Monday, April 30, 2012
April Totals
Well, April was the month of Counting Calories. Still have 3 more days until weigh in so I will update this then. I ended up having 7 days off of which 2 were planned and three were needed. So only 2 bad days.
Weigts 0:25:00
Swim 2:20:00 7050
Bike 14:06:00 284
Run 12:16:00 86.5
Total 28:42:00
Key Workouts
10M TT 24:05(24.9mph) w/ 5:38 mile run off, poorly fueled and executed Track: 10x300 in 56-57
10x100 on 2min in 1:17 avg
Track: Mile medley, 5:56, 5:59, 5:42
Way lower volume trying to concentrate on weight loss. Had a lot less binge days then I normally do. It was hard doing most of the workouts improperly fueled. I am feeling lean and already faster on the run and the bike and swim just feel fatigued. My times are just fine in both esp in the distance department on the bike. I have also been fairly agitated and angry which I think is just a side effect of losing weight but it has effected my training.
New race plan is a big A race on May 6. Just a sprint and then a 70.3 in Minnesota on June 9 to prep for Ironman 70.3 Muncie on July 7. That will be my chance at a pro card which means I will get to race after July 7. With the move to the East Coast a lot of races are full or just out of our budget with me being a stay at home dad.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Olympic Triathlon: Drafting vs. Non Drafting
There has been a lot being said about the merits of drafting vs non drafting triathlon. One is supposed to be the race of truth and the other a swim/run. The problem I believe is that they are both too gray. In ITU racing the quality of the field, size, and course play way too huge a role. In non-drafting you almost always still need to stay with "the pack."
How to improve ITU style possibly.
Lessen the field size. Take the field size down to 10 or 20 and have Friday and Sunday races. This allows you to follow some people in the first race and root for them in the final. There would be smaller packs and more breaks and generally more exciting. The competitive races look like a shampoo, blow dry, and fast run to any viewer. The real problem is that almost NO ONE races this format. They grab a whole bunch of swim/runners and teach them to bike. Not to say that Simon, Gomez and Brownlee are freaking awesome and fast and would tear a new hole into non drafting races.
Shorten the distance. To do the aforementioned you would have to shorten the distance to maybe 1000, 20k, 5k. You could mess with it quite a bit depending on the field or format throughout the season.
Messing with the field size could also make the courses more interesting. They already run loops for the crowd so this should be a no brainer. You could race from the swim onto a crit course and race by crit rules. You could even have primes during the season to shorten the run course by 200m for prime winners. Would be exciting as hell.
I guess that is what I am really getting at. Since it is a conglomeration of different sports it is really hard to get the tactics and see the struggle especially since it is basically the most elitist of all sports as far as access goes.
Then there is the non drafting races which really should be time trial starts to be a race of truth. Or at least better drafting rules and enforcement. I also think the Iron format should be in the Olympics as well though.
How to improve ITU style possibly.
Lessen the field size. Take the field size down to 10 or 20 and have Friday and Sunday races. This allows you to follow some people in the first race and root for them in the final. There would be smaller packs and more breaks and generally more exciting. The competitive races look like a shampoo, blow dry, and fast run to any viewer. The real problem is that almost NO ONE races this format. They grab a whole bunch of swim/runners and teach them to bike. Not to say that Simon, Gomez and Brownlee are freaking awesome and fast and would tear a new hole into non drafting races.
Shorten the distance. To do the aforementioned you would have to shorten the distance to maybe 1000, 20k, 5k. You could mess with it quite a bit depending on the field or format throughout the season.
Messing with the field size could also make the courses more interesting. They already run loops for the crowd so this should be a no brainer. You could race from the swim onto a crit course and race by crit rules. You could even have primes during the season to shorten the run course by 200m for prime winners. Would be exciting as hell.
I guess that is what I am really getting at. Since it is a conglomeration of different sports it is really hard to get the tactics and see the struggle especially since it is basically the most elitist of all sports as far as access goes.
Then there is the non drafting races which really should be time trial starts to be a race of truth. Or at least better drafting rules and enforcement. I also think the Iron format should be in the Olympics as well though.
Monday, April 23, 2012
March Totals a little late. (Biggest Month Ever)
Weights 0:40:00
Swim 2:25:00 7300
Bike 29:43:00 542
Run 24:17:00 183.7
56 hours 25 minutes
Days off: 3
Well, considering this was my biggest month ever I was expecting some weight loss. It didn't happen. (at least in April I went to counting calories and lost 10 solid pounds in 20 days so far).
The big workouts were a 6:53 500y TT in the pool. It was paced bad as well so getting better off of 5000 yards a month is always a sweet thing. Also a 42mile Z2 "TT" (141hr @72cad) at 21.8 mph was pretty sweet. I do these fairly often as just a solid ride that keeps me focused on going a little harder without going too hard. The last thing I did was a 5 hour ride until 10pm with all my camping gear, slept, woke for a 1:28 half marathon and biked 6 hours home in the heat. I was unhappy with my race at first but the times were all slower and I faded after 5 miles in 32 and came back on after 10 miles. First time doing that so I can call on that. The ride home was looming too big in my mind as well once it started to hurt at mile 2.
April has been billed as weight loss month with everything else a bonus. I have planned to go from 182 to 172 by the end. Only a week to go to find out.
Swim 2:25:00 7300
Bike 29:43:00 542
Run 24:17:00 183.7
56 hours 25 minutes
Days off: 3
Well, considering this was my biggest month ever I was expecting some weight loss. It didn't happen. (at least in April I went to counting calories and lost 10 solid pounds in 20 days so far).
The big workouts were a 6:53 500y TT in the pool. It was paced bad as well so getting better off of 5000 yards a month is always a sweet thing. Also a 42mile Z2 "TT" (141hr @72cad) at 21.8 mph was pretty sweet. I do these fairly often as just a solid ride that keeps me focused on going a little harder without going too hard. The last thing I did was a 5 hour ride until 10pm with all my camping gear, slept, woke for a 1:28 half marathon and biked 6 hours home in the heat. I was unhappy with my race at first but the times were all slower and I faded after 5 miles in 32 and came back on after 10 miles. First time doing that so I can call on that. The ride home was looming too big in my mind as well once it started to hurt at mile 2.
April has been billed as weight loss month with everything else a bonus. I have planned to go from 182 to 172 by the end. Only a week to go to find out.
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