal in this race was to just cruise and not get caught up with any body. I accomplished this goal, but at the same time didn't really race in the swim. The guy that beat my already had a 2+ minute advantage coming out of the water.
2. T1 - it went good except for my mountain bike shoes. My current shoes have a wrap around tongue and can make them hard to get into with wet feet. I am in the process of getting new shoes so this won't be an issue again.
3. the bike - just push harder and stay on two wheels.
4. t2 - i had trouble getting out my shoes and got passed in transition by a guy in my age group. i was able to drop him in the run but that won't always be the case. Again... I am getting new shoes.
5. The run - just run harder. Once again I still had quite a bit left in the tank after the race.
The other significant thing that happened this week is that I have decided to start working with a coach. My new coach has won both the Xterra Amatuer world championships and Nation championships. He is currently racing pro on the Xterra circuit, trying to make the 2008 olympic team, and I feel he can get me to the next level. The next couple of months should be very interesting for me. I have already seen the plan I am going to be on for the next couple weeks and it's going to push me harder than I have worked so far. I can't wait.
next race: Xterra East Championships - Richmond, VA
here are a couple things:
1. the swim - i need to swim harder. My goal in this race was to just cruise and not get caught up with any body. I accomplished this goal, but at the same time didn't really race in the swim. The guy that beat my already had a 2+ minute advantage coming out of the water.
2. T1 - it went good except for my mountain bike shoes. My current shoes have a wrap around tongue and can make them hard to get into with wet feet. I am in the process of getting new shoes so this won't be an issue again.
3. the bike - just push harder and stay on two wheels.
4. t2 - i had trouble getting out my shoes and got passed in transition by a guy in my age group. i was able to drop him in the run but that won't always be the case. Again... I am getting new shoes.
5. The run - just run harder. Once again I still had quite a bit left in the tank after the race.
The other significant thing that happened this week is that I have decided to start working with a coach. My new coach has won both the Xterra Amatuer world championships and Nation championships. He is currently racing pro on the Xterra circuit, trying to make the 2008 olympic team, and I feel he can get me to the next level. The next couple of months should be very interesting for me. I have already seen the plan I am going to be on for the next couple weeks and it's going to push me harder than I have worked so far. I can't wait.
next race: Xterra East Championships - Richmond, VA
Monday, May 22, 2006
Monday 5.22.2006 - Xterra is tough!
I am beatdown right now. My legs, back, and shoulders are all sore. I am tired but couldn't sleep and I have to get to work early this morning for a meeting.
So here's the report from the weekend at the Xterra West Championships:
Friday:
I headed out of my house around 11am and got the campground around 12:30. I checked in and immediately headed down to the Xterra compound/race start. The bike and run courses were already marked so I walked around for a bit and then suited up for a pre-ride. I ended meeting a couple of people to ride with and one of them was Larry Oneil. He is a very accomplished Ultramaronther and has won several 50 and 100mile race. Super cool guy and the other was a 40+ year old woman from Northern cal that smoked me on all the downhills.
the course was gnarly. tons of climbing and some really sketchy, fast descents.... and it was about 90 degress and sunny.
After the bike I decided to walk/jog the run course. the run was nuts. More climbing than any run that I have ever done and the descents were so steep that you really could even walk down them without going into a full-on sprint while trying to stay upright. It was tough, but I knew that a hard run would definitely be to my advantage so I was stoked.
After that I headed back to camp, made some dinner, and crashed early.
Saturday:
I headed down the race site to check out the running races (5k,10k) and the Duathlon... and get some free stuff.
It was hot so I didn't stay down there too long. I met up with some people that I had met at previous races, hung out a bit and the headed back to camp for a nap and some shade.
Sunday - Race Day
I got there about an hour and a half before the start, got body marked and set up transition.
The Swim:
The swim course was a big 1500m triangle starting in waist deep water and finishing with a 50 yard run up a hill to transition. My plan for the swim was to just to cruise and not get caught up with too many people, and stay a little wide. I was in the second wave (15-34) two minutes behind the pro men and women.
So the cannon went off and we all took off, it was a pretty big wave. I got hit a bit but not too bad, and my goggles almost got knocked off. After about 200m I was able to totally relax and just swim. I wasn't going fast but I was smooth. About half way through I started passing some pro men and women (obviously not the fast pro swimmers). So I finished the swim feeling really fresh and headed to T1.
Swim(.93 miles)+ T1: 25:10
The Bike:
Right out of transition you go into a steep mile long climb. The bike was going well, i was passing more of the pro women and AG'ers that were ahead of me in the swim. about half way through the loop I hooked up with Danelle Kabush (pro woman that I met the week before). I just hung on her wheel and followed her lines. She is damn good on a mountain bike. With about 3 miles to go, on the last steep downhill I went down... hard. Over the handlebars and the bike flipped with me. I landed on my side in a bush, got right up an took off. I only lost about 10-15 seconds. I had a couple scratches but nothing major. So I just hammered to get to T2. I got passed on the bike by a couple of male pros and a couple AGer's, but only one in my AG (25-29). I had no idea what place I wan in. I was thinking 5-10.
Bike(19.5 miles) + T2: 1:33:31
The run (death march) 60% climbing, 30% descending, 10% flat:
Again right out of transition you go into a brutal mile+ climb. The run was hard but I wanted to track down the guy who passed me on the bike. I came right out of tranision with the guy that beat me in AZ but I just pushed ahead on the first climb and got a big gap on him. I passed quite a few people on the first part of the run (it was a 1.5 lap course so you didn't do the huge climb again, but there were still tons of hills to be climbed) but none in my AG. Then near a turn around I saw the guy that passed me on the bike. I was on a mission to track him down. I caught him, and blew by him at the end of the first full lap. At that point I just got a second wind and started to push. I had a really fast second lap and was so stoked to hit the finish chute:
run(5.5 miles): 43:14 - 7:51/mile (the winner ran 8:11/mile pace)
Results:
overall time: 2:41:55
2nd in AG
I am so stoked. With a second place I have locked a spot for nationals and also 1st and 2nd place in my AG get slots for the Xterra World Championships. so yeah... I am going to Hawaii in October. Pretty unbelievable. The field was tough but I just raced hard and stuck with my plan.
Did I already say how stoked I am????
So here's the report from the weekend at the Xterra West Championships:
Friday:
I headed out of my house around 11am and got the campground around 12:30. I checked in and immediately headed down to the Xterra compound/race start. The bike and run courses were already marked so I walked around for a bit and then suited up for a pre-ride. I ended meeting a couple of people to ride with and one of them was Larry Oneil. He is a very accomplished Ultramaronther and has won several 50 and 100mile race. Super cool guy and the other was a 40+ year old woman from Northern cal that smoked me on all the downhills.
the course was gnarly. tons of climbing and some really sketchy, fast descents.... and it was about 90 degress and sunny.
After the bike I decided to walk/jog the run course. the run was nuts. More climbing than any run that I have ever done and the descents were so steep that you really could even walk down them without going into a full-on sprint while trying to stay upright. It was tough, but I knew that a hard run would definitely be to my advantage so I was stoked.
After that I headed back to camp, made some dinner, and crashed early.
Saturday:
I headed down the race site to check out the running races (5k,10k) and the Duathlon... and get some free stuff.
It was hot so I didn't stay down there too long. I met up with some people that I had met at previous races, hung out a bit and the headed back to camp for a nap and some shade.
Sunday - Race Day
I got there about an hour and a half before the start, got body marked and set up transition.
The Swim:
The swim course was a big 1500m triangle starting in waist deep water and finishing with a 50 yard run up a hill to transition. My plan for the swim was to just to cruise and not get caught up with too many people, and stay a little wide. I was in the second wave (15-34) two minutes behind the pro men and women.
So the cannon went off and we all took off, it was a pretty big wave. I got hit a bit but not too bad, and my goggles almost got knocked off. After about 200m I was able to totally relax and just swim. I wasn't going fast but I was smooth. About half way through I started passing some pro men and women (obviously not the fast pro swimmers). So I finished the swim feeling really fresh and headed to T1.
Swim(.93 miles)+ T1: 25:10
The Bike:
Right out of transition you go into a steep mile long climb. The bike was going well, i was passing more of the pro women and AG'ers that were ahead of me in the swim. about half way through the loop I hooked up with Danelle Kabush (pro woman that I met the week before). I just hung on her wheel and followed her lines. She is damn good on a mountain bike. With about 3 miles to go, on the last steep downhill I went down... hard. Over the handlebars and the bike flipped with me. I landed on my side in a bush, got right up an took off. I only lost about 10-15 seconds. I had a couple scratches but nothing major. So I just hammered to get to T2. I got passed on the bike by a couple of male pros and a couple AGer's, but only one in my AG (25-29). I had no idea what place I wan in. I was thinking 5-10.
Bike(19.5 miles) + T2: 1:33:31
The run (death march) 60% climbing, 30% descending, 10% flat:
Again right out of transition you go into a brutal mile+ climb. The run was hard but I wanted to track down the guy who passed me on the bike. I came right out of tranision with the guy that beat me in AZ but I just pushed ahead on the first climb and got a big gap on him. I passed quite a few people on the first part of the run (it was a 1.5 lap course so you didn't do the huge climb again, but there were still tons of hills to be climbed) but none in my AG. Then near a turn around I saw the guy that passed me on the bike. I was on a mission to track him down. I caught him, and blew by him at the end of the first full lap. At that point I just got a second wind and started to push. I had a really fast second lap and was so stoked to hit the finish chute:
run(5.5 miles): 43:14 - 7:51/mile (the winner ran 8:11/mile pace)
Results:
overall time: 2:41:55
2nd in AG
I am so stoked. With a second place I have locked a spot for nationals and also 1st and 2nd place in my AG get slots for the Xterra World Championships. so yeah... I am going to Hawaii in October. Pretty unbelievable. The field was tough but I just raced hard and stuck with my plan.
Did I already say how stoked I am????
Friday, May 19, 2006
Friday 5.19.2005 - making decisions...
So I decided at the last minute yesterday to not do the Tri club aquathon. The race was going to be a 1000m swim followed by a 5k beach run and I really wanted to do it, and had been planning on it. Then while sitting in my office yesterday afternoon I started to really think if going out and running a hard 5k would have any positive or negative affects on my upcoming A race on Sunday.
I wasn't worried about the swim taking too much out of me but it was the run that was giving me second thoughts. The run was on the beach and I could just imagine sand getting in my shoes, getting blisters, and just generally trashing my feet. I also considered doing the race and just running at 3/4 speed, but knowing my competitive nature I knew that me taking it easy was unlikely.
It also took me longer to recover from last weeks tought duathlon that I had expected. My calves really took a beating in the hills. Instead of the aquathon I did my own tempo run on the trails of San Elijo lagoon.
10 min warm up
10 min race pace
10 min cool down
that's it. simple.
I was feeling really a good about my decision until I got on the computer this morning. I checked the tri clubs web page and they already had posted photos of the race. And who was there racing... everybody. Including Jim Vance, local Xterra pro, and Danelle Kabush. Danelle Kabush is from Canada (She's in town for the race this weekend) and races pro at Xterra. I met her last weekend at our club Duathlon. Maybe it would have been a good tune-up... maybe not. I run into this with training it seems every week. I start to question my plan. Am I training enough, hard enough, recovering enough, tapering long enough??? We'll find out this weekend enough. IMMIKE touched on this in a really good post this week. Check it out... it's a killer blog.
Here's a race report from the Aquathon by GuernseyMan. He cleaned up and finished second behind Jim Vance! I am very stoked for him and all the little grommets that competed in the Quackathon.
so my taper... after my ocean swim this morning I would have to say it's working. This is the first time I have ever reduced swim volume going into a race, and I felt better in the water this morning than ever before. I breezed through a mellow 1+ mile swim. I only got in the pool twice this week (usually 4 pool swims a week and 2 oean swims) for a totally of 4800 yards. I feel really strong and rested.
I am heading out to Temecula in a bit for a pre-ride and will be camping all weekend. So it's here. My A race. Hope it goes well. I will defintely be posting a report when I get back.
Photo from last weekends DU.
I wasn't worried about the swim taking too much out of me but it was the run that was giving me second thoughts. The run was on the beach and I could just imagine sand getting in my shoes, getting blisters, and just generally trashing my feet. I also considered doing the race and just running at 3/4 speed, but knowing my competitive nature I knew that me taking it easy was unlikely.
It also took me longer to recover from last weeks tought duathlon that I had expected. My calves really took a beating in the hills. Instead of the aquathon I did my own tempo run on the trails of San Elijo lagoon.
10 min warm up
10 min race pace
10 min cool down
that's it. simple.
I was feeling really a good about my decision until I got on the computer this morning. I checked the tri clubs web page and they already had posted photos of the race. And who was there racing... everybody. Including Jim Vance, local Xterra pro, and Danelle Kabush. Danelle Kabush is from Canada (She's in town for the race this weekend) and races pro at Xterra. I met her last weekend at our club Duathlon. Maybe it would have been a good tune-up... maybe not. I run into this with training it seems every week. I start to question my plan. Am I training enough, hard enough, recovering enough, tapering long enough??? We'll find out this weekend enough. IMMIKE touched on this in a really good post this week. Check it out... it's a killer blog.
Here's a race report from the Aquathon by GuernseyMan. He cleaned up and finished second behind Jim Vance! I am very stoked for him and all the little grommets that competed in the Quackathon.
so my taper... after my ocean swim this morning I would have to say it's working. This is the first time I have ever reduced swim volume going into a race, and I felt better in the water this morning than ever before. I breezed through a mellow 1+ mile swim. I only got in the pool twice this week (usually 4 pool swims a week and 2 oean swims) for a totally of 4800 yards. I feel really strong and rested.
I am heading out to Temecula in a bit for a pre-ride and will be camping all weekend. So it's here. My A race. Hope it goes well. I will defintely be posting a report when I get back.
Photo from last weekends DU.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Sunday 5.14.2006 - it's working...
A couple of months ago I made the decision to stop working with my coach and to start doing everything on my own. I was kind of apprehensive, but with my results so far this season I know I made the right decision. As soon as I started coaching myself I made up a detailed plan leading up to next weekend, the Xterra West Championships. I made sure to cut the volume back on weeks that I had races but I also continued to build through the races in order to be able to put in my best performance next Sunday.
I think my plan worked...
Two weeks ago was highest volume week and also the Spring Sprint race. It was a really hard week but things were going good. This past week I cut the volume back just a bit and kept the inensity up. Coming into this weekend I was feeling good. I have never been able to climb this good and with all my early season races and brick workouts I able to run very strongly off the bike.
On saturday (yesterday) I raced in a the tri club offroad duathlon. I went into this race wanting to see how strong I really was and if my training leading up to my "A" race had worked. I mean with only a week left there is no way I can increase my fitness or do anything to make me faster or stronger.
The race was unexpectedly hard. It was an offroad duathlon (2.5 run/7 mtb/2.5 run). the runs started with 1/4 mile straight up hill and then there were 5 or 6 significant climbs after that and the bike also had 6 good climbs... but this is what I have been training for.
I had a great race and won by over 5 minutes. I just went all out to see what I had in me. I am feeling good about this and have a lot of confidence going into next week. I know the competition will fierce. There are people from all over the country coming to his race and all the pros will be there too. I can't wait.
Training:
Friday
AM - 1 mile ocean swim
Lunch - easy 4 mile run
Saturday
AM - club race (2.5/7/2.5) - then I road 5 miles afterwards
Sunday
AM - 1.2 mile ocean swim
8 mile run
I am really cutting things back this week. here's what it's looking at:
mon: rest
tues: am - masters swim/pm easy ride/run
wed: am - swim
thurs: am - easy ride w/ race pace intervals/pm -club aquathon (1000 yard swim/5k)
Friday - ocean swim - travel to temecula - pre-ride course
Saturday - walk/run run course
sunday - race... it's on!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Thursday 5.11.2006 - flying by....
I can't believe another week is already over. Being so focused on my training and so busy at work makes the weeks and months fly by. Temecula is next weekend. I really can't wait to see all the pros take on the same course I am and be able to compete against some really talented athletes.
Over the past couple of weeks I have really been focusing on my climbing on the bike and pace intervals running on trails. The runs at an offroad race are considerably harder than a road race. I think due the terrain I havent been pushing myself hard enough in the run. I have never felt after a race like I gave it everything I had in the run. I have always had something left in the tank. So here's my race plan for Temecula:
Swim:
Just hang within 30 seconds of the leaders which is pretty much what I have been capable of. Except for the race in Az... I was first in my AG out of the water.
Bike:
Crush. Just totally go for it and charge the hills. I have not any problems thus far running off the bike. Even after the Castaic Lake race... that bike was brutal.
Run:
Just see how hard I can go until I hit the wall. I am going to try and push the whole way. No starting out slow early, no saving anything for final kick. Just run the 10k as hard as I can. If I blow up I know I will go out giving it everything I have.
So that's it.
Training:
Wednesday:
AM - Masters swim - 3600m
Lunch - weights/stretching
PM - Track workout - trying to run at 5:30/mile pace
2 mile warm-up
2 x 800
1 x 1600
2 x 800
1 mile CD
Today:
AM - 26 mile ride:
home to TP and back
1 x tp inside
1 x tp outside
Lunch - core/stretching
PM - work swim - 1700m
Over the past couple of weeks I have really been focusing on my climbing on the bike and pace intervals running on trails. The runs at an offroad race are considerably harder than a road race. I think due the terrain I havent been pushing myself hard enough in the run. I have never felt after a race like I gave it everything I had in the run. I have always had something left in the tank. So here's my race plan for Temecula:
Swim:
Just hang within 30 seconds of the leaders which is pretty much what I have been capable of. Except for the race in Az... I was first in my AG out of the water.
Bike:
Crush. Just totally go for it and charge the hills. I have not any problems thus far running off the bike. Even after the Castaic Lake race... that bike was brutal.
Run:
Just see how hard I can go until I hit the wall. I am going to try and push the whole way. No starting out slow early, no saving anything for final kick. Just run the 10k as hard as I can. If I blow up I know I will go out giving it everything I have.
So that's it.
Training:
Wednesday:
AM - Masters swim - 3600m
Lunch - weights/stretching
PM - Track workout - trying to run at 5:30/mile pace
2 mile warm-up
2 x 800
1 x 1600
2 x 800
1 mile CD
Today:
AM - 26 mile ride:
home to TP and back
1 x tp inside
1 x tp outside
Lunch - core/stretching
PM - work swim - 1700m
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Tuesday 5.9.2005 - it's getting close
the race is getting close. I have about a week and a half left until the Xterra Western Championships in Temcula. I am really looking forward to this race and also a chance to see all the pros take on the same course.
I have defnitely been putting in the work and believe I will be ready to have the best race I can. Since the Xterra races and about the length of an Olympic distance race (around 2.5 hours for temecula) I do not really have to have a long taper. I am kind of dialing things back just a bit this week and next will week will be pretty mellow with just some swimming, short race pace workouts, and then a pre-ride/jog of the course.
training so far this week:
monday:
AM - Masters - 3000m
Lunch - 18 min easy spin/stretching/core
Tuesday:
AM - swim work pool - endurance workout - averaging 1:24 on 100 repeats
Pm - Brick - 90 min tb/24 min run
I am tired..... and want to go to sleep but the Padres are tied with the Brewers in bottom of the 8th and they have won 9 in a row... this could be 10.
I have defnitely been putting in the work and believe I will be ready to have the best race I can. Since the Xterra races and about the length of an Olympic distance race (around 2.5 hours for temecula) I do not really have to have a long taper. I am kind of dialing things back just a bit this week and next will week will be pretty mellow with just some swimming, short race pace workouts, and then a pre-ride/jog of the course.
training so far this week:
monday:
AM - Masters - 3000m
Lunch - 18 min easy spin/stretching/core
Tuesday:
AM - swim work pool - endurance workout - averaging 1:24 on 100 repeats
Pm - Brick - 90 min tb/24 min run
I am tired..... and want to go to sleep but the Padres are tied with the Brewers in bottom of the 8th and they have won 9 in a row... this could be 10.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Sunday 5.7.2006 - Race Report - Spring Sprint
Not really sure what's going on.
Today I raced in the Spring Sprint triathlon at Mission Bay. I almost decided to not do this race at all. My first "A" race of the season is 2 weeks from today. The Xterra Western Championships in Temecula. All my training has been focused towards this race. I decided to just train through this race and just use it as speed work out. Here is the training I put in this week including a really tough mountiain bike yesterday (hill repeast at Daley Ranch).
Bike: 4h 34m - 68.87 Mi
Run: 2h 18m 44s - 16.6 Mi
Swim: 4h 50m - 14640.2 Yd
Strength - 55m
Saturday:
I went to go check in and pick up my packet and realized that this was going to be a big event. This race is pretty much the kick-off for triathlon season in San Diego. And with San Diego being the triathlon mecca that it is this race brought some pros, a lot of newbies, and 800+ in the triathlon and about 200+ in the Dualthon. The pros/elites included FELIPE LOUREIRO, EMILIO DESOTO, HEATHER FUHR, PAULA NEWBY-FRASER, SIAN WELCH. Jessi Stensland was also there hanging out and doing some video interviews for GNC.
Sunday - Race Day.
Pre-race:
- woke up at 4am
nutrition:
water
coffee
clif bar
on the way to the race and while setting up transition I sipped on a 16oz bottle of water mixed with 1 scoop of carbo pro.
I set up my transition area and then began to get a little intimidated. The transition area was broken up by waves and I was the first wave in the water (29 & under and Elites). Now... i know i have really good bike but I was surrounded by people with $3k+ bikes and 2k wheelsets. For some reason this part of the race always intimidates me.
Right before the race I slammed 2 enervitene "cheerpacks". I have been experimenting with these in training and decided to give them a shot.
Swim - 400m:
This was by far the roughest swim I have encountered so far. My wave had about 80 people in it (29 & under and Elites). I got kicked, elbowed, punched, grabbed, and dunked. The first 100m were like a wrestling match. I finally decided to swim wide and got into a groove and felt good. Overall all I had an OK swim. If I would have got out a little more in front and not got beat down I proably could have take some time off the swim.
T1:
Really fast. I was probably in the top 20 and passed quite a few people in T1.
bike - 9 miles - 2 loops:
I felt like crap on the first loop, I just didn't have any juice in my legs. I did get to pass Paula Newby-Fraser and Heather Fuhr which was kind of fun. By the second lap I started to feel better. I passed some people on the bike and according to my bike computer averaged 23.5 mph over the 9 miles.
T2:
fast again. Racked my bike, slipped on the shoes, and I was gone.
Run - 3 miles - 2 loops:
I suprisingly felt great on the run and just went hard the whole way. I can't wait to see the splite times.
Results:
52:39
1st in AG (70 competitors)
6th overall (800+ competitors)
I am beyond stoked about winning my first race. The top elite only finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. I really think I could have hung with him if I would have tapered at all and had a better swim. After racing the tought Xterra courses the past couple of weeks it makes a road Tri (sprint) seem like a walk in the park... things are looking good.. I can't wait for Temecula.
Today I raced in the Spring Sprint triathlon at Mission Bay. I almost decided to not do this race at all. My first "A" race of the season is 2 weeks from today. The Xterra Western Championships in Temecula. All my training has been focused towards this race. I decided to just train through this race and just use it as speed work out. Here is the training I put in this week including a really tough mountiain bike yesterday (hill repeast at Daley Ranch).
Bike: 4h 34m - 68.87 Mi
Run: 2h 18m 44s - 16.6 Mi
Swim: 4h 50m - 14640.2 Yd
Strength - 55m
Saturday:
I went to go check in and pick up my packet and realized that this was going to be a big event. This race is pretty much the kick-off for triathlon season in San Diego. And with San Diego being the triathlon mecca that it is this race brought some pros, a lot of newbies, and 800+ in the triathlon and about 200+ in the Dualthon. The pros/elites included FELIPE LOUREIRO, EMILIO DESOTO, HEATHER FUHR, PAULA NEWBY-FRASER, SIAN WELCH. Jessi Stensland was also there hanging out and doing some video interviews for GNC.
Sunday - Race Day.
Pre-race:
- woke up at 4am
nutrition:
water
coffee
clif bar
on the way to the race and while setting up transition I sipped on a 16oz bottle of water mixed with 1 scoop of carbo pro.
I set up my transition area and then began to get a little intimidated. The transition area was broken up by waves and I was the first wave in the water (29 & under and Elites). Now... i know i have really good bike but I was surrounded by people with $3k+ bikes and 2k wheelsets. For some reason this part of the race always intimidates me.
Right before the race I slammed 2 enervitene "cheerpacks". I have been experimenting with these in training and decided to give them a shot.
Swim - 400m:
This was by far the roughest swim I have encountered so far. My wave had about 80 people in it (29 & under and Elites). I got kicked, elbowed, punched, grabbed, and dunked. The first 100m were like a wrestling match. I finally decided to swim wide and got into a groove and felt good. Overall all I had an OK swim. If I would have got out a little more in front and not got beat down I proably could have take some time off the swim.
T1:
Really fast. I was probably in the top 20 and passed quite a few people in T1.
bike - 9 miles - 2 loops:
I felt like crap on the first loop, I just didn't have any juice in my legs. I did get to pass Paula Newby-Fraser and Heather Fuhr which was kind of fun. By the second lap I started to feel better. I passed some people on the bike and according to my bike computer averaged 23.5 mph over the 9 miles.
T2:
fast again. Racked my bike, slipped on the shoes, and I was gone.
Run - 3 miles - 2 loops:
I suprisingly felt great on the run and just went hard the whole way. I can't wait to see the splite times.
Results:
52:39
1st in AG (70 competitors)
6th overall (800+ competitors)
I am beyond stoked about winning my first race. The top elite only finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. I really think I could have hung with him if I would have tapered at all and had a better swim. After racing the tought Xterra courses the past couple of weeks it makes a road Tri (sprint) seem like a walk in the park... things are looking good.. I can't wait for Temecula.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Thursday 5.4.2006 - back to the grind
I have been kind of slacking when it come to posting lately. I have been super busy at work and with training so some things gotta give.
I am in yet another training course this week for work. The company I work for and my boss will pretty much approve any courses I want to take that relate to work. Right now I am taking another VOIP class. Eventhough I have been supporting VOIP networks for the past couple of years things are always changins so there is ALWAYS more to learn. The class so far has been pretty interesting but I still find it hard to keep my eyes open when 3 o'clock hits. Enough of the boring work/tech stuff....
Training:
This will be the highest volume week I have been put in a couple weeks. I am doing a local sprint tri this weekend but am training right through it as i continue to build towards the Xterra West Championships on 5/21. I signed for this spring months ago, and at the time I was really excited for it. I think it was the first tri I officially signed up for, but my training progresses far faster than I had anticipated and have since taken on much more ambitious goals. The race should be fun though. I am just going to put the pedal to the medal. The race is considerable shorter than I have been racing and training for:
400m swim
9 mile bike - flat
3 mile run - flat
I am basically just doing it for a speed workout and have pretty intense mountain bike ride the day before. We'll see how it goes.
training this week:
Monday:
AM - recovery swim - 2500 yards
AM - stratching & core workout
Tuesday:
AM - Masters swim - 2600 yards
PM - Brick (bike - 90min/26miles - run - 30min/4.5 miles)
Wednesday:
AM - Masters swim - 3550 yards
PM - Hill workout - 55min - 10 repeats - killed me!
Thursday:
AM - Masters swim - 3100 yards
PM(after work today) - ride - intervals - fiesta island
time for class!!!
I am in yet another training course this week for work. The company I work for and my boss will pretty much approve any courses I want to take that relate to work. Right now I am taking another VOIP class. Eventhough I have been supporting VOIP networks for the past couple of years things are always changins so there is ALWAYS more to learn. The class so far has been pretty interesting but I still find it hard to keep my eyes open when 3 o'clock hits. Enough of the boring work/tech stuff....
Training:
This will be the highest volume week I have been put in a couple weeks. I am doing a local sprint tri this weekend but am training right through it as i continue to build towards the Xterra West Championships on 5/21. I signed for this spring months ago, and at the time I was really excited for it. I think it was the first tri I officially signed up for, but my training progresses far faster than I had anticipated and have since taken on much more ambitious goals. The race should be fun though. I am just going to put the pedal to the medal. The race is considerable shorter than I have been racing and training for:
400m swim
9 mile bike - flat
3 mile run - flat
I am basically just doing it for a speed workout and have pretty intense mountain bike ride the day before. We'll see how it goes.
training this week:
Monday:
AM - recovery swim - 2500 yards
AM - stratching & core workout
Tuesday:
AM - Masters swim - 2600 yards
PM - Brick (bike - 90min/26miles - run - 30min/4.5 miles)
Wednesday:
AM - Masters swim - 3550 yards
PM - Hill workout - 55min - 10 repeats - killed me!
Thursday:
AM - Masters swim - 3100 yards
PM(after work today) - ride - intervals - fiesta island
time for class!!!
Monday, May 01, 2006
Monday 5.1.2006 - BB Offroad Triathlon - Race Report
another one in the books...
Big Blue Offroad Triathlon (Xterra Point series race)
4.30.2006 - Cataic Lake, CA
swim: 2 x 600m laps separated by 50 yard run
bike: 2 x 8 mile loops
run: 2 x 2.5 mile loops
Pre-race:
The race didn't start until 10am so I woke up around 6am and had a solid breakfast.
6:15am
1 whole wheat bagel w/natural peanut butter
1 banana
water
coffee
7-730am
on the drive:
1 x 16 oz bottle of water w/ 1 scoop of carbo pro
7-30am - 945am
setting up transition and until start of race:
1 x 16 oz bottle of water w/ 2 scoops of carbo pro
1/2 of clif bar
1 gel (15 minutes before start)
Swim:
The swim course was really interesting. It was 2 laps and was shaped like and "M". You started from shore swam out to buoy 1 and then back to the beach, ran 50 yards up the beach and around a flag, and then headed out and back to buoy number 2.
the start was rough and i got thrashed about. I usually let the fast guys go ahead of me and did the same here. Unfortunately and bunch of slower swimmers decided they would line up in front and to the inside. so for the first 300 meters i had to swim hard get through them. I was hurting on the first lap and my heart rate was way higher than i wanted it to be. I hit the shore after lap 1 and the 50 yard jog didn't help to lower my HR. Lap two was better and i passed a lot of people and picked up my pace. I finished in the top 15 and then ran another 50 yard to T1.
I am not sure what my official swim time was but I was out of t1 and on my bike pedaling away at 19:29 (on my watch).
T1:
slower than usual. I decided to wear gloves this time and it took me a second to get them on my wet hands. Don't know if i will keep wearing gloves, or if I just need to get some that go on easier.
Bike:
This course was tough. Tons of climing. Of the time spent riding the 2 x 8 mile loops about 75% was spent climbing. Just long sustained climbing and a lot of single track. You really had to pick and choose where you made your moves. The last quarter of each loop was some super fast, rough single and double track. The bike was really solid for me. I got passed by two guys who were both in different AG's and I passed about 4 guys as well. I don't what else to say except that the ride was really hard. I came straight out of the water right into climbing. My HR felt like it was maxed out for the first 20 minutes of the ride. Taking fluid was pretty tough too, but I managed to finish 2 x 16oz bottles of my new mix (2 scoops carbo pro/2 tabs of NUUN). It worked really well for me. I also had a gel that I taped to the top bar of my bike. I took the gel on the final stretch heading into T2.
T2:
the guy in the rack next to me had thrown his wetsuit on top of all my perfectly laided out gear. It took me second to grab my shoes, race belt, and visor. It still went pretty quick though, but could have been faster.
Run:
Really fun run. It was really hot (85, sunny, no wind) but I was feeling strong. The two loop run consisted of road, fire road, and technical single track. the single track ran along a creek that you had to cross numerous times. I had to climb over and crawl under fallen trees, cross the creek by jumping from rock to rock, running on a tree, and at one point just jumping over it. It was tough. I passed some guys on the run but didn't know what AG they were in (no body marking.. lame). I felt like I had a solid run and defintely negative split the two lap course.
Finish:
I don't remeber what my official time was, but I think it was about 02:10:00.
results:
2nd in AG
Top 10 Overall
Through out the whole race I never saw the guy that beat me and he ended beating me by about 1 minute (guess). He was ahead of me in the swim and then stayed ahead in the bike. It was hard to make up ground on the bike becuase it was 90% single track. To say the least I am stoked. More Xterra points!
Big Blue Offroad Triathlon (Xterra Point series race)
4.30.2006 - Cataic Lake, CA
swim: 2 x 600m laps separated by 50 yard run
bike: 2 x 8 mile loops
run: 2 x 2.5 mile loops
Pre-race:
The race didn't start until 10am so I woke up around 6am and had a solid breakfast.
6:15am
1 whole wheat bagel w/natural peanut butter
1 banana
water
coffee
7-730am
on the drive:
1 x 16 oz bottle of water w/ 1 scoop of carbo pro
7-30am - 945am
setting up transition and until start of race:
1 x 16 oz bottle of water w/ 2 scoops of carbo pro
1/2 of clif bar
1 gel (15 minutes before start)
Swim:
The swim course was really interesting. It was 2 laps and was shaped like and "M". You started from shore swam out to buoy 1 and then back to the beach, ran 50 yards up the beach and around a flag, and then headed out and back to buoy number 2.
the start was rough and i got thrashed about. I usually let the fast guys go ahead of me and did the same here. Unfortunately and bunch of slower swimmers decided they would line up in front and to the inside. so for the first 300 meters i had to swim hard get through them. I was hurting on the first lap and my heart rate was way higher than i wanted it to be. I hit the shore after lap 1 and the 50 yard jog didn't help to lower my HR. Lap two was better and i passed a lot of people and picked up my pace. I finished in the top 15 and then ran another 50 yard to T1.
I am not sure what my official swim time was but I was out of t1 and on my bike pedaling away at 19:29 (on my watch).
T1:
slower than usual. I decided to wear gloves this time and it took me a second to get them on my wet hands. Don't know if i will keep wearing gloves, or if I just need to get some that go on easier.
Bike:
This course was tough. Tons of climing. Of the time spent riding the 2 x 8 mile loops about 75% was spent climbing. Just long sustained climbing and a lot of single track. You really had to pick and choose where you made your moves. The last quarter of each loop was some super fast, rough single and double track. The bike was really solid for me. I got passed by two guys who were both in different AG's and I passed about 4 guys as well. I don't what else to say except that the ride was really hard. I came straight out of the water right into climbing. My HR felt like it was maxed out for the first 20 minutes of the ride. Taking fluid was pretty tough too, but I managed to finish 2 x 16oz bottles of my new mix (2 scoops carbo pro/2 tabs of NUUN). It worked really well for me. I also had a gel that I taped to the top bar of my bike. I took the gel on the final stretch heading into T2.
T2:
the guy in the rack next to me had thrown his wetsuit on top of all my perfectly laided out gear. It took me second to grab my shoes, race belt, and visor. It still went pretty quick though, but could have been faster.
Run:
Really fun run. It was really hot (85, sunny, no wind) but I was feeling strong. The two loop run consisted of road, fire road, and technical single track. the single track ran along a creek that you had to cross numerous times. I had to climb over and crawl under fallen trees, cross the creek by jumping from rock to rock, running on a tree, and at one point just jumping over it. It was tough. I passed some guys on the run but didn't know what AG they were in (no body marking.. lame). I felt like I had a solid run and defintely negative split the two lap course.
Finish:
I don't remeber what my official time was, but I think it was about 02:10:00.
results:
2nd in AG
Top 10 Overall
Through out the whole race I never saw the guy that beat me and he ended beating me by about 1 minute (guess). He was ahead of me in the swim and then stayed ahead in the bike. It was hard to make up ground on the bike becuase it was 90% single track. To say the least I am stoked. More Xterra points!
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Wednesday 4.26.2006 - Feeling it...
man.. i am tired. it's about 9:45pm on Wednesday night and I just woke up from a 2 hour nap. I don't know if i am still feeling the after effects from the race on Sunday or just from jumping back into training on Tuesday.
I took Monday off and just headed to the gym at lunch to stretch and do some light core work. I then hit master's (swim) yesterday morning and again today. It may be masters swimming that is kicking my ass. I get up at 5am, in the water by 6am, and usually churn out between 3000 - 4000m. The length, distance, and intensity of these workouts are so much more than I thought I would be able to accomplish and I am really enjoying swimming. I wish I would have started years ago.
I also did a brick yesterday with a 70min mountain bike and a 20min run. I felt pretty good and the blisters on my feet arent an issue thanks to moleskin. I just need to figure out how I am going to handle my feet at this weekends race. Right now I am thinking i will just use moleskin and duct tape and still not wear socks. On the other hand the water in Lake Castaic is currently 57 degrees so i may throw on some socks at t1. Still deciding.
They posted the official times from my race last weekend and I am pretty happy with the splits.
swim: 23:25 - 1st in AG (included t1)
bike: 1:14:23 - 4th in AG (included t2) - CRASH!
Run: 29:14 - 1st in AG
well that's it for now... i am going to get more sleep and hit up masters for the third morning in a row. I am sure I will be zombie tomorrow, but I am really working hard to put in a good race at the Xterra West Championships on 5/21 in Temcula. All my workouts leading up that race will be about that race. I am going to start incorporating running on the beach in my tempo runs to get ready for the endless sand at Vail Lake.
ok... time for sleep.
I took Monday off and just headed to the gym at lunch to stretch and do some light core work. I then hit master's (swim) yesterday morning and again today. It may be masters swimming that is kicking my ass. I get up at 5am, in the water by 6am, and usually churn out between 3000 - 4000m. The length, distance, and intensity of these workouts are so much more than I thought I would be able to accomplish and I am really enjoying swimming. I wish I would have started years ago.
I also did a brick yesterday with a 70min mountain bike and a 20min run. I felt pretty good and the blisters on my feet arent an issue thanks to moleskin. I just need to figure out how I am going to handle my feet at this weekends race. Right now I am thinking i will just use moleskin and duct tape and still not wear socks. On the other hand the water in Lake Castaic is currently 57 degrees so i may throw on some socks at t1. Still deciding.
They posted the official times from my race last weekend and I am pretty happy with the splits.
swim: 23:25 - 1st in AG (included t1)
bike: 1:14:23 - 4th in AG (included t2) - CRASH!
Run: 29:14 - 1st in AG
well that's it for now... i am going to get more sleep and hit up masters for the third morning in a row. I am sure I will be zombie tomorrow, but I am really working hard to put in a good race at the Xterra West Championships on 5/21 in Temcula. All my workouts leading up that race will be about that race. I am going to start incorporating running on the beach in my tempo runs to get ready for the endless sand at Vail Lake.
ok... time for sleep.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Monday 4.24.2006 - AZ Xtreme Offroad Triathlon - Race Report
AZ Xtreme Offroad Triathlon - Xterra Point Series Race Mesa, AZ - Saguaro Lake
Weather: 85 degrees sunny, no clouds, hot!
1500m/26k nountain bike/8k run
Let me preface this report with two statements:
1. i totally underestimated how much harder and xterra race would be compared to a road race.
2. i currently have a about 1/2 a tube of neosporin spread across various parts of my body.
day before:
Pre-rode the course, swam in the lake, checked-in, packed and dropped of transition bags, set up bike at T1, and attended pre-race dinner.
race morning:
woke at 530am (the race started at 830) and got to the parking lot to take the shuttle to the swim.
Pre-race nutrion:
5:45am - 1 cliff bar + 1 16oz bottle of water w/ 1 scoop of carbo pro. 6:30am - 8am - 1 16oz bottle of cliff shot (2 scoops) 8:15am - clif shot gel
swim: 1500m (actually about a mile - a guy gps'd it on a kayak)
the swim was kind of intimidating. It was a point to point and it was a dog leg. you couldn't see the finish from the start. i had a plan going into this one. i was just going to go out kind of easy, get in a groove and try to hold my pace thoughout. the swim went well and i was able to draft off of various people for the first half and then headed into the cove. i figured i was right on pace. as i got out of the water and running on beach peeling my wesuit off i glanced down at my watch, which i started when the horn went off: 21:38. i was stoked, and suprised. way faster than i though i could swim.
swim Time:21:38
T1:
wetsuit off and put in transition bag for pick up, put on shoes, helmet, and glasses. sprinted out of transtion.
Bike: 26km
hard. Right out of transition you mount and ride about 50 yards in a parking lot before going over bridge straight into a deep sand wash. it was too deep to ride and you had to dismount and then hike up a steep 20ft hill. Then it was on the to the first real climb - 1000ft right off the bat. You were only able to actually ride about 3/4 of it and then had to dismount and climb again. Once to the top it was rolling hills unitl you got to climb number 2... another 1000ft with the same result. Ride about 3/4, hike about 1/4. I actually could have ridden further but a couple guys ahead of me dismounted and there was only one way up. after this climb there was about a mile of downhill and then into the wash. This section was about 1 mile of super deep sand. it was like riding in 6 - 12 inches of kitty litter. i had to get off my bike twice during this section. then came the fun. there was about 2 miles of small rollers and full on whoop sections. with all my bmx riding as a kid i was able to totally flow this section and passed quite a few guys, but no one in my AG. The next section was a couple of miles relatively flat terrain and i got caught by a group of 4 guys, all defintely better mountain bikers than I am. 2 of the guys were in my AG and i tagged along with them and was able to keep up. then, as alwasy it seems, it happened... i went down!
the crash: it was 90 degree turn and i was just cocentrating on sucking the wheel off the guy right a head of me and went in too fast. if felt myself starting to slide out and tried to recover... no such luck. the surface was loose, sandy, gravel and i went down hard on my shoulder and knee... and hands(no gloves). i jumped up assessed the damage: good scrape on shoulder, forearm, knee, and hands. My bike, chain was and all twisted up on my derailer. Fixed everything and got on the road. Lost about 1.5 - 2 minutes and got passed by 2 guys.... didn't see what AG they were in.
from that point i just pushed myself hard to try and make up time. the offroad section ended and then it was 2.5 miles on the road with one killer climber and then a super fast downhill into T2.
time: ??? I am guessing around 1:10 - 1:20. I forgot to look at my watch and start new lap for the run.
Bike nutrition:
1.5 20oz bottles (30oz) - each bottle: 2 scoops clif shot and 1 scoop carbo pro - 270 calories/67 carbs.
I could have probably drank a little more. My plan was to finish both bottles.
T2:
I was stoked when i got to T2. there was a reallty big crowd screaming and yelling, volunteers to take my bike, and they were super organized. I was able to find my t2 bag with no problems. bike gear in, running shoes on, race belt in hand, and i was gone.
run:
brutal. first thing. I made a huge mistake. Based on a recomendation i received at the dinner the night before from a guy who had run the course (i hadnt even seen it) i decided not to wear my racing flats. Instead i work my trainers that i had never run in barefoot before... can you see where this is going? back to the run for now...
right off the bat you go into a 500ft climb on constant s-turning switch backs and then over some rolling hills, and then down the back side of the first climb. At the first aid station I dumped water over my head and in my mouth. it was hot. then there was another good, long twisting climb. After the second climb the descent was fast and slippery. I almost went down more than once. At this point i was closing in two guys in AG. I continued to push it and caught and passed both of them. then i turned it up a gear as i could tell they were hurting too and i knew it was time to make a move and give myself a gap. I have never wanted to stop walk so much in my life, but i didn't, I just kept grinding along. now the shoes. by this point i could tell i had blisters on the inside of both of my arches and they had already popped and the skin had been ripped. it sucked. the last 2 miles were in a riverbed with deep sand and small boulders. now i had sand in my shoes and let me tell how good it felt to have sand getting rubbeb into the open wounds on my feet: not good. at this point i was pissed at myself for wearing my trainers.
so i finished the run and could see one of the guys in AG that passed me on the bike finish just a bit before me. I crossed the line bleeding from shoulder, knee, hands, and my feet were on fire. It was awesome! I still wasn't sure what place i was in. I hit the med tent and they cleaned me up and I watched a bunch of super stoked, beat down people finish.
Run time: ?
Run nutrition:
water (3 aid stations) + 1 clif shot gel at first aid station (carried with me from transition)
overall time: 2:07:33
Finsih: 2nd in AG (67 points toward qualify for nationals)
I was second out of the water in my AG, 4th coming off the bike, and 2nd after the run.
* the guy that finished first only beat by 30 seconds and he was one of the guys in the pack of 4 that i was riding with when i crashed. so if I wouldn't have taken a spill on the bike things could have ended differently... no worries. i'll take 2nd on that course anyday.
Despite all the blood and pain it was so much fun. I have never pushed that hard for that long. It was by far the hardest thing is any sport i have ever done, and I am already itching to do another. The Xterra crowd is awesome. They are a bunch of granola eating, beer drinking, hardcore, friendly, fast triathletes. I met and talked to so many cool people.
Post race there was a keg (my kind of race), gatorade, and plenty of food. For second place i go a pint glass with "2nd Place" and all the race info printed on it. I didn't waste anytime and promptly topped it off at the keg.
I also won the "Road Rash" award and got a box of GU's and an Xterra hat.
Xterra is what I want to do. I am still going to do road tris for fun and training, but now I totally going to focus my training and attention the the Xterra series.
I have another Xterra this weekend coming up at Castaic Lake (just north of LA). Can't wait. I am just hoping my feet heel up quickly.
Weather: 85 degrees sunny, no clouds, hot!
1500m/26k nountain bike/8k run
Let me preface this report with two statements:
1. i totally underestimated how much harder and xterra race would be compared to a road race.
2. i currently have a about 1/2 a tube of neosporin spread across various parts of my body.
day before:
Pre-rode the course, swam in the lake, checked-in, packed and dropped of transition bags, set up bike at T1, and attended pre-race dinner.
race morning:
woke at 530am (the race started at 830) and got to the parking lot to take the shuttle to the swim.
Pre-race nutrion:
5:45am - 1 cliff bar + 1 16oz bottle of water w/ 1 scoop of carbo pro. 6:30am - 8am - 1 16oz bottle of cliff shot (2 scoops) 8:15am - clif shot gel
swim: 1500m (actually about a mile - a guy gps'd it on a kayak)
the swim was kind of intimidating. It was a point to point and it was a dog leg. you couldn't see the finish from the start. i had a plan going into this one. i was just going to go out kind of easy, get in a groove and try to hold my pace thoughout. the swim went well and i was able to draft off of various people for the first half and then headed into the cove. i figured i was right on pace. as i got out of the water and running on beach peeling my wesuit off i glanced down at my watch, which i started when the horn went off: 21:38. i was stoked, and suprised. way faster than i though i could swim.
swim Time:21:38
T1:
wetsuit off and put in transition bag for pick up, put on shoes, helmet, and glasses. sprinted out of transtion.
Bike: 26km
hard. Right out of transition you mount and ride about 50 yards in a parking lot before going over bridge straight into a deep sand wash. it was too deep to ride and you had to dismount and then hike up a steep 20ft hill. Then it was on the to the first real climb - 1000ft right off the bat. You were only able to actually ride about 3/4 of it and then had to dismount and climb again. Once to the top it was rolling hills unitl you got to climb number 2... another 1000ft with the same result. Ride about 3/4, hike about 1/4. I actually could have ridden further but a couple guys ahead of me dismounted and there was only one way up. after this climb there was about a mile of downhill and then into the wash. This section was about 1 mile of super deep sand. it was like riding in 6 - 12 inches of kitty litter. i had to get off my bike twice during this section. then came the fun. there was about 2 miles of small rollers and full on whoop sections. with all my bmx riding as a kid i was able to totally flow this section and passed quite a few guys, but no one in my AG. The next section was a couple of miles relatively flat terrain and i got caught by a group of 4 guys, all defintely better mountain bikers than I am. 2 of the guys were in my AG and i tagged along with them and was able to keep up. then, as alwasy it seems, it happened... i went down!
the crash: it was 90 degree turn and i was just cocentrating on sucking the wheel off the guy right a head of me and went in too fast. if felt myself starting to slide out and tried to recover... no such luck. the surface was loose, sandy, gravel and i went down hard on my shoulder and knee... and hands(no gloves). i jumped up assessed the damage: good scrape on shoulder, forearm, knee, and hands. My bike, chain was and all twisted up on my derailer. Fixed everything and got on the road. Lost about 1.5 - 2 minutes and got passed by 2 guys.... didn't see what AG they were in.
from that point i just pushed myself hard to try and make up time. the offroad section ended and then it was 2.5 miles on the road with one killer climber and then a super fast downhill into T2.
time: ??? I am guessing around 1:10 - 1:20. I forgot to look at my watch and start new lap for the run.
Bike nutrition:
1.5 20oz bottles (30oz) - each bottle: 2 scoops clif shot and 1 scoop carbo pro - 270 calories/67 carbs.
I could have probably drank a little more. My plan was to finish both bottles.
T2:
I was stoked when i got to T2. there was a reallty big crowd screaming and yelling, volunteers to take my bike, and they were super organized. I was able to find my t2 bag with no problems. bike gear in, running shoes on, race belt in hand, and i was gone.
run:
brutal. first thing. I made a huge mistake. Based on a recomendation i received at the dinner the night before from a guy who had run the course (i hadnt even seen it) i decided not to wear my racing flats. Instead i work my trainers that i had never run in barefoot before... can you see where this is going? back to the run for now...
right off the bat you go into a 500ft climb on constant s-turning switch backs and then over some rolling hills, and then down the back side of the first climb. At the first aid station I dumped water over my head and in my mouth. it was hot. then there was another good, long twisting climb. After the second climb the descent was fast and slippery. I almost went down more than once. At this point i was closing in two guys in AG. I continued to push it and caught and passed both of them. then i turned it up a gear as i could tell they were hurting too and i knew it was time to make a move and give myself a gap. I have never wanted to stop walk so much in my life, but i didn't, I just kept grinding along. now the shoes. by this point i could tell i had blisters on the inside of both of my arches and they had already popped and the skin had been ripped. it sucked. the last 2 miles were in a riverbed with deep sand and small boulders. now i had sand in my shoes and let me tell how good it felt to have sand getting rubbeb into the open wounds on my feet: not good. at this point i was pissed at myself for wearing my trainers.
so i finished the run and could see one of the guys in AG that passed me on the bike finish just a bit before me. I crossed the line bleeding from shoulder, knee, hands, and my feet were on fire. It was awesome! I still wasn't sure what place i was in. I hit the med tent and they cleaned me up and I watched a bunch of super stoked, beat down people finish.
Run time: ?
Run nutrition:
water (3 aid stations) + 1 clif shot gel at first aid station (carried with me from transition)
overall time: 2:07:33
Finsih: 2nd in AG (67 points toward qualify for nationals)
I was second out of the water in my AG, 4th coming off the bike, and 2nd after the run.
* the guy that finished first only beat by 30 seconds and he was one of the guys in the pack of 4 that i was riding with when i crashed. so if I wouldn't have taken a spill on the bike things could have ended differently... no worries. i'll take 2nd on that course anyday.
Despite all the blood and pain it was so much fun. I have never pushed that hard for that long. It was by far the hardest thing is any sport i have ever done, and I am already itching to do another. The Xterra crowd is awesome. They are a bunch of granola eating, beer drinking, hardcore, friendly, fast triathletes. I met and talked to so many cool people.
Post race there was a keg (my kind of race), gatorade, and plenty of food. For second place i go a pint glass with "2nd Place" and all the race info printed on it. I didn't waste anytime and promptly topped it off at the keg.
I also won the "Road Rash" award and got a box of GU's and an Xterra hat.
Xterra is what I want to do. I am still going to do road tris for fun and training, but now I totally going to focus my training and attention the the Xterra series.
I have another Xterra this weekend coming up at Castaic Lake (just north of LA). Can't wait. I am just hoping my feet heel up quickly.
Friday, April 21, 2006
4.21.2006 - Triathlon and Baseball
wow... I just got back from a 1 mile ocean swim with the tri club. I feel really good. I am already to go for the race on Sunday. I am heading out to Mesa, AZ super early tomorrow morning.
ok... baseball. I was watching the San Diego Padres game last night and Jake Peavy pitched his butt off only to have the Padres blow the lead in late innings yet again. It really made me realize why I like triathlon so much.
I played baseball for 15 years of my life (ages 5-20). I started in little league, played in high school, and then got a partial scholarship to play in college. I have always approached everything I have done with an all or nothing attitude which I believe I developed my Junior year of High School. I was always a good baseball player. I always made the allstar teams, never in my life (even in my freshman year in college) sat on the bench, and always impressed my coaches. It all came natural to me.
I grew up playing in southern California and then moved to Virgina when i was 13 and continued to play and excel. They opened up a new High School at the start of my Junior year and I lived in the new district. This is when things changed. I met my new coach, a hardass, and probably one of the most infuential people in my life today. From that point on baseball became my life (as if it wasn't already). From ages 16-20 I did not take more that one week off of playing baseball. I played on my high school team, fall league teams, american legion, summer league, and then was also selected to play on a traveling team. I worked hard. Even at 16 I was coming to school at 6am to take batting practice in the indoor batting cage, hit off the tee, and use the gym. I would stay after practice and take extra groudballs. During the Fall of my senior year I also ran indoor track for the sole purpose of getting faster for baseball. Nobody else on my team was doing this. Individual success and accolades followed.
In my junior year I was selected to the all-district team and then in my senior year i was the team MVP and was selected to the all-district, all-region, and all-state teams. I even won the coaches award (hardest worker) from the track coach for my dedication and attitude during indoor track. I worked my butt off, but none my teams ever won a significnt championship (except for track... we had some really fast guys, not me). In baseball it doesn't matter how good you are, you are not always gonig to come to the plate with the game on the line. It got to be kind of frustrating. I wanted to win, as a team, but they didn't have the dedication I had. We were only in high school and I was probably kind of over the top. I couldn't have expected them to work as hard as I did.
After my second year of college I was kind over the college thing and joined the Coast Guard, but that's another story all together.
So how does my baseball background relate to my current triathlon training? I think it's kind of obvious. Triathlon is an individual sport. You will reap the benefits of that hard work you put into training come race day... and I love that. I am very dedicated and I can control how fast I become and work on my weaknesses. It's a good feeling to know that your hard work WILL pay off.
I still love baseball... I would go as far as to say I am a fanatic. I come home everynight from long day of training and work, sit on my couch, and watch baseball. I check all the scores and stats every morning, and don't go to sleep these days until I watch Baseball Tonight... Everynight.
I love the Padres but let's face it. They have a few good players but are not a good team. Amazing individual performances like Jake Peavy's last night don't really mean anything when the team blows the lead in the 8th.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
4.20.2006 - swimming and... more swimming...
This is week is flying by... yes! I am really looking forward to my first Xterra race this weekend. It starts of with a point to point mile swim. At first I was really getting some serious swimming anxiety over this, but now I am really looking forward to it.
After just two weeks of masters (5 swims - 4 long course) my confidence is soaring. Yesterday morning i swam with masters and completed my longest swim workout to date: 4000m - short course. I know i am supposed to be tapering for my race on Sunday, but more on that in a minute. The swim included a mile time trial, which i completed at a good mellow pace in just over 24 minutes, breathing bilaterally (every 3 stroke) the whole time. I know that's not really fast but i have never even swam a continuous mile in a pool. I felt good and i didn't push at all. Then yesterday afternoon I did an evening open water swim with the Tri club. I wasnt's tired at all and swam the entire 1.2 miles with the lead pack.
my swimming is coming along... on my easy swim this morning, which was a mellow 1525 with a couple hard 100's, I hit my fastest 100's to date:
1 - 1:23
2 - 1:22
on another note i have decided to not do a full-on taper/peak for my races on the next two upcoming weekends. I am really going to try and build through these in order to put in the best performance I can on 5/21 for the Xterra West Championships in Temecula. I am just kind of taking it easy on the legs. My workouts have been short and fast, but keeping the speed up.
Training this week:
Monday - Rest - Stretching/light core
Tuesday:
AM: 2500m - Masters
PM: Tempo run - 10min warm-up/16min race pace/10min cooldown
Wednesday:
AM: 4000m swim - Masters
Lunch: 20min easy spin & stretching
PM: 2000m open water swim
Thursday (today):
AM: 1525m swim - work pool
Lunch: Core/Stretching (planned)
PM: Brick - 45min ride w/ 4 x 90sec intervals @ race pace/15 min T-run w/ 1st 10min all out (planned)
Sunday, April 16, 2006
sunday 4.16.2006 - sunday brick
Cutting back the volume over the last week has me feeling strong. I am working towards peaking for next sundays race (AZ Xtreme Offroad Triathlon) and continute to the following weekends race (Big Blue Offroad Tri). My goal for the season is to qualify for the Xterra National Championship in Tahoe on 10.1.2006. To do this i need to finish in the top 10 in the southwest region and your ranking is determined by your 3 best results in Nissan Xterra point series races. I am doing 6 races Xterra qualifiers between now and August.
4/23 - Az Xtreme Offroad Tri - Mesa, AZ
4/30 - Big Blue Offroad Tri - Castaic Lake, CA
5/21 - Xterra West Championhips - Temecula, CA
6/4 - Deuces Wild Offroad Tri - Show Low, AZ
6/18 - Xterra East Championships - Richmond, VA
8/6 - Snow Valley Offroad Tri - Running Springs, CA
if i qualify:
10/1 - Xterra National Championships - Lake Tahoe, CA
In order to compete at a high level in these races I am going to have to do some interesting things with my training schedule. Firguring it all out should be fun and definitely a learning experience.
on another note i got a Polar S625x Heart Rate monitor with all the bike attachments (candence & speed sensors). i have been looking at there for a while and could come to the terms with spending the $400+ to get the whole set up. Then last week a guy in the tri club posted his for sale in the tri club classifieds for only $150... for everything. I jumped on in it and am now the owner... and stoked.
weekend workouts
saturday: PM: 90 min mountain bike - 3 mile t-run (20min)
sunday: PM:
Swim 500 warm -up
4 x 500 @ 8:00
1. 500 swim
2. 500 pull
3. 500 swim w/fins
4. 500 pull w/ paddles
run: (see chart)
60 min:
10 min warm-up
40 min hard (marathon Pace - 6:29/mile)
10 min cool down
4/23 - Az Xtreme Offroad Tri - Mesa, AZ
4/30 - Big Blue Offroad Tri - Castaic Lake, CA
5/21 - Xterra West Championhips - Temecula, CA
6/4 - Deuces Wild Offroad Tri - Show Low, AZ
6/18 - Xterra East Championships - Richmond, VA
8/6 - Snow Valley Offroad Tri - Running Springs, CA
if i qualify:
10/1 - Xterra National Championships - Lake Tahoe, CA
In order to compete at a high level in these races I am going to have to do some interesting things with my training schedule. Firguring it all out should be fun and definitely a learning experience.
on another note i got a Polar S625x Heart Rate monitor with all the bike attachments (candence & speed sensors). i have been looking at there for a while and could come to the terms with spending the $400+ to get the whole set up. Then last week a guy in the tri club posted his for sale in the tri club classifieds for only $150... for everything. I jumped on in it and am now the owner... and stoked.
weekend workouts
saturday: PM: 90 min mountain bike - 3 mile t-run (20min)
sunday: PM:
Swim 500 warm -up
4 x 500 @ 8:00
1. 500 swim
2. 500 pull
3. 500 swim w/fins
4. 500 pull w/ paddles
run: (see chart)
60 min:
10 min warm-up
40 min hard (marathon Pace - 6:29/mile)
10 min cool down
Friday, April 14, 2006
Friday 4.14.2006 - a good couple of days
i have had some really good workouts this week. yesterday was hot and i worked through lunch and took off at 2:30. i came home and went for a ride 26 mile ride wearing just a tri top and bike shorts... felt awesome to be hot. i can't wait for summer.
thursday:
AM: swim 2500 yards
-main set was 10 x 100 @ 1:45 - i hit my fastest 100 so far: 1:22
PM: bike - 26 miles - carlsbad hill loop
Friday:
AM: Masters swim - 3900 meters long course (longest swim to date)
Lunch: 5 mile tempo run - PQ canyon
PM: sitting on my couch (right now) watching the padres game drinking a nice cold beer... relaxing.
i had a really good week of training and am now officially signed up for the UCSD Masters. let the torture begin.
thursday:
AM: swim 2500 yards
-main set was 10 x 100 @ 1:45 - i hit my fastest 100 so far: 1:22
PM: bike - 26 miles - carlsbad hill loop
Friday:
AM: Masters swim - 3900 meters long course (longest swim to date)
Lunch: 5 mile tempo run - PQ canyon
PM: sitting on my couch (right now) watching the padres game drinking a nice cold beer... relaxing.
i had a really good week of training and am now officially signed up for the UCSD Masters. let the torture begin.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
wednesday 4.12.2006 - Masters swim: take two
first of all i have to thank guernseyman for this one. at the end of our ride last weekend we were talking about masters swimming (he is a very good swimmer) and he suggested the UCSD Masters program. UCSD has a triathlon program that includes masters swimming, track workouts, and turbo (spinning) classes.
so this morning i headed out the door and to UCSD to give it a try. UCSD has two pools, short and long course, and they split up the masters group. they have a fast group and a slow-medium group and they switch week to week between the pools. i went with the slow-medium group and headed to the 50 meter pool. the coach put me in the second faster lane and they were swimming on a 1:45 interval which was perfect for me. all i can say is that the swim was a blast. a total of 3600 meters and it was not too hard, i felt really comfortable, and the people were my lane were super cool. here was our main set:
3 x 600
- 3 x 50 base +5
- 1 x 150 build base +5
- 1 x 300
i am heading back Friday to sign up and will probably be swimming with them 3 days a week. i have a feeling this is really going to make a huge impact on my swimming. i have also decided that after my back to back "A" races on 4/23 & 4/30 i am going to put myself through a "swimming bootcamp". for 2 weeks i am going to swim with the master team m-f and then do an open water swim on Sunday. we'll see how that goes.
today's training:
AM: master swim - 3600 yards
lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: Run - hill repeats
10 min warm-up
2 sets of the following:
1 x bottom of hill - avg 1:12
1 x top of hill - avg 1:10
1 x full hill - avg 2:35
10 min cool down
the hill repeats were killer... i am beat.
so this morning i headed out the door and to UCSD to give it a try. UCSD has two pools, short and long course, and they split up the masters group. they have a fast group and a slow-medium group and they switch week to week between the pools. i went with the slow-medium group and headed to the 50 meter pool. the coach put me in the second faster lane and they were swimming on a 1:45 interval which was perfect for me. all i can say is that the swim was a blast. a total of 3600 meters and it was not too hard, i felt really comfortable, and the people were my lane were super cool. here was our main set:
3 x 600
- 3 x 50 base +5
- 1 x 150 build base +5
- 1 x 300
i am heading back Friday to sign up and will probably be swimming with them 3 days a week. i have a feeling this is really going to make a huge impact on my swimming. i have also decided that after my back to back "A" races on 4/23 & 4/30 i am going to put myself through a "swimming bootcamp". for 2 weeks i am going to swim with the master team m-f and then do an open water swim on Sunday. we'll see how that goes.
today's training:
AM: master swim - 3600 yards
lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: Run - hill repeats
10 min warm-up
2 sets of the following:
1 x bottom of hill - avg 1:12
1 x top of hill - avg 1:10
1 x full hill - avg 2:35
10 min cool down
the hill repeats were killer... i am beat.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
tuesday 4.11.2006 - going solo
well i have made the decision to start coaching myself and this is my first week. there were a couple reasons leading up to the decision.
1. save money
2. i think it will be fun and challengeing
3. i would have to pay a lot for a coach to really get to know me and how my body is reacting/recovering from workouts. i have been athletic my whole life and think i know how my body works. and thais knowledge will allow me to dial in my workouts to maximize my potential.
i learned a lot from working with my coach and i feel i can now apply that, as well as use the abundace of resources (book,internet,bloggers,club members) to get me to where i want to be. who knows... i may be making a huge mistake.
Monday: rest day
this was harder than i thought... a total day off. i did go to the gym at lunch and just stretched for 20 minutes. if felt really good. my body feels much better today for it. i can't wait to ride.
here is something kind of cool. a guy in my tri club made a little video of the club duathlon last saturday. it shows me (i am wearing navy blue and white) leading the way coming back from the 1st run and then heading out on the bike. the funny thing is it also shows me coming back from the bike and he does a close up on my face and you can see me saying something to officials. this was me informing them that "there was no way all those people ahead of me did 5 laps on the bike". if you don't know what i am talking about read my post from sunday night...
http://www.teamscout.org/sport/main.php
tueday:
AM: swim 3200 yards
PM: brick - 90min mountain bike/15min run (after work)
1. save money
2. i think it will be fun and challengeing
3. i would have to pay a lot for a coach to really get to know me and how my body is reacting/recovering from workouts. i have been athletic my whole life and think i know how my body works. and thais knowledge will allow me to dial in my workouts to maximize my potential.
i learned a lot from working with my coach and i feel i can now apply that, as well as use the abundace of resources (book,internet,bloggers,club members) to get me to where i want to be. who knows... i may be making a huge mistake.
Monday: rest day
this was harder than i thought... a total day off. i did go to the gym at lunch and just stretched for 20 minutes. if felt really good. my body feels much better today for it. i can't wait to ride.
here is something kind of cool. a guy in my tri club made a little video of the club duathlon last saturday. it shows me (i am wearing navy blue and white) leading the way coming back from the 1st run and then heading out on the bike. the funny thing is it also shows me coming back from the bike and he does a close up on my face and you can see me saying something to officials. this was me informing them that "there was no way all those people ahead of me did 5 laps on the bike". if you don't know what i am talking about read my post from sunday night...
http://www.teamscout.org/sport
tueday:
AM: swim 3200 yards
PM: brick - 90min mountain bike/15min run (after work)
Sunday, April 09, 2006
sunday 4.9.2006 - long weekend (long post)
what a long, good weekend.
Saturday: club race and leg crushing ride of mt soledad with guernseyman.
the race:
you gotta love the triathlon club of san diego... free races every month... well not free. i do pay $60 a year for membership, but that has paid for itself with all the discounts i have received with my club card.
so the race... it was supposed to be sprint tri but they turned it into a DU because all the rain and run off that that has the bay kind of polluted right now.
the course:
2 mile run
14 mile bike
3 mile run
going into this race i felt like crap. i have been beat all week from work and training. all this hard work was taking it's toll, and this was just a training race so there was no scheduled rest for this race. yesterday was rough. i swam in the morning and was completely fried. ok.. back to the race.
warm-up:
2 mile easy jog & light stretching
2mile run:
one guy went out really fast and he looked legit so i hung with him and then passed him after a 1/4 of mile and made it my race. i pushed pretty hard to the 1 mile turn around and had one guy 10 feet behind me and the rest of the pack was a ways off of us. the guy following me was hanging right with me so i decided to try and make him hurt if i could. i was not going all out. speed wise i would say i was at about 7 out of 10. so i would slow a bit and let him catch me and then speed up and make him push harder to stay with me. i did this for the last 1/2 mile and could tell he was hurting. if finished the run in about 10 minutes flat (maybe sub 10, we'll see when the post the results).
14 mile bike (5 laps):
well the guy i was messing with passed me right at the end of the first lap and then one more guy passed. my legs were fried from the rides i did this past week, but i stayed about 50 yards behind them and no one else passed me. i was just waiting for the second run. then on the 4th lap the leaders took a turn you were only supposed to take on the last lap, skipping the whole last lap. i didn't follow and did another lap. i finished another lap and as i rode into t2 i saw about 5 people out on the run ahead of me. apparently 3 guys behind me followed the leaders on the wrong turn. no worries.. it's just a practice race.... right.
3 mile run:
there was no one close to me... all the fastest guys took the wrong turn and the other 40 people were well behind. i finshed the 5 mile run in 16:30 and my legs were really feeling it.
aftermath:
i won since the other guys skipped a whole lap on the bike. i was kind of bummed on how it ended. it was shaping up to be really close race with it all coming down to the run until they took the wrong turn. it's awesome to be able to do these as full speed practice races.
the ride:
after the race guernseyman and I did a gnarly ride. it was 30 miles of riding while climbing mt soledad 5 times on 5 different routes. we originally were going to 8 climbs but were beat down after 5 and called it a day. he crushed me and my legs are still aching, but iam better for it. i can't wait to go back and tackle these climbs again.
sunday:
i volunteered to help out with the monthly beginner's race that the tri club of san diego puts on. so i woke up early on sunday, which is normally the day that i sleep in a bit, chugged some coffee and headed out the door.
there 54 people that turned for the race and most of them had never done a tri before. the course was a 300m swim, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run. i volunteered to go sit at the run turn around.
it was so much fun. i had no idea that i would have this good of time sitting next to a cone and telling people to turn around. most people were hurting by the time they got to me and i made sure to give every single person words of encouragement and try to get them to track down the people ahead of them. i was having a great time. most of people talked to me and a couple of people asked me "is this supposed to be fun". i couldn't help but laugh. i also got a lot of thank you's.
eventhough a lot of these people were hurting they were all having a great time and i could tell that they would be back. they weren't at home watching tv. they were outside sweating their butts off trying improve their health and have a good time. overall it was way more fulfilling than i ever thought it could be and i will defnitely be helping out at more of these race.
go volunteer to help out at a race... it will give you a bit of different perspective.
triathlon will change your life..... i am convinced.
weekend workouts:
saturday:
race - 2 mile run/14 mile bike/3 mile run
30 mile ride
sunday:
1000 yard open water swim
8 mile run
Saturday: club race and leg crushing ride of mt soledad with guernseyman.
the race:
you gotta love the triathlon club of san diego... free races every month... well not free. i do pay $60 a year for membership, but that has paid for itself with all the discounts i have received with my club card.
so the race... it was supposed to be sprint tri but they turned it into a DU because all the rain and run off that that has the bay kind of polluted right now.
the course:
2 mile run
14 mile bike
3 mile run
going into this race i felt like crap. i have been beat all week from work and training. all this hard work was taking it's toll, and this was just a training race so there was no scheduled rest for this race. yesterday was rough. i swam in the morning and was completely fried. ok.. back to the race.
warm-up:
2 mile easy jog & light stretching
2mile run:
one guy went out really fast and he looked legit so i hung with him and then passed him after a 1/4 of mile and made it my race. i pushed pretty hard to the 1 mile turn around and had one guy 10 feet behind me and the rest of the pack was a ways off of us. the guy following me was hanging right with me so i decided to try and make him hurt if i could. i was not going all out. speed wise i would say i was at about 7 out of 10. so i would slow a bit and let him catch me and then speed up and make him push harder to stay with me. i did this for the last 1/2 mile and could tell he was hurting. if finished the run in about 10 minutes flat (maybe sub 10, we'll see when the post the results).
14 mile bike (5 laps):
well the guy i was messing with passed me right at the end of the first lap and then one more guy passed. my legs were fried from the rides i did this past week, but i stayed about 50 yards behind them and no one else passed me. i was just waiting for the second run. then on the 4th lap the leaders took a turn you were only supposed to take on the last lap, skipping the whole last lap. i didn't follow and did another lap. i finished another lap and as i rode into t2 i saw about 5 people out on the run ahead of me. apparently 3 guys behind me followed the leaders on the wrong turn. no worries.. it's just a practice race.... right.
3 mile run:
there was no one close to me... all the fastest guys took the wrong turn and the other 40 people were well behind. i finshed the 5 mile run in 16:30 and my legs were really feeling it.
aftermath:
i won since the other guys skipped a whole lap on the bike. i was kind of bummed on how it ended. it was shaping up to be really close race with it all coming down to the run until they took the wrong turn. it's awesome to be able to do these as full speed practice races.
the ride:
after the race guernseyman and I did a gnarly ride. it was 30 miles of riding while climbing mt soledad 5 times on 5 different routes. we originally were going to 8 climbs but were beat down after 5 and called it a day. he crushed me and my legs are still aching, but iam better for it. i can't wait to go back and tackle these climbs again.
sunday:
i volunteered to help out with the monthly beginner's race that the tri club of san diego puts on. so i woke up early on sunday, which is normally the day that i sleep in a bit, chugged some coffee and headed out the door.
there 54 people that turned for the race and most of them had never done a tri before. the course was a 300m swim, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run. i volunteered to go sit at the run turn around.
it was so much fun. i had no idea that i would have this good of time sitting next to a cone and telling people to turn around. most people were hurting by the time they got to me and i made sure to give every single person words of encouragement and try to get them to track down the people ahead of them. i was having a great time. most of people talked to me and a couple of people asked me "is this supposed to be fun". i couldn't help but laugh. i also got a lot of thank you's.
eventhough a lot of these people were hurting they were all having a great time and i could tell that they would be back. they weren't at home watching tv. they were outside sweating their butts off trying improve their health and have a good time. overall it was way more fulfilling than i ever thought it could be and i will defnitely be helping out at more of these race.
go volunteer to help out at a race... it will give you a bit of different perspective.
triathlon will change your life..... i am convinced.
weekend workouts:
saturday:
race - 2 mile run/14 mile bike/3 mile run
30 mile ride
sunday:
1000 yard open water swim
8 mile run
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Thursday 4.6.2006 - can you say tired?
wow. i am really tired right now. i woke this morning at 430am to go swim with the Solana Beach masters. here's my review of my first masters swim workout:
1. the pool - 6 lanes, nice and warm. the whole complex is undergoing a huge renovation including a huge new pool which should be open by july.
2. the coach was cool when i told it was my first swim and gave me a lot of good info.
3. choosing a lane - the first two lanes were reserved for the high school kids (they swim on tues & thurs) and then there were 4 lanes (3-5 people per lane) for masters going from letft to right, fast to slow. i jumped in the second slowest lane because the coach said that it was usually the 1:30 - 1:40 interval lane... i can hang with that. not today. the fastest 2 lanes were swimming on the 1:20 and the guys than joined my lane decided they were going to swim on 1:20 - 1:25. great.
we all warmed up - about 800 yards, then 10 x 50 drill/swim. then the main set:
4 x 600
1. 6 x 100
2. 3 x 200
3. 2 x 300
4. 6 x 100
all with decreasing interval.
so these 2 guys in my lane are going for it and i was able to hang through the first two sets, which i was shocked by. i can swim harder than i thought for sure. the only problem was i was still finishing while they were taking their 10 second rest and i had to just keep going with no rest to not jack up the lane. so basically i swam back to back 600's on 1:25 with about 5 seconds rest between the 2. i wasn't necessarily winded but i was frustrated because i didnt want to slow these guys up if i fell off the pace and i could feel my form falling off just a bit. i did one more 600 with them and then moved down a lane to finish.
the slow lane was WAY slow, and again i was frustrated, but oh well. i finished the workout, and it was a good one.
overall take: i am not sure. i didn't like how there were 3 "fast" lanes and one "slow" lane with nothing in between. i talked to the coach afterwards and she said that it's really only like that on tues and thurs because of the HS kids.
so i'm going to go back on monday and have another go. i dont think i am going to join just yet as the jury is still out, but i am going to add one masters session a week to my workout for now. it's only $6 a workout and if i go once a week that's only $24 a month. we will see how it goes for the next month with that and then i will decied if it's worth the $$$ to join and swim with then 3-4 days a week.
workouts:
Wed
AM: 3000 yard swim
Lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: bike workout - intervals - 18 miles
Thurs
AM: 3500 - masters swim workout
Lunch: 5.5 mile trail run
tomorrow morning i am going to swim and get in a short mountain bike in the afternoon. on saturday i am going to the club race which just got changed from a tri to a duathlon. i guess this works in my favor, but i wanted to use this race to practice my swimming. after the race i am gonig to go for a ride with guernseyman. well that's if for now. i will post a race a ride report on saturday. time for bed.
1. the pool - 6 lanes, nice and warm. the whole complex is undergoing a huge renovation including a huge new pool which should be open by july.
2. the coach was cool when i told it was my first swim and gave me a lot of good info.
3. choosing a lane - the first two lanes were reserved for the high school kids (they swim on tues & thurs) and then there were 4 lanes (3-5 people per lane) for masters going from letft to right, fast to slow. i jumped in the second slowest lane because the coach said that it was usually the 1:30 - 1:40 interval lane... i can hang with that. not today. the fastest 2 lanes were swimming on the 1:20 and the guys than joined my lane decided they were going to swim on 1:20 - 1:25. great.
we all warmed up - about 800 yards, then 10 x 50 drill/swim. then the main set:
4 x 600
1. 6 x 100
2. 3 x 200
3. 2 x 300
4. 6 x 100
all with decreasing interval.
so these 2 guys in my lane are going for it and i was able to hang through the first two sets, which i was shocked by. i can swim harder than i thought for sure. the only problem was i was still finishing while they were taking their 10 second rest and i had to just keep going with no rest to not jack up the lane. so basically i swam back to back 600's on 1:25 with about 5 seconds rest between the 2. i wasn't necessarily winded but i was frustrated because i didnt want to slow these guys up if i fell off the pace and i could feel my form falling off just a bit. i did one more 600 with them and then moved down a lane to finish.
the slow lane was WAY slow, and again i was frustrated, but oh well. i finished the workout, and it was a good one.
overall take: i am not sure. i didn't like how there were 3 "fast" lanes and one "slow" lane with nothing in between. i talked to the coach afterwards and she said that it's really only like that on tues and thurs because of the HS kids.
so i'm going to go back on monday and have another go. i dont think i am going to join just yet as the jury is still out, but i am going to add one masters session a week to my workout for now. it's only $6 a workout and if i go once a week that's only $24 a month. we will see how it goes for the next month with that and then i will decied if it's worth the $$$ to join and swim with then 3-4 days a week.
workouts:
Wed
AM: 3000 yard swim
Lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: bike workout - intervals - 18 miles
Thurs
AM: 3500 - masters swim workout
Lunch: 5.5 mile trail run
tomorrow morning i am going to swim and get in a short mountain bike in the afternoon. on saturday i am going to the club race which just got changed from a tri to a duathlon. i guess this works in my favor, but i wanted to use this race to practice my swimming. after the race i am gonig to go for a ride with guernseyman. well that's if for now. i will post a race a ride report on saturday. time for bed.
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