The Sickness and 5K.

Well, the day after the race I managed a great 14 mile run and then started work the next day. Thats when the chest infection began (4/4). I finally kicked it on 4/22. I was able to get some training in. Actually still averaged around 8 a week, but it was rough. I raced a 5k last sat and ran a 19:25 for first place. Got a 50 dollar massage gift cert for the 60% lung capacity effort. Could have went under 19 but knew I had a 50 mile group ride with a good climb coming. After that ride the next three days were completely off.

It wasn't until next Sat that I felt 100%. Did a 62 mile ride with a 2 mile run with Shay. We knocked out a 12:23 and then a short cool down. Played softball afterwards and WAY overdid it. I was just hyper from being able to breath. It almost felt like I was high on O2.

Got a new pool membership so that I can swim at 5:40ish instead of 6:10. Will be a lot more relaxed as I won't be time crunched for work. This month was supposed to be "adjust to work" month but I have been sleeping in and the few morning runs I got in were terrible so I must overcome that mental barrier since I was sick. Its just really dark. I need to find the best solution for lighting. Thinking one of those LEDs that go on the ball cap. If anyone has suggestions let me know.

Race Report: SHAC

400 yard swim, 10 mile hilly bike with three 180 turnarounds and two more 90's. 3 mile hilly run with 3 turnarounds.

The day did not start well. Some time around 1 in the morning a smoke or CO detector beeped twice. I went to investigate and it didn't go off. Go back downstairs and 10 min later it happens again. This time I think I find it. This basically goes on until 3:30 in the morning bc the intervals got longer and I had more trouble going back to sleep. At that point I was just up and left for the race at 4:30. The good news is that it didn't effect my performance but I couldn't go for a ride afterwards in the beautiful weather.

My race did not start until 9am as there is just a line and you get in when someone is done swimming their laps. I didn't think I had much competition but I wanted to put a lot of time into a couple friends and try and get as close to Ben Hoffmans record of 50:45 as I could. There were 330 racers in the race.

Swim 6:04, goal was 6:00. 7th overall

There is a run in and out of the pool that prolly lasts 15 seconds. I am disappointed bc 6 was supposed be me my easiest goal to hit the way I have been swimming. Need to work on pace and no chance for a warm-up is what I think did it.

T1 0:50, goal was 1:00 Tied for 1st. (Rory, I know you beat me by .024 or something)

I blazed this. Put on my shoes at my bike and ran out of there. I had my bike at the near end so I had to push it through transition since I would have my shoes on anyway and this be able to make up any lost time .

Bike 25:40 goal was 26:00. 1st by 1 min. Course Record that should hold for a while.

I hammered the 2.5 mile uphill out section and recovered the way back bc the course is so tight it is just hard to get time anywhere. Just a second here and a second there. Worked well even though I was a little worried for the run.

T2 :40 goal was 40. 5th

Thanks Brian for the tip on the baby powder. It worked really well. Can't go any faster then this.

If you put both transitions together I got on my other competitors.

Run 17:42 goal was 17:00 4th overall

The run is two loops (2 out and backs actually) and I felt not so great on the first one but thought my form was decent. It just felt like I had pushed the bike a little too hard. I saw my training partner and 10 min steeplechaser Shay Asay about 5 minutes back and looking good. I was hoping to see him near the same spot on the second loop and he had indeed only gained about 5 seconds and looking even better so I knew I was running ok. From there I just cut loose. My abdominals where screaming right below my sternum and below my right pectoral. A little higher then normal. Hard to say whether I had biked 20 seconds slower if I could have made up 33 seconds on the run to take the record. I think not. I am still over 170 and all of the research and calculators out there say a weight of 165 would have netted me the record. Between that and a lack of tempo workouts is my new found motivation. I think my running will really come around in the next two months even.

Overall: 50:58 goal 50:45 1st overall of 330 by 2:22 seconds.

Really happy with the overall time. This speed puts me up there with the faster pros. This has always been my biggest concern since I can train for distance fairly well without loosing speed. I really needed this race to get my focus back. This was my best from the gun race as well. Hurt the entire time. I think the hurt only gets worse bc with the increased fitness you are able to push harder and further. At least it doesn't last as long as the time before. The results are at www.milliseconds.com but their site is down today so you will have to click on SHAC on the right side of their page when it comes up.

I got the plaque which is nice, the wood carved medal is my favorite medal yet. It smells good and the detail is amazing and I hope I captured it in the picture.

Gonna use this to get another pair of Saucony Kinvaras. Really want another pair of Vibrams but will need to move to a place where I can hit soft trails more.

I am not soft anymore

At least in regards to the Weather. This picture is from a week ago. The standard stroller push.

Been hitting some good swims and bikes, also doing ok when I hit speed as long as I dont go over about a min. I know at a low altitude I will be rocking though. This post is mainly a preview for the first race of the season. The SHAC. Last fall I had a breakthrough race so this is gonna be really tough.

Last year for 400 swim 10M bike and 3M run.

Swim: 6:20

T1: 1:15

Bike: 26:16

T2: 0:41

Run 17:41

Total: 52:18

This year I want

Swim: 6:00 (~1:25 pace with timing mat locations)

T1: 1:00

Bike: 26:00 (~24mph with timing mat locations)

T2: 0:40

Run 17:00 (5:40 pace)

Total 50:39

The course record was nest 1 year ago by Ironman Lake Placid Champion Ben Hoffman at 50:45 so I am really shooting for the stars.

There are a few things I am going to do different for this race. I am gonna use swim bands during my warmup. I am not using socks. (Finally over my blister fiasco from years ago.) I am using a standard wrist stopwatch to check my splits. 7 on the bike, 14 at turnaround, 20 at next, 27 at next, and then 36:10 at the second turnaround. I still have a shot if that time is as high as 36:40. Oddly the thing I am most afraid of is the bike. I am in a lot better shape but there are TONS of turnarounds and turns and I didn't get caught behind anyone and I was in the right gear every time last time. I may have pushed a little too hard last time as well. Also the weather lead in is terrible. No motivation to run today in the sleet/snow after riding almost 2 hours in it. Basically can't wait for the first race of the season so this is my whole-hearted attempt at over-analyzing it.

New and improved workout blog and homemade bike modifications.

I am going to make a concerted effort to provide more useful information along with pictures of stories instead of just updates. Updates will still happen on a monthly basis. To start off the new blog I will show what I did to my bike that involved some hacksawing and lots of dremeling.

I basically wanted to create my own internal cable routing while adjusting the cockpit to to the bike. I took 1 inch off my aero extensions. I dropped my pads by 12.5mm and moved my seat forward about 1/4 of an inch. My seat is now 15 cm above my elbow pads. My seat nose is 3.5cm in in front of the bottom bracket. My effective seat tube angle (sitting back in the saddle) is 80.81 degrees.

Here is the dremel hole that I made in the bullhorns. There is also one right under the white bar tape exactly where it needs to be. Oddly I actually like where the bullhorns are in relation to the rest of the cockpit which is good bc that is one thing you cant do anything about except buy new ones and these where only 10 bucks.

It took quite a while to dremel through. I used a grinder to get a grove going and then an engraving cutter to do the rest. The hard part was getting the tubing through (since real internal routing has little funnels to help I had to reverse thread the wire and then tape it to the real wire and then lead it through. I messed up a couple times with either the shifters or housing not in the right order so I had to unthread. Here is the final product.

The homemade computer mount fit in the same place since the tape isnt as far back this time. I also leveled the water bottle cage and purchased a locking bottle from camelback since it tends to leak in this position. I was also able to level the armrest pads bc I had them tilted down so the extensions felt right. Basically everything changed bc I have not gotten to it for ever. The biggest thing is that the bullhorn grips are about 1/2 as thick as they used to be and it just feels so much better. It will be great for the turnarounds and sprint hills at my next Tri.

Here is the final product. I have the trainer tire on the disc so I dont have to change cassettes to ride outside.

The only thing I haven't done is to cut the steering tube above the stem. This is for two reasons. One, it is really hard to get it level without a pipe cutter and two it helps keep the water bottle cage secure and provides a better attachment point for it. Now that I am dialed in I should be plenty fast this year. Will try and get a video of me on the bike to check my positioning sometime in the next couple weeks.

February Totals

February Totals

Swim 6:40:00 20000

Bike 16:35:00 309

Run 13:56:00 109

Weights 0:35:00

Total 37:46:00

Key Workouts: 2/10: BRICK 2:30 bike 5x400 (79, 79, 78, 78, 78)

BRICK: 3 hrs with 200, 800, 400, 200, 400 in (38, 2:56, 1:19, 35, 1:22)

Med pace 500 in 7:39, 5x100 on 2min (1:20) and 100 in 1:07!!!

BRICK: 20M TT in 50:12 (23.4, out in 20.7 back in 28.2. BRICK into 5m run

February sucks for month totals bc of those stupid 2 days. Every year should be a leap year. Anyway I had some motivational issues which lead to most of those days off this past week.

I cut back the cycling due to hitting most of my indoor numbers that I have set and the 20 mile TT at just a tad under 24mph with a HR of only 156. I don't think I need that many more workouts until I get actually get outside some more.

Swimming is coming along very nicely even with the two workouts I missed bc the pool was closed again. I am down to 1:07 for 100 and :32 for 50. Finally broke the 3000 in a single swim and I think I will be able to hit that a couple more times. I want to get that up before work starts so I can get in a good workout before 7-7:30 am.

Running continues to be a chore but I think it is just the weather. I did have a couple good runs and my endurance is still there so I cut back the long run to try and reign in the weekdays.

Overall not too bad and I think I can build off of what I have learned. I had to have Restart/Reset #1 which means I lost FOCUS. I capitalize bc this single word I have written in various places bc it best reminds me of the state of being that I need to be in. From planning to execution to eating and resting. This month should be a major month and I will rest the last couple days going into the sprint tri on Apr 2. Also planning a mock race, 500y TT, and 1-2 cycling TT's. There will also hopefully be some new changes to the blog with no more weekly updates but a few "articles" and more pictures and videos. Hoping it comes together for a better read.

Real Swim Progress

Had a bad couple weeks with the dog screaming at night. Had to move kennel down into the bedroom which isn't the most optimal use of space down there. Luckily the wife doesn't mind having it right up on the bed next to her. Had some REALLY bad night of sleep so my training, as per usual with lack of sleep, has suffered severely. The bright shining spot has been my swim though.

Today I did a 500 warm up and then a med pace 500 which I came in at 7:39. This used to be faster then my PR not too long ago. I decided to see where my speed was at with an all out 100. This has been a good indicator of my swimming in the past. I came up and saw 1:07 and was kinda shocked bc it felt like my best ever. The things that were different were that I didn't swallow any water, and my strokes caught water every time instead of windmilling through the water. I can almost always split a good 50 but that 100 has eluded me until now. Who knew that regularly putting time in the pool is a good way to get faster. Still not convinced that super tons of yardage is the best but 2500-3500 should be my sweet spot.

Did a 20 mile TT as well (was planning a 40K or 24.8) but I went out in 20.7 miles per hour bc of the wind and just wasn't having it. Came back in with an elevation gain at 28.2 mph on a fairly hilly course. Ended with a 23.9 with a HR of 156. Felt pretty good about it since whenever you have that much wind, even with an out-and-back you could have gone much faster. At leas tri's are in the morning around here. Gonna start to cut back on the bike to 2-3 rides a week at most since my run is lacking quite a bit right now and I want to be recovered for some faster workouts. Also with the lack of sleep thing I feel pretty fatigued so I want some time to re-adjust before I start back up to work in April.

The only bad thing is I gained about 5 pounds and am now sitting at 175.3 so I know my running woes are still sitting right there.

Jan Totals and Update

Weights 1:25:00

Swim 4:10:00 11100

Bike 23:50:00 443

Run 18:46:00 147.65 (Bettered any 2010 month by 25 miles)

Total 48:11:00

Days off: 6

Workouts: 47

Key Workouts: (5x5min TT 27-27.4, HR 159, 80rpm) (1:23:09 Half Mary)

(1/11: 10M TT in 22:33, 78rpm, 155 HR, then 8x240 @ 5:40 pace)

(16M run with 1/9: Series of 7:00, 6:48, 6:42, 6:32, 6:41, 6:51)

(500y TT in 7:10 with first 100 in 1:17)

Swim rank was 2nd and bike was as well. Massive month in all for Jan. Had 2 Swim PR's a run PR for 13.1 and a bike PR on the trainer. Feeling great in the pool and nominal on the bike. Endurance is definitely there as the 3 hr trainer rides are getting almost east to knock out. Need to keep on the run mileage right now bc speed is just gonna come later. I must get some stuff under 6min pace in though. That really hurt me during the half as I was trying to run the whole thing faster then I had run since Nov in a triathlon. This week kinda sucked bc the dog has been having night terrors or something. Being terribly angry at 1 and 3 and 5 in the morning throwing things is not the way for me to sleep and as I have mentioned before sleep is one of my true strengths as an athlete. So not too bad. Ready to keep pushing the mileage on the run and swim and start uping the biking intensity already.