I'm a fairly ambivalent about Spin classes. At this time of the year, they become quite the talk of the town as the weather begins its slow downward spiral.
Spin classes are inherently intense. I would be surprised to find out that there wasn't some secret competition between spin class instructors/studios to create most gut-busting, anaerobic class possible. Intensity is fine and all for the average joe/jane trying to burn some calories and lose weight, but for endurance athletes, it has to be used judiciously.
Spin instructors are not interested in what your goals are and when you will be racing -- they just want you to feel like you are inhaling pepper spray and your quads are going to set your bike shorts aflame.
Now is the time when plenty of athletes start to flesh out goals for next year and get really psyched -- hey, july is a long time from now, lofty goals are now within reach, and preparation can begin NOW. Time to hit the pedals hard now, right?
There's a problem.
If I start hitting spin class 2-3 times a week during off-season & base training, I can forget about peaking in June-July-August for a few reasons:
1) I haven't built an aerobic worth building an anaerobic base on top of. There's a few wackos out there who insist on doing things the other way around, but they are few & far between, and tend to experiment on those who are already world class athletes.
2) How will peak weeks be different? Friel and Carmichael won't be sending their athletes up Alpe d'Huez in January....why do you need to blow your head off now? You should be doing it a week or two before your intended peak performance.
3) I can easily burn myself out by April, not to mention August. Who, other than the pros, can sustain 3 or more high intensity workouts a week for months on end? I can't. This is especially telltale when you observe the difference in gym traffic between January and April--everyone tries to lose weight that weight, overdoes it, and they can't sustain what they started. I'm beginning to come to grips with the insanity associated with trying to do the Birkie on top of a season of triathlon/cycling. It might be time to pick one or the other, or drop the priority of one way below the other.
My general strategy has been to hit the spin room when class is not in session. That way I can focus on the needs of my training PLAN, staying in target heart rate zones and avoid drifting from them when the testosterone goes airborne during those spin classes. Bring a movie or some good music -- laying down 3 hours of zone 2 on a spin bike will get monotonous. I had several such session in March.
And there's no point in going to spin class in June...I've three bikes and the city has roads! (And I have a trainer if it's crappy outside ;) )
However, I still tend to belive that consistency is more important than just about anything when it comes to training, including periodization. If you can do spin class so religiously, my hat is off to you.
Showing posts with label Triathlon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Triathlon. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My First DNF
So I took a ride out to cycling heaven the other day. The ride was from Prescott to Maiden Rock & back.
Half great, half horrible.
Cold on the way out -- I couldn't feel my fingers when we started, but I was feeling really good when I warmed up, enjoying the views of river mist shrouding autumnal color. I let up all the big climbs, still feeling like a BAMF on my Cervelo. One of the girls had a powertap, so she was telling me that we were knocking out 280+ watts on a couple climbs. We stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and let everyone catch up, and had great pie at the Smiling Pelican in Maiden Rock.
On the way back, I sprinted right out and had a fun descent back to Bay city at about 43mph for a minute or two. Around 20 miles out from Prescott, everyone rode right past me. I was wondering "what's going on?" until I realized my rear tire was flat. I had to sprint for a mile to catch up with everyone--they couldn't hear me since I we had a headwind. I got it changed, and about 2 miles down the road, I flatted out the front tire and used my last tube to get that going. 3 more miles and I flatted the rear again. Frustration was at a peak (car & motorcycle traffic was ridiculous, loud, and not courteous, and really wore on all our nerves), and as I was about to borrow a tube, a member of our group who earlier threw in the towel and got a ride showed up in a car and offered me her rear bike wheel, which didn't fit my cervelo cutout, but then drove off to get a car that would fit me and my bike. After she left, I was able to play with the dropout setscrews enough to get it her wheel to work, and we took off yet again. I made it up a couple of the last big climbs and she showed up in the IMJenny's suv, and I decided to call it a day, since her tire was beginning to rub on my cutout, and my legs were toasted.
Half great, half horrible.
Cold on the way out -- I couldn't feel my fingers when we started, but I was feeling really good when I warmed up, enjoying the views of river mist shrouding autumnal color. I let up all the big climbs, still feeling like a BAMF on my Cervelo. One of the girls had a powertap, so she was telling me that we were knocking out 280+ watts on a couple climbs. We stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and let everyone catch up, and had great pie at the Smiling Pelican in Maiden Rock.
On the way back, I sprinted right out and had a fun descent back to Bay city at about 43mph for a minute or two. Around 20 miles out from Prescott, everyone rode right past me. I was wondering "what's going on?" until I realized my rear tire was flat. I had to sprint for a mile to catch up with everyone--they couldn't hear me since I we had a headwind. I got it changed, and about 2 miles down the road, I flatted out the front tire and used my last tube to get that going. 3 more miles and I flatted the rear again. Frustration was at a peak (car & motorcycle traffic was ridiculous, loud, and not courteous, and really wore on all our nerves), and as I was about to borrow a tube, a member of our group who earlier threw in the towel and got a ride showed up in a car and offered me her rear bike wheel, which didn't fit my cervelo cutout, but then drove off to get a car that would fit me and my bike. After she left, I was able to play with the dropout setscrews enough to get it her wheel to work, and we took off yet again. I made it up a couple of the last big climbs and she showed up in the IMJenny's suv, and I decided to call it a day, since her tire was beginning to rub on my cutout, and my legs were toasted.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
I bought a new bike at the wrong time.
Ok. I'm lying. I really love my P2C. It has the best paint job of all bikes, it fits me well, and it feels damn fast. And it is....when I'm riding it.
Cervelo just released the very long awaited P4
Tell me this isn't the sexiest bike you've ever seen.
A water bottle holder & bottle is built into the frame, as is the rear brake.
HOT.
Cervelo just released the very long awaited P4
Tell me this isn't the sexiest bike you've ever seen.
A water bottle holder & bottle is built into the frame, as is the rear brake.
HOT.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Kingswood Off-Road Tri Race Report
So I pre-rode the bike course on Thursday, and decided afterwards that if I made it to T2 without bleeding, I'd be surprised.
Little long lake is clean & pristine, cool & scenic; flanked on either side by treed ridges. The half mile loop in the water was pretty enjoyable with the exception of the last couple hundred yards where the rising sun obscured the shore.
I had a pretty good swim, relying on my own ability to swim straight & negotiate buoys, and was out of the water 3rd. A friend of mine who does XTerra's told me to "swim like you stole something," and get the singletrack to yourself.
There was about a 1/5 mile trail run up a hill to T1. I left some junky flipflips on the shore to run up in.
Transitions for me were a total fiasco.
At T1, I decided I needed a jersey over the top of my standard tri top, I fought to pull on my full finger gloves onto my wet hands before I clipped my helmet straps, which didn't want to match up in my fingers. I was passed by 1 or 2 guys in all that fumbling.
The bike was fun, but torture. You start the first of 2 loops in some tight singletrack that had one uphill section that weaved through trees & rocks. A fun drop & a climb took you to a gravel road to connect with the other side of camp. The gravel road had a long steep hill that you went over before hitting a mowed field aka "prairie" loop. This wasn't very technically challenging with the exception of one really steep hill that I had to hike-a-bike, and the fact that it was teeth-chatteringly rough. A few more moderate climbs really made you work before a few switchbacks down a sidehill. The trail crossed the road and went back up a fairly large hill before going to faster, flowing singletrack reminiscent of Lebanon hills with fast ups & downs. Except the trail was mostly loose mulch instead of dirt, so I was white knuckled most of the time. A last hill crossed to another mulch section with some very tight & technical descents. One last steep hike-a-bike and back to the gravel road to finish off the first loop.
I was passed by 2 guys in the prairie, but other than that, I had the bike to myself. Which was good, because I took some nice spills, namely the bottom of the prairie switchbacks--they were very used up by the second lap, and my front tire flew out from underneath me on the last one. So I'm without skin on my left knee/shin. The second lap on the mulch was interesting too--I could tell people were really wiping out and doing lots of skid braking, making these ugly and front tire-catching ruts.
In T2, I couldn't get a bike shoe ratchet to release. I'm pretty sure I burnt up 3 minutes trying to pry that shoe off. I noticed that my knee was bleeding nicely. I'm not surprised!
The run was back out on the gravel road, to it's own single track -- super fun and challenging steep uphills. I literally walked up one section. More uphill to camp, and even more uphill along the top of one of the high ridges, a loop and then back through camp onto another piece of awesome singletrack that flowed really well for running--mostly downhill this time, so I was really moving. The last bit was back along the gravel road.
Just about everyone got a prize of some type--there was only ~35 entrants. The race director plans to make it into an XTerra next year--I will sign up whether it is or not....I had a great time despite the infancy of the trail, and the fact that it was REALLY difficult. The intention is to improve the condition and length of the trail for both bike and run.
Pulling my bike off my car at my apartment, I noticed my front tire was dead flat. Wonder when that happened.
Little long lake is clean & pristine, cool & scenic; flanked on either side by treed ridges. The half mile loop in the water was pretty enjoyable with the exception of the last couple hundred yards where the rising sun obscured the shore.
I had a pretty good swim, relying on my own ability to swim straight & negotiate buoys, and was out of the water 3rd. A friend of mine who does XTerra's told me to "swim like you stole something," and get the singletrack to yourself.
There was about a 1/5 mile trail run up a hill to T1. I left some junky flipflips on the shore to run up in.
Transitions for me were a total fiasco.
At T1, I decided I needed a jersey over the top of my standard tri top, I fought to pull on my full finger gloves onto my wet hands before I clipped my helmet straps, which didn't want to match up in my fingers. I was passed by 1 or 2 guys in all that fumbling.
The bike was fun, but torture. You start the first of 2 loops in some tight singletrack that had one uphill section that weaved through trees & rocks. A fun drop & a climb took you to a gravel road to connect with the other side of camp. The gravel road had a long steep hill that you went over before hitting a mowed field aka "prairie" loop. This wasn't very technically challenging with the exception of one really steep hill that I had to hike-a-bike, and the fact that it was teeth-chatteringly rough. A few more moderate climbs really made you work before a few switchbacks down a sidehill. The trail crossed the road and went back up a fairly large hill before going to faster, flowing singletrack reminiscent of Lebanon hills with fast ups & downs. Except the trail was mostly loose mulch instead of dirt, so I was white knuckled most of the time. A last hill crossed to another mulch section with some very tight & technical descents. One last steep hike-a-bike and back to the gravel road to finish off the first loop.
I was passed by 2 guys in the prairie, but other than that, I had the bike to myself. Which was good, because I took some nice spills, namely the bottom of the prairie switchbacks--they were very used up by the second lap, and my front tire flew out from underneath me on the last one. So I'm without skin on my left knee/shin. The second lap on the mulch was interesting too--I could tell people were really wiping out and doing lots of skid braking, making these ugly and front tire-catching ruts.
In T2, I couldn't get a bike shoe ratchet to release. I'm pretty sure I burnt up 3 minutes trying to pry that shoe off. I noticed that my knee was bleeding nicely. I'm not surprised!
The run was back out on the gravel road, to it's own single track -- super fun and challenging steep uphills. I literally walked up one section. More uphill to camp, and even more uphill along the top of one of the high ridges, a loop and then back through camp onto another piece of awesome singletrack that flowed really well for running--mostly downhill this time, so I was really moving. The last bit was back along the gravel road.
Just about everyone got a prize of some type--there was only ~35 entrants. The race director plans to make it into an XTerra next year--I will sign up whether it is or not....I had a great time despite the infancy of the trail, and the fact that it was REALLY difficult. The intention is to improve the condition and length of the trail for both bike and run.
Pulling my bike off my car at my apartment, I noticed my front tire was dead flat. Wonder when that happened.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Season's over
Well, for the standard races anyways.
This is the scene after my last race.
No worries, it was staged after the race in the parking lot.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure I've secured a top 5 age group finish in the points standings on the triathlon series this summer. Not quite the top 3 that I'd hoped for, but as I've told lots of people -- Damn...people are getting fast this year.
I have one off-road tri this weekend which should be pretty fun. I'm was out last night for the whopping 2nd time all summer on my mountain bike and had a frickin' blast despite my complete lack of skills. I went out to my favorite trail and rode relentlessly for 2 hours in the afternoon heat -- I used up an entire camelback.
I'm having drinks at my party room on Saturday. Let me know if you want to show and I'll send you the evite.
This is the scene after my last race.
No worries, it was staged after the race in the parking lot.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure I've secured a top 5 age group finish in the points standings on the triathlon series this summer. Not quite the top 3 that I'd hoped for, but as I've told lots of people -- Damn...people are getting fast this year.
I have one off-road tri this weekend which should be pretty fun. I'm was out last night for the whopping 2nd time all summer on my mountain bike and had a frickin' blast despite my complete lack of skills. I went out to my favorite trail and rode relentlessly for 2 hours in the afternoon heat -- I used up an entire camelback.
I'm having drinks at my party room on Saturday. Let me know if you want to show and I'll send you the evite.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
A brush with Olympians
A few weeks ago, the Lifetime Triathlon was held in Minneapolis. The Lifetime attracts some of the biggest names in the sport from around the world as it has a monster payout. ~2500 other athletes join them.
I was out of town for the Timberman, but a few days later, some notable folks showed up at my weekly Wednesday ride.
From Left to Right:
Simon Whitfield
2000 Triathlon Olympic Gold medalist
2008 Lifetime Triathlon Winner
2008 Olympic Triathlon Team Member- Canada
Paul Tichelaar
2008 Canada Triathlon Team Member- Canada
25 years old
Me
Relatively Awesome
Colin Jenkins
2008 Canada Triathlon Team Member- Canada
25 years old
It was an easy, friendly ride -- a serious departure from the usual kinda-wanna-puke hammerpalooza, but Paul did take off for a bit at a rate that may have been easy-moderate for his talent, but put a few chasers, including me, into the red zone.
I spoke with Simon for a bit, and he talked about how much he loved training in the area, and how awesome the architecture in the city is. But, I imagine they say that kinda stuff everywhere they go. They were definitely treated like rockstars around here. 60+ people showed up to ride that night.
They were all hanging out for the week in the cities, training for the next race on their tour ending in Beijing.
I was out of town for the Timberman, but a few days later, some notable folks showed up at my weekly Wednesday ride.
From Left to Right:
Simon Whitfield
2000 Triathlon Olympic Gold medalist
2008 Lifetime Triathlon Winner
2008 Olympic Triathlon Team Member- Canada
Paul Tichelaar
2008 Canada Triathlon Team Member- Canada
25 years old
Me
Relatively Awesome
Colin Jenkins
2008 Canada Triathlon Team Member- Canada
25 years old
It was an easy, friendly ride -- a serious departure from the usual kinda-wanna-puke hammerpalooza, but Paul did take off for a bit at a rate that may have been easy-moderate for his talent, but put a few chasers, including me, into the red zone.
I spoke with Simon for a bit, and he talked about how much he loved training in the area, and how awesome the architecture in the city is. But, I imagine they say that kinda stuff everywhere they go. They were definitely treated like rockstars around here. 60+ people showed up to ride that night.
They were all hanging out for the week in the cities, training for the next race on their tour ending in Beijing.
Turtleman and Beyond
Turtleman was my last standard tri of the year and the last MM race I'm doing for the season. When I got there, I noticed that there was TONS of bike racks, and most of them were already full.
I set up next to 2 ladies on mountain bikes, and got ready. The lot wasn't sweeped, so I used my bare feet to sweep away the dirt. I wasn't feeling really motivated. This was to be an "A" race, and my goal was to average over 24mph on the bike. Having trained little this week for a few reasons--book club, shin splints, and the general need to do laundry.
Since my number was 700-something, I got to wait while nearly 700 people started before me.
Swim: 23:23. 1:26/100yd I took about 10 steps into the lake, where my legs sunk almost knee deep into mud. I then decided to begin swimming the the ~1.5ft deep water. The water was black--it completely cut out the sun only a few inches down. It was difficult to get a feel for pace, since I didn't really have anyone to swim against. On the way back, the swim exit on the east bank was difficult to see as the morning sun made for some dark shadows.
T1: Clusterfuck. 1:33 Biking was allowed in the transition! Effing Ridiculous! I got my bike and rode off into the steep uphill immediately at the transition exit, except I couldn't clip in my right foot. It took a long time to actually get it clipped in, so I sacrificed some speed here.
Bike: 23.6mph I tied my best bike effort. It was my intention here to go 24+, but I just couldn't do it. The course was pretty flat, and had LOTS of turns, and most of them were fast. There was also cones out to apparently protect bikers from traffic, but they did more to obstruct me on a busy course.
T2: I almost ran a guy over coming into my rack. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on. No biking in transition please.
Run: 7:25/mile Most people told me this was a pancake flat run, but they live in a parallel universe. There was a couple long inclines. About 300meters out of T2, I felt my calf tense up, and almost seize. This really kills your confidence when you want to run fast, since I didn't want to walk 5 miles. About 2 miles in, I did feel a rhythm setting in, but it didn't last long. I have found that I'm a pretty good runner when it comes to hills, and I did pass tons of people that I was jousting with on that hill, but overall, I felt slow. It hurt. The finish line came up alot faster than I thought it would.
Age Group 4/37 (just missed podium)
Overall 78/79x
Now, the floor in my room is covered in dirty clothes. My bikes are filthy. My car is full of crap and clutter. My desk looks like a paper bomb went off at tit. It's all a perfect metaphor for my future triathlon & other sports goals--complete disarray.
I've felt quite burnt out during my last couple races, and I don't feel like I'm becoming as fit as I want to be. I will surely compete next year, but to what extent I don't know.....maybe a 1/2 ironman, a road race here, a mountain bike race there.....
Backpacking.
Camping.
Mountain Climbing.
Friendship.
Family.
Focus.
I set up next to 2 ladies on mountain bikes, and got ready. The lot wasn't sweeped, so I used my bare feet to sweep away the dirt. I wasn't feeling really motivated. This was to be an "A" race, and my goal was to average over 24mph on the bike. Having trained little this week for a few reasons--book club, shin splints, and the general need to do laundry.
Since my number was 700-something, I got to wait while nearly 700 people started before me.
Swim: 23:23. 1:26/100yd I took about 10 steps into the lake, where my legs sunk almost knee deep into mud. I then decided to begin swimming the the ~1.5ft deep water. The water was black--it completely cut out the sun only a few inches down. It was difficult to get a feel for pace, since I didn't really have anyone to swim against. On the way back, the swim exit on the east bank was difficult to see as the morning sun made for some dark shadows.
T1: Clusterfuck. 1:33 Biking was allowed in the transition! Effing Ridiculous! I got my bike and rode off into the steep uphill immediately at the transition exit, except I couldn't clip in my right foot. It took a long time to actually get it clipped in, so I sacrificed some speed here.
Bike: 23.6mph I tied my best bike effort. It was my intention here to go 24+, but I just couldn't do it. The course was pretty flat, and had LOTS of turns, and most of them were fast. There was also cones out to apparently protect bikers from traffic, but they did more to obstruct me on a busy course.
T2: I almost ran a guy over coming into my rack. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on. No biking in transition please.
Run: 7:25/mile Most people told me this was a pancake flat run, but they live in a parallel universe. There was a couple long inclines. About 300meters out of T2, I felt my calf tense up, and almost seize. This really kills your confidence when you want to run fast, since I didn't want to walk 5 miles. About 2 miles in, I did feel a rhythm setting in, but it didn't last long. I have found that I'm a pretty good runner when it comes to hills, and I did pass tons of people that I was jousting with on that hill, but overall, I felt slow. It hurt. The finish line came up alot faster than I thought it would.
Age Group 4/37 (just missed podium)
Overall 78/79x
Now, the floor in my room is covered in dirty clothes. My bikes are filthy. My car is full of crap and clutter. My desk looks like a paper bomb went off at tit. It's all a perfect metaphor for my future triathlon & other sports goals--complete disarray.
I've felt quite burnt out during my last couple races, and I don't feel like I'm becoming as fit as I want to be. I will surely compete next year, but to what extent I don't know.....maybe a 1/2 ironman, a road race here, a mountain bike race there.....
Backpacking.
Camping.
Mountain Climbing.
Friendship.
Family.
Focus.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Brewhouse 08
Determined not to make another Bode-esque appearance at yet another race, I took a nice early spot on the couch at an old friend's house in Duluth, and got an early start this morning. I mooched breakfast from their kitchen and slipped out the door.
This was to be another "B" race. I just finished peak week, and I'm nursing a calf injury I got on Tuesday while running. (how I can shred my gastrocnemius 0.8 miles into a run is beyond my understanding--also beyond my understanding is why I ran another 3 miles on it) I'd only signed up for Brewhouse to meet the maximum amount of scoring races in the Midwest Multisport series, and Brewhouse was my 5th. I could've done either of the Pigmans, but I'm abstaining from Iowa.
Anyways, I was able to get a good spot in transition. This was pretty important, because it is very tight in that transition. The rows are congested, and they are close together. The run lane was also tight.
Swim: On the run into the water, I felt myself almost kicking my timing chip off, so i stopped to slip it under my wetsuit. Once I got going, it felt pretty fast! Coming back into the sun was difficult, and the first turn had me disoriented about which way to go. I eventually figured it out, and had lots of open water. I thought I was the first guy out of the water, but it turns out I let a few guys escape out in front of me....but they were pretty fast.
T1: 1:59 struggled with my helmet straps, almost choking myself. fast otherwise.
Bike: 22.4mph avg. Par. I pushed pretty hard, and even jousted with some of the women's leaders and reeled in a few off the elite wave. There was one very hairy turn where some of the short course runners slipped into the bike lane, right in front of me! WTF? I was narrowly able to pass on one side without being railroaded into pylons.
Perhaps the turd in the punchbowl of this race is the road. It's horrible. Cracked, uneven, patched....whatever could possibly make it rough, it was there, jostling my undercarriage and slowing me down. A co-worker jokingly asked me if I put a suspension fork on my Cervelo, and in hindsight, it might not have been such a bad idea. The road made it extremely difficult to hold speed and it really provided for a mental block. On a smooth road I could have easily broken 23. Seriously--even DKT didn't break 27mph.
Speaking of that guy, I was nearing the finish of the bike when I passed a guy on the bike with a unitard that said Thompson, riding on a Litespeed with Zipps. I thought this was DKT having an off day, but upon passing him later on, I realized it was a different Thompson.
T2: 2:13 Decent dismount. The setup of transition made you run all the way to the end of the racks and back, which was annoying and made it easy for some people to cheat, which my friend J witnessed. I'm going to just go with blisters on my next race and leave my socks in the transition bag.
Run: 7:14/mile. I felt very slow out of T2, and my legs felt totally worthless, and in pain. I began to wonder if I pushed it too hard on the bike. Then I sucked it up when I saw DKT limping along going the other way to win the race. Now he looked like he was in pain.
The run course goes up, up, up, up, up, up, down, down, up, and then steeply down. Then you have to turn around and do that backwards. Aside from this being the most painful run I've done all season, I liked the course. You could see a patrol car flashing from the finish line with about downhill mile to go, which was pretty inspiring.
I think some of the "volunteers" on the run course were misfit youth doing community service. I will say that they were dedicated to what they were doing, and very encouraging.
I'll take 7:14's given the pain I was in. 165HR felt way tougher than the 174 I was sustaining at HOLT. I'll run faster next week.
Placing
5/20 ag
44/??
Overall, the race was well done. The direction was good(the guy who puts the race on is a Duluth rockstar of sorts), the lake was pleasant & clean, the run course was challenging. They also gave away a TON of shit. More than most races I go to. But I won't go back until they fix the road.
Seriously.....my butt still hurts.
This was to be another "B" race. I just finished peak week, and I'm nursing a calf injury I got on Tuesday while running. (how I can shred my gastrocnemius 0.8 miles into a run is beyond my understanding--also beyond my understanding is why I ran another 3 miles on it) I'd only signed up for Brewhouse to meet the maximum amount of scoring races in the Midwest Multisport series, and Brewhouse was my 5th. I could've done either of the Pigmans, but I'm abstaining from Iowa.
Anyways, I was able to get a good spot in transition. This was pretty important, because it is very tight in that transition. The rows are congested, and they are close together. The run lane was also tight.
Swim: On the run into the water, I felt myself almost kicking my timing chip off, so i stopped to slip it under my wetsuit. Once I got going, it felt pretty fast! Coming back into the sun was difficult, and the first turn had me disoriented about which way to go. I eventually figured it out, and had lots of open water. I thought I was the first guy out of the water, but it turns out I let a few guys escape out in front of me....but they were pretty fast.
T1: 1:59 struggled with my helmet straps, almost choking myself. fast otherwise.
Bike: 22.4mph avg. Par. I pushed pretty hard, and even jousted with some of the women's leaders and reeled in a few off the elite wave. There was one very hairy turn where some of the short course runners slipped into the bike lane, right in front of me! WTF? I was narrowly able to pass on one side without being railroaded into pylons.
Perhaps the turd in the punchbowl of this race is the road. It's horrible. Cracked, uneven, patched....whatever could possibly make it rough, it was there, jostling my undercarriage and slowing me down. A co-worker jokingly asked me if I put a suspension fork on my Cervelo, and in hindsight, it might not have been such a bad idea. The road made it extremely difficult to hold speed and it really provided for a mental block. On a smooth road I could have easily broken 23. Seriously--even DKT didn't break 27mph.
Speaking of that guy, I was nearing the finish of the bike when I passed a guy on the bike with a unitard that said Thompson, riding on a Litespeed with Zipps. I thought this was DKT having an off day, but upon passing him later on, I realized it was a different Thompson.
T2: 2:13 Decent dismount. The setup of transition made you run all the way to the end of the racks and back, which was annoying and made it easy for some people to cheat, which my friend J witnessed. I'm going to just go with blisters on my next race and leave my socks in the transition bag.
Run: 7:14/mile. I felt very slow out of T2, and my legs felt totally worthless, and in pain. I began to wonder if I pushed it too hard on the bike. Then I sucked it up when I saw DKT limping along going the other way to win the race. Now he looked like he was in pain.
The run course goes up, up, up, up, up, up, down, down, up, and then steeply down. Then you have to turn around and do that backwards. Aside from this being the most painful run I've done all season, I liked the course. You could see a patrol car flashing from the finish line with about downhill mile to go, which was pretty inspiring.
I think some of the "volunteers" on the run course were misfit youth doing community service. I will say that they were dedicated to what they were doing, and very encouraging.
I'll take 7:14's given the pain I was in. 165HR felt way tougher than the 174 I was sustaining at HOLT. I'll run faster next week.
Placing
5/20 ag
44/??
Overall, the race was well done. The direction was good(the guy who puts the race on is a Duluth rockstar of sorts), the lake was pleasant & clean, the run course was challenging. They also gave away a TON of shit. More than most races I go to. But I won't go back until they fix the road.
Seriously.....my butt still hurts.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Hard Swim Practice
The anatomy of my last swim practice during peak week. I've got a great outdoor pool at my gym, so this is where you'll see me practicing on warm summer afternoons.
5 minute warmup/stretch
3 times:
50 drill (fist, 8 kicks per side, catchup)
50 crawl
These are my 3 favorite crawl stroke drills. I'll write an article on this one of these days.
100 easy
10x150 (100 moderate pace/50hard pace)
100 easy
3x200 lungbuster
(1st 50 3 strokes/breath, 2nd 50 5 strokes per breath, 3rd 50 7 strokes/breath, 4th 50 9 strokes/breath)
The lungbuster set is one of my favorite workout from the days of wayback. I usually breathe every 4 strokes, so this set challenges me to bilateral breathe. (breathing on alternate sides)
It also has a few other functions:
1) it takes you to the redline quickly. If you're already a fit athlete, you'll probably start to feel it around the second breath on the 7's. You have about 85 meters left at that point.
2) it teaches you to use your air wisely. You'll be exhaling while purple in the face with 3 strokes to go....sounds counterintuitive but you want a lungfull of fresh air.
3) it takes you anaerobic and leaves you there for quite some time. by the last 25 meters, I feel the pain dissolve because I'm so lightheaded. Very weird feeling, but you're teaching your muscles to work completely without oxygen to metabolize.
2x50 all out sprint
2x25 frogstroke, no breath.
warmdown
strut past girls tanning (you like that? I thought so. wink)
total: ~3000 meters
5 minute warmup/stretch
3 times:
50 drill (fist, 8 kicks per side, catchup)
50 crawl
These are my 3 favorite crawl stroke drills. I'll write an article on this one of these days.
100 easy
10x150 (100 moderate pace/50hard pace)
100 easy
3x200 lungbuster
(1st 50 3 strokes/breath, 2nd 50 5 strokes per breath, 3rd 50 7 strokes/breath, 4th 50 9 strokes/breath)
The lungbuster set is one of my favorite workout from the days of wayback. I usually breathe every 4 strokes, so this set challenges me to bilateral breathe. (breathing on alternate sides)
It also has a few other functions:
1) it takes you to the redline quickly. If you're already a fit athlete, you'll probably start to feel it around the second breath on the 7's. You have about 85 meters left at that point.
2) it teaches you to use your air wisely. You'll be exhaling while purple in the face with 3 strokes to go....sounds counterintuitive but you want a lungfull of fresh air.
3) it takes you anaerobic and leaves you there for quite some time. by the last 25 meters, I feel the pain dissolve because I'm so lightheaded. Very weird feeling, but you're teaching your muscles to work completely without oxygen to metabolize.
2x50 all out sprint
2x25 frogstroke, no breath.
warmdown
strut past girls tanning (you like that? I thought so. wink)
total: ~3000 meters
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Heart of the Lakes 2008 Race Report
I'll give you a lead up to the race before I tell you about it.
Friday:
-Chris Rock Show with the gf.
-Drinks out late downtown.
Saturday:
-Mimosas over breakfast at the gf's house
-Wine afterwards
-Big time drama with the gf
-Go out for Martinis to talk things over. We were sitting on the patio during a huge rainstorm and were engaged in conversation enough to stay in our seats through the whole thing.
-"Cheers" and we tip up the martinis
-Go to noodles & company. Thankfully I could drive. The gf was blasted beyond belief.
-Drive back to her place.
-Nap
-Lay in bed, nap.
-Woke up at 10:45pm, drive home, pack, to bed around 12:00
Sunday
The alarm went off at 4:30am, I ate 2 yogurts, and was out the door at 5:15. I commuted and had my transition setup by 6:30. As always, FAST registration.
Although HOLT advertises as "MN Championship Race," and perennially brings people with their "A" game, I planned to treat this as a B race, and I wanted to go really hard on the bike, and see what happens with my run.
Swim: The lake was very foggy. You couldn't even see the far buoys. My red tint goggles need to go. Orange-turned-White buoys are not easy to see against a fog. Focus on gliding and reaching worked well. Looking back to see the entire wave behind me on glass water was cool. Going around the buoys was vicious as I ran into the wave(s) in front of me. I was out of the water first in my age group.
T1: 2:13 A long run to transition, and a long run to the mount line.
Bike: 23.6mph avg. I just hammered--sweat dripping, gel choking, rumblestrip weaving, 100+ cadence, "on your left" yelling, head-down-in-the-aeros-up-hills, spin-out-the-downhills hammering. I've never biked faster, even during a flat out TT. I'll thank getting into the gym and lifting some cycling-specific weights this week. I'm going to be lifting once per week through the remainder of the season to build strength.
T2: 2:13 run allllll the way to the back of transition, put on socks, slip on shoes, run alllll the way back out.
Run: 6:57/mile I remembered this course vividly from last year--it's longer than the posted 5 miles. There was some long inclines, and I wanted to charge them hard. I took my first half mile at a moderate pace, pretty happy with how my legs felt, and chose a fairly hard pace, intending to see how far I could take it. I made it to the top of an incline around mile 3 running at an identical pace with a woman from an earlier wave. I figured that I'd just pace along with her, but I could tell she was NOT having someone (or probably just me) running next to her. As we passed mile 4, I dropped her. I looked at my HRM to see a heart rate of 174,which is way higher than I've dared to hold pace at in the past, and I'm thinking "Forget this B race garbage, I'm going fast." And then she passed me like a bullet with about 1/2 mile to go. I had nothing left in the tank to counter with, but was able to finish strong.
I've never ran faster. And this is by far my best run pace ever, and it's by alot. My run is really coming together. My best pace to date was last weekend at 7:14/mile, and last season I never cracked 7:30/mile. Strangely enough, I'm getting pretty bad shin splints. I've all but stopped running in the last 3 weeks, and will be resorting to biking to stay in shape after my last race this season.
I ran into my friend & fierce AG competitor Ben at the finish line, and we chatted for a while. His excuse for me beating him is lack of training due to his 2-month-old, and we headed over to the results printer. I was #1 in my age group, and Ben was 3rd! Later on, after non-chalantly telling everyone everyone I saw that I won my age group, a repost showed that I was in 2nd place (d'oh)behind some guy with no run or swim split, and a bike split slower than mine, but ahead of me by 6 minutes---knocking Ben off the podium. A double whammy for poor Ben.
66/460 overall
2/21 age group
I got a place on the podium and a little plastic trophy.
Friday:
-Chris Rock Show with the gf.
-Drinks out late downtown.
Saturday:
-Mimosas over breakfast at the gf's house
-Wine afterwards
-Big time drama with the gf
-Go out for Martinis to talk things over. We were sitting on the patio during a huge rainstorm and were engaged in conversation enough to stay in our seats through the whole thing.
-"Cheers" and we tip up the martinis
-Go to noodles & company. Thankfully I could drive. The gf was blasted beyond belief.
-Drive back to her place.
-Nap
-Lay in bed, nap.
-Woke up at 10:45pm, drive home, pack, to bed around 12:00
Sunday
The alarm went off at 4:30am, I ate 2 yogurts, and was out the door at 5:15. I commuted and had my transition setup by 6:30. As always, FAST registration.
Although HOLT advertises as "MN Championship Race," and perennially brings people with their "A" game, I planned to treat this as a B race, and I wanted to go really hard on the bike, and see what happens with my run.
Swim: The lake was very foggy. You couldn't even see the far buoys. My red tint goggles need to go. Orange-turned-White buoys are not easy to see against a fog. Focus on gliding and reaching worked well. Looking back to see the entire wave behind me on glass water was cool. Going around the buoys was vicious as I ran into the wave(s) in front of me. I was out of the water first in my age group.
T1: 2:13 A long run to transition, and a long run to the mount line.
Bike: 23.6mph avg. I just hammered--sweat dripping, gel choking, rumblestrip weaving, 100+ cadence, "on your left" yelling, head-down-in-the-aeros-up-hills, spin-out-the-downhills hammering. I've never biked faster, even during a flat out TT. I'll thank getting into the gym and lifting some cycling-specific weights this week. I'm going to be lifting once per week through the remainder of the season to build strength.
T2: 2:13 run allllll the way to the back of transition, put on socks, slip on shoes, run alllll the way back out.
Run: 6:57/mile I remembered this course vividly from last year--it's longer than the posted 5 miles. There was some long inclines, and I wanted to charge them hard. I took my first half mile at a moderate pace, pretty happy with how my legs felt, and chose a fairly hard pace, intending to see how far I could take it. I made it to the top of an incline around mile 3 running at an identical pace with a woman from an earlier wave. I figured that I'd just pace along with her, but I could tell she was NOT having someone (or probably just me) running next to her. As we passed mile 4, I dropped her. I looked at my HRM to see a heart rate of 174,which is way higher than I've dared to hold pace at in the past, and I'm thinking "Forget this B race garbage, I'm going fast." And then she passed me like a bullet with about 1/2 mile to go. I had nothing left in the tank to counter with, but was able to finish strong.
I've never ran faster. And this is by far my best run pace ever, and it's by alot. My run is really coming together. My best pace to date was last weekend at 7:14/mile, and last season I never cracked 7:30/mile. Strangely enough, I'm getting pretty bad shin splints. I've all but stopped running in the last 3 weeks, and will be resorting to biking to stay in shape after my last race this season.
I ran into my friend & fierce AG competitor Ben at the finish line, and we chatted for a while. His excuse for me beating him is lack of training due to his 2-month-old, and we headed over to the results printer. I was #1 in my age group, and Ben was 3rd! Later on, after non-chalantly telling everyone everyone I saw that I won my age group, a repost showed that I was in 2nd place (d'oh)behind some guy with no run or swim split, and a bike split slower than mine, but ahead of me by 6 minutes---knocking Ben off the podium. A double whammy for poor Ben.
66/460 overall
2/21 age group
I got a place on the podium and a little plastic trophy.
Timberman 08 Race Report
Timberman is a tough race to get into. It's known for having a very scenic course and usually sells out in just a few days after opening for registration--in early January. I was on the waiting list and eventually got in.
I was able to find someone to carpool up with, a run/ski shop owner who's been doing ironman & triathlon since the early 80's. She's a pretty wild lady, so we had pretty cool conversation. We got rain the night before, and I had the best $6 all-you-can-eat pasta buffett in recent memory. I got to the hotel, got my race gear, and had a decent night of sleep.
The official water temperature was a cool 62F, but I found a pretty wide variety of temperature. There were bone chilling cold spots and a couple pretty temperate spots near the shore. It might be worth noting that the lake is pretty shallow in most places, and the places you might find yourself walking/ running have big rocks. Great to bash your toes on. At least they're smooth.
Swim: 20:27 (Not a full 1.5km) Whitecap waves almost as big as those at Waconia, but coming from a diagonal as opposed to head on. I took plenty of mouthfuls of water into the waves, and the swim back tossed me into the middle of the course. I later found out that a few of the top swimmers swam through the middle of the course on the wave-sheltered side of the boats on the course. Something to consider during the next wavy swim.
T1: 1:44 Smooth, no problems.
Bike: 21.4mph A course known for being hilly, we got a complement of wind in our face for what seemed like every direction. The inclines never semed to let up, but we did get to take one very long bomber of a downhill on both laps. Fun!!!! One section of the bike course had big bumps about every 20 feet, which made it really difficult to focus. Other than that, the road was very smoothe. Strangely enough, there was plenty of flats.
T2: 1:27 Slow dismount, I ran my bike down the wrong row, and since there was no spaces in between racks, I had to run all the way to the other end of transition and backtrack. Again, I struggled with my socks, and ran off. When I clipped my race number belt on, it fell off. I turned around to grab it, and the belt had pulled out of the clasp. So I tied it into a square knot.
Run: 7:14/mile The run was a 6 mile out&back half paved/half dirt, very little flat, but nothing too traumatic. I'm a little surprised by how quickly my legs are adapting to running after the bike--I was striding well within a quarter mile. Around mile 2, I was pretty sure an aid station was up ahead of me, so I had a gel, only to see spectators around the corner instead of a water, so I gagged for a half mile with goo in the back of my throat. A bottle of gatorade at the turn around was a little piece of heaven; I carried it for nearly a mile. About a 1.5 miles out, it started to get pretty painful, but strangely enough, I only saw my heart at 162. I picked up the pace despite feeling the ominous "wall" setting in. This was my best run pace ever.
Noteworthy Observation: For Olympic races, I generally keep a bottle of HEED, a bottle of concentrated Gatorade (from powder), and gels. I forgot to bring my powder along to the race, and there really wasn't an opportunity to get any gatorade, so I ended up just going with water on the bike. Along with my gels and a couple enduralytes, I raced pretty well going into the run. Who knows if I coulda went faster given my sweet, sweet gatorade.
Best story of the day: On the first lap of the bike, I was rounding the top of a hill to see one of the fast guys walking his bike. I asked him if he needed anything-- he was flatted, and had tubulars, so I really couldn't help him. That sucks-- but really, if you're gonna race, you ought to be able to handle a mechanical, no? Later on, I was about 3/4 through the run, I passed the guy going the other direction, and he was cheered me on and said something about relaxing my shoulders.
I thought, "surely he didn't walk his bike 15+miles....did someone help him?"
Apparently, some local guy was out for a leisurely bike ride, and the guy walking his bike talked him into swapping bikes. So he finished his bike leg on a mountain bike and clip-in sandals. What the local guy did with a tri bike+flat race wheels remains a mystery.
I was able to find someone to carpool up with, a run/ski shop owner who's been doing ironman & triathlon since the early 80's. She's a pretty wild lady, so we had pretty cool conversation. We got rain the night before, and I had the best $6 all-you-can-eat pasta buffett in recent memory. I got to the hotel, got my race gear, and had a decent night of sleep.
The official water temperature was a cool 62F, but I found a pretty wide variety of temperature. There were bone chilling cold spots and a couple pretty temperate spots near the shore. It might be worth noting that the lake is pretty shallow in most places, and the places you might find yourself walking/ running have big rocks. Great to bash your toes on. At least they're smooth.
Swim: 20:27 (Not a full 1.5km) Whitecap waves almost as big as those at Waconia, but coming from a diagonal as opposed to head on. I took plenty of mouthfuls of water into the waves, and the swim back tossed me into the middle of the course. I later found out that a few of the top swimmers swam through the middle of the course on the wave-sheltered side of the boats on the course. Something to consider during the next wavy swim.
T1: 1:44 Smooth, no problems.
Bike: 21.4mph A course known for being hilly, we got a complement of wind in our face for what seemed like every direction. The inclines never semed to let up, but we did get to take one very long bomber of a downhill on both laps. Fun!!!! One section of the bike course had big bumps about every 20 feet, which made it really difficult to focus. Other than that, the road was very smoothe. Strangely enough, there was plenty of flats.
T2: 1:27 Slow dismount, I ran my bike down the wrong row, and since there was no spaces in between racks, I had to run all the way to the other end of transition and backtrack. Again, I struggled with my socks, and ran off. When I clipped my race number belt on, it fell off. I turned around to grab it, and the belt had pulled out of the clasp. So I tied it into a square knot.
Run: 7:14/mile The run was a 6 mile out&back half paved/half dirt, very little flat, but nothing too traumatic. I'm a little surprised by how quickly my legs are adapting to running after the bike--I was striding well within a quarter mile. Around mile 2, I was pretty sure an aid station was up ahead of me, so I had a gel, only to see spectators around the corner instead of a water, so I gagged for a half mile with goo in the back of my throat. A bottle of gatorade at the turn around was a little piece of heaven; I carried it for nearly a mile. About a 1.5 miles out, it started to get pretty painful, but strangely enough, I only saw my heart at 162. I picked up the pace despite feeling the ominous "wall" setting in. This was my best run pace ever.
Noteworthy Observation: For Olympic races, I generally keep a bottle of HEED, a bottle of concentrated Gatorade (from powder), and gels. I forgot to bring my powder along to the race, and there really wasn't an opportunity to get any gatorade, so I ended up just going with water on the bike. Along with my gels and a couple enduralytes, I raced pretty well going into the run. Who knows if I coulda went faster given my sweet, sweet gatorade.
Best story of the day: On the first lap of the bike, I was rounding the top of a hill to see one of the fast guys walking his bike. I asked him if he needed anything-- he was flatted, and had tubulars, so I really couldn't help him. That sucks-- but really, if you're gonna race, you ought to be able to handle a mechanical, no? Later on, I was about 3/4 through the run, I passed the guy going the other direction, and he was cheered me on and said something about relaxing my shoulders.
I thought, "surely he didn't walk his bike 15+miles....did someone help him?"
Apparently, some local guy was out for a leisurely bike ride, and the guy walking his bike talked him into swapping bikes. So he finished his bike leg on a mountain bike and clip-in sandals. What the local guy did with a tri bike+flat race wheels remains a mystery.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Half Time Wreck to Half Iron
So I went out on Thursday to meet up with some friends for Hunk's mini-bachelor party. I ran into the group full swing at Billy's and later we all headed over to the Half Time Rec. We all ended up splitting pitchers, and it started to get late -- but nothing a little Red Bull Vodka can't handle, right?
Anyways, everyone was kicking off around 1:15am, and the idea of getting White Castle was introduced to the group. It did indeed seem like a good idea. 15 minutes later, I'm driving home with 4 sliders and a sack of deepfried onion peely things. To stem your fear, I was perfectly fine to drive--I seem to be pretty good at taking alcohol in moderation when I have to get myself home....but I was hungry.
I got home and wolfed down the food, and finally hit the deck at around 2:45am.
Around 5:30am on Friday my first alarm clock went off, and I decided that I wanted to die. My stomach distended with undigested disgustingness on top of a headache and sleep deprivation is not my idea of a livable condition.
I walked to the bathroom and puked.
Then I took an extra half hour getting ready for work. The day was horrendous. I only wanted it to end, and I had like 30 things to do after work--I got home finally around 7pm & had time for a half hour nap. Fortunately, the last thing was to enjoy a traditional pre-race meal of bruschetta, since I was racing the Liberty Half Iron Triathlon the next morning.
I made it to bed at 10:30p, and was at Baker park by 6:30am.
-----------------------------------
The Race
Swim. 31:41 I found another swimmer to draft off early, and although he tried to shake me a couple times, I held for a good 2/3 of the swim course--and was able to avoid some amount of zigzagging.
T1 1:56. A little below par for the course, but I decided due to the short runout to a tight turn & big hill that I would just put my shoes on in transition rather than have to put my shoes on while on the bike.
Bike: 21.3mph avg.
I'd ridden the course a couple times, and went out knowing that I had to take the bike leg with some amount of ease--I haven't had a computer on my bike since my Garmin decided to play in traffic, and just relied on my gut and my HRM. The course was challenging and last 6 miles would be painful, and I needed to run 13 miles afterwards. The road out to Hamel gave a slight tailwind, so I gave a solid effort when I had the wind advantage.
My CX & MTB'er readers would have gotten a fuzzy warm feeling to see how I handled the loose gravel road construction at the turn to Hunter. I figured it would be finished by raceday, but it was worse! Anways, I rode through on both laps barely dusting the brakes and dodged all the Zipp-clad folks precariously rolling through at 4mph. Ha! I never knew my rock garden skillz would help in a tri....
I dropped my chain on a steep hill--user error :oops: . I lost about 30 seconds for a foolishly timed shift. Yes -- Even DA isn't idiot-proof.
By the second lap, my back was pretty sore--not enough time on my TT bike apparently. I'll also be using different Tri shorts for anything longer than an olympic. The chamois on the team LG shorts has no utility...It doesn't provide any padding...something my clydesdale-calibur heinie desperately needs.
T2: 1:31 Not bad considering I forgot to put out my salt tabs, and I had to dig through my bag to get them.
Run: 8:27/mile, 1:50.35 I was passed by about 5 people in the first mile of the run -- my legs didn't want to do anything more than a half-assed scamper. But once I got the gummy out of my legs, I picked a pace and held it. I used all the aid stations, but I only completely stopped at a couple to slam down 3-4 cups of HEED & water in rapid succession. I tried a coke at the last aid station -- banking on a boost of caffiene, but it just made me nauseous. I crossed under CR19 and up the last incline, and I didn't break stride--one little goal I had for the run.
Over the run leg, I was passed by tons of runners, but I did reel a few back, and in the last mile, I was passed. I heard another guy coming in behind me, and ran down the wildly steep woodchip trail in pursuit of the guy who had passed me. When I saw the finishline, I gave a 100% effort and passed him in the chute, and held off my pursuer.
Finish: 5:03:40
Overall 46/255
Agegroup 6/17
Perspective: In my 25-29 agegroup, there were 17 competitors. Next year, I'll move up to the 30-34AG which had 37 competitors. The 35-39AG had 46.
I'm surprised by how well the race went for me. Despite yammering to everyone about how I haven't been meeting my training volumes, prolific wine and martini consumption & late nights out with my super-awesome girlfriend, I handily knocked down my season goal time (5:10) for a half ironman distance race. This is a vast improvement over my Pigman Half last year (5:27)
Anyways, everyone was kicking off around 1:15am, and the idea of getting White Castle was introduced to the group. It did indeed seem like a good idea. 15 minutes later, I'm driving home with 4 sliders and a sack of deepfried onion peely things. To stem your fear, I was perfectly fine to drive--I seem to be pretty good at taking alcohol in moderation when I have to get myself home....but I was hungry.
I got home and wolfed down the food, and finally hit the deck at around 2:45am.
Around 5:30am on Friday my first alarm clock went off, and I decided that I wanted to die. My stomach distended with undigested disgustingness on top of a headache and sleep deprivation is not my idea of a livable condition.
I walked to the bathroom and puked.
Then I took an extra half hour getting ready for work. The day was horrendous. I only wanted it to end, and I had like 30 things to do after work--I got home finally around 7pm & had time for a half hour nap. Fortunately, the last thing was to enjoy a traditional pre-race meal of bruschetta, since I was racing the Liberty Half Iron Triathlon the next morning.
I made it to bed at 10:30p, and was at Baker park by 6:30am.
-----------------------------------
The Race
Swim. 31:41 I found another swimmer to draft off early, and although he tried to shake me a couple times, I held for a good 2/3 of the swim course--and was able to avoid some amount of zigzagging.
T1 1:56. A little below par for the course, but I decided due to the short runout to a tight turn & big hill that I would just put my shoes on in transition rather than have to put my shoes on while on the bike.
Bike: 21.3mph avg.
I'd ridden the course a couple times, and went out knowing that I had to take the bike leg with some amount of ease--I haven't had a computer on my bike since my Garmin decided to play in traffic, and just relied on my gut and my HRM. The course was challenging and last 6 miles would be painful, and I needed to run 13 miles afterwards. The road out to Hamel gave a slight tailwind, so I gave a solid effort when I had the wind advantage.
My CX & MTB'er readers would have gotten a fuzzy warm feeling to see how I handled the loose gravel road construction at the turn to Hunter. I figured it would be finished by raceday, but it was worse! Anways, I rode through on both laps barely dusting the brakes and dodged all the Zipp-clad folks precariously rolling through at 4mph. Ha! I never knew my rock garden skillz would help in a tri....
I dropped my chain on a steep hill--user error :oops: . I lost about 30 seconds for a foolishly timed shift. Yes -- Even DA isn't idiot-proof.
By the second lap, my back was pretty sore--not enough time on my TT bike apparently. I'll also be using different Tri shorts for anything longer than an olympic. The chamois on the team LG shorts has no utility...It doesn't provide any padding...something my clydesdale-calibur heinie desperately needs.
T2: 1:31 Not bad considering I forgot to put out my salt tabs, and I had to dig through my bag to get them.
Run: 8:27/mile, 1:50.35 I was passed by about 5 people in the first mile of the run -- my legs didn't want to do anything more than a half-assed scamper. But once I got the gummy out of my legs, I picked a pace and held it. I used all the aid stations, but I only completely stopped at a couple to slam down 3-4 cups of HEED & water in rapid succession. I tried a coke at the last aid station -- banking on a boost of caffiene, but it just made me nauseous. I crossed under CR19 and up the last incline, and I didn't break stride--one little goal I had for the run.
Over the run leg, I was passed by tons of runners, but I did reel a few back, and in the last mile, I was passed. I heard another guy coming in behind me, and ran down the wildly steep woodchip trail in pursuit of the guy who had passed me. When I saw the finishline, I gave a 100% effort and passed him in the chute, and held off my pursuer.
Finish: 5:03:40
Overall 46/255
Agegroup 6/17
Perspective: In my 25-29 agegroup, there were 17 competitors. Next year, I'll move up to the 30-34AG which had 37 competitors. The 35-39AG had 46.
I'm surprised by how well the race went for me. Despite yammering to everyone about how I haven't been meeting my training volumes, prolific wine and martini consumption & late nights out with my super-awesome girlfriend, I handily knocked down my season goal time (5:10) for a half ironman distance race. This is a vast improvement over my Pigman Half last year (5:27)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Bismarck Tri Race Report.
I just finished my first race of the season.
It was a pretty small race since there's next to no tri scene in ND, but there was some pretty good competition available since the olympic distance was ND's best of the US qualifier. There were 11 olympic entrants and around 35 sprint entrants.
65F at the start. Partly cloudy with small sprinkly rain cells. Pretty bright when the sun was on you.
Swim.
course. The swim was in a marina off the Missouri River, which is damn cold runoff from MT's Rockies. I was surprised the water was 63 degrees.
I took my second swim ever in my new wetsuit, and it paid off, despite my incessant zigzagging on the course. I was shoulder to shoulder on the last 50meters with the woman who got the women's BOUS title later on. I completely forgot bodyglide, but I had no chafing from my '08 QR hydrofull.
~23 minutes for the 1.5km. 1:09min/100 according to the printout.
T1. Fast! I was second onto the bike course. ~30 seconds
Bike.
course: The oly bike was an out & back, and was half along the river flats, and half extending up into the Buttes lining the river. Decent road surface for the most part. Great ND scenery!
On the way out, I was flying--but the top woman screamed past me in a matter of minutes. I don't know how fast I was going since I don't have a computer on my Cervelo right now, but I was spinning out on my 53x11 going down some of the hills. I was met with 12-19mph headwinds at the turnaround, and saw about 4 cyclists within about 1/2 mile. It seemed like there was more uphill on the way back and that coupled with the wind was murder. I ended up gapping the other cyclists. 21.5 mph ave(I think)
T2. I struggled with my socks, so I was a little below par. ~1 minute
Run.
course:Flat as a pancake around the marina. Lots of big houses under construction. Should be really scenic in years to come.
I was hoping for a better time than I got since I've been doing more running than in the past, but I'm going to blame my time on a lack of training in the last few weeks coupled by a simultaneous abundance of red wine. The first mile was tough as usual, and I felt slow until I passed the second aid station, at which point 2 guys passed me. After I passed the turnaround, I pushed my pace after getting passed by a 3rd guy. There was alot of people cheering at the finish.
7:37min/mile. (the guy who won did 5:48/mile)
Finish
6/11 overall
2:23:??
1st in the 19-29 age group-- I got a coffee mug and a pair of socks!
Malfunctions:
My neck was shellacked with 50SPF, but I got cooked anyways. I thought my dork helmet might help prevent that, but I guess not.
Wardrobe. Despite fitting properly, my jersey's zipper compressed down under my wetsuit, and left a nice sore in the middle of my chest. I was also "adjusting" some "essential equipment" since my tri shorts aren't so comfortable, and I think I gave a cyclist going the opposite direction a "nice" view.
I hit one spot of roadpatch that must've been warmed pretty well, and my clydesdale heinie pushed the rear wheel into the tar. My frame cutout & rear brake are covered in tar. Looks great on a white bike. Or not. :(
It was a pretty small race since there's next to no tri scene in ND, but there was some pretty good competition available since the olympic distance was ND's best of the US qualifier. There were 11 olympic entrants and around 35 sprint entrants.
65F at the start. Partly cloudy with small sprinkly rain cells. Pretty bright when the sun was on you.
Swim.
course. The swim was in a marina off the Missouri River, which is damn cold runoff from MT's Rockies. I was surprised the water was 63 degrees.
I took my second swim ever in my new wetsuit, and it paid off, despite my incessant zigzagging on the course. I was shoulder to shoulder on the last 50meters with the woman who got the women's BOUS title later on. I completely forgot bodyglide, but I had no chafing from my '08 QR hydrofull.
~23 minutes for the 1.5km. 1:09min/100 according to the printout.
T1. Fast! I was second onto the bike course. ~30 seconds
Bike.
course: The oly bike was an out & back, and was half along the river flats, and half extending up into the Buttes lining the river. Decent road surface for the most part. Great ND scenery!
On the way out, I was flying--but the top woman screamed past me in a matter of minutes. I don't know how fast I was going since I don't have a computer on my Cervelo right now, but I was spinning out on my 53x11 going down some of the hills. I was met with 12-19mph headwinds at the turnaround, and saw about 4 cyclists within about 1/2 mile. It seemed like there was more uphill on the way back and that coupled with the wind was murder. I ended up gapping the other cyclists. 21.5 mph ave(I think)
T2. I struggled with my socks, so I was a little below par. ~1 minute
Run.
course:Flat as a pancake around the marina. Lots of big houses under construction. Should be really scenic in years to come.
I was hoping for a better time than I got since I've been doing more running than in the past, but I'm going to blame my time on a lack of training in the last few weeks coupled by a simultaneous abundance of red wine. The first mile was tough as usual, and I felt slow until I passed the second aid station, at which point 2 guys passed me. After I passed the turnaround, I pushed my pace after getting passed by a 3rd guy. There was alot of people cheering at the finish.
7:37min/mile. (the guy who won did 5:48/mile)
Finish
6/11 overall
2:23:??
1st in the 19-29 age group-- I got a coffee mug and a pair of socks!
Malfunctions:
My neck was shellacked with 50SPF, but I got cooked anyways. I thought my dork helmet might help prevent that, but I guess not.
Wardrobe. Despite fitting properly, my jersey's zipper compressed down under my wetsuit, and left a nice sore in the middle of my chest. I was also "adjusting" some "essential equipment" since my tri shorts aren't so comfortable, and I think I gave a cyclist going the opposite direction a "nice" view.
I hit one spot of roadpatch that must've been warmed pretty well, and my clydesdale heinie pushed the rear wheel into the tar. My frame cutout & rear brake are covered in tar. Looks great on a white bike. Or not. :(
Monday, May 19, 2008
One of my favorite things....
Here's one thing that's just the best in my opinion:
Hopping into an empty lane at the pool with glass-like water, slinking down underwater and pushing off the wall into a tight streamline with my back facing the bottom and dolphin kicking.
My favorite thing is to see my transparent reflection coming back from the water's surface, me kicking, and watching that reflection slowly start to distort as my kicks displace water on the surface.
Kick, kick, kick...getting hypoxic. Kick to the surface and take a lungfull of air. Another thing to really appreciate.
It's something you'll have to try. It's been a simple pleasure of mine for going on 2 decades.
Hopping into an empty lane at the pool with glass-like water, slinking down underwater and pushing off the wall into a tight streamline with my back facing the bottom and dolphin kicking.
My favorite thing is to see my transparent reflection coming back from the water's surface, me kicking, and watching that reflection slowly start to distort as my kicks displace water on the surface.
Kick, kick, kick...getting hypoxic. Kick to the surface and take a lungfull of air. Another thing to really appreciate.
It's something you'll have to try. It's been a simple pleasure of mine for going on 2 decades.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Rules of the Road for Cyclists
Nonessential Preface: So the (awesome) new girl I'm dating lives in this house near the river. I like riding my Trek & Cervelo along the river when I'm taking shorter "round the city" rides...but this morning, on our way to breakfast there was a trillion cyclists out on the river road and I wanted to puke at some of the antics.
Bike riders, Here are your new rules.
You can thank stupid cyclists for this post.
All Bicyclists
1. Wear a helmet. I don't care if you're Lance Armstrong, or you're barely rolling along on your hybrid.
2. Pay attention! All the time! Know where cars are, where other cyclists are, and what on the road will crash you. THIS SHOULD BE INTUITIVE.
3. Don't draft a stranger.(exception-during a road race) This is acutely rude. We are not on a bike team, we are not racing, I don't know you or trust you, and we aren't buddies. Get off my f*cking wheel.
4. Shave your goddamn legs or at least trim once in a while. Chewbacca legs say 2 things: a) You are a slow newb or you don't know what you're doing, b) Guh- roasss!
5. Don't ride with your knees pointed outward. It makes me want to slap you. (and it's going to blow out your cartilage)
6. Don't blow stop signs/stoplights where there's actually traffic. If I was a cop, I would ticket you.
7. Don't you dare try racing on a bike path.
Recreational Cyclists
If your 'road bike' has flat(straight) handlebars or has a suspension fork, and you nearly sit upright on your bike, this applies to you.
8.Bike paths were made specifically for you. Avoid riding on streets whenever you can. If you had somewhere to be, you wouldn't be on a hybrid now, would you? Seriously....I run faster than some of you.
9. Do not ride abreast on the street. Especially if its busy. Don't be surprised if a car hits you.
10. Pay attention to other cyclists and their speed relative to yours. Just because your bike doesn't break 15mph, doesn't mean that I won't be passing your at 35mph.
11. Don't you dare entertain the idea that you can keep up with traffic. Sorry for your bike envy, but that hybrid purchase is your fault, not mine.
12. I'm amazed by some of your egos. Your hybrid bike with the disc brakes, slick 26x1.75" tires, suspension fork, kickstand, platform pedals, and all the other shit you have hanging off of it is the object of my laughter behind your back.
13. I'm a nice guy, but don't try to talk bikes with a racer unless you know what 185bpm feels like.
Fixie/Singlespeed Hipsters & Messengers
14. Wear a Helmet! I say this again because I see you fuckers without them all the time. I don't care if your long snarly haircut gets messy. It looks like you have a large rodent on your head anyways.
15. Do not buzz pedestrians. I'm going to stick my elbow out next time you do this, and your non-helmeted head is going to splat on the pavement. You will look like roadkill.
16. Your fixed gear elitism/geared bike scoffing is stupid and the irony entailed is making me laugh under my breath. Are you serious? Don't kid yourself--I know riding a fixed gear is tough, but racers can pump out the same watts on fixies too. (hint: lots of us winter train on fixed gear spin bikes)
Triathletes
17. Do NOT draft while in your aeros--anyone, anywhere, anytime.(exception--TTT) Try it out if you want to know what it feels like to cartwheel your bike while your feet are clipped in.
18. Aero helmets are for racing ONLY. Wearing one at any other time makes you look like *literally and figuratively* a total douchenozzle to anyone on the planet except for those OCD triathletes who post on the slowtwitch forums.(exception--practicing your transitions early in the morning)
19. Tri tops & tri shorts are for racing or brick sets --that's it. Wear sleeved jerseys when you aren't going to be breaking into a run immediately afterwards. Sleeveless bike jerseys look creepy, (exception--you're a hot chick) and you're gonna look like a burn victim wrapped in bacon if you wipe out.
Roadies.
20. Stay off the bike paths unless you're taking it really easy. 20mph+ and/or pacelines and recreational cyclists is a recipe for a wreck.
21. Racing cars is total masturbation. Motorists don't give a shit about you or your bike. You won't make them appreciate you--they're probably too dumb to understand.
22. Get a normal jersey, will ya? Those Pink floyd/Zeppelin/Art jerseys say "too poor to buy a corvette during my mid-life crisis" like nothing else.
Mountain bikers:
23. If you look like delinquent teenage criminal, expect the cops to treat you like one. Lose the ear lobe plugs and nasal septum piercings.
24. Smoking Cigarettes says one thing: "I suck at riding bikes." Expect to be scoffed at as we all pwn you on the singletrack.
Commuters
Really, you guys aren't too bad. I have no beefs unless you fit into another category.
Bike riders, Here are your new rules.
You can thank stupid cyclists for this post.
All Bicyclists
1. Wear a helmet. I don't care if you're Lance Armstrong, or you're barely rolling along on your hybrid.
2. Pay attention! All the time! Know where cars are, where other cyclists are, and what on the road will crash you. THIS SHOULD BE INTUITIVE.
3. Don't draft a stranger.(exception-during a road race) This is acutely rude. We are not on a bike team, we are not racing, I don't know you or trust you, and we aren't buddies. Get off my f*cking wheel.
4. Shave your goddamn legs or at least trim once in a while. Chewbacca legs say 2 things: a) You are a slow newb or you don't know what you're doing, b) Guh- roasss!
5. Don't ride with your knees pointed outward. It makes me want to slap you. (and it's going to blow out your cartilage)
6. Don't blow stop signs/stoplights where there's actually traffic. If I was a cop, I would ticket you.
7. Don't you dare try racing on a bike path.
Recreational Cyclists
If your 'road bike' has flat(straight) handlebars or has a suspension fork, and you nearly sit upright on your bike, this applies to you.
8.Bike paths were made specifically for you. Avoid riding on streets whenever you can. If you had somewhere to be, you wouldn't be on a hybrid now, would you? Seriously....I run faster than some of you.
9. Do not ride abreast on the street. Especially if its busy. Don't be surprised if a car hits you.
10. Pay attention to other cyclists and their speed relative to yours. Just because your bike doesn't break 15mph, doesn't mean that I won't be passing your at 35mph.
11. Don't you dare entertain the idea that you can keep up with traffic. Sorry for your bike envy, but that hybrid purchase is your fault, not mine.
12. I'm amazed by some of your egos. Your hybrid bike with the disc brakes, slick 26x1.75" tires, suspension fork, kickstand, platform pedals, and all the other shit you have hanging off of it is the object of my laughter behind your back.
13. I'm a nice guy, but don't try to talk bikes with a racer unless you know what 185bpm feels like.
Fixie/Singlespeed Hipsters & Messengers
14. Wear a Helmet! I say this again because I see you fuckers without them all the time. I don't care if your long snarly haircut gets messy. It looks like you have a large rodent on your head anyways.
15. Do not buzz pedestrians. I'm going to stick my elbow out next time you do this, and your non-helmeted head is going to splat on the pavement. You will look like roadkill.
16. Your fixed gear elitism/geared bike scoffing is stupid and the irony entailed is making me laugh under my breath. Are you serious? Don't kid yourself--I know riding a fixed gear is tough, but racers can pump out the same watts on fixies too. (hint: lots of us winter train on fixed gear spin bikes)
Triathletes
17. Do NOT draft while in your aeros--anyone, anywhere, anytime.(exception--TTT) Try it out if you want to know what it feels like to cartwheel your bike while your feet are clipped in.
18. Aero helmets are for racing ONLY. Wearing one at any other time makes you look like *literally and figuratively* a total douchenozzle to anyone on the planet except for those OCD triathletes who post on the slowtwitch forums.(exception--practicing your transitions early in the morning)
19. Tri tops & tri shorts are for racing or brick sets --that's it. Wear sleeved jerseys when you aren't going to be breaking into a run immediately afterwards. Sleeveless bike jerseys look creepy, (exception--you're a hot chick) and you're gonna look like a burn victim wrapped in bacon if you wipe out.
Roadies.
20. Stay off the bike paths unless you're taking it really easy. 20mph+ and/or pacelines and recreational cyclists is a recipe for a wreck.
21. Racing cars is total masturbation. Motorists don't give a shit about you or your bike. You won't make them appreciate you--they're probably too dumb to understand.
22. Get a normal jersey, will ya? Those Pink floyd/Zeppelin/Art jerseys say "too poor to buy a corvette during my mid-life crisis" like nothing else.
Mountain bikers:
23. If you look like delinquent teenage criminal, expect the cops to treat you like one. Lose the ear lobe plugs and nasal septum piercings.
24. Smoking Cigarettes says one thing: "I suck at riding bikes." Expect to be scoffed at as we all pwn you on the singletrack.
Commuters
Really, you guys aren't too bad. I have no beefs unless you fit into another category.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Holy Crap this pissed me off.
Watch this.
I felt compelled to write, even though there were many well written pieces from cyclists covering many of my initial arguments. As a supplement, here's what I wrote.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple things that have not been touched on:
Miffed that cyclists don't pay taxes? You can thank your heavy vehicles(and sometimes frost) that we cyclists have to dodge potholes on 23mm wide tires. The rule of thumb that Civil Engineers used when designing roads is that damage is proportional to the vehicle's gross weight per axle, raised to 4th power. That means that even the heaviest cyclist accounts for a negligible amount of road wear in comparison to the lightest Honda Civic. Those of you who have heavy SUV's & such pay roughly the same in taxes that the civic driver does. What gives? Pay for your damage!
Also keep in mind that it is your right to ride a bicycle, while driving your beloved car/truck is a privilege. Even if you've bought a car, kept it in good maintenance, registered your vehicle in the state, purchased insurance, and have a driver's license, your ability to drive on the state's roadways can be taken from you by a court. None of those things listed above are required by MN statute 169.222 (except good maintenance), and I have never heard of someone ever getting their right to ride a bicycle taken from them (unless they've been killed)--with exception to those suggestions I've read here. I'm American and I love freedom. I have a right to ride a bicycle and I exercise it. Hey--try some freedom on and see how it fits. Free yourself from the gridlock!
I'm also human, and I make mistakes. My driver's ed instructor told me that a good driver makes a mistake about once a minute. Motorists, I've driven in rush hour traffic probably just as much as you have. I know how frustrating it is. You're tired, you're cranky, you just want to get home after a hard day of work, you just paid your $400 car payment, you just paid an arm & a leg for North Dakotan oil that somehow is $3.52/ gallon because of uprisings in Nigeria, and some jerk in another car cut you off. I'm sorry I was dodging a pothole and you had to slow down to 20mph.
I don't condone riding through stop signs/lights. I'd also argue that many people observed in this video are hardly serious cyclists. I noticed most of them wearing cotton and some wearing music players while riding--telltale signs of those who ride infrequently and thus have little experience and knowledge about how to be courteous on the road and responsible cyclists. Ticket them.
By the way, motorists, you should thank me. Every time I ride my bicycle, I'm one less car at the crosstown, I'm 2 less gallons of gas burnt (thus decreasing the demand and theoretically the price), I'm healthier and will statistically be less likely to consume heath care costs that the state or my employer would otherwise assume. I'm also happier--both because exercise promotes mental health, and I have a good excuse to enjoy a beer afterwards with friends.
I felt compelled to write, even though there were many well written pieces from cyclists covering many of my initial arguments. As a supplement, here's what I wrote.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple things that have not been touched on:
Miffed that cyclists don't pay taxes? You can thank your heavy vehicles(and sometimes frost) that we cyclists have to dodge potholes on 23mm wide tires. The rule of thumb that Civil Engineers used when designing roads is that damage is proportional to the vehicle's gross weight per axle, raised to 4th power. That means that even the heaviest cyclist accounts for a negligible amount of road wear in comparison to the lightest Honda Civic. Those of you who have heavy SUV's & such pay roughly the same in taxes that the civic driver does. What gives? Pay for your damage!
Also keep in mind that it is your right to ride a bicycle, while driving your beloved car/truck is a privilege. Even if you've bought a car, kept it in good maintenance, registered your vehicle in the state, purchased insurance, and have a driver's license, your ability to drive on the state's roadways can be taken from you by a court. None of those things listed above are required by MN statute 169.222 (except good maintenance), and I have never heard of someone ever getting their right to ride a bicycle taken from them (unless they've been killed)--with exception to those suggestions I've read here. I'm American and I love freedom. I have a right to ride a bicycle and I exercise it. Hey--try some freedom on and see how it fits. Free yourself from the gridlock!
I'm also human, and I make mistakes. My driver's ed instructor told me that a good driver makes a mistake about once a minute. Motorists, I've driven in rush hour traffic probably just as much as you have. I know how frustrating it is. You're tired, you're cranky, you just want to get home after a hard day of work, you just paid your $400 car payment, you just paid an arm & a leg for North Dakotan oil that somehow is $3.52/ gallon because of uprisings in Nigeria, and some jerk in another car cut you off. I'm sorry I was dodging a pothole and you had to slow down to 20mph.
I don't condone riding through stop signs/lights. I'd also argue that many people observed in this video are hardly serious cyclists. I noticed most of them wearing cotton and some wearing music players while riding--telltale signs of those who ride infrequently and thus have little experience and knowledge about how to be courteous on the road and responsible cyclists. Ticket them.
By the way, motorists, you should thank me. Every time I ride my bicycle, I'm one less car at the crosstown, I'm 2 less gallons of gas burnt (thus decreasing the demand and theoretically the price), I'm healthier and will statistically be less likely to consume heath care costs that the state or my employer would otherwise assume. I'm also happier--both because exercise promotes mental health, and I have a good excuse to enjoy a beer afterwards with friends.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ugh...Not more of this Shit.
I feel like my commentary below has a very pugnacious Bill O'Reilly-esque tone, which makes me feel really uneasy, given that Bill O'Reilly is a mouthpiece for some of the most detestable people on the planet, and is a d-bag of global proportion.
Recently, I saw that there is a new local women's(only) triathlon put on by the YWCA. This is in addition to the Irongirl races, a nationwide set of women only runs, duathlons, and tris. (IronGirl specifically supports the Ullman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.) As far as I can tell, there is no charitable pursuit for the YWCA race other than the fact it will probably profit the YWCA and it's race directors.
Let me set things straight right away. I am wholly in support of gender equality. I am in full support of breast cancer research & research for other forms of female gender specific diseases that these races benefit. You will meet few men who defend reproductive rights more fiercely.
Believe me, as hormone-saturated 20-something male, I have a vested interest to save the tata's.
On to the commentary......
The YWCA's mantra is "Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women." Huh. Interesting. You're going to do that by widening the gender gap??
I understand that women feel the need for celebration of your womanhood, but please....do that with your ya-ya sisterhood-type peer group. Having a womens-only race gives makes me feel like this is Augusta National Golf course on the opposite side of the scale. I don't support such Men's only clubs, and I should expect some serious outrage if I organized a men's only triathlon.
Along a similar line, I understand the Curves for Women model, that some women feel intimidated being around other fit people or even sketchy Bill O'Reilly types at the gym. But this case is different--in order to compete in your ~2.5 hour triathlon, you're going to need to spend at least 20 times that training.....at the beach, the pool, on the road/bikepath/spin class, and the running trail/public sidewalks/gym treadmill, etc. To be succinct--you're going to have to try damn hard in order to pull all of that off in a man-free environment.
You're going to empower women by placing them in a women only environment? I simply fail to see the logic. So much for the empowerment. Who's going to witness all this power? If a tree falls in the woods but nobody is around to hear, does it make a sound? Get my drift? This all sounds to me like preaching to the choir, beating a dead horse, spinning tires, and (tee hee)running in circles.
By all means, HAVE a race to support YWCA's causes. I don't care if you make every man & woman wear pink spandex....as long as EVERYONE is allowed to participate.
In all honesty, I personally wouldn't give a shit if there was one unisex bathroom in all public places. Although I do appreciate the short lines, I would see this as a step towards gender equality. All women reading this are saying, "Uh, YUCK!" in utter revulsion----to which I reply, "DOUBLE STANDARD!" You want equality but still insist on playing the "separate but equal" game. The courts ruled that separation does not equal equality among races, and I believe the same holds true for gender. Until then, I'll appreciate the extra 15% pay.
Recently, I saw that there is a new local women's(only) triathlon put on by the YWCA. This is in addition to the Irongirl races, a nationwide set of women only runs, duathlons, and tris. (IronGirl specifically supports the Ullman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.) As far as I can tell, there is no charitable pursuit for the YWCA race other than the fact it will probably profit the YWCA and it's race directors.
Let me set things straight right away. I am wholly in support of gender equality. I am in full support of breast cancer research & research for other forms of female gender specific diseases that these races benefit. You will meet few men who defend reproductive rights more fiercely.
Believe me, as hormone-saturated 20-something male, I have a vested interest to save the tata's.
On to the commentary......
The YWCA's mantra is "Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women." Huh. Interesting. You're going to do that by widening the gender gap??
I understand that women feel the need for celebration of your womanhood, but please....do that with your ya-ya sisterhood-type peer group. Having a womens-only race gives makes me feel like this is Augusta National Golf course on the opposite side of the scale. I don't support such Men's only clubs, and I should expect some serious outrage if I organized a men's only triathlon.
Along a similar line, I understand the Curves for Women model, that some women feel intimidated being around other fit people or even sketchy Bill O'Reilly types at the gym. But this case is different--in order to compete in your ~2.5 hour triathlon, you're going to need to spend at least 20 times that training.....at the beach, the pool, on the road/bikepath/spin class, and the running trail/public sidewalks/gym treadmill, etc. To be succinct--you're going to have to try damn hard in order to pull all of that off in a man-free environment.
You're going to empower women by placing them in a women only environment? I simply fail to see the logic. So much for the empowerment. Who's going to witness all this power? If a tree falls in the woods but nobody is around to hear, does it make a sound? Get my drift? This all sounds to me like preaching to the choir, beating a dead horse, spinning tires, and (tee hee)running in circles.
By all means, HAVE a race to support YWCA's causes. I don't care if you make every man & woman wear pink spandex....as long as EVERYONE is allowed to participate.
In all honesty, I personally wouldn't give a shit if there was one unisex bathroom in all public places. Although I do appreciate the short lines, I would see this as a step towards gender equality. All women reading this are saying, "Uh, YUCK!" in utter revulsion----to which I reply, "DOUBLE STANDARD!" You want equality but still insist on playing the "separate but equal" game. The courts ruled that separation does not equal equality among races, and I believe the same holds true for gender. Until then, I'll appreciate the extra 15% pay.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Base Training is over
Yesterday, after a long 2 hour bike followed by a 30 minute treadmill run, base training officially concluded for the first half of my tri season.
Today, I felt a little stiff, and in lieu of an hour run with some pickups, I did some lifting. To warm up however, I hopped on the treadmill, and after getting the blood moving, I "pushed on the throttle" a bit, and took the treadmill up fast.
It felt good. Even more encouraging was how effortless the speed I was at, ~8.5mph, felt. That's way faster than last year's best pace.
I thought all that base stuff was a waste of time, but maybe that guy who wrote Triathlete's Training Bible knows what he's talking about. We'll see, I guess.
I hope he's right, because I really don't want all those miles I ran around town at a ridiculously slow pace to be a waste of time.
Today, I felt a little stiff, and in lieu of an hour run with some pickups, I did some lifting. To warm up however, I hopped on the treadmill, and after getting the blood moving, I "pushed on the throttle" a bit, and took the treadmill up fast.
It felt good. Even more encouraging was how effortless the speed I was at, ~8.5mph, felt. That's way faster than last year's best pace.
I thought all that base stuff was a waste of time, but maybe that guy who wrote Triathlete's Training Bible knows what he's talking about. We'll see, I guess.
I hope he's right, because I really don't want all those miles I ran around town at a ridiculously slow pace to be a waste of time.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Base Training
This Base Training is sheer drudgery.
Last week I put in 9 training hours, this week 10 hours. My training plan for the week ahead calls for 12 hours.
And it's all Zone 2 & Zone 3 Heart Rates.
For me, that's between 148 & 111 BPM. To put it another way, this really doesn't feel like working out. Masturbation feels more aerobic than this, for crying out loud.
How in the world did I actually come to plan this? I've been voraciously reading about Tri training -- The Triathlete's Training Bible, training sections in tri magazines, articles in my weekly mailer from Active.com, and even XC ski training articles. From all this gained knowledge, I've crafted a plan that will take me to the Liberty Half Iron & beyond.
In the past, I've never felt like I'd be getting a good training session in unless the intensity was at or above the "I kinda wanna puke right now" level. I've always been the guy at the front of the pack at the Wednesday night rides pushing the pace, sprinting up hills, and being told, "do you think we can keep it under 25mph?, gasp, gasp."
I've now learned that an early base training *at low intensity* has a very specific purpose. Low intensity training allows you to work exclusively in your aerobic zones, thus making your aerobic motors more efficient. This can also have the effect of increasing your lactate threshold--the point at which your body switches from using Oxygen as a primary fuel and switches over to sugars & carbohydrates--producing lactic acid---the chemical that makes your muscles burn. Incidentally, it's also what they consume at this intensity.
After you build a training base, you can then build & peak, pushing your body above the lactic threshold, and teach you anaerobic system to handle this lactic acid more efficiently, and allow you to push harder & faster with greater ease.
Joe Friel's Training bible is the most renouned work on triathlon training, and it's only a fraction of his catalog. He also has a blog.
Last week I put in 9 training hours, this week 10 hours. My training plan for the week ahead calls for 12 hours.
And it's all Zone 2 & Zone 3 Heart Rates.
For me, that's between 148 & 111 BPM. To put it another way, this really doesn't feel like working out. Masturbation feels more aerobic than this, for crying out loud.
How in the world did I actually come to plan this? I've been voraciously reading about Tri training -- The Triathlete's Training Bible, training sections in tri magazines, articles in my weekly mailer from Active.com, and even XC ski training articles. From all this gained knowledge, I've crafted a plan that will take me to the Liberty Half Iron & beyond.
In the past, I've never felt like I'd be getting a good training session in unless the intensity was at or above the "I kinda wanna puke right now" level. I've always been the guy at the front of the pack at the Wednesday night rides pushing the pace, sprinting up hills, and being told, "do you think we can keep it under 25mph?, gasp, gasp."
I've now learned that an early base training *at low intensity* has a very specific purpose. Low intensity training allows you to work exclusively in your aerobic zones, thus making your aerobic motors more efficient. This can also have the effect of increasing your lactate threshold--the point at which your body switches from using Oxygen as a primary fuel and switches over to sugars & carbohydrates--producing lactic acid---the chemical that makes your muscles burn. Incidentally, it's also what they consume at this intensity.
After you build a training base, you can then build & peak, pushing your body above the lactic threshold, and teach you anaerobic system to handle this lactic acid more efficiently, and allow you to push harder & faster with greater ease.
Joe Friel's Training bible is the most renouned work on triathlon training, and it's only a fraction of his catalog. He also has a blog.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What I'm doing this summer.
So I'm signed up for just about all the races I'm doing this summer. Base Training has started as of last week. I put in 8 hours, and am hoping to get in 10 this week.
Here's the schedule:
6/8 Bismarck Triathlon (Olympic) -- This is directed by an old HS swim coach, and is a tuneup for the Liberty. I'd like to place top 10.
6/14 Liberty Half Iron goal 5:10
6/28 --volunteering @ the BWood road race.
6/29 Waconia triathlon
7/5 Spectate Minneman. Or go hiking @ the North Shore.
7/12 Timberman (long)
7/20 Heart of the Lakes (long)
7/26 ---Wedding in Montana.
8/3 Brewhouse (long)
8/9 Turtleman (long) Goal: average 24mph or faster on the bike.
9/6 Burrito Union 10 Hour Tri (imperialist relay)
I'm shooting for top 3 in my age group in the Midwest Multisport series.
I'll throw in an MNSCS race or two here & there to mix things up--and I'm moving up to sport class. Likely Races:
5/11 Eriks Spring Cup
6/22 Dirt Spanker. Or Hiking @ the North Shore.
8/24 Border Battle
I may swap the Manitou sprint for the Bismarck race -- we'll see.
Here's the schedule:
6/8 Bismarck Triathlon (Olympic) -- This is directed by an old HS swim coach, and is a tuneup for the Liberty. I'd like to place top 10.
6/14 Liberty Half Iron goal 5:10
6/28 --volunteering @ the BWood road race.
6/29 Waconia triathlon
7/5 Spectate Minneman. Or go hiking @ the North Shore.
7/12 Timberman (long)
7/20 Heart of the Lakes (long)
7/26 ---Wedding in Montana.
8/3 Brewhouse (long)
8/9 Turtleman (long) Goal: average 24mph or faster on the bike.
9/6 Burrito Union 10 Hour Tri (imperialist relay)
I'm shooting for top 3 in my age group in the Midwest Multisport series.
I'll throw in an MNSCS race or two here & there to mix things up--and I'm moving up to sport class. Likely Races:
5/11 Eriks Spring Cup
6/22 Dirt Spanker. Or Hiking @ the North Shore.
8/24 Border Battle
I may swap the Manitou sprint for the Bismarck race -- we'll see.
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