TriAustin Wins!

First place out of two. Yeeya.

Jack's Generic Triathlon Debrief

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Jack's Generic Triathlon was last Sunday. Good times as always from the folks at High Five Events. My dad was in town and came out to watch his first triathlon. It was a good showing for all particularly little brother. With minimal and generally unfocused training he put up a solid 1:20:42. Reese as usual topped the gang with a rockin' 1:09:23. I was happy with my finish at 1:12:12.

I started in the 3rd swim wave at 8:06 am, 3 minutes behind the other boys (age groups). I took my usual outside front-ish spot, just outside of the crowd, but not to far that I'm stuck behind too many breast stroking goofballs. The swim felt strong and except for getting myself just slightly off course early, is went pretty smooth. Unfortunately, when I got out of the water, I had posted a 9:49 swim. That's 1:58/100m, not what I was hoping for. Whether or not the course was long, or I swam further off course than I thought, I have no idea. What I do know is that I'm going to keep working my butt off in the pool and the pond because I need those precious 2-3 minutes back. The longer the race, the more important as that's 4-5 minutes in an Olympic distance.
Swim split: 9:49, 1:58 min/100 m

The run to transition one was short, so I hit it hard and was off to the bike course.
T2: 1:22

The bike course out there is pretty simple with a couple tight turns and rolling hills. There is only one really fast spot which I was sure to remember from the drive on Saturday. What there was out there was fresh chip-seal roads for at leas half of the course. If you don't know what chip seal is then just realist is sucks to ride a road bike on when its fresh. Everyone was working hard to get though it but was very bumpy. There was all kinds of junk on the road: water bottles, tubes, clothing, and my brothers brand new behind the seat water cage that he had put on the night before that Dad had bought him for his birthday. Bummer! I saw it in the road and for a split second thought about grabbing it. But I didn't. I took a gel about 66% of the way through the bike fora little boost on the final hills and into the run.
Bike split: 41:07, 20.1 mph

Transition two came and went. It was a little slow for me because I put on socks this time. My feet are a little tender from my blister disaster before Couples.
T2: 0:55

I knew that I could hammer this run if I could get off the bike feeling good. In order to do that I didn't let myself chug a bunch of liquids while I rode and I think it paid off. While I still has some small side stitches, I did not have a sloshy, watery stomach, stomach ache, or cramps. The stitches were minor and after a long burp about 0.5 miles in, they even went away for a brief time. I also used some breathing techniques that Coach Amy suggested (in for two, out for three) that helped relax my insides when they wanted to get crampy. I was able to turn up the pace after my insides relaxed and run a sold 3 mile race pushing through the stitches when they came and went. After crossing the finish line, I had put up an 18:58 3 mile run and the race was over.
Run split: 18:58, 6:20 min/mile.

In the end I finished 59th overall and 13th in my age group. So close to a top ten age group finish! Soon enough...

Lessons Learned

1. I want to swim faster, so I need to train harder. I also know that I need to get into the weight room and build some core and upper body strength.
2. I need another bike ride each week. Time is tight so I think I'm going to start spinning again to add some volume on the bike and get that third "ride" in.
3. Drink less on the bike. It worked well Sunday, so I think I'll stick to it. Longer races will be tricky but since the run pace isn't so break neck, the liquid may settle easier. I hope.
4. Socks are treating me right. I may stick with them on the run.

Up next: Wool Capital Triathlon. Olympic distance race in my home town of San Angelo, TX. The water is dirty, roads are bumpy, it's hot, there are rarely clouds, and the run is off road on dusty red clay. Sounds like fun!

Jack's Generic Pre-Race

Tomorrow is Jack's Generic Triathlon, a little sprint race here in the Austin area. The usual suspects will be there. I am ready to tear it up.

I finished my pre-race swim, bike, run early this morning. Things feel like they are in place.

Earlier this week I wasn't feeling quite as solid, but a good day of rest yesterday set me straight. I went to the track on Wednesday and did a good workout. A 20' warm up on the trail and then to the track for 1600 m at 10k race pace (running not triathlon), followed by 3x 800m at an equal or faster pace. My personal best 10k run is a 40:21 which put that 1600 m interval goal at 6:30/mile and the 800s at 3:00-3:10.

In typical fashion, I went too hard on my first interval and did the 1600 m in 5:47. Great, these 800s were going to be murder! I wish I could hold a 5:47 mile over a 10k; someday I will. I knew what I needed to to each 400 to hit my target and after each lap of the 1600 I made myself slow down because I knew I was going way too hard. Still, too much. Shoot. I'm working on pacing myself correctly as I want to get the most out of the workouts I do.

In the end, I was happy to hold 3:00 on the 800s after doing that to myself.

Jack's Generic Plan

Nutrition:

• I plan on a gel before swim and possibly near the end of bike. Alternatively I could sip sports drink while I ride, but I have been having stomach problems starting the run. I'm thinking of trying going without a heavy electrolyte/calorie during short races. I've been successful doing so on my medium, high intensity bike rides.
  

Hydration:

• Day before: Normal hydration, water all day.
• Morning of: I was going to sip water/sports drink but not too much. I tend to drink too much morning of.
  
• Bike: Like I said, I'm planning on only water on the bike and I'm going to resist slamming it, which I usually do. I'm only going to drink when I'm thirsty. I hope to avoid a full stomach of water/sports drink when I start the run.
• Run: I shouldn't need much over 3 miles.

Time:

• I'll be happy breaking 1:15 but secretly want to be as close to 1:10 as possible. With good transition times, I can do that if I can go under 2:00/100m (sadly, good for me), ride over 21.5 mph, and run 6:45/mile or under. All things I know I can do. We'll see if I execute!

See you at the race!!

A solid week amidst hectic business

Sometime life gets in the way of going fast. Whether or not the blocks are good or bad they can disrupt your normal phlow. I'd say my biggest victory of this week has been squeezing in some good workouts with work deadlines looming, a major construction project at my home, a pregnant wife and sleeping.

I was able to get in a quality workout each day this week, with the exception of Sunday which was spent digging holes in my back yard with my brother and dad. We broke two augers, a shovel, and a rake. It sucked. I'll count it as a strength workout.

A long run, two solid swims, a intense brick workout with hills, a solid effort on the track and building a deck in the evenings has me feeling pretty worn out but strong. I'm looking forward to resting tomorrow. A light swim, bike, run Saturday morning to get ready for Jack's Generic Triathlon this weekend.

My brother Robbie, buddy Reese, and I will be racing. I'm looking forward to it. After some rest tomorrow (well, deck building, which is kind of like rest), I'm confident in my training and think I put up a solid time Sunday.

Splash and Dash

Yesterday was July's installment of the Pure Austin Splash and Dash. I love this little event. It's super cheap ($11.20 after tax), competitive (some of Austin's best show up), and short (the whole thing lasts about an hour. Plus there is free food and drinks afterward.

I did all right yesterday: 750 m swim time was about 13:18. I've been trying to break 13' since I started these last year. Getting closer, which is good news. I felt really strong at the beginning then all of a sudden my strength left me and I felt completely dead in the water. About halfway through, my strength returned and I finished strong. Unfortunately, I ate WAY too much during the day and felt really full on the swim, burping a lot. Gross!

Transition was long because I am still nursing blisters on my left foot. I had to stop, sit, dry my foot, apply moleskin, put on socks and tie shoes. I'm slowly working back to the foot configuration that destroyed my feet (racing flats with no socks and speed laces).

Right away on the run, my full stomach made it clear that it was running the show. I could feel lunch just sitting there, threatening to come up. It was really annoying. I tried to ignore it and pushed thought. I gave it my best, tried to relax and ignore the usual side stitches I get during this run. Three laps done and I finished the run in 13:53. Not particularly good, but everyone was a bit slower than the early year races.

Swim 13:18 (1:46/100m)
Transition 1:21
Run 13:53 (6:56/mile)

Final time 28:32

One complaint I do have. Self seeding on the swim. These people don't get it. When Dan from High Five says "If you don't know if you can swim 750m in under 12', you can't.", he means it. Why then do guys think the need to start right behind the fast pack if they can't even make it to the first buoy without breast stroking? It is maddening. Are their ego's that big that they cannot fathom waiting 5-10 seconds after the horn so they are with the other breast stroking, low endurance swimmers? Come on guys, get over yourselves.

Lessons Learned

1. Start swim on the outside and in the front. Sprint to that fist buoy to avoid the knuckleheads who think they've go something to prove by starting in the front and crapping out in 75m.
2. Don't eat so much on "race day". Treat the meals a couple hours before Splash and Dash like a normal race.
3. Learn how to avoid side stitches. Not really a lesson learned but something to think about.
   

Long Weekend

This weekend had some pretty serious workouts from coach Amy. Long bike with a transition run and long hill run on Sunday.

Saturday morning I went out for the ATC ride. The first half at least. After chasing (and getting dropped by) that insane group of folks, I met up with my buddy at the Jack Brown Cleaners at Bee Caves and 71. Then we were off on the Dam Loop. Ride went well, although it was hot out and 47 miles of hilly riding is pretty much the limit my legs and neck can handle. I ended up consuming two gels, two bottles of water, a bottle of HEED and a bottle of orange Gatorade. Good lord.

Pedaled home and was off on a 25 minute transition run. It went fair. As good as it can at 11:30 in July in Texas after a ride like that. About 3 miles out and back at an easy pace.

Then I stood under the hose for about 10 minutes.

Sunday's run was pleasant, although I waited a little long to get out so it was hot. It was a 75 minute hill run but I kind of blew it by not getting to the real hills before having to turn back. My goal was a jaunt through Tarrytown on Pecos, but I wasn't able to get there fast enough to hit any of the good hills. I'll have to start closer next time as it took too long running straight from the house.

All and all, everything went well and after some good rest I'm ready for a solid week. Next up is Splash and Dash on Tuesday. I wonder if I'll be able to break my normal swim times and get out of the water closer to 13:00 than 14:00?

Couples Race Report

Sunday was Couples Triathlon at Decker Lake. The race went well, in fact my partner Reese and I got on the podium! We took 2nd int the 59 & Under Male Friends category. Not bad!

It was my first time racing this course. I had heard the course was a challenging one. I decided to take a drive Saturday evening to see what it was all about. This was the first time I had driven a bike course. There were indeed a number of pesky hills and two that looked like they would be quite difficult. Situated near the end of the bike course, they looked like they would take out anyone who wasn't ready or had not saved a little gas in the tank.

I was very glad I drove because I was ready for them. In fact, I think I am now addicted to driving bike courses. I loved going into the bike knowing exactly where the turns were and the relative sizes of all the hills.

Anyway, back to the race. The usual morning stuff, up at 5 am, food and water. Added Gatorade at Reese's suggestion. Good idea I think having those extra few calories helped. Got to race site, set up and decided no run warm up due to two massive blisters on the back of my left foot. More on that shortly. Reese did his thing and we met at the swim start after about a 200m swim warm up.

Swim felt fine. A little crowded early, but what's new. Finished the 800m in 17:03. Pretty crappy, but looking at other times, it looks like a lot of people were slow, so I don't feel too bad. I have been disappointed with my swim lately so hopefully I can make some sort of breakthrough there.

T1 was a long up hill run that felt like it too forever. I even got a cramp during it. No biggie. I did have to sit down and doctor my foot however. The moleskin had com off in the water and I needed to cover these things if I was going to have any chance at a good ride/run. So I did and was off on the bike after a relatively long T1. That proved to be an important minute in the end...

Bike went well. I knew what to expect and when to expect it. I feel like it made me go a little conservatively, knowing those last two hills were coming. Regardless, I was happy with my time of 34:22:50 and felt good getting off the bike to run.

T2 was slowish as well. I decided to be as comfortable as possible so I wore my lace up trainers. Again, had to sit down and tie shoes, costing about 30 seconds more than a normal T1 for me.

Off on the run. Felt crampy and sloshy most of the way but tried to relax. Wondering if I'm drinking too much on the bike? I'm only finishing half a bottle of HEED. Going to have to figure that out. Anyway, running... Mostly grass with some slight ups and downs early. Probably passed 40 people (well maybe 20, but it was steady an a lot!) One light climb about 0.75 miles in, no problem though. In and out of some trees and down a huge hill at 2 miles. Well you know what that means. If you go down, you got to go back up. Last half mile was all up hill. Steady climb, nice grade, with a steep last few hundred meters. I felt good and got after it. Passed a few more people. Coming out and around the bend for the last stretch to the finish. 1:17:02. Could have shaved a minute and a half off if not for blisters but so it goes (that 1:30 would have put us in first).

Lessons learned? Absolutely:

1. Drive the bike course. Make notes on your course map.
2. Don't do sockless track workouts four days before a race. You will get blisters and lose 1:30 in transitions fiddling around costing the top spot on the podium.
3. I like sprints. They are fun and I feel good afterward. You finish before it gets hot.

Up next is Jack's Generic. Another sprint. Yay!!

I'm back!

It's hot out.

Training has been tough. Lot's of ups and downs.

Taking a week off to go drink on a farm in Tennessee didn't help either.

This week felt much better today. Until today that is when I made a silly decision. I decided my race flats were a great choice for my last track workout before I race this weekend. Fifty minutes of track running and now my feet are two giant blisters. Great.

It does raise a couple points. One, follow this tried a true rule: don't do anything different right before a race. Two, why the hell are my race flats giving me blisters???

I guess I'll spend a little extra time in transition applying moleskin.

78 < 92 but 22 > 18

I went on a bike ride today. It was the fastest bike ride of my life.

I recently got some advice from Coach Amy about cadence on the bike. She suggested that my 90-100 rpm was possibly too high and that suggests moving to 75-85 rpm.

Today, my goal was to both complete the workout as well as to see what 75-85 rpm felt like. It felt great, I completed my workout and I shattered my usual average racing speed by over 2 mph and my average workout speed by over 4 mph!

The workout was simple: 30 minutes warm up, two 20 minute intervals at race effort with 10 minute breaks, and a steady cool down long enough to reach 2 hours. I went out to the South Mopac loop and got to it.

The warm up was just that. I kept it easy, didn't pay attention to speed, cadence, or aero; just relaxed and enjoyed the morning air. It looked like rain. When it was time to go, I dropped down and hammered it out. Everything felt great and keeping 75-85 rpm allowed me to turn a bigger gear. I was climbing hills over 20 mph, a first for me.

After the intervals, I took an easy cruise through the Circle C neighborhood. Nice houses but a little too white-bread for me.

The Rookie Race Report

Sunday was The Rookie Triathlon at the Texas Ski Ranch outside of New Braunfels. It was a beautiful day and the crowd was out for the first race in the Texas Tri Series.

We had a gang competing: six of us total. Me and ol' Reese; it was Reese's first race of the season and he did very well. Four people were doing their first race: congrats to Robbie, Elizabeth, Kristy and Audrey for finishing their first triathlon.

The day went fairly well. The 300m swim was long by all accounts. I was happy with my swim, but without a good measurement, it is tough to tell exactly how it went.

I had a smooth T1 and felt great heading out on the bike. A couple miles in I made what turned out to be a significant error. I had forgotten to take a pre-race gel so I decided to take it early on the bike. Since it was a short eleven mile ride my plan was to go all out and see what I could do. Hammering like that on the bike and trying to eat that gel just ended up leaving goo in my throat and giving me a stomach ache. Then I sucked down way too much water trying to get it to settle. By the time I got off the bike, which wasn't very long, I was way too full of water and had a sour stomach.

I was very happy with my bike split of 33:45, but heading into T2, things kinda fell apart. I was wearing a new pair of bike shoes. I had not practiced flying dismounts in them yet (rookie mistake at The Rookie Triathlon I guess). My right foot got stuck in my shoe just as I was dismounting. Then my brother came flying in off his bike wearing nothing but a speedo. This resulted in an extremely clumsy dismount on my part, cursing my shoe and Robbie gross @$$ in my face. I ended up carrying my bike upside down to the rack. All the same, I was in and out of T2 in 0:51, not too bad.

Off I went, over hydrated and over nutritioned, into a balls out two mile run. Seconds in, my insides turned to rock, my stomach went into my throat and walking actually crossed my mind. I was forced to slow my pace for the first mile until my body relaxed a bit. A mile is not generally a huge deal except that was half of the run in this case. After the turn I was able to press the pace a bit. Nothing like I was shooting for but I was able to finish stronger than I started. Run split was 13:29, slower than I would have liked, not as slow as it felt.

Final time of 56:20, 58th overall, 8th in my age group. Huge props to Resse for a smoking 53:07 time, 45th overall, 5th in his age group. Cousin Elizabeth did well at 1:15:46, 4th in her age group. Brother Robic smoked it in his first triathlon at 1:01:50.

CapTex is next. This time, Olympic distance.

Texas State Sprint Triathlon Report

It's been a while. Lots of swim, rides and runs. Been trying to practice in open water more, after my disastrous Lonestar Swim.

Today I raced in the Texas State Triathlon Club's sprint race. My cousin Krista is a member of the club and this is their main fund raiser. Good race for a good club!

The race was a 500 meter swim in the Aquarena Springs, a fourteen mile bike through the San Marcos back roads, and a 5k through Texas State Campus.

The swim was a time trial start. This was my fist swim start of this kind and I really, really liked it. It was a great swim for me and the Springs are beautiful. Came out of the water just over eight minutes, which is great time for me. A short jog into T1 which went well.

The bike course was pretty rough. The back roads of San Marcos are pretty bumpy. Early on there were some slight inclines followed by slight declines; nothing too bad, the roads just made it tough to ride smooth and require extra effort to keep the cadence and speed up. The ride was much faster coming back in and went very well. I was able to make up some time and pass a few more people. I didn't realize at the time (although my legs were telling me very clearly in hind sight), but the ride out must have been slightly up hill the whole time. T2 went great, haven't seen transition times yet but it went quick.

The 5k was a nice little run. The course was confusing at times; nothing drastic though. I am really bad at taking splits but I'm pretty sure I was able to go negative. My first mile was just under seven minutes and I finished the 5k in 19:15. That puts my average pace at about 6:12 (assuming it was a full 5k). That looks like a negative split to me!!

Finished in 1:11:35 (by my watch), fourth in the 30 - 34 age group and 12th overall. I am happy with the race. Now that I have a couple races under my belt for the season I am able to say that I will be working very hard on the bike this year. If I can really improve there, I can give all you folks a good run for your money.

My next race is The Rookie in two weeks. That should be a quick and fun little race. Got quite a gang going to compete out there: Robbie, Reese, Krista, Elizabeth, Kristy, Beth, and myself. See you there!

Lonestar Triathlon Race Report

I rocked the Lonestar Quarter Triathlon yesterday in Galveston Texas. The weather cooperated nicely and the race was produced well. The course was easy to follow and all the volunteers were fantastic. Overall it was a great day.

My day started at 5:00 am. My wife Jami and brother Robbie were with me. They were up with me at five. Jami made us french toast in our hotel room on a portable griddle we brought with us. I gathered my stuff and we were off to the race site.

I got transition all set up and had a quick ten minute warm up jog. It was time for me to make final preparations and head to the swim start, as my wave was first in the water at 7:15 am. I got my wetsuit on and headed over to the dock.

After a few announcements and the National Anthem, the 30-34 year old group (and pros/elites) filed over the starting mat, down the dock, and into Offat's Bayou. The water was very chilly on my toes, but luckily the wetsuit protected me for the most part. It was a short 50 meter swim to the starting buoys and a couple minutes of treading water before the gun.

This is when I noticed something was wrong, not disastrous, but not the best. I still had my wedding ring on. I never swim in my ring because my fingers always shrink and I've almost lost it a number of times. Too late now. Horn blew, it was time to go.

Swim started well, except for the ring which I had to constantly adjust with my left thumb. Made it to the first buoy fine and turned left. The next time I sighted, I realized that I was running blind. My goggles had fogged up completely. Completely. Nothing. Just a yellow-grey mist. Oh well, follow the bubbles and keep going.

Unfortunately, a couple minutes later, I realized I was quite a bit off course. And still blind. And still fiddling with the ring. So I threw my self in the right direction, back towards the buoys and the other racers, and plugged on. I was getting a little irritated at this point, but tried to ignore it and get into a rhythm.

I was probably 500 meters into the swim when the lead of the next pack began to overtake me. The fast ones at least, and they were quick! No matter, I was feeling good a this point and plugged along. Still blind. Still jacking with the ring. Then I sighted. And then I sighted again. Where the hell was I? No racers, no buoys. I was off course again!! This time, I'd had it. I stopped and cleaned my goggles. At least 25 meters from the buoy line and other racers. Now I was pissed and looking for trouble. And I could finally see.

I grit my teeth and it was on. I went hard the final 400 meters, passed a few people, and finally made it to the blessed land. Good lord, I had some practice ahead of me. I popped out of the water, pulled the wetsuit down, ran up the ramp and to the strippers (wetsuit strippers that is). With one solid yank that guy had my suit off (nice!) and I was over to the bike with a disappointing swim time of 19:19. I had some work ahead of me but I felt fine and was up for the job.

T1 was all right. Found my bike with no problem, got my gear on easily with the exception of my shirt, which was all rolled up when I put it on. Should have just worn it under my wet suit. Lesson learned. Grabbed the bike and off for a ride.

After a few turns and bumps getting out of Moody Gardens, we were off on a long, straight, flat, and windy out and back ride. It went well and I was able to keep the cadence and speed I had hoped for. I did a little passing but was passed for the most part by guys in aero helmets and race wheels, which wasn't so bad. At one point I had a little chat with a guy who passed me on a normal bike, nothing fancy. He looked strong but said not to worry, I'd catch him on the run. I hoped so.

Pretty uneventful ride, 14.5 miles out and back. Nice scenery and the cloud cover kept it cool. The wind seemed to be blowing in my face the whole time so that cost a little extra energy, but I guess the flat course made up for it. Ended up finishing the ride 1:22:39, averaging about 20.3 mph (according to the race times, as my computer is now tainted from wheeling the bike back to the parking garage). My goal was to average 20 mph, so I am very happy about the ride although it is clear that I've got work to do to hang with the big boys.

Riding into T2, I was happy to execute my first moving dismount in a race. Bike was racked and shoes were on quite quickly. I was off to the final leg, a two lap, 6.5 mile run. Right as I left the run start, I heard Robbie and Jami hollering for me, which felt great!

After a mile or so, my legs came back to me and I was able to get in a running groove. I kept wondering if I should have gone slower so that I could run a little faster. I had to push that out of my mind so that I could concentrate on this final task. I was able to complete the first 5k on a solid 6:35 pace. I felt ok after the first lap. The only problem was I was not able to get liquids down very well and it was causing me to cramp up every time I tried. I skipped a few water stations and began to feel better. However, after a few more miles, I did start feeling pretty dry and knew I needed a little liquid. I never drink Gatorade. But I tried this time and it went down really well and I felt much better.

I fell apart a bit on the the last 5k of the run, dropping the pace to 8:27s. Oh well, I was happy to see the finish line and end this thing.

Final time: 2:33:11.
Swim split: 19:19 (965 meters)
Bike split: 1:22:39 (28 miles)
Run split: 47:12 (6.5 miles)
16th (16/69) in my age group and 95th (96/784) overall.

In conclusion I was very happy with the race. It was only my second triathlon and my first at this distance. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I also have a good idea what I need to work on.

It's been too long!

I can't even remember what I've been doing. A lot of swimming, riding and running. My first triathlon of the season is in one week. I'm pretty excited and a little nervous.

This Sunday I'm running the Capital 10k, here in Austin. I'm treating it as a speed workout for the week. My goal time is 43:30, that's consistent 7:00 minute miles. I'm confident that if I feel all right I'll be able to pull it off.

Today was supposed to be a long run. I had to cut it short because of a lightning storm that blew in at about thirty-six minutes. Oh well, I've been training hard, so I'll enjoy the rest.

Tomorrow I do my last long ride before I race. Hopefully the weather cooperates. It's supposed to be chilly (cold actually). That is already spoiling my plans for a morning wetsuit long swim in the Springs.

That's all for now.

I'll try to be a better blogger from now on.

Saturday Brick

Today I performed one of the most intense workouts of my life. I was invited by Coach Brandon Marsh to a brick workout with himself, Coach Amy Marsh, and a couple of their athletes. The six of them are preparing for the Ironman 70.3 in New Orleans on April 5th, and I am preparing for the Lonestar Quarter in Galveston on April 5th.

The plan (for me) was a two hour ride followed by a 45 minute run on a track. The ride consisted of a long, eight mile loop at race intensity, followed by a small, maybe one mile loop of easy spinning. After two hours of that, ride back to the track, and change into running gear. The run was intervals of 1k at race intensity, followed by 200m easy jog recovery.

We rode an easy big loop together as a group. I followed with two super-intense loops, each followed with their respective easy spins. Each loop took between 20-24 minutes. I had about 15 minutes to spare, in which I rode back past the track, did a quick ride through a nearby neighborhood and finished at the track.

My goal for the 1k's were 4:30's, of which I am very proud to say I hit pretty consistently. My legs were very, very heavy and I had to dig deep to pull it off. But I did and now I'm dead tired.

Thanks Coaches Marsh!

Blog, blog, blog, train, train, train

It's been a few days since I last logged my training, so this is a 5-in-1: two swims, a long bike, a long run, a rest day, and a tempo bike ride.

Last Thursdays swim ended up being a one-on-one with Coach Amy. It went well. I came out with two points of instruction.

One, bi-lateral breathing is great and she's glad I can do it. However, when racing, you need more oxygen so you don't poop out (as I tend to do a couple hundred meters into the swim). Amy told me to breathe every two strokes (same side) when I'm going hard. Done and I can feel the difference. I do switch sides ever couple hundred yards so my rickety neck doesn't get mad at me.

The second point was to reach. When that arm comes around, reach out there and get those fingertips down! My hand was coming in at a sharp angle just in front of my head and I was losing half a stroke. Now, not doubt, this is more difficult, uses more energy, and will require greater fitness, but I can tell I'm going much faster. I like going faster.

Saturday afternoon I did a long run. Ran 1:20 at a moderate aerobic pace. The run felt great; my brother paced me on a bike the whole time, so it flew by. I didn't bring any fuel but could have used some at about 50 minutes. Ended up going about 10.2 miles, an average of 7:50 minute mile. Meh.

Sunday's long ride was rough. While it is cool to watch E.P.L. games while on the bike, a two hour ride at 5:30 pm Sunday evening is tough to get through. I didn't eat enough during the day and felt really flat. I didn't have any extra fuel and that did not help either. In the end, I jammed through it. Not much more to say, since my bike computer has been reset since then.

Monday, off day, yay! Rested and it felt so nice.

Tuesday Tempo Ride - so much fun! I have to say that the tempo ride has been my favorite ride so far. It was only 55 minutes long (this is a recovery week), but it really felt like I was working something. The ride broke down to a 16:30 minute warm up at a moderate aerobic pace. Then I dropped the gear and rode 22 minutes at threshold, at about 85% max speed. I had to push but once my legs settled in I was moving. I don't have my bike computer handy, but I'd guess I averaged 24-25 mph on the highest resistance my trainer can do. Hammering! After the threshold, 16L30 minutes of active cool down at moderate aerobic.

Feeling pretty good, four weeks to race time!

I Heart Trainer

Did another ride on the new trainer this afternoon. I am really enjoy using it for some of my biking workouts.

The work out was a long hill climb ride: 5x5 minute climbs at threshold and as hard as I can go without straining, with 3 minutes of recover in between each interval. I cranked my Blackburn up to the highest resistance setting and went to town. The total ride time was 1:15, with the hills in the middle. When the hills came I dropped the gear down and hammered through it.

The trainer is really letting me focus on my form and cadence, without worrying about traffic, stops, and the unpredictable terrain around town.

So far so good!

Me vs. The HRM vs. My Dog

Sunday was the long run day. But, before I get in to that, I need to jump back to a conversation I had Saturday afternoon.

My friend (and TriAustin.com partner) Luke and I had a conversation about training. In particular, the two different ways we are approaching it. I am almost completely self coached by a combination of research on the web and printed material I have found. The exception is swimming, which I do with a group and a coach. I have a pretty solid running background so I'm comfortable with that training. The bike is still my redheaded step-child, but I'm working on it. All of my intensity is gauged by feeling my body's effort and breathing, basically what that call "Rate of Perceived Effort (RPE)".

Luke, on the other hand, has hired a coach, and does everything based on his heart rate monitor (HRM). His coach builds, and changes, every single workout based on the HRM. Luke doesn't do anything (except swim, I think) without it.

While we were talking, initially I felt like he was somewhat a slave to this thing. He did nothing that contradicted what his little chest strap was telling him. He forced himself to run slower that he could. He claimed that he was making drastic improvements because of this little thing.

I was (am) skeptical, but admittedly, with no good reason. It just seems like a crutch. Then I started reading about it. And read I did. I read, and read, and read... I found this interesting article by Mark Allen. I realized, shoot, if Mark Allen was training at five-ish minute miles, strapped on a HRM, and realized that he needed to be at eight-fifteens, I'm (a) definitely over training and (b) screwed. Then I realized that maybe for the shorter races (Olympic, and Sprints), it might not be a big deal, but if I ever want to attempt some longer races, I might need to pay attention to my body's limits so I don't kill myself.

So to the point. I did not go buy a heart rate monitor. What I did, was force myself to run really slow (8:15 minute/miles to be precise). I ran for 50 minutes, in what felt like a crawl. I would notice my legs speeding up, and I slowed them down. I also brought my dog Ellie, who is getting old and fat. She was done at about 37 minutes, so I ended up dragging the poor old girl for the last thirteen or so minutes, which helped keep my pace in check. I took my pulse a couple times, but I need to learn how to do that correctly because I was unable to really understand what I was getting.

After I was done, I definitely felt like I didn't work very hard. I was much less sore than normal. I just felt easy, which for whatever reason, felt wrong. But, if I was to have had a HRM on, I'm sure it was close to what that little thing would have wanted me to do, as opposed to my normal, much faster "aerobic pace".

And if Mark Allen is correct, and I'm sure he is, the lower intensity training is what I need in order to become the aerobic machine that can run five minute miles with a low heart rate.

I think more research is in order.

Brick-out

I love brick workouts. They remind me how freaking hard triathlon is. Very humbling.

Today was a pretty simple number; 1:15 on the bike(comfortable, but not easy) then a 30 minute run (you guessed it! Comfortable, but not easy).

The computer on the bike said I did just over 28 miles and averaged 22.3 mph, although this was on a trainer, so what ever that's worth. In the real world, I'd say absolutely nothing.

The run felt pretty good. I tried to keep the pace reasonable, and I think I did a pretty good job. When I finished, I mapped the run. I did just over four miles in 30 minutes, which is about 7:20 minute miles. Not bad, but not nearly what I hope to be racing at.

Afterward, I enjoyed my favorite home brew recovery drink: 10 oz. of 2% milk with 5 tbs. of raw sugar. Shake until the sugar dissolves and enjoy. It's pretty good. Throw some chocolate in there and you've got chocolate milk. Mmmm, chocolate milk!

Intervals For Breakfast

Today was run day and I was a good boy and got out early before there were too many walkers or dogs or out-of-towners enjoying our fair city's fine running trails.

On the menu was the dreaded interval run. Today's went something like this: warm up at an easy pace then do 10x1:00 minute very hard, but controlled intervals (R.P.E. 9). After each interval, do one minute of active recovery at 4-5 R.P.E. 

Considering intervals past, I knew that I would go way too hard on my first couple and then die later down the road. Plus, these were one minute intervals, double what I've been doing lately (although, there were less of them).

So I tried to go out slower both in warm up and the first several intervals, so that by the time interval six, seven, eight, ..., rolled around I was able to finish the entire interval and run hard throughout.

Over all, it was a successful run. I felt strong in interval ten (strong != good) and the cool down run was a welcome break.

I want to go fast, mama!!

Sink or Swim

It started rough tonight. I was tired when I got to the pool. After a deep breath and stripping down to my skibbies, I jumped on in. I felt really slow and heavy. The strokes weren't getting me anywhere during the warm up and drills.

We did 4x100s for drills, the first 50 were fist drill and I might as well have been drowning. The second 50s were DPS and I started to wonder if I forgot how to swim or if they made the pool longer on Tuesday night.

Maybe it would just be a slow night? The workout starts at 7:30 pm, I could have just as well gone home and laid out on the couch.

But, I was there, in the pool, burping up the smoothie I drank at 5:00.

Tonight's main set was a "quality set" as Amy calls it. Basically we were going to swim 50 yard sprints. Luckily, the cobwebs seemed to clear a little as I started the first 50.

We did 12x50s, the odd 50s fast, and the evens were recovery pace. The fast 50s felt great, and I was able to hold 39 seconds on five of them and 38 seconds on the last one. Funny thing, the recovery swims felt crappy again. What gives?

Oh well, the important part felt good and the rest is just water under the bridge. I think I ended up swimming 1800 yards, counting the cool down.

Not bad, but I was glad to be done.

Training Log to Training Blog - Comfortable but not Easy

For some time I have kept a training log of all my workouts. I'd enter stuff like "Great run today!", or "Intervals suck!", or "Swimming in December is cold!". As my training progressed, I tried to be more descriptive than that, adding notes like "Drank all weekend, so Sunday long run hurt extra". Still not the most helpful, but I'm trying.

Now with TriAustin nearing release (it is, I promise), my lovely wife had a great idea. She saw me entering my latest entry this morning (that comes later) and pointed out that I should blog that and put it on the TriAustin site. Free content right?

So, here I am blogging about my training. I started this particular program last October/November-ish, so I won't be recreating all those notes. The summary is this: I'm attempting my first Olympic/Quarterman distance race in April at the Lonestar Triathlon in Galveston, TX. I've spent the winter months trying to build a solid base for the distance. So far so good, except that I've completely avoided strength training, which is horrible and something I've promised to change as soon as possible. Currently, I'm in the build phase, so I've started doing things like lactate intervals on the bike and run. They hurt, but make you faster, so yay.

Ok, so the post about training. I'll back up and talk briefly about Sunday's long run, Monday's swim with Amy's Triathlon Swimming group, and today's bike lactate intervals.

Sunday was a beautiful day. I tried really hard to maintain the "Comfortable, but not easy." pace that my current program dictates for the long runs. It went well, although after an hour of running, the notion of comfortable changes and easy kinda goes out the window. I think my pace stayed somewhere near the seven minute mile range (at least it was when I sampled near the mid-point of the run). This was somewhat worrisome because either (a) I'm doing the workout all wrong and going way to hard (pretty common for me, just ask my swim coach Amy) or (b) I'm just getting faster and seven minute miles are now comfortable, but not easy. Hopefully it's (b). Although, I do have a pain on the top of my left foot where the leg and foot meet, which might indicate I went too hard.

Monday's swim was great. Did about 1800 yards. The main set was something like three 200's, remember the last two times. Do some recovery stuff. Now do a 400 faster than the last two 200's combined. I did, finishing the 400 under my target of 7:17 at 7:08. That's about 1:47 per 100? Pretty good for me. That consistent 1:30 minute / 100 yard is still a pipe dream though. One can dream, can't they?

And now today. But first, yesterday. I bought a bicycle trainer off Craigslist. It's a Blackburn Magnetic something or other. Got a great deal thanks to Kelsey in North Austin. Thanks Kelsey! This morning I did my first ever indoor ride on a trainer. I wasn't too bad. It was nice not being in traffic. It was rainy so I didn't have to deal with possibly eating pavement everytime I turn a corner. I did a lactate threshold ride, 80 minutes total, with five three minute threshold intervals ( R.P.E 9) each followed immediately by three minutes of active recovery (R.P.E. 6-7). 

Intervals are hard but make you fast!

Wow. Longest post ever.

Working Towards Realease

We're working hard towards a release soon. It's going well but there is still tons to do.

Know any graphic designers that love triathlon and/or sport in general? Send them my way please! Advertising and art students welcome. We're looking for mark, typeface, and palette design. More work in it if that works out.

Watch what we're up to on twitter: https://twitter.com/triaustin

triaustin@gmail.com