Race Report SG Half Marathon

I am going to preface this post with a video of my child. Just put this on repeat with food throwing and loud screaming for the past 10 days. She lost 3 pounds off her 30 pound frame in 6 days. She is having her independence struggle and is doing it for a long time. It is finally turning around but as you will see my brain was totally fried which lead to some mistakes. (BTW Squawkwalla is a nickname from a type of lizard in Death Valley, we are science nerds)

So I woke up and got in a 15 minute spin on the Bike before heading down to SG. One thing I was worried about was making the distance at the speed I wanted so I didnt want to warm up too much . Well the above mentioned shorted my brain and I just stood around until race start with no running warm up. Oh well I thought bc then I would have to start slower.

I went out in 3:01 and then a 3:03 and then started to slow. I had two half miles of 3:26 and 3:31 in there for my 6:22 total. My final time ended up being 1:23:09 and I weighed almost 174 which is completely unacceptable. Seeing that I should easily weigh 163 on my 5'10" frame that puts me at a 6:02 pace just based on weight alone. That puts me at a 1:19:05 which is much more in line how I felt. I will take the 50 second PR though since I have had biking and swimming PR's this month already and it is Jan. The only thing I am behind on is the weight which is so tough with the above mentioned.

I could talk most of the race just fine and my breathing was fine even though I got a side stitch at the beginning but that was the lack of warm up and trying to run out of my ability so quickly. Quads are a little sore but got in a 1:47 stroller tow and a 53 min stroller push the next day so that is pretty good. Joints and the rest of the body are good though.

I think I learned a lot about what needs to happen to take my running to the next level so that is the most important thing here. We will see.

Breakthrough week.

Big news is that I set a new trainer PR on the 10 mile TT. I went 22:33 at 78 rpm at 155 avg HR. 26.6 mph I think I finally hit the nail on the head with my start. I did an outdoor TT this spring in 25:13@144HR using a low cadence and not starting too hard obviously. I have also noticed that I can ride around 22 mph on an out and back 50 miler at when I am just out for a ride. On Tues I made sure to note when I really felt like I was pushing it and when I was not. IT was when I was around 83 rpm and my HR was at 162 is when the red light on my RPE turned on. I was hitting miles in 2:19 at the begining and then brought that down. Normally on an indoor TT I am all over the place. After the halfway at around 11:33 I really kicked it in and ran through some 2:10 miles. The hurt was there but it was constant.

This is the single biggest breakthrough in cycling that I have ever had.

Went to the track and knocked out some 240's (indoor 160M track) at about 5:40 pace afterwards. Outdoor track is clear now thankfully.

Sunday I got out for a long run up the canyon. Starting at 5600 ft and running up to 6800 ft in 8 miles before turning around. Threw in a 41 minute 6 miler (~6:45 pace) coming back. Didnt even feel good until mile 9. Glad I stuck with it. Longest run since moving down to Utah.

Tied my 100 yard swim PR with another 1:15 at the end of a 2400 yard set.

The late post is from a trip to Death Valley with ZERO workouts for 4 days due to the kiddo deciding to throw every single bit of food given to her onto the ground while camping and then being pissed all day long. The sites were great and still glad we went but it was super stressful and my body felt more tired and strained from this then when normally working out. So I dont really have any big expectations for the half except for a good mental battle.

Weekly Recap

I have devised a set of workouts that I will try to work towards with specific goals in mind. The first one I came up with is 5x5min on the trainer above 26.4 mph. I choose this because I hit this workout in Missoula when I was hitting the trainer a lot but when I came down here to altitude I couldn't muster even 3 this hard.

Sat was a recovery day from staying up to late so Sunday I decided to hit this interval set to see how I would do. This is one of the sets that a lot of people do but I think that I execute much better. Sorry about the ego trip there but my training seems lacking severely when compared to others doing the same speed or way higher then others in the same range. The workout takes 50 minutes to complete and I want to quite every minute after the second minute. The recoveries don't seem long enough and the intervals are terrible about 30 seconds in. Normally I prescribe to the part about liking to train but I love to see the numbers at the same time so I can get through this workout. I managed averages 27-27.4 mph at 80 rpm and a 159 HR which would top out at 170 for the last couple minutes.

Still struggling with the weight loss but after lunch I have only been eating workout drinks, a bowl of low cal chili, and a glass of bourbon and water in the evening. Occasionally I will have a 100 cal hot cocoa right before bed. The snow on the ground is terrible here. Stupid lightest snow on earth crap.

Swimming is coming along nicely and I have been using the bands to do a modified front lat pull down that turns into a tricep pulldown and then traditional lat pulldowns. Worked up to 50 lat, 20 mod, 50 lat, 20 mod before I rest. Will see how that works.

Got a PR on the 100 free when I had a lifeguard watch my form. I hit a 1:15. I really really need to remember to stay relaxed bc that was what I picked to focus on when she was watching. Finished the day with a tough 6 mile recovery run. Need to pick up the run frequency so I don't have to run as many 10 milers in the cold.

Year Totals: A long post.

Weights 2:07:00

Swim 24:34:00 70800

Bike 192:42:00 3539.5

Run 165:32:00 1266.7

Total Time 382:48:00

Averages

1:o3:00 workout per day.

7:20:00 workout per week.

Weeks over 10 hours: 11

Biggest week Dec 25-31: 12:56:00

Swim 1316 yards per week. 5700 a month

Biked 68 miles per week. 294 a month

Ran 24.4 miles per week. 105 a month

Days Off: 89 (1.7 per week)

Workouts: 367

Triathlons: 4

Running Races:2

Link here to my breakdown of the year in a more raw form.

Things that I like to see are the monthly breakdown where Sept was my lowest totals but I hit some faster workouts at the time as well.

Easy things to pick out are getting my highest week in the end of Dec.

Swimming so little. I would like this to get to 3000 a week yearly avg.

89 days off is about 37 too many.

I would like to bike 100 per week but that can be tough so not too unpleased with the 68

Running needs to get to at least 30 if not 35 over the year

Wins

Overall: 2

Amatuer: 3

Losses: 1

Winnings out of $240 in entry fess.

$50.00

120.00 in Shoe Gift Certificates

A cookbook and a 5.00 gift cert.

Major developments

Wife got PhD.

2 year old is impossible and frustrating in winter. Stress levels very high.

Finances have hit an all time low.

I have a plan to get my professional triathlon license so that I can actually do some races seeing as money is still going to be a problem for a while. Now I will list the reasons why I do triathlon.

I need physical activity and challenges.

Triathlon lets me use my scientific mind.

Triathlon allows my adventurous side to be calmed and leave out the epic that is both dangerous and time consuming. This is more important that it might seem.

I like the comraderie that triathletes share as I have had trouble finding friends otherwise and in Utah in general. Thanks internet buddies.

Triathlon is an outlet for frustrations of daily life and an opportunity to challenge myself. I really felt this part in my last two races when I was able to push to new levels within myself. This is what gives me the drive.

I have built my triathlon career carefully and I am ready to go full force seeing as my racing plans are crap for a while bc I have no idea where I will be living or how much money we will have so this is the time to go big. At the end of it if I fail then things will have settled down and I can go back to entering every 5K and small local Tri. I can do either mentally but with the pressures I need a challenge other then the local stuff.

Lots of snippets.

Going to start doing a weekly report that will surmise workouts from Sat-Fri but since I have some stuff I thought I would get that out now.

Managed a hilly 14.2 mile run and didn't feel too good on miles 5-10. I have been noticing that a little bit and just need to get that figured out but it seems like a lot of people get that on long runs in the winter so no biggie. Also really on the weight loss push this time. Seriously I now don't have the excuses and my focus is really tightened bc of the upcoming race calendar is something that I will actually be able to do for once! This is really huge bc I really don't race that many tri's. Before this year I have only completed 2 tri's (one after 2 weeks out and still hacking phlegm) since 2006! Just crazy to me. Props on all my friends who race so much. Anyway it finally feels great to be at a point in life where I can get back to racing.

Did what I want to be my bread and butter workout this year. This was just an endurance effort with 1 hour on the trainer at 65rpm in high Z1 followed by a run to the track and 4x1 mile on the 7 min. It was pretty cold but managed (HR in parenthesis) a pretty good 6:34(146), 6:37(159), 6:44(161), 6:27(165).

I will eventually start working in efforts on the bike and then get up to 6-8 repeats on the 7. Coming down out of altitude with these times I should be rearing to go. The plan will also include some 200's in 38-39 seconds to bring the neuromuscular speed around for races. I think I can finally take living at 5800 ft and bring it around for races even though some of my run times are :15 secs per mile slower which can be frustrating and must be why I vent here about it all the time.

I also came up with monthly goals and Jan is find a training partner and swim 2x per week besides the big weight shedding since it will all be in vain otherwise.

3 hour trainer ride then run.

Had to hop on the trainer for 3 hours today at about a 60-70 cadence most of the time. Went pretty well until the last half hour. Watched the 2009 and 2010 Ironman Champs on YouTube to pass the time. The trainer is physically harder then outside at 2 hours for me. The outside weather was 37 degrees and light rain when I went for my run. I ran about .7 to the track and then hit a mile at 6:19 and was too cold and wet already to hit the second mile so I went home. I was on pace for a 6:12 and didn't let up or feel anything on that last lap so I really knew it was time to be done. Need to take more cals in next time when biking that long. Really trying to stay on the weight loss and as always I overdo it. I had a big blueberry pancake breakfast and just didn't feel hungry.

Anyway this early in the build it felt great considering my trip to Disney World was full of activity but only one workout.

November Totals and PhD

Weights 0:17:00

Swim 0:51:00 2700

Bike 14:49:00 272

Run 14:45:00 100.5

Total 30 hours 42 minutes

Days off: 9

Workouts: 33

Key Workouts: 11/10: 4x100 (1:17, 1:19, 1:19, 1:19)

Had a super good lead out until the awesome triathlon and then a few good days after that before the weather hit and I had time to think that I had ZERO race plans for next year. I really want to get into some better races as I am now expecting to break any bike and overall course records down here in southern Utah. My wife also defended her PhD so she is now a doctor so that means more time to train. Pretty good numbers this month with the 9 days off (my offseason).

There are two 5150 race in the area next year (Provo and Vegas) in June and Oct. The main thing about these races is that they offer $20,000 dollars to the pros. That means a top 3 age group means you can get your pro card. This has been a goal for a long time but I think that I have finally figured out how to race well on a given day. I was 3/4 this year and the day day I finally learned enough.

Now that life is getting back to normal I can finally train more then 7 hours a week. I have some really good plans for developing through the winter (leaving run speed until spring though). I start work again in April so until then I will be full gad looking at June 25 for the OLY in Provo. The Oct Vegas race is just a back-up so I wont get depressed if I get 4th-last.

I am also gonna find some people to train with this winter. There is a kid in town who runs sub 2 for the 800 and 26 something for 5 miles that is getting into triathlons (done one and has a road bike) so that should really help my running which will be limiting next year if my new swim plan continues to grow as it did this year. I am finally getting comfortable swimming and can see a breakthrough season approaching. My bike is also on the verge of busting through on an OLY course. My run is still the odd man out as far as achieving the consistency I need but the last sprint told me it too is laying there in waiting. Finally excited about a new year and have real goals and ideas on how to achieve those goals.