A Glimpse of Reality

I have now completed the first of 28 weeks on my training schedule that have 12 workouts, and to the best of my knowledge it was probably the first time in my life that I've ever completed 12 workouts in one week. Towards the end of the week I could tell that my body was starting to become physically tired because my times were slowing a bit. My hope is that a few more weeks of this will allow me to be used to that level of frequency, and I can begin adjusting to an increased level of volume. Looking back at this week has been a little bit of a reality check for what's to come. Over the next six months I'm really going to be pushing beyond what I've ever done before, and I can expect there will be several bumps in the road. My experience from this week showed me that I need to focus on eating enough to stayed fueled, having variety in my workouts to stay motivated, and getting as much sleep as possible.

Last of the Base-Building Phases

My training schedule has now reached the point where I have two workouts a day for six days a week. These next four weeks are the last base-building phase before the distances of my workouts start to increase. Since the distances I'm doing now are not as time consuming, I've been doing both workouts each day in the evening. Once the distances start to increase I'm going to have to switch one of the workouts to the morning before I go to work. I've gotten used to doing them both in the evenings, and I have a feeling that when I switch one to the morning it will make the day seem a lot longer. On a side note, I noticed last night that my countdown clock is now less than 200 days left. Somehow that doesn't feel like enough time to get ready.

Belews Lake Triathlon Race Report

• Distance: 750 Meter Swim, 14.5 Mile Bike, 3.1 Mile Run
• Time: 1 hr 31 min 37 sec overall; 15:46 Swim, 2:30 T1, 47:49 Bike, 0:58 T2, 24:36 Run
• Place: 29 out of 39 in age group, 172 out of 286 men, 207 out of 411 overall
• Weather: Mostly cloudy, 10-15 mph winds, air temps in the low 60's, water temp of 71 degrees

I realized an hour before the start of the race that I never came up with any time goals for each part. I remembered that my best time in this race was 1 hour and 33 minutes and wanted to at least beat that time, but I thought I would see if I could break the 1:30 mark. One of the pre-race announcements said the water temp was 71 degrees, so I was surprised and happy it would be a few degrees warmer than forecast. After I got my wetsuit on I made my way down to the water. I still wanted to do a warm-up swim to eliminate the shock factor of the cold water. The winds were gradually increasing as it got closer to my start time. I knew it would be a factor on the bike, but never really considered how choppy the water would be because of it. As I started the swim I was glad I did the warm-up because there was very little shock from the temperature. For the first minute or two I felt pretty comfortable, but as I got further out into the lake the winds were really making me get sloshed from side to side. It was more annoying than anything else because I felt like my form was unbalanced, I couldn't get into a rhythm, and periodically I would get a mouth full of water when I turned my head to breathe. Once I made the turn to head back to shore I finally felt like I was in a rhythm and moving at a good pace. When I exited the water I looked at my watch and saw that my swim time was a lot better than some of my previous races. I guess the extra laps at the pool were starting to pay off. I had no problems getting my wetsuit off in transition and was able to start the bike segment with ease. The first hill right outside of the transition area was slow, but I was soon headed down the road and out of the marina. The first four or five miles were a slight incline that appeared flat, and the wind was behind my back so that helped to push me along. Once I made the turn onto the back side of the course the winds decided they were through helping. Miles 5 to 10 were headwinds, but luckily that was the part of the course that had more downhill sections. Around mile 11 was the long gradual uphill. Reaching the top of that, I made a left turn and headed back toward the marina on the last stretch of wind-aided road. When I reached the transition area I made quick time of racking my bike and starting on the run. My legs felt a little stiff as they usually do right after the bike segment, but having to run up that same hill right outside of transition didn't help me get going any faster. I reached the first mile mark, took a quick look at my watch, and saw an 8:00 mile pace. I would have liked it to have been a little faster but factoring in the hill probably made the difference. The run course had more small rolling hills than I remember, and by the second mile mark I was still running just less than an 8:00 mile pace. At that point I knew that breaking the 1 hour 30 minute overall time was going to fall just a little bit short. As I neared the finish line I increased my pace and was able to sprint by several people before the line. After comparing this year's times to my best time in this race before, I was a little surprised. Overall I beat my best time in this race by two minutes, but for the individual events I was really only happy with the swim time. My swim time saw a three and a half minute improvement which really encourages me to keep up the laps at the pool. The bike time was almost identical to my previous best. I was a little disappointed with this because I thought I had done more training on the bike leading up to this race than I had in the past. I guess the winds played a part in the time though. My run time was over a minute slower that my previous time in this race which can only be explained by my limited amount of run training due to the calf problems I had the last couple of months. It was good to get back into the triathlon season and I'm looking forward to training harder in the next several weeks so I can see a big improvement in my times for the next race.

Belews Lake Triathlon Preview

The triathlon this weekend is located at Belews Lake which is northwest of Greensboro, NC. This will be the third time I've done this race although this year the race has moved to a more competitive series. There are close to 500 people already registered, and with race day sign-ups it will probably come close to the 600 person cap. The most unique part of this race is the time trial swim start where they will release two people every 10 seconds. The good part is that it spaces everyone out so they aren't swimming on top of each other, but the bad part is the people that start later have to wait around potentially losing the benefit of a warm-up. The 750 meter swim will be wetsuit legal, and with a current water temperature of 66 degrees, I definitely will need it. Cold water always gives me a hard time with breathing during the swim, and it takes me longer to get into a routine. The 14.5 mile bike course is one loop with a couple of hills to slow you down, and the first hill is less than 50 yards after leaving the transition area. The 5K run course is also one loop on paved roads with a few small rolling hills. So far the weather looks to be pretty good for race day....not too hot and not too cold (except for the water).

Start of Triathlon Season

My first triathlon race of the season is next weekend and I'm looking forward to knocking the rust off. I also realized recently that all six of the triathlon races I decided to enter this year have open water swims, and all but one will potentially be using a wetsuit. I usually have at least a couple of races each year that are pool swims so this year will be a change from the norm. Since my ironman race will be in the ocean and using a wetsuit, it's probably better that I don't have any pool swim races this year. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is that I've never done a race in salt water before. One of the races I've decided to do this year is in the Chesapeake Bay, so hopefully I will get a taste (pun intended) of what it's like to swim in salt water before I get to Florida in November.

Eggstravaganza 5K Race Report

• Distance: 5K (3.1 Miles)
• Time: 22 min 19 sec
• Place: 3 out of 14 in age group; 9 out of 34 men; 11 out of 72 overall
• Weather: Sunny, 5-10 mph winds, temps in the mid to upper 60's

This year's race had a few less people participating than last year, but overall was fairly well attended. I made sure to get an early start on my warm-ups so that I could stretch and feel as loose as possible. Based on the configuration of the start and finish lines the beginning of the race would start on the greenway towards the bottom of the hill, and the finish would be a little further back at the top of the hill. With the greenway path only about 8 feet wide, the start was pretty congested but everyone spread out quickly within the first quarter mile of the race. I could tell I was running a faster pace than I should, but I've gotten used to the fact that I always get caught up in the initial surge at the start of a race. Once I reached the first mile marker, I looked at my watch and saw a time of 6:41. I was expecting between 7:00 and 7:15 so I knew my pace would start to drop in the next two miles. As I made the turn-around at the half way point I was able to see everyone that was behind me, and was a little surprised to see so many people that were within 30 seconds of me. I knew I had to maintain a steady pace to hold them off from passing me. I ran the second mile at a 7:28 pace so I definitely paid for the fast start, but was still within the 7:00 to 7:15 average pace that I wanted to maintain throughout the race. Within the last half mile I could hear two girls running together that were about 5 seconds behind me and gaining. I've always had confidence in knowing that I usually finish a race with a strong sprint and look to pass someone rather than keep someone from passing me. However, with this race finishing on an uphill that tends to negate any substantial sprint I might have left. With a quarter mile to go one of the two girls passed me and began to pull away while the other one stayed back. I wasn't able to quite catch up to her at the end but was able to hold off her friend from passing me. I guess I've out grown a situation like this from being a hit to my ego. Besides, she finished second overall for the women so I don't have too much room to complain. On another note, my calf muscle seems to be fully recovered (knock on wood), so everything should be back to normal on the training schedule.