March, Training Log

Peoples Tri Series, Maraetai

Pre-race routine:

Not a too early start for this one, was out the door by 6:30am, and arrived at the start at 7:15, about 2 hours till race time. Claimed a spot in transition, then sorted registration. Had a pre race technical stop and watched the olympic distance race start.

Swim 500m, 8:13, 9/15 AG

Course:

Out about 150m straight off the beach, 90 degree turn into 200m across the the beach ans then 150m straight back into transition. No current to speak of, but a reasonable amount of chop.

Comments:

Used the standard plan, started at the back to avoid getting swum over by faster athletes, but found myself right in the middle of the pack the whole way around. Was very close quarters and even got a few kicks. Swallowed a few mouthfuls of water due to the chop, but otherwise ok. Felt that I got into the swing of things much faster than previously. 

What would you do differently?:

Warm up... Same as the last one.

T1

Comments:

Much shorter run from the swim exit to the bike than I've done before. And had a bit of trouble finding the wetsuits zip. As a result the wetsuit was still on when I arrived at the bike, so  I was a bit slower than I should have been.

What would you do differently?:

Practice! Mangawhai's good transition probably lured me into a false sense of security, found it a bit tougher this time.

Bike: 20km, 43:43, 12/15 AG

Course:

Along the coast for 4km, then head inland for 6km over rolling hills to the turn around point. 

Comments:

Nice bike along the coast. Pushed pretty hard the whole way, but never felt that I was giving it 100%. There were a few drafting packs around, which annoyed me a bit. Other than that was happy with my ride. Felt I could have kept going for a long time at that pace, which is what I'll need to do at the northern crossing.

What would you do differently?:

Probably should have pushed harder than I did. Also, if I wanted to do well in the race I should have hooked into one of the drafting packs. I know it's against the rules, but everyone was doing it, and it does give the other guys a big advantage...

T2:

Comments:

Much smoother than T1. Arrived at the dismount just after 2 other athletes, so had a bit of of delay getting into transition. Once in ran to the bike rack, swapped shoes in moments and off on my way. Running the whole time.

What would you do differently?:

Practice!

Run: 5km, 25:50, 14/15 AG

Course:

2 laps of a 2.5km long out and back. Mostly on the flat but over 1 short hill about half way. Was a water station about 200m before the turn around, so got 4 chances for a drink.

Comments:

Felt slow and awkward at the start of the run, as you do after a ride. That feeling never went away. I did the 9:1 run:walk program I've been doing in training and it seemed to work well. I ran within myself, and liked the bike felt that yes I was pushing, but had more to give if I wanted too.

What would you do differently?:

Push harder. To do well in these sprint tris I have to give everything. BUT, the main goal of the first part of the year is the northern crossing, which is much longer, so pacing myself for now will hopefully pay off in the long run.

Over all

1hour, 19 minuted and 51 seconds.

13/15 AG, 92/130 Male and 117/189 Over all

Post Race:

Warm down:

Bit of a walk around, and some post race nutrition (They gave us danish pastry's! How good is that)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

1. Weight, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I"m too heavy to do well at this. At the end of the year, when I'm under 90 kg I might stop saying its a problem
2. lack of run training. Getting better, but still months away from being happy
3. Myself. I held back, I was pushing, but was close to my long course pacing... If this had been a goal race I could have been faster.

Event comments:

Much more serious tri than what I've done before. But still heaps of fun. Weather wasn't great, but didn't ruin the day. Over all I was very happy with how things went.

February Training Logs

Once again pretty good consistency. Only 3 days off for the whole month! That's not bad. I did slightly less biking than last month, but ran almost twice as much, which was the plan. Swimming was about the same, I would have liked to do a bit more, but not too worried.

Next month, I want to keep swimming about the same again, and up the running and biking a bit.

Mangawhai Tri, 2012

Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:15am, loaded the bike onto the ute and on the road by 5:45. Had a coffee and BLT sandwich for breakfast on the drive. Arrived at the venue about an hour before start. Pre registered so set up transition, and just hung around and tried to relax until race time.

Transition, Pre Race

Swim 500m, 9:22

Ready Set Go!

Course:

Short swim out into the channel, then about 400m with the strong tide down the beach, and a final 100m into the beach across the tide. A long (1 min or so) run from the end of the swim back to transition, so actual swim time probably around 8:30

Comments:

Started at the back to avoid being swum over. Once around the first buoy was able to overtake many other athletes. Took about half the swim to feel comfortable. But once there things went well. I do think that I swim much smother in the pool, more OWS practice is needed.

Somewhere in the spray....

What would you do differently?:

1. Go for a pre race swim. OWS always seems to take a few minutes for me to feel comfortable. A warm up should help me feel good right from the start I hope.
2. More OWS Practice. I had wanted to have done 1-2 OWS already this year. his was my first

T1

Comments:

Top half of the wetsuit was off before getting to transition. The bottom half came off easily, sun glasses then helmet on. Socks and bike shoes on. I lost a little time on the shoes, tried to do it standing up and got a little unbalanced. Un rack bike and jog it to the start of the ride.

What would you do differently?:

Practice. I hadn't practiced at all, so am pleasantly surprised with how well it went. With practice I'm sure I can drop more time tho.

Bike: 17km, 37:00

Course:

Up a hill straight out of transition, nice decent down the other side and then climbing for the next 5-6km. Quite a fast decent down to sea level followed by a flat section. 2 short sharp climbs to finish and a netural (No overtaking) zone back down the hill to transition

Comments:

I know that I'm running slow at the moment, so my plan going in was to go hard on the bike and I did (and then survive the run). Possibly too hard up the hill out of transition. But kept pushing hard the whole way and finished 2 minutes faster than last years effort.

What would you do differently?:

Take the first few minutes a bit easier. I think that the big hill to start with took a lot out of me, and I would have been better to save that energy.

T2:

Comments:

Kept the bike shoes on until racking the bike. Slight difficulty getting the helmet straps tangled with my sunglasses. Other than that all good. But like T1 very pleased with how it went.

What would you do differently?:

Practice!

Run: 5km, 27:26

Up the hill (it felt much steeper than it looks here!)

Course:

Up and down the same hill as the start of the bike. Then a flat out and back before going over the hill again on the way to the finish.

Comments:

Slow. Felt awful. But I was expecting that. Over took a few people, and got overtaken by some. Think I pretty much stayed in the same position overall. Walked through the drink station at half way.

Was surprised at the pace I finished with, I think it's actually shorter than 5km but I was only 1 minute slower than last year so happy with that.

What would you do differently?:

I'm still easing back into running post calf injury. As I get my mileage back up the run will improve.

Sprint finish, beat him by 3 seconds.

Over all

1 hour, 16 minutes, 28 seconds.

72/111 finishers, 52/70 male finishers and 22/28 in age group

3 minutes faster than last year... 

Post Race:

Warm down:

Short walk after finishing and a banana.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

1. Weight, I'm well above fighting weight, and 4kg heavier than last year. I need to drop if I want to do well in this sport.
2. Lack of run training, Past experience tells me that I need at least 30-35km/week before I start running well. Still a few months away from that.

Event comments:

Beautiful part of the world, great scenery and a really enjoyable friendly/relaxed atmosphere about the whole thing.

I went for a ride around a hill.

On the 28 of January, myself and 2 friends went down to Taranaki for the 150km round the mountain cycle challenge, the course was 30km of rolling hills to start with, followed by about 30km flat. Then 30km of climbing, only a slight gradient but no relief at all. Finishing with rolling hills again.

Pre race routine: Bumper bar and banana for breakfast, got ready nice and fast to check out from the motel. Registered nice and early, then sat around, and checked out others bikes...

Warm up: about 10-15 minutes easy pedaling around too and from registration.

I got talked into starting with a faster group than I thought I should have been with. I was with the group for about 20 minutes until there was a split, which I got caught on the wrong side of. So I made things worse by trying to catch up to the group, after about 15 minutes of not quite being able to close the gap my legs were gone, and I was only 35 minutes into a long day. Because of these mistakes I was unable to hook into a decent group as they overtook me, so spent most of the race by myself, once I came to terms with this, and settled into my own pace things got a lot better. I also didn't drink enough in the first part of the ride, only 2 bottles in the first 100kms, I think this is the reason that I started to cramp up in the last hour or so of the race. Fortunately there were 2 drink stops, and a bottle and a half of electrolytes seemed to help.

What would you do differently: 

1. Start in the right group
2. Not try to catch up to groups after being dropped
3. keep a closer watch on my pace/effort levels at the start.

Warm Down: A beer and a hamburger. Free with entry, nice!

January Training Log

Pretty good, nice and consistent, and starting to get regular long rides in:

Going well

So far this year, my training has been going well, for the 3 weeks of January we've had so far I've totaled 6, 7 and 9 hours of swim/bike/run. This has been split between 3-4 early morning runs a week, 2 after work swims, 2 after work bike rides and 1 long (50-100km) weekend ride.

Going forwards I want to be averaging up a the 9-10 hours/week level but with some slight changes to the ratios between the 3 sports. the things that need to change through February are:

1. 3 swims per week, every week (about 90 minutes/week)
2. More running, 15 -25 minute runs need to increase to 30-45 minute run, and frequency needs to increase to 5 per week (about 2 1/2 hours/week)
3. Biking stays much as it is, 1 60 minute midweek ride, 1 90 minute midweek ride and a long weekend ride, about 3 hours (about 5 1/5 hours/week)
4. This gives about 9 1/2 hours per week

But before that, there is the small matter of the Taranaki cycle challenge, which is this coming Saturday. I know it's going to hurt by the end, but I am definitely looking forward to it.