Race Report

Langley Pond Sprint
4-24-2010

Went to this one hoping to at least get a top five and collect some good points. Good competition down there today. Temperature was great even a little warm at 4:45 a.m. when I left.

I got all signed in and set up by 7 and still had an hour to warm up. Ran about a mile and rode the "hill" with Wes. I knew this was going to be a fast ride, I was feeling really good with all the rest this week.

Swim was great, took a minute off last years time and like always probably did not go hard enough. I focused on a song and maintaining a steady consistent stroke and made sure I was pulling hard the entire time. Shoulders starting burning about midway but no big deal. Drafted here and there and passed a few people. I was barley breathing hard when I got out at the dock but I am still just very slow. 23rd fastest swim. There is a long 200 or more yard run to the transition (seems like 400!)and I passed 6 or 7 people right here. No idea which race, the sprint or the international, they were doing but I was damn near at full 100% effort with the wet suite on. No problems in T1 and as I was running out I saw Wes just ahead turning left and he was about 20 seconds ahead, I was going to catch him though he would never agree with that. I had the 2nd fastest T1 time out of the everyone in both races. The only one to beat was the overall winner of the International and thought I was slow getting out of the wetstuit so I am happy with that. Lots more work to do in the water. 3-5 hours a week is getting it done but its just so slow in coming.

I was flying down the first mile segment and about to turn left and then a quick right. It had just started to rain (or at least the roads were wet) and as I went into the turn the back wheel gave way and went around. I slid all the way across the road on my left side and right in front of a high patrolman who had to jump out of the way. Quickly, I was right back up and tried to continue. I ran with the bike and tried to hope back on but I had no idea the left wing on the aero bar was cracked and when I put weight on it, it broke and down I went again. That was it. I just called it right there and I don't think the highway patrolman was going to let me go anyway. My left side is completely raw but no major damage and the bike is already getting worked on and the new aero bars are ordered.

I was running too much pressure for the roads and just did not think about it before hand. Need more grip when its wet or forcasted for wet conditions. I also went into that corner way too fast with wet roads. This is always the most dangerous part of slick roads and the initial water mixes with the gas/oil and other chemicals on the road before getting washed off. Just stupid on my part but man was I flying. I had already hit over 30mph on the first mile according to the SRM data. After a visit to the ambulance I packed up, watched my buddies finish and came on home.

Several other folks crashed as well. No points today and I won't speculate where I could have finished overall but in my opinion the only person that would have had a better time on the bike was Nick Bruson. Chuck Heirs and another dude had great times and I know I can stay with Chuck. Tripp and Wes also had a darn good times. Good stuff!! Props goes to all my buddies for good finishes. It was interesting watching a short one for once.

The bike has undergone surgery and is already waiting on her new aerobars that will be here Tuesday. Racing again next week in Charlestown and spending the weekend in HB's condo. Back to the park tomorrow for a long run and a climb up the sand monster. Already took an ice bath and went thru a whole tube of neosporine.

Racing on!

Race Report

Coastal Carolina Triathlon

4/17/2010

Very fun and fast place. No hills and a quick swim. That's what I like, going fast and no climbing. Only about 90 people down there so the only reason I wanted to go was to get an overall win and work on the sub 20 minute 5k off the bike because of the flat run. One guy beat me by 8 seconds, the same guy I beat by 4 seconds at Parris Island. He's a much younger dude and can REALLY swim. He had the 3rd fastest overall swim at Parris Island and 1st overall swim this past weekend. We will race again Sat morning but with the longer distance of 750 and the brutal climb I will not be able to make up much ground but that's why we do these things.

Coastal Swim was perfect, no traffic ever, good flip turns under under the ropes - just NO problems - finally. With the run to the mats which was about 30-40 seconds I was right on my projected time of 4:50's. Slow but that's just me. Bike was great and I posted the fastest split of the day which was another goal. Run was great and had negative splits for each mile, again - another goal. However, it was way long by almost a quarter of a freaking mile making the final sprint at 3.0 brutal. I was dying - Why can't they get this right??????? Anyway I would not have gotten the sub 20 if if were right on. I think I would have been at a 20:18 or 20:20 or something like that. Man, I felt good on that run too, I had no idea how far that guy was in front of me but I knew I was catching him on both the bike and the run. Had a blast - He got a $50 gift certificate, free Pizza and a trophy. I got a glass. On to the next one this weekend in Langley Pond - going for top 5 overall.

Bout to go run 5 miles in this Grrrrreeaaat weather!!! Gonna get in some Yoga later but first get to go watch Maddie play today...Awesome stuff.

May go run the 5k in Columbia Sat morning with Wes but I am all signed up for the Coastal Carolina Triathlon this Sunday morning. Not many folks there but one guy should be hard to beat.. I am going to have to run in the low 20's to beat him but I don't see me breaking 20 off the bike just yet. Maybe later this year with plenty of rest. Going to spend the rest of the day Sunday with my girls on the beach and have a great day. Hope the weather is as nice as it is today!

The last 2 days have been the hardest days of training yet since I started this crazy sport. Tuesday was a master's swim,then 2x20' on the bike at FTP ..DAMN that is so hard!! 237watts 23.7 mph and 240 watts @ 23.9 mph. ran 4 miles to the gym for an hour of power yoga and then taught my 1 hour spinning class and then did abs.

This morning got up, lifted weights - upper body work, drove to Jeff's house and ran 8 miles including 1x800 at 6:20 pace, 1x1200 at 6:02 pace and 2 x 200's at 5:05 pace. Meet Lori for drill work in swimming after that. I'm beat, tomorrow easy 5 mile run and more yoga. Friday - Swimming ONLY! Sat - I dunno yet. Sunday - RACE DAY!

What a great day to run and ride on Sunday - It just does not get any better than that. Got up early and drove over to meet the group in Sesqui. William, Kristen, Greg, Sag, Alex and Jeff. Not sure why most of them ran the distance they did after all the great times they put up on Sat but they are the beasts.

I learned alot from missing the race and will put this into practice. REST. I only did a 20 minute interval on Sat and nothing but swimming on Friday and just a little on Thursday. Man did I feel good Sunday morning. 12.4 miles at a 7:44 pace in the sand and hills that was damn easy!! HR avgerage on 152 which is crazy low for me. Threshold being in the low 170's???? This also inlcluded a climb up the now infamous Sand Monster at a "7:42" pace on JB's heels. WOW!!! I put alot into running that 1/2 but that's how it goes. I have the confidence of a 1:32-1:33. 1:31 with Alex may be a little tough but running with him always makes me run harder and I wish I could have seen if I could have stayed with him over the last 3.

Rode the bike 30 miles immediatly after the run back home down the Hilly Highway 12. Plan was to do 3x10' efforts at FTP or above. First time ever doing a reverse brick with embeded intervals. First one- not so bad, 255 watts - over FTP. Second one- not so good, 245 watts right at FTP. 3rd one...mmmm noooooo! died at 5 minutes in but was less than 245..I just cruised it on back on. Average watts for the ride was 200. But just basically spun easy till home after the last effort. Not all bad because I practiced staying into the lowest tuck position possible for extended periods of time. This was needed badly the lower body finally just said - "wait a damn minute, we are finished for today". Greeat day.

Spent the rest of the day with Madison at swim practice and we went out to eat - just the 2 of us while mom went shopping. A new week begins!

Tried to race but GI Issues would not subside...Rough night and morning, got on the interstate but abruptly turned around and raced back home. Felt better at around 10 and got some much needed organizing around home done

Got on the bike and did a 1 x 20 minute effort at 237watts and tried to do another but energy level was not there. 23.3mph, 94 rpm, 237 watts norm power VI =1. Avg HR 152 (this is significant). Way under threshold now just have to learn to push it a little harder and get use to the pain again. Target Sprint race is Hilton Head. 25mph avg speed on the bike is the goal. 260watts+. Want to leave there with the fastest bike split and top 3 overall times. Putting it all together.

Missing this moring was tough because I have been working so hard on the sub 1:35. I know it's there, damn. Alex, Tyler,Trey, William and Greg were all right at 1:35 or better and it would have fun to run with them...SOB!

Sunday Morning

12 miles with a climb up Sand Monster and a 30 mile bike ride back home up Highway 12 - FUN! Picking my car up later in the day on the way to Maddie's swim practice. I will try for 2x 20 minute efforts at 95% this time and then maybe a couple of 5 minute efforts at 100%. See how the legs hold up after the run. Reverse Brick time.

Meet with Lori for the first time this week on Thursday and she put me through one of the harder workouts I have yet with her.

Set included

500 warm

400 Kick set

500 Pull set (25 at 500 pace and 25 slow rotating back and forth)

200 Easy Swim

4 x 200 on 3 min

200 Cool Down

2700 Yards total

This is the first time doing 200's. They are very hard! I made them all right at 3 minutes so I basically got no rest for the 800 yards at a 500 race pace. hurt!

Friday

Met with Wiseman and we swam about 1.5 miles in 34 minutes in Lake Winderemere. This was the first open water swim for me this year. Water was cold when we first got it but it was fine within a few seconds. Made it one full length of the lake in 17:38 stopped and I assisted Bill with some drafting on the way back since he is off to New Orleans Ironman 70.3 next weekend. We wanted to negative split it and made it back in 15:58! We then ran about 4 miles at a very slow pace. No Garmin but I am sure we were right at 9 minutes per mile. Enjoyed listening about Endurance Nation, the plan we are about to start on for Ironman 70.3 in Augusta. It's an extreme long shot but I want to qualify for the world Ironman 70.3 Championships in Clearwater, Fla this November. I would need be in the lower 4:30 range if not faster. SCARY!

Palmetto 1/2 in the morning. I could not get nor could I really afford a slot but those are public roads and I am running with the boys in the morning. I am going to try to stay behind Alex, we will see! All I want to do is go under 1:40. That's it!

Weights and Bike today. Warmed up for 10 minutes then did a 20 minute interval at a cadence of 95 and tried to keep the power at 230 watts - fell just below at 229. rested 5 minutes then did a 15 min effort at 250+ watts - again just short at 248. This was the same effort as my TT last weekend with the average speed on this effort being 24.0 mph. Been reading alot about this power output. Next time - which will be next week, will go for 235 watts on the 20 min and 255 watts on the 15 min effort and then try and see if I can make it through a 10 minute effort at 265 watts. Eventually, I will get up to 300+. Gonna take a long time but I will get there. That is tough stuff. Up early for more core work and swimming in the morning.

7.5 miles today with the first 3 at a 7:45 pace then an easy mile then 8 x 400's at 6:25 descending pace. Last one was in the 5:50 range then a slow ride 1 mile run back. Average pace was 7:45 overall even with the slow 9 minute recovery run back. It was in the lower to mid 90's - record breaking heat today. Low humidty though so it was not really that bad.. It's good to run at those speeds to let the body get accustomed to that pace even for 1.5 minutes.

Had soccer practice and scrimmaged for most of that time, drove back to the gym and taught a killer spinning class. Ready for some TV, Good day today workout wise.

Ran right at 8 miles in the park with decending mile times each mile but one. Ran at 3:30 this afternoon in the pollen fog and 87 degree heat and loved it! Took only 1 bottle of water which I only drank half of. Master's in the morning, work then speed work at 2pm, then soccer practice at 3:30 and finally spinn class at 6:30 with abs after. Long day!!!! better hit the bed but the NC game is on. Love CBB! Madison's first game is this thursday....Cool stuff!

Downloaded the data from the TT and 249 watts was the result, a little bit better than I thought. The goal is to be at 290-300 by the end of the year. Wes was actually better than me in terms of wattage but he weighs about 10 more lbs and I am more aero - The 2nd wind tunnel visit allowed me to get ahead of him, whew! 3 times a week interval training now and as many trips with Ladd as I can get in. The long running season will be tapered off. It will take about a month or two to get back to where I was at the end of last season, the fitness is there just gotta work on the hammering.

Easter - a day off spent with the family. Enjoyed it very much!

Race Report
Time Trial Series - Race number 1
4/3/2010

9:15 start

I started 1 minute behind Wes which was strategically planned by Ladd and Jeffro. The plan was to catch him on the first lap but that was just not to be. Wes does ride these things very well so I knew going in that was a tall order, 1 minute is a long freaking time in one of these things.

It takes experience to do these and with just 1 under my belt coming into today it showed. This time I had a better understanding of power usage since the test showed where I need to stay so the plan was to stay about 255-260 watts for the entire ride. That's 95-98% for one solid hour. It's hard to write how bad these things hurt. If you go out hard as you can go for one minute on a bike just imagine doing it for one hour. The first minute hurts and the next 59 or so just get worse. It truly is the race of truth!

I have yet to download the data but I think I am under wattage a good bit but managed to keep the speed at 24mph even for the full 40k (right at 25 miles). This IS NOT a flat 40k by any means, at one point I was under 16mph going up a long steady climb. We had a good head wind
coming back in which just made it much more difficult but I just focused on the power output and hoped for the best.

The first lap came in at about 31:38 so I knew the quest for the sub 1 hour was over right then and there. The 2nd lap was maybe a little faster but will check on that shortly. Coming up the hill with 1.5 miles to go, the pain was incredible as my legs were burning so bad but I had to keep Wes in site. At the final turn I knew I had him by about 15 seconds as I spotted where he was on the road then looked at my SRM time on how far I was back. The problem was I just had nothing left, Nothing and I doubt he did either.

I gave everything I had on the last mile and went by 2 guys doing the 20k like they were going backwards but, to his credit, so did Wes. Sprinted across the line and I could not pedal another 100', DONE!

Final results have me 12 seconds of front of Wesley but I had to pedal my ass off to get it. Those things hurt..Wes held a lot back at the downtown triathlon last week and I knew the evil genius mofo had this all planned out - Good job dude. I enjoy the camaraderie and competition we have. This is why we do what we do.

There were several riders who went under an hour - most came from the Charlotte area but Mr. Gordon - 55min? D A M N! M U C H R E S P E C T !

I did win the Cat 5 division and beat the only Cat 1/2 racer. Not quite sure how I got the Cat 5 ranking though ? I was the 8th fastest 40k speed average and my average beats most of the 20k people as well. In the 40k, Eric and Gordon are just speed freaks so getting beat by them was just a formality. Can I get below 1 hour? Man, I just don't know, that is difficult. On this course it would take a little less wind and some rest and lots more time in the saddle.

5 of the 7 that beat me are in their 40's and one (3rd place at 25.3mph) is 55! The winner was 27mph and 42 years of age. It just never ceases to amaze me of how faster you get can as you age. Got a lot to look forward to if I am lucky enough to stay healthy.

No run today but a good 20 minute core workout - 340 moves! and a nice slow 30 mile bike ride in the wind and hills. Very slow pace and just basically spun the legs with 3 one minutes intervals at race pace/wattage. Averaged 260 and about 26+mph on the intervals. I am going to get my ass kicked in the morning - Period! I am not ready for this!

Another 4.25 miles in park today, already logged over 35 miles this week and took Monday off. I plan on getting a short run in in the morning and a couple of miles after the time trial on Sat. Lets see if I can get 40 for the week.