Sponsorship
I'm pretty excited to announce this one! X-Lab USA, one of the industry leading hydration systems, and I have teamed up this year. Their product has been on 27 World Champions bikes since 1993, including Craig Alexander, Frederick Van Leirde and Leanda Cave. Stay tuned for developments!
Racing
With the injury this past year, I thought I'd give a different form of racing a try. Two last races for 2014...a Duathlon, and a 6HR Relay.
Tri-Mom Duathlon Festival
This race was not even on the radar for the year. Then a few guys out here convinced me to sign up and race. Never have done a Duathlon before in my life. I don't think I've really ran hard than biked as a brick. Why would a Triathlete ever really need to do so? Nonetheless, here I go for the 2 mile/14 mile/2 mile race.Saturday - 10/18
I have my heart set on Ironman Lake Placid and that is really the focus for the next 9 months. Kona or bust right? So I stuck with my workout of 3 hours on the bike with a 25 minute run right after. Good idea? Bad idea? I'll find out on race day!
Sunday - 10/19
Day started out at 7 a.m. Thank goodness for the 10 a.m. race start. I woke up to a raw drizzling morning. Overcast and some wind. Not your ideal race day...unless you are racing cross country! Two pieces of toast, half of a kind bar and 10 oz of Perform...on my way to Charlestown, RI! (about an hours drive).
I show up to the pre-registration at 8:30. Perfect - 30 minutes to get all set up. 5 minutes to double check everything. Bathroom, warm up, stretch, and get going. I go to give the volunteers my license and I'm no where to be found under pre-registration. The event is sold out. They told me to just hang on for a few moments as they contact the RD. I stand there for about 15 minutes while getting Black Magic ready. After what seemed like an eternity (20 minutes) they catch wind someone was going to be a no show. A quick chip/number change and I was set to go. Off to check out the 2 mile run course.
It's 9:50 and just finish all of the pre-race routine rituals. Double check the bike. Make sure I have the right shoes on. Everything is ready to go.
There was a Mountain Bike or Road Bike option. We all started out at the same time...what a cluster the first 2 miles. No one knew who was racing who. The horn went off and I just stuck with the leaders. The pack of 10 soon dwindled down to 2 other guys and me. This was all done on campground roads so a lot of turns, pine needles, and small acorns. We hit the first mile at 5:29 and another guy joins us. We are all cruising along until we hit about 1.5 miles. A US Coast Guard guy slowly dwindled away and we never saw him again. I need to check and see if the guy even finished! We came around the last bend and all hit transition at once. First 2 miles: 11:27.
I get through T1 the quickest and end up on the bike first. I take off and soon was overtaken by two guys. I immediately hop on their tail and stick with 2nd place. All the guys in the lead pack were the road division. What was a race between 5 guys soon turned into 3. We hit mile 4 and soon after than the race turned into two. The leader and me. I keep the leader in my sights and my HR is at 180 and pushing about 330+ watts. 3 hours of riding plus a run starts to get to me. At mile 7 my legs blow up and soon I can only crank out 240 watts as I watch the leader just go. No one is around me and the course is just a roller coaster of hills. I accept the fact that my legs need a rest and ride a tempo pace for the next 2 miles. Finally the legs recover, but the damage is done. I no longer can see the leader and have no idea how far ahead he is. I keep pushing knowing that 3rd is anywhere behind me. More of an up and down, then we turn on a freeway. A FREEWAY! This gets the adrenaline rushing and finally get back into the grove. I hit transition and see the guy about a minute ahead of me. Time to push!
I get through T2 quickly and start on the run. The legs don't feel that strange like your usual triathlon. My HR is sitting about 175 and as I get moving, it shoots to 180. I can see first place at random turns and I'm closing in on him. Can I catch him? Do I have enough time? I tell myself "lets find out" and keep pushing. I hit the first mile at 5:58. What?! I swear I was cruising faster than this. Time to really push. I keep gaining ground, he is within 45 seconds. Mile 1.5, he is 30 seconds. I push harder and someone yells to him. Not sure what it was but it made him turn around to look. The death is his face and the worry in his eyes make me hungrier. But that death in his face must have been also shock and he takes off as I do. His lead would hold. I ended up 2nd overall with a 1:01.37. He would have a 1:01.07ish.
I get through T2 quickly and start on the run. The legs don't feel that strange like your usual triathlon. My HR is sitting about 175 and as I get moving, it shoots to 180. I can see first place at random turns and I'm closing in on him. Can I catch him? Do I have enough time? I tell myself "lets find out" and keep pushing. I hit the first mile at 5:58. What?! I swear I was cruising faster than this. Time to really push. I keep gaining ground, he is within 45 seconds. Mile 1.5, he is 30 seconds. I push harder and someone yells to him. Not sure what it was but it made him turn around to look. The death is his face and the worry in his eyes make me hungrier. But that death in his face must have been also shock and he takes off as I do. His lead would hold. I ended up 2nd overall with a 1:01.37. He would have a 1:01.07ish.
Awards consists of free races and won a free entry to the companies 1/2 marathon. I'll take it!
Overall: Pretty happy with the performance. A little disappointed on the bike since it is usually the area I can catch a lot of people on. Ended up with a Normalized Power number of 275 (3.97 w/kg) which are good numbers...just got out biked. Really haven't been working on speed so hitting 5:38 and 5:51 I was happy about.
RI 6HR Relay
I took part of a ultra marathon/race in a relay fashion. Since this was a club event I was teamed up with another 5 guys. so in theory we all would run an hour. The entire race was held on a 2.7 mile loop in my new town's city park which incorporated switchback, 60-100m hills at a 4-5% incline, dog walkers, and other runners (relay and individual).
I was slated to go 4th, the 11-12 shift. Prior, since my team was focusing on getting trashed during and after the run, I went for a 3k swim (check out the live training document if your are curious) then headed to the race.
I arrive, get to the tent and then was told that the guy who was supposed to run before me was running late so I was up next. Sweet...only about 30 minutes to warm up, stretch and get mentally prepared. A slow casual run, stretch, check the Garmin and HR monitor and I was set.
As my teammate came around the last corner I strip down my warm clothes to something a little more suitable for racing...spandex and a t-shirt.
The plan was to run 4 laps in 1:10 so I knew I had to carry atleast 6:30s. The entire run was going to be based off of HR and focus on pace last. The first mile is downhill while mile 2 had the hills. Off I go and run into those doing the full 6 hours. If you ever want a confidence booster...run with people who are planning to fun for 6 hours at a time. You truly feel like you are flying!
Mile 1 - 6:18 at a HR of 170 - awesome! Perfect. Then the hills hit...6:30. Still in great shape! 4:12 for the .7 (6:08 pace). Can't get better than this! Only 3 laps to go.
Split 4: 6:15
Split 5: 6:31
Split 6: 4:12
Split 7: 6:24
Split 8: 6:42
Split 9: 4:25
Split 10: 6:34
Split 11: 6:53
Split 12: 4:14
Hit my 4 lap goal with 1:09 (10.7 miles), 6:28 pace. Ended with an average HR of 181. Was comfortable throughout the run and only felt some points of pushing which I'm pretty pleased with 253 days until Ironman!
I go back to the tent, change back into my warm clothes and cool down. After the cool down, I start pigging out on some food. Later on I find out this may not have been the best idea. The guy showed up late only makes it 2 laps in 50 minutes. So we start making calculations and turns out we may have 15-20 minutes at the end to get in one more loop. There are only two guys who could do this....and one of them is pigging out on food (me) and the other was about to run the 6th leg. So I stop eating and start getting ready for one more loop.
After about 2 hours I'm ready to hit it again. I was more concerned about finishing the loop in time than anything else. Our guy guy comes around the last corner and I just feel my stomach full. This is going to be interesting! Only 2.7 miles right?
I get the handoff and off I go again. Didn't I just do this 4 times? I hit the first mile at 6:07. What the heck?! This is going really well! The hills come and I hit a 6:25. The stomach was turning on that one. Then hit 4:08 (5:54 pace) to finish it out.
Ended up with 1:24:49 for 13.4 miles after a 3k swim. I'm pretty excited to know all the training that I'm putting in is working!
As a team we ended up in 4th.
The guy who won the individual went 51.5 miles in 6 hours. Ridiculous! Someone probably should have given him a wheelchair after the event!
I was slated to go 4th, the 11-12 shift. Prior, since my team was focusing on getting trashed during and after the run, I went for a 3k swim (check out the live training document if your are curious) then headed to the race.
I arrive, get to the tent and then was told that the guy who was supposed to run before me was running late so I was up next. Sweet...only about 30 minutes to warm up, stretch and get mentally prepared. A slow casual run, stretch, check the Garmin and HR monitor and I was set.
As my teammate came around the last corner I strip down my warm clothes to something a little more suitable for racing...spandex and a t-shirt.
The plan was to run 4 laps in 1:10 so I knew I had to carry atleast 6:30s. The entire run was going to be based off of HR and focus on pace last. The first mile is downhill while mile 2 had the hills. Off I go and run into those doing the full 6 hours. If you ever want a confidence booster...run with people who are planning to fun for 6 hours at a time. You truly feel like you are flying!
Mile 1 - 6:18 at a HR of 170 - awesome! Perfect. Then the hills hit...6:30. Still in great shape! 4:12 for the .7 (6:08 pace). Can't get better than this! Only 3 laps to go.
Split 4: 6:15
Split 5: 6:31
Split 6: 4:12
Split 7: 6:24
Split 8: 6:42
Split 9: 4:25
Split 10: 6:34
Split 11: 6:53
Split 12: 4:14
Hit my 4 lap goal with 1:09 (10.7 miles), 6:28 pace. Ended with an average HR of 181. Was comfortable throughout the run and only felt some points of pushing which I'm pretty pleased with 253 days until Ironman!
I go back to the tent, change back into my warm clothes and cool down. After the cool down, I start pigging out on some food. Later on I find out this may not have been the best idea. The guy showed up late only makes it 2 laps in 50 minutes. So we start making calculations and turns out we may have 15-20 minutes at the end to get in one more loop. There are only two guys who could do this....and one of them is pigging out on food (me) and the other was about to run the 6th leg. So I stop eating and start getting ready for one more loop.
After about 2 hours I'm ready to hit it again. I was more concerned about finishing the loop in time than anything else. Our guy guy comes around the last corner and I just feel my stomach full. This is going to be interesting! Only 2.7 miles right?
I get the handoff and off I go again. Didn't I just do this 4 times? I hit the first mile at 6:07. What the heck?! This is going really well! The hills come and I hit a 6:25. The stomach was turning on that one. Then hit 4:08 (5:54 pace) to finish it out.
Ended up with 1:24:49 for 13.4 miles after a 3k swim. I'm pretty excited to know all the training that I'm putting in is working!
As a team we ended up in 4th.
The guy who won the individual went 51.5 miles in 6 hours. Ridiculous! Someone probably should have given him a wheelchair after the event!
Training
Thanks to my Manager, Tim Zeman who has worked out an awesome partnership, I've been able to team up with D3 Multisport's Andrew Johnson.
Not only have we looked at the big picture, but look at the grainual level of detail that works out best for my family and I to qualify for Kona.
Most of the training has been indoors, but hasn't slowed the pace.
9/29 - 10/5
Total: 131.5 miles / 10 hours 50 minutes
Swim: 5950 yards / 3.3 miles / 1 hour 52 minutes
Bike: 112 miles / 6 hours
Run: 16.2 miles / 2 hours 50 minutes
Core: 4 sessions
Core: 4 sessions
10/6 - 10/12 (traveling)
Total: 46.6 miles / 4 hours 11 minutes
Swim: 1800 yards / 1 mile / 0 hour 34 minutes
Bike: 27 miles / 1 hour 20 min
Run: 18.6 miles / 2 hours 17 minutes
Core: 2 sessions
Core: 2 sessions
10/13 - 10/19
Total: 145 miles / 11 hours 50 minutes
Swim: 6500 yards / 3.7 miles / 2 hours 00 minutes
Bike: 130 miles / 6 hours 52 minutes
Run: 11 miles / 2 hours 08 minutes
Core: 4 session
Core: 4 session
10/20 - 10/26 - Sick
Total: 55.2 miles / 4 hours 50 minutes
Swim: 2100 yards / 1.2 miles / 0 hours 42 minutes
Bike: 37 miles / 1 hours 58 minutes
Run: 17 miles / 2 hours 10 minutes
Core: 2 session
Core: 2 session
10/27 - 11/2
Total: 170.2 miles / 12 hours 12 minutes
Swim: 5650 yards / 3.2 miles / 1 hours 45 minutes
Bike: 143 miles / 7 hours 42 minutes
Run: 24 miles / 2 hours 45 minutes
Core: 4 session
Core: 4 session
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